I am LEGION??

For I number a touch more than you thought I did!


So, as is blurrily apparent I built and base coated all of my Legion, barring the AT-ST and T47. It turns out to be a few more figures than I realised when they were all in separate piles around the place.


It's all able to be put on the table now, though as mentioned previously I'll be working my way through the Rebs first. Based White and the Zandri Dust they've all had a light brown wash to bring out the detail, pre-brush.


This has highlighted the fact that due to the softer state of the Pl-esin that I believe that they're made of the level of detail isn't as sharp or crisp as you'd expect from plastics. Not the end of the world but something to keep in mind for painting. With four squads I'm looking at varying the camo;


Squad Alpha: Mid-desert brown Splinter
Squad Beta: Mid-desert Pea Dot
Squad Charlie: Khaki and Dark Grey (Rogue One)
Squad Delta: Mid-desert Tiger Stripes


Vader is Vader. With two Lukes it'll be Tatooine Tan and Jedi Black. I already favour the dark side :)


Compared to Rebel pre-shade I've gone for zenithal sprays of Black. The Fang (Blue-Grey) and White for the troopers. Possible a touch more grey-white than I originally envisioned but nothing I'm unhappy with.


I've told myself that it's troopers to the front of the painting queue with walkers as a bit of a break in between squads. This is why the T47 isn't prepped for paint yet. That and it currently seems difficult to get your points back from it


Still not had many games but I'm away for most of June so I'll wait until I get back to start putting in the reps. That will also allow for Leia and, hopefully, the Commandos to hit the shelves and hopefully even up the Wave 1 Meta a touch. That's not a complaint, more fact of life. Legion is a good game with plenty of depth that rewards intelligent play. I'm definitely in for the long haul.


I definitely need to apply some discipline on this one. Though I've already given in and ordered a Jyn Erso and Cassian Andor from Shapeways to stand in for Leia and Luke......


Rule of cool ;)

The Week Off - Prelude

Hello people,

So, another week off, another "realistic" project list. The last one worked out pretty well so hopefully that's repeatable. It's bits and pieces this time round but each with its own purpose and payoff.

So from top left;

YV-66: I've got the re-paint scheme sorted in my head for the Hound's Tooth / Natasha Pup. I'm playing down at Warboar on Saturday and I want to get it on the table for some fly casual action.

Nomads: Just the Inventnors, plus Pandas, and the Intruder Sniper to complete the set. Big woop!

Apartment: It's steampunk, designed for Wolsung, but I'm more than happy that it'll fit in with my industrial set in a Blade Runner kind of way. I'll be going for a semi derelict look with some Sci Fi graphitti to finish the job. I'm playing Tuesday night so it's the priority one piece.

Shasvassti Gwailos: These ARE recent purchases but targeted. With a far better a appreciation of the game I've worked out a list I want to put in some games with. This is just a build, base and spray job. I've got a specific plan for the paint job that will need to be done as a job lot.

So that's it. As before I'm aiming to be good to go by midday.

Best laid plans ;)

Hope and Faith

Hello People,


There's been a bit of gnashing and wailing at a number of X-Wing top tables recently due to a perceived narrowing of competitive build options. This has been off the back of the recent prominence of Rebel Regen lists that hit you up with  multiple Stress and then simply refuse to die whilst Poe / TLT pick you to pieces.


Imperial Interceptor lists have struggled with TLT, especially quads which have hammered them. TIE swarms have trouble getting arcs and putting out enough damage. Scum seem to have fallen from the top tables entirely since the demise of dual IG-2000s, which may not be the worst thing going.


As such I, and many others in my various play groups, have been at something of a loss as what to fly. For myself I don't fly Rebel and I don't really want to go back to lists that I've flown a lot before, Scum Boba Swarm and Soontir Swarm, despite their relative strength in the current meta. I've flown a few experimental lists over the last couple of months but none of them have grabbed me particularly without having a glaring flaw in their build.


So it was some trepidation that I approached a pair of Store Championships this weekend with two list in mind Scum Boba / TLT and Vader Black-Crack Swarm.


