The free Kings

So it's the Athena X-Wing store championship and although I didn't do as well as was expected of me, I found the day very rewarding!

Squadron leader's prepare for battle.

I used my (notorious) three K-Wing list, with a borrowed C-3PO and Tactician.

#1Miranda Doni
C-3PO
Twin laser turret

#2Warden squadron pilot
Tactician
Twin laser turret

#3 Warden squadron pilot
Jan Ors
Twin laser turret

I've had mixed results using them in the past but losing isn't a big problem for me and they suit my preferred play style of plodding along shooting!

Game 1
In at the deep end against a well practised player using an Outrider and an intimidating Ghost!
Right from first contact this went badly both ships were well equipped and flown with skill, scattering my formation early on with a turn 3 kill on Miranda. The Warden pilots found themselves separated and easy prey for the monstrous Ghost.

Game 2
I found myself facing another Ghost! This one accompanied by it's attack shuttle and a Z-95.
This went somewhat better for me as the Ghost (with its huge base) bumped into asteroids a couple of times allowing me to pounce upon the Z-95 and fall back slightly to ambush the Ghost. With a combination of luck and TLT perseverance I had managed to  get the Ghost reduced to a single hull point before the attack shuttle launched. Once the Ghost was engulfed in a fireball, the lone shuttle couldn't survive for long.
Also this game was featured on the Athena game's stream table.

Game 3
Here I met another wave 8 ship - The Inquisitors Tie, he was accompanied by a Tie advanced and a Tie interceptor, all well outfitted.
I've got to admit I 'thought' this one was going to be a win for me! However as the Tie's hurtled towards my lumbering K-Wings, the lead Tie fired it's Proton rockets with +3 for 5 dice which combined with a couple of buffs resulted in a devastating pass on the Rebels! The Tie fighters seemed to run circles round me (ironic?) and I found them impossible to hit with their wide array of skills and abilities, "Juke" being a new and unpleasant experience for me!

Game 4
Here I met one of the Athena regulars whom I haven't had a chance to play against yet.
I made an error early in the game here, Miranda lagged behind the formation and Chris' X-Wing and Z-95's descended upon her with an unrivaled fury! Chris utilised "Tracer threads" to great effect, their hit endowing target locks upon the attackers allies. The formation made one pass (that's all they needed) and reduced my squadron leader to a flaming wreck with ease. My two surviving ships then pulled themselves together and led the enemy formation on a trail of destruction through and around the obstacles. But right from the moment where they struck down Miranda, I was on the defensive and I did all I could just to destroy his X-Wing before being defeated.

Game 5
Looking across at SEVEN Tie fighters was rather unsettling, with more than twice my numbers I reckoned I  was going to be in trouble here.
My K's move along my right flank and the Tie swarm swung around and homed in on the rear ship (Miranda) - this is where the dice gods smiled upon me! I lost count of how many attack die came up blank, it seemed as though the Imperial pilots had been out on the beer the previous night. Although they were being flown well and in tight formation, they just kept on missing. Turn after turn this continued, with my K's managing to destroy an enemy fighter each turn until it became apparent that the I was winning this war of attrition.

Game 6
Here I met more wave 8 goodness in the form a Misthunter with the intriguing "tractor beam" (which I now want.)
Our squadrons both charged straight at each other and a pair of Kihraxz fighter's unleashed cluster missiles (I need to try these out too) to great effect bringing down a Warded pilot and causing a lot of damage to Miranda. Luckily I managed to Zapp a Z-95 in this pass and get into position on a couple of the other scum ships and thinned out his numbers somewhat.
We ended up with a single K-Wing and a single Kihraxz fighter on the table, both desperately trying to outmaneuver the other. Then I had a "use the the force, Luke" moment, but in this reality it was Dave saying "Slam, Shaun - SLAM!" (for the hundredth time.) I've always been very reluctant to "not shoot" but in this situation it enabled my lumbering K to outflank a more agile fighter and win the day.

