My son and I have been playing for about 3 months now, he decided to go with Scum and I fly for the Empire. So far, other than the two games we played right from the core box, he has not been able to beat me with his S&V squads. I am looking for suggestions to help him out.

Just to give you an idea of who we are, he is 21 and I am 45. I am ex-military and have been playing games like this since the mid 80s.

He has the following, and is trying to use only the cards that came with these S&V sets:

- Slave I x1

- Most Wanted x1

- Star Viper x1

- Kihraxz Fighter x2

I have the following:

- VT-49 Decimator x1

- TIE Advanced x1

- TIE Bomber x2

- TIE Interceptor x2

- TIE Fighter x5

He does not want me to go easy on him, or to lose on purpose. I will admit that a lot of the dice rolls have greatly been in my favor and he has had misses with even 5-6 attack dice. At this point, it is disheartening to see him want to give up on the game. We are both huge Star Wars and gaming fans, so X-Wing was perfect for us.

Please give me some ideas to pass on to him. Thanks.

Awesome to see father and son sharing the hobby. As a father myself, I hope I can do the same for my son (he is 3 now, there's still time).

As a heads up, right now, he doesn't have enough firepower to beat the best options available to you.

With that said, I must ask: would you like squad suggestions with what he already has or directions on what to acquire in order for him to keep up?

These are some of the first Scum ships to come out except for maybe the Kihraxz. In my opinion (and some of the game designers have hinted at this) The first scum ships were a little under powered and over costed. That being said, they have spent the last couple of waves trying to "catch Up" with releases and ships. There has been quite a bit released since then that will even make the ships he has more effective. Also, it should be made known, that FFG is in the business of selling stuff, so the cards and upgrades that come in the packages your son purchased, are not always the most suitable or best suited for that particular ship.

If you're just playing for fun with each other, I would get a squad builder app or website, have him build his list and print it out and play it from the print out with whatever upgrades he likes.

This will help him have more competitive lists and help him figure out which expansions he may want to purchase later on.

My son and I have been playing for about 3 months now, he decided to go with Scum and I fly for the Empire. So far, other than the two games we played right from the core box, he has not been able to beat me with his S&V squads. I am looking for suggestions to help him out.

If the Emerald Octahedrons Of Inevitable Betrayal are against you, the correct response is to take them out of the equation. Especially against Imperial Aces, who (if the dice gods are with them) can literally sit there laughing at you as they evade every shot you fire.

Fortunately, Scum & Villainy have a few options along these lines. If he's not tried it already, consider cheap Z-95s (Binyare Pirate or Black Sun Soldier) with Feedback Array. Rather than shooting, you can just 'zap' a ship within range 1. This turns the normally useless 2-dice attack, not especially manoeuvrable headhunters into lethal moving tazer-mines - move them into the way of otherwise untouchable aces and watch them desperately try to avoid the range 1 damage zone.

Equally, rerolls work well. It depends on your squad, but if you're fielding a swarm of TIE fighters (even to the best of your ability), Boba Fett, especially with Glitterstimm, is a nightmare. Charge into the midst of a swarm, and you'll find yourself getting rerolls on every dice you roll, with a free one-use unlimited focus in your back pocket for the turn where more than a couple of TIEs have shots on you.

These two together make for a nice pairing - Z-95s are good at trapping and blocking aces (moving to get in the way so they collide and lose actions, and creating no-go areas with their feedback arrays) whilst Boba Fett makes for a good 'crowd control' ship, and - with veteran instincts and ideally an engine upgrade - a pretty decent ace-hunter, having a higher PS and the toughness to fight head to head if he has to.

The Star Viper is okay, but really, really needs assorted combinations of cards you probably don't have (things like Advanced Sensors, Sensor Jammer, or Fire Control System for the sensor slot, for example).

The Khiraxz is okay. Even just a Black Sun Ace with Glitterstim and Crack Shot is not bad for a generic, but its weakness is that it's dependent on one-use tricks and not very tough or manoeuvrable once they run out - Khiraxz are by no means bad ships but tend to win quickly or lose (especially Talonbane Cobra, who might as well come with a kamikaze headband painted on).

As noted, there are a few cards which make a dramatic difference to capability which he won't have. N'Dru Suhlak is a Z-95 and merely 'okay', but pair his innate ability with Cluster Missiles, Glitterstimm, Guidance Chips, and Lone Wolf and he becomes - at least for one turn - a lethal weapon deadly completely out of proportion to his points cost.

I appreciate the responses.

We have been using the excellent builder here http://xwing-builder.co.uk/build, so he has played around with what is available to him. I know he is limiting himself, but I respect his desire to try and stay pure to what is available with the ships he buys.

