Gen Con AAR (X-Wing)

Gen Con AAR

So, I got up at 3:30 (am) Friday for the drive over to Gen Con to make it there long before the “09:00” start…  Turns out I need not have worried much as the event did not REALLY start until 10 or 10:30.  Lots of construction en route, but the ancient Ranger got me there easily enough.  Drank a few of the coffee Monster drinks and listened to a lot of my music to get into the correct mindset for the event.  Made it there in plenty of time, hitting the garage at about 7:30.  So, I need not have worried so much of course but better by far to be there early than risk showing up late.  Or not in this case.  Seemed like a lot of folks rolled in at ~ start time or a bit after, so the start was delayed waiting for them and then of course for the standby folks to fill in should anyone simply not show up.  No clue how many that was, but suspect it was more than a few.  Mind, I was on the “mid-tier” tables so I got to see a LOT of weird builds at my level.  Will see how the upper tier were actually built out but I suspect strongly there were only a few really good builds up there.  So, I flew:

InqRyadReaper3 P Chappel… (100)

Major Vermeil — TIE Reaper	26
Adaptability	0
Director Krennic	5
ISB Slicer	2
Advanced Ailerons	0
Ship Total: 33
Countess Ryad — TIE Defender	34
Push the Limit	3
Twin Ion Engine Mk. II	1
TIE/x7	-2
Ship Total: 36
The Inquisitor — TIE Advanced Prototype	25
Push the Limit	3
Autothrusters	2
TIE/v1	1
Ship Total: 31

Solid build…  Turns out it is really good against almost everything.  ONE really big hard counter being Stress control.  And, round one was against a Rebel 4 ship (“Fair Ship Rebels”) build that was big a few waves back…  But of course, my ships absolutely depend on Actions to do the things like avoid firing Arcs and you know, getting shot.  So, take THAT away and I have 3 fairly fragile ships.  NOT a bad experience, one of the lads out of Milwaukie WI, and a lot of fun to play against.  So, were I to draw the hard counter and just lose 0-100, this at least was a fun opponent to lose to.  Moved to round two…  And was more Stress J…  Going to be one of those days apparently I said, but the opponent again was a blast to play against so had fun even while I was losing…  Got to game 3, and they were passing out a LOT of extra participation prizes so neat cards to hang in my office I suppose at the least…  Then I realized they were v2 cards, and a fair number of them were ships I’ll actually be using.  Awesome.  Well, my round 3 opponent unfortunately (for him) had a TIE Bomber with a Systems Officer (to give free TL actions) and a pair of named Imperial Gunboats kitted out with loads of “stuff”.  Theory being, they get the TL from the Bomber then roll up, Focus and have a fully modified shot that hurts…  Well…  I was playing Maj Vermeil who asks “Well, what if you NEVER had a Target Lock during the whole game”.  Was a short game at least as I won 100-0.  So, the hard counter was reversed.  My fourth and turns out final game was against a build with Kath Scarlett and Morelo Eval in the YV-666.  Interesting build and another exhausting game as that is simply SO much to shoot through with the somewhat low powered main guns I have on my Fighters.  But the Firespray in v1 is simply THAT bad and the 666 is brutal in its 180 Front Arc, but it cannot easily turn around.  Rush it, accept that he will get one good shot, then you are behind it and killing it quickly.  Turns out that Agility 1 simply melts so quickly against focused fire.  Still it came to the Firespray vs the TIE Defender at the end…  And went to time…

So, dropped out there…  Even if I won out, I had pretty much guaranteed not to make the cut…  And frankly I was exhausted after the EARLY wake up and then all day playing on short tables set up on concrete.  Seems to be a thing for younger folks and my injuries have caught up to me it seems.  Still, had a great time overall…  Only slightly overshadowed by my afternoon’s e-mail…

