Screed Kuat vs Madine Dual Liberty

After three straight losses with rebel MSUs, I decided to go over to the dark side. In this game, I tried running a Kuat ISD with Screed, Avenger, Boarding Troopers, Strategic Advisor, ACMs, and Leading Shots. I also brought a Raider 2 with DCaps and Heavy Ions. In support were a pair of Gozontis, Jendon, Steele, Morna Kee, and 2 Defenders. My opponent, Andy, brought a pair of Liberties under Madine (Star Cruiser flagship on right, Battlecruiser on left) with a pair of flotillas and three generic A-Wings. I had a large bid and went first. I chose his Fleet Ambush, which suited my aggressive list well.

During setup, I managed to cluster the asteroids in the center in order to shrink the play area, forcing him to deploy bunched up. I dropped my ISD first in a bold statement that I felt was suitable to my aggressive, heavy hitting list. Here is the setup:


During the first round, I was unable to use my DCap/HIE Raider on those Liberties without activating my Kuat first. Andy was able to ram his own flotilla to prevent his BC from being forced into close range of my ISD. I was really disappointed about that, but it was a solid move on his part. He had last activation, so I tried to position the ISD to prevent the Star Cruiser from moving, which would have given me the double arc at the top of the next round. Had I not deployed at speed 3, I would have had more success here. As it was, Madine allowed him to slide his SC between my ISD and Raider. It was ridiculously tight. He then used his engine techs to move forward further. My fighter wing did good work right out of the gate eliminating some of his cover and putting damage onto his flagship. Here is the close of round 1:


In the next round, I activated the Kuat first and put some double arc damage (Side and Rear, burning the boarding troopers) into the Star Cruiser. It wasn’t enough to finish it, but it was certainly limping. After my maneuver, the BC had a nice double arc on the Kuat, though I believe he split fire in order to take down my Raider. I also rammed his flotilla with my own in order to finish it off - a risky move as I landed on the rock as well. I don’t recall how it had taken the third damage. My other flotilla of course went down during the Star Cruiser activation. I easily mopped up his fighter cover and began hitting his Battle Cruiser with Morna and Steele. They are a brutal combination. Here is the close of round 2:


Round three began with my flotilla activation. I knew that it was doomed and it managed to do a Jendon/Steele double tap and reposition both for the next round follow-up. It went down to the BC side arc. I believe it had H9s, so that was pretty much a foregone conclusion. At this point the BC was also in fairly rough shape. Both of his liberties were working on an exit, but Morna is a persistent sort of predator. My ISD is out of the fight with unnecessary repair commands in the queue instead of the requisite nav commands. Here is the close of round 3:


Next, the BC (still on left) activated first and as a result, his SC wasn’t able to move as far as would have been healthy. Morna and Steele were both able to get some hits through in the squadron phase and finish off the flagship. At that point, we called the game. It was a respectable victory for me. Had I been running an MSU with light squads as is my habit, it would likely have ended differently.

AAR:
My asteroid positioning during setup was strong and accomplished my purpose. I would have been well served to have placed my ISD back a little further and at speed two in order to give myself more flexibility. Had I done that, I may have even used that awesome front arc firepower. Similarly, I should have placed the Raider more to the rear in order to give it more time and space to react. My squadrons were well placed to pounce on the enemy beginning in the first round. My flotillas were supposed to move quickly to come up right behind the Kuat, but I ended up placing them in an ideal place for the Liberties to mop them up after the first pass of the ISD. Those Gozantis were thoroughly ambushed. In the end, the Raider did very little, the ISD helped, but The Jendon-Steele-Morna combination was what won me this game, without a doubt.

Lessons Learned:
- When playing Fleet Ambush, do not be over-aggressive. Give yourself some space to react to enemy deployments.
- Rogues make solid finishers and Morna Kee is exceptionally good, especially with Jendon to give her a double-tap on occasion.

Ackbar Triple MC30s vs Ackbar MSU

After my previous defeat at the hands of Vader’s Dual ISDs, I made some modifications to my Ackbar Triple MC30 list. I decreased the fighter cover to the minimum Shara/Tycho compliment and exchanged a TRC MC30S for the standard Torpedo type with Admonition and Lando. My usual opponent, Andy, also brought an Ackbar MSU. He had an Assault Frigate for his flagship, a pair of TRC90s, and an enhanced armament MC30T. My bid allowed me to take first, though he outactivated me, six to five, allowing him to move two ships last. I chose his Solar Corona as I figured my speed would allow me to reposition from the center as needed.

