I like 4 Black Sun Aces with Glitterstim and Lightning Reflexes. Haven't played, but on paper. Better PS, great jousting/outflanking abilities with LR, and 1 less Kirndfvsnx you have to buy.

Cons?

Gotta buy five K-fighters.

I don't see how that's a Con.

Cons?

Gotta buy five K-fighters.

I don't see how that's a Con.

Then you must not understand how currency works.

the problem is Talonbain!!! I like his pilot ability but is it worth giving up an entire extra ship for it? granted If I go to Talonbain and 3 other ships at least I have some points to work with...

First list I think I'll try with the Kihraxz is:

3 Cartel Marauder

2 Syndicate Thug with Autoblaster turret

Y-Wing try to deny space to arc dodgers and force them into the Kihraxz line of sight.

Pros: 5 Predator cards without having to buy Defenders

Cons: league starts in an hour; I'll let you know!

One general problem is that all 5 ships suffer the same weaknesses. That is, you don't have some ships counterbalancing the weaknesses of other ships on your force (such as Corran helping protect Dash's weak spot or Biggs helping keep defensively weaker ships alive longer).

I think the list will play well! 2 agility will be nice if 2-red-dice-ship Swarms make a comeback to fight TLT.

I will definitely be at least play testing it to see how the ship fares when spammed.

The problem with Ks is their weak survivability which makes them bad jousters. They have a nice dial for dogfighting but when you're running 5K you're gonna lose every dogfight against the real arc dodgers.

I think K-fighters are okay but they need some other kind of help.

the problem is Talonbain!!! I like his pilot ability but is it worth giving up an entire extra ship for it? granted If I go to Talonbain and 3 other ships at least I have some points to work with...

After playing exactly 1 game with Cobra Kai, I'm not sure he is worth the extra points. PS9 is not so super w/o some re positioning options and Kihagkjghkh's going to die fairly quickly no matter what.

The problem with Ks is their weak survivability which makes them bad jousters. They have a nice dial for dogfighting but when you're running 5K you're gonna lose every dogfight against the real arc dodgers.

I think K-fighters are okay but they need some other kind of help.

5K isn't going to lose every dogfight against the real arc-dodgers, like X-Wings would.

There are 5 of them.

Only other ships in the game moderately viable as a 5-of?

HWKs with Blaster Turrets

Interceptors with either PS bid or Autothrusters

Ion/Mangler SCYKs

Y-Wings with Autoblaster Turrets (and possibly BTL-A4)

Y-Wings with Seismics

Bombers with Seismics and PS, or with Cluster Mines

Of these, the Interceptors and the Bombers win the day. Sorry Scumlets; you don't stack up.

Gamma-Seismic lists did quite well in Wave 3, and I look forward to trying Scimitar-Clusters, and were actual Jousters, like the Kihraxz. There's your comparison.

-1 HP

-1 Bomb

-1 Barrel-Roll action

+1 Attack Die

Different Dial (K's favor)

Pros: 5 Predator cards without having to buy Defenders

Cons: league starts in an hour; I'll let you know!

Update: they tore through stock Dash&Corran list run by a fairly new player. Dash melted under two turns of fire and only got one shot off in the game. Not exactly definitive results; he tried to squeeze past the K-swarm along the edge of the map (instead of turning tail and using all of his ship's advantages).

Second match was a straight up joust vs YYZZ with two BTLs and good amount of ordnance. We traded ship for ship and I had one more ship than him.

I've been running 5x Mangler Scyks the past month or so (to a 6-2 record). These performed similarly (so much so that I forgot to roll the 4th attack die for range-1 shots during my first two shots in the YY game), but the extra 2hp per ship went a long way. Rolled double blanks vs Dash's one shot (which was 4 hits). I was so ready to pick the model up off the table. Instead he survived and knocked two shields off of Dash and finished the game on the table.

All in all, it was a nice resilient squad, though pretty straightforward to run. All the 1-speed maneuvers were very nice.

this is a list that one of my local gaming group wants to try out so ill let you know how it goes

Honestly, I think 4 x Marauder and Serrisu is better. You get a kind of Biggs effect, or your Khiraxz survive the initial joust with S's rerolls. 2 agility sucks without a reroll. With a reroll and focus you should be stopping a lot more damage, and relative to the B's with 8 HP you need to do that.

Honestly, I think 4 x Marauder and Serrisu is better. You get a kind of Biggs effect, or your Khiraxz survive the initial joust with S's rerolls. 2 agility sucks without a reroll. With a reroll and focus you should be stopping a lot more damage, and relative to the B's with 8 HP you need to do that.

In contrast to Howlrunner offensive buff, Serrisu's pilot skill is unfortunately a fail. Who hinders me to shoot him first with his 3 hull points (and same point costs as a Khiraxz) and then continue with the rest?

Well I don't have 5 Kihraxz fighters, but it has the same problems that the X-wing has. Throw in arc dodgers at high pilot skill and these will die as you would never get a shot off.

If you really wanted to know how they work just play a game with 5 rookie pilots and see how they would have work against any tournament winning lists. It would be the same.

