In-depth Look Z-95 AF-4 Headhunter Scum Edition

The Binayre Pirate clocks in at 24 points sporting Initiative 1, Focus, Lock, and a red Barrel Roll for the action bar, straight 2s for the stats, and Missile, Illicit, and Modification for the upgrade bar.  I’ve slotted these particular ships in a few lists as filler or for cheap blockers and all round general annoyances.

A lot can be said for swarm flying, and, a squadron of Binayre Pirates are sure going to give a headache or two.  One bonus for the Pirates over, for example, TIE/ln Fighters is that they have an extra point of health and aren’t quite as vulnerable to Proton Bombs due to their shields.  A general observation when swarm flying would be to break down the block into two units of 4 ships, partially to make them easier to manoeuvre on the board, and partially to account for Aces getting in the midst of one block.

The Black Sun Soldier raises the stakes with an Initiative bump up to 3 and access to the Talent upgrade slot, all for the low price of 3 extra points.  These can fulfil many roles in a squad, from filling a gap while maintaining an Initiative advantage versus a swarm list, to pushing final damage through on a wounded ship.  So very versatile, and very deadly when used in the right way.

Building a squadron consisting on 2 Black Sun Soldiers with Crack Shot and Deadman’s Switch, 2 Black Sun Enforcers, all led by a Black Sun Ace with Crack Shot and Cluster Missiles gives you a fairly thematic list, with some decent manoeuvrability, some great output of fire, and a decent amount of defensive capability too.  After a couple of trials in FlyCasual, this list seems to handle even higher Initiative pilots fairly well, as long as you can stay out of their arc.  Difficult, but, not impossible.

Kaa’to Leeachos has a great pilot ability to give itself a boost when it comes to offense or defense, by taking a Focus or Evade token from an allied ship at the start of the engagement phase for itself at Range 0-2.  This could be from a ship with multiple tokens, or, a ship that is behind, acting as a battery before engaging itself.

Putting Kaa’to Leeachos in a squad with Palob Godalhi seems like a perfect match, as Palob can pinch an Evade Token before Kaa’to then pulls it over, or, Kaa’tos pulls over a spare Focus Token from Palob’s Perceptive Copilot.  With 2 Fearless Hired Guns, armed with Proton Torpedoes and Ion Cannon Turrets can cover plenty of space around them.

N’Dru Suhlak allows you to roll an extra die when you perform a Primary Weapon attack when there are no friendly ships at Range 0-2.  N’Dru looks like a great ‘bait’ ship, for when you want to pull ships away from the rest of your squadron, as there is a bonus involved for flying solo.

With N’Dru’s ability, it seems like the perfect Talent would be Lone Wolf, with a healthy dose of Contraband Cybernetics for that crunch moment where you may be stressed, and need that Kiogran Turn and Lock.  On the other side of the board, you could then have Boba and a Cartel Executioner doing what they do best and wreaking havoc if the bait is taken, or as a magnet which allows N’Dru to start the work.

The Nashtah Pup is the escape craft for the Hound’s Tooth YV-666 Light Freighter.  It can only deploy via Emergency Deployment and uses the pilot abilities and Initiative of the pilot that used Hound’s Tooth.  Now, it’s currently a little unclear whether the Critical Damage from Emergency Deployment is taken on a shield or straight to the hull.  At 6 points, it’s perfectly suited to having in most squads that run Hounds Tooth as it gives you an extra opportunity to continue using that pilot.

I included Nashtah Pup here because it is a Z-95-AF4 Headhunter, even if you can’t take it on its own.

Well, there’s the Scum and Villainy with their representation of the Z-95-AF4 Headhunter, and some ideas on how to use it.  As with many others, finding a use for the current modifications available, alongside the limited number of Illicit upgrades, there is sometimes a feeling of not quite getting the full use out of this ship, despite some of the benefits it can bring.

Fun fact:  If you are flying the Hound’s Tooth YV-666 Light Freighter, you can actually dock any of these Z-95-AF-4 Headhunters, for some real fun shenanigans.  Maybe I’ll take a closer look at that over the weekend.  Thanks to Marty in the X-Wing Ready Room for the reminder!

How do you field yours?  What combinations do you feel have a decent usage?  Please, leave a comment, and share your ideas.

In-depth Look Quadrijet Transfer Spacetug

The Quadrijet Transfer Spacetug, or Quadjumper, weighs in at 28 points for an Initiative 1 Jakku Gunrunner with Focus, Red Evade, and Barrel Roll on the Action Bar, and Tech, Crew, Device, Illicit, and Modification upgrade slots.  The Quadjumper has the Spacetug Tractor Array ship ability which uses an action to assign either 1 Tractor Token to a ship at Range 1 in your Forward Firing Arc, or, 2 Tractor Tokens at Range 1 in your Bullseye Arc.

Being able to field 7 Jakku Gunrunners has been often talked about, and I have seen people saying it was a fun experience, pushing and pulling ships around regardless of their size, or, used solo to assist higher Initiative allies by assigning Tractor Tokens and reducing agility.  The example list shows how 6 with Proton Bombs can be interesting to fly, and still pack a punch.  Don’t expect too much out of them if facing high Initiative pilots, but, get them in the right place, and they will play havoc with formation flying.

