I have been tossing around the idea of different Scum Aces builds for a while now. With Fenn Rau coming in the Protectorate in the next wave, my interest has peaked. I think he is gonna be a devastating little bugger, especially with how incredibly well green dice treat me.

All that said, Aces are hardly Aces without a Palp Shuttle to back them up. But scum don't got that luxury. That's where Manaroo comes in. Here is my proposed idea: a mostly naked Manaroo, only bringing K4 and Unhinged (and obviously Adaptability or Mindlink if that's your thing). She comes out to 31 points, which is slightly more than the Palp Shuttle. But Scum always pays more for inferior equivalents of other factions' toys, so I'm used to it.

Now, I think the best ship to take with Manaroo (currently) is actually the Starviper. Specifically Xizor. *Gasp* Not him, you might say. Well, hear me out. Xizor is the only Viper that can reach PS9, he can take advantage of Manny soaking some damage from time to time (since she isn't good for much else), and he has been begging for some good action economy since he was conceived. Idk, just a thought.

With all the Dengaroo posts going around, I thought I'd remind everyone that the JM5K can be used for more than just 2 lists. Variety is the spice of life and all that.

As soon as Wave 9 drops we're going to see Fennaroo being utterly insane. I was havering over some theorycraft yesterday and you should be able to get him to close to guaranteeing at least 4 hits and a crit plus two rolled dice on an APT (assuming Fearlessness does what we think it probably does). Which is gonna sting, and if he rolls well on those two dice, can guarantee forcing a T65 to pop IA or die. Possibly just die outright. From a single turn's attack.

WHich has only been possible for one ship in one round with N'Dru before. So I'm thinking Manaroo, Fenn, N'Dru. absolutely insane alphastrike capacity versus a single target.

doesn't work as well

see, palp in palp aces adds a completely different modifier on top of focus + evade + thrusters etc. He just flips a result to one of your choice

manny does not

not to say manny isn't awesome, but that you wont' get the same returns out of her running her as a palp shuttle. you gotta run her as a bumpmaster (with feedback!) and then she becomes awesome

Dengaroo is cute and all, but the torpscout also abuses the **** out of the focus Manny gives and really breaks open your options

for example, in the above pictures the torp scout bumped into manny for a speed 0 move and then savaged a blocked inquisitor with torpedoes thanks to manny's focus

As with the bomber shuttle, she's a totally different form of support ship from Palp. She enables crazy action economy and ordnance alpha-ing, whereas Palp provides dice variance insurance.

They have different purposes and different values, but they enable broadly similar list archetypes.

not to say manny isn't awesome, but that you wont' get the same returns out of her running her as a palp shuttle. you gotta run her as a bumpmaster (with feedback!) and then she becomes awesome

Mind if I ask how your Manaroo BumpMaster is outfitted? Would Intimidation, Intelligence Agent, R5-P8, and Anti-Pursuit Lasers still work well on her, or does something else synergize better with her ability on top of her bumping capabilities?

Nah, the YV-666 will be the Scum Palpmobile once Jabba the Hutt (who takes up 3 crew slots) is released ...

I've been running this basic idea for a few days lately. It's not bad and a lot fun.still tweaking the list some.

I've tried slimming down manaroo to fit another Z, and really slimming down the list to fit talonbane as a second ace.

But a built xizor ,strong manaroo and a Z to block and soak xizor damage has been best so far.

The list as I first creates it. ..

https://geordanr.github.io/xwing/?f=Scum%20and%20Villainy&d=v4!s!100:27,-1:16:15:U.36,U.145;173:18,-1,-1,-1,180,-1:29:-1:;115:-1,112:-1:-1:&sn=Man%2Cxiz%2Cpirate

The title on manaroo seems better than a second Z. But...there's room to play around with points anyways.

Yea if you really wanna troll em, you can run:

Scummy regen (100)

Prince Xizor (39) - StarViper

Predator (3), Virago (1), Autothrusters (2), Fire Control System (2)

Contracted Scout (32) - JumpMaster 5000

Adaptability (0), R5-P8 (3), Feedback Array (2), Anti-Pursuit Lasers (2)

Contracted Scout (29) - JumpMaster 5000

Adaptability (0), Feedback Array (2), Anti-Pursuit Lasers (2)

Or don't even bother with r5-p8 and add 3 points elsewhere. Nothing like 18 extra hulls for Xizor to use, as well as a pair of APL, Feedbacks, and a Pain-droid.

I thought the same thing when they previewed Fenn. I came up with a Scum Aces list with Manaroo as the a pseudo Palpatine, I think it's worth a shot at least.

34 Fenn Rau - Title, PTL, Autothrusters

31 Talonbane Cobra - Attani Mindlink, Vectored Thrusters

34 Manaroo - Attani Mindlink, K4, R5-P8

Not as defensive as Palp Aces, but I think they can put out more damage, especially if they get into Range 1 with Manaroo passing a TL and Focus to the one with the best shot. Interesting!

Just played v two dengaroos in a tournament today

Seems using manny as palp is indeed a waste of her potential, as even unlimited focus didn't seem to do enough

Palp ain't no bumpmaster, so make sure to leverage Manny's unique advantage in whichever list you use !

I have used Manaroo as a modifier factory to great success. Run her mindlinked with a Mindlink Talonbane and a VI Zuckus and you can often blow up an imperial ace before it gets to fire. After or during the initial joust, Manaroo can act as a blocker as well. When Fenn hits the scene, he will take the place of Talonbane for more glorious scum-ace antics.

Prince Xizor (31):

• Veteran Instincts (1)
• Autothrusters (2)
• Virago (1)
• Fire-Control System (2)

Total: 37 pts

Manaroo (27):

• Adaptability (0)
• K4 Security Droid (3)
• Unhinged Astromech (1)

Total: 31 pts

Contracted Scout (25):

• Deadeye (1)
• Plasma Torpedoes (3)
• Extra Munitions (2)
• Guidance Chips (0)
• Overclocked R4 (1)

Total: 32 pts

Doesn't get anymore Palpy than this. Not sure if Mana adds more to the cause than a second Scout, but...

Random thought- Overclocked +Bodyguard.