Hello fellow Wing Commanders!

I'm list building for scum and villany. As I posted in another thread I have my main list down to start aging with, but as I'm looking at some other ship options I keep wondering about the HWK.

How do you folks use them? What kind of a role do they fill that another ship doesn't do better or as well?

Scum HWK's are all about the pilot ability. Palob pinches focus or evade tokens so stops your opponent choosing them for their action. Pair this with the Opportunist EPT and you have a potent damage dealer. Torkil reduces a ships (within range 1-2) PS to 0. Coupled with a Blaster Turret/Recon Spec/Moldy Crow set up and you have another potential damage dealer. Dace allows you to take a stress to cause an Ioned ship at range 1-3 one damage. Not as potent but still additional damage... Especially as you can equip him with an Ion Cannon Turret!

As you can see, whereas Rebel HWK's are in essence support ships, their Scum counterparts are as much geared towards boosting damage output as supporting their comrades! I'm currently either running Torkil Mux alongside Emon and a Syndicate Warthog or Torkil, Palob and Kavil.

Palob makes for a fun turret when pairing his ability with Opportunist. Ran this against my wife in our one game of Scum action so far and left her X-Wing reeling in just one round: Palob + Opportunist + Crow Title + Recon Specialist + Engine Upgrade + Blaster Turret, comes out at 38 points. Ditch the EU though if you like (just added for flavor, but it made up for a crappier dial + stress). He packs a wallop, and if you can steal evade tokens, it'll stack nicely with your focus tokens as well. Otherwise, targets are ripe for the picking, unless they tank up with PTL.

Dace has the chance, with an Ion Turret, to double dip when you connect with your shot (or someone else Ions the target and Dace is close enough). This helps make Ion Damage not only an effective way to limit the mobility of an enemy ship, but also an attack that does two damage every time, rather than one (assuming you have space for stress).

Torkil can take the wind right out of a high PS pilot and allow weaker enemies to take some potshots, and possibly even remove a potent enemy from the board before it gets a chance to fire.

I'm new to the game, so I'm still working out some builds and lists that synergize well with HWKs, but Scum HWKs are fun. Stealing a token with Palob? The reaction is always priceless.

Ah I see it now. I was caught up looking at the ship stats and saw that piss poor attack score and agility score and couldn't get past it. I like the idea of a scum ship stealing tokens!

Now to figure out what other ships to add with it! Thanks for the heads up!

Gnoizic, I'd be very interested to see what you come up with list wise!

Dace works even better when paired with at least a second ship rocking Ion. Not only will it allow you to potentially ion larger ships in a single turn (always nice), but it also means Dace's ability won't go to waste if his turret isn't in range of any ships or if he misses. Throw in a single Scyk with an ion cannon, and you can pop someone all the way out at range three from both Dace and the Scyk with Dace's extra damage. Blast a tight flying squad at distance with an Ion Torpedo from a Y, and then leisurely take your pick of which ship caught in the blast takes the extra damage. Heck, make it a Warthog Y and throw a pair of Flechette Torpedoes on there for stress inducing goodness.

But I'd say try to use Dace only as a "a ship with a chance to double his damage output" is the wrong way to go about him. He's there to take a list with some solid ion control potential and help burn defenseless ships down all the quicker. I'm absolutely waiting for a chance to try one of my Dace lists against dual aggressors, as they're not immune to stress from a Flechette torpedo (and often stress themselves via S-turns). Use K4 to TL+Focus on Dace, keep a second ioner focused on the IG, and rip the poor bastard apart before the second IG can tear you apart with its guns.

And I'll say this: Palob can be incredibly awesome. I've seen a lot of people pair him with Kath Scarlet and give both of them Opportunist. The damage potential from Kath firing out her rear arc against ships you can rob of Focus/Evade tokens is pretty sick, as is Palob effectively becoming a 4-dice turret.

Support and firepower and some control. Area defense.

They're so good.

Never forget that they are a support ship first, and then maybe some damage when they can. Their abilities are why they are there. If you overload them with points they won't have as much to support and they get too big of a target on their head. They wither quickly to concentrated firepower and they are easy to line up on. Keep them to as few points as you can to make them effective, and run with it.

Hey guys.

This is my first post here and since I've been playing exclusively Scum since the wave launched and I've been experimenting with HWK's a lot I thought I would share with you all what I've been using with some success.

Kavil: Wingman, Ion Cannon Turret, R4-B11

Dace Bonearm: Ion Cannon Turret, Hull Upgrade.

