Hi folks, I'm trying to figure out a way to make small aces more regularly viable for Scum, as I love the faction but feel as long it's pretty dominated by large base ships currently.

When my friends and I read about Manaroo, we likened it to a pseduo-Palaptine effect, so I figured a list that behaves similarly to Palaptine + Darth/Soontir Fel may be possible.

With that, here's what I have:

Manaroo (32)

• Push the Limit (3)
• Gonk (2)

Talonbane Cobra (33)

• Lightning Reflexes (1)
• Cloaking Device (2)
• Stygium Particle Accelerator (2)

Zuckuss (34)

• Veteran Instincts (1)
• Boba Fett (1)
• Sensor Jammer (4)
• Mist Hunter (0)
• Tractor Beam (1)

The philosophy is that Manaroo will serve as a long-distance support vessel that is primarily focused on token generation. The way her effect works will allow me to pick which of the two aces would benefit more from a focus and potentially a target lock - and if she is out of range 3 she has Gonk available to build up shields for later recharging.

I selected Talonbane and Zuckuss because both pilots have the capacity to deal 5 red dice attacks at range 1, making them both very aggressive options to fly. What's more important is that these ships both have this capacity with no additional equipment, meaning the only two purposes that equipment need to serve is reducing variance and improving defenses.

Another intention of this list is to make the question of "who must die first" a very difficult one. Manaroo provides key support to the two aces, who are in part dependent on being able to disregard the need to clear their stress immediately. However, she has Gonk available if she starts taking anything less than full focused fire - meaning that the two aces are free to start hammering the backside of the enemy list as it chases Manaroo.

Talonbane is another obvious first pick, namely because he is the most fragile. However, I feel that some players will be inclined to wait for the cloaking device to fail - the particle accelerator should ideally help reinforce this notion and if the cloak fails, Talonbane can be gifted with a final evade to help him out with being unexpectedly exposed.

Zuckuss has the sensor jammer to also require focus fire and also to bait the opponent into spending focuses on attacks, leaving them more exposed to devastating attacks. Ultimately, I feel as though Zuckuss will end up being the one that needs to die first.

Talonbane:

So Talonbane got the cloaking device (paired with the particle accelerator) as a cheaper and more defensive alternative to the standard PTL + Engine Upgrade combo. He should be able to reliably enter into range 1 using the cover that the cloaking device provides.

His EPT slot is a lot more of a wildcard. The list has 1 point that is effectively 'floating' and I've reassigned it several times. Ultimately, it makes the most sense as an extra trick for Talonbane to utilize, especially because one his cloak inevitably fails he will otherwise be flying naked.

As far as 1 point options go, it's pretty limited. Talonbane technically doesn't need token generation (because Manaroo performs this function already) and I am particularly fond of his dial as a great pair with Lighting reflexes, essentially allowing him a one-time k-turn on any maneuver. It provides him some critical unpredictability in regards to escaping from a bad fight or getting an unexpectedly favorably range-1 shot on an opponent.

Zuckuss:

Zuckuss immediately gets VI in order to have his pilot skill match Talonbane's - as a two ace duo, this afford me a lot of control over their maneuvers, to avoid any self-bumping when possible. What's also important about this, is that Zuckuss' pilot skill can also be applied to tractor beam, and a 4 red dice tractor beam sounds pretty tasty on a pilot skill 9 ship, which can potentially move a lower ship onto an obstacle before it can shoot and deny it an attack entirely.

The matching pilot skills also ensures that, if Zuckuss is better off making a tractor beam shot, Talonbane can take advantage of the agility reduction.

Boba Fett I'm bringing along because the card is cheap and the opportunity is too valuable to pass up - especially if it's concluded that a tractor beam can trigger Boba Fett using obstacle critical damage (which is still unanswered and not critical to this list)

--

Overall I feel as though this list (boasting a favorable 22HP out of the gate) is strongly competent, though it may be too generalist and too high variance to see regular consistent results. I'm very interested to hear what people think of it.

