VASSAL Tournament Round 1: CommanderDave vs JP82729

Finding it difficult to get out to local tournaments, I decided to sign up for the Vassal Tournament instead. This was my first Vassal game. I decided to run my most familiar list: The Interdictor with Screed, HIEs, DCaps, Brunson, Targeting Scramblers, Grav Shift and Engine Techs; a Gladiator II with Demolisher, Kallus, Flechettes, OEs, and ETs; a Gozanti with Hondo and Vector; and my squadrons were Morna, Jendon, IG88, Bossk, and a pair of Firesprays.

On the other side (bottom), my opponent brought an ISD 1 with Thrawn, Tua, ECM, LS, and QBT; Quasar with Boosted Comms, Ruthless Strategists, and Flight Controllers; Gozanti with BCC; and his squadrons were Maarek, Jendon, Dengar, Mithel, Tempest, and 5 TIE Bombers.

Going into this game, I had the impression that the enemy squadrons would be really tough to take down without my Kallus bonus against the Bombers. I had the mental plan of ignoring the squadrons as far as practicable and going for the tabling. That is NOT what actually took place. I took first player and picked his Fighter Ambush - a neutral objective that gave me deployment advantage.

I forgot to start the log until right after I had activated Demo on turn two. I also forgot to spend the Hondo squadron token on Demo to bring in IG88 for support. I managed to activate Mauler, Maarek, and Jendon with my Flechettes. Here is the start of my log at the opening of round 2:

During the second round, those bombers pounded Demo, reducing it to a single hull when all was said and done. It was really tense and I am glad that I was able to Flechette-activate both Jendon and Steele. In return, I dropped Dengar. Here is the close of round 2:

In the third round, I activated Demo first and put some pain on his squadrons before getting away. I turned my Interdictor away from his ISD, which was a mistake I believe, though I did double-ram his Gozanti, which resulted in its destruction after he moved it in front of the ISD. The Ruthless Strategists did their thing and put quite a bit of hurt on my squadrons before I cleaned up most of the opposition fighters. Here is the close of round 3:

In round four, I moved the Interdictor out of the front arc of the ISD, an excessively conservative move. I also lined Demo (who had repaired two hull) up for a run on the Quasar, though should have turned inward another click. Here is the close of round 4:

In round five, I was evacuating squadrons rather than pursuing the enemy. The flak, ruthless strategists, and bomber plinking had really taken a toll and I didn’t want to give up more points. I failed to get a good shot on the Quasar, but did get into position for the double arc on the following round. Here is the close of round 5:

In round six, I put some solid damage through on the Quasar between Demo, IG88, and one of the Firesprays. I had him down to 2 hull, but could not finish the job. Similarly, Demo was down to a single hull again, thanks to the Quasar and ISD. Very close. Here is the close of the game:

This was a very close game, and long too at over two and a half hours. I definitely spent more time thinking about hot keys than about the best plays. I made a number of key errors that really cost me. In round two, I neglected to spend Demo’s token to activate IG88 and provide some cover. I pushed Jendon too far from the Gozanti (or vice versa), preventing me from activating key squadrons in round 3. I pushed Morna into the squadron fight to finish an already activated Maarek in round 3, but this was a grave mistake as Morna is something of a "royal guard" to be committed in the late game or used primarily against ships. It resulted in her being the only squadron loss on my side for little gain. Also in round three, I believe I could have rammed the Gozanti with the Interdictor without pointing away from the ISD. I wanted to play conservatively, but on afterthought, I think that it could have gone toe to toe with the ISD and come out on top thanks to the asteroid-Brunson effect. I evacuated Bossk and one of the Firesprays due to low hull, but should have moved them left instead of down, allowing them to jump the Quasar at the end of turn 6.

On the plus side, I learned from previous games and placed Demo in such a way to return to the fight should it be necessary and it was. Had I been able to get a close range shot instead of medium at the close of round 5, it would have meant the end of the Quasar. Nevertheless, it was a good move to re-commit with Demo. The Blinded Gunner critical (I pulled two of them) was also the undoing of Demo’s attack run, causing me to be unable to lock down the brace. I had two repair commands, but forgot to discard the critical damage card the second time and only gave myself an extra hull. This comes of not dealing out damage cards (except face up) and relying on the hull tracker.


Lessons Learned:

- Use your tokens BEFORE shooting, no matter how exciting the shooting aspect is!

- Morna is reserve (generally), do not commit her prematurely.

- When evacuating squadrons, allow for a round six final strike if necessary.

- Always deal damage cards. Don’t rely on the hull tracker on your ship.

Dodonna Yavaris vs Cracken MSU

In preparation for a tournament that Andy was going to attend, I brought out the German Champion’s Yavaris Aces list. This list consisted of an MC80C with FCT, SAd, and ECM, Yavaris with Flight Commander and Dodonna, GR75 with Adar and Boosted Comms, and Bright Hope with Toryn Farr. The fighters were Luke, Dutch, Gold, Ten, Dagger, Corran, and a pair of VCXs. The objectives were Precision Strike, Fire Lanes, and Sensor Net. It’s a tough, flexible list with five activations that can comfortably go first or second. I had never played it before and wanted to familiarize myself with the list.

