To the MAX!!

So Sunday I headed out to the BABW, Bring Another Brit to Worlds, Netrunner event at Scenario gaming pub in Stoke Newington.



In short there are a network of such events running up and down the country to raise funds to financially assist the eventual winners with costs to attend Netrunner Worlds in Minnesota. This is a fantastic thing that the Netrunner community generates for the Netrunner community, which is to be lauded.


For myself I was there primarily to support that ethos and also play a few games. For that I got an alt art Maxx card which was very pleasing.


Just as well really given that after splitting my first game I tanked like a stone. Unfortunately this was an event where the TO decided to play despite creating a Bye, pet peeve, which I collected in the final round. It was the only thing that kept me from the wooden spoon.....technically.


In honesty I didn't play that well at times though it didn't help that my Corp deck insisted on Agenda flooding me at every opportunity. During what turned out to be my final game I was sat with an entire hand of them at one point.


So once again a few lessons learned, decks tweaked and the determination to play more. I shall also be trying out a Maxx deck :)

Event Horizon # 1

Hello people,

I've got a week off work which is traditionally a time when I set a project and inflict it upon you as a form of personal motivation. This week is no different in respect that there's a project, it is different in respect of the goals and back story to it.

A couple of weekends ago I, and many others, went up to Birmingham NIA for FFG's Nationals competitions. That was X-Wing for me and might also have been Netrunner if it hadn't been on the same day. In short the weekend was rather an anti climax for me in some ways, far better in others, which in turn sets the background to this week off. It's also finalised a number of hobby decisions that were pretty much making themselves along the way.

I did actually attempt to blog from Birmingham but Blogger App wasn't playing ball. It turned out that the event wasn't what I'd hoped it might be, for a number of reasons, and also inspired me to blog / report predominantly in pictures rather than words;

The slightly esoteric point here was that despite dissapoint on the tables it became far more about making the most of the weekend. For a couple of hours on Saturday I became rather grumpy for a number of reasons but sorted myself out before ruining my, or anyone else's weekend.

More about that later, I have redemptive stuff to go and do ;)

Undiscovered Country

Hello people,

Yet another LIFE inspired hiatus but I am actually playing games. Last week saw a swarm of X-Wing match ups with a smattering of Netrunner culminating in a whole weekend of "I am your Father!" at Warboar and Lost Ark.

Warboar were running an inverted Hanger Bay format, take two lists each with opponents choosing for each other, and Lost Arc limiting the field to Imperial vs Rebel.

For Warboar I selected my slightly disfunctional Dengar / Plasma Boat / Feedback Z because I wanted some table time with it and Vader / Inquisitor / Vessery because of theme, Imperial Veterans and the fact that I've never flown triple aces, or the Inquisitor.

Disco Inferno (100)
Darth Vader: Veteran Instincts - TIE x1 - Advanced Targeting Computer - Engine
Col Vessery: Veteran Instincts - TIE x7
Inquisitor: Push the Limit - TIE v1 - Autothrusters

Hopefully it's fairly obvious that Vessery works off of his compadres Target Locks whilst barrelling around at high speed for near constant Focus / Evade. In fact it's three green dice and bucket loads of dice modification all over the shop.

Saturday all five of my opponents chose to fly against Disco Inferno which surprised as I felt it was by far the stronger list. A PS10 Dengar was quoted as bring scary but maybe it was just U Boat bias.

Long story short I went 4-1 only losing a very tight game to Chirneau / Whisper. I was kind of in shock as I'd always felt that triple aces simply wasn't my thing. Apparently not, I even beat dual IGs three times, and it was a lot of fun while I was at it.

As such, also with a late finish and a cancelled train home, I ran exactly the same list for a very similar result of 3-1. In honesty three of those games were extremely close with me winning two of them on the last roll of the dice. 

Lots of fun and a new archetype to add to the potential rosters. Inqy and Vessery have also found thier way to the head of the repaint queue. 

Disco Inferno will boogie again :)

Hope vs Expectation

Hello people.

So its the eve of Birmingham eve i.e. a third Regional followed by the Yavin Open most likely followed by an afternoon of Hanger Bay.

