Well ... somehow im more happy with a Defender with a white k-turn then with a 2+2 agi stealth ship .... I think it should have been 2+3 defence ... but lets see what else is in the package.

Umm, it still has 4 base attack. And with the proper Pilot Skill bidding and Advanced Cloaking Device, it could very well have 4 Atk, 4 Agi, 2 Hull, 2 Shield. Something the swarm will have a few issues with.

The 4 attack of course make the ship lovely.

Umm, it still has 4 base attack. And with the proper Pilot Skill bidding and Advanced Cloaking Device, it could very well have 4 Atk, 4 Agi, 2 Hull, 2 Shield. Something the swarm will have a few issues with.

Blount will presumably still be able to get 1 hit on a cloaked range 3 phantom through a rock. 6 defense dice vs 2 attack dice? .... Whatever, you get hit anyway!

"Getting hit" does not equal "taking damage". The blurb says nothing about guaranteed damage, only that he is guaranteed to trigger the splash effect. While we don't have the exact wording, it is save to say that while he always "hits", which is key for Stealth Device, Assault Missiles, and Ion Pulse Missiles, he doesn't guarantee damage like Ten Nunb.

"Getting hit" does not equal "taking damage". The blurb says nothing about guaranteed damage, only that he is guaranteed to trigger the splash effect.

Yeah I think that's what is going to happen.

Something along the lines of, any ship that he shoots at will be treated as if it was Hit, regardless of the dice roll.

It's probably worth noting that this is what the article says:

Because his pilot ability always triggers the splash damage from his Assault Missiles

While I think it's unlikely, it's possible that his ability does actually reference Assault Missiles directly. So we don't actually know for sure that it will work with other on-hit effects. I think KO's OP added a bit to this in his summary, and we've been taking it as gospel. Again, I think he's PROBABLY right, but we don't actually know the specific ability.

Yeah we will have to wait and see his exact text.

"Getting hit" does not equal "taking damage". The blurb says nothing about guaranteed damage, only that he is guaranteed to trigger the splash effect. While we don't have the exact wording, it is save to say that while he always "hits", which is key for Stealth Device, Assault Missiles, and Ion Pulse Missiles, he doesn't guarantee damage like Ten Nunb.

Blount can only do it once, but he can guarantee you at least one damage against a target if he attacks with those (assuming his text works as we believe).

Lieutenant Blount

When attacking ... hit by your ... does not ...

Idea:

When attacking (the target is) hit by your (attack even if it) does not (suffer damage).

It's probably worth noting that this is what the article says:

Because his pilot ability always triggers the splash damage from his Assault Missiles

While I think it's unlikely, it's possible that his ability does actually reference Assault Missiles directly. So we don't actually know for sure that it will work with other on-hit effects. I think KO's OP added a bit to this in his summary, and we've been taking it as gospel. Again, I think he's PROBABLY right, but we don't actually know the specific ability.

This could also make him a one trick pony, if it does reference the Assault Missile...

Also I think why I focused on the splash damage and not the ship hit.. but.. we shall see...

It's a pretty good trick when it automatically does 1-4 damage (ion through 4 ship assault missile).

Very underwhelming info on the defender and then phantom. Phantom sounds about right, a little low, for base 25pts; probably will work out. Defender sounds lacking at PS1 30pts. Yep, might be something else cool in the box but PS 1 needing another upgrade to be cool is...well... not cool.

no it would make it extremely limited if it was just the one Type

I MathWing'ed 4 defense dice.

Using the same assumptions as in my Lanchester's thread, the normalized durability coefficients are:

1 dice: 0.517

2 dice: 0.711

3 dice: 1.000

4 dice: 1.419

So if you can manage to stay perma-cloaked via a higher PS and the Phantom-only upgrade (7-points?), then you're basically a 4/4/2/2 craft.

At 4/2/2/2, it's fair PS1 "jousting" cost would be 20.3.

At 4/4/2/2, it's fair PS1 "jousting" cost would be 29.1.

So basically perma-cloaking adds 4 points of value, all else being equal, before the PS bid (some of which is forced). If it costs 7 points to perma-cloak, I'm not sure that's worth it, especially if you risk it not working against higher PS ships.

Spending 7 points if you can get a "permanent" 4 agility would seem to be worth it. If the ship costs 23 at PS3, then PS1 adjusted cost +7 for the upgrade puts you at 30 points, which basically means your jousting value is very respectable.

Edit: dumb math mistake! I wasn't actually using the correct coefficient for the 4 agility durability coefficient! The correct PS1 jousting cost should be 29.1.