Strolling into Lost Ark on Saturday and was intending to fly Boba but after chatting to a few of the regular crowd I switched over to "Black, Sack and Crack" at the last moment;


Vader - Veteran Instincts - TIE X1 - Advanced Targeting Computer - Engine Upgrade
Howlrunner - Crack Shot
3 x Black Squadron - Crack Shot


Across 4 games I went 2-2 with two big wins, a very close loss and a proper spanking after flying like a div. Sunday it was Dark Sphere for a further 5 games going 3-2 with a big win, two modified wins and two very close losses.


Overall I was very pleased. Not so much with the results but that I'd found a new list different enough from what I've previously flown but with the legs to do better. The PS4 Black Squadrons need a bit more thought as to how they engage and more importantly deal with the disengage the turn after.


Vader is definitely NOT Soontir but just as rewarding in his own way with greater versatility unconstrained by Push The Limit Stress.


In analysis I could have been more aggressive all round. Four of my losses were by less than one of the Blacks and with less conservative flying were there for the taking. The couple of games when I trusted to the list went better than when I didn't.


Something to work on for the foreseeable and a couple of alternate art C3-POs for my efforts. Boba will still get a look in but I think I've found my top table list for a good while yet.


I attended with HOPE and found my FAITH :)

The Sprit of the Season

Yesterday myself and Nigel squeezed in a final day out flying casual down inWoking.

I pulled another respectable 3 and 2 with a vaguely experimental triple Black Sun Ace toting Crack Shot with TLT / Bossk Palob. It was fun to fly but really needed to win the opening engagement. Dropping Palob, who was generally priority target, would give me a pair of feedback Zs to run as blockers but no Palob. First world problems ;(

The event itself was very welcoming and we'll run with tea, coffee, pastries and faction themed cake available :) Prize support was impressive with complementary Xmas target locks from Cog O Two and a couple of prize kits from I Buy Wargames.

During the lunchbreak we dropped into I Buy, mainly as I needed to restock some paints at which point I my my regular impulse purchases of a few more Army Painter brushes and also a copy of Tabletop Gaming.

I can't lie I've wanted, yearned for even, a good toys magazine for many years and endured many substitutes and false false dawns. Even with the rose tints on I can see the difficulties to produce a viable publication in the virtual age but that doesn't stop other hobbies.

First impressions are very good. It's a high quality weighty perfect bind production with a modern, professional look throughout. I'd compare it, favourably, to Edge in that it's clearly aimed for the grown up geek. All the expected bases are covered, though a quick flick reveals the content of this particular issue to be more Fantasy and Sci Fi than Historical.

It's rather inspired me to read every last word and do a proper review, rare indeed! Meanwhile if you see it about I'd suggest it's well worth a fiver to have a look yourself, I'm already tempted to subscribe!

Happy days ;)

Seeing RED

Hello people. Yes, getting back into the habit now.

Yesterday was another trip up to Milton Keynes for the final round of Gaurdians of Tyr's X-Wing 2015 calendar.

I took the Khiraz / Scyk list again, primarily as further playtesting, and was once again pleasently surprised to go 3-2 for tenth place :) I've now firmly established that formation flying and firepower is the way to go. Using a slow roll up one board edge I look to disrupt my opponent's formation and try and force the engagement on my terms. Patience is key and when did look to force things, to establish what the list can't do, recovery was difficult. Lesson learned!

One of these was the first game, which was always going to be a vicious joust as my opponent also had three PS2 Khiraz. I deviated from the target priority I knew I should have chosen and paid dearly for it. One way dice didn't help but they had just been varnished the night before.

Prize support was excellent as always but I'm particularly pleased with my little Death Star tin that from now on will contain my Stress and Crit tokens :)

On that note I've also finished up a TIE Advanced and a pair of Punishers. Fora bit of variety I've gone for a reversed scheme that will also feature for my TIE FOs, especially as I now own a full dozen of the little buggers.

