Swarm Leader. At a mere 60 points I get 5 dudes with fairly quick greens that enable my core ship's EPT and are fairly effective blockers. My personal choice for those last 40 points would be Xisor, but flavor to taste really. How do you guys feel on this change to the M3-A?

don't know that I would want 5 of them. but it sounds fun. I have two and wasn't planning on getting any more. but three with other ships could be pretty darn fun.

Personally I'm thinking 3 of them, a PS 3 Protectorate, and Xisor

Swarm leader on Dengar with a large supply of evade producing chaff. Gross.

I already have 4!

Dengar, swarm leader, Title, other Dengar stuff

3x TPV'S w/light Scyk and snap shot.

Might change snap shot for Mindlink.

problem with Swarm Leader is you have one ship (i.e the leader) doing just about all the work

unless you get really REALLY lucky with 2 naked red dice

I don't know about not bad, but it definitely isn't good

My thoughts are:

Serissu w/ Juke, Heavy Title (Cannon) Tractor Beam, Stealth Device

1x TPV w/ Swarm Leader, Light Title

3x TPV w/ Juke, Light Title

That's a Juke Tractor Beam shot, 3 regular Juke shots and then a Swarm leader to clean up. Plus Serissu's passive defense re-roll.

Competitive? TBD.

Hilarious to fly and possibly annoyingly frustrating for the opponent to deal with? Most likely.

The question is how does the discounted Scyk hold up when compared to the TIE Fighter which was said by Major Juggler and I quote "The most efficient jousting value ship in the game". Sure the shield does give it a hard shell but it is still rather hollow and the title does get rid of the cream filling to pretty much air. I don't know how much less durability it is (some one has to crunch the numbers on that 7.5 out of 30 direct hit which kills the ship) but not really that much.

They were rather crunchy to begin with. At least the Z-95s while still bite sized had a chewy center. And we all know Z-95 swarm hasn't really made the top 4 at worlds recently so how will the scyk or even the scyk/zed swarm hold up in a meta that doesn't have may swarms on top?

X7 delta is now the most efficient ship though, not the fighter

X7 delta is now the most efficient ship though, not the fighter

Ya the Tie Fighter is no longer the jousting standard. It's x7s and Dengar. Pretty sure Major Juggler has stated this multiple times. Think your info is a little outdated now Marinealver, even if he did say that a few waves ago.

X7 delta is now the most efficient ship though, not the fighter

Ya the Tie Fighter is no longer the jousting standard. It's x7s and Dengar. Pretty sure Major Juggler has stated this multiple times. Think your info is a little outdated now Marinealver, even if he did say that a few waves ago.

Okay so TIE Fighter is no longer king anymore. (Must be the reason why TIE Swarms haven't been winning worlds recently).

Still... It serves as a benchmark and the question on what side of the benchmark does the new lightweight frame Scyk falls on and what better comparison than a ship of the same point value. Because it goes without saying; if it doesn't' beat a TIE FIghter, Then it certainly is not going to make a difference in a Meta now ruled by x7 Defenders now would it.

X7 delta is now the most efficient ship though, not the fighter

Ya the Tie Fighter is no longer the jousting standard. It's x7s and Dengar. Pretty sure Major Juggler has stated this multiple times. Think your info is a little outdated now Marinealver, even if he did say that a few waves ago.

Okay so TIE Fighter is no longer king anymore. (Must be the reason why TIE Swarms haven't been winning worlds recently).

Still... It serves as a benchmark and the question on what side of the benchmark does the new lightweight frame Scyk falls on and what better comparison than a ship of the same point value. Because it goes without saying; if it doesn't' beat a TIE FIghter, Then it certainly is not going to make a difference in a Meta now ruled by x7 Defenders now would it.

I would say the like scyk has a slight advantage over a tie fighter. Defenders are the new benchmark but tie fighters are still okay.

PS2 scyk vs. academy pilot

- the scyk's shield balances out taking damage as crits (draw)

- PS2 > PS1 (adv. scyk)

- more greens on dial (adv. scyk)

- target lock action (adv. scyk)

PS5 TPV scyk vs. black squadron

- PS5 > PS4 (tiny adv. scyk)

- TPV scyk costs +1 point (adv. tie)

- scyk has access to Attanni Mindlink (adv. scyk)

Light scyk would be considered kinda decent back in the days when TIE swarms were still a thing. I'm saying "kinda" because without Howlrunner the list wouldn't have nearly as much early impact as a classic TIE swarm. These days classic TIE swarms are a thing of the past. Even crack swarms have all but disappeared. Soo... nice try but about 2 years too late.

Swarm leader idea sounds neat, but I don't expect Xizor to last very long, even with his ability, since he will get focused a LOT. Once he's down, you're essentially flying and old school TIE swarm with no howlrunner. If you've managed to destroy something vital with your alpha - great. If not... oh dear.

Light Scyk isn't terrible I guess, but it's never goign to be GOOD when you're talking about a 2-red-dice ship that's functionally 2HP as well roughly 1/4 of the time.

Trouble with swarm leader, aside from having one ship doing all the work, is that you also really have a big bullseye on that one ship. "Get me first". Your opponents squad will focus fire on it, then plink away at the little, fragile light interceptors who can't stick damage reliably with only two red dice.

I think I like this, because it gives up to 2 Tractor Beam tokens, so the Scyk 2 attack most likely will also deal damage:

Its basically a tie fighter with a better action bar. The crit thing is almost meaningless on 1s2h.