Unkar Plutt makes a great blocker against higher Initiative pilots.  For him, it’s more a bonus as to whether he pulls off his Spacetug Tractor Array action as he loves to be bumping things for other pilots to target.  The more ships he’s bumping, then better as every ship ar Range 0, including Plutt himself, gains a Tractor Token.  Sure, it lowers his agility, but, it also rolls him out of the bump so he can fire and, if he’s bumping small based ships, can get them into the right position too.

When you add Ketsu Onyo to Unkar Plutt, you are telling an opponent that one of their ships isn’t going to be losing its Tractor Token(s) that round.  Sabine and a Perceptive Copilot in the Shadow Caster ups the ante on assigning Tractor Tokens, while at the same time boosting her survivability if she keeps attackers in her mobile firing arc.  Dalan Oberos round out this squadron with Proton Torpedoes against ships who have had their agility severely hampered.

Sarco Plank allows you to use the speed of your last manoeuvre as your agility.  Nice and simple.  Generally, though, only one you’ll want to use when you have performed a speed 3 manoeuvre.

While thinking about Serco Plank, I did look at experimenting with him carrying both Boba Fett and a Seismic Charge, just for the giggles of slapping an opponent who went for it in the planning phase, right in the face with an obstacle being destroyed.  However, in the end, I went with a naked Serco Plank and IG-88C and D in the IG-2000 with Fearless and Advanced Sensors.  The idea there being to play a game of “Get Over Here” with Plank pulling ships into range of the IGs while zipping off as fast as he can when he needs to disengage, which boosts his defenses.

Constable Zuvio is the only Quadjumper pilot with access to the Talent slot and has the Highest Initiative of 4.  A nice and simple pilot ability, when dropping a Device, you may launch it 1 Forward, rather than actually drop it behind you.

By using Constable Zuvio and Captain Nym, you can safely equip Cad Bane on the Quadjumper for a pre-activation boost, without setting off the Proximity Mine, while still leaving the opportunity for it to trigger once an enemy flies over it.  Nym with Fearless, Proton Bombs, Siesmic Charges, Havoc, Trajectory Simulator, and an R2 Astromech give you a decent amount of board control and some added survivability, while Torani Kulda flanks the opposition and comes in to use Outmanoeuvre with either his torpedoes or Primary Weapons, the R5 Astromech is there is give some added survivability.

While the Quadrijet Tranfer Spacetug has access to the Tech slot for upgrades, we currently don’t have any available.  However, depending on points cost, Primed Thrusters looks like it might partner well with this ship, as you can reverse, then barrel roll to either hide behind an obstacle, or attempt to dodge an arc.  Certainly an area to watch out for.  Some Tech upgrades will be available with the Wave 2 release either at the end of November or during December.

Got some other fun lists you think people should try out, no matter how outrageous they sound?  Leave a comment and share your wisdom or humour!

In-depth Look Fang Fighter

The Fang Fighter, formerly the Protectorate Starfighter, rocks in at a steep 44 points for an Initiative 1 Zealous Recruit with Focus, Lock, Barrel Roll > Focus, and Boost > Focus on the Action bar and just a solitary Torpedo upgrade.  However, the Fang Fighter has a ship ability which, in my opinion, is the reason for the inflated cost.  Concordia Faceoff allows you to change any defensive die result to an evade if you are in your opponent’s Forward Firing arc at Range 1.  Not to be confused with the Turret Arc facing forward.  With no shields, the Fang Fighter is very vulnerable to devices like Proximity Mines and Proton Bombs that deal automatic damage, with the prospect of further damage as well.

By equipping 4 Zealous Recruits with Ion Torpedoes, you can stand a better chance of lining up shots for the next round by controlling where an opponent will be, even if they are higher Initiative.  If you want to avoid tempting Trajectory Simulator bomb launches, perhaps flying in formations of 2 to give you a decent start off will come in useful.  Bracket higher Initiative pilots on one side while hitting them from behind with a Torpedo volley, then allowing a wingman to fire Primary weapons to push some damage through.  It’s possibly not exactly cost effective, but, controlling an Ace is both extremely satisfying for an Initiative 1 pilot, but also incredibly frustrating.  If facing medium or large based ships, perhaps Ionising for teh next round with both ships in a wing will be the better call.

The Skull Squadron Pilot jacks up the cost of the Fang Fighter by 6 points to an even 50, for access to the Talent upgrade and a significant rise in Initiative from 1 to 4.  This makes the Skull Squadron Pilot a decent dogfighter against pilots of equal or lesser Initative and a threat to pilots of higher Initiative with Concordia Faceoff.  The largest threats being weapons that don’t use a standard Forward Arc such as turrets or Bullseye Arc weapons.

With a pair of Skull Squadron Pilots backed up by Drea Renthal either attacking a prime target or flanking to prepare for an engagement while N’Dru Suhlak works to draw enemy ships into position for the rest of the squadron to strike.  N’dru won’t suffer for flying solo though, as, getting in close an unloading weapons with the bonus die will be a great help.

