These things are awesome . I'm/we're being optimistic so don't ruin it for us.

I know (a lot of) people are going to cry foul and that these things are going to wreck everything - but remember this: They have no shields. These things are going to be like 30-point missiles. They go in, straight at the opponent, and poof: they either shred the competition or get blown up in a plume of defeat. Yes, they have the ability to 2-Talon Roll. Yes, I think that will keep them alive and attacking for another round or two. But who in their right mind flies their ships colonial-style in a straight line and will allow that maneuver to let these P-Fighters around back at range-1 of all of their ships?

Want to run Old Teroch or Fenn Rau and their shenanigans? X-Wing has already adapted to paint targets on these hyper-intensity ships - and Scum doesn't have a Biggs.

I love these ships. Will have 2-3 when they are released, no question. One such ship will probably replace my bug-zapper Z-95s that fly along side the two Trando-Slaver list I love.

I <3 BALANCE

Scum has a Biggs. N'Dru with CLuster Missiles, Lone Wolf, Glitterstim, Guidance Chips. Kill him before he fires, or he WILL unload 8 damage to face.

Eh.. I one-shot a N'Dru yesterday. No exaggeration or convenient storytelling - it was less than 24-hours ago with a 3-dice attack. Biggs is nigh-impossible to one-shot and has a game mechanic that requires you to shoot him. I'm not buying that there is a Scum equivalent.

But this is a conversation for another thread.

Today we celebrate the Fang Fighter, who will shake things up and cause pockmarks in the side of Decimators and Dengaroos around the galaxy...

Looks like I'll be getting a Shadow Caster, 2 ARCs, TIE/sfs, and 2-4 of these. Hot diggity!

Yeah this IS a pretty good little ship alright. Nice work FFG!

Why? Why couldn't the TIE/sf be this cool? Why does everybody else get all the fun new toys?

Uh..you guys have had the interceptor since Wave 2?

Emphasis added. Plus, out of all of the Interceptor pilots, how many are any good? Two and a half?

there's nothing new about the fang, though, apart from some tiny details (title, troll etc.). It's the most basic ship of the wave

if it were imperial, it'd just be a replacement for the interceptor

honestly, the Fang's probably got the same number of viable pilots as the interceptor. The generics are pretty overpriced to, apparently, show some semblance of pity for the Special-K

meanwhile, the Tie/sf is the empire's first small base aux arc and one of its very few ships that can 1-foward

These are insane. No-one will ever fly a Kihraxz again. They also leave T-65 X-Wings totally in the dust. 20 points for a PS1 version, 2 more than an PS1 Interceptor with an extra hull already, swaps Evade for TL.

So upset they made the ps1 20 points. At 18-19 points it might have seen play, I cant imagine it seeing much at 20. And the ps3 is only one point less than the ps5, both eith epts? Why would you ever fly the ps3 unless you REALLY cant find the 1 extra point?

Soooo, kamikaze squad with 4x Tansarii with Fearlessness and Autoblasters anyone? X)

Why? Why couldn't the TIE/sf be this cool? Why does everybody else get all the fun new toys?

Uh..you guys have had the interceptor since Wave 2?

Emphasis added. Plus, out of all of the Interceptor pilots, how many are any good? Two and a half?

there's nothing new about the fang, though, apart from some tiny details (title, troll etc.). It's the most basic ship of the wave

if it were imperial, it'd just be a replacement for the interceptor

honestly, the Fang's probably got the same number of viable pilots as the interceptor. The generics are pretty overpriced to, apparently, show some semblance of pity for the Special-K

Teroch has a cool ability but I have a feeling that it is going to end up being a "win more" ability. Even with VI, he's going to have a rough time getting his ability to trigger on the likes of Soontir Fel or Dengar unless he's the target.

Why? Why couldn't the TIE/sf be this cool? Why does everybody else get all the fun new toys?

Uh..you guys have had the interceptor since Wave 2?

Emphasis added. Plus, out of all of the Interceptor pilots, how many are any good? Two and a half?

there's nothing new about the fang, though, apart from some tiny details (title, troll etc.). It's the most basic ship of the wave

if it were imperial, it'd just be a replacement for the interceptor

honestly, the Fang's probably got the same number of viable pilots as the interceptor. The generics are pretty overpriced to, apparently, show some semblance of pity for the Special-K

Teroch has a cool ability but I have a feeling that it is going to end up being a "win more" ability. Even with VI, he's going to have a rough time getting his ability to trigger on the likes of Soontir Fel or Dengar unless he's the target.

basically

small plus, though, in that you don't need to have arc on them

if they arc-dodge you, they're only negating the title

you'll need a bid v dengaroo, though, since terry's ability resolves at the same time as manny's. You want to GIVE initiative, so she has to pass focus before Terry's ability kicks in

Why? Why couldn't the TIE/sf be this cool? Why does everybody else get all the fun new toys?

Uh..you guys have had the interceptor since Wave 2?