Currently I'm most looking forward Hanger Bay. Primarily this is because I've realised that Oicunn / Soontir is a mis-step away from the meta and though it can probably hold its own against Imperial Aces I'm seriously up against it anytime I encounter Jumpmasters. In fact anything I've been flying recently probably fits that bracket.

I can't deny that I have a feeling of impending DOOM. It's been a bit like that recently so my strategy is to drop any expectations what so ever and just concentrate on flying as well as I can.

Once the weekend is over I'm going to detox by playing the Scum lists that I've been meaning to for a while now and not worrying about anything else.

Slooping back to Hanger Bay one of my lists will be just that: Dengar / Boba Boat / Feedback Z. The boats are just about finished up, really really pleased with them :), with  Zuckuss not too far behind. Hopefully they're going to be the highlight of my weekend. That's the expectation.

Soontir and Oicunn have also received fresh paint to match Vader and the Fo TIEs. Hopefully I can do them some justice.

I'll have a go at posting every night but it'll be rough and ready via phone app.

Strap in people, it's going to be a bumpy ride ;)

Veteran Instincts

Hello people,

I went up to Lost Arc in Stevenage yesterday for the first time in a while for an X-Wing Spring Kit. There was another Spring Kit at Warboar with a bigger, more challenging field but I knew Lost Arc would be more relaxed with plenty of guys I'd enjoy playing so bit of a no brainer and I like supporting Lost Arc.

Four games across the day proved to be just what I needed. As a bonus I got to give Oicunn / Soontir a bit more table time and even managed to go 3-1 to claim 4th and a touch of swag.

In all honesty my first two games weren't overly challenging with my first opponent playing in his first tournament with a less than optimal list. On top of that his green dice were fairly awful. In that kind of situation I feel that there's an obligation on the more experienced player to help thier opponent get the maximum from thier game. We've all been there and I think it's a strength of the community that so many give back. My opponent asked how many games I'd played, it must be in the mid hundreds at least, which gave a bit of perspective.

Games 3 and 4 were against good guys I've played a few times. Game 3 I was in control until a set of blank greens for Soontir settled the matter. Game 4 he got pretty much whatever he needed to give me the game after riding my luck at touch or two.

As an apparent Veteran player I've decided to focus my attention on Oicunn / Soontir and Vader Black Crack until after the Expo weekend. It just makes sense to get the most out of the event. After that it's Dengar, Dengar and a touch more Dengar ;)

I've also decide to go back and repaint my Imperials. The Tau transfers just annoy me now and having painted a few red / bone schemes rather than bone / red I think I can do a much better job.

Plenty to work on :)

Trials and Tribulations

Hello people,

I've got rather out of the habit here. I shall make amends, to myself at the very least. You have been warned :)

Yesterday was the X-Wing Regional up at Milton Keynes run by the eve excellent Gaurdians of Tyr. As previously mentioned this one, somehow, kind of crept on me. As such, and with the Jumpmaster meta in full flow, I reverted to Vader Black Crack as a list that I've done well with before. Yesterday was not such a day.

I took a couple of big wins only to drop off a cliff for three games. I made a couple of mistakes, as you often do, to get punished by the dice, as you often do, but some days it just isn't going to happen for you. Yesterday was that day. Game 5 was particularly frustrating, phrase of the day, against Miranda, Stresshog, TLT. I totally out flew my opponent only for the dice to say otherwise. It happens and dealing with it is part of competitive play. First world problems.

Thankfully I took my final game for yet another 3-3 and 65th place in a field if 104. As fate would have it I'd been joking all week about aiming for 65th as that's where the Hera alt art participation cards ran out and the extra prizes kicked in,...including 4 alt art Vaders ;) I left very, very pleased only to find a parking ticket on the car :(

As you often do I've worked through what I could have done differently. With so many moving parts, meta, match ups, dice etc there's only so much you can do. What you can control is your list, including obstacles, and how you fly it. With Vader Black Crack dropping Howlrunner or Engine for an Ion Pulse Missile. Options to work on.

With two more Regionals and a couple of Store events on the cards there's plenty of opportunity. However if I want to pick up my play I really need to return to a couple of lists full time.

Meanwhile I've finished up the repaints of my Gozanti and TIE Fos to score 12 Painting Points for April. Something else I've kind of got out of the habit of. No transfers this time, going for a cleaner look. I had a brief scare with varnish propellant but all good in the end.

