PARTY BUS!!!!!

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

OL's not in good shape against this list. Whoever he doesn't TL of Assaj and Fenn kills him PDQ.

Shoot stuff till it dies. Worked well for me so far.

It's called Ass Manarau

Bombs and TLTs hurt the list pretty bad in addition to stress control. Bombranda stresshog and a friend would make for a very bad time for the Paratanni player.

Mindlink is an anti-stress mechanic. I wouldn't necessarily look to stress as a way to beat it.

Mindlink is an anti-stress mechanic. I wouldn't necessarily look to stress as a way to beat it.

Yup, as a person who has player a fair amount of Attanni, they just laugh at stresshogs. And this list has the greens not to worry about it much at all.

Mindlink is an anti-stress mechanic. I wouldn't necessarily look to stress as a way to beat it.

It's primarily an action-economy mechanic TBH. THe anti-stress part is a bonus, and stress can be a royal pain for ML lists, especially larger ones that like a ship to K turn most rounds.

Mindlink is an anti-stress mechanic. I wouldn't necessarily look to stress as a way to beat it.

It's primarily an action-economy mechanic TBH. THe anti-stress part is a bonus, and stress can be a royal pain for ML lists, especially larger ones that like a ship to K turn most rounds.

Which the one we are talking about doesn't need to K-turn, ever. I one time managed to triple-stress Fenn, but was unable to push enough damage through. He was able to get away and then forced me to switch targets. Needless to say this list can shrug stress off pretty easily. If you do have stress mechanics, it might not be a bad idea to try and stress out Manaroo.

PARTY BUS!!!!!

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

OL's not in good shape against this list. Whoever he doesn't TL of Assaj and Fenn kills him PDQ.

Mindlink is an anti-stress mechanic. I wouldn't necessarily look to stress as a way to beat it.

It's primarily an action-economy mechanic TBH. THe anti-stress part is a bonus, and stress can be a royal pain for ML lists, especially larger ones that like a ship to K turn most rounds.

Which the one we are talking about doesn't need to K-turn, ever. I one time managed to triple-stress Fenn, but was unable to push enough damage through. He was able to get away and then forced me to switch targets. Needless to say this list can shrug stress off pretty easily. If you do have stress mechanics, it might not be a bad idea to try and stress out Manaroo.

It's called Ass Manarau

Ass Man Fenn flows a little better, no?

PARTY BUS!!!!!

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

OL's not in good shape against this list. Whoever he doesn't TL of Assaj and Fenn kills him PDQ.

Got to fly him right. If you know what you are doing you will be able to keep him out of trouble. You can out PS Asajj so you can keep out of arc a littke easier. So TL Fenn to not worry about the 5 die attack. Also remember OL doesn't fly alone. He usually has some pretty potent wingman. Coming in at 26 points you have alot of room to play with.

A 5 die attack is never not a worry.

OL's a good ship, but this isn't a brilliant matchup for him.

I still like Asajjaroorau.

I still like Asajjaroorau.

At that point we can just nickname it Scooby Doo.

I still like Asajjaroorau.

At that point we can just nickname it Scooby Doo.

This entire squad in a nutshell.

Mindlink is an anti-stress mechanic. I wouldn't necessarily look to stress as a way to beat it.

Yup, as a person who has player a fair amount of Attanni, they just laugh at stresshogs. And this list has the greens not to worry about it much at all.

This. I faced a stress-Braylen and did not care one bit, it just changed who I was using as the original focus engine. That, and I just chased Braylen with Asajj, since he kept taking evades for me . Plus, have you seen all the green on those dials?

The one time it really hurt was damaged engine on Asajj, I lost that one by 4 point to a Miranda that would have gone off the board the next round. Both my big ships were below half health and her Warden had died. She regened so many shield because I couldn't turn Asajj around fast enough to chase her with 2 ships.

