As with the last points change, I have a lot more to say about the points adjustment. In this series of articles I plan to break down the faction and the upgrades to dissect what was accomplished by the points change of June 2019. Should FFG see these articles, I hope that they appreciate them as honest constructive feedback and not some random Internet person nay-saying them. In this article, we will look into the guns for hire of the Star Wars universe, the Scum Faction. I will probably be a bit more in depth on this article as Scum is my home faction, and despite recent showings at World’s, Scum is one of the factions that seems to need the most love. For reference, our points change evaluation for the January 2019 update can be found here.

The Ships

To start us off, I will dissect each and every ship chassis and their pilots. I may make some comments about upgrade prices as some of them drastically effect a ship’s usefulness (mostly the titles). Each ship will have a verdict applied to it grading the changes or lack of changes.

Brobots B through D all got a single point drop which is helpful. IG-C could probably drop down to B and D’s price. IGs are at the cusp of good. I feel like one solid cannon will get them into the game, so if prices drop on those, perhaps we will see more IG’s. Verdict: Good

Kavil went up in price, but really could go right back down that 1 point. Drea Renthal justifiably went up as she provided a greater range of rerolls than Howlrunner, but was much more durable. With Veteran Turret Gunner and Dorsal Turrets going back up, the generics are fine at their price point. Verdict: Decent

The Scum Falcon was one of the few decently priced large bases at launch. It seems a little lackluster at this point as 2 die turrets just don’t seem to hurt much at all, but dropping the price wouldn’t be a good move because you don’t want to make 3 shields and 8 hull too cheap. As it is, it’s just a chunky TIE fighter. Verdict: Fine

The Escape Craft has fallen from the glory of being the best support ship, but not without warrant. However, Lando and the Outer Rim Pioneer sticking with their January points increase feels wrong. Lando almost always took Tactical Officer, as it synergized decently with his ability, so he already had a crew tax, and the ORP doesn’t see much play and has decreased in usefulness because too many folks take Gas Clouds. Drop them both by 1 point. Verdict: Decent

I can’t think of any pilot that feels more appropriately priced than Old Teroch. He just feels right, but the rest of the Fang Fighters not getting point changes was an oversight. Kad should probably drop 1 point to help him see some game time. Joy Rekkoff should cost the same as a Skull Squadron Pilot as that is all she is without 6 points of torpedoes. We have precedent for this with the I4 named Silencer pilot Recoil costing the same as the I4 generic First Order Test Pilot. Drop the Skull Squadron Pilot down to either 48 or 49 points. Also, give this chassis a modification slot, as Afterburners or a Shield Upgrade would help this ship out greatly. If the worry is Afterburners providing double reposition with passive modifications on a three die primary, Delta 7 Jedi shouldn’t exist as they do just that.

I’m still going to advocate for Fenn Rau dropping in price despite decent performances at Worlds, as he still costs 1 more point than Vader, who is a stronger ace than Fenn. If the chassis gets a mod slot, he might be fine staying at the same price, but without it, he should drop 1 or 2 points. Adding Afterburners would likely get him into real Ace territory. Verdict: Poor

Side Note: The super mega hyper galactic threat that was the Nantex may have been overhyped by some, but the Fang Fighter is the natural prey of the Geonosian Starfighter. Fangs really only excel at range 1, and they cannot be range 1 of a Nantex with Ensnare without being punished.

The Firespray, despite having a great chassis, doesn’t see a lot of game time. Boba seems to be the only one to pull his weight, but his cost doesn’t leave much room for toys or other ships in the list. Kath Scarlett should drop 2 points to 70 points as her ability isn’t super strong, and the other named pilots should drop by 1 point. Krassis and Emon particularly need adjustments since taking upgrades is mandatory to utilize their abilities. Verdict: Poor

The G1-A Starfighter saw no changes in this point change, and that is probably fine. 4-LOM is still a good addition to most lists, and I would not drop Zuckuss or the Gand Findsman any lower. Verdict: Good

Dace Bonearm going down another point is probably a good move as he doesn’t see game time. Torkil went down, but should go right back up and then some as his worth has been proven in several lists (particularly the Cartel Marauder swarm). Palob could drop down a hair as the prevalence of both calculate and force, both of which he cannot steal, makes him less useful. Verdict: Decent, yet poor considering the title

Twice I have lamented the Jumpmaster in our blogs Death of a Bounty Hunter and Sigh… let’s talk about the Jumpmaster, and despite FFG giving it a good effort with price drops and adding a gunner slot, the ship just doesn’t hack it. I don’t think the gunner slot has helped much, as most of the pilots don’t get much from most of the gunners except Agile Gunner (which is pricey). Greedo and Hotshot Gunner are only strong on Dengar, and Han gunner and Bossk gunner both stress the ship, which is very problematic with the sub-par dial.

