Alpha's Rally Point Qualifier Win--May 11, Lenexa, KS, Pt. 4

Part 4: The Final AAR

Round 3

After barely squeaking through round 2, I was more than happy with how the day was going for me.  No matter the outcome, I had an overall winning record, and had, had fun.  While I still very much wanted to win, I was just content to play at this point.  (a lack of lunch and a bad knee from standing around probably contributed to that as well)  My opponent this round was Josh, and his rebel list.

799 points

Luke Skywalker 160
Force Push, Jedi Mind Trick, Emergency Stims, 
Han Solo 120
Esteemed Leader, Emergency Stims, 
Chewbacca 110
Overwatch, Tenacity, Emergency Stims, 
Rebel Commandos (Strike Team) 16
DH-447 Sniper, 
Rebel Commandos (Strike Team) 16
DH-447 Sniper, 
Rebel Commandos (Strike Team) 16
DH-447 Sniper, 
Rebel Troopers 40
Z-6 Trooper, Rebel Trooper, 
Rebel Troopers 40
Z-6 Trooper, Rebel Trooper, 
Rebel Troopers 40
Z-6 Trooper, Rebel Officer Upgrade, 

Commands:
Son of Skywalker, Sorry About the Mess, My Ally Is the Force, Reckless Diversion, Notorious Scoundrels, Change of Plans, Standing Orders,

We were playing on the relatively open forest map, so his snipers had a distinct advantage.  Thankfully, we played Intercept the transmissions with Advanced Positions, so my units were able to rapidly close some of the gap, and somewhat nullify this advantage.  My deployment zone had a nice crater terrain piece, and we had decided to treat it like a trench, (difficult terrain to move through, provides heavy cover for units inside, but light cover for units shooting across it).  I started the game by pushing one of my E-Webs into the crater, and one of my stormtrooper squads towards the center objective.

I actually got both of my E-Webs activated pretty early on, and got them in range and on "stand by."  this caused Josh a few problems since he didn't want to walk guys into the open sights of a Space Maxim, so he was a bit delayed in actually going for the objective.  When he did, however, he did so with Luke running and gunning.  Boba decided he needed to really notch things up after last game, and proceeded to be my MVP, killing at least two sniper teams by himself, and contributing to several other teams as well.  I had (again) forgotten to paly his bounty, but Josh insisted it wasn't a problem, and I put it on Han.  (seemed suitably thematic)  the second turn led with Luke and "Son of Skywalker" being played, pretty shortly shocktrooper body parts were flying everywhere, and I was left with just the Officer upgrade left in the unit.  Following the advice of Brave Sir Robin, she bravely ran away, and let everyone else within range open up on Luke.  He blocked more than his fair share of hits, but eventually went down to the massed firepower.  Han tried to cover the slack, but he started taking hits as well, and Chewie got a face full of E-Web for his trouble.  I saw an opportunity after killing Josh's second sniper team, and pushed Boba up, and took out a squad of troopers with the flame thrower, and also scored a few hits on Han at the same time.  Chewie finally lost his staring contest with the Space Maxim, but triggered emergency stims before going down.  He charged into Boba, and landed a few hits on him before succumbing to his wounds.  (and I imagine his pelt is now being worn by Boba)  The game finally ended (due to time) when we completed round four, and Josh was left with a single squad of troopers, a sniper team, and Han at no health (having used emergency stims)  All in all, I have to say Josh was great to play against, and unusual for a tournament game, felt fun and low pressure.  We helped and reminded each other about certain things (Bounty, as mentioned before, but also with Han's defensive die rerolls and Force push on Luke) 

Post Game: 

Well, the end of the game ended up being the end of the tournament.  My top two opponent Cody, decided to concede as soon as they announced the pairing.  I'm assuming he was just as tired as I was by this point, though his first round was a Bye, so maybe not.  I'm not sure on this, but Cody may have already had a High Command Invite, so didn't feel the need to compete for one.  Either way, it would have been an interesting game, as his list was quite unique.

796 Points

General Veers 80
Improvised Orders, 
Snowtroopers 48
Flametrooper, Imperial Officer Upgrade, Fragmentation Grenades, 
Stormtroopers 44
R4 Astromech Droid, 
Stormtroopers 44
R4 Astromech Droid, 
Scout Troopers (Strike Team) 16
DLT-19x Sniper, Hunter, 
Scout Troopers (Strike Team) 16
DLT-19x Sniper, Hunter, 
Scout Troopers (Strike Team) 16
DLT-19x Sniper, Hunter, 
TX-225 GAVw Occupier Combat Assault Tank 155
First Sergeant Arbmab, DLT-19 Rifle Pintle, 
TX-225 GAVw Occupier Combat Assault Tank 155
Imperial Hammers Elite Armor Pilot, RT-97C Rifle Pintle, 

Commands:
Ambush, Maximum Firepower, Evasive Maneuvers, Pinned Down, Assault, Imperial Discipline

It certainly would have been an interesting match up.  Between Boba and the DLTs, I had enough Impact to take down the Tanks, but the question would have been whether or not Cody would have been deleting Stormtrooper squads while I was wailing on the tank.  Also probably depends on the map we played on.  If it had been the desert town or another terrain rich table, the odds would have been in my favor.  Still, his performance does show a possible shift in the meta, with vehicles being more than capable of wrecking shop if needed, and perhaps the red defense die on the tanks would have been as active as mine were during round one.  Alas, we'll never know.

In the end, I was declared the victor, got the trophy, and the Invitational invite.  Not entirely sure what to do with it now, but oh well.  At least the trophy has found a nice spot in my Imperial Shrine.  

Final Thoughts
I think the tournament went well.  The event staff were quick to answer questions or resolve disputes, and while everyone was competitive, I didn't see anyone have any jerk-y moments towards their fellow players.  The sniper meta is still alive and well, unfortunately, and I stand by that being the case as much to do with the relative sparseness of terrain as to the actual benefits of sniper strike teams.  (price, pierce, etc)  I do wish tables were set up so that they wouldn't be so open as to allow almost total coverage by a pair of sniper teams, let alone a single one.  I had a great time, and hope everyone else did too.  If I made any mistakes in here in my retelling, or have forgotten anything important, I apologize for the error.  

For anyone wanting more info, check out the TTT link here.  

https://tabletop.to/star-wars-legion-rallypoint-qualifier2/ladder