I greatly sympathize with the idea and I love the choice of aces. But I'd go for a different route.

Talonbane Cobra (28)

• Attanni Mindlink (1)
• Engine Upgrade (4)

= 33 pts

Zuckuss (28)

• Veteran Instincts (1)
• Advanced Sensors (3)
• "Gonk" (2)
• Mist Hunter (0)
• Tractor Beam (1)

= 35 pts

Manaroo (27)

• Attanni Mindlink (1)
• K4 Security Droid (3)
• Unhinged Astromech (1)

= 32 pts

Talon needs EU to get into R1 and have more mobility overall. Attanni gives him focus and, if Manaroo stresses herself, he can do a green and it's all good. Keeps him as cheap and deadly as possible in the long run.

Zuckuss plays survival mode and has a lot of freedom. With this build, he should be the prefered target for Manaroo's ability.

Mana does her thing with less restraints. With her dial opened up, you get less predictable and Attanni maintains some offensive presence in the form of focus tokens you may get from Talon.

I think those modifications are very sensible, though it does raise a general concern I have about Talonbane's ability to fly with the big kids at PS9. With his dial, Talonbane has a monster of a time clearing stress while retaining the upper hand in a dogfight. Having engine upgrade makes his need to access his action bar key to his survival, when my intention was to permit him to essentially fly white as long as it suits him. I do think that the K4 is a fantastic idea for Manaroo with that configuration, however!

I like K Genesis' list, except for Gonk. I don't think its a good crew generally, but in particular, its not going to be worthwhile on a mist hunter. Its an action-starved ship that simply cannot afford to 'gonk' very often. Worse, it has no ability to run away to regen like Corran w/ engine can (for example). I would definitely suggest dropping that for a crew that will better compliment Zuckuss.

Honestly, I put Gonk there for lack of a better option. Since Mana will feed either of them every turn, action-economy is less of a concern with careful planning. But yeah, absolutely replaceable. Maybe Tactician to combo with Tractor Beam for increased hate.

And I'm not sure if I follow on Talon's reasoning. If he has to clear stress with Cloaking Device, you're insanely screwed either way. Talon's independence is covered by Manaroo anyhow but, with Mindlink, you're ensuring that, even if Manaroo decides to pass tokens to Zuck, Talon gets some love. And he definitely needs that love. Since he doesn't have the dial for Push The Limit, that's the next best thing. And, like I said, he really wants EU for those R1 shots. Either way, he's free to white his way through the entire game, if need be. There must be something I'm missing in your gameplan, though.

And, IMHO, K4 is a must on Manaroo. Not even bumps stop her from supporting, doesn't mind stress and it's still relevant if she's left alone.

The more I think about it the more I agree with your insight. I'll be running both variations of the list and I'll see how they handle different scenarios.

Use 4-LOM over Gonk not only for a bid for initiative but 4-LOM has a better fit for I this build Imo

I've also put together a list with Manaroo and 2 "small aces", but I've outfitted Manaroo as a super aggressive blocker.

Manaroo (35)

Anti-pursuit Lasers

Adaptability

K4 security droid

Unhinged astromech

Feedback array

Guri (40)

Virago

Autothrusters

Predator

Sensor Jammer

N'Dru Suhlak (25)

Guidance chips

Lone Wolf

Cluster Missiles

Glitterstim

N'Dru acts as alpha strike/flanker and the other 2 ships jump the enemy head on. Manaroo acts as blocker, using k4/unhinged combo to aquire lock for n'dru so he can unleash his alpha strike against whoever has his priority. Guri wears manaroo like underwear and guns down anyone who gets blocked. Manaroo hands out extra target locks and focus as needed, or uses it herself if it's not an ideal time to use feedback array. I see this tactic being very strong against Palp aces. I would opt to just arc dodge instead of block when going against rebel swarms/Paul Heavers list. Bro bots or any other 2 large scum ship builds would be pretty simple, bump and focus one down at a time. N'dru might lose his abilities but would be necessary. Crack swarm would hurt, but would still have a tough time chewing through manaroos hp and Guri's defensive upgrades. Not sure what else is meta right now lol

I've also put together a list with Manaroo and 2 "small aces", but I've outfitted Manaroo as a super aggressive blocker.

