Hello again! I wanna talk about a very fun upgrade coming with Wave 8, Attanni Mindlink. For those that do not know Attanni Mindlink reads: "Each time you are assigned a focus or stress token, each other friendly ship with Attanni Mindlink must also be assigned the same type of token if it does not already have one. Scum Only"

Sounds good on paper, but not very good in the competitive meta. All it takes is one ship to get stressed and everything goes downhill from there. The way I see it, there are two simple ways to deal with this problem. You can A. Give it to only a few of many ships (not a big loss if/when you get stressed) or B. Have good abilities to easily get focus tokens or get ride of stress. Taking a look at the many scum pilots and option B. looks very pleasing. After toying around with AM for a bit I came up with this list:

Collective Consciousness (100)

N'Dru Suhlak (23) - Z-95 Headhunter

Attanni Mindlink (1), Homing Missiles (5), Guidance Chips (0)

Kaa'to Leeachos (21) - Z-95 Headhunter

Attanni Mindlink (1), Homing Missiles (5), Guidance Chips (0)

Palob Godalhi (25) - HWK-290

Attanni Mindlink (1), Blaster Turret (4)

Manaroo (31) - JumpMaster 5000

Attanni Mindlink (1), R5-P8 (3)

I love this list because of all the flexibility it has and it's many synergy options. With AM your ships almost always have one focus tokens to either free up their action economy or take two focus tokens if needed. Sure you are still very vulnerable to stress, but you can always have Palob take a token at the start of the Combat Phase, if the option presents itself. Since AM and Manaroo's ability has no range limit you can fly very spread out to flank with the very accurate Homming Missles, or stay close together to burn down a target. While this is not any easy list to fly, it is still very fun once you get the hang of it. I highly recommend to try it if you have not already.

Thank you reading and please share what you think of this list or your opinion of AM. I do want to hear how you guys plan on using AM in other lists.

Maybe downgrade Kaa'to from Homing Missiles to Clusters? His lower pilot skill lends itself to target-locking at closer range, which could set up this bit of beautiful scenario:

1) Kaa'to acquires a Target Lock.

2) Kaa'to steals a Focus from Manaroo. Manaroo then gains a focus.

3) Manaroo passes a Focus to Kaa'to.

4) Kaa'to unloads a double-Focused, Guided barrage of cluster missiles at his target.

Attanni Mindlink sure is an interesting card! A lot of people are likely to read the stress part and think 'OMG! this card sux!' (some people don't think very deeply...)

Anyway, it has some good synergies with certain scum pilots.

Looks like you took the most obvious ones (PhantomFO covered it above, although he forgot to mention Manaroo immediately gains a focus token after Kaa'to steals it, and then gets it again after passing it off with her ability).

I think another thing to consider with Mindlink is that its only good when you have multiple ships with it (duh!). So if you take only 2, its not hard for your opponent to shut down its usefulness (by killing one). If you have 3, the synergies last longer. If you have 4, you do have to be careful about stress----especially from your own moves. Taking ships with turrets also reduces the need to perform red moves, so it makes using Mindlink a bit easier.

As to your list, I would change R5-P8 into K4 droid on Manaroo. That way she can pass a focus + TL more easily to her team mates (and still gets a focus through the link).

I have a number of lists I've been cooking up with this cool card----looking forward to its release!

Maybe downgrade Kaa'to from Homing Missiles to Clusters? His lower pilot skill lends itself to target-locking at closer range, which could set up this bit of beautiful scenario:

1) Kaa'to acquires a Target Lock.

2) Kaa'to steals a Focus from Manaroo. Manaroo then gains a focus.

3) Manaroo passes a Focus to Kaa'to.

4) Kaa'to unloads a double-Focused, Guided barrage of cluster missiles at his target.

Attanni Mindlink sure is an interesting card! A lot of people are likely to read the stress part and think 'OMG! this card sux!' (some people don't think very deeply...)

Anyway, it has some good synergies with certain scum pilots.