Syndicate Thug: Blaster Turret, BTL-A4 Y-Wing, Unhinged Astromech

Binayre Pirate

Kavil and Dace both have PS 7 so I can choose who to shoot with first. Kavil' gets +1 when shooting outside his fire arc with the ion cannons and on a hit allow for Dace's special to deal 1 point of auto damage for a stress. Should Dace also hit that's enough ion to control a large ship and now your up to 3 points of damage as well. R4-B11 forces Kavil's targets to reroll defense dice for a target lock increasing the chance that the shot wont be evaded and the Kavil/Dace combo works as intended. Kavil's wingman upgrade clears Dace's stress at the top of combat next turn and allows the whole process to repeat. The Syndicate Thug is basically 5 attack dice and with all his 3 maneuvers counting as green ones due to Unhinged Astromech he has much more maneuverability and since he needs a focus to fire his turret that helps keeping the stress from red moves off. At 12 points the Binayre Pirate is a blocker and 2 more attack dice. This comes in at 100 points.

If anyone has thoughts on improving this I would love to hear them. Thanks and I hope I added something to the discussion.

Heat score - they are the distraction the real threat needs to get in position.

Gnoizic, I'd be very interested to see what you come up with list wise!

I don't have a name for this yet, and I'm just tinkering at the moment (that and I don't have all the cards, so I can't playltest this myself just yet), but here's a list that could get a good bit of synergy going around.

Kath Scarlet (38)

-Outmaneuver (3)

Palob Godalhi (20)

-Recon Specialist (3)

-Moldy Crow (3)

-Opportunist (4)

-Blaster Turret (4)

Kaa'to Leeachos (15)

-Hotshot Blaster (3)

-Bodyguard (2)

-Munitions Failsafe (1)

Total: 100

Palob looks fat, and he is, for his hull, but the list around him can help, as can opportunistically hijacking an extra focus token or an evade. Here's how things work, at least in concept:

Palob can maintain Focus tokens, effectively making him a bit of a Focus Factory for Leeachos, who can lift a token from nearby allies and feel free to use his own action to have a Focus or TL in hand before the round gets underway. A prime advantage to this pairing is that you don't have to make your choices until the Combat round begins. If Palob's going to get the brunt of the attack (and he just might), he can hang on to the tokens for himself. But Palob's also got a nice boost maneuver added with the Engine Upgrade. He'll be able to arc dodge away from lower PS pilots, and hopefully still have reserve Focus tokens/be in range to hijack tokens from enemies when Combat starts. He may also use that boost to sneak up on an unsuspecting enemy and steal it's token (no risk if it's lower PS, they'll already have their actions taken). Engine Upgrade keeps Palob mobile, especially for a ship with such a terrible dial. It's certainly optional, but I've enjoyed having a nimble little arc dodger where once stood a ship dead in the water. Opportunist makes Palob's token leeching antics a great pairing for the Blaster Turret, making it into a 4 dice, 360° powerhouse against a ship with no extra tokens to spend. Oh, how the tables can turn. At Range 3, Palob can't do any real damage on a target, but he can at least gain an extra defense die and spend that stacked Focus on defense. As always, green dice either love or hate HWKs, but at least with Palob, enemies either take him at Range 3 and face the extra die on defense, or they step into the ring at Range 1-2 and take the extra attack die in the face when their tokens get sapped up.

Leeachos, as mentioned, can take a token of his choice, if need be. This pairs well with Palob, as he can take the Focus/Evade token that Palob has stolen and use it for himself (both of these abilities trigger at the start of combat, so the order is up to you, which means Palob then Leeachos). His Bodyguard ability also makes him a nice asset to Kath Scarlet, bringing her up to 3 Agility as long as Leeachos survives. It may cost a Focus, but, don't forget, Leeachos can lift one of those from Palob (who may have lifted it from an enemy he's about to Opportunize), then immediately spend it to give Kath the boost. Again, it's all situational. If Kath's in someone's arc, spend the Focus and save her. If she's not, let Leeachos hold it himself. Sadly, he can't use his ability to help out poor Palob, as they're the same pilot skill, but that may prove to be less of an issue with Kath in this build. K-Turns also aren't the end of the world with Leeachos, as he can still effectively snag himself an action by leeching a Focus/Evade.