Manaroo (35)

Anti-pursuit Lasers

Adaptability

K4 security droid

Unhinged astromech

Feedback array

Guri (40)

Virago

Autothrusters

Predator

Sensor Jammer

N'Dru Suhlak (25)

Guidance chips

Lone Wolf

Cluster Missiles

Glitterstim

N'Dru acts as alpha strike/flanker and the other 2 ships jump the enemy head on. Manaroo acts as blocker, using k4/unhinged combo to aquire lock for n'dru so he can unleash his alpha strike against whoever has his priority. Guri wears manaroo like underwear and guns down anyone who gets blocked. Manaroo hands out extra target locks and focus as needed, or uses it herself if it's not an ideal time to use feedback array. I see this tactic being very strong against Palp aces. I would opt to just arc dodge instead of block when going against rebel swarms/Paul Heavers list. Bro bots or any other 2 large scum ship builds would be pretty simple, bump and focus one down at a time. N'dru might lose his abilities but would be necessary. Crack swarm would hurt, but would still have a tough time chewing through manaroos hp and Guri's defensive upgrades. Not sure what else is meta right now lol

Two issues I see with the list:

- to properly synergize Mana's ability with N'Dru's. And that seems to be a big part of the strategy, so that N'Dru can unload. If you can reliably pull it off, then it's great. But it's easy to see this backfiring on you.

- Adaptability. No joke, it's actually hurting you. Manaroo and Guri have fantastic synergy. One of the reasons is that they're both PS5. Once you bump Manaroo's PS, you lose much needed flexibility with your movements, specially since you'll be playing Mana as a blocker, which means she needs to be on their faces at all times. Because Guri also needs to be in their faces at all times. Chances are (very) high that you'll end up in bad positions with either or both of them.

Between those two issues, you're gonna have a hell of a time trying to juggle your gameplan. My advice would be to give both Mana and Guri Attanni Mindlink, also taking Adv. Sensors over Sensor Jammer. With 2 pts left, Guri can also have Cloaking Device for shenanigans.

Since Mana's a blocker, she'll be BRing a lot. Guri can provide the focus Mana won't be taking when blocking. Adv. Sensors allows you to work that "in your face" strategy much easily, and Guri needs to dance a lot when paired with a big ship.

I'm also not feeling N'Dru in this list. His ability (and Lone Wolf) may proc only once or twice is this setup, if at all. But let us know if he did his thing.

The other idea I'm having, with the wake of the other Jumpmaster configurations, is to configure Manaroo to also function as a bumper, so I've taken K's list (https://community.fantasyflightgames.com/topic/206406-mamaroo-2-small-aces/#entry2118762)

and substituted Gonk from Zuckuss into an Ion projector for Manaroo. It gives her a more active role and sets up devastatingly easy shots for the aces.

The other idea I'm having, with the wake of the other Jumpmaster configurations, is to configure Manaroo to also function as a bumper, so I've taken K's list (https://community.fantasyflightgames.com/topic/206406-mamaroo-2-small-aces/#entry2118762)

and substituted Gonk from Zuckuss into an Ion projector for Manaroo. It gives her a more active role and sets up devastatingly easy shots for the aces.

Should work wonders. Mine uses Guri in Zuckuss' place (Mindlink and Autothrusters) and Anti-Pursuit Lasers instead of IP and it's been great to fly.

Let us know how it went for you.

So here's what I found:

Talonbane Cobra (Attani Mindlink, Engine Upgrade) is fine as-is, he's always been about airtight maneuver decision-making, the mindlink provides a strong alternative to PTL to the tune of 1 less point and less regular stress generation. It's a little daunting that Talonbane is costed identically to a standard U-boat, but substituting him out for a single U-boat goes against the philosophy of the list.

