"When your build only has two ships, hope for the best but prepare for the worst"

I have been playing Aggressors a lot these past few weeks, both in casual and in tournament settings, and have become quite fond of them. With ion cannons, my list exert control through the match, breaking up formations, forcing unpleasant asteroids encounters, setting up a following range 1 shot or outright running ships off the map. I think that I have narrowed down all the elements that I love, which end up in 3 different configurations.

I use IG-88B and IG-88C, but all 3 variants focus on the C exclusively as the B is a very stable and noteworthy element by itself. So without further ado, here are the lists:

Common element to all 3 lists:

IG-88B (50 points)

• Predator
• IG-2000 title
• Advanced sensors
• Ion cannon
• Autothrusters
• Hotshot blaster

The main vessel of my formation, this is as Vanilla of a ship as one can get. It is highly maneuverable and the presence of the advanced sensor allows it to boost while getting an evade token (from IG-88C) before doing a k-turn or s-loop, making it very defensible and hard to predict. The Hotshot blaster has proven its worth time and again, finishing off ships out of arc or making the lives of phantoms more difficult, even if they are out of arc (and if they are at range 3, I get the extra defense die and use of autoghrusters).

Should IG-88C be destroyed, then IG-88B is still a force to be reckoned with since it loses none of its firepower. You don’t get the free evade token after a boost anymore, so it becomes a judgment call as to whether to boost and do a k-turn or s-loop while relying on autothruster or take an evade token and do the same. If, by that point, the enemy fleet has also lost a few elements then it becomes easier to make those decisions and it is still possible to win, even against a higher PS opponent. By that point, it becomes a matter of knowing and using the field to your advantage.

Naturally, because of all of this, experienced opponents gun for IG-88B first, giving it a hard time. This has spurned 3 variants of IG-88C

Variant 1: Vanilla (mirror)

IG-88C (50 points)

• Predator
• IG-2000 title
• Advanced sensors
• Ion cannon
• Autothrusters
• Hotshot blaster

Using the same upgrades as IG-88B, this version has all the same great attributes that made its companion a dangerous force on the board. It is hard to predict, highly maneuverable and can pack a punch. It suffers more, however, if IG-88B is destroyed. When that happens, it loses its 2^nd shot, which means that while it can still get an evade token after a boost (and therefore remain hard to hit), but its offensive potential drop dramatically. 3 attack dice with a single reroll is not very impressive if facing a high agility opponent (Interceptors, phantoms, etc).

While I hope for the best, I also plan for the worst, which prompted the creation of the following two builds.

Variant 2: Aggressive bodyguard

IG-88C (50 points)

• Opportunist
• IG-2000 title
• Fire-control System
• Ion cannon
• Autothrusters
• Hotshot blaster

This is a bold direction that I recently tested and it yielded some interesting results. Here, IG-88C sacrifices some of the mobility and assured token of its counterpart (no advanced sensors to take a token before a k-turn or bump). However, it uses the first 1 or 2 rounds to fire, get and most importantly, maintain a target lock on its opponent using B’s cannon effects. The presence of a target lock gives it a higher attack potential than its counterpart. Should IG-88B fall in battle, I can hope to have a target lock on an important element of the remaining enemy fleet and use it to even the odds. And then there is opportunist…

A risky gamble, IG-88C can use its standard attacks to ion an enemy at range 3, setting up a range 1 attack for the next round where it will suddenly have the chance to throw 5 attack dice with a target lock (and chance permitting, a focus as well). This can also be used to boost the hotshot blaster to 4 attack dice, making the last ditch effort into a strike that could cripple or downright kill a phantom in one shot. Should he be lucky enough to have a phantom at range 3, then he can also boost his ion attack to 4 dice in a mad attempt to lock hits opponent into place. Worst case scenario, an opponent becomes reluctant to use his focus token… which is not a bad deal for me.

It is a gamble… but one that can yield devastating results.

