So, Lady Hothie setup a surprise/Anniversary party for Hothie and invited us all from far and wide. I decided it would be a ton of fun to make the trip and it did not disappoint.
I had an AMAZING time. It was so fun to hang out with everyone. Playing minis was purely a bonus. Special shout out to Jay's Hobby shop this store was incredible. Definitely one of the best I have ever seen. Jay is a very nice guy and his prices are great!
Special thanks to Imperator58 for deciding to make the trip with me. It is one thing to talk to people on a message board and entirely something else to meet someone for the first time in real life and immediately spend 4 hours in a car and all day together. You are good people!
Extra special props for Hothie who didn't know about the event and threw a squad together at the last minute and went 4-0! (cough...big fish syndrome...cough :P )
We decide to do 4 rounds at 50 minutes per
Let's see... oh yeah about the tourney what do I remember?
Lady Hothie said there venue mostly plays for fun and isn't too competitive, so I decided to rock the Younglings. Here was my squad-
General Skywalker
Commander Gree
Qui-Gon JT
Queen Amidala
Mas
R7
x3 Antarian Ranger
x11 Younglings
1st round I get to play Hothie. I see his squad and already know it is an auto loss for me lol. He has Mothma, Argyus, Yularen, Amidala, R2 Astro, Clone Repeater, some Senate Commandos and some Naboo Soldiers. So, basically he is all shooter with Opp and if I make it across the board with my kids and actually kill someone they get a death blow shot in return. This is compounded by playing on his map choice of one of JC's new Desert Invasion maps which has very nice shooter lanes. I make it worse by activating Anakin too early and letting Hothie setup a tow override R2 Shot with the Repeater with Opp. He only misses once and I miss my lightsaber defense and Gen Skywalker is hurt bad. Next round he wins init and is able to finish off Ani. This also allows him to play very aggressively by moving his shooters 12 squares knowing full well that if I kill his guys they are going to shoot me right back. I make it interesting by taking out Argyus, R2, and the Repeater, but there is no way for me to catch up. Fun game. I took my beating like a Youngling.Tongue out
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Next round I get to play Matt(Rancorwhisperer) He has Luke COTF, Yoda Dag, Rodian trader, Lobot CLO, R2, Reikkan, Dodonna, Leia Senator, Ghost Obi, Jolee Bindo, Twilek Vigo and some mice. He has no map and picks through mine and gets out Ratattack Arena. 1st round we move into the arena and he has Luke and a MD at the ready. 2nd round I put some Younglings in gambit and he swings Luke in and wipes out a couple. I don't even need Anakin as the Younglings act like Piranha and consume Luke into a spirit. From there is pretty much getting my guys over to his override pieces and I am able to Kill R2 and Lobot and use my R7 to lock out Riekkan and Dodonna. Anankin doesn't get to play the rest of the skirmish cause he never makes a stun save from Yoda the rest of the way, so it is up to the Younglings to finish off Jolee and they get the job done. GG, but Luke needed to take out Anakin for him to really have a chance.
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3rd round I get to play Klecser. He has been barking all day and when I see his squad I know why. He has Aayla, Yularen, R7, Gree, Bacara, x6 ARF troopers, uggie, and mice. He wins map and chooses Death Star. I am having flashbacks to my first game with Hothie and it is worse cause he has super stealth with his opp shooters. Luckily I outactivate him and setup hanger side. I move cautiously using the upper and lower middle of the maps. I move out occasional Younglings hoping to bait him into moving toward gambit and finds creative ways to snipe them. I lose about 4 or 5 before I finally get a Ranger into Gambit. Now time is becoming a factor and I am way back on points. I decide to get Aayla to join the part and move Skywalker and a Youngling into gambit to setup for a strike if I win init next round. I lose init and he is able to double cunning Anakin and I l take both (forgetting about Djem so which is not helpful) He hasn't used any FPs for Cloak (since most of my squad is melee I am guessing) Anakin takes an AOO to put 60 on her and one Youngling fails and another hits. I am able to finally kill her at the end of the round and that is 50 points well needed. I spend the rest of the round flooding gambit with my rangers and Younglings making him shoot them instead of Anakin cause if he goes down then the game is over. Next round time ends and we start looking at how many acts we have left and what the point total is. He can get gambit to negate mine and if he finishes 2 younglings with is remaining 2 ARF troopers he wil win by 1 point. I spend my time scouring for any chance on getting points on something. Finally I see where I can move a ranger 6 squares and take a shot on an ARF not in cover and kill him for the extra points I need. VERY GOOD GAME! Awesome match. Very fun. Even more fun than the game was all the comments and chatter that happens while playing a game with KlecserLaughing. (side note- during the match I found out that he was a Packers fan, so me being from MN we both cranked up the hate a notch, but just like real life the cheese was no match this year hahaha!)
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Last match I get to play Jason (Dumbbell51974) who I got to know a little a GENCON and it was awesome to get a chance to play him. He has Jaina, Jacen, Han Smuggler, R7, Dodonna, Anakin Solo, Wedge, Leia Skywalker, Twilek Vigo. He wins map (I went 0-4 for the day lol) and we play on Yavin Temple. I choose hanger side and he puts Han, R7, and Dodonna at the top and the rest of his squad at the bottom. 2nd round he uses Leia to open a side door in one of the smaller rooms. I am able to move a Youngling in and attack her without squad assault and miss. Youngling dies to a Vigo shot. Then while I am trying to figure out how to get Anakin in the room to double on Leia (I am 11 squares away) he moves Jaina into the room and my decision is made. I move my R7 over and get a line that allows me to close the door and lock Jaina into the room. I use a force for Knight speed to attack Jaina with Ani, but roll a 1 on an attack. Crap. I send a Youngling in and he misses, so Jaina lives to the next round. He wins Init and is able to double cunning on Ani and I miss my defense roll again.(happened all day) and I only make one Djem so and miss the attack. I then decide to move for a double momentum and get hit by the AOO and fail my Djem so. Finally Jaina goes down to some Youngling destruction. By this time however he has been able to move Jacen into the middle hallway and since I need to use R7 to keep the door closed in front of Leia I have to let him open my door and the 3rd round he wins init and unleashes the force. I make the save on a Ranger and Anakin, but lose 3 Younglings. While this is going on a Ranger and Gree are shooting Han and Gree gets evaded, but the Ranger gets through for 20. Final round if he wins this init Anakin Solo is going to be able to UF and finish off Gen Skywalker and 3 more Younglings. I win the init and am able to take out Anakin Solo. My Younglings then finish off Jacen. Gree moves 6 squares to base Han and promptly rolls a 1. Gree gets cut in half. I use fps to move the Younglings 8 to finish Han. When the dust is cleared he has killed 10 Younglings and Gree, but it isn't enough to overcome. Good Game. That big init decided it for sure.
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I really enjoyed meeting the Iowa group and seeing Jason, Jack, Michael, Doug and DeJuan again since GENCON. It was definitely worth the trip and I can't wait to come back again.
From left to right top row- Matt(RancorWhisperer), James, Gordon(Imperator58), Chris, John, Doug(Hothie), Me :P , Troy, Jason(Dumbbell51974) Front row left to right, Melissa, Jack(Ironlightsaber), DaJuan(LadyHothie), Michael(Klecser)
More pics here-
http://community.wizards.com/go/thread/view/75862/21833413/Anniversary_Thread