Thinking about Leadership, Oh and X-Wing event 19 November at the Gopher!

Been thinking about leadership in general recently.  Over the course of the last few months’ things have gone “poorly” WRT leadership at work.  I keep finding that when I inadvertently apply my personal standards to others most typically leads to disappointment.  Me, I learned my leadership style in the Army.  SSG Mike Brown was my first Squad Leader.  First thing he said to me when I met him was “Don’t unpack your shit, we’re deploying to Saudi”.  My reply was “Do I have time to go grab a beer, or are we leaving now?”  He said I’d fit in just fine.  He was someone who didn’t talk much and he was a REALLY big proponent of leading by example.  He came over from the 82nd and really missed the whole “Airborne” thing…  Probably why I was fairly intent on doing that myself.  But in any case he did things like carry one of the M-16/203’s.  His reasoning was that he wanted the extra firepower, knew he could put the rounds where he wanted them and we used the Smoke grenades to mark for fire, etc. so he could more accurately direct the Squad’s firepower onto target…  But it also had the effect of letting EVERYONE know that he was willing (and able) to carry the extra load and that he was not asking his people to do anything that he was not doing himself.  I was comfortable carrying the other one because I also knew I could put the round exactly where I needed it to go, and I didn’t mind carrying the heavier rifle.  My 203 wound up being a big part why I got my Catch-22 award (Bronze Star).  Some advantages to being bigger and stronger…  But in any case, I learned that you do things in a certain way.  You don’t eat until your people have been fed.  You don’t sleep until your people already have.  And you do everything you can to protect your people, no matter what.  That is NOT the case I am finding here.  Mind, I do everything I can to protect my people, I just no longer have as many.  Glad some are finding jobs elsewhere, but at this point the environment I am finding myself in is pretty toxic environment.  I took a day off Wednesday and got some work done around the house. And clear my head a bit.  Helped, I spent yesterday at an IT conference.  Got a LOT of impromptu “meetings” in with the various other IT folks there, including almost all of my contacts in the End Point Management groups…  We’re all in a holding pattern, with one of the teams actively resisting the “Power Plant” thing because there is no one they trust up there.  Shame, they DO all trust me, but I’m not there so…  We’ll see how this all plays out I guess.  Kind of hard dealing with the pointed questions of why I was not in certain meetings recently…  Not sure how best to answer those questions as I am waiting to have my current position, or better yet my next position “clarify” my role in this area.  Right now, especially after receiving official reprimands about my activities in this area, I’m not doing much publicly…  Still doing what I need to do in order to actually DO my own job of course, just being quiet about it.  So, Chaotic Good for me, per usual…

Gaming, need to get in some more practice games.  I have some solid builds I think will do well…  But not entirely sure what fits best for me…  The ARC-170 build I think.  Not plug and play, but I think it has a chance against most things.  TIE Defenders will be an issue, but…  Well, they are an issue for most things, so…  S&V I have some strong contenders…  We’ll see what I end up flying I guess…


Oh, the casual “Hanger Bay” event is 19 November at the Armored Gopher!  Come on by if you can…

Work, Workouts and X-Wing coming up...

Not a whole lot happening here at the moment…  Well, not ENTIRELY true, came off yet another long and busy weekend, work is still grinding along…  Waiting on word for the job I interviewed for.  But that was a while ago, so “I am concerned”.  Kind of important to get someone there ASAP, and while I feel I would make the best choice, surprisingly that was NOT one of the questions :-).  So, kind of a holding pattern as I wait…  And am deciding how much of the “additional duties and responsibilities” I intend to simply stop doing if/when I do not get that other job.  STILL no word on the “title correction” either, but I’m still (slightly) hopeful that is a problem they get to deal with when they rehire for my current position.  But as of now?  On paper I’m NOT a manager in any way, shape or form so not entirely sure how much of that I intend to continue doing.  I nominated one of my people for a big award, we’ll see…  Guessing my organization failed to do the same for any of its people, but I do feel like I need to at least TRY to get something for my people.  Eh, we’ll see what happens.

Mostly just working out and watching what I eat.  Shifted back to drinking mostly just water.  More exercise, thinking it is about time to get more “gym time” in.  Reaching some plateaus with my “prison style” workouts, so thinking that at the least time on the elliptical in the basement will do me good.   Pretty sure I’m not up to running yet.  Knees and ankle are sore from the sheer number of stairs I climb in a normal day.  On the plus side, the Gunn kilt actually fit correctly for the first time.  Not a traditional one, so snaps and the belt for the most part, but previously I was never actually able to fasten all of the snaps correctly.  Had to break out an ancient belt for my suit as well as the one I got for it originally is not really usable.  Had to do the emergency hole punch to get it tight enough to work for Angela’s wedding, and that is too loose again in the month or so since.  Stronger now than I have been in a very long time…  That’s good I guess, but I find myself having to filter out a lot of my older “slightly more aggressive” responses these days.  Weapons training helps some, but I suspect frustration at work will be the longer term change I need to make.

