We had our little tournament that I had mentioned in this article previously, with a small turnout of just 4 players. Its not too uncommon, and especially with Legion sucking all the air out of the room so we at least got to have a fun afternoon of three games.
In my first matchup, I played against Donovan who I think I have played in just about every Star Wars FFG branded game tournament I've participated in. We drew Jabba's Palace, the map with picking up the crates that slow you down. Donovan was running a Han and eRangers list that also had Hera, Gideon, 3P0 and Ko Tun. I didn't get any practice time on this map with my list so I was a little worried, and as it turned out for good reason. My opponent had initiative, and took the blue deployment zone on the map. I decided I should try to shimmy down towards the rancor pit and avoid opening the door the first round to avoid unnecessary Ranger shots. What I should have done however was probably just been more aggressive and move right in to try and do damage and use the Force Lightning from the Emperor. He picked off a jet at the start of round two, and Han with Return Fire killed a Sentry after rolling two dodges. I dropped my Riots into the pit to grab those crates there and help to rack up points. However as the game went on attrition took its toll and I made a mistake with the emperor leavign him in a spot that several Rangers could see. I had mis counted where he was at and that pretty much ended my comeback chance.
Next game I played Brad on Nal Hutta, the shield mission. Brad was running a Heroic Effort list with Leia, Asohka, Gideon, 3P0, Jerrod, Mak, Loku and Hera. My opponent again had initiative, and took the Red Zone again. He moved Mak up early to hold the shield on my right, while I moved my Riots to be in position the next turn to get to that SHield Generator. He also moved Loku up to contest one of the coser center lane shield. I decided to try some long range shots on Mak, and a Dodge and 2 damage was all I could get out of it. I normally have moved my Jets in to take the Shield closer to my side on the elft, but I decided to be a little aggressive and have them move to the center to try and engage Loku, Hera and Leia. I ended up killing Loku with some pot shots as I moved in. I next used the EMperor to kill Mak with one of the Sentrys, but had to leave the shield to Leia. Asohka came down and took the sheild near me on the left. As the game went on I was able to kill Hera, Leia and Gideon with a combination of lightning and fly bys, while the Riots finshed off Jerrod. I took the game fairly easily thanks largely to that big first round, and despite Brad's command deck just constantly stifling me with Intel leak and Comms Disruption.
THe Last game I played against Matt. He was playing a janky list with Bantha, double eNexu, eClawdite, Jawa, Gideon and 3P0. This was a tough list to play against on the Mos Eisley back alleys, because all of my figures get clumped together. He took the indoor deployment zone, and I took the exterior one. I moved my Riots up to my easily contestable crate, and then really tried to split forces as best I could. The Batha moved down the middle, ending on the two center crates. One of his Nexus made it down the hallway and got in quite a bit of damage onto one Sentry, and was able to cleave the other. I thought I was in good position, but ater the doors opened he Jundland Terrored my troopers, and I made the mistake of having gone with my Sentrys to start my turn (to eliminate the Nexu and hopefully keep the Sentry alive. It had worked, except that the Bantha then stomped and killed a set of Jets and my officer in one activation! Things looked pretty grim, but my Riots put some serious damage on the remaining Nexu, and forced it to etreat before I could kill it. Then with my remaining Jets and the emperor I finsihed off the Bantha. To start the next round, I tried to take initiative, but he negated it. I was able to roll well enough though to keep my very wounded Jet alive through a Jawa attack. I again made a misplay, when I should have left the Jawa alone and just focused on killing the Nexu, since the Emperor was nearby enough to just lightning him to death. But the Nexu had just a single health, and I had forgotten about the Feeding Frenzy on the Nexu. That allowed him to pull two wounds off and kill another Jet. The emperor though finished off the nexu and put a little damage on the Clawdite. His clawdite then moved over and finished off the last Jet. The game ended in a tie then, but I had killed just one more point of figures to win the game on tie breaks.
All in all it was a lot of fun. The Sentrys were good but seemed a little capped on damage. The Riots were darn near impossible to push off places that they controlled, and the Jets did Jet things. Palpatine was solid, but I could never get enough damage on to tempt someone right then to finsih them off. I think if I had practiced a it more on Jabbas I would have realized the aggressive play was probably better there, and in the last game I just had a couple of mistakes that thinking back on it I should have done differently. Overall I went 2-1, and three of us all tied for first. So a good afternoon.
