Saturday, February 16, 2019

Semi-finals Matchup - Mhd vs NebulonB

On the other side of the semi-finals, we have Mhd and his "Sloane Redux" - a 4 ship build with a mix of aces and generic squadrons, and NebulonB, the last Raddus.


Mhd - Sloane Redux (St Paul, MN - USA)


Gozanti-class Cruisers (23 points)
-  Hondo Ohnaka  ( 2  points) 
-  Comms Net  ( 2  points) 
= 27 total ship cost 

Quasar Fire I-class Cruiser-Carrier (54 points)
-  Pursuant  ( 2  points) 
-  Governor Pryce  ( 7  points) 
-  Flight Controllers  ( 6  points) 
-  Boosted Comms  ( 4  points) 
-  Expanded Hangar Bay  ( 5  points) 
= 78 total ship cost 

Arquitens-class Light Cruiser (54 points)
-  Captain Needa  ( 2  points) 
-  Reinforced Blast Doors  ( 5  points) 
-  Turbolaser Reroute Circuits  ( 7  points) 
= 68 total ship cost 

[ flagship ] Arquitens-class Light Cruiser (54 points)
-  Admiral Sloane  ( 24  points) 
-  Captain Brunson  ( 5  points) 
-  Reinforced Blast Doors  ( 5  points) 
-  Dual Turbolaser Turrets  ( 5  points) 
= 93 total ship cost 

1 ""Howlrunner"" ( 16 points) 
2 Firespray-31s ( 36 points) 
1 TIE Interceptor Squadron ( 11 points) 
1 Valen Rudor ( 13 points) 
1 Ciena Ree ( 17 points) 
1 ""Mauler"" Mithel ( 15 points) 
3 TIE Fighter Squadrons ( 24 points) 
= 132 total squadron cost 

Total Points: 398

"Squadron Heavy" is the name of the game in any Sloane list, and Mhd does not disappoint with 10 squadrons in his list.  6 generics and 4 aces give it a mix, as does an unusual inclusion of Rogues in a Sloane based list.  3 TIE/LNs and 1 TIE/I make up the cheap core of anti-squadron cover, with Valen Rudor and Ciena Ree working as their usual combo.  "Mauler" Mithel is included to take out large squadron blobs, and "Howlrunner" makes all the above fighters that much better.  A pair of Firesprays round out the list, adding Bomber damage and Rogue to take stress off of the fighter activations.

To activate the blob, a Quasar Fire-I with Boosted Comms and Expanded Hanger Bay can push 5 of the 8, and up to 6 with the help of a squadron token.  A Gozanti pushes the rest, and has Comms Net and World Cup Mascot Hondo Ohnaka to hand tokens off to the Quasar.  Also on the Quasar are Flight Controllers - for winning the early squadron game - and Gov. Pryce to get a first / last with squadrons his opponent is kind enough to give him first player.  Pursuant is the final upgrade, giving a squadron dial in the event of slicers or the need to maneuver.

The other two ships are Arquitens, built for long range combat.  The first has Captain Needa, Reinforced Blast Doors for defense, and a Turbolaser Reroute Circuit to make use of Needa's extra evade token.  The other is the flagship, and has Captain Brunson for defense, as well as Reinforced Blast Doors and Dual Turbolaser Turrets for added damage.

All this comes out to 398 points, a small bid by the standards of the players remaining, only beating out Aresius.


NebulonB - Call up the HH... I need my Jacuzzi (Vienna, Austria)


MC80 Battle Cruiser (103)
• Intel Officer (7)
• Caitken and Shollan (6)
• Engine Techs (8)
• SW-7 Ion Batteries (5)
• XI7 Turbolasers (6)
• Spinal Armament (9)
• Mon Karren (8)
= 152 Points

CR90 Corvette B (39)
• Engine Techs (8)
= 47 Points

CR90 Corvette B (39)
• Engine Techs (8)
= 47 Points

Hammerhead Torpedo Corvette (36)
• Admiral Raddus (26)
• Hondo Ohnaka (2)
= 64 Points

