First of all, newcomer here. Been a lurker for a couple of months, absorbing info and playing casually before entering tournaments (we also have a local league here I'm jumping in on). And this has been a great source of knowledge so far. So thanks =3

Now, onto what matters:

Jumpmaster 5000

Contracted Scout (25)

- Deadeye (1)

- Proton Torpedoes (4)

- Extra Munitions (2)

- Guidance Chips (0)

- Recon Specialist (3)

- R4 Agromech (2)

Total: 37

Being mainly a Scum player, the JM5K will be a day-one purchase, ofc. My plan is to run 2 of the bad boy mentioned above and go for a sort of alpha strategy.

That clocks in at exactly 74 points and I'm looking for an escort with the 26 points I have left:

Kihraxz Fighter

Black Sun Ace (23)

- Crackshot (1)

- Glitterstim (2)

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HWK-290

Torkhil Mux (19)

- Twin Laser Turret (6)

- Intelligence Agent (1)

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Y-Wing

Syndicate Thug (18)

- Twin Laser Turret (6)

- R4 Agromech (2)

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Z-95 Headhunter

Black Sun Soldier (13) x2

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Up (topic vanished for some reason, sorry)

I think either the hawk or the y-wing would work best. Hawk plays up the 'alpha strike' aspect (if you can knock your target to PS 0), but y-wing will live longer.

On tests, the HWK has played up great. But R3 engagements are an issue, if I'm keen on taking a specific ship down beforeit fires.

Shouldn't be much of an issue, it does great even so and the BSA hasn't disappointed me yet, either. Great alpha potential.

I like the HWK, myself. Have you considered dropping RecSpecs for Feedback Arrays? It would free up a couple points, and it would widen the threat profile of the Scouts.

Cut recon spec and add another scout.

RecSpec helps a lot with accuracy and defense, specially after the torps are gone. They just feel right on the boats, I don't know...

I might try the Feedbacks, though. They fit better on a S.S. **** Soontir, but what the hell.

You can run a Black Sun Ace with Predator for the same cost as your other version. Or you can run a TLT Palob to give Poe and other focus dependents a big middle finger.

A good alpha strike option is also N'Dru Suhlak with Lone Wolf, Cluster Missiles, Glitterstim and Guidance Chips. Get in range, pop Glitterstim and erase something from the board with 2 4-dice attacks (each with focus and lone wolf re-roll, one of them with Chips on top).

I thought of N'Dru. But on a 3-ship list in which 2 are large bases? I could see myself struggling with range issues.

And I don't expect the BSA to live long enough for Predator to outperform Glittercrack.

I gave some thought to Feedbacks on them, but I'm not ready to give up on RecSpec for them. Maybe downgrading the escort to a generic G-1A?

Thanks for the suggestions, keep 'em coming.

I like Mux here. Fits right in with PS3. Agent adds value to JM5Ks. If he draws the heat away from Torp boats they can get payload off. He helps make every turn a mini alpha strike by allowing you to hit prime target before retaliation.

Definitly Mux because you are so likely to remove ships quickly. I would however recommend the new Cloaking Device, which makes it a lot easier to use the ability immediatly. To take it you can either get a Dorsal Turret on Torkil, which synergizes with jumping into range well. It also leaves two points for crew, so maybe you could upgrade the IA for a Tactician. The other option is downgrading the Proton Torps to Plasma Torps, who aren't much worse (sometimes even better, depends on your matchup), saving two points that go directly into the Cloaking Device.

^^^I'm quite keen to use the cloaking device but I haven't recommended it much since people seem turned off by the drawback of bringing randomly discarded.

Since the goal is survivability, you could add Stygium Particle Accelerator to help Mux live until the enemy herd is thinned out. Might have to drop one scout's missile to plasma to get IA. It would be nice to have a plasma Torp handy to smash through shields in opening salvo while the other u-boat pushes crit on them with protons.

RNG sucks hard. But I'm not entirely put off by the idea of Cloaking Device.

The Ghost isn't on my immediate plans, though. Might have to borrow Dorsal Turret, but I'm digging it. Will give it a shot.

Wouldn't use the Stygium with the Cloaking Device, that is loading too much on to that RNG nonsense. The way to view it is a 2 point discard card that allows you to take one great leap and has a chance to sometimes be reusable.

I have been using the cloaking device on Palob and its handy on a HWK. Normally your opponent wants to kill the HWK quickly, but with a turret, you can use the decloak to make a 'big move' way out of people's arcs, so its a risk for your opponent to turn on Palob if the rest of your fleet is coming in on a different angle.

I don't care about the RNG, frankly. You get one good use out of it to open the fight with your hawk in a safe position (and still able to shoot). That's worth 2 points in my books. You might want to use it again later on, but not often, so if it craps out is not a big deal to me.

I have been using the cloaking device on Palob and its handy on a HWK. Normally your opponent wants to kill the HWK quickly, but with a turret, you can use the decloak to make a 'big move' way out of people's arcs, so its a risk for your opponent to turn on Palob if the rest of your fleet is coming in on a different angle.

I don't care about the RNG, frankly. You get one good use out of it to open the fight with your hawk in a safe position (and still able to shoot). That's worth 2 points in my books. You might want to use it again later on, but not often, so if it craps out is not a big deal to me.

Agreed. My big problem with N'Dru is that he wants to be a flanker but has difficulty getting into flanking position. The extra long boost at the start of the game, even at the cost of two points, is really going to help that ship be the lil' Lone Wolf X-Wing that could.

Ditto on Palob rolling way out of the way with his TLTs. Cheap early game mobility is going to be a huge boon.