Rebel Hit and Run

Kevin and I finally got another game of Armada in!

I brought a similar force to what I took last time:

MC80 Battle Cruiser
    -Mon Karren
    -General Dodonna
MC30c Scout Frigate
    -Redundant Shields
    -Assault Concussion Missiles
MC30c Torpedo Frigate
    -Assault Proton Torpedoes
GR75 Combat Retrofits
B-wing Squadron
B-wing Squadron
X-wing Squadron (Luke Skywalker)
X-wing Squadron
X-wing Squadron
Y-wing Squadron

Kevin had a pair of Victory-class Star Destroyers, a Gladiator-class Star Destroyer, a Raider-class Corvette, IG-88, and a ton of TIEs.

Mon Karren and her escorts deploy in a broad line, with fighters and attack bombers close behind.

The Empire deploys her fighter screen well forward, reaching my forward elements before my X-wings can reach them.  The Raider-class takes heavy damage from a barrage of assault torpedoes. 

Mon Karren engages a pair of Star Destroyers alone, battering the Victory-class.

The situation after three turns.  The second Victory-class closes on the MC30 frigates.  The Raider is destroyed soon after.

Mon Karren narrowly glides past the pair of Destroyers, but her shields are heavily damaged.

TIEs make repeated runs on my MC30, but it holds fast.

The Imperials escape any more major damage, while shooting down most of the Rebel fighters.  

Total losses amounted to a Raider-class Corvette and a TIE Fighter squadron for the Empire, and four squadrons of fighters lost, including Skywalker's for the Rebels.  52-57 Imperial advantage.  

Mon Cala Sends Assistance

In our second game, Kevin and I would switch it up a bit, with the Rebels bringing some heavier ships, and the Imperials going with a Star Destroyer-based Squadron.

My fleet:

MC80 Battle Cruiser
    -Mon Karren
    -General Dodonna
MC30c Scout Frigate
    -Redundant Shields
    -Assault Concussion Missiles
MC30c Scout Frigate
    -Redundant Shields
    -Assault Concussion Missiles
GR75 Combat Retrofits
B-wing Squadron
B-wing Squadron
X-wing Squadron
X-wing Squadron
X-wing Squadron
Y-wing Squadron

Kevin had an Imperial-class Star Destroyer, a Victory-class Star Destroyer, two Gladiator-class Star Destroyers, a squadron of TIE Interceptors, and three squadrons of TIE Fighters.

We still didn't use any of the objective cards, and opted to just slug it out for six turns.

Kevin's villianous Imperials

The heroic Rebels

The Rebel Fleet shifts to avoid the largest Star Destroyer, with the frigates increasing speed.

As we close to firing range, all ships concentrate fire on the Victory-class SD, destroying it after two full barrages.

My Battle Cruiser manages to avoid most of the fire coming from the ISD while the frigates destroy a Gladiator-class SD.

In the final round my B-wings destroy the second Gladiator, but not before it destroys my GR75 transports.

This was a major voctory for the Rebellion, destroying three capital ships and all of the Imperial fighters, while losing a transport flotilla and a single squadron of X-wings. Final score was 273-37.

The Destruction of Phoenix Group

I got to play my first full-scale game of Star Wars Armada a few nights ago and met up one again with my friend Kevin.  I decided to put together a themed Rebel force, Phoenix Group from Rebels.

My fleet consisted of:

Pelta-class Command Ship

    -Phoenix Home

    -Commander Sato

    -Flight Commander

    -Shields to Maximum!

CR90a Corvette

CR90a Corvette

CR90b Corvette

    -Jaina's Light

    -Toryn Farr

    -High-Capacity Ion Turbines

Hammerhead-class Torpedo Corvette

    -Assault Proton Torpedoes

Hammerhead-class Torpedo Corvette

    -Assault Proton Torpedoes

Hera Syndulla (VCX-100)

A-wing Squadron

A-wing Squadron

Y-wing Squadron

Y-wing Squadron

Kevin had an Imperial-class Star Destroyer, Arquitens-class Light Cruiser, two Raider-class Corvettes, several squadrons of TIE Defenders, a pair of TIE Interceptor squadrons, and even more squadrons of TIE Fighters.  We didn't play a scenario.

My corvettes and A-wings move to engage Kevin's TIE swarm.

A pair of CR90s have battered Kevin's Raider, but it holds fast.  So far the A-wings ae holding their own against superior numbers.

