Coming up on this store championship, I was going back and forth on what to bring. I had ideas for some squads, but not any good ones, and certainly not any I had much experience with. So when I picked up a JumpMaster the night before, I decided I’d give one of the squads from my Attanni Mindlink thread a trial by fire. I wasn’t expecting much, but at least I’d get to play with a few new Wave 8 toys.
On the morning of the tournament, I saw plenty of JumpMasters and Ghosts, but I didn’t end up facing any of them over the course of the day. 35 people showed up to play, so it was 5 rounds of Swiss, with a cut to top 4.
My list:
Manaroo (27)
Attanni Mindlink (1)
Dengar (3)
Punishing One (12)
Kath Scarlet (Scum) (38)
Attanni Mindlink (1)
Tactician (2)
Engine Upgrade (4)
Binayre Pirate (12)
Total: 100
To review what I talked about in the linked thread, the core idea of this list is that Attanni Mindlink allows Kath to get a double-focus stack on top of a target lock, evade, or boost action, while Manaroo retains a focus of her own. I tweaked it a bit from the version in that thread, swapping out the Outlaw Tech for a Tactician, in hopes that limiting movement options might make it easier to set up those rear-arc shots.
On to the matches:
Round 1: vs. Matt
Omicron Group Pilot (21)
Emperor Palpatine (8)
Soontir Fel (27)
Push the Limit (3)
Stealth Device (3)
Autothrusters (2)
Royal Guard TIE (0)
"Echo" (30)
Veteran Instincts (1)
Advanced Cloaking Device (4)
Total: 99
Everything went wrong for my opponent this game. Soontir and Echo both whiffed their first shots, and Soontir blanked out on his first defense against Kath, and took a stress crit. Next turn, he had no tokens and blanked out again on Kath’s rear arc attack. Meanwhile, he misjudged a maneuver on Echo and landed her on an asteroid, taking a hit and leaving her uncloaked for Manaroo's shot, taking two more damage. On the next turn, she had to run over the rock again, and ended up taking her last hit. (Another issue was that he kept forgetting to activate the Emperor at some key moments.) That left just his shuttle against my entire squad, so once I got behind him, there wasn't much he could do.
(W 100-0)
Round 2: vs. Jim
Chewbacca (42)
Predator (3)
Luke Skywalker (7)
Gold Squadron Pilot (18)
Twin Laser Turret (6)
Gold Squadron Pilot (18)
Twin Laser Turret (6)
Total: 100
He brought his ships toward me on my right side, with Chewie taking the lead, while I turned my ships across the center. Manaroo met Chewie in my right corner, and they exchanged fire while his Y-Wings were still out of range. But I kept getting my ships hung up on each other, and that kept Kath from getting into the fray sooner. I did manage to finish Chewie off once Kath got into range, but Manaroo went down immediately after. After that, Kath was in poor position at the edge of the board, and just couldn't stay off the rocks and get enough shots on the Y’s before they plinked her to death. The pirate wasn't able to pull of a miracle, and the game ended with two Y-Wings left.
(L 52-100)
Round 3: vs. Jake
Han Solo (46)
Push the Limit (3)
Gunner (5)
C-3PO (3)
Engine Upgrade (4)
Millennium Falcon (1)
Gold Squadron Pilot (18)
Twin Laser Turret (6)
R3-A2 (2)
BTL-A4 Y-Wing (0)
Bandit Squadron Pilot (12)
Total: 100
The Stresshog was a concern, but luckily he decided to focus on the Pirate I charged in on the opening engagement instead of range 3 Kath. My Z-95 survived with one hull and blocked his Z-95 next turn, while the Y-Wing cruised by. Kath wheeled around on the Stresshog and got a range 1 rear arc attack that tore into its hull, and Manaroo chipped in to finish it off before it could fire. Han was flanking me, but unable to get any severe damage on Kath.
Next turn, Kath turned toward the edge and got another good rear arc attack, this time on Han. After that, it was mostly Han and Manaroo trading potshots while Kath made her way around the edges trying to get back into position. Both Z’s fell in the meantime. The game ended with a badly damaged Manaroo barrel-rolling out of range of 1-hull Han, as he turned toward the edge to try to get one last shot before flying off. Dengar did plenty of work this game, and Tactician even made an impact a couple of times, double-stressing Han after he PTL’ed.
