Let's talk Bossk

By Sparklelord, in X-Wing

Did anyone else notice the boost info card in with the hounds tooth. I'm guessing it gains the boost action from that maneuver upgrade card next to the ion something's.

As someone pointed out, the ship already comes with an Engine Upgrade.

Note that the card is YV-666 only. That indicates that it exists specifically to either mitigate a unique drawback of the YV or enhance a unique benefit of the YV.

My suspicion is that the ship has an absolutely pathetic dial, and the "Maneuver (Whatever)" card is a way to help it get around.

Here's my prediction (legible words in the photo are bolded):

Maneuvering F(ins)

YV-666 (Only)

When (you reveal a)

maneuver (you may)

increase (its speed)

by 1 (total? Not sure what word fits here best)

So perhaps it has the game's worst dial... like... 1 banks, 1+2 straight, and that's all. No hard turns (but the 180 degree arc to compensate). Use the Maneuvering Fins to add 2 banks and a 3 straight.

Any thoughts as to what the new firing arc is, you can tell from the pictures of the pilot cards that the attack symbol is a bit different from normal?

Yeah, I noticed that too - was really expecting everyone else to have seen it by now, so glad it's apparently only a couple of us who've pointed it out!

It has auxiliary arcs stretching out to 180 degrees. He'll be a brutal tactician carrier

Edited by WarriorPoet

Bossk 35(54)

Expose 4

Mangler 4

Experimental Interface 3

Recon 3

K4 3

Greedo 1

Inertial Dampeners 1

Warthog+Ions x2(46)

4 dice with a focus and TL and a free crit that turns into 2 hits...Cheesus. Crust.

Would also like to try wingman on a z-95 or the new fighter.

While this is potentially brutal, Bossk will probably only do it once before he's in his escape ship. The Tooth's pretty fragile for something with a big base.

So am I blind or does the thing have a missile upgrade slot but doesn't come with any missile upgrade cards?!? How weird is that?

Bossk 35(54)

Expose 4

Mangler 4

Experimental Interface 3

Recon 3

K4 3

Greedo 1

Inertial Dampeners 1

Warthog+Ions x2(46)

4 dice with a focus and TL and a free crit that turns into 2 hits...Cheesus. Crust.

Would also like to try wingman on a z-95 or the new fighter.

While this is potentially brutal, Bossk will probably only do it once before he's in his escape ship. The Tooth's pretty fragile for something with a big base.

???

It has one less HP than the Falcon.

Looking at the text we can see, I think Ion Pr- is a bit like anti pursuit lasers but ion rather than damage.

Large ship [only, Modification.]

After [an enemy ship]

executes [a maneuver that]

causes [it to overlap your]

ship, ro[ll an attack dice. On]

a hit o[r crit result, the]

enem[y ship receives]

1 io[n token]

Bossk and HLC doesn't work :( HLC cancels crits before Bossk kicks in if i understand rules.

Bossk 35(54)

Expose 4

Mangler 4

Experimental Interface 3

Recon 3

K4 3

Greedo 1

Inertial Dampeners 1

Warthog+Ions x2(46)

4 dice with a focus and TL and a free crit that turns into 2 hits...Cheesus. Crust.

Would also like to try wingman on a z-95 or the new fighter.

While this is potentially brutal, Bossk will probably only do it once before he's in his escape ship. The Tooth's pretty fragile for something with a big base.

???

It has one less HP than the Falcon.

You see, I'm up too late. I read the 1 Agility for 1 Shield. x.x

Bossk and HLC doesn't work :( HLC cancels crits before Bossk kicks in if i understand rules.

Then you include a way to make a crit, like Markmanship.

A few things I noticed here, maybe they have already been discussed elsewhere, but would also be relevant in this Bossk thread:

Nashtah Pup has an Asterisk for Pilot Skill... This could mean all sorts of stuff. Maybe it will match whatever pilot skill your YV-666 pilot was when it got destroyed.

Also, you can see the Z95 pilot card for Bossk in the token mix... So the pilot card one one side will have the Nashtah Pup and then Bossk on the other side. This means that Bossk is also a new addition to the Z95 community of pilots and, if I am not mistaken, the first character to have two ship versions and a crew version.

Lastly, one of the first things I noticed was that the ship token for YV-666 has 7 hull, but the pilot cards shown only have 6... Is this a typo? Do we know the real number?