Zuckuss (Veteran Instincts, Advance Sensors, Boba Fett, Title + Tractor Beam) at PS9 has been fantastic. The bonus agi he's handing out makes his 5-reds objectively less valuable to Talonbane's right now. Advance sensors have been strongly useful since he was repeatedly bumping into things all match (I'm a bit rusty). I didn't activate Boba Fett once over the night, so Zuckuss needs some revisiting.

Manaroo (Attani Mindlink, K4 Security Droid, Unhinged Astromech, Tactical Jammer) ends up playing a much, much more active role in the fights than I originally intended. The K4 practically demands that she be dropping down green maneuvers as often as possible, though I have had scenarios where she could move on a white, spend her action to target lock, and have Talonbane give her a focus, but they were few and far between. I found that the unhinged astromech contradicts the K4 Security Droid pretty often, as most speed 3 manuevers would have put her out of target-lock range of any ship. This comes more as a product of her low pilot skill.

Changes:

• I'm going to remove Boba Fett from the list and replace him with 4LOM: I love that card and am immediately setting to work on putting together a second list that better caters to him, but here there's not much to actually promise he'll activate early enough to make a difference. His cost is low enough that it's easy to justify taking him, but I need that crew slot back for now. It feels a little on the nose to bring the crew card that was designed specifically to synergize with Zuckuss, but it's exactly what Zuckuss needs in this scenario. As long as Zuckuss isn't jousting the target, he will probably want to lock down an enemy focus token, if they have one. By the time that dice are reaching the point of being 5:4 or 5:5, it increases the odds of a hit by as much as 20% (assuming Zuckuss has a focus token of his own to spend).
• I'm going to replace advanced sensors with sensor jammer: While advanced sensors were very useful, the only real reason I'd need it is for performing a barrel roll prior to the maneuver, and that doesn't justify the 3 points. Zuckuss is already the primary target for being granted Manaroo's tokens, so having additional means to ensure he will have token for himself is actually reaching a point of redundancy. I expect sensor jammer to provide an extra layer of survivability, as Zuckuss can dare his opponents to spend their focus to avoid stronger attacks (when 4LOM isn't activated) - and in the worst case scenarios where the enemy target has a focus AND an evade, locking the evade token may force the opponent's hand. This should also make the occasional ionized rounds less fearsome (and I kind of want attention to be on Zuckuss' ship anyway)
• I'm going to remove tactical jammer, but keep unhinged astromech: One of the two had to go to pay for the sensor jammer, and tactical jammer paints a larger target on Manaroo. Most players I fought ended up "chasing the rabbit" and trying to take down Manaroo as she dutifully pumped out actions for my aces, which I was more than happy to take advantage of. However, I was frequently not able to cause enough damage from behind before Manaroo was ultimately destroyed, and this list has become very strongly dependent on her survival. Unhinged astromech simply provides more options and allows Manaroo to be revealing green maneuvers as often as possible, as well as to hopefully allow her to disengage, if I ever decide that needs to be the case.

I also has a scenario where I hit a ship with a tractor beam, but the barrel roll moved the ship completely over the asteroid safely onto the other side - which ultimately cost the game over the next few rounds. Ultimately I think that this list has very strong potential, but unlike something like U-boats, it's not something I'd consider immediately easy to execute. I'll be continuing to fly primarily this list (sorry Kath / Mangler / Boba / Engine Upgrade) and see how the adjustments do.

Further, one list I went up against had 4LOM and a flechette cannon'd Scyk - so it was outfitted for stress output. The attani link actually didn't suffer badly from this - as the list is already designed for Talonbane and Zuckuss to hypothetically fly around without resolving their stress tokens unless convenient. Manaroo had an easy time repeatedly clearing any stress that was placed onto her, and Talonbane's dial handles stress just fine. Zuckuss, being outside of the link, actually became ignored by the opponent who was more eager to duplicate the stress over the link - though I'd argue that Zuckuss is restricted by stress far more than either of the two other ships.

