So how are you guys running your M3As? Just got my fourth after a tourney and I'm looking hard at running something like this:

Cartel Spacer w/Title, HLC x3

Serissu W/Squad leader, Title and Ion/flechette

Or would running 4 Spacers with Manglers and a naked Serissu look better? I'm not sure I want to buy a fifth though.

I run mine as support ships with ion or a few snipers to support a different ship. I would feel scared to run pure Scyks because they're so squishy.

Aye, they're stupid squishy

I've run two kinds of Scyks, both with durability mods

Cartel (title, mangler, hull) for 23 points to fill out predator guri + double auto-blaster Ys with some much needed long range firepower. He's a dependable little bugger and incredibly solid for his 23 points.

Seri (title, mangler, shield, V.I) though I'm thinking of switching her to PTL. I ran her exclusively because of Palob (With 3 pirates as escorts).

Palob is hilarious --> Palob is public enemy # 1 --> Seri draws heat like nobody's business/gives palob re-rolls --> Palob protected!

She has also been quite a boon, but she's too fragile. I wouldn't replace her because there are no other mobile, small based scums that fit within the palob + 3 pirates point slot apart from Guri and I don't run Guri without predator + auto-thrusters. I could run laetin or a tansari, but they don't protect palob nearly as well.

With PTL, I think she'll have a shot. She'll clock in at a mighty 31/32 points (4/3 less than predator, thruster Guri) but she has the action bar to abuse and a pretty sweet dial, the only sore points being the lack of hard turns.

They are squishy, but i love that you can get them firing 4 dice (if you want) for less points than a Phantom.

I have run the same basic list centered around M3-A at 3 smaller store championships (25, 19, and 9 players respectively) and finished 2nd, 5th (because the store used SoS instead of MOV, otherwise would have been in top 4) and 1st.

The latest version was 3 Cartel with Heavy Scyk Interceptor title - 2 with HLCs, 1 Mangler; 1 Binayre Z95, and N'Dru with Lone Wolf and a Hot Shot Blaster. I originally had 3 HLCs, but thought the Hot Shot on N'Dru was a good change.

I try to fly this list as 3 groups - the Binayre out in front for blocking, N'Dru as a flanker to try and get his bonus - ideally keeping part of my opponent's squad tied up, and slow-roll the 3 Cartel to punish with the cannons.

The 3-agility, 3-HP structure on the M3-As is unique. Yes the can be one-shot if you roll badly (but so can Tie Fighters and Tie Inteceptors), but I find the 3 dice will block many shots and the shield seems to block a crit (at least for me) more often than not. I think overall the base Z-95 is a slightly better value for the points over the Cartel but I really like the M3-A dial and the customization options because of the Heavy Scyk title.

Experimenting with Serissu and Laetin is something I want to do, but haven't found the right list yet. I have the start of a Scum Escalation build with both of them that I like. Fitting them both into a 100-point list usefully is proving elusive so far. One thing I was considering was running Serrisu naked (or with a Stealth Device) in a list as a sort of Scum Biggs. She does not require opponents to target her, but think she might draw heat early as she is providing a defensive bonus for everyone else around her - making them harder to kill if she is still alive.

Spike IT, if you want to go for an even more accurate Scum Biggs, you should try running Kaa'to with Bodyguard to protect Serissu. Your opponent basically has to take down Kaa'to first (or really wants to) because Serissu is getting an extra Agility and if she has PTL then that's at least 4 agi with focus+evade to burn through...she helps protect Kaa'to a little bit, but your other Scyks... Maybe something like this:

99 points Pilots ------

Kaa’to Leeachos [bodyguard] (17)

Serissu [Push the Limit] (23)

Cartel Spacer [“Heavy Scyk” Interceptor, “Mangler” Cannon] (20) x 2

N’Dru Suhlak [Lone Wolf] (19)

This is if you want to keep Suhlak as a flanker, but you could downgrade to a Pirate and upgrade the manglers to HLCs...

Anyway, something to think about if you are into the "Scum Biggs" type stuff. You could even drop that pirate and put hull upgrades on all the ships...

I still have yet to try 5 Cartel w/ Manglers, but I've read that some are having good use of it.

I think an HLC on a Scyk is too many points and makes people want to concentrate on it.