Vader would be pleased (behind the mask)  ;)

Byes Don't Count

Hello people,

Now I'm not religious, stay with me, more vaguely spiritual in a karmic sort of way. The reason mention this is because it's a fitting segway from my last post about being up in the nosebleeds.

Yesterday a bunch if us headed down to Warboar / Paradice for what was my fourth and final X-Wing Store Champs. Determined to fly casual I took a Bossk Boba list;

Bossk: Predator, Mangler Cannon, Tactician, Outlaw Tech, Engine Upgrade
Boba: Vet Instincts, Autoblaster, Engine Upgrade, Inertial Dampners

That Boba build I've flown a lot and has done well for me, Bossk is very new. In short I flew like a bit of a muppet for the first two games and then dice finished me off. Round 3 I collected the bye,.....which was somewhat chastening.

It did however give me the chance to think about what I was doing wrong and watch another Boba / Slaver game. In short I needed to be more aggressive setting up the joust with Boba and snipe with Bossk....so I did.

Round 4 I lost again but very closely. Round 5 I finally pulled a tight win, 100-75, against a great guy who had played a total of 9 games before ours. Round 6 was 100-75 again against an opponent as experienced as myself.

So technically I went 3-3 again, though this time at the bottom of the MoV tree rather than at the top, but as far as I'm concerned Byes Don't Count ;) The irony, however,was not lost on me. On the journey home, with obligatory post event analysis, it was actually quite funny.

I don't fly two ship builds and it's something I wanted to work on. I learnt a lot in that respect and also about this build. Bossk is a beast late game but Boba is just unlikely to ever get there. It needs work. On both counts it's working happy to put in.

The main point however, again, is expectation related. Some days it won't go your way for a lot of reasons. The key is how you deal with it.

It's only a game......right? ;)

Life on the NET # 11

Hello people,

So, back down to Warboar yesterday for my third Store Championship and the best day of competition Netrunner that I've had to date. Running tweaked NBN Sparks and Criminal Ken I scored 7 Prestige across five rounds, only blanking in the final round.

As much as that's my best performance to date it was more that I felt far more comfortable in the environment and enjoyed all of my games, taking something from each of them, against some good opponents, both as people and players.

As a side note I've noticed that Netrunner players, probably card gamers as a whole, are a slightly different different breed of geek / need.  Having had this discussion with a couple of gaming buddies we think it's because of the inherent game mechanic being very maths based. Unlike any dice based game the only true variable is card draw, which itself can be manipulated / tutored. There's a strong theme of resource management and a strong theme of "efficiency" to all aspects of gameplay.

I also read an excellent article on Netrunners.co.uk by Iain Reid in the week about induction, making the best possible conclusion from observable facts. For Netrunner the ID of opponent, game state, plays made etc. Very obvious once pointed out to me but isn't that alway the way. Not only did it make me more of my opponent's play it also made me think about what mine says. As such a set of Data Ravens went into Sparks. I know I'm not trying to kill, but you don't ;)

And this is what I really enjoyed about the day, the feeling that I'm making the transition from Unconcious Incompetence to Concious Incompetence and the improvement in my gameplay that's come from that. I've had a few post game compliments about my play recently which have, naturally, been very pleasing. Not the reason I play but motivational nonetheless.

As to the actual games I split a lot winning my first two Corp then drawing an winning as Runner. Ken was definitely more consistent with all but my last game being very close. Sparks either did what it needed to or flooded my hand with Agendas and Upgrades, TWICE, to hamstring me horribly.

Both will be going to Dark Sphere next Sunday with a few more tweaks. After that I want to try Wayland-Argus and maybe something Jinteki at which point NBN will be given a rest as I haven't played any other Corp. Ken will definitely stay for the forseeable, I really enjoy him, but I want to give Anarch a go.

Definitely want to have two Corp and two Runner decks in circulation as it seems that I rather enjoy this game :)

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 :)

Life on the NET # 9

Hello people,

It was the second double of the New Year as I pretty much moved into Warboar for the weekend with 6 games of X-Wing and 4 rounds of Netrunner today.

