X-Wing - Bespin Rescue Battle Report!

© Inquisitor James 2013

As a warm up to Gambit Games UK's forth coming X-Wing tournament in October, the talented Inquisitor James created this wonderful 'Bespin Rescue' mission. A whole load of players gave it their best shot at this month's club day and here's the low down on my (somewhat wayward) attempt to take control of the infamous Millennium Falcon, piloted by that cheeky chappy, Lando Calrissian...

'I'm off to Ladbrokes to catch the 3:15 at Haydock'!

Re-living the famous scenes from the Empire Strikes Back movie, could Lando give chase to the bounty hunter Boba Fett and save Han Solo? And let's not forget ol' one hand himself, Luke Skywalker, hanging precariously from the gantry at the base of the Cloud City. Could Lando 'flip the Falcon' and return to pick up Luke safely? If all that wasn't enough, Lando would then be forced to fight his way back through the swarm of Tie Fighters sent by the Empire to put an end to the party. Lando had his work cut out...

You can find the rules for the mission here and posted below for reference. I urge you to give it a go, and be sure to give Inquisitor James props when you do so :)

Ready Cheewie? We're going in...!



Mission 1:

© Inquisitor James 2013

The first mission would see Lando giving chase to Boba Fett in an attempt to cause some damage and if at all possible, shoot the bounty hunter out of the sky all together. Lando would score +1pt for every successful hit on Slave 1, with a potential +10pts available should he succeed in destroying Fett. With the Millennium Falcon kitted out with an engine upgrade, there was the temptation to use the boost action to close range and get that all important extra dice for attacking at range band 1. But that would see the Rebel player miss out on a valuable +10pts for resisting putting the pedal to the metal...  Fett's objective was simple: put as much hurt on the Falcon as possible and leg it off the board in short order!

Lando fires the engines as the Falcon lifts off the landing pad and gives chase to Boba Fett...

Both ships open up with their guns, exchanging a withering hail of fire... 

....and to make matters worse, the Falcon runs into both a seismic charge and a wayward Cloud Car...

...The damage begins to stack up...

Mission 2:

© Inquisitor James 2013

With Boba Fett making good his escape, Princess Leia senses that Luke is in peril and orders Lando to turn back and attempt a daring rescue. With the board clear of any Empire threat, this mission would be all about flying skill, dodging those wandering Cloud Cars and in homage to the scene in the movie, flipping the Falcon over in a wing over manoeuvre to head back to Cloud City and Luke's rescue...

Lando dials in a koiogran turn...

... and powers back to rescue Luke...

Having successfully completed his wing over manoeuvre and bagging himself an easy +10pts, Lando banked the Falcon round and picked up the injured Luke Skywalker from the base of the Cloud City. All that was left to do now was to make good their escape and work out just how they would rescue Han from both the deep freeze and the clutches of Boba Fett before he decided to cash in on his bounty...

'Get a move on Lando! Top Gear's on in half hour!'

Mission 3:

© Inquisitor James 2013

Right on queue, 3 Tie Fighters arrived on the scene to give chase to the somewhat battle damaged Falcon. With Lando simply having to boost the Falcon off the far side of the board, it looked like it would be a simple +10pts and victory for the Rebels.... But unable to suppress his gambler nature, Lando decided to pull off an audacious maneuver to immediately swing round behind the Tie Fighter formation and take them all down from behind at close range!  Unfortunately for Lando, it all ended in disaster as he miscalculated his turn and flew off the near side table edge - Thus ending the game and handing overall victory to the Empire! (it would appear that Lando also took the camera with him as there are no photos of the triumphant Tie Fighters...)

Great game - despite the loss, I really enjoyed it! Re-counting those famous scenes from The Empire Strikes Back was a blast and really helped bring to life the cinematic experience games of X-Wing can provide. Unfortunately Lando's maverick ways meant that he couldn't re-live the triumphant heroics of the movie but ever the gambler, he decided to give the mission another go.... But this time the stakes and the game would be upped to 'Jedi Level'!....

'Jedi Level' - A whole lot more Cloud Cars, a whole lot more Tie Fighters and a whole other story... ;)

Until next time...