"Fenn Rau, Manaroo and Talonbane Cobra" aka 'roo Aces - Looking for advice!

[RejjeN 195]

Hello again! Been thinking about and tweaking my "'roo aces" list to try and get as much out of it as possible. Something I have started thinking about after facing Dengaroo in my last regional was how his Manaroo was loaded with a Plasma Torpedo, which almost let him win as he chased down my half-dead Talonbane for half an hour xD

 

But I've also considered just skipping the PS bid thing entirely by running Adaptability on the aces and bringing them up to PS10. After running Kavil over 3 rocks in a row on my first tournament I've not had too much trouble with rocks since, so I guess I got that out of my system

 

This is the list I ran previously, thought I'd force more shots at Manaroo early, so I put painbot on her but it didn't do much (Though it could have gotten me into semi-finals if I'd remembered it once...)

98/100
Talonbane
Crack Shot
Engine Upgrade

Fenn Rau
Fearlessness
Concord Dawn Protector

Manaroo
Adaptability (for blocking)
Recon Specialist
R5-P8

 

New list #1 I'm working on is this, which uses adaptability as mentioned above to skip having to run for a PS bid, sadly it also means not getting the really good EPT's like PTL and such, but I'd have to cut a lot to fit that in. This also brings Manaroo as a credible threat until she spends her torpedo, and even before or after that she can pass target locks and focus to the aces if she isn't barrel rolling to block.

100/100

Talonbane

Adaptability

Engine Upgrade

Cloaking Device

 

Fenn Rau

Adaptability

Autothrusters

Concord Dawn Protector

 

Manaroo

Draw Their Fire (Only had time to test this in one game, but for that one game she drew 3 crits from Fenn Rau xD)

Plasma Torpedo

Guidance Chips

K4 Security Droid

Unhinged Astromech

 

List #2 is this one, which after running intelligence agent for a "random squad game" made me realize it could perhaps be pretty good for manaroo. It also leaves her more flexible in what she does, if blockable and more prone to stress control. But if they focus on Manaroo, then that should leave the aces to chew them through from behind.

100/100

Talonbane

Adaptability

Engine Upgrade

Cloaking Device

 

Fenn Rau

Adaptability

Autothrusters

Concord Dawn Protector

 

Manaroo

Push the Limit

Plasma Torpedoes

Guidance Chips

Intelligence Agent

unhinged Astromech

 

If I was to try and fit PTL on Fenn Rau, then I'd probably put Adrenaline Rush on Talonbane, because I've noticed it's being stressed that limits him the most (Shocking revelation right...?) and while Crack Shot is nice being able to k-turn and focus (or boost) would be very helpful. Or potentially k-turn while stressed, something I doubt most would consider. The problem as always being that without adaptability I'll need a PS bid, otherwise I will likely get whooped by others who do. I think the biggest weakness with being PS10 is the first engagement with Dengar, allowing him free reign to double tap one of them if both is in his arc, but if they should somehow survive the first engagement, then I will likely win that match up (manaroos plasma missile will likely help a lot as well for that xD)

 

Thoughts on the lists, or how to improve them?

[ObiWonka 7,081]

Played it here with Attanni Mindlink. It works extremely well, but it's not super easy to play. Adaptability to get to PS10 is an interesting idea. Not sure if that's enough to make up for the action efficiency of AM, though.

[JD0GE 32]

I really like this idea, sort of like a scummy version of palpaces which is nice to see. Not sure if Cloaking device really fits on talon though. Might run Glitterstim as it gives a round of amazingness (potential range 1 5 dice + glitters) other than that, k4 sec droid is really good on manaroo getting tls on every green and passing them off.

[Aresxero 140]

I think I might be better to drop the engine upgrade on talon bane to vectored thrusters, his dial plus ps 9 I find makes the barrel roll to arc dodge more important than boost to range one.

Also as obiwonka said, I will second mindlink for every ship, it is just too good for both fenn and cobra where they can both have barrel rolled and because of manaroo and mind link, still end up with at least a focus, or 2with a target lock.

[RejjeN 195]

Played it here with Attanni Mindlink. It works extremely well, but it's not super easy to play. Adaptability to get to PS10 is an interesting idea. Not sure if that's enough to make up for the action efficiency of AM, though.

I'd definitely run Mindlink if I had Old Teroch instead of Talonbane, but the old Cobra just doesn't deal with stress all too well, and while I can avoid a lot of that myself, if I face stress control (and let's be honest, ventress is quite popular) it will be really easy to neuter him if he's not pointed roughly at the enemy that turn. I will have to try it out at some point though, maybe it's not as bad as I think, or maybe it's a case of flying him differently... You seem to get some use out of Vectored Thrusters on him, which is something I've generally not managed myself yet.

 

I really like this idea, sort of like a scummy version of palpaces which is nice to see. Not sure if Cloaking device really fits on talon though. Might run Glitterstim as it gives a round of amazingness (potential range 1 5 dice + glitters) other than that, k4 sec droid is really good on manaroo getting tls on every green and passing them off.

Cloaking Device is there to both provide me with a bit of unpredictability but also allow for some nice defense if I end up in a bad spot with him. I used to run him with Glitterstim and Crack Shot for some (potentially) amazing one-hit-KO goodness, but the stress usually means he'll be out of the fight for 2 or maybe even 3 turns depending on what your opponent does, or leave him really vulnerable. With the cloak boost/roll maybe I won't need to use engine upgrade every time, so I can get almost full mods on both aces if I'm lucky 

I think I might be better to drop the engine upgrade on talon bane to vectored thrusters, his dial plus ps 9 I find makes the barrel roll to arc dodge more important than boost to range one.