Got another interview!  4^th one this Summer, and this one is one I suspect is an actual possibility as there is not REALLY someone already there waiting on the interview process to finish to finalize the promotion they were going to get in any case…  2 of mine so far HAVE been that formal “promotion” process rather than a real Search, but since I knew that going in I treated them as excellent opportunities to have a “live fire” practice interview.  And by now I am certainly feeling like I am MUCH better prepared for the jobs I am interviewing.  I suspect I was simply not ready a few years ago when last I was seriously searching.  Now with some objective assistance completely reworking my Resume and Cover Letter to focus on Leadership/Management experience I am actually making that critical first cut to get in for an interview.  Previously my resume was FAR more focused on “I do tech things”, and yes, I do/did them quite well.  I have a number of industry certifications and now an advanced degree (MS) to prove it.  Well, the advanced degree is one of the big things qualifying me for things at the “Director” level…  The University has a somewhat odd system for this, at least when compared to “The Industry” as a whole…  There, the fact that I had a BS was actually seen as sort of a negative, at least in the mid 90’s when I was starting my career.  From that entry level perspective I had “wasted” 4 years learning useless stuff while I could have been out working on the cutting edge and actually MAKING things…  Well, the even get the AP job at the University of course you DO have to have a BS/BA in something…  Anything frankly, that mine is in a technical field is not very common in the IT field here, nor is it seen as a particular advantage…  Well, in LAS where I am now…  Were I in say, in Engineering perhaps the BS in Mechanical Engineering might be a plus…  Hopefully?  Any case, having the MS qualifies me for the higher level of Management jobs I am seeking.  Well, that and for the last several years I HAVE been managing an IT group doing exactly what the job I am currently seeking does…  So, I just have to convince the Committee and folks actually making the hiring decision of that.

Anyway, back to X-Wing… 2 more events coming up for v1 before that ends in September.  Frankly not overly excited about them, but they are my local store and one nearby trying to start up a group so I feel like I HAVE to at least show up and give it a shot.  I suppose I can try for the top 4 rulers and alt art cards, but as I already have a set of the top 8 ones not really seeing this as a “I need to win this” thing like last year…  Won the rulers and never used them.  I have an excellent set of acrylics from Curled Paw Creatives (link: https://www.etsy.com/shop/CurledPawCreatives?section_id=18639890) that I use all of the time and as my new ones are my favorite color (green) and have the Jedi symbol on them, they are the ones I prefer to use…  Will likely run the Fett/Fenn build at one since it actually works fairly well and I will be flying that pair in v2 a LOT… 

The point values, at least the initial ones, have been posted by FFG.  Allowing us to do some actual builds with the new stuff before next Month and it going live…  So far at least everything is looking really good.  Will see how well things are balanced when they hit the table later of course, but I have to admit I am liking everything so far.  Oh, and with the Clone Wars coming back FFG announced at Gen Con that the Galactic Republic and Separatists were coming to both X-Wing and Legion as playable factions…  REALLY looking forward to the Republic.  Honestly I did not really mind the prequels so much (Episodes 1-3)…  Jar Jar Binks was just annoying to me, but I could usually filter him out.  Lots of Jedi running around actually doing Jedi things.  Felt kind of bad for the actor who landed the Anakin Skywalker role as it required a William Shatner level of silly over acting to make the character fit Mr. Lucas’ vision it seems…  Not sure I have seen him in anything else since then.  And of course I was rather looking forward to an Obi Wan Kenobi movie with Ewan McGregor…  Maybe they will actually get around to that at some point.  Just hope that the silliness surrounding the latest movies dies down and maybe they get back to making more Star Wars movies…  But that’s just me I guess, I am not so rabid a fan that I am willing to destroy something that might not agree with my own personal vision of it…  I played a fair bit of the old SW role playing game back in the old days, so for me the more movies and books out there, the better.  With Clone Wars getting the ending that it should have gotten the first time, Rebels being concluded (and REALLY well done IMO), I was rather hoping for more live action movies with characters from those series…  Ahsoka Tano having been one of my all-time favorite characters would be MY preference of course, but whatever works…

X-Wing at Gen Con...

