I understand why HLC is good for brobots (you've only got 2 ships, so you want all the dice you can get), but how does it work in practice? I presume you'd need to stay out of range 1, otherwise if you missed, you wouldn't be able to attack again with B's pilot ability?

If you're missing with R1 F or TL, you're doing something wrong. Get it? Make sure you're hounding the guy with the FCS lock. Or get into R1, but DO NOT BOOST TO DO IT. Take a focus.

Lets say you missed. That means that your opponent probably spent their defensive tokens.... So... Why did your other IG not attack the same person too? And since they're so big, its unlikely the other IG is at R1... so you have a HLC gunner shot at a guy with no tokens. Should crumple. Provided you didn't take too much damage in return.

Did you hit a rock that crucial turn? Its your flight then that needs to improve.

IG's give you the MOST tactical variety of nearly any build. You can engage at any range. You can run really fast away. You can face most any direction and still have defensive or offensive bonuses.

imo, you want the 4 dice reshot

also, I think IGs have the highest potential for you to outplay someone. They reward skill very well. (Although personally I hate flying against them, even in games I win. )

Predator, Mangler, Sensors, autothrusters...

works fine, EATS PS5- foes like cookies.

has problems with arcdodgers, but who doesn't?!

I understand why HLC is good for brobots (you've only got 2 ships, so you want all the dice you can get), but how does it work in practice? I presume you'd need to stay out of range 1, otherwise if you missed, you wouldn't be able to attack again with B's pilot ability?

If you need the pilot ability for range 1 shots you are doing it wrong.

Four dice with focus and target lock tend to hit hard enough that the pilot ability isn't needed.

TLTs still can hurt them pretty badly, especially if a skilled player is running 4 of them. Autothrusters helps for sure, but anyone who's encountered the 4TLT spam knows that AT won't always save you. And with the new large ship rules, it's not that difficult to kill one IG and take four shields off another.

Plus 2 IGs will rarely one-shot a Y. They'd have to pretty much roll perfect and that doesn't happen very often, even with FCS.

Well I just played my first game with Crackbots on Vassal and killed Vessery on turn 1 of combat.

Opponent rage quit.

I placed #20 with BroBots at Worlds, here's my 2 cents.

First some general comments:

• 95% of the time, the better player wins.
• Deployment strategy, flanking, and range engagement are critical elements that a BroBot player must master.
• It is extremely easy to make a mistake playing BroBots. If you make one minor mistake you can lose the game against a good player.
• Conversely, if you play flawlessly, BroBots are very difficult to beat even by another player that plays flawlessly. Generally a BroBot player that plays flawlessly should win.
• The exception to the above: BroBots are weak to anything that moves after them and can dodge their fixed firing arcs. I.e. Vader / Fel / Palpatine played flawlessly should consistently beat BroBots.
• BroBots should not need Sensor Jammer to beat TLTs. They have enough tools with controlling the range engagement, moving/boosting after the TLTs, and being able to take ships off the board. Speaking anecdotally, I have never lost a game on the table with BroBots against a list that had a Y-wing TLT in it.
• Stress v1.0: stresshog (worst case: R3-A2 + TLT + BTL) is bad, so kill it quickly. If it shoots more than 1 turn then you're probably doing something wrong.
• Stress v2.0: Aaron Bonar's 3 K-wing + TLT + Tactician list played correctly can be a pretty hard counter to any BroBot list. This matchup really comes down to player skill and who makes the first mistake or gets a lucky break.
• For MoV tieberakers, BroBots functions as a 4-ship list, which is inferior to many or most top placing builds.

There are basically 4 archetypes for BroBots. Autothrusters and IG-2000 title are assumed for all builds. Going out to the Top 80 at Worlds:

PS8, 98 points (Worlds #20, #28): Symmetrical VI + HLC + FCS + inertial dampeners.

• This is the King BroBot list for mirror matches. Played correctly it will beat all other BroBots. Because it moves after PS7 Dash it is also the only BroBot list that can reliably kill Dash / Corran.
• VI is still relevant. In Worlds Top 32, 34% of all points spent were on PS6 - PS8 ships, and 34% of squads maxed out at PS6 - PS8. This includes two PS7 Dash / PS10 Horn builds. Incidentally if FFG did a Top 32 cut, then my first elimination match (with this squad) would have been against Dash / Horn.

PS6 Glittercrack (Worlds Top 4, #41, #73): Symmetrical Crackshot + HLC + FCS + Glitterstim

• Functionally the same as above, but can do far more burst DPS because of Crackshot + Glitterstim. It's the ultamite high damage "Terminator style" damage based BroBot list. Crackshot is almost certainly an undercosted card and it finds a very good home here.
• Almost guaranteed to do 2 damage to any target, including Fel, with Craskshot + Glitterstim.
• As a result it matches up considerably better vs Vader / Fel / Palpatine than the PS8 98 point list above.
• However it is weak to anything PS6 - PS8. Loss of inertial dampeners in particular makes it positionally considerably weaker than the above.

