X-Wing light AAR, and June wrapping up...

Well, ended up going to Titan for the League event…  Won, so I got the nice shiny metal Focus tokens that seem to be highly valued for some reason or another…  Not really seeing it myself, but that I am given to understand is not unusual.  I ran:

Bum Rush (100)

Jakku Gunrunner — Quadjumper	15
Courier Droid	0
Pattern Analyzer	2
Spacetug Tractor Array	2
Ship Total: 19
Fenn Rau — Protectorate Starfighter	28
Push the Limit	3
Proton Torpedoes	4
Autothrusters	2
Concord Dawn Protector	1
Ship Total: 38
Guri — StarViper	30
Push the Limit	3
Advanced Proton Torpedoes	6
Fire-Control System	2
Scavenger Crane	2
Autothrusters	2
StarViper Mk. II	-3
Virago	1
Ship Total: 43

Took me a game to figure out what the Tug does…  Roll in with say, a 3 Bank then use the Tug Array to Tractor the target.  In some cases to move it out of formation, but usually just to give the -1 Agility.  Then Fenn Rau and Guri hit it at Range 1.  So, -1 Agility to deal with the 5 Dice usually modified Attack from Fenn followed by ANOTHER almost guaranteed 5 Dice hit from Guri.  The Advanced Proton Torpedoes (APT) on her specifically since she gets a free Focus just for being at Range 1.  The APTs are R1 only, and with the FCS or PTL I will have the Target Lock ready by the time I get there.  Usually take the R3 shot on the way in to establish the lock and then double reposition to get out of Arc and at R1…  Brutal.  And then she uses the Crane to get the APTs back.  1 time guaranteed, but usually at least twice…  She is almost always getting kills…  In my three games I know I used the APTs 7 times.  Like I said, took me a game to figure the list out, and when I did…  Well, I was a fan of Gary Fencik and Doug Plank growing up, the “have one get there first, hold the target and the other just roll in and hit the target HARD”.  Works REALLY well.  Close loss my first game, and the next two were 100-0 sweeps.  So, MoV was the good tie breaker for me.  So, this might actually be a contender for a “fun” event like a smaller SC perhaps…

Looking ahead, I have at least 2 SCs in July coming up…  Urbana and Bloomington on the 14^th and 21^st respectively…  No clue on how many people are going to be at either of these events.  Gopher in Urbana I think I will definitely be flying my “fun” stuff…  Debating for the Bloomington one, I suspect the power level will be MUCH higher there, but…  A LOT of people have just checked out and are just waiting for version 2 of the game.  And I want to be sure to NOT go in full OP mode with all the broken stuff to places like Mattoon where it is such a small group of players just getting started really…  I’d MUCH rather have more games in the longer run than a few more victories in the short term, and the game is transitioning to the second edition so I want to be especially careful not to push the locals I really enjoy playing against away from the game at this delicate time.

Work stuff…  Applying for a few other jobs here at the University and doing the standard “recon” for the positions turns up one of the things that annoys me most about this place.  2 of the 3 places already essentially HAVE people working in the jobs being advertised, seems that this is just the required fake search to legitimize the promotion in place.  I have to wonder how many other places out there have things like this where you would waste so much time, energy and money (since the time and energy are ALSO costs) to comply with State rules (or whatever rules) on the surface, but of course it is just meaningless motion allowing them to do what they were going to do anyway.  I remember working in the real (Corporate) world where promotions were just “fill out the paperwork and that is it”.  Hell, in the Army I was just told that “You are a Corporal now, Chappell” when I went from SPC E-4 to CPL E-4 to comply with some Brigade level directive that only an NCO could command an armored vehicle.  Same thing going to SGT, my Platoon SGT handed me a pair of his old SGT stripes to pin onto my Gortex and uniform until we got back to a place where I could buy more…  But in any case, still applying.  Mostly to see if I actually get interviews to practice, but there is also that saying about “You miss every shot you do not take”.  Hoping to at least make it to the first cut and get in some more practice as I’ve updated my resume quite a bit, and at least to my reading of the requirements I certainly at least meet/exceed all of the required and most (or all) of the preferred qualifications…  J  Of course, I am biased and NOT on those committees, so my opinion on that has no weight at all.  We will see I suppose.

Motorcycle is running REALLY well.  The replacement speedometer is nice, and she is running at 60-80 MPH in 4^th gear…  5^th or OD allows me to cruise comfortably at 70+ and the engine purring along at ~ 3000 RPM.  The bike is old enough to lack anything like a cruise control (Friction lock on the throttle to “sort of” have something like cruise), reverse gear or anything computer controlled…  I installed USB power to allow for the speedometer and a second port to let me charge up my phone should it be needed.  There is also a second lighter adapter plug that I can connect should it be necessary.  Frankly I do not THINK I will need it, but the options are good to have.  The phone connects via Bluetooth to my headset/mic to in theory allow me to use the phone or say, listen to music while out on the bike…  She runs nice and quiet, which works for me since I dislike loud noises for the most part…  And is really nice having that much power when I hit the road.  Thinking I’ll bike it to at least some of the X-Wing events coming up.  Waiting on replacement paperwork to submit my application to the “Combat Veteran’s Association” (NOT a MC), so at some point I’ll be riding more and wearing those nice patches again…