"The time has come," the Hedgehog said,

"To talk of many things:

Of Xizor and S-Loops and Sensors (Advanced),

Of StarVipers with butterfly wings"

I've been having great fun with Scum and Villainy. There are loads of great pilots and abilities that have really shaken up the game, but the one ship people really seem to be struggling with is the Star Viper.

On the face of it, the Star Viper should be a winner. It's got both a boost and a barrel roll, so there are plenty of options for repositioning - the only other ship with native access to both of these is the TIE Interceptor, the acknowledged king of arc-dodging now that the Phantom has been re-balanced. The Star Viper also has three evade dice, but with five hit points, as well as a three-dice main gun - also looking pretty good.

The problems start to appear once you take a close look at the dial. Because it doesn't have green hard turns, it isn't the reliable Push the Limit flyer that the Interceptor is. Despite it's stats, it's only an average jouster, especially given the premium price you pay for it.

So what exactly does the StarViper have going for it?

Well, the one almost-unique thing that it does have is the S-loop. Being able to make a k-turn with a built-in bank is pretty nice:

It gets a little more interesting when your opponent doesn't know where you're going to end up, thanks to the option of two S-loops:

All very nice so far - it's a little extra unpredictability, that might allow you to dodge an enemy who'd otherwise get a shot. You might even get to shoot them back un-opposed if you're lucky!

But we're missing a trick here. The Star Viper has the potential to be better here - a lot better. The key is in it's combination of upgrades and actions.

Before the StarViper, only the following ships had access to a boost action:

- A-Wing

- TIE Interceptor

Of course, you could add an Engine Upgrade, but not everyone has one of these cards - in fact it's probably the single most sought-after upgrade card in the game, only appearing in the Millennium Falcon box.

In addition, before the Star Viper, only the following ships had access to a systems slot:

- B-wing

- E-wing

- TIE Phantom

- Lambda shuttle

Both named StarViper pilots can get access to the Virago title, giving you a Systems slot (possibly the best upgrade slot in the game) for just one tiny point.

Before the Star Viper, the following ships had access to a a boost, a systems slot, and an S-loop:

.

..

..

Exactly - it's none.

Why is this important? Well, simply put, the Star Viper becomes amazing once Advanced Sensors are added.

The key is in the boost. Boosting after your move has happened is great for turning faster, or for getting out of arc. But boosting before your move happens causes something else entirely to happen. You don't just displace your final position by the distance of the move - you're changing the entire angle through which your entire move is conducted.

Let's see what happens if you boost before a left-handed S-loop:

Wow! suddenly you've got a choice of three different positions to end up in, all facing in radically different directions.

Of course, if you're higher pilot skill than your opponent, and there aren't too many asteroids or other ships in the way, they've got an even harder job, because they don't know which S-loop you'll select:

People are going to find it much harder to predict where you're going to end up - especially if you're higher pilot skill then they are, and can react to them. Even an Interceptor might be flummoxed by the possibilities allowed here.

Also note that as a side benefit, you become far harder to block - you've got so many options, it's virtually impossible for an opponent to put themselves in the way of all of them. Of course a smarter player might block your boost positions - but in this case you still have access to your un-boosted S-loop positions, or alternatively you can still do a barrel roll (which displaces your final position by the same distance and in the same direction as the initial barrel roll performed).

The final displacement allowed for here is actually similar in scale to the pre-FAQ'd Phantom, although it's worth noting there's nothing like the same level of action efficiency - and (don't forget this!) you'll probably want to do a green next turn.

Both Guri and Xizor have good synergies with this maneuver. Guri will still give you a focus token for offence or defence if you end up at range 1, while Xizor (in combination with VI) will get you to PS9 for maximum outmaneuvering unpredictability.

Of course, don't forget that if you don't need to boost then there's nothing to stop you from Target Locking or Focusing instead, so you're just as actioned-up as you would have been with a normal maneuver.

But why stop there? there's another ship with the same access to a native boost, a systems slot, and an S-loop - the IG-2000. For IG-88A, B and C, the options are pretty much identical, except that you're doing it with a large base ship rather than small, and thus you'll move further in each direction - this can be good or bad depending on the situation. In addition, you've got more green options to clear your stress next turn.

However, what about IG-88D? It allows you to use a turn template for your S-loop rather than a bank - which allows for some truly crazy final positions. (Note I've had to use small bases for the final positions, as I don't own enough large ship bases!)

Let your opponent get his head around that - if they can...

As an extra headache-inducer for your opponent, you also have the option of a standard 4-K-turn - with or without a pre-move boost as well!

IG-88D pairs very well with either B (because you're not taking any actions to improve your firepower) and C (you're already boosting - why not have an Evade token too!). VI can also help by reducing the opportunity for enemy ships to react to your final position.

I'm sure I'm not the only one to have figured all of this out, but I also suspect there are some players out there who haven't yet taken on board what an Advanced Sensors/Boost/S-loop combo can do for them.

So next time you're thinking of fielding a StarViper or IG-88, think about leaving Push the Limit behind, and instead consider Advanced Sensors and the merits of pre-S-Loop boosting.

