Monday 4 May 2020

"Star Wars" 1/270th Space Battle Report: Darth Vader Verses Han Solo

HAN SOLO AND "DUTCH" VANDERS BATTLE THE EVIL LORD OF THE SITH
This game was played using some homemade rules (M.I.S.S.) in order to allow us to play a quick space-fight utilising many of my long unused "Star Wars: X-Wing" miniatures by "Fantasy Flight Games", and took place upon a 3' x 3' "Hotz Mats" Deep Space Game mat. The battlefield was populated with a variety of asteroids which I bought from a seller on "Ebay" many, many moons ago.

“The story so far… Whilst on a Reconnaissance Mission searching for the exact location of the mysterious Death Star, the Millennium Falcon encounters a squadron of marauding Imperial TIE fighters led by none other that the Sith Lord himself, Darth Vader. Accompanied by Captain Jon "Dutch" Vander in his  BTL Y-wing light bomber, Han Solo decides to show the Empire just what his YT-1300 Corellian light freighter can do..."
THE TABLETOP - A REGION OF SPACE POPULATED BY THREE ASTEROID CLUSTERS
The two Rebel spacecraft started along the eastern edge of the battlefield, and consisted of Han Solo in the Millennium Falcon and Captain Vanders in a Y-Wing. Some of their more notable special abilities were the Corellian's "Sharpshooter" expertise [+1 to hit], and the Rebel officer's "Leadership" skill, which provided Han Solo one re-roll per turn providing his ship was within 12" of "Dutch".

The Imperial force started along the western edge and contained Mauler Mithel and Dark Curse in two TIE Fighters, along with Darth Vader in his Advanced TIE Fighter. Some of this factions special abilities were "Tight Turn" and "Jink" [a D6 Saving Throw]. In addition the Lord Of The Sith had "Sharpshooter" [+1 to hit] and "Intimidate", meaning there was always the chance an enemy would be too fearful of his reputation to attack him. 
THE EVIL DARTH VADER PREPARES TO LAUNCH AN ATTACK AGAINST HAN SOLO
The game would last six turns and was a straightforward head-to-head confrontation, with the victor being the side who had caused the most damage by the end of the skirmish.

Winning the initiative, Darth Vader and Dark Curse speed east straight towards the "Rebel scum". Whilst Mauler Mithel swung northeast towards Asteroids Alpha. Taking up the Sith Lord's challenge, Han Solo pointed the Millennium Falcon directly at the oncoming two Imperial TIE fighters, closing the gap between them with every par-sec. "Dutch" meanwhile, peeled southwest towards the Asteroids Omega.
HAN SOLO AND DARTH VADER ENGAGE IN A GAME OF "CHICKEN"
Keeping his western heading, Han Solo soon drew within range of Vader's Advanced TIE Fighter and summoned up the courage to fire at the Lord Of The Sith. Without shields or armour, the Imperial vessel was struck twice of the Millennium Falcon's quad-bolt cannons, and was already down to half-strength before the battle had barely begun. Believing there was a good chance of besting the Empire early on, "Dutch" turned his Y-Wing so it was also facing due West and fired his ion cannons at Dark Curse. Unfortunately, the Captain was just out of range.

In retaliation for the failed attack, Dark Curse swung southeast past Asteroids Beta and locked onto Vander's spacecraft. Firing his laser cannons, the Imperial pilot noted that the Y-Wing's shield had dropped. The Rebel fighter was defenceless. Pleased with his underling's performance against "Dutch", Darth Vader plough straight on towards the Millennium Falcon and was almost within touching distance when he finally fired at the Corellian light freighter. 
DARK CURSE LOCKS ON TO "DUTCH", WHILST HAN SOLO AND DARTH VADER GO -HEAD-TO-HEAD
At such a close range it was almost impossible for the Lord Of The Sith to miss, especially with his "Sharpshooter" ability, so it came as no surprise that the shields on Han Solo's vessel immediately went down. However, the hunk of junk's duralloy plating protected it from any lasting damage. Realising that the large spacecraft was vulnerable to attack Mauler Mithel, tightly turned to the right and also blasted away at the Falcon. But Vader's left wingman missed...

Both "Dutch" and Chewbacca desperately tried to get their shields back up. However neither Rebel ship had any luck. They'd be as vulnerable to attack as the Imperial TIE Fighters for the time being. Soaring past Darth Vader, Han Solo attempted a tight manoeuvre around Asteroids Beta and savagely struck one of its rocks, causing some damage. Realising he needed to cover the Corellian's exposed flank, Captain Vander turned northwest to face down Dark Curse at close range. But once again the Rebel officer's ion cannons missed their target.
DARTH VADER LOCKS ON TO "DUTCH" VANDER AS THE MILLENNIUM FALCON CRASHES
Laughing at his opponent's poor aim and the sight of a battered Millennium Falcon, Dark Curse made a hard turn southwest around Asteroids Beta. Meanwhile, Darth Vader steered his Advanced TIE Fighter into sight of the Rebel's Y-Wing. All five of the Sith Lord's laser cannons struck home, blasting "Dutch" to smithereens. Inspired by his commander's destructive success, Mauler Mithel manoeuvred himself right behind Han Solo's stranded vessel and pounded it mercilessly. Despite its "Armour" [D6 Save], the light freighter took more damage.
THE IMPERIAL FIGHTERS CIRCLE A STRANDED MILLENNIUM FALCON
Dark Curse continued to safely steer around Asteroids Beta, whilst fearing a potential crash with the Corellian Light Freighter, Mauler Mithel broke off his attack and headed northwest. Darth Vader however, wanted to get Han Solo's vessel in his sights, so sped southwest and struck the Millennium Falcon with a glancing blow. Fortunately for the smuggler though, his Wookie co-pilot finally managed to get one of the spacecraft's shields back up, and he was able to slowly skirt around Asteroids Beta.

