The Game Marches On

March 3rd

General Wood, Peetza da Hutt, and Darth Horak joined in the never-ending struggle for galactic supremacy once again.  The Empire rather rapidly captured the Wild Space and, soon after, a the El'Rood Sector.  While the Rebel's were able to eventually neutralize the El'Rood Sector, the Wild Space reinforcements kept the Rebels on the defensive.  Ric's Gamorran mercenaries were never able to make serious inroads. As exhaustion overtook all forces on turn 7, the Death Star made a display of power by destroying the mostly harmless Coruscant.  An armistice was signed on Stardate 0.87.3.3.2016.  

March 10th

General LaBan, Empiror Wood, and Horak the Hutt continued the weekly battle for mastery of the known universe.  The Rebels and Stormtroopers both started cautiously, playing mainly for cards.  The Hutts began with 5 resource planets and eventually mustered 6 after taking Duro on the 3rd attempt.  (I blame that on too many beer-soaked brats consumed before the battle.)

Eventually, the Sith overran the El'Rood Sector and, combined with an early faction card straight, they went on to gain the Wild Space.  Starbases defended most egress to their territories except where the the Death Star protected Excarga.  The Rebels held on, developed their fleet, and amassed a considerable force.  Their garrison at Hoth held fast.  The Death Star stuck with swift finality and destroyed Kessel.  

The Stormtroopers, safe behind their Starbases, were surprised by the successful invasion of El'Rood when the Rebels took Dagobah and then Bffassh.  Then, to everyone's amazement, the Hutts struck out from Duro with a large force (read:  faction card straight) and two capital ships.  Faction card bonuses allowed them to overrun the Imperial garrison on Sullust (4 legions), but the attack stalled with heavy casualties taken on Sluis Van (1 defending legion).  The Hutts persevered and took Omwat, denying the Empire any sector bonuses.  

The Imperial forces responded by again using the Death Star, destroying Balmorra.  In the next turn they destroyed Bespin.  Despite these heavy losses, the Hutt High Command still provided "yuuuge" banana splits to power the conflict into its final stages.

The Hutt capital ships and their elite fighters were still intact on Omwat.  But before they could neutralize Elom and march into the Mid Rim, General LaBan assembled a strike force outside Bothawui.  Reinforced by a capital ship, a bomber, and two fighter squadrons, the battle group captured Gamorr and then pushed into Excarga.  When the system's Starbase fell and the Emperor was discovered in his cowardly lair, it was game ova.  Victory (and the trophy) to General Ric.  

Some Catching Up

January 16 -- Game of Thrones Risk

With Gareth in Santa Fe and Archie about to head back to school, it was time for a F2F game night.  Everyone but Peter was able to convene in Albuquerque for dinner and an epic round of GoT Risk. 

The rules are similar, the board done in dark pastel shades, but with 5 players, it had quite a different dynamic.  The ability to combine attacking forces from multiple adjacent regions made for some massive battles.  The ability to move from any east/west coast port to any other east/west coast port made for massive and surprising invasions. 

The Valar Morghalis card turned up after my play and Gareth ran the board.  According to our interpretation at the time, we thought this meant that Gareth won.  See Feb. 20 for a different story. 

All hail, King Gareth who sits on the Iron Throne.

February 18 -- The Grizzled  

Off to a new year, we thought to try a new game, The Grizzled.  It's a cooperative game, so either everyone wins or everyone loses.  We played the easy level (without traps) to learn the rules.  In the end we were all able to demobilize.  Victory, everyone.  And the Special Favorite pizza from Village Pizza was a huge success. 

February 20 -- Revenge of Game of Thrones Risk

We had another opportunity to pull the group together.  This time Peter and Gareth were far afield.  Kent took Gareth's chair and we marched on.  Rosemary pot roast and a Greek salad fueled the conflict. 

This time the luck went out of my sails straight away and it was a struggle to stay on the board.  A last minute run at the northern territories gave me a lot of territory, but only briefly.  Valar Morghalis did not appear and the combined forces of Kent and Ty were able to push me back to a pitiful remnant.  Archie had a good night and when VM turned up, he sat upon the Iron Throne.  All hail, King Archie!

