I've finally started hitting the Scum squad builder. It's a scary thing getting an entire faction in one hit. What to do?

Well, last week I had my first two Scum games. My old favourite the FireSpray came out, with two HLC toting M3s. I won one and lost one. I particularly enjoyed dropping a Proximity Mine on a Phantom with Emon's ability. So I'm thinking about building on that.

I like the M3s but they're very squishy.

Then I remembered I want to use a HWK. Thought I'd never get the chance as I've been an Imperial player. Yay! Adore that design.

98 points

Emon Azzameen (46)

Firespray-31 (36), Proximity Mines (3), Recon Specialist (3), Andrasta (0), Tactical Jammer (1), Proximity Mines (3)

Torkhil Mux (24)
HWK-290 (19), Autoblaster Turret (2), Moldy Crow (3)

Binayre Pirate (14) x 2
Z-95 Headhunter (12), Dead Man's Switch (2)

I'd take a third bomb if I could. Recon is nice for attack/defense when the bombs aren't in play. TJ nice as Emon will be out front, at least at first.

Torkhill can open up a space in the PS for my to take out a ship before it gets a shot off. Should I even bother upgrading him?

The Z's are cheap and Switch could be amusing.

I could lose the HWK upgrades and Zs and go for a SarViper. Not sure how they work yet though.

Any ideas? Emon and the bombs is the core (too much fun). But the HWK would be great to fly too finally.

I'm not feeling Mux at all. Palob would help you out quite a bit by greatly reducing the damage the squad takes (focus action has a surprising amount of influence on damage dealt) and auto-blaster turret is just not happening on HWKs.

So, you can cut both deadman's for 4 points and use one to bump up to Palob, leaving 3 points

3 of those will get an ion Turret up from an auto-blaster, which isn't ideal imo (I like blaster on Palob because stealing focus and Moldy Crow letting you target-lock makes him surprisingly powerful) but it will set up some nasty bombs/blocks.

I'm not feeling Mux at all. Palob would help you out quite a bit by greatly reducing the damage the squad takes (focus action has a surprising amount of influence on damage dealt) and auto-blaster turret is just not happening on HWKs.

So, you can cut both deadman's for 4 points and use one to bump up to Palob, leaving 3 points

3 of those will get an ion Turret up from an auto-blaster, which isn't ideal imo (I like blaster on Palob because stealing focus and Moldy Crow letting you target-lock makes him surprisingly powerful) but it will set up some nasty bombs/blocks.

Cheers Fickle.

Good point about Palob and Mux. Without having used them I really like both abilities. But stealing an action ties in very nicely.

How about this...

100 points

Emon Azzameen (49)

Firespray-31 (36), Recon Specialist (3), “Hot Shot” Blaster (3), Andrasta (0), Tactical Jammer (1), Proximity Mines (3), Proximity Mines (3)

Palob Godalhi (27)

HWK-290 (20), Blaster Turret (4), Moldy Crow (3)

Binayre Pirate (12) x 2

Is hot-shot worthwhile? Could be handy if someone gets side on, but it is only one use. Would Recon Specialist be any good on the HWK? Or overkill for focus?

I'd advise against Blaster without Recon Specialist (even with Moldy), which is why I recommended the less ideal ICT

although his ability gives him the most reliable focus bank out of all the HWKs, you can still expect to spend 3+ focus on a given turn (1 to fire, 1 to modify, and often at least 1 to defender) and not being able to do anything apart from that 1 die primary (bleeeeeck) is just horrifying

Speaking of, I don't think "Hot Shot" is worth it on Emon when there is either another proxy mine or E.I to consider. I like the idea of Jammer with Palob's ability, but E.I gives you the ability to fart mines and still protect Emon with Recon (albeit at the cost of hindered maneuverability) so it's worth a look. alternatively, turn it into a recon specialist so Palob can fire his blaster without concern (and maybe even get to stack it with a target lock if he builds enough of a stash).

You might also try Mangler and Hull Upgrade on the Scyks instead of HLC's.

Palob has a great ability but do not count on ever actually stealing a focus token. People will tend to avoid taking actions that give tokens for Palob to steal if they think he might end up in range two.