Joy Rekkoff, at 52 points, gains the ability to spend a charge from a Torpedo upgrade to deny an opponent a defensive die.  Almost a built-in Outmanoeuvre, that works wherever Rekkoff is positioned, and could be the difference between a successful attack and a failed attack.

Flying Joy Rekkoff and 2 Skull Squadron Pilots alongside an Autopilot Drone is a glass-hammer style list, but, flown with thought and daring, it has the potential to perform extremely well.  The Autopilot Drone either acts as a Co-Ordinate point early on to get abilities off, or as area denial to force ships to engage on your terms.

Kad solus has a great ability for when he is up close to an opponent, taking 2 Focus Tokens after fully executing a red manoeuvre is a massive boost for the Fang Fighter.  That means dice mods for defense and, if there are any left, offense too.  Ideally, you should be in position to not take any fire, however, that’s not always possible.  Those Tallon Rolls and that Kiogoran Turn really give a beneit outside of their positioning options.

Running Kad Solus alongside Ketsu Onyo and Unkar Plutt gives you a list that allows for some level of controlling where an enemy will end up with Tractor Tokens being assigned under their respective circumstances while giving you the ability to joust with a Bomb on the return for rengagement.  With L3-37 on the Shadowcaster, you gain a huge amount of manoeuverability once you force an opponent to reroll an attack, while the Shadowcaster itself is assigning Tractor Tokens to opponents to either push them out of their firing opportunity, or wekening their defences for the others to capitalise on.

Old Teroch is another Fang Fighter pilot who loves jousting to remove benefits from the opposition.  Doesn’t matter what type of green tokens a ship has at the start of the Engagement Phase, if Old Teroch is in their Forward Firing Arc, they lose all those green tokens.  This helps against Reinforce, Focus, Evade, and Calculate.

Old Teroch with Fearless seems to be a must, as with most of the Fang Fighter pilots, therefore, fielding 3 with a Fearless Black Sun Soldier gives you a pretty hard-hitting squadron, and the Homing Missiles give you 2 opportunities to do at least a single point of damage, or more if your opponent wants to gamble.  Now, low agility ships will probably take the single damage each time, as they generally have high health, while the higher agility ships may usually opt to take the risk.  Which ever way it happens, there is an opportunity to concentrate fire so a target is usually shieldless by the time the missiles fire.

Fenn Rau, in teh Fang Fighter is the final pilot, and, I’m pretty sure, the last of the Initiative 6 pilots available, currently, for the Scum and Villainy.  Rau’s ability to roll an extra die at Range 1 for both attack and defense is huge as he is usually a rather large target, being Initiative 6.  Harder to hit up close, and hitting harder as well is a decent combination.

While considering the best uses for Fenn Rau I thought a single large hit would work in his favour with a volley of Advanced Proton Torpedoes giving you a 6 attack dice roll when fired.  If you’ve managed to pull it off correctly, you’ll have a fully modified shot with both Lock and Focus Tokens and turning a repeated blank to a hit with Fearless, while, thanks to Old Teroch, the target ship won’t have any tokens to assist in defense.  If Rau doesn’t finish a target off, Teroch or Solus should be able to.

The Fang Fighter is incredibly dangerous to an opponent, and, as the majority of expericed players will know this, be subjected to an insane amount of targeting.  This can be a massive bonus to you, despite its high cost.  If an enemy is constantly targeting a Fang Fighter, they aren’t shooting at the rest of your list, which may find it more difficult to evade fire.  The flip side is, if they focus on the rest of your list, you can really punsih them hard with pilot abilities coming into play.  It’s a glass cannon with a bite, that’s for sure.

Got some other useful advice or a list full of shenanigans?  Please, leave a comment and share your ideas.

In-depth Look G-1A Starfighter

Today’s ship in the G-1A Starfighter, a ship that has seen a resurgence in the current editionof X-Wing.  At 43 points for the Initiative 1 Gand Findsman with the Focus, Lock, and Jam actions available alongside the Sensor, Crew, Illicit, Modificaation, and Title Upgrades.  This all puts the G-1A Starfighter in an interesting place with no clear defined role on the field.

Utilising the Illicit Slot, a Gand Findsman with Advanced Sensors and Cloaking Device can Cloak, then pass the Cloaking Device over to Bossk and receive the Rigged Cargo Chute.  Staying at Range 1 is beneficial in the early-game, however, by remaining cloaked, you boost your defenses slightly, and are able to get closer to an enemy you want to either break a Lock from or remove a green token from, which is useful if you want to remove or prevent a Reinforce action, for example.  Including the Freighter Captain helps to round the list out nicely, while Jabba the Hutt is there to recharge both Cloaking Device and Rigged Cargo Chute as often as possible.

Zuckuss, as the first of the two named pilots for the G-1A Starfighter, has a rather interesting ability.  He can choose to roll an extra attack die with his Primary Weapon, while allowing the defender to roll an additional defensive die.  Now, choosing when to activate that ability pairs very well with choosing what Talent you might be taking.  Trick Shot, for example, can load your attack dice even higher, while still boosting the opponent.  Generally, though, I would advise hunting the low agility ships with Zuckuss, like the VCX-100, or the VT-49 Decimator, down to the BTL-A4 Y-Wing.  If it has 1 or fewer defensive dice, load up.