So here's what I found:

Talonbane Cobra (Attani Mindlink, Engine Upgrade) is fine as-is, he's always been about airtight maneuver decision-making, the mindlink provides a strong alternative to PTL to the tune of 1 less point and less regular stress generation. It's a little daunting that Talonbane is costed identically to a standard U-boat, but substituting him out for a single U-boat goes against the philosophy of the list.

Zuckuss (Veteran Instincts, Advance Sensors, Boba Fett, Title + Tractor Beam) at PS9 has been fantastic. The bonus agi he's handing out makes his 5-reds objectively less valuable to Talonbane's right now. Advance sensors have been strongly useful since he was repeatedly bumping into things all match (I'm a bit rusty). I didn't activate Boba Fett once over the night, so Zuckuss needs some revisiting.

Manaroo (Attani Mindlink, K4 Security Droid, Unhinged Astromech, Tactical Jammer) ends up playing a much, much more active role in the fights than I originally intended. The K4 practically demands that she be dropping down green maneuvers as often as possible, though I have had scenarios where she could move on a white, spend her action to target lock, and have Talonbane give her a focus, but they were few and far between. I found that the unhinged astromech contradicts the K4 Security Droid pretty often, as most speed 3 manuevers would have put her out of target-lock range of any ship. This comes more as a product of her low pilot skill.

Changes:

• I'm going to remove Boba Fett from the list and replace him with 4LOM: I love that card and am immediately setting to work on putting together a second list that better caters to him, but here there's not much to actually promise he'll activate early enough to make a difference. His cost is low enough that it's easy to justify taking him, but I need that crew slot back for now. It feels a little on the nose to bring the crew card that was designed specifically to synergize with Zuckuss, but it's exactly what Zuckuss needs in this scenario. As long as Zuckuss isn't jousting the target, he will probably want to lock down an enemy focus token, if they have one. By the time that dice are reaching the point of being 5:4 or 5:5, it increases the odds of a hit by as much as 20% (assuming Zuckuss has a focus token of his own to spend).
• I'm going to replace advanced sensors with sensor jammer: While advanced sensors were very useful, the only real reason I'd need it is for performing a barrel roll prior to the maneuver, and that doesn't justify the 3 points. Zuckuss is already the primary target for being granted Manaroo's tokens, so having additional means to ensure he will have token for himself is actually reaching a point of redundancy. I expect sensor jammer to provide an extra layer of survivability, as Zuckuss can dare his opponents to spend their focus to avoid stronger attacks (when 4LOM isn't activated) - and in the worst case scenarios where the enemy target has a focus AND an evade, locking the evade token may force the opponent's hand. This should also make the occasional ionized rounds less fearsome (and I kind of want attention to be on Zuckuss' ship anyway)
• I'm going to remove tactical jammer, but keep unhinged astromech: One of the two had to go to pay for the sensor jammer, and tactical jammer paints a larger target on Manaroo. Most players I fought ended up "chasing the rabbit" and trying to take down Manaroo as she dutifully pumped out actions for my aces, which I was more than happy to take advantage of. However, I was frequently not able to cause enough damage from behind before Manaroo was ultimately destroyed, and this list has become very strongly dependent on her survival. Unhinged astromech simply provides more options and allows Manaroo to be revealing green maneuvers as often as possible, as well as to hopefully allow her to disengage, if I ever decide that needs to be the case.

I also has a scenario where I hit a ship with a tractor beam, but the barrel roll moved the ship completely over the asteroid safely onto the other side - which ultimately cost the game over the next few rounds. Ultimately I think that this list has very strong potential, but unlike something like U-boats, it's not something I'd consider immediately easy to execute. I'll be continuing to fly primarily this list (sorry Kath / Mangler / Boba / Engine Upgrade) and see how the adjustments do.

