I see a lot of Brobots doing really well on tourneys, then fizzling out during eliminations. Personally, I have just swapped from Fett88 to Brobots after several months of Fett88 when I noticed that in 90% of my wins, Iggy was the one doing all the work and rocking out.

But now I have to wonder, what are you, my brotherly murder bots, actually losing to in competitive play? I don't care about what we tend to think of as counters to the bots, I want to know, first hand, what's actually getting between you and victory? And what flavor of brobot are you running (there are oh so many!)?

What's a brobot?

What's a Fett88?

IG-Fetty8 gives you a ship that the enemy can concentrate on while the Aggressor can flank. It also has 3 firing arcs instead of 2, and a PS advantage.

Dual Aggressor lists have a difficult time against Soontir Fel + Chiraneu lists, which are showing up often, as Fel has very few arcs to worry about dodging, and Chiraneau doesn't have to worry about many attack dice coming at him.
Even with HLCs, you're expecting to deal 3 damage to him per attack, and he's got 16 hp.
That's an expectation to survive 5 attacks from your Aggressors, and variance is on his side.

Dual Aggressor lists have a hard time in dense asteroids against an enemy who knows how to slow-roll to dictate the location of combat, as they can ONLY go quickly. Fett has the advantage at Range 1, while Aggressors have the advantage at Range 3.

Et c.

What's a brobot?

What's a Fett88?

Brobots are any dual ig88 list. fett88 is scum boba fett and an ig88

Rebel control.

Rebel control.

Yep, stress is the biggest threat to dual-Aggressor lists. It's a problem for most builds of course, but IG-88s really need their actions to shine.

PTL Dash is my biggest problem ATM. It's almost impossible to keep him in arc

My list:

IG88-B&D: Veteran Instincts, Inertial Dampeners, Fire Control System, Autothrusters, IG-2000 Title, Heavy Laser Cannon

Total: 98 Points

I was able to beat a Chiraneu+Fel list with Brobots. I was able to catch Fel at range 3 in both of my arcs in turn 2. I managed to get one crit through him thus destroying the stealth device and the crit was wounded pilot. Fel again took fire from both bots on turn 3 and died, but so did IG88-D due to focused fire from Chiraneu. By then IG88-B was behind Chiraneu, so I kept him at range 3 to mitigate damage and took Chiraneu down in turn 7 due to HLC with FCS.

Using D instead of C changes asteroid fields from something to be feared to something that can work for you. VI with D also allows you to react to most ships, giving you the option to 3 sharp K-turn, 3 bank K-turn, or used inertial dampeners to just stay still. 98 Points allows an initiative bid.

Downside is that positioning is everything. Without the free evade from C it is so important to stay out of arc and make good use of autothrusters. Thankfully using D with VI really helps open your options.

Anyone face off vs. Xizor and 5 Binayre Pirates? What's there to look out for?

One of the things I have enjoyed about playing dual Aggressor is that there are very few matchups that scare me. There may be sub-optimal ones, but I remain convinced that with the right target priority and tactical choices, even bad matchups are winnable.

A couple episodes back, the NOVA Squadron Radio team did a pretty good look at a lot of the squad archetypes in the current meta:

https://community.fantasyflightgames.com/index.php?/topic/174518-nova-squadron-radio-–-episode-23-“regionals-prep-show/?p=1598601

Scrolling down that list, I can say that I have struggled some with 4B's, Panic Attack, and Engine Upgrade Firesprays, all for different reasons.

