So we have a casual local tournament, every Thursday. The builds are dominated by vt-49 builds and fat dash and Corran.

I've read a lot about the dual IG build, and I think dual IGs would be a good response.

The list I'm thinking is 88B and c (the one that gives you an evade after boost?), both with advanced sensors, push the limit, mangler cannon, and auto thrusters.

Does the community think this would be solid against such lists that I'm up against?

IG2000 is pretty good in a 2 ship meta. I think it can have trouble against Dash due to his ability to arc-dodge, but since they are fast, you can block and leave Dash actionless (even better if both of your ships are range 1). You've got the speed to keep up with any other large ship so that gives them quite a leg up compared to other, non-large ships lists that you might use.

However, I think mangler on both is a bad idea. Crits are nice, but you need to maximize your damage as much as possible. I would stick HLC on IG88C at the very least. Also, I don't feel push the limit works best on IG88B unless you are going with FCS. So my personal recommendation would be either:

IG88B w/ title, push the limit, FCS, 'mangler', inertial dampeners & autothrusters = 48

IG88C w/ title, push the limit, advanced sensors, HLC, inertial dampeners & autothrusters = 52

100

You could drop dampeners off of IG88C if you wanted a 99 list for potential initiative bid. Alternatively, if you were concerned about dealing with Dash, high PS arc-dodgers and the like, you could drop push the limit off of IG88B and replace it with Veteran Instincts. Dropping inertial dampeners allows you to run HLC on both as well (murders 4 agility ships quite well).

OR

IG88B w/ title, predator, advanced sensors, 'mangler', inertial dampeners & autothrusters = 49

IG88C w/ title, push the limit, advanced sensors, HLC & autothrusters = 51

100

Being able to re-roll dice (either through predator or FCS) is really strong combined with IG88B's ability, and I would not give that up for push the limit + adv. sensors, personally. Others have though, and so its not a bad idea, but that's my preference.

I've seen this build be pretty successful. Similar to blade's. My brother has been tinkering with IG for quite some time. It's been his favorite to run ...until he gets his hands on Bossk, he's very excited for Bossk.

IG88 B

IG88 C or D (both have a strong ability depending on your style)

Both run the same upgrades: Title, Predator, Fire Control, Mangler, Prox Mine, Autothrusters.

Try to keep them both alive to share abilities. Get max potential from rerolls with Fire Control. Being chased? Dump a prox mine and do the 3 bank K-turn and shoot after they hit the mine. Free evade at range 3.

My only hang up about the HLC is that if I'm at range one (doable, I think given how well they move), if I whiff dice I can't take my 2nd cannon shot; really I chose the mangler for the range band.

But against a soontir or phantom at range three, being able to send two 4 dice cannon attacks down range is appealing...

There are a good few varieties of double IG that have proven to be useful in tournaments over the past months.

Veteran Instincts, Push the Limit, Predator, Lone Wolf (on one of them) are typical EPTs. Mangler and HLC both have their (dis)advantages as cannons. Fire Control System or Advanced Sensors are both great for the systems slot. Autothrusters (and the IG-2000 title) the only mandatory options. A bomb or two and/or Intertial Dampeners if you've got the points.

I would personally never use Push the Limit without Advanced Sensors, so that you can get your actions and stress prior to moving, removing the stress again with a green move. With medium Pilot Skill and only two ships, both with just a normal firing arc, you have to keep your options open for maneuvers in the next turn. Taking both Predator and FCS seems a bit much. It's possible to add a second cannon to an HLC-carrying ship just to have an extra shot at range 1 as well, flechette obviously the cheapest option. While 4 dice at range 3 with no extra agility can be nice against Interceptors and Phantoms, lacking the re-roll at range 1 is a major downside when facing those same ships.

Given your likely opponents, I'd be tempted to take VI and aim for an initiative bid as well. Dash is much less annoying if he can't avoid your firing arcs as he has to move first. Fire Control Systems work nicely when facing few opposing ships, though I prefer Advanced Sensors if you plan to S-loop a lot (FCS still works, but having a focus for the defence helps keep the IGs alive for so much longer). Especially the Deci will take damage from your range 1 primary anyway (very poor rolls notwithstanding), so HLC may be a good options to get as much damage in as possible.. then again, Decis also don't like crits. Given the number of ships that could have PtL and thus end their turn with stress, I might even consider an Ion Cannon (which makes taking a single damage from the first shot to avoid 88B's re-roll a lot less appealing).

In the end, what I mainly wanted to say was.. there is no right answer. Some upgrades definitely won't work, but there are numerous variations that will, depending on your playstyle. Some people like Wingman, or Sensor Jammer, Adrenaline Rush. I've seen IGs with Ion Cannon and Autoblaster (Ionize to make them predictable, then swoop in and cause some unavoidable damage). Expert Handling could be fun too, or simply take a Hot Shot Blaster to make that limited firing arc less important for one turn.

My only hang up about the HLC is that if I'm at range one (doable, I think given how well they move), if I whiff dice I can't take my 2nd cannon shot; really I chose the mangler for the range band.

You can however shoot at a different target, provided you can see one.