After a long day and late finish yesterday I was putting the decks together before sunrise this morning and once I arrived realise that two of my Corp cards were in Runner sleeves with no spares. As such I had to buy some sleeves and couldn't resist Bowser.......at which point Mario was always going to happen to become my tourney sleeves ;)

As for the decks themselves I went with a new NBN Sparks taxation Corp and a revised Kitt Runner. I finished with three wins and placed 9 of 12 with a few well known faces in attendance.

Sparks pulled two wins despite suffering twice from early Account Siphons, though I managed to reset and give a decent game each time. Lots of timing opportunities and a deck I'll definitely be putting some time into. It was nice to play a different style of deck, patience being key. Quietly pleased with myself :)

My revised Kitt changed quite a bit, dropping Medium for R&D Interface and Magnum Opus for Technical Writer. I suffered for economy throughout and things rarely came together for me. Definitely back to the drawing board but I'll persist. Anarch were strong today and I also fancy giving Criminal another but I currently feel like I lack some of the stronger options.

Lots of options out there before the next run of events. I'll be looking to put gave a few more decks to try out by then. Just signed up to Jinteki.com, another learning curve to take on and really enjoying it :]

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 ;)

Life on the NET # 5

Hola!

So, myself Rich and Alex headed over to Leisure Games on Sunday for our next step up in Netrunner tournament play. LG have a monthly tourney capped at 20 players so we were expecting something of an increase but still a pretty laid back event......except they were the first in London to pick up a Winter prize kit which stretched the field to 26 and brought out the virtual knives!

As such people were wheeling out the Big-Bad decks and running thier A games with four rounds ratcheting upto five.

In honesty the vast majority of my opponents were very cool and more than happy to explain things to me as and when I asked. More than once I was also let off a minor timing gaff or two which was greatly appreciated.

Having read through some deck analysis of Worlds I was aware that my chosen IDs, NBN Making News and Criminal Silhouette, were entirely unrepresented and caused some comment on the day. Over four rounds I went 3-5, having gone into the 4th round 3-3, somehow I was 2-0 after round 1, which I was feeling very proud of. The field followed the current meta with lots of Kate, Anarch Virus decks, heavy HB and fast breeder NBN.

Up until round four I'd felt pretty much up with the pace, most of the time, though it was a fair bit of effort. In that I played a couple of anarch Virus decks which were a new experience for me but I could work out what they were doing. Running mainly against Haas-Bioroid I made a few mistakes a couple of times over but the main struggle was putting together a cognet strategy. Just slowing myself down and talking myself throyugh the board state really helped.

Round Four I came pretty unstuck against Pre-Paid Kate and then NBN Near Earth Hub. My opponent obviously had a lot of experience and knew what he was doing. I really didn't have a clue what he was doing! He played along at a good pace and I just got lost. He probably could have helped me out a bit more but then he didn't have to, not that it was too likely to change the result!

Against Kate it took a long time for the Agendas to come out and by then he was so well set, and had even reset his deck, he could run me with relative impunity.  All day my NBN deck fought me with a consistently lumpy draw, rarely giving me what I wanted as I needed it but those are the breaks. Against Near Earth Hub he set up his many, many servers and then blasted out the Agendas with frightening ease. 3-3 to 3-5 in 55 minutes!

In retrospect I let myself get blinded by science a bit. I should have slowed down and asked a lot more questions. I felt like I got the bums rush a bit and as such didn't really learn a lot from the game which was disappointing and slightly soured an otherwise enjoyable day.

Clinging onto the lower places and having made plans elsewhere we took our leave before the final round. I really felt the mental effort I'd exerted throughout the day which was a big learn all by itself.

The main lesson for the day was that I just need to play more games outside of my local meta. It's all well and good reading about current meta decks but seeing them in play is very different. That probably means taking a bit of a kicking for a while but as long as I take the time to learn what's going on, asking questions, and work through what I can do about it it's all good. The team championship in a fortnight will be a massive "opportunity".

While I'm doing that I'm going to continue to concentrate on my main IDs and decks, tweaking them as I go. To that end I'd like to concentrate them a touch more, maximise thier strengths and see how that goes. As such a second core set will be a necessity........ A NECESSITY ;]

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!

Crossing the Streams

Hello people,

Just a quick one. After a long week at work I made the ,as minute decision to head up to Lost Ark today with Alex for some casual Pew Pew action. A dozen of us turned out for four rounds. Other than one TLT spam and a Hilbots everyone was playing nicely and I took the opportunity to run something a bit different in 3 Khiraz, 2 Mangler Skyc aka 20 Second Squadron.

