My Map Choice: Jabba’s PalaceRound 1 vs. EngineerGood match-up out of the blocks, as Eric was running the lone Vong squad. I won map roll; which would be a theme through the tourney. Eric took the left side on Jabba’s, I set up across the entire right side with troopers. Eric brought in a sixth YY Fanatic via Da’Gara and it was on from there. As the Fanatics job were to base my Troopers w/Charging Fire they pretty much got their opportunities and then I took the death shots. I watched my spacing as the Yammosk stole Mon’s CE. Given I had a 15/6 advantage over the major killers and losses were incurred to ensure that I was able to get all of the Fanatics. After that happened Eric graciously conceded the match.
Three points, 1-0
Round 2 vs. fingersandteethThis was an interesting match-up to be sure, as I hadn’t practiced against the NR Corran squad leading up to GenCon. Deri won map and we played on Cargo Docks. Fortunately for me I knew this map well, as I played my Weir squad on this map, so I elected the left side. Deri brought in Momaw and Salacious (I think), which I thought a bit curious in the case of Momaw until I realized he may have thought I was running a Naboo Soldier DS. Again the job of the Naboo is to filter out and cover the board which I did from top to bottom. The battle setup along the bottom I took early shots on Ganner which missed and then Deri got Hanny up and I forgot about his disruptive and Deri took out three troopers right away. Meanwhile I was come up over the top with the Naboo northern EF to engage Momaw and to get at Lobot & Dodonna. Deri realized that my guys were Troopers as he ran Momaw up to engage the northern front. Corran advanced and I began my tactical shift and a minor withdrawal from Han to get more Troopers and Wicket in position to take on Han & Corran. This was a shooting gallery, as Deri was simply unconscious when rolling his evade saves and even then with force rerolls. The northern force killed Momaw and then got to Lobot & Dodonna. Wicket was eventually sacrificed to get much needed damage in on Han and he went down soon there after. I then began chipping away at Horn, Ganner & the Klat Capt. Key here was the ability to rotationally shift the attack focus out & away from Han’s disruptive.
Six points, 2-0
Round 3 vs. thereisnotryGreat, Trevor and his GOWK/Critdu & Rex-D2 nightmare, well against this one squad I needed just one thing crazy rolls. I won map and Trevor elected to setup on the right side and brought in Dr.E Galactic Proctologist and a Gran. I began aggressively advancing on all fronts with my troopers but this aggressiveness gave Rex opportunities as Trev setup in the center gambit area. I was taking shots from three different vantage points based the Gran and killed him then based Windu; meanwhile GOWK was busy burning through FP’s from blown SSM saves. This was the point that I pressed to kill Kenobi, by moving the Furry up to give me the added 20%. Trev responded by saying something to the effect that it was time to do something interesting or suicidal. Rex-D2 advanced and killed Wicket and was inside my gambit zone, I then responded by killing Rex-D2 with nearby Troopers. Battle continued to ensue and time was getting short when I elected to move Yularen, Amidala and Panaka up to take more shots, as I was bleeding troopers too fast against Critdu. However my plan backfired as I moved Yularen up a bit too far and Kenobi used Knight Speed to base him and kill him effectively the next round. Final round saw shots get through on Kenobi and I really believe he would have gone down if I had one more round. Two points to Trev in a meat grinder of a match.
Six points, 2-1
Round 4 vs. urbanjediWhen the match was announced, I thought well I get another crack at the accurate Echanis. At the MI regional final I did not give Jason a good match so I planned on doing so this time around. We both had Jabba’s Palace as our map and I believe I won map as Jason setup on the right side, which I was becoming so comfortable with. The tibanna gas was in the air from the get go, Jason killed two of troopers do to some poor line of sight planning on my part or was it? I wanted to try and get an Echani early by dangling to get my DS’. Board wide movement and swap occurred and took shots on his Brute fodder. Because of the high acts I was able to mitigate the swap to eventually gain position and in one case base an Echani. Then failed evade saves sealed the other Echani’s fate. Jabba came out to play as did Thrawn and Veers but succumbed to the Royal Naboo forces.
Nine points, 3-1
Round 5 vs. Billiv15Realistically this is a dream match for the Naboo, SkyBuck! Well we all know about dream match-ups it takes a NOOB maneuver to undo what might have been a real opportunity for at least a two point win and that is exactly what I pulled off. No, not the two point win but yes a NOOB maneuver. I won map again (pattern developing) Bill setup on the right and I place all of my commanders in the lower left and block the door open with my three Rodian Dipomats. However, what I did not see was my atrocious placement of Mas on the fourth square adjacent to the door. Bill took immediate advantage ran the Goblin up and killed Mas in a flash of green. Uuugh!!! Well there goes the deathshots, I proceeded to kill Doombot after a ridiculous amount of attempts (something like 8 or 9 shots wasted) and got to YoBuck down to 30 hp’s before he swapped to safety. It took me a couple of rounds to regroup after the Mas debacle, at which point I began trying to advance up with Mon. However with my Doombot and only one Spaarti left too much distance existed, as Bill withdrew and secured the two point victory. Lesson learned here, you cannot make
even one mistake against a player the caliber of Bill and expect to win.
