Thanks!

Blocking is the best weapon the Enforcers have I think, as they can position so well. The hard 1 turn is your friend really. It surprised my opponents in all my games since, again, people don't know the ship and its dial much (and it's also part of the Kihraxz's dial, which also surprises players often). The Segnor's Loop is very useful too as it allows to get back into the engagement while often placing you out of the opponent's firing arc. I mostly used the Focus action. Also Boost and Barrel Roll a few times, for blocking purposes when the opponent's move is easy to guess.

The StarViper is an all-around great ship with many options and solid offensive and defensive base stats. Autothrusters are a must. Its cost is high, but worth it.

No worries. Glad to have someone else on the journey with me!

I didn't get to do much blocking with mine last week, but I was playing Phantoms. The dial is fantastic! Suits my style really well. Was nice to tightly turn and boost around an asteroid.

Both opponents weren't sure what to do with the sloop. It was putting me in great positions.

Autothrusters is very much a must. Saved me multiple hits.

Also, of course, asteroids can be key. I tried to group them somewhat close together and I brought the three biggest ones (two from the new Core Set and the big one from the first Core Set) for the tournament. I knew my ships could dance around them easily, so I tried to bring the fight as close as possible to the clusters. And defensively they can be a huge help for StarVipers.

Last night I playtested the Xizor/AutoKavil build against my wife (BBBBZ) and got spanked pretty bad. She did a good job of surrounding my guys, who were in a diamond formation with Xizor in the back and Kavil in the front. She killed my Zs very quickly and I sort of scrambled in different directions and was not able to turn the game around.

I think I was psyched out by Xizor's preferred meatshields being taken out so quickly and didn't play aggressively enough with him. With Advanced Sensors & PTL I could have taken more TL/Focus but I was trying to position more like an Interceptor and it kept me from using my Sensors most turns with the lack of green maneuvers.

I may try it again as is tonight vs. someone else and change up my style. Some of it was poor dice rolling--she was hot vs. the Zs and I wiffed 3 times in a row.

Last night I playtested the Xizor/AutoKavil build against my wife (BBBBZ) and got spanked pretty bad. She did a good job of surrounding my guys, who were in a diamond formation with Xizor in the back and Kavil in the front. She killed my Zs very quickly and I sort of scrambled in different directions and was not able to turn the game around.

I think I was psyched out by Xizor's preferred meatshields being taken out so quickly and didn't play aggressively enough with him. With Advanced Sensors & PTL I could have taken more TL/Focus but I was trying to position more like an Interceptor and it kept me from using my Sensors most turns with the lack of green maneuvers.

I may try it again as is tonight vs. someone else and change up my style. Some of it was poor dice rolling--she was hot vs. the Zs and I wiffed 3 times in a row.

Yeah, in the early stage of the game, Xizor should be taking green moves as often as possible to get as many TL+Focus that you can. You can even use advanced sensors to do something unexpected, like a pre-move boost or barrel roll to keep Xizor out of harm's way.

Also, don't worry about keeping him in R1 of the z-95's all the time. Basically, you want to use them as blockers to deny your opponent the best shooting spots on the board and take their actions away so they can't hurt you as much and when you shoot, you inflict potentially more damage.

I think I was psyched out by Xizor's preferred meatshields being taken out so quickly and didn't play aggressively enough with him.

Also, don't worry about keeping him in R1 of the z-95's all the time.

Both good points. List theorycrafting, I find myself falling into 2 Bits position, thinking Xizor needs to be formation flying. So I rarely consider a Xizor SV (& when I do, it is purely fluff reasons). But Blades point helps to kindof remove the blinders and let the mind wander outside the box...

I played this Xizor build a few times and it did very well:

Xizor (Veteran Instincts, Virago title, Fire-Control System, Autothrusters) - or Advanced Sensors instead of VI+FCS

Syndicate Thug (Autoblaster Turret, Unhinged Astromech) x3

100 points

The Thugs can take hits to help Xizor survive until the end game, and three range 1 bubbles from the Autoblaster Turrets are hard to avoid for the opponent. The new damage deck is preferable, as you really don't want to risk losing the turrets on the Y-Wings. Almost every time I played Kavil, I lost his turret to the Munitions Failure crit... :-)

Great to have some StarViper chat. I may have only played two games with mine, but I feel good about it.