With the fighters all engaged, my corvettes have a three-to-one advantage against Kevin's light cruiser, but it would be short-lived.

The Star Destroyer quickly makes it's presence felt, driving right through the heart of my fleet, and quickly turns the tide of the battle to the Imperial side.

Once that Star Destroyer got into range it was all over.  It quickly dispatched two of my corvettes and my command ship, while the TIE's numerical superiority won the fighter battle.  Two CR90s, a Hammerhead, and a single squadron of Y-wings would escape the Imperial Fleet, while only a few squadrons of TIEs would be lost by the Empire.

6 Month Mountain Reduction and Painting Challenge- 2018 Edition

Since 2015 I've participated in the Six Month Mountain Reduction and Painting Challenge, but honestly haven't been able to make much of a dent in the miniature pile the last two years.  I'm hoping that a new interest in Bolt Action and coming home to my regular gaming crowd will help with the motivation to put paint to little army men.  Rules are similar to previous years:

1. No purchasing of new miniatures, except if you use a Joker.  You get three Jokers to use on a miniature purchase.  Can be a blister pack, an eBay bundle, or a single figure.  The only exception is if you need to buy a single figure to complete a unit.  In addition, you can earn additional Jokers by completing an entire project, complete with starting, WIP, and final pictures.

2. Gifts do not count against you.  Holidays, birthdays, and gift cards given to you do not count against you.

3. Paint, terrain, and hobby supplies do not count against you.

4. At least one hobby-related blog or Instagram post a week.

5. Zombie-related stuff during October is encouraged. 

I've been playing Armada pretty regularly now that my friend Kevin has purchased a sizable Imperial fleet, and also have a new Imperial Japanese Army force to put together for Bolt Action. (Thanks Dai!)  I've also a few platoons to paint for my Kublacon Flames of War event later this month, and hopefully a few other things in the works.

Star Wars Fleet Action

I finally got to play Star Wars Armada with my friend Kevin, and it was a blast!  We tried the introductory mission just to get our bearings, but found ourselves struggling with the rules a bit.  I think we eventually figured the basics out, but it took us a minute to get there.

After a couple of turns, my Nebulon-B Frigate had charged forward to fire on the Victory-class Star Destroyer's flank.  Our fighters had mostly engaged each other in the center.  Shortly after, the Star Destroyer would vaporize my CR90 Corvette in one shot...

In revenge, my frigate continues to batter the Star Destroyer's flank.

After circling the Star Destroyer and knocking all of it's shields down, my frigate was also completely without shields.  On the final turn, Kevin's ship was down to three hull points, and my frigate missed it's close-range shots.  With only two squadrons of X-Wings left to fire, I was amazingly lucky to get two hits with my first shot!  Down to a single hull point, and with one shot left, my X-Wings score zero hits and the Star Destroyer jumps into hyperspace to fight another day!

That ending was worth all of the slow rules-reading!  We surmised that the Star Destroyer's mission must have been to take out some Rebel VIP hiding on the corvette, then jump into hyperspace to make their escape.  Kevin lost all of his TIEs, and I lost the corvette and a squadron of X-Wings, giving him the victory.

6 Month Mountain Reduction and Painting Challenge- 2017 Edition

Back in 2015 I had the pleasure of participating on the Six Month Mountain Reduction and Painting Challenge, and painted up a pretty fair amount of minis.  Last year there was a three-month version that I failed at completely, but I'm going to give it another go this year, though the first month I'll be prepping for a move back to California and I'm not sure what I'll be able to get worked on.  Rules are similar to previous years:

1. No purchasing of new miniatures, except if you use a Joker.  You get three Jokers to use on a miniature purchase.  Can be a blister pack, an eBay bundle, or a single figure.  The only exception is if you need to buy a single figure to complete a unit.  In addition, you can earn additional Jokers by completing an entire project, complete with starting, WIP, and final pictures.

2. Gifts do not count against you.  Holidays, birthdays, and gift cards given to you do not count against you.

3. Paint, terrain, and hobby supplies do not count against you.

4. At least one hobby-related blog or Instagram post a week.

5. Zombie-related stuff during October is encouraged. 

I'd like to finish a few partially built items for my Flames of War Fallschimjäger, get started in V4 Mid War Flames of War, and maybe get to some Star Wars Armada ships.  It might be really slow until I get moved next month, but I hope it picks up from there!