I want to try a list with Bossk (love his ability, arc, and the look of the ship), but there are lots of different ways to upgrade him. This is what I'm currently thinking:

Bossk (35)

+ Mangler Cannon (4)

+ Engine Upgrade (4)

+ K4 Security Droid (3)

+ Outlaw Tech (2)

+ Greedo (1)

+ Crack Shot (1)

N'dru Suhlak (17)

+ Cluster Missiles (4)

+ Lone Wolf (2)

+ Glitterstim (2)

Palob Godalhi (20)

+ Blaster Turret (4)

+ Crack Shot (1)

Scum seem to be more efficient on offense than defense, so I just went with it

Any advice on the list? In particular, does that look like the right set of upgrades for Bossk?

Mangler Cannon and Engine Upgrade seem like obvious choices. Have you seen Bossk work well without either of those? K4 Security Droid plus Outlaw Tech combine for some good action economy but are expensive -- not sure if they're the best choices. Greedo and Crack Shot are unnecessary, but they're cheap and go with the aggressive theme.

In this list I expect Bossk to be the lowest priority target so I didn't go with the Hound's Tooth title. Has anyone seen good or bad results with that? In a list like Bossk + 4x Binayre Pirate I'd expect Bossk to go down earlier and so Hound's Tooth could be a good deal.

I'm thinking Outlaw Tech probably isn't worthwhile. Any time Bossk would want to sit still (his most likely red maneuver), he could probably just bounce instead with a green and still get the target lock from K4. Instead, those points could be used for Glitterstim, which would let Bossk bounce on a green and still target lock (K4) and focus (Glitterstim). That would give:

Bossk + Mangler Cannon + Engine Upgrade + K4 Security Droid + Greedo + Crack Shot + Glitterstim (50)

N'Dru Suhlak + Cluster Missiles + Lone Wolf + Glitterstim (25)

Palob Godalhi + Blaster Turret + Crack Shot (25)

That's still a very expensive Bossk, though -- 50 points. And Mangler Cannon is a bit awkward, losing the auxiliary arc which I expect will be quite necessary given the YV-666 dial. Another option would be to run a very stripped-down Bossk in order to fit in an extra Z:

Bossk + K4 Security Droid + Calculation (39)

N'Dru Suhlak + Cluster Missiles + Lone Wolf + Glitterstim (25)

Palob Godalhi + Blaster Turret (24)

Binayre Pirate (12)

This still gives Bossk a good attack under ideal circumstances. He can focus and target lock (with K4) and then use Calculation for a crit. It's not the guaranteed crit of Mangler Cannon, but on 3 dice with target lock there's an 88% chance of getting a crit without wasting focus dice on Calculation (either a natural crit or exactly 1 focus result).

However, after the initial pass I'd worry that Bossk would have a hard time finding targets due to maneuvering like a Lambda. The auxiliary arc would certainly help, but does it help enough on its own?

Prince Xizor (41)
StarViper (31), Push the Limit (3), Virago (1), Autothrusters (2), Fire-Control System (2), Glitterstim (2)

Bossk (59)
YV-666 (35), Predator (3), “Mangler” Cannon (4), Outlaw Tech (2), Gunner (5), Hound's Tooth (6), Engine Upgrade (4)

This has been my most consistent build with bossk OR Xizor, having same ps makes it great when weaving in and out of astroids other ships and still getting ships in arch

This list

Big Bad Bossk

Has been doing well in the Galactic cup. It's at 98 pts. The only problem I have with it is having the clusters on a Binayre Pirate. With the new TLT meta, it was a lot better choice to make it something PS3 or higher. You could also but Outlaw Tech instead of Greedo, but I just love Greedo's synergy with a HLC turret that pumps out 3 hits, and 1 crit. (You can focus once for Calculation and focus the rest up normally)

Does bossk trigger before the hlc or after the hlc?

After the damage gets through. Calculation triggers after the hlc.

This list

Big Bad Bossk

Has been doing well in the Galactic cup. It's at 98 pts. The only problem I have with it is having the clusters on a Binayre Pirate. With the new TLT meta, it was a lot better choice to make it something PS3 or higher. You could also but Outlaw Tech instead of Greedo, but I just love Greedo's synergy with a HLC turret that pumps out 3 hits, and 1 crit. (You can focus once for Calculation and focus the rest up normally)

Interesting list. That's a great opening salvo with HLC -- how easy is it to find targets after the initial pass? Is engine upgrade enough to keep Bossk pretty maneuverable?