Palob has a great ability but do not count an ever actually stealing a focus token. People will tend to avoid taking actions that give tokens for Palob to steal if they think he might end up in range two.

yar, this is a good reason not to run blaster without recon even on Palob

on the other hand, "while within range 1-2, no enemy ship may take focus or evade actions" is way better than Palob's actual printed ability

Sounds worth it just to stop them taking it!

100 points

Emon Azzameen (46)

Firespray-31 (36), Recon Specialist (3), Andrasta (0), Tactical Jammer (1), Proximity Mines (3), Proximity Mines (3)

Palob Godalhi (30)
HWK-290 (20), Blaster Turret (4), Recon Specialist (3), Moldy Crow (3)

Binayre Pirate (12) x 2

Sounds worth it just to stop them taking it!

100 points

Emon Azzameen (46)

Firespray-31 (36), Recon Specialist (3), Andrasta (0), Tactical Jammer (1), Proximity Mines (3), Proximity Mines (3)

Palob Godalhi (30)

HWK-290 (20), Blaster Turret (4), Recon Specialist (3), Moldy Crow (3)

Binayre Pirate (12) x 2

that's personally how I would run this combination of pilots

best of luck, Emon is a tricky bugger to figure out

Sounds worth it just to stop them taking it!

100 points

Emon Azzameen (46)

Firespray-31 (36), Recon Specialist (3), Andrasta (0), Tactical Jammer (1), Proximity Mines (3), Proximity Mines (3)

Palob Godalhi (30)

HWK-290 (20), Blaster Turret (4), Recon Specialist (3), Moldy Crow (3)

Binayre Pirate (12) x 2

I didn't mean that as a criticism of Palob's ability, I think the way he influences your opponent's action choices might be more powerful than his token stealing antics. I think a lot of folks assume that Palob will be rolling in tokens and find themselves hardly ever getting to shoot their Blaster Turrets and never being able to modify their dice because they were counting on his ability.

Sounds worth it just to stop them taking it!

100 points

Emon Azzameen (46)

Firespray-31 (36), Recon Specialist (3), Andrasta (0), Tactical Jammer (1), Proximity Mines (3), Proximity Mines (3)

Palob Godalhi (30)

HWK-290 (20), Blaster Turret (4), Recon Specialist (3), Moldy Crow (3)

Binayre Pirate (12) x 2

I didn't mean that as a criticism of Palob's ability, I think the way he influences your opponent's action choices might be more powerful than his token stealing antics. I think a lot of folks assume that Palob will be rolling in tokens and find themselves hardly ever getting to shoot their Blaster Turrets and never being able to modify their dice because they were counting on his ability.

I've had people just not focus to limit him. Which helps, but the main problem and this is true of all HWKs, they are just weak defensively. If you don't roll some decent evades, the HWK can go down very fast. Palob is going to be your opponents # 1 target.

Sounds worth it just to stop them taking it!

100 points

Emon Azzameen (46)

Firespray-31 (36), Recon Specialist (3), Andrasta (0), Tactical Jammer (1), Proximity Mines (3), Proximity Mines (3)

Palob Godalhi (30)

HWK-290 (20), Blaster Turret (4), Recon Specialist (3), Moldy Crow (3)

Binayre Pirate (12) x 2

I didn't mean that as a criticism of Palob's ability, I think the way he influences your opponent's action choices might be more powerful than his token stealing antics. I think a lot of folks assume that Palob will be rolling in tokens and find themselves hardly ever getting to shoot their Blaster Turrets and never being able to modify their dice because they were counting on his ability.

I've had people just not focus to limit him. Which helps, but the main problem and this is true of all HWKs, they are just weak defensively. If you don't roll some decent evades, the HWK can go down very fast. Palob is going to be your opponents # 1 target.

Palob's a little different than all HWKs, though that isn't to say two agility with constant focus modification is weak (good ol Luke gets by just fine with that as his ability).

you put focus denial on top of that, however, and it gets to be pretty convincing. The rest will be about how well you can protect him with the rest of your squadron, which is why I enjoy even naked pirates with him. Their crap stats become quite convincing when they have the focus advantage and the enemy doesn't, but most of all they make for very fine blockers.

so killing Moldy Crow is no easy feat, killing Palob is even harder. Your opponent is going to have to work to kill him and you have to work to protect him. Not focusing just because he takes focus, however, is just playing into Palob's hands (unless you got only one guy that can shoot him, then there's not much point to focusing, but he's still going to enjoy the fact that you have no defensive dice modifications whether or not he takes them from you)

about the only thing that's truly problematic are heavily modified HLC shots, but there isn't a ship alive that doesn't care about heavily modified HLC shots

Thanks everyone it's good to get some opinions on it. Really enjoying Emon; he seems to be my 'in' to S&V.