Armada is “interesting”, STILL need to get in another game, might try to get out this week or next, but next League day is the 12^th, so need it done before then.

Got in another test game with my S&V X-Wing squadron…  Liking that and looks like that will be one I bring on the 19^th for the “Hanger Bay” event.  This is a lot like the older PP system where you bring 2 lists and decide at the table which one you will use for that round when you see what your opponent has.  Makes it more interesting if you build something that is strong against some things but REALLY weak against others.  At least in theory, both of my lists are fairly solid “take on anything” lists…  Looking like the Lancer for the S&V list and ARC-170’s for the Rebel list…  Nothing too fancy, just good solid ships…  But just about to create the event on Facebook, so...

Armada for League...

So, my Armada list for Month one is:

Rebel Bombers 2 
Author: pchappel

Faction: Rebel Alliance
Points: 400/400  

Commander: Mon Mothma

Assault Objective: Most Wanted
Defense Objective: Fire Lanes
Navigation Objective: Dangerous Territory

CR90 Corvette A (44 points)
-  Jainas Light  ( 2  points)
-  Turbolaser Reroute Circuits  ( 7  points)
= 53 total ship cost

MC30c Scout Frigate (69 points)
-  Foresight  ( 8  points)
-  Redundant Shields  ( 8  points)
-  X17 Turbolasers  ( 6  points)
= 91 total ship cost

[ flagship ] Assault Frigate Mark II B (72 points)
-  Mon Mothma  ( 30  points)
-  Gallant Haven  ( 8  points)
-  Toryn Farr  ( 7  points)
-  Boosted Comms  ( 4  points)
-  Electronic Countermeasures  ( 7  points)
-  X17 Turbolasers  ( 6  points)
= 134 total ship cost

3 Scurrg H-6 Bombers ( 48 points)
3 X-Wing Squadrons ( 39 points)
1 Jan Ors ( 19 points)
1 YT-2400 ( 16 points) 

			=122

 
 

Not a bad list, but not a lot “new” in the list…  Mostly I just bunch up the Heavy Bombers near the Gallant Haven to protect them and it spams the Squadron commands…  The other ships are flankers and pretty decent really…  Just NOT to go toe to toe with Imperial Capitol Ships…  When I first got the Scurrg’s I thought they were “meh” at best, but in play they are surprisingly good.  Now I can reroll the Blue dice near the Carrier so, the Blue and Black Bomber dice as anti-Ship get pretty darn deadly.  They swarm in and can do a LOT of Damage onto a lighter Ship, especially the Corvettes and Gladiator class SDs…   I have NOT come up against a “Rhymerball”, so not sure I have enough to slow that down, but I suspect I do in this build.  Just run the TIEs over and hope I off them between Damage reduction and Rerolls…

Still need to get in another game for this Month, so we’ll see J…

Might be getting in an X-Wing game tomorrow, so have to come up with something that fits into the saddlebags as I plan on riding the ancient bike in… 

Wednesday on Campus, Armada and some X-Wing stuff...

So, first interview out of the way...  I thought it went well enough, but it was quick.  I do tend to answer the questions quickly and more to the point than some.  This IS a job that I think that I could do well as I know most of the technology and people involved.  Got the MS and the requisite experience so it is a good time for me to be moving.  I just hope that I get an offer.  Well, more than an offer as I would accept any offer that is in the same salary range...  Was told I am getting my title corrected and a small salary increase with it.  Is small,  it it is enough that it ALMOST makes up for the year I got the "below average" raise while my line still resided with Math.  ONLY 1%, but as any further raises are based on the existing salary it is more or less permanent unless I get another job elsewhere.  Of course that was Between that and the other HR silliness, my current organization has used up their free strikes.  Sitting me down and spelling out that I would never be promoted here, and frankly they do not intend to promote ANYBODY here...  Sucks to have put in all that work on the promotional ladder...  well all the extra work to become a Manager and then IT Director frankly.   And the exodus has begun with one of my former people accepting an offer from another group.  Shame, she was one I saw great potential with, but I did advise her to go when it became obvious what the situation on the ground here was.  And she is only the first I suspect.  Much faith has been lost in our leadership team as things unfolded over the last few years.  Discouraging hearing from one of my most talented and motivated (former) people that he was done volunteering for extra work and he was ready for a new job as he got to the point where he COULD be promoted but not really being in the organization combined with the freezing of any potential promotions by our management...  Well, he has his resume ready...

