Trifecta Averted

After General Wood's Rebel victory last week and Kent the Hutt's green victory the week before, he took up the mantle of Darth Patrick and sought a 3-game winning streak.  The man who would be king needed an Imperial victory to win the rare and much sought-after Individual Trifecta. 

From the get-go the Rebels vexed the Empire.  The setup was highly irregular and nonconformist:  the Rebels garrisoned no resource planets and concentrated all of their troops on two systems.  The result was Hutts beginning with 6 resource planets and heavy Rebel concentrations on Da Soocha V and Dathomir.  The initial Rebel assault ran from Dathomir through Tatooine, Wayland, Alderran, Correlia, and Byss, stopping only at the Imperial firewall on Bakura.  A lesser but still damaging attack started in Da Soocha V and took out the Empire's single garrisons on Toydaria, Bothawui, Kothlis, Falleen, and Coruscant.  The result was a mere 3 reinforcement for the Storm Troopers in their first turn.

By soldiering on gamely, the Sith Lord slowly recovered strength.  When the Rebels captured the Outer Rim, they were able to mount an effective counter-attack two turns later.  They managed to push the Hutts out of the Wild Space and made it their last stand.

The Rebels were unable to break through the Hutt blockade at  Sluis Van and so  had to attack Gamorr and Excarga.  With the Emperor safe for the time on Elom, the Hutts struck hard with a multi-pronged assault that carried the day with resource planets captured at Bespin and throughout the Mid Rim.  Victory Hutts.

Above, a 10 sec mini-video #throughglass showing some of the desperate action late in the game as the Sith Lord holds off the Hutts. 

Meanwhile, Somewhere in the El'Rood Sector...

Ric the Hutt, Darth Karl, and General Kent took to the galactic playing board once again, giving the Hutts a shot at a trifecta.  Horak the Hutt and Wood the Hutt each had won in the last two weeks.  A LaBan win would put the Hutts in the record books. 

The Rebels put in an excellent show on their first turn, slaying Storm Troopers, but lost most of their advantage in an ill-fated attack on Bespin, which the Hutts easily turned.  The Hutts held their own and Empire came out of the gates with much of the El'Rood Sector under control.

By turn 2, Imperial numbers were down but the El'Rood Sector was theirs.  Alas, repeated efforts by both Hutt and Rebel kept the sector from ever yielding an Imperial bonus.  Starbases accumulated, Rebel battalions proliferated, and Hutts frustrated the Empire with "Money is Power." 

In the end, poor Hutt cards let the Rebels score the first faction card straight.  6 + 7 = 13 legions led to an overwhelming force that crushed Hutt garrisons and allowed the Rebels to pound their way into the El'Rood Sector from Corellia.  Once past Sullust, Eridou fell quickly and with it, the Emperor's final redoubt.  Victory Rebels. 

Hutts, again

Kent the Hutt thumped General LaBan and Darth Horak yet again.  As leader of the imperial faction, I set up with the Death Star on Gamorr, serious garrisons on resource planets, and smaller concentrations acting as firebreaks scattered about.  These firebreaks served to contain any large Rebel runs against long chains of singly garrisoned systems.  It was fairly effective. 

Despite initial good results that diminished the Rebel forces and kept the Hutts at bay, the green hoard grew in power.  They were able to sweep the Wild Spaces even though the Empire was able to counterattack and drive them out.  The Hutt fleet slowly grew and they were able to take Sullust and eventually Sluis Van.

Unfortunately, the blowie-uppie card for the Mid Rim had been taken by a well-played Rebel card.  When a replacement card came along to permit some destruction in the Ison Corridor, the Death Star stumbled in its move towards its target.  The wily Hutts were able to put together an assault along multiple lines that just barely got to ten systems.  Victory Hutts. 

Next week we'll see if Peeta, aka Ric, the Hutt can claim a trifecta of three wins in a row by the Hutts.  Stay tuna'ed. 

Ringing out the Old

In what very likely will be the last game of 2013, Darth LaBan met General Wood and Karl the Hutt in a battle for galactic domination and a feast of tamales, chile, wine, beer, and whiskey.  Kent won the initial dice-off and Ric came in second, but surprisingly I was left with the Hutt faction.  And with a lucky dice-off for starting setup, I snagged five resource planets right out of the gate.  Even so, the Hutts were forced into the El'Rood Sector, the Wild Space, and the Mid Rim with a lonely outpost on Ord Mandel. 

