I've been wanting to get a Wave I game in for a long time and Sean was happy to oblige! I was itching to try the Gladiators, and with General Dodanno's assistance I settled on a list I really liked. It's mobile, aggressive, and in your face. Sean opted to try the new ship in the alliance arsenal, as well as some of the new fighters.
With a pending tournament (at time of writing) coming up soon at
Dragon's Den here in RVA, I was anxious to have at least one Wave I game under my belt before squaring off! While I am now much more confident with the list, here be a spoiler warning: I snatched a draw from the jaws of victory. I need to be sent back to Imperial Flight School.
The Rebel Fleet (299)*
- Assault Frigate Mk II A + Gunnery Team + Expanded Hangar Bay
- Assault Frigate Mk II A + Gunnery Team + Expanded Hangar Bay + Dodonna
- 2x Y-Wings
- Dutch Vander
- 3x B-Wings
| The Imperial Fleet (298)
- Gladiator I SD + Demolisher + Wulf Yularen + Assault Concussion Launchers + Engine Techs
- Gladiator I SD + Assault Concussion Launchers + Insidious
- Gladiator I SD + Admiral Screed
- 5x TIEs
- 2x TIE Interceptors
|
*This comes out to 284, and Sean had 299 so I'm not sure what I missed here... Might have been one more Y-Wing squad and another upgrade.
The Imperials!
The Empire chooses to go first, and settles on Advanced Gunnery. It's going to hurt, but Sean chose his objectives very well and this was the lesser of three evils.
The Empire rolls out!
All three Gladiators descend onto Sean's objective ship.
Because Sean is cruising along at one, I hope to just let 2 of my ships ram him to finish him off and buy a turn for navigations! Moving at speed three with only 2 clicks is a scary thing...
The fighter dogpile has begun!
Two broadsides let rip from the Assault Frigate and the Insidious is nearly hanging on...
But before she can go down, missiles rip into the Assault Frigate and she goes down in a fiery ball.
Unfortunately the damaged Insidious has nowhere to escape, and flies off the board to its doom. I 100% did not think ahead beyond "Ram that assault frigate and watch it burn!"
Furthermore, I hastily tried to turn Screed's flagship back around to turn into the Assault Frigate... and again realized I put him in a position to not be able to keep from flying off the board. I realized after issuing the entirely wrong order. Man. These were two HUGE mistakes that I 100% attribute to my bloodlust. Maybe it was the fact that I just saw Mad Max and I saw these things as war rigs just barreling forward. So, there you have it kids- I lost TWO ships this game to driving off the edge of the world! Awful.
B-Wings were just chewing up my TIEs, but eventually I started pulling out a little bit ahead in the fighter game.
Unlike my other ships, Demolisher can zip all around and turn on a dime thanks to the Engine Techs/Wulf Yularen combo.
Screed tried so hard to stay in the battle!
As the sideshow fighter battle wound down to conclusion, it became clear the Imperials had the upper hand.
Eventually only Dutch, an Interceptor (NOT Fel despite the bloodstripe) and some TIEs remained.
As the game draws near its close, Demolisher doggedly hounds the Assault Frigate. At this point, I've completely given up my lead to my own absolute recklessness, but I am confident I can survive!
Demolisher stays on the Frigate!
The TIE Interceptor rolls 4 blue dice and manages to take Dutch out!
In the last maneuver of the game, Demolisher opens up a broadside on the Assault Frigate, tearing it to shreds... but is short by a single point of damage to take it out.
So close!
The board state at the end.
In the end, I destroyed 272 to Sean's 255. Though I am ahead in points, I am most certainly due for a force choking by Lord Vader, so we decide to call it a draw.
Imperial Thoughts: I LOVE Gladiators. I need to remember that just because they're fast doesn't mean they can turn like Corvettes or even Nebs. Black Dice and Screed, man! So much damage, but they're almost always being braced. Still, scoring 6, 7, or 8 damage in one attack is not unheard of! I still love vanilla TIEs, but that one extra attack die on the 'ceptor was so nice. Thankfully, I learned my lesson- I took 2 gladiators to a tournament and did very well! More on that soon!
Rebel Thoughts: Sean's Assault Frigates were pretty sturdy all things considered. I think if he would've had them a bit closer together I might have had a very difficult time of it. I need to see the Assault Frigates in play more- especially utilizing their higher speed. Sean's fighter strategy was to play them very defensively and under the umbrella of the Assault Frigate II. In the end, while X-wings would've been better, the B-Wings really held their own. Dutch was GREAT. +6 points over a vanilla Y for +1 blue, his cool ability, and 2 brace tokens? So good!
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