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Star Wars Minis Tournament Report from GenConGenCon Indy Hosts First $5,000 Open Championship | ||||
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At GenCon Indy, the hard work, persistence, and enthusiasm of dedicated Star Wars Miniatures fans culminated in the biggest year yet for the game with a tournament schedule that included a $5,000 Open Championship event on Saturday. Approximately 90 players turned out for the 150-point constructed event as they vied for the chance to walk away with a minimum of $250. One player took home the grand prize of $2,000; more on that later. In most of the scheduled events, participants played four rounds. Players who ended up with 4–0 records received multiple Booster Packs as prizes, while those with 3–1 records scored a single Booster Pack. As a result, there rarely was a clear-cut winner for most of the tournaments, though few, if any, players actually pulled out a clean sweep in any particular Star Wars Miniatures event. Thursday's 150-Point TournamentFor weeks leading up to GenCon, the Wizards of the Coast message boards were abuzz with discussions about squads, strategy, and the hardcore world of DCI-sanctioned tournament play. However, apprehension about the rigorous DCI penalty guidelines proved less of a concern at the show as players demonstrated high levels of sportsmanship and fair play, starting right off the bat with the first 150-point tournament on Thursday. The kick-off event also attracted observers curious for a look at what might be played on Saturday. We may never know whether that had any influence on Saturday's event, but the top squads from Thursday's event didn't do as well in the Championship. At the end of the fourth round on Thursday, two players finished the event with a 4–0 record: Aaron Brueckman (ranked first) and James Naegele (ranked second). Aaron Brueckman James Naegele Notice a pattern? In fact, San Hill was arguably one of the most-played "centerpiece" characters the entire weekend -- usually right beside Boba Fett, Bounty Hunter, who was also a "centerpiece" character in many squads. The strategy is simply brilliant. San's commander effect prohibits the activation of more than one character per phase, which allows the controlling player to slow down his game, thus forcing his opponent to complete her activations first. Then, San's allies can activate after seeing all of the opponents' moves. Aaron's choice of a Quarren Assassin is an interesting one. A 12-point mobile attacker who also gets an attack and damage bonus against enemies that haven't activated, the Quarren Assassin is instrumental in a San Hill squad. When paired with Lobot, the reinforcement options that he brings to the table can really add to the overall activation count when necessary, or add other key damage-dealers against squads where that may matter. A number of players in Thursday's 150-point tournament ended with a 3–1 record, which was good enough to earn them a Booster Pack. These players included Matt Hanson, Jon Bottger, Ken Miller, Jacob Schuler, Matt Peterson, Jason Tanner, Nicholas Tanner, and Bill Russell. Several winners, including Ken, Jacob, and Jason, were playing a squad nicknamed "Broken Boba." Broken Boba "Broken Boba" is one of the most popular choices in the 150-point format. In most circumstances, Boba Fett, Bounty Hunter can attack any character he can see, thanks to Accurate Shot, and he has the chance -- twice -- to roll a 20 for a successful Disintegration before mobiling back behind a wall or some other provision of cover. Those abilities make him the single best piece currently in the game. When paired with a couple of Jedi beatsticks that have incredible versatility for a cheap cost, the infamous bounty hunter becomes that much more brutal. Make no mistake, Disintegration can be a game-changing event. Also of note was the tenth-place squad, which was good enough to net Bill Russell a 3–1 record: Bill Russell Look familiar? Yep, Bill's tenth-place squad was almost identical to Aaron Brueckman's first-place squad. So what happened? It wasn't a lack of experience -- as proven at Saturday's Open Championship, Bill and Aaron are both established players of superior skill. Bill's only loss was to Andrew Daniels, who played a squad affectionately known as "B&B," piloted to victory in the 150-point main event tournaments at GenCon Indy and GenCon SoCal last year. Bill has been credited with helping to design the squad in its original variation. Andrew Daniels Andrew's squad registration form doesn't list a map, so presumably they played on Bill's map, the Death Star. "B&B" is centered around the concept of moving Stormtroopers into position and then using Thrawn to "swap" Vader with a Stormtrooper, so that Vader can run up and attack a key enemy figure. Something like San Hill would have a tough time dealing with this squad if too many of the Imperial characters got their attacks off. Thursday's 200-Point TournamentIt's not a full schedule of Star Wars Miniatures tournaments without at least one 200-point event. On Thursday night, 44 players vied for