There is a local guy who's had good luck with Scum Kath Scarlet w/ 2 Mangler Scyks and a generic. Kath zips ahead while the Scyks slow roll. You pick which you go after and the others light you up, usually with Kath firing from the rear. It's an effective set up so far.

yeah it's weird

I can't justify an HLC Scyk to myself, but I'll spend the exact same amount of points on mangler + hull or 1 more on mangler + shield

Not that said upgrade hasn't saved my ass in basically every game, it's just funny to note how drastic a shift of priority it is when you're tossing 1 health for 1 more red die of damage.

Similarly, since I'm thinking of putting PTL on Seri tonight I could use those points to run shield + HLC, but I just can't. PTL helps discourage shots since Seri will undoubtedly be at long range and hopefully either camping with focus + evade or barrel-rolling and focus/evading. By comparison, an HLC just seems to be begging for disaster to strike.

I like five Spacers with Mangler Cannons... A little like a harder hitting A-Wing swarm. Serissu has her place in the game but not as a sort of reverse Howlrunner, rather as a bodyguard for a more valuable ship like a Firespray or one of the named HWK's.

I have two so far, so I've tried out a few things.

Firstly I tried them in a control list with Dace, using flechette and ion, but I just found if a list would struggle against control they just focused on the scyks early and they died too quickly, or they didn't care much about stress or ion and so ignored them and then left me with ships that couldn't hurt anything.

Secondly I tried out HLC scyks, in a list with Blaster Kavil and N'Dru with a hot shot blaster - I call it my 4x4 list as all 4 of them are capable of 4 dice attacks.

I want to try a variant of the OP list, but I was thinking about Elusiveness on Seri to help keep her alive a little longer.

I've had very mixed results with Heavy Sycks with HLCs. They have either done very little or been a beast. It really depends on if the enemy targets it first (which they should). Usually they do being that its only a 3 (or 4 with an upgrade) hitpoint ship that throws 4 attack dice at you. I think the Mangler is the better option to keep them cheaper and less of a threat.

I want to try this out though, but I need to buy 2 more Sycks, which I don't really want to do...

3 X Cartel + Title + HLC

Serious + PTL + Title + Ion Cannon + SD

Serious is really there to be Scum Biggs and hopefully survive a round of shooting. If you Ion something, even better, but really just trying to strip tokens so the Spacer's can blast it. PTL so you can Focus + Evade. You can drop one of the HLCs to run a Mangler and drop the Ion Cannon to load some of the Cartels up with HUs. I find the HU to be a decent addition as you can avoid that 1-shot kill most of the time. Its still a super fragile list and would struggle against anything arc-dodgey.

I think I've distilled glass swarm to it's ultimate form:

Serissu (20)
Push the Limit (3)

Tansarii Point Veteran (17) x2
Predator (3)
Heavy Laser Cannon (7)
"Heavy Scyk" Interceptor (Cannon) (2)

N'Dru Suhlak (17)
Lone Wolf (2)

Total: 100

Kills stuff dead. Sacrifice a goat to the dice gods before you use it though, haven't had much success with sheep .

I'd much rather spend the points on a Mangler and a Hull Upgrade than a HLC. That's me, though.

Still, I've seen good results without anything other than the Mangler on Scyks and it works.

I like the idea of Laetin and Mangler to snipe on the flanks, but I've only flown him once. He had Stealth Device and, of course, rolled crap the first time and lost the Stealth. I'd probably use a Hull Point in the future. Man, so many lists to try, but just not enough time to fly them.

Thinking about it now, I do see one home for HLC on Scyks and it's on that weirdo Laetin

Laetin's one of those pilots that strikes me as an ******* nobody really wants to shoot, similarly to Gemmer Sojan and Tarn Mison. Laetin's ability seems more geared toward discouraging multiple shots for obvious reasons (no affect on the first shot)

Now, the mangler + hull combo on Laetin hits 27 points (2 points up from R7 Mison and 4 from Predator Gemmer) and HLC takes up to 30 which isn't inconsiderable but it is also the same as naked Guri so I'm not personally turned off by the idea of expensive small ships. The question is whether or not Laetin is truly comparable to 35 point Predator + Thrusters Guri and if the psychological affect of his ability outweighs high offense on a 30 point, squishy ship.

Guri

*Automatic auto-thrusters when applicable

*ability guarantees focus for defense (or offense if you were also able to take a focus action)

*her ability combined with predator gives her, on ideal turns, gives you re-roll + focus modified attack and a focus for defense.

all in all, I find Guri to be an awesome pilot for 35 points

Laetin I haven't actually tried yet, but

*he doesn't have Guri's action efficiency or ability to give zero ***** (a blocked Guri still gets her Predator and Abiltiy, Laetin does not)

*he doesn't get Auto-thrusters (all the sad)

So the question: are these disadvantages, weighed against HLC and his ability (which, again, seems geared to work against swarms of 2 dice attacks which have problems hitting through 3 agility, even moreso with evade actions canceling half of it) worth it?

