Fenn Raun autothruster, title, attani mindlink

Asaji Ventress Latts Razzi, attani

Manaroo attani

We want to engage Fenn Rau at r2 and oblitarate him out of the game, but assuming a skilled pilot it won't happen often, so while I would still play to force it, I can't count on that.

So since, usually I can't prevent Fenn to get at least one range 1 shot on me, how do I deal with that list? What's your target priority?

Fenn is obviously the main threat, but once he's gone have you had more success taking down Manaroo or Asaji first?

EDIT: MajorJuggler made a great writup about the list here https://community.fantasyflightgames.com/topic/240219-how-do-you-deal-with-asaji-fennaroo/?p=2599150

Kill Fenn first, preferably with r2 attacks or non-attack type damage.

You need to stagger your approach. It's somewhat unintuitive, because in most cases doing so is a mistake in positioning but in this case it's kinda necessary. You have to assume that you won't be able to do any damage to Fenn (or very little of it) in range 1 because of his ability and title. The same is true at R3 due to autothrusters. So you need to ensure that if Fenn is at R1 of your point ship he's also at R2 of another ship you keep behind it. Ideally you want to force a bump with your point ship and shoot Fenn down at R2 with your other ships. As long as Fenn is alive, you're gonna lose. On the other hand, if you can get rid of him, the list becomes kinda toothless as a single attack from Assajj is not strong enough to punch through the defenses of most ships these days and Manny hits with wet noodles outside R1. Leave Assajj for later. She's annoying but you won't be able to kill her quickly, so don't try too hard unless there's nothing else you can shoot.

The problem of this list is that with a skilled player, and if the opponent has means to kill him eg. bombs, fenn stays at range 3 and is a bait or doing some pot shots. Asajj slams into you, and with Latts, double focus and evade she shrugs off most damage. Then fenn come in the second line and kills your bumped, stressed ships.

Ideally is to scatter their formation, and kill one at a time. Let them come after you. Through the asteroids, so make some tight cluster in the middle of the board.

The tough target priority is probably the single strongest asset for the list. The correct order is Fenn > Manaroo > Asajj. Achieving that is very difficult, however, as each of the targets are difficult to eliminate in their own way.

The absolute key thing is not to split your efforts. Mindlink lists are at max strength when all three ships are on the table, you need to remove a copy of Mindlink ASAP so that you can strip down the efficiency of the remaining ships and go after them. Pick one and go after it with everything you've got, leave nothing to chance.

• If your opponent screws up you might be able to destroy Manaroo. She's the softest target as she can't Evade, doesn't have Autothrusters and can only ever have one Focus token. Pretty much any time my opponent feeds me Manaroo by mistake I go on to win the game. Most opponents don't make that mistake, though.

• Asajj is much tankier than she appears, especially if you're lower PS and can't reposition out of her stress arc. There's what I call 'the Asajj Stress Spiral' which is where she turns her arc sideways and just loops around you while you try to pull greens to get out. When you're trapped in that spiral it's bad bad times and she will squeeze the life out of you. I will only chase Asajj if I'm confident of having two turns where I can fully unload on her with my entire squad. I'm extremely unlikely to kill her in one round, and even if I badly injure her she can happily tank out one or two attackers until the end of days - that's happened to me way too often.

• Fenn is the weak spot, although it can be like trying to nail jelly to the wall. The key advantage for me of going after Fenn is that even if you don't immediately kill him you're a lot better off forcing Fenn to go defensive so you're not having to deal with all those red dice coming at you, while when Asajj goes defensive it usually means you're taking 5 dice from Fenn AND 3 dice from Asajj's aux arc.
  

What does this build typically have in it?

Manaroo/Mindlink

Assaj/Mindlink/Latts

Fenn/Mindlink/Title/Autothrusters.

Manaroo/Mindlink

Assaj/Mindlink/Latts

Fenn/Mindlink/Title/Autothrusters.

This. Commonly known as 'Paratanni', which isn't a very descriptive name. It's VERY good.

The answer could be simple - Bombs - Cluster Mines and Corner nets will hurt Fenn Rau, also if you try some Tractor Beams from Tie Defender's with the Tie/D title it should let you take out Rau

With my current list, probably poorly, though I've not tested it.

If I was building to beat it, probably RAC/HotCoP/Gunner/Vader and something, and kill Fenn with extreme prejudice. BUt it's a decidedly non-trivial list to approach.

apparently you bring 3 T65 X-Wings and a Z...