Well, have to decide what I play next Friday at Gen Con.  I have essentially narrowed it to 2 lists.  The TIE Reaper, probably Maj Vermeil, Ryad and either the Inquisitor (more likely) or Soonter Fel (trading for the Imp Aces pack, if it arrives in time…) would be the first one.  The “Firestorm Special” being the second one.  CPT Nym and Ten Numb with Proton Bombs, Harpoons and the like just being chucked forward…  After playing the Inq/Reaper/Ryad list a few times, I think that is the one I will go with.  I have some concerns with the Firestorm list against a swarm(ish) list…  As the number of ships on the field have increased, the ability to erase one Ship in the Alpha Strike is no longer THAT important.  When there were at most 3 Ships on the other side it was key, but…  So, the 3 ship list with two Ace(ish) ships and Maj Vermeil in the TIE Reaper.  Now, I got burned BADLY in Bloomington with the inability to deliver a finishing blow to just kill things.  The Major hits AMAZINGLY hard.  I think the math works out to better than 85% to get 3 Hits on the 3 Dice Attack, 75% of 4 Hits a Range 1 I think…  Mind, this is on the target of the optimized prototype and that it will have no tokens of its own.  Since he rolls in and hits with the Jam action first, that should strip all of the tokens.  Then they do the Fencik/Plank thing where one hits the target, strips shields and grant the TL to the Maj…  Then the now vulnerable target gets hit again with the super accurate main guns…

So, bringing this:

InqRyadReaper3 (100)

Major Vermeil — TIE Reaper	26
Adaptability	0
Director Krennic	5
ISB Slicer	2
Advanced Ailerons	0
Ship Total: 33
Countess Ryad — TIE Defender	34
Push the Limit	3
Twin Ion Engine Mk. II	1
TIE/x7	-2
Ship Total: 36
The Inquisitor — TIE Advanced Prototype	25
Push the Limit	3
Autothrusters	2
TIE/v1	1
Ship Total: 31

Maj Vermeil drops his PS to 5 in order to shoot at the same time as each other…  With the PS in this edition being so wildly varied…  Well, basically, you have PS 9+ or you do not.  I do not.  So, I really do not care about the difference between PS 5 and 6…  So, solid Squadron altogether.  Ryad has token stacks for days, and with 4 (!) Shields she is really quite difficult to kill in the time allotted…  The Inquisitor is just such a solid ship in this edition…  I use him as a flanking sniper.  And of course I can actually put the Optimized Prototype on ANY of my ships as they are all able to meet the conditions.  I suppose if there is TLT spam on the other side, the Inquisitor might be the better Prototype choice.  But all three are solid choices.  And it will be fun to fly I think…  Frankly not anything that I feel like is just stupidly broken like say, the bomb chucking of the Firestorm list…

X-Wing Bloomington AAR and what to bring to Gen Con?

So, went over to Bloomington for the X-Wing SC…  Last year it was huge, capped out at 64 players and took over the whole store.  This one, there were 14 players.  A lot of folks I knew, and it was all pretty laid back and relaxed as we all acknowledged that v1 of the game is dying and we are all mostly waiting on v2 to be released this Fall… 

I wound up flying:

FelVaderReaper (99)

Scarif Base Pilot — TIE Reaper	22
Director Krennic	5
ISB Slicer	2
Lightweight Frame	2
Advanced Ailerons	0
Ship Total: 31
Soontir Fel — TIE Interceptor	27
Push the Limit	3
Multi-spectral Camouflage	1
Autothrusters	2
Royal Guard TIE	0
Ship Total: 33
Darth Vader — TIE Advanced	29
Veteran Instincts	1
Advanced Targeting Computer	1
Engine Upgrade	4
TIE/x1	0
Ship Total: 35

