It's More than Just Gaming

Hello everyone, welcome to you.  Today I am going to be writing about a game of X Wing between my friends Chris and Pete.  We decided to play at my place despite my not having X Wing because I have an extendable table and a (Neoprene I think?) space play mat, and I like watching the game.  The Space Battles were always my favourite part of Star Wars anyway.  I should point out the featured Image is not part of the game, it is the Tie Punisher and I just loved the miniature.  (I wonder if the good folks who make the game could be persuaded to make a Frank Castle pilot?)  Chris took a squadron of Tie Fighters, comprised of Special Forces Ties, Academy Ties and Kylo Ren who has a +3 damage modifier to consoles… (Tantrum bonus)

Pete took Poe Dameron , Kyle Katarn in his HWK290, Horton Salm in his Y Wing and Two Awings

Turn one progressed quickly, but not uneventfully.  Either due to accidental poor planning by Kylo Ren, or sabotage by Rebel Swines, several Imperial Tie Fighters suffered Bumps this turn.  It didn’t hamper them over much but was a tad embarrasing for the pride of the mighty Star Fleet.  The Rebels Sped forward with no such misfortune.  No shots fired, though I daresay any spare pilots onboard Kylo Ren’s shuttle probably got lightsabred.

Turn 2 wasn’t much more eventful.  Kylo’s force tantrum had a bit of a knock on effect causing one of the Rebel A Wings to fly through a Debris field (That is the rebel story, and I believe they are sticking to it).  Most of the fighters advanced without being able to fire on the other side, however one of the Special Forces Ties managed to get an A Wing in their sights, though the lock was not quite as stable as they thought and the A Wing managed to evade green laser blasts (colour coded for your convenience!)

Turn 3 was a good turn for the Empire, though Horton Salm in his Y Wing was at least holding on to some appearance of remaining competent.  Another A Wing, in a dazzling display of speed and ferocity…flew straight through some wreckage.  I don’t think we can even blame Kylo Ren for that one.  Horton Salm managed to fire on Kylo Ren’s shuttle doing three damage to Ren’s Shield.  If you are unaware, Horton Salm is the Y Wing pilot who, from a crippled Y Wing, shot down a Tie Interceptor (which I believe was piloted by Soontir Fel).  Whether it was Fel or not, shooting down a Tie Interceptor from a functional Y Wing is impressive.  Doing it from a crippled one (one of the engine pods was destroyed) is nothing short of awesome.  So, Ren lost 3 shields and some dignity.  But if it is any consolation, it was to a legendary pilot.

Poe tried to take down the Tie SF piloted by Backdraft, though didn’t damage him.  He then discovered why the pilot was called Backdraft.  The Tie SF opened fire on Poe from its front guns (2 damage on shields) and then on an A Wing with its rear guns (1 Shield Damage).

Kyle Katarn in his HWK 290 opened fire on Backdraft, but the Tie SF proved to be significantly more maneuverable than Katarns ship, which is a really good support ship but not a snubfighter.

Finally, one of the Academy Pilots in one of the normal Ties winged Poe, but I believe his Astromech allowed him to regenerate shields anyway.

Turn 4 is where things started getting messy.  Both Rebel A Wings performed 180 reversals, allowing them to come surging into the fight.  Poe was able to shoot down Backdraft, whilst Horton Salm managed to destroy the shields on the remaining Tie SF, even whilst obstructed by Kylo Ren’s shuttle.  Kylo Ren fired on Kyle Katarn, though unfortunately one of the consoles damaged in his tantrum turned out to be the aiming console and the shots missed by miles.  Katarn opened fired with his turret on an Academy Pilot, but the Tie was too nimble once again.

One A Wing was able to draw in on one of the regular Ties, but even an Academy Pilot was able to evade the stressed A Wing pilot.  The Academy Pilots returned fire on the A Wing, but to no avail.

In Turn 5 all the action compacted into a small area of the play mat.  Kylo Ren killed his engines, either by design or by accidental light sabre damage.  We will never know.  Salm did a 180 in his Y WIng, whilst evading heavy fire from the Tie SF, before thumping Ren’s shuttle doing significant damage to it.  Dameron caught some stray fire and suffered a console fire (which would be awful in an X Wing cockpit, let alone something bigger…) whilst Kyle and Kylo exchanged fire one final time, resulting in the destruction of Ren’s shuttle.

With a rebel victory innevitable (despite some earlier pessimism from the Rebels due to the power of Backdraft), victory was declared and MVPs announced.

For the Rebels, Horton Salm in his sturdy Y Wing was declared most valuable pilot, whist the Imperials Posthumously awarded the same honour to Backdraft.

Fun match to watch and the players seemed to enjoy it too.

All the best!