On paper, Kath in this list looks naked. And she very well may be. I've toyed with giving her a HLC, to give her at least 4 dice in all Ranges in both arcs (and 5 dice at Range 1 in the rear), but, alas, I didn't want this to be either a two ship list or a three ship list with a bare minimum Z-95. Options are there, with cutting out Leeachos, even taking out the Engine Upgrade on Palob (and stripping either Recon Spec or Moldy Crow, but those are risky plays), or anything else, but I think there's a bit of fun to be had here. Outmaneuver alone helps keep this squad intact, lest your enemies take the brunt of the consequences. If your enemy starts chasing one ship, Kath knocks down their agility by one as she attacks out of either arc, adding a die with her back arc. Enemies chase Kath, Leeachos can keep upping her agility while borrowing tokens Palob stole, and Palob can boost out of arcs. Outmaneuver on Kath makes her a particular threat to Falcons, who only have 1 agility and, without it, they can't use C-3PO. That helps limit the mobility of a Falcon or other turreted enemy, even a Kenkirk who has lost his shields and is hoping to tank with his ability and Isard. Palob, again, can take a Falcon's/Decimator's evade token as well, if close enough, before the shooting even begins, spinning evade options back down to 0 against Kath's 4 dice in the rear arc. If you're not chipping away shields and hull on a low agility ship like the Falcon that way, combined with a target lock or Focus, then tacking on the possibility of Palob throwing another 4 dice against one evade die, it's just a case of bad dice luck. Statistically, you should be able to smash a Falcon like this. It paints a target on Kath's back, which gets by with a little help from Leeachos' Bodyguard and frees your other ships up for some fun. When enemies stray from Kath, she punishes them, and punishes them good.

Again, all theoretical, but I'd love to give this list a try. Anyone have any modifications to this list? Give Kath HLC? An EPT?

Never forget that they are a support ship first, and then maybe some damage when they can. Their abilities are why they are there. If you overload them with points they won't have as much to support and they get too big of a target on their head. They wither quickly to concentrated firepower and they are easy to line up on. Keep them to as few points as you can to make them effective, and run with it.

Dace with EU, K4, & ICT is fun to play, but a little pricy for what you get.

Not sure the HWK benefits from a barrel roll what with a turret upgrade possible.

I ran a list with Torkil Mux and six bare Z-95s. Torkil had the Moldy Crow title, Stealth Device, and Inertial Dampeners so he could get in the mix and hang for a few turns. The Headhunters did all the shooting; Torkil just made high-PS targets shoot last.

Torkil's ability is obviously good offensively - letting all of those PS 1 and 3 pick off, say, a decloaked Phantom before it can use Advanced Cloaking Device - but it actually has a pretty powerful defensive effect. You can strip Focus off of offensive powerhouses with all the low-PS shots and make the other guy take unmodified shots. And by forcing one of the opposing ships to shoot last, you can make sure his target gets a chance to shoot before dying, very helpful for getting a leg up on attrition.

Torkil is hilarious paired with 2 Predator Mando Mercs.

Hmmmm mux and flight instructor actually works. Still seems really expensive though

In either a rebel or scrum list, I think a Hawk's primary role is to generate hate. They all so something irritating an potentially crippling. If you pair them with dangerous unique pilots or swarms, you create a tough choice for who your opponent should focus on.

The first time I used Palob to pull tokens off of ships, it drove my opponent crazy and combined with a blaster turret it made the HWK a lot more dangerous than it otherwise might be in a rebel build.

Not sure the HWK benefits from a barrel roll what with a turret upgrade possible.

I found BR helpful for arc dodging while the turret allows him to fire. Expert handling also allows removal of a enemy target lock which further limits enemy actions against Palob.

The first time I used Palob to pull tokens off of ships, it drove my opponent crazy and combined with a blaster turret it made the HWK a lot more dangerous than it otherwise might be in a rebel build.

Picked up Scum the other day and a Falcon to get my collection a little further underway (still pretty new to the game myself). I let my wife play as the Rebels w/Han, figuring it would be easier for her to have a fat ship that can fire in a 360° arc. Her little X-Wing got close to Palob in the first round of combat. I had Opportunist and a Blaster Turret on him for added effect. She Focused. Palob jacked it, rolled four dice, all hits (at least after switching Focus results to hits, thanks Moldy Crow!), and she rolled two Foci, which were now worthless. Left her with one hull. "I don't want to play anymore."

Took it a little easier on her for the rest of the game, got Palob blown up (she came after him with a vengeance) and didn't have the tonnage to last against Han with my remaining ships. But the initial reaction was priceless. <3 Palob.