So I have been making it my mission to find something that my shuttle is good for other than laughs, target practice and the strict Doomshuttle.

Here's what Ive come up with:
Col jendon with
HLC

Vader
St-321
paired with
Admiral Chiraneau

Marksmanship

Rebel Captive

Gunner

Mara Jade

Tactical Jammer

The strategy was the fun part to come up with.
At the start of the game I position the shuttle behind the Decimator and proceed as slowly as I can. TJ makes it so the Deci takes all the potential hits on the first pass (which admitedly can go badly) but by the end of the first pass pretty much every squad I have gone up against was in range 1-2 of the Deci and range 2-3 of the shuttle. Then we open up with stress for everyone and HLC shots to the big boys and primary to the fighters in 1-2. In 5 games with this build i have not yet failed to out right destroy at least 1 ship on the first combat phase.
Deci then moves in for close up stress and shots while (with the help of Vader) the shuttle finishes off straglers while handing of target locks for extra fire power. I have 5 wins to zero losses with this build against both Rebel and Scum.

Admitedly the first pass is the weak spot and a bomber/missle heavy squads are a danger but being able to hand out stress like candy makes it a little easier. I have also not tested this against swarm builds.

Thoughts?

What's your reasoning behind Marksmanship over Calculation or Expose on Chiraneau? Chiraneau already turns your eyes into crits for free. So, basically Marksmanship is less efficient on Chiraneau than on any other ship. It's only better than Calculation at range 3 or if you roll three eyes at range 1-2. Meanwhile, Expose combined with the target lock from Jendon will make Chiraneau hit even harder.

Otherwise, playing bumper cars with the Shuttle is a pretty neat way to keep ships in his firing arc, but as soon as ships have passed the shuttle, it will still have to turn in order to maintain a firing arc. So, my line of thought is: either play the shuttle as cheap as possible and play bumper cars (Doom Shuttle, plain OGP or OGP + HLC) or make it as nimble as possible: Heavy Laser Cannon, Advanced Sensors and Engine Upgrade

That said, it costs a whooping 14 points and you probably are better off investing into other stuff at that point. Additionally, Boost-Right + Turn-Right might turn the Space Cow by 135°, but it needs tons of space and often you can't pull it off without moving through asteroids.

4 lambdas

1 bomber

Lol 100 points of confusing your opponent.. lol a friend runs it now and again to mess with people.. haha I'm tempted to run it at a regional.. lol or

4 lambdas w/engine upgrade

Boostie boost fun.. lol

Might I suggest you start here: https://community.fantasyflightgames.com/index.php?/topic/98438-flight-school-lambda-101/

It's an old article, but still relevant. Give it a try.

I have been running acc+vader+jade lately.

The ACC allows you to use the full dial and not care about actions.

Vader is vader

And jade allows you to muck up the battle, just trying to stay next to enemy ships once the battle has passed you up.

I also have been using anti pursuit lasers with the load out too. Just stopping in front of people while Fel or Whisper baits them from the other side. Fun to do, but overall doesn't happen enough in my opinion, to keep it on.

I've been having a lot of fun with this lately:

Omicron Group Pilot (21)
Advanced Sensors (3)
Mara Jade (3)
Engine Upgrade (4)

It's kind of expensive, but flexible enough to get work done and will ruin someone's day at range 1.

@ Stetto: TBH I put Marksman on there because I dont have Expose or engine boost. You are correct in that it is less efficient but with marksman I can reliably hit hard at all ranges as opposed to range 1-2 only. I'm giving up a little fire power at close range for more fire power at long range.
Also, between bumber cars and the stress token trick or treat I honestly havent had to turn the shuttle yet. IF the ship DOES pass the deci by the 360 arc means i still get a shot on him OR i can ping him with Vader OR the shuttle can tank the shot.
In the couple of battles i've tossed this out in, ive had a little trouble with gun boats (Ywing, Bwings, and SV's) but only in groups of three or more.
*shrug*
Might just be the people I've gone against but most go after the deci first and have the most fun look of shock when they get a ship blasted out the sky by a shuttle. Getting them to focus on the ship that I WANT them looking is as oppsed to the shuttle is a step towards victory. I'll be fielding this again tomorrow night against some more veteran players. I'll update on how it goes.

I got a couple more ships with upgrades i didnt have acess to before and as a result it changed the build rather drastically.
Same idea but with enough different to be called an entirily new build.
Did pretty well untill the last round. 2 Bs and a Tycho doomed my shuttle on the first pass then took their time eating my decimator up.

Gunner > HLC on a shuttle. Especially as it allows Vader to choke double-choke each turn.

Gunner > HLC on a shuttle. Especially as it allows Vader to choke double-choke each turn.

If you've got Vader, you do NOT put a gunner or HLC on the thing.

Run it with Vader only.