I wonder if there will be anything in future waves that will bolster it?

Had 2 successful games with the Xizor/AutoKavil build last night. Opponent ran Soontir, Turr, and Academy x3. First game the opponent didn't know what hit him (Kavil), took out both aces. Second came I took out Turr, 2 Academy Pilots (went to store close).

Definitely fun to play, by the third game I played with the list (counting playtesting at home) I was able to use Xizor's abilty without worrying about formation flying. What's really fun is choosing whether to spend focus on evade or keep it for offense and shunt a crit/hit onto a minion.

Great to have some StarViper chat. I may have only played two games with mine, but I feel good about it.

I wonder if there will be anything in future waves that will bolster it?

blacksun refit for those unused torp tubes, hopefully

Great to have some StarViper chat. I may have only played two games with mine, but I feel good about it.

I wonder if there will be anything in future waves that will bolster it?

blacksun refit for those unused torp tubes, hopefully

naw, 'integrated' autothrusters would be perfect.

Great to have some StarViper chat. I may have only played two games with mine, but I feel good about it.

I wonder if there will be anything in future waves that will bolster it?

blacksun refit for those unused torp tubes, hopefully

naw, 'integrated' autothrusters would be perfect.

no way in hell I'd discard thrusters

Great to have some StarViper chat. I may have only played two games with mine, but I feel good about it.

I wonder if there will be anything in future waves that will bolster it?

blacksun refit for those unused torp tubes, hopefully

naw, 'integrated' autothrusters would be perfect.

no way in hell I'd discard thrusters

Well, knowing FFG, they will come up with something unique to the star viper. Maybe in 2023?

Great to have some StarViper chat. I may have only played two games with mine, but I feel good about it.

I wonder if there will be anything in future waves that will bolster it?

I'm hoping for a Scum Aces pack of some sort. Hoping Most Wanted doesn't count as that since it's almost a mini-core set for if you want to play scum. Starviper and Kiraxux (?!) Fighter both need some love to see more play IMO.

Great to have some StarViper chat. I may have only played two games with mine, but I feel good about it.

I wonder if there will be anything in future waves that will bolster it?

I'm hoping for a Scum Aces pack of some sort. Hoping Most Wanted doesn't count as that since it's almost a mini-core set for if you want to play scum. Starviper and Kiraxux (?!) Fighter both need some love to see more play IMO.

Is the Scyk just too much of a lost cause to even bother an try to fix?

Great to have some StarViper chat. I may have only played two games with mine, but I feel good about it.

I wonder if there will be anything in future waves that will bolster it?

I'm hoping for a Scum Aces pack of some sort. Hoping Most Wanted doesn't count as that since it's almost a mini-core set for if you want to play scum. Starviper and Kiraxux (?!) Fighter both need some love to see more play IMO.

The Scyk is proper ******

Scyk + generic viper fix would be ideal

Great to have some StarViper chat. I may have only played two games with mine, but I feel good about it.

I wonder if there will be anything in future waves that will bolster it?

I'm hoping for a Scum Aces pack of some sort. Hoping Most Wanted doesn't count as that since it's almost a mini-core set for if you want to play scum. Starviper and Kiraxux (?!) Fighter both need some love to see more play IMO.

Both the Viper characters and special K generics are just fine as is

The Scyk is proper ******

Scyk + generic viper fix would be ideal

Agreed.

I've missed this topic since I normally don't check this subforum, which is a shame because I love the Starviper!

I placed 1st and 2nd in two tournaments over the summer with the following list, which has an Enforcer as a key component:

So my first two games went well.

But today I had three more and it was much more mixed. 1-2 in the end. Viper/Fett is 3-2 overall.

1. A Howl with two F/Os backed up by Whisper - Modified win I think. Kept getting into good spots to shoot but the reds didn't play ball. At least I was shooting. Lost a Viper.

2. Vader with a Tempest and Whisper - Lost a Viper early, but then took out the Tempest and Whisper. Last round Fett was blown up leaving Vader and a Viper. Was an idiot not using Inertial Dampeners when I should have. Could have turned the game. Annoying but lesson learnt.

