Will of the Empire campaign, R1 and R2

I played the first two scenarios of the campaign with my friend Antonio. They were both very nice and fun games.

R1: Test Flight
In Test Flight, the Rebel Alliance attempts to destroy the X1 TIE Advanced prototypes before the Empire can use them in action.


Rebels
Top Luke, (100 points) (played by Antonio)
- Luke Skywalker with R5-P9, Predator and Stealth Device (37)
- X-Wing Rookie x 3 (21x3)

Darth Messengers, Raider Corvette (170 points) (played by me, JL)
- Raider Corvette (Fore) with Quad Laser Cannons (56)
- Raider Corvette (Aft) with Quad Laser Cannons and Single Turbolasers (64)
- Tempest Squadron TIE Advanced with Cluster Missiles x2 (25x2)

I placed my TIE Advanced in the same side of the Raider as the Rebel attackers, which I think was a mistake

The Raider-class Corvette model is a beauty!

The Rebel strike party is ready to strike!

The X-Wings flew in tight formation while I tried to flank them with one of my TIEs

One of the X-Wings breaks off the attack and tries to escape the engagement to get information of the TIE Advanced prototypes back to the Rebellion

The X-Wings outmaneuver one of the TIEs and blow it to pìeces...

Meanwhile, the other TIE hits one of the X-Wings with its Cluster Missiles and scores a clean hit!

The reserved X-Wing meets its demise at the weapons of the mighty Raider!

The Raider proved a killing machine in this game

A bit later, the Raider scores a second kill destroying the last Rookie X-Wing

But Luke manages to escape with the Prototypes information having suffered only a couple hits to his shields

Summary
R1, Test Flight is a great scenario to learn how to use the Raider and show its strength... Being able to shoot twice with its primary weapon (spending 2 energy) at ranges 2-4, plus its secondary weapons makes this ship a weapons platform to be feared!


The scenario was won by Antonio because his setup was better than mine and he also flew his X-Wings much better than I did mine and outmaneuvered me the whole game... Also, from the story aspect point of view, it was great to see just Luke escaping to seal the Rebellion win!





R2: Ion Tempest
In Ion Tempest, the Imperial captain of the Raider lays a trap for the Rebels. The scenario additional mechanics make for a very interesting scenario.

Rebels
B-Wing Fury, (130 points) (played by Antonio)
- Ethan A'baht E-Wing with R2 Astromech, Calculation and Sensor Jammer (38)
- 2 x Blue B-Wing with Heavy Laser Cannon and Sensor Jammer (33x2)
- Blue B-Wing with Sensor Jammer (26)

Darth Messengers, Raider Corvette (203 points) (played by me, JL)
- Raider Corvette (Fore) with Ion Cannon Battery (56)
- Raider Corvette (Aft) with 2 Ion Cannon Batteries, Sensor Team and Engineering Team (72)
- Tempest Squadron TIE Advanced with Cluster Missiles (25)
- Saber Squadron TIE Interceptor with Predator and Autothrusters (26) 
- Saber Squadron TIE Interceptor with Crack Shot and Autothrusters (26) 


 Strategy
I wanted to use my Interceptors to flank Antonio's ships while he attacked the Raider, but from the beginning he tried to finish my escorts first, which I think was a sound tactic.

Raider escorts try to flank the Rebels

The Raider starts moving to capture Rebel ships!

The Rebel wings concentrate their fire on the TIE Inteceptors and destroyed one of them

 The battle was very close and the Ion Storm disrupted Antonio's movement more than mine. He got very close to crippling the Raider, but I managed to capture one of his B-Wings and destroy the E-Wing and another of his B-Wings... Capturing ships was extremely difficult!

Etahn is not careful and crushes against the Raider... in the back, one of the B-Wings is shot down by the remaining TIE Interceptor (not in the picture because it was behind the Raider)

The last B-Wing is ionized, but manages to escape into hyperspace with a Barrel Roll

Summary
Another very fun scenario. I think the victory conditions are such that it was more probable to end in a draw, although anything could happen... In this one I think I maneuvered a bit better than Antonio (probably also thanks to the help of the Ion Storm that annoyed him more than me).

Antonio got too close to the Raider with his B-Wings and was not able to use his HLCs much. I think part of the reason was because of my flanking maneuvers with my TIEs. He had to take the decision to actively get rid of them, and that made his position worse later in the scenario. I still think his decision was sound; if he had ignored my TIE escorts, things would have been worse for him.

So, now we only have to finish scenario R4 to finish with the campaign... with the end of the vacation season it will be more difficult to play, as we are using our gaming time to play Epic battles, but I hope it won't be long until we manage to finish this wonderful campaign.