Elimination Round Preview - Green Knight vs Rikash

We're going to look at the Elimination Round games taking place soon.  First up, it's the Winner of POD#8 vs the Runner Up of POD#1:

Green Knight

Points: 383/400      

[ flagship ] Imperial Star Destroyer Cymoon 1 Refit (112 points)

-  Darth Vader         ( 36         points)

-  Devastator         ( 10         points)

-  Intel Officer         ( 7         points)

-  Gunnery Team         ( 7         points)

-  Spinal Armament         ( 9         points)

-  X17 Turbolasers         ( 6         points)

-  Intensify Firepower         ( 6         points)

= 193 total ship cost

Gladiator I-Class Star Destroyer (56 points)

-  Demolisher         ( 10         points)

-  Intel Officer         ( 7         points)

-  Ordnance Experts         ( 4         points)

-  Engine Techs         ( 8         points)

-  Assault Proton Torpedoes         ( 5         points)

= 90 total ship cost

Gozanti-class Cruisers (23 points)

-  Comms Net         ( 2         points)

= 25 total ship cost

Gozanti-class Cruisers (23 points)

-  Comms Net         ( 2         points)

= 25 total ship cost

Gozanti-class Cruisers (23 points)

-  Repair Crews         ( 4         points)

= 27 total ship cost

Gozanti-class Cruisers (23 points)

= 23 total ship cost

Rikash

Points: 399/400

Victory I-Class Star Destroyer (73 points)

- Skilled First Officer ( 1 points) 

- Flight Controllers ( 6 points) 

- Expanded Hangar Bay ( 5 points) 

- Quad Battery Turrets ( 5 points) 

= 90 total ship cost

Gozanti-class Cruisers (23 points)

- Comms Net ( 2 points) 

= 25 total ship cost

Gozanti-class Cruisers (23 points)

- Vector ( 2 points) 

- Hondo Ohnaka ( 2 points) 

= 27 total ship cost

Gozanti-class Cruisers (23 points)

- Jamming Field ( 2 points) 

= 25 total ship cost

[ flagship ] Gladiator I-Class Star Destroyer (56 points)

- Admiral Sloane ( 24 points) 

- Demolisher ( 10 points) 

- Ordnance Experts ( 4 points) 

- Assault Proton Torpedoes ( 5 points) 

= 99 total ship cost

1 Colonel Jendon ( 20 points) 

1 "Howlrunner" ( 16 points) 

1 Major Rhymer ( 16 points) 

1 "Mauler" Mithel ( 15 points) 

1 Saber Squadron ( 12 points) 

3 TIE Fighter Squadrons ( 24 points) 

1 Black Squadron ( 9 points) 

1 Maarek Steele ( 21 points) 

Total Squadrons = 133

The Matchup:

This match comes down to one key point - how quickly can Rikash burn down Green Knight's Cymoon?  A lot of his damage is tied up in... well... TIE Fighters, who have 3 hull and no defense tokens.  Green Knight has some serious advantages, in both activations and bid.  Rikash has an advantage in deployment, and a good deployment to go last in his Demolisher flagship, but his biggest hitter is still his squadron compliment, with 12 dice in anti-ship fire if they all hit the same target in a single turn.  However, if it can withstand the fire, the Cymoon 1 Refit has double black dice for anti-squadron flak, and the supporting Gozantis have 1 black die each, meaning 5 of those 10 squadrons could evaporate before getting a second shot.

The other danger is that Rikash's squadron attacks are pretty much guarenteed to supercharge Devastator's title, giving it a 6 Red / 6 Blue front attack once each turn, possibly on the first turn it engages.  That is a lot of dice for Rikash's fleet to deal with, and and even his VSD could probably only handle that shot once.  In short, as was said before, it all comes down to whether or not Rikash can burn down the Cymoon before it can wreck the rest of his fleet.

The 90 point Green Knight Demolisher is a threat as well, and can complicate matters, especially against the VSD and possibly against the Rikash Demolisher, but the Cymoon is clearly the bigger threat.

Biggs' Bet:

Smart money is on Green Knight.  He has too many advantages and the "intangibles" needed to move on to the Quarter-Finals.