So I ended up mid table with 3 wins and 2 loses, but more importantly a received my very own C-3PO crew card (top 32 prize) that I really need for my squadron and had some great games with some great players. I experienced a few new things to, notably SLAMming and being on the receiving end of the new tractor beam upgrade. This allows the attacker (with a successful hit) to move an enemy ship 1 forward or 1 barrel roll, which I thought was great (as I was bounced onto nearby asteroids) and is certainly something I'm going to invest in.

Thoughts for the day . . .

1. Cluster missiles are savage.
2. Use tractor beams, hilarity will ensue.
3. I learned that sometimes (just sometimes) it pays to maneuver.

Miranda Doni get's attacked by a solar farm!?

Lights, camera, action!

With the recent acquisition of a small camcorder, I'm going to start filming some bits and taking stills to try and build a "dummies guide" to some of my favourite things.

Firstly I need to practice with it, to learn my way around the basics and then I think the best thing will be to just try and make an actual video and see what people like & dislike about it.

A picture of a picture

It seems as though the best way to get a video on here is to upload it to YouTube (I now have my own channel here) and the use Blogger's tools to embed/link the video onto a post or page, this seems to work although I'm seeking advice on the matter ;)

The next thing I need to work on is some better lighting and some form of background for the focus of my pictures & videos.

K-Wing's in the winter.

So I'd thought I'd be brave and try my luck in the Athena winter tournament, it went surprisingly well!

Miranda & Co, staying in formation as the enemy approaches.

I've used my three K-wings a few times lately and bought these to the tournament (Miranda Doni with Chewbacca & 2 x Warden squadron, one with Jan Ors and one with Nein Numb) all equipped with my favourite thing ever - twin laser turrets!

1st game.
I came up against a B & two A wings and was lucky enough to take out one of the A-wings in only the second turn followed by the destruction of the second A next turn!
This greatly stacked the odds in my favor with my 3 ships chasing down the lonely B-Wing.

2nd game.
This match-up had me facing a Firespray and a scary looking IG-2000. Luck played it's part again here when the larger ships struggled to fly through an asteroid field.
The Firespray became separated from its big buddy and my 3 ships descended upon it and managed to bring it down before the IG returned.
The IG-2000 came back into the fight and proved a fearsome beast, the dogfight between it and my three ships was lengthy and savage, but I managed to reduce it to a flaming wreck just as time was called on the round!

3rd game.
Here I met a regular at Athena and some more familiar ships, T70's and a Y-Wing.
The Y-Wing used a fixed secondary weapon, allowing it to fire (front arc only) and then fire it's primary weapon too, this turned out to be a devastating ability.
The Y-Wing quickly dispatched my lead K whilst the T70's ran circles around the other two. I had to endure the savaging I was receiving from this experienced player.

4th game.
Again another regular Athenian! But with some new (to me) hardware. Darth Vader's Tie advanced accompanied by Soontir Fel in a Tie interceptor and (the painful bit) Emperor Palpatine in an imperial shuttle.
That nasty Sith lord Palpatine is a force to be reckoned with, having the ability to 'force' a reroll of any dice once every turn. This (along with my opponents skills) ensured the demise of my mighty K-Wings.

5th game.
I knew from the start that this was going to be my toughest of the day.
I faced another Miranda Doni, an X-Wing, a turret locked Y-Wing and a Z-95. Both squadrons rushed headlong at each other and engaged in deadly combat! One of my Wardens fell as the other took on the X-Wing and Z-95.
The two incarnations of Miranda merged upon each other as the other ships fell to the side and began a mini war of attrition!
They circled and zapped each other for several turns with both holding their own, until the surviving enemy ship returned to deal the coup de' grace.

In the end . . .
I had a great day with 4 great games and I never imagined I could have managed to land 4th place. I'm looking to refine my list a little (Nein Numb wasn't used) before my next tournament which will hopefully be the store championship at the end of the month.