With that in mind, giving Zuckuss the Mist Hunter Title gives access to both the Cannon slot and the Barrel Roll action.  Advanced Sensors allows a reposition before movement, or to load up on Focus Tokens before screaming around with a red manoeuvre.  Heavy Laser Cannon for that perfect bullseye arc shot at longer range, and Fearless for a head-to-head joust to make the most of both talent and pilot abilities.  To make matters worse for an opponent, a pair of token-denying Kimogilas toting Torpedoes for long range or Fearless for Range 1, and you should be able to give your opponents a real headache.

4-LOM, the final G-1A Starfighter pilot is also the most well-known, with the ability to gain a Calculate Token after completing a red manoeuvre and passing 1 stress off to any ship, friend or foe, at range 0-1, this droid is certainly not to be trifled with.  This ability is usually used alongside Han Solo in Lando’s Millennium Falcon due ot the bonuses that can create, so, let’s go slightly differently here.

With 4-LOM flyiing beside both IG-88A and Kavil, there are certainly some interesting things for an opponent to consider before making decisions.  0-0-0 will either boost your effectiveness with a Calculate token, or hand the opponent a Stress, while Kavil with BT-1 is changing Hit results to Critical results for each Stress on the target, and IG-88A handing off a Calculate to 4-LOM if required too.  All in, this list does have some synergy, and has the benefit of being somewhat unexpected as players are used to seeing Han alongside 4-LOM.

A strange ship, in a strange place game-wise currently.  The majority of times it has seen OP time has been with 4-LOM alongside Han, and, yes, the reason is because it works.  It either takes the pressure off Han in target priority, or beefs his shooting capability up.  I do feel Zukuss has some teeth as well, especially against the easier to hit ships.

What do you think?  Have an interesting build that’s fun to fly?  Leave a comment and share your ideas.

In-depth Look StarViper-Class Attack Platform

Today it’s the turn of the StarViper-Class Attack Platform.  Before we get started, I know that at least one of these pilots has been dissected in great detail by another blogger, and much of that theory can cover a majority of pilots for this ship.  However, I will make my own observations, as usual, and hope to put forward some interesting lists.  

At 46 points and Initiative 2, we have the Black Sun Enforcer up first.  A decent Action Bar consisting of Focus, Lock, Barrel Roll > Focus, Boost > Focus leaves many options open, including a huge variety of repositions with the curved Barrel Roll that is included via the Microthrusters Ship Ability, as a side note, if a StarViper gets a Tractor Token, it still uses the curved template for a Barrel Roll according to the Offical Rulings thread on the FFG Forum.

Considering their low cost, why not take 4 Black Sun Enforcers with a Fire-Control System?  With their ability to position themselves in interesting places, you should be able to either get a decent block off, or get out of an Ace’s firing arc if they misjudge what you are intending.

At 2 extra points for an extra point of Initiative and access to the Talent Slot, the Black Sun Assassin can give you an edge over lower Initiative pilots that would tend to swarm up.

If you are in the mood for some brutality, perhaps 2 Black Sun Assassins with Crack Shot and a pair of Advanced Proton Torpedo toting Cartel Marauders with Crack Shot will fit the bill.  The Kimogilas can take much more of a pounding than the StarVipers while reloading their torpedoes after disengaging ready to return to the fight.

Dalan Oberos is the first of the named pilots available for the StarViper-Class Attack Platform.  With an ability that allows Oberos to gain a Stress token to rotate 90 degrees after fully executing a manoeuvre gives some great positioning possibilities, especially when combined with the Segnor’s Loops available.

Dalan Oberos strikes me as a pilot seeking the quickest resolution to a situation possible.  Therefore, using a pair of ships, tooled up to the teeth to get the job done seems interesting.  Giving Dalan some Afterburners allows a Boost action while stressed, and, because of the timings involved, this Boost can be performed either before or after the 90 degree rotation.  Boba is there, possibly chasing the same bounty Orberos is, or even working with.  However, there isn’t much a fat Boba can take down.

Prince Xizor works well with ships that can take a beating, while dishing one out themselves.  With the ability of allowing a friendly shipat Range 0-1 to take an uncancelled Hit or Critical damage in place of Xizor, as long as the friendly ship is in the attack arc.  Nice, simple, and effective.  Add that ability to the 3 Evade dice available to Xizor, and you have a ship that can be very hard to pin down.

Thinking about Prince Xizor‘s ability, adding a pair of Cartel Executioners seems useful as they can get ahead of him to prepare their torpedoes, and, if relying on primary weapons, being Fearless gives them a bonus as well.  Prince Xizor is rather a hefty investment of points, including Predator, Advanced Sensors, Proton Torpedoes, and Virago for an extra shield and the End Phase Boost, provided he didn’t Boost during activation.

