On 1/7/2018 at 10:53 PM, Jeff Wilder said:

There are a few things to keep in mind with ModernBrobots. (IMO, they have a better chance now than they've had in two years.)

• Contraband Cybernetics is a fantastic card. It's not quite as strong as Glitterstim, but it's amazingly flexible, and of course it only costs 1 point.
• Being able to AdvSensors pre-Boost to intentionally bump a Harpoon Missile carrier (and claim an evade) is big in the current meta. I used to beat my buddy's Bossk alpha list by doing that, and now everybody can hit (almost) as hard.
• Similarly, the big Boost can get pressure on fast, limiting Rey- and Gonk-banking.
• It's not as brutal, given the low AGI meta, to run Mangler Cannon on one or both ships.
• Given the meta, Ion Cannons and Tractor Beams are also useful.
• Brobots are actually not afraid of Miranda.

I, personally, am a huge fan of AdvS Brobots. I actually don't like flying them with PTL, because, as arced ships, you really have to S-Loop and K-turn a lot. PTL ends up being meaningful less often than one would think. GlitterCrack Brobots are just too risky for me ... they're predictable, they're easy to arc-dodge, and if they get the downside of variance and don't alpha a meaningful ship off the board, they are in trouble.

Those are very good thoughts. The more I think about it, the more I think AdvSens is the way to go over the raw damage output of FCS. It helps a lot against bumping (pre-boost), reduces predictability, gives tokens even when turning etc. Better defence, less predicable and a possibly big token stack should be better than TL for rerolls in the long game.

Have you tried the combo with Adv Sensors/Attani/Contraband cybernetics you are mentioning, or is it theorycrafted and yet to be proven?

On 1/7/2018 at 10:53 PM, Jeff Wilder said:

I just built this, which I kinda like, although my brain struggles to process Attanni Mindlink and AdvS in the same list:

http://geordanr.github.io/xwing/?f=Scum and Villainy&d=v4!s!109:176,43,23,-1,-1,249:20:15:;110:176,43,23,-1,-1,249:20:15:&sn=_CyberBroMindBots&obs=

IG-88B — Aggressor	36
Attanni Mindlink	1
Advanced Sensors	3
Heavy Laser Cannon	7
Contraband Cybernetics	1
Autothrusters	2
IG-2000	0
Ship Total: 50
IG-88C — Aggressor	36
Attanni Mindlink	1
Advanced Sensors	3
Heavy Laser Cannon	7
Contraband Cybernetics	1
Autothrusters	2
IG-2000	0
Ship Total: 50

Note that instead of HLC, you could outfit one or both ships with Mangler+Ion for options.

On 1/7/2018 at 11:50 PM, Rakaydos said:

I played around a bit with that exact build awhile back. Dont discount the Attani/Cybernetics combination. You dont care about passing a stress to the other brobot because you only use cybernetics when you need to do a red move when already stressed, or to get a focus after passing a debris. A stress was already going to happen (if the other bot didnt have it already) and the cybernetics let you pass a focus token where you would otherwise be denied an action.

But wouldn't using Contraband cybernetics when you already have stress from the linked bot result in you having 3 stress? One from mindlink, one from activating CC and then a third from actually turning around. 3 Stress seems very hard to recover from! Sure it would be two if you just used it to get off an action, but still you are then a no boost/evade turtle for two rounds..

2 minutes ago, westiebestie said:

But wouldn't using Contraband cybernetics when you already have stress from the linked bot result in you having 3 stress? One from mindlink, one from activating CC and then a third from actually turning around. 3 Stress seems very hard to recover from! Sure it would be two if you just used it to get off an action, but still you are then a no boost/evade turtle for two rounds..

That's correct. You are getting a nice bonus now that you'll have to pay off later. Fortunately the Attani focus token helps keep the stressed brobot functional while it's clearing that stress.

4 hours ago, Rakaydos said:

That's correct. You are getting a nice bonus now that you'll have to pay off later. Fortunately the Attani focus token helps keep the stressed brobot functional while it's clearing that stress.

Ok. Doesn't seem worth it to me, as a brobot that is predictable and can't boost/evade for that many turns won't be very good even with a focus token. But, I will have to reserve judgement since I haven't tried it.

Adrenaline rush/glitter stim seems like a nicer way to both be able to turn around/get focus when you are stressed. You will end up with 1/2 stress instead of 3/2 from the attani mindlink/contraband cybernetics combo. But, no free focus via Attani the other turns. So apples and pears of course.

So, new week, new ideas!

1 First off, I'm flying Adv Sensorbots currently and they end up at 99p. So far I've added a Tractor cannon to the HLC equipped C, but not seen a good opportunity to use it (i.e. not failed to damage with the Primary at R1). Here's the list for reference.

