My favourites are probably:
- Jabba's Palace
- Rhen Var - I know it takes a while to get to the middle, but I like the big gambit room in the middle, and the corridors are wider.
- Bothan Spynet
- Command Deck
- Grand Plaza

I don't always know why I like maps though - I like maps that encourage fast engagement and don't have too much difficult terrain/low objects to slow things down, but I'm sure some of my map preferences are just based on aesthetic reasons as well.

The problem is that it is EASY to corss the first quarter, but to go from there even to gambit requires a ton of movement, and to go all the way to your enemies bunker (1/4 of the way on their side) is almost impossible with the exception of a few squads.

I find that it is a GREAT lancer map, was pretty good for the vong scout swarm with all have forward positioning, and wasn't too bad for swap squads. Other than that, the problem becomes if your opp doesn't come out and engage, there is no way to cross from your bunker (or even from gambit) to the opp's bunker.

As the TO for this tournament I was so amazed that we got 19 players together. It is the highest number of players for any of our National Tournaments and equals our biggest tournament to date (LowerHuttaCon 2013). A big congratulations to the SWM players of NZ! LONG LIVE Save11! I'd also like to thank everyone that helped make the day such a success. A massive thanks to TheHutts who helped me tremendously throughout the day and provided constant updates here on Bloo after every round. Perhaps more people should organise and help at tournaments..... you too could end up at the finals table like myself and TheHutts did.

So here is my play report for NZ nationals

I ran Daala in Her Prime

--Daala in Her Prime--
27 Admiral Daala
20 Admiral Piett
16 Admiral Gilad Pellaeon
16 Grand Admiral Rulf Yage
14 Imperial Officer
14 Stormtrooper on Repulsor Sled
11 Captain Needa
8 Mas Amedda
8 R7 Astromech Droid
60 Raxus Prime Trooper x12
6 Ugnaught Demolitionist x2

(200pts. 23 activations)

Up until the night before the tournament I was still making squads and trying to decide what to take with me. At the last minute I decided to take this squad as I knew it well. It is probably the best one I've created and as the defending champion that's what I needed to bring to the table. Nothing but the best would do. I was a little worried about bringing it as by now most people would know a) how good Daala is and would probably build in a counter and b) know that I've played her a lot in the 2013/14 NZ tournament season and expect me to do it again.

Round 1: vs Kahu, Mandalorian: Boba BH, Shae, Pre, Zann Defiler, Zann Grenadier, T3-M4
Kahu won map roll so we played on his Bothan Spynet. I defer choosing side (as I almost always do) and he sets up on the left. He had a lot of big players in his squad but without a movement breaker he was quite easy to predict. I picked off Shea, the Zann Grenadier and Defiler at the end of round 1 with the sled/Imp Officer combo proving to be a massive help. In round 2 I was able to get next to Boba and take him down easily without him having evade. After that it was pretty much clean up. Kahu is a great kid (he's only 10 I believe!) and a lot of fun to be around and he'll only get better with doug*platypus to teach him. Unfortunately today was not his day. 1-0, 3pts

Round 2: vs Sharron, Sith: Revan SL, Kaan, Mandalore Lesser, Elite Supercommando, Lobot
I always seem to play Sharron in the 2nd round of major tournaments and as a part of the regular playgroup we have, he's the one person I've played the most. It's always an epic fight between the two of us and neither want to lose to the other! He brings in Momaw and salacious with Lobot. I lose map roll again so we play on Sharrons Tomb of The Acolytes. This map doesn't bother my squad too much as having wall climber helps me get to the targets I want quite easily. I defer side to react to his placement. Round 1 is a slow progression up the board for both of us. I out activate Sharron so in round 2 I wait for him to make all his moves, being very wary of his movement with Revan. His last move is to put Revan into gambit and wait for the assault. I move Pellaeon up to a point where my sled can be adjacent to Revan and in the bubble. The sled runs in and manages to do 80 to Revan with the help of the Officer and a Raxus does another 30 leaving him with 20hp. He wins initiative, kills the sled and swaps out for the ES. The ES kills a Raxus before dying himself. More commander spinning before I get to make my move on Revan. I take 3 shots at him but he makes all 3 LD saves. Eventually I kill Momaw, Mandalore, Lobot and Revan before I get to Kaan. I kill Kaan and he uses Thought Bombs to kill 3-4 troopers giving him a 1 point loss. 2-0, 6pts

Round 3: vs TheHutts: Imperial: Daala, Tech, 18 Snowtroopers
The dreaded Daala match up! TheHutts has already written this up so I'll just copy his one.