None of my ships, other than the Decimator, are particularly "new wave", and I stay with only cards that came with my ships s well.

Don't get me wrong, my son is a good sport, but when you lose all the time, it can be a real let-down.

I told him to play against his mother's Rebel squad...that should be an easy win

I know he doesn't want you to go easy, but maybe for one game you can tell him what you plan to use and he can build to counter it. For example, if you have all TIEs, he might want an Autoblaster Y-wing.

On second thought, if you won that match, he'd feel even worse, so scratch that idea.

Has he tried just flying as many ships as he can without upgrades?

2x Binayre Pirate

2x Cartel Marauder

1x Mandalorian Mercneary

99 points

It still isn't clear if you're looking for suggestions with what he already has or if there's a need for guidance on what purchases could improve his experience. So, I'll just assume both.

With what he has:

His Z-95, Y-Wing and Starviper will perform WAY below expectations with what he has, all for different reasons:

• His generic Zs would benefit from Feedback Array to perform blocking duties. Not imperative, but desired and efficient.
• His named Zs need specific EPTs to work as intended (namely, Attanni Mindlink for Kaa'to and Lone Wolf for N'Dru).
• His Y-Wings are lacking better turret options. Only Kavil is able to perform well with what Most Wanted provides and under very specific conditions (having Engine Upgrade, which he doesn't, is one of them).
• His named Starvipers don't have proper System Upgrades to push their performance to reasonable levels.
• Generic Starvipers are not cost-efficient.

Out of all those ships and options he has right now, the only top-notch possibility is...

Guri (30):

• Predator (3)
• Autothrusters (2)

Total: 35 pts

A budget Guri might suffice for now and is a good resource by itself, so we can start there.

Now we move into Firesprays, Kihraxz Fighters and their issues:

• Generic Firespray is just not worth it.
• Emon needs Experimental Interface (IMHO) and Extra Munitions to get some work done.
• Kath and Boba both need Engine Upgrade, period.
• Talonbane Cobra works as a suicide ace, but that won't make matches against your fleet more winnable. I.e. he needs extra stuff.

Out of those, we can reliably use...

Black Sun Ace (23):

• Crackshot (1)
• Glitterstim (2)

Total: 26 pts

Two of these can make for cheap and powerful gunfire at a reasonable cost. Same PS as our intended Guri help with planning and movement.

To fill the last 13 pts, a naked Black Sun Soldier (Z-95) should suffice, making it a 100-pt squad. Not great, but good enough. And thematic, to boot.

He'll probably spend most of his matches trying to predict enemy movement and acting preemptively, a playstyle that teaches a lot about X-Wing itself.

What he should get:

My first order of business would be a HWK-290, because 2 of its pilots are among the best in the game (although the ship itselfis one of the weakest) and make matches much harder for opponents by just being there.

Right after, possibly along with the HWK-290, a K-Wing. Its upgrade cards are among the best Scum wants to get their hands on, especially Twin Laser Turret, which instantly makes Y-Wings a force to be reckoned with (HWKs too).

Finally, in no particular order, a Hound's Tooth, Mist Hunter and Punishing One expansions, which compliment each other extremely well and pack powerful Scum upgrade cards.

He is trying to go with what he owns, but we are open to future purchase suggestions as well. He is looking at buying the HWK-290 next, but I think he can win with what he has.

Here are the squads I fly, along with their names:

PATROL 1-

Gamma Squadron Pilot (26)

Cluster Missiles

Concussion missiles

Gamma Squadron Pilot (26)

Proton Torpedoes

Proton Torpedoes

Saber Squadron Pilot (24)

Ruthlessness

Saber Squadron Pilot (24)

Marksmanship

Total- 100 points

OICUNN 1-

Captain Oicunn (55)

Intimidation

Mara Jade

Ysanne Isard

Proton Torpedoes

Darth Vader (32)

Marksmanship

Obsidian Squadron Pilot (13)

Total- 100 points

VADER 1-

Darth Vader (36)

Concussion Missiles

Marksmanship

Mauler Mithel (19)

Expert Handling

Dark Curse (16)

Night Beast (15)

Black Squadron Pilot (14)

Total- 100 points

VADER 2-

Darth Vader (36)

Cluster Missiles

Marksmanship

Turr Phennir (25)

Dark Curse (16)

Fel's Wrath (23)

Total- 100 points

I think he should buy the dreaded Jumpmaster. Even though is one of the ugliest ships in my opinion, it's a great ship, and just adding Dengar/Manaroo to his squad will add some much value.

And as you both play casual (i guess) why don't let him proxy some cards to test? I think Kavil is a beast with Twin Laser Turret, for example. And try the suggestions some people made. (Feedback array, Experimental interface, Extra Munitions, guidance Chips)