The Rebels' initial onslaught was met with stout resistance, but they picked off the easy Hutt garrison.  After the Hutts picked up a sixth resource planet and two useful faction cards, the Empire had a major setback with the playing of "A Better Offer" card that successfully defended Omwat.  Despite that, they made good headway against the Rebel systems. 

In subsequent turns the Rebels continued to make good progress, capturing the Ison Corridor, but unable to raise their numbers above 15 systems overall.  The Rebels also used a faction card to remove two Imperial faction cards.  As luck would have it, they were both blowie-uppie cards.  The Hutts slowly accumulated a workable fleet, but had to leave many resource garrisons vulnerable with only a single garrison.  The storm troopers amassed upwards of 18 systems, but were matched by the Rebels' reinforcements aided by the Ison Corridor sector bonus.  The Empire suffered another serious setback when then attempted to take the single Hutt garrison at Duro.  Six legions were destroyed in that failed attack.

When a faction card straight let the Hutts deploy a huge force from Sluis Van, they were able to sweep the Rebels completely out of the Ison Corridor and they remained in control of that sector for the rest of the game.  The Empire continued to conquer systems despite occasional The Rebels began to feel the pressure now that their sector bonus was gone. 

The Hutts finally made a run at the Rodia but were forced back with only nine resource planets and six faction cards.  Those cards held off Rebel and Imperial attacks and still left a straight for the last battle.  Due to a miscalculation the starbase at Balmorra was forced off and it relocated to Nar Shaddar, the last resource planet needed.  But a last lucky roll took out the last defender.  Victory Hutts. 

Below is a poorly aimed timelapse of the game.  No tripod mount for an ASUS tablet.  :-/

A Rebellion Goes Awry

General Wood, esteemed leader of the Rebel Faction, was faced by Darth Horak with his legions of Imperial storm troopers and Peetza da Hutt, supreme drug lord and crime boss of the galaxy.  Having defeated Ric and I last week, Kent was after the second victory on his way to a trifecta. 

In an unusual start, the Rebels were gentle on their first assaults, not really inflicting huge damage.  The Hutts started slow but they always gather momentum with their excellent cards.  The Empire seemed to sputter and stall in their initial offense.  All in all, it was a pitiful start.

The despicable dark lord of the Sith attempted to gain traction, but the Hutts kept threatening.  Meanwhile, the Rebels gathered their forces.  In the end, the Emperor was unmasked within his starbase and galactic rule passed to the Rebellion.

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A one week intermission takes place while Ric goes on walkabout in Utah.

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As our combatants resume their weekly engagement, Ric and I generously agree to let Kent take up the mantle of the Empire.  With that, he has at least a tiny chance of gaining his coveted trifecta. Horak the Hutt and General LaBan took up their dice and bravely met their common foe. 

Despite starting with five resource planets, the Hutts were rebuffed at every other turn.  The El'Rood Sector continuously changed hands.  Tatooine was heavily fortified and Bespin was impenetrable.   Every gain was met with a matching defeat.  A fleet of capital ships didn't seem to help.  The Hutts only made it up to six resource planets, tops.  Spies cards kept the others from gaining straights and the seven troops that would come with that.  Surprisingly, when an opportunity to capture Nar Shaddar came up, it was discovered that the e-vile Emperor was hiding there.  He relocated to Kurt, but only garrisoned it with a single troop.

Meanwhile, the Rebels gathered their forces.  Despite some remarkable losses (why was it that all the battles were decided by a single pip?), they climbed steadily in control.  But by Turn 5 they had yet to destroy a single starbase. 

Finally, as we were dipping deeper into the Clynellish, the Rebels cashed in their straight and made a run at the storm troopers.  Along the way, they attacked Kurt, more to move the Force Meter than anything else.  When the single garrison capitulated, it was "game ova."  Victory Rebels and trifecta averted.

Hutts Again

This week's battle for galactic domination was held on Wednesday to allow for the combatants to spend Thanks-a-lot Day with their families.  Kent rolled high and took the Hutts.  Ric chose the Imperial faction, leaving your author to play the despicable Rebels. 

