22 minutes ago, svelok said:

get a lock from something, use it to just fire energy shells with rerolls and borrow calcs from friends to double mod, no crit conversion is whatever

Ooo, that one I hadn't considered. These two with passive sensors will probably make their way into my first Wave 4 list, as I'm itching to try fitting Hyenas into my existing ESC swarm aesthetic (they keep it all i1, too!)

and/or just use kraken 😛

other than the fun fact that it works on itself, the prototype's big draw is that you only need passive sensors on one dude (or use 32-c) and now ALL the prototypes can work their magic on that target

36 minutes ago, ficklegreendice said:

and/or just use kraken 😛

other than the fun fact that it works on itself, the prototype's big draw is that you only need passive sensors on one dude (or use 32-c) and now ALL the prototypes can work their magic on that target

All meaning both. You can only have two prototypes in one squad - but it might be worth having two!

5 hours ago, ficklegreendice said:

and/or just use kraken 😛

other than the fun fact that it works on itself, the prototype's big draw is that you only need passive sensors on one dude (or use 32-c) and now ALL the prototypes can work their magic on that target

Well... what he said vvv

5 hours ago, DarkHorse said:

All meaning both. You can only have two prototypes in one squad - but it might be worth having two!

...and at that point I’m thinking passive sensors on both might be worth it 😜

The point wouldn’t be to get past the calf requirement so much as to have rerolls on a couple of your ESC attacks.

You could also have one unit take a lock to enable energy shell shots from k-turning Baktoids. Networked Calc shines there too.

Edit: or fire ESCs off the roll linked to red lock, hm. Neat.

What's this background art from?

Is there another secret card in the Hyena or N1 that we haven't seen yet? 👀

4 minutes ago, svelok said:

What's this background art from?

Is there another secret card in the Hyena or N1 that we haven't seen yet? 👀

Looks like just that image without the Republic YWings.

7 minutes ago, RStan said:

Looks like just that image without the Republic YWings.

The card is just overlaid on the image (which is the banner image for Wave V, though less cropped here). The front Y-Wing's left laser cannon is still visible.

Edit: The image itself is the destruction of the Malevolence.

I really enjoyed that little story arc.

Let us kneel at our altar, now that it's full spoiled (in english)

1 hour ago, svelok said:

Let us kneel at our altar, now that it's full spoiled (in english)

Let us pray for favorable points so that our Hyenas may reign supreme.

1 hour ago, RStan said:

Let us pray for favorable points so that our Hyenas may reign supreme.

eh, Hyenas will of course like this baby but they're also the least affected by it being overpriced

because 32-c (with potential additional prototypes)

Took my vulture swarm to the UK nationals. Went 5-1, finishing 19th in swiss, 2nd best Separatist player

couldnt make day 2 so had to drop from the cut

On 5/12/2019 at 1:42 PM, svelok said:

I can 😁

Down down down!

Besides Nurglez, I don't really see anyone taking Vulture Swarms. I don't see anyone taking a Vulture Swarm without Butter Bot (aka DFS-081) and he's only taken ONCE? Add to that the number of times you see the Bellbullab and Sith ship and I don't see anyone really taking an all Vulture Swarm. I don't really think what is out there so far is a good representation of what the CIS can really do.

I think the Hyena Bomber will add in some further punch to the CIS Vulture Swarm that the other ships don't do. I can see dropping some Vultures to get a Bomber with a Proton Torp and Grapplers. It can just sit on a rock and lob Torps out there while the Swarm does what it does with ECS. What I find is that Vulture Swarms do really well at first, but then start to suffer casualties. If they can hurt the other side enough early on, then win. If it drags on too long than they lose out. The Hyenas will help punch that damage through early on and tip it in their favor.

30 minutes ago, heychadwick said:

Besides Nurglez, I don't really see anyone taking Vulture Swarms. I don't see anyone taking a Vulture Swarm without Butter Bot (aka DFS-081) and he's only taken ONCE? Add to that the number of times you see the Bellbullab and Sith ship and I don't see anyone really taking an all Vulture Swarm. I don't really think what is out there so far is a good representation of what the CIS can really do.

Butter bot is DFS-311. Most pure Vulture swarms comprise 4x I1 and 4xI3 Vultures, all with ESCs, at exactly 200pts.

33 minutes ago, heychadwick said:

I think the Hyena Bomber will add in some further punch to the CIS Vulture Swarm that the other ships don't do. I can see dropping some Vultures to get a Bomber with a Proton Torp and Grapplers. It can just sit on a rock and lob Torps out there while the Swarm does what it does with ECS. What I find is that Vulture Swarms do really well at first, but then start to suffer casualties. If they can hurt the other side enough early on, then win. If it drags on too long than they lose out. The Hyenas will help punch that damage through early on and tip it in their favor.

I agree that Hyenas may help, but for different reasons - they might be better in the "not-dying-to-one-shot" department but with lower output (just because there'll be less red dice in the list). But as you say, right now with Vultures you have to get the best opening salvo AND good variance on it to not be screwed.

This won't be swarm relevant, but the Hyena is going to synergize more with Kraken because Kraken has a hard limit of ships

Hyenas being more expensive and having access to sensors is going to give a lesser amount of better modified ordnance shots with additional effects (such as boron/plasma)

18 minutes ago, ficklegreendice said:

This won't be swarm relevant, but the Hyena is going to synergize more with Kraken because Kraken has a hard limit of ships

Hyenas being more expensive and having access to sensors is going to give a lesser amount of better modified ordnance shots with additional effects (such as boron/plasma)

It's mainly going to depend on the mix of Hyenas and Vultures. If 5+ Vultures and 1-2 Hyenas, potentially TA175. If 4- Vultures and 3-4 Hyenas, probably Kraken.

