Deathrain’s UK Tour: January

Mysterious tribal marking above the door

My New Year’s resolution is to fling myself across the UK once a month and participate in some X-Wing tournaments. I will endeavour to catch the flu/fever the day before I travel (it’s beyond coincidence now), and Deathrain will be included in every list. By the end of the year I should gain a new level of competence with the trashcan, or I’ll pack it in halfway through, who knows? Now taking the speed of events selling out and my crying wallet into consideration, I only have one big event planned and that’s the system open in March. February is also spoken for but I’ve got a gap in April, help ya boi out?

Gonna use up all of Stockport’s hot water and you can’t stop me. >:-D

This month I’m off to Stockport, home of Element Games. This place is pretty big. Rows upon rows of tabletop products, tables, terrain sets. There’s even a bar. With a train station 20 minutes down the road and a Premier Inn a stones throw away it makes it an ideal location if you fancy a short break away.

A big shout out to Rasta Maice for the ship and Steve Thorley for the Pilot. You want to arrive in style? Send them a message. Edit: I only put the card upside down didn’t I?

I’ve finally conceded that unguided rockets is a better choice for Deathrain, while 3 speeding round a rock and launching missiles is good on paper the dice disagree. Only having a target lock isn’t enough to poke damage through. What with trajectory simulator being a thing he prefers a more gradual approach. While I’ve had various wingmen in the past I’ve gone for some more ‘tournament staples’ this time round.

Today’s travel book. Apparently Vader can fly? :P

Deathrain with trajectory simulator, unguided rockets, bomblet generator, lightweight frame. 34pts

QuickDraw with veteran instincts, lightweight frame, title, primed thrusters, fire control systems. 35pts

Inquisitor with push the limit, title, auto thrusters. 31pts

Wins overtaking losses by a staggering margin in practice but I’ve been here before haven’t I? It’s a whole other tabletop game when facing off in a tournament. Speaking of which…

Round 1: Ezra(stressbot), Miranda, Norra.

Jousting 1v3 like a baws

Deathrain took the squad head on, promptly bursting into flames and taking Ezra with him. Miranda was my second target although she was very tricky to catch. Luckily Norra got stuck moving around the asteroids to help.

Win. 100–34

Round 2: Han and Poe

He sure can run can’t he?

Definitely not something I should have jousted but did it anyway. Couldn’t make a dent and before I knew it, it was over in a 30min lesson on ‘what not to do’.

Loss. 0–100

Round 3: Ryad, 2x Rho Squadron (hlc)

When fashion trends clash

Ryad collided with a rock, blown up then shot for good measure. The Rhos took Deathrain to 1hp. Next turn he was either stuck on his bomb, or in arc of a heavy laser cannon. He chose the bomb. Rip.

Win. 100–34

Round 4: Boba and Kylo(Silencer)

Kylo has a cloaking device

Boba proved surprisingly hard to kill with RecSpec on board. The game timer was running to a close and Kylo did its best to keep his distance. Which I was totally ok with as I didn’t fancy letting this game slip through my fingers.

Win. 52–34

Round 5: Miranda, Nym

You can’t sit with us!

Deathrain’s worst adversaries. The Good bombers! Turned out not as bad as I feared as the game went down to just Miranda and QuickDraw left with a few hit points each. Tough fight.

Loss. 49–100

Won 3, lost 2

Mov 499

Sos 0.57

Placed 14th outta 28 players

Pretty solid start going forward. Now back to work for a month then it’s off somewhere else. :D