Saturday, March 31, 2018
Thursday, March 29, 2018
Kansas vs Villanova Final 4 Matchup
The Jayhawks and the Wildcats are both blue bloods in the college basketball world, and both have played terrific basketball this tournament to get here. Outside of a tight game with Duke, both teams cruised through their previous rounds thanks to being adept shooting teams, ranking in the top 10 in EFG and 2 point shooting percentages. Neither team is really great at generating free throws, ranking just in the top 90 or so in Free throw rate, but the Wildcats still manage to rank number one in offensive Efficiency. KU was a much swingier team going through this season, and the program hasn't liked them all tournament. I think this game will be close, but if Nova can ump out a bit they should be able to advance.
| Team | EFG% | TOV% | Oreb | FTRate | DEFG | D-TOV% | DOreb | D-FTRate | Ortg | Drtg |
| Kansas | 57.68 | 16.71 | 29.44 | 26.91 | 48.58 | 18.36 | 31.33 | 24.98 | 120.99 | 97.12 |
| Villanova | 59.32 | 15.00 | 29.54 | 29.81 | 48.47 | 18.42 | 27.27 | 26.40 | 127.26 | 94.60 |
Wednesday, March 28, 2018
Loyola-Chicago vs Michigan Final 4 Matchup
In the first Final 4 matchup, we have a pair of under dogs making their way. Loyola Chicago won several tight games to continue as a Cinderella, thanks largely to good defense (ranking 19th in defensive efficiency) and excellent 3 point shooting, ranking 11th in the nation. Clayton Cluster ranks 20th in the nation overall for the Ramblers in 3 point shooting. Michigan counters with a strong defense of their own, allowing an EFG% of just 47.6. This game should be a bit grindy, with both teams having a slow tempo to compliment their defensive styles. The program gives the Wolverines a slight edge, but I wouldn't be surprised if this one went down to the wire.
| Team | EFG% | TOV% | Oreb | FTRate | DEFG | D-TOV% | Dreb | D-FTRate | Ortg | Drtg |
| Loyola-Chicago | 58.0 | 18.9 | 22.2 | 32.4 | 47.4 | 19.5 | 25.8 | 25.1 | 112.1 | 95.4 |
| Michigan | 54.3 | 14.0 | 25.5 | 30.6 | 47.6 | 19.4 | 24.7 | 29.8 | 115.4 | 91.1 |
Tuesday, March 27, 2018
NCAA Final Four: Title Chances
We're down to 4 now. We've had stunners and blow outs, and one Cinderella is still dancing. Today is just a simple break down of how the program sees the Final 4 going. I'll have some more detailed lots for each of the teams up in the next couple days as well to highlight their strengths and weaknesses.
The program in each matchup likes the favorite. I'm a little surprised that Michigan and Loyola are so close, but Loyola's highs have been higher this year and they've been shooting lights out from three all season to give them a chance. The program has not liked KU all year but they forced Duke to shoot poorly from 3 last week and will hope to do it again against Nova.
Overall across all match ups the program likes Nova over Michigan, but gives even Loyola a 5% chance to win it outright.
The program in each matchup likes the favorite. I'm a little surprised that Michigan and Loyola are so close, but Loyola's highs have been higher this year and they've been shooting lights out from three all season to give them a chance. The program has not liked KU all year but they forced Duke to shoot poorly from 3 last week and will hope to do it again against Nova.
Monday, March 26, 2018
NBA Power Rankings March 26th
The Warriors injuries continue to mount, as now it looks like Steph will miss through the first round of the playoffs. They're unlikely to lose the 2 seed with 10 games to go for them, and being up 9 games over the red hot blazers. But a first round matchup against the Jazz is not really a god spot to be without one of your best shooters. In the East, the race for the 8th seed is tightening up, as the Pistons beat up on bad teams, and the Heat dropped a pair. We'll see if Detroit has turned things a bit, but they might have put themselves into too much of a whole following the All Star Break.
Wednesday, March 21, 2018
NCAA Power Rankings, Predictions for Sweet 16
We have just 16 teams left after one of the most wild Tournament starts in years. The first day went mostly as expected, but to see Virginia bow out to a 16 seed is just insanity. We also saw Michigan State and Tennessee go down to much lower ranked teams. Here's how the program thinks the teams stack up currently.