Also I've read from several Paratanni players that the first target should be Asajj because she's worst if she makes it to the late game.

I would treat Fenn as target of opportunity - if you can, shoot him, but don't force it with all you have.

So: Asajj -> Fenn -> Manaroo

Thinking further: go for Assaj, aim to block her so she doesn't have her evade or the opportunity to adjust her arc, and force some crits onto her.

Accordingly, the above, and the second ship is probably Ryad.

apparently you bring 3 T65 X-Wings and a Z...

Also I've read from several Paratanni players that the first target should be Asajj because she's worst if she makes it to the late game.

I would treat Fenn as target of opportunity - if you can, shoot him, but don't force it with all you have.

So: Asajj -> Fenn -> Manaroo

Haha, that sounds like Paratanni players trying to spread bad information!

Asajj is good in late game but once she's robbed of all the action economy she gets from Attani Mindlink she's much easier to deal with than early game. I think it depends on your list as most things that will try to smash Asajj straight away are running straight into the toughest target in their list while allowing the biggest damage dealer in the list free reign to tear you up from behind. Unless you hit Asajj REALLY REALLY hard then it's going to be a mistake to go after her first.

apparently you bring 3 T65 X-Wings and a Z...

Also I've read from several Paratanni players that the first target should be Asajj because she's worst if she makes it to the late game.

I would treat Fenn as target of opportunity - if you can, shoot him, but don't force it with all you have.

So: Asajj -> Fenn -> Manaroo

Haha, that sounds like Paratanni players trying to spread bad information!

Asajj is good in late game but once she's robbed of all the action economy she gets from Attani Mindlink she's much easier to deal with than early game. I think it depends on your list as most things that will try to smash Asajj straight away are running straight into the toughest target in their list while allowing the biggest damage dealer in the list free reign to tear you up from behind. Unless you hit Asajj REALLY REALLY hard then it's going to be a mistake to go after her first.

Ehhhhh, I don't know.

In late game she's horrible, because she has two evades on basically every attack. Wimpy offence but very strong defence, and excellent control makes for a miserable endgame.

Manaroo's the only one you really want to see in the endgame, so you probably want to kill Fenn or Assaj first.

apparently you bring 3 T65 X-Wings and a Z...

Also I've read from several Paratanni players that the first target should be Asajj because she's worst if she makes it to the late game.

I would treat Fenn as target of opportunity - if you can, shoot him, but don't force it with all you have.

So: Asajj -> Fenn -> Manaroo

Haha, that sounds like Paratanni players trying to spread bad information!

Asajj is good in late game but once she's robbed of all the action economy she gets from Attani Mindlink she's much easier to deal with than early game. I think it depends on your list as most things that will try to smash Asajj straight away are running straight into the toughest target in their list while allowing the biggest damage dealer in the list free reign to tear you up from behind. Unless you hit Asajj REALLY REALLY hard then it's going to be a mistake to go after her first.

I think it's right that you should get Asajj first but only if possible. I agree with your initial premise though that Fenn Rau is the easiest to get off the board and therefore should be the first target as mindlink reduces in quality as the number of ships reduces.

Ehhhhh, I don't know.

In late game she's horrible, because she has two evades on basically every attack. Wimpy offence but very strong defence, and excellent control makes for a miserable endgame.

Manaroo's the only one you really want to see in the endgame, so you probably want to kill Fenn or Assaj first.

She's their best lategame ship, but also their best early game ship.

Early game she's got Focus, Focus, Evade, Latts Razzi, and while you're shooting at her Fenn is behind you unloading 5 dice at you. Late game Asajj has got Evade, Latts Razzi, sure, but only if she wants to be shipping unmodified 3 dice attacks that you can shrug off and assuming you've got her to half she's only 20 MOV so you're probably ahead.

If you have the firepower to take Asajj down rapidly early game then do it. I think most lists don't have that firepower though, and in trying to do it you'll have Fenn Rau eat up your squad. Say you're a 3 ship list, then as soon as Fenn takes down one of your team Asajj becomes almost bulletproof against the remaining two.

I'm running:

Zealous recruit + title

Fenn Rau + ptl + title + autothrusters

Ndru + VI + homing missile + guidance chips

Kaato + deadeye + homing missile + guidance chips

What would you go for first vs paratani?

If I line my opening up correctly I can have Asajj off the board with two 5 dice attacks followed by a 4 dice missile. That requires a number of things to go my way though.

