Been playing this all this week and its a really brilliant game; great uncomplicated rules, it flows really well and is uber tactical with the load outs and mods.
Had an epic match today, here is a brief run down;
Millennium Falcon, Y Wing and X Wing - my mate Rich.
TIE Advanced (Darth Vader) Slave 1 and TIE Fighter (Mauler) - me.
The game started with all ships closing on each other and firing a few pot shots. Slave 1 peppered the Falcon and knocked down three shields in the first few phases. As the ships got closer, the dog-fighting began. The Y Wing hit Vader with an ION cannon which reduced his movement for a turn.
This ensured that the rookie X Wing he was hunting zipped away and Vader set off in pursuit, taking him away from the main fighting. Mauler was evading everything that was thrown at him and began shooting at the Y wing.
In the middle of this, Slave 1 and the Falcon traded shots. Boba Fett showed some deft skills in dodging most of these shots before his shields were taken down. To counter this, Fett pulled a sharp turn and used his fire arc to pound at the Falcon. Its shields were gone and it took one hull damage but Chewbacca's ability restored one shield and the hull remained undamaged.
Mauler and Vader continued to duel with the Y Wing and the X Wing with no real damage being done. Then disaster. An ill conceived turn saw Slave 1 move off the table. He was gone and this left the Falcon to turn its attentions to the two remaining Imperial ships.
Distracted by this, I forgot use any actions on Vader (he can perform two per turn) and the Falcon, badly damaged after its encounter with Fett, unloaded on the Adanced TIE. Three hits were rolled and I failed to roll a single evade. Vader's shields were gone, and he took one critical damage that reduced his agility by one.
Vader, right annoyed at this stage, fired at the Y Wing (now down to two hull damage following a strafe from Mauler) at close range, three direct hits. The Y Wing used focus to evade one hit, but the remaining two hit home. Kaboom.
In response, the rookie X Wing opened up at close range at Mauler. The extra dice at close range was crucial - all three hit. Mauler, who had been evading everything, saw his luck turn. No evades were thrown and he was blasted into pieces.
The Falcon was closing in on Vader and narrowly avoided destroying his ship. In response, Vader pulled a tight turn and locked onto the Falcon. Here was the plan. My missiles mod was in range and, if my target lock was discarded, I could fire it twice. Six dice. DAKKA DAKKA. The Falcon's one evade dice was not enough and it was destroyed.
However, both Vader and Solo had the same pilot skill so Solo got shoot back before he died. One shot hit, even with his reroll skill and Vader dodged. Solo was indeed toast.
But now Vader was badly damaged, one shot away from death and facing a rookie pilot with no shields and a full hull. Shots were traded and Vader was lucky to emerge unscathed with his reduced agility.
Then came two mistakes from the rookie. A badly thought out moved meant he missed out on a firing arc, Vader took advantage and hit him twice, causing two damage. Then the game was up. The rookie had miscalculated and chose the wrong turning arc.....and he too fled the table top.
Vader had won! His Advanced TIE was battered and bruised but he was alive.
A corking way to spend a Saturday afternoon.