Looks like you took the most obvious ones (PhantomFO covered it above, although he forgot to mention Manaroo immediately gains a focus token after Kaa'to steals it, and then gets it again after passing it off with her ability).

I think another thing to consider with Mindlink is that its only good when you have multiple ships with it (duh!). So if you take only 2, its not hard for your opponent to shut down its usefulness (by killing one). If you have 3, the synergies last longer. If you have 4, you do have to be careful about stress----especially from your own moves. Taking ships with turrets also reduces the need to perform red moves, so it makes using Mindlink a bit easier.

As to your list, I would change R5-P8 into K4 droid on Manaroo. That way she can pass a focus + TL more easily to her team mates (and still gets a focus through the link).

I have a number of lists I've been cooking up with this cool card----looking forward to its release!

I love the idea of your list OP! I hadn't thought of AM with missiles before and it makes a lot of sense... now I really wish they would bring some new headhunter pilots PS5 with Elite Pilot Talent would be bliss thanks for sharing!

I've been toying around on what upgrades to give Manaroo and the damage potential with R5-P8 on pilots like Soontir is great. I like this list because of the target confusion as well. You don't want to ignore the headhunters or the master theif Palob. So having that extra defense on Manaroo is always good to have, though I hate having r5-p8 without GONK.

Your reasons are exactly why R5-P8 does NOT really make sense on Manaroo (in this case): opponents do NOT want to ignore the headhunters or Palob. So they won't. Why would they shoot at Manaroo who has R5-P8, more health and only 2 attack dice? Nope. Your opponent's going to light up those headhunters and/or Palob first. R5-P8 only makes that choice easier on the opponent. K4 droid gives you more options. Either make Manaroo hit harder if not using her ability, or add mods to your other ships when they need it...

R5-P8 is good on a high threat ship, and Manaroo in this list is the lowest threat ship...

I've been toying around on what upgrades to give Manaroo and the damage potential with R5-P8 on pilots like Soontir is great. I like this list because of the target confusion as well. You don't want to ignore the headhunters or the master theif Palob. So having that extra defense on Manaroo is always good to have, though I hate having r5-p8 without GONK.

Your reasons are exactly why R5-P8 does NOT really make sense on Manaroo (in this case): opponents do NOT want to ignore the headhunters or Palob. So they won't. Why would they shoot at Manaroo who has R5-P8, more health and only 2 attack dice? Nope. Your opponent's going to light up those headhunters and/or Palob first. R5-P8 only makes that choice easier on the opponent. K4 droid gives you more options. Either make Manaroo hit harder if not using her ability, or add mods to your other ships when they need it...

R5-P8 is good on a high threat ship, and Manaroo in this list is the lowest threat ship...

hm... what about late game though? and if you are presenting Manaroo as a target by flying him straight into enemy lines you will have the advantage that the headhunters can shoot from behind at range 3 and you have three dice primary attack and/or can block the enemy flight path. in this case R5-P8 seems like a good option to me but there is sooooooo many options at the moment already and with Wave8 hitting there will be even more fun options to explore exciting times!

I've been toying around on what upgrades to give Manaroo and the damage potential with R5-P8 on pilots like Soontir is great. I like this list because of the target confusion as well. You don't want to ignore the headhunters or the master theif Palob. So having that extra defense on Manaroo is always good to have, though I hate having r5-p8 without GONK.

Your reasons are exactly why R5-P8 does NOT really make sense on Manaroo (in this case): opponents do NOT want to ignore the headhunters or Palob. So they won't. Why would they shoot at Manaroo who has R5-P8, more health and only 2 attack dice? Nope. Your opponent's going to light up those headhunters and/or Palob first. R5-P8 only makes that choice easier on the opponent. K4 droid gives you more options. Either make Manaroo hit harder if not using her ability, or add mods to your other ships when they need it...

R5-P8 is good on a high threat ship, and Manaroo in this list is the lowest threat ship...

