Scum new points. Thoughts?

By Greedo_Sharpshooter, in X-Wing

Great thread, I wish I was all scummy all the time, but I am full in on FO and I must make that dog hunt. That said, I’m stepping into a bit of sludge by adding a few bounty hunters to my pristine landing bays (should have ‘em by week’s end), and I’ll try:

Trelix Three

(65) Krassis Trelix [Firespray-class Patrol Craft]
(6) Ion Cannon
(1) Marksmanship
Points: 72

(68) Fenn Rau [Fang Fighter]
(2) Predator
Points: 70

(56) Old Teroch [Fang Fighter]
(2) Predator
Points: 58

Total points: 200

...looks like total tea laced fun 😉

Edited by clanofwolves
6 hours ago, ClassicalMoser said:

Compare the dials. I stand by what I said 100%

Don't forget the pilot ability on 4-L0M when you do that calculation since that is the one you're saying the JM5K is more maneuverable than...

Swz08 a1 4lom Maneuver g1a starfighter

Maneuver jumpmaster

3 hours ago, Hiemfire said:

Don't forget the pilot ability on 4-L0M when you do that calculation since that is the one you're saying the JM5K is more maneuverable than...

Swz08 a1 4lom Maneuver g1a starfighter

Maneuver jumpmaster

I like the G-1A dial better, even without 4-Lom ability.

1 hour ago, Boreas Mun said:

I like the G-1A dial better, even without 4-Lom ability.

Yeah, at least it can shed stress, and white hard turn, in both directions. Also it has a sensor slot, which opens up for advanced sensors, and always being able to perform an action, and at that point the dial difference becomes even greater in favor of the G1A, as it has a stop, in addition to two kturns, vs 1 kturn, 1 sloop.

I was playing Aces High with Dengar + Expert Handling + Proton Torpedoes + Han Solo. I made a mistake and started the wrong way, edge on the left. I started with 2 bank to the left + stress from Han, then 1 blue straight to shed the stress, but needed to rotate(no white rotate action) so again stress. Then I spend many turns to get back to fight, because I couldn't hard turn right, or even blue bank right. It was easy after that, I fired 2 double modded Torpedoes and won a game. But flying this ship was awful and I can see that opponent can abuse it.

On 1/18/2020 at 4:07 AM, heychadwick said:

I realize that I have never flown my YV-666. What is a good build for that ship? I'm sure crew are important, but not used to Scum crew.

A stupid fun build, and now better with Bossk coming out (before I had a generic). The key for him is his pursuit craft ability.

Syndicate goes Bounty Hunting (199)

[Fluffwise, though Serissu would not work with TC, but maybe the bounty is too tasty to withstand :) ]

Moralo Eval — YV-666 Light Freighter 66
Boba Fett 4
BT-1 2
Hound’s Tooth 1
Ship Total: 73
Half Points: 37 Threshold: 6
Bossk — Z-95-AF4 Headhunter 29
Marksmanship 1
Cluster Missiles 5
Ship Total: 35
Half Points: 18 Threshold: 2
Serissu — M3-A Interceptor 41
Ship Total: 41
Half Points: 21 Threshold: 2
Talonbane Cobra — Kihraxz Fighter 50
Ship Total: 50
Half Points: 25 Threshold: 3

Be mindful where to place the obstacles. Bossk starts docked to Moralo, who starts in reserve due to Boba. First at I5 your enemy sees any pkacement from you.

Talonbane and Serissu threaten aggressively from the front. Serissu lets TC live longer.

Moralo smashes from his obstacle start directly into the enemy's flank. Does some damage, inlficts chaos, grabs a lock (important!), bails early by fleeing over the edge.

Then comes in behind the enemy, deploys directly Bossk who gets the lock, focusses. Careful with that step, practice these maneuvers beforehand. Bossk clusters two enemy targets, having full mods on one shot. After the clusters, if Bossk still lives, use primary to make use of Bossks extra damage.

BT1 is in especially against the stupid named B-wings. And to make use of the chaos of Moralo coming in at unexpected angle making the enemy doing red moves. Marksmanship on Bossk is probably worth it.

Some people swear on IG88D to have 2 calculates, against many targets maybe reinforce is better, than BT1 might be more useful.

