After a fair amount of consideration and some advice last week, here's what I was planning on taking to this Saturday's store championship in McPherson, KS:

But I'm being seduced by a variant that I think might end up working better in the world of Autothrusters:

And I'm trying really hard not to think of ways I could run a similar or even better list with Rebels, like 2x Warthog + R2/Blue + HLC/Rookie + R3-A2. Which I'm not thinking about.

I don't want to radically change the list, but I do still have time for tweaks. Help!

I do hope it works out for you

The auto-blaster turret has me intrigued since it reminds me a lot of feedback array, only better but tied to far more expensive ships. The amount of positioning possibilities it brings out are enormous, but the range 1 limitation has me hesitant to put it on anything more expensive than a thug.

I have two conflicting thoughts about this list:

1.) Y-wings suffer at long range because of range 1-2 turrets and only 1 agility. Having an auto-blaster turret only further encourages fast ships to stay the hell away

versus

2.) Unhinged Ys can make some surprisingly huge sweeping maneuvers. I don't know if it's because I've been playing B-wings for so long, but those buggers can go far when they need to.

But, seeing that you had to remove Unhinged from your BTLs, I really have to suggest sticking to the first variant. The aggromech makes a world of difference, imo. If you're really worried about thrusters, I think an auto-blaster thug (no title) would serve you better than the Scyk.

But, seeing that you had to remove Unhinged from your BTLs, I really have to suggest sticking to the first variant.

I actually have room for a pair of Unhinged Astromechs in the second variant, too, but it would leave me without an initiative bid. That's a problem if I face a 99-point Soontir list.

Why are you looking for initiative. Let the Soontir take it. sure not great for a anti phantom, but they almost always have 99 or 98 builds. You are not going to be able to boost and what not, but if the Soontir can and will if he knows where you are. and since you only have one ship really looking for the bid I would take the Unhingeds.

Kavil with ABT is scary, but I feel like the 4 dice of the BT with a TL to modify them are just as effective as the 3 dice of the ABT. Especially since you can reach out to range 2. Its a lot easier to stay out of a range 1 bubble than a range 2 bubble.

You would have to hope your warthogs can keep a target contained.

You could drop the unhinged Astros in the first list and run an HLC on the Syck. You wouldn't have initiative bid, but it would give your opponent a headache on who to target first.

Interesting teams. I personally prefer the second one as I also thought about pairing Kavil with a Autoblaster turret.

If I could make a suggestion, I would try to fit a R4 droid on both Syndicate Thug, its ability synergize really well with the BTL title: Take a Focus action, Roll attack dice, take a focus to modify and get a TL to further improve the first attack or the second. Even if you roll no focus, you can still spend it to change it into a TL; kinda like Han Crew that can use a TL as a focus, only better because you don't have to commit to a target.

To get the 2 more points needed, I would remove the unhinged astromech from Kavil and switch the Mangler Cannon for a Ion Cannon on the scyk, it gets you even more control and helps set the scene for Kavil: Ionize your prey then get close with Kavil for the Autoblaster kill since it can't get away. Your opponent will feel helpless.

It puts your team to 100pts, but with three ships that can potentially ionize, I don't think that initiative will be that necessary.

I don't feel like I need R4 Astromechs with the BTL-A4 title. Most of the time the second shot will be with the ions (which of course have a cap on their damage) at a target with no tokens left, so they're pretty accurate even without the target lock. And the Unhinged Astromech allows a lot more mobikity after a K-turn, as well as free access to the 3-turn.

What do people think about the Range 1 limitation on Kavil's Autoblaster? Will I be close enough to my targets to actually use it?

I don't feel like I need R4 Astromechs with the BTL-A4 title. Most of the time the second shot will be with the ions (which of course have a cap on their damage) at a target with no tokens left, so they're pretty accurate even without the target lock. And the Unhinged Astromech allows a lot more mobikity after a K-turn, as well as free access to the 3-turn.

What do people think about the Range 1 limitation on Kavil's Autoblaster? Will I be close enough to my targets to actually use it?

If you can reliably ionize your target the turn before, yes, I can see it works. If not, it will depends on how good you'll be at the guessing game.

PS9 and Engine Upgrade will certainly help, but if you have to boost to get in range, you'll be firing with 2-3 unmodified dice, we're looking at 1-2 average damage per turn. Is it really better than a TL 3-4 dice blaster turret? I'm not sure. At least the blaster turrets might force your opponent to burn a token or two to help your grunts place a touch. On the other hand, with the Autoblaster turret you don't have to worry about getting blocked. I'm definetely curious about the result.