Hey all!
Well, my regular X-Wing gaming buddy stopped by tonight, and we knocked off a game!
I took rebels again... I wanted to try something new, so I took two Gold Squadron Y-Wings, both with an R2 unit and an Ion Turret, 1 Rookie X-Wing pilot with a stealth upgrade, and Luke in an X-Wing.
My opponent took 2 Academy TIE fighters, 1 Scimitar TIE Bomber, and then Kir Kanos with a Stealth device and Soontir Fel with a Stealth device and Push The Limit.
So, the first turn or two saw both sides moving forward cautiously... I grabbed a bunch of target locks, anticipating getting to shoot soon...
But I forgot... if I am close enough to target lock, they are close enough to shoot. Range 3 though, right? No problem? Yeah, not so much; some INSANELY accurate fire stripped both X-Wings of all of their shields, and then knocked two hull off the rookie! Holy crap... with 10 attack dice on two X-Wings at range 3 I took six hits. Not a good start, and I was almost ready to call if off!
But then came turn 3. My opponent expected me to really slow it down and go head to head; instead, I put the hammer down and went forward as fast as I could! And it really worked out! I got my two Y-wings past the the TIE fighters in front of them, K-turned the badly damaged Rookie RIGHT behind Soontir, and moved Luke forward and out of danger (I mistook him as the guy who had taken two damage that turn, dumb me!)
My rookie ended up HAMMERING Soontir at range 1, but unfortunately that damn slippery Imperial evaded everything... well, everything but the ion turret shot from the Y-Wing on the far right of the above photo! And because Soontir was stressed, he wouldn't be taking any actions anytime soon! Oh, and there went his Stealth device, too!
Soontir drifted forward, and I AGAIN hammered at him with the rookie, this time causing two hits.
And then the Y-Wing blew him out of the sky with his Ion turret! Talk about an effective use of points... that Y-Wing paid for itself, and then some!
Meanwhile Kir Kanos had made a wide K turn, looking to stay at long range, but he couldn't for long, and unfortunately found himself right under the guns of the rookie. While he was able to boost out of the way, the Y-Wings did pound on him, and ANOTHER Imperial ace found himself drifting forward! The badly damaged rookie quickly make a hard right hand turn to get himself onto Kanos' flank...
But a sharp move by one of the Academy TIEs put the rebel fighter RIGHT in the Imperial's sights! The rookie was doomed... if Luke Skywalker, screaming in in his X-Wing, couldn't blow the damaged TIE fighter away first!
Meanwhile, on the other side of the asteroid field the two Y-Wings continued being awfully slippery, jetting out of the fire arcs of the other Academy TIE and the Bomber, and THEN ioning both enemy ships! But what about the rookie?!
"I've got your back!" cried Luke, and he blasted the Academy TIE off of the tail of the rookie pilot, freeing the rookie up to focus on the task at hand...
... blasting the ioned Kir Kanos out of the sky!
At this point, with all of the rebel ships still flying and the lone remaining Imperial ships both drifting in an ion haze, my buddy conceded the game.
Overall it was a tough one for him, but really an interesting one... I think I flew VERY well, really maximizing the ion cannons on the Y-Wings along with the firepower of the X-Wings. Both with Soontir and Kir I ioned them and then got X-Wings right on their tails at range one to destroy them, keeping the X-Wing right on his six in the case of Soontir for several turns. Overall I think it was an interesting game!