What lists have been good and poor matchups?

Well (speaking of EU on Bossk) I played this squad on the weekend (similar to OP)

Bossk

· Mangler cannon

Kavil

· Twin laser turret

· Unhinged astromech

N’Druh Suhlak

· Lone Wolf

· Stealth Device

· Concussion Missles

· Hot shot blaster

Against a Wild Space fringer and Chewbacca both loaded up with kit (particularly Engine upgrade).

Observations

Suhlak did not last too long. Being on his own he was focussed fired on by both pancakes but not before he did some respectable damage. Was able use his blaster and missles. Try not to use the missiles until you have a focus (as well as the target lock) but not at the expense of the taking the shot. 2 rolls of 4 dice was very nice. Not sure I got my money’s worth on the stealth device. Think it lasted 1 round. Lone wolf wasn’t used as much as I had hoped. Only let’s you reroll a blank. Surprising how often that didn’t happen. In a tournament may leave off SD and HSB.

Bossk and Kavil were beasts against the low agility ships. Just layed down the law focus firing on the one ship. Wasn’t even funny. I had the game in the bag when it came down to Bossk (6 hull 2 shields) vs Chewie (2 hull). The next round I did not think I could get the shot so I did a 4 straight to get some space, BIG MISTAKE! Chewie with engine upgrade whipped in behind me and I could not shake him. The edge on 1 side and one debris field on the other limited where I could go. Even so, he could easily stay out of arc and just chip way. No K-turn really hurt Bossk.

In the end it came down to 1 hull a piece and the next round would be the last for either of us. In desparation I did a hard (red) 2, just missed an asteriod and at PS 7 Bossk vs Chewie’s 5 was able to shoot first to win the match.

No K-turn makes Engine Upgrade even more essential on the Hound’s Tooth.

I did like this build for its pilot skills. All at 7 so I could pick and choose the order I wanted ships to move and Fire.

I have made the experience that the Bossk build below hits like a pro. The yv666s dial in combination with Bossks ability plus the crew choices made just leads to a good outcome every time. Green, red or white always a good choice here. EU, that's just my observation in about 10 matches always lead to a better placement for the trandoshan pilot. The Hlc is debatable, it feels safer.

It happened that this Bossk produced 4 hits and 1 crit within a single combat phase.

Just prevent arc dodgers from getting behind you all to fast.

It is not my personal build. I have just flown against it with not so much success so far.

2x syndicate thug, TLT

1x Bossk,Hlc,calc,EU,k4 and outlaw tech.

2x syndicate thug, TLT

1x Bossk,Hlc,calc,EU,k4 and outlaw tech.

Identical to my Bossk build, except I swap out Outlaw Tech for Unhinged on the 2 Y's. They really need those 3 hard turns to not be red to keep up with some of the more maneuverable ships. I find the focus from OT isn't very helpful with 1 evade die on D (Plus, one of my friends LOVES Wedge, who makes that 0 evade die for Bossk) and I usually prefer a target lock on Offense. Granted it's nice for when you do drop that Red Stop. Just seems more at home in a "Fortress" build.

2x syndicate thug, TLT

1x Bossk,Hlc,calc,EU,k4 and outlaw tech.

Identical to my Bossk build, except I swap out Outlaw Tech for Unhinged on the 2 Y's. They really need those 3 hard turns to not be red to keep up with some of the more maneuverable ships. I find the focus from OT isn't very helpful with 1 evade die on D (Plus, one of my friends LOVES Wedge, who makes that 0 evade die for Bossk) and I usually prefer a target lock on Offense. Granted it's nice for when you do drop that Red Stop. Just seems more at home in a "Fortress" build.

The Thugs with Unhinged are the better ones, no doubt about it.

A little missunderstanding when it comes to the use of Outlaw Tech I guess. I`m not using the focus for defense, always for Calculation in conjunction with Bossks ability if possible. Sometimes a red maneuver like the 2 turn on the YV666s dial is the right choice.

The YV666 has a very interesting dial and firing arcs for the combination of OT&K4

It happened that this Bossk produced 4 hits and 1 crit within a single combat phase.

Can you tell me how?

Roll 4 red dice for hlc

Change any crits to normal hits

Use focus to change 1 focus to a crit (calculation)

So at best you have 3 hits and 1 crit

Defender rolls and modifies resulting in anything other than 4 evades

Your attack'hits'

Bossk's ability triggers and you get 5 hits

Still bloody good but am I missing something?

