Congratulations to our top 3 players from each division in the Fall 2024 Escalation tournament!

Outer Rim Division:

1st: Overley28
2nd: thereisnotry
3rd: DarthMaim

Core Worlds Division:

1st: gandalfthegreatestwizard
2nd: urbanjedi
3rd: NoffyD

It has been a really fun time getting to this point! There have been many changes in the standing throughout the tournament and it has now come down to this. The playoffs will be 350pt games with a 2 hour time limit and 18pt gambit. Without further ado, here are the players and squads competing in the first round of the players:

Outer Rim Division:

Overly28:

http://www.bloomilk.com/Squad/257513/extreme-replusiveness

--Extreme Replusiveness--
52 Master Thon
56 Revan, The Prodigal Knight
48 Nomi Sunrider, Legacy of the Light Side
46 Ven Zallow, Jedi Master
33 Bastila Shan, Jedi Master
28 Mira of Nar Shaddaa
25 Juhani
18 Force Nexus
14 Old Republic Senator
11 Teethree (T3-M4)
9 Ugnaught Demolitionist x3
6 XT-6 Droid x2

(346pts. 15 activations)

Frigid Outpost

thereisnotry:

http://www.bloomilk.com/Squad/257489/gonna-open-up-a-kana-troopers-350

--Gonna open up a Kana troopers 350--
56 Revan, The Prodigal Knight
49 The Jedi Exile
36 Atton "Jaq" Rand
33 Bastila Shan, Jedi Master
29 Carth Onasi, Old Republic Soldier
29 Satele Shan, Hero of Alderaan
25 Gnost-Dural, Jedi Master
24 Kana Terrid, Jedi Apprentice
23 Jace Malcom, Old Republic Trooper
14 Old Republic Senator
11 Teethree (T3-M4)
6 Mouse Droid x2
3 Ugnaught Demolitionist
3 XT-6 Droid

(341pts. 15 activations)

Map: Starport District

DarthMaim:

--A Gathering of Darth's 350--
62 Darth Revan, Sith Lord
50 Darth Bane, Sith Master
48 Darth Malak, Sith Lord
48 Darth Zannah
37 Kas'im, Sith Blademaster
36 Lord Kaan
27 Darth Bandon
14 Exar Kun, Dark Force Spirit
3 Mouse Droid
6 Rodian Brute x2
9 Ugnaught Demolitionist x3
6 XT-6 Droid x2

(346pts. 16 activations)

http://www.bloomilk.com/Squad/257659/a-gathering-of-darths-350


Map of choice = Frigid Outpost


Core Worlds Division:

NoffyD:

http://www.bloomilk.com/Squad/257579/4--through-the-lattice-of-his-cell

--4: through the lattice of his cell--

100 Maul and Savage, Master and Apprentice
40 Silri
33 Asajj Ventress, Nightsister
31 Mother Talzin
24 Old Daka
23 Merrin, Nightsister of Dathomir
46 Nightsister Hunter x2
19 Talia, Nightsister Hunter
16 Sith Witch
8 Nightsister Zombie x2
3 Mouse Droid
3 XT-6 Droid

--Map Choice: Ravaged Base

Map: Great Library

gandalfthegreatestwizard:

http://www.bloomilk.com/Squad/257527/the-darkness-of-his-beard

--the darkness of his beard--
100 Dooku
43 Cad Bane, Bounty Hunter
42 General Grievous, Hero of Hypori
39 Quinlan Vos, Double Agent
35 Asajj Ventress, Nightsister
33 Aurra Sing, Assassin
26 Moralo Eval
14 San Hill, Chairman
9 Red Hand Syndicate Spy
5 Muun Guard
4 Battle Droid

(350pts. 11 activations)

Map: Frigid Outpost

urbanjedi:

http://www.bloomilk.com/Squad/257544/the-escalation-no-one-expects-350

--The Escalation No One Expects 350--
57 Lord Hethrir
41 The Inquisitor, Jedi Hunter
45 Second Sister (Trilla Suduri)
35 Darth Vader, The Emperor's Fist
35 Third Sister (Reva)
33 Lumiya, Dark Lady of the Sith
32 Ninth Sister (Masana Tide)
27 Wilhuff Tarkin
10 BB-9E
8 Bothan Saboteur
5 Raxus Prime Trooper
3 Ugnaught Demolitionist

(331 pts. 12 activations)

Ravaged Base is the map

thereisnotry defeats NoffyD on Starport District, 281-229 (2-1)

I won the map roll and Anthony set up on the right. Gnost Dural had no CEs to steal since all of the enemy CEs were for sub-factions, not factions (I'll forever be kicking myself for not recognizing that problem while I designed him), so his measly +2 Attack CE was functional for this match. All of Anthony's pieces had Cunning/Opportunist, as well as MaulSavage's CE, which came to +8/+20 on top of all of their regular buffs.