February 25 -- We now return you to our regularly scheduled Star Wars Risk 

After The Grizzled, we finally have gotten brave enough to go back to SWR.  Kent the Hutt, Darth LaBan, and General Karl sought to conquer the galaxy.  Kent's aunt's sloppy joes, aka Sloppy Kents, were the kickoff event. 

Initially, Kent had the luck of the setup and scored 5 resource planets, but that's where it ended.  A ferocious onslaught from the Rebels destroyed his large garrison on Bespin and the Rebel success continued with huge gains against the Empire. 

But down does not mean out; both factions fought back and regained strength.  The Hutts clawed their way to 7 resource planets and started turning in faction-card straights in rapid succession.  The Stormtroopers were never able to critically damage the widespread Rebels.  The Hutts never completely failed.  The Rebels never were able to pick off a single starbase.  The Ison Corridor was taken from the Hutts, held for 3 turns, lost to a desperate Imperial attack, and won back again by the Rebels. 

After seven turns, matters were fairly stable.  The Death Star had destroyed the Hutt garrison that had held Elom since the beginning.  Sluis Van and Gamorr were heavily protected Imperial starbases. Bespin was a resource planet too far.  But all starbases were on the board and the Emperor could well be "vulnerable."  Yet the Imperial forces were by no means a triffling pest, but a real menace.  The Rebels were somewhat weakened and a serious threat to the Stormtroopers if that distraction didn't give the Hutts their chance to snatch victory.  

In the end, the lateness of the hour made the decision for us:  a draw.  Victory, everyone.

Resumption of Hostilities

After a respite of several weeks, we return to our regularly scheduled galactic conflict.  The impetus for this was the arrival of the Vermonters, including my nephew David.  Rather than rolling for who got first and second choice of faction, we let the dice decide.  They awarded me the Hutts and David got the Empire.  That left Kent with the Rebels.

The setup was unremarkable except for the six systems left to the green worm.  That said, the Hutts quickly lost one and thereafter struggled to get even close to a bonus card.  It was well into turn four that they clawed their way up to seven resource systems. 

Meanwhile, the Storm Troopers and Rebels exchanged blows repeatedly.  Early in the second turn, the Rebels were able to destroy the Death Star.  Sectors were captured but never held.  Starbases accumulated but the Emperor was nowhere to be found.

A slight advantage in the Force Meter let David get ahead with faction cards, which led to more vessels, which led to more systems.  Rebel Leader Wood struggled to hold the line, but for every push of the Force to the light side, the Empire was able to push back to the dark side.  It began to look like the game would soon go to the Imperial forces.

But as luck would have it, the Hutts picked up a faction card straight for 7 legions of reinforcements just in time to take a run at a series of 3 resource planets.  It was turn 5 and the Hutts already had 7 resource systems and a capital ship (1d8) to help lessen the Starbase defensive rolls (2d8).  After a desperate and costly battle onYlesia, the remaining Gamorran mercenaries were forced to fight on against a reinforced Kessel.  Eventually, a few survivors were able to push on and attack Ord Mantell.  With the help of all things that the Hutts hold holy, they were able take the 10th system and a victory. 

Trifecta Averta (again)

After two crushing victories in a row, the Empire stood to win its first Trifecta, an Imperial win by each of Kent, Ric and Karl.  Alas, Kent the Rebel king-maker attacked Darth Horak's storm troopers to the benefit of the Peetza da Hutt.  Ric was able to easily take 10 resource planets, since the Rebels were intent on denying the Empire a clean victory. 

On Turn 2 the Rebels were able to use a fortuitous faction card to destroy the Death Star.  That led to a complete flip of the Wild Space, which the Rebels were able to use to good effect.  It took several turns for a new Death Star to be built and then it was able to convert Omwatt to a smattering of asteroids. 

With the Wild Space neutralized and the Force Meter well into the Dark Side, it was only a matter of time before the Rebels were crushed.  But the ever-resourceful Rebels threw in with the Hutts and refused to attack them.  (Perhaps a non-aggression treaty?  We'll never know.) 

In the end, Hutt cards won the day and Ric will be carrying the Funky Chicken Trophy to Utah to share with friends.  For my part, Kent now has a Death Mark upon his head. 

Trifecta Averted... Well, not really

It was an ugly match... with an ugly ending.  There were two conflicting goals:  Ric the Rebel needed an orange victory to gain his Trifecta Badge while Sith  Kent and Karl the Hutt sought to deny him this at all costs. 