Palob is an interesting ability. As you've all said it gives the opponent something to think about it. Are they going to be in R2 of him? Will they bother using the action? If they don't can I make the most of it?

It sounds like I'll be wanting to fly in a loose formation to maximise it?

If I could fit in a StarViper I'd be for it. I'm hoping to use it at some point but no clue how to yet.

I felt the same way when Scum came out! I saw Emon and knew I wanted to build around him right away, and here's what I have now (sorry, no HWK):

Emon Azzameen (47)

Firespray-31 (36), 3 Prox Mines (9), Intelligence Agent (1), Inertial Dampeners (1), Andrasta (0)

Guri (32)

Starviper (30), Bodyguard (2)

N'Dru Suhlak (21)

Z-95 Headhunter (17), Lone Wolf (2), Dead Man's Switch (2)

Emon and Guri pair fairly nicely as long as you don't worry about getting too fancy with Guri at the start. Have her hang back slightly behind Emon as much as you can to give him the agility boost. N'Dru ends up being fairly survivable so long as you don't go head to head against too much, as he's not a major target.

Also, I'd recommend instead of 3 prox mines using 2 seismic and one proton - also 9 points. The Proton will scare the bejeezus out of folks, and with the Intelligence Agent you'll see where some of those higher PS ships are heading - you can do some serious damage.

I've been running Emon with a Seismic and two Proximity Mines... Changing that to 2 Seismic and one Proximity. See a lot of "swarmish" builds (5+ ships) builds and the ability to punish them for trying to bunch up around me and block my Firespray... Just throwing the bomb out and not needing the action, etc. has caused a LOT of damage for me. Tend to run a Tactician with Emon as well for the extra stress here and there...

Cheers for the views guys.

Emon has a lot of options. It's the first time I've been really interested in using bombs. I've always enjoyed flying the Firespray anyway, but this really makes it into a terror.

A lot of the HWK is the fact that I didn't get to use being Imperial, and have LOVED it since Jedi Knight came out. The chance to fly it, especially with a good ability, can't be passed up.

I was thinking of running a Z with Assault Missiles to deter swarms, so I could leave Emon with prox mines and litter the enemies approach with them.

Using Guri, or the Starviper in general is very tempting but if I'm keeping Emon and Pablo he doesn't fit

Something I want to try out is Emon + Andrasta + Proximity Mine x3 + Recon Specialist (48) and Scyk + Heavy Scyk Title + HLC + Hull upgrade x2 (52).

Essentially you confront with Emon out front, do some proximity mine slinging and support with Scyks that hang back doing two straits or angling shots with 1 banks for the first few rounds of shooting.

My fear though is that Emon will be focus fired quickly so I'm considering a slightly differnet list where I go EI and K4 Security Droid with 3 proximities. You can still sling that first round and take a focus for defense. The following you can slow roll away from the opponent with greens, get TLs and then drop some more mines.

That list might look like:

Emon + Andrasta + Proximity Mine x3 + K4 Security Droid + Experimental Interface (51)

Binayre Pirate x4 (48)

Last point for initiative (for blocking with pirates) or for Inertial Dampeners on Emon.

Thanks everyone it's good to get some opinions on it. Really enjoying Emon; he seems to be my 'in' to S&V.

Palob is an interesting ability. As you've all said it gives the opponent something to think about it. Are they going to be in R2 of him? Will they bother using the action? If they don't can I make the most of it?

Palob, combined with Opportunist, makes an interesting case for his Blaster Turret. Sure, you add some more points to his frame and you have to remove stress with a lackluster dial, even if you're holding the Moldy Crow title to hang onto old Focus tokens, but you also get an extra attack die for your Blaster Turret if your enemy is at Range 1-2. If they take a Focus or Evade, it can be stolen, and then (unless Pushing the Limit for other tokens), they're ripe for Opportunist. If they don't, they're wide open for Opportunist anyway. And if they stay at Range 3, firing with primaries, you're getting an extra defense die to get up to 3 agility (at least, if not also obscured by asteroids) with the possibility of base-TIE Fighter/Interceptor survivability on those rolls, rather than the agility of an X-Wing. With Opportunist, Palob has the potential to turn things into a "damned if I don't, damned if I do" in a nice variety of ways. He may not be super maneuverable, but he doesn't have to be. He's a powerhouse at Range 1-2 and a decent dodger at Range 3, especially if towing extra Focus Tokens. Being able to decently dodge at Range 3 may just bait people right into your trap, or just leave him alone, continuing to gather Focus Tokens.