I do not disagree at all Graham. At the start of the 2nd round, I was one square away from killing Daala with Sled/Officer combo which I'm pretty sure would've given me the victory. After I had to retreat with the Sled, it was your game to lose. You had the upper hand almost all the way through and the only thing that saved me was shooting with my troopers from cover to make the return attack harder to hit. 3-0, 8pts

Round 4: vs Darth_Moore: Vong: Prefect, Warrior Caste Subcommander, Quorreal, Ossus Protector, Praetorite Scout * 10
Darth Moore is my brother. My YOUNGER brother. I do not want to lose to him! On paper his squad looks hard for me to take down. In reality, it's just as hard. He brings in more scouts, some protectors and 2 Zonamas, while I swap for Ozzel to make sure I out act him. I lose map roll (SERIOUSLY?!?!?! 0-4) and we play on his new Starport map. In round 1 he makes some great moves to hit some of my guys with Razorbug. I fail all my saves and it's not looking good. I sac my sled for a couple of his scouts to try to even things out a bit. Rounds 2 and 3 are pretty much him using Razorbug or Blastbug to take out my guys (I can't make a save to..... save myself) and me trying to get next to his guys to kill them. In round 4 I finally realise I can hit the protectors at range (I don't know why I thought they were cloaked) and start getting the points lead. The Imp Officer was the MVP of this game. I was able to get between 2 of his guys and kill them both losing only one trooper on multiple occasions. In the end Darth Moore ran out of attackers but we'd also run out of time. I won by about 30 points. 4-0 10pts

Round 5: vs Bob: Fringe: Talon, Morrigan Corde, Jarael, Dash, Lobot, Marn, TBSV, R7, Mouse, Ugnaught
At this point I'm the only one guaranteed a semi-final spot, but I want to want to win and make sure it's the number 1 spot. I've played similar match-ups before and I know how these squads interact. Bob brings in a Twilek Bodyguard and some more MD's with Lobot and 3 Rodian Brutes with Marn. The brutes and Jarael gain Charging Fire and Marn takes Cunning. I win map roll!!!!! First time today! But Bob's map is Bothan Spynet and I've played this match-up on this map before, so I chose his. He sets up on the Left in top building. Round 1 is spinning commanders and positioning for both of us with Bob moving up the corridor and me spreading out. With all of my forces quite far apart, I know that I can pin him in that corridor and that's what happens. He knows that if he moves out to get to my troopers, I'll be able to take out the big guns. I knew I wouldn't get a full 3pt victory against this squad but I did my best to take out as much as I could. When time is called, I'm ahead by about 60pts. 5-0, 12pts.

Now it's on to the finals in the number 1 position. I'll write up my finals report tomorrow as I'm writing this with a broken arm and it's starting to hurt Kez once said it's me that's broken, not Daala. Now I'm wondering if he can see into the future

Tomb of the Acolytes is one of the reasons I started thinking about 10 point gambit. I played 6 games on their and gambit wasn't fought for at all. I can only remember 2 times during those six games when either me or my opponent got gambit. It seams like most of the engagement doesn't happen around gambit, unless my expirience are just extremes.

Rhen var is one of my favorite maps visually, strategetically and I like that it's hard to get into gambit round one without a movement breaker.

Wasn't Daala made to brake Thrawns firm, blue grip on the Imperials? With everyones disgust of Daala does this mean Thrawn will mantain his dominance? Sounds like an old time move serial.
(maybe DARPH NADER was ahead of the curve)

Counters- Durge on speeder, Lancer, grievous on wheel bike, Luke and Leia on speeder, yobuck, jar-jar on kaidu, obi-wan on boga and maybe even some furious assaulter can do some damage. The issue is that these guys aren't popular in New Zealand at the moment... So paper squads will rule.(I know I left plenty out)

Good post.

When I look at bringing a Daala squad to a tournament, I look across the meta, and figure I have at least a 50/50 chance (and often a 95/5 chance) against every squad that doesn't have a hard counter, and I'll get a lot of 3 point wins. As long as I avoid my bad matchups in the semis/final, I have a good shot.

When I look at bringing a hard counter, I see a lot of tough matchups, plus I feel like a lot of my games I'll only squeak a 2 point win. Dooku + bombs is very tough for most gallopers/strafers. The ones I like best are Yobuck, Quednak, and Durge - they're the 3 I'd consider playing. Anakin Solo is maybe good, but tough with Pellaeon floating around, and R2/Tarpals/Momaw has potential as well.

We did see last year that the GenCon meta was a reaction against the Regional/NZ Nationals meta, and I wouldn't be surprised to see that again. But Daala is still a very powerful squad.