Further, one list I went up against had 4LOM and a flechette cannon'd Scyk - so it was outfitted for stress output. The attani link actually didn't suffer badly from this - as the list is already designed for Talonbane and Zuckuss to hypothetically fly around without resolving their stress tokens unless convenient. Manaroo had an easy time repeatedly clearing any stress that was placed onto her, and Talonbane's dial handles stress just fine. Zuckuss, being outside of the link, actually became ignored by the opponent who was more eager to duplicate the stress over the link - though I'd argue that Zuckuss is restricted by stress far more than either of the two other ships.

Fantastic report. Thanks for this. Allow me to pick your brain on that experience, I'd like to go deeper on each ship's value.

Talonbane: Like you said, Attanni pays and plays itself to the likes of Push The Limit (actually, it saves 2 pts, a huge deal if you ask me). Considering that Talon is not suitable for Push The Limit, but is meant to be an ace, did Attanni turn him into the ace you expected him to be? Was he significant to the overall success (?) of the list?

Also, you likened his cost to a generic U-Boat. Do you think that the U-Boat would've accomplished more? I know, different playstyles...but it sounded like it.

Finally, between his cheapest build (Crackstim Talon) and his most expensive one (Predator, EU, Glitterstim), is Attanni Talon a realistic choice?

Zuckuss: Does he play like an ace? What does he bring to the table that Talon doesn't?

Does he, at any point, miss Attanni? You mentioned 4-LOM, but isn't the immediate risk of an ionized turn a huge no-no? Have you considered Intelligence Agent for reasons I'll describe below?

Manaroo: You describe her as more active than expected, but was she performing blocks? I couldn't grasp how you were flying her but, like you said, Talon provided focus tokens. What about those barrel rolls with low PS? Hence Intelligence Agent on someone that can scout for her.

How was her support overall? Significant? How did the rest of the squad fare without her?

Other than that, the last paragraph brought a smile to my face. Stress always bugs a Mindlink squad but I'm glad it didn't bother you (as expected).

To wrap it up,

Is this a competitively viable list?

And, most importantly, did you have fun with it?

This is a great list concept. I had been toying something similar - swapping Talon for Palob - but I think this has potential. Looks fun to fly too.

You all have explored several variations of the base pilots. My version incorporates many of the thoughts above.

List name: Zuck on This... [100 points]

G-1A Starfighter: · Zuckuss (28)

Veteran Instincts (1)

Fire Control System (2)

· 4-LOM (1)

· Mist Hunter (0)

Tractor Beam (1)

JumpMaster 5000: · Manaroo (27)

Attanni Mindlink (1)

Anti Pursuit Laser (2)

K4 Security Droid (3)

Unhinged Astromech (1)

Kihraxz Fighter: · Talonbane Cobra (28)

Attanni Mindlink (1)

Stygium Particle Accelerator (2)

· Cloaking Device (2)

I'll try Talon with EU again too but I haven't played with cloaking much and it synergizes with him nicely.

Manaroo is an excellent blocker. It makes the target priority even harder when she is right in their face. Also, you don't want her for your last ship so make her a nuisance.

I desparately want 1 point to upgrade Zuckuss' VI to Juke but I'm keen to get some reps in with this.

This is a great list concept. I had been toying something similar - swapping Talon for Palob - but I think this has potential. Looks fun to fly too.

You all have explored several variations of the base pilots. My version incorporates many of the thoughts above.

List name: Zuck on This... [100 points]

G-1A Starfighter: · Zuckuss (28)

Veteran Instincts (1)

Fire Control System (2)

· 4-LOM (1)

· Mist Hunter (0)

Tractor Beam (1)

JumpMaster 5000: · Manaroo (27)

Attanni Mindlink (1)

Anti Pursuit Laser (2)

K4 Security Droid (3)

Unhinged Astromech (1)

Kihraxz Fighter: · Talonbane Cobra (28)

Attanni Mindlink (1)

Stygium Particle Accelerator (2)

· Cloaking Device (2)

I'll try Talon with EU again too but I haven't played with cloaking much and it synergizes with him nicely.

Manaroo is an excellent blocker. It makes the target priority even harder when she is right in their face. Also, you don't want her for your last ship so make her a nuisance.

