CR90 vs. Raider

With the new addition of the Raider to the X-Wing family, we could not help but organize a third team battle featuring a Raider against a CR90. Each of us had 150 points to spend and the team had to field either one Raider or one CR90.

Teams

Rebels
Bento, CR90 escort (150 points) (played by Antonio)
- Jake Farrel A-Wing with Proton Rockets and Autothrusters (29)
- 2x Blue Squadron B-Wing with Sensor Jammer and Heavy Laser Cannon (33x2)
- Warden K-Wing with Extra Munitions, Bombardier, Proximity Mines and Conner Net (33)
- Rookie X-Wing with R4-D6 (22)

Destroyers, CR90 (146 points) (played by Ricardo)
- CR90 Corvette (Fore) with Tantive IV title, WED-15 Repair Droid, Ion Cannon Battery, Quad Laser Cannons, Engineering Team, Sensor Team, Comms Bosster and Luke Skywalker (87)
- CR90 Corvette (Aft) with Toryn Farr, Quad Laser Cannons, Gunnery Team and Backup Shield Generator (59)

 
Imperials 
Imperial Wall, Raider (150 points) (played by me, JL)
- Maarek Stele TIE-Advanced with TIE/x1 title, Predator, Twin Ion Engine Mk. II and Advanced Targetting Computer (32)
- Raider Corvette (Fore) (50) 
- Raider Corvette (Aft) with Sensor Team, Quad Laser Cannons and Emperor Palpatine (68)

Imperial Fist, Raider escort (150 points) (played by Beni)
- Colonel Vessery (35)
- Deathrain TIE Punisher with Extra Munitions, Cluster Missiles, Cluster Mines and Seismic Charges (38)
- Zertik Strom TIE-Advanced with TIE/x1 title and Advanced Targetting Computer (27)
- Commander Alozen TIE-Advanced with TIE/x1 title and Advanced Targetting Computer (26)
- Lieutenant Colzet TIE-Advanced with TIE/x1 title and Advanced Targetting Computer (24)

Rebel Tactics

Ricardo went for a fully weaponized CR90 with lots of upgrades. I must say I was always skeptic about the power of the CR90 and thought spending too many points on it was not a good idea until I saw his list. Both Luke Skywalker and Toryn Farr are great additions to the CR90 and they both proved extremely useful (specially Luke), as he was always to shoot twice with its primary weapon every turn!

Antonio went with his usual B-Wing+HLC+Sensor Jammer combo: those ships are beasts against Huge ships. He also decided to try the new K-Wing fully loaded with bombs. He also used Jake Farrel who has good synergy with the Comms Booster of the CR90

Imperial Tactics

Beni played with his favourite TIE, Colonel Vessery (I think I've seen him play with this ship 5-6 times already) and decided to try the new Punisher against the CR90 and a collection of TIE Advanced.

In my case, I was not too convinced of spending too many points on the Raider, but could not pass on the opportunity to use Emperor Palpatine! I added a Quad for close defense and the Sensor Team to help Vessery get his free Target Locks.

The Battle

Again, 600 points on the table is something spectacular to behold... I think next time I'll even propose to add 30-50 extra points per player to make an even bigger battle. I also brought my new mat, and it added to the great atmosphere of the game

Here is the summary of the battle:

Rebels took the initiative and placed the CR90 first; I decided to place the Raider so that only its Fore section would be exposed; we decided to protect its flanks with two of the TIE-Advanced and the Punisher, while using Vessery and the other two TIE-Advanced for flanking

The B-Wings started heading towards the Raider and helped by the X-Wing; Jake Farrel and the K-Wing deployed to defend the other flank of the CR90

Here you see the big maneuverability the K-Wing has thanks to its Slam maneuver; it would use it during the game to constantly avoid becoming a too easy target

 In the first turn of the battle, the B-Wings advanced very slow (to my surprise) and the CR90 opened fire on Zertik Strom, ionizing the Advanced.

