Conveyex Train
With Ian's pending nuptials coming soon, the Jedi Council determined a surprise bachelor's party Duel was in order for one of the legends of the league. Our only regret? We didn't invite his lovely fiancé, who for some reason, Ian won't let come and play with us. I wonder why...?
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| Surprise, Ian! |
Our 12 Duelers spanned the ten-year history of the league, including Hall of Famers (JD! Nathan! Kaleb! Duncan!) and current players, all excited to pepper Ian with awkward questions about his future wife. We owe a big thanks to JD and Jonathan, who helped orchestrate the surprise. Speaking of surprises...none of us were when Ian, picking his character last, ended up with his favorite - DARTH MAUL!!!
After explaining the Conveyex Train board to our senior Duelers, we were ch-ch-chugging along (get!?!). There was a lot of nervous energy thanks to the cramped board, but things got off to a brutal start when Kaleb's Emperor Palpatine dropped JD/Anakin's hand with YOU WILL DIE. Woof!!! JD paid for half of the Airbnb and got sent to the (train) rails in last place when Elliot's Greedo finished him off.
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| Ouch. |
Things didn't get any more friendly. Riley B.'s Jango, caught on one of the side speeders, was taking shots when all of a sudden Ian's Darth Maul laid his tow cable and boarded Riley's area! I don't have to tell you how that turned out. Fortunately, though, JD had just bought a new Star Wars card game so he and Riley played that together for the rest of the night.
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| Hobby Lobby Chic |
Rob's Darth Vader was looking for a character on the opposite side of the board to start doing distance damage too, and with a nod of approval from Nathan's Count Dooku, Jonathan/Mace were shelled. That end of the board collapsed when Elliot/Boba joined in. The fatality shot came from one of Duncan/Obi's Clone Troopers.
Despite trying to join the other side of the board, Elliot found himself the next target. He's had a strong run of late, but his Boba was landlocked for most of the game, and folks weren't excited to see him start using Thermal Detonators. Fittingly, Michael's Han Solo finished him off with Gambler's luck.
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| Friends become our chosen Dueling family. |
Nathan/Dooku, Ian/Maul, and Grant/Luke looked to be a firm alliance. Duncan used double Force Controls, however, to isolate Nathan's Count Dooku. He fought bravely but couldn't withstand the onslaught, especially when Luke and Maul were moved so far away from supporting him. Kaleb reluctantly used a Force Lightning to stop Nathan in eighth. It was fun having him back at the table, though!
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| Duncan thinking about his drive back to Houston... |
Ian, the man of the hour, became cranky that his alliance kept shrinking. He made it known he was headed over to Rob/Vader to pay his respects and share his feelings about it. But this wasn't Rob's first rodeo with an upset Ian, and he managed to flip the attention to Duncan's Obi-Wan Kenobi. He hated to do it, but Vader isn't known for his sympathy. Others rallied to that idea, and with Duncan losing a number of his cards, he was blasted into seventh courtesy of Michael's second Bowcaster of the game.
And then there were six! Nobody was sure which direction to go, and Curtis moved in on Ian's Maul. He survived a Force Push but, once again, wanted to tangle with Rob's Darth Vader. Despite Rob's pleas to work with Grant/Luke to eliminate Michael's Han, Ian wasn't having it. It was his party, and he'll Sith Speed if he wants to! The kill shot, though, came from a Justice by Grant's Luke Skywalker.
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| Rob and Ian tangling - some things never change! |
That left five and, just as Rob had tried to explain to Ian, Darth Maul was the next target! Han Solo took shots and nobody else seemed excited to keep him around, bachelor party or not. It took a couple of rounds, but Kaleb/Emperor made his second Force Lightning kill of the night. Good game, Ian, we wish you many years of wedded bliss.
The final four players finally realized Kaleb's Emperor Palpatine was sitting pretty. Despite taking a Bowcaster very early in the game Kaleb had deftly floated into the final four with little attention. That finally came to an end, though. There was a lot of haggling and some side-switching, but Curtis/Yoda didn't want to stay united. His Force Strike parked Kaleb in fourth. He's so good!
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| Three married guys at the bachelor party. |
The final three had a lot of twists and turns too, and eventually all three of Grant/Luke, Michael/Han, and Curtis/Yoda were damaged. Michael still had Chewbacca on the board, so he was the only one of the three who couldn't heal. Over a period of time Michael somehow had the lead. He was about to finish off a near-dead Grant with a Wookie Toss, but Grant pointed out to Michael he could use both Tosses and kill the healthier - and harder to eliminate - Yoda. Much to Curtis' dismay, that's what Michael did! Curtis/Yoda finished with the bronze.
Michael/Han still had the health advantage, though he was low-carded too. Grant was just two points from dying, and only had a couple of Leia cards in his hand. In a Hail Mary move, he charged Han with nothing in his hand, and drew for his first action. He got a 5 point attack for Luke and used it for his second action...killing Han!!! GRANT WON!!! GRANT FINALLY WON AGAIN!!! It had been nearly six years since his last victory, and this one makes it eight for his career. He also becomes just the fifth Dueler in league history to win with Luke Skywalker, one of the original 12 characters from the game but the one with the least amount of wins. Congrats to Michael too, who somehow survived with Han on a tough board and nearly took it down.
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| Together Grant has it all!!! |
Final order of finish:
12. Anakin/JD N.
11. Jango/Riley B.
10. Mace/Jonathan
9. Boba/Elliot
8. Dooku/Nathan
7. Obi/Duncan
6. Vader/Rob
5. Maul/Ian
4. Emperor/Kaleb
3. Yoda/Curtis
2. Han/Michael
1. Luke/Grant
What a fun night celebrating our friend and Dueler, Ian!!!
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