Also as obiwonka said, I will second mindlink for every ship, it is just too good for both fenn and cobra where they can both have barrel rolled and because of manaroo and mind link, still end up with at least a focus, or 2with a target lock.

I tried VT after it was released (one of the things I was really excited about in wave 9) but I just haven't been able to make it work for me on Talonbane :/ I'd probably need to examine how others fly their ships a bit more to get an idea for how to adjust. I've played Scum pretty much my entirety of playing X-Wing, so I'm not that used to Barrel Roll in general. It's a tricky situation for me, I want to try it but I'm scared to mess up really badly...

 

If I did put Mindlink and VT on cobra, that would leave me at 100 points. Given the nature of mindlink I figure the best bet would be to skip on the torpedo on Manaroo in that case, but then she returns to being mostly harmless...

Edited December 31, 2016 by RejjeN

[TitaniumChopstick 701]

I'm really not convinced by Talonbane. If possible, I'd switch him to either one of Boba Fett, Asajj, or Old Terry. Something like this:

Fenn Rau: Mindlink, Concord Dawn, Autothrusters

Boba Fett: Mindlink

Manaroo: Mindlink

Or

Fenn Rau: Mindlink, Concord Dawn, Autothrusters

Asajj: Mindlink, Lattz Razzi

Manaroo: Mindlink

Or

Fenn Rau: Mindlink, Concord Dawn, Autothrusters

Old Terry: Mindlink, Concord Dawn, Autothrusters

Manaroo: Mindlink, (customizable upgrades)

Or maybe even:

Fenn Rau: Mindlink, Concord Dawn, Autothrusters

IG88C: Mindlink, Autothrusters

Manaroo: Mindlink

All the large ships builds I've listed will add MUCH more surviviability to the list, while Old Terry adds more control. All the large ships can stack focus+evade with Mindlink and Boba can even get re-rolls at range 1 with his ability. Asajj is pretty much the same, but with Lattz instead of re-rolls and a mobile arc instead of auxiliary. IG88C stack focus+evade+autothrusters with 8 health and no stress after, but probably has the least offense out of the suggested substitutions for Talonbane. Even if you do stay with Talonbane, I think Mindlink is a must, as others have said previously.

[ObiWonka 7,081]

Literally the only reason to run Talonbane is to have a second shot at PS9 and try to have your aces tag-team a ship and take it off the board. Cloaking Devices, Vectored Thrusters, etc. are fairly marginally useful on him: you'll use them once or twice per game at most, don't expect any more than that.

[RejjeN 195]

Honestly the main reason I insist on running Talonbane is because I love the Kihraxz. Before wave 9 I ran 4 Black Sun Aces with Crack Shot and Inertial Dampeners xD

 

I guess running almost naked ships can work, just not that huge of a fan myself, plus I'm not sure if I want to change the list that drastically... Besides that, Firesprays deal fairly badly with stress as well, they've got their auxiliary arc, but eventually they're gonna need to turn around and if the opponent brought any kind of stress control... I guess a shadowcaster could work, but it just feels weird not to use my crew.

 

I use boost a lot on Talonbane to change angles for the coming turns and get into range one of ships, or to dodge arcs entirely if that is preferable to shooting sometimes. Honestly in most of my games Talonbane lives far longer than Fenn Rau, but maybe that's just me being unable to roll 3/4 evade dice properly

 

Since everyone is insisting on using Mindlink I guess I'll have to try it if I get the chance.

[4fox100 609]

Played it here with Attanni Mindlink. It works extremely well, but it's not super easy to play. Adaptability to get to PS10 is an interesting idea. Not sure if that's enough to make up for the action efficiency of AM, though.

^This. Needs mindlink. And as ObiWonka said it isn't easy to fly. If you want an easier list throw in Ol' Terry fir some trollishness.

Manaroo

Attanni Mindlink

K4 Droid

Unhinged Astromech

Feedback Array

Old Teroch

Attanni Mindlink

Autothrusters

Title

Fenn Rau

Attanni Mindlink

Autothrusters

Title

96 pts

You want the low points for initiative. Casue with mindlink lists you really need to decide who has it.

[RejjeN 195]

Tried to get some games in with an attani build, but couldn't find anyone able to play and today is the last day to send in lists unfortunately, so since that was the only suggestion and I'm not confident about running a Kihraxz with it without trying it out first (I had run mindlink lists with Guri and Black Sun Aces, but that's a different beast). When it works there's a lot of powerful synergy to be had there obviously, but I'm afraid stress control would limit Talonbane too much.

 

So I've decided to give PTL/Intell agent Manaroo a go, if nothing else it will be a good lesson in blocking for me, since that's something I need to work on.

 

I'll update here after the tourney if anyone is interested.

Edited January 3, 2017 by RejjeN

[4fox100 609]

Tried to get some games in with an attani build, but couldn't find anyone able to play and today is the last day to send in lists unfortunately, so since that was the only suggestion and I'm not confident about running a Kihraxz with it without trying it out first (I had run mindlink lists with Guri and Black Sun Aces, but that's a different beast). When it works there's a lot of powerful synergy to be had there obviously, but I'm afraid stress control would limit Talonbane too much.

 

So I've decided to give PTL/Intell agent Manaroo a go, if nothing else it will be a good lesson in blocking for me, since that's something I need to work on.

 

I'll update here after the tourney if anyone is interested.

Let us know how it goes

[tortugatron 1,027]

Man Talorau.