So Biophysical and I mentioned something in passing in the S&V Jukebox episode thread that I've followed up on. There is a really fun list concept using Serissu with Juke along side Manaroo (new JM5K that passes actions). This basic combinations costs 49 points. Little steep. You still need title and cannon on the Scyk and goodies on the JM5K. However, this can really make for some strong HLC shots and also the Scyk to always benefit from the evade. Two-ship synergies are not ideal but hear me out.

There are plenty of ways to finish out the list. Here is one:

SISTERS OF FATE || 100 points

Serissu (34)

- Intimidation [also love Draw their Fire]

- K4 Security Droid

- Unhinged Astromech

- Anti-Pursuit Lasers [or Ion projectors]

Drea Renthal (31)

- Twin Laser Turret

- R5-P8 [or R4-B11]

So. This build thrives on blocking with Manaroo who passes TL and/or focus to Serissu. Then the Scyk hits like a truck. If the block worked, they don't have focus to stop Juke, they might take APL damage, AND they are down one agility from intimidate. Definitely a nasty fate.

With K4 and unhinged, Manaroo is very quite likely to send double actions Serissu's way. If the Scyk is down for the count, the JM5K will have have double actions on its own and an open dial.

Serissu's ability is merely a perk when it triggers. Not something you aim to pull off. She wants to slow roll to maximize cannon shots while Manaroo complicates things in the center of the fray. I think this list creates an environment where the lowly Scyk has a place to shine.

The third pilot is flexible. Drea is one of my favorite pilots. Love her ability. Like Tycho, it is fun to watch her token pile grow. She mocks the stress meta. With the new thornbot, she can cause a little anxiety while bringing her down. Drea is good at finishing off wounded ships - allowing Serissu not waste shots on 1-2 health ships. Added bonus - Manaroo provides insurance policy if Drea loses TL.

As I mentioned before the list has some flexibility in it. Drea can be swapped out for number of other pilots (perhaps Zuckuss with Juke/FCS or Palob with TLT, tactician, & EPT). Also, Manaroo has a number of viable builds that compliment the concept of this list.

Shout out to Back to Dials podcast. Their recent request for all female builds prompted me to take a look at what Biophysical had mentioned in that thread. Love how the three women really work well together. Even if the multi-ship synergies don't trigger, each ship has some decent aspects on its own. Manaroo offers a unique blend of abilities. I was never upset about her not having the title. Actually, I really enjoy that she affords an entirely different play experience to Dengar.

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Battle Report:

Took this list for a spin on Vassal against a friend that I'm bringing back into the game. He played Echo, Boba, and PS1 Interceptor. Don't judge, he likes to play more than build lists. Also happens to fly Echo very well. I digress...

The short version of events is that Serissu pegged Echo in 1st round of shooting for 2 damage but was brought down the next turn. Looked bleak for a minute then. Echo and Drea took a damage from thornbot (R5-P8) on a crit. Interceptor died to Drea's TLT. Then Manaroo finished Echo with R1 shot. Fett had little impact on the early / mid game due to clipping a debris field then getting blocked repeatedly. He did manage to bring Drea down to 1 hull before the combined fire of the turrets, APL, and thornbot knocked him out.

My thoughts on list. It was really fun to fly. Even though Serissu died early, she did make it possible to finish Echo and there were other potent elements in the list exploit for the win. The JM5K dial is wonderful. Made use of the unhinged and plentiful natural greens to trigger K4 often. Barrel roll put me nicely in Fett's side arc on last turn and could help blocking potential. The white Segnors loop was just icing on the cake.

Drea ended the game with 11 stress. She did lose her TL when Echo died but Manaroo was able to help her reacquire a lock to ruin Fett's day.

I will definitely be playing this list for awhile. I'm sorely tempted to use Draw their Fire on JM5K to help Serissu survive initial engagement. Recon spec could also provide extra defensive focus. Many options to explore.

Love to hear if anyone else takes the time to try this out. And I'm all ears for comments and suggestions.

Thanks.

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P.S. ~The list name is drawn from the Fates in Greek / Roman mythology. Manaroo represents Nona / Clothe. Serissu would be Decima / Lachesis. And Drea is Morta / Atropos. The metaphor works well for how the list functions if you look them up.

