I put a call out to the community in January to run a series of events changing venues as well as actual games. The first event was on the north side of Brisbane and challenged the X-Wing folks there - 21 players turned up to battle it out with a split of Northerners battling for bragging rights over the Southerners in a licensed venue, with lots of room to swing cats.
I hadn't much of an opportunity to get in as much pre-event flight time as I would have liked, so rather than try a new list, I made a few minor alterations to the Boba/Asajj MKII squad.
Round 1 vs Andrew
Great game played by Andrew, it was good to see a squad that didn't have all the usual suspects in it.
62-100 - Loss
Round 2 vs Dan
I eventually took down Biggs, but at a great cost: it wasn't too long before the stress tokens had piled up on Boba, and he shortly succumbed to Twin Laser Turret fire. Asajj took out the Y-Wing, then it was down to a very healthy K-Wing and the Lancer.
After a dizzying display of circle work, I scored a critical that changed the course of the game. Miranda took a Damaged Engine crit, the tractor beam token from the Shadow Caster title kicked in, and I pushed him a little too close to the table edge to take a very dirty win away from Dan. I honestly still don't feel proud calling it a win, so I think Dan can walk away well and truly knowing he got the morale victory of that game.
100-75 - Win
Round 3 vs Luke
Once again I hugged a corner and zoomed up to harass the Smuggler first. After two turns of everyone bumping each other and not much movement, the ships suddenly slew some heavy shots. The Scum eventually broke away, and Boba's rear arc scored enough hits to drop the YT-1300. But now I stood at an unflinching Han Solo while I wasn't in the best shape.
Asajj limped away on a few hit points while Boba kept on Han's tail. I eventually brought Asajj into the mix, but it didn't take long until she turned into space dust. Boba got the bead on Han, but it just wasn't enough to get critical damage through.
The game went to time with Luke winning on points.
75-68 - Loss
Round 4 vs Rod
I was quick to get the jump on Fenn as I didn't want him reaching into range 1 to cause me nightmares. I was lucky enough to land an early critical hit, dropping his agility, and a few turns later he was destroyed.
Talonbane Cobra had a Cloaking Device which I appreciated, but I was trying to be cagey as possible, doing the unexpected to evade his shooting arc.
Talonbane was the next to go although I'm sure it was a trade off for Boba Fett. Then it came down to a cat and mouse game between the Jumpmaster and Asajj. I eventually closed the game, punching enough damage through to seal the win but not without giving away 75 points.
100-75 - Win
Conclusion
Others donned awards for best painted, best sports, best North/South pilot and most interesting squad (which went out to Todd - @RaesburnTodd - for his Decimator that must have been a TIE Striker in another lifetime).
A shout out to the lads at the Warrior Lodge is in order for being so accommodating. Thank you to all my opponents for the great games of X-Wing.
I was pleased to note there weren't any complete washes where I felt completely powerless to do anything, and you can see from the scores that each game was close.
Ultimately the Southerners walked away with the title for this round. It wasn't surprising at all to me, as that side of Brisbane has an amazing community of X-Wing players which are regular patrons of few games shops with league nights. I'm hoping in the future to be able to assist the North side of Brisbane in building a stronger X-Wing community, and I'm sure with the addition of further events like this, it is bound to happen.
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- James