Wave VI - Scum and Villainy - NEWS !!! ONLY !!!

Ankuendigng auf der GenCon:

Es gibt eine Dritte Fraktion "Scum and Villainy" (Schmuggler) bestehend aus:
Star Viper
M3-A Interceptor
IG-2000
Most Wanted: Slave 1 und HWK-290

Scum and Villainy

Fantasy Flight Games is proud to announce that in the sixth wave of starship expansions for X-Wing™ the galaxy’s Scum and Villainy will join the game's fast-paced space battles as its third faction!

The ranks of the Scum and Villainy faction are filled with many of the Star Wars galaxy’s most notorious bounty hunters, pirates, and Black Sun agents. You’ll find such infamous figures as Boba Fett, IG-88, Greedo, and Prince Xizor. These Scum live outside the law, do their best to remain at the periphery of the ongoing Galactic Civil War, and allow no one – no one – to threaten their profits.

Whenever Rebel or Imperial forces dare to interfere with their illicit dealings, Scum head to battle, and they do so in some of the best starfighters that money can buy, such as Slave I, IG-2000, and the MandalMotors StarViper-class attack platform. These expensive and technologically advanced starships are further supported by a number of mainstays that have proven their efficiency over the course of numerous battles.



Four separate expansion packs introduce the galaxy’s Scum to X-Wing:

-Most Wanted Expansion Pack


-StarViper Expansion Pack


-M3-A Interceptor Expansion Pack


-IG-2000 Expansion Pack

Welle 6 Flickr Album

Illicit Dealings

Recently, we announced that the Star Wars galaxy’s Scum and Villainy will soon join the fast-paced dogfights of X-Wing™ as the game’s third faction. Arriving in the game’s sixth wave of expansions, the Scum and Villainy faction brings to battle a mix of new starships and older starships repurposed for new use. Simultaneously, the faction’s fleet also introduces two new types of upgrades, the illicit upgrade  and the Salvaged Astromech upgrade .

Along with the mix of ships available to it, as well as the unique talents of its pilots, the faction’s two new types of upgrades go a long way toward defining the distinct play style you’ll soon be associating with the galaxy’s most notorious Scum. In today’s preview, we’ll look at some of these new upgrades and the ways in which they help to reinforce the faction’s identity as the shadiest, most opportunistic, and most self-serving of all X-Wing factions.

The Galaxy's Most Wanted, Part One

Recently, we kicked off our previews of the sixth wave of X-Wing™ expansion packs with a look at its different upgrades, which go a long way toward providing the Scum and Villainy faction with its own, distinctive personality. Its ships don’t permit quite the same swarms or nimble, high-risk piloting as the Empire’s, nor do they work quite as well in formation as the rugged and resilient ships that the Rebellion’s squad leaders most often favor. Instead, the galaxy’s Scum operate best when its squadrons’ individual pilots are left to their own devices and given license to purchase the deadliest and dirtiest upgrades available on the black market.

This generalization holds true even when we look at what the Most Wanted Expansion Pack offers the faction as it reintroduces two of the game’s pre-existing starfighters, repainted and re-outfitted to better suit the faction’s self-centered aces.

http://www.fantasyflightgames.com/edge_news.asp?eidn=5138

The Galaxy's Most Wanted, Part Two

“Bounty hunters? We don’t need that scum.”
   –Admiral Piett

As it turns out, Admiral Piett was wrong about the bounty hunters.

The Empire did, in fact, need them, and it was Boba Fett, the most notorious of all bounty hunters, who ultimately located the Millennium Falcon and led Darth Vader to Cloud City, Han Solo, Chewbacca, and Princess Leia.

For argument’s sake, though, what might have happened had the Empire not recruited Boba Fett? There’s no shortage of work for talented bounty hunters in the Star Wars galaxy, and there’s no doubt that Boba Fett ranks among the deadliest and most talented of them all. If the Empire hadn’t offered Fett a reward for locating the Falcon, he may have taken different work with a Hutt or with the Black Sun crime syndicate.

This is one of the theoretical situations presented by the upcoming Most Wanted Expansion Pack for X-Wing™. With its twenty ship cards, Most Wanted allows you to jump start your own Scum and Villainy faction, partially by calling upon the services of Boba Fett, the galaxy’s most fearsome bounty hunter.

In our last preview of Most Wanted, we looked at how the expansion reinvents the Y-wing and Z-95 Headhunter for use within the Scum faction. Not only does the expansion come with one Y-wing miniature and two Z-95 Headhunter miniatures, all given Scum-themed paint schemes, it introduces four new unique pilots for them and a host of upgrades that completely explode pre-existing player expectations for these starfighters and provide them new personalities.