The Z95 has a firing arc, yes? And probably a relatively mediocre maneuver dial that will allow faster ships to outflank it? Then Interceptors with stealth will be just fine.

7 seems a bit expensive. I would imagine the Advanced Cloaking Device costs 5, so you can run 3 of the basic Phantoms with another upgrade, or 3 of the ps 5 pilots with it.

Am I reading this incorrectly?

-The spoiler says the the cloak on the phantom is an action, gives you a token, and while it is engaged you can't shoot.

-In order to disengage the cloak you have to spend the token before revealing your dial.

So in effect if you engage the cloaking you can't shoot for almost a whole round?

Correct, barring something (that looks to be the Advanced Cloaking Device) that can give you the action for free, or a passed action via Squad Leader.

Edit: Scratch Squad Leader, the timing there doesn't really work.

Though the phantoms can take the system slot and get advanced scopes - so they could benefit from squad leader....

I MathWing'ed 4 defense dice.

Using the same assumptions as in my Lanchester's thread, the normalized durability coefficients are:

1 dice: 0.517

2 dice: 0.711

3 dice: 1.000

4 dice: 1.419

So if you can manage to stay perma-cloaked via a higher PS and the Phantom-only upgrade (7-points?), then you're basically a 4/4/2/2 craft.

At 4/2/2/2, it's fair PS1 "jousting" cost would be 20.3.

At 4/4/2/2, it's fair PS1 "jousting" cost would be 29.1.

So basically perma-cloaking adds 4 points of value, all else being equal, before the PS bid (some of which is forced). If it costs 7 points to perma-cloak, I'm not sure that's worth it, especially if you risk it not working against higher PS ships.

Spending 7 points if you can get a "permanent" 4 agility would seem to be worth it. If the ship costs 23 at PS3, then PS1 adjusted cost +7 for the upgrade puts you at 30 points, which basically means your jousting value is very respectable.

Edit: dumb math mistake! I wasn't actually using the correct coefficient for the 4 agility durability coefficient! The correct PS1 jousting cost should be 29.1.

I just want to bring this to everyone's attention: I didn't carry the durability coefficient for the Phantom through, so it actually looks like a pretty good deal if you can spend 23 points at PS3 +7 more (+PS bid) to get "permanent" 4/4/2/2 stats.

Interesting. I have been holding off of posting thus far. I am not sure what to make of this yet; I like white K-turn (favorite part about the simple rules in X-wing—the double K-turn scissor maneuver—is now a possibility). The Cloak is nice, especially when you combine that with the ability to take crew (RecSpec, PtL, EU could be really cool if not really expensive). Slap a SD on it and you'll be rolling 5 normal greens when cloaked. Give it HU and it's a 28(?) pt. PS 3 super X-wing. I think I will buy 2x Defender and E-wing, 3x Z-95, and 3–4x Phantom after seeing this.

Am I reading this incorrectly?

-The spoiler says the the cloak on the phantom is an action, gives you a token, and while it is engaged you can't shoot.

-In order to disengage the cloak you have to spend the token before revealing your dial.

So in effect if you engage the cloaking you can't shoot for almost a whole round?

Correct, barring something (that looks to be the Advanced Cloaking Device) that can give you the action for free, or a passed action via Squad Leader.

Edit: Scratch Squad Leader, the timing there doesn't really work.

Though the phantoms can take the system slot and get advanced scopes - so they could benefit from squad leader....

Not to control their cloak.

You cloak as an action; you decloak at the beginning of your activation. Both of these happen during the activation phase, so nothing you do there can affect your cloak status during the combat phase.

Theoretically, if there were some way to trigger an extra action during the combat phase you could use that... But I honestly can't think of even hypothetical combos that would let that happen.

I don't know if 4 green dice is worth not being able to shoot.

It's not. But, with the Advanced Cloaking Device, you could essentially have 4 Agi against ships with lower pilot skill, against the same if you have initiative. I think 4 Phantoms may too many, but I think 4 Phantoms are going to be nasty to deal with if you are going for low pilot skill. A fascinating dynamic.

As long as it has a K-turn I think it will be. Start off slow, pick up a cloak, then zoom ahead, flip around, decloak and fire. Or, run them along the extreme edges of the playing field and turn them inward. Your opponent will either split his forces or commit to one side. Then they will die.

So what modification would you use for the phantom? would you add a stealth device on top of its cloak to give it 5 defense dice while cloaked?

Depends on what the Stygium Device does, which may give an Evade when you decloak.