The Rebels made good headway on their opening round and barely claimed the easy Hutt garrisons.  With two faction cards snagged by the Rebels, the play continued with Kent the Hutt, who quickly scrambled up to six resource planets.  Interestingly, the first starbase played by Darth Ric went to Tattooine.  His counter-attacks were weak but effective, giving him three faction cards. 

Turn two began with the use of the "Look under any Imperial starbase" faction card.  And, lo!, there was the e-vile Emperor on Tattooine.  The Rebels attacked with everything they had but failed to make headway against two 8-sided die.  Darth Ric made the minimum attacks to get his faction cards and reinforced Tattooine.  He also pushed the force meter to the dark side. 

With Rebel reinforcements piling up on Wayland and the force meter swinging back and forth with every turn, the pressure on the Empire continued to build.  Fortunately, a "blowie-uppie" faction card turned up in time to allow the destruction of the entire planet of Wayland.  With that, the Rebels were effectively out of the game. 

The Hutts continued to gain in strength and without any effective Rebel resistance, they soon had... wait, wait, let me count again... eleven resource planets. 

Victory goes to the numerically challenged Hutts. 

Rebel Leader Han Horak Claims Victory

As the seventh turn began, there was only one hope for the Rebels and it was a forlorn one:  destroy the Death Star, overrun the starbase garrison on Sluis Van, and attack a second starbase on Excarga.  With Sluis Van destroyed, there was no chance of an indirect assault through that flank.  At least there was a half a chance that the Emperor was hiding under one of these two starbases in that sector.

But I get ahead of myself.  First there was a turn of Imperial conquest, with the storm troopers resisting the Rebel's initial attacks and then swarming over lightly held Rebel outposts.  The Hutts gradually expanded their influence.  The Death Star on Omwat stifled any efforts to control the Wild Space.

Then the Rebel forces had an uncommonly good run and set the Imperial battalions back.  The Hutts struck sharply at the Empire as well.  And in turn, the storm troopers continued to punish the Rebels. 

In the third turn the Rebels continued to focus on outlying single garrisons, using a bomber plus overwhelming concentrations of troops to cause large numbers of casualties.  The Hutts continued to gain strength and obtained a threatening number of systems.  The Empire responded by setting lose the Death Star, destroying Sullust and its garrison of four Hutt legions, a significant blow to the Green Hoard. 

On the fourth turn, the Rebels finally swept from Mimban to Byss, past the starbase on Bakura, and on to Bespin for control of the Ison Corridor.  The Hutts attacked out of Kessel and across the El'Rood Sector as far as Hoth, denying the Rebels that sector.  Then they went one further and captured Bespin.  The storm troopers replied by concentrating on the Mid Rim to good effect.  However, their assault pulled up short after their attack with three 6s was defeated by a single defensive roll of 6.  And only two systems later, Darth Kent rolled three 6s again only to be similarly stopped by a single defensive roll of 6.  (If you listen carefully, you can hear is cries of anguish.)

By the fifth turn, the Rebels were struggling to recover lost ground and assemble a fleet with a significant concentration of forces.  The Hutts used powerful faction cards to cripple Rebel defenses and destroyed their major concentration.  In the end they were in control of 8 resource planets, including both in the Core Worlds,  The Empire stuck back against the Hutts in the Mid Rim and then used the Death Star to take out Duro and a small Hutt garrison.  

Finally, on the sixth turn the Rebel tide was beginning to return, but only barely.  The Hutts who had been largely neutralized, were still not to be dismissed as they regained both strength and systems.  Many non-Hutt resource planets had only single garrisons.  The Emperor made his appearance (finally) and a slip of Darth Kent's tongue let loose the secret location (not that it mattered). 

With an assembled fleet and reinforced legions on Derilyn, the Rebels attacked Sullust, a starbase protected by the Death Star.   Fortunately, the Rebels had card bonuses, Force Meter bonuses, and a faction card that allowed two dice to be rerolled.  In the end they added up to 19 and the Death Star was crushed.  A hard fought battle on Sullust ended with a weakened Rebel force.  Those three legions faced a single garrison of the Empire's best at Eriadu.  When they failed to hold, the Rebels found that the Emperor was indeed their prisoner.  Victory Rebels.