3. My brother with Han with two Blue Squadron B-Wings - I don't like B's. They get in my head due to their damage output and HP. It completely screwed me up and I bottled it. Tried to be clever and ended up isolating Fett, who was soon crippled. I took out a B but I should have played it more aggressively. Which leads me to the next bit.

My brother and I did some dice rolls. We played it as my build vs his. All at R3 of each other then all at R1. All had one focus to use. Just wanted to get an idea of how being more aggressive would work out for me.

The way it worked out it seemed that Fett and Han both take a massive beating, but the B's and Vipers are OK. If I go for a B I can take one out.

Basically, I shouldn't be too clever. It doesn't suit me!

Yeah one of the things that's taken me a long time to learn is not to be too fancy in the early stages of the game. I've seen it watching other games (particularly on VASSAL too). The player that tries to get too fancy in the approach ends up making a mistake and then paying for it during the first exchange (taking more than dishing out). In the end, it tends to be the player that doesn't make any mistakes on the approach that comes out ahead. Having said that, there are some lists you have to be careful how you engage (basically strong jousting lists that have more firepower than you do). Once the furball commences and there's a couple ships removed, that's when surprise moves and fancy flying start to really pay off...

One thing I've noticed with the generic star vipers is they seem to really suffer if dice go poorly for you early on. Once you get into a hole (like losing a ship first) it can be tough to get a win. And if you are forced into situations where you are making a lot of unmodified attacks and/or unmodified defence rolls it can sometimes feel like the 3 reds and 3 greens on the ship are worthless. Autothrusters helps a bit, but I feel like the star viper would really benefit from some kind of ability that allowed token passing or generating additional focus or something along those lines...

One thing I've noticed with the generic star vipers is they seem to really suffer if dice go poorly for you early on. Once you get into a hole (like losing a ship first) it can be tough to get a win. And if you are forced into situations where you are making a lot of unmodified attacks and/or unmodified defence rolls it can sometimes feel like the 3 reds and 3 greens on the ship are worthless. Autothrusters helps a bit, but I feel like the star viper would really benefit from some kind of ability that allowed token passing or generating additional focus or something along those lines...

You can say that about any ship really, but yes, that is where you can see how a ship is overcosted. It is similar to the Defender - if the dice work it is great, but that is a big if! If a ship is costed right it doesn't hurt you as much to fail alittle bit.

One thing I've noticed with the generic star vipers is they seem to really suffer if dice go poorly for you early on. Once you get into a hole (like losing a ship first) it can be tough to get a win. And if you are forced into situations where you are making a lot of unmodified attacks and/or unmodified defence rolls it can sometimes feel like the 3 reds and 3 greens on the ship are worthless. Autothrusters helps a bit, but I feel like the star viper would really benefit from some kind of ability that allowed token passing or generating additional focus or something along those lines...

You can say that about any ship really, but yes, that is where you can see how a ship is overcosted. It is similar to the Defender - if the dice work it is great, but that is a big if! If a ship is costed right it doesn't hurt you as much to fail alittle bit.

I think a lot of it could be mitigated by positioning. Vipers don't want R2.

Also, Intel Agent can be life saver or a pain in the enemies behind. I should have blocked more and made the most of the information.

Yes, thats how you play ships that aren't cost efficient, you need to have things outside of stats that work. Wether those are good and reliable decides how competetive a ship is.

Yeah I used to think that ships like the star viper and TIE defender were great because of their unique dials and it was a matter of just flying really well with them to succeed. But I've since realized that the reality is it matters less how good you are, but how goodd your opponent is. Against someone who can't predict what you are doing, a ship like the viper or defender can cause a lot of havoc. But a very savvy opponent that is hip to your tricks won't be easily outflown. And to do well, these ships kind of need to 'outfly' the opponent because they are not very efficient jousters...

I'm still thinking though that you can stack odds in your favour when flying vipers in around rocks. Take big rocks and leverage that dial. Most ships struggle to keep you in arc when they have to deal with a dense asteroid field...

For the Viper the unique pilots, especially Xizor, also are a way to make them work reliably, so they got that. For the Defender it is a different story. Sure, dual Defenders with both named pilots placed resonably a one regional, but while that has to be attributed to great flying and them being a reasonable meta call (Defenders work well versus Agressors because of their dial), it also isn't anywhere near representative. Xizor lists did alright across the board. They were few, but those who were brought didn't do badly.