Howdy, I've been playing for about a year, still relatively newb-ish though, I fly scum ships. I tend to fly a big hitter and a few smaller ships but they don't do so well against swarms. (especially tie because the little buggers make me bump them) I've been flying IG-88B but when he is in the middle of the swarm he gets eaten alive. so I'm wondering if something like this:

Kath Scarlet (Scum) — Firespray-31 38, Predator 3, "Mangler" Cannon 4, Outlaw Tech 2, Inertial Dampeners 1 Ship Total: 48

Black Sun Ace — Kihraxz Fighter 23, Lightning Reflexes 1, Glitterstim 2 Ship Total: 26

Black Sun Ace — Kihraxz Fighter 23, Lightning Reflexes 1, Glitterstim 2 Ship Total: 26

would fare better? and if i need to fly them a specific way?

any thoughts?

Thanks!

Given your title, I was thinking this was gonna be another list centered around:

But it's not, so let me address your actual question.

First off, since you said you're battling swarms, I think taking the Black Sun Aces is a great choice because you're likely to get ahead in the Pilot Skill department. That also means that you can get some decent mileage out of Lightning Reflexes.

I'm iffy on Glitterstim. It's nice, but there are some times when you don't want to use it. In particular, I thought it would be great for using after a Koiogran turn, but then your Kihraxz is double-stressed and that's not very good for that ship. So don't use it after Lightning Reflexes or Koiogran Turns. Instead, use it on an alpha-strike. Take a TL and spend your Glitterstim to get a powerful first-shot at your enemies.

On the other hand, you could drop Lightning Reflexes and Glitterstim for Predator instead. If you're facing swarms of PS 2 or lower, it could really augment your damage output over the whole game. You might consider it.

Now let's look at Kath. Honestly, I don't like "Mangler" Cannon here. With the Outlaw Tech on her, you can just Koiogran at the enemy on the first engagement to get the +1 die for using the rear arc and the Tech will give you a focus for that turn as well. It's not something to ignore. But then you're not able to use your cannon, so those 4 points are better spent elsewhere. Like Engine Upgrade, for example. But I think Recon Specialist is probably my favorite crew for Firesprays. Having the focus token for both offense and defense makes the ship stick around a little bit longer.

Budgernaut makes some good suggestions. I'm a big fan of Predator on Black Sun Aces, it makes them hit hard, and especially so against low PS swarms.

Kath + Predator + Engine Upgrade + Recon Specialist has served me very well in the past. Recon Specialist works fantastically well on the Firespray in general, and has made it notably more survivable when I've flown it. Even if it's just surviving for one extra turn to get another shot off, that can count for a lot. Given Kath's ability, and the fact you can't use a cannon from the rear arc, I'd swap it out for something, although it's worth noting that Engine Upgrade does compete with the Recon Specialist for your action. The added manuverability is pretty nice to have though...

thanks! i'll definitely take y'all's suggestions. i'll let you know how it goes next time i fly