I've gone 7-0 with this Kath Scarlet list, and wanted to share it and some of the strategy it can employ that I've enjoyed.

Kath Scarlet (46pts)

- Expert Handling

- Ion Cannon

- Rebel Captive

2x Saber Squadron Pilot (27pts)

- Push the Limit

- Stealth

I typically play 5 to 7 ship imperial lists so this squad was a big departure for me. It developed from wanting to explore the ability to disrupt maneuverability and squad cohesion from the combo of Stress and Ion (for those unaware, ion is a 1 forward WHITE maneuver, so stress isn't removed and therefore no action). I was pretty set on Kath's configuration, but wanted to make sure she was going to be targeted (Rebel Captive), so instead of my usual tie swarm, I went with the Sabers (I also almost did Soontir Fel and Dark Curse, but was worried about firepower). The Sabers almost always flank, and Kath can really slow roll to allow them to completely take a surprising route and make it around in time. She does this by doing repeating forward 1 barrel roll back. This is almost an endless shuttle stall allowing Sabers plenty of time to be where I want them to be. When engagement happens, I typically stack Evade & Focus with Sabers which with their 4+ Agility makes them undesirable targets if they changed directions to even target them (or have turrets). Kath typically can disrupt or completely take out their main ship since it typically has the highest PS and therefore receives stress firing at Kath. She then Ion Cannons them (with possibly another stress) and they are not K-Turning or hard turning w/o stress for awhile and at least temporarily out of fight a few rounds. And with engagement happening typically near my side of board then she can force off a dangerous pilot (aka Wedge). While that pilot is out for a bit, my squad can typically pick apart what is left. Another interesting thing that has happened is that some players completely try to ignore Kath from aversion to the stress caused, while they should focus fire. Some players will play correctly, but I have been surprised by how much it messes with several player's psyche.

hmm, Never even considered that you could put stress on them from a "crit hit" on an ion attack. Very nice.

To cause stress and ion it would require rolling 2 crits and they cancel one. Not too likely. The Rebel Captive is very reliable though

Nice list, definitely liking the idea. Good to see a competitive list with an imperial ion cannon AND interceptors. Don't see many any of those.

Did you by chance happen to run into a Tie Swarm? I'm thinking that will be your toughest matchup, since its hard to ion a Tie, and its not a big deal if one of them gets stressed. Depending on the situation, your opponent may not even shoot with Howl, and let the other far back Tie take the rebel captive stress. Although expert handling would probably be your best asset to try and avoid the entire swarm focus firing kath.

No swarms yet. I was the primary swarm player, but we play 60 minute rounds now ... I like full wins not modified:)

My biggest concern was turret lists (all my ships manuever very well and can dodge arcs) like Double Falcon or Falcon with Y-Wings but it was extremely easy to beat when I played that. I do agree that focus fire from swarm in Kath would be an issue (unless Howlrunner did shoot then might get really easy).

very clever use of rebel captive. nice.

How are you able to barrel roll backwards? Or have I missed something here.

How are you able to barrel roll backwards? Or have I missed something here.

It's shorthand for a type of barrel roll where you slide the 1 distance range ruler all the way to the back of the base, then pick up the ship and place it so the front of the base it touching the range ruler. On a small ship it moves you back a bit, but on a large base it moves you back a huge distance.

How are you able to barrel roll backwards? Or have I missed something here.

You can't. Barrel Roll forward or back is placing the Templete on the back and ending with it on the front or vica verca ... Which in the case of back, ends up being more to the side of original position than forward when using large ships and one forward.

Huh, seems a tad underhand. thought it was only allowed as a pure lateral movement to the side. With no gain in either forward or rear momentum. Learn something new every day. Cheers.

Huh, seems a tad underhand. thought it was only allowed as a pure lateral movement to the side. With no gain in either forward or rear momentum. Learn something new every day. Cheers.

Yeah, it's a neat trick. You just have to put the template anywhere along the side of the ship, then move your ship to that the edge is anywhere along the edge. As long as the template doesn't extend beyond the end of the base either time, you're good.

Huh, seems a tad underhand. thought it was only allowed as a pure lateral movement to the side. With no gain in either forward or rear momentum. Learn something new every day. Cheers.

If you look at the barrel roll example in the rulebook, they do exactly that.

Honestly you only gain or lose, maybe, a half a width of the stand.. it really isn't significant, but can be a life saver.. it's an awesome maneuver.

Honestly you only gain or lose, maybe, a half a width of the stand.. it really isn't significant, but can be a life saver.. it's an awesome maneuver.

Maybe a bit larger of a move with Kath, which is a large base ship. Awesome if you can pull it off.

Tried this list out last night, did pretty well, only downside is the limited amount of green moves on the firespray.

But once I get used to that, well I can see it being very powerful

Hats off to you, JaceMoonstrider. Excellent squad! I have been trying to come up with a reliable way to put ion tokens and stress tokens on enemy ships, but haven't quite been successful. Using evasive Sabers as Kath's wingmates really seems to be the key I was missing. I'm definitely going to have to try this one out myself!

How are you able to barrel roll backwards? Or have I missed something here.

You barrel-roll sideways. But the base of large ships is 8cm long. The 1-movement template only 2 cm wide.

If you place the barrel-roll template to the end of the (side of the) base and barrel-roll the ship to touch the other side with the front (of the side) of the base, you effectively moved the entire ship 6 cm (or 1 1/2 movement-template units) backwards.

I'm heading to a tournament in a week, and while I'm not a huge fan of totally copying someones list. I really really like this list. Even after only playing one game with it. I need some more practice games with it to get used to the firespray's movement, and flanking with the interceptors.

Saber + PTL + Black Paint Job = 27

OGP + IonCan + Captive = 27

Alternative Squad Load out:

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Total: 100pts

Kath Scarlet (46)

Firespray-31 (38), Ion Cannon (3), Expert Handling (2), Rebel Captive (3)

Omicron Group Pilot (27)

Lambda-Class Shuttle (21), Ion Cannon (3), Rebel Captive (3)

Omicron Group Pilot (27)

Lambda-Class Shuttle (21), Ion Cannon (3), Rebel Captive (3)

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I wonder if with all those Ion shots and Stress tokens IF you can troll someone outside the Combat Zone...

Rebel Captive is unique, so you can only have one, I fear I should point out.

Hmmm.... stupid "•" so hard to notice some times... all i remembered was "Imperial Only"

Saber + PTL + Black Paint Job = 27

Sorry, black paint job is what? Stealth device?

Yes. Once you've scratched the paint EVERYBODY notices it...

had 2 games today with this list 1 loss and 1 win. I need more practice, but I still like it a lot

I ran "The Woman in Red" again today in another tournament. I went 3-1 ... My first loss! It was heartbreaking because I had already been paired down in round two, so my strength of schedule made it unlikely to rebound after a loss. Still, I'm happy with the list as it has gone 12-1 for me. It's fun for me to fly as it certainly doesn't fly itself and forgive mistakes ... But I like that exciting feeling of flying circles around your opponent!