Star Wars Academy, Round 1

The date of our first X-Wing Miniatures tournament approaches (it'll take place in Tabletop Kingdom in The Hague on 17th May) so we decided to start testing some flight lists and also train our flight skills... This is the report of our first training session.

And I also got to show off my new GF9 mat... Such a beauty! And great background for the pictures, as you'll see.

The Lists

Beni played the Vader Fist:
Darth Vader with Squad Leader and Stealth Device (34)
Howlrunner with Elusiveness and Stealth Device (23)
Mauler Mithel with Expert Handling and Stealth Device (22)
Night Beast with Stealth Device (18)
Total: 97

JL played the Throwing Daggers:
Dagger Squadron B-Wing with Fire Control System and Heavy Laser Cannon x3 (33x3)
Total: 99


First Battle

The game started with the positioning of the asteroids. I had a bit of an advantage here as I had already played two tournament rounds some weeks ago and had a good idea of what I wanted to create... I wanted to leave one of my corners free of asteroids so that I would be able to take advantage of my Heavy Laser Cannons at range 3 and force the TIEs to approach me straight on without any flanking maneuvers... I placed my three asteroids in the corners of the mat on Beni's side of the board and on his center line... He placed them blocking my left side.

The battle started with both squadrons setting up in opposite corners. I chose my right side as it was free of asteroids. We both tried to keep close formation.

Three B-Wings with Heavy Laser Cannons are scary!

My flying tactic was simple: keep formation as long as possible and try to get all B-Wings to shoot at range 3 during their first approach... Attacking 3 times with 4 dice each can be very destructive.

All TIEs had better pilot skill than my B-Wings and I feared their maneuverability would be a big problem for my slower B-Wings.

Flying in close formation is usually a good idea, though I think I would have used Night Beast or Mauler Mithel to try and flank my B-Wings to make it more difficult for me to focus fire.

The formations approach each other... The setup of the asteroids made it more difficult for Beni to flank my B-Wing squadron.

The B-Wings are great for maneuvering and trying to get the first shot at range 3. As I had to move first I was pretty sure I would not be able to start with a Target Lock and used the Focus action as much as I could. I decided that I would use Barrel Roll if I though that would help me maintain a good distance in the first attack.

Beni's TIEs are hindered by the asteroids... I still think he could have tried to flank with one of the TIEs and make my life a bit more difficult

In the first approach I used the barrel roll action to maintain a good distance from the TIEs and it worked out relatively well

Once the B-Wings are in formation, a good opening fire maneuver is to barrel roll sideways and to the back with the front B-Wing(s) while the one(s) in the back move forward and Focus.

Mauler Mithel got very close to range 1, but Howlrunner crushed against Night Beast... This probably decided this game, as Beni was only able to reroll one of Night Beast's attack dice

The initial engagement was at range 3 (well, Mauler was at range 2) and this was very advantageous for my B-Wings... Still, I only managed to hit Vader (who lost his shields and took 1 damage).

After the initial salvo, the battle goes into dogfight mode

In the ensuing dogfight I got the upper hand. I positioned my B-Wings to prevent any easy K-turn from Beni's TIEs and he ended up with several stressed TIEs going in the wrong direction... Keeping a close eye on the possible maneuvers of the enemy's ships is very important during the dogfight; here again I think I had the slight advantage of having played a couple tournament rounds (in which I was constantly outmaneuvered and learned a lot).

I don't have any more pictures of this first battle (I got too excited and focused in the game)... Neither of us focused fire enough and it was a very close affair, though at the end I won after destroying a couple of the TIEs.

Some ideas after this first battle:

• having ships with the same pilot skill is very helpful, because you can always choose who to move first.
• it's very important to remember who is moving first, so that you know they can block your movement or not and plan accordingly.
• focus fire, focus fire, focus fire... None of us did this in the first game and it hurt both of us.
• asteroid placement is very important and you should adapt it to your army list.

Second Battle

Beni placed the asteroids in the second battle a bit better, though I think he still missed the point that he had better maneuverability and did not place any asteroids in the center of the board... I think this is a must if you are fighting against someone with Heavy Laser Cannons, so that you'll have more opportunities of obstructing the shot.

Beni tries to get this time closer to the asteroids to have the battle there... I think he still did not manage to outflank me

At one point in the game, it seemed I would be able to flank him instead!

This is a good picture, because it shows that not having any asteroid in the center of the mat was an advantage for my longer range weapons

Beni managed to maneuver very well and even did a small flanking attempt...

Nevertheless he did not follow the flanking attempt. Here you see Mauler slightly to the right of my B-Wings, but instead of trying to flank them, Beni decided to get him closer to Howlrunner for a reroll... Maybe worth it, though I'd prefer to flank the B-Wings; once you get with Mauler behind a B-Wing, it's a matter of time for him to finish them off with his better maneuverability

This time I focused fire my attacks on Howlrunner (being able to reroll attack dice is too dangerous) and was able to destroy him with two Heavy Laser Canon attacks.

 Another decisive moment was the crush of Night Beast and Howlrunner by just a couple millimeters (probably due to the fact that Beni nudged Night Beast the wrong way while placing him)... As a result, Vader also crushed into Howlrunner. Not only did they lose their actions, but they also started the first exchange of fire at a longer distance... This was a decisive moment in the battle.

Howlrunner is toasted!

This time we both maneuvered very well during the dogfight. I focused my fire on Mauler Mithel as the next most dangerous TIE. Beni focused his fire on one of my B-Wings

Here we see Mauler surrounded by B-Wings and being finished off by them... Darth Vader would score some points for his team in the following round (you see him here raining fire just behind a B-Wing)

So, this was another victory for the B-Wings and I think we both played this second game better.


Conclusions

Out of our two games I get the following ideas:

• If you are more maneuverable than the other team, I think you'll be interested in placing asteroids in the middle of the terrain.
• If you are more maneuverable it may be worthwhile to attempt some flanking maneuvers.
• I found the Heavy Laser Cannons very satisfactory... They are a very scary weapon, because a good roll can easily mean the death of a TIE with just one lucky shot (happened twice during our games). I will try other concepts, but this list was fun and powerful to play.
• As for Beni's list, I suggested him to remove the Stealth Device from Night Beast and give Vader some missiles. This has two benefits: firstly, the list would have a bit more punch; secondly, it will make the decision on who to focus fire upon much more difficult for the opponent.
• I love my new mat! The pictures are very beautiful!