A Long Overdue Imperial Victory

Sith Lord Ric, Kent the Hutt, and General Karl took to their spacecraft and launched yet another battle for galactic supremacy, fueled by Rudy's BBQ. 

 Despite my best efforts to deal a quick killing blow to the Empire, the odds weren't always in my favor.  Here's the initial setup with an enormous concentration of Rebels on Coruscant.

This set up the opening sweep through Falleen and then the remaining Mid Rim systems garrisoned only with single legions each.  Casualties were so light that the force was able to capture Gamorr from the Hutts, an unexpected bonus.  Buoyed by that success, the Rebels continued into the Wild Space and finished off the singleton Storm Troops there.  

 Unfortunately, this allowed the Hutts to counterattack and capture the Wild Space sector, something that would not be neutralized until the end of the game.  The wiley Sith was not to be counted out and on Turn 3, the Death Star struck, destroying Duro and 5 legions of the Rebellion's best troops.  The Rebels never recovered; from that turn onwards, it was a battle between Hutt and Emperor.  

The next pivotal moment of the game was when Kent the Hutt cashed in a faction card straight (7 legions) and a reinforcements card (5 legions).  He led his overwhelming forces across the Mid Rim and held 9 systems after he crushed the weakened Rebels at Ord Mandell and Yavin 4.  Only 3 Rebel squadrons on Balmorra stood in the path of a Hutt victory.  But the thin yellow line held against all the odds, costing the Hutts terribly and denying them the win.  Sith Lord Ric countered with his own faction card straight and cleared out the last pockets of Rebel resistence.  Victory, Empire. 

A Tale of Two Losses

Sides:

• Horak the Hutt
• Sith Lord LaBan
• General Kent

Game the First

As the game's first turns unfolded, the Rebels made modest gains while the Hutts found no weaknesses to exploit.  As luck would have it, the e-vile Emperor came out on the first turn.  Ric placed him on Eriadu. 

Rebel faction cards quickly pushed the Force Meter one step away from the complete Light Side.  On turn 3 the Rebels invaded Sullust with the aim of taking the Eriadu starbase, just to nudge the Force Meter one more notch.  When Eriadu fell and the Empire was found, it was game over at a ridiculously early hour. 

Victory:  Rebels.

Game the Second

Since the first game collapsed so quickly and there will be no galactic warfare next week, we elected to try a second go at it.  Here's a little of the action taken with Google Glass.

This time the Rebels were thwarted by incessant rolls of 6s by the Sith Lord.  Despite this expense, most of the Outer Rim fell into their control.  With the Rebels significantly weakened, the Hutts took out the singleton garrisons on the way to Tatooine and garnered two faction cards.  The Empire gamely counter-attacked the Rebels and took an easy Hutt. 

On the second turn the Rebels attacked again at great cost to themselves.  The Hutts climbed to seven resource planets and garnered three more faction cards of the same type.  The Storm Troopers held their ground and even destroyed Arbra and it's large Rebel force.  By the third turn, the Hutt hand would look like this: 

Since Retreat and Mine Fields are particularly weak options, the Hutts instead built up a fleet of capital ships.  These in turn got them up to eight systems and a silly set of faction cards: 

In the end, the capital ship flush plus six additional legions from a well-played Sarlacc Pit card gave the Hutts the edge they needed.  A three-pronged assault, cleared the Mid Rim, captured Balmorra, and threatened victory in the El'Rood Sector.  Attacks from Bespin to Sullust were repulsed at Correlia, but the small garrison at Duro was able to break through for the win

Victory:  Hutts.

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.