Considering the Punishing One title is 12 pts to add 1 attack to Dengar, he is getting value to add Swarm Leader and get additional attack for 12pts each, and oh yeah, its worth 3 pts of damage if the opponent wants to counter it. Its almost* like 3 hull upgrades + Punishing One put together*.

...and they plink damage, too...

Would really have to change up most common Dengar builds to find 24 pts, but a 5-die PWT is going to be pretty sick. Still 3 dice on his revenge shot, unless you have more Evade tokens lying around, since there is nothing limiting Swarm Leader from being used a 2nd time.

*if you look at it sideways, in the dark

*the whole arc requirement, aside. It really shouldn't be too hard to get your Scyks pointed in the right direction

Trouble with swarm leader, aside from having one ship doing all the work, is that you also really have a big bullseye on that one ship. "Get me first". Your opponents squad will focus fire on it, then plink away at the little, fragile light interceptors who can't stick damage reliably with only two red dice.

Bodyguard. Mindlink, and maybe Serissu could fix a lot of those issues.

But I admit, I am not convinced about it either. Tractor beam M3As might do the trick as well to help with the offensive power, while Serissu deals with the defensive problem and becomes the new primary target instead of Xixor. A mini-biggs is always nice to have around, especially at 4 HP, and Agi 3 with Focus + Evade.

The issue is that the whole package is too expensive for 100 point lists, but it might be pretty awesome for epic, because in epic you have to points to upgrade the M3As to mindlink.

Xizor and his Minions (100)

Trouble with swarm leader, aside from having one ship doing all the work, is that you also really have a big bullseye on that one ship. "Get me first". Your opponents squad will focus fire on it, then plink away at the little, fragile light interceptors who can't stick damage reliably with only two red dice.

Bodyguard. Mindlink, and maybe Serissu could fix a lot of those issues.

But I admit, I am not convinced about it either. Tractor beam M3As might do the trick as well to help with the offensive power, while Serissu deals with the defensive problem and becomes the new primary target instead of Xixor. A mini-biggs is always nice to have around, especially at 4 HP, and Agi 3 with Focus + Evade.

The issue is that the whole package is too expensive for 100 point lists, but it might be pretty awesome for epic, because in epic you have to points to upgrade the M3As to mindlink.

Xizor and his Minions (100)

Serissu (20)

Bodyguard (2)

Tractor Beam (1)

"Heavy Scyk" Interceptor (Cannon) (2)

Prince Xizor (31)

Swarm Leader (3)

Fire-Control System (2)

Autothrusters (2)

Virago (1)

Cartel Spacer (14)

"Light Scyk" Interceptor (-2)

Cartel Spacer (14)

"Light Scyk" Interceptor (-2)

Cartel Spacer (14)

"Light Scyk" Interceptor (-2)

Total: 100

View in Yet Another Squad Builder

Bodyguard only gives a benefit to a higher PS pilot. Serissu is your highest PS pilot, so Bodyguard doesn't work. Xizor would need to have Veteran Instincts if you wanted to use Bodyguard.

bodyguard is also just all round ****

far better off with mindlink

Part of what makes cheap ships so great is their ability to block. Tie Fighters are great because they can also Barrel Roll to get into the spot they need. If you have a /X7 that does bump it will get the free Evade, but nothing else. That seriously helps. Also, if you can expect where the person is going to be and plan a set up with other ships nearby, it turns out pretty favorable to your turn.

Tie Fighters are cheap enough to set up a blocking spread...or net. You send out the Tie Fighters to where you think they could end up and you have them basically filling up the spots where they would go if they bump the last guy. So...your opponent moves, but bumps one of the back Tie Fighters. That means he moves back until he's not touching an enemy. That can set him back in front of a relatively decent number of Tie Fighters. The enemy doesn't get an action. Several Tie Fighters should be at R1 to improve shots. It's a pretty good setup.

Light Frame Scyks can go the same way. They can give out the Evade for Swarm Leader.

Swarm Leader requires having an Ace who can get out of the way when required. I've played one real game and been thinking about Vader w/ Engine Upgrade. This will allow him to bug out and get out of arc if he needs to. He needs to play defensive. The same could be done with a Scum ship and Light Frame Scyks. Personally, I think you would need at least 4 Scyks to try it, though.

I have to admit that Xizor sounds like a terrible idea for a Scyk Swarm. While they can always BR to get in R1, they will pop like crazy with Xizor's ability. I would probably want to try using someone like Cobra Talonbane instead.

There is also the idea of using a cheap filler ship in your list. The Z-95 was always the go to, but now you have an option. The Scyk is more maneuverable than the Z-95, even if it is more luck dependent.

Just realized a fun fact. The face-up damage is not limited to uncancelled hit results. In other words, all the weapon effects that normally cancel dice and just deal a fixed point of damage (TLT, Ion & Flechette cannons) along with all the bombs, mines nad asteroid collisions will be critical once the single shield is down.

Talk about flammable, they literally have 1d2 Hull. I really appreciate the designers' depiction of poor, desperate sods that man these flying coffins.

Talk about flammable, they literally have 1d2 Hull. I really appreciate the designers' depiction of poor, desperate sods that man these flying coffins.

It's actually slightly better than that. There's about 1/3 chance of exploding, not 1/2.