Just played with IG-2000. Some thoughts:

* The lack of a turret really limits the IG-2000, especially since I was up against TIE Phantom + 2x Squints with AT. Because of that, Hot Shot Blaster is very important, but it is single use only.

Any advice?

Fly in an overwatch formation. Aggressor A flies at range 2-3 in front of Aggresor B. When the phantom engages you can initiate a double attack on the phantom. If they move to engage B initiate a k-turn on both. Once it's down the S-loop is very effective at dealing with interceptors. Also if you build in a way that allows you to largely ignore stress, don't be afraid to boat that stress.

However one thing to note. I'd say the two most effective platforms against the aggressor are the b wing and the interceptor. The interceptor being far more maneuverable, and the B being so hard to kill.

There are many ways to build out dual IG-88's. You do not need Advanced Sensors, Push the Limit, or Predator.

You must unlearn what you have learned.

I'll be a tease and let my squad details stay a secret (unless you have played/watched me on vassal!) until NOVA Squadron episode #20 airs in a few days....

Cool. I'll just keep my eye out for Nova Squadron #20 then.

Just played with IG-2000. Some thoughts:

* The lack of a turret really limits the IG-2000, especially since I was up against TIE Phantom + 2x Squints with AT. Because of that, Hot Shot Blaster is very important, but it is single use only.

Any advice?

Also if you build in a way that allows you to largely ignore stress, don't be afraid to boat that stress.

Hence, I use Push the Limit with FCS (which doesn't care whether I'm stressed or not). The problem though was that I had to use a lot of K-turns to keep up with the highly maneuverable Phantom and Squints, so that IG-2000 was stressed most of the time.

I going to throw something different into the mix

Veteran Instincts, Sensor Jammer, HLC

Your now at PS8 which means your going to shoot first against most other ships (barring the best pilots in the galaxy) your then likely to force them to use any Focus tokens on defence so you get the most out of Sensor Jammer (which kicks in before mangler/e'tahn)

I going to throw something different into the mix

Veteran Instincts, Sensor Jammer, HLC

Your now at PS8 which means your going to shoot first against most other ships (barring the best pilots in the galaxy) your then likely to force them to use any Focus tokens on defence so you get the most out of Sensor Jammer (which kicks in before mangler/e'tahn)

I dunno, VI still feels like a bit of a wasted EPT to me.

How many popular pilots are there in that 6-8 range? I suppose Dash and Keyan are fairly prevalent at 7. Many of the natural 8's (Ten Numb, Chiraneau, etc.) will be equipping VI themselves, and beating your boosted PS. And to make your VI work against some other common 8's (say, Cracken) you'll need an initiative bid, which is sometimes hard to swallow with an Aggressor build since they have such versatile to low-point filler upgrades. I think your best case scenario with VI IG's is a Scum mirror match against Kavil, Xizor, Kath, etc.

So far, this is where I stand on IG-related matters:

Predator > PTL

Advanced Sensors > FCS

Mangler > HLC

B > D > C > A

My biggest undecided is Inertial Dampeners vs. Hot Shot Blaster. The Dampeners are such great value, and so handy to have. But given the fact that IG-88's achilles heel (IGGiles heel?) is high PS arc dodgers, that single 360 shot can save your ass against a fool like Fel.

I going to throw something different into the mix

Veteran Instincts, Sensor Jammer, HLC

Your now at PS8 which means your going to shoot first against most other ships (barring the best pilots in the galaxy) your then likely to force them to use any Focus tokens on defence so you get the most out of Sensor Jammer (which kicks in before mangler/e'tahn)

Now I don't consider myself a pro but when you're flying a list with just two targets I favor upgrades that offer at least a little survivability. This is the list I'm going to start with and modify from there:

http://geordanr.github.io/xwing/?f=Scum%20and%20Villainy&d=v3!s!110:49,44,110,-1,-1,108:20:15:;109:54,44,110,-1,-1,108:20:15:

IG-88C

Opportunist

Mangler

Sensor Jammer

Inertial Dampener

Autothrusters

IG-88B

Wingman

Mangler

Sensor Jammer

Inertial Dampener

Autothrusters

I had considered giving both of them Wingman to eat each other's stress the turn they hit the brakes.

I'm going to second third the use of Sensor Jammer.

It's not as overtly powerful as Fire Control System, but I tend to prefer tankier builds if I'm running two ships. The ratio of shots taken to shots received is not usually in your favor, and Sensor Jammer provides a consistent improvement to defense, especially with Autothrusters. I like knowing that regardless of what action I take (or lose, if maneuvering goes poorly), I'll always have a Predator reroll + 2nd attempt with 88-B and be able to change a hit with Sensor Jammer from any shots against me.

IG-88 B+C

Predator

Mangler Cannon

Sensor Jammer

Autothrusters

Inertial Dampners

Crazy thought: what about only running a single IG-88 and use the rest of the points to fill out the squad with more ships? Mini-swarm of Z-95s or even 2-3 Mangler Scyks, a pair of Starvipers? Any of those could increase your damage output and take some heat off of IG-88.

Then you're not playing a dual IG-88 list.

The other advantage of using Sensor Jammer is forcing your opponent to comment on the taste of the raspberry.

