The Long Drawn Out Draw

The initial dice roll sequence for choosing sides went 1-2-3.  Kent, always seeking a trifecta, took up the Imperial forces, Ric chose the Rebels, and I was left, surprisingly, with the Hutts.  The game started off with the Death Star on Elom, Storm Troopers on Arbra and Excharga, and Rebels on Omwat. 

Initially, the Rebels stumbled with poor dice rolls against lucky Storm Troopers, the Hutts did only slightly better, and then the Imperial forces kicked ass everywhere.  The game looked to be in the bag for the Emperor.  Sith Lord Kent managed to eliminate the Rebels on Omwat and then destroyed Sluis Van and Gamorr with the Death Star.  Safe in the Wild Space, he drove the Rebels down to a handful of scattered systems.  They even captured the Ison Corridor, which had briefly been held by the Rebels. 

But the combined Rebel and Hutt attacks finally put the breaks on an easy victory for the Dark Side.  The Hutts amassed a fleet of 2 capital ships and 2 bombers.  That combined with a faction card flush let them sweep from Tatooine all the way to Bespin, doing considerable damage to the Imperial legions in the process. 

Despite an invasion through the asteroid field of Sluis Van and an unexpected uprising of Hutts on Elom, the Empire held on to the Wild Space.  With the Emperor's starbase safely behind impenitrable asteroid fields in the Wild Space, it looked like an Imperial victory.

But wait!

The Rebels clawed their way back from 4 systems to 7 and then totally pwned the Storm Troopers invading Falleen in an attempt to break into the Mid Rim.  The pesky Hutts split their fleet in two and made a run at a win.  Only stubborn resistance at Kessel by the Rebels prevented a 10 system takeover. 

After that, the Rebels were sitting on a faction card straight in a good position to counterattack both Hutts and weak Storm Troopers remaining outside the Wild Space.  The Hutts were sitting pretty with 8 resource planets and 20-odd garrisoned systems.  The Emperor was strongly protected in his fortified Wild Space. 

Perhaps the Rebels could hold on and neutralize the Storm Troopers.  Somewhere in the few remaining cards was the "death from above" card that would enable an invasion into the Wild Space despite the blockading asteroid fields.  Perhaps the Hutts could garner the last few resource planets.  Perhaps the Storm Troopers trapped outside the Wild Space could turn the tide and eliminate the Rebels.

We'll never know.  After 3 and a half hours, 12 turns, one large pizza, two eclairs, and lots of wine and beer, a draw was called. 

Rebel Rowsing

General Wood led off with a very strong assault against Sith Lord Horak, which means he will never taste Jaime Oliver's pork stew again ;-).  Combined with a minor loss to Peetza da Hutt, the Empire only had 3 legions for initial reinforcements.  But between the Death Star on Endor neutralizing any threat of a take over of the Ison Corridor and large Imperial and Hutt garrisons in the Wild Space, the battles soon took to the Mid Rim, Core Worlds, Outer Rim and El'Rood Sector.

Trifecta Averted... Yet Again

Despite awesomely good sloppy joes washed down with IPA and Ric's amazing chocolate chip cookies, Sith Lord Kent couldn't put down the Rebellion tonight.  The Rebels under General Ric came out swinging on Turn 1, taking out 6 systems with single garrisons.  The Hutts were able to capitalize on the situation and move from 5 to 6 resource planets while the Storm Troopers fought hard to maintain the status quo. 

Yet Another Two Thirds of a Trifecta

Darth Horak took on Ric the Hutt and General Kent this week.  Except where the Rebels took out the Death Star on turn two, things were fairly even.  The Force Meter didn't get pushed too far out of whack.  Ships came and went.  Imperial dice were lots better than the week before. 

The Hutts became dangerous on turn three, getting up to 8 resource planets.  Starbases on Omwat and Elom where considered safe behind considerable numbers of Hutts.  However, in an ill-advised moment, Storm Troops were sent to Sluis Van instead of remaining on Omwat.  The dastardly Rebels came up with a flush for 6 extra legions and were able to push through all the defenders for a surprise victory at the beginning of turn 5. 