All together that's another 12 Painting Points. I noticed the other day that I'm on for a very lean year in that regard. I think that's more because of my shift in gaming over the last year, not only towards X-Wing and now Netrunner but also because I spend more time playing. I felt kind of sad but Infinity is going to be my main painting outlet and has only really been around since the summer. I want to clock up some more points but it's time, I need to make better use of it ;)

For a further seemless segway I fully intentionally picked up a can of white spray yesterday. You can see it on the right next to my impulse purchases 😲

The store, Wargames Workshop has added a merchandise and comics section which were far too good to pass up. I could have been far far worse but resisted the Boba Fett shoulder bag and the more obvious Star Wars bobble heads.

I'd been tempted to pick up an Imperial Assault bantha rider for some time and I'm a long time Battlestar freak from my very early years. With this kind of stuff I often prefer the more niche stuff that you have to know about to understand. Slight geek snobbery I admit.

I'm also a part time comics geek. I've had a 2000AD subscription for many years now a days have a few trade paperback lines that I pick up regularly. I'm a big fan of the British scene so the pre Watchman mini series was always going to be leaving the store with me. Another blog topic is forming from the mists.........

And there we are all caught up! It's another busy geek week on the cards, plenty of Netrunner, but I'm setting an Infinity painting target of the Doctor and Engineer.

Little steps!

Permission to Land

Hello people,

Shock, horror yet more X-Wing on Sunday  but this time with something of a twist.

Event supremos Gaurdians of Tyr ran the inaugural UK Team Championship. Enfield Gamers entered a team amongst a field of thirty two teams.

The format was as follows;
- each team consists of three players each flying one of Rebel, Imperial and Scum
- each team submits lists prior to the event, pre published
- each list is upto 100 points forming a team total points cost
- each round is drawn team vs team via standard Swiss rules
- individual match ups are picked by team initiative i.e. the team with initiative picks first match up
- best of two wins the round with MoV scored as standard across the whole team.

The event sold out incredibly quickly with team tactics from builds, initiative bids and match ups being hotly debated. Some teams went to great lengths with spreadsheets of preferred match-ups and full on strategy sessions.

Not so Enfield Gamers Splinter Squadron. As experienced tournament players we were aware of the meta lists and looked to cover the options with flexible lists we each new well. For us that was Scum TLTs, Soontir swarm and BBXX with T-70s.

I was a bit bothered that the event was going to be hyper competitive but the team element had quite the opposite effect with a very chilled, fly casual feel about the day. The Gaurdians of Tyr boys also did an excellent job of running such a large event and expect to double the field next year.

Another concern was that my dice had been so hot Thursday night that they had almost set the table alight. As such I had the commen superstition that my dice would argue with me on Sunday......and so it proved! Personally I had four of my five games decided within 10 points for two wins, a draw and two losses. I'm happy that I flew well but my evade dice especially were poor all day. More to the point I had five good games.

Thankfully my team mates did better for Enfield Gamers' Splinter Squadron to place 4th of 32, just 20 MoV from 3rd. A good day out by anyone's measure. Another concern had been my recent feelings of burnout. It's been a commen conversation between a few of us recently. As such Soontir's Interceptor will be parked in the hanger for a refurb while I Fly Casual for a while.....

M-Athlete

Hello people.

 

Fair warning this is a musings type post. Might be best to source a beverage :)

 

Last Saturday I attended yet another X-Wing event. This one was an inter-club challenge representing the 186. It was a good day out up at Wargames Workshop in Milton Keynes. Including five 75 minute games, travel and breaks it was a 14 hour day. By game 5 I was flagging, same as everyone else, and was triumphantly exhausted during prize giving. No complaints though, quite the opposite :)

 

As a regular tourney player it's something that I'm used to and have learned a few survival techniques. I'm also very familiar with the inside of a gym and run a couple of 10Ks a week. The parallels are all there to be drawn.

 

For a tourney I'll make sure I get in a decent breakfast, often scrambled egg and bacon on toast. I've learned to snack small between games, peanut butter roll or fruit, and try to drink a bottle of water per game, especially as rooms full of gamers warm up rather quickly. I limit my lunch as I used to play poorly first game back otherwise, Circadian rhythem has an effect apparently. So hydration and regular snacking (non sugar to avoid rush and crash), the parralels begin to form.

