Monday, September 24, 2018

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.

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