Killing Fenn Rau will be easy enough. He doesn't have the action economy to maximise arc dodging whilst the missiles will quickly remove him from the board.

All agreed that manaroo can wait till last.

Edit: two things:

1. The list is designed to beat defenders which it does with ease.

2. I've never played Paratani with it (or at all).

I'm running:

Zealous recruit + title

Fenn Rau + ptl + title + autothrusters

Ndru + VI + homing missile + guidance chips

Kaato + deadeye + homing missile + guidance chips

What would you go for first vs paratani?

If I line my opening up correctly I can have Asajj off the board with two 5 dice attacks followed by a 4 dice missile. That requires a number of things to go my way though.

Killing Fenn Rau will be easy enough. He doesn't have the action economy to maximise arc dodging whilst the missiles will quickly remove him from the board.

All agreed that manaroo can wait till last.

Edit: two things:

1. The list is designed to beat defenders which it does with ease.

2. I've never played Paratani with it (or at all).

Running the maths those three attacks will deal an average of 8 damage to Asajj, assuming Fenn is able to stay out of arc of stress for Latts Razzi and nobody gets removed by Fenn Rau before firing. The Zealous Recruit may live long enough to finish Asajj off, either way she'll be badly damaged.

Fenn Rau: 5 dice, Focus & TL vs 2 dice, Focus & Evade = 2.4 damage (avg)

N'Dru: 5 dice, TL & Chips vs 2 dice, Focus = 3.3 damage (avg)

Kaato: 4 dice, TL & Chips vs 2 dice, Focus = 2.4 damage (avg)

TOTAL: 13 red dice s 6 green dice = 8.1 damage (avg)

Note: I've used 3 focus tokens for Asajj there. Although she only has 2 tokens the odds of her not spending one is about 50/50 in the first two attacks, so good chance it will be there for the 3rd attack.

This is the sort of up-front firepower that is able to overwhelm Asajj's defences and I would prioritise her first for your list. You'll have to work hard to pull off the perfect attack, though - getting Fenn into Range 1 without using boost so you've got Focus/TL while keeping Kaato and NDru at range 2-3 but also keeping NDru away from your other ships AND away from their Fenn Rau. If you are successfully able to juggle all those balls then I'd go for Asajj.

I'm running:

Zealous recruit + title

Fenn Rau + ptl + title + autothrusters

Ndru + VI + homing missile + guidance chips

Kaato + deadeye + homing missile + guidance chips

What would you go for first vs paratani?

If I line my opening up correctly I can have Asajj off the board with two 5 dice attacks followed by a 4 dice missile. That requires a number of things to go my way though.

Killing Fenn Rau will be easy enough. He doesn't have the action economy to maximise arc dodging whilst the missiles will quickly remove him from the board.

All agreed that manaroo can wait till last.

Edit: two things:

1. The list is designed to beat defenders which it does with ease.

2. I've never played Paratani with it (or at all).

Running the maths those three attacks will deal an average of 8 damage to Asajj, assuming Fenn is able to stay out of arc of stress for Latts Razzi and nobody gets removed by Fenn Rau before firing. The Zealous Recruit may live long enough to finish Asajj off, either way she'll be badly damaged.

This is the sort of up-front firepower that is able to overwhelm Asajj's defences and I would prioritise her first for your list. You'll have to work hard to pull off the perfect attack, though - getting Fenn into Range 1 without using boost so you've got Focus/TL while keeping Kaato and NDru at range 2-3 but also keeping NDru away from your other ships AND away from their Fenn Rau. If you are successfully able to juggle all those balls then I'd go for Asajj.

Yeah it's tempting. I have a tonne of practice with setting up Ndru and kaatos alpha so that's not an issue. I can also be flexible depending on which target makes most sense due to Fenn Rau and Ndru being at PS9 (and moving second) and kaato having deadeye.

The zealous recruit is very underrated. It's the best blocker in the game as far as I'm concerned.

What I'd worry about vs Paratanni in particular is how fast the Shadow Caster moves on it's big base can make range control difficult - if he calls a move you're not expecting your Z-95s can't reposition to get the range right. I'd also worry about Fenn Rau haring in to remove one of your Z-95s. He's fast enough to get right in there with TL & Focus for his attack, and that's going to put real pressure on a Z-95's green dice.

I'd have both those factors in mind if I was the Paratanni player facing against you, and you'll need to include that in your approach.