 

Then, as I was contemplating this post I found this article on the Beeb about the physical effect of sustained mental effort. The article specifically looks at bridge, poker and chess but the same principles applying to any competitive gaming. The important word there is competive because primarily we all play games for fun and escapsim from real life. Competitive gaming offers a different edge to things, something I've rambled on about before an exacts a different toll.

 

With physical training repitition is key to build skill, endurance and stamina. Mental training, in the form of competitive gaming, follows the same mantra. I was interested in the article's claims that chess grand masters can burn 5000+ calories. The stereotypical gamer is either in need of feeding up or a pathalogical salad dodger, though I don't think the stereotype holds these days.

 

Another parrallel is the need for rest days / periods. With a decent number of events and competitions recently I'm beginning to feel the burn. As a release Thursday nights at Dark Sphere I've been playing much more casually. In a couple of weeks there's the Gaurdians of Tyr Team Touranament and I know a lot of people have been getting in plenty of table time for it. It's going to be an excellent day out but afterward I'm going to notch things back a touch. Tomorrow its Warboar in Bromley which many of us are using as an extended practice day.

 

With competitive X-Wing, there's more than one kind of STRESS but at the end of the day its all about the Pew-Pew ;)

Reasons to be Cheerful, 1, 2, 3!

Hello people,

One of the reasons we all engage in our hobby, and many others besides, is to find some escapism from the occasional harshness of real life. I often find that when life bites a bit harder than usual I often splurge on my various interests.

As such, behold!

I rarely get out of my pit early on a weekend but yesterday the lure of a Hound's Tooth and buddies did the job. Three Khiraz join the party along with two monstrous TIE Punishers to join Thrawn's Splinter Squadron. As such I spent an enjoyable morning popping card tokens and reshuffling my card folder (GEEK!!) whilst comtemplating the Slaver repaint.  Now that will be a labour of, geeky, love!

The Infinity pile has already been discussed. The second week of September has been booked as leave and I'm looking at a couple of ITS tourneys at Wayland in October. Always useful to have an aiming point!

So that just leaves Netrunner. I have a starter set and that's it so far. I can myself making a big investment over time and to help myself out I'm going to go all Tale of the Net with a series of posts charting my introduction. True Tale of style I'm going to set myself a monthly budget of £30 and do my utmost to stick to it. As much as anything it should be a nice change of pace from X-Wing and Infinity posts ;)
Meanwhile here's a Netrunner site I found that will form my lunchtime reading for a while.

Happy days ;)

It's a hard life ;)

Hello people,

So basically I spent the whole weekend gaming and I'm knackered. Definitely looking for a soft day in the office but ill be smiling so not a problem.

Saturday myself and Rich headed down to Tonbridge Wells for the Totally Crit 3rd ITS tournament. I was in a state of mild trepidation as I'd still call myself a novice player and this was an official ranked event. As was always likely to be the case there was no need as the Totally Crit guys, check out their podcast / Facebook etc, run a laid back and welcoming event. Also I've done more than enough events in my time ;)

As previously mentioned my expectations were set at "learning experience" so I was as suprised as anyone when I actually won my first game. Luck was involved, with a string of impervious armour rolls, but I also felt that I played pretty well. Already more than happy with the day I lost the second fairly hard with several rushes of blood to the head. Point noted. 

Heading into the final game I beasted my perfectly amiable opponent off the table only to fail to pay due attention to the scenario. Scoring points for dominating horizontal zones across the table I pushed into a safe position in his deployment zone....only to find out they didn't score and as such lost the game where I should have won all ends up ;)

A great day out and, despite coming one off the bottom, one that will definitely be repeated soon. I'm really pleased that I finally hit the Infinity tourney scene as I'm sure it will only improve my game and as such my enjoyment of it.

So, back on more familiar territory myself, Mr C and Nigel headed down to Dark Sphere yesterday for a bit more X-Wing tourney action.

Due to inbound transport issues we were soon into the action. Running my Stress Kath list again I went 3-2 to place a respectable 11th. The two games I lost were also the best of the day against skilled, clean playing opponents with whom I also had a good laugh. Two of the game I won involved a certain amount of gameplay with more than a suggestion of slow play. 