First game was streamed on https://www.twitch.tv/beergeekgamer So, given to understand Johannes and The Zack Matthews (Carolina Krayts) were commentating…  Lost Fel to a single Range 3 Harpoon as I rolled zero paint for my first 12 Agility dice…  Then Vader took apart Patrick’s list.  He ran Kulda, Nym and Jostero with the Harpoons, but Nym had the ABT in place of the normal TLT…  So, this was the first time the Jam action also paid off in a huge way for me.  Roll in, take away the Target Lock, then just pile on another token to eat the next attempt to TL or Focus…  Meant he was running Kulda on naked dice with 1 Agility while my Reaper chased with 3 dice, usually modified.  That only ends one way.  Mean time Vader showed the PS 10 Nym that PS 11 on something that does 2 Actions and can double reposition is just WAY too good.  The traditional defense being the TLT threatening the 360⁰ arc, so no Arc Dodging mattered not being present showed why those were at the time necessary. 

So, got paired up against another good player I had played there several times before…  Essentially a mirror match with his Reaper having only Palpatine on it.  This will come up later.  He had Vader and the Inquisitor kitted out.  So, slight difference, but essentially the same list.  I hunted down and killed his Palp carrier while he killed my Reaper…  Got his Inquisitor down to 1 Hull, but just couldn’t kill it.  So 31-32 loss.

Game three put me up against Will with his 5 X-Wings.  PS 2 Rookies with the Flight Assist Astromech/Integrated Astromech and the Renegade Refit/S-Foil upgrades…  Another REALLY long game.  He flew his formation really well, I split Vader off to try and draw them out of position so I could crash in and take them one at a time.  I got lucky and did something unexpected, a 3 Bank away followed by the boost/barrel roll to dodge 4/5 arcs.  Fell and the Reaper finally made it into position to start working the X-Wings over…  Well, Vader dodged what he could over the next few turns, but eventually even he dies…  I had killed one of his and all the rest were on fire…  NO shields left, most had kicked their Droids to dodge the killing Critical Hit, but time expired before I could actually kill a second one…  So 20-35 loss…  Seeing a theme here.  Games run to time and there is a lack of Damage to finish off ships.  So, pretty exhausting to play over a longer event…

Game 4 was against Kevin, he had 2 Reapers and Vader…  Again, another theme.  Tyler played this one as well and he won it out.  The Jam action on a pretty darn good Ship is VERY powerful.  Thinking my exhaustion caught up with me, I put the Advanced Prototype on Fel…  Stripped a LOT of Shields, but once again failed to actually kill things.  Think I finally got his Palp carrier off the table, but it was a bad one…

So, with Gen Con coming up in 2 weeks…  The Reaper is a keeper.  I feel like the TIE Defender would be something to slot in for Vader…  Fel was fun maybe?  Or the Inquisitor.  Those 2 are more or less interchangeable, but I lean more toward Fel just to have something different.  So, something like:

FelRyadReaper2 (100)

Scarif Base Pilot — TIE Reaper	22
Director Krennic	5
ISB Slicer	2
Advanced Ailerons	0
Ship Total: 29
Soontir Fel — TIE Interceptor	27
Push the Limit	3
Stealth Device	3
Autothrusters	2
Royal Guard TIE	0
Ship Total: 35
Countess Ryad — TIE Defender	34
Push the Limit	3
Twin Ion Engine Mk. II	1
TIE/x7	-2
Ship Total: 36

No bid though and PS 9 is…  Quaint.  So many things moving after Fel…  The Countess in the Defender however is going to be a beast…  Token stacks for days, adding in the ability to strip Shields and give her a fourth Shield.  The inquisitor slots right in, and might be a better choice…  Working a trade for the Imperial Aces pack for some of my old STAW stuff, so that might be the kicker as to which I actually bring… 

X-Wing: ISB Slicer FTW?

