Back to Back - X-Wing AAR

X-Wing again! I finally got Curt to play a couple of games. We started out with a 50 point game. 

Curt chose the Imperials (rather quickly, actually), which consisted of:

TIE Fighter

-Obsidian Squadron Pilot

TIE Fighter

-Obsidian Squadron Pilot

TIE Fighter

-Academy Pilot

TIE Fighter

-Academy Pilot

I took the Rebels, which had half the ships, representing a veteran pilot taking a rookie out on a 'milk run' gone wrong:

X-Wing

-Red Squadron Pilot

-Proton Torpedo

X-Wing

-Rookie Pilot

Our starting positions. Unlike the game I had with Rob, we placed asteroids on the table. I found that the asteroids created a lot of tension in my tournament games, and it made for better games. 

Our opening moves saw the two flights screaming towards each other. Shots were exchanged, and one of the Academy pilots caught a torpedo right in the cockpit. Score one for the good guys!

Pay no attention to the blurry hand!

Any hope of keeping formations quickly fell away, as the X-Wing's turned to chase down the Imperial pilots.

Academy training didn't count for much, and the rookie racked up his first kill.

The Imperials spilled blood soon enough, however, and the rookie found himself alone in space when the remaining Academy pilot vaped his mentor.

The rookie took revenge, blowing apart the cocky Imperial pilot.

A couple maneuvers later - including a lucky K-Turn - saw the rookie lined up behind the last TIE Fighter, and the game ended with one last explosion in space. The rookie would be returning back to base alone, with three eyeballs added to his tally.

With Curt duly interested, I asked if he wanted to try another, larger game. He agreed, and I sat him down with the Unofficial X-Wing Squadron Builder and let him build a 100 point list - with the Imperials again, of course. I think his main objective was just to get Vader and a TIE Interceptor.

His final list? Just that:

TIE Advanced

-Darth Vader

TIE Interceptor 

-Avenger Squadron Pilot

TIE Fighter

-Obsidian Squadron Pilot

TIE Fighter

-Obsidian Squadron Pilot

TIE Fighter

-Academy Pilot

TIE Fighter

-Academy Pilot

I went for the standard 4 ship Rebel list. My options were a little limited at the time, so I had to use all the ships I had:

X-Wing

-Wedge Antilles

-R5 Astromech

X-Wing

-Biggs Darklighter

X-Wing

-Rookie Pilot

Y-Wing

-Gold Squadron Pilot

-R2 Astromech

-Ion Cannon Turret

I had paired Wedge and Biggs together on one side (betting that Biggs could take the hits for Wedge) and the Rookie with the Gold Squadron pilot on the other. Curt had Vader with the two Obsidian pilots face off against Wedge and Biggs, with the Interceptor and the Academy pilots aiming for the Rookie and Gold pilot. 

Not much happened in the first turn. Although we had found some Star Wars music on Youtube and began to let that play for the duration of the match. It added to the atmosphere (or lack thereof, space being space and all that).

A couple turns later, a lot had happened! The rookie was vaped by an Academy pilot, who was shot down in turn by the Y-Wing's primary weapons. It's Ion Turret would be basically useless in this game, as I would discover soon enough. 

Meanwhile, Biggs and Wedge managed to take down another TIE Fighter. Biggs covered for Wedge, taking all the hits thanks to his special ability. 

Biggs couldn't survive the firestorm of lasers, however, and quickly fell to Darth Vader's Force-enhanced aim. My Y-Wing was pulling out all the stops trying to avoid the Interceptor's fire, which is probably why he never hit anyone with his turret!

The Y-Wing relative toughness - having an additinal shield and 2 more hull points than the X-Wing, kept it alive in the Interceptor's sights, and a collision with Vader kept the Sith Lord from firing on it that turn. Wedge, on the other hand...

Was directly in Vader's sights, and the leader of Rogue Squadron was forced to eject as his X-Wing crumpled around him. Now alone, the Y-Wing flared his engine and tried to get out of the scrum. 

The deadly Interceptor kept right on the lumbering fighter-bomber, however, and it's quad-blaster cannon's tore the Y-Wing apart. Curt wings with a solid lead! Not bad for his second game.

Vader's just as nasty as he was when I used him for the tournament, and I'm a little jealous that Curt managed to use my newly-bought Interceptor before I did. It's a fun little spacefighter, though, and I'm definitely looking forward to picking up the upcoming Imperial Aces box.