Nine points, 3-2
Round 6 vs. billhazelStill smarting from my dumbass maneuver I realized that only a three point victory would give me any chance to secure a spot in the final 8. I met Bill H and quizzically said “Mandos” and his very energetic reply was “yes the Mandos.” Well I did practice against Mando scouts but not with HK-47 in the mix, I said to Bill, “this gonna be fun!” I won map a-gain and Bill logically setup on the right. Bill’s stratagem was to establish his MSD wall in the central area with an effective 28 defense to clog up my troopers to give his two Scouts their opportunity. I advanced on three fronts as per usual to gain position which I believe set me up for the win as Wicket-D2 was in gambit. The initial blood was drawn in the middle when Bill advanced his Crusader out and boy what a pain that 7 point piece is with Splash 10. After that was said and done the crusader and a trooper were dead and the MSD’s were moving to setup with their 24 defense.
Positioning on both sides were complete at about the end of round three but as we came to it Bill advanced his Gunsmith out and to my surprise instead of a scout whom I though had a better chance to use GMA. The Gunny got caught out and I killed him right away removing his lone override but the MSD’s now were in position and posed a threat do to their high defense. It was time again to use my little furry friend to help out. Because Bill had an 18 act squad I had to wait patiently; in order to attack them with well positioned troopers at the top and bottom of the map. I knew I had to kill as many of them as I could before the next round as Wicket was probably going to get shot up by a scout or HK. Fortunately I was able to clear the majority of the clog out but Wicket did get blown away.
Next round saw HK get into the fray which forced me to stay out of his disruptive zone; I was able to trade troopers for the Death Watch Sabby’s and the last Crusader all of whom had their own DS’ thanks to Jaster. I got to HK the next round and got shots on a Scout w/o cover. At that point it was just about over. To Bill’s credit he didn’t retreat he continued to fight me to the end as the Mandalorians should, with that I was able to secure the vital three point victory. Big props to Bill on a well thought out and very nasty squad, I thoroughly enjoyed our match!
Twelve points, 4-2
At this point I was tremendously happy with how the Swiss rounds went but I still was sure if it was enough to get me into the top 8. Only when Ray announced me as the sixth seed did I really believe it. So a 3/6 quarterfinal match-up on Sunday AM with my mate Hinkbert was now on deck and boy this was gonna be tough!
Quarterfinal match vs. HinkbertGOOD NEWS! I won map again and was able to setup on the right side, as I assumed TINT was going to give Hink some advice seeing they were roomies. Yet another up hill battle against GOWK & Critdu he brings in four Caamasi Nobles. Fortunately this time there was no Rex-D2 which was a relief but I bet on the plan that Josh would be using his double movement breakers to get at my commanders in order to end things quickly. Same MO for me with my trooper deployment but this time I placed a Rodian Diplomat strategically, so that Foul couldn’t get into my backfield and kept the other two Rodians around the corner with Doombot covering door access.
Josh advanced into the middle as did Trevor but continued to move up setting up the Caamasi wall. With no shooters to deal with my target was Lobot all the way using trooper to tie up and distract the Jedi long enough for me to score a kill. Josh tries to advance but with my mobile attack I get shots on the Caamasi from top and bottom angles and begin to tear down the wall. Next round much of the same but now I get his Doombot and his lone Uggie, now I can begin my press for Lobot.
Initiative comes around and GOOD NEWS I roll a 20; here come two Naboo Pilots, now this gives me a real chance to get at Critdu with their Bravado. I decide to keep them safe in the event Josh tries to come at me through my interior gambit zone. My troopers score the kill on Lobot and I then proceed to move the Pilots up to engage Critdu. Josh wins initiative and here comes Critdu like the freight train he is; he kills both pilots but not before they do significant damage and then the troopers swarmed to get a timely killing shot in to seal Critdu’s fate. Josh conceded at that point and I’m here to tell you this was the BEST match he and I have ever played, both of us knew our squads and the tactical mechanics need to win. A truly amazing match, against an amazing player and friend!
On to the Semis!!! 5-2
Semifinal match vs. thereisnotryOK so I’m pumped about my quarterfinal win but soon realize that I’m gonna get Rex-D2 again. I win map roll and Trevor elects to setup on the right, can’t really get any quick round one shots so I begin the advance. Trevor brings in Dr.E and a Gran then proceeds to occupy the central table area in gambit. I change my tactics to try and limit my exposure to Rex’s shots, so I start the push from top and bottom and try and harass Kenobi who make SSM and Mettle rerolls. I commit a couple of Trooper to attack from below on Critdu but to no effect, Trevor relocates Critdu, Gran & Rex-D2 to the booths above the Gambit zone. I then decide to go after Lobot as time has progressed and we were at about 12 min left. I get Trooper at all thre .door in the top left hand corner where Lobot was hiding alone and win initiative on round 5. Irush my lone the lone trooper in and he manages to kill Lobot but the trade off is that Rex & Critdu kill the other Troopers. I’m down in points and can’t get at Rex-D2 and my shots miss or were reflected by Critdu, our match goes to time and I lose on points by 19. Trevor’s strategy was exceptional he positioned his pieces consistently so that my target was either GOWK or Critdu neither of which we’re I able to defeat in either of our two matches. Grats to Trevor!
Last thoughts…My one mistake and this was truly big (throughout the tourney) was that I forgot to leverage
Combine Fire; given the amount of Naboo troopers I had in the squad, it could have made a difference. Lessons learned but what a tremendous run my Naboo had, I couldn’t have imagined a third place finish they are so much fun to play! This squad has the biggest trouble against the GOWK/Critdu combo and with Rex-D2 almost insurmountable odds. OR next but with 27 acts, I banked on the fact I could wait out ABM and take pot shots with deceptive.
I play tested it against the current regional meta minus GOWK & NR and it went 5-0. Biggie thanks to my pal captaingig who got me ready for the championship, as my play test opponent and who had faith that I could make the top 8!