If I DO get the job and get to build the team as indicated in the interviews...  Well, I suspect that I will be recruiting more of my former team.  The current organization had the opportunity to set up as a large rival organization and have a good, solid structure that would allow us to get and retain the best talent, but instead...  Well, other directions won out and I suspect that it will be a rough few years.  Hey, I could be wrong, but so far things are playing out exactly the way I predicted...  A bit slower as there was an artificial stasis while the hiring freeze was in place, but things are moving quickly now.  Doing what I can to protect myself and my people, but the fires are already starting.  Who knows, it might all just work out, but my experience warns me to be prepared for it not working well...  And if I'm honest, my motivation to give a shit is pretty well bottomed out at this point.  So, I'll do my job and make sure MY stuff does not burn, but...

But back to gaming...  Armada this evening as I missed the League Day, but we can make up the games...  So my Rebel fleet will hit the field.  Only played once in the last several months, so rusty I am...  But it is a fun game.  So hopefully Joel won't kill my fleet TOO quickly....

X-wing just had a FAQ drop.  Pretty major changes with only a few rules changes.  The big one was that an upgrade called Deadeye got changed to "Small Ship Only" meaning the severely under-costed "Contracted Scout" in the JumpMaster 5000 cannot use it to launch Torpedoes.  I would have gotten rid of the Elite slot altogether along with raising the cost, but this woks too I guess...  We'll see.  In Europe the 3 Scout builds have been winning a lot of events which I suspect prompted the change.  We did NOT see much of that here locally, I think I only saw one player with the true U-Boat/Wolfpack/whatever list...  We saw a LOT of the Imperial Ace builds that do well against it and with the death of the Rebel lists until Wave 9...  That was the winning build.  Now?  I think the Rebels are in a MUCH better position.  The Imperial Defenders are VERY good, and the Emperor is still (IMO) overpowered, but beatable.  My own build for the last League is REALLY powerful and while not "set and forget", it has a chance against most things.  Biggs did also get a bit of a Nerf, but even so...  And now S&V get some more REALLY good things.  Heck, even the poorly costed M-3A Scyk is up there in the "competitive" range...  But more importantly, they have good Aces and the new Lancer class ship looks like it will shift the balance HEAVILY toward them.

Trying to get another event for 19 November...  We'll see if I can swing it...  Something more casual as we settle in for the new reality post FAQ...

Work and Armada...

So, I was wrong, I DO have an interview next week…  Should be interesting.  One of the folks I ended up hiring in just announced they are leaving in a few weeks.  Should be an interesting time.  I’m not going to get overconfident, but this is a job that I know I can do well.  A shame, I was actually rather hoping things would work out where I am now, but alas…  They decided against finalizing my promotion, and I was informed that there would be NO promotions here for me ever, and pretty much none for anyone in the foreseeable future.  Really sucks, I put in a lot of extra work and thought it was the right move for me.

Have some Armada coming up next week, so need to prepare for that…  Testing a few X-Wing builds as well…  Both games seem to be in a very good place now, and it just looks like it will keep getting better…  But need to build a fleet for Armada...  Been too long since last I played...

Post Wave 9 X-Wing builds...

Playing around with the build I had success with:

ARCx2Biggs2 (100)

Norra Wexley — ARC-170	29
Push the Limit	3
Nien Nunb	1
R2-D2	4
Vectored Thrusters	2
Alliance Overhaul	0
Ship Total: 39
Thane Kyrell — ARC-170	26
Tactician	2
R3-A2	2
Vectored Thrusters	2
Alliance Overhaul	0
Ship Total: 32
Biggs Darklighter — X-Wing	25
Plasma Torpedoes	3
R4-D6	1
Integrated Astromech	0
Ship Total: 29

So, the Barrel Roll replacing the Boost…  Slightly limiting without the Boost to pursue someone fleeing as I tend to dial in ONLY Greens, but not bad.  And Biggs with Plasma Torpedoes to try to strip shields at Range makes him a BIT of a threat.  Mind, the X-Wing is NOT a bad one from a Damage potential point of view…  I’ve been getting in a fair number of hits with that…  Still, the Torpedoes might be better on Thane…

Kicking around a few ideas with the Lancer…  I’m pretty interested to see what that ship will do for me. 