Today, we continue our exploration of the Most Wanted Expansion Pack and how its ship cards and upgrades allow you to repurpose several previously released ships as the foundation for your new Scum fleet.

http://fantasyflightgames.com/edge_news.asp?eidn=5222

Intercept and Destroy
A Preview of the M3-A Interceptor Expansion Pack for X-Wing (TM)

Our last preview of the sixth wave of X-Wing™ expansions focused on the Virago, a StarViper-class attack platform and one of the rarest and most technologically advanced of all fighters in the Star Wars galaxy. While the Virago is a truly lethal vessel, it is also unique. Only one Virago exists, and even the base StarViper-class attack platform is too expensive for most organizations to field very many of them in their fleets.
Thus, as we continue to explore what the Scum and Villainy faction will soon bring to X-Wing and its explosive space battles, we turn our attention toward another starfighter with much lower production costs, the M3-A “Scyk” interceptor. Like the StarViper-class attack platform, the Scyk was produced by MandalMotors, but it was the product of a very different design philosophy.
The Scyk is a lightly armored and lightly shielded interceptor that features tremendous customizability, and its low cost made it a favorite of the Hutt Cartel and Car’das smugglers, who purchased it in large quantities. Accordingly, the ship enters X-Wing as an agile, but lightly armored, starship with two attack, three agility, two hull, and one shield. Piloted by a Cartel Spacer, the cheapest of these Scyk interceptors costs you only fourteen squad points.
This is the sort of efficiency that makes the Scyk a good fighter to form the backbone of your Scum fleet, but the other reason so many of the galaxy’s Scum found the ship so attractive is that it can easily be upgraded to a “Heavy Scyk” Interceptor, meaning the ship can easily be outfitted to perform an astonishingly wide variety of roles.
The “Heavy Scyk” Interceptor
For two squad points, the “Heavy Scyk” Interceptor Title allows you to add one of three possible upgrade icons to your upgrade bar: missile, torpedo, or cannon.
While the Scyk’s speed and agility give it a good chance of getting in close to its target to deliver a payload of Cluster Missiles or fire an Advanced Proton Torpedo, it’s the heavy Scyk’s ability to wield a cannon that really maximizes its versatility and buys it a unique place in your Scum squadrons.
Imagine, for just twenty-three squad points, your heavy Scyk could wield the Heavy Laser Cannon from the Slave I™ Expansion Pack and serve as a menacing flanker, capable of battering foes with attacks of four dice from Range 2–3.
However, that’s just the beginning, especially since the M3-A Interceptor Expansion Pack comes with three different cannons, two of which are new to the game.

	A heavy Scyk could equip an Ion Cannon for as few as nineteen squad points. This option increases the number of attack dice the ship rolls, from two to three. While the Ion Cannon can’t deal more than a single damage in one shot, it negates the defender’s bonus defense die at Range 3, and it adds an element of control to your ship and squad that very likely enhances the effectiveness of your remaining eighty-one squad points… especially if the rest of your squad includes ace HWK-290 pilot Dace Bonearm.
	Alternatively, the “Mangler” Cannon is an excellent option for any squad built to concentrate its fire on a single target, blast through its shields, and remove it from the battle. While the “Mangler” Cannon doesn’t increase your odds of scoring damage, directly, it does significantly increase your odds of ensuring that the damage you deal goes further toward crippling your foe, either with a Direct Hit or another devastating effect like Weapon Malfunction.
	Meanwhile, the Flechette Cannon offers an attack and effect comparable to that of the Ion Cannon, but it costs just two squad points and doesn’t deal an ion token to its target. Instead, any unstressed ship hit by a Flechette Cannon receives one stress token.