Comments welcome

Thanks for laying this out for us so neatly. It makes me want to try a StarViper. I may eventually be able to get over how ugly they are. In casual play, I may just replace the model with a Colonial Viper instead.

I reckon this needs a name...

B-loop?

(Sounds like it has something to do with B-wings)

BooSloop?

(Sounds like a mildly scary yacht)

Boost-loop?

(That could work...)

I reckon this needs a name...

B-loop?

(Sounds like it has something to do with B-wings)

BooSloop?

(Sounds like a mildly scary yacht)

Boost-loop?

(That could work...)

Drop the hyphen and call it a bloop.

That's perfect. "Aww man, Xizor just blooped all over the board..."

And you'd get to call StarVipers "Bloopers."

small problem of advanced sensor viper is the expense associated and the lack of offensive output (assuming boost or roll) relative to the cost

they're not like phantoms or aggressor where you're shitting out four heavily modified and probably gunnered damage no matter how you move, they're still 3 dice thrown with predator and, at most, a focus token. While sensor Xizor is amazing fun, it's also incredibly painful to watch him plink uselessly away at aggressors or some other such stupid durable ship while the rest of his squad is torn apart. Sure, Xizor never dies, but in a tournament setting the victory is going to the Aggressors.

After devoting a significant amount of playtime to them (love Vipers ) I'm starting to believe Virago is overrated

Guri has never really needed it between predator and her ability covering for any potential loss of action and her Ps isn't high enough for the maneuverability to merit shenanigans. Xizor has the Ps but gets really expensive really quick which leaves his squad anemic for the amount of work he puts in. No upgrade has thus far felt essential for the Starviper apart from Auto-thrusters and Predator (LW for guri if you like, or V.I and FCS for Xizor).

Predator + Thrusters Guri/Xizor have been really solid center-pieces to some of my squadrons and I've had a blast running them at 35/6 points. Any higher, though, and they stop seeming worth it.

for anyone having trouble with Vipers, they're well rounded enough to do anything really, but they're very much like their cousin B-wings (seriously, their dials are identical minus the s-loops and the copious amounts of bleach) in that they love a good scrap. Starvipers have

1.) all the speed 1-2 maneuvers, minus the k-turn, and none are red (especially the almighty one turn)

2.) Segnor's, which gives you essentially two options of "k-turn," giving the Viper far more options to avoid getting blocked in a hairball

3.) both Xizor and Guri have abilities that work independently of actions, which makes getting blocked far less of a big deal

if you can afford to throw sensors on top of that, Starvipers becomes a ship that gives the least of a **** about getting blocked and can manage a hairball almost as if it weren't there. Unfortunately, given Wave 5's horridness popularized the 2-ship build (at least in my area) the hairball is not a reliable occurrence and I feel the Vipers are simply more efficient without the sensors.

Since its a scum only ability, maybe combine SCUM and BLOOPS to SCOOPERS☼

Ive been trying the same moves with the IG's and had a swam of 5 Ties to compete against yesterday, I lost but did do a lot of damage to those pesky little flies, umm ties. S-Loops were great to mix up the play and will be doing this again next game.

Cool to see something like this laid out with physical components!

Also, I think you meant to paid IG88-D with C at the end there, not D.

Great, now if only vigaro title wasn't unique and the best viper pilot wasn't at Ps 5 Star vipers would be very good.

Excellent work giving us a visual representation of the maneuverability of the StarViper.

For anyone wanting to utilize this type of maneuvering strategy, however, the key to using this effectively is for your opponent to have as little information as possible regarding where you may end up after you finish your maneuver. With the presence of obstacles and enemy ships, your opponent will often be able to narrow down your options to just a couple of likely candidates. A seasoned opponent will fly his ships in such a way as to limit your maneuvering options and will use a high-pilot-skill ship to react to your limited maneuvering options.

"Echo" suffers from the same downside of his maneuverability. That, combined with his lower pilot skill value, is why I hardly ever see "Echo" in tournaments these days.

To help mitigate this downside, it is important to set up obstacles in such a way as to give yourself a wide berth for maneuvering. Many people would think that the answer is to spread out the obstacles as much as possible by placing them close to the edges of the play area. In actuality, what will end up happening is that the obstacles will limit your maneuvering options. Instead, you want the obstacles grouped as tightly as possible. To do this, give your opponent initiative, if possible, then place all three of your three obstacles as close as you can to his first obstacle. Hopefully, you can place them close to one corner of the play area. This leaves your opponent only two obstacles to place elsewhere. Then, use Xizor with VI to ensure that you perform your maneuver as late as possible in the Activation Phase.

Good points there. It's also worth remembering that the board edge is the biggest obstacle around - keep your hyper-mobile ships away from the edge!

the good thing that sensors and de-cloaks have over other types of maneuverability is that they can navigate lesser-non-table-edge obstructions easily because they move before they move, in a matter of speaking (just don't block your pre-maneuver maneuvers)

Read the poem, immediately scrolled down to the "Like This" button.

Now I'm going to scroll back up and read the rest of the post.

Hmmmm...

Beware the JabbaHut, my son!
The fat that flubs, the tongue that's wet!

Beware the rancor pit, and shun

The fearsome Boba Fett!