Round 1: We both moved our people forward, but there was no attacking. Anthony made me nervous by moving one of his cloaked Hunters down to the bottom door by the Loading Dock area, which gave him a long LOS all the way into the Flight Control room, which is where my people wanted to gather. That forced me to leave that small door closed because otherwise I'd start losing pieces quickly. However, I did move Atton up beside the big ship in the middle of the room, preparing for some tricky maneuvers in the coming rounds.

Round 2: Anthony went first and moved a mouse. I activated ABM and moved Atton up to try to shoot at the Hunter who was staring menacingly in my direction. However, that Hunter had Stealth, and if I wanted to move forward far enough to attack I would've left him way out of position, so it wasn't worth it; instead, Atton shot the mouse droid and hid behind the ship again, locking the big door in gambit. We spun some fodder. Anthony's Hunter felt vulnerable so she retreated back to join her friends. Daka was preventing his squad from being disrupted by ABM, but it still had an impact, since anyone further than 6 squares from Daka was disrupted (no Cloaked, no dmg boosts, etc). There was more advancing people up, but not really any offense on either side yet. At the end of the round I advanced both Carth and Revan far into the big room so that I could try some nasty tricks in the following round, hoping to get some shots through the bottom door, near the place where the Nightsisters were gathering.

Round 3: Anthony won init and let me go first. Carth used Surprise Move to tuck into a safe-ish position behind a wall. [I had been hoping to win init so that I could've made Anthony go first, because then I could've used SM to put Carth in position where he could get a pile of shots on Talzin since she doesn't have Cloaked and most of his other people do. But since Anthony made me go first, I had to scrap that plan.] I moved my Uggie. Anthony spun some fodder. Now I put my secondary plan into action: I ran my Mouse forward to open the small door, then I moved Atton up to draw a nasty LOS on the XT-6 and then Talzin...with ABM on, he's shooting for some sweet 40dmg shots. It worked, but Talzin used Bubble twice, so she was only down to 50. But still, the threat was initiated and combat had begun. Atton locked the door that his Mouse had opened. A Zombie used Taka's CE to charge in and kill my Uggie, which created another Zombie. Now I used another sneaky plan (you can't claim that I was passive in this game!) to open the big door at the bottom of the map with Jace, and then Carth spent a FP to move 8 squares to shoot an un-activated Merrin, at +17s for 40dmg...I just need to not roll a 1. Yep, I rolled a 1! This was the first of several times this game that I missed the killing shot on a key piece. So Merrin lived with 40hp. That allowed her to retaliate against Carth and kill him (with Talzin's cannon shot CE for the final hit). More fodder moves by Anthony. Then I tried yet another sneaky trick: I used T3 (who had locked the door on the west of the gambit room) to flame both of the Zombies that were near Satele, and then open a different door. This opened the door next to Satele, who could use Force Dash to charge in and make 4 attacks against a helpless Silri. I needed 4s to hit, and I naturally rolled a 2 on my first attack, so Silri only took 30dmg, and then I poured the other 2 attacks (both 4s) into the Hunter, who was also beside her. Satele then died helplessly to hits from Silri's 40dmg whip, and then a 30dmg punch from a Zombie. Talia used the Invis Potion on Asajj. Now I tried my last nasty trick of the round: I opened the big door at the bottom of the gambit room, then I ran Revan up 12 squares (taking 30dmg on an aoo from MaulSavage), to hit the remaining Hunter and then Repulse just about everything. Merrin, the Hunter, and two Zombies died, while good damage was done to MaulSavage, Daka, Silri, and Talzin. Revan was now standing in the middle of the Nightsisters with nothing but 4 fp and a hope. Rebellions are built on hope...but this was not that faction. Revan died at the end of the round after valiantly failing his LS defense saves to Asajj's 50dmg hits. 117-83 for Anthony.

Round 4: I won init, so Atton moved 8 to try to kill both Daka and Talzin. [Was this too aggressive? Perhaps. But I was down and I honestly thought I was going to lose, so I had to play aggressively if I wanted to have a hope of coming back.] He did kill Daka, but Talzin survived at 20hp with more Bubbles of life. Asajj then eliminated Atton (failed Avoid Defeat roll). I turned on ABM again and spun a piece. On my next turn I tried another nasty trick, using Master Speed with Gnost Dural to try to kill the Sith Witch, who was blocking my shots to Talzin. Naturally, I rolled a hit and then missed the twin and the fprr, so Jace had to finish off the Witch. The witch went down and the first hit on Talzin worked (Bubbled so only 10dmg on her) and then yep...you guessed it...he missed the killing shot...Talzin survived yet again, this time at 10hp. MaulSavage made Gnost Dural pay, bring him to 50hp (but taking 50dmg back from a Djem So crit). Silri then tried Drain Life but Gnost was lucky...and then he was more lucky when she missed both of her attacks. I moved more of my people forward, to prepare for my next nasty trick. Talia used Invis Potion, which would've allowed her and Asajj to get in on Gnost Dural, but I ran T3 down there to use Targeting on MaulSavage and lock the door in their face. [No Invisibility Soup tricks for you!] All of this was to set up a nice 40dmg cannon shot for Jace who still needed a 10 to hit, but yeah...he rolled a 6. 153-141 for Anthony, but at least I got gambit with the Exile.

