Hi, I seem to have a couple of lists floating around my head involving talonbane cobra and attanni mind link and wondering which one would be the best

List one (100)

Talonbane Cobra (35) - Kihraxz

Attanni Mindlink (1), Cloaking Device (2), Engine Upgrade (4)

Black Sun Ace (24) - Kihraxz

Attanni Mindlink (1)

Tansarii Point Veteran (21) - M3-A "Scyk" Interceptor

Attanni Mindlink (1), "Heavy Scyk" Interceptor (2), Tractor Beam (1)

Kaa'to Leeachos (20) - Z-95 Headhunter

Attanni Mindlink (1), Concussion Missiles (4), Guidance Chips (0)

Or list two (100)

Talonbane Cobra (31) - Kihraxz

Attanni Mindlink (1), Cloaking Device (2)

Black Sun Ace (24) - Kihraxz

Attanni Mindlink (1)

Black Sun Ace (24) - Kihraxz

Attanni Mindlink (1)

Tansarii Point Veteran (21) - M3-A "Scyk" Interceptor

Attanni Mindlink (1), "Heavy Scyk" Interceptor (2), Tractor Beam (1)

Or even list 3 (99)

Talonbane Cobra (29) - Kihraxz

Attanni Mindlink (1)

Black Sun Ace (24) - Kihraxz

Attanni Mindlink (1)

Black Sun Ace (24) - Kihraxz

Attanni Mindlink (1)

N'Dru Suhlak (22) - Z-95 Headhunter

Attanni Mindlink (1), Concussion Missiles (4), Guidance Chips (0)

I kinda like list 1 giving cobra the repositioning of engine upgrade and even one use of cloaking device and still getting focus and the scyk with tractor beam is for shenanigans, I also think the k fighters can be pretty nasty with tl/focus most turns, I'm just not sure which one would be the best starting point to play around with.

Nice to see someone else interested in Attanni Mindlink! Its a card that is not going to see a ton of popularity due to the fact it makes using any squad more difficult. I've been practicing with it quite a bit, and even used it in a recent VASSAL tournament finishing in top 8 out of over 60 people.

So I think its got potential! However, it also has some limitations, obviously. Here's what I've found based on my experiences so far:

-careful planning---you always need to think 2 moves in advance. You have to set up your k-turns (only 1 ship can k-turn per round!) and you have to decide which one each round will be doing focus for you. I find having 1 turret in the list is really nice, because its generally easier for a turret ship to pick focus as its action. This allows your other ships to take other actions.

-ships with 3+ actions on their bar are best. Having access to only 2 actions does not allow you to get full value from mindlink every turn. For this reason, Khiraxz is not an ideal ship. However, if you give it engine, it gets better: firstly, you don't need k-turn as much, because you can use boost to turn around if needed, and also, when you already have TL, you can use boost to get closer (if that's helpful).

-Guri, Manaroo and Kaa'to are all great to have in a mindlink list thanks to their abilities. Palob too (you definitely want moldy crow). Kavil is also a possiblity, although he tends to prefer predator. Scyks are surprisingly good with mindlink. They have lots of good actions to pick from, so they can TL + focus when you need offense or evade+focus when you need to survive heavy fire (BR is there too).

-maximizing the mindlink: you need to keep multiple linked ships alive as long as possible. Getting your opponent to split up their fire is essential to keeping your list firing on all cylinders. Once you are down to 1 ship, mindlink is deadweight...

So, based on all that, here's my list suggestion to you:

Talonbane w/ mindlink + engine = 33

Guri w/ mindlink & autothrusters = 33

Palob w/ mindlink, twin laser, moldy crow & dengar = 33

99

If you don't have a star viper or hawk, then you can replace with something else. Manaroo + Kaa'to could fit in the 66 point range, for example:

Kaa'to w/ mindlink, homing missiles + guidance chips = 21

Manaroo w/ mindlink, title, K4-droid & unhinged = 44

That leaves you 2 points to put cloaking device on Talonbane (putting it at 100)

Yeah, guri/cobra/palob looks good, is there much difference between running a 3 ship link to a 4 ship link, does it become too unmanageable at 4?