Must-haves for an IG list, as I see it, are 88B, HLC, Autothrusters, and VI. The first two are for damage output -- with only two ships, you need all the help you can get. Autothrusters are obviously good for defense and against turrets, and VI lets you react to some of the bigger threats out there (like Dash, or Chirpy if you have an initiative bid). Without VI, those Corran/Dash builds you mentioned are going to give you a ton of trouble.

Here is my Aggressor list that has been very successful for me.

IG-88B(36)

Aggressor

-Push The Limit(3)

-Heavy Laser Cannon(7)

-Fire-Control System(2)

-Autothruster(2)

-IG-2000(0)

IG-88C(36)

Aggressor

-Push The Limit(3)

-Heavy Laser Cannon(7)

-Fire-Control System(2)

-Autothruster(2)

-IG-2000(0)

Some times I do switch that Push The Limit to Veteran Instincts and take some other goodies with those extra points that are left over from that. Honestly I have won most of my games with this list. But the most important thing is that you try to shoot every single turn. I have tried Mangler Cannon on both, but it won't really work that well, when you have only two ships you wanna try to max your damage and when your opponent is closing in to the Range 1 you can still shoot with your primary weapon and if that wont hit then you can always launch your HLC to another ship in range 2 or 3. I did not like Advanced Sensor over the Fire-Control System. FCS is very vicious thing to have!!!!

Interesting stuff here; I'm planning to pick up a brace (a flock? Murder?) of IG this weekend

My only hang up about the HLC is that if I'm at range one (doable, I think given how well they move), if I whiff dice I can't take my 2nd cannon shot; really I chose the mangler for the range band.

But against a soontir or phantom at range three, being able to send two 4 dice cannon attacks down range is appealing...

I felt this way for a while but mainly before I played with the IGs much. Now that I've had over a dozen games I've changed my tune. The thing is, its very hard to miss at range 1. If you have FCS, even less likely. I think 'mangler' makes sense on B if you want to run advanced sensors because you don't have the constant TL. But with FCS, your R1 shot is almost always your second turn of shooting, so the TL is there and its really unlikely to miss on 4 red + TL (I don't even think its happened to me yet with my IG88B + FCS & HLC).

The tradeoff between FCS & adv sensors is offense vs defense. The adv sensors really helps keep your ships alive longer, but they do a bit less damage overall. The FCS allows 3 or 4 hits every turn, which is a b!tch to mitigate, but at the cost of flying a bit more predictible and having less tokens for defense overall (when you bump or red move).

There are lots of IG builds out there, but the trick is finding one that works for you. Here are some pointers:

- Autothrusters: you need them

- Advanced sensors: they boost your mobility a lot and you can self bump in many situations to create a stress free inertia dampener effect.

- If decimators with rebel captive are part of your meta, avoid push the limit. If you end a round stressed when you cannot k-turn or S-loop, which can be very problematic. I lean heavily towards predator.

- Learn how to place asteroids to your advantage.

- Veteran instinct is nice, but not necessary. There are a lot of times when having a low PS, especially with a big ship like an IG, can help you plan your maneuvers and blocks.

I won several store championships using ion cannons (both IGs, the other one also has a flechette now). Once you get the hang of it, even high agility pilots like Soontir fall easily.

Yeah, rebel captive is a big part of the decimator builds. VI you say? I suppose 8 skill ships is more gooder than 6 skill

So I'm taking the plunge with them, and I came up with:

IG-88 B and C

Both the with HLC, FCS, inertial dampeners, VI, Auto thrusters.

Basically slow roll, take normal shots first, gain a lock, then hit with the cannons. Rinse and repeat...

Took 3rd in Swiss at the San Diego Regionals with this list. Love.this.list. It's also won another Regionals elsewhere.

Always dangle C before B, letting them target C first. You can always run with C if you take too much fire, or sacrifice if necessary. You need B alive to win in the endgame.

Take out the ships that take two ships to kill first (Whisper, Corran, Soontir possibly). B can easily solo turrets with thrusters, so take out the squirrelly and maneuverable ones first, before they can get behind you.

Have fun with it. It's a blast.

I love running B and C. I took 2nd in our local tournament the other night with this build:

(B and C armed identically): IG-2000, Mangler Cannon, Seismic Charge, Autothruster, Advanced Senors, Inertial Dampeners, Veteran Instincts.

Obviously, some of that is based on my meta. Not a lot of people fly upper tier PS ships, and the best player (who took 1st without ever losing a ship) we all knew would be flying his BBBBZ, so VI worked out really well for me. The only ship I shot second to was Vader. Also, no one around here ever uses bombs, so i thought I'd throw the seismic charges on there as a surprise, but only ended up using them twice.

Advanced sensors, I think, are invaluable for the Aggressor, especially when flying C. Knowing that I'd be able to take my action even if I had an S-Loop or K-Turn planned was a life saver. Inertial dampeners were also great. Allowed me to get a surprise kill shot more than once.

Only lost a ship in one game. I think if i were to run it again, I'd consider dropping the seismic charge and mangler in favor of a HLC on at least one of them.

If you run into a lot of VT-49s, i definitely recommend the Mangler over the HLC though. My 3rd game was against a RAC list, and loading that ship up with crits by turn 2 effectively crippled him for the rest of the game.