Round 5: I won init and used Jace to take 3 shots (for the kill??) on Silri...he hit the first and then missed both of his chances for the killing shot. I sacc'ed my XT-6 droid to give him a cannon shot. Same result! Demoted. Court-martialed! Sent to the BIN OF ETERNAL DARKNESS!! Talzin zapped both Gnost Dural and Jace. Asajj moved in to kill Gnost Dural, and he died (nothing on the Djem So). T3 said "Enough of this!" and moved up to flame a whole pile of people: Silri (finally dead!), Talzin (finally dead...no fp left for Bubbles of life), Asajj to 90, MaulSavage to 110, and 20 on himself. He then locked the door in front of him so that he would hopefully live a bit longer. It was not looking good: MaulSavage at 110, Asajj at 90, Talia at 60, vs my minor attackers. Talia opened some doors so that Maul could push Jace to 10hp. I moved Bastilla into gambit, along with most of the rest of my squad. I finally had the lead now, 230-181, but he still had a lot of beef left on the board.

Round 6: Anthony won init and killed T3 with MaulSavage, then pushed Jace to death (I was still up, 230-215). I was still in gambit and he wasn't, and I calculated that he didn't have the ability to kill any more of my pieces other than Kana Terrid, so I tried to hide her safely in gambit behind my Senator and the Exile...but Asajj just ran right past my Diplomat (d'oh!) and then failed her Pheromones save (whew!). Bastilla hit Asajj with a crit...failed Parry save...she tried to fprr, but the Exile used Force Defense, so it landed. Then Bastilla hit again, bringing her to 10hp. I really wanted the kill on Asajj, so I then used the Exile to use Repulse 3, which killed my Senator and put 30 on both Bastilla and Kana, but it also guaranteed the kill on Asajj and put 30dmg on Talia. After gambit, that brought me to victory, 281-229.


Wow, this match was insane! I was behind and losing until Round 5, when I was finally able to secure some significant kills--Daka, Talzin, Silri--all of whom just wouldn't die before that. The Nightsisters' damage output (+8/+20), along with their other tricks (charging, cloaked, etc) were extremely intimidating to play against. And to make matters worse, the dice failed me just about every time I tried to use a smooth nasty tactic to score a key kill! If we played this match a few more times I'm pretty sure that Anthony would win most of those other games. But I got lucky this time [despite being very unlucky with those #$#@!! vassal dice!] and barely squeaked out the win. Thanks for the game, Anthony!

Darth maim and I are playing Friday at 7pm easrern

DarthMaim defeats Urbanjedi ( 385-264 ) on Ravaged Base ( 3-1 ).

Jason won the map roll, so I chose the right side and set-up in the middle to upper right and he set-up in left upper with a few guys in the middle.

Rnd 1: I win init and go first. We both intuition, he with Reva, me with Zannah. We both got gambit, he in the middle next to the lifts, me in the Command Center.

Rnd 2: I win init and go first. We both intuition, same guys as rnd 1. We both were being cautious, and he kept his forces back, near the lifts, me in the Command center. He did manage to bring Vader and a few others to the door at the Command Center ( Coordinated movement is good on his team ), and with some door shannanigans, Vader greater mobiled in destroying a Rodian and a mouse, mobiling back away in the hallway, which closed the door. Reva moves into the outside area ( coordinated movement got her to the door ), so she pushes an uggie to death. Exar Spirit moves to within 6 of Reva ( DFA ) was turned on in rnd 1. Kas'im "Leaping Assaults" to base Reva and hits on the first (30 dmg after missed parry ), and the 2nd attacked missed. Revan "Master Speeds", and hits for 30 dmg on Reva ( missed parry ), and he swaps in Bane, who Star Echos and LS assaults Reva and defeats her. ( 2 missed parry saves ). Bane then LS assaults Vader, and he activates Telekenesis, and Bane fails it ( even with FPRR ), so no dmg to Vader . Jedi gets gambit, I do not.

