IG-88D is one of the more interesting upcoming pilots for Scum and Villainy. We don’t know much, but what we do know has very, very important ramifications. IG-88D promises to be one of the most wily and slippery ships in the game. When the game includes such pilots as the renowned Soontir Fel, the extraordinary slippery Dash Rendar, and the mind-bendingly complex Echo, that puts him in rare company.
At first glance, this doesn’t seem to be the case. We only know a single maneuver on the dial. But oh, what a maneuver it is. For those of you who don’t know, IG-88 will be one of the first ships to have a Segnor’s Loop. To perform this maneuver, you take the three bank template and set it down. Then, when the ship reaches the end of the template, you turn the ship around to point back the way it came. It’s the banked version of the K-Turn. Already we start to get into some interesting territory. As the IG-2000 does not have any extra firing arcs or a turret, this allows the ship to whip around to stay in combat. So far, interesting, but it’s a red maneuver. IG-88D isn’t able to act after this maneuver.
This is true. But that doesn’t tell the whole story. The next important bit of information is that IG-88D’s pilot ability will allow him to change the S-Loop slightly. When he reveals an S-Loop, instead of using the 3 bank template, he may use the 3 Hard Turn template in the same direction. Since he can choose to do this when the dial is revealed,
IG-88D has a System upgrade slot. One such upgrade is Advanced Sensors. This card allows you to take an action before revealing the dial instead of after. The primary use for this card is to take an action if you know your maneuver is going to bump, or if the maneuver is red. Both useful. But this card comes into its own when you have actions that allow you to alter your position, because you then execute the maneuver. In so doing, you can radically change where you end up. IG-88D has the boost action natively, which allows him to, as an action, move with the 1 forward or 1 bank templates.
IG-88D also has the Illicit upgrade. These upgrades will allow you to do various game mechanic breaking activities, usually at a cost. One of these upcoming cards is Inertial Dampeners. For 1 point, when you reveal your dial, you may choose to take a white 0 stop maneuver instead of what you reveal, then get a stress. This card is then discarded, making it a one-time use card. So, if the situation changes and the maneuver you would have performed would put you in a terrible position or enemy trap, you may scrap it and not move.
We know have all the pieces in place. But how do they fit together?
Let us assume that we have three upgrades. Veteran Instincts, Advanced Sensors and Inertial Dampeners.
First, we find IG-88D facing an X-Wing of lower Pilot Skill. In this case a fictional PS6 X-Wing pilot named Hiro Protagonist. After a round of maneuvering, they end up just outside of range of each other.
A standard tactic would be to do 1-Forward with the X-Wing. It’s unlikely that an enemy will escape arc and still be able to fire from this position, at least without a turret. It’s a nice, safe, standard maneuver that has worked wonders in the past.
Wanting to play with the new maneuver, IG-88D selects the S-Loop to the right. The X-Wing moves that one forward and… has IG-88 dead to rights. Range one, out of arc, ready to inflict massive pain on the hapless IG-2000. But it was fated to happen once the maneuver was selected, right? Wait, IG-88D has a special ability he could have used!
Here, IG-88D instead uses the 3-Hard Turn instead of the bank. Not much better though. He’s at range 2 of the X-Wing, but still doesn’t have arc. But IG-88D has more tricks. He can boost before moving. Will that help?
So, IG-88D can boost in 3 different directions. If he travels to the left with boost, the motion cancels out the turn, offsetting him from his course, but turning 180 degrees. This also moves him much further forward. The X-Wing has no arc, but neither does IG-88D.
If IG-88D boosts to the right, the S-Loop moves very far laterally, resulting in a 90 degree turn instead of a 135 from the standard S-Loop. This is way out of the X-Wing’s arc, but at a distance from IG-88D.
Instead, if IG-88D boosts forward, then S-Loops, the distance puts him perfectly behind the X-Wing. Range 1, behind him. Perfect.
Having learned his lesson the next game, the two ships line up and end up in the exact same spot. Panicking, the X-Wing takes an unexpected 3 Hard Turn, trying to escape to set up a more favorable approach. Here, IG-88D can look at his S-Loop maneuver and decide he wants to be behind the X-Wing at all costs. The IG-2000 can boost before revealing the dial. Right now the best option would be to boost right. Then he can activate Inertial Dampeners. Range 1, behind the X-Wing. Beautiful.
Learning his lesson, again, Hiro decides he is going to mess with his opponent and be sneaky. Two can play at the K-Turn/S-Loop game. The X-Wing executes a 4 K-Turn. IG-88D in this case decides to use the 3 Hard S-Loop. If he were to boost left, he would be at the mercy of the X-Wing. Not good. Were he able to boost forward, the result would be the two craft exchanging fire at each other at range 1, but IG-88D is unable to complete a forward boost. If he boosts right, then completes a 3 Right Hard S-Loop, he ends up barely turning at all, just swinging his craft right and around. Range 2 to the X-Wing and in an excellent position to chase it down next turn.
IG-88D, with the two upgrades discussed, has a large amount of final positions. 12, to be specific. 12 vastly different positions with wildly varying arcs. Moving after his opponent allows him to almost inevitably get behind them. And this is all based on a single revealed maneuver. There are ships, such as Echo, that can end in more possible positions, but none that can end up with as many possible arcs as IG-88D. This is a craft to be respected and feared. For 41 points, he is quite the threat. Keep in mind that he can share his ability with another IG-2000, so one could potentially fight two of these craft at the same time with the added bonus that both would have the ability of the other IG-88. We don’t know what these abilities are yet, but they are unlikely to be benign.
