From Empire to Scum

By Paul7926, in X-Wing Squad Lists

Hi folks.

I've only just (yesterday) got what I wanted for my Imperial builds so obviously my thoughts are turning towards one of the other two factions!!!

I'm more drawn to Scum probably because I find it hard to side with the rebels. I'm pretty clueless when it comes to Scum builds and I suspect they are not in a great 'tournament' place right now but that's OK because they are my second choice. So if anyone has any advice on a first list or pointers to other threads that have tackled this already I'd appreciate it.

I doubt my existing collection will come in much use but I'd like to not have to buy everything from scratch. I'm sure I have some upgrade cards that will be useful. I have

Both core sets

1 TIE

1 TIE/fo

1 T70 X-wing (yeah I know!)

1 TIE Advance

1 TIE Interceptor

1 Inquisitors TIE

1 Imperial Aces

1 StarViper

1 Veteran Instincts, 1 Gunner, 1 TIE/x1, 1 Advanced Targetting computer as extra cards.

There seems to be some love for Bossk at the moment but I have no idea how to build him properly. I also have no idea if the StarViper is any real use as I got it for the autothrusters and I refuse to run triple jumpmaster under any circumstances. I'd considered brobots but not sure I want to get two of them straight away and again no real idea how to build them. When I started building my Imperials I knew what direction I wanted to go but for Scum I have no clue.

The most wanted box doesn't seem like it would be a lot of use as I don't have the ships that you get the extra dials for but again I'm not sure.

Any/all help or pointers appreciated.

The most wanted box is still pretty decent, because z-95s are great fillers, ordinance carriers, and illicit carriers. You are correct in the StarViper assessment, they are a bit overpriced but can be fun. Bossk has some potential, based mostly on the amazing cheap crew available to scum.

I agree on not running triple jumpmasters, but I would recommend trying one. If you don't run Dengar, his crew is amazing. Guidance chips go nicely with Bossk or Z-95s or the jumpmaster.

A single Aggressor isn't a bad choice, due to the illicit upgrades it comes with. You could pair any two of Bossk, Dengar, Boba Fett, and an IG-88 and have a pretty good list. You could run Xizor with a cheap YV-666 and some Z-95s and probably do well.

I think you can't really go too wrong, though Scum's large bases seem quite a bit stronger than its small bases at the moment. The G-1A might be an exception, both of the named pilots have potential in the right list.

Brobots was the first Scum list I built and I was pretty into them at the time. My build included IG-88B and IG-88C, both equipped with Veteran Instincts, Heavy Laser Cannon, Autothrusters, Fire Control System, IG-2000 Title, and Glitterstim. For Brobots, IG-88B is pretty much essential. I've seen people build the lists without him, but I find that more damage is dealt to the opposing ships faster with 88B. There is some leeway with the other Bro, but I default to 88C as I like having the evade token. 88D is also a pretty good partner to 88B, especially if you put Advanced Sensors on instead of the Fire Control System.

Bossk is usually built with ways to increase the Crit count. Mangler Cannon is usually the go-to upgrade for him, as it pretty much allows for 4 dice to be thrown at any range allows Bossk to get up to 4 hits at any range. Mercenary Copilot is another go-to combined with the Mangler it can sometimes give you 5 dice. The YV-666 is pretty good at hanging back because of the red "Stop" maneuver. There is no definitive way to build him though, so ultimately it should be up to you. Personally I find that the Hound's Tooth title is pretty cool.

The StarViper looks like a really good ship on paper. 3 red dice, 3 green dice and 5 health to really lay on the hurt. In practice however, the StarViper is a very fragile and overcosted ship. In order for it to be of any good use, it has to arc dodge. In order for it to arc dodge effectively, the pilot must have a really high pilot skill. The highest PS on the StarViper is Xisor, which only has 7. He also costs 31 points; way more than what it should be for a really mediocre pilot. Guri is usually considered to be the best SV pilot, but even he's not great without a large number of upgrades.

My most recent Scum musings have been with Dengar. Predator, R5-P8, Punishing One Title, and 4-LOM is the loadout, and this allows Dengar to get a lot of stuff done. First of all, let me say that his pilot ability is the second best part of running the JM5K. Dengar gets 2 attacks every turn on jousters. The first best thing by far is the maneuver dial. This thing has green all over it, and the white S-Loop really makes for some explosive turns. Unfortunately it limits Dengars movements to the right, but if you stick to the right side of the board, you won't ever have to worry about that. Predator gives him immense advantage when attacking (and he attacks a lot). R5 gives him the extra offense against Palpatine-backed Aces, as this hit is completely unavoidable to them. Punishing One is pretty self-explanatory as giving Dengar the extra attack die really comes in handy. 4-LOM allows Dengar to deny the use of tokens if his objective isn't to strip them. The LOM usually activates when facing down a weak or weakened ship that has an evade token as backup. Regardless of whether or not you want to run him, the JM5K is a pretty nice investment for all of the upgrades it comes with.

