Aftermath Campaign (Star Wars: Imperial Assault)

We suffered a short delay between cycles as we prepared for a run of Star Wars: Imperial Assault. This s a game that I was quite excited about before it's release, mostly for the chance to do a little Star Wars 28mm model painting! The boys picked it up for me as a gift for my 40th, and once I stumbled across Sorastro's Youtube channel I found it a pleasurable set to paint up in between other projects.

Precisely because I was working on other projects, I was happy to make Sorastro's tutorials a simple way to knock out a few these models every know and then, which I've been doing since January. Those tutorial videos are some of the better ones made on Youtube, a pleasure to watch and simple to follow - perfect for the beginner and professional enough for the experienced painter. If you are not familiar with them please check out his channel: Sorastro's Painting

Last week we spent an evening running through the tutorial and getting a grip on the rules. That allowed us to jump right into it this evening with gusto! Nipo, Marw, Blunt and Mane played the Rebel Scum while I manifested my inner Sith and did my best to thwart the so-called "good guys".

It doesn't look like much, but the painted miniatures really brings the small skirmish maps to life! The gameplay was fast and furious, and we had a lot of fun! Everybody prepared by watching a few tutorial online, but although they were useful we all agreed they were not great. In hindsight I would say watch a descent review of the game (like this review) just to get an awareness of how the game flows and jump right into the tutorial.

The co-op element is very entertaining, but we immediately started entertaining thoughts of a time limitation. This was not because discussions were bogging the game down in a negative way, but simply considering how to move the missions along at a slightly faster pace so that campaigns don't end up lasting months and months! We got two missions done in 4 hours, and with about 9 missions to a campaign (as I understand it) increasing game effect to 3 or even 4 missions an evening would make a huge difference. And with all the great expansions offered by FFG this is simply a necessity given all the other stuff we want to play as well!

The characters played were Fenn, Diala, Jyn and Garkhan, and the missions we played were Aftermath and Homecoming! That second mission was a steep learning curve (we hadn't looked too closely into allies before it came up in the mission briefing). However, that worked quite well - and the players were all stoked to see the characters that turned up!


I can't quite judge the game on it's narrative feel yet, but we certainly had a lot of laughs and are looking forward to continuing the campaign next week. I'm going to look for a time glass that runs about 2 minutes, and experiment with using that for every activation (Imperial as well as rebels). In addition the rebel players will get a few minutes to discuss tactics before their turn begins. This should help get a mission down to about 1 hour, especially when combined with an ever-increasing confidence with rules and tactics.

I will get some proper shots of the gameplay and the miniatures next week as well! For now consider that a good sign that we had so much fun we forgot to take more pictures!

The Yavin Retaliation: Advanced Gunnery (Star Wars: Armada)

 
Captain Draygan confidence was restored, but noevertheless the edge of obsession in the orders of the Sith Lord unsettled him. The Vindictive was operational again, and he was under orders to form up with another Gladiator-class Star Destroyer and accompany the Dominator in closing the trap. Darth Vader was adamant that the Rebels must be stopped. However, intelligence was reporting that the Rebels were forming up and preparing to fight their way out of the system, and that their force was spearheaded by two Assault Mark II-class frigates. 

Draygan did not like the odds of forcing a head-on engagement between the Dominator and two large frigates.

Nevertheless, he had just learned a lession on the value of bold tactics. And the rebels were in a desperate position - they needed to escape the sytem without significant losses.

Draygan put all doubt from him mind as he oversaw his flight officers forming the Vindictive up on the Dominator's starbord flank.

They would punish these rebel scum.

We lost a week due to sudden work demands, but last Thursday we moved on and finished the third and final game of this campaign / cycle. In the meanwhile we had received a few more ships in the mail (a back-order that finally arrived), so agreed to make lists that got these into play. That meant two Assault Frigate Mk IIs for Marw, and two Gladiators for me.

Although there was not hobby progress planned (we're still focused on upcoming cycles), Marw was inspired to add a little something anyway. He picked up a Nebulon-B and gave it an extra few details to pick it out as a rebel command ship.

The "Salvation":

We both felt our understanding of the game was growing, and that finally we were beginning to get a sense of the rules, fleet design, and tactics all coming together. Nevertheless, the agreement to include the aforementioned ships lent itself to yet another round using lists of a more playful, experimental nature.

The Objective: Advanced Gunnery

The Imperial Fleet:

Victory I-class Star Destroyer "Dominator" (Admiral Screed, Wulf Yularen)

Gladiator II-class Star Destroyer (Assault Concussion Missiles, Veteran Captain)

Gladiator II-class Star Destroyer (Assault Concussion Missiles)

3x TIE Fighter Squadrons

Howlrunner

Fidor Draygan - Imperial Captain of the "Vindictive"

This campaign had provided Captain Draygan's career with a roller-coaster ride, but as he lead the Vindictive towards the Rebel spearhead he purged all unease from himself and focused on the task of unrelenting destruction.

The Rebel Fleet:

Assault Frigate MkIIA (Gunnery Team, Enhanced Armament, Electronic Countermeasures)

Assault Frigate MkIIA (Gunnery Team, Enhanced Armament)

Nebulon-B Escort Frigate "Salvation" (Mon Mothma, Veteran Captain

Edaara Durgen - Rebel Fighter Pilot ("counts as" Veteran Captain)

Edaara was still not medically cleared for flight operations, but this was a mute point as Mon Mothma had recalled all fighters in order to make a more concetrated "punch" out of the system. Neveretheless, Edaara's council was considered valuable, so she was posted on the Bridge of teh Salvation to advice counter-fighter tactics.

First Player: Imperial Player (me)

Battle Report:

I set up rather aggressive with my Star Destroyers, with the Victory-class in the middle and the two Gladiator-class ships to his right. The Rebels deployed slightly off-center across from the Imperials, with the Nebulon-B in the middle between two Assault Frigates.

I selected the Dominator as my "objective ship", while Marw nominated the Assault Frigate furthest from me. Then we attacked!

The Imperial ships burned all ahead forward, overwhelming one of the Assault Frigates. While the Star Destroyers folded in on the Rebel's left flank, crippling the Nebulon-B in their relentless onslaught; return fire hammered the Dominator.

Despite full focus on restoring shields, the desperate Rebel fire finally overcame the Star Destroyer, leaving the objective ship drifting dead in space. Beyond the wreckage, the two Gladiators strove to reach teh final Assault Frigate, but were out of effective range.

Victory Points: By destroying the Dominator the Rebels had taken the lead with more than 200 Victory Points, which was more than the two Imperial kills were worth. Since there was no way the Gladiators would be able to catch up to and destroy the last Assault Frigate in Round 6, I called the game - and the campaign - with a honorable handshake.

Conclusion: Despite suffering some painful losses, the Rebel fleet managed to enact an effective escape from the Yavin sector with the majority of their forces. Although Draygan's personal actions had been praiseworthy, playing a key role in the crippling of two Rebel ships; his redemption was cast in the shadow of the fleet's ultimate failure to capture the Rebels at Yavin.

Edaara would soon return to flight status, but her success in the Yavin Retaliation was not due to her piloting skills, but the work she did on the bridge of the Salvation ensuring that Imperial fighters were not able to pose a serious threat to the Rebel fleet.