the top title in this arena. Due to technical errors at the event, the final results weren't available. However, the word from those who played was that Dean Miller, ranked number 1 on the DCI list for Star Wars Miniatures just prior to GenCon, was one of three players to go undefeated during the event. Dean Miller Dean's squad is centered around a very impressive strategy. Win initiative with Thrawn's Master Tactician, and then let the Storm Commandos use their Cunning, Double, and Deadeye attack abilities to shoot at +13 for 30 damage twice. Darth Vader, Jedi Hunter is a great selection in a field of Force-users. His Jedi Hunter ability, coupled with Thrawn's commander effect to swap Vader back to safety and leave a Stormtrooper in his place, has proven an effective tactic many times. Benjamin Guins also went 4–0 with a fairly straightforward squad concept. Benjamin Guins Benjamin relied on Kun's Transfer Essence to get him out of danger. Typically, squads like this tend to bring a Medical Droid with Lobot's Reinforcements ability, but since players weren't required to list reinforcement options, it's tough to say for sure if that was Benjamin's strategy. Lou Vasilion also earned a 4–0 record with a squad that, upon first glance, looks like a random collection of Uniques and Force-users. Lou Vasilion But look closer at Lou's choices. The squad includes two characters with initiative control, and one of them, when defeated, gives another character 6 extra Force points and the ability to use Force points an additional time per turn. On top of that, there's additional synergy for Vos, as he gains Momentum when a unique ally is defeated. Lando and Aurra are excellent options for back-up shooters, and the Jedi Weapon Master provides another nice Force distribution target in case Qui-Gon is defeated. The presence of R2-D2 and Lobot gives the squad access to Override twice per round -- undo your opponent's Override, or lock two doors closed. Impressive. Most impressive. Friday's 100-Point TournamentFriday morning saw 22 players turn out for the constructed 100-point Star Wars Miniatures tournament. Of those who played, six brought Jedi Weapon Masters, and five of those also brought R2-D2, Astromech Droid. In fact, no one brought the so-called "Doombot" without the Jedi Weapon Master. The two players who earned 4–0 records in the tournament were Eric Larson (winner of last year's GenCon Indy 150-point tournament) and Dustin Nunn. Eric Larson
While some players tend to build their reinforcements into their squad and stick with them throughout all match-ups, other players often switch depending on what their opponent is playing. An educated guess regarding Eric's squad is that he brought in two Aqualish Assassins and two Ugnaught Demolitionists, though the presence of the Ewoks could also suggest Wicket. I had the chance to ask Eric about his reinforcement selections, and he merely replied that he picked a variety of different reinforcements for each game. However, he added, "I will not take Ithorian Scouts again." Eric didn't elaborate, and I thought better of pressing him on how he came to that decision. Dustin Nunn Dustin's squad is a standard-build Republic Jedi concept, especially for the 100-point format. One main difference between his squad and some of the others in the GenCon Indy event is the absence of Queen Amidala. She makes the Jedi Weapon Masters cost 1 point less and gives them Mobile Attack, regardless of where they are on the map. This can be important for the melee Jedi after they run up 2 to 4 squares, use Lightsaber Assault to defeat an enemy or two, and then move away.
Angie Northdorf/Ken Miller Matt Horn finished in fifth place with an interesting Rebel squad. Matt Horn Matt's squad is completely centered around Han's Twin Attack, Evade, and Cunning Attack. Because he has a Force point, he can benefit from Obi-Wan's Light Spirit ability, which gives him Force Renewal and the means to reroll Evade saves and Cunning Attack shots at slightly better odds. The extra attack that Leia grants a Rebel follower means that Han gets two additional shots. Thus, in a single round, Han is capable of dealing as much as 130 damage! The bodyguards are probably there to provide protection from Disintegration, or to keep Leia alive a bit longer. Congratulations to Phillip Porth and Dave Battey, who also managed 3–1 records in the 100-point tournament. Friday's 150-Point TournamentOn Friday afternoon, players who still weren't comfortable with their chances in the Championship had another chance to practice in a 150-point tournament. Again, technical errors at the event made final results unavailable. However, many of the same squads were seen at the GenCon tournament tables -- in some cases, ironically, played by different people on Friday than on Saturday. "Super-stealth," the nickname for the ability that allows allied characters with Stealth to avoid being attacked by non-adjacent enemies, was also prevalent in the Friday event. Some popular options included Nom Anor; others, Clone Commander Bacara. The so-called "Broken Boba" squad also saw some play again on Friday, but it