I admit a big part of me getting into this game was to get some awesome miniatures for "Edge of Empire" RPG. So naturally the first thing I did was buy a ton of scum ships. I have the Most Wanted and 3 M3A packs (got to fill up those minion squads).

I also really like themed armies so thought I'd run something like this:

Serissu w/ stealth device- 23

Laetin w/ heavy M3A, Mangler cannon, and stealth device- 27

Tansarii Veteran w/ stealth device- 20

2 Binayre Pirates- 24

That leaves 6 points for pilot upgrades on Serissu and veteran. Pair of Push the limits for action economy? I really like the stealth devices, and I have 3 of them

I figure M3As will be really tough to hit, especially with Serissu. Laetin is heavy hitter and is naturally protected from swarm fire. Still gives 5 ships to run around with.

Figure good against ships with low agility big ships or swarms, might suffer agaisnt few elite ships.

I think the toughest trouble is punching through high-agility ships with a ton of tokens (especially Soontir or Vader supported by the Emperor).

You're right that Serissu should make everyone tougher to hit, but the problem is that Serissu becomes the first target. As long as the opponent is shooting her, her ability isn't being used. As soon as she's gone, the opponent can take care of the other ships without worrying about rerolls. I might consider Draw Their Fire on the Tansarii Point Veteran to pull crits away from Serissu, but that likely won't do too much since they're each only 1 shield/2 hull. Predator may be a good option on Serissu to give her some good offensive output without tokens, allowing her to spend actions on focus/evade for defense.

I like Stealth Devices, too! A lot of people don't like them because they're hit-or-miss, but they're fun, so I like to use them and you should use them too, if you like them, and not worry about others' opinions. Because, sure, they might fail you, but they also can save you roll after roll.

I try to love on the M3A, I've found it missing boost on its action bar. If the M3A could take autothrusters with Mangler or HLC, it'd be a fantastic ship.

I've been theory-winging putting Attaini mindlink on Serissu and Point Veterans. This would create some action economy. One person takes a focus so that everyone gets one, then the others TL/focus/evade/barrel roll as needed. Serissu rerolls with evades make for hard targets.

This is 87 points:

M3-A Interceptor: · Serissu (20)

Attanni Mindlink (1)

Stealth Device (3)

M3-A Interceptor: Tansarii Point Veteran (17)

Attanni Mindlink (1)

Stealth Device (3)

M3-A Interceptor: Tansarii Point Veteran (17)

Attanni Mindlink (1)

Stealth Device (3)

M3-A Interceptor: Tansarii Point Veteran (17)

Attanni Mindlink (1)

Stealth Device (3)

Lol. You can put tractor beams on all four ships and still have 1 point for bid. You have Serissu fire the tractor beam lower the targets ago and either push them away or closer, or on a rock. Then the rest fire primary weapons.

M3-A Interceptor: · Serissu (20)

Attanni Mindlink (1)

Stealth Device (3)

"Heavy Scyk" Interceptor (2)

Tractor Beam (1)

M3-A Interceptor: Tansarii Point Veteran (17)

Attanni Mindlink (1)

Stealth Device (3)

"Heavy Scyk" Interceptor (2)

Tractor Beam (1)

M3-A Interceptor: Tansarii Point Veteran (17)

Attanni Mindlink (1)

Stealth Device (3)

"Heavy Scyk" Interceptor (2)

Tractor Beam (1)

M3-A Interceptor: Tansarii Point Veteran (17)

Attanni Mindlink (1)

Stealth Device (3)

"Heavy Scyk" Interceptor (2)

Tractor Beam (1)

I'm not convinced this is the best use for ask points, but a thought.

Thanks for the input. The M3As come with Stealth devices so might as well use them. I feel they're only useful on 3agility ships, and the M3A is the most economical 3 agility ship.

If I drop the 2 headhunters, I could get another M3A with Stealth device, and afford another mangler cannon. That would look like:

Serissu- 23

Stealth Device

Laetin- 27

Stealth Device

Heavy Scyk

Mangler Cannon

Tansarii Veteran- 29

Predator

Stealth Device

Heavy Scyk

Mangler Cannon

Tansarii Veteran- 21

Draw their Fire

Stealth Device

Total:100

That gives me 2 Mangler Cannons, which should rip up large ships. Small ships should have difficulty hitting them. If opponents eliminate Serissu first, that leaves my cannons alive longer. I feel bad spending 29 points on a 3 health ship, but I feel it's all in the spirit of the scum!

Quick question: does draw their Fire pop stealth device? Would it pop it on the ship that took the hit or the damage?

Last one, I swear...

