Zion's Finest

Hello listeners, thanks for tuning in to Built On Hope late night radio!

Isaac, Jessica, and David present: Built on Hope! In a brand new podcast dedicated to Competitive Imperial Assault and IACP, the three hosts kick off the podcast with a short introductory Episode. We'll be introducing ourselves, explaining what we want to do with the podcast, the different Segments we'll be providing you with, and much more!  Stay tuned for more Episodes, ones going in depth into further topics! Thanks for listening!  

Have you ever heard of a tournament that Luke Sykes played in where he didn't make top cut? Me neither. And guess what? Euros 2019 was no exception. The man is a machine. He calculates and commands his way to victory with incredible list diversity and creativity. Listen to his report of his runner-up showing at the largest non-Worlds tournament of the year. You will love it. We run a bit long; Luke's report goes until about the 1:10 mark, then we start commiserating and having our real fun. Thank you for all your support. Let me know what your ideas for our final alt-art/token/swag should be for Worlds.

Jeremy is a man after my own heart, and both our hearts happen to go a'flutter when we contemplate the shenanigans that happen when you combine Han, MHD, and everyone's favorite modern major general ... NO NOT GENERAL CALRISSIAN OF COURSE I AM TALKING ABOUT PRINCESS ORGANA YOU NERDS. Listen to Jeremy's report on his runner-up run at Nova. We have a lot of fun talking about what the Box is capable of, despite an absolutely insane meta.

No need to be dramatic about it. Andrew Navaro--one of the upper-management guys at FFG--announced that IA would not be getting any further physical content. Navaro cited business reasons, and pretty heavily implied that some kind of legal issue precluded further discussion. It was also clear that not only would IA no longer be getting physical content releases but that OP support for the game would be winding down. In this episode, I lay out what I think the path will be for the next few months. Please give it a listen and give me any feedback or suggestions as to how you think we can make our final OP season meaningful and fun. I love you all. Good luck in the cut, Nova boys.   P.S. I forgot about all the European Championships that are going to be happening in the next few months, and I will absolutely be getting the winners on for interviews. 

Have you ever played against a Jawa Swarm? Have you ever experienced the shift in mood brought upon by an opponent seizing victory from the jaws of defeat as they kill one figure and get an additional eight points along with fifteen more from shenanigans that you never even thought possible? HAVE YOU?! Well, Pat Christian's six GenCon opponents sure did, and boy were they in for it. Pat ran a finely tuned Jawa Swarm to the top of the heap at the recent GenCon tournament and in this episode he gives us a rundown on how he did it. THANK YOU FOR ALL YOUR SUPPORT!  Please stay active in your local community. If you are looking for ways to reengage local players with the game, the IACP is an amazing way to reintroduce skirmish to players looking to freshen things up. GOOD LUCK AT NOVA YOU EAST COASTERS! EAST COAST WORST COAST AMIRITE?! (I love you all.)

As if David hadn't struck enough terror into the hearts of the IA community, he decided to really drive it home by showing up to the UK Game Expo in order to demonstrate the power of his fully armed and operational battle ... er ... cats. That's right, David Gao is the UK National Champion, and he rode into and out of town on a troop of ferocious bloodthirsty Loth-Cats. I expect the Queen to grant him a peerage any moment know. Earl of Whiskerton sounds great and will make for a terrific coat of arms. We're also joined by the other half of the London Gao family--Jessica--who also attended the UKGE and played in the Nationals tournament. She played Spectre with a 14 point command deck, with an unplayable card (Dark Energy), and she damn near won the whole thing.  Listen to the Gaos recount the tournament. You will love it!

FRIENDS! Are you disheartened that FFG sux? Do you wish that they would get off it and do something about our most beloved game? Well, I got bad news, and I have good news. You know the bad news: FFG sux. But there is good, great, glorious news, and that is that we have the best gaming community that has ever existed (THAT'S RIGHT I PHRASED IT IN THE EMPHATIC DECLARATIVE). Because we are the best gaming community, we are focused on making sure that players have the resources to continue to enjoy and love this game, which serves as the predicate condition for ... THE I A C P! The Imperial Assault Continuity Project is the product of collaboration, discussion, argument (only a little), and the white hot passion of the Imperial Assault community. In this episode, I got some of the more-involved players to come on and talk about the project, what it hopes to accomplish, and how we can help. I know you will enjoy it.

I assume that you know that Loth-Cats are garbage. They are the most ignored unit in the Tyrants of Lothal box. They're so bad that I've literally never played a competitive game of skirmish in which either I or my opponent has played Loth-Cats. They're awful. Well, someone forgot to tell all this information to David Gao, and he proceeded to wreck almost the entirety of everyone's face at Worlds. In a Hunter/Loth-Cat list, David managed to go 5-1, being the only player to take Loth-Cats into the top cut of anything I'm sure, and one of four non-Specter lists in the top cut. This man is legit. Enjoy his soft-spoken demeanor; heaven knows this podcast could use someone to help me cool my volume. MAKE SURE TO GET INVOLVED AND STAY INVOLVED IN THE IACP. WE NEED COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION IN ORDER TO MAKE THIS THING WORK AND IF IT'S JUST ME IN THE CAPTAIN'S SEAT THEN EVERYONE BETTER BE READY FOR A FOUR COST AHSOKA AND A FREE MHD IN EVERY LIST THANK YOU YOU'RE WELCOME. I love you all. Thank you for listening.

What can we say in the face of BPK's triumph? He has been a mainstay of the community for years, he is one of the leading members of the IA Continuity Project, and he is one of the most passionate members of our little slacker ship of Zion. The man, the myth, the legend. Brett Kelly. In this episode Brett gives a survey of Worlds. He provides a lot of insights as to why he took the defensive kit for Spectre, how he was able to grind out so many mirrors, and what it's like to finally make it to the top. I know you're all going to love this.