While the unmodified Scyk is a quick and efficient fighter capable of avoiding enemy fire long enough to make an impact in battle, the heavy Scyk’s ability to equip any of these cannons – or missiles, or a torpedo – ensures that you’ll be able to field your Scyk in whatever way best suits your squadron and strategy.
Better to Be Slippery Than Dead
While the heavy Scyk’s cannons, torpedoes, and missiles can greatly increase your Scum squadron’s firepower, the M3-A interceptor’s ace pilots can significantly bolster its defenses.
In our earlier previews, we’ve stressed how aggressive and selfish the Scum faction’s pilots are. We’ve looked at how some of them steal tokens from their rivals or deflect damage to their wingmates, and we’ve explored how many of their abilities work best when they fly out of formation.
However, as much as we’ve stressed how selfish these pilots are, we’ve also stressed how much they’re focused on self-preservation, and the M3-A interceptor’s aces stress this latter theme more than the others, as their unique pilot abilities do less to further boost the firepower their ship can gain through its upgrades and do more to ensure they can survive multiple rounds of combat in a fighter with no more combined hull and shielding than a TIE/ln.
For instance, elusive pilot Laetin A’shera gains one evade token each time he successfully evades an incoming attack. Accordingly, he excels in situations where your Scyks may be called upon to race toward a number of opposing ships flying in formation or in which he may have to whittle down the defenses of a ship like the Firespray-31 or YT-1300 that can call upon a Gunner to launch a secondary attack whenever its first attack fails to connect. Typically, these Gunner-enabled attacks catch ships after their defensive tokens have been stripped away, but that will never be the case for Laetin A’shera.
If you give him a Stealth Device, he may even prove so slippery that your opponent will simply focus his attacks elsewhere… even if Laetin A’shera is launching attacks of four dice each with his Heavy Laser Cannon.
Meanwhile, despite the fact that most Scum pilots look upon formation tactics with an attitude approaching disdain, Serissu encourages them. The most skilled of the Scyk pilots, Serissu spends most of her time training other pilots, so it’s only natural that she wants to help them survive, especially if it that increases her chances of survival, as well.
Since Serissu’s ability works for her allies, but not for herself, she benefits from making herself as small and slippery a target as possible. Give her a Stealth Device and flank her with wingmates that each present far more enticing targets; when you present your opponent with the choice of firing at a three-agility ship that can fire at you from Range 3 for four dice or a four-agility ship that only attacks for two dice, you ensure that there’s no satisfying outcome for your opponent’s attacks.
In X-Wing, you never want to overlook any means of forcing or luring your opponent into making suboptimal decisions in the heat of battle.
Whatever You Want It to Be
With its speed, agility, and heavily customizable firepower, the M3-A “Scyk” interceptor more than compensates for its minimal hull and shields. Moreover, there’s the fact that you can configure it to play very nearly any role within your squadron that you desire.
Remember, the Hutts were feared throughout the galaxy for a reason, and the starfighter that formed the spine of their fleet was a good part of that reason. The time is fast approaching when you’ll be able to field your own Scum fleet, and you’ll do well to follow the Hutts’ example and consider how the Scyk can play its part.
In the meantime, as you wait for the release of the M3-A Interceptor Expansion pack and the other X-Wing Wave VI expansions, join the other fans on our community forums and discuss how you plan to incorporate your Scyk into your Scum squadrons!

Cold, Metal and Evil

“You want me to describe the inside of IG-2000? It’s cold and metal and a little bit of evil. Just like its pilot.”
–Dash Rendar

What makes X-Wing™ such a compelling game?

There are any number of different factors that you could cite. There are the game’s meticulously detailed and pre-painted miniatures. You have the inherent drama of dice rolls and the strategy involved in maximizing your odds. You can field squadrons from some of the galaxy’s most iconic starships. Then, you can pilot them with such heroes as Luke Skywalker and Han Solo, or with such notorious villains as Darth Vader and Boba Fett.

However, once you really fall in love with the game, few thrills top that of executing the perfect maneuver. If you get it all right, you might fly past the enemy ships, slam through a hard Koiogran-turn, and catch your target right in your sights. Or you might fly in from the side and catch your target dead-to-rights, even as you’re completely outside his firing arc.

Getting it right, though, is a matter of both skill and knowledge. When you lock your ship’s maneuver into its maneuver dial, you need to both correctly anticipate your opponent’s maneuvers and judge the distance that your ship will travel. This means that you want, at least, a practical understanding of your ship’s maneuvers and an awareness of the maneuvers your opponent’s ships can execute.

Of course, some ships have more potential maneuvers than others, making them more exciting to fly and harder to anticipate. One of these ships is the Aggressor, the starship included in the IG-2000 Expansion Pack.






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In this example, IG-88C uses his Advanced Sensors to perform a boost action before revealing a three-speed Segnor’s Loop. Realizing his maneuver (shown in red) would fail to catch the X-wing within his firing arc, IG-88C uses IG-88D’s ability to perform a three-turn Sengor’s Loop (green), which catches the X-wing in arc, allowing him to shoot for the kill.