The Most Wanted box comes with everything you need for Y-Wings. Personally, I love the Scum Y-Wings equipped with Twin Laser Turrets and Overclocked R4 or equipped with Blaster Turret and R4 Agromech. The Z-95's come in handy for filling in 12 point gaps in your list. Remember, another ship is usually worth more than it's point value in upgrades.

The best part about Scum (in my opinion) is that there's a lot of experimentation to be done with all the pilots and upgrades. Just suit up your dual Firesprays, Syck Swarms, and Mist Hunters and go to town.

Edited by FourteenXWP

Brobots was the first Scum list I built and I was pretty into them at the time. My build included IG-88B and IG-88C, both equipped with Veteran Instincts, Heavy Laser Cannon, Autothrusters, Fire Control System, IG-2000 Title, and Glitterstim. For Brobots, IG-88B is pretty much essential. I've seen people build the lists without him, but I find that more damage is dealt to the opposing ships faster with 88B. There is some leeway with the other Bro, but I default to 88C as I like having the evade token. 88D is also a pretty good partner to 88B, especially if you put Advanced Sensors on instead of the Fire Control System.

Bossk is usually built with ways to increase the Crit count. Mangler Cannon is usually the go-to upgrade for him, as it pretty much allows for 4 dice to be thrown at any range. Mercenary Copilot is another go-to; combined with the Mangler it can sometimes give you 5 dice. The YV-666 is pretty good at hanging back because of the red "Stop" maneuver. There is no definitive way to build him though, so ultimately it should be up to you. Personally I find that the Hound's Tooth title is pretty cool.

The StarViper looks like a really good ship on paper. 3 red dice, 3 green dice and 5 health to really lay on the hurt. In practice however, the StarViper is a very fragile and overcosted ship. In order for it to be of any good use, it has to arc dodge. In order for it to arc dodge effectively, the pilot must have a really high pilot skill. The highest PS on the StarViper is Xisor, which only has 7. He also costs 31 points; way more than what it should be for a really mediocre pilot. Guri is usually considered to be the best SV pilot, but even he's not great without a large number of upgrades.

My most recent Scum musings have been with Dengar. Predator, R5-P8, Punishing One Title, and 4-LOM is the loadout, and this allows Dengar to get a lot of stuff done. First of all, let me say that his pilot ability is the second best part of running the JM5K. Dengar gets 2 attacks every turn on jousters. The first best thing by far is the maneuver dial. This thing has green all over it, and the white S-Loop really makes for some explosive turns. Unfortunately it limits Dengars movements to the right, but if you stick to the right side of the board, you won't ever have to worry about that. Predator gives him immense advantage when attacking (and he attacks a lot). R5 gives him the extra offense against Palpatine-backed Aces, as this hit is completely unavoidable to them. Punishing One is pretty self-explanatory as giving Dengar the extra attack die really comes in handy. 4-LOM allows Dengar to deny the use of tokens if his objective isn't to strip them. The LOM usually activates when facing down a weak or weakened ship that has an evade token as backup. Regardless of whether or not you want to run him, the JM5K is a pretty nice investment for all of the upgrades it comes with.

The Most Wanted box comes with everything you need for Y-Wings. Personally, I love the Scum Y-Wings equipped with Twin Laser Turrets and Overclocked R4 or equipped with Blaster Turret and R4 Agromech. The Z-95's come in handy for filling in 12 point gaps in your list. Remember, another ship is usually worth more than it's point value in upgrades.

The best part about Scum (in my opinion) is that there's a lot of experimentation to be done with all the pilots and upgrades. Just suit up your dual Firesprays, Syck Swarms, and Mist Hunters and go to town.

I think you may have gotten Bossk a bit wrong, the Mangler is three dice and if the crit goes through, Bossk can change it to two hits. That is quite a bit less good than a four dice attack, sadly. Also, mercenary copilot lets you convert a hit to a crit, but does not add any dice. Finally, Bossk can only use his ability once a round, so even a triple crit roll can only go to the equivalent of four dice.

I definitely agree with you that scum is a bit of Wild West at the moment, there don't seem to be any hard rules to list building at the moment and it is worth it to try your own thing.