PTL + Advanced Sensors (Worlds #22, #44)

• Points require asymmetry, usually HLC on 88C and Mangler on 88B.
• This version has the greatest mobility but its utility dramatically decreases against anything higher PS than you.
• Considerably less firepower than the above two lists, which in my opinion makes it generally less reliable as an all-comers list.

Everything else (Worlds #29, #52, #65, #79)

• Worlds #29: a very minor variant of the PS8 98 point list.
• Worlds #52, #65, #79: Predator / Advanced Sensors

Thanks, Bob! I Very helpful as always.

I managed to run the Crackbot list 5 times between last night and this morning. Undefeated so far on Vassal.

The alpha strike really is something to behold and can be demoralizing for your opponent even after Glittercrack is spent. True to Antigrapist's comment, I was able to kill a Stress Hog before it got to fire. I assumed the 65% requires a TL + Glitter, so I'm guessing the 3-straight + boost opening should be reserved for other targets.

I havent tried the crack hlc list yet. But i cant wait to do it. For a long time i have flown mangler, at, ptl, stim, title and adv sensors for a perfect 100 points. The list is just a beast, imho. The two actions give Big survivability, being able to duoble tap at range 1 is good too and always having actions due to AS wins a lot of games. Also, AS boosts Can get you out og a lot of trouble. Is the crackshot hlc version really better?

I played in a tournament on Saturday with Bro-Bots vs. Bro-Bots in the final match. His version was a more classic version. I went with a newer version using Crackshot + Glitterstim. I can confidently say that the reason I won that game (and the tournament) was Glitterstim. I agree with the stated sentiments that Glitterstim is best utilized with Bro-Bots. That initial pass can sometimes be make or break for the list. I'm not as much convinced about Crackshot over VI, but it was still fun to use Crackshot on the same turn as Glitterstim to surprise a few people.

I understand why HLC is good for brobots (you've only got 2 ships, so you want all the dice you can get), but how does it work in practice? I presume you'd need to stay out of range 1, otherwise if you missed, you wouldn't be able to attack again with B's pilot ability?

if you miss range 1, you can then fire on another enemy at range 2-3

I havent tried the crack hlc list yet. But i cant wait to do it. For a long time i have flown mangler, at, ptl, stim, title and adv sensors for a perfect 100 points. The list is just a beast, imho. The two actions give Big survivability, being able to duoble tap at range 1 is good too and always having actions due to AS wins a lot of games. Also, AS boosts Can get you out og a lot of trouble. Is the crackshot hlc version really better?

The way I see it, it's not so much that one build is better than the other. Instead, it's just different playstyles and adjustment to the meta.

AdvSen PTL Mangler lets you turtle much harder whereas Glittercrack with HLC is more offensive and alpha-strike oriented.

With regards to meta, stress is very common now from Stress Hogs and Tacticians. That not only limits how much mileage you get out of PTL, but it also hampers AdvSen. The opportunity cost alone of not using either makes me favour Crack Shot and FCS - both of which are immune to stress. Now add the fact that you're running Mangler instead of HLC and I think the advantages of Crackbots are clear when facing any list with stress.

If you aren't facing stress, then it's a matter of preference in my opinion and Advsen PTL is just as good. VI, and Outmaneuver are also worth considering.

My usual build is Adv Sensors, predator and manglers on B and C. I find its a really good balance between the defensive PTL build and the more offensive builds.

I placed #20 with BroBots at Worlds, here's my 2 cents.

First some general comments:

• The exception to the above: BroBots are weak to anything that moves after them and can dodge their fixed firing arcs. I.e. Vader / Fel / Palpatine played flawlessly should consistently beat BroBots.

But that's 2\3 of the meta!

PS7+ is in almost every list if it's not a swarm (they almost died out)

And if it's not TLT-spam. But if it is TLT spam there's a threat of stresshogs or stress-K's

They did get hit pretty hard with the whole count as 2 ships scoring change but they still work fairly well. Still they survived the scoring nerf better than Fat Han and the VT-49 decimator did. So I say they are still doing well.

I placed #20 with BroBots at Worlds, here's my 2 cents.

First some general comments:

• The exception to the above: BroBots are weak to anything that moves after them and can dodge their fixed firing arcs. I.e. Vader / Fel / Palpatine played flawlessly should consistently beat BroBots.

But that's 2\3 of the meta!

PS7+ is in almost every list if it's not a swarm (they almost died out)

I had VI and a 98 point build so only PS9+ mattered for movement. In the Top 32 at Worlds , 60% of the lists had at least one PS7 or higher ship, but only 34% had at least one ship PS9 or higher. Likewise, total points spent on PS9+ ships was 19%. The argument for VI on BroBots is still very strong. In my opinion the only viable EPTs for BroBots at that level are VI and Crackshot.

can't boast Worlds championship though, but Sensors+PTL is a super-solid slow-drag crab build that can outgun almost anything.

VI and an initiative bid with adv sensors and pre-move boost can work wonders though.

pity our local meta is PS9 all the way.