(W 100-33)
Round 4: vs. CJ
Soontir Fel (27)
Push the Limit (3)
Autothrusters (2)
Stealth Device (3)
Royal Guard TIE (0)
Darth Vader (29)
Veteran Instincts (1)
Advanced Targeting Computer (1)
Engine Upgrade (4)
TIE/x1 (0)
The Inquisitor (25)
Push the Limit (3)
Twin Ion Engine Mk. II (1)
TIE/v1 (1)
Total: 100
He brought all of his aces up the right side, as Manaroo waited for them in the corner. After Inquisitor and Manaroo traded shots, the next turn ended up in a huge melee. Kath got blocked up in the middle of the board by misjudging a 2-turn that ran into the Pirate. What could have been a great range 1 rear arc on a blocked Soontir became a position where Kath was taking range 1 shots from his full list. On the bright side, Soontir and Vader were both blocked by the Z as well, so they were rolling unmodified, but his red dice were good enough to take down Kath in one nasty barrage (with help from 2 direct hits). So no shots from Kath this game. Manaroo, however, managed to ping off the tokenless Soontir's Stealth Device. Next round, the Pirate stayed put with a 1 straight and Manaroo turned into place to block off Soontir's escape again. This time, his red dice couldn't produce the same results, and Manaroo was able to finish off Soontir with minimal damage in return.
Next turn, I flew Manaroo toward the edge, barrel-rolling to get out of arc if the Inquisitor K-turned. Both Vader and the Inquisitor did K-turn, and both took shots at the Pirate. A couple of lucky defense rolls shrugged off those attacks, while Manaroo put some damage on Vader. Next turn, both aces converged on Manaroo, but they weren’t able to produce enough damage, and she took out Vader at range 1. The Inquisitor couldn’t turn around to get another shot on Manaroo thanks to PTL, and a couple of turns later, it was over. I survived with a 2- or 3-hull Jumpmaster and a 2-hull Z. This was a really close game, and it really came down to a few key showdowns that could have gone either way.
(W 100-66)
Round 5: vs. Brad
"Whisper" (32)
Veteran Instincts (1)
Fire-Control System (2)
Agent Kallus (2)
Advanced Cloaking Device (4)
"Omega Leader" (21)
Juke (2)
Comm Relay (3)
Captain Yorr (24)
Emperor Palpatine (8)
Total: 99
My ships converged on his home corner with the shuttle, while his ships waited for me to approach. Kath turned away to get a good rear arc shot on Omega Leader, but his TL shut her down, resulting in no damage to him and some shields pinged off of her in return. Meanwhile, Manaroo and the Pirate got caught in the middle of his ships. Manaroo was able to destroy Omega Leader, but she was taken apart by Whisper shortly afterwards.
Kath circled around the edge of the board, and when she met up with Whisper again along his edge, I misjudged the approach and gave Whisper a range 1 shot into Kath's side. With only a few hull left, Kath tried and failed to get clear, and Whisper finished the job before she could take the range 1 rear arc shot in return. The Z-95 was easily dispatched on the next turn. I managed to break through Yorr's shields for half points, but this matchup needed a whole different approach. I didn’t plan well enough and ended up playing right into a lot of his list’s strengths.
(L 42-100)
So I went 3-2 for the day, but I’m really pleased with how the list performed. (As a bonus moral victory, both of my losses were to opponents that went undefeated in Swiss.) I was a little rusty flying large-base ships, and it showed several times, but I got some valuable experience.
I’m definitely planning to keep working on this squad. Manaroo’s loadout is great, but Kath’s Tactician really didn’t pull its weight in most matches. In general, Kath just isn’t as self-sufficient as Manaroo is when her Mindlink partner is destroyed. If I had 101 points, I’d swap in K4 Security Droid and call it perfect. Currently, I’m considering some other options, like 4-LOM crew plus Inertial Dampeners.
Edited by Pandademic