This is a report from a 200 points tournament played about six months ago. Then I forgot about the report and left in in the drawer so to speak. Not that it matters, it's not like you've eagerly anticipated it : )


This is the squad I used:

42 TIE Crawler
32 Thrawn (Mitth'raw'nuruodo)
27 Utapaun on Dactillon
15 Lobot, Computer Liaison Officer
14 Imperial Officer x3
11 Admiral Ozzel
8 Imperial Pilot
8 Mas Amedda
3 Ugnaught Demolitionist x3
3 Mouse Droid x2

200pts and 15 activations
Map: Chancellor's Starship/Invisble Hand


The squad went 4-1 for a second place overall. The competition varied from "for fun" to "very tough". I had not played the squad prior to the tournament but the concept of it was clear to me and I think decently executed overall, though significant mistakes was also made.

With all the brainpower added to the squad, one Grand Admiral, one Admiral and three Officers, you'd think they'd come up with a better way of fighting than charging into the enemy while screaming at the top of their lungs. Fact is, they did : ) For those of you into wargames, the functionality of this squad is comparable to that of an attack helicopter. It packs a lot of firepower and has great reach. It enables you to hit hard and get out of there before your opponent can respond and fire back. At the same time the drawback is the huge support footprint. If the enemy manage to reach your squishy HQ and hit those Admirals and Officers you're pretty much done for. But of course you won't allow them to do that : )

As would be obvious, the idea is to tap activations until the opponent have none left. Then, presuming there is an opening, the Tie Crawler or the Dactillion will move into a firing position. Typically the Tie Crawler will be given the additional attacks from the Imperial Officers. With opportunist from Thrawn this means twin attacks @ + 14 for 30 damage. Either the Tie Crawler or the Dactillion will then attempt to withdraw into a secure position. Override from Lobot is a crucial enabler for both movement and security. Variations are of course also possible. Both the Tie Crawler and Dactillion can be used for movement primarily with both of them double moving. While the Tie Crawler is the primary shooter, the Utapaun may also attack at a respectable +12 for 40 damage. Plenty enough to get the job done at times. And should the Tie Crawler be lost, the Utapaun will be able to keep the game going for a while.


Game 1

Map: Christophsis

Opponent squad:
57 General Grievous, Droid Army Commander
36 Darth Sidious
31 IG Lancer Droid
17 IG-86 Assassin Droid x2
15 Lobot, Computer Liaison Officer
12 Gha Nacht
8 Battle Droid Officer
6 Ugnaught Demolitionistx2
6 Mouse Droid x2


With the amount of activation fodder I had, Lancer strafes was obviously a great concern. Still I outactivated him, and not only had my swaps decent movement but also unlike the lancer, ranged attacks. It should not be impossible to hit the Lancer first. Unfortunately though, due to not having played on Christophsis before and misinterpreting various map features, I chose to play on the crap side where I could not get decent cover for my space demanding squad. While had I instead chosen the other side, most of the squad could have been given protection inside the office. Because of this, the beginning was disrupted by Separatist pot shots and movement just to avoid them. Meanwhile my opponent advanced along the top route intersected by doorways, using the Lancer and an IG-86. Eventually there was an opening however, which allowed me swap the Tie Crawler into a position from which it was able to destroy the Lancer. The IG-86 was still functional though. In part because my opponent had received reinforcements from Lobot twice and so eaten away my activation lead, meaning an Imperial officer was tapped before being able to contribute an attack. Next round I bungled the extraction by activating the Tie Crawler first, allowing for its destruction with twin opportunist from IG-86 and Pawn of the Dark Side from Darth Sidious. As I recall Sidious also managed to (erroneously) use Sith Lightning on the Crawler at the same time. Which may or may not have made a difference depending on the dice rolls of the IG-86. However it does not change the fact that activating the Tie Crawler was a weak move which gave my opponent a great chace to kill it and stage a comeback. Considering the damage reduction of the Tie, Opportunist increased the average damage output 2-3 times. Had I instead allowed my opponent to do his worst with the first activation, the Tie Crawler would probably have survived. Two activations would have been enough to swap the unactivated Tie Crawler for the Dactillion and fly to safety. Instead time was called for a loss by 42 to 35. While the loss was deserved given the mistakes I made, I don't think the squad was played to its full potential this game. My opponent then proceeded to win all his remaining games and so took first place with a 5-0 record.