I desparately want 1 point to upgrade Zuckuss' VI to Juke but I'm keen to get some reps in with this.

Couldn't help but notice you're isolating Zuckuss. With FCS, it seems unlikely that he'll be receiving support from Manaroo. Is that the goal?

Also, if you're looking for an extra point to beef Zuckuss up, here comes a possibly unpopular suggestion: lose the title. If it's going for Juke, your preffered action will be evade, anyway, and the Tractor Beam in this config isn't much of a tool.

This concept is incredibly promising. Looking forward to more reports on it.

I desparately want 1 point to upgrade Zuckuss' VI to Juke but I'm keen to get some reps in with this.

Couldn't help but notice you're isolating Zuckuss. With FCS, it seems unlikely that he'll be receiving support from Manaroo. Is that the goal?

Also, if you're looking for an extra point to beef Zuckuss up, here comes a possibly unpopular suggestion: lose the title. If it's going for Juke, your preffered action will be evade, anyway, and the Tractor Beam in this config isn't much of a tool.

This concept is incredibly promising. Looking forward to more reports on it.

You are right about my list not powering Zuckuss with Manaroo. I suppose that makes it a little less flexible if Talon is eliminated first. However, Manaroo can offer Zuckuss TL / Focus when FCS has not been triggered yet on a new target.

Regarding ways to get the extra point, I also considered dropping title for juke. My hesitation is that it makes the G-1A rigid. It is nice to have the option to use juke or BR depending on situation. The other option is to drop SPA in order to not put too much emphasis on the success of the cloaking device.

I wanted to pop in and say I've been working on detailed responses to all of your questions last week, K - I've been a bit sick and haven't had the time to complete it just yet, but it'll be up soon!

Haven't gotten to fly this yet any feed back welcome

Manaroo

-mind link

-Intell agent

-unhinged

-pursuit lasers

Guri

-mind link

-virago

-thrusters

-adv. sensor

Kavil

-predator

-auto blaster

-unhinged

Total: 99pts

Instead of Kavil, probably Palob w/ mindlink, twin laser & dengar (or moldy crow). You can then give Guri Sensor Jammer (mindlink means advanced sensors is less needed anyway). Palob has good synergy with Sensor Jammer, and 3 ships w/ Mindlink are better than 2 (especially when 2 of those ships are turreted and therefore don't need red moves).

I don't like the idea of a 3 ship mind link since a stress hog would cause lots of issues or confine to mostly predicable green moves.

How about switch for jammer on Guri

Add punishing one title to Manaroo

Switch Kavil out for a black sun solider with concussion missile and guidance chip

Totals to 99 Pts

I wanted to pop in and say I've been working on detailed responses to all of your questions last week, K - I've been a bit sick and haven't had the time to complete it just yet, but it'll be up soon!

Thanks for taking your time to check back, I appreciate that a lot.

No problem, get better, bro.

Here's my tweak on all those awesome ideas.

The idea of Zuckuss and 4-LOM dropped a 5-dice range 1 is bad but I have a scummy trick up my sleeve -- Juke / 4-LOM and Baffles.

(not sure if the timing works right.. so might need some help from the rules people).

For Talonbane, you can swap out the cloaking silliness for the Engine Upgrade. Me? I just want to try it out. And the Ion Projector is optional on Manaroo. However, I like the idea of using greens to move into a blocking position, and potentially forcing ions on your opponents. That would help setup the aces for some huge attacks if ya can pull it off -- which is the theme with this build.

1) With Juke and the Mist-Hunter's evade token, change their defenders evade result to a focus.

2) Then, with 4-LOM lock down that focus token so they can't spend it. Take your ion token...

3) However, Electronic Baffles let's you take that as damage if you want.

4) At that point, the focus and/or TL from Manaroo is just icing on the cake.

Yeah, you may pull it off ONCE in a lifetime, but it would be pretty awesome if it did. Anyways, love all the scummy and villianous things you can do with this list.

Talonbane Cobra (28)