Ok, an “Oh Crap” moment with some of the new X-Wing stuff…  The ISB Slicer crew card from the Reaper pack.  It allows you to add a Jam token to a ship that is at Range 1 of the Ship you hit with a Jam.  Now, when I read that the first time I was reading it I read it as if it were Second Edition and Range 1 is NOT the ship you are measuring from…  Forgot this is First Edition and Range 1 includes the ship from which you are measuring…  So, Jam with the ISB Slicer and you can simply slap 2 (!!!) Jam tokens on the target.  EDIT:  No, not able to put two tokens on the ship, but you can eat the one  token then apply a second Jam...  The Jam eats the Target Lock, Focus or Evade tokens…  Or you can hit a target that has the TL on it, and prevent the NEXT action after it removes that lock…  Should be a decent defense against say Miranda locking up one of my Aces while I try to roll in and hit her hard…

So, modified my list to:

FelVaderReaper (99)

Scarif Base Pilot — TIE Reaper	22
Director Krennic	5
ISB Slicer	2
Lightweight Frame	2
Advanced Ailerons	0
Ship Total: 31
Soontir Fel — TIE Interceptor	27
Push the Limit	3
Multi-spectral Camouflage	1
Autothrusters	2
Royal Guard TIE	0
Ship Total: 33
Darth Vader — TIE Advanced	29
Veteran Instincts	1
Advanced Targeting Computer	1
Engine Upgrade	4
TIE/x1	0
Ship Total: 35

I’d like to bring the Reaper up to the PS 6/8 one, but that would mean I drop Vader down to say, the Inquisitor…  Doable I suppose…  Will have to test…

Gopher X-Wing SC AAR and looking forward a bit in the game and life...

 So, there were 11 players who showed up and therefore a four round, no cut to top.  Worked out well for me as I played the Kylo/Whisper list that is mentally exhausting after a few games.  Wound up 2-2 with only the loss to Tony’s “Final Form” (Miranda/Nym) list being one I felt I had no chance in…  My final game I missed a trigger to switch over the Target lock to get in a solid shot to finish off a ship and secure the victory…  Lost by 1 point of MoV (46-47), so annoyed with myself, but got the Range Rulers I was gunning for.  Overall, pretty good crowd with 5 coming in from Bloomington and 6 locals.  Seemed like everyone had fun and there was very little “ill behavior” one might expect from a competitive event.  But unlike MtG or some other games, not really money on the table.  None of the prizes are particularly valuable in and of themselves so tends to be a much more relaxed crowd. 

Game wise, I faced a 4 ship Imp build in game one.  With my PS 9 Aces just dodging everything, it was just a case of the Aces outclassing the lesser Pilots.  NOT the player, Chris did an excellent job flying but the writing was on the wall from the beginning with both of my ships being able to simply move out of the way and flank at will…

Game 2 was against the Miranda/Nym build flown by Tony…  Well, going in, I think this is something like a 90/10 split for him…  Neither of my ships can handle being bombed and they both hate the high PS Harpoon Missile…  Ironically, the TLT is simply not a threat against my ships.  Well, eventually per usual the Agility (Green) dice WILL betray you, but overall if I can get it to Miranda, I can keep to Range 3 or away from her to stay alive.  But of course the PS 10 being above mine meant I had to correctly guess every time where Nym was going.  And with repositioning it is simply impossible, so…  Had Damage on Miranda and Nym was down to a single Hull…  Was a single roll away from him dying to an Asteroid, but alas it was not to be and Tony played it well for the 100-0 win…  These 2 lists (his AND mine) are both excellent illustrations of why v2 is needed, and with half points, neither of us could points fortress and win…

Game 3 I played one of the Bloomington lads I have played a number of times.  Honestly I do not remember what he flew, but it was another one where I had to arc dodge and stay away…  Win, but exhausting to play it out.  ALMOST went to time until I finally caught his last ship and won.

