LoboStele wrote:
Congrats to Dan! Glad to see the Solo Charge squad is still a viable one. That was one of my favoirtes last year.
Thanks man. Solo Charge was one of my favorites, too, which is why I decided to play it. Up until recently I'd been spending most of my play time testing R&R, so I wanted to play something tried and true as opposed to try to come up with something new, and I felt that Solo Charge could handle the current meta pretty well, and I had some experience playing it.
Anywho, here's a breakdown of my day:
Round 1 I played Stephen Crawley (LeftiesWillRule), who was playing the Double Lancer squad. He won map roll and chose his map, Smuggler's Base. I set up on the right side. First round he positioned his pieces just above the door on the top-left side of the Gambit area, with the door open. After out-activating, I lobbed Mara and moved her in to just on the other side of the wall in the center, 6 squares away from one of his Lancers. I won init and Mara went in and killed the first Lancer and an Ugnaught (woo, 1 Lancer down at the first act of round 2!). He activated his IG-86 and shot Mara twice for 60 damage, then pawned the 86 for 2 more shots, but rolled a 1 on one of them and missed, so she lived with 20 HP. On my turn I activated 2 and lobbed Han into the Gambit area where he could see the other, unactivated Lancer, and take 2 shots at it needing 11s. I only really expected 1 of the 2 to hit for 30 damage, but rolled a pair of 19s and the second Lancer died. Next round I won init again and Mara assaulted and killed the 86. He killed Mara with Sidious, I lobbed Anakin in there and killed pretty much all his fodder and put some hurt on Grievous and Sidious, then was able to kill Grievous with Han. He managed to kill Anakin with a lightning from Sidious and then a crit from the BDO, but the game was still over in about 15 minutes. 3 point win for me.
Round 2 I played Ian's OR squad. I won map and he set up on the inside of Ravaged Base. First two rounds were just set up, but at the end of the round I levitated Mara deep and moved her to base Mira, taking 20 damage from an AoO from the Jedi Seer. I won init and was able to kill Mira and then move away. I moved far enough and into a position that only 1 of his remaining Jedi could get to me, so the Seer moved to attack Mara. The two Battlemasters moved in but Ganner and Han put some damage on them. Mara was able to kill the Seer, and I believe it was Bastila that eventually finished her off, but then Anakin did his thing and it was cleanup from there. Game was over in about 30-40 minutes, so another 3 points for me.
Round 3 I had to play Greg. Both of us had Ravaged Base but I think I won map roll and he set up on the inside. I out-activated handily, and round 2 he had moved Mara, Han, Ganner, and Dash all into the turbo lift right next to the big door on the left side of the map (the one with Gambit in it). I set up a wall of 3 Mouse Droids right at the end of that hall and had Mara right behind them. He had his 4 Ugnaughts blocking the way to the turbolift, but Han and Mara together were able to kill 2 of them to clear the way. I was in very good position at this point, because if I won init my Mara moves in and assaults his Mara for a kill, if he wins init he can't really stop me due to the mouse droid wall I had made (we actually went over a couple of scenarios after the game and there was really no way he could have stopped me). Regardless, I won init and killed his Mara. He was able to push my Mara so I couldn't levitate her back out, and Dash put another 40 damage on her, and Han did another 40 to bring her to 10 (he made a mistake here by moving Jagged away instead of shooting, needing an 8 to kill Mara). Next round I won init again and Mara killed Han, then his Ganner killed Mara. The game was nearly over at this point, I got a UTF on Dash and Ganner but lost Anakin, then Ganner and Han cleaned up pretty easily. 9 points now.
Round 4 I played Graham, I won map and he set up on the inside of Ravaged Base. This is a match that he and I had actually played probably a dozen times, including just the day before (when he beat me fairly handily). This was the only time I didn't bring in 10 Mouse Droids, instead bringing the Gamorrean Bodyguard and an R7. This time he ran Yobuck in on round 2 for a gallop that killed an Uggie, did 20 to Mara, 20 to Ganner, 20 to the Gamorrean, and 20 to Han (which the BG took). However, ALL the AoOs hit (even the one from the Gamorrean), including a crit from Han, so I did 120 damage back to Yobuck on HIS turn. He swapped him away to get next to a bodyguard, and I killed the Brute he swapped in with Gha Nackht. After out-activating him I used Han to kill an Uggie in the way, then lobbed Mara deep and moved her 6 to base Panaka (who was adjacent to a Human BG) and use Assault. I missed 1 of the attacks and the BG took 1, but now the BG was at 20 and Panaka was at 30. He won init, but since Mara had 90 HP he couldn't kill her barring a crit, but he took his shots with Rex. Unfortunately he missed some, and I was able to use Lightsaber Assault to kill Panaka and the BG as well as do some damage to Rex (I was able to get adjacent to all 3). Yobuck was able to finish off Mara, but I then threw Anakin in, killing pretty much all his fodder, hurting Ferus, and killing both Rex and Yobuck (who failed his save and the re-roll). Ferus moved and used Dark Temptation to try to kill Anakin (he had taken some damage, I don't recall exactly from what, I guess an AoO), but missed the attack and then failed the save, betraying to me. Another 3 point win.