I wasn't in tune completely, but I saw a one-sided game where Paratanni took it on the chin; I saw two Defenders and I know one was a /D because of the ion tokens on the board...and this guy was up front and personal:

I wasn't in tune completely, but I saw a one-sided game where Paratanni took it on the chin; I saw two Defenders and I know one was a /D because of the ion tokens on the board...and this guy was up front and personal:

Carnor treads a fine, fine line versus Parattani for the same reason OL does.

Fenn can force through damage even without his focus token, and Assaj can tank his damage even without her focus and evade, not to mention that a double stressed Squint is a dead Squint.

Carnor treads a fine, fine line versus Parattani for the same reason OL does.

Yeah it's for brave/elite. Generally it's VI not PTL (out-PS Fenn, don't die to Asajj stress) and Carnor isn't trying to deal damage, just nerf focus and stay out of arc while Defenders do the work. I like it as an option to the shuttle for the same cost - asks different questions.

It was weeks ago, I should have paid better attention; I do know Jax was the last to move; he was top dog. Fenn and Manaroo were on the board with him and the Defenders when I walked up...

The stresshog really isn't to take advantage of mindlink, its to stop fenn/manaroo from taking their own actions namely repositions. Stress also helps by making the list predictable for bombing runs. They have a lot of greens, but still more predictable than a wide open dial.

Jax seems like a scenario where you rush Manaroo up front to block and give a TL to whomever has the best angle on Jax at start of combat.

I agree that Fen should be the first choice. Asaj is the anvil of the list. You want your opponent throwing their dice at her so that Fen can safely enter range 1 and stay there.

The other thing is this: If you force Fen to fly defensively, then you have removed Parattani's big gun from the fight. Manaroo and Asaj don't pack enough punch to get through token stacked green dice, or to bring down a high health ship quickly enough. That said, a range 1 shot from Asaj with a focus/lock is still gonna sting.

To be honest, I am struggling myself to find Parattanni counter, and there is no a real one. There is some list I find evenly matched tho, and this includes:

Super Corran + Super Miranda (World runner-up Kevin Leintz's list)

Super Miranda + 2 TLT (Jan Swirski's Czech/Slovakia National Champ build)

Swarm Defenders aka DeathStar (Vessery Swarm Leader, PTL Ryad, Delta)

Crack Defenders

Commonwealth Defenders (but only masterfully flown)

Some Carnor Jax builds (Karol Pietrowicz's builds like from Tricity Polish Regio last week)

Decimator + Vader, Gunner, Hotshot and Ryad Juke (Phil Horny's build)

Scum Aces (my clubmate Dydu's version: PTL Fenn, VI Teroch, VI Zuckuss)

And really, those are not hard counters - must be flown good to hit Parattanni

As for target priority, speaking from Parattanni player perspective: it's irrelevant. If you after something just kill it quick.

But if you focus on Manaroo it's fine because she has lowest firepower, so big guns can hurt you for longer.

If you focus on Fenn it's fine because he's slippery enough to give rest of the squad time to hit you hard from behind.

If you focus on Asajj it's fine because she's supposed to be focused on.

I think there's some mis-information earlier in the thread, so I'll add in my 2 cents. For reference the squad in question is:

Fenn + Mindlink + Autothrusters + title

Asajj + Latts + Mindlink

Manaroo + Mindlink

I have been flying Parattanni exclusively for the last couple of months. Others have done better with the list as it has won several Regionals (like OldPara who invented the list and won a 100+ Regionals with it). I "only" got Top 4, but I still have a really good handle on how to properly fly the list. I talk about it some on the upcoming NOVA Squadron Radio episode 63, so if you're interested you should tune in to the end of the Flight Deck segment for that episode when it airs.

My "Parattanni credentials":

• I'm 40+ games in with (I think) 6 losses.
• I went 7-1 at Massachusetts Regionals, going 6-0 in Swiss and narrowly losing Top 4 at time (partial health Manaroo vs partial health K-wing; my opponent had a slight edge anyway and likely would have won if the game was untimed).
• I went 7-2 in the Vassal Season 3 league to advance into the Deep Core, exclusively flying Parattanni. I had the best record and MoV in the entire league, granted I was playing in Core not Deep Core.