I've run it a couple of times and wanted to try the tactic of hugging a board edge to draw in my opponent before turning in on them to choose engagement. I also wanted to keep them all together as much as possible to maximise firepower and use their 5 K-Turns.

In short it, and I, performed better than I expected taking four strong wins to place second. The loss was against Super Poe Swarm which went undefeated when my otherwise hot dice went cold and I made the mistake of chasing Poe. Otherwise I flew well, especially against the TLT spam which was rather pleasing.

For my prize I chose a Netrunner Data Pack, The Universe of Tomorrow, as I'm pretty happy with the list. The Khiraz, not sure of the plural, have been undercoated and promoted to the head of the painting queue.

Result 😊

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.....

Scandi-licious part 3

Hello people,

Not a lot of chance to post yesterday as it was a very long intense day.

First off Nigel took the Armada title to become Nordic, and as such European, Champion!

For myself I ended up going 5-1 to claim 10th in the Swiss and my first top 16 cut which is immensely pleasing. Unfortunately my dice let me down in the first round this morning but I was a good close, fun game.....even against Dual IG.

International Prize Sniping was however achieved with some funky Crit tokens, especially appropriate as Boba took five in the final game ;)

Over the weekend my dice were decidedly rpoey but I flew pretty well and lucked out a couple of times with two very close match wins. The loss was unfortunate as the guy slow played me from turn 1 as an obvious tactic. It was the worst game of X-Wing I've ever played but thankfully it didn't effect the trip particularly.

That being said there were issues with the trip as a whole. Event logistics creaked, accommodation was an issue which stretched the budget past expectation.

On the upside were 6 good games, 3 of which were excellent. Top 16 is an achievement that I'm very proud of and one that spurs me on further. The 186 were excellent company an the majority of the very european field were excellent to chat to. Lots of quality banter!

The icing on the cake was the superb burger place that provided lunch three days in the row :)

Despite the feeling that the trip could have been more than it was we'd definitely do it again, just better planned. A case of being somewhat wiser from the experience.....overall a highly enjoyable one :)

Thank you Copenhagen!

Scandi-licious part 2

Greetings from Ballerup!

Other than a slightly delayed flight the trip in was straight forward and uneventful.

Rocking up at the venue this morning you could hear the event logistics continue to creak but at the end of the day Imperial Assault, Netrunner, Conquest, Star Wars LCG and Armada tourneys have taken place which is a big win all the way around and a major achievement on the part of Vince and his crew.

After a leisurely stroll and lunch in town Nigel hit the Armada tables while I hit one of the many sofas for some pre tourney R&R. It has to be said that the venue is A1 with a well stocked bar and plenty of amenities just round the corner. Rumours are that space may be an issue from tomorrow but a lack of faith is often disturbing!

Currently two of the 186 are in the running to take the Armada title. International prize sniping ahoy!

Just the two of us

Hello people,

As a variation to the recent Infinity theme myself and Nigel G, aka The Dark Destroyer, took a trip to Dunstable for 5 rounds of flying casual. As a challenge we swapped regular roles Nigel runing a swarm while I went with a two ship build of Soontir Fell and Admiral Chirpy both loaded to the gills.

I'm more than happy with Soontir and have had previous success with the decimator. It's a bit of a notorious net-list which I would normally generally avoid up curiosity won out. Despite having experience with both elements I felt shorn of my  customary swarm.

In short I ended up with a 100-nil win, a 100-nil loss, two close losses and a nil-nil draw which supports the belief that even net-lists need to be well flown.

Generally I know where I went wrong and what I forgot at times. I flew Soontir well but I kind of had to as I let Chirpy died too quickly too often, though dice did play their part at times. I'd been advised that with two ships ALWAYS play the safe option but a few moments of red mist proved crucial.

Overall it was good to give a two ship list a go. It increased my understanding playing with and against such lists, the day was pretty much dominated by them. I can see why Decimators have dropped down the meta list which itself makes me want to see what I can do with a similar list. Kenkirk has done well for me previously as has the Pope-Mobile so there are a few options

We can make it if we try ☺

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! :)