X-Wing Scum adn Villainy Preview

Lethal Ambitions A Preview of the StarViper Expansion Pack for X-Wing (TM)

X-Wing | Published 24 November 2014

“To contend with Xizor is to lose.”
    –Prince Xizor
In the sixth wave of starship expansions for X-Wing™, the galaxy’s Scum and Villainy take to the stars to defend their territory and their profits. They head to battle in starships loaded with illicit tech, and their pilots number among the galaxy’s most skilled and cutthroat mercenaries. Still, these Scum don’t pose a threat to the game’s Rebels and Imperials because of their technology and their mercenaries; they’re a threat that the other factions cannot ignore because their leaders are incredibly skillful and cunning individuals with insatiable ambitions…
For example, the StarViper Expansion Pack introduces the new StarViper-class attack platform, a deadly starship whose story begins with the ambitions of Prince Xizor.

A 360-degree view of the StarViper-class attack platform

A criminal mastermind and leader of the notorious Black Sun organization, Xizor once numbered among the galaxy’s most ambitious and influential beings. He was cold and calculating, and his rise to power led him over the corpses of numerous enemies. After the Battle of Hoth, his influence rivaled that of even Darth Vader and Emperor Palpatine. As much as he was known for his cunning, Xizor was known for his extravagant tastes and competitive nature, and it was at his behest that MandalMotors designed the StarViper-class attack platform as a fighter that could rival the Empire’s TIE interceptor in speed and agility.
The resulting prototype easily numbered among the galaxy’s most formidable fighters. Named the Virago, it featured dual laser cannons and forward torpedo launchers, along with wings that could fold closed during atmospheric flight and expand during combat for greater maneuverability. Moreover, Xizor installed an extremely advanced targeting system that greatly increased the efficiency of its weapons. In the end, he was pleased enough with the design that he bought the rights to it, ensuring that his ship would be wholly unique within the galaxy.
Later, MandalMotors reacquired the rights to the StarViper-class attack platform, and though the Virago was too expensive for mass-production, they began producing simplified versions of the craft that used less experimental and sophisticated technology.
The StarViper in Battle
In X-Wing, the StarViper-class attack platform is a highly versatile and potent attack ship.
First of all, it boasts a healthy balance of three attack, three agility, four hull, and one shield. These attributes make it one of the game’s strongest small-base fighters and at a base squad point cost that weighs in significantly below the other small-base fighters that might have an advantage over it:

• Flown by a Black Sun Enforcer, the StarViper costs only twenty-five of your available squad points, just four points more than an X-wing’s Rookie Pilot, and it comes with one additional agility, plus the boost and barrel roll actions.
• For seven squad points more than the TIE interceptor’s Alpha Squadron Pilot, the Black Sun Enforcer gains the advantage of one extra hull and a point of shielding; such resilience in a pilot’s ship has often proven the difference between death and victory.
• Though the Empire’s TIE defender is an even more resilient starfighter, its Delta Squadron Pilot costs thirty squadron points, gaining two extra shield for the five-point difference, but losing the boost action, as well as the ability to fly alongside three wingmates in similar ships.

Second, the StarViper features a fully-loaded action bar that comes with four actions: focus, target lock, barrel roll, and boost.

The StarViper-class attack platform’s action bar

Finally, the StarViper is an extremely quick and maneuverable fighter, capable of every bank maneuver in the game, along with tight turns at speeds one and two. More important, though, is the fact that the StarViper abandons the Koiogran-turn in favor of the ability to perform the more versatile Segnor’s Loop maneuver.