Any thoughts as to what the new firing arc is, you can tell from the pictures of the pilot cards that the attack symbol is a bit different from normal?

Yeah, I noticed that too - was really expecting everyone else to have seen it by now, so glad it's apparently only a couple of us who've pointed it out!

I doubt it's an issue of people missing it and more a matter of not having anything to say about it. As we walked out of the FFG panel on Friday at Celebration VII, I said to my brother, "So, looks like Bossk has auxillary firing arcs to the side. That's cool." My brother nodded and said, "Yep." That was the end of that conversation. To me, it's basically just splitting and rotating a Firespray's arc to the side. It's neat, but I didn't have anything else to say about it. But the Tactician idea is neat. Not owning that card, it never would have crossed my mind to use it with the YV-666.

it has ion missiles or something,

I wonder if you could take the pup as a regular ship, not just an escape pod-like ship

**** it, just give him EI+Expose. Bossk is now the Death Star.

This could actually be a thing. A K4 Droid would make clearing the stress extremely profitable. Just need a way to generate consistent criticals...

...well, hello there Mr Mercenary Co-Pilot...

My take on Bossk would be Recon spec + calculation. Compared to mango cannon it loses some consistency in front arc and long range, but hit harder at range 1 and secondary arc, and you night even have focus left for defence

My take on Bossk would be Recon spec + calculation. Compared to mango cannon it loses some consistency in front arc and long range, but hit harder at range 1 and secondary arc, and you night even have focus left for defence

You are better off just going with Marksmanship. The Hounds Tooth only has 1 Agi, so a second Focus is pointless. Save a point.

Sithborg, I feel that a Recon Specialist + Calculation would still be viable because sometimes you get shot at range 3 and will be rolling 2 defense dice. I would probably choose a different crew though, after getting a look at the dial (Outlaw Tech), but I can see it as viable for the points.

I don't remember if you can trigger calculation multiple times with one attack (I think it's just the one), but you could use the second focus to make the rest of your eyeballs hits as well. Still get your crit and your hits, instead of choosing to not use calculation. This offers a 'little' bit of flexibility compared to Marksmanship.

I will probably end up using Outlaw Tech, K4 Security Droid, and Calculation on my Bossk. Green maneuver, get TL and can take a focus...red maneuver, still get your focus and set up a green TL maneuver next turn...can trigger calculation on the offense.

If you are getting attacked multiple times or defending from Range 3+, Recon Specialist will come in handy as the best defensive option, but I feel the other crews will be better for overall action economy...maybe there will be something out there to further increase the YV-666 defense to where we would prefer the Recon Specialist

Just my two credits though.

Edited by Deepspace5

Calculation or Marksman could be better than a Mangler Cannon. Recall that the Cannon won't work in the auxiliary firing arc. So, you might get more uses out of Calculation and/or Marksman.

Personally, I see them as a toss up. For one, Calculation is cheaper and if you don't use it, you might actually need it for that 1 defense die.

I still don't think the Mangler is a terrible idea with Bossk: he'll effectively be turning it into a cheaper HLC, and all he'll need is one hit to guarantee two.

And it still has an advantage over Calculation or Marksmanship in that it'll help him do that damage even at long range against high agility targets.

But Calculation is really tempting with him. Super cheap and you can use it in your zany awesome arc. RecSpec still might be useful to allow you to have a focus to change the rest of your dice to hits, but not necessary.

My only problem with Marksmanship is that it requires an action, meaning it'll be your only dice modifier most of the time (without PTL, EI, or a Squad Leader). But if you can get him TLing+Markmanshipping, maybe with a K4, he'll be lethal(er). But again, Calc and Markmanship both require you to roll at least one focus in order to get that crit, which is hardly a guarantee. A Mangler just needs a hit.

You are correct. None of those are bad ideas. They each are situationally better than the other.

Calculation = Cheapest option. You can use it whenever you get a Focus. If you don't need it, you can use it for defense. Use in axillary arc.

Marksmanship = Works if you roll more than one eyeball. Cheaper than Mangler. Requires an action. Use in axillary arc.

Mangler Cannon = ALWAYS turns a hit into a crit. Greater chance of using, but smaller firing arc. Still, you don't need an action to use it. You can bump and still fire at a different target and use the ability. Most expensive option.

Edited by heychadwick