Last week we tried a 3-player-senario I designed. You find the description here.
“Capture the Hostage“ is meant for three players. It is inspired by “Take the Station“, “Capture the VIP“ and “Station Assault“. It is played at a triangular play area that fits at a 3‘ wide gaming table. Mine is layed out with black cloth so the borders can be easily lined out with chalk.
We played with three fleets for 330 FP with a commander. My fleet was at the bottom (Mon Mothma, AF II B, MC30c, CR90 A, 3 X-wings, and 3 Headhunters. I had the highest bid and decided to go last during the first round. Richy at the right had the same bid as KKJ but rolled better. His fleet (Unduli, 2 Accla, Consular, 5 ARC-170 {The YT-1300 is a proxy}) right upper corner went second. KKJ had initiative the first round with his Ozzel Oscillators (Ozzel, 2x Arquitens, 2x Raider, 3x TIA adv, and Whisper). Richy and I got 1 pass token.
I felt comfortable after the placement of obstacles and placed two proximity mines to keep the enemy fleet at the far side of the station.
End of first round. Ozzel came in quite fast. Unduli went really slow. Both fleets went more or less as I had hoped. Only the Iden-Version-Raider forced me to speed up with my MC30c.
Second round Unduli went first. (Initiative changes clockwise.) The Acclamator together with the ARC-170s nearly wiped the Raider. Thanks to new Evade rule it managed barely to survive.
I tried to do something similar with my X-wings, and front arc of my flaggship, but only did some shield damage. Iden Versio really helps the Raider!
The other Raider repaired, did some flaking, and sped up (Ozzel, hurray!) to flee from the bomber swarm. Now this little ship was my problem!
My CR90 hit the nose of the Raider hard and maneuvered around the little basta... capital ship. Ramming would have done the job. I was 1 damage card short of killing it. (And that became the theme of my game!)
Ozzel flaggship ordered more squadrons to attack the bombers.
I wanted to wait out till the other Raider moved while the Imperial and Republic squadrons killed each other. But finally I was forced to activate before Iden. I had to avoid my own mine and made a sharp turn into the middle of the board. (But hey, here‘s the objective, isn‘t it?)
And this is the board state end of round two.
Third round I went first. It was necessary to get rid of the Raider. I activated my flaggship and sent the Headhunters to get the needed 1 hit. First attack: crit. Second attack: crit. Third attack: crit. Then my X-wing against Iden: hit. *sigh*
So I had to use my side arc for an overkill. But I had hoped to use against the station.
The AF II then shot Iden Versio and rammed it, so it gained two damage cards. (In the picture are three, but after discussing Iden Versio we decided, she was able to cancel two dice when discarding an Evade.) That was a strong first activation in the third round. But it took me too much.
The Raider wasn‘t able to do more than shield damage to my flaggship even with its double arc, then it sped up and ran. Iden Versio jumped off to give my MC30c a nav-raid-token. (And that was nasty!)
While the rebels shredded the Raiders, the Republic gnawed at the Arquitens. After front arc and ram it dealt two damage cards.
Now I saw my chance to destroy the station, which already had taken 6 damage. If I could kill the station with 1 ship, I could take the VIP with the other. If not, the Arquitens would destroy it and it would be much more difficult, to get a hold on it. I decided to activate my MC30c. Unfortunately I had a repair command instead of concentrate fire. And my front arc only dealt 3 damage. (1 short of killing it!) Now I had to waste my side arc instead of dealing damage to the Arquitens. *sigh*
But I was able to place the VIP-token ready for take off!
With the last activation this round the Acclamator sent an ARC-170 to bomb and destroy the Arquitens. But the logic of the game had changed. After grabbing the VIP-token with my CR90 suddenly I was primary target for Empire and Republic.
State of the board end of round 3. I realized the weak point of my plan! Next round I would go last and my CR90 would have to survive two enemies‘ activations ...
It didn‘t last one activation: The Empire flaggship destroyed the poor little fella and the VIP was once again in the escape pod, then ...
... it jumped the debris, slow enough to claim the VIP next round. But the logic of the game had changed the same second.
The Acclamator attacked my MC30c without substantial damage, then my MC30c finished the Raider but at speed 3 and with a nav-raid-token it wasn‘t able to steer around. (Iden Versio holding the wheel.) So it went off the board. With Ahsoka Tano at the CR90 I would have been able to survive. The loss of the first ship doomed the second.
End of round 4. The Republic managed to get the Consular near enough to claim the VIP-token next round, when it goes first.
Round 5, first activation: The Consular grabs the VIP and paints itself a big „shoot me!“ sign at the rear. Ozzel-Arquitens kills it after the double arc of the AF II, then ...
... it jumps around the asteroids just a little bit, to catch the escape pod. And grabs the „shoot me!“ sign.
Last round: The AF II goes first. I know I can‘t win anymore. If I shoot Ozzel, Republic wins, if I let him go he wins. The only possibility would be to shoot Ozzel AND the leading Acclamator. It activates and kills Ozzel, but his „Reactive Gunnery“ deals just a damage card. Face up. „Comms Noise“. Enough to bring its speed to zero! We discussed this a little while and then KKJ decided to accelerate the AF II. But it doesn‘t manage to finish the Acclamator and it is doomed.
The Republic has for arcs to kill Mon Mothma, the shields are weak now, the hull damaged from ramming. It doesn‘t survive the first volley.
Round six (all victims removed): According to the scenario rules, if the VIP token is unclaimed, the nearest ship to the token wins. Only Republic ships are still in the play area. Richy wins!
Thoughts: The scenario was much fun to play! It took us some time, no wonder with nearly 990 FP in the play area. But it didn‘t feel crowded. Gameplay was never boring or stale. The three player game was a fun variety and much better than forcing 1 player watching the other two playing.
Hint: And it‘s no good idea to grab the token the round you go first! Next round you will be the target and both your enemies will activate before you do! 😁🔫
I'm hoping to get a game together next week.
But I'm wondering, what's the incentive for any player to shoot the station? You're taking firepower off the enemy to free the objective and making YOURSELF a target.
Thank you for sharing this @Triangularer! I might be in a position soon with 3 players and this may be the best way to get Armada to the table.