38 minutes ago, Managarmr said:

Moralo Eval — YV-666 Light Freighter 66
Boba Fett 4
BT-1 2
Hound’s Tooth 1
Ship Total: 73
Half Points: 37 Threshold: 6
Bossk — Z-95-AF4 Headhunter 29
Marksmanship 1
Cluster Missiles 5
Ship Total: 35
Half Points: 18 Threshold: 2
Serissu — M3-A Interceptor 41
Ship Total: 41
Half Points: 21 Threshold: 2
Talonbane Cobra — Kihraxz Fighter 50
Ship Total: 50
Half Points: 25 Threshold: 3

Drop the cluster missiles(doesn't work with Bossk's ability anyway), give Serissu autoblasters and TC predator. Maybe drop BT-1 to give Serissu marksmanship.

I really feel like all the Jump dial hate is unwarranted. I can't say I'm a pro but every time I use it it seems incredibly flexible to me. Realistically you're not going to be stressed that often unless you rotate your turret way more than is good for you (don't rotate your turret it's almost always a bad idea). The only times you end up stressed is when you turn around (like all ships do) and when you do a hard right (which you don't need nearly as much as you'd think).

And when you do, you have not four but six maneuvers to clear it with! The three-bank-left is a ton of distance covered, and if you have your arc pointing backward like you should it actually covers as much area as a Sloop would, but you get to keep running.

Sure, 4-LOM is good at shedding stress and punishing your opponent, but if you compare 4-LOM to Nom Lumb, there's a difference of 11 points! You can get Dengar Gunner, Autoblasters, and Contraband Cybernetics for the same price, and I feel like that would take you a lot farther than a naked 4-LOM.

Pulling CC on the right move to gain a little bit of time can be totally game-changing, and not using it for a long time is almost better as it keeps your opponent guessing; you can always do a red and have a focus, as far as they're concerned.

Plus you have double the arc coverage (nearly infinite coverage with Nom Lumb, plus always-on token stripping/autodamage with Dengar Gunner).

That one blue bank to the right seems okay, but I'd trade it for the two extra banks to the left and a left sloop every time.

Maybe it's just personal preference. I really think the devs nailed the 2.0 Jump's dial; it was always supposed to be challenging, and now it finally is.

I've flown the jumpmaster a number of times now before the points update, usually Dengar but also Tel once or twice, and his problems turning right were very frequently damning. This becomes an especially large issue when you have an uncooperative enemy. Now granted, if you explain nicely to your opponent that right turns are hard for you and you'd appreciate them staying to the left, and they're like "yea sure buddy", then I agree that the Jumpmaster dial is fine. But all the war books I've read discourage counting on a cooperative opponent.

The Jumpmaster requires a lot of planning because once you're stressed, your clearing options are very limited, and stress can come from more sources than your own dial. You cannot go right to clear stress, and you can't turn right at all. This matters a **** of a lot when you have obstacles, blocking ships, and board edges to consider. Followups that would be trivial for other ships are a Big Frick'n Deal for a JM. And often going forward or left to clear stress just takes you out of the fight, because your opponent knows how your ship works and is planning ahead just as much as you are, so now you need to spend a turn or two getting back. Even shuttles can clear stress on a slow right bank, but the jumpmaster can't; it's straight or left. And your opponent knows this.

Your one use of contraband cybernetics is very important, and I acknowledge its value. But it's only one use; for the rest of the match, you're dealing with a very troublesome dial that will hamper you quite frequently. If you don't believe me, try ace hunting with Dengar. Doesn't even take aces to vex him though, really just anything that can move pretty freely through an obstacle field. The JM dial starts to really put on the pressure then.

Nom Lumb is specifically designed to help with the Jumpmaster's problems: he's dirt cheap and often gets a return shot (if he's being shot). But I wouldn't use him when talking about how good/bad the dial is because it applies a lot less to him.

In my post on the previous page when I said I prefer 4-LOM to a jumpmaster to accompany double aggressors, I meant it. 4-LOM has good synergy with the aggressors, but even without that, he has an easier time staying in the fight simply because he doesn't care about direction, which is everything for a JM. And he's really good at screwing over enemies with his stress passing. It's really important to keep all aspects of his ability in mind when comparing.

Is the Jumpmaster completely unworkable? No. Is it okay ? Also no. I feel like it matters quite a lot in actual practice.

It gets a lot better as you practice, but never good, and if you're going to practice at tournament-level intensity and become proficient at a ship, I don't think the JM is going to be an easy choice. I don't know that it's going to thrive in the meta, but with the harm done to some of the top Hyperspace aces lists, maybe it'll find a niche there. I'm interested in seeing where it goes.

