Conveyex Train
This year's Fight Night Duel featured an all-shooters battle on the Conveyex Train (the aerial heist from the Han Solo movie). While the Conveyex board is usually dependent on the tow cables for melee characters, little Wicket, the minor character of Princess Leia, was the only avatar without a gun (unless you count Whirling Rocks). So we had two dozen shooters, no raised terrain, and generally low health for all major characters? Sign me up!
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| All aboard the pain train! CHOO CHOO!!! |
Once chairs, characters, and starting order were established, Fight Night began. The players at the table took a couple of rounds to beef up their respective hands. The first attack of the night came from Penny, playing in her first Duel, as her Boba Fett took a shot at her dad/Rob/Jyn Erso! No such thing as a family alliance at this table. Especially after Riley's Wicket went after little sister CJ's Fennec Shand!
Parker joined in on attacking CJ with his Cad Bane, but he soon learned CJ is not somebody you mess with lightly. She blocked two big attacks with Body Mods, and Parker was stunned when his turn ended with no damage done to Fennec. CJ was all about the payback after that, which included BK's Electric Knuckles! Others joined in on that action too, and before Parker could make heads or tails, his Cad Bane was out in last thanks to a 4-point attack from Rob's Jyn!
Though Penny's Boba was the first person to fire her weapon, she soon found herself low-carded and without much help. She became the next target, and it would be Juan's Zam Wessell that used a Sniper Shot to end her first Duel in eleventh place. Fett on Fett violence...say it ain't so!!!
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| Commence negotiations... |
While this action was going on at one end of the board, things got heated on the other end as well. Bella, another rookie Dueler, discovered one of the best cards in the game...BOWCASTER! She used it at point-blank range against Grant H.'s Tobias Beckett!! That sent Grant reeling, though he recovered some of the damage when he successfully attacked back with Improvise. Bella tried to escape by traversing to the other end of the train, but her poor Han got caught in the crossfire. One of Curtis' Death Troopers made the final hit to retire Bella in tenth.
Though CJ got the sweet justice she was looking for with Parker's ouster, she soon found herself isolated with multiple characters pointing their blasters at Fennec and BK. It was Andrew's Mandalorian who no longer wished to see his Book of Boba Fett colleague on the board. Cara Dune rang her bell in ninth. She's just a kid! A scary, vindictive kid...but still!!!
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| Rogue One, represent! |
This Duel was moving along quickly, which as a total aside, is a nice development we'd love to see in the future, cough cough, hint hint. With eight to go the loose alliance of remaining Duelers needed another target. Evan made the bold move to play You Have Something I Want with The Moff against Grant's Beckett! That was the signal the rest of the board needed. Curtis' Death Troopers moved into position. Grant almost argued his way out of it, but Curtis decided to attack. Others joined, and Rob's Cassian got the final shot. Grant was eliminated in eighth.
Once again the board was looking for a consensus kill. Chatter started moving toward Riley's Princess Leia, but she swayed the board to consider Andrew's Mandalorian. Some folks were still feeling the sting of his Whistling Birds from earlier in the evening, and that was enough for Mando to be next. The entire board went in on it, and it would once again be Jyn Erso with the final crack. Congrats to Andrew, though, because that seventh place finish was a personal best. He's trending in the right direction!
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| Juan in the driver's seat. |
And then there were six! The remaining Duelers had made it into the top half of the finishers. Juan's Jango and Kevin's Lando started to tussle. Kevin was desperate for the rest of the board to side with him, but was crushed when those surrounding him pointed their weapons at him instead. Lando is the best defensive shooter in the game, and others were leery about going deep with him on the board. Juan, fittingly, got the kill-shot with Jango's Missile Launch.
The tension was palpatine palpable with just five to go! Rob was wigging out, thinking Curtis and Evan were in an ironclad alliance. But Curtis made it known he wanted to go final two with Rob instead. Unfortunately, Curtis moved his Krennic towards Rob, believing he was safe. That placement, essentially in the middle of the board and in the crosshairs of everyone left, gave Rob little choice but to put the target on Krennic instead. Once Curtis said he was willing to go after anyone else instead, everyone followed suit. It was a tough and sudden end for Curtis in fifth place after a Sniper Shot from Juan's Zam.
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| Locked in a death spiral... |
Before Curtis was eliminated, he did manage to dump everyone's hand and force everyone to start with four new cards. Rob sensed Evan's Moff Gideon was weak and exposed, while also still at full health with both Dark Troopers. Rob stuck his neck out and suggested Evan be next. Riley's Leia was all for it, but in what turned out to be the key moment of the game, Juan had to decide what to do next. Rob risked his own standing by assuring Juan he'd stick with him to the final two, especially since their two characters were the weakest ones left. Juan decided to accept that, and Evan found himself against three characters at once. He did manage to use It Means More To Me on Riley's Leia before sinking in fourth place, though.
Riley thought Rob might side with her in the final two, but Rob's Cassian began shooting Leia, trying to draw out the auto-damage of Leia's ...I Know card. That made it clear to Juan that Rob was honoring their deal. But Riley moved in on Jango instead of Jyn, and seriously wounded Juan before Zam hit her THIRD Sniper Shot kill of the night. Riley was done in third.
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| Epic Duel victories are built on hope! |
Juan fought deftly and valiantly all night, but there was no surprise in how it would end after Riley's Leia wrecked his damage card. Rob used Kyber Crystal Luck to land the elimination of Plush Poe's pick to win the Duel. Rob/Jyn won!!! This was the first career win for Jyn and Rob's double-dozenth personal victory in league history. Juan's second place finish is a career-best finish too, great job Juan!!! And most importantly...the Duel lasted just over three hours. Hooray for speedy Duels!
Final order of finish:
12. Parker/Cad Bane
11. Penny/Boba Fett
10. Bella/Han Solo
9. CJ/Fennec Shand
8. Grant H./Tobias Beckett
7. Andrew/The Mandalorian
6. Kevin/Lando Calrissian
5. Curtis/Orson Krennic
4. Evan/The Moff
3. Riley/Princess Leia
2. Juan/Jango Fett
1. Rob/Jyn Erso
Thanks everyone for a great Fight Night, and especially Bella, CJ, and Penny for allowing us to play on what turned out to be a big vacation weekend. It looks like our November Duel, Thanksdueling!, will be played on Saturday, November 5th. That's not finalized yet, but go ahead and pencil it in. More details to come.
And for one last time...PEW PEW!