I'm running:

Zealous recruit + title

Fenn Rau + ptl + title + autothrusters

Ndru + VI + homing missile + guidance chips

Kaato + deadeye + homing missile + guidance chips

What would you go for first vs paratani?

If I line my opening up correctly I can have Asajj off the board with two 5 dice attacks followed by a 4 dice missile. That requires a number of things to go my way though.

Killing Fenn Rau will be easy enough. He doesn't have the action economy to maximise arc dodging whilst the missiles will quickly remove him from the board.

All agreed that manaroo can wait till last.

Edit: two things:

1. The list is designed to beat defenders which it does with ease.

2. I've never played Paratani with it (or at all).

Running the maths those three attacks will deal an average of 8 damage to Asajj, assuming Fenn is able to stay out of arc of stress for Latts Razzi and nobody gets removed by Fenn Rau before firing. The Zealous Recruit may live long enough to finish Asajj off, either way she'll be badly damaged.

This is the sort of up-front firepower that is able to overwhelm Asajj's defences and I would prioritise her first for your list. You'll have to work hard to pull off the perfect attack, though - getting Fenn into Range 1 without using boost so you've got Focus/TL while keeping Kaato and NDru at range 2-3 but also keeping NDru away from your other ships AND away from their Fenn Rau. If you are successfully able to juggle all those balls then I'd go for Asajj.

Yeah it's tempting. I have a tonne of practice with setting up Ndru and kaatos alpha so that's not an issue. I can also be flexible depending on which target makes most sense due to Fenn Rau and Ndru being at PS9 (and moving second) and kaato having deadeye.

The zealous recruit is very underrated. It's the best blocker in the game as far as I'm concerned.

Just wondering... what makes you think the zealous recruit is a better blocker than, say, a Syck? Is it access to concord dawn protector?

What I'd worry about vs Paratanni in particular is how fast the Shadow Caster moves on it's big base can make range control difficult - if he calls a move you're not expecting your Z-95s can't reposition to get the range right. I'd also worry about Fenn Rau haring in to remove one of your Z-95s. He's fast enough to get right in there with TL & Focus for his attack, and that's going to put real pressure on a Z-95's green dice.

I'd have both those factors in mind if I was the Paratanni player facing against you, and you'll need to include that in your approach.

Having fenn Rau rush the Zs is ideal. Ndru still gets to fire if he gets destroyed in the process. Kaato uses the zealous recruit as a screen to stop Rau getting into range one and to pinch the recruits focus for the extra defensive mod. It's a very secure alpha strike if played right.

I'm running:

Zealous recruit + title

Fenn Rau + ptl + title + autothrusters

Ndru + VI + homing missile + guidance chips

Kaato + deadeye + homing missile + guidance chips

What would you go for first vs paratani?

If I line my opening up correctly I can have Asajj off the board with two 5 dice attacks followed by a 4 dice missile. That requires a number of things to go my way though.

Killing Fenn Rau will be easy enough. He doesn't have the action economy to maximise arc dodging whilst the missiles will quickly remove him from the board.

All agreed that manaroo can wait till last.

Edit: two things:

1. The list is designed to beat defenders which it does with ease.

2. I've never played Paratani with it (or at all).

Running the maths those three attacks will deal an average of 8 damage to Asajj, assuming Fenn is able to stay out of arc of stress for Latts Razzi and nobody gets removed by Fenn Rau before firing. The Zealous Recruit may live long enough to finish Asajj off, either way she'll be badly damaged.

This is the sort of up-front firepower that is able to overwhelm Asajj's defences and I would prioritise her first for your list. You'll have to work hard to pull off the perfect attack, though - getting Fenn into Range 1 without using boost so you've got Focus/TL while keeping Kaato and NDru at range 2-3 but also keeping NDru away from your other ships AND away from their Fenn Rau. If you are successfully able to juggle all those balls then I'd go for Asajj.

Yeah it's tempting. I have a tonne of practice with setting up Ndru and kaatos alpha so that's not an issue. I can also be flexible depending on which target makes most sense due to Fenn Rau and Ndru being at PS9 (and moving second) and kaato having deadeye.

The zealous recruit is very underrated. It's the best blocker in the game as far as I'm concerned.

Just wondering... what makes you think the zealous recruit is a better blocker than, say, a Syck? Is it access to concord dawn protector?

Basically if you muff up your block and end up with a joust instead it doesn't melt.

PARTY BUS!!!!!

Also Omega Leader is pretty good at dealong with Mindlinkers. Oh you get lots of focus? Sorry can't spend it.