32 minutes ago, Wazat said:

The Jumpmaster requires a lot of planning because once you're stressed, your clearing options are very limited, and stress can come from more sources than your own dial. You cannot go right to clear stress, and you can't turn right at all. This matters a **** of a lot when you have obstacles, blocking ships, and board edges to consider. Followups that would be trivial for other ships are a Big Frick'n Deal for a JM. And often going forward or left to clear stress just takes you out of the fight, because your opponent knows how your ship works and is planning ahead just as much as you are, so now you need to spend a turn or two getting back. Even shuttles can clear stress on a slow right bank, but the jumpmaster can't; it's straight or left. And your opponent knows this.

Your one use of contraband cybernetics is very important, and I acknowledge its value. But it's only one use; for the rest of the match, you're dealing with a very troublesome dial that will hamper you quite frequently. If you don't believe me, try ace hunting with Dengar. Doesn't even take aces to vex him though, really just anything that can move pretty freely through an obstacle field. The JM dial starts to really put on the pressure then.

I know it isn't hyperspace legal, but have you liked at putting L3 crew on the Jumpmaster? It doesn't fix the hard turning issue, but gives a lot more options to clear stress. For 4 points.

41 minutes ago, Wazat said:

In my post on the previous page when I said I prefer 4-LOM to a jumpmaster to accompany double aggressors, I meant it. 4-LOM has good synergy with the aggressors, but even without that, he has an easier time staying in the fight simply because he doesn't care about direction, which is everything for a JM. And he's really good at screwing over enemies with his stress passing. It's really important to keep all aspects of his ability in mind when comparing.

This is my main problem with slotting 4-LOM into an IG list:

IG-88B (63)

IG-88A (67)

4-LOM (49)

Total: 179

And he really needs Advanced Sensors. This is before you invest in Title and Cannons...

vs:

IG-88B (63)

IG-88A (67)

Contracted Scout (41)

Total: 171

CC is pretty much stapled, but it's only two points, leaving lots of room for toys, including cannons and potentially AS on both IGs, which I normally consider fairly important. Also note that Nom Lumb is even cheaper. Also note that this Jump ends up with double the arc coverage of the G1-A for less points. It doesn't hit as hard, and I see the case that it might not be as maneuverable, but it does fit into the squad considerably better.

A typical 4-LOM squad:

IG-88B (63)
Autoblasters (3)
Contraband Cybernetics (2)
IG-2000 (1)

IG-88A (67)

Autoblasters (3)
Contraband Cybernetics (2)
IG-2000 (1)

4-LOM (49)

IG-88D (3)
Contraband Cybernetics (2)
Mist Hunter (1)
Autoblasters (3)

Total: 200

Note that there is no possible way to get AS on 4-LOM without giving up your double-tap. You have to drop a cannon, or IG crew, or a title. No other option exists. On the other hand, with Nom Lumb:

IG-88B (63)
Marksmanship (1)
Fire-Control System (2)
Autoblasters (3)
Contraband Cybernetics (2)
IG-2000 (1)

IG-88A (67)
Marksmanship (1)
Fire-Control System (2)
Autoblasters (3)
Contraband Cybernetics (2)
IG-2000 (1)

Nom Lumb (38)
Autoblasters (3)
IG-88D (3)
Dengar (6)
Contraband Cybernetics (2)

Total: 200

You get plenty of room for toys; a lot of stuff here is totally unnecessary and could be dropped for a bid, for AS on one or the other IG, etc. You could even drop Dengar gunner for AS on both! Or you could even upgrade to Dengar and still have everything you need, plus a 1-pt bid:

IG-88B (63)
Autoblasters (3)
IG-2000 (1)

IG-88A (67)
Autoblasters (3)
IG-2000 (1)

Dengar (53)
Autoblasters (3)
IG-88D (3)
Contraband Cybernetics (2)

Total: 199

View in Yet Another Squad Builder 2.0: https://raithos.github.io/?f=Scum and Villainy&d=v8ZsZ200Z82XWWW232WWWW151Y81XWWW232WWWW151Y115XWW232W36WW92WW&sn=Unnamed Squadron&obs=

I think, perhaps, we're all overthinking the whole BroBots+1 thing a bit. Just chuck in a Skull Squaddie and call it a game.

