We all love the Scarlet Cowgirl... She's got some shiney new spurs to try on: Flechette Torpeadoes.

Kath+ PTL + slave 1+ flechette torpedoes+ rebel captive

Backstabber

Black squad + wingman

Black squad + opportunist OR Scimitar + flechette

4pts can make Kath more Durable with a sheild upgrade, can add an Ion for more fun, ion pulse missile for more control, or add another missile to either Kath or the Scimitar. I think either Scimitar version w/extra missile or Black Squad and a sheild upgrade for Kath.

This list offers the classic bad choices all around... Kath gives you stress, backstabber means turning your back on Kath Kontrol and a scimitar/mini backstabber depending on your 4th ship choice, fire on the black squad or scimitar and deal with Kath in the end game.

Strengths: control with minimal loss of offense, good durability, higher PS, one of the best endgame ships in the game, solid synergy

Weakness: only 4 ships with only 1 big, lots of points in Kath, lots of points in "gimmicks"

Variants:

Already discussed Oppertunist Black Squad vs. scimitar.

Deadeye + recon on Kath shaves some points.

Getting the girl her trusty Steed back (albino style) could offer good durability, more control with an ion, another threat with Buzzsaw loadout, good synergy with Blacksquad wingman.

Multi-bomber gives a huge Alpha strike followed by Kath the Kloser!

What say you?

What new toys can you sub in? (Oppertunist isn't optimal)

What squads would this list struggle with/dominate?

Dark Curse is the same cost as Backstabber, and will give your opponent an even harder time choosing targets.

I'll second the idea of Dark Curse. As far as new toys, I'd think Outmaneuver or Predator might be a good fit.

I feel like the list will be strong against elite small lists, or lists with very central pieces. Lists with a lot of generic pieces will be less disrupted, and give the list some issues.

I almost always go with stabber over DC. In a list where I'm giving up a bit of offense I like stabber even more.

One thing I didn't originally consider is lists with ships that have more than 4 hull... Now those are not tearing up the meta right now but certainly trumps the new trick.

Since I keep talking myself out of Oppertinist: Mauler + VI gives you an elite pilot and damage instead of a black squad with Oppertunist. Hits pretty hard and allows for a sheild upgrade on Kath to boot. PS 9,7,6,4 should stomp some stuff

Also go the other way:

Kath+ rebel + slave 1+ deadeye+ flechette

Royal Guard+ PTL + Hull

Backstabber

Academy

Boasts a little more finesse and a blocker and a cheaper trick. Might be inclined to go with recon specialist with deadeye over rebel captive.

It all depends on your playstyle, but I've been finding repositioning firesprays to be difficult for people to play against. For me, I always run Kath with EH, because getting out of arcs will keep her alive longer than a recpsec will. You just have to anticipate where your opponent will be and fly accordingly so he won't get shots at Kath.

With that said, I use the rear arc almost exclusively, so whenever I put missiles/torp on Kath, it's more of a bonus to get them off, rather than counting on them for anything.

With your latest list, the 3 points for the RGP hull could make the captive into a gunner and deadeye into EH. That makes her far more dangerous, I think, without altering the squad too much. And with the way I fly her, the torps would be a seismic, but that's me. The gunner means if your torp shot misses (still stresses if hull 4 or less, and hope you roll a crit on the torp shot ), then you can at least make a gunner shot afterwards.

Just my 2 cents.

Good call on the gunner torp interaction! I too am a butt man (gotta love the rear... Arc). Flechette is an obvious alpha disabler. Get it off vs. an elite who shot at Kath, or with her ability, or have the scimitar also load up and your giving stabber or opportunist 2 rounds to doom some poor ship.

I like EH as well. PTL was to ensure F/TL on that torp shot so the damage lost for control is minimal and so that wingman gets significant use (PTL all day! EH not every turn). Having him around is nice though since the oposition has these new toys too.

Hopefully I'll get to test her out a few times this weekend.

Tested this load out this weekend with great results:

Kath + expert Handling + flechette + rebel captive + sheild

Both games Kath made it to end game and was a terror. Ran her with 2 ties/1 bomber vs. rebel {scum} and rolled pretty poorly on defense but she took down 2 fully healthy and 1 injured ship towin the game with only 1 hull damage. Second game went with the RGP variant above but same load out on her. Rest of my squad got vaped by a Vader led PS swarm. Kath vs. 5 ships is just too much for the red lady.

Expert handling is the way to go. Flechette is a very nice control piece that can lock someone up for a round, needs that second ship support to really lay it on thick. Extra sheild on the firespray is really nice but can go for better upgrades.

Next attempt is the gunner/flèchette combo.

Gunner flechette is nice but takes away a bit of the control feel of the build. Might be an overall better build but not sure if it's what I want for a control list.

This build make a great addition to other solid builds but it just doesn't feel like the empire has enough control support to do this at this time. Just read the thread about 2 transports dropping 6 stress with 2-3 other ships adding more stress and/or Ion. Yep, it's epic play, but it would cost the empire 68 to have the chance at 3 (50pt Kath and a bomber with flechette). Tanky, control, but what's the follow up for profit?