Thanks!

Han was absolutely key. Not only does Han GAMBLER add to the theme of the squad name "Karrde Trick", but gameplay wise too. He's a rock solid accurate shooter. He's always shooting at a +12 for 30, and can reroll if he misses at a +16. He's my R2 killer. I'd trade him for the tin can at a point loss almost everytime. A Rodian can't cut it vs droids. Also, Han has evade and 60 hp, so if need be he can take an enemy shot or 2 and live. I have both in my squad to kill Lobot if he ever pokes his head out. In most games my first pseudo-intuition (Talon's CE) is Han moving up, and then if I outactivate I move Han last to sprint him in position for a beginning of round 2 snipe.

This squad had dash as the big gun threat of course, and the Klats are hugely important, but often the big plays were Han Smuggler. This squad is built to control the action. It's not a slugger squad, or a rock squad, or a scissor squad, or a paper squad. It has counters to many things built in. It's a squad best used to systematically pick apart your opponents tech and isolate bigger threats. Han Gambler is a well made piece that finally gets to shine with Talon Karrde IB. He is a perfect fit for this strategy.

Wanted to be there too, but had a function to attend for my nephew. However the function was ..... BATTLING ROBOTS . He was on a High School team (they went 2-2).This was pretty exciting, if he is on next year I'll bring a big, fat seat cushion.

I played:

Talon's Hat Trick
Talon Karrde, Information Broker
Embo
Marn Hierogryph
Jarael
TBSV
Dash Rendar, Renegade Smuggler
Lobot (!!!!!)
2 mice
1 uggie

My map was Peaceful City

Round 1 I played against Amanda P with a Mando squad (Kelborn, Vindicated, a couple of scouts, etc.). I took the twin CE with Con Artist and brought in a Czerka Shield Tech and Salacious Crumb with Lobot, three extra uggies with Marn's Bribery. Jarael dropped one of the scouts in round two, then the second one a couple rounds later, and her uniques could not withstand my damage output. Also, her dice hated her, which didn't help. 1-0, 3 pts.

Round 2 I was matched against Etienne (atmsalad on Bloomilk) and his OR troopers. This is a really clever squad (wound up winning the squad award) and very well played. I brought in Young Boba (the v-set one) with Lobot, and Marn brought in an R7 (we were playing on his map, and I wanted to make sure I had adequate door control). This match did not go well. I lost Jarael early, which is always hard to come back from, then sacrificed Embo for 30 damage on the Arkanian Jedi General. I did manage to kill one of his OR troopers and several of the soldiers, but I didn't really have much chance in this game, particularly since my saves were NOT going my way at all. 1-1, 3 pts, lunch time.

Amazing Mexican food and margaritas. Les ran the next round pairings before we left, so I knew that we would be meeting up after lunch. This proved to be a big advantage, since I had all of lunch to think about what I could do to counter his squad, especially the Sidious. I had actually played the Sidious the night before, in the Royal Rumble, so I was pretty familiar with just how devastating he could be.

Round 3 vs. Les. I took the Force Renewal CE, Marn brought in a Twi'lek Bodyguard, and Lobot brought in Greedo, Bounty Hunter and an ugnaught. We played on Peaceful City, and I ran my squad into the middle for early gambit/positioning. In round two, Les Force Cloaked Quinlan and brought Sidious up toward the center room, and I moved my bodyguard and Talon toward the door (the bodyguard was hiding around a corner, so not an easy target). Now Sidious is in the bubble and Talon is activated, so I don't have to worry about his Leaping Assault OR his Ambush this round. I also managed to get a cover-free shot with Greedo, sticking Quinlan, and Embo ran in and put some hurt on Assaj. Assaj attacked back, missing one, and leaving him with 30. Then Sidious moved a couple squares over and lightninged Embo...unfortunately for him, DR 10 kicked in, leaving Embo alive. Momaw came in and put 10 on...well..pretty much everyone in the room, killing most of my fodder. The next round, Sidious moved up and dropped four attacks on Talon, but the bodyguard took two of them, meaning that Talon also lived. From there, my squad finished off Quinlan and Assaj, losing Embo in the process, and Les conceded once Sidious also went down. 2-1, 6 pts and in the top four going into the last round.

Round 4 vs. Chris P. I took the Close Quarters Fighting CE and brought in a LIN Demolitionmech and an R7 with Lobot, a Camaasi Noble and something else with Marn. We played on my map and he established himself very well in the center room, basically directing my attacks away from Cad and toward Durge. Durge went down very quickly, thanks to the Close Quarters Fighting on Jarael, among other things, but that still left the problems of Assaj and Cad. I unfortunately set up pretty much my entire squad in a straight line down the middle, and Cad got a furious assault off on basically everyone. I was rolling my saves well, but it didn't make much difference. Eventually, everybody on my side was dead except Jarael, and he still had a full health Cad plus his filler and commanders. We played it out, but once Talon died, there was really very little Jarael could do. 2-2, 6 pts, 6th place (Etienne was 5th due to beating me head to head).

Overall, I had a great time with this squad, and I was super happy that we finally have a Fringe squad as regional champ (even if it wasn't mine). Thanks to Les, Bryan, and everyone else for a great event. Looking forward to Chicago in a little over a month.