Given the current bomb meta I like the idea of 16 HP with a 3 dice primary turret floating around on my side. Lots of TLTs around too so thats why Im going for the 40 pt stripped Decimator instead of 60ish pt Chiraneau who can go down pretty much as fast. So, still 60 points to play with which can get me a couple of aces (if including Omega Leader). This is what I came up with:

Patrol Leader 40 pts

Omega Leader/Juke/CommRelay 26 pts

Quickdraw/VI/Title/FCS/LightWFrame 34 pts (Including VI instead of Prime Thrusters to move after opposite Nyms).

A single 3 die attack with only one mod just isn't good enough in the current climate. You'll die well before you'll kill things.

I think it depends on how you fly it. It's a big target that does take heat off your 2 aces, but no evade dice means it can die fast. It you can take a ship or ships off the board before it goes (especially if you are 1 on 1 with either of your aces) you probably won this game.

17 hours ago, Biggsy_boy said:

I think it depends on how you fly it. It's a big target that does take heat off your 2 aces, but no evade dice means it can die fast. It you can take a ship or ships off the board before it goes (especially if you are 1 on 1 with either of your aces) you probably won this game.

Agreed.

I'm not sure where to find the points, but this is why I'm a big fan of a patrol leader with Darth Vader - going from 40 to 43 points isn't a huge increase, but the threat level of the ship goes up massively - if it draws fire, all well and good, if it doesn't then a late-in-the-turn automatic critical damage can really mess people up.

7 hours ago, Magnus Grendel said:

Agreed.

I'm not sure where to find the points, but this is why I'm a big fan of a patrol leader with Darth Vader - going from 40 to 43 points isn't a huge increase, but the threat level of the ship goes up massively - if it draws fire, all well and good, if it doesn't then a late-in-the-turn automatic critical damage can really mess people up.

I do like Vader on it. We did an all generic pilot tournament locally and I had a build set with the patrol leader with Vader and Gunner. So, your opponent either takes the initial damage from the first attack, or he dodges it, I vader, than attack again. It can push a lot of damage thru quickly.

I want to chime in for Captain Oicunn. For two points more, you get access to a 0-point EPT, and a pretty strong pilot ability. Free damage on bumps can add up.

Looking at building Quickdraw + Oicunn + 3rd ship, you'd need to free up 2 to 5 points (I do like the Vader crew). VI could be knocked down to Adaptability, but you probably wouldn't have an initiative bid. It would probably be bad to skip FCS and just run Collision Detector at 0 points. I kind of like the idea of A Score to Settle on Omega Leader; I've seen it but haven't played with it myself. They both help push through one more damage--Juke takes away evades, this sometimes adds crits*--and you won't have to face the drawback because of your target lock. That'd free up the points for Oicunn without crew. Getting Vader crew would require a cheaper 3rd ship (and maybe Adaptability). Options include Epsilon Ace + Comm Relay (I love this ship far more than I should), Zeta Leader with Wired or Crack Shot, Countdown with LWF, and Pure Sabacc without LWF.

Keeping Omega Leader and swapping Quickdraw for The Inquisitor or Darth Vader without Engine Upgrade (VI, ATC, maybe Thread Tracers? Better defensive tokens for Vader and OL on the first round this way) would allow a no-crew Oicunn, or a Patrol Leader with a 3-pt crew. Inquisitor (PTL, V1, AT) + Pure Sabacc (Trick Shot/LWF) + Oicunn (Vader) could be OK, but you won't beat Nym's PS.

* Looking at Juke and A Score to Settle: When attacking on 2 dice, without spending an offensive focus token (using the focus for defense, doing a barrel roll, re-upping the evade), ASTS is 0.085 hits better against 1 agility, Juke is 0.1 hits better against 2 agility, and Juke is 0.18 hits better against 3 agility. On three attack dice, ASTS is 0.2 better against 1 agility, the same against 2 agility, and Juke is 0.12 better against 3 agility. Granted, A Score To Settle only works against one ship, but that's pretty close for something two points cheaper.

9 hours ago, theBitterFig said:

* Looking at Juke and A Score to Settle: When attacking on 2 dice, without spending an offensive focus token (using the focus for defense, doing a barrel roll, re-upping the evade), ASTS is 0.085 hits better against 1 agility, Juke is 0.1 hits better against 2 agility, and Juke is 0.18 hits better against 3 agility. On three attack dice, ASTS is 0.2 better against 1 agility, the same against 2 agility, and Juke is 0.12 better against 3 agility. Granted, A Score To Settle only works against one ship, but that's pretty close for something two points cheaper.

Do not - I cannot emphasise this enough - do not put A Score To Settle on a Decimator. It gives you and your A Debt To Pay target a free focus-to-critical every time you shoot.

Whatever you attach the condition to, it will be much less vulnerable to repeated critical hits than a VT-49 decimator, with its 0 agility and 12 hull!

There is a reason the elite upgrade is free, and it's not because the ability isn't powerful (it is - after all it's basically Admiral Chiraneau's ability that you normally pay a portion of his 6 point cost increase for) it's because the bonus you're handing your opponent is just as powerful.

If you really want a 0-point elite upgrade on a decimator, I'd advocate Trick Shot; with a turret you can easily dive behind debris to 'hide' after ramming someone whilst you turn around, and a green die on a ship that tough actually makes a fair bit of difference over a game (that's the point of Kenkirk, after all)

Oh, no of course not A Score to Settle on Oicunn. Those free crits would be killer.

A Score To Settle on Omega Leader, though. It probably isn't as good as Juke, but it's also two points cheaper.