I going to throw something different into the mix

Veteran Instincts, Sensor Jammer, HLC

Your now at PS8 which means your going to shoot first against most other ships (barring the best pilots in the galaxy) your then likely to force them to use any Focus tokens on defence so you get the most out of Sensor Jammer (which kicks in before mangler/e'tahn)

Unless I missed it, you're the first person here to mention sensor jammers.

Now I don't consider myself a pro but when you're flying a list with just two targets I favor upgrades that offer at least a little survivability. This is the list I'm going to start with and modify from there:http://geordanr.github.io/xwing/?f=Scum%20and%20Villainy&d=v3!s!110:49,44,110,-1,-1,108:20:15:;109:54,44,110,-1,-1,108:20:15:

IG-88C

Opportunist

Mangler

Sensor Jammer

Inertial Dampener

Autothrusters

IG-88B

Wingman

Mangler

Sensor Jammer

Inertial Dampener

Autothrusters

I had considered giving both of them Wingman to eat each other's stress the turn they hit the brakes.

I'd switch EPTs on those guys. If C dies, B's EPT is useless. If B dies, C's is useless. But if you switch them, B can still use Opportunist in conjunction with his own ability. Fire once to strip tokens, trigger Opportunist, and fire again. Harder.

I played a guy last night who had IG-88B with FCS AND predator. Three abilities that are all similar. I feel like you only need predator or FCS, not both. And if you have B, you almost don't need either as you could do things more defensively.

I going to throw something different into the mix

Veteran Instincts, Sensor Jammer, HLC

Your now at PS8 which means your going to shoot first against most other ships (barring the best pilots in the galaxy) your then likely to force them to use any Focus tokens on defence so you get the most out of Sensor Jammer (which kicks in before mangler/e'tahn)

Unless I missed it, you're the first person here to mention sensor jammers.

Now I don't consider myself a pro but when you're flying a list with just two targets I favor upgrades that offer at least a little survivability. This is the list I'm going to start with and modify from there:http://geordanr.github.io/xwing/?f=Scum%20and%20Villainy&d=v3!s!110:49,44,110,-1,-1,108:20:15:;109:54,44,110,-1,-1,108:20:15:

IG-88C

Opportunist

Mangler

Sensor Jammer

Inertial Dampener

Autothrusters

IG-88B

Wingman

Mangler

Sensor Jammer

Inertial Dampener

Autothrusters

I had considered giving both of them Wingman to eat each other's stress the turn they hit the brakes.

I'd switch EPTs on those guys. If C dies, B's EPT is useless. If B dies, C's is useless. But if you switch them, B can still use Opportunist in conjunction with his own ability. Fire once to strip tokens, trigger Opportunist, and fire again. Harder.

Having not played around with them yet I don't know which is considered the bigger target/threat, the first one to get gunned down would likely be the first one my opponent gets a clean shot on (usually the guy on their stronger flank). I hadn't really invested much thought into who should carry which talent but I can see why you'd want Opportunist on the guy more likely to get second shots, though.

My style of list is something I'd fly a little slower and more deliberate while using the dampeners to get an early clean shot on a dangerous threat who wants to close (Jax, APT-toting bombers, Wedge, etc).

So I ran this tonight in a store championship and did fairly well.

98 Points

I screwed myself in one game and that just knocked me out of the final cut, but otherwise this thing kicked of ass. My other loss was to someone who was in the top 4 of the 2014 world championship, so all things considered, I'm pretty happy with my performance. The ion cannon was great for locking down the phantom I came up against, also was good crowd control against a warthog list. Autothrusters saved my ass countless times. Mangler pulled a bunch of wins off of crits. FCS was a key to victory. and the inertial dampeners saved me (when i freaking remembered to use them) more than once!

^Yes, I tried Ion Cannon and Mangler Cannon with IG-2000 too and having both cannons available is pretty great.

Just curious, was VI useful at all? There aren't a lot of good pilots at PS 7-8 (that are not converted to PS 9-10 with VI).

Yes and no. I ran up against a super high ps chirnau whisper list, so that didn't matter, but in another game it pushed me to top of the shooting order and that saved my ass. So following my advice of take no upgrades that are action dependent or generate stress, VI is arguably the best upgrade to fit in with the points I had left.

I run a similar list myself but I run Hot Shot Blaster in place of VI and Inertial Dampeners. I think Inertial Dampeners might be more useful though because it is not one-time use only and because if you can shoot through the front arc, you can shoot again if you miss. When I use Hot Shot Blaster, I better do some damage the first time I roll dice. Otherwise, Hot Shot Blaster is just gone and I have nothing to show for it.

ID is one time use only, but that one time will often save your ass from flying right into a **** storm.

So, you think ID is better than HSB? Just trying to figure out which of the two is better.

Well let me put it to you this way: Would you rather get a 3 dice shot off once for 3 points or would you rather have the ability to jam on the brakes once and avoid flying into one or more firing arcs for 1 point?

Inertial Dampeners is a one use only card. It's sort of hurried in the text, thought.

Inertial Dampeners is a one use only card. It's sort of hurried in the text, thought.

Yeah but it's one hell of a good one use card!

I tried Adrenaline Rush with IG-88 and I think it works quite well. Good for alpha-strikes, when you can K-turn or S-loop right behind a guy and blast him to pieces.