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.