From left to right, I have a vanilla TRC Scout, Admonition, and Foresight. Here is the board state at setup:

In the first round, I attempted to adjust my formation to get in front of his formation. He was moving slowly forward. Here is the close of the first round:


I had to slow Foresight to prevent him from moving into medium range of the enemy MC30 that hadn’t yet activated. This strings my formation out into a longer line than I would have liked, while Andy maintains a very tight and effective formation. I also sent my two fighters after Tycho, who just moved away during his activation - oops. Here is the close of round 2:


In round three, Andy picked up speed to prevent being cut off. I do not believe any shooting had taken place in this round. Foresight was lagging behind. Here is the close of round 3:


Round four was when things began to get interesting. My vanilla MC30 moved up to block the movement of the CR90 force it into close range. This is a successful maneuver, forcing the double arc. I moved Admonition up behind, thinking to block the enemy MC30 at close range. Some clever working of the maneuver tool foils my hopes there (The model doesn’t fit after base is placed). Foresight is dismally out of position and without its nav token now due to a speed change. My first flotilla is popped - small concern at this point. Here is the close of round 4:


Round five was the decisive round of the game. I activated my vanilla MC30 first, which had a solid double arc on the CR90. My black and red dice gave me terrible results, even with external racks and the TRC and I was unable to destroy the corvette (I believe that was 7 black and 3 red dice). Instead, I rammed and was stuck in place, a very tight spot. He activated his TRC90s and popped my vanilla MC30 in return. Admonition moved up to double arc and block his flagship, which had only light damage at this time. I then had to activate Foresight and could not avoid landing at close range of his MC30, which then activated and popped my flagship with a single volley. Ouch, things were really looking grim. This is the close of round 5:


In the final round, I activated Admonition and managed to destroy the assault frigate, clawing back some points to help offset the major losses I had taken. I do not believe any of the Sharas or Tychos went down. No further shooting occurred. Not a crushing defeat, but a decisive one nonetheless.

AAR:
The asteroid placement was mostly a non-factor, though it did make my early maneuvers a bit more complicated. My setup was adequate, though had I deployed at an angle, I would have been better able to move toward his front as a group of three and not left Foresight behind. My round four positioning was decent, though had I dropped the speed of Admonition, I may have been able to keep the opposing MC30 in front of me and that would have allowed Foresight to move up without being popped next round. I let Foresight lag far behind, isolating it from the other two hitters - a major weakness in my approach. My vanilla MC30 should have easily popped the opposing CR90 and then survived the round, but that is a downside of not bringing any black dice modification. My attempt to get my entire fleet in front of his was not a success. His ability to activate two ships after all of mine had moved prevented me from executing any easy first/last hits, though the last round Admonition activation was good.

The loss of a single MC30 Scout is 86 points (ER, IO, TRC) before any title as in the case of Foresight. This is a lot of points for something that is only marginally more difficult to kill than a 51 point TRC90 with comparable long range firepower and better maneuverability. As much as I like the MC30 Scout, I will be retiring it for now.

Lessons Learned:
- Do not neglect your ordnance experts. Black dice can be swingy just like the reds.
- MC30s are very fragile without Admonition. Beware loading them with points.

Ackbar Triple MC30 vs Vader Dual ISD

In this encounter, I brought three MC30s, all of which were scout types with TRCs, external racks, and intel officers. One of them also had Foresight, which was my flagship. My opponent, Andy, brought an ISD2 with Vader as well as a Cymoon. Both had tractor beams. He took first player and picked my Hyperspace Assault. His ISDs set up in the corner, while I set up with the intent of moving quickly to get around the side of his formation, using the asteroids as cover.

I missed the picture at set up, but this is the close of round 1:


In round two, the Cymoon managed to get into medium range (by a hair) of the vanilla MC30. The hyperspace tokens are in place for the drop. This is the close of round 2:


I dropped my MC30 in at close range of both ISDs, outside of their nasty front arcs, at the beginning of round 3:


The Cymoon activated first and destroyed the vanilla MC30 at medium range and moved away from the hyperspace assault ship while staying out of close range of Foresight. My assault ship had very little effect because of the lack of black re-rolls. It then moved off to the left to avoid hitting the asteroid. Here is the close of round 3:


The MC30 assault ship moved slowly around - out of the battle thanks to the tractor beams and a turn to the left instead of right. The squadron battle was finished with Shara on one remaining health and no scatter token. My flotilla was popped by the Cymoon at long range. This is the close of round 4:


The Gozanti managed to knock out Shara. Round five was uneventful. Here is the close:


Round six was similarly uneventful. I was down an overpriced MC30 and a flotilla - a fairly heavy defeat for me.

AAR:
This was a tough matchup as second player. It suggests that I need a bigger bid to keep my fragile ships out of danger. My main blunder was being over-eager to engage the Cymoon. I moved a bit too close with the vanilla MC30 and the ISD was able to move speed three afterwards to line up a solid medium range shot at the start of round three. The Cymoon was also able to use Vader to fish for an accuracy in order to pop a flotilla the following round - something I did not expect to happen. The tractor beams on both ISDs kept my assault ship from re-engaging after the third round. I simply did not have the requisite firepower to take down either ISD after this round. On the squadron side, we had mutual destruction. I had gradually switched from CR90s to MC30s in order to avoid being destroyed in a single activation, unfortunately my MC30 load-out does not give me sufficient survivability.

Lessons Learned:
- Bid high with an MSU. Six points is not sufficient.
- MC30s without Admonition are extraordinarily fragile. Handle with care.
- Braces tend to negate the Ackbar damage boost when I have a single ship on target.
- Black dice need modifications when counting on a burst of damage to handle your opponent.