IG-88C (64)
Predator (2)
Collision Detector (6)
IG-2000 (1)

Ship total: 73 Half Points: 37 Threshold: 4

IG-88A (67)
Predator (2)
Collision Detector (6)
IG-2000 (1)

Ship total: 76 Half Points: 38 Threshold: 4

Skull Squadron Pilot (47)
Fearless (3)

Ship total: 50 Half Points: 25 Threshold: 2

Total: 199

I'm not saying it's wrong to switch to Nom Lumb in a double aggressor list. But comparing to other Jumpmaster options, it's tough to go JM.

I think 4-LOM beats out Tel easily; Tel shouldn't be in a lot of games, unfortunately. Dengar's too expensive and thus won't field with that team, but when choosing a ship to field in other lists, he's got a lot of other competition to keep in mind. His init is his greatest asset along with his counterattack, but he feels that dial the most violently too.Nom Lumb is the exception to most rules. He doesn't make other jumpmaster pilots better, so we're generally talking about Jumpmasters and Nom Lumb as almost separate ships. IMO Nom is a solid including simply because you get so much for cheap, and the dial isn't crucial to him. Just don't over-invest... which is so hard for me. But with Autoblasters, Dengar gunner, Feedback Array he's only 50, so he works a bit loaded too.

57 minutes ago, MidWestScrub said:

I know it isn't hyperspace legal, but have you liked at putting L3 crew on the Jumpmaster? It doesn't fix the hard turning issue, but gives a lot more options to clear stress. For 4 points.

I've theory-crafted a couple of lists but haven't put them to the table yet, which is the ultimate test.

You can't have the title which is sometimes upsetting for Dengar, but for Nom it's not a big deal. And Dengar can go with Torps + Autoblasters and a rear-slung turret, which I'm told is pretty effective. I like that L337 gives him a mulligan on his defense roll, and then makes his dial better, but it's worth noting that it must happen in that order. This is a problem if the enemy decides to ignore Dengar while hunting allies, which happens often because of his counterattack.

But if you're not giving Dengar his title, there are several crew competing for the slot:

  • L3-37: defense mulligan, then easier right-banks. Right banks are not available until he's been shot at least once.
  • Boba Fett: Early proton torpedo charge while allies race in to flank the disrupted enemy formation
  • IG-88D: For pairing with one Aggressor ally, often B, but I could see a case for A.

IMO L3 is an intriguing option, but I'll have to try things out at some point to figure out what's best.

Nom Lom would def be my choice.

IGA - Crack, FCS, Tractor, Title

IGB - Crack, FCS, Ion, Title

Nom-Nom - Ion, IGD, Dengar

2 hours ago, Wazat said:

I've flown the jumpmaster a number of times now before the points update, usually Dengar but also Tel once or twice, and his problems turning right were very frequently damning. This becomes an especially large issue when you have an uncooperative enemy. Now granted, if you explain nicely to your opponent that right turns are hard for you and you'd appreciate them staying to the left, and they're like "yea sure buddy", then I agree that the Jumpmaster dial is fine. But all the war books I've read discourage counting on a cooperative opponent.

The Jumpmaster requires a lot of planning because once you're stressed, your clearing options are very limited, and stress can come from more sources than your own dial. You cannot go right to clear stress, and you can't turn right at all. This matters a **** of a lot when you have obstacles, blocking ships, and board edges to consider. Followups that would be trivial for other ships are a Big Frick'n Deal for a JM. And often going forward or left to clear stress just takes you out of the fight, because your opponent knows how your ship works and is planning ahead just as much as you are, so now you need to spend a turn or two getting back. Even shuttles can clear stress on a slow right bank, but the jumpmaster can't; it's straight or left. And your opponent knows this.

Your one use of contraband cybernetics is very important, and I acknowledge its value. But it's only one use; for the rest of the match, you're dealing with a very troublesome dial that will hamper you quite frequently. If you don't believe me, try ace hunting with Dengar. Doesn't even take aces to vex him though, really just anything that can move pretty freely through an obstacle field. The JM dial starts to really put on the pressure then.

Nom Lumb is specifically designed to help with the Jumpmaster's problems: he's dirt cheap and often gets a return shot (if he's being shot). But I wouldn't use him when talking about how good/bad the dial is because it applies a lot less to him.

In my post on the previous page when I said I prefer 4-LOM to a jumpmaster to accompany double aggressors, I meant it. 4-LOM has good synergy with the aggressors, but even without that, he has an easier time staying in the fight simply because he doesn't care about direction, which is everything for a JM. And he's really good at screwing over enemies with his stress passing. It's really important to keep all aspects of his ability in mind when comparing.

