The Lady and the HWK

Not a bad night last night, dry but cool, however not a big presence at the club, a game of Great War, a Bloodbowl match and Andrew and I playing X-Wing. I was helping Andrew prepare for a tournament as he wanted some practice with a build he had been toying with, I had picked up it was an anti-swarm build the week before so I felt obliged to bring one.

The games were tournament rules and 100 points, my first force was Imperials and I chose top pilot Kath Scarlett supported by four Academy (green) Tie Fighters, not being the best pilot in the galaxy I usually stay away from swarms as all I seem to do is continually crash into other ships flying so close. I was up against a Hounds Tooth a Y-Wing and a Contracted Scout, the latter ship proved a hard nut to crack, with only three ships Andrew had them tooled up with up to six cards holding extras including missiles, turrets and special abilities. I on the other hand usually only have one or two, at the most three otherwise I forget what they all do.

The excellent Contracted Scout and friend.

 I was expecting a sound drubbing for this first game as the opposition looked pretty threatening, I led the way with the Tie's, keeping Kath back in the rear, all the better to fire her blaster cannon which is useless at short range. I skipped the first obstacle and the swarm was nicely lined up against the Hound's Tooth, I lost a Tie and thought here we go, but no, my return fire was exceptional and the HT took a bucket load of damage as its shields disintegrated and the laser fire ate into the hull. In the second round I lost another Tie but the HT went down and my ships began to seriously damage the two remaining Villains. I lost another Tie but only needed a couple of good hits and it might be possible to destroy the enemy, it was now the dice gods decided to desert me, the last Tie blew up and Kath was not left in a good position, nor could she get the kill shot on either the Scout or the Y-Wing. As my last ship went up in smoke I remembered I had not taken any photographs, the game had been so intense I had forgotten for most of it. Andrew got his win but I was really pleased with my boys.

Kath and wingman before they take to the escape pods.

 In the second game I fielded a Rebel set with two B-Wings, a Y-Wing and an HWK-290, I took the HWK because I have never flown it before and it is plain daft to have a ship and never use it, also if you are wondering at the colour it is the Ukrainian Air Force camo scheme. Andrew used the same build but this time spread them along his start line, this allowed me to keep my guys together and for most of the game fight two ships with four. I started really well and my first salvoes dealt out a lot of damage and took shields down, leaving the Y-Wing and Scout vulnerable. As we closed to dogfight I realised too late that all the ships I had taken flew like bricks, but I persevered, my shooting was again exemplary and the Scout went down first, still with her missiles unfired, the enemy Y-Wing was next along with one of my B-Wings. We were running out of time and called it a day at 2200 hrs and I was way ahead on points. Having said that the Hounds Tooth was virtually untouched but my ships were carrying damage, not a lot but enough to play cautious, it would have been interesting to see if I could have taken her down.

Open Fire!

Two really great games and I was pleased with my efforts in both, especially my losing game.

Ooops.