Emphasis added. Plus, out of all of the Interceptor pilots, how many are any good? Two and a half?

there's nothing new about the fang, though, apart from some tiny details (title, troll etc.). It's the most basic ship of the wave

if it were imperial, it'd just be a replacement for the interceptor

honestly, the Fang's probably got the same number of viable pilots as the interceptor. The generics are pretty overpriced to, apparently, show some semblance of pity for the Special-K

Teroch has a cool ability but I have a feeling that it is going to end up being a "win more" ability. Even with VI, he's going to have a rough time getting his ability to trigger on the likes of Soontir Fel or Dengar unless he's the target.

basically

small plus, though, in that you don't need to have arc on them

if they arc-dodge you, they're only negating the title

Yeah, I think his ability will help keep him alive more then it will help neuter token stacking threats.

Why? Why couldn't the TIE/sf be this cool? Why does everybody else get all the fun new toys?

Uh..you guys have had the interceptor since Wave 2?

Emphasis added. Plus, out of all of the Interceptor pilots, how many are any good? Two and a half?

Hell, the bloody TIE/sf is a small ship that wants to try and wedge itself into the middle of enemy squadrons. You can argue about whether it'll be top-tier effective, but it's definitely "new" and sounds pretty fun to me.

Why? Why couldn't the TIE/sf be this cool? Why does everybody else get all the fun new toys?

Uh..you guys have had the interceptor since Wave 2?

Emphasis added. Plus, out of all of the Interceptor pilots, how many are any good? Two and a half?

The TIE/D and TIE/x7 titles landed last month, basically turning the utterly unused Defender (give or take a Biophysical) into two different ships, both of which fly like pretty much nothing else in the game.

Hell, the bloody TIE/sf is a small ship that wants to try and wedge itself into the middle of enemy squadrons. You can argue about whether it'll be top-tier effective, but it's definitely "new" and sounds pretty fun to me.

also the forgotten half of vets, new ordnance bombers (including crackshot and deadeye, which they didn't have good access to before) and the ability to turn them into support ships which they simply couldn't be before outside jonus

We have already spent a good deal of time admiring the talents of the top Concord Dawn Protectorate ace, Fenn Rau, so we will only spend a moment to consider how, for thirty-five squad points, he can be outfitted in a fashion strikingly similar to the standard package for Imperial ace Soontir Fel.

Would have been nice for FFG to link the Fenn Rau preview somewhere in this text block.

Why? Why couldn't the TIE/sf be this cool? Why does everybody else get all the fun new toys?

Uh..you guys have had the interceptor since Wave 2?

Emphasis added. Plus, out of all of the Interceptor pilots, how many are any good? Two and a half?

there's nothing new about the fang, though, apart from some tiny details (title, troll etc.). It's the most basic ship of the wave

if it were imperial, it'd just be a replacement for the interceptor

honestly, the Fang's probably got the same number of viable pilots as the interceptor. The generics are pretty overpriced to, apparently, show some semblance of pity for the Special-K

meanwhile, the Tie/sf is the empire's first small base aux arc and one of its very few ships that can 1-foward

Sure, the Fang is the most basic, but its a neat hybrid of a ship that can dodge arcs with the best of them, but still wants to joust. The TIE/sf I just find disappointing. Two agility, no evade, and a bad dial (slow and clunky) in exchange for two dice out the rear is not very exciting, and it certainly doesn't feel like a TIE Fighter thematically. It doesn't even get to ride on the novelty of being the only small ship with a rear arc. The ARC-170 does that, and it does it better. Even if mechanically it works out to be a good ship (I have my doubts), it's still disappointing how far removed it is from its source material.

The TIE/D and TIE/x7 titles landed last month, basically turning the utterly unused Defender (give or take a Biophysical) into two different ships, both of which fly like pretty much nothing else in the game.

Hell, the bloody TIE/sf is a small ship that wants to try and wedge itself into the middle of enemy squadrons. You can argue about whether it'll be top-tier effective, but it's definitely "new" and sounds pretty fun to me.

also the forgotten half of vets, new ordnance bombers (including crackshot and deadeye, which they didn't have good access to before) and the ability to turn them into support ships which they simply couldn't be before outside jonus

This ship really really wants to move last. I could see initiative bids getting high.

Such a great ship.

While Fenn Rau outshines the rest of the fleet, Terry and Kad are interesting enough to join in on the fun. Which gets me thinking: is it worth it to have two FF Aces on a squad?

But, just as exciting as the ship itself, I'm looking at a weirdly fun possibility here:

Tansarii Point Veteran (17):

• Fearlessness (1)

Total: 18 pts

One or two of these could play an interesting role on a squad.

One awesome note about this ship: you can run all three named pilots with title, autothrusters, and EPTs while still being under 100 points for an initiative bid. Won't be the best squad ever, but it could be fun.