Is the Jumpmaster completely unworkable? No. Is it okay ? Also no. I feel like it matters quite a lot in actual practice.

It gets a lot better as you practice, but never good, and if you're going to practice at tournament-level intensity and become proficient at a ship, I don't think the JM is going to be an easy choice. I don't know that it's going to thrive in the meta, but with the harm done to some of the top Hyperspace aces lists, maybe it'll find a niche there. I'm interested in seeing where it goes.

There is no easy mode for scum. cough *force mods that regenerate* cough. despite the buffs to it the jump5k is still clunky and hard to fly and easy to flank. the caution FG have shown in 2.0 with the ship is imo in part due to the hangover at the end of 2.0 when bumpmasters and fully modded ordnance jumpmasters were rampant. Dengar is still dangerous, even more dangerous now than he was pre points buffs but he needs to be trading for something early to justify his inclusion because when he is flanked and/or blocked he simply doesnt have the options on his dial to get back into the battle quickly enough. He IS playable but not top tier imo, even fully loaded because he becomes a liability quickly after the first exchange when he has to payback his points investment in the middle stages of the game. my feeling is the even with buffs he isnt going to be a problem to deal with by good opponents that know full well his limitations.

Edited by Greedo_Sharpshooter

On a slightly different tack, what do people think about generic G-1As? They’re basically medium b-wings, aren’t they?

15 minutes ago, Greedo_Sharpshooter said:

There is no easy mode for scum. cough *force mods that regenerate* cough.

Even though I knew it to be true going in, that still hurt to read.

;)

I'm still lamenting the multiple waves of nerfs to tractor beam that hurt some of my favorite ships (quadrijet, shadow caster, tractor m3a), and I'm not even sure if FFG is done breaking tractors over their knee yet. I don't think tractors were ever quite that hated until the Nantex came along, and FFG couldn't just nerf the Nantex... Everything had to burn.

And the lack of Force other than Asajj and Maul kinda hurts. Ships like the YV-666 used to operate on crazy crew effects, which are all gone or weak now. 2.0 rightfully nerfed a lot of the OP scum crew, but they haven't really gotten anything to make up for that.

But with all that said, it's still my favorite faction. And there was a lot of good for Scum in this update.

17 minutes ago, Greedo_Sharpshooter said:

the caution FG have shown in 2.0 with the ship is imo in part due to the hangover at the end of (edited) 1.0 when bumpmasters and fully modded ordnance jumpmasters were rampant.

I still want to write an article on the journey of the Jumpmaster from its release in 1.0 to its current form. It's a fricking adventure . After every single nerf the jumpmaster players were outraged, salt poured from the forums, and yet the JM continued to dominate the meta. Shows you how powerful it was before each nerf, which is just crazy to me. They butchered whole chunks out of the fleets and the ship itself and it just kept fighting. Limbless, it kept fighting. By the end of 1E they'd taken many of its slots away and it was still coming back in 4-JM lists.

FFG was not going to have the JM dominate 2.0. They not only needed to fix the game, they needed to prove that 2.0 really was an improvement over 1.0... having the same broken ship rule the new meta was a non-starter. And so, the JM has been heavily nerfed since its inception in second edition.

And curiously, now we have the reverse of first edition: it's been getting buff after buff and it's still struggling to be relevant. Even now, save for Nom Lumb, the reviews I've seen from playtesting are mixed. We hoped a gunner would do it; it did not. We thought the cannon slot would be enough; it kinda wasn't. Major points drops and I'm still hesitant to field Dengar or Tel because of that dial. Every buff is really helping, but it's still not getting the ship to where it needs to be. It really is a mirror image of 1.0's journey.

Funnily enough Dengar's Quick Build still has R4 Astromech. It hasn't changed since the start of the game, and it remains pretty solid! QB Dengar is fun to fly and is a solid attacker. I think that says something about why the ship struggles so. (Note: I haven't kept up to see if people think that QB Dengar is OP or not, as not many people play QB these days; last I heard he was reasonably balanced, if maybe on the strong side)

Right now Dengar has Cybernetics stapled to his ship as a crutch, and a more repeatable solution would be welcome. But I don't know if that would just open the ship to being OP again, and FFG is understandably cagey about letting the JM explode in power. The QB is totally under their control and can't be customized into some OP combination; releasing a general solution might be a problem. But.... maybe the future holds a fix to the dial?

