X-Wing: M3-A Interceptor The Heavy Scyk
The M3-A Interceptor, The Scums Jack of all Trades pocket rocket was announced just before the turn of the year and after a bit of back and forth heres what I think.
Normally when the reveal for a new wave comes out there is one ship that gets the masses talking, but ever striving to be different I was not all excited about the Aggressor. It was the M3-A that perked my interests.
FFG finally got around to revealing some more information about the ship at the end of December and whilst we didn’t get to see the Dial, (much to my disappointment) everything else in the pack has been laid out on the table.
Although we didn’t get the cards for the generics there is enough info in the article to extrapolate all we need.
Scyk Basics
Starting out at 14 points for PS-2 and then I would be extremely surprised if the PS-5 one is not 16 points base for a jump of 3 PS for 2 points.
The stat line is a mixed bag of 2 Attack, 3 Defense, 2 Hull and 1 Shield which instantly brings to mind the TIE fighter comparisons, which having had some time to dwell on it I believe is a little unfair as we are so used to comparing things across faction for our balance. I think that the Scyk is going to have to be looked at for what it adds to the Scum rather than where is sits along side all the ships in the game. Moving on from the raw stats we have a packed action bar combining the best the TIE and Z-95 has to offer, upgrade wise on the other hand it leaves a little to be desired, but more on that to come…
The new Pilot that was revealed is the next in the PS/Point Cost curve, Laetin A’Shera, He brings an interesting Pilot Ability to the table, granting him an Evade Token every time he avoids being hit by an attack. This makes him an interesting choice for a flanker who you are planning on keeping out of the main line of attack. Unfortunately his lack of an EPT mean no PtL on him for the double dip in the action phase so I am not 100% sold on him as yet, but time will tell.
Serissu, we have seen before and she comes in as the most expensive Pilot in the pack. Her anti-howlrunner ability of allowing ships in Range 1 to re-roll Green Dice is extremely good and Dial depending is probably the only naked M3-A I would consider.
Enter the Heavy Scyk
The Heavy Scyk Title however is what really makes or breaks this ship.
For 2 Points it changes you 14 point 2 Attack dice ship into (and lets be honest here, 99.9% of the time) a Cannon delivery system.
To hammer home this point FFG have been kind enough to introduce some new cannons in to the game for us to use.
The Flechette Cannon is now the cheapest Cannon on the market coming in at only 2 points, replacing the Ion Cannon, which comes in the pack as well incidentally. The mechanics are similar to the Ion Cannon but for stress, unfortunately though it does not stack on extra stress if the target is already stressed, hence the points break I suppose, and even at 3 points I feel that it would be too much to add to he game without the restriction.
The Mangler Cannon at 4 points however is extremely interesting, Changing a Hit to a Crit and covering all the range bands has many uses, as does the 3 attack dice and being a secondary weapon system.
The option that everyone immediately jumped all over though is the Heavy Laser Cannon, and this is the reason why I am against the comparisons to a TIE fighter or a Z-95. If you look at this ship in comparison to an Knave Squadron E-Wing for 27 points at PS 1, your Heavy Scyk admittedly only hits with 3 Dice at Range 1 but then it has two ranges where it is throwing 4 Dice whilst denying the enemy any additional defense dice for Range 3 and you are 2 points cheaper, and 1 PS higher. Yes you lose two Hit Points but with the points saved you can throw a Hull Upgrade on there and that is a whole new argument.
Unfortunately, until we see just what the dial has to offer, its extremely difficult to place it in to the meta and say exactly how I would use it.
Most of the list ideas I have at the moment involve the PS 5’s and the assumption that they are 16 points as two with Manglor Canons and Hull Upgrades comes in at 50 points and packs quite a punch or 30 Points for Laetin with HLC and Hull Upgrade for a Flanker.
M3-A Hopes and Dreams
My hope is that the M3-A comes with a Dial like the StarViper, Signors Loop excluded of course, If it can Slow Roll, Hard 1 and comes with a good smattering of Green and in an ideal world the 5 Ahead (but I could live without it) I can see some hope for it as that would make it the extremely versatile platform that it feels like FFG wants it to be.
Unfortunately, my excitement for the ship aside. Paraphrasing Lt. Gordon the M3-A could be the Ship that Scum Deserves, but I am just nots sure that they need it right now. If you are looking across just the ships that have been revealed the rolls the M3-A can fill seem to have ships that do it better already in there.
So in my opinion, if you are looking for filler the Z-95s are cheaper and if you are looking for damage and a good dial in the mid-twenty point range the StarViper is not a bad shout, both ships boast better hit points for when the Green Dice say No. The M3-A is going to have to stand as the Scums ship where Pilot Skill is important as that seems to be where they have the leg up on the rest of the faction, so I just hope that they have a Dial to back it up.
