HHmmm That Big Ship is Clearly up to No Good...

++INCOMING MESSAGE++

++INTERCEPTED LOGS OF AN ILLEGAL REBEL SHIP...+++
"Ever since the captain of the CR90 Corellian Corvette ordered his crew to fill the cargo hold with unregistered tanks of Tibanna gas, the crew had been unsettled. Though far from the first unorthodox cargo, there is little doubt in their minds that this shipment is bound for the Alliance to restore the Republic. What other customer would require such a large secret shipment? Who but the Rebel Alliance could require such vast quantities of untraceable weaponizable Tibanna?

Though many on board are sympathetic to the Rebel cause, few wish to risk the wrath of the Empire, and only a handful of firebrands advocate out and out rebellion. Even the promise of a generous bonus upon arrival has done little to quell the grumbling...or the fear.

The oppressive mood prevails even upon the bridge, and not an hour goes by without the captain cursing himself or his misplaced idealism. Each time the ship emerged from hyperspace to calculate a new jump, his hands tightened on the arms of his chair, only to relax when the viewport revealed another quiet, backwater planet. This time is different; through the windows of the bridge, he glimpses a small group of TIE fighters rounding the horizon of a nearby moon.

"Eyeballs en route! All hands on deck! What are they doing out here? I haven't seen any star cruisers in this system."

With a jarring hiss of feedback, the comms system crackles to life.

"Unidentified CR90! Several transmissions were beamed to your ship by Rebel spies. Power down your weapons and prepare to be boarded."

Shocked at such a ridiculous accusation, but aware of the consequences of being caught with contraband, the captain of the CR0 stalls for time by assuming a diplomatic front while the crew begins frantically calculating a jump to lightspeed.

"We intercepted no transmissions. We are on a diplomatic mission."

"...This is your last warning, Rebel scum. Deactivate your turbolasers and surrender your vessel."

With no sign of slowing down the flight of TIE fighters accelerate on their approach.

"Approaching Imperials! Disengage approach vector or we shall consider you hostile! I repeat, we will be forced to fire!"

Shifting into attack formation the TIEs prepare to engage...

+++
Around this point the records from the Rebel ship end, but the records of Vulture Squadron can take over. It was a good tip off - even if there were no sign of any transmissions - the record above shows them as being guilty  of aiding and abetting the Emperors enemies. After a brief fight the six attacking TIE fighters, with Howlrunner at their head managed to destroy  the rear end and engines of the ship. A fine prize. Two TIE fighters were lost in the melee, a request has been sent to Corruscant for reinforcements - It looks like the rebels are attempting to make gains in our sector...

++END OF MESSAGE++

As good as this sweeping broadside looks... half the ships were flying in the wrong direction and were about to be destroyed!!!

Well, another well balanced scenario, taken straight from the Tantive set...This was myself as Vulture Squadron (6 TIE fighters - Yes SIX - count them!!!) against Mike flying the Tantive, with Adam desperately thumbing through the rules, attempting to help both sides, but basically just looking to undermine the Empire... Your day will come Tiller ;) !

At the mid point I thought the TIEs had no chance... every time I destroyed the bulk of Mike's shields on the front of the shift, he would burn a load of Energy (or something!) and get them all back...

I also managed to attack in two waves of three, which didn't help, If I have learned anything it's all attack at once! I was riding my luck with the evade dice (Bless you TIE fighters!) but it looked like time was running out...

To the last turn, I managed to evade a nasty turn of the Corvette, and as Mike re-enforced the front end of the ship... All the TIEs fired at the Aft...
Last attack, of the last TIE (with a re-roll courtesy of Howlrunner) and the ship was disabled and another victory gained for the Vulture Squadron!

Mike quibbled something about a shout he could have made to destroy Howlrunner earlier in the round...but t sounded like the typical mewlings of the Rebel dog he is (when not hiding behind the Scum & Villainy he pays to do his dirty work!)...There has been talk of a tournament -esque laser pointer for the next game...

Which will hopefully be this Friday (3rd July) - I guess  I should point out this game was played back on the 12th... I think Mike may be out for revenge ahead of his trip to San diego Comic Con!!!! Having recently been treated to the Outrider (thanks Beth), I may have to blind side him by making him fly the Vultures!!!

Next update soon!

These Rebel Scum Are No Match for the Mighty Imperial navy...

++INCOMING MESSAGE+++

With the power source previously stolen from the ourselves, the group of criminals were using it to power a satellite with which they were intercepting our communications and then selling them on to the highest bidders.

Vulture squadron was dispatched and using newly developed targeting computers destroyed both the power source and the communications satellite.

A resounding victory in the name of the emperor

++END OF MESSAGE++

So, what happened? was it really as easy as all that? basically yes - although this was discussed at the mid point  of the mission, and we spoke about different ways to improve the scenario. Any how, I'm getting ahead of myself.. what was the set up?

Based on the previous post about TIE bombers I looked into writing a scenario which would involve flying in with TIE Bombers, and a very specific target (or in this case 2 targets) To make it a priority to hit them, and not to get distracted by dogfighting I thought of the targeting computer action, to try and make the player just concentrate on the job in hand...

So, the advanced targeting computer was born...From anywhere on the board the pilot could target lock on one of the two "satellites" as their action. The more target locks on the satellite, the more attack dice they had to roll.

Did it work? A little too well. The fighters kept the Scum and villainy at bay... The TIE bombers approached at medium speed racking up loads of attack dice and easily destroyed the targets. This became clear mid way through the game, and even the additional pilot points given to Mike for his squadron made it nearly impossible.

I still like the idea of the advanced targeting computer to make the attacking player (be it TIE Bomber or Y-Wing) but something is needed for the other side to counteract... Maybe one ship on the other side gets some kind of jamming action?...Or maybe, if the attacking ship is concentrating so hard on its target locks it loses evade dice - sticking with the narrative like the Y-wings getting picked off quite easily in the Death Star trench.

Hhhhmmm I may have a plan!

Anyway, as to the Imperial propaganda machine, An easy win - 10 extra points for Vulture Squadron!

(I should also point out I'm a bit behind with my updates and this game was actually played back on the 29th May!)