Tuesday 3 March 2015

491 - EXCITEMENT! First X-Wing Tournament - Part 1

Hullo, Friends!
I've actually got a couple of posts in the pipeline for once, but first...NEWS!

This last weekend I had the singular joy of attending my first official X-Wing tournament - it was co-hosted by Kirton Games (of Col. Gravis/Curious Constructs fame - see banner, above) in Exeter and it was an absolute blast!

Yup, 'Exe-Wing' (for what else could they call it?!) was a four-round, Swiss-style tourney, and on the off-chance you're vaguely interested, I'll give you a quick run-down of my trials and tribulations here, in two parts.

The 'Mutts and Mongrels'

You know me by now - I'm not particularly competitive, and I haven't even played X-Wing since before Christmas, so I went for a squadron that was suitably in keeping with the canon - it would also be simple to use and not 'gamey'. It was as follows:
As it turned out, there was a fair bit of list variety in the room - from the beardy net-lists to the rather fun ones. There was also a 'Scum and Villainy' list, although I didn't get to play them. Rather pleasingly, I did get a couple of compliments on the fluffy/canonical nature of my squadron - I'm glad that folks noticed!

Game 1 - Tim with an Empire 'Mini-Swarm'
Notes and Result: 

In Tim's own words a little later, "This was a tough list a couple of years ago!" Tim's pretty new to the game and was an absolute gent to play against: we were both bumbling through a lot of rustiness with the rules and I lost us at least two minutes as my bottle of drink sprayed all over the floor, but our ships finally clashed and eventually - in the dying seconds of a slow game - I managed to kill (for no loss) an Academy Pilot. That was the lowest of the low in terms of kills, but it was enough to scrape me, at twelve points, a 'modified win'.
This mat looks amazing...This mat, though, prevents you from seeing absolutely ANY playing pieces - it's a right pain in the Wookie!
Result = Modified Win (12-0)

Game 2 - Rich with Empire: the 'Royal Guard' - 4 Interceptors
Notes and Result:

Since this match I've been scratching my head, wondering just what - if anything - I could've done to maybe shoot down just one of his ships...but I can't think of very much. As it happened, four Interceptors with 'Push the Limit' are enough to run rings around anyone! My only consolation was that my plucky little A-Wing didn't shy away, and upon finding he was the sole survivor of my squadron he charged headlong into the enemy formation - staying bafflingly alive for two more rounds before succumbing. I was tabled.
Valiant death of an A-Wing.
Result = Match Loss (0-100)

Tune in next time for Part Deux and the final placing...

12 comments:

  1. so glad you took the plunge. the x-wing tournament scene is just superb. friendly, welcoming, and accessible to all levels of skill/experience/fluff.
    i'm going all out this season with 5 store championships, 1 regional and 1 national champ, and i am loving every second of it.

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    1. I could barely agree more - thanks so much, and good luck with your championships, matey!

      Will we get to hear about them?

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    2. you know, i really should do some blog posts. so far i have come 6th/46, 1st/20 and 1st/16, so i've done pretty well. i'll try and get some posts up about using a tie swarm in the current environment soon, as it is something i'm quite passionate about.

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    3. Crikey! With those kinds of results you should be doing some "how to play the game" posts :-)

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    4. lol thanks Paul, i'm not sure i'd be arrogant enough to write something with quite so blatant a title (although i know a few people who may disagree). i play with a group of around 20 guys who are all pretty competitive, but in the best possible way. we drive each other to play better and have a ton of fun doing it. we are really hoping one of us can win the nationals this year. aim high and all :)
      inspired by this, i am currently writing a 'how i fly a tie swarm' post though, so keep an eye out for that!

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    5. Something to look forward to then - will it be on your X-Wing blog or the main one?

      Whereabouts are you, geographically, anyway?

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    6. i'll probably post it on both. i'm in London, so we play at Dark Sphere a few times a week. the game took off here big-time and is still growing.

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  2. O I do just LOVE me some Interceptors! Best ship in StarWars. Glad it was they who blew you away.

    But I'm still sad you lost. :(

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    1. Yeah...they really are pretty damned sexy!

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  3. Great reading Drax, well done on throwing your hat in the ring! The mat in that first game does look lovely, but I can only see one manoeuvre dial and one Tie fighter :-) Looking forward to Part Deux!

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    1. Thanks, Mate, and you're right - it really did feel like I was throwing my hat in the ring: a lonely leap of faith for me, but it paid off in the end!

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  4. Part The Second is cued-up for this evening...

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Thanks for taking the time to comment!