ONE HUNDRED. No one to join me in this centurion commemoration of our little boat’s journey across the mighty ocean of Star Wars gaming fandom. I wanted to just record a short little bit, give a recap of Worlds, and wax melodramatic while reading poetry about ancient deeds of heroism. That’s right. I read poetry, and I ain’t one damned sight ashamed of it. Please give it a listen. I give a short summary of the recording schedule for the next few weeks and give some general thoughts on the future of the game, then I talk about Worlds, and I close with a paean of acclamation for our fledgling band of heroes.

We few, we happy few. Friends, what an incredible ride we have had. In the last two years, we created a Slack that has grown to over two hundred and fifty players, started a podcast that has consumed almost one hundred thousand hours of people's waking time, got organized about IA skirmish, and have sustained competitive skirmish far longer than it would have lasted without our efforts.  In this episode, we give one final joust into the Worlds prep meta and then proceed to wax both salty (about FFG) and sweet (about literally everything besides FFG). This is a glorious episode and I know you will enjoy it. Oh how I cannot wait to see your glorious visages at Worlds. We'll be recording Episode 100 on-site, and lots is going to be happening, so make sure that everyone stays close to the Renaissance so that we can ensure that we get lots of participation in all the side events that we will be doing (Smash, Root, Two Rooms and a Boom, and much much more).

TOURNAMENT RECAP Sam Sweeten and I give a rundown on the recent, AMAZING, online Vassal tournament that the Zion's Finest crew hosted. We had forty-one players show up for an epic bout of swiss. There weren't a ton of surprises; no IG or Han in the cut, and no Alliance Rangers in the tournament at all, and I think it gives us an excellent picture of what to expect at Worlds. SEE YOU IN TWO WEEKS!

WORLDS PREP! DT graciously agreed to come on the podcast in order to give some very sage counsel regarding Worlds Prep. Our conversation focuses around Spectre, obvs, and DT has the usual incredible insights regarding positioning, advantage, and strategy that I am sure will take him to the four-peat. Buckle up and prepare your brain, you are in for a crazy ride. THANK YOU FOR LISTENING! Good luck on Saturday to the Vassal tournament participants!

WORLDS PREP! Scott, Jamal, Matt, Dave, and I gathered round the board to discuss Worlds prep. We focused on the major non-Spectre archetypes for the nine players planning to not play Spectre at Worlds. We have a lot of fun, and we talk about how we have adjusted our play style or what our plan is for defeating Spectre at Worlds. So it's a good episode for you Spectre players looking to crush our hopes and dreams. Check out Episode 096, which is the second part of this episode (because we planned--and did--run a bit long). MAKE SURE TO GET YOURSELVES PREPPED FOR THE VASSAL REGIONAL THIS SATURDAY! Even if you're not playing any games, it's going to be a great way to prep for Worlds as you watch players go through the paces on the various maps. THANK YOU ALL!

The follow-up to Episode 095. Make sure to listen to that episode first!

REGIONAL REPORT! Noa Pestana, an incredible and long-standing member of the northwestern US IA community, was the champion of the Seattle Regional! The Seattle Regional is one of the most competitive in the world and they had a great showing this year. Many props to Noa for bringing it home. Subscribe to Noa's Youtube channel! It has awesome IA content: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6-Eab4g9zRXwdZjVdzS-DQ GET READY FOR WORLDS! GET YOUR REPS IN ON VASSAL! GET HYPED FOR THE VASSAL REGIONALS! We're going to be having some awesome episodes in the coming weeks getting ready for Worlds and announcing some new things on our IA horizon. Thank you to everyone who continues to be such positive members of the community. We love and need you all.  

We are in the preliminary stage of one of the greatest battles in history.... So said Winston Churchill at a time when it actually mattered and before England would again pour itself out in the defense of its ancient kingdom and liberties. *** I wanted to make a lot of clever comparisons between Lothal Blitz and the air campaign waged in the defense of Britain, but fortunately came to my senses and decided instead to merely quote the eminent statesmen and include a selection of music from Oldman's masterwork. On to the real bit. Friends, Spectre on Lothal Blitz is one hundred percent broken. In a non-mirror match, where the opposing list needs at least one turn to gin up in terms of focusing, drawing command cards, etc., Spectre will win approximately ninety percent of the time. I am sure that some of you will think I am being hyperbolic (I am not), that more testing is necessary (it isn't), and that we can crack this nut before Worlds (we won't). Spectre is in their opponent's deployment zone in round on

Welcome to Episode 12 of the Fully Armed and Operational Podcast! Andrew asked if I would be willing to host their final (or is it ANDREW NICHOLAS JORGEN or is it?!) Imperial Assault episode (at least for a while), to which I happily agreed. Someone has to stick around to keep the lights on, and I'm glad that we can serve as a message board for people producing amazing content. In this episode, Andrew and Nick give a report of their showing at the SoCal Regional. As expected, they dominated on the day, proving their mettle again and again and undoubtedly ensuring that a whole new wave of poor IA skirmishers will have PTSD like I did after I playing Nick and Jorgen. They give a send-off, of sorts, and we can only hope that we will see them again in the future. COME ON FFG GIVE THESE BROTHERS A REASON TO COME BACK. I LOVE THESE BROTHERS AND THEY ARE THE BEST.  

ATLANTA REGIONAL TOP-CUT REPORT! This is part two of the Carolina Swarmers' report of the Atlanta Regional. Both Jeremy and Ryan made the cut, and they proceeded to march towards their destiny of battling each other in a fight to save the soul of the South. I love these brothers. They did great at the regional and have great insights into their lists and the meta. Thank you for listening, and remember to clear your calendars for March 9!