Epic Team Battle 1

For our first trial, we decided to go for teams with 120 points per player.

Teams

Rebels
Rombic (120 points) (played by Antonio)
- Jake Farrel A-Wing with Test Pilot, Assault Missiles, Push the Limit and Autothrusters (34)
- Blue Squadron B-Wing with Ion Torpedoes (27)
- Gold Squadron Y-Wing with Ion Cannon Turret (23)
- Rookie X-Wing (21)
- Prototype A-Wing with Chardaan Refit (15)  

Darth Messengers (119 points) (played by me, JL)
- CR90 Corvette (Fore) with Dodonna's Pride, Single Turbolasers, Engineering Team and Comms Booster (70)
- CR90 Corvette (Aft) with Quad Laser Cannons and Backup Shield Generator (49)


Imperials 
Rickbane (120 points) (played by Ricardo)
- Soontir Fel TIE-Interceptor with Push the Limit and Autothrusters (32)
- Colonel Vessery TIE- Defender with Adrenaline Rush (36)
- Sigma Squadrom Phantom with Fire Control System and Stygium Particle Accelerator (29) 
- Lieutenant Colzet TIE-Advanced with x1 title and Fire Control System (23)

Tardis (120 points) (played by Beni)
- Rear Admiral Chiraneau Decimator with Determination, Proximity Mines, Mercenary Copilot, Gunner, Ysanne Isard and Engine Upgrade (65)
- Krassis Trelix Firespray-31 with Heavy Laser Cannon, Proximity Mines, Gunner and Engine Upgrade (55)

Rebel Tactics

Our main idea was to combine the Comms Booster of the CR90 with Jake Farrell's power, to give him a lot of maneuverability. We added also a couple of blast missiles to our lists to have some sort of swarm control. Finally, the 4 non-unique ships would be assigned to the protection of the aft section of the Corvette, its weakest point.

Imperial Tactics

From their list, the ship I feared the most was Krassis Trelix with his Heavy Laser Cannon. This sort of weapon can be very dangerous for the Corvette (especially when coupled with Krassis ability that allows him to re-roll 1 die for free when using secondary weapons).
In that sense, the Phantom also seemed a big threat for the Corvette, because of its 4-dice attack.
The other nice combo was to have so many FCs coupled with Colonel Vessery's ability.
The proximity mines look scary on paper, but they are difficult to deploy (I have already some experience with them), so they did not worry me so much,

The Battle

Even though there were 479 points on the table, as we played with a 90x180cm field, it looked a bit empty. The battle felt more like a big skirmish, as there were not many possibilities of flanking strategies (not enough points for that, compared with the next battle as you'll see in my next post).

Still, the feeling of fielding so many ships at once was very exhilararing, and there were plenty of good and fun moments.

The Imperial patrol catches sight on a poor lonely Rebel Corvette and approaches it with evil intentions...

The Corvette is protected by a small group of Rebel fighters lead by the valerous Jake Farrel

A detailed view of the Rebels

Krassis closes as fast as he can on the Corvette with the intention of using his Heavy Laser Cannon; meanwhile, the Corvette starts firing on Chirenau's Decimator

A miscommunication problem caused some trouble in the Rebel escort ships...

Jake Farrel launches his Assault Missiles with great success against the Imperial leader, the dreaded Admiral Chirenau; the blast caught also the TIE Phantom. Meanwhile, the Corvette concentrates fire on Chirenau, while deflecting the shields to the front, to better protect itself against Krassis' HLC

A calculation error lands Krassis between Corvette and asteroid... The Prototype A-Wing blocked Krassis' move to his right, he turned left and landed on the asteroid, unable to use his Engine Upgrade to escape the incoming Corvette... HONK HONK (last sounds heard by Krassis)

With Krassis gone, things look dire for the Imperials; Chirenau is being shot at by the Corvette and its escorts, and the rest of the Imperial patrol is unable to focus fire

Chirenau's Decimator is destroyed under the heavy barrage

Soontir Fel manages to evade the Rebel escort screen and approaches the Corvette, but has not too much space to maneuver;
meanwhile, an intense fight erupts among the escorts of both fleets, punctuated every now and then by the barrages of the CR90s weapons!
The B-Wing is destroyed after a valiant fight!

Lieutenant Colzet's TIE Advanced blows in pieces, surrounded by Rebel fighters

The Rebels have gained the upper hand, and even Soontir has trouble connecting good attacks

The Corvette shoots down the Phantom, which had been severely damaged from previous shots

Colonel Vessery becomes the last victim of the CR90 escort

Summary

The game ended in an Imperial rout... The turning point was Krassis collision with the CR90. Also, the Rebels managed to concentrate their fire much better than the Imperials, and Jake Farrel's coordination with the Corvette's comms booster worked to perfection, as he could almost always be where he was most needed. Finally, Rombic rolls were consistently above average (apparently, some Karmic balance to an incident that happened during the very first turn and caused some trouble in his maneuvering). :))

On the Imperial side, there was not much to celebrate. Their rolls were below average and they needed more time than normal to finish the first escort (the B-Wing) on which they focused (although also with not much success). Also, Krassis's collision with the asteroid and being trampled by the CR90 meant the Corvette was completely free to harass the rest of the Imperial ships from a distance.

The game was very fun, with plenty of heroic moments, saves and deaths because of small miscalculations and lot of good-spirit mocking, bragging and joking... as usual, a pleasure to play X-Wing!

And stay tuned to our next transmission! Another Epic Team Battle, this time with 150 points per player.

(cut scene)

(Krassis drives his Firespray while listening to Bob Marley's "Bad Boys")

Krassis: CR90 reduce your speed, you are in a highly protected ecologic area. Exogorths are known to breed in the area, and the vibrations of your engine might disturb them

CR90: (pzt, brr, static) please repeat the order

Krassis: CR90, that's it, smartass. Stop the ship and prepare to be boarded for inspection and for violating order 66-2 of the Imperial Ecologic Bureau.

(a big Exogorth sticks annoyed its head out of a nearby asteroid and grapples Krassis' Firespray)Krassis: Aggh!
CR90: (pzt, brr, static) Shit! An Exogorth colony! Quickly, full throttle before they grapple us...
(crash noises)

CR90: (pzt, brr, static) Did you hear anything? Tell that metal bucket to come here and fix this comm relay.
R2D2 unit: titoo too tip

Chirenau: Oh my Emperor! They killed Krassis! You bastards! Destroy that Corvette!