On 4/8/2017 at 3:11 PM, westiebestie said:

3 Assymetrical Sensorbots (B+C/D) with PtL, Mangler/HLC, Advanced Sensors, AT, IG-2000 title (and sometimes a Tractor Cannon on one) at PS6

99/100p

Now, ideas on what to spend the last point on. Vote!

a) Keep the Tractor cannon

b) Inertial dampeners. To either stay at R2-3 for the HLC/AT to work, or avoid bumping a blocker. Works pretty good together with Adv Sensors I'd imagine as you can still token up before getting stressed.

c) BMST. Synergies ok with PtL and could add out of arc damage causing potential. But also frees them from stress.

d) Burnout SLAM. 3 green followed by S-loop?

e) Nothing, leave a 1p bid and give away less points if only C gets killed.

I'm leaning toward b) ID as I always liked them for my Starvipers and think they could pair well with HLC/Adv Sens, or d) bSLAM. Repositioning aids both of them no less.

2 I had a dream, a great dream, about creating Primary weapon Brobots with rerolls from Linked battery, and still trigger B's ability since it's a cannon. They could afford both Predator/PtL, Advanced sensors and Glitterstim and they would always reroll 2-3 dice, have focus/evade even when turning and #allthetokens for a single round. They could even afford a decent bomb. Then I realized it was Small ship only..

5 hours ago, westiebestie said:

2 I had a dream, a great dream, about creating Primary weapon Brobots with rerolls from Linked battery, and still trigger B's ability since it's a cannon. They could afford both Predator/PtL, Advanced sensors and Glitterstim and they would always reroll 2-3 dice, have focus/evade even when turning and #allthetokens for a single round. They could even afford a decent bomb. Then I realized it was Small ship only..

I shared the exact same emotional response upon my first read of Intensity.

You'd be better off making one ship 51 and one 49. You get the half-MoV round down for both. (I actually won a SC because of this a couple of years ago.)

Oh, and why overlook Burnout Slam for 1 point? A 3-speed maneuver followed by a S-Loop can result in some great positioning.

1 hour ago, Jeff Wilder said:

You'd be better off making one ship 51 and one 49. You get the half-MoV round down for both. (I actually won a SC because of this a couple of years ago.)

Oh, and why overlook Burnout Slam for 1 point? A 3-speed maneuver followed by a S-Loop can result in some great positioning.

Totally forgot to include it in my list, it stands between ID and bSLAM for the very reason you mention. Will edit, thank you.

4 hours ago, E Chu Ta said:

I shared the exact same emotional response upon my first read of Intensity.

Juke is another sexy little card I'd like to Brobot.

7 minutes ago, westiebestie said:

Juke is another sexy little card I'd like to Brobot.

I am loathe to propose rule changes, but just as a thought experiment, if one were to add to the IG-2000 title "May equip 'Small Ship Only upgrades'", my hypothesis is that the Brobots would be brought back online as a viable force without being overwhelming or abusive. More than willing to hear evidence to the contrary.

45 minutes ago, E Chu Ta said:

I am loathe to propose rule changes, but just as a thought experiment, if one were to add to the IG-2000 title "May equip 'Small Ship Only upgrades'", my hypothesis is that the Brobots would be brought back online as a viable force without being overwhelming or abusive. More than willing to hear evidence to the contrary.

Same for Firespray.

42 minutes ago, E Chu Ta said:

I am loathe to propose rule changes, but just as a thought experiment, if one were to add to the IG-2000 title "May equip 'Small Ship Only upgrades'", my hypothesis is that the Brobots would be brought back online as a viable force without being overwhelming or abusive. More than willing to hear evidence to the contrary.

I would get behind that. Such an upgrade would allow:

- Juke: which combines very well with IG-88C shenanigans.

- Intensity: which would make the IG more defensive without relying on PTL

- Linked battery: free up the EPT slot, which is good for the above mentionned point

- cloaking device: ok, that one may be problematic

- vectored thrusters : meh, not a contender against auto thrusters

And... that's it! So aside from the possiblity of a large ship decloak, nothing in this list is too much earth shattering in my book.

17 minutes ago, dotswarlock said:

- cloaking device: ok, that one may be problematic

Thats the fly in our ointment...

Even Cloaking Device isn't terrible. It's good defense, but zero offense, until it fails. How would people abuse it?

Trigger it on a crippled Bot and try to run out the clock? I'm personally not so sure that's unfair, given that BroBots get unfairly stomped by the half-MoV rule.

Use it to arc-dodge? Tough to pull of at PS 6.

Use it to manage range? Seems okay, especially given the difficulties doing so will cause HLC.

May equip non-unique small ship only upgrades if cloaking device was an issue. But I don't think it would be. Especially since it breaks down.

I agree it would not make them broken at all, just open up more builds.