I haven't looked into how over- or under-powered these would be, but for your discussion pleasure:

JM Refit (Configuration): 12 points

  • +Barrel Roll (white)
  • You cannot equip crew, astromech, cannon, or modification upgrades.
  • While you are unshielded, reduce the difficulty of speed 1-2 basic maneuvers.

Or

Jumpmaster Thruster Correction (Configuration): 2 points

  • Charges: 3 (recurring)
  • After you reveal your dial, you may spend 3 charges and gain two Ion Tokens. If you do, reduce the difficulty of your basic maneuvers this round.

The wonderful thing about homebrewing potential solutions to a ship is, there's no better opportunity to be grossly wrong about not only the solution, but also the problem you're trying to solve. ;) Be gentle to my spitballed ideas, I realize they're probably bad.

Just now, Matanui3 said:

On a slightly different tack, what do people think about generic G-1As? They’re basically medium b-wings, aren’t they?

Meh. Sort of. They're good at gumming up flight lanes and have a decent bite but they don't have the same nimbleness (to anyone else reading this, don't even bother bringing Mist Hunter into the comparison. Mist Hunter =/= generic G-1A, it is a blasted single pip title).

2 minutes ago, Hiemfire said:

Meh. Sort of. They're good at gumming up flight lanes and have a decent bite but they don't have the same nimbleness (to anyone else reading this, don't even bother bringing Mist Hunter into the comparison. Mist Hunter =/= generic G-1A, it is a blasted single pip title).

Oh right, forgot the roll wasn’t default.

12 minutes ago, Matanui3 said:

On a slightly different tack, what do people think about generic G-1As? They’re basically medium b-wings, aren’t they?

I can't see ever flying one. Given that the M-12 Kimogila was reduced to the same price, but has better initiative and probably a better dial, a barrel roll, and also a really handy ship ability, so I think the Kimo is just a better choice. Dead To Rights isn't the easiest thing to land, but when it does, it can hurt.

Personally, I don't think the crew slot is enough to make the G-1A a more tempting ship.

//

I really wish Gand Findsmen had force charges. It's close-enough to lore appropriate, and that would have been an interesting niche for the ship.

Edited by theBitterFig
Just now, Matanui3 said:

Oh right, forgot the roll wasn’t default.

Yep. Cannon slot as well is tied to the title. Baseline B-Wing = armored go-cart with quad LMG's strapped to it. Low top end but can turn on a dime. Baseline G-1A = Armored street cruiser with a M2 bolted to the hood. Slightly faster than the go-cart, about the same dakka, can't turn as well, has allot better brakes.

1 hour ago, Wazat said:

Even though I knew it to be true going in, that still hurt to read.

;)

I'm still lamenting the multiple waves of nerfs to tractor beam that hurt some of my favorite ships (quadrijet, shadow caster, tractor m3a), and I'm not even sure if FFG is done breaking tractors over their knee yet. I don't think tractors were ever quite that hated until the Nantex came along, and FFG couldn't just nerf the Nantex... Everything had to burn.

And the lack of Force other than Asajj and Maul kinda hurts. Ships like the YV-666 used to operate on crazy crew effects, which are all gone or weak now. 2.0 rightfully nerfed a lot of the OP scum crew, but they haven't really gotten anything to make up for that.

But with all that said, it's still my favorite faction. And there was a lot of good for Scum in this update.

I still want to write an article on the journey of the Jumpmaster from its release in 1.0 to its current form. It's a fricking adventure . After every single nerf the jumpmaster players were outraged, salt poured from the forums, and yet the JM continued to dominate the meta. Shows you how powerful it was before each nerf, which is just crazy to me. They butchered whole chunks out of the fleets and the ship itself and it just kept fighting. Limbless, it kept fighting. By the end of 1E they'd taken many of its slots away and it was still coming back in 4-JM lists.

FFG was not going to have the JM dominate 2.0. They not only needed to fix the game, they needed to prove that 2.0 really was an improvement over 1.0... having the same broken ship rule the new meta was a non-starter. And so, the JM has been heavily nerfed since its inception in second edition.