Game 2

Map: Invisible Hand

Opponent squad:
69 Noghri Commando x3
27 Mission Vao
20 Bith Black Sun Vigo
18 Twilek Black Sun Vigo (?)
18 Moff Nyna Calixte
17 T3 - M4
8 Mas Amedda
+ Fillers

This opposing squad was apparently assembled with a few moments notice, as the opportunity to take part in the tournament arose. I was given the throne room side to set up my squad. When I began tapping activations, my opponent happily advanced towards the centre. I mean, his opponent was sitting at the far end of the map doing absolutely nothing while separated from his squad with no less than two unopened doors. What's the worst thing that could happen? Well, when my opponent was out of activations Lobot opened the first door and the Dactillion double moved and opened the second door. Then the Tie Crawler was swapped in and began shooting. Probably one or two opponents was taken out. The Crawler then retreated into the Throne room. Basically it was rinse and repeat from then on. My opponent made it as far as through the first door with, I believe a Bith and two Noghris to collect gambit but these were subsequentially based by the Tie Crawler and annihilated. End result something like 200 - 5.


Game 3

Map: Christophsis

Opponent squad:
62 Emperor Palpatine, Sith Lord
32 Thrawn (Mitth'raw'nuruodo)
33 Captain Rex
22 Imperial Governor Tarkin
20 Clone Commander Cody
8 Mas Amedda
6 RA-7 Death Star Protocol Droid
10 Caamasi Noble x2
6 Ugnaught Demolitionist x2

Again Christophsis and this time I chose the good side. Captain Rex was the big threat here as he with three twin attacks, penetration and perhaps opportunist really could have done a number on the Tie Crawler. With swaps his reach was increased as well. But what happened was that my opponent began to cautiously advance towards my side using the top side approach with the doorways, leading with a Caamasi followed by Palpatine. Eventually there was a opening which allowed me to take a few shots, even though poor ones at Palpatine with the Tie Crawler. Did not kill him. Next round Rex was given a chance to first thing shoot back at the Tie Crawler. But with no Opportunist for Rex, one attack wasting an Ugnaught and some poor dice rolls the Crawler only took 20 damage. Both players had by now killed an Ugnaught each and time was rapidly running out, but my opponent was closer to the centre and would have won. However as my opponent finally activates his last figure, I am able to fly the Dactillion into the gambit area for an 8 to 3 lead. With the win seemingly secured I then swap in the Tie Crawler and open the door for some final but unnecessary shots at ..Emperor Palpatine. Fortunately my opponent is a good sportsman which informs me that Emperor Palpatine has the "Betrayal" ability. And so I decide to not take those
shots after all. When time is up the dice is rolled to see what it the result had been, had the Tie Crawler attacked Palpatine. And of course, it shows a "1"!


Game 4

Map: Invisible Hand

Opponent squad:
82 Darth Bane
52 Felucian Warrior on Rancor
29 Dark Jedi Master
22 Sith Marauder
11 Darth Sidious Hologram
3 Ugnaught Demolitionist