Behind the Scenes with the Galaxy's Scum and Villainy X-Wing's Developers Take a Look at the Game's Third Faction

X-Wing | Published 23 January 2015

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As Civil War rages throughout the galaxy and the battles of X-Wing™ continue to pit daring Rebels against disciplined Imperial pilots, a third faction waits for its time to strike. Led by such notorious figures as Boba Fett and Prince Xizor, the galaxy’s Scum and Villainy will soon bring new ships, new abilities, and new excitement to X-Wing players everywhere.
As we continue to look forward to the release of the first four Scum expansions, the game’s developers, Alex Davy and Frank Brooks, offer their take on the faction’s introduction, including why it’s a natural fit for X-Wing and what the faction offers the game. They conclude by offering a couple of sample lists that illustrate how differently the faction’s squadrons may look, even as they share a focus on the faction’s penchant for dirty tricks and illegal technology.
Developers Alex Davy and Frank Brooks on the Scum and Villainy Faction
Why create a third faction for the X-Wing miniatures game? 
Since the announcement of the Scum and Villainy faction at Gen Con Indy 2014, we’ve been asked that question numerous times by fans who are excited, trepidatious, or just plain curious. 
One of the most compelling reasons is thematic. The faction offers a fitting home to the Star Wars galaxy’s most notorious bounty hunters, pirates, and Black Sun agents. When we watched the movies as kids, the galaxy’s scum etched themselves into our imaginations through a handful of memorable scenes: amid the filthy opulence of Jabba’s palace, in a dark Mos Eisley cantina full of weird and nefarious aliens, and on the deck of an Imperial-class Star Destroyer, where six sinister bounty hunters met with the Dark Lord of the Sith, their rag-tag equipment and disdain for discipline contrasting sharply with the surrounding signs of the Empire’s military precision. These Scum generally do their best to remain outside the conflicts of the Galactic Civil War, except for when it’s profitable to become involved. Still, they form an integral part of the Star Wars universe, exerting profound influence over the lives of millions, including many of the Rebel Alliance’s greatest heroes.
In X-Wing, the Scum & Villainy faction gives players the opportunity to interact with these characters and the seedy fringes of a galaxy at war. The criminal underground even intersects directly with the protagonists of the Star Wars galaxy: Han was hunted throughout the original trilogy by a score of ruthless bounty hunters throughout, while in Shadows of the Empire, Luke, Leia, Lando, and Dash Rendar had to contend with machinations of the cruel and calculating Prince Xizor. As we see them, the Scum faction’s rogues, villains, bounty hunters, and criminals are a quintessential part of the Star Wars universe, and it’s thrilling to bring them into the game.
What does this mean for the X-Wing? New stuff! New ships, new characters, new scenarios, and new ways to play. With such a rich thematic vein to mine, inspiration came easily, and the result is a third faction with an entirely different feel.
Dirty Tricks and Illegal Technology
In X-Wing, the Rebel Alliance focuses on teamwork and defense, and it features a high ratio of shielded ships and synergistic pilot abilities. The Galactic Empire has no such concern for its pilots, which means its dogfighters run the gamut from cheap cannon fodder to elite, fragile offensive powerhouses whose pilots rely purely on their own abilities for survival. 
Meanwhile, the hotshot pilots of the Scum and Villainy faction represent a loose coalition of ruthless individuals whose motivations happen to temporarily align. Formation flying is rare, self-sacrifice unheard of, and pilots must pay nearly as much attention to their supposed allies as to their foes. Among the Scum, you can never be certain that some unstable mercenary won’t have packed his ship full of thermal detonators. Still, what they lack in military discipline and raw pilot skill they make up for with dirty tricks, highly illegal technology, unpredictable maneuvers, and some of the finest and wildest starships that money can buy.
These tricks, technological advances, and maneuvers lead directly to an increased diversity among the squads available to X-Wing players. This is important because asymmetrical competitive thrive on diversity. The more viable lists and strategies that exist, the more varied and exciting the gameplay.