One overall theme of Scum at the moment is that your list building is probably going to be halves, thirds, and sixths. Dengar, IG, Bossk, and Fett are halves. G-1A, U-boat, HWks are about thirds, and Z-95s are sixths. The only exception is TLT Y-wings at 25 points even, so you almost certainly want two or four of them, but never 1 or 3. The points just work out awkwardly.

Edit: if you don't like fractions, most ships are going to fall in ranges of about 50, 33, and 15 points. There is a bit of wiggle room, but that seems to be the hot spots.

Edited by AEIllingworth

Brobots was the first Scum list I built and I was pretty into them at the time. My build included IG-88B and IG-88C, both equipped with Veteran Instincts, Heavy Laser Cannon, Autothrusters, Fire Control System, IG-2000 Title, and Glitterstim. For Brobots, IG-88B is pretty much essential. I've seen people build the lists without him, but I find that more damage is dealt to the opposing ships faster with 88B. There is some leeway with the other Bro, but I default to 88C as I like having the evade token. 88D is also a pretty good partner to 88B, especially if you put Advanced Sensors on instead of the Fire Control System.

Bossk is usually built with ways to increase the Crit count. Mangler Cannon is usually the go-to upgrade for him, as it pretty much allows for 4 dice to be thrown at any range. Mercenary Copilot is another go-to; combined with the Mangler it can sometimes give you 5 dice. The YV-666 is pretty good at hanging back because of the red "Stop" maneuver. There is no definitive way to build him though, so ultimately it should be up to you. Personally I find that the Hound's Tooth title is pretty cool.

The StarViper looks like a really good ship on paper. 3 red dice, 3 green dice and 5 health to really lay on the hurt. In practice however, the StarViper is a very fragile and overcosted ship. In order for it to be of any good use, it has to arc dodge. In order for it to arc dodge effectively, the pilot must have a really high pilot skill. The highest PS on the StarViper is Xisor, which only has 7. He also costs 31 points; way more than what it should be for a really mediocre pilot. Guri is usually considered to be the best SV pilot, but even he's not great without a large number of upgrades.

My most recent Scum musings have been with Dengar. Predator, R5-P8, Punishing One Title, and 4-LOM is the loadout, and this allows Dengar to get a lot of stuff done. First of all, let me say that his pilot ability is the second best part of running the JM5K. Dengar gets 2 attacks every turn on jousters. The first best thing by far is the maneuver dial. This thing has green all over it, and the white S-Loop really makes for some explosive turns. Unfortunately it limits Dengars movements to the right, but if you stick to the right side of the board, you won't ever have to worry about that. Predator gives him immense advantage when attacking (and he attacks a lot). R5 gives him the extra offense against Palpatine-backed Aces, as this hit is completely unavoidable to them. Punishing One is pretty self-explanatory as giving Dengar the extra attack die really comes in handy. 4-LOM allows Dengar to deny the use of tokens if his objective isn't to strip them. The LOM usually activates when facing down a weak or weakened ship that has an evade token as backup. Regardless of whether or not you want to run him, the JM5K is a pretty nice investment for all of the upgrades it comes with.

The Most Wanted box comes with everything you need for Y-Wings. Personally, I love the Scum Y-Wings equipped with Twin Laser Turrets and Overclocked R4 or equipped with Blaster Turret and R4 Agromech. The Z-95's come in handy for filling in 12 point gaps in your list. Remember, another ship is usually worth more than it's point value in upgrades.

The best part about Scum (in my opinion) is that there's a lot of experimentation to be done with all the pilots and upgrades. Just suit up your dual Firesprays, Syck Swarms, and Mist Hunters and go to town.

I think you may have gotten Bossk a bit wrong, the Mangler is three dice and if the crit goes through, Bossk can change it to two hits. That is quite a bit less good than a four dice attack, sadly. Also, mercenary copilot lets you convert a hit to a crit, but does not add any dice. Finally, Bossk can only use his ability once a round, so even a triple crit roll can only go to the equivalent of four dice.

I definitely agree with you that scum is a bit of Wild West at the moment, there don't seem to be any hard rules to list building at the moment and it is worth it to try your own thing.

I understand that much about Bossk, but explaining it to people in that way has been the most clear in my experience. I must admit that I didn't see the "Once per round" clause. Thanks for the correction.

Thanks guys. I'm kinda warming to Bossk as the ship is so ugly it's almost nice. I also do not have anything 'large base' at the moment so it would give my Scum a different feel to my Imperials.

The things I like best is the fact that you think there is still a lot of space to be explored in Scum lists. I'll probably drop back to Imperials for competitive games anyway so having some 'fun with scum' might just be the way to go.