So another good day out and some good experience flying my list against a few more archetypes. As with the whole weekend I generally know where I went wrong. This is never the end of the world for me. I'm not hugely competitive but I like to know that I've played as well as I can. Doing well in a tournament setting is almost a by-product of that. It's always easier to enjoy winning but the manner matters to me and many others. An easy win isn't necessarily an enjoyable win, for me at least.

As my previous post mentioned I've got pretty good at X-Wing. I'm not nearly so good at Infinity, yet at least ;) , but that doesn't mean I enjoy playing any less. In honesty between X-Wing and Infinity I'm pretty well set for quite sometime.

Happy Days :)  (whatever end of the rankings I'm at)

Hit and Run

Hello people,

Yes, yet another I haven't done too much this week though that isn't entirely true.

Tuesday night at the club we ran through several rounds of an Infinity TAG mini game, that I shall attempt to link at some point, for which I did complete putting together my Iguana. Rich also gifted me some of Ancenotti's particularly lovely resin scenery pieces consisting of a bubble car and a pair of bikes and vending machines for which I'm very grateful.

Rob also dropped off his latest Tohaa acquisitions while I then came home to my own Nomad and Shasvassti reinforcements on the doorstep. These were soon followed by the sets of Tau transfers that I picked up from E-Bay. As such Lead Mountain has grown somewhat and is currently spread about the flat in an attempt to disguise itself.

Meanwhile tomorrow is another day out playing X-Wing for which I'very recent lying repainted a trio of M3A Interceptors and another Z95. I will set up the photo box over the weekend and have a major shoot of recent additions.

You have been warned :)

Old Beginnings

Hello people,

 

Yes it's been a while again for most of the same old reasons. Another reason has been that my laptop has, unsurprisingly, failed to sort itself out and so is currently at the mercy of PC World.

 

Yes I know but I'm immensely tech illiterate for a geek and it's the easier option. Having said that I have realised that if the situation is terminal replacing like with like might not be the best option. I haven't gamed on it for years so it's primary use is Internet,  email and occasional word processing. Surely a tablet might be a better option? I assume I can connect the right tablet to a wireless printer? Feel free to enlighten me :)

 

So, back at the point of the post I attended the X-Wing Nationals in Birmingham a couple of weekends back. It was my first proper weekend tourney for far too long and long story short I had a great time.

 

On the Saturday I went 4-2 with Boba Smurf to place 25th of 118 of which I'm hugely proud. All the practice paid off and with a  bit of luck I feel I outperformed the list which is testament to the balance and variety within the game.

 

On the Sunday I went 3-3 flying casual in the escalation event with a Soontir swarm that I learnt a good deal more about. The format also threw up some really interesting lists despite the much smaller field.

 

One downside was that by playing 6 games each day I saw nothing of Games Expo which was a shame though we had Infinity in with us on the Sunday which I strolled past a few times.

The other downside was drawing a few Win At All Costs  (WAAC) players,  two each day. I've found that these guys are definitely a minority within the X-Wing community and I suppose nationals were always going to attract them.

 

I don't feel there's too much to get funny about with X-Wing but there's still scope for quick rolling, nudges and bendy templates / arcs of fire. Otherwise there's the usual gamesmanship and general bloody mindedness ;)

What was slightly different was my second game on the Saturday saw me roll four double evades in a row with Boba at which point my opponent requested that I change my rolling technique. Apparently he wasn't accusing me of cheating except for the way he kept on about it. It has at least become a fun in joke for a couple of months :)

 

Two difficult games each day was hard work and did mar an otherwise excellent weekend. I won 3 of those 4 games but it felt so unnecessary. I have wondered if it's a tactic to frustrate people into making mistakes but each to their own. I was there to play my games in a positive manner and so was the vast majority of the field.

 

I've had the conversation with people that those affected with WAAC seem to have little else going on for them and it over compensation. It's almost a diagnosable condition but I'm not in healthcare at which point the short sharp shock method is my preferred option. Nothing rude but a couple of polite open challenges can work wonders.

 

It's hard work but to me if you don't challenge you condone. I've reversed a template placement, asked for dice to be left on the table for more than 3 seconds. Firm but fair. I imagine it's much like dealing with a five year old....... ;)

 

At the end of the day we all know they're out there. Let them have their version of OUR game but don't let them ruin YOUR game, YOUR hobby.