Variety is something at which the Scum’s loose cannons are going to excel, and we have put together a couple of sample lists to illustrate the point.
Dual Aggressors
Alex’s list features one of his favorite Star Wars characters, the cold and merciless assassin droid, IG-88.
   IG-88A (36)
      Predator (3)
      Advanced Sensors (3)
      Proximity Mines (3)
      Shield Upgrade (4)
      Inertial Dampeners (1)
      IG-2000 (0)
   IG-88C (36)
      Predator (3)
      Advanced Sensors (3)
      Proximity Mines (3)
      Shield Upgrade (4)
      Inertial Dampeners (1)
      IG-2000 (0)
   Total Squad Points: 100
A two-ship list is a huge gamble, especially when you’re relying exclusively on a forward firing arc, but IG-88 can do things that other pilots can only dream about.
With their native boost actions, Advanced Sensors, and access to both a K-turn and the Segnor’s Loop maneuver, these Aggressors are masters of repositioning. Advanced Sensors allows them to perform a boost action before executing a maneuver, which means you can angle your K-turn or Segnor’s loop in jaw-dropping ways.
Thanks to IG-88C and the IG-2000 Title, both ships in the list get an evade token each time they boost, and Predator helps ensure the ship’s shot doesn’t go to waste. Proximity Mines are also made more flexible by Advanced Sensors, allowing them to be dropped either before or after the Aggressor performs a maneuver, making them an ideal tool for dealing with fragile, high pilot skill enemies like TIE phantoms and TIE interceptors. Against a swarm of enemy ships, which is easily this list’s toughest matchup, IG-88A’s ability to provide shield regeneration can help the droids weather the storm. Then, Inertial Dampeners add an extra dash of unpredictability to an already versatile list. 
This is one of my favorite ways to fly dual IG-88s, but the fantastic thing about this ship is how many different options it provides. With a dial chock full of green maneuvers, Push the Limit is an excellent choice, and Advanced Sensors can be swapped out for Accuracy Corrector, allowing IG-88 to focus and evade for defense, secure in the knowledge that he will roll at least two hits with his attack. Adrenaline Rush, Advanced Sensors, and IG-88D make for even crazier K-turn possibilities, and Expert Handling gives you access to a large ship with both boost an barrel roll!
Thugs and Pirates
Frank’s list features one HWK-290, two Z-95 Headhunters, and two Y-wings. Though all of these ships can also be flown by the Rebel Alliance, the list has a distinctive feel when flown in the Scum faction.
   Torkil Mux (19)
      Ion Cannon Turret (5)
      Dead Man’s Switch (2)
      Engine Upgrade (4)
   Binayre Pirate (12)
      Dead Man’s Switch (2)
   Binayre Pirate (12)
      Dead Man’s Switch (2)
   Syndicate Thug (18)
      Autoblaster Turret (2)
      Unhinged Astromech (1)
   Syndicate Thug (18)
      Autoblaster Turret (2)
      Unhinged Astromech (1)
   Total Squad Points: 100
This list attempts to leverage as much as it can off of Torkil Mux’s ability. By reducing an enemy’s pilot skill to “0,” Torkil Mux allows for his entire squadron to attack the targeted ship before it can attack back. To that effect, this list gets away with paying the minimum price for pilot skill, thereby leaving room for several utility upgrades.
Bidding low on pilot skill leads to some other benefits, too. The Binayre Pirates, with their pilot skill values of “1,” can maneuver early and block enemy flight paths, pinning down ships for the Syndicate Thugs to target with their Autoblaster Turrets. Additionally, as the battlefield becomes more crowded and chaotic, the list’s liberal use of Dead Man’s Switches may force your opponent into some truly difficult play decisions.
Whereas a Rebel squad that features the same ships would most likely fly in formation, those tactics are unwise in this list as taking down one of the Z-95 Headhunters with Dead Man’s Switch could very easily injure the other. Accordingly, this list requires a bit of finesse to fly, especially since the Y-wings have to get very close in order to be their most effective. That’s why the Unhinged Astromechs allow for the Y-wings to move more unpredictably. Additionally, the list’s emphasis on Torkil Mux means that he has a rather large target on his head, so you need to be very careful with him. Try to fly erratically and use his boost from the Engine Upgrade to get out of arcs and at Range 1–2 of his prey.
Of course, these lists demonstrate just a couple of the many new squadrons the faction provides, and we hope you will enjoy experimenting with the galaxy’s Scum and Villainy as much as we have!