appeared to have a tougher time at the tables in the first few rounds. One of the more interesting registered squads was piloted by John Gardiner. John Gardiner John's map of choice was the Jedi Temple, also known as the Hall of Judgment (from the Attack on Endor Scenario Pack). Not a bad set up here. With Palpatine's Force points, Boba can reroll failed Evade saves or try again for that much-desired 20 to score Disintegrations. At the end of the second round, John was well on his way to earning at least one Booster Pack. Saturday's Open ChampionshipFinally, we come to the main event: the Star Wars Miniatures Open Championship on Saturday. It drew approximately 90 players, more than had been predicted. Each of them tried to walk away with the grand prize of $2,000, but only one player did: Kelly Krieble. Kelly Krieble Kelly's squad may look somewhat familiar. I talked about it earlier when I was discussing the "Broken Boba" concept. The main difference is the absence of Lobot. In his place are a handful of Ugnaught and Ewok "filler" characters. I asked Kelly why he wasn't running Lobot. "He's a liability," Kelly said, and he's not wrong. With only 20 hit points and an 11 defense, Lobot is easily killed, especially if your opponent has characters with Accurate Shot. (Was it the right call? I don't really know. I played in the Championship, running Lobot with Jedi Weapon Masters and R2-D2, but I didn't take the top prize.) The other interesting decision about Kelly's squad was his map choice. In the weeks leading up to GenCon, Geonosis had been discounted as a viable map, but that's no longer the case. Now, some people are actually calling for it to be removed from the list of sanctioned maps! Only time will tell whether that's a knee-jerk reaction to Kelly's victory or it's based on other experiences. In any case, Kelly had clearly been counting on disregard for the Geonosis map, since not many people had ever really played on it. Not only did Kelly win the tournament during the top eight single elimination round, but he also ranked first at the end of the seventh-round Swiss pairings. Great job and congratulations to Kelly for his achievement! The rest of the top eight were ranked in the final Swiss pairings as follows: Second Place: Bill Russell Third Place: Dave Battey Fourth Place: Shawn Sparks Fifth Place: Aaron Brueckman Sixth Place: Matthew Peterson Seventh Place: Dave Fanjoy Eighth Place: Chris Lynn Following the Swiss rounds, the eight finalists paired up and began knocking each other out of the tournament until only two remained: Dave Battey and Kelly Krieble. They sat down, shook hands, and rolled for map choice. Kelly won, so they played on Geonosis. (Really, they could have played on Mustafar and Kelly still would have had the upper hand if he'd won the side roll.) Kelly took the side opposite the arena, leaving Dave in a tough predicament as he struggled to clear the open pit to reach Kelly's characters. A late-round mistake left Han locked in an elevator with no way out, and it was clear from that point that Kelly had the game well in hand. Still, second place is nothing to scoff at when the prize is $1,000. Even the players who lost the first round of the top eight won $250, and semifinalists netted $500. Final round rankings: Champion: Kelly Krieble Finalist: Dave Battey Semifinalists: Aaron Brueckman, Dave Fanjoy Quarter Finalists: Chris Lynn, Shawn Sparks, Matthew Peterson, Bill Russell Other SWM Events
A Great SuccessAll in all, the Star Wars Miniatures events at GenCon Indy were an incredible success, thanks primarily to the organizational skills of Jim Fraser and the Pastimes event staff. Jim was responsible for scheduling all of the events and making sure that judges were in place for all of the tournaments. He even saw to it that dice were provided for the Championship after concerns were expressed about the possibility of some players bringing loaded dice. Finally, it's never too soon to look ahead to next year. Here's to another successful series of Star Wars Miniatures events at GenCon Indy 2008! | ||||
San Hill
Boba Fett, Bounty Hunter
Darth Vader, Jedi Hunter
Aurra Sing
Eric out-activated everyone with his squad; he had 15 activations plus reinforcements. In addition, all of his Ewoks were minimum +5 for 20 damage (thanks to the Ithorian Commander), and they could use Charging Fire granted by Han to attack from 12 squares away. The reinforcements also allowed Eric to bring in whatever he needed to counter specific enemy squads. 
Speaking of the Amidala variant, that very squad took third place (Angie Northdorf) and fourth place (Ken Miller) in Friday's 100-point tournament. 
Boba Fett, Bounty Hunter
Other Star Wars Miniatures events at GenCon Indy included the now-annual AT-AT battle (in which four AT-ATs march across Hoth battle maps produced by Wizards of the Coast), an Utinni tournament, and a Dynamic Duo tournament. Dynamic Duo is a new fan-created format in which players build two-man squads that total exactly 100 points. Normal faction rules apply, and abilities that bring in extra characters such as Reinforcements or Reserves can't be used. 