People think of Fenn as the greatest threat, but the backbone of the list is Asajj and Manaroo. If I can trade Fenn for an equivalent 32 points of my opponent's stuff, then I'm almost always going to win. Case in point, one game vs Dengaroo I lost Fenn doing 0 damage in return, but Asajj and Manaroo won anyway. I don't even think I got to half on either ship.

Ironically, I still haven't run jousting numbers on the list yet. It's complicated because there are several different permutations of action economies that you have to look at. This is also the list's greatest strength: Fenn and Asajj can both be either a hammer or an anvil just based on their actions, let alone how you position them.

Consider the ideal action economy:

1. Manaroo: focus
2. Asajj: [has focus from Mindlink]: either target lock or evade
3. Fenn: [has focus from Mindlink]: either target lock or boost/barrel roll, occasionally double up on focus.
4. Manaroo: passes a focus to either Asajj or Fenn (whoever is getting attacked), then gets one back via Mindlink.
5. Asajj: gain a free evade via stress mechanic and Latts.

One of the key goals of the Parattanni player is to have as many rounds as possible follow this ideal action economy. So how should you fly each ship?

Manaroo

Wants to be in the fight, but does not want to get killed too easily. Having the option to use her to block can be game changing. Keep Manaroo near the edge of the fight, or ram her in close to force a bump and then zoom past the following round. Do not let Manaroo get boxed in for multiple rounds.

Asajj

Wants to put the Mobile Arc on one side, and then keep doing circles around the enemy so she doesn't have to burn an action to move the arc. If she's getting attacked, then she has two focus tokens, an evade token, ability + Latts to get a 2nd evade. Ideally you want Asajj to be the one getting attacked, because she can be the tankiest ship in the list, in absolute terms. So how do you fly Asajj? Simple: set up the rocks so you can "swirl" around your enemy. This means having a collection of rocks around the map, preferably with more than just range 1 between them, so you have multiple options for how to fit Asajj's large (and fast!) base between them. Once you start going through the rocks, arced ships will find it hard to keep reliable arc on you, since you have 180 degrees of firing arc and they don't. If you're flying correctly, then opposing arced ships will frequently have to take a shallower angle to follow you (bank instead of turn) because you're doing circles around a rock that's now right in their way. Fundamentally it's similar to how Fat Han flew when he dominated tournaments several years ago, but you generally move much faster, since your turns are 2 and 3, not 1 and 2.

If the opponent goes after Fenn, then fly Asajj aggressively, preferably into range 1, and always take target lock. Four dice with Target Lock and Focus has the same number of hits as Fenn at range 1 with just focus (3.75). Even at range 2, three dice with Target Lock and Focus will reliably whittle down most ships, or at least strip tokens for a follow on attack by Manaroo. If you're flying around a rock (see above) and the enemy's target priority shifts to Fenn, you don't want to get caught with Asajj being out of the fight for too long, so you have to be thinking at least a turn ahead for where the momentum of your ships will put them.

Asajj is also great at stress control:

• She can completely shut down lower Pilot Skill non-turreted ships via stress control if she gets behind them
• Higher pilot skill ships with PtL end up with a giant no-fly zone where they can't use their EPT.

Fenn

At range one with target lock and focus he can obviously deal the most damage of any ship in the list, but he can also fly defensively and become harder to kill than an offensive Asajj. Flying Fenn well involves knowing when to:

• fly him defensively
• try and jump into range 1
• use him as bait
• kamikaze him into the enemy formation and expect him to die, trading him for an even more important piece of your opponent's squad

Fenn's job is obviously much easier when he is moving last. Against lower pilot skill ships, then he is the queen piece. He wants to be flanking, somewhat separated from Asajj and Manaroo. This forces your opponent to either clearly go after Fenn, or to go after Asajj and Manaroo. They usually choose Fenn. Once the opponent commits, you can optimize Fenn's positioning and the squad's action economy to keep him defensive, while Asajj can go full offensive mode with target lock + focus every round. Typically this means holding Fenn back with hard 1s and barrel rolling until you're in range, and once the opposing squad is on their terminal approach you ideally jump into range 1.