We have some good matchups here, as every team has proven themselves to be battle tested. The program does not like the Jayhawks chances, largely based on their high variance this season. I'm not certain that I think the battle of the Wildcats will be so close. I think Kentucky is quite a bit higher right now.
| Team | Rank |
| Villanova | 1 |
| Duke | 2 |
| Purdue | 3 |
| Clemson | 4 |
| Texas Tech | 5 |
| Kansas | 6 |
| Kentucky | 7 |
| West Virginia | 8 |
| Gonzaga | 9 |
| Michigan | 10 |
| Nevada | 11 |
| Florida St | 12 |
| Kansas St | 13 |
| Texas A&M | 14 |
| Syracuse | 15 |
| Loyola-Chicago | 16 |
We have some good matchups here, as every team has proven themselves to be battle tested. The program does not like the Jayhawks chances, largely based on their high variance this season. I'm not certain that I think the battle of the Wildcats will be so close. I think Kentucky is quite a bit higher right now.
Tuesday, March 20, 2018
Imperial Assault Battle Report: An Attempt on the Emperor's life
It has been months since I've gotten a chance to play some skirmish for IA. Other games and FFG's silence has made folks uneasy here, and the community wasn't strong to begin with. But our FLGS is hosting a tournament at the end of the month, and I knew I wanted to go. So I put together a list that wasn't one of the Palp-Vader lists that's been fairly dominant.
I had originally had the ATDP instead of the eSentries to provide firepower and synergy with the jets for the vehicle trait. However, sveral folks on the forums convnced me the eSentries were the way to go with their decent range, trooper synergy, and that several cards with the Droid trait also work with vehicles. I'm running a Comms Disruption instead of Negation because a friend of mine is going to try out the tournament as well, and so he is borrowing Negation.
My opponent this weekend took an IG88/Onar/2xeWeequays list that focused on hunter cards and just pure damage output. We decided to play hte Mos Eisley Back Allyes mission A
I took the red deployment zone and had initiative first. The first round proceeded slowly, as I moved up the Riots and a set of Jets down my long hallway to control that crate, the second set to near the center doorway on my side (leaving it closed), and the Sentrys and Palp to the other crate. He moved Onar up to control the center two crates, and moved IG to take a long shot at one of the Sentries, doing 3 damage. The Weequays hid behind the door, and the other set moved up and opened their door closest to my long hallway. I had Call the vanguard and Take Initiative in my opening car draw, so I
had wanted to see where he moved to before deciding on over committing.
ALso knowing that door in the middle would open end of round made it
for appealing to wait there to go get a call the vanguard, then Take
Initative to possibly kill Onar. I tried that, but then he negated my Take Initiative. I still I thought had to call the vanguard, to try and pile on damage on Onar. I had also drawn Shared Experience, so I knew one of the Jets would get a good shot during their activation on him. Call the Vanguard did a few damage, and then Onar rushed one of the troopers and shot him, dealing 5 total damage. That left Onar exposed though, and I took full advantage with the Jets to kill Onar at that moment and moved them back a bit to force the Weequays out. IG88 then moved up and took a shot at the Sentry again, doing another 4 damage thanks to Brace for Impact on my part. He played a little cautiously with IG and pulled him back to behind cover. My Sentries then went, the wounded one hiding behind Palpatine, and the healthy one taking a long range potshot at the middle Weequays and doing a single damage. His Far Weequays activated, shooting at my Jet and then Hiding to get the -2 accuracy.
My Jets fired back doing a damage to one and missing on the other while keeping their distance. His last set of Weequays moved up and fired on the Sentry droid, ending up with 7 damage and forcing me to discard Overrun for Zillo. Palpatine moved up to force lightning, and I was unable to get a shot off with my Sentry. I should have shifted it a little more into the hallway to start with, so I could get full effect of the Emperor ability. My Riots then moved up and got into the face of the Weequays on that far side.
The next round my opponent took the initiative, and popped up with one Weequay to kill the very wounded Sentry droid. The other one then put 4 damage onto Palpatine. He was able to use shoot the messenger to discard Planning, Comm Disruption and Concentrate Fire. I also made the mistake of forgetting to re-draw Shared Experience, which is a great Zillo effect card here if I don't want to spend the movement. Palpatine was forced to go next, used tempt to kill the one Weequay and then zapped the other one before retreating. IG 88 moved up and killed the other Sentry (again forgetting to draw Shared Experience) and then moved back to a safe distance from my remaining Jets over there. Those Jets then did move up and finish the remaining Pirate and move into position to go after IG the next turn. The other Weequays attacked the Riot troopers, killing one of them. With little else to do, the Riots went and did a little damage, followed by his Gideon missing a shot. My Jets killed one Weequay, and then jumped over the other one to kill 3P0.