GR-75 Medium Transports (18)
• Slicer Tools (7)
• Quantum Storm (1)
= 26 Points

GR-75 Medium Transports (18)
• Comms Net (2)
= 20 Points

Squadrons:
• A-wing Squadron (11)
• Tycho Celchu (16)
= 27 Points

Total Points: 383

And then there was one.  The final Raddus fleet in this tournament, NebulonB is running a Mon Karren Battle Cruiser drop.  Intel Officer, C&S, SW-7s, XI7s, and Spinal Armaments round out the offensive upgrades.  Ignorable blues (3 damage), and 5 rerollable reds out of the front arc without a CF dial, gives off an average of a little over 8 damage.  Intel Officer makes you pay for bracing, and Mon Karren ensures you can't do anything else.  Also on the ship are Engine Techs to either follow up with a double ram, or escape into the sunset.

Spotting for the Battle Cruiser, you have a Slicer Tools Quantum Storm transport, as well a pair of CR90B's with Engine Techs.  Admiral Raddus hides out on a Hammerhead with his good pal (and tournament mascot) Hondo Ohnaka.  A final GR-75 has a Comms Net for token passing.

On the squadron size, he brings merely a token force - Tycho and a generic A-Wing.


Biggs' Analysis

This is a match that comes down to two ships.  Mhd's key ship is his carrier - which is very, very vulnerable to the Raddus drop and really the only thing that pushes his squadrons around.  NebulonB's key ship is the Raddus drop itself.

With his Raddus drop range of Medium, there isn't a good way for Mhd to keep the Quasar from getting jumped.  The question then becomes can it do enough damage to make it worth the trade?  The Firesprays have Rogue, so will be able to continue to pile on the damage after, but the Gozanti is only going to be able to push a few of the many Sloane squadrons into position.

Either way it should be a good game.  I'm going to bet on Mhd to get in enough damage with his Quasar before the trade to come out on top.


Guest Analysis - Ginkapo's 


Well first I would like to take a moment to thank Biggs for his excellent previews, and also for having the forethought to ditch the Bears fan in favour of insightful punditry from gods country. Comparisons of offense vs defense can get tiresome, especially when Leia isnt involved.

Now for this match up we have the OFFENSE of MHD with his token plucking tie fighters backed up by Sloane , a Pryce Quasar and not much else. In the DEFENSE there is Tycho and Shara whom without facing any intel could cause a serious issue on THAT turn. Futhermore, they say the best DEFENSE is OFFENSE and Neb B brings that with a first player outactivating super deployed Raddus beast by the name of Lola. MHD must be crapping his pants as he has marginal DEFENSE against this.

However, as Tagge isnt present we must look at the INTANGIBLES. In this case whilst MHD has built a nice list the lack of Phantom power is going to hurt him massively.

GG Neb B victory.


Guest Analysis - Geek19


Alright, Nebs and Em-hads.  I feel like I’ve reviewed both of these fleets before, and knowing me I probably gave the win to the wrong fleets then too.  So let’s take a huge breakdown of all the important parts!

As we all know, Neb’s Dylan Panthers have been throwing the ball real well since Matt Saracen took over after that tragic accident.  Brian “Smash” Williams is able to get through the line and cause all sorts of problems in the backfield, slicing up the defense, while Tim Riggins guards Coach Taylor Raddus from harm as needed. (I’m on season 1, no spoilers please).  Soon as that ball gets into the backfield, there’s a lot of problems for that defense.

Meanwhile, over with MHD, he’s taken the best of everything he could find.  Mike Eruzione, Jim Craig, Jack O’Callahan, so many good options.  The 3 2 members of the Conehead line he was able to scrounge up driving the Arquitens are gonna be a sight, if those squadrons can lock down the tokens.  The legs feed the wolf, and the accuracies feed the Sloane.  Or…. Something.

Unfortunately for both of my mixed metaphors, we’re playing Armada.  A solid Raddus bomb in the right place can cause a heck of a lot of issues for Sloane, but with enough clean up from those Sloane squads and all, you never know WHAT can happen.  Offense goes to Neb, Defense goes to MHD (why won’t Arqs die faster!), and as for Intangibles? Well, the question is if Miracle is a better media representation than Friday Night Lights.  Since they’re both doing different things and different sports and stories, I’m giving the win to AMERICA.  Or Blue Fish if I can crash that Jacuzzi.

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