The StarViper-class attack platform’s maneuver dial

Unlike the Koiogran-turn, which pilots perform along a straight maneuver template, the Segnor’s Loop maneuver leads a pilot along a left or right bank template before rotating his or her ship 180 degrees. Because each bank maneuver can be mirrored, ships that can perform the Segnor’s Loop gain twice as many options for repositioning themselves at the end of their maneuvers as ships that have to rely upon the Koiogran-turn.
The differences between the Segnor’s Loop and the Koiogran-turn can take on critical importance as a close game draws toward a close and both players’ squads are whittled down to one or two ships. In such circumstances, as starfighters pair off and jockey for shots, the maneuvers of ships that rely upon Koiogran-turns are not only far easier to predict, but they’re easier to block.

In this example, a Rookie Pilot and Black Sun Vigo appear headed toward each other at the beginning of the round. Because the Rookie Pilot’s speed “4” Koiogran-turn would cause its X-wing to overlap the StarViper, the Rebel player has to choose another maneuver.

Caught in a similar situation, though, the Black Sun Vigo is able to perform the Segnor’s Loop, veering either left or right of Luke Skywalker before rotating his StarViper.

With its well-rounded attributes, loaded action bar, and its dynamic maneuver dial, the standard StarViper has everything it needs to spearhead a wide variety of Scum squadrons, but the Virago is even better. A StarViper-class attack platform equipped with the Virago Title gains the illicit and system upgrades for just one squad point. In turn, upgrades like Advanced Sensors and Inertial Dampeners greatly increase your ability to customize your StarViper for use within your squadron.
Prince Xizor and His Bodyguard
The Virago wasn’t the only piece of unique technology at Prince Xizor’s disposal. His ambitions and his power eventually led Xizor toward paranoia, and he commissioned the design of a human replica droid that could serve him as his second in command, a lieutenant whose loyalty would be entirely beyond question. The result was the creation of Guri, a human replica droid and assassin.
In the StarViper Expansion Pack, Guri appears as a unique StarViper pilot with a pilot skill value of five and a unique pilot ability that fits in perfectly with the Scum faction’s aggressive tendencies:
“At the start of the Combat phase, if you are at Range 1 of an enemy ship, you may assign 1 focus token to your ship.”
As versatile as the focus token that it grants, Guri’s ability can be used to increase the accuracy of her attacks, it can be used defensively, or it can be used in a way that almost doesn’t fit within the themes of the faction. Equipped with the elite pilot talent, Bodyguard, Guri can spend the focus token that she gains to increase Prince Xizor’s agility for the remainder of the round. In this way, the loyal Guri can help protect Prince Xizor, even as he races into Range “1” of his opponents for devastating attacks.

Prince Xizor and Guri form a lethal partnership. Here, Prince Xizor’s Virago is outfitted with Inertial Dampeners, Predator, and Autothrusters while Guri equips Bodyguard and a Hull Upgrade. Together, they cost you seventy-one squad points, leaving plenty of room in your squad for one or two more ships.

If Guri plays off the Scum faction’s aggressive tendencies, Prince Xizor clearly embodies its self-serving impulses. His ability reads, “When defending, a friendly ship at Range 1 may suffer 1 uncanceled  or  result instead of you.” It also reinforces the idea that the Scum faction doesn’t typically like to fly in formation; though Xizor might like to have wingmates at Range 1, his wingmates might not be so happy to fly so close to Xizor!
Naturally, in an expansion pack featuring the starfighter that he helped design, Prince Xizor also finds some upgrades that can help him survive his battles. For example, Autothrusters are a boon to StarViper pilots and to any other highly skilled pilots who fly “arc-dodger” ships like the A-wing or TIE interceptor. For two squad points, it allows you to convert one blank result to an  result, so long as you’re beyond Range 2 of the attacker or outside of its firing arc.
Hatch Your Ambitions
The StarViper is one of many products born from Prince Xizor’s lofty ambitions, and it will soon give your Scum fleet the cutting edge it needs to take on the Rebels and Imperials.

While you wait for your chance to start flying your own StarViper, join the other members of our community forums to discuss how you would use the StarViper in your Scum squadron.
Then keep your eyes open for more Wave VI news, including a closer look at the M3-A Interceptor Expansion Pack