Guri is the final StarViper-Class Attack PLatform pilot, and the darling of the Scum and VIllainy players.  Much has been made of the switch from Pilot Skill 5 to Initiative 5, nearly doubling the effectiveness of Guri by getting to be amongst the first to fire and last to move.  The Pilot Ability is the same, in that you can gain a Focus token if there is at least 1 enemy ship at Range 0-1.  Now, as you may know, this is much more of a deal for Guri as there is usually no access to Focus tokens for the Droid pilots, falling back on the less effective Calculate instead.

As Guri has been boosted now, there are a fair few lists going around, and there has been a lot of excitement in Organised Play for this droid too.  Here, I’ve looked at some of the possibilities Guri can offer a list, either fire-magnet as opponents attempt to remove hte droid from the table quickly, or a sting in the tail as the otehr ships are targeted.

This was my daughter’s second favourite ship, with Guri as her favourite pilot, and I can see why.  An awful lot of manoeuvrability tied up in a ship that can be incredibly hard to pin down and hit.  The ability to Boost or Barrel Roll and link into a Focus or Calculate should never be underestimated, as you can either get out of an arc and maintain a modified shot, or, pull off a block with a dice modification for defense.

I’ve tried to keep things short intentionally, as the StarViper-Class Attack Platform has been covered by those who have much more experience in using it.

Got some interesting builds?  Leave a comment and share your thoughts.

In-depth Look Scurrg H-6 Bomber

The Scurrg H-6 Bomber weighs in at 46 points for an Initiative 2 Lok Revenant with Focus, Lock, and Red Barrel Roll on the Action Bar and Turret, Crew, 2 Device, Modification, and Title upgrade slots.  The dial has changed a little from its 1.0 version, it has lost its 5 straight, the 4 straight is now red, and only the 1 stright and banks and 2 straight are blue, meaning that it’s calmed down a little and has to think much more carefully about when to barrel roll.  The other change for this ship is that it has moved from a small base to a medium base, meaning the change in Manoeuvres is somewhat more understandable.

If you fancy using a lot of bombs, perhaps flying a Lok Revenant with Cad Bane aboard, toting Proton Bombs and Proximity Mines will work nicely alongside Emon Azzameen in Andrasta and a Crymorah Goon.  A lot of area denial here should assist in getting the enemy ships into the positions you want them to be in, or, break up a formation you don’t want to face head on.

Sol Sixxa allows you to use either the 1 Straight, Bank, or Hard Turn templates when dropping a Device with the 1 Straight template.  This gives you a total of 5 deployment options for a dropped device, covering quite a large area.

With a Lok Revenant and Torani Kulda, Sol Sixxa in Havoc with “Genius” can plant a Proton Bomb in order to block avenues of attack or launch a bomb into a decent position to catch a cluster of enemy ships as they pass through an area,  while Torani and the Revenant can cause as much toruble as possible by laying mines and hurling torpedoes around.

Captain Nym is the last of the Scurrg H-5 Bomber pilots, he has sa 2-part pilot ability, with the first part being the delay of a single bomb or mine detonation by spending a charge, allowing allies to fly over a deployed mine without detonating it, while an enemy that attempts the same will suffer the effects, and the second part is to gain an additional defensive die if an attack is obstracted by a mine or bomb.  The bonus for Nym is that his energy is recurring, allowing the prevention of detonation until it is the right time.

Captain Nym in Havoc with “Genius” can get a bomb into the exact right place, especially with Ablative Plating allowing him to ignore the effects of said bomb, allows a near perfect placement, especially after a Tallon Roll for shots on target.  Backed up by a pair of Lok Revenants with Ion Cannon Turrets to force ships into position should give some decent advantages.  Not always goign to avoid incoming fire, but, should place a decent amount out too.

The Scurrg H-6 Bomber has been rather interesting, if difficult to write about.  I’ve faced it plenty of times, and, like many others, not enjoyed the experience.  However, without the Twin Laser Turret, the lack of Missiles, and the general toning down it has received, I think it is now in a place that can be enjoyed, by both the owner and the opponent.

I would welcome any advice available about this particular ship, it is a favourite of my daughter, alongside the Lancer and Star Viper.  So, any and all interesting build ideas welcome, please, share the wisdom.

In-depth Look HWK-290 Light Freighter Scum Edition

The HWK-290 Light Freighter is the best ship in the game, including First Edition! – Will Admin of The X-Wing Ready Room

With a great opener like that, let’s get started.  At 32 points and Initiative 1, the Spice Runner has some great value.  With a Focus > Red Rotate, Lock > Red Rotate, Red Boost, Rotate, and Red Jam, the HWK-290 can do quite alot, even if it’s difficult.The upgrade bar is fairly straightforward, with Crew, Device, Illicit, 2 Modification and a Title, you have a fairly flexible frame to build on.

Like most low Initiative pilots, running more than one is a good idea.  Therefore, having a pair of Spice Runners with Engine Upgrades and Proton Bombs allows them to be more dangerous than they would normally be given credit for.  Stalking them is Captain Jostero, ready to pounce on the hapless victims of the Proton Bombs.  While all this is happening, Lando and his Millennium Falcon are dancing around making themselves as big a target as possible.