Set me up for the battle of the 2-1’s with another excellent player from Bloomington…  He flew PS 10, 9 and 4 X-Wings (Wes, Wedge and one of the new ones, 2 tubes?) along with AP1 in the Shuttle.  Brutally effective list, and it was only because the T-65 chassis is simply outclassed in this edition (even after the “fix”) that I was able to stay in the game.  He hunted down and killed Kylo, but Kylo took out the PS 10 Wes on the way out.  Turns out that was the MoV…  Whisper was dancing around doing damage and finally killed AP1 and had 2 Tubes down to a single Hull…  Wedge was hurt badly as well…  But missed the trigger to swap her TL over to 2 Tubes and a 5 Dice attack that SHOULD have killed him netted me only 3 hits, leaving him at a single Hull…  Ah well, was an excellent game and well played on both sides.

So, having my Templates, I am honestly less concerned about doing well from here out…  So, I am faced with the choice of Fett/Fenn or an Imperial Ace build I threw together:

Imperial Aces (98)

Scarif Base Pilot — TIE Reaper	22
Director Krennic	5
Inspiring Recruit	1
Lightweight Frame	2
Advanced Ailerons	0
Ship Total: 30
Soontir Fel — TIE Interceptor	27
Push the Limit	3
Multi-spectral Camouflage	1
Autothrusters	2
Royal Guard TIE	0
Ship Total: 33
Darth Vader — TIE Advanced	29
Veteran Instincts	1
Advanced Targeting Computer	1
Engine Upgrade	4
TIE/x1	0
Ship Total: 35

   Seems like a fun “Ace” build, and without the crutch that Emperor Palpatine is for the Empire at the moment…  Will be a tough one to fly though, and I feel like I have to finish painting up my ships for it to keep the “Imperial Blue” theme going.  Fun, but another Ace build where I will live or die by my ability to dodge shots.  Might be one for Titan (Champaign) or even Mattoon…

Otherwise I think I go with:

Mandelorians 1 (97)

Boba Fett (Scum) — Firespray-31	39
Veteran Instincts	1
Ion Cannon	3
Dengar	3
Harpoon Missiles	4
Glitterstim	2
Bomblet Generator	3
Engine Upgrade	4
Andrasta	0
Ship Total: 59
Fenn Rau — Protectorate Starfighter	28
Push the Limit	3
Proton Torpedoes	4
Autothrusters	2
Concord Dawn Protector	1
Ship Total: 38

This list is LIKELY a “Gatekeeper” list as it has some REALLY good answers for things that my Kylo/whisper list simply did not…  For instance Nym/Miranda?  I have Initiative, so I move after his Nym and can either line up the Harpoon shot unanswered or rush in to Range 1…  I have a better ship there I think, and I will kill him.  Yes, he’ll hurt me and maybe even kill me, but Fenn Rau should be able then to kill off Miranda.  PS matters, and Fenn hits SO hard when played aggressively…  And as it happens, I DO play that ship hyper aggressively… 

I feel like my Firestorm list is a John Madden list.  “Just win, baby” being the quote I remember him for…  And winning dirty is still winning.  I do not think I would have fun playing that, but…  Gen Con?  Maybe.  Dunno, will see what happens this weekend at the Red Raccoon SC in Bloomington…  I suspect that will be a MUCH more intense experience as it was last year.  Most likely the closest I will have to a major event like Nationals at Gen Con…  Or is It Continentals?  Whatever, big event FFG is putting on and the LAST one for version 1 of the game…

Work wise?  Interviews last week, but for positions I know/suspect to already be filled.  Eh, you miss 100% of the shots you do not take, and I gave it my best shot.  Resume is tweaked and I feel like it is MUCH more focused on what I am applying for these days.  One more I applied for that I think is more of an actual search.  Am at something of a disadvantage being outside of that particular organization, but I think I would be a decent fit there and could certainly do the job.  At this point hoping to make it past the first obstacle and get an interview.  Getting in some “practice” interviews has been great and I think I am doing a LOT better there.  Previously I was “highly technical” on both my resume as well as my answers.  Answering the questions quickly, concisely and accurately…  But that is NOT what they are looking for in a Manager or Director…  Lessons learned, and frankly I do not entirely think that I was ready previously…  Finished my MS, got more experience and coaching and I do think I am completely ready at this point.