Starting Scum...advice??

By shaner, in X-Wing

Hey folks,

I was thinking that I would try out some Scum lists. I run an after school gaming club and I figured I would pick up a few ships for the students to try out.

So, are there any ships that are not worth investing in? I have the IG 2000 and the Kihraxz Fighter. Other than that, what should I be buying? How many of each ship? Is one "Most Wanted" box set enough??

Any other advice on list building or purchasing would be appreciated. I know zero about the Scum stuff.

Thanks

Shaner

Hello,

I enjoy Scum and it should be fun for them. One thing to think about for the Most Wanted is it's the only place to get a Scum Z-95. They are excellent for many Scum lists, especially Xizor and 5 Z-95's. So, if you have a group of people....you might want a few.

Most Wanted should cover you for Scum Hawks, Y-wings, and Firesprays.

I like the Starviper. I wouldn't think you would need more than 1, though. I bought 2 and never use them together. Some have, but not many.

I like the Khiraxz Fighter. It's a great mid point ship that can be a threat. If you are thinking more than one Scum player at a time, then I'd want at least 3.

I've not messed with the Houndstooth, but I would think at least one is good. Someone at the local store likes running 3, which is just mean.

I've seen lists with Scyks that work, but everyone bags them. I'd be interested to see if any do work. I've seen 3 Khiraxz Fighters w/ 2 Mangler Scyks do well.

I am also interested in the answers to this - I am building a Scum fleet and have been having fun with a 50-pt Boba and two TLT Thugs, but am wondering if pairing it with the Hound's Tooth could in any way be competitive, or if I could be using different Scum Aces. TLT is effective but I don't really enjoy it and would be interested in spending 40-60 points in a different direction.

Drea Renthal (Y-wing) from the most wanted set, with the salvaged astromech R4-B11, and a turret - ideally twin laser turret. Acquire a target lock on an enemy ace, then commence the gravy train of spend the lock - reroll your attack dice - gain a stress to acquire a target lock (pilot ability) - spend the target lock to make your target reroll defense dice (R4-B11 ability) - gain a stress to acquire a target lock (pilot ability). It chews up pesky arc dodging aces rapidly, and if you think your last target lock spend is going to result in a dead target, use that glorious wording... "acquire a target lock"... to switch from the defender to another enemy ship.

The Khiraxz is a good ship with either a generic ace, or with Talonbane Cobra. Lightning Reflexes and Glitterstim, or Crack Shot and Inertial Dampeners, will give your opponents fits.

The Z-95's in the basic most wanted box are also amazingly useful, particularly in learning how to fly-to-block (watch any video of Paul Heaver flying his Z's on youtube for a clinic on what to do).

Well one of everything is not a bad plan, that way you and your group can experiment with them all and find what is liked best.

A second Most Wanted pack really depends on the size of the rest of your collection.

For me I have two and get a lot of use out of them as I have 3 firesprays, 3 HWK-290's etc

Oh and although nothing in this great game can really be called a must own, having a second IG-2000 is about as close to must own as you can get...well that and auto thrusters if you like running TIE interceptors...

Well, one of everything and two IG-88s. Flying a pair of them is a traditional archetype, and one of the most effective to date.

Furthermore if you end up with a bunch of dudes flying, that way you can have two of 'em flying an IG-88 each; the ship is just as handy rounding out a squad as it is beingl/i] the squad. :)

Most Wanted is really nice if you've already got the other ships in it; otherwise it's a harder sell. Unless you wanted 'em anyway, I guess. ;)

As someone who buys more stuff than I really need, I'm a bit biased here. However, I'd think that two of the Most Wanted sets would be a good start, as this sets you up with two Y-Wings, four Z95s and two sets of the cards & dials for the HWK and Firespray. I have two of everything else small, two Aggressors, and one Hounds Tooth. I've never used two Starvipers at once. Everything else has seen play in pairs though (even the much-maligned Scyk).

Lately, I've taken to a list of Kavil Y-Wing + TLT, Torkil in the HWK + TLT, a PS 5 Mangler equipped M3-A, and a Black Sun Soldier Z95 with a Hotshot Blaster. It's amusing to fly, and I have a decent record with it so far locally.

Scum tends to be a more unconventional list to fly. They excel when you get a bit more creative with the lists, at least that's what has worked for me.

I'd go with 1 of everything scum (except the Scyk) and all the other ships required to get full usage from Most Wanted. That will give you heaps of stuff to fly and combinations to try and then you can see what you like and maybe get more of it. Contrary to popular opinion you don't NEED 2 IGs to be able to fly them. An IG and a Firespray or an IG and 2Ys work fine.

Awesome guys...thanks.

If you got the money...Xizor with Z95 swarm.

If you got the money...Xizor with Z95 swarm.

I've flown it and it's very fun. It was great vs. Brobots and Fat Turrets, but I haven't played it in the latest meta. Make sure to give Xizor a flechette torpedo.

If you got the money...Xizor with Z95 swarm.

I've flown it and it's very fun. It was great vs. Brobots and Fat Turrets, but I haven't played it in the latest meta. Make sure to give Xizor a flechette torpedo.

Are flechette torpedo's that good? They seem to be a little lack luster but I have also never used them.

