Bringing out the big guns!... Starting the point of No Return campaign with the CR90

We finally have now the time to open the CR90 box and play the full campaign! The first scenario of the campaign, Mistaken Identity, is very well designed, as it will help you learn the basics and some of the weaknesses and strengths of the CR90.

Rebels (128 points) (played by JL)
- CR90 Corvette Fore with 2 Single Turbolasers, Gunnery Team and Sensor Team (74 points)
- CR90 Corvette Aft with Quad Laser Cannons, Engineering Team and Tibanna Gas Supplies (54 points)

Imperials (89 points) (played by Beni)
- Howlrunner with Determination (19 points)
- 5x Black Squadron TIE Fighters (5x14 = 70 points)

The goal for the Imperials is to cripple one section of the Corvette in 6 rounds.

Unfortunately, with the excitement I forgot to switch off the automatic flash from my smartphone and the Corvette has lost some of its details... That won't happen again in the next scenario.

Setup and first maneuvers

The scenario uses the standard 90x90 cm map with 6 asteroids. Beni decided to accumulate his asteroids in the same region of space, something I think worked in my favour because it made maneuvering with the Corvette much easier and denied him the opportunity of using the asteroids to gain some extra cover.

A TIE Fighter squadron hails the Corvette and orders it to stop

The Corvette model looks amazing, specially with the nice GF9 map as background

First Blood

Beni feared 6 rounds were not enough to allow him to circle around the Corvette and try to attack it from the back. He decided to move full throttle toward the Corvette.

The Corvette's primary weapon is very scary. With just 1 Energy you get an enormous 5 dice attack! Combine it with a Target Lock and things can get very nasty if you are not far enough... Its disadvantage is that it cannot target anything at ranges 1 or 2.

Unfortunately for the Imperials, one of the TIEs was just in range 3 of the Corvette

A very lucky first shot after using the Target Lock to reroll...

ANd one of the TIEs explodes!

Melee

The obvious weakness of the Corvette is that it has very little punch power at ranges 1 and 2, so getting to that distance is a must; on the other hand, being squashed by the gargantuan ship if you are so close is a real risk.

The TIE Fighter swarm closes the gap with the Corvette

Brilliant positioning by Beni this time; also, Howlrunner situation allowed many rerolls, but unfortunately for the Imperials, all hits were absorbed by the Corvette's Reinforcement action

This risk became a reality when one of the Black Squadron TIEs blocked Howlrunner's movement and she was rammed by the Corvette.

Out of the way and into the cold dark space!

The CR90 is surrounded by the TIEs, but only two of them have a shot on her

Even a close range, the CR90 still has its Quad Laser Cannons... another lucky shot and another TIE bursts into pieces

With only three TIEs remaining and with full shields, the CR90 is almost sure to survive

One of the TIEs moves to range 3 from the fore part of the CR20 and is shot down

The other two TIEs look helplessly as the majestic CR90 plots through the asteroid field

The two remaining TIEs deal out some damage to the CR90, but it was all blocked by the Corvette's shields

One of the TIE fighters dodges the CR90 by millimeters

But the second one was gunned down by the Corvette's Quad Laser Cannon

Summary

The scenario finished with 5 TIEs destroyed and the Corvette suffering only minor damage to the shields. Attacking the Corvette head on did not work very well for Beni, but we don't know if the scenario gives enough time to fly around the CR90 and hit it from the back... As we plan to play again the campaign switching roles, I'll have a chance to try.

 A very positive point is that Huge ships like the Corvette and the Transport add a lot of variety and fun factor to an already great game... I hope we'll have enough time to play many more scenarios with Huge ships!

Escape from Sarka, Mission 3 of the Pirates' Run Campaign

You can find the whole campaign here: Pirates' Run Campaign
And the PDF for the first scenario is here: Escape from Sarka

The Story so far

The Imperials launch a furious surprise assault on the Insurrection Privateers base. In the ensuing
mayhem, some pirates, including their leader Chiko Yidrath, escape in their spaceships with several
Imperials hot on their heels.
 

Desperate to avoid the Imperials and gain time to power up their hyperdrives, the pirates rush to a
nearby asteroid field.

Battle Report

Planning the Ships' list
This scenario was my attempt to recreate the famous Han Solo escape through an asteroid field while being pursued by several TIE Fighters.

As the Pirate I decided to give the YT-1300 the Engine Upgrade (I wanted to try if it would be too easy for him to escape, which turned out to be so) and accompanied him with a Y-Wing+Ion Turret to screen his escape and a couple Z-95s to make diversions.

JL's list, Pirates:

- Chewbacca YT-1300 (as Pirate leader Chiko Yidrath) with Elusiveness and Engine Upgrade (48)

- Grey Squadron Y-Wing with R7 Astromech and Ion Turret (27)

- Tala Z-95 (13)

- Bandit Z-95 (12)

Beni went this time for numbers and created two swarms!

Beni's list, Imperials
- Ebon Squadron: Royal Guard Interceptor and 3 Saber Squadron Interceptors (85)
- Alpha Squadron: Backstabber with Engine Upgrade and 5 Obsidian TIE Fighters (85)

Setup
I decided to use the Y-Wing to cover Chiko's escape and to place the two Z-95s in another side of the board as a diversion in case Beni would attack Chiko with all his ships.

The pirates start their mad rush through the asteroid field

Chiko is well ahead while the Y-Wing tries to block the pursuit

Two of the Interceptors move easily behind the Z-95s and start firing at them; one of the Interceptors went through a moving asteroid and lost some time

Meanwhile, the Royal Guard and the third interceptor go after Chiko who is well ahead

The Triumphant launches a wave of TIE Fighters to help the Interceptors

The TIE swarm enters the asteroid field!

Chiko maneuvers perfectly between two asteroids

Chiko is well ahead of the Imperials while the other Pirate ships are hunted down

The first Z-95 is destroyed

The Y-Wing becomes surrounded by the TIE swarm

A general view of the asteroid field

One of the Interceptors that had been damaged by Chiko crashes against an asteroid!

Chiko prepares to enter hyperspace while the other pirate ships are in big trouble

The last Z-95 is hunted down by the remaining Interceptors

Summary and changing the design of the scenario
I was very happy with how the asteroid field worked. That some of the asteroids can move a bit just after the Planning phase made movement exciting and dangerous, but it was not fiddly. Also, losing speed if you overlap an asteroid means you cannot simply race straight through them.

Another advantage is that the scenario was fast and took us a bit less than 90 minutes. I think the changes I made will probably add another 30 minutes. Considering the amount of action and possibilities, 2 hours looks a correct amount of time for the scenario.

On the other hand, escaping with the YT-1300 was too easy if it has an Engine Upgrade. I decided to change the scenario so that the YT-1300's upgrades are fixed.

At the same time, it was too easy for the Imperials to destroy the other 3 ships as the difference in points was too big. I decided to give the Rebels 20 extra points and force them to use 4 ships; that way the screen will be stronger (also because the YT-1300 will shoot more) and the scenario will probably be more exciting.

Now we only have the fourth scenario to try! It's an epic one, so we'll have to find two other friends to play with us. The problem will be finding a good time for 4 players, because the scenario will probably need 3-4 hours to be played.