Working with the tools we have, I hesitantly put forward the suggestion to remove the gunner slot and add the sensor slot in its place. It would give Dengar some punch with FCS, but the hesitation comes from the fear of Advanced Sensors Jumpmasters potentially becoming fantastic blockers; a pre-maneuver barrel roll would be strong, and once you establish the block, focusing or locking before bumping would be strong as well. This would also enable Passive Sensor torpedoes for the lower initiatives. Both of these have shades of NPEs of Christmas Past, so this may not be the avenue to go. Maybe add a second crew slot instead?

Assuming none of the slots change, Dengar should drop 2 points, as he inexplicably still costs more than Scum Han. You could drop the others down more, as well, but you really don’t gain much from this as it isn’t the points that are the problem, but rather the 2 die primary and the dial that are holding it back. Verdict: The Worst, despite good efforts

FFG utilized my idea of dropping a mod slot for another illicit! If Scum ever get strong illicits that could help this ship. The only K-fighters worth their salt are the generic Cartel Maruaders that went down 2 points to 38. They should probably go back up by 1. Talonbane is decent but likely didn’t drop due to his performance in Old Para’s Ketsu, Talonbane, and Old T list at Adepticon. He should drop to Thane Kyrell’s price point of 48 points. All the others went down by 1, but Viktor and Graz should drop another point. Verdict: Not bad, but also not good

All Lancers but Ketsu went down by two, again likely due to Ketsu’s participation in Old Para’s list. The ship has the strength of a 3 die forward arc to make up for the 2 die mobile arc, giving it an advantage over the other large base Scum turrets. Asajj did not receive a change but should have. She will be the only force-using pilot across all of the factions (maybe Kylo) that I will recommend a price drop for. Keep it minor, maybe 1 or 2 points. Sabine would be a really good ship if her ability also worked on offense, but as she is, she should drop 2. Maybe a 1 point drop for the generic, as well.

Again, I’ll suggest a gunner slot for this chassis. Ketsu rolling with Veteran Turret Gunner and the Shadowcaster title would be strong and helps counteract the nerf that tractor tokens just received. Asajj utilizing BT-1 gunner and Lattz crew seems decent with scummy overtones. Any of the ships could benefit from Han or Bossk gunners as this ship clears stress fairly well. Unlike the Jumpmaster, there is a good justification for a gunner on almost any one of the pilots. Verdict: Another step in the right direction

The Kimogila got drops all around, but it didn’t help them all very much. Torani moved into the usable range, especially with Snap Shot being introduced into the game. Dalan dropped by 2 but has a useless ability against anything but a Upsilon (and the upcoming huge ships), so he can drop another 2 points. The generic Cartel Executioner dropped by 1, but could drop another. The ship is a munitions carrier, but with a 3 die primary, the only good munition for it is the proton torpedo, which is just to costly to put on this ship. The red barrel roll and the inability to take an R4 astromech really hampers the maneuverability of this ship. Verdict: Good, but still needs some love

The M3-A Scyk Interceptor received no changes in the recent point change which is objectively bad. If we compare the M3-A to another ship with the same stat line and action bar, the TIE/FO, we can see how imbalanced the price for these ships are. The FO has a better dial, with 3 hards and blue 2 hards, a better faction talent for the chassis in Fanatical, and a tech slot. The M3-A does have the 1 bank and the weapons hardpoint, but I think the FO edges the M3-A out slightly as a better ship. Despite that, if we look at the chart below…

I6 •“Midnight” 43 I5 •Commander Malarus 39 •Serissu 40 I4 •“Scorch” 34 •Genesis Red 34 •“Static” 34 I3 •“Longshot” 32 •Laetin A’shera 33 •Quinn Jast 34 Omega Squadron Ace 29 Tansarii Point Veteran 32 I2 •“Muse” 31 •Inaldra 31 •TN-3465 29 Zeta Squadron Pilot 27 I1 •Lieutenant Rivas 28 •Sunny Bounder 30 Epsilon Squadron Cadet 26 Cartel Spacer 28 I0 •“Null” 31

…with the exception of Genesis Red and Inaldra, all of the FO are cheaper usually by 2 points. Pilot abilities are not 1 to 1 comparisons, but certainly not every M3-A pilot is better than their FO counterpart. With all that said, I don’t think most of TIE/FO are in a good place, meaning that the M3-A is in a worse spot. Verdict: Bad, needs a two point drop almost across the board

Every Mining Guild TIE stayed at the same price, and despite Captain Seevor outclassing any M-3A and despite his strength, I think him staying at 30 points is right. He’s annoying as hell, but he doesn’t put damage in very well. Proach should drop to 30, especially with the nerf to tractor tokens. Ahhav can drop 2 points until medium and large bases become more prevalent. Also, the I1 Sentry should drop to the price of an I1 Academy. Otherwise, these are solid ships. Verdict: Decent

No changes in the Quadrijet Spacetug was a questionable choice, so I’ll steal my notes from the last adjustment article. Please, gorge yourself on some of my delicious copypasta.