Unnamed Squadron (100)

Asajj Ventress — Lancer-class Pursuit Craft	37
Push the Limit	3
K4 Security Droid	3
Black Market Slicer Tools	1
Rigged Cargo Chute	1
Gyroscopic Targeting	2
Shadow Caster	3
Ship Total: 50
Syndicate Thug — Y-Wing	18
Twin Laser Turret	6
Unhinged Astromech	1
Ship Total: 25
Syndicate Thug — Y-Wing	18
Twin Laser Turret	6
Unhinged Astromech	1
Ship Total: 25

And:

Unnamed Squadron (100)

Asajj Ventress — Lancer-class Pursuit Craft	37
Push the Limit	3
K4 Security Droid	3
Black Market Slicer Tools	1
Rigged Cargo Chute	1
Gyroscopic Targeting	2
Shadow Caster	3
Ship Total: 50
Moralo Eval — YV-666	34
Heavy Laser Cannon	7
Bossk	2
Zuckuss	1
Gunner	5
Inertial Dampeners	1
Ship Total: 50

First is pretty standard bull rush with the 2 TLT Y-Wings to pile more Damage on with.  Just need to get the Lancer close and hopefully put a Stress and Tractor on target.  The -1 Agility should allow even the basic 3 Dice Attacks of the TLTs to punch through…  Bonus of loads of Hull to chew through.

Second is a fairly standard 2 Ship build with a Party Bus…  Not 100% on the HLC, especially with Gunner giving me another Primary weapon attack if that misses…  But just not worrying about Stress, I can force a ton of re rolls when I shoot…  Combined with the -1 Agility from the Tractor Beam the HLC SHOULD push through a fair bit of damage.

Still looking at the Mandalorian Fighters…  Probably a 3 Ship Ace build…  THAT should be fun :-)… 

Work continues…  At this point I am thinking hard about what I stop doing in the "above and beyond" category…  I ended up essentially doing 3 people’s jobs and that is WAY outside the “normal” duties of what my title will eventually become.  That is another thing I’ll believe when I get the official paperwork.  But since I’m not getting the promotion, I’m feeling a LOT less obligation to do all the extra work and take on these additional responsibilities.  No word on the other jobs I’ve applied for, so at this point I’m guessing that is a “no” as well.  So, time to stop killing myself taking on extra work and responsibility for a promotion that clearly will never come here.  Guess it is time to bunker up and cut back what I am doing until things start to really break free.  I know there are people getting ready to move and this should get interesting…  But also not really my problem as was pointed out to me VERY clearly in a recent meeting.

X-Wing League Month 3 AAR and looking forward a bit

So, I wound up winning the third Month of the Titan League…  It was a LONG day, and I was helped along by a great deal of luck…  I went with Biggs and a pair of ARC-170s.  When I saw the previews I thought it was going to be “meh” in play but an amazing model.  It IS an amazing model, but I was so wrong in my initial estimation.  It is VERY strong, and quite survivable…  Nora with R2-D2 is a tank.  With PTL she usually has the TL and Focus when she gets to Range 1…  With her Pilot Ability I actually got 4 Hits/Criticals out the Rear Arc and at least one instance of 5 Hit/Critical results in the front…  NOT bad for an ancient, obsolete ship.  Since my “go to” personal weapons are all WWII issue (M1 Garand, M1911, M1 Carbine) I do have a thing for obsolete but at least in my hands still effective things.  I’d always liked the Y-Wings from the original series, and the ARC-170 was far and away my favorite fighter from that era…  Well, Fighter/Bomber really.  Like I said, SOLID ship and it actually flies surprisingly well.  I went with Nein Numb as the copilot for Nora giving her more Green maneuvers including the 4 Straight to really move quickly while regenerating and shedding the Stress from the PTL fun and games.  Tail Gunner was the other obvious build, but I thought that there would be fewer opportunities to actually use that, and Nein was there FAR more often.  Worked out, so I guess I made the right call.  The one game I lost I REALLY should have simply broken off pursuit and regenerated, but by then I had his ships down to a few Hull and it just worked out that HIS Nora with Tail Gunner was the right choice as long as I was silly and just tried to chase it down.  Lesson learned and I did a LOT better in my next two games.  Against Rebel Aces, the Stress took out the Aces, or at least took them from the fight and allowed me to focus on and destroy them in detail.  I DID lose 2 of my ships, but Nora was a TANK again and ended the game with full health destroying the last of the enemy ships.  Game 3 was against a Whisper (VI, Recon, Adv Cloak, Adv Sensor), Admiral Decimator (Emperor, not sure what else)…  I sent the Stresshog and Biggs off to deal with the Decimator while Nora was just jousting and Regenerating with Whisper for a bit.  He got a bit greedy and landed at Range 1 of the X-Wing and the ARC…  His attack at Biggs failed, I think I took a single Shield, allowing Thane to get the TL to go with the Focus he had…  Biggs shot for 4 Damage followed by Thane’s 4 Damage (both had a few Criticals, nothing that REALLY mattered much though).  I had already done a few, so we were DEEP into the hull at that point.  Whisper had likewise learned that Nora had teeth after a flubbed Agility roll left her without Shields.  From there it was mostly cleanup with Biggs getting shot out of the sky protecting Thane and allowing us to take down the Emperor.  Whisper lasted another few rounds, but Stress is an absolute KILLER for the TIE Phantoms in general and Whisper never really stood a chance there.  Never getting to re-cloak kills the one big trick that allows them to survive…

