When inklings of the Scyk Interceptor first started dropping, I was immediately excited about the possibility of 4x HLCs, even on small squishy platforms. You can do this pretty nicely with:

Cartel Spacer 14

Heavy Scyk Title 2

HLC 7

23 total

4 of these is 92, meaning 2 can also have Shield Upgrades (or Hull and some Initiative bid).

I did not anticipate the Tansarri Point Veteran, though. This brings up a variation:

Tansarri Point Veteran 17

Predator 3

Heavy Scyk Title 2

HLC 7

Shield Upgrade 4

33 total points

You can get 3 of these for 100 points, hit approximately as hard thanks to the Predator re-rolls, beat all those supporting ships in PS, and actually have the same number of hit points as the first squad. For a little less combat power, you can also do 2 of the above +

Serissu 20

Veteran Instincts 1

Heavy Scyk Title 2

HLC 7

Shield Upgrade 4

34 Total Points

This gives you a slight decrease in raw power (predator vs VI), but gives you a PS10 HLC, which is great Phantom Insurance. It also helps protect your other HLCs. Often Serissu may seem like the obvious target (and probably is), but it's not all bad. She will have fired already, which helps your Veterans from getting PS-killed. The opponent will have to chose to fire at an HLC that has already fired, or fire on one yet to fire that has a defensive die re-roll.

Either form of this squad hits like a freight train, and while fragile, It should be killing things awfully fast.

The most direct comparison I can think of at the moment is the 3xBlues with FCS and HLC, which is a tough squad. It's got twice as many hit points as the Scyk squads, but at AGI1 instead of AGI3, and less firepower on the opening rounds. It does have better close-in firepower, however, and better sustained firepower. The Scyks have a big dial advantage, I'd say. I think The Serissu/Veteran/Veteran squad could be really good. Phantoms? PS10 HLC+ 2x HLCs with Re-rolls should swat them down, Fat Turrets? 12 dice a turn from range 3 ought to melt them down. Rebel Swarm? Beats them on PS and can PS kill a ship the first round, and can start arc dodging as things get closer.

Definitely go quantity over quality if you're just spamming HLCs. They're powerful weapons, but 33 points for the Vet is just silly for how fast they go down.

Since you're only getting four HLC Scyks max, imo it'd be best to go for two heavy Cartels, one 33 point Vet (because hey, you can afford to splurge), and V.I Seri (so they don't die quite so past)

Definitely go quantity over quality if you're just spamming HLCs. They're powerful weapons, but 33 points for the Vet is just silly for how fast they go down.

Do they go down quickly? Mine haven't hit the table yet, so I couldn't say. But I will note that a scyk with shield upgrade becomes an A-Wing defensively. I think I might just pay 33 points for a PS5 A-Wing with an HLC and Predator (though I'd probably swap predator for PTL so that I could turtle-up or barrel-roll-arc-dodge when appropriate)

3 Scyks with shields is the same hitpoints as 4 Scyks without. More ships will inerently be a bit tougher than fewer, but at the same time, 4 hp ships can take 3 hits and not lose any shots for the turn. Either are decent options, I think.

Squad name: "The Best Defense"

Definitely go quantity over quality if you're just spamming HLCs. They're powerful weapons, but 33 points for the Vet is just silly for how fast they go down.

Do they go down quickly? Mine haven't hit the table yet, so I couldn't say. But I will note that a scyk with shield upgrade becomes an A-Wing defensively. I think I might just pay 33 points for a PS5 A-Wing with an HLC and Predator (though I'd probably swap predator for PTL so that I could turtle-up or barrel-roll-arc-dodge when appropriate)

they're 33 point A-wings, they will drop like a sack of rocks and, unlike the 15 point proto-type, their loss will hurt

I'd take 2 Tie fighters, a fat A-wing, and a slimmer A-wing that improves the reliability of the notoriously unreliable green dice any day over just 3 ships

PTL over predator could be a very good idea, though. It'll make the decision between shooting the fragile little buggers, the fatass hiding behind a mess of tokens, or the reverse-howlrunner far more difficult.

Why spam four heavy lasers when you can spam five ions?

IMO your best bet is to take Manglers and Laetin. You can fit Serrisu in there too to eek out more dice although I would assume that Serrisu would get killed first which gives you a few rounds of uninterrupted mangler cannon goodness.

Why spam four heavy lasers when you can spam five ions?

my first guess would be damage

Why spam four heavy lasers when you can spam five ions?

Because HLC do a lot of damage.