Unkar and Zuvio I can understand, but Sarco Plank has a bad ability that got worse than it was in First Edition since it is no longer immune to Wedge, tractor tokens, Outmaneuver, et cetera. Charging more for Zuvio’s initiative is the wrong direction to go since Quadjumpers largely want to move first. Put all three named pilots at 33 points, and it should be good. Verdict: Needs mild adjustment

The only change in the Scurrg was a 2 point increase in the Lok Revenant. Between that increase and the increases to VTG and either turret, we don’t see many Scurrgs hit the game board. Not bad all around, but with those increases to the upgrades, you could probably drop the Lok back down 1. Verdict: Good

The only change here was another single point increase to Guri despite not making very many strong showings. She suffers from the same problem as Boba Fett: being really good but taking up so much of a list point-wise that she really hampers the rest of the list. I’m not saying she should drop points (I wouldn’t mind), but she needs to stop going up in price.

The generic Vipers, despite making good showings, should not go up in price. I would even advocate for the I2 to drop down to 44 points to match the Imdaar Test Pilot, which has a similar wonkiness. Xizor and Dalan should probably drop 2 or 3 points as they don’t have super strong abilities. If the StarViper got an illicit slot, Dalan’s ability would be much stronger with Contraband Cybernetics, but until then, it is just decent. Verdict: Needs mild adjustment

Despite another round of point drops for the YV-666, we don’t see much of them around. Perhaps another 1 point drop beyond this last 2 point drop will allow for someone to find some Scum jank to make this ship effective. Verdict: Steps in the right directions

Enjoy another helping of delicious copypasta.

The Z-95 generics seem to be priced a bit higher than their Rebel counterparts, likely because of their Illicit slot, but as that already comes with a cost in whatever upgrade you take, drop both generics by 1. N’dru and Kaa’to could drop 1 each as well since N’dru’s ability only applies to his primary now and Kaa’to’s ability isn’t super great. At the current price, you’ll just take the Escape Craft in its place for better abilities and the ever-so-valuable coordinate. Verdict: Needs mild adjustment

The Upgrades

For this section, I will address each upgrade that made a point change and the upgrades that didn’t see a change that probably should have for this faction.

R5-TK dropping to the First Edition costing of 0 is right. Genius staying at 2 is a bit much since it can only be used on Y-Wings (which rarely use bombs) or a Scurrg with a 4 point title (making this a 6 point astromech on that ship even without adding bombs). R5-P8 could go down 1 point since it only has 3 charges with a 1/4 chance to do nothing and a 1/8 chance to self damage.

IG-88D went down 1 point which is odd as it was good at 4 points, but it is not unwelcome. Maul went up to 12 points, which is bad as he is a more expensive, worse version of Hate. Compared to the fantastic Vader crew which is only 2 points more, it doesn’t make sense. Unkar Plutt is nearly useless so drop him to 1. Chewbacca, Ketsu, and Cad could all do with a single point drop to help them see game time. Maybe Boba crew could drop by 1, but he’s still decent at 4 points.

Bossk costs far too much for a gunner. So much in fact, that I assume most of you don’t even know what he does. Han is still paying dues at 12 points, but could reasonably drop to 10 points to at least put him back into consideration. Greedo should move to variable pricing based on initiative since he is self harming when you have a lower initiative; 1 point for I6-I4, 0 points for I3-I0.

Scum has a lot of titles, 12 in total. Let’s start with the Firespray title first. Marauder should drop down 1, maybe 2, points since the cost of a gunner will likely accompany the title. Slave 1 is great at 2 points. Andrasta at 4 points is decent, but as it requires at least another 3 points of devices to be useful, it should drop another point.

Moldy Crow stayed at 18 points, but it should drop about 3 points. If a pilot is too good good with the title, increase that pilot, not the title. IG-2000 staying at 1 point is still good. The Shadow Caster dropped down to 3, which was good as it is fairly restrictive; needing to be in both the front arc and mobile arc simultaneously means basically only Ketsu will use it. Virago could drop 2 points as it is really just an expensive shield upgrade. I have used the end phase boost a total of one time, and it was only because I was behind a stressed ship in a 1 on 1 situation. The Lando’s Falcon Title could drop to make taking that ship better without lowering the cost of the actual pilots.

And for the Punishing One, a final helping of copypasta.

Ugh. And the Punishing One. At 8 points, the title is a points sink that removes a crew slot and adds one die to one arc. The title has a weird anti-synergy with anything that would make it good. Dengar being able to take Perceptive Copilot or IG-88D crew would be nice since he could potentially modify each shot, but since the title drops crew, he can only mod a 2 die shot. L3-37 could go a long way to improve the dial, but then you drop back down to a 2 die primary. Having crew and an astromech together would make the ship a little more usable as the astromech options are a little lackluster without R4 available. Tel would be fun with “GNK” and an R2 astromech. Overall, this title is just frustrating. Make it 1 or 2 points, and maybe the named JM5K’s might be usable.

Well, there is my diagnosis on the Scum points change. What are your thoughts? Do you agree or disagree? What do you think still needs addressed to be usable? What do you think needs addressed because it is too strong?

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