Scum list critique, Blackhearts Sqdrn

By Angerland, in X-Wing Squad Lists

Hoping to get some pointers on this list. As I said in my other post I have limited upgrades and expansions to choose from: Core, most wanted, Firespray, HWK, y-wing and 2x M-3A.

Looking at this for a 100 point list:

Kath scarlet

K4 security droid

HLC

Hired thug

Unhinged astromech

Title

Ion cannon

2x Binayre Pirates

Other upgrades I like and considered:

Saboteur

Recon specialist

Y wing title

VI

Marksmanship

Protorps

HLC

Ion cannon

Stealth device

Outlaw tech

Any thoughts?

Edited by Angerland

I'm not a huge fan of either Expose AND the Mangler on Kath. Ideally most of your shots will be coming out of the rear arc, meaning you'll only get one or two shots off with that Mangler, and it can't be combined with Expose. I'm not a fan of Expose to begin with, but with good rear arc only aiming and the K4 for the free target lock for a modifier, I actually kind of like it in this case. Without Palob, it's definitely the way to go if you want an extra dice. With that said, it's still a bit risky as it'll leave Kath with a lowly one defense dice, which could leave you in a world of hurt if you're not careful. Still, drop the Mangler... maybe Engine Upgrade if you have it to help her maneuver that rear arc into position, or even an Ion Cannon to set up easy Range One rear arc shots for when you only have shots out the front.

Go with the Ion Cannon and title on the Y. The double tap is awesome, ion is awesome, and it'll make the Y a tempting enough target to take some heat potentially off of Kath.

If you have any room, Inertial Dampeners can also be pretty handy on Kath, as she moves pretty late in the round and it can be handy to simply "stay put" should someone be lined up in your rear arc before you move.

Expose is almost universally bad.

Expose is almost universally bad.

Yeah, and leaving Kath with a single defense dice is asking for all kinds of bad.

Anywho, messing with the squad builder, I came up with this, OP:

Kath Scarlet: Veteran Instincts, Ion Cannon, K4 Security Droid, Engine Upgrade

Binyare Pirate x2

Hired Gun: Ion Cannon Turret, Title, Unhinged Astromech

Could also drop the Hired Gun down to a Syndicate Thug and switch out VI on Kath for Push the Limit. She'll be doings lots of greens likely anyways to take advantage of the droid, PTL will then allow her to perform three of her four actions a turn. Feel free to leave the Agromech with a Blaster Turret if you want, but I prefer ICT over most things personally.

Either way puts you at 99 points. Stick with it and make an initiative bid, or you could use the last point for Inertial Dampeners on Kath.

Thanks for thine tips! Expose is indeed risky. The thought was to tie the enemy up with the other three ships and then use expose with the Firespray to finishe them off.

Don't have engine upgrades, PTL or ID's pretty much just what I listed. And stuff from the core sets for now.

Regarding ion cannons and turrets, I'm just concerned about how effective they really are. In an see the value on small ships certainly, it's large ships I wonder about.

Edited by Angerland

Thanks for thine tips! Expose is indeed risky. The thought was to tie the enemy up with the other three ships and then use expose with the Firespray to finishe them off.

Don't have engine upgrades, PTL or ID's pretty much just what I listed. And stuff from the core sets for now.

Regarding ion cannons and turrets, I'm just concerned about how effective they really are. In an see the value on small ships certainly, it's large ships I wonder about.

Mathematically, the extra red die from expose will net you as much additional damage as you'd get from a focus or TL action, so you're really just spending 4 points for the privilege of making yourself easier to kill. If you want to try a cute combo using the cards you own, consider Marksmanship and Gunner.

I've made revisions to the first list now. A bit more smooth I feel.

Might switch K4 for a Gunner

Edited by Angerland

Seems quite reasonable now. Play it and let us know how it goes.

Played the list in my first post with the following changes: took Kath with Gunner and HLC. It was 101 points but we were ok with the overage. Opponent had 4 x-wings: tarn, Gareth, Biggs and Rookie not sure of upgrades but I know Tarn had flechette torps.

Everything was ok but the Kath+ Gunner+ HLC wasn't that good. I always seemed to eke out at least 1 hit and so Gunner did squat. Was thinking before hand of going mangler and calculation pre game. Looking for some more ideas for a good Firespray build. The warthog Y and the Binayre Pirates were fine. Though I am tempted to drop to 3 ships making one of the headhunters N'dru perhaps.

Tips?

Ideas?

Mathematically, the extra red die from expose will net you as much additional damage as you'd get from a focus or TL action, so you're really just spending 4 points for the privilege of making yourself easier to kill. If you want to try a cute combo using the cards you own, consider Marksmanship and Gunner.

Actually I think it's less, IIRC, if you're using starting on 4 or more dice. Expose is better if you start with less dice, but also if you can get an action with it, hence experimental interface.

On the list though. I've seen people make good locally with Kath with VI and EU. Flavour with suitable crew if you have the points.