Made a thread a little while back about KKKKZ with glitterstims and someone suggested KKKSZ. I would compare your list to these and try which one you like most. You can start with KKKSZ, since I'm sure you already have a Z and a StarViper, meaning you'll only need 3 Ks at first.

Well I don't have 5 Kihraxz fighters, but it has the same problems that the X-wing has. Throw in arc dodgers at high pilot skill and these will die as you would never get a shot off.

If you really wanted to know how they work just play a game with 5 rookie pilots and see how they would have work against any tournament winning lists. It would be the same.

I personally love to play arc-dodgers, but they are also not holy grails, you cannot dodge everything

Honestly, I think 4 x Marauder and Serrisu is better. You get a kind of Biggs effect, or your Khiraxz survive the initial joust with S's rerolls. 2 agility sucks without a reroll. With a reroll and focus you should be stopping a lot more damage, and relative to the B's with 8 HP you need to do that.

In contrast to Howlrunner offensive buff, Serrisu's pilot skill is unfortunately a fail. Who hinders me to shoot him first with his 3 hull points (and same point costs as a Khiraxz) and then continue with the rest?

But, Serissu rolls an extra evade dice and can take the evade action and could be held back at range three or out of range entirely.

I think I'd rather have 4 at PS7 than 5 at PS2. Just saying.

Honestly, I think 4 x Marauder and Serrisu is better. You get a kind of Biggs effect, or your Khiraxz survive the initial joust with S's rerolls. 2 agility sucks without a reroll. With a reroll and focus you should be stopping a lot more damage, and relative to the B's with 8 HP you need to do that.

In contrast to Howlrunner offensive buff, Serrisu's pilot skill is unfortunately a fail. Who hinders me to shoot him first with his 3 hull points (and same point costs as a Khiraxz) and then continue with the rest?

That's the point. That's why she is a pseudo-Biggs and not a pseudo-Howlrunner. By having her in the squad, you all but force your opponent to shoot her and her pitiful 2 attack dice instead of taking down your heavy hitters first. It's a bit of a gamble because of all her greens and low health, but it's totally possible that she can dodge a lot of blaster fire that could have been pointed at more threatening targets.

Honestly, I think 4 x Marauder and Serrisu is better. You get a kind of Biggs effect, or your Khiraxz survive the initial joust with S's rerolls. 2 agility sucks without a reroll. With a reroll and focus you should be stopping a lot more damage, and relative to the B's with 8 HP you need to do that.

In contrast to Howlrunner offensive buff, Serrisu's pilot skill is unfortunately a fail. Who hinders me to shoot him first with his 3 hull points (and same point costs as a Khiraxz) and then continue with the rest?

But, Serissu rolls an extra evade dice and can take the evade action and could be held back at range three or out of range entirely.

Serissu's ability is range 1. If you hold Serissu out of range, the rest of your ships are at range 3 at best. If Serissu isn't contributing by shooting or providing rerolls what is it doing?

Honestly, I think 4 x Marauder and Serrisu is better. You get a kind of Biggs effect, or your Khiraxz survive the initial joust with S's rerolls. 2 agility sucks without a reroll. With a reroll and focus you should be stopping a lot more damage, and relative to the B's with 8 HP you need to do that.

In contrast to Howlrunner offensive buff, Serrisu's pilot skill is unfortunately a fail. Who hinders me to shoot him first with his 3 hull points (and same point costs as a Khiraxz) and then continue with the rest?

But, Serissu rolls an extra evade dice and can take the evade action and could be held back at range three or out of range entirely.

Good thoughts! And if you are going slow (as slow as you can with these ships), you could give her PTL to Focus + Evade every turn and clear with green.

Getting off topic here but it does make the point that list diversity is usually helpful. But these dead simple lists can be a great way to focus on maneuvers and really learn to fly effectively.

Serissu is very different from Howlrunner in that her benefit works as well in a two ship list as it does in a six ship list. A ship can only attack once so with Howl, you want a swarm to maximize benefit. With Serissu, you can simply protect a single high value target each and every time they get attacked. Serissu might be better paired with Cobra Kai to ensure that he can survive the approach and initial volley(s).

And just to be "that guy" it is possible to have a Kihafkljh at range 2 of an enemy ship and at range 1 of Serissu while Serissu is out of range of said enemy. You have exactly one small base worth of wiggle room. More likely you would attempt to keep Serissu at range 3 and move your Kihargjklh into range 2 (or 1 if you's good).

Honestly, I think 4 x Marauder and Serrisu is better. You get a kind of Biggs effect, or your Khiraxz survive the initial joust with S's rerolls. 2 agility sucks without a reroll. With a reroll and focus you should be stopping a lot more damage, and relative to the B's with 8 HP you need to do that.

In contrast to Howlrunner offensive buff, Serrisu's pilot skill is unfortunately a fail. Who hinders me to shoot him first with his 3 hull points (and same point costs as a Khiraxz) and then continue with the rest?

That's been exactly my experience with Serissu in a Mangler swarm: a less-capable ship that gets shot first so its ability does nothing. great.