And curiously, now we have the reverse of first edition: it's been getting buff after buff and it's still struggling to be relevant. Even now, save for Nom Lumb, the reviews I've seen from playtesting are mixed. We hoped a gunner would do it; it did not. We thought the cannon slot would be enough; it kinda wasn't. Major points drops and I'm still hesitant to field Dengar or Tel because of that dial. Every buff is really helping, but it's still not getting the ship to where it needs to be. It really is a mirror image of 1.0's journey.

Funnily enough Dengar's Quick Build still has R4 Astromech. It hasn't changed since the start of the game, and it remains pretty solid! QB Dengar is fun to fly and is a solid attacker. I think that says something about why the ship struggles so. (Note: I haven't kept up to see if people think that QB Dengar is OP or not, as not many people play QB these days; last I heard he was reasonably balanced, if maybe on the strong side)

Right now Dengar has Cybernetics stapled to his ship as a crutch, and a more repeatable solution would be welcome. But I don't know if that would just open the ship to being OP again, and FFG is understandably cagey about letting the JM explode in power. The QB is totally under their control and can't be customized into some OP combination; releasing a general solution might be a problem. But.... maybe the future holds a fix to the dial?

I haven't looked into how over- or under-powered these would be, but for your discussion pleasure:

JM Refit (Configuration): 12 points

  • +Barrel Roll (white)
  • You cannot equip crew, astromech, cannon, or modification upgrades.
  • While you are unshielded, reduce the difficulty of speed 1-2 basic maneuvers.

Or

Jumpmaster Thruster Correction (Configuration): 2 points

  • Charges: 3 (recurring)
  • After you reveal your dial, you may spend 3 charges and gain two Ion Tokens. If you do, reduce the difficulty of your basic maneuvers this round.

The wonderful thing about homebrewing potential solutions to a ship is, there's no better opportunity to be grossly wrong about not only the solution, but also the problem you're trying to solve. ;) Be gentle to my spitballed ideas, I realize they're probably bad.

@Wazat really appreciate this post. You should def write that article about the journey of the jump5k, the current state of affairs really proves there is No Fix for a bad dial... tempting ppl with lower points cost is just making them realise how bad it is and how Good you need to be to fly it well.

Thruster correction is pretty nice and i think this is as about as 'powerful' as FFG would be willing to go. just imagine if scum had Leia crew, that would essentially be the same as Thruster Correction without the ion drawback and it would help every ship in your list. Id be happy with it just helping the ship it was on. I wonder of FFG had the jump5k in mind when they buffed Contraband Cybernetics? I think ur going to see cc stapled onto every scum ship that can take it.

im taking some heart that FFG is at least trying to bring the jump5k back from the ashes. Its not there yet, maybe two more rounds of buffs might do it ;)

Edited by Greedo_Sharpshooter
5 minutes ago, Matanui3 said:

On a slightly different tack, what do people think about generic G-1As? They’re basically medium b-wings, aren’t they?

Save for the 1-tallons & barrel rolls, which are a staple for the B-Wing. But yea, they're in a similar price range. B-Wings have cannons and barrel roll (without a limited title), torpedoes, no illicit, no crew. The common slot is Sensor, which can be handy in the right context, but also not necessarily a welcome expense. I think they're closest when fielded naked save for the title.

A big difference is base size and the Stop maneuver. Gands are good blockers but they otherwise struggle maneuvering in formation or between asteroids, which B-Wings do pretty well. IMO they're not very close comparisons to B-Wings.

As Heimfire says, one gand is a decent blocker with the title. I wouldn't necessarily field multiple, but that wouldn't be bad either...? They're meaty 3-attack blockers for a fifth of your points, which has potential. It's more a matter of who flies with them; maybe a k-fighter beef swarm.

But theBitterFig's point on Kimogilas is solid. For the same points you're getting a much more interesting ship to fly. 1 or 2 with your Kihraxz team works well and threatens with bullseyes, while a Gand is just a 3-dice attacker with a worse dial and no quirks. Maybe include one Gand with the title as a blocker, one kimo, 3 k-fighters, and you've got 3 points for tinkering. But I unless you're blocking really well with that white barrel roll, I don't think the Gand is better than a 2nd kimo.

5 minutes ago, theBitterFig said:

I really wish Gand Findsmen had force charges. It's close-enough to lore appropriate, and that would have been an interesting niche for the ship.

😥 Their "career" used to be considered a Force tradition (sure as **** read like one to me when what the Findsmen did and the methods they used were touched on in the X-Wing series during Ooryl's assessment). Those Gand with the potential to be Findsmen were very rare iirc.