It is the future you see


World Champion Paul Heaver on the Scum and Villainy of X-Wing™

“Always in motion is the future.”
    –Yoda
X-Wing™ fans, take heed! The galaxy’s Scum and Villainy are headed to your tabletops and X-Wing games late next week!
Given a jump start by the sixth wave of X-Wing starship expansions, the Scum and Villainy faction will soon contest the Imperial Navy and Rebel Alliance for control of some of the galaxy’s most lucrative sectors. For the past few months, we’ve taken a look at what this faction’s ships and upgrades have to offer the game. Today, two-time World Champion Paul Heaver takes a look at the impact that all these ships and upgrades, taken together, may have upon the ever-evolving metagame.

World Champion Paul Heaver on the Post-Scum Metagame

As we look forward to the introduction of the new Scum and Villainy faction, we X-Wing players face an unusual situation. The sheer number of pilots and upgrades presents a dizzying array of options, and it’s hard to know where to start building squads for the new metagame. This article will explain some of what I expect we’ll see as popular archetypes as the new ships are released.
As each new wave is released, I try to figure out how the new cards will fit into the current metagame. I currently classify most ships into three “pillars”, as I call them:

• Turrets: Turret ships tend to be durable and can always keep fire on a target. They also tend to be expensive compared to other ships that have the same number of attack dice. They prey on arc-dodgers. Han Solo , Dash Rendar , and the VT-49 Decimator pilots are popular.
  

• Jousters: Joust ships all sport the best durability-to-cost or attack-to-cost ratios in the game. Almost always, they are flown by non-unique pilots that you point at the opposing side and fire. They don’t have many tricks, but it’s hard to beat them point-for-point for health, agility, or red dice. They tend to beat turrets. This pillar is dominated by TIE fighters, Z-95 Headhunters, and B-wings.
  

• Arc-dodgers: Arc-dodgers cost more than the jousters, and will crumble under focused fire. However, they excel at avoid jousting ships’ firing arcs and can chew up most jousters over a number of turns. They almost always have some sort of nonstandard movement available to them, such as decloak, boost, or barrel rolls. The TIE phantom is this pillar’s current ruler.
  

Few lists are composed solely of ships belonging all to the same pillar. Usually, the best lists balance synergies between mixed ship types. My World Championship list had a turret backed up by a few jousters, for example. The list I beat in the finals was an arc-dodger with a strong jousting component. Most lists that you see in high-end tournament play feature only the best ships from these three categories, with other ships that don’t fit in falling behind.
Wave V increased the power of turret ships, as the YT-2400 and VT-49 Decimator arrived on the scene. In the current metagame, arc-dodging has gotten more difficult. You can also find more two-ship builds than ever before, as the new ships have a hefty point cost associated with them. We can begin our exploration of how the X-Wing metagame might change by asking the question: how will the new upgrades from Wave VI fit into the current metagame?
For the most part, they won’t fit into the current power builds. Few of the upgrades are playable outside of the Scum faction, but these few will still make a splash. Rather than further elevating the current power builds, these upgrades will lend greater strength to squads that have recently taken a hit.
The first of these upgrades is Autothrusters . I imagine that every TIE interceptor and A-wing will be equipped with these, and I expect these ships to see more play. These arc-dodging ships will survive longer against, and inflict more damage upon, the turrets that prey on them. The next is the Mangler Cannon , which will be used by the Outrider to remove the “donut hole” that their Heavy Laser Cannons gave them. At thirty-nine points, a Wild Space Fringer with Outrider and a Mangler Cannon is the cheapest three-attack, Range 1–3 turret you can find. For the jousting ships, the Y-wing might make a comeback. It was seen in Rebel swarms as a durable cheap ship, but it has fallen out of favor. With the new BTL-A4 Title, you can add an ion shot to the standard attack at a reasonable price.
So each pillar gets at least one new card to add to their ships, but none of them add to the most popular ship in the category. This is great because it adds more options to your Rebel and Imperial lists, and more variety in each round of an event.
And that’s before even considering the Scum cards!