Torkil Mux is the first of the named pilots for the HWK-290 Light Freighter.  Torkil’s ability is, possibly, one of the absolute ebst when it comes to dealing with troublesome aces.  At the start of the Engagement Phase, you can pick a ship in one of your firing arcs (if you take Moldy Crow) and have that ship engage at Initiative 0.  Wedge, Luke, Darth Vader, even an enemy Fenn Rau.  You may want the First Player token here, so you can reduce an Ace to Initiative 0 before they trigger their Swarm Tactics.

Flying Torkil Mux alongside Fenn Rau and 3 Binayre Pirates gives you, not only an Ace of your own, but also enough firepower to bring down all but the toughest of ships, in a single round.  There is nothign subtle abotu this list at all.  Draw the Ace you want to pound in, lower their Initiative, and fire as often as possible.

Ah, Palob Godalhi.  The thief of Focus or Evade Tokens, depending on what’s on offer.  Although, pickings may be slim, but, still doing your job by denying dice modifications.  Oddly enough, or perhaps because of this ability, Palob is the most expensive of the Scum and Villainy pilots for the HWK-290 Light Freighter.

If you happen to have a pair of M12-L Kimogila Fighters, perhaps putting Palob Godalhi in the Moldy Crow with L3-37 and Fearless with them, after loading them up with Trick Shot and Proton Torpedoes, while they are having an interesting time, using N’dru Suhlak to joust a flanker or ‘sheep dog’ the enemy towards the Kimogilas will be rather useful.

Dace Bonearm is the final of the HWK-290 pilots, and has a very interesting ability that aids you in pushing the Ion effect through on larger ships.  By spending the 3 recrruing Energy the ship that just received an Ion token will receive 2 more.  Nice, simple, and a very large threat to large-base ships.

What else would you run with Dace Bonearm than an Ion-Control list.  Yes, Torani Kulda has reappeared, with Ion Torpedoes this time, to fly alongside two Hired Gun BTL-A4 Y-Wings who are both equipped with Ion Cannon Turrets and Ion Torpedoes, for when the enemy is outside turret range.  All these ships then have a choice to use either a method of Ion delivery or their primary weapons.  Whichever way it works, it is certainly going to make things interesting for an opponent.  Pushing through multiple damage will require more use of Primary weapons, however, guiding a ship into a kill-zone should be a lot easier now.

Well, a ship that has as amany good pilots for the Scum and Villainy faction as it does for the Rebel Alliance, with abilities that can make even the most experienced player pause for thought on how to handle any list with them.

As a side note, while the Moldy Crow title is currently only available in the Rebel Alliance Conversion kit, optimism is high that it will appear when the HWK-290 is re-issued in whichever wave it will be.

Got any interesting builds to share?  Please, leave a comment.

In-depth Look Kihraxz Fighter

Today’s look is hte Kihraxz Fighter.  At 40 points for an Initiative 2 Cartel Marauder, with the Focus, Lock and Barrel Roll actions while sporting a 3 dice Primary attach, 2 Evade, 5 Hull and 1 Shield, it’s fairly robust, with a basic upgrade bar of Missile, Illicit, and 3 Modification slots.

For the Cartel Marauders, I feel keeping them bare is possibly the best bet, sending them up the front, while Drea keeps them in arc and Torani Pumping torpedoes out to weaken targets and push some Critical damage through.

The Black Sun Ace adds the Talent slot and an extra Initiative point for the low price of 2 points.  This opens up some interesting options if they are leading an attack followed by lower Initiative pilots.

With two Black Sun Aces leading a squadron of Binayre Pirates, you have the option for double Cluster Missiles with Crack Shot and 4 ships with a 2 Dice primary attack against weakened targets.  That’s more intimidating than most would like to admit.  Even high Initiative pilots are not going to look forward to engaging this squadron, provided you can avoid falling into the trap of splitting your forces.  Either have two group led by a Black Sun Ace each, or, run a much more unwieldy, but more deadly single formation.

Captain Jostero absolutely loves allies who can deal damage outside of the Engagement Phase of the game because he can bonus attack a ship that suffers damage while not defending.  Bombs, Mines, Debris, Asteroids, if you have a way of dealing damage without attacking, Captain Jostero should be close by.

Taking that into account, a list with as much alternative damage should be considered where he can stalk a ship, and wait for the moment it suffers damage from your other shenanigans.  A Jakku Gunrunner provides the chance to Tractor a ship onto a rock or debris cloud or into range of the Proton Bomb it’s carrying, a Crymorah Goon with an Ion Cannon Turret and Proximity Mine can force a ship into the mine, L3-37 with a Rigged Cargo Chute and Autopilot Drone has two ways of dealing splash damage, while carrying Ketsu Onyo means a ship won’t remove any Tractor Tokens the Quadjumper assigns.  Lots of ways to try and get Captain Jostero to trigger.

I will say, I doubt running a ship with a Tractor Beam cannon will trigger Captain Jostero, as it has to attack a ship in order to pull it onto an obstacle, and that ship doesn’t cease being a defender until the attack is totally resolved, includign the effects of being pushed/pulled onto a rock or debris cloud.