 

On that note I've really enjoyed stepping up my X-Wing game. Thursday nights at Dark Sphere have been a huge positive in so many different ways. To that end some of us will making the trip to Copenhagen for the Scandinavian Nationals and I'm definitely up for it :)

 

186 for the win ;)

Taking Stock

Hello people,

 

For those of you who have noticed, yes it's been a little while. A combo of being overly busy and not too much to say other than the same old same old. It has helped that my laptop seems to have had something go pop and suddenly won't take charge.

 

Similarly I dropped a Dumbell on my uninsured smartphone recently and the time without one highlighted just how dependant I am on one for blogging ad much as anything/everything else!

So in recent weeks X-Wing has, unsurprisingly continued to dominate as Nationals up at UK Games Expo is this weekend coming up. I have no grand expectations other than wishing to give a decent account and enjoy my first full tourney weekend for quite sometime.

 

To that end Boba Smurf has seen plenty of exclusive play recently including a couple of more casual events. Mid table will suit me well and the escalation games on Sunday will be something different.

 

Meanwhile Infinity continues to take hold with 6 of us at the club committing it'll be my Tuesday night game of choice for a while. Last week a lot "clicked" for me and I gave a much better game with my Shasvassti utilising their cloak and dagger style far better. Learning the Camo rules properly was a big bonus for all involved!

 

Rolling on myself and Dave split an Op Icestorm box set with myself taking the Nomads. I'm also taking Jon's Icestorm Nomads from him to double up, theory being that with far less special rules I should be able to concentrate on learning the core game a bit better. Also, the model range is SUPER COOL!!

So with two fledging factions and Rob's Tohaa very painstakingly put together all other projects have been swept aside in a fit of reality. The paint station has been cleared with a number of slightly dusty refugees consigned to cases and a paint restock list being drawn up! The always rather ambitious projects list has received a similar dose of reality ;)

 

With X-Wing playing a lot of Boba has been the smart move and also a lot of fun but after the weekend some variation will be required.

 

After all you know what they say about all work and no play! I assume that also applies to Toys ;)

Boba rides again!

Hello people,

First a caveat, this is NOT a Charlie Large Spuds I'm so great post.....honest :)

Dropping down to Dark Sphere Thursday night I rocked up with my Boba Smurf list determined to put into practice my recent epiphanies about deployment and opening moves. I've realised that I generally set up facing forward and fly off in that direction with a plan but less idea of execution.

I drew John as an opponent. John's a great guy and a very good player. He's been terrorising people with his HLC  IG / Quad Z95 list for a while now and placed top 4 at last weeks MK Regional. In honesty I was just looking to give a decent game and try out a few ideas around deployment, opening moves as well as bait and switch.

As it happens I somehow flew probably the best game I ever have with this list and took the win 100-36 :)

As a  flanker list my opponent has rarely given me that lank with any ease. As such it was time to start creating one. Deploying my Z swarm on the far right John followed conventional practice to follow suit on the diagonal and had his IG lurking nearby. I knew that he was likely to burn a few turns with the IG to force the engagement with his Zs so that the IG was free to swoop about sniping from range with the HLC.

As such I had Boba adjacent to the Zs angled toward the board edge so that Turn 1 the Zs pulled hard left along my horizontal board edge while Boba ran up the vertical.....thus creating my flank!

After that it was some pretty hard flying as I attemptted to engage the IG as soon as possible. A couple of turns in Boba's boosts had him a bit farther ahead than I would have liked and leaving the supporting Zs behind. Luck played an early hand as Jon rolled his Zs in after Boba as I deliberately bumped the IG with him to deny him the shot.

Trapped between Boba and his Smurfs Jon's Zs were soon falling though I was very aware that I wasn't focusing in on IG and I aware of his late game strength. Boba getting some decent rolls helped out greatly and by mid-game I was feeling far more comforatable as I'm pretty happy with my dogfighting abilities. Being far more positive with Boba was reaping rewards and moving last I was often able to dodge IGs arc.