At the other side of the map, Antonio used the Slam action of his K-Wing to avoid the incoming Vessery... it was quite impressive to see the Slam for the first time!

The fleets approached cautiously

 The second turn showed a lot more action. The B-Wings advanced again very slowly (again surprising), but came into range of the Raider, and Deathrain pulled his trick and dropped a Cluster Mine in front of the B-Wings.
The CR90 started pounding the Raider with as many weapons as Ricardo could bear on it while using its Quad Cannons to shoot at Deathrain without too much effect.

Finally some big action in this side of the map!

 The third turn show a lot of action. Jake Farrel finally caught Zertik Strom but his Proton Rockets were dodged by Zertik who also avoided all damage from the CR90's Quad Cannons... His survival gave the other Imperial ships lots of time to focus on the B-Wings.
The Raider and the Cluster Mines were enough to cause the first casualty of the day: the Rookie X-Wing.
And the CR90 proved its power shooting twice at the Raider, obliterating all its shields (even though it had a Reinforce token there) and dropping a crit (from then on, I obtained one less Energy each turn).

The Rookie X-Wing opened a corridor through the Cluster Mines but was the first casualty of the game: a couple shots from the Raiders and the mines was too much for him

Things looked bleak for the Imperials; the Raider has lost all its frontal shields, Zertik has Jake Farrel at his 6 and the B-Wings will be able to shoot at the Raider next turn!

At the far side of the battle, the K-Wing turned against the pursuing Vessery&friends and completely avoided them in turn 3. Later in turn 4, he used his action to drop a Conner Net on Vessery! Great maneuvering there, Antonio!

Vessery is trapped by the K-Wing's net

In the closest side of the battle, I decided to spend all my energy to recover all the Raider frontal shields. Luckily for us, the TIE-Advanced escorts and Deathrain shot down one of the B-Wings so that only the CR90 and one B-Wing could attack the Raider.

One B-Wing is shot down by the TIE-Advanced

Still, the powerful shots of the CR90 finally destroyed Zertik Strom and crippled the fore section of the Raider.

Add caption

The Raider, Vessery and the other two TIE-Advanced focus fire on the Corvette and also cripple its fore section

The last turn that we played (I think turn 6 or 7) saw the second B-Wing being shot down by the combined fire of Marek Stele, Deathrain and his Cluster Mines and the Raider's Quad Cannons.

Deathrain uses again his Cluster Mines and takes down another victim

The Imperial ships are already at the back section of the CR90, which was quite damaged, and get ready to finish it in 1 or 2 more turns

 

 

 

The last shot of the CR90 causes a crit in the aft section of the Raider... the Emperor is gone!

Summary

The game ended with an Imperial points victory:
77 Rebel points: Zertik Strom (27) and the Fore section of the Raider (50)
175 Imperial points: two B-Wings (33x2), Rookie X-Wing (22), Fore section of CR90 (87)

This time I see four main events that had a big impact on the outcome of the battle:
1. The B-Wings moved too slow and did not shoot at the Raider enough. They wasted their first attacks on a TIE-Advanced that has a 3 Agility and thus is much more resistant to HLCs.
2. Zertik Strom dodged plenty of bullets. This gave the Imperials the extra time they needed to shoot down the dangerous B-Wings.
3. The Raider front section survived one extra turn thanks to Palpatine and also to the fact that the B-Wings did not apply enough pressure. This allowed us an extra turn of Palpatine's wonderful ability.
4. The K-Wing did not protect the Corvette. Its change of direction surprised Vessery&friends, but they then just switched targets to the Corvette and made short work of its fore section (and were ready to do the same with the aft section when we had to stop playing).

So, another great game to remember. The duel between the CR90 and the Raider was really epic, and seeing the Punisher and the K-Wing in action was awesome!

I must say I'm very happy I bought the Huge ships. They extend the possibilities of the game to design more epic scenarios and battles, and the Bomber ships can play a roll against Huge ships.