Since the dial reveal I've been toying with it on VASSAL. First thoughts:

Pros:

Great dial

Great pilot abilities

Great title

Ketsu Onyo crew on a YV666 wingman is great

Cons:

Too action dependant

Gyroscoping Targeting makes you extremely predictable

Sabine has best ability IMO, but no EPT hurts

I really liked this new feature with the mobile arc, but as soon as I saw it was an action I became worried. Asajj and Ketsu can sort of get away with it with a PTL and K4 build, but then you're married to the 3 speed greens, and a large base is easy to block.

Maybe I'm just flying it wrong. It sounded like a ship flown similar to Dash, fast and unpredictable so you can catch ships in their blind spots.

I'd like to hear others thoughts and experiences so far!

I'd like to hear more about it. Not sure when it will hit the game stores for us 2nd class citizens of the world that don't live near the mid-west.

Gyroscoping Targeting makes you extremely predictable

I need to do some more playtesting, but I don't think this is much of an issue, to the point that I'm often leaving it out of my builds. You set it to one side, and aim to cluster all the rocks in the middle, then just kite round the board with your big sweeping greens.

I've had the shadowcaster, and I've been using asajj with ptl, latts crew, engine upgrade, and bmst. It's a very good ship, really locked down imperial aces, and I even killed soontir with using just the bmst. Asajj giving out stress really messes with those aces, and then if you have an evade token, and use latt's, it makes you a surprisingly survivable ship. I haven't got to playing the other shadowcaster pilots, but I think they are a bit too gimmicky to see much play.

Going to be trying it out tonight.... Attani mindlink looks like it will help here with some of the actions... and I may not spin the mobile arc all that much. Should be fun to try anyway.

What makes you say Sabine has the best ability? I would hands down say Ventress has the best ability, and expect no argument.

And you don't need the GT just because it benefits that specific element of the 'caster -- I'd rather use PTL and have to deal with the stress after (that way, you move the arc when you need to, or have additional actions when it's already spot on).

I've been flying Ventress with PTL, Gyroscoping targeting, Ketsu Onyo and the Shadow Caster title. I like getting into range 2 and handing out stress to ships and then hitting them and putting tractor beam tokens on them.

I've been concerned about the gyro making me more predictable but the ship is already fairly predictable based on your pilot ability. Also, with PTL and the gyro you can bluff your opponent by moving the mobile arc and then using PTL on your next turn to move it again to the correct arc.

Dont forget you can still use your action to move the mobile arc even after gyro mod. The gyro mod isnt an action.

Only one guy in my area that i know of has it and wow he flew it bad lol...every time he did a 3+ speed move he hit a rock because hes used to snailing with large ships. I suspect that will be a thing for awhile.

It's pretty great.

Ventress + Ketsu crew + Shadowcaster is an amazing combo. Just having them in arc gives them a stress, if you can manage to hit them then they get a tractor token and well since you were shooting at them that means that they were in arc so they keep the tractor token into the next turn. So next turn you're now up against a very predictable dial due to the stress and often getting no action even if they do a green since you tractored them onto or in front of an obstacle thus making it all the more likely you'll once again have them in arc to repeat the combo next turn.

Have run it with Gyroscopic so far but am intending to switch out for PTL instead. The issue with gyro is not so much the signalling to your opponent of where you'll go so much as the timing being just barely too late and forcing you to do 3s which are often just too fast or land you on a rock.

I got one early from GenCon. Flew it for the first time this Friday. Thing melted pretty fast. But I think that is in part because I wasn't used to its movement and let a Whisper get in too close.

I really like Asajj the most. Keep her slim though with just PTL and Latts. 42 tanky points well spent. You can slap the title on there too if you want.

What makes you say Sabine has the best ability? I would hands down say Ventress has the best ability, and expect no argument.

And you don't need the GT just because it benefits that specific element of the 'caster -- I'd rather use PTL and have to deal with the stress after (that way, you move the arc when you need to, or have additional actions when it's already spot on).

In all honesty it was because my squad builder lied to me and said Sabine had an EPT, so I made a really nice Mindlink list with Manaroo where Sabine would end with 3 focus tokens, basically making her extremely tanky.

I agree Ventress's ability is great, but I like ships with defensive abilities. The longer they are shooting, the better the final results usually.