I have to mention a slight problem with people thinking the Fang wants to joust. I understand ffg selling them as such, but the gameplay does not seem to support this intention NEARLY enough

No, the Fang SOMETIMES wants to (ie Ole Terry v a single torp scout; not so much Rau v dengaroo)

As cute as the title is, this little guy is no defender. They want to joust about as much as Carnor Jax with a hull upgrade

The generics are NOT efficient and green dice (even with an evade) are NOT reliable

You're only going to joust about as often as your average palp ace (less actually, due to there being no palp) because otherwise you're just going to get nuked

Even t-rolls mark the ship as an arcdodging jouster, as t-rolls can be really helpful navigating around obstacles and reaching angles the other ships cannot when they perform their own red manuever

Basically, buy TOO deep into the hype. These guys aren't x7 defenders, to say the very least

While they may be scum ships, these guys are mandalorian so tactical decision making, not straight on Mook jousting, will see you through games

Leave Mook jousting to the pirates and blacksun goons

I dream to one day fly only S&V and the Fang is making this dream come true...

I will probably just pick up Rebel/Empire expansions for my collection and to get all the options with upgrades, etc. BUT I wanna be Scummy all the time. (Thanks FFG!)

That is all.

We have already spent a good deal of time admiring the talents of the top Concord Dawn Protectorate ace, Fenn Rau, so we will only spend a moment to consider how, for thirty-five squad points, he can be outfitted in a fashion strikingly similar to the standard package for Imperial ace Soontir Fel.

Either I'm terrible at maths or the game's designers are. Neither bodes well...

Fenn Rau (28) + PTL (3) + Title (1) + AT (2) = 34

Or am I missing something?

Also, IG-88s are robots, aren't they? So, they're kinda emontionless... fearless even ?

Sooo, you go into range 1 to avoid IG-88B's gunner effect, aye? Say hello to 5 dice then...

I have to mention a slight problem with people thinking the Fang wants to joust. I understand ffg selling them as such, but the gameplay does not seem to support this intention NEARLY enough

No, the Fang SOMETIMES wants to (ie Ole Terry v a single torp scout; not so much Rau v dengaroo)

As cute as the title is, this little guy is no defender. They want to joust about as much as Carnor Jax with a hull upgrade

The generics are NOT efficient and green dice (even with an evade) are NOT reliable

You're only going to joust about as often as your average palp ace (less actually, due to there being no palp) because otherwise you're just going to get nuked

Even t-rolls mark the ship as an arcdodging jouster, as t-rolls can be really helpful navigating around obstacles and reaching angles the other ships cannot when they perform their own red manuever

Basically, buy TOO deep into the hype. These guys aren't x7 defenders, to say the very least

While they may be scum ships, these guys are mandalorian so tactical decision making, not straight on Mook jousting, will see you through games

Leave Mook jousting to the pirates and blacksun goons

Eh, I can see them as jousting more than you're suggesting. A free evade at r1 and thrusters at r3/out of arc seems pretty solid. R2 is admittedly terrible for them but they aren't arc-dodge-or-die material I don't think. More than dodging they will just have to range control carefully to get the juicy r1 shots they want so desperately.

I agree they're definitely not x7 level of dodging be damned jousters but they're not bad at it if careful.

Did yall find the obligatory easter egg error FFG always puts into articles?

-----

"We have already spent a good deal of time admiring the talents of the top Concord Dawn Protectorate ace, Fenn Rau, so we will only spend a moment to consider how, for thirty-five squad points, he can be outfitted in a fashion strikingly similar to the standard package for Imperial ace Soontir Fel."

Fenn Rau (28) + PTL (3) + title (1) + autothrusters (2) = 34

[FFG can't add cause they said 35]

How long do you think they sat around admiring Fenn Rau's talents? Maybe 2 or even 3 days...

@Lightrock sniped me by 2 posts

I agree with FGD, they're opportunistic jousters. They have some cards to make them very resistant to certain kinds of ships at close range, and so they can joust in a lot of situations, and they can deal extra damage in lots of those situations if they have the right gear.

It's been remarked that they're like TIE Interceptors with a built in hull upgrade. What this basically means, though, is that they don't get Stealth Device, as their modification is most likely Autothrusters for general utility. The high AGI, lack of token stack, and extra health over a TIE Interceptor does make them more reliant on doing damage than just avoiding damage, I think. I think these guys are going to set up jousting runs, but they're going to commit to the attack, they're not going to pull off to reposition if someone moves to block, because they need to get that range 1 advantage and deal a bunch of damage or they'll get chipped up much faster than TIE Interceptors.

Wow, this ship looks good. Great pilot abilities, great generics. It's the first time I've been tempted to fly Scum at all.

The ninth wave of starship expansions for X-Wing ™ is all about experimenting with firing arcs. The ARC-170 and Special Forces TIE fighter both feature auxiliary firing arcs that lead to interesting tactical decisions, and the Shadow Caster introduces a new mobile firing arc, which can rotate and face in different directions from round to round. Still, while all these ships encourage new ways to fly because they incorporate different firing arcs, it can be argued that the final Wave IX ship, the Protectorate Starfighter , is the one that does the most to encourage us to rethink our firing arcs…

Still reading it, but this isn't the final one of the Wave.