• 4B's is just a lot of hit points to have to chew through with that many red dice coming back at you. You can arc dodge these guys for a while, but you'll eventually take shots. The key, I think, is to never play the B-Wing's game - close range combat - and use your superior speed plus boosting to disengage and re-engineer a more favorable engagement when required. I need some more practice against this list.
• The various iterations on Panic Attack tend to be an irritant as well. Anything that generates stress is obviously going to cause me issues, to the point where I would actually prefer to boost into Range 1 against a Tactician'ed up B-Wing than sit at Range 2 and take multiple stress. One stress to IG is not that big a deal; the Aggressor dial is very friendly in this regard. Two or more, however, is bad juju. The Stresshog (R3-A2 on a Y-Wing with BTL title) is also a high priority target, but can usually be downed in a couple rounds of focused fire. The concern then is: what have the Stresshog's buddies been up to while he's been playing Biggs?
• Engine Upgrade Firesprays have only recently come to my attention as something I struggle against because they turn off Autothrusters. I never mind chasing opponents who can shoot me (i.e. turrets) with an Aggressor; doing so virtually guarantees me a free evade every time I have to roll dice. Unless it is a Firespray. "Regular" Firesprays are not that big a problem, but ones with Engine Upgrade that are able to boost out of my firing arcs... those are a hassle.
• I haven't played against a lot of Chirpy + Fel, but I think this would be a tough matchup as well. Burning down a Decimator isn't too hard, but cleaning Fel up has the potential to be rough... especially if it's 1v1.

TIE swarms don't bother me much. A well played Z swarm gave me some fits in Tulsa; it was a great game and a narrow loss, and I think I took away some good lessons for next time. I haven't flown against bug zappers or post-nerf Phantom at all.

Anyone face off vs. Xizor and 5 Binayre Pirates? What's there to look out for?

I had a great game against betes' Xizor and Meatshields list in Tulsa. I lost on time 36-51, only killing 3 Z's in exchange for IG-88D. I made a tactical error with my initial deployment and movement that I only realized about 4 turns in that didn't help me, allowing the engagement to occur near one of the board edges that severely limited 88D's movement options. I would love a re-match against the list (and the opponent) because it was probably my favorite game of the day.

My recommendations would be:

1. Try and engineer any combat more towards the center of the board so as not to artificially restrict your movement options. A good swarm player will instinctively try and block you. If you are packing Advanced Sensors this is not really that big a problem, however the board edges will limit your avenues of escape should you decide to disengage and re-position for a new line of attack. I made this mistake and it eventually got IG-88D blown up.
2. Focus on the Z's... at first. Obviously your opponent wants you to leave Xizor alone, and you're going to have to play his game for a few rounds of combat. Once you've downed about 3 Z's or so, I'd say it was time to start trying to get Xizor off the board. Even if he foists a few hits off to his remaining buddies, if you are able to engineer an end game of one Aggressor versus a couple of wounded Z's, I think that's a win.

PTL Dash is my biggest problem ATM. It's almost impossible to keep him in arc

Curious question: Have you tried sending one of your Aggressors as a blocker? I know it sucks not getting both shots but denying his actions is really quite good. Big ships are hilarious blockers when flown well.

My biggest opponent is green dice.

Oh and myself.

I'm getting devastated by jousters. I think the issue is a lack of patience. I need to take the time to keep circling my prey until I can get a shot without being shot, but I always feel like it will take too long so I just rush head-long into the fire and get myself blown up.

I've recently demolished a B/D Combo carrying HLC, FCS, Feedback Array and two EPTs I don't remember with my BBBBZ list during a nationals qualifier tournament here in my country.

Quickly learned to eat 1-2 damage with the first attack, so he doesn't get to shoot 4RD+TL with his B-Bot capability.

Also flew at him in a box and then fanned out to cast a net on him for the initial joust, the Z-95 going down center to cause bumping and loss of actions.

Contracted the net back into a box to cover and focus the most damaged one down in the 2nd round of shooting. Before he died, the top Bot used Feedback Array on the badly damaged Z-95, killing it.

After that it was 4Bs vs his D-Bot, didn't take too long.

I relished the win, because I usually do not fly well against the Brobots, especially B/C combos.

I'm getting devastated by jousters. I think the issue is a lack of patience. I need to take the time to keep circling my prey until I can get a shot without being shot, but I always feel like it will take too long so I just rush head-long into the fire and get myself blown up.