Somewhat cornered, and unable to get his ship's remaining shield working, Han Solo had to settle for steering the Falcon past Asteroids Beta. Sensing his foe was ripe for the kill Darth Vader attempted to squeeze his TIE Fighter in between some of the rocks of Asteroids Beta. Meanwhile Mauler Mithel headed southwest in a lazy curve to ensure he'd soon be behind the Corellian's partially stranded spacecraft.
HAN SOLO TRIES TO ESCAPE BUT DARTH VADER HAS OTHER PLANS FOR THE SMUGGLER
Finally bringing the Millennium Falcon's shields back up to full strength, and completing his navigation of Asteroids Beta, Han Solo turned his Corellian Light Freighter due east and headed straight for the safety of the stars. Behind him Dark Curse continued his manoeuvre northwest away from Asteroids Beta, whilst Mauler Mithel managed to just get within range of the fast-departing Rebel vessel and fired off a frustratingly poor last salvo.

However, despite having already won a crushing victory over Han Solo, Darth Vader was not finished yet. He masterfully finished threading his Advanced TIE Fighter through the rocks of Asteroids Beta, and blazed away at the Millennium Falcon. The Light Freighter's shields, so recently restored, were stripped away in the attack, and only the smuggling vessel's "Armour" protected it from further damage. The Rebel may well have escaped, but Han Solo would not forget this day's battle in a hurry...

16 comments:

  1. Great report Simon, surprised that the TIE's fared so well in the game, but that's the luck of the dice, or have you gone over to the Dark Side ! LOL May the 4th be with you

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    1. Thanks Dave. To be fair the Rebels couldn't hit the side of a barn for some reason during this game, although a second successful barrage from Han would undoubtedly have done for Darth. And the Sith Lord was 'Man of the Match' by a long chalk. I don't think the other two TIE Fighters were actually touched, hence them staying in the fight so long. We'll have to see in the rematch ;-)

      May the 4th be with you too.

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  2. Great report Simon and good to see a different outcome. Every time I play against the Falcon it just absorbs the hits and the spits out venom! Your rules are obviously bringing a bit more balance.

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    1. Thanks very much Michael. The Falcon can certainly do some damage, but I felt its size, shields and armour made it more of a target than the smaller fighters. Plus, smashing into an Asteroid early on really caused it some problems as it was essentially trapped in that cluster for most of the game with its flanks showing to the Imperials.

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  3. Nice battle report, and quite right that the best pilot in the galaxy was man of the match! Interested to know how movement works in this version of MISS and also collisions. Loving the Star Wars theme this month!!!

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    1. Cheers Undercoat. The TIE Fighters are a bit brittle not having shields, but they can "Jink" (D6 Save). Darth's "Intimidate" seems to work really well too. I've got some old movement templates - which I think are based upon "X-Wing" which all ships have access to. However, the ones with "Tight Turn", such as TIE Fighters and X-Wings (not Y-Wings), can use some even sharper turned templates. Collisions just cause 1 damage (no save) and stops the vessel dead in its tracks - I didn't want it to be too disruptive, but something you'd want to avoid.

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  4. I reckon Vander should've gone to SpecSavers!
    The TIE/LN, best starfighter in the Imperial fleet.

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    1. LOL. "Dutch" was definitely having a bad day, Roy :-)

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  5. Nice report Simon, and a great way to celebrate "May the fourth be with you day".

    We don't have the falcon so don't know how it plays with the X wing rules, but it didn't fare to well with your's

    Love X wing and the ships available for it, and best of all you don't have to paint them! :-)

    Cheers Roger.

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    1. Thanks very much, Roger. I played "X-Wing" involving the Falcon once I believe and it was a bit of a beast. Unfortunately in this game it made a bit of a tactical error in gunning down straight towards Darth - failing to destroy him and then getting stuck on an asteroid. Hopefully it'll do better in the next game.

      I too quite enjoyed "X-Wing", which is why I moved on to "Star Trek: Attack Wing". But now "BSG" is out too, along with "X-Wing" 2nd Edition, I just thought I can't keep up with all this game systems, so let's just use one for all.

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  6. Well that was unexpected and a great read. The rebels can quote "Admiral Beatty" as they seemed to be well out of sorts in what I thought would have been at least a more even fight.

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    1. Cheers Joe. There were definitely a few potential 'game changer' moments, with "Dutch" definitely having an opportunity to take Darth Vader out the battle early on. Unfortunately, he just couldn't hit anything, whilst the Lord of the Sith clearly could.

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  7. this was awesome. i need to bust out my X-Wing and play a few.
    great write up!!

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    1. Thanks very much indeed, Mr. Martin. I have another one to post up featuring Luke Skywalker battling Boba Fett.

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