The newest Euro (???) from GMT
...
The inaugural Flagship tournament drew 30 players to
a true double elimination format. The first several rounds featured
small battle fleets of 10 points. In the last few rounds as
players became more experienced and the number of games smaller,
the battle fleets were increased to 30 points. Choice of sides
was not restricted so it was possible to have a nation fighting
itself. Players could choose different sides each game.
The two finalists showed remarkable consistency in both side
chosen and tactics. Marvin Birnbaum, who advanced through the
winners bracket, played the Standing Nations (Cat People) in
all but one round. The Cat People are based on a carrier with
fighter wings and are almost immune to boarding parties. Marvin's
basic strategy was to take three units, a strong wing, a weak
wing and a weak flagship. Tactically, all effort was spent building
the strong wing up before using it on attack while the weak wing
attacked as a diversion or was sacrificed. Essentially the opponent
was forced to choose between trying to kill the flagship or the
strong wing before the strong wing became overwhelming.
Joel Tamburo, who advanced through the losers bracket, played
the Heisling Dynasty (The Empire) in all rounds. The Empire is
attack oriented with most ships having weak defense but packing
a strong punch. The exception is the flagship that features
good defense and excellent long-range bombardment capability.
Joel's basic strategy was to take a number of weak escorts and
one strong flagship with the best captain. Tactically all units
were sacrificed to screen development of the flagship into an
unstoppable killing machine.
Because it was a true
double elimination format, Marvin only needed to win one of two
games against Joel. This advantage was needed. Both players quickly
developed their strong units but Marvin was unable to destroy
Joel's screen fast enough. The superior long-range fire of the
Empire flagship provided the killing blow one round before it
would have been destroyed. In the rematch, both players made
slight changes. Joel increased the number of screen ships while
reducing their quality. In contrast, Marvin reduced the number
of his units while increasing their quality. Both adjustments
served to cancel each other out as Joel's screen was sacrificed
to Marvin's all out attack. But far more decisive than strategy
or tactics was the incredible horrible deal that Joel got. Virtually
every card was useless in the first two draws given his choice
of force. This made for a very one-sided final in which Marvin
did not lose a single unit while completely turning the Empire
into a large litter box. All hail the Cat People.
For more current info see http://home.mchsi.com/~alewis161/flagship.html
|