Hi all,

Was watching the Gencon semis and I'm keen to try the Party Bus build that Marcel Manzano was running but I only have one jumpy. So I'm looking to change it up and give it a different flavour. This is what I have so far:

"Bump and Grind" - 99pts

Slaver w/ Zuckuss + 4-LOM + Dengar (34)

Contracted Scout w/ Intel Agent + R5-P8 + Feedback Array + Intimidation + Anti-Pursuit Lasers (35)

Palob w/ Title + Rec Spec + Blaster Turret (30)

I thought I'd try a bumpmaster variation using the hwk and the jumpy to continually block the slaver and keep its forward momentum nice and slow in the initial build up. I figure Palob also helps with token removal so that 4-LOM doesn't have to be utilised as often or to counter PTL multi-token ships.

However, I am open to suggestions on that third ship. I love me some Palob but should I consider a Y-wing or perhaps a couple of Z's instead? as for 99pts, Palob has an EPT available, should I use something like calculation and take advantage of the focus stack or perhaps a lightning reflexes for increased mobility in a moment of need?

Am I completely on the wrong path and should I be going for a torpedo build?

Any help would be very greatly appreciated.

Cheers!

- Lanthal

i like the list, overall. someway fresh.

but, depending on your local meta, i shall be scared to bring it at a competitive level. I think it requires a lot of coordination/timing skills: if something gets wrong you rely on the bare partybus.

palob tends to die while using his ability, dragging some fire away from other valuables targets that are.... not sure who they are.

in my meta i prepare my builds to kill a jumpmaster in max 2 rounds, trying to give less in exchange, but this is my way of thinking... try your list several times, because some matchups will be very hard and you need solid planning.

torp scouts are just the easy way.

ah.. if you drop intell agent you can fit tlt on palob

are you keen on taking Palob? I love him, but I would never take a blaster turret. I've gone down that road too many times. TLT all the way. Don't worry about ranges. You don't really want him getting chased at all. You want Palob on the fringes, taking pot shots and stealing tokens when convenient, not getting killed by it.

My main problem is, that even if you strip tokens, block all the actions on all the aces all the time, you can still lose a party bus in about 2 turns due to dice. You may be able to mitigate some of the damage, but you're going to take some hits getting into position. The opponent could also ignore the bus and go for the scout early, bc he's going to have to be in front to do the blocking, which means if he goes down early, everyone gets behind the bus and blows it away turn 3-4. This looks good on paper and looks like one false move in reality or bad roll of dice and you're done in 8 min.

So i ran the list last night on VASSAL and there are multiple problems.

First: Bumpmaster can go to hell - I think the torp boat is the way to go. I'll give it one more try but it burned so fast in my game that I barely got to do anything with it.

Second: Palob's ability didn't come into play once. I'm thinking a downgrade to Mux could be good because it'll give me an opportunity to hit a ship really hard before they get to fire.

I get the TLT argument but Blaster Turret hits so much harder and this is a slow moving list giving the HWK time to build up a *good* supply of focus tokens. To the point where I'd almost be tempted to run a 34pt Torp Boat and keep Palob to give him calculation.

Lots to think about and play test.

I ju-ust made this list for a friend of mine last night. Seems like Palob and Party Bus and a U-Boat are all great vs the meta. He's going to run it in a league.

I also made him this EZ Mode version of the list:

Ok so I ran another game today with the following:

Slaver w/ Zuckuss, 4-LOM and Dengar

Palob w/ Title + Blaster Turret + Calculation + Rec Spec

Contracted Scout w/ overclocked + Deadeye + Proton Torps + Extra munitions + Guidance chips + intel agent.

it worked better than the last list but I think i'm going to give palob the TLT + Pred build.

That leaves me with 3 pts. I'm going to put intertial dampeners on the slaver to give me an extra stop when I'm stressed to hell from Zuckuss leaving 2 pts. I either stay at 98 for the bid but it's kind of useless with my pilots' PS so I'm thinking a saboteur on slave with 4-lom moving to Palob for 100pts or Boba Fett on the Contracted scout for 99pts.

So I had a thought.

Instead of Palob, why not:

Drea Renthal w/ Plasma torps + extra munitions + guidance chips + autoblaster turret + unhinged astro.

She's meatier than Palob, mobile as all hell with the astromech and the autoblaster will sneak through a bit of damage. Also her ability is great with the torps.

I'm thinking:She hits with plasma and drops shields, Scout hits with Protons and wrecks face. If i change intel agent to Boba - even more hijinks.

With dampeners on the slaver that comes out to 99pts. I could increase to 100pts if I go the Dorsal Turret. Don't own a ghost though!

So I had a thought.

Instead of Palob, why not:

Drea Renthal w/ Plasma torps + extra munitions + guidance chips + autoblaster turret + unhinged astro.

She's meatier than Palob, mobile as all hell with the astromech and the autoblaster will sneak through a bit of damage. Also her ability is great with the torps.

I'm thinking:She hits with plasma and drops shields, Scout hits with Protons and wrecks face. If i change intel agent to Boba - even more hijinks.

With dampeners on the slaver that comes out to 99pts. I could increase to 100pts if I go the Dorsal Turret. Don't own a ghost though!

Always run Palob, because Palob.

....PALOB!