Something old, something new

Something old, something new

Today I went to the lovely Store Championship of Namur. It was organised by ZFMSC and Imaginarium. The tournament itself was hosted across the store in the burger-bar City Break, a pretty trendy place with good music and an overall fun atmosphere. And during lunch break we had an amazing hamburger! 34 people were attending, among them a former World-Champion.

As per the challenge: I flew one of my previously introduced lists. This week it was triple Defenders. The list is pretty straightforward. Ryad and the Onyx Squadron Pilot supply target locks for Vessery. Vessery is free to barrel roll or take a defensive focus every turn since the free target lock and Expertise give him every possible attack modifier imaginable. However when Vessery is the only one left it's pilot ability becomes useless.

Round 1 Chewbacca - Kanan

A proof of this is already present in the first round. The opponent was running Chewbacca with Predator, Gunner and Captain Rex and Kanan with Rey, Autoblaster turret, Accuracy Corrector and Lando Calrissian. Lando is a crew option I see more often lately and honestly I'm wondering why. I have a feeling that Jyn Erso or C3-PO would work better in that spot. 

 However the game ended up being very close. I was able to stay out of the Autoblaster turret most of the time and ended up killing the Ghost and half of Chewbacca for the Onyx and Ryad. But with a Gunner-equipped still going I was now on a clock. Chewbacca attacks and rolls X hits. I use my tokens (mostly the one evade) to get just enough evades that I only take one damage. Even though I could block that additional damage by using another token I choose not to and take the one damage so Gunner doesn't trigger. With Vessery at one health and Chewie at 2 I end up right in his tail. 

With 20 minutes left on the clock I want to try to keep bumping him. This works for 2-3 turns where no shots are exchanged. But then Chewie does a 2-bank. I follow him with a 3-bank and fit with less than a mm to spare. Action target lock. Roll 4 dice, target lock 2 blanks and use Expertise to turn all 4 dice to hits. GG WIN 100-63

Round 2 Miranda - Stressbot - Bomber Warden Pilot

A toned down Miranda with just Twin Laser Turret and Rey, a Warden Pilot with all the bomber stuff (Extra Munitions, Sabine Wren, Connor Net, Cluster Mines and Advanced SLAM) and a Gold Squadron BTL-A4 Y-wing with R3-A2 and TLT. 

I decide the 2 most dangerous targets are probably the Y-wing and the Warden. The Y-wing presents itself as a target but this is a trap as I underestimate the power of Advanced SLAM and the Onyx gets ioned. Next turn the same happens to Ryad so I have 2 Defenders who are unavailable and pointing the wrong way in the first two turns of combat. Some additional bombs take out Ryad while I manage to kill the Y-wing. However the remainder of my forces can't handle the 2 K-wings and LOSS 26-100

Round 3 Dengar Tel

This almost exactly the same list as I proposed to use in my challenge post. I believe one torpedo was different bumping the list down to 99 points. Not that initiative matters when you're flying 2 pilot skill 9 crafts against PS6 and PS3. 

I made a terrible mistake this round. Jousting this list is a big no-no. Vessery got deleted of the board by 2 torpedoes before even firing a shot. The other 2 Defenders held their own and were able to get half points on both Jumpmasters but it was not enough. LOSS 49-100

Did I mention how much I hate Dengar? There are several turns where I had to choose between not shooting or getting a return shot that would most likely kill me. This also explains why both Jumpmasters got half points. I tried to not shoot at Dengar when he could use his ability, which meant shooting at Tel. Very good flying by my opponent and I'm kinda looking forward to trying the list myself. 

Round 4 Dengar - Boba Fett

Honestly by this point I'm getting tired and I can't recall the match well enough to write an entire alinea here. Sorry Jean-Christophe! Having learned my lesson last round I take out Dengar as soon as possible even sacrificing the Onyx Squadron Pilot by killing him, but still taking the return shot. Ryad is taken out by Boba but Vessery gets on his tail (which still makes him vulnerable) and I manage to shoot Boba. Honestly this match gave me some amazing dice rolls where my opponent was often struggling to get evades out of his green dice.

Rolling naturals doesn't win you the game, but it sure helps! WIN 100-63

Finished the day with a 2-2 record and 22nd place out 34 competitors. Poor MoV put me in second-to-last place of all the people with 2 wins. 

Another Store Championship finished and 4(!) remaining. This means that either next week in Ghent or the week after in Brussels I get to play a wave 11 build. Do you have any suggestions? What do you think about triple defenders. Do they still have a place in the meta? Let me know in the comments below.