M3-A Interceptor: · Serissu (20)

Attanni Mindlink (1)

Stealth Device (3)

"Heavy Scyk" Interceptor (2)

Tractor Beam (1)

M3-A Interceptor: Tansarii Point Veteran (17)

Attanni Mindlink (1)

M3-A Interceptor: Tansarii Point Veteran (17)

Attanni Mindlink (1)

M3-A Interceptor: Tansarii Point Veteran (17)

Attanni Mindlink (1)

M3-A Interceptor: Tansarii Point Veteran (17)

Attanni Mindlink (1)

Serissu always takes an evade token. One of the point veterans takes the focus to spread to all. Serissu uses tractor beam on primary target. Everyone else kills it. Serissu rerolls and evade tokens to keep them alive.

*most economical 3 evade ship available to scum

So this brings me to my Scyk swarm that was one of the first lists I put together. It has limitations, like having to be in range 1, but if it can pull off getting into range 1 with the the torps, the mindlink guarantees they all have focus, and the threads give them the target lock, with Chips, there's a 1/1024 chance of getting 4 hits, otherwise, it's 5 hits. So again, alpha strike with 15 hits of the stats align. They never did, but I did net a couple of wins with it.

M3-A Interceptor: Tansarii Point Veteran (17)

Attanni Mindlink (1)

Guidance Chips (0)

"Heavy Scyk" Interceptor (2)

XX-23 S-Thread Tracers (1)

M3-A Interceptor: Tansarii Point Veteran (17)

Attanni Mindlink (1)

Guidance Chips (0)

"Heavy Scyk" Interceptor (2)

Advanced Proton Torpedoes (6)

M3-A Interceptor: Tansarii Point Veteran (17)

Attanni Mindlink (1)

Guidance Chips (0)

"Heavy Scyk" Interceptor (2)

Advanced Proton Torpedoes (6)

M3-A Interceptor: Tansarii Point Veteran (17)

Attanni Mindlink (1)

Guidance Chips (0)

"Heavy Scyk" Interceptor (2)

Advanced Proton Torpedoes (6)

Total: 99pts

Just looked up the mind link, it's pretty cool! What set can I find that in?

JumpMaster. I love the mindlink myself.

Serissu (20):

• Attanni Mindlink (1)
• Stealth Device (3)
• "Heavy Scyk" Interceptor (2)
• Tractor Beam (1)

Total: 27 pts

Tansarii Point Veteran (17):

• Attanni Mindlink (1)
• "Heavy Scyk" Interceptor (2)
• "Mangler" Cannon (4)

Total: 24 pts

Tansarii Point Veteran (17):

• Attanni Mindlink (1)
• "Heavy Scyk" Interceptor (2)
• "Mangler" Cannon (4)

Total: 24 pts

Tansarii Point Veteran (17):

• Attanni Mindlink (1)
• "Heavy Scyk" Interceptor (2)
• "Mangler" Cannon (4)

Total: 24 pts

Do not run more than 1 Scyk if you don't have multiple copies of Attanni Mindlink. They're way too fragile, even with Serissu and will drop like flies.

Attanni gives them a pseudo-PTL that'll allow you to focus on their survival through evade tokens. But, other than that, you also need teeth. They cant be run like TIE fighters because of numbers efficiency.

Mangler Cannon stabilizes their attack dice but, if you're feeling bold, you can try Concussion/Cluster Missiles for that early alpha and go for 2-dice attacks against the leftovers (don't forget the Chips).

Dlogue,

I do hope you can figure out how to find a functioning M3A swarm that is competitive. If you do, please share. To me, in comparing the M3A to other ships, I believe it is most similar to the Tie Fight, just has a TL, no 5 straight, and no hard 3's. Otherwise, same ship. Tie swarms have been a thing since the start, so, in theory, we should be able to replicate that on the scum side with the M3A. Serissu with Swarm Tactics and a crew of spacers is the opposite of Howlrunner and academy pilots, but the M3A can TL for rerolls.

I probably fly the ship too defensively, taking evades more than TL's or Focus. My experience in a M3A swarm, Serissu plus 5 Cartel spacers, is that it takes a bit of time to kill them, but once they start dropping, it becomes exponential. That, again, may be because of my defensiveness.

I've seen people flying Serissu with a feedback Zed swarm. The zed is a great swarm ship. Again, I think the M3A should be, simply because of Tie Fighters, but the Zed is more common. Adding Serissu to the list extends the survivability of the Zed swarm.

I think a pair of M3A's works well. 20 points with Mangler Cannon, keep them at range two, and give your opponent something more juicy to dog fight with. I've flown 3 Cartel Mauraders and 2 Cartel Spacers with good results. The Khiraxz and M3A have almost identical dials (4K for Kiraxz and 3K for M3A). Fly the Marauders straight in and keep the Spacers back to support with Manglers. This list went toe to toe with another swarm, I lost the match by one ship. It devastated two ship lists.

I tend to feel that the M3A is too fragile to load up if its going to dog fight. If its going to stay on the fringes, and your opponent has other targets, its better sinking 6+ points onto it. If its meant to be a dog fighting swarm, Serissu with a stealth device and swarm tactics, and everything else naked.

But all of this is my opinion, and am grateful for someone to find a way to make this work.