Competitive Scum and Villainy Squadrons

The Scum faction is great at tailoring a ship for the role you want it to play. They have more upgrade slots, and their illicit and Salvaged Astromech slots are unique to their ships. As such, it’s very hard to place them into neat categories, which fits the faction’s style. For example, look at a Binayre Pirate with a "Hot Shot" Blaster ; it’s a jouster that can double as a turret for a round.
Serissu with Elusiveness and a Stealth Device combines well with five Binayre Pirates with “Hot Shot” Blasters. This squad has less aggression than a typical swarm, but it forces your opponents into hard choices. Will they fire at the four-agility Elusive M3-A interceptor at long range, or will they slowly fight through your defensive rerolls to take down the more threatening ships?
Likewise, I think a lot of the first Scum lists are going to be one or two named ships, with a contingent of smaller ships such as Z-95 Headhunters or M3-A interceptors to back them up. It’s a solid start to try out the faction, as you can see what your anchor ships can do, while using the accompanying rabble to add more health and damage. Still, the faction can’t really support the brute force squads like the TIE swarm or the Rebel swarm of four B-wings and one Z-95 Headhunter. The Scum need to use their unique tricks.
The anchor ship can vary based on what you want to do with it. The StarViper, preferably with Virago and Advanced Sensors , can end up just about anywhere. Guri , loaded down with Push the Limit , Virago, Autothrusters, Advanced Sensors, and Inertial Dampeners , is extremely hard to pin down. You can then support this arc-dodger with such allies as three Cartel Spacers with "Heavy Scyk" Interceptor Titles and Mangler Cannons.
The Firespray-31 also works great as an anchor ship. All of the new pilots are good at what they do, and one loaded Firespray-31 plus a few Headhunters is a solid build. With an Illicit slot added to its already impressive array of upgrades, this ship can easily fulfill many different roles. Kath Scarlet loaded with an Engine Upgrade , Push the Limit, and K4 Security Droid flies a lot differently than Emon Azzameen with Experimental Interface , the Andrasta Title and three Proximity Mines !
The Aggressor is almost never going to be seen as a lone anchor ship. This ship works best in pairs, each with the IG-2000 Title. Or, in epic games, use all four! With the large number of green moves and actions on its action bar, I suspect Push the Limit will be a popular upgrade, as well as Advanced Sensors, which will let you boost before performing a Segnor's Loop . Your style of play varies wildly depending which two Aggressors you bring: IG-88A and IG-88B are more offensively oriented, while IG-88C and IG-88D are more defensive. However, with all the points you’ll be spending on these ships, you can’t fit much else.
I suspect that the faction’s Y-wings and HWK-290s will be used as support, when you don’t feel like filling your anchor list with more Z-95 Headhunters or cannon-toting M3-A interceptors. Both offer excellent options, but aren’t quite powerful enough to “star” as the sole anchor of a list. Both ships perform excellently with Engine Upgrades and a turret, to dodge arcs and fire unanswered with the shorter range turrets that they carry.
Take Kavil with an Autoblaster Turret , Engine Upgrade, Push the Limit, and Unhinged Astromech as an example. He flies like a TIE interceptor, and can generally roll three attack dice whose hits can’t be cancelled. He doesn’t cost much either; you can still pair him with a Mandalorian Mercenary with Gunner and two Black Sun Soldiers .
If you want to shoot elite targets down more easily, Torkhil Mux is worth consideration. With an Ion Cannon Turret , Intelligence Agent , and an Engine Upgrade, he can get into range and weaken his target enough for a Predator -equipped Firespray-31 to finish it off.
So that’s what I suspect we’ll see in the Wave VI metagame: the few changes to the pillars of Rebel and Imperial play will spur some of the less popular ships to new life, and the Scum faction will favor the use of one or two anchors, plus a handful of small ships. However, this still leaves a lot of room for variety, and I suspect the games you play against Scum players will be vastly different, based on the pilots and upgrades they choose!
Thanks, Paul!
X-Wing Wave VI arrives at retailers late next week. What will your Scum squadrons look like? Will you run a single “anchor” ship? Will you run dual Aggressors? Do you have a completely different list in mind? As you wait for Wave VI to hit your favorite local retailer, head over to our community forums, and share your builds with the rest of our X-Wing community!

“This bounty hunter is my kind of scum, fearless and inventive.”
    –Jabba the Hutt
Bounty hunters, illicit technology, Salvaged Astromechs, pirates, and Black Sun operatives. The sixth wave of X-Wing™ starship expansions has arrived!

• Most Wanted Expansion Pack
  
• StarViper Expansion Pack
  
• M3-A Interceptor Expansion Pack
  
• IG-2000 Expansion Pack
  

Now available at retailers everywhere, X-Wing Wave VI marks the introduction of the game’s third faction, the galaxy’s Scum and Villainy, a collection of individuals loosely bound by their shady business endeavors.
Ultimately, the whole wave reflects the fact that this new faction’s pilots are less interested in teamwork and collective victories than personal gain. Their unique pilot abilities encourage different types of squadrons than those commonly employed by Rebel and Imperial players, as do their new starships, illicit upgrades, and Salvaged Astromechs.

New Faction. New Style.

The members of the Scum and Villainy faction may not be the most cooperative or disciplined military force in the galaxy, but their myriad tricks are certain to cause all manner of trouble for the game’s Rebel and Imperial pilots. Likewise, their arrival is destined to shake up the X-Wing metagame, opening the way for all sorts of new squads to make inroads in tournament and casual play.
Several pilots, specifically, are destined to make major impacts upon the game, even when they don’t appear on the table:

Torkhil Mux is likely to change the very nature of the pilot skill “bidding war.” As two-time World Champion Paul Heaver explains it, “In most cases, the ideal pilot skill value is one higher than whatever your opponent is fielding. But spending squad points to hit that ideal pilot skill is a gambit that can fail if your opponent has pilots with higher skill than yours, or simply doesn’t bother to ‘bid’ on pilot skill and just sticks with the minimum skill levels.”  As a HWK-290 pilot with a low pilot skill – and commensurate cost – Torkhil Mux is a cheap bid for pilot skill; however, he also nullifies much of the benefit your opponent seeks to get by investing his points into his pilots’ pilot skill values. At the end of the Activation phase, he can reset one enemy pilot’s skill to “0” until the end of the Combat phase, meaning that even though your opponent bid higher for pilot skill values, your ships get to fire first.