The Aggressor with Autothrusters doesn't mind jousting at Range 3; under no circumstances does he want to find himself jousting at Range 1. They are, of course, better on the flanks, which is one thing that makes 88D's ability fun.

Anyone face off vs. Xizor and 5 Binayre Pirates? What's there to look out for?

I dont have a ton of experience with the brobots but i've played two similar lists: xizor and 5 pirates and e'tahn and 5 bandits. I prefer the xizor matchup. If you got an HLC don't be afraid to shoot xizor, you'll put damage through.

On the flip side, you have to also be dropping zs. Assuming you lose one IG eventually (which is entirely possible given the number of dice getting thrown at you) one winning strategy is to kill all the support and try to hang on.

The trouble with the E matchup is R2. Much better damage mitigation than xizor IMO.

I haven't played my brobots that extensively, but what has beaten me has been a Fat Han with three Zs and a Decimator + 4 TIEs. The Decimator just barely got away alive thanks to masterful blocking by the remaining TIEs in the last round.

I run BC and depend a lot on PtL, so blocking can be an absolute nightmare. I normally go for reducing the support first, Academy's, Bandits, the cheap blockers. Once I've cleared two or three of them out of the way I go for the big fish, so I can do that fairly unobstructed. People doesn't seem to expect to get the support targeted first, so sometimes that is fairly easy.

I haven't played my brobots that extensively, but what has beaten me has been a Fat Han with three Zs and a Decimator + 4 TIEs. The Decimator just barely got away alive thanks to masterful blocking by the remaining TIEs in the last round.

I run BC and depend a lot on PtL, so blocking can be an absolute nightmare. I normally go for reducing the support first, Academy's, Bandits, the cheap blockers. Once I've cleared two or three of them out of the way I go for the big fish, so I can do that fairly unobstructed. People doesn't seem to expect to get the support targeted first, so sometimes that is fairly easy.

There is an interesting case to be made for and against using Push the Limit with Aggressor builds. Me, I would only consider it with Advanced Sensors. Even then you have to be careful when you use it, and the Panic Attack matchup gets much worse.

I tend to prefer Predator. Using Predator means never having to take a target lock, which lets me use my actions for defense and re-positioning.

I've recently demolished a B/D Combo carrying HLC, FCS, Feedback Array and two EPTs I don't remember with my BBBBZ list during a nationals qualifier tournament here in my country.

Quickly learned to eat 1-2 damage with the first attack, so he doesn't get to shoot 4RD+TL with his B-Bot capability.

Also flew at him in a box and then fanned out to cast a net on him for the initial joust, the Z-95 going down center to cause bumping and loss of actions.

Contracted the net back into a box to cover and focus the most damaged one down in the 2nd round of shooting. Before he died, the top Bot used Feedback Array on the badly damaged Z-95, killing it.

Casual observation, that is a terrible approach by the IG88s!

Casual observation, that is a terrible approach by the IG88s!

I'm inclined to agree.

On a similar note, I would be interested to hear what kind of opening positions folks use most frequently with their dual Aggressor builds.

Casual observation, that is a terrible approach by the IG88s!

I'm inclined to agree.

On a similar note, I would be interested to hear what kind of opening positions folks use most frequently with their dual Aggressor builds.

I have invented my own. Trade secret.

My opener is secret as well, but also fairly unique to my particular brand of brobot. It probably wouldn't work well for most brobot players.

Casual observation, that is a terrible approach by the IG88s!

I'm inclined to agree.

On a similar note, I would be interested to hear what kind of opening positions folks use most frequently with their dual Aggressor builds.

I have invented my own. Trade secret.

MaJug just runs calculations on his opponent's body language and setup then runs through 13 levels of a game tree each round before placing his dials.

Casual observation, that is a terrible approach by the IG88s!

Never interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake and all that.