This time my opponent is playing a decidedly "for fun" squad. And as in the second game I'm given the Throne Room side for set up. I make no changes in the setup as compared to to the second game. And as in that game my opponent decides to charge ahead towards the double doors of the Throne Room. Same procedure as last time, wait for opponent to finish his activations, move Dactillion to open outer door, swap in Tie Crawler and shoot. The Ugnaught and Sidious Hologram is taken out. The Felucian Warrior on Rancor takes 60 or so. Now Lobot locks the door. Not allowing these developments to him, my opponent advances around the Throne Room with his remaining units and towards the support I've placed behind the Throne Room. The Felucian almost manages to catch a Mouse Droid and an Ugnaught which rapidly runs away. With every unit of my opponent now exposed, the Tie Crawler can't help but disposing the Felucian, the Marauder and also take a good chunk out of Darth Bane. It should be nothing but mopping up at this point. He can't get trough the locked doors of the Throne room unless I allow him so. However, I manage to forget that I can only activate one unit with Ozzel. Lobot would have locked the door but there are no activations left for him to use. And so there is an opportunity which allows the Dark Jedi to open the inner double door and let Bane in for a Lightsaber assault against the Tie Crawler. With one Force point spent on movement, there is none left for Sith Rage however and the Crawler survives to finish off Bane and the Dark Jedi right there. End result something like 199 - 0.


Game 5

Map: Coruscant

Opponent squad:
62 Boba Fett, Bounty Hunter
62 Emperor Palpatine, Sith Lord
33 Captain Rex
31 Arica
+ Fillers, Ugnaughts, Ewok

The opponent this time is the other 3-1 player. The map turns out to be a problem. I don't want to set up my huges where they can immediately be targeted by Rex and Boba. Especially since I for some reason believe my opponent is playing Boba Merc instead of Boba BH. Eventually I choose the fighter side with the Dactillion outside and Tie Crawler and the rest of the squad inside the building. My opponent decides on what seems like a defensive approach with Arica and Rex each in one of the corners of the big building and Palpatine and Boba each in one of the remaining buildings. I spend the first two rounds double moving the Dactillion in order to avoid it becoming a target. Else I do nothing at all. My opponent also does nothing and his four big units remains close to his base line, perhaps waiting for the chance to take a shot at the Dactillion which never appeared. Round 3 the Dactillion is finally in cover and I can instead make an offensive move. The Tie Crawler shoots at Boba trough a blown up door opening. Only manages to do 30 damage or so though with poor dice rolls. Takes 10 or 20 from Boba in return. Meanwhile my opponents Ugnaughts have blown up doors to create a path through the centre building, perhaps to allow for protected approach towards the office where I have most of my units stationed. Also an Ewok and maybe a Mouse Droid is collecting gambit to put my opponent in the lead. Seeing how tough Boba was to take down, I instead decide to switch targets. Next round I wait for my opponent to outactivate, not much happens there though Boba and Palpatine may have moved into the Centre building. Then I use first the Tie Crawler for movement, swap and then also the Dactillion for movement. This allows me to reach deep into the large building with the Dactillion where Rex and Arica have been hiding in the small circular rooms at the edge of the map. The Imperial Officers gives attacks to the Dactillion and four attacks later both Arica and Captain Rex is gone. With little time left the game is now decided, about 70-10 in my favor. So I'm 4-1 for the second place and quite ok with that result.


Given how the squad fared in the tournament, a few improvements seemed possible to make. These figures were removed:

15 Lobot, Computer Liaison Officer
8 Imperial Pilot
3 Mouse Droid x2
3 Ugnaught Demolitionist

Instead these were brought in.
27 Lobot
-17 T3-M4
- 3 Mouse Droid
5 Camaasi Noble.

Lobot, CLO would rarely expose himself in any way given how the squad plays and so recon was not used, degrading the value of his reserves. Regular Lobot seemed a more appropriate option. Also Industrial Repair of the Imperial Pilot did not seem to come into play very often and so seemed possible to leave out. The new version was subsequently tried out at Vassal and double override did in fact prove very useful.

Overall this squad have produced some very lopsided results though, where to win means annihilating the opponent with no casualties. And I believe this should be expected, rather than be considered an exception. This squad is not about absorbing damage. It's about staying in cover, moving out for a few attacks and then return to safety. Until the first casualties, games with this squad seems to be on the edge. However, once the opponent have taken those few first casualties, their performance and chances of ever catching the Tie or Dactillion seems to drop rapidly. Perhaps this is because even if the Tie or Dac takes a few hits, the functionality and damage output of the squad is still completely intact. Every minor loss for the opponent will however tend to harm him, one activation there, one ability there and continually degrade his options and chances.