Emon Azzameen is another pilot who’s likely to shake up the metagame. In his Andrasta , Emon Azzameen is almost without peer as a bomber. Like any pilot capable of delivering a payload of Seismic Charges or Proximity Mines , he can use the “1” straight template; however, Emon Azzameen may instead choose to use the “3” straight template or either “3” turn template. The option to use these alternate templates to drop his bombs gives Emon Azzameen much greater control over their impact on the battlefield (as shown below), and that means that X-Wing players are likely to see more bombs on the battlefield than ever before.

Finally, the arrival of IG-88 is likely to spur a dramatic rise in the number of two-fighter squad builds. Not only do the four iterations of IG-88 all pilot the fast, durable, and hard-hitting Aggressor, but if they upgrade their Aggressors with the IG-2000 Title, they also become the first pilots able to share pilot abilities. This means that in squads that run two Aggressors with the IG-2000 Title, you can mix-and-match the four different IG-88 pilot abilities, pairing such elements as IG-88B ’s built-in “ Gunner ” ability with IG-88C ’s free evade action. Or you could pair IG-88A ’s ability to regain shields after eliminating foes with IG-88D in order to gain extra maneuvers on your maneuver dial. However you choose to partner IG-88’s unique pilot abilities, these dual-Aggressor builds add an all-new form of customization to your squads.
Of course, those are just a few examples of the many, many ways that the Scum and Villainy faction and its pilots are likely to change the game. Throughout our previews, we’ve explored even more of the ways that the Scum and Villainy faction will utilize their starships, illicit upgrades, and unique pilot abilities.

Read Our Previews for More Information

• In “Illicit Dealings,” we looked at the two new upgrade types unique to the Scum and Villainy faction, the illicit upgrade and the Salvaged Astromech. By offering a distinctive range of dirty, aggressive, and expensive tricks, these upgrades go a long way toward establishing the faction’s overall intent and feel.
  
• In “The Galaxy’s Most Wanted, Part One” and “The Galaxy’s Most Wanted, Part Two,” you can read about how the Most Wanted Expansion Pack, its ships, upgrades, and pilots give the faction and its dirty tricks a massive jump start, helping it quickly get up to speed against the established powers of the Rebel and Imperial fleets.
  
• In “Lethal Ambitions,” we looked at the StarViper-class attack platform and its renowned creator, Prince Xizor
  
• In “Intercept and Destroy,” we explored the many ways that Scum fleets might deploy the versatile M3-A “Scyk” interceptor. A light, but highly customizable, starfighter, the “Scyk” can be flown in large groups, or it can be outfitted with the "Heavy Scyk" Interceptor Title and utilize a cannon like the "Mangler" Cannon or Ion Cannon to confront enemy fleets.
  
• In “Cold, Metal, and Evil,” we looked at the IG-2000 Expansion Pack, its deadly Aggressor, the ship’s maneuver dial, the four unique versions of IG-88, the IG-2000 Title, and the expansion’s other upgrades. Not only is the Aggressor the first large-base starfighter to feature an inherent boost action, it’s also one of only two large-base starships in the game with only a forward firing arc. Still, while the other such starship, the Lambda-class shuttle, is notorious for its sluggish maneuver dial, the Aggressor is a surprisingly fast and maneuverable vessel, and the preview looks at some of the ways its maneuverability is likely to make it both a challenge and a joy to field in battle.
  

• Finally, in “Behind the Scenes with the Galaxy’s Scum and Villainy” and “It Is the Future You See,” the game’s developers and two-time World Champion Paul Heaver take turns offering their takes on the Scum faction and providing us with some sample squad builds to consider.
  

Do Not Underestimate Them

“You can either profit by this or be destroyed. It’s your choice.”
    –Luke Skywalker
X-Wing Wave VI is here. The Scum and Villainy faction is here. You can dive into the heart of the Galactic Civil War, or you can try to make a profit in the fringes of the galaxy. It’s your choice.
Head to your local retailer to pick up your X-Wing Wave VI expansions today!