On the other side, Andy brought a five activation Cracken list with a pair of MC30s (OEs, ExRacks, XI7s, Lando on one, Foresight on the other), a pair of Engine Tech TRC90s, a Quantum Storm Slicer Tool flotilla, Shara/Tycho, and a pair of A-Wings. He had the bid and chose my Sensor Net. Here is the board state at setup:

First round, I snatched up a pair of tokens with help from my VCXs. I bunched my squadrons up, hoping to draw the A Wings out and eliminate them with Ten Numb. Here is the close of round 1:

In round two, Andy did indeed send three of his A Wings over. I failed to procure a critical with Ten Numb when I activated him with Adar. I then activated Bright Hope, which was way too far forward. Andy used his MC30 and CR90 to triple ram the flotilla, which dramatically reduced my squadron efficacy. I was able to eliminate his three A Wings, but had few squadrons in position for bombing. I had last activation with the MC80, but was so focused on he squadron and token play that I forgot to shoot the MC30 at close range. Here is the close of round 2:

Round three opened with with MC30 hitting my MC80, which burned its brace. The Slicer flotilla was able to slice Yavaris, which hurt. I was able to eliminate the remaining A Wing without issue and proceeded to bomb the CR90, but couldn’t get enough bombers into the fight with Dagger in particular stuck on the station. I used my MC80 to bring the CR90 down to a single hull remaining, but had to move it up into a nasty close range double arc position next to the other MC30 with no brace remaining. I also forgot to use FCT this turn, which left my squadrons in less-than-optimal positions. On the other hand, I was grabbing up tokens like popcorn. The unactivated MC30 was indeed able to finish off my MC80, but I was able to eliminate his CR90 with Cracken aboard thanks to Corran Horn in the squadron phase. Here is the close of round 3:

In round four and five, I attempted to escape with Yavaris, but Andy was able to run it down and eliminate it with blue dice from an MC30. What would have been a very bad defeat was softened considerably by all the points I scored from Sensor Net. I ended up with a solid 180 points from the objective.

In deployment, I made the mistake of placing my fleet in the center. It would have been better to deploy  to the side to reduce flanking potential. Bright Hope was also isolated from the rest of the fleet, leading to it being singled out for early destruction. This could have been mitigated by me dropping to speed 1 on the first turn instead of steaming forward for two rounds at speed 2.

The placement of the squadrons is extraordinarily important, especially the B Wings due to their low speed. Even the speed three squadrons felt a little slow, emphasizing to me the importance of planning and positioning. The Sensor Net objective added an extra layer of complexity that had to be taken into account. By turn three, I was already making mistakes due to mental fatigue. Practicing the list would mitigate this, but it has a lot of moving parts to account for.

Overall, Andy did a nice job lining up both of his heavy hitters to drop my MC80 in one round of fire. His A Wings were effective at distracting my squadron ball for a turn, and his slicers prevented the key Yavaris turn. On my side, if I were to run this list in a serious way, I would need to practice a good deal with squadron placement and movement.

Dodonna MC75 vs Screed Dual ISDs

This list has evolved significantly from a triple MC30 Ackbar list into this present form. I really like triple MC30s, but find that the non-Admonition 30s are simply too susceptible to being destroyed outright by ISDs or Liberties. Having three of them also opens me up to being forked fairly easily unless I play conservatively. The obvious answer is Rieekan, but I have a strong aversion to him. My triple 30 lists also tend to cap at 5 activations, which just is not sufficient. By dropping the non-Admo 30s in favor of a 75 and a Hammerhead and utilizing the best officer ever (Strategic Advisor), I can boost my activations and staying power while maintaining three really solid threats. 

Rebels have a lack of commanders that synergize well with both large and small ships. Raddus and Rieekan would both fit this list reasonably well, but both of them change some of the fundamentals of the game and as a result, are less enjoyable to me. Dodonna, on the other hand, doesn’t radically alter the game and he works very well with my black dice ships. Garel’s Honor is also made awesome. Plus he’s cheap. Done deal.

I chose what I think are strong objectives: Most Wanted, Firing Lanes, and Salvage Run. With VCXs, I can score some solid points. My list was: MC75 Ordnance with SAd, OEs, ECM, APTs, and ExRacks; Admonition with Lando, OEs, APTs, RBDs, and H9s; Garel’s Honor with ExRacks; Slicer/Quantum GR75; Comms Net GR75; and Shara/Tycho with a pair of VCXs.

On the other side, my usual opponent, Andy, brought Dual ISDs at my request. He chose Screed, a BTA Kuat, Cymoon (No ECM), and a Comms Net Gozanti with Howlrunner, Ciena, and Valen as the screen. He chose first and picked Salvage Run, which guaranteed me 80 points. Here is the setup:

Unfortunately, I missed the round one image. In the first round, I was able to gather two of the tokens thanks to the VCXs. I got the other two during the second round. In that first round, I was also able to set up the MC75 to almost guarantee a double arc shot after the Cymoon activated in round two. Here is the close of round 2. The Cymoon was stripped of shields and had taken heavy damage at this time. I placed Admonition to take a shot and finish off the Cymoon on the following round.

In the third round, I did indeed finish the Cymoon. Admonition rolled terribly and eked out four damage without a black crit. I was forced to use the Hammerhead to finish the job with a ram. Here is the close of round 3:

In round four, my Hammerhead was destroyed, as was the Gozanti - thanks to a Dodonna assisted structural damage. We called it at that point as the Kuat could fairly easily escape.

This was a quick game that was essentially decided at setup. Because of my greater number of deployments, I was able to hold back both of my heavy hitters until after the ISDs were placed. Because of the speed and placement of the ISDs, I knew that I could reliably isolate and eliminate the weaker of the two. Had the Kuat been placed on the outside and the Cymoon on the inside, the result may have been quite a bit different. I may also have deployed my heavy hitters more toward the center and that would have delayed engagement and allowed for better re-positioning.

Lessons Learned:

- Deploy the weaker/slower asset to the inside of the formation, giving it a more sheltered position. The Cymoon tends to prefer slower movement while the Kuat moves fast.