Idk, going to need to test it after PTL Seri

I think Laetin (at least with the big cannons) is going to fall into the same category as the mid-PS named Interceptors. They've got cool abilities but ultimately are too squishy for a ship that makes up a quarter of your list.

I think I've distilled glass swarm to it's ultimate form:

Serissu (20)

Push the Limit (3)

Tansarii Point Veteran (17) x2

Predator (3)

Heavy Laser Cannon (7)

"Heavy Scyk" Interceptor (Cannon) (2)

N'Dru Suhlak (17)

Lone Wolf (2)

Total: 100

Kills stuff dead. Sacrifice a goat to the dice gods before you use it though, haven't had much success with sheep .

This is my version (which I've never played because I haven't started collecting Scum yet):

"The Best Defense"

Serissu 20, Veteran Instincts 1, Title 2, HLC 7, Shield Upgrade 4 = 34

Tansarii Point Veteran 17, Predator 3, Title 2, HLC 7, Shield Upgrade 4 = 33

Tansarii Point Veteran 17, Predator 3, Title 2, HLC 7, Shield Upgrade 4 = 33

I think Laetin (at least with the big cannons) is going to fall into the same category as the mid-PS named Interceptors. They've got cool abilities but ultimately are too squishy for a ship that makes up a quarter of your list.

that is what I fear, also

but well, no one ever got anywhere without some failure and disappointment along the way (and, imo, Laetin's ability is leagues beyond Kanos or tetran, in that it's actually useful).

I'm also saddened that I don't like the tansari as much as the RGP (must be the lack of thrusters).

I think Laetin (at least with the big cannons) is going to fall into the same category as the mid-PS named Interceptors. They've got cool abilities but ultimately are too squishy for a ship that makes up a quarter of your list.

that is what I fear, also

but well, no one ever got anywhere without some failure and disappointment along the way (and, imo, Laetin's ability is leagues beyond Kanos or tetran, in that it's actually useful).

I'm also saddened that I don't like the tansari as much as the RGP (must be the lack of thrusters).

The problem with Laetin's ability is that it only comes into play if he's on the receiving end of focus fire (or Gunner). He is only worth focus firing if you load him down with upgrades. Once you've turned Laetin into a point piñata that poses enough threat to be worth prioritizing he's still squishy enough that getting one-shotted is a very real possibility.

Well, it's also worth it as a deterrent to firing at him. It can work by having people not fire at him.

3 Agility and 2 attack are already a deterrent to firing at him. You can get that with the Cartel Spacer and save 4 points. In general, the most accurate ships are probably going to be shooting at Laetin first which makes it likely that he'll end up with tokens that he can't spend more often than he gets ones he can.

Well, it's also worth it as a deterrent to firing at him. It can work by having people not fire at him.

exactly this

if any ability such as Laetin's or Xizor's never triggers, it's because they've been replaced by the literally infinitely better ability of "will never ever get shot at"

problem is I don't see Laetin's ability as being nearly as effective as Xizor's

Laetin's ability really needs to be on a ship that has more health and a three dice attack. I don't think it's enough of a deterrent to stop him from being targetted if you've given him an HLC and it isn't really needed unless you do.

Laetin's ability really needs to be on a ship that has more health and a three dice attack. I don't think it's enough of a deterrent to stop him from being targetted if you've given him an HLC and it isn't really needed unless you do.

Laetin on a Star Viper

a man can dream

The way I will use my M3 after it gets to is Leatin with title, mangler and stealth device. You just stay way back and take evade, damage output gets hurt, but you get one iffy flanker

Laetin's ability really needs to be on a ship that has more health and a three dice attack. I don't think it's enough of a deterrent to stop him from being targetted if you've given him an HLC and it isn't really needed unless you do.

Laetin on a Star Viper

a man can dream

Were you looking over my shoulder when I typed "Laetin would make a great StarViper pilot." and erased it?

Laetin's ability really needs to be on a ship that has more health and a three dice attack. I don't think it's enough of a deterrent to stop him from being targetted if you've given him an HLC and it isn't really needed unless you do.

Laetin on a Star Viper

a man can dream

Were you looking over my shoulder when I typed "Laetin would make a great StarViper pilot." and erased it?

great minds, man, great minds...