Side note – the early readers of my Kimogila article will probably remember I tried to represent one of that ship’s pilots with this ability.  Whoops.  At least I got it right this time.

Graz has a useful ability in two parts.  Gaining an extra defense die for being an attacker is rather useful, as is rolling an extra attack die while there.  This is useful against ships that have a dual turret indicator or a fixed rear arc such as the Decimator, Arc-170 and so on.  This, I believe also pairs well with Outmanoeuvre, if you are behind a ship without a fixed firing arc or with a dual arc pointed left-right, not only will you gain an attack die, but also reduce their defenses too.

Having Graz, Palob, and Ketsu Onyo seems like an interesting squadron here.  Palob steals a Focus or Evade token, Ketsu applies a Tractor Token, and Graz, if behind, adds an attack die and removes a defensive die.  Not even a TIE/d Defender can stand up to that sort of onslaught for long.  Another bonus of this list is that there is no clear target priority, unless you count the fear that people (rightly) have for Palob’s ability.

EDIT:- Whoops, looks like I forgot to add Viktor Hel in here.  Thank to Paul from the Porkins Belly Runners and Liam for pointing it out to me.

Viktor Hel is great for annoying an opponent.  Getting up close and personal with Wedge Antilies in order to ensure he begins next round stressed is rather fun, especially with the number of people flying Wedge currently.  Quite simply, when he defends, if he doesn’t roll exactly 2 Evade Dice, his attacker gets stressed.  So, anybody at Range 3, aside from Wedge, taking a pot-shot will get stressed out of it.

Whlie the Kihraxz Fighter is a fairly fragile Frame, doing what you can to both maximise Viktor Hel’s pilot ability, and allow him to add some survivability in.  A pair of Fearless Skull Squadron pilots will either be bait or able to target those who target Hel, while a Crymorah Goon with an R3 Astromech and Ion Torpedoes adds an element of blocking and control.

Now, I’ve not centred the suggestion list around handling stress so much, as that can fall down rather quickly if your opponent is wise to it, so, I’d advise taking it as a great bonus when they stress themseves, and then receive stress from Viktor Hel too.

Talonbane Cobra is the final pilot for the Kihraxz Fighter at Initiative 5 and rolling upto 5 defensive dice at Range 3 behind an Obstacle or up to 6 offensive dice at Range 1 behind an Obstacle, there is a lot to fear here.  Although, at 10 points more than a Cartel Marauder, it has to be a choice to include here.

Perhpas one pilot, who has appeared alongside others from this article, who could work well with Talonbane Cobra is Han Solo to help with the Obstacle Field mechanics alongside 4-LOM and an Outer Rim Pioneer.  Trying to leverage the full potential of the list is going to be hard work, and may take a lot of practice and frustration before it shines, but, in FLyCasual where I’ve tried similar things, due to not all the content being available, it has performed reasonably well.

The Kihraxz Fighter seems to be in a strange place right now.  With 3 modification slots, but, not a huge amount that screams to be used at a reasonable cost, I’ve left these largely empty to add to the ship count as a lot of what I’ve experienced on the table or through watching strreams of events or even league games has appeared that more ships will generally do a better job.

However, as always, if you have found a nice little trick or a solid and dependable build, please, feel free to sahre it.  I, personally, think this is a really interesting ship.

In-depth Look M12L-Kimogila Fighter

Today it’s the turn of the M12-L Kimogila Fighter.  A great action bar, for a medium based ship, with Focus, Lock, Red Barrel Roll, and Reload.  A decent Stat bar shows that this ship can survive all but the most focused of attacks, sporting a total of 9 health basic.  The ship ability, Dead to Rights, prevents a defender in your bullseye firing arc from using green tokens to defend, namely Focus, Evade, Calculate, and Reinforce.

At Initiative 3, the Cartel Executioner starts off at 42 points.  Not hideously expensive, considering the fact the Dial needs a little help, which it is denied as the R4 Astromech is for small based ships only.

Despite its drawbacks, the M12-L Kimogila Fighter appears to be a fairly decent Torpedo platform.  However, as Range 1 is not your firend, I suggest something like this with Proton Torpedoes, rather than Advanced Proton Torpedoes.  With an R3 Astromech, you get the opportunity to acquire a second Lock, on a different ship, thus not giving away your target priority.  This also gives you two options.  Tractor your opponent before releasing the Torpedoes with Zuckuss, reducing their defenses, or, tractoring a heavily damaged opponent into some debris or onto a rock.  With 3 Pirates, you are also able to either push damage through if people target the Kimogila or Mist Hunter, or, have them range unrushed because the Pirates have blocked actions by the enemy.

Dalan Oberos.  A nasty, for the opponent, pilot ability lets you steal shields twice per game from a ship in your bullseye firing arc.  Yup, if you have lost one of your shields, and you end up at Range 1, you can steal one from your target before you fire.  While not limited to Range one, I can’t think of a better time to use it.  At Initiative 3, this means he can steal an Ace’s shield before he might suffer damage.