It happened that this Bossk produced 4 hits and 1 crit within a single combat phase.

Can you tell me how?

Roll 4 red dice for hlc

Change any crits to normal hits

Use focus to change 1 focus to a crit (calculation)

So at best you have 3 hits and 1 crit

Defender rolls and modifies resulting in anything other than 4 evades

Your attack'hits'

Bossk's ability triggers and you get 5 hits

Still bloody good but am I missing something?

Hi 2Hard!

Ok, let me recap this...

It must have been with a Target Lock and a Focus. Fly green, receive your TL from the K4 and take a Focus action.

The HLC roll came up with 2 hits, 1 eye 1 blank after critmodification due to the HLC rule.

Calculation changes the result to 2 hits, 1 crit 1 blank.

A Target Lock was used to reroll the blank result. If very lucky you can get a crit out of it.

Now having 2 hits and 2 crits Bosssk can alter 1 crit into 2 hits. In the end you should have 4 hits and 1 crit.

Huh, I hope this was right.

Good night.

Dang.

IT

COULD

WORK!

Nice build

I played the list in the first post (with Glitterstim instead of Outlaw Tech) last night and it won decisively vs. Boba, Talonbane, Kaa'to (though the dice were kind to me). Bossk put out solid damage, but he did end up spending half the game making a big loop around the board to get back in the fight. Even with engine upgrade, that dial feels very cumbersome.

Mangler cannon was okay. Good for the opening shot, but it's really only useful at range 2-3 in your primary arc. At range 1 it's generally better to use the primary weapon even without a way to generate crits. So that makes me think it would be better to use an EPT to generate the crits so they can work in the full arc and at range one.

However, Crack Shot was also great, and I'd hate to give it up. With Bossk, Crack Shot probably means two extra damage by getting a crit through when you'd otherwise miss and then turning it into two hits. Also, using an EPT for crits means you need to have an action available -- it won't work if you bump or are boosting to get back into the fight.

For maneuverability, I was expecting to bump during the initial pass and built for that (K4, Glitterstim) but it didn't happen. I was against a small, high-PS list, so that makes sense. However, maneuvering back around was definitely slow. "Hot Shot" Blaster is a possible option to deal with that, but it doesn't seem like a great one.

Here's a thought:

Bossk + Mangler Cannon + Daredevil + Engine Upgrade + K4 Security Droid

EU + DD is a lot to spend on maneuverability, but it gives some good options. You can turn 180 in one round if you need to, or you can turn 135 and still get a target lock from the K4. Is it too much of a sacrifice to spend his EPT (and lots of points) on maneuverability rather than offense?

Interesting list. That's a great opening salvo with HLC -- how easy is it to find targets after the initial pass? Is engine upgrade enough to keep Bossk pretty maneuverable?

What lists have been good and poor matchups?

It will eat 4x TLT for breakfast. Having Bossk 5 damage with Greedo often makes one useless, with the Zs cleaning it up. The Cluster missile Z shoots at another Ywing (if he survives, thus the need for PS3 on I think) and can work on killing it next turn with his friends while Bossk takes down another.

It really loves a Falcon, I killed Chewie in 3 turns when he took the Cluster Missile as well as two full Bossk beating (Even with C3po) There's no safety in range 3 from Bossk.

You need to fly against Super Dash very carefully. Hit him at range 3, and he'll feel it, then keep him always in your side arcs (If you keep him in your front, you're amazing) DO NOT let him get past you. Corran usually is left alive, and after some repositioning, easily crippled with one hit at range 3.

The three Interceptors are daunting as well, but if you can read an opponent, the Pirates excel at blocking them and letting Bossk get a nasty shot off on them. The 4 attack vs the 3 of a manglers helps in this case, because with 4 dice and possibly a Token, it's hard to get a shot in. Greedo makes it worth it when you do.

The BBBBZ list is one I had major trouble with. Too much health all in the shields and no matter how hard you try, they are going to get in range and lay a beating on Bossk.

I run one like kerbarian with decent success so far, using maneuverability over extra firepower:

Bossk w/ outlaw tech, k4, glitterstrim, daredevil, engine upgrade, and hounds tooth

Cartel marauder w/ glitterstrim x2

The combined hitting power is nice, and the maneuvarability is even better, i'm going to run this in a tourney in Buffalo this sunday so we'll see how it goes!

Another version: Alpha Strike Bossk!