Victory Rebels. 

Hutt, Hutt... Hutt... Hutt!

In a rare double-header, the Hutts swept both games tonight. That make this three Hutt victories in a row.

Game #1

After a surprisingly unaggressive initial Rebel move by General Wood, the Hutts under Gamorran Leader LaBan moved up to six resource planets.  The Empire was in a strong position, but extraordinarily poor rolls caused massive casualties and limited their faction card gain.  Sith Horak was already in dire straits. 

By turn two the Rebels controlled the Wild Space and the Hutts crept up to seven resource planets.  Once again the Storm Troopers had catastrophic dice rolls and huge numbers of casualties.  They failed to make any headway against the Wild Space.  The Rebels soon controlled the Ison Corridor as well. 

With swelling numbers of reinforcements, it looked to be the Rebel's game, but on turn four the Hutts broke out and swept up the remaining three resource planets they needed.

Game Hutts.

Game #2

In contrast to the quick first game, after Ric and Kent switched sides, the game degenerated into a long slog.  No sectors were controlled, faction card straights were rare or ineffectual.  Rebels and Storm Troopers fought to a stalemate with about 14 systems each, plus or minus. 

The Hutts repeatedly reached 8 or 9 systems only to be beaten back to 5 or 6.  The heavily fortified resource planets weren't accessible.  Even after the first Death Star was taken out, the Imperial starbases repelled all attacks.  The Rebels pushed the Force Meter far to the Light side, but were unable to put together an effective assault on the well hidden base of the Emperor. 

Two minor mistakes led to the downfall of the major factions.  First, with a new Death Star, the Emperor elected to destroy a Rebel outpost instead of a resource planet.  Then the Rebels reinforced to Aldebaran, to prepare for an attack on Tattooine.  That left Duro vulnerable and the Hutts came pouring out of the El'Rood Sector and swept away Sluis Van, Sullust, and Duro for the victory. 

Hutt victory.

3-2-1

Yes, it all started with my roll of a 3, then Ric's roll of a 2, and Kent's 1.  So I chose Hutts and Ric signed up for the Rebels.  Kent was stuck with the Empire. 

Then it continued... I rolled a 3, Ric got a 2, and Kent finished with, yes, a 1.  So Hutts went first, Rebels second, and Storm Troopers last.  With that, the Hutts had 5 resource planets to start with, Bespin, Sullust, Sluis Van, Gamorr, and Nar Shadarr.

The Rebels did very well straight out of the gates on Turn 1 -- captured most of the Core Worlds and knocked the Empire back to 4 reinforcements.  The Hutts quietly took one system from each opponent, just for the 2 cards.  The Storm Troopers managed to gain back what was lost, but they rolled something on the order of 12 one's in two turns. 

The game swung back and forth for two more turns with the Rebels gaining more ground, but not taking any starbases out.  Kent's luck continued to run cold.  The Imperial legions were stopped at Endor by a Hutt faction card that destroyed their bomber.  The Hutts slowly gained cards and a bomber of their own that ended up on Falleen.  They were frustrated at Kessel when the Orders Never Came. 

In Turn 4 the Rebels launched a powerful offensive that took out the starbase on Balmorra and pushed the Empire into a dangerous situation.  But the Hutts cashed in a faction card straight and used another to deplete the garrison on Rodia.  That allowed them to capture Rodia with 3 legions, run from Toydaria through Kessel to Ord Mandell with an adequate force abetted by a new capital ship, and still have plenty of legions to strike out for Duro.  Not only did they capture that system, but enough was left to comfortably take Tattooine for a Hutt victory. 

Rebel Rousing

The Great Hail Storm of Omwat

Peetza da Hutt came through with real live pizza despite a torrential downpour and significant hail storm.  The arroyos were running and so were the gutters.  His reward:  half a bottle of Chianti.

That in part might explain our failure to recognize arch-Rebel Wood's dastardly setup with a plan to control the Outer Rim on the very first turn.  He was successful in capturing the sector, but he failed to take Kurt from the Hutts.  That left him vulnerable to the Imperial counter-attack that swept into Kurt, through Balmorra and into Yavin 4.