I'm embarrassed to say I'm having trouble making the most of Fenn Rau. I either go in too early and get him killed for not much effect, or hang back too much and only going in when its probably too late. I'm also finding that range 3 with autothrusters and multiple focus tokens is not safe at all. Any advice to fly him more effectively will be greatly appreciated.

Boost barrel roll out of arc. Thing is Fen Reu's ability want's hime to be in another firing arc. However putting your ship in one firing arc would likely put your ship in other firing arcs thus kills him. Fenn in one Firing Arc is good, Fenn in 2 or more firing arcs is bad.

myeh, dude's acceptable loses in a mindlink list

asajj is your actual endgame

sometimes plowing him into the enemy to remove a crucial lategame piece is exactly how you should play him

Yep, should be part of a Mindlink list, especially paired with Manaroo.

You are either holding back and flanking as much as possible, ensuring his safety because you have the highest PS, or you sent Manaroo in ahead of time that turn to get a target lock and focus (works great if you have K4 on Manaroo). Fenn comes in to joust that same turn as well to benefit from the Protectorate Title because you're at Range 1. Ideally, Fenn was in position to take a focus action himself, but not necessarily bad if he had to boost in because he already has a focus from Mindlink. Manaroo now passes the target lock and focus she has on to Fenn, who is now up to two or three focus tokens himself and hopefully an additional evade result. Hope to roll paint of any kind when taking fire, but should only be done when taking return fire from at most two ships and preferably only just the one. Pretty situational, but if you're not trying to set up these kind of scenarios, he's dead.

He's not an endgame pilot, but he won't last in multiple firing arcs. He still hits hard outside a defender's arc, so be patient for the right time to unleash the title ability. He's excellent in Mindlink squads but I also love him with Fearlessness. Just lower the hammer on the key defender ship. But as Marinealver has written, choose wisely, avoiding multiple firing arc situations.

if you can cause 5+ damage before he dies your doing good, he doesn't hang back so ATs are somewhat useless try SD, also i suggest defensive bonuses such as Manaroo, or mindlink, or even Serissu

myeh, dude's acceptable loses in a mindlink list

asajj is your actual endgame

sometimes plowing him into the enemy to remove a crucial lategame piece is exactly how you should play him

A lesson I learned all too late on Saturday. In facing an Asajj/Fenn/Manaroo list in a battle to make the cut, I got Asajj to 5 hull after the first round of combat, and proceeded to completely ignore her in favor of a futile effort to hunt down Manaroo. Late in the match, I stupidly only sent my Defender after her while Omega Leader stayed in pursuit of Manaroo (and with Fenn chasing him in turn).

You are not going to punch through Asajj when she has a focus token, an evade token, and Latts Razzi defending against a stressed ship.

If you're like me, you give him Fearlessness + Autothrusters + Title and fly him with his chosen wing mate (in my case, I fly him with Talonbane Cobra mindlinked with Manaroo, though Old Teroch is a good choice if you have a second Fang Fighter) right down the throat of the most dangerous ship/most important ship on your opponent's side of the board. Have Manaroo pass her focus tokens onto him and concentrate fire on the poor target. Not much can hold up against that much firepower, even with good green dice rolls and modifiers.

Most opponents I've played against expect Fenn to arc-dodge. So getting him up in their face seems to catch them off guard.

Disclaimer : Most forum-goers would disagree that purposefully putting Fenn in arc of an opposing ship is a bad idea. They're not wrong.

Fly Fen with absolute caution until you are certain that your approach is safe. If you're flying Parattanni (Probably the best Mindlink list right now, has just won its 7th or 8th regional), then you can safely engage with Asajj first, as she can take a beating.

Fen can happily sit face to face at range 1 vs almost anything, but if he's at range 2 of another ship, then suddenly he's in danger of dying in an instant. As some have said, you can 'suicide' him in, but I'd rather have him tearing at the flanks and heels of my opponents all throughout the game. Asajj is very tough, but she wont be able to hit through Defender dice if Fen hasn't forced them to spend their tokens first.

He's an amazing ship, utter joy to play. A real high risk, high reward pilot that forces you to improve your ability to eyeball range. Keep at it, and enjoy the rewards

Thanks everyone for the great advice!