Late game it a was Boba and two Zs versus IG and I gladly paid a sacrificial Z to run away and regroup. Re-engaging with the Z, no 13, running as a blocker I had the upper hand and eventually got on to IGs tail at which point it was waiting for the dice to come up.......which they did.

In honesty I flew much better because I realised what I needed to do and actually did it. Luck still played a big part, with a few crucial turns where the game swung both ways, though you've got to give Her Ladyship the chance to smile on you :)

A big game for me but mainly because I didn't just learn, I applied the learning :)

Strap in....it's gonna be a bumpy ride!

Hello people,

Bit of a busy week culminating with the X-Wing Regional tourney at Milton Keynes run by the rock solid guys at Guardians of Tyr.

I have to admit that I wasn't expecting too much from this one in terms of results. This was mainly because I was doing a Tough Mudder the day before (11 mile cross-country assault course) and expected to be suffering......I was not wrong!

As such I went with a new list, one close to my geeky heart....... the man, the legend BOBA FETT!!

I'd played around with a few lists and come up a Chunky Boba / Swarm list I liked;

Firespray - Boba Fett - Vet Instincts, Gunner, Engine Upgrade, Inertial Dampeners
Z95 - Binyare Soldier x 4 

In theory the Zs run interferance whilst Boba flanks to swoop in close and make best use of his re-rolls. Gunner gets him an extra bite of the cherry and keep his action Boosts. As his ability is positional VI allows him to move last with Boosts and a one-off full stop.

As we all know theory isn't practise and  Firesprays aren't the easiest to get the best from. In short I lost my first three games, drew the fourth and won the fifth. Rarely did my opponent give me a flanking opportunity and at times I struggled to create one. Once in broken field I flew much better.

First up was a super doom Shuttle, Soontir and Carnor. I took the shuttle down quickly but struggled with the stealth / autothruster interceptors who had hot green dice. In honestly I got Boba out of position and didn't turn him round quickly enough in an attempt to keep my options open. Mediocre flying and dice cost me a very close game.

Second was thirty-six shades of grey (Decimator, Firespray, Shuttle) which set up wide to reduce my options. I took the right option of steaming into the Shuttle opposite my Zs to create the flank. Boba took fire early as I splatted the Shuttle and then chased down the Decimator. Boba fell to the Firespray who couldn't roll a wrong dice and eventually finished me off. Right options, wrong dice!

Third was a quintuplet of TIE Bombers. As it was the game after lunch I worked out my best options and then flew the worst. Somehow I made a game of it and knocked down three Bombers to go ahead on points with a heavily smoking Boba. With 4 minutes left on the game he bought the galactic farm. A fair result really.

Penultimate round was against a Chewy / Lando road-train which is a net-list I was aware of but hadn't played against. Knowing I had to target Chewy I blocked the road-train into a corner with the Zs and brought Boba to bear. Eventually Chewy bought it and Lando broke out o the corner. At that point I'd lost two Zs and felt the win was coming. Unfortunately it didn't quite go that way as the Zs got slotted and Boba took a battering for a draw. Right options, wrong dice #2!

Finishing up was a Kath / Oicunn combo that split up allowing me to jump all over Oicunn before rounding on Kath who was toting an interesting Tactician / Mangler combo. Right options, right dice, just one Z lost!

At the beginning of the day I was just looking to take home an alternative Boba card. Thankfully it was the participation prize! I also managed to pick up a second alternative TIE Push the Limit card which was a bonus.

Mr C had a similar day to mine with his Interceptor list, going 2-3 to finish two spots above me. Nigel G meanwhile took his Dash / Dual B list to eighth and the knockout rounds, a major achievement! Big ships dominated the top eight, especially IG-2000s with Autothrusters and Nigel replayed one of them with a four Z95 swarm which had been his only loss of the day. Unfortunately Lady Luck turned it into a one sided affair to the IG. Watching the game it was something of a masterclass as the Z95 swarm forced the engagement and the IG lurked.

So all in all another good day out and a bit more learnt than usual. I need to put more flying time into my lists and working out the first few turns all the way from asteroid placement to opening moves.

Next up is Enfield Gamers' Scum & Villany Event Day. Boba will fly again! :)