Store championship: double aggressors
This was my 2nd store championship, but the first one where Scums were legal. Since I had already won tokens in the first championship, I figured “why not?” and decided to play 2 aggressors:
IG-88B
- Title
- Autothrusters
- Advanced sensors
- Ion cannon
- Flechette cannon
- Lone wolf
- Seismic charge
- Inertia dampeners
IG-88C
- Title
- Autothrusters
- Advanced sensors
- Ion cannon
- Feedback array
- Predator
Game 1
Xizor: bodyguard, autothrusters
Serissu: veteran instinct, heavy scyk, mangler cannon
Binyare pirate (Z95)
Tansar point veteran: marksmanship, heavy scyk, mangler cannon
I started each IG-88 in separate corners, facing inwards at a 45 degree angle, letting my opponent deploy afterwards. He placed all four ships in formation in the upper left corner. Instead of facing him directly, I used advanced sensors to boost my left IG-88 inward and then do a 3 straight while the one on the right did a boost upwards and a 3 forward. I wanted his forces to thread through the asteroid field and my plan worked by the 2nd round as my IG-88s turned and boosted, getting 2 shots in without any retaliation. Unfortunately, both shots missed, even with repeat shots, but I had forgotten my predator and lone wolf, so that one was on me.
As the following rounds continued, I found Serissu to be particularly annoying, her ability to offer defensive rerolls forcing me to take her out of the picture. Fortunately, my opponent was forced to k-turn his formation, resulting in bumps and stress. A bit later, an ion shot hit Serissu while she was stressed, dooming her and setting off a chain reaction later on.
The highlights were:
- At one point, the enemy formation tried to block my IG-88B by sending both PS 1 and 5 pilots at an angle. The ploy would have worked since my ship had an S-loop planned, but I opted to do a boost before maneuvering and the S-loop landed me in the spot that they had just left. Aggressors and tricky little bugger to block.
- Inertia dampener was used, but the base was so big that it did not save me from a shot; it actually resulted in a range 1 shot.
- I dropped my bomb, but only managed to damage IG-88C in the process.
In the end, however, I destroyed his entire squad with only a few shield and 1 hull point taken to show for it. 100 to 0 victory, that was fun.
Game 2
Chiraneau: push the limit, rebel captive, Ysanne, engine upgrade
Echo: recon specialist, fire control system, veteran instinct, advanced cloaking device
I started the game extremely well, choosing the same formation to start with while my opponent placed the decimator in the left corner and Echo towards the right. Echo did a 2 turn and cloaked, but IG-88’s boost + 3 straight covered so much ground that I managed to get in range an ion it. While the other traded an ion cannon shot for a hit to its shield. The next round, I failed to reapply the ion with just one aggressor while the one facing the decimator opted to force a bump to prevent it from shooting.
Afterwards, I never got another shot at Echo and some bad piloting on my part nabbed me 3 hits on asteroid (needed some more practice with those big bases). I did manage to knock out Echo’s shield with the feedback array, but then my opponent managed to destroy IG-88B, destroying my double shot per turn. The rest was history and while I could have dragged the fight on, I did not feel like fleeing around the map and tried to land some more hits. This eventually destroyed the other aggressor.
There were a couple of lessons learned here:
- I need to plan out formation flying with aggressors to face off Echo, one leading the charge, the other covering angles
- Chiranean did not really land much damage, not compared to Echo.
- When you lose an aggressor, you’re in big time trouble.
A 0 to 100 loss.
Game 3
Kenkirk: determination, ysanne, recon specialist, moff jerjerrod
2 x royal guard pilots interceptors with veteran instinct
While the interceptors were new, I was very familiar with the Kenkirk element of the build, a pilot that could become very, very defensive after the first damaged. My opponent deployed in the upper left corner while I took my respective 2 corners in my usual style. Both performed the same type of maneuvers in the first 2 rounds: boost curve towards the edge, forward 3, boost straight, k-turn. After that, I had one aggressor in the bottom right corner, one in the upper right corner and my opponent heading towards me, interceptors leading the way.
The trap closed on the following round, trapping both interceptors between the aggressors. I got greedy and tried normal shots, but both ships landed only 1 normal hit on the same interceptor. The ion shot would have been preferable. One fell down in shortly afterwards and while the return fire was there, I only lost 2 shields.
Meanwhile my opponent was piloting his Decimator in the usual style, but that meant that my aggressors were always out of arc. There the autothrusters really shined, negating most of its damage. Once the interceptors were dealt with, I proceeded to land 1 ion on the decimator and then try the flechette cannons. By that time, both aggressors were behind the target and the flechette cannon were forcing it to its 2 straight green maneuvers, which were propelling it towards the side.
The return fire was fierce, throwing 3 or 4 hits each round, but I was taking an evade action each round and the autothruster did the rest. In the span of 4 attacks, only 1 hit landed. Eventually, a combination of 2 ion landed, but I never managed to combine both ion and a stress at the same time, despite my best efforts (this was a decimator defensive build after all).
Other highlights were:
- Feedback array knocked off a hull on the interceptor, but I kind of did not like losing a shield.
- I had an opportunity to use the inertia dampener, but found that simply using an advanced sensor and creatively bumping my own ship proved just as effective (no stress either).
- I never managed to make use of both sets of cannons, not to their full effect.
- While it was fun to escort the decimator off the field, I could have probably accomplished the same effect merely by shooting it.
- The autothrusters were frightingly efficient.
A 100 to 0 victory.
Overall conclusions
Here is a bullet point version of what I learned while playing:
- Lone wolf did not trigger often and could have easily been replaced with predator (which was used far more often).
- The feedback array made me wince whenever I used it because of how valuable my ships were. Maybe the hotshot blaster would be preferable.
- Seismic charges are a pain to use with large bases; it was a worthless upgrade in this case.
- Advanced sensors make and autothrusters are a must: the first makes the aggressor a confusing beast while the latter increases its survivability by a lot.
- Ion cannons had a near debilitating effect on my opponents, but I could not truly combine them them with flechette cannons. Either the targets were large and needed a good dose of luck to work or K-turns/push the limit/etc were providing the stress, so there was no need for the flechette. It seems that this cannon is meant for more of a swarm type build or for special circumstances.
- If you lose an IG-88, the game turns against you, HARD. If your opponent flies in formation, lure him to spot where you can break it or force k-turns.
- Aggressors are freakily fast when they want to be.
- A strong Echo player will find a way to stay out of arc of a single ship and at range 2 (if need be). One aggressor must cover the other.
- If you fly aggressors, you can expect to win 100 to 0 or lose by the same opposing marks. This can be an advantage during tournaments if you can manage the former.
And last but not least, I had a great time playing those aggressors. They require the same type of twisted planning that you find in Soontir or phantoms, but at a lower PS that forces you to think 2 or 3 steps ahead of your opponent. If you managed it, however, then all it takes is a single ion hit to turn the tide.
It’s not the full frontal approach of the Rebellion, throwing dices and trusting in your formation, shields and abilities of your fellow pilots.
It’s not the hard hitting and highly maneuverable Empire which can deliver a crippling blow in one fell swoop while dodging arcs.
These are Scum, which allow you kick your opponent where it hurts, preferably several times while you watch your opponent’s plans tilt, fall, crash and then burn.
Yes, they were fun to play 
Hope you enjoyed the story!