Over the weekend I flew against my Brother, who was flying a very kitted out BE combo. They were stuffed to the gills with upgrades and weapons.

I rolled out with Emon, Pablo and a PS1 Starviper, and promptly flew like an idiot.

The SV ended up on it's own and was taken out. Emon didn't get it in quick enough. But Pablo was great! He pretty much single handedly took out the B-Wing with amazing attack and defense dice. He stays! The SV, could have been better, but I hadn't even looked at the dial before.

Bit more patience at the beginning I think.

Emon is actually very interesting. He is capable of dealin damage to very slippery targets which makes him almost a turret. He's also tanky and provides superb tank and damage output with recon spec.

The next thing everyone I've been talking to has tried is adding experimental interface for double focus rear shot into a mine drop. This assumes recon spec. For economic builds you may instead consider only feedback array as a safety measure.

This anyway means that you actually have the most freedom out of Emon for sidekicks as possible: since you don't have to worry too much about phantoms and they got nerfed also.

Mux is always good. You might not like him on paper but he is a terrifying little bug.

Palob is also an excellent suggestion. He does remove that focus which helps mitigate his high cost and frailty.

Btl Ys are almost always good. Or even turret Ys to ion poor suckers and then prox mine them.

Low upgrades can sometimes mean an extra Z. 2Zs aren't bad for this list but it might want something more powerful to deal with double IGs.

Guri actually becomes an incredibly good choice due to how much damage she deals end game. Vi great. Auto. If room virago and adv sem

Cool topic, as I recently played an Emon-centric list for a small Spring kit tournament:

Emon (Proximity Mine, Proximity Mine, Tactician, Andrasta)

Kavil (Blaster Turret, R4 Agromech)

Hired Gun (Ion Cannon Turret, Unhinged Astromech, BTL-A4 title)

100 points

I think players are still unfamiliar with Emon, mostly expecting Kath when they see a Scum & Villainy Firespray. That can be advantageous, as it's still possible to surprise greatly with the bombs. My results were mixed though at the tournament (finished 5th out of 10 players, 2 wins and 2 losses), but it was my first time using Emon (and bombs!) and I had no opportunities to practice with the build. I believe it has great potential tough. The Ion + Stress combo is still very strong and useful. I decided to go with a Hired Gun instead of Syndicate to limit the effect of Predator against me, as I've noticed a boost in its use recently.

So lets do some theory crafting: What is Emon bad against?

What should we pair him with?

--

I think its fat turrets with 360 firing and arc dodging and more hull than he has. Those Prox mines become too cost inefficient for that.

Thus, something that's good against fat turrets. Something with firepower.

the IGs nowadays are too hard to hit with swarms of 2 dice though. I was thinking perhaps BTL Ys or something with Auto thrusters to tank.

Guri?

Thus, I think Guri is actually a good option to try against fat turrets and also 2IGs.

Guri is interesting, but I can't see him fitting in the current list I've got.

76 points

Emon Azzameen (42)
Firespray-31 (36), Andrasta (0), Proximity Mines (3), Proximity Mines (3)

Palob Godalhi (34)
HWK-290 (20), Opportunist (4), Blaster Turret (4), Recon Specialist (3), Moldy Crow (3)

Emon is, well it's Eamon. I think Pablo is great, enjoyed flying him in my last game. Hoarding focus to use on the turret whilst stripping the enemy is great fun.

But that doesn't leave me much

Currently flying:

Emon Azzameen - Andrasta, K4 Security Droid, Proximity Mines x 2

Kavil - Predator, Blaster Turret, Unhinged Astromech

N'dru Suhlak - Lone Wolf, Cluster Missiles

Contemplating switching the Blaster Turret out for an Autoblaster Turret and giving N'dru either Opportunist instead of Lone Wolf or a Dead Man's Switch.