R5-P8 reminds me of this:

Agreed on K4 security droid - the Achilles heel of this list is stress; one K-turn or flechette torpedo stresses the entire squad. Therefore, it makes sense to make sure you can generate as many tokens 'free' as possible. I can imagine Guri will suit this talent well, too.

Manaroo with a K4 droid can pull a green maneuver (and she has many to choose from, especially with an unhinged astromech), grab a free target lock, then pass the blue end to whoever has a missile shot, as well as de-stressing herself to generate the all-important focus token.

I agree R5-P8 makes her better on her own, but the most important damage output of your squad is ensuring that Sulhak and Leeachos get their missiles away. I'd agree on Clusters, by the way - as noted, double-focused cluster missiles give a nasty punch, especially if the same target has also eaten a homing missile, plus, that frees up points for an unhinged astromech.

Agreed on K4 security droid - the Achilles heel of this list is stress; one K-turn or flechette torpedo stresses the entire squad. Therefore, it makes sense to make sure you can generate as many tokens 'free' as possible. I can imagine Guri will suit this talent well, too.

Manaroo with a K4 droid can pull a green maneuver (and she has many to choose from, especially with an unhinged astromech), grab a free target lock, then pass the blue end to whoever has a missile shot, as well as de-stressing herself to generate the all-important focus token.

I agree R5-P8 makes her better on her own, but the most important damage output of your squad is ensuring that Sulhak and Leeachos get their missiles away. I'd agree on Clusters, by the way - as noted, double-focused cluster missiles give a nasty punch, especially if the same target has also eaten a homing missile, plus, that frees up points for an unhinged astromech.

I see, for some reason I was not thinking about using k4 to get a target lock even while stressed. Which is odd since I fly PTL Kath quite a bit. Thanks for clearing that up. The way I saw it, they would fire their missiles off on the first round of shooting, before they would get stressed by anyone. Also yes those target locks could help out the whole squad after the missiles (especially if you add Guri to the list). I still think tough that, in this list, Clusters vs Homming is of preference. Clusters can do a good bit of damage, but not only do you re roll twice but so does the enemy. They will most likely not have tokens, but the chance of missing is still there. Again, thank you for clearing that up, K4 is looking better the more I think about it.

K4 + Atanni Mindlink on multiple ships means you'll have double or triple actions on your entire squad, every turn. Unless you double stress or bump every single ship.

I've been tooling around with Atanni Mindlink in squad builders a bit and thought about M3As.

Sycks aren't amazing, but what if they got a free focus token? Then they can take an Evade if being shot at or Barrel roll to get out of arc and still have dice modification and Target Lock in case nothing is able to shoot at them. Sycks with action economy! I wanted something to take some heat off of them and also be the "Focus Battery." I tried a Merc first because they are fairly tanky and you don't have to K-turn to get shots. Rec Spec was a natural fit since I planned on the Firespray taking the Focus action for the group. I ended up with left over points so I upgraded to Boba and added an Ion Bomb.

The List:

Boba Fett: Atanni Mindlink, Recon Spec, Ion Bomb

TPV: title, Atanni Mindlink, HLC

TPV: title, Atanni Mindlink, HLC

or same Bobba build, TPVs trade HLCs for Manglers and Hull Upgrades for more durability but less damage.

I messed around in Squad Benchmark with this and it isn't terrible. In any case I think it can make Sycks a little better, 3 agility with focus and evade is tough to crack.

For Attanni Mindlink, I've been thinking Guri as a possible focus generator. If you have some agile ships, you can concentrate on using boost or barrel roll for positioning and let Guri get the focus tokens for the rest of the squad. Granted, there are problems with this set-up, because against some builds you just won't know if Guri will be in range 1 of an enemy or not at the start of the combat phase. But in those cases, the rest of the squad can just focus like normal.

For Attanni Mindlink, I've been thinking Guri as a possible focus generator. If you have some agile ships, you can concentrate on using boost or barrel roll for positioning and let Guri get the focus tokens for the rest of the squad. Granted, there are problems with this set-up, because against some builds you just won't know if Guri will be in range 1 of an enemy or not at the start of the combat phase. But in those cases, the rest of the squad can just focus like normal.