Bossk + HLC + Merc Copilot + K4 + Greedo + Crack Shot

At range 3, he should be able to one-shot an interceptor that has Evade + Focus (though probably not if it also has Autothrusters).

4 dice with Focus + TL (thanks to K4) is 3.75 hits, one of which is turned into a crit by the Merc. The interceptor has 3 dice for 1.875 evades with focus. Crack Shot cancels out the evade token, so a hit and a crit get through. Bossk turns that into 3 hits -- dead interceptor.

Even if the interceptor has AT and gets another evade out of it, the crit would get through, turn into 2 hits, and then the first card would be face up due to Greedo. That could still be a hit plus a Direct Hit and get a kill.

Against ships without much agility, that range 3 attack would probably be 5 damage, including one crit due to Greedo.

Y-Wing: · Kavil (24)

Wingman (2)

Bomb Loadout (0)

Extra Munitions (2)

Twin Laser Turret (6)

Engine Upgrade (4)

Unhinged Astromech (1)

Proximity Mines (3)

YV-666: · Bossk (35)

Stay on Target (2)

"Mangler" Cannon (4)

Engine Upgrade (4)

K4 Security Droid (3)

Outlaw Tech (2)

Tactician (2)

· Hound's Tooth (6)

-- TOTAL ------- 100/100p. --

What about:

Bossk + HLC + Outlaw Tech + K4 + Merc Copilot + Calculation (50 points)

Syndicate Thug + TLT + Unhinged Astromech x2 (25 points each)

There are pretty well no circumstances where Bossk's ability won't cause at least 2 damage + the TLTs pumping out 4 damage a turn keeps up the pressure

What about:

Bossk + HLC + Outlaw Tech + K4 + Merc Copilot + Calculation (50 points)

Syndicate Thug + TLT + Unhinged Astromech x2 (25 points each)

There are pretty well no circumstances where Bossk's ability won't cause at least 2 damage + the TLTs pumping out 4 damage a turn keeps up the pressure

I ran a list very similar to this last night. I had...

Bossk with Predator + Tactician + Gunner + Engine Upgrade

And Two Syndicate Thugs with TLT + Unhinged Astromech.

I was mainly using Bossk for his pilot skill, not trying to maximize his pilot ability. It worked pretty well. He was the main target for my opponent, and didn't last very long. But he did a ton of damage while he was in there. As a result I found Engine Upgrade to not be needed. Next time I try this list i'm going to try...

Bossk with Predator + Tactician + Gunner + Outlaw Tech + Hotshot Blaster

The Outlaw Tech would have proved useful in my match as I did several 0 red maneuvers. And the Hotshot blaster should help ward off ships who sneak into your blind spot.

Wirh Suhlak I think the best Bossk is mangler crack shot k4.They work really well together. Suhlak is aces control, and betseen them they can shred a Y wing. You just need a 3rd PS3 or better. Most aces will try and outfly Suhlak so be ready to support and trap.

What about:

Bossk + HLC + Outlaw Tech + K4 + Merc Copilot + Calculation (50 points)

Syndicate Thug + TLT + Unhinged Astromech x2 (25 points each)

There are pretty well no circumstances where Bossk's ability won't cause at least 2 damage + the TLTs pumping out 4 damage a turn keeps up the pressure

I ran a list very similar to this last night. I had...

Bossk with Predator + Tactician + Gunner + Engine Upgrade

And Two Syndicate Thugs with TLT + Unhinged Astromech.

I was mainly using Bossk for his pilot skill, not trying to maximize his pilot ability. It worked pretty well. He was the main target for my opponent, and didn't last very long. But he did a ton of damage while he was in there. As a result I found Engine Upgrade to not be needed. Next time I try this list i'm going to try...

Bossk with Predator + Tactician + Gunner + Outlaw Tech + Hotshot Blaster

The Outlaw Tech would have proved useful in my match as I did several 0 red maneuvers. And the Hotshot blaster should help ward off ships who sneak into your blind spot.

Ok cool. Did you win? Please post your results with the updated list, sounds good.

I used the list I posted in a game today against Poe, Wedge and Rookie. I lost 1 Y-Wing but Bossk tore Poe apart and the Ys killed Wedge pretty fast. The rest was mop up.

K4 & Outlaw Tech were both useful. HLC + Calculation was great.

I still dislike wasting Bossks quality arc with a cannon.

I prefer Bossk + Calculation + Rec Spec+ k4 + EU + outlaw tech comes in at 48 points and provides excellent action economy and makes full use of the 180 arc.