Last week I was thinking about a list that allowed me to be competitive, sort of, and fun. There are some premises I need to follow, because if I don't like a list, I don't get convinced by it immediately, I get bored of it right away. So I wanted to bring back weapons I enjoy against the current meta. Add to that that I want to explore the fascinating world of Dengar crew, and voilá, I have a direction.

Ok, so we have two meta superb lists around, and those are, as read in the title: triple Uboats, featuring a varying amount of torpedos and fireworks, and aces/palp aces, who are always a PS 8-9 surgical pain dispenser. I planned adding two large base ships, which can deal with some of those menaces by themselves. One will be superb vs aces, and MEH vs U boats, and the other will be superb against Uboats, and kinda ok vs aces.

I introduce you the comeback pair, Ig 88B and the almighty Boba Fett!

Boba Fett, 49 points

Veteran Instincts, Dengar, engine upgrade, glitterism, Slave I (Cool purposes only)

IG88 B, 51 points

Predator, mangler cannon, sensor jammer, glitterism, autothrusters, IG2000 (Cool purposes, again)

Thing is, Ps 10 and 6, the IG can absorb, with the feared super Sensor Jammer, some plasma hits, and after that it is a very difficult ship to pin down using turrets. Boba being an ace hunter, and competent against everything else (Have you tried it against non crackswarms getting in range 1 and using glitter? hilarious).

What do you think guys? What would you sacrifice to put bombs on Boba? (The dreamed extra munitions and proton bomb tops at 56, and it's definitely to much).

edit: English is not my native language, typos detected!

I have been having a good success with this build. Plus side of this list is that you do not care about being stressed and range three shots are with secondary weapons to keep the range bonuses down.

Kath Scarlet (52)

-Predator

-Dengar

-Mangler Cannon

-Engine Upgrade

IG88-B (46)

-Veteran Instincts

-Fire Control System

-Tractor Beam

-Mangler Cannon

-Autothrusters

I have been having a good success with this build. Plus side of this list is that you do not care about being stressed and range three shots are with secondary weapons to keep the range bonuses down.

Kath Scarlet (52)

-Predator

-Dengar

-Mangler Cannon

-Engine Upgrade

IG88-B (46)

-Veteran Instincts

-Fire Control System

-Tractor Beam

-Mangler Cannon

-Autothrusters

This build doesn't give you a great answer to arc dodging aces, while a PS10 Boba w/ EU at least has some options for keeping them in arc.

There are a few things I would change with the Kath/IG build, but PS isn't really an issue. Use one as a blocker for arc-dodgers and have the other hit the target. Works fine with dual IGs. I do question putting 6pts into reroll abilities when a K4 would serve almost as well and free up more points. If it was me, I'd give Kath a K4 and an HLC (or keep the Mangler and add PTL), and change VI to Adaptability and upgrade IG to an HLC also. No reason for an init bid at that PS.

The main reason for this build was because of stress bots. Being able to reroll up to 3 dice consistently while stressed or moving into position with engine upgrade is crucial. K4 limits the dial and makes the ship to predictable for my style. I do like the idea of dropping VI to Adaptability and changing the Mangler to HLC. I will give that a try, I think I will enjoy the flexibility I will get from choosing who moves first.

Boba Fett, 49 points

Veteran Instincts, Dengar, engine upgrade, glitterism, Slave I (Cool purposes only)

IG88 B, 51 points

Predator, mangler cannon, sensor jammer, glitterism, autothrusters, IG2000 (Cool purposes, again)

Thing is, Ps 10 and 6, the IG can absorb, with the feared super Sensor Jammer, some plasma hits, and after that it is a very difficult ship to pin down using turrets. Boba being an ace hunter, and competent against everything else (Have you tried it against non crackswarms getting in range 1 and using glitter? hilarious).

What do you think guys? What would you sacrifice to put bombs on Boba? (The dreamed extra munitions and proton bomb tops at 56, and it's definitely to much).

edit: English is not my native language, typos detected!

This has always been a good pairing, but I'm not convinced the loadout is 'ideal' for beating the two matchups you are most concerned about.

I still think Tactician is the best crew for Boba IF you are specifically using him to counter Aces. Most aces use push the limit, so tactician is a very effective counter. Dengar is cool and all, but trying to push damage through tokens and Palpatine is an exercise in frustration (either you block them or you kill the shuttle bearing the old bugger).

I'm also not a big fan of glitterstim on IG88. Its a one trick pony that puts you in a tough spot on the following turn. I know lots of people love it, so I don't deny it can be great, but stress on IG88 is quite a drawback, since its so super easy to outmanoeuvre a stressed IG88 (those 9 greens are not as different as one might think).

For that reason, I really like this IG88B:

predator, advanced sensors, HLC & autothrusters = 51

(Inertial Dampeners optional, if you don't mind the stress)

Advanced Sensors are far more valuable than Sensor Jammer against torpedo scouts. Yes Jammer works ok against plasma torps, but it does diddly squat against R4 agromech primary shots or against proton torps. Advanced sensors gives you torpedo immunity by giving you greater range control. You can pretty much go from out of range to R1 every time, or worse case scenario, bump into a torpedo scout with advanced sensor boost. Plus, if they try to block you, well, you just don't care (unless its an s-loop/k-turn).

The problem I've been having with tactician on Boba is a severe lack of damage consistance. Also, Dengar crew is like a target lock every turn against named targets, and generic targets are usually cake for IG.

If there were a way of putting a thermal detonator aboard Boba (preferabily with extra munitions) in that build, I'll be pleased. Those things create a very nice no-fly zone for those problematic aces when they get closer than I would like. I'm still thinking about it, and this weekend I'll probably play something like this, depending on how many Uboats I foresee, I may play the usual crackbot, or the jammer version for less damage - better survival.

With the extra points, I'd rather up IG-88 to a Heavy Laser Cannon if I can. Manglers are nice, but a non-ace, especially an agility 2 one, shouldn't be dodging hits often. But with 9 hits apiece, you need the extra dice to kill the buggers as fast as you can - raw damage is important to drop generic squads, especially shield-heavy ones.