Maybe I'm just flying it wrong. It sounded like a ship flown similar to Dash, fast and unpredictable so you can catch ships in their blind spots.

Except for dash not caring for asteroids and arc, and having 2-3 actions per turn.

IF gyro was an action, we could have had some PTL\EI Shenanigans but nope. didn't happen.

Maybe I'm just flying it wrong. It sounded like a ship flown similar to Dash, fast and unpredictable so you can catch ships in their blind spots.

I'd like to hear others thoughts and experiences so far!

I think its an excellent ship for the most part.

Sabine not having an EPT is a bit of a disappointment, and makes her less than awesome.

Ketsu Onyo's ability reduces the number of 'effective' builds for him down to basically one....maybe 2. But I guess that's true for a lot of pilots...

Right now, Ventress is the clear star of the bunch. Slicer tools are pretty much auto-include on her, but she provides a very effective counter for the top 2 bugbears of the current meta. We'll definitely be seeing a lot of her at Worlds...

Tried a game with this list the other day:

(97)

Ketsu Onto (51) - Lancer-class Pursuit Craft

Veteran Instincts (1), Dengar (3), Rigged Cargo Chute (1), Black Market Slicer Tools (1), Shadow Caster (3), Engine Upgrade (4)

Latts Razzi (46) - YV-666

Bossk (2), Gunner (5), K4 Security Droid (3), Rigged Cargo Chute (1), Anti-Pursuit Lasers (2)

Absolutely ruined a whisper/omega leader/inquisitor list. Ketsu aims to get range 1 to tractor the target while latts target locks them and uses her ability to dropctheir agility. So ketsu is shooting a target at -2 agility. Then if she hits, thry get another tractor token for latts to shoot them at -2 agility as well. Should also kill dengaroo pretty well since dengars defense bonuses dont do anything with 0 agility (besides the one round he countermeasures). Would probably lose hard to uboats.

Well I sure hope someone playtested it, it's being released!

sadly, only indirectly

I would've gotten two alongside my ARCs, but we had one guy shouldering the gencon pre-release orders for the entire group so I didn't have the heart

but, one on one, PTL Ventress is kind of incredibly freaking scary

if you're not stacked against a PWT, the amount of control you have over your opponent is astounding and the flexibility of the mobile ARC lets you abuse that control to no end

stressed and forced to take greens? mobile arc to dance around him

stressed but trying to be crafty by not shedding stress? it's his unmodified/barely modified dice v your focus + 2-agility + evade

Ketsu Onyo's ability reduces the number of 'effective' builds for him down to basically one....

FYI, she's female.

Hope to have hands on mine soon.

Ventress

Mindlink, Latts Razzi, Black Market Slicer Tools, Shadow Caster

44

Tansarii Point Veteran

Mindlink, Heavy Scyk, Mangler

24

Manaroo

Lone Wolf, Recon Spec

32

Ventress and the scyk attack, using mainly evade actions or non-focus, Manaroo hangs back and supplies focus to the scyk. When all else dies, or Manaroo is threatened, retain the focus and have lone wolf to buy some better rolls. By no means a tourney winner, but it's putting three ships on the map that have never made it there. Fun night anyway.

Ketsu Onyo crew on a YV666 wingman is great

I don't understand. If Ketsu Onyo crew is in the YV-666, where do Dengar, Zuckuss and 4-L0M sit?

http://geordanr.github.io/xwing/?f=Scum%20and%20Villainy&d=v4!s!219:18,122,192,192:-1:3:;218:18,122,192,192:-1:3:&sn=GARBAGE%20DAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

... Y'know, that dial, with the speed 1s removed and everything reduced a single notch in speed, would actually have been a pretty fun Fang: Trade speed 3s for speed 1s, and be the only Interceptor-alike to be rocking a green straight 1. Jousty, even.

you don't joust in a ship that's costed like a firespray

you don't joust in a ship that's costed like a firespray

... I was going mildly off topic to speculating on a hypothetical Protectorate Starfighter dial, lad.

Ketsu Onyo crew on a YV666 wingman is great

I don't understand. If Ketsu Onyo crew is in the YV-666, where do Dengar, Zuckuss and 4-L0M sit?

It's not a party until the women show up