Rnd 3: I win init. Zannah intuitions to come inside from the outside, in case BB-9E wants to do any door shannanigans. Bane attacks Vader, and this time, makes his Telekenesis save. 2 attacks hit ( 2, 19's for 40 dmg each { Juyo Style } and 2 missed parries ) and 2 missed attacks ( no Djem so due to Dun Moch Style Mastery ). XT-6 gets sacc'ed to give Zannah her turn to LS assaults on Vader, and she of course, misses her TK save, and then gets hit from Djem so, but she SSM's the hit. Vader attacks Bane, who LS defenses 1 and takes 20 dmg, on the other. Here's where I decided to release the "Nuke". Revan Master speeds to the hallway below the Command Center, where all the action was taking place. XT-6 gets sacc'ed to move Exar to within 6 of Vader, Second Sister, The Inquisitor, and his Bothan Saboteur. Vader saves ( takes 40 dmg ), and Second Sister and Inquisitor both fail ( taking 80 dmg ) and the Bothan dies ( many Bothans have died in many different causes ). Both Zannah and Bane save and both take 20 dmg after F bubble and LS prot. Second Sister moves in with F dash and makes quick work of Bane, who fails his LS defense saves, and Bane's day is over, but not until he Rules of 2, moving Darth Bandon in to where Bane once stood, giving him all his Force powers. Kas'm LS assaults Vader, hits Vader for 30 dmg, and makes his TK save, but then takes 20 back from Djem so, but then Vader fails his last parry to end his day on the battlefield. Malak comes to the party to add his mark and fries Second Sister for 30 dmg, ending her day, as well. Lord Hethir comes in and Unleashes Force hell, and Kas'im, Bandon, and Zannah all save and taking the lower dmg ( LS prot and F bubble respectively ). BB-9E fails and is defeated. Raxus Prime troop blasts an uggie. The Inquisitor attacks Kas'im and Kas'im's day in the battle was over. Rnd ends with Jedi getting gambit, and I don't.

Rnd 4: I win init. Revan spends 2 Force for MS and to move further, to base The Inquisitor with Ambush, hits on the first for 40 dmg, only to be Riposted for 40 dmg back at him, then hits for another 40 dmg ( failed parry ), and down went the Inquisitor, ending his day. Revan swaps Malak in and he lights up Hethir for 30 dmg. Hethir once again unleashes hell ( using Ninth sisters Force thanks to "Waru" ) and an Uggie dies, Malak saves taking 30 dmg, Bandon takes 60 dmg ( even after 2 FPRR's ), Zannah saves and takes 10 dmg after F bubble. Zannah moves to base Hethir and activates LS assault and hits 2 times for 60 dmg, ending Hethir's day on the battlefield. Lumiya Reckless assaults to Zannah, but misses the 1st attack, hitting the second for 30 dmg., so she lives to continue fighting ( whew! ). Malak zaps Lumiya for 30 dmg. Round ends with Jedi getting gambit and me not.

Rnd 5: Surprise! I win init. Zannah activates and attacks Lumiya 2 times, for 60 dmg ( she had only 50 hp left ), so she went down. Raxus kills a Rodian brute. Then Ninth Sister moves and attacks Zannah, but misses rolling a 3. Then Bandon moves in to attack the Ninth sister foolishly, missing on the first attack, spending a Force pt to hit on the 2nd, then Ninth Sister Counter Pushes Bandon to death. Rnd ends with Jedi and I, both getting gambit.

Rnd 6: I win init. Malak activates and zaps Ninth Sister with S Lightning for 30 dmg, and her day is over. Jedi attacks Malak with his uggie, and moves him to get him out of the way for Tarkin to try and blast Zannah, so the uggie dies. Tarkin moves to attack Zannah ( taking 20 dmg from Malak on the AOO ), getting to Zannah and hitting with Cunning, but she SSM's the attack, so she lives. Zannah activates rolling a 20, to do 40 dmg on Tarkin. Then she hits on her 2nd attack, killing Tarkin. Revan moves to attack Jedi's last guy the Raxus Prime Trooper, but rolls a 1( doh! ). Revan laughs, re-rolling to kill the trooper, ending the game.

Wow!!!!!! What a slugfest of a battle. Obviously, the keys to my victory were winning init every rnd, and being able to swap Revan in and out of combat, replacing him primarily with Bane, who did a lot of dmg thanks to Star Forge's Echo. It's such a great combo! Another key was Kaan's Thought Bomb doing 80 dmg on The Inquisitor and The 2nd Sister, as they both missed their saves even after FPRR's. Still another key was my guys surviving 2 unleash of the Forces's from Hethir, with only 1 of my character's taking the full 60 dmg! Both Jedi and I agreed that was huge. Lastly, Zannah should not have survived this battle, as Lumiya moved in with Reckless Assault with Opportunist and Lightwip, and she missed on her 1st attack, hitting on the 2nd, which left Zannah at 30 hp, which really hurt Jedi's chances. A really fun game. Always a pleasure Jedi