Variant 3: Survivor

IG-88C (50 points)

• Lone wolf
• IG-2000 title
• Fire-control System
• Ion cannon
• Autothrusters
• Hotshot blaster
• Seismic charges

Again, this build uses the fire-control system, losing some mobility and token use that the vanilla version has. Should things go well and both ships survive then the odds are that Lone Wolf will rarely if ever come into play (it’s hard to keep both ships at range 2+ from each other), but that’s ok since the target lock will ensure the rerolls. Should IG-88B fall in battle, however, then Lone Wolf will remain permanently into play, giving rerolls on both offense and defense and negating part of the disadvantage from the lack of advanced sensors.

The seismic charge is a bonus, one that can be stretched out well into the late phase of the game as IG-88C tries to flee, turn and reengage. With luck, the opponent forgets about the bomb later in the game and it can be used to finish off an annoying pursuer.

Should IG-88C decide to flee for a time, then he will most often gain the advantage of being shot at range 3 (+1 dice), the evade token from its boost, the bonus from its autothruster and a potential defensive reroll from lone wolf. Any way you cut it; this is a real pain to deal with, giving IG-88C the leeway it needs to engage at a time and place of its choosing. This is one assassin droid that will not fall easily.

Conclusion

I have yet to decide which of the 3 variants I like best, so feel free to drop some feedback based on your experiences. Having two identical IG-88 means that it's easier to control, but having two different ones increases the odds of confusing your opponent, allowing you to use an unexpected perk at a critical time.

I’ll probably come up with a few more variants before the end and still need to work out asteroid placements based on my opponent’s fleet, but I have brought similar lists in tournaments in the past and did great with them. More importantly, they were both fun and challenging to play, which is what makes the game exciting in my book

Hope you liked the article!

I like your article. Well thought out and well-written. I have a couple thoughts

You are setting up C to be survivable late game at the expense of some early and mid game punch.

The Lone wolf is really nice but like you said not really effective until C is alone, and the FCS is great but reduces your flexibility and makes you more predictable.

Consider dropping LW, FCS and Seismic charge for PTL and Adv.Sensors.

Throughout the game you can focus/lock or focus/boost which gives you an evade all before movement. You can then clear the stress you just created with one of the zillion green moves available and you've essentially gotten the FCS equivalent but with a focus, but importantly the option of going much more defensive if necessary just depending on the situation you could focus/boost away to range three and get the free evade if you have no shot and just need to survive another pass. You'll be more effective throughout the entire match

I like your article. Well thought out and well-written. I have a couple thoughts

You are setting up C to be survivable late game at the expense of some early and mid game punch.

The Lone wolf is really nice but like you said not really effective until C is alone, and the FCS is great but reduces your flexibility and makes you more predictable.

Consider dropping LW, FCS and Seismic charge for PTL and Adv.Sensors.

Throughout the game you can focus/lock or focus/boost which gives you an evade all before movement. You can then clear the stress you just created with one of the zillion green moves available and you've essentially gotten the FCS equivalent but with a focus, but importantly the option of going much more defensive if necessary just depending on the situation you could focus/boost away to range three and get the free evade if you have no shot and just need to survive another pass. You'll be more effective throughout the entire match

I considered, tried and observed other players use push the limit, but my observations have led me to believe that it did not benefit a control list as much (it would, however, benefit a list with more alpha strike potential or in other words, another cannon). Mind you, it might be due to the way that I fly my aggressors or to the content of my local meta, which includes a higher proportion of imperial players and stress inducing mechanics, but push the limit has backfired more than once.

Using it on the first combat round is a given, but afterwards, aggressors were lucky triggering it more than half the time (because of K-turns, s-loop, rebel captive, etc). That means that in four rounds, it could trigger twice and therefore affect only as many attacks or defense rolls.

More passive abilities, like predator or fire control system, could trigger every attack, including the 2nd shot from the ion cannons. If flown well, it meant that in four rounds, they could be triggered between 4 and 8 times (depending on whether a second shot was needed), whether I k-turned or was stressed.

Like I said, however, this can be entirely due to the way I fly and my local meta, so results may vary