Last round (#5) I had to play David, making that 3 rounds in a row that I have to play one of the Atlanta SWG crew. He wins the map roll and takes the left side of Jabba's Palace, I set up on the right. I use my Mouse Droids to prevent him from getting any good ways to get to my squad, until he eventually moves Revan up to the top door and swaps in a Handmaiden, who kills an Uggie and takes 2 shots at Han, who makes his Evade saves (the only Evade saves I even have to roll all day!). I counter by Levitating Mara at the end of the round who then moves and kills the Handmaiden. Next round he goes first, and then I'm able to Levitate Mara again and get the other Handmaiden before she can do anything. He isn't able to kill Mara this round, so next I'm able to win init and use Assault to kill Bandon. Now Mara dies, but I'm able to throw Anakin in at the end of the round and UTF on Revan and Atris, who make their saves. Next round I win init again, and Anakin unleashes again, but Revan and Atris make their saves again. Ganner and Han meet the very hurt Revan and Atris around the single-square wide door in the middle, but I clog most of the way up with Mouse Droids. Han shoots and Ganner pushes to eventually take them both out for another 3 point win.
At this point I have 15 points due to having all full wins (longest game was probably my game against Ian that went around 40 minutes).
Playoff round 1 I play Ted, who wins map roll so I setup on the right side of Muunilist. Most of the first two rounds are positioning, and we both head towards the top set of rooms to fight. End of the round I'm able to get Mara in there who can Assault Kyle Katarn, as well as moving Han close enough to take some shots on him while he's Disrupted. He wins the next init and moves Leia adjacent to Mara and attacks. It takes me a second to figure out why he didn't activate Kyle first, and just before I start to use Lightsaber Assault on Kyle I remember that Leia has Force Absorb, and he was trying to bait me to use LA so I would get no attacks. I take the regular Twin and do 60 damage to Kyle, and then quickly take him and Leia down with Han and Ganner. Jaina kills Mara and then moves away, down towards the middle of the map and Gambit. I'm able to get Anakin down there to Unleash, but she makes her save. He wins the next init and kills Anakin with Jaina. I move Ganner and Han down between some pillars in the middle section of the map, surrounded by Mice so Jaina can't get to them. I eventually wear her down with shots and Pushes, but not before he's able to kill a few mice, Gha, and Dodonna. I quickly finish off his Wedge after that for another full win.
Playoff round 2 is against Ian again. I win the map roll but he sets up outside this time. He moves Bastila, the Seer, and the Battlemasters up into the room on the top end of Gambit, but keeps Mira way back. I make my only big mistake all day in this game by setting up 3 Mouse Droids adjacent to a 4th, who Mira hits and kills and the other three all fail their saves, so 4 dead Mice in 1 shot (I mention to another guy there that if that's the biggest mistake I make I'll be doing pretty well!). Round 2 I throw Mara deep and run her to within 6 of Mira, and then win the init and kill Mira early again. Mara is way down the field now (Mira was hiding behind that turret on the top right, practically in her starting area), but I've still got a number of Mouse Droids to put in the way between his melee pieces and the rest of my squad. I get some shots through with Han as well as Pushes from both Ganner and Anakin, but eventually he cuts through the mice. Mara is able to make it back to the action, shooting a Human Bodyguard and killing it on the way. She's able to kill Lobot and the Jedi Seer (who had taken 3 Pushes so he only had 20 HP). Han kills Bastila over a few rounds, with his final set of 2 Cunning shots both hitting and her missing the Defense save. His Battlemasters eventually push Han, Ganner, and Lobot to the very top left of the big room on the left side. He missed a lot of attacks, so Han remained alive and was able to kill the Battlemaster basing him, and Mara is able to swoop in through the top door of that big room and use her last FP to Assault the last remaining Battlemaster.
So 7 wins, all 3 points for 21 total points. I had some luck on my side throughout the day. I made a number of the important initiative rolls, but I was also pretty good at setting them up so that even if I lost the initiative I didn't get hurt too bad, but on a won initiative I could do a lot of damage to my opponent. It was a lot of fun to play in a big tournament (last one was Coolecticon), as well as seeing old friends. I was also able to attach faces and real names to some of the usernames I see around here and Bloomilk, which is always great. Justin did an excellent job judging and running the event, and there weren't any major snags that I was aware of, so kudos to him!
Now that I've won a regional I'll probably be judging here in Atlanta to give some of the other players here a chance to win.