P.S.S. ~Alternate list name is 'Twisted Sister'. Look that up also.

Here's my thoughts:

Serissu is an obvious first target. Opponents will go after her before anything else more than likely.

I really like Manaroo here. Here ability is really helpful for both Serissu and Drea, so the synergy there is great. It would be REALLY nice to get punishing one on her though.

I don't really like Drea alongside Serissu......but she's pretty decent with a twin laser and her ability...I would lean towards R4-B11 as a way to smash through autothrusters---R5-P8 is not bad, but I feel high PS arc-dodgers could be a problem for this list so R4-B11 shores up that potential weakness a bit.

Have you considered Attanni Mindlink? Manaroo can already share her tokens, but with the mindlink on Serissu and Manaroo you get TWO extra focus tokens out of the deal:

1) Manaroo reveals a green move and gets TL then takes focus as action (immediately giving Serissu a focus token w/ mindlink)

2) Serissu takes evade.

3) start of combat, Manaroo passes TL and focus to Serissu, and because she no longer has one, she immediately gets a focus when Serissu acquires it (through mindlink)

So then Serissu has 2 focus + evade + TL and Manaroo still has 1 focus. With 3 tokens for defense, its worth putting stealth device on Serissu and she might be really hard to take down (cf Soontir).

You do have to watch out for stress, but its not that hard to manage it (for example, you don't get additional stress if you already have a stress token, so it doesn't get crippling). Other disadvantage to consider is that mindlink becomes useless once you have only one ship with it left (in your case, as soon as Serissu dies....but with the extra defenses, that might not happen quickly....)

^^^you're right mindlink works nicely here. And you save 2 points on EPTs. Perhaps throw deadman switch or feedback array on Manaroo.

I'll give that a whirl. Juke is nice but Serissu is quite a fragile carrier.

I played with the original list again last night to just give it a 2nd try before modifying it. Here is the play by play.

Verses (Khal): Ello (VI, R2, AT), Poe (VI, R5-P9, AT), 2x Tala

Deployment: He placed Talas in center with aces behind. I placed in right corner. Obstacles in each corner and center.

Summary: He opened by turning away. And later failed with 2 Aces to talon roll (bumped talas). I came in with Manaroo in front. Drea went wide to trail him. Serissu followed JM5K. I made a poor BR with Serissu hoping for R3 shot but this made my next turn difficult with center rock (not doing that would have gave me good chance of deleting a tala the next turn).

As it was Manaroo got owned. Lost all shields to focus fire. Drea dropped a tala’s shields. Serissu had no shot due to avoiding rock…Next turn, Manaroo did 1 damage with APL on Tala then cleared him and passed focus and TL back to Serissu who BR into R1 and out of arc of Tala. Poe brought JM5K to 1H. Ello took shield of Scyk which killed Tala. Drea ended other Tala but swapped TL to Poe. Next round my 2 sengnors was too obvious and Poe finished toilet seat. Ello rolled to behind debris that Scyk hopped through to get obstructed (no damage, had Manaroo’s focus to block Ello shot). Drea started on Poe for 2 damage.

Ello left Scyk to Poe and did long 3 bank into Drea’s face to do 3 damage. In return Drea did 2 more to Poe. Serissu banked out of Poe’s arc while he just slow rolled and used focus to heal. Next turn was clutch. Drea blocked Ello’s white talon. Scyk got arc on Poe to with hard 1 and BR. Poe wiffed firing at Drea but thornbot bit him. Combined fire dropped Poe!

Ello had no shot and would only have 2 shots in next 4-5 turns for total of 1 damage while TLT and blocks chewed him down (despite R2D2). Opponent conceded due to it being 2:30 am and stuck between TLT and HLC…

Lessons:

- Need an opening strategy with Manaroo to get block but avoid focus fire.

- I did a good job keeping Scyk out of arc or range.

- Drea is pure gold. Love the eternal TL. With modified shots I feel like R4-B11 would not have helped much so I like R5-P8 was nice. Other aces might be tougher to finish off though.

- Going to try the mindlink version described in previous comment next.