Made the final four as one of the ACTUAL top four had to drop…  So, slid in, but liked my chances.  Faced Kanji’s nice Rebel Ace build, and knowing that Stress would kill Poe, did that.  His Jake with the passed Focus from the HWK was a hard one to catch, but eventually it did die.  It’s Proton Rockets were brutal, but Thane’s ARC was able to take it and still live.  For a while at least, Poe ended up getting him eventually, but not before we chased down his HWK and A-Wing.  Finally getting Poe with Nora’s fully modified Range 1 Attack…  Since he was always Stressed, he could not Regenerate as well as he needed to…  LONG game, but finally got him.  Faced Tony in the final, he brought his YV-666 (Party Bus) and an Aggressor (B for the Gunner effect).  Rough one, but having seen it before I knew that the Aggressor HATES Stress and the Bus is easy enough IF you can get behind it.  Nora did thanks to the 4 Straight being Green.  The Bus is immune to the Stress Hog, so I split my forces like that.  The Bus died quick(er)…  I took a fair bit of Damage as it is pretty much unavoidable with Zucuss making me re-roll ALL of my successful Evades, but Regeneration for the win there.  Take the hit and get behind it.  Assuming you HAVE a ship that can of course.  I understand Whisper TRIED and failed, as I expected…  The Aggressor was a PITa to hunt down, but Stress kills those better than heavy lasers and eventually I ran it down.  Knowing the dial well and knowing where all of the MANY greens are allowed me to anticipate where he’d likely go, but he still surprised me a bit choosing the 1 hard which is a White maneuver…  Would have worked if Nora was not a higher PS and I could use Boost to reposition and still get in the Range 1 shot…  Bought another turn as I could not get the fully Focus/TL shot in…  The next turn though…  Well, still took both my ships in close I think, but at that point…  So, he got a Small Based ship and I took one as well, giving my second one to one of the new guys figuring that more players is better to have at this point… 

Still need to distribute the rest of the loot for the League itself…  Some Acrylic Stress tokens, some more Alt Art cards…  Neat stuff really…

The Tournament did highlight that as I suspected the time of Whisper and Company is over.  We simply have too many ways to deal with her these days.  Even the Palp/Ace builds I think are mostly…  Well, not DEAD, but certainly easier to deal with.  I built my ARC list to deal with them specifically, it just works REALLY well against a lot of other things.  I suspect that there are now enough counters for the Aces that things will mix up again from the somewhat stagnant state we were in prior to Wave 9 being legal…

Looking ahead:

Unnamed Squadron (100)

Fenn Rau — Protectorate Starfighter	28
Push the Limit	3
Autothrusters	2
Ship Total: 33
Asajj Ventress — Lancer-class Pursuit Craft	37
Adaptability	0
Zuckuss	1
Black Market Slicer Tools	1
Gyroscopic Targeting	2
Shadow Caster	3
Ship Total: 44
Zealous Recruit — Protectorate Starfighter	20
Autothrusters	2
Concord Dawn Protector	1
Ship Total: 23

Pretty simple build, I’ll test it, and I suspect tweak it before the next event…  I have to say, I’m pretty impressed with the ships in Wave 9 so far.  The only one I have not seen an obvious great build for is the TIE/sf, but even that goes well with a pair of TIE Defenders for a fairly decent little build.  Might drop the Autothrusters from Fenn Rau and the CDP from the Recruit to get PTL on Asajj…  A LOT of Green on that Dial and PTL is just SO strong.  Mind, I AM bringing BMST for the stress punishment that I’ll have to be aware of myself of course…  So, a Blocker, an Ace and the Lancer with several tricks there…  SHOULD be interesting, I think the Lancer is a very strong ship…