ENtering the final round, I had drawn Squad Swarm and had initiative. This let me use both Jets to jump in and kill IG, ending the match. It was a good thing as well, since he had just draw Blaze of Glory and had Assassinate in hand still.It ended at 40-24, and was a good match.
Overall I like this list. It has a few quirks that I need to practice with, and I think Next time I would swap the postiion of my Jets and Snetries to hopefully get more usage out of Palpatine.
Palp's Bodyguards (15/15/40)
=======================
[8] Emperor Palpatine
[7] Elite Jet Trooper
[7] Elite Jet Trooper
[5] Riot Trooper
[1] Zillo Technique
[2] Imperial Officer
[10] Elite Sentry Droid
-------------------
[3] Grenadier
[2] Call the Vanguard
=======================
[8] Emperor Palpatine
[7] Elite Jet Trooper
[7] Elite Jet Trooper
[5] Riot Trooper
[1] Zillo Technique
[2] Imperial Officer
[10] Elite Sentry Droid
-------------------
[3] Grenadier
[2] Call the Vanguard
[2] Comm Disruption
[2] Overrun
[2] Squad Swarm
[2] Overrun
[2] Squad Swarm
[1] Shared Experience
[1] Tough Luck
[1] Tough Luck
[1] Brace for Impact
[1] Concentrated Fire
[0] Urgency
[0] Take Initiative
[0] Rally
[0] Planning
[0] Element of Surprise
[0] Disorient
[1] Concentrated Fire
[0] Urgency
[0] Take Initiative
[0] Rally
[0] Planning
[0] Element of Surprise
[0] Disorient
I had originally had the ATDP instead of the eSentries to provide firepower and synergy with the jets for the vehicle trait. However, sveral folks on the forums convnced me the eSentries were the way to go with their decent range, trooper synergy, and that several cards with the Droid trait also work with vehicles. I'm running a Comms Disruption instead of Negation because a friend of mine is going to try out the tournament as well, and so he is borrowing Negation.
My opponent this weekend took an IG88/Onar/2xeWeequays list that focused on hunter cards and just pure damage output. We decided to play hte Mos Eisley Back Allyes mission A
 | |||
| Checking line of sight |
The next round my opponent took the initiative, and popped up with one Weequay to kill the very wounded Sentry droid. The other one then put 4 damage onto Palpatine. He was able to use shoot the messenger to discard Planning, Comm Disruption and Concentrate Fire. I also made the mistake of forgetting to re-draw Shared Experience, which is a great Zillo effect card here if I don't want to spend the movement. Palpatine was forced to go next, used tempt to kill the one Weequay and then zapped the other one before retreating. IG 88 moved up and killed the other Sentry (again forgetting to draw Shared Experience) and then moved back to a safe distance from my remaining Jets over there. Those Jets then did move up and finish the remaining Pirate and move into position to go after IG the next turn. The other Weequays attacked the Riot troopers, killing one of them. With little else to do, the Riots went and did a little damage, followed by his Gideon missing a shot. My Jets killed one Weequay, and then jumped over the other one to kill 3P0.
ENtering the final round, I had drawn Squad Swarm and had initiative. This let me use both Jets to jump in and kill IG, ending the match. It was a good thing as well, since he had just draw Blaze of Glory and had Assassinate in hand still.It ended at 40-24, and was a good match.
Overall I like this list. It has a few quirks that I need to practice with, and I think Next time I would swap the postiion of my Jets and Snetries to hopefully get more usage out of Palpatine.
Monday, March 19, 2018
NBA Power Rankings March 19th
With college basketball dominating the weekend, the NBA this week was dominated by outrageous offensive play. 23 of the 49 games combined for over 220 points, to just 11 that scored under 200. The Thunder have started a long awaited turn around, but it might not be enough by the end of the season. The Spurs who had been left for dead got three strong wins this week, knocking off the T-Wolves and the Pelicans to help hold onto the 5th seed in the West. The Pistons are now dead, as theyve gone 2-10 since the All Star break and would be hard pressed to catch back up to the HEat who have a 6.5 game lead on that 8th spot in the East.
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