I like flying Guri and I like the idea of mindlink on her. What else would you put in the squad? One other pilot with an EPT and a few generics or a squad of pilots with EPT?

The list I used in a recent VASSAL tourney (finished top 8, so not terrible) was:

Palob w/ mindlink, twin laser, moldy crow, dengar, engine & cloak device = 39

2 Point Vets w/ mindlink, title, HLC & hull = 30 x 2

99

The nice thing about the Scyks is that they can either TL (+focus from Palob) or evade (+focus from Palob) depending on the situation. It makes for a solid PS5 alpha strike, although your ships are all glass cannons and die easily, so you have to be careful. Palob with cloak + engine can really motor around the board for one turn, possibly taking your opponent by surprise with his move. I think he will be good vs the new u-boat menace.

Of course, you could also ditch Palob for Guri. Giving her mindlink, virago, sensor jammer & autothrusters = 38 (you could even give her cloak device for an even 100). However, a turret means you have a ship that never needs to do red moves and that is pretty handy with mindlink...

Then you face 4-LOM...

That is why I have Boba in my list. With his re-rolls and Rec Spec he is tough to kill and he can still fire while flying away and I gave him an Ion bomb for good measure.

I really like the idea with Guri though. The list seems a bit fragile but if you can use the potential fire power to take a couple of ships off the board quickly it won't matter as much.

Then you face 4-LOM...

Stress mechanics are kind of scary but mindlink only adds a stress if you aren't already stressed. Also I the above lists their are a pair of Sycks with HLCs, 4-LOM probably won't make it to range 1 to trigger his ability unless you have something much more threatening in the list with him to take the heat instead.

My first Attanni Mindlink list I'm gonna try out:

Palob Godalhi (20)

-Attanni Mindlink (1)

-Autoblaster Turret (2)

-Cloaking Device (2)

Black Sun Ace (23) x2

-Attanni Mindlink (1)

-Concussion Missile (4)

-Guidance Chips (0)

Binayre Pirate (12)

-Concussion Missiles (4)

-Guidance Chips (0)

-Glitterstim (2)

TOTAL: 99

Palob is only designed to run around cloaked and take tokens and if close enough, decloak to use ABT. Even if he bumps, it ideally would be against something that I can take a focus from.

This could be a very annoying squad to face down:

Tansarii Point Veteran

- Attani Mindlink

- Heavy Scyk

- Heavy Laser Cannon

- Hull Upgrade

Serissu

- Attani Mindlink

- Heavy Scyk

- Heavy Laser Cannon

- Hull Upgrade

Manaroo

- Attani Mindlink

- Intelligence Agent

- R5-P8

- Feedback Array

- Anti-Pursuit Lasers

Comes to 99 points, giving you the initiative bid against other PS4 ships.

Against ace lists, Manaroo plays the role of Bumpmaster, using her low pilot skill to block, setting things up for APL and Feedback Array and blocking actions for her wingmen to abuse.

Against PS1-3, she hangs around the fringes of the fight, taking potshots and providing focus tokens while the Veteran and Serissu unload the heavy firepower and Evade or Barrel Roll as needed.

I tried mindlink with my IG-88s yesterday... and the result was (rather unexpectedly) overwhelmingly positive. You already need to have a partially screwed up mindset to handle IGs with advanced sensors and this only adds to the complexity and yet... it was very pleasant. Whenever one of my IGs got cornered, his buddy would feed him the focus while he would boost/evade combined with autothrusters. Made for some very, very elusive IGs.

Gong to try this out tonight:

Palob

Atanni Mindlink

TLT

Rec Spec

Moldy Crow

Manaroo

Atanni Mindlink

K4

Unhinged

Feedback Array

Punishing One

Kaa'to Leeachos

Atanni Mindlink

Guidance Chips

Assault Missiles or Homing Missiles

Anyone else had much luck trying this card out?