The initial deployment had the Hutts at 3 resource systems, but firmly entrenched in the Wild Space and El'Rood Sectors.  The Death Star held sway over the Ison Corridor.  On turn 1 the Rebels had terrible rolls.  The Hutts fared slightly better, gaining ground in the El'Rood Sector.  But the Empire struck back with great good fortune, significantly hamstringing the Rebels. 

By turn 2, the Rebels were suffering from continued poor dice rolls.  The Hutts managed to capture the Ison Corridor and the Empire continued to grind down the Rebellion. 

On turn 3 the Rebels neutralized the Hutt sector, only to lose the Wild Space.  This sector bonus would greatly assist Horak the Hutt for several turns.  Meanwhile, the Empire continued to salt the Mid Rim with starbases. 

The Death Star marched forth and destroyed Dathomir with its large Rebel garrison.  Neither Hutt nor Storm Trooper elected to disrupt the tenuous balance between Dagobah and Hoth--each side gained benefit.  The Hutts managed to get sector bonuses from El'Rood and the Wild Space for one turn. 

Rebel assaults against the starbases in the Mid Rim failed miserably.  The Hutts could not gain traction beyond 6 resource planets.  In the end, the Empire slowly strangled the Rebels, ending Ric's dreams of a trifecta. 

In two weeks:  Darth Horak will attempt a first-ever Imperial trifecta, 3 Imperial victories in a row. 

Boom-boom La Ban Rides Again

Two games to summarize today in order to bring the blog up to date.  Alas, both were La Ban victories, taking him two-thirds of the way to a Trifecta.  The next game will be a desperate one for all sides. 

Game the First

Rebel Leader Horak took on Darth Kent and Peetza da Hutt.  Bickering between the Storm Troopers and Rebels left an opening big enough to drive Jabba through, and that's just what Ric did. 

Victory:  Hutts.  

Game the Second

Horak the Hutt thought to have an easy time taking the Funky Chicken Trophy away from Sith Lord Ric.  Even with the tacit help of General Wood's Rebel forces, the Dark Side consistently held strong on defense and attacked even stronger on offense.  Hutt fleets were demolished after failed assaults (twice) on Ylesia.  The Wild Space was captured by the Empire and cordoned off by starbases and an asteroid field on Sullust.  Only a counter-balancing stream of reinforcements from the Ison Corridor kept the Hutts in the game at all. The Rebels kindly looked the other way rather than counter-attack into the Hutt sector. 

Despite General Wood's surprising attack through the asteroids, which successfully denied the Empire it's sector bonus, the dice and cards continued to fail Wood and Horak.  Eventually the Outer Rim fell to the Dark Side and then the Rebels were carved up for serving.  However, that was not before a desperate attack on a Mid Rim starbase, hoping to get lucky and snare the Emperor.  Of course, with the Force being so strong in Ric tonight, there was little danger of that.  The Emperor was safe and the Storm Troopers soon finished off the last of the Rebels.

Victory:  Empire. 

Snatching Victory from the Jaws of Defeat

Rebel Leader Kent and Ric, the Pizza Delivery Hutt, went up against a seemingly unstoppable Darth Horak in this week's battle for galactic supremacy.  By ignoring the opportunities of attacking large numbers of weakly held systems, the Sith Lord was able to control the Wild Space in the first turn and protect its hyperlinks.  The Death Star plus a starbase made attacks on the sector futile.

Even better, the Death Star was able to destroy Gamorr and turn it's attentions to the protection of Sluis Van.  With two extra legions coming in regularly and the Hutts prevented from occupying 3 of 13 resource planets, the Empire slowly but steadily ground down the opposition.  Starbases accumulated in the Wild Space with little chance of their capture.  At one key juncture, the Empire used a "Snarf one Rebel card" faction card and managed to eliminate a "Snarf two cards from any opponent."  Both Hutt and Rebel were ready to sue for peace. 

But when the Death Star left its protective station to take out Balmorra, the wiley Rebels were able to launch a sneak attack from Bfassch.  Reinforced with a bomber, they attacked the starbase at Sluis Van, capturing it quickly and then moved on to Omwat.  As luck would have it, that system fell revealing the Emperor's redoubt.

Victory Rebels.