I have a pretty modest collection and run an after school club for my students a couple times a month.

If you start with 1 of each small ship and then double up on the lowest cost one you're in a good place to start. I have this or more for all the factions and that's usually enough to do 25-35pt furballs with a bunch of people.

If you have the extra ships then Most Wanted is a screaming deal.

Scum Specific it's hard to beat bro-bots and 2 TLTs + other.

I am a big fan of the Firespray. It looks awesome and is potent on the tabletop -- boosting into range 1 of the enemy and laughing as you re-roll everything never gets old for me. I enjoy the StarViper (Guri specifically) for much the same reason.

In addition to the Scum ships everyone had suggested, I recommend buying a K-Wing for the pile of useful cards included with the ship. Besides TLT, there are a number of useful ordnance cards and the Extra Munitions that keep them all running.

You've got the IG. Get Most Wanted, and maybe a Y-Wing, and then maybe a HWK. If you're doing 1-ship deathmatch/furball with the kids, then a Starviper and a Hound's Tooth and a Firespray could be good (the first two fit better in the single-ship ~30 point neighborhood).

Take a good look at the ships, how they work, how they fly, what they can do. Play with a listbuilder - I like http://xwing-builder.co.uk/ and you know, go from there. The builder has all the movements, actions available listed, it's pretty solid.

You should get at least one most wanted pack, probably 2. Y-Wings and HWKS are doing well, as is the khiraxz.

Z's are good fodder, the syck... we got an argument going at the mo, I think it's a good flanker. Toothy and brobots always good. If you get Most Wanted, then you have scum cards for the spray and HWK. The scum HWK is fantastic, Palob being my primary target off the bat - always.

I think I spelled khiraxz right for literally the first time ever.

Edited by DariusAPB

Scum's my main faction and I have to say the keystone is the Firespray - Kath and/or Boba in particular.

Grab a Firespray and the Most Wanted kit, and you'll have enough ships to fly 100 points of scum. From there, figure out what other combinations you like.

The Hounds Tooth unfortunately isn't the most competitive right now, but is still a fun ship.

I would second, third and fourth what others have said -

Get 2 x Scum, you not only get 6 great ships and some decent upgrades to work with, but the ability to use existing Rebel and Imperial ships in there as well.

After that?

Probably another IG, a Starviper and a Firespray.

I'm not too fussed on the Houndstooth, but that's just my opinion.

Cheers

Baaa

I would second, third and fourth what others have said -

Get 2 x Scum, you not only get 6 great ships and some decent upgrades to work with, but the ability to use existing Rebel and Imperial ships in there as well.

After that?

Probably another IG, a Starviper and a Firespray.

I'm not too fussed on the Houndstooth, but that's just my opinion.

Cheers

Baaa

It's only worthwhile if you already have those Rebel and Imperial ships to start with.

You almost certainly don't need two Starvipers, and a second Firespray will collect dust more often than not as well. It's not that you can't build larger squads with these ships, but when you're flying them they tend to end up the 'centrepiece' to your squad anyway. IG-88 is a little different; he can be a centrepiece by himself (Or even just very heavy support to something even bigger than him, though I've not seen it often), but a pair of them is explicitly intentional - you have upgrade cards that only work in a pair or bigger, so if you're duplicating Large ships, IG-88 would be the first to get. :)

I'd certainly get a Hound's Tooth over a second Firespray anyway - if nothing else, you get another whole new ship type to play with, eh? :)

Buy two of everything... Scyks aren't worth it yet but they might get to that point.

1. What do you have to start off?

2. There is no Scum core set - if you have nothing - you'll need the damage deck, templates, rulers & dice at minimum from the core set.

3. One of each is not a bad way to start with Scum - this includes 1 Y-Wing, 1 Slave 1 and 1 HWK-290.

4. The only expansions most worth considering more than 1 of currently are: Most Wanted, IG-2000, Y-Wing and Kihraxz. These expansions come with good usable ships, and good upgrade cards - 2 of each expansion is enough, by which time you will have 2 Aggressors, 4 Z-95s, 4 Y-Wings, 2 Kihraxzs, and one of each of the rest - you can add more Z-95s (up to 4) and Kihraxz (up to 3) if you wish. If you wish, Slave 1 and Hound's Tooth can be fielded in multiples, up to 2 for Slave 1 and up to 3 for Hound's Tooth, but they require more skill. Lastly, the StarViper, M-3A Scyk and HWK-290 are the hardest to play with and requiring payer experience o get the most out of them.

Y-wings are a solid choice these days kavil is an excellent pilot that's won me several games single handed.

Even one ig-88 can be a powerful ship on the board so aggressor is a good buy.

The firespray pilots are all good, Kath with HLC spits four attacks from both arcs, bobba is a mean knife fighter that benefits from being in close to his target.

Yv666 is harder to use but has potential.

Headhunters are great as filler but I wouldn't bother with the aces.

I love scum y-wings, agro/crack Kavil really is a mean guy, and he's cheap at 33pts. Other pilots I'm partial to are Kath (ptl,k4), binayre pirate (w/feedback array), n'dru the lone-wolf troll, both starviper pilots and every scum hwk aside from bonearm.

So much fun to be had with them, although I don't think they're quite up to scratch with the other two factions just yet.