With some nasty tricks, I think a pairing of Dalan Oberos and Palob Godalhi could be the thing nightmares are made of.  Not only can you not use green tokens in defense against teh two M12-L Kimogila Fighters, you also have one stolen by Palob.  This list appears to be the most brutal against ships like the TIE/ph Phantom and the TIE/d Defender, who rely on their green tokens for survival and their own form of trickery.  With two sets of Proton Torpedoes, Proton Rockets, and Crack Shot, there is the potential for massive damage output, add in a dual arc for the Moldy Crow with Lando and Proton Bombs, and I believe you have the makings of a list that will make many opponents weep.

Torani Kulda has a decent ability that lets you give an opponent extra damage after an attack, unless it removes a green token.  Rather a nasty position to put an enemy into, especially if they are looking for an effect that relies on that token.

The most obvious partner here would be Asajj Ventress in the Shadow Caster.  Getting to add stress to an oppoent or lose a green token gives them a harder choice, knowing they are going to face Torani Kulda and the choice between removing a green token or taking extra damage.  With a Crack Shot toting Black Sun Soldier zipping around the board and blocking, that could make the choice clearer, as in they don’t have a token, or even more difficult.

 

A nice ship, with a horrid ship ability, extremely scummy.  I rather like the idea of flying one now.  However, I drad the idea of facing one.

Got any other nasty tricks up your sleeve?  Perhaps featuring Fenn Rau or Han?  Leave a comment, and share your wisdom.

In-depth Look BTL-A4 Y-Wing Scum Edition

So, time to come back to the BTL-A4 Y-Wing.  This time, for the Scum and Villainy.  As you can see, the action bar is exactly the same as for the Rebel Alliance, as well as the Upgrade Bar and Stats bar.  The difference beigns with the lowest-cost pilot, the Crymorah Goon.  At Initiative 1 it’s not going to to be dodging many arcs.  I’ve used these in some previous lists as blockers, gun fodder, or even points fillers before, as, for their points, they are fairly tough, and can take a punch or two, plus, they can give a decent beating when kitted out as well.

Speaking of kitting out, I feel that, at Initiative 1, you aren’t goign to want to take full advantage of their Upgrade bars, otherwise, you will be handing your opponent points hand over fist. With that in mind, I remember seeing somehting similar to this workign to great effect at a league night I managed to attend a little while ago.  Have the Turrets pointing off to the side that isn’t guarded by the edge of the board, or, in a V or ^ formation with half of the turrets pointing one side, the rest the other side, with the lead turret heading out front.

The Hired Gun is 2 Points more than a Crymorah Goon, is Initiative 2, and has access to the Talent slot.  Again, these can be a useful ship if you have some points to spare, depending on how you build it.  If you know you are going to be facing a Swarm of TIE/ln Academy Pilots, perhaps running these instead of the Goons will be of more benefit to you.  If you are facing aces, you still have the ability to cause bumps and jams in order to deny actions and shots.

This list is designed to have two Hired Guns running in pairs, either with Turrets pointed forwards for a double-tap shot, or, with side-facing arcs ready to catch a ship out of position after firing your Primary Weapons.

This version, seeks to clear obstacles away if you can catch an opponent in the blast range, while having the capability to push an opponent onto a handily placed Proton Bomb.  Removing obstacles, can seriously hamper opponents who rely on them for defense, or for triggering their own Seismic Charges.

Drea Renthal allows non-limited ships, any ship without the circle next to the name or title, to reroll an attack die if the defender is in either firing arc, if equipped with a turret.  Quite a nice little ability, and one that allows a reroll without using up precious Locks, even if you don’t have a lock.  In a total Y-Wing squadron, or following a pack of Z-95s, this ability can really cripple a defending ship, especially if you manage to pack enough firepower into a swarm of ships with Outmanoeuvre or some bumpers with Intimidation.  Sure, it’s not going to save you from totally whiffing a roll, but, it’s still really handy to have.

While thinking about this, I decided to look at a build like this one.  Three Crymorah Goons with Ion Cannon Turrets and Ion Torpedoes alongside an R4 Astromech.  Simple in theory, and could be effective and brutal.  Walking even the large-base ships off the table if triggered at the right time.

The final Scum and Villainy pilot for the BTL-A4 Y-Wing is Kavil.  When performing a non-V arc attack, rolling an additional attack die means this pilot is a sure set up for a Turret-based build.

Currently, there are very few Turret options that have much appeal to many people, making Kavil feel like a lesser choice for the Y-Wing currently.  However, I have put this list together and put Kavil alongside Lando in his Millenniun Falcon, both with Veteran Turret Gunners, and a pair of Z-95s for blocking or gaining shots while bigger threats are targeted.

Having very recently faced Drea and a swarm of Z-95s and a pair of Quadjumpers, I can attest to the fact they are very brutal when paired correctly.  For now, the power does seem to be with Drea when looking at the BTL-A4 Y-Wing, so, be very careful if you end up facing off against Scum Y-Wings.

Got some different ideas?  Feel free to share.  It’s great hearing about other builds.