I like the idea of well protected HLC Veterans, or spammed PS2 Manglers. I don't mind a 20pt ship dying after shooting a couple times, but HLC ships with upgrades need some time to earn their cost back. Besides, having HLCs strip shields first then having focused Manglers waiting to finish people off isn't a bad setup.

The main reason people aren't spamming Flechette or Ion is the possibility of low agility targets with massed hit points. I'd much rather have a Mangler or HLC when firing at a Decimator, for example. Ion Cannons aren't the best in this situation, as it would take forever to bring it down.

There's plenty of builds and upgrades that are a fine gamble in a one-off game (better chance of knowing your opponent, no consequences for losing, etc.), but when people are thinking about tournaments and whatnot you have to assume you'll encounter multiple different list archetypes, and cover your bases for as many of them as possible. Something that is expensive (multiple Heavy Scyk titles and cannon upgrades adds up FAST) and only helpful some of the time is dead weight you probably can't afford to carry in your list.

Yeah I think if you want to spam Scyks, 5 spacers w/ 'mangler' is superior to 4 w/ HLC because extra ship is always better. Also, it should be noted that with 'mangler', heavy Scyk has 3 attack at all ranges, while the heavy laser 'only' has 4 attack at range 2-3 (both have 3 attack @ range 1), and the mangler's bonus crit will quickly become a factor if you can concentrate fire on a single target...

My first scum list was pretty much this. I flew 3x Cartel spacers with title and HLC, and Serrissu with title, HLC and elusiveness, to give her a little protection.

As expected, it hit like a sledgehammer. Wedge was annihilated first round of combat. Chewed through half of Fat dash the next. Then started losing about a ship a turn, with Serrissu first.

Got the win though. I found it effective to keep a bit of distance (No extra green for them at range 3). Once Serrissu goes down, you can break formation, which my opponent didn't expect.

Awesome firepower.

I'm waiting for my five Scyks to arrive and I can't wait to get these little fella's on the table. Will give my A-Wings a little bit of a rest too!

3x Tansarri

Title

HLC

Opprotunist

Stealth Device

99 Points

You have three ships with up to 5 attack dice behind up to four agility.

I've been looking a list like this with Mux to deal with high PS ships like the phantom.

Yeah I think if you want to spam Scyks, 5 spacers w/ 'mangler' is superior to 4 w/ HLC because extra ship is always better. Also, it should be noted that with 'mangler', heavy Scyk has 3 attack at all ranges, while the heavy laser 'only' has 4 attack at range 2-3 (both have 3 attack @ range 1), and the mangler's bonus crit will quickly become a factor if you can concentrate fire on a single target...

Well, not always better. In the Scyk's case I'd say always, but it's a specific case that isn't always replicated across all ships.

That case? Dice dependency. A HLC Scyk is humorously lopsided little ship (smallest ship in the game bearing a gun that only a B-wing, at minimum, can carry) and it's incredibly crap-shoot with 3 health, 3 green dice, and a bonkers 4 red dice at cheaper than even the Sigma but way more expensive than similarly durable ships (23 points w/HLC, 14 point base cost). More than most ships, the outcome of a few crucial rolls is going to make or break your game.

In cases such as these, you always go for more ships. More ships --> more rolls --> more reliability. Seri is about the only exception because she improves your odds by just being there.

Note: this does not mean "Heavy Scyk" sucks (the cannons are a huge increase over the ship's base dice), it just means that if you're using the title as the core of your list then you want as much of it as possible imo--making an exception only for Seri.

The more I think about it, the more I think the HLC Scyks start being incredibly PS dependent. If they're higher than their target, they stand a very good chance of smoking something before it gets to shoot. That's solid defense. If they're lower, they have to survive the shot, which is harder, but Serissu helps.

The more I think about it, the more I think the HLC Scyks start being incredibly PS dependent. If they're higher than their target, they stand a very good chance of smoking something before it gets to shoot. That's solid defense. If they're lower, they have to survive the shot, which is harder, but Serissu helps.

It's going to depend on the new meta, but imo PS 5 isn't very reliable. At that point you have two choices: VI Seri or bust, or Cartel spam (cheapest points per ship, losing nothing to the PS bid)

which, in terms of list building, translates to either four beefier cartels (points spent on veteran instead spread across cartels as defensive mods) and/or a beefier Seri.

The importance of PS5 will depend a lot on how popular generics get. If the whole BBBBZ thing really takes off long-term, PS5 could be pretty valuable, especially on a ship than can barrel roll.

5X cartel + Mangler

I think that the Mangler Cannon is a good option for this ship, you could equip five ships with this cannon, greettings.