So I just have the one aggressor, and I really enjoy flying it. Previously, I've run 4 Z's with it and had mild success. Once, after iggy bit it early, the 50 points of z-95 went on to beat dash and two b-wings.

But now I'm looking to fight against what I think will be a powerful force come regionals, the quad B Variants.

I've heard that ion is a good way to control the B's, and I can fit 2 thugs with ion cannons and agromechs into the list. Good consistent ions. Or I can swap the agro for an unhinged and slap the title on them, and pump damage with some ion effects.

I've also briefly considered running 2 naked black sun starvipers. For 25 each, they pack a mean punch while you worry about iggy.

Once, after iggy bit it early, the 50 points of z-95 went on to beat dash and two b-wings.

Yeah, that still haunts my dreams. Perfectly pin IG-88 down, two round of firing to burn him down, and then the Z-95s turn into some mutant version of HLC-carrying Autoceptors. Just painful.

I would probably opt for the Y-Wings's, though it's a fairly close call.

The Starvipers are probably more robust due to their agility a much more powerful movement dial and actions. Once you had that intial engagement, they will probably be in a good postion to out arc the B's if they get past the intial pass. Just the vast majority of their worth would be in their Green Dice to block out a good amount of the damage.

But Y-wings are robust in the sense that they have a solid body and will take 8 damage before it dies, not to mention the damage output is probably better, along with being able to control the movement of small ships (and very occational big ones). This allows you to crawl up close and blast the stuffing out of the ships. Their movement dial isn't as good so I imagine wars of attrition would go in favour of the B's. That being said, with the Aggressor backing them up I imagine they would be incredible if planned well.

Theres also the alternative of taking a Y-Wing and a Z-95 Katos with assault missles, at 20 points you can have a focused target locked explosion by leeching the Focus from someone that would do crushing damage against 1 ship and deal a little more damage to others. It also leaves 5 points for any additional tampering, though I am fairly certain that this is a non-standard recommendation and I am not entirely sure whether it would be all that good compared to the benefits of a second Y-Wing in the long haul.

Altenratively, there is Palob for 25 points, who can leech focus from other pilots and can blast away with an ion cannon. That may be useful if you are specially good at picking your engagements and the threat of the HWK might be enough to lure them away from the obvious aggressor.

Theres also the alternative of taking a Y-Wing and a Z-95 Katos with assault missles, at 20 points you can have a focused target locked explosion by leeching the Focus from someone that would do crushing damage against 1 ship and deal a little more damage to others. It also leaves 5 points for any additional tampering, though I am fairly certain that this is a non-standard recommendation and I am not entirely sure whether it would be all that good compared to the benefits of a second Y-Wing in the long haul.

That's brilliant! I think that's the first solid use of Kaa'to that I've seen! I'm not sure that 1 damage spread around is going to do much, though. I think your ideal situation would be for the opponent to fear the assault missiles so much that he breaks formation, but I think most players will realize that the one assault missile isn't worth breaking formation over.

Here's an idea:

IG-88B (Predator, Mangler Cannon, Advanced Sensors, Inertial Dampeners, Autothrusters) - 49 points

Emon Azzameen (Andrasta, Proximity Mines x3, Experimental Interface, K4 Security Droid) - 51 points

100 points

You could also go with Recon Specialist on Emon instead of K4 Security Droid, for a bit more survivability, but it's got great synergy as is. Another option would be to remove 1 Prox Mine from Emon to change IG-88B's cannon to a HLC.

2x naked starvipers is a really interesting list.

I think the thing that threatens you the most while flying a slow moving 50 points Z-95 escort, specifically against the 4B variants, is that they can play it even slower than you and get enough shots to remove guns off the board. Ion control is great, but not if the B-Wings that get ioned still have a lot of space between them and your ships. During my last spring kit tournament, I lost twice to BBBBZ using this:

3x Blue + ion cannon

Gold + ICT + R3-A2 + title

Massive control, right? Should be good against AGI 1? Both games had the same result, one of my B was either dead or crippled near extinction after the first round of shooting, no matter what and I couldn't punch back hard enough. As soon as you lose a ship and get to 5 ships vs 3 ships, you suffer from landslide effect.

Arc dodging sounds good against the problem you're attempting to solve. Ion warthogs? I'd feel comfortable with 3 (which leaves your IG out) and feel uneasy with just 2.

Also, is it time to bring back IG-88A? Is the meta going away from 2 ship builds enough to make it worthwhile? Recovering shields is a nasty game effect and while C is also a good damage soaker, it cuts down on your maneuvering freedom. You do have to commit to not have to use B's ability if you go for A, but that can be helped with

1) FCS

2) PTL + ADVs

or in parallel

3) Running Palob to remove defensive focus.

Theres also the alternative of taking a Y-Wing and a Z-95 Katos with assault missles, at 20 points you can have a focused target locked explosion by leeching the Focus from someone that would do crushing damage against 1 ship and deal a little more damage to others. It also leaves 5 points for any additional tampering, though I am fairly certain that this is a non-standard recommendation and I am not entirely sure whether it would be all that good compared to the benefits of a second Y-Wing in the long haul.

That's brilliant! I think that's the first solid use of Kaa'to that I've seen! I'm not sure that 1 damage spread around is going to do much, though. I think your ideal situation would be for the opponent to fear the assault missiles so much that he breaks formation, but I think most players will realize that the one assault missile isn't worth breaking formation over.

Aye, ironically Kaa'to has a fantastic pilot effect for an oridence ship, but unfortunately simply doesn't have enough slots to gain significant use out of his ability since after the first shot you only have a two dice weapon to attack with. To be honest most craft can do sangifcantly better then that unless one is willing to make him even more expensive.

I like the idea of palob and a starviper. I'll get half the ions, but force target locks. The starviper can pound on whoever the aggressor is pounding. I like it.

I'm looking to fight against what I think will be a powerful force come regionals, the quad B Variants.

But... But... I hadn't told you I was bringing B-Wings for regionals yet, Nick... You can't steal my thunder!

I've been running ig88b with lone wolf and pairing it with Kath. You get great spacing and solid firepower

I may test a math build, but it won't be with iggy.

What I reeeeally want is that khiraxz. Need to fill out the mid range fighter role.

something that i'm noticing while watching the yourhobbyplace regional is that my solo aggressor/escorts dont fare well against double aggressors.

Mu0n while I really would love to love A I feel like it's just too weak even with 5 ship builds out there... The problem is first you have to be missing shields to get the effect, the wrong one could be the one to finish the ship, and even with 4 possible gains (max against bbbbz) you would still likely get far more damage mitigation overall from the free evade after boosting across a whole game. I really wish I could use my A but I probably wouldn't except MAYBE 7-8 ship swarms. Even then that's a maybe for me

Personally I love flying Fett with B. Hammer and anvil style. You can load Fett up to be super hard hitting or make him tankier if you prefer. Or you can make B tanky with things like sensor jammer (hothie I believe flew a really cool tanky IG with SJ, check out his journal in BatReps if you want to find it). Cluster missles on Fett would also serve well against any bwing. Good chance with IG of killing a bwing first round of shooting before they even get a shot ;P

Another one I would like to try is bug zapper Zs as support. I just only have 2 Zs atm so I can't yet

Also Nikk solo aggressor can do just fine against duo, but you really need VI for that matchup. If you move after the other IGs that will make all the difference in the world.