Against higher pilot skill ships, I like to keep Fenn slightly behind or to the side of Asajj, so they have to fly through Asajj first to get to Fenn. Pilot Skill 9+ ships usually do not like to see an Asajj stress gauntlet coming after them. Asajj can be useful here to both block and stress the opposing PS9+. Regardless of the particular approach, the trick is for your Fenn to NOT get blocked up by your own Asajj, so this can take some careful maneuvering if they're flying close together. Fenn will inevitably have to face off vs the PS9+, so your goal is for Fenn to either force a range 1 engagement or a bump. Either is OK as it plays into your strengths.

Fenn's strongest counter is RAC + VI + Gunner + Hot Shot Copilot + Vader. In this case you fly Fenn defensively until you can kamikaze him into range 1, preferably in arc and with a target lock. Ideally Asajj and Manaroo take some pot shots at RAC first, so by the time RAC kills Fenn (preferably by having to use Vader), he's well below half health. Asajj and Manaroo will then easily deal with whatever the second ship is.

Fenn's second worst counter is triple bomber K-wings. I flew against the same player 3 times in 4 days (Thursday night tournament night, regionals round 5 Saturday, Regionals Top 4 Sunday), and Fenn did a combined total of 2 damage across all 3 games. (I won the first two games and narrowly lost Top 4). This matchup has some idiosyncrasies which I talk about on Nova Squadron Episode 63, tune in when it drops for a longer explanation.

Attacking Parattanni

Lets now look at it from the opposing player's perspective: how do you attack the list?

Answer: rock placement! Any matchup between Parattanni and anything else can be won or lost in the deployment phase.

If the rock placement allows Asajj to cut through rocks and consistently keep arc on you without even needing to spend actions to rotate her arc, then you've already got a problem. If the rock placement and your approach angles allow Fenn to dance through the rocks, or easily run away if chased, then you have a problem. And if Manaroo can aggressively fly into your formation early, barrel roll to block you up, and then fly away with impunity through the rocks, then you have a problem.

If all the rocks are evenly spread out (i.e. not all cornered or clustered together), the Parattanni player will generally be able to use Asajj to punish any flight path that you choose. So your goal is to either spread them all out and make a giant open space that you engage in, or make a very dense field that Asajj and Manaroo can't reliably squeeze through.

Now what about target priority?

Attacking Manaroo First

This is, in my opinion, the best option for attacking the list. Without Manaroo, you lose 3 focus tokens per round for the remaining two ships. That's a big deal. You also lose Manaroo's marginal firepower and blocking potential. Unfortunately a good Parattanni player is going to position Manaroo to make this a very unappealing option. You also can't go after Manaroo reliably with anything involving Target Locks, since those will just get passed along to either Fenn or Asajj.

Attacking Asajj First

Unless you have a strong end game against Manaroo and Fenn, attacking Asajj first is probably a bad idea. She'll take a couple shields, take 0 or 1 damage from your range 1 attack with 4 hits, and then fly away into a spot where you just can't easily chase her down. Then Asajj gets to play Focus Factory for a few rounds while Manaroo target locks, and Fenn ends up with a Target Lock, two focus tokens, AND a positional action every round to nuke you at range 1.

Attacking Fenn First

This can work if you have a strong range 2 trap for Fenn (or bombs), but you need to take very little damage in the process because Asajj and Manaroo are really strong closers. If you manage to kill Fenn first, then all things being equal, you need to kill Manaroo next, because otherwise Asajj will be way too deadly and survivable with an extra two focus tokens every round.

In summary, a good Parattanni player will set themselves up to make their opponent's life miserable by giving them a variety of bad choices. The Parattanni list can then very quickly adapt itself to whichever tactic is being used against it.