First and third ranked Separatist players were flying similar Sear with kraken and 6 esc vulture lists.

Quite proud to do so well with the "proper" vulture swarm ha, only lost to Jack Mooney day one (winner of the largest ever x wing tournament), though match ups obviously help in events (and i didnt have to play against any quad phantom lists thank god).

2 hours ago, Pink_Viking said:

Butter bot is DFS-311. Most pure Vulture swarms comprise 4x I1 and 4xI3 Vultures, all with ESCs, at exactly 200pts.

Most purse swarm lists you see are like that? No wonder they get blasted! 😄

I posted in a number of threads, including this one, on Vultures and how to use them. There were a number of people that ended up with very similar lists to what I like to fly:

• 1 Trade Fed bumper
• Butterbot (DFS-311)
• 6 Separatists with ESC's.

I3 has won me games.

I find Butterbot really useful in dishing out the butter at the right moment. The Trade Fed guy is great to stick himself out there to block. I love blocking. People need to block more. Blocking wins games.

I also recommend to stop flying in a formation. It makes you predictable and easier to flank. Fly near each other, but don't just fly in a block.

Quote

I agree that Hyenas may help, but for different reasons - they might be better in the "not-dying-to-one-shot" department but with lower output (just because there'll be less red dice in the list). But as you say, right now with Vultures you have to get the best opening salvo AND good variance on it to not be screwed.

I think Hyenas will need to do more than just live longer. If you just fly them with the rest of your ships, they will just get focused down too easily. They will be a waste of points. It's like Howlrunner without Iden (a waste).

Have you tried to use Grapplers at all? I've had really good success with one or two guys with them. Positioning rocks is quite important, but if you get a large one near the middle on your side, you can stick a Vulture or two on there. The rest of your ships will be on either the right or left of them and you hang back and fire ESC all day long. There was even a thread about it on these forums. Grapplers are no good on more than 2 and even 2 is questionable.

So, I think one Hyena with some Ordnance can really do some damage. Most of the enemy list focuses on the majority of your ships while the Hyena can sit back and fire away. If I can fit in Proton Torps, I see that. If not, then maybe Plasma or Homing Missiles (can they fire them without a Focus?). I think one guy as support on a rock will do enough damage early on to really make a difference.

44 minutes ago, RStan said:

It's mainly going to depend on the mix of Hyenas and Vultures. If 5+ Vultures and 1-2 Hyenas, potentially TA175. If 4- Vultures and 3-4 Hyenas, probably Kraken.

22 minutes ago, nurglez said:

First and third ranked Separatist players were flying similar Sear with kraken and 6 esc vulture lists.

Kraken is good, but not as fantastic as I most people seem to think. I do not believe that you are required to have Kraken to have a good list. I have done better in lists without Kraken at all and just more Vultures. The problem with Kraken is that he doesn't do much after the first 3 turns of fighting as all the Calc tokens are spent.

I also think TA-175 will be best in a Vulture Swarm. Better than Kraken.

Limited re$ources are what is keeping me from flying a proper swarm. I'm biding my time flying the Original swarm (TIE/ln) until the Hyena is released.

I have 5 Vultures (2 SoS + 1 stand alone Vulture expansion). I'll likely get one more Vulture for the Discord missile, but I'm holding out for at least two Hyenas when they come out.

Others likely might be in a similar spot which may explain the lack of 8 Vultures making top cuts or any showing at all. I flew against a Vulture swarm at my area's Campaign Against Cancer, but the player kept barrel rolling in the way of his other ships causing bumps, missed shots and no calculates. It may have been his first time out flying a swarm at an actual event, but he didn't use them to their best of their potential. Also, flying two Infiltrators takes less brain power (I'm not saying it's easier, but you have fewer variables to think about) and they're performing well.

I want two things for the Separatists right now: a points drop on grappling struts (1 point struts sounds good to me!) and the Hyenas to finally arrive!

I really enjoy flying the 8, it really feels different to flying other swarms. The weird dial and calculates over focus are both a blessing and a curse.

I used to really enjoy swarms back in first edition (a swarm got me my first ever tournament win, shortly before wave 5 came out).

Still need to try our Sear with Kraken, being able to k turn or talon roll and still fire esc's sounds glorious.

What are you guys flying while waiting for Hyenas, in prep for their release?

Same for the Nantex - we’ve got more time, but flying a pile of Vultures has me seriously lacking in the ace-type playstyle. I picked up a couple Jedi to try to keep on the repositioning without stress game.

I just picked some CIS last week, three games so far. Only one B-22 and four Vultures, waiting for Hyenas. In the meantime, not wanting to get too deep down the Vulture-hole, I've been flying them pretty heavy, with Afterburners. Which has a surprising amount of utility, even if it makes the unconscionably hefty. But does at least give me a touch of that double-repositioning practice, after a fashion. Have gone 2-1 so far, against Rey/Nien, Fenn/Guri/Sunny, and just now triple Clone ARCs. All three games surprisingly (to me) close. And it really makes me itch for those Hyenas.

18 hours ago, heychadwick said:

If not, then maybe Plasma or Homing Missiles (can they fire them without a Focus?).  I think one guy as support on a rock will do enough damage early on to really make a difference.

Those require Lock, not Focus. Only Proton/Barrage Rockets require Focus.

But there is 1 Hyena pilot - Baktoid Prototype - that can ignore such prerequisite... as long as another friendly ship with Network Calculations has a lock on the enemy.

7 hours ago, dsul413 said:

What are you guys flying while waiting for Hyenas, in prep for their release?

Beef.