Alright, I am absolutely in love with the phantom, and on my quest to get a great build, so to the community here, how should i finish up this build, with a standard Academy Pilot, or Upgrades.

TIE Phantom (Whisper) - VI, Advanced Cloaking (37 Points)

Firespray (Bounty Hunter) - (33 Points)

TIE Fighter (Howlrunner) - 18 Points

After this I have 12 points, so do I add a simple TIE Academy Pilot, or should I upgrade my 3 current ships? Im thinking Stealth/Shield Upgrade on Howl, or perhaps up my BH to Kath+PTL+Recon Specialist.

My instinct is upgrades, but my instinct is often wrong what do you guys think?

My first take is that Howlrunner isn't really offering this list much and keeping her in formation with Whisper negates the Phantom's flexibility.

I'd remove her and ponder what to do with 30 points instead.

Aye, I've seen that sentiment around, my thought with her is 2 stages,

1) to give a refill on turn 1 only to the other 2-3 ships, and

2) she is an instant target, she forces opponents to choose in that first turn for an easy kill howl or try to take on my phantom, after the first joust I'm less afraid for my phantom, so she's more like his mental shield

Howlrunner functions as a pseudo-Biggs because her buff is so potent. In a squad where she barely buffs at all, the need to kill her quickly drops tremendously and she no longer functions as a pseudo-Biggs.

My first take is that Howlrunner isn't really offering this list much and keeping her in formation with Whisper negates the Phantom's flexibility.

I'd remove her and ponder what to do with 30 points instead.

I got just the thing for 30 points: RGP w/ PTL and Gunner on the BH. Now that is a **** powerfully offensive list... Might have to try it.

The extra ship is always worth it to me.

I'm not so hot on the Veteran's Instinct on Whisper, either. Its a high enough PS on its own.

That, and Howlrunner's ineffectiveness when only being able to babysit 2 ships, leave us with 31 points of More Ship.

...Kinda makes me want to slide a Delta Squad Defender in there, honestly.

Alternatively, that's 2 Academies + a HLC on the Bounty Hunter, which is also nice.

Lots of great suggestions! You all have convinced me to drop howl, in place I've narrowed it down to the defender or a supped up turr. But keep suggestions going, this is a great learning experience

I'd drop Howl to Backstabber and play with the remaining 14. Not a lot for 2pts if you go with an AP. A seismic on the BH is never bad or you can drop VI on whisper (absolutely meta dependent) and have a recon for either her or the BH.

I'd stick with that Souped up Turr. I run mine with PTL, SD, TC, and RGT. that is 33 points but you could just as easily drop the TC and still have a very effective flanker. And with everyone concentrating on the Phantom Turr is even more dangerous as he just bounces around nuking people and staying out of arc. Its only 3 ships but it could prove very hard to kill if you have the phantom rolling well.

For a point I will always keep VI on Echo and Whisper. They are so much more deadly moving last and shooting first, that its not worth the chance that you will run up against someone with PS7+ and not have veteran instincts.

I'd also downgrade Whisper to Echo. Echo is by far the superior Phantom. The problem is with Whisper or the other Phantoms, your opponent knows were you can decloak to. They can block that or set up a cross fire. Its a lot harder to do against Echo.

I would go:

Echo + VI + ACS

BH

Omnicron + FCS + Gunner + Vader

Kill the omnicron taking out the most important enemy piece. Then pincer with the BH and Echo.

You know I may be crazy but I would keep Howlie and the Academy and paste them to the BH bumper. Sorta of its own little mini swarm with a flanker in the Phantom.

For a point I will always keep VI on Echo and Whisper. They are so much more deadly moving last and shooting first, that its not worth the chance that you will run up against someone with PS7+ and not have veteran instincts.

I'd also downgrade Whisper to Echo. Echo is by far the superior Phantom. The problem is with Whisper or the other Phantoms, your opponent knows were you can decloak to. They can block that or set up a cross fire. Its a lot harder to do against Echo.

I would go:

Echo + VI + ACS

BH

Omnicron + FCS + Gunner + Vader

Kill the omnicron taking out the most important enemy piece. Then pincer with the BH and Echo.

My luck with lambada has never been so good that lack of maneuvers kills me (of course I'm sure that's greatly do to a lack of experience)

I would say drop howl runner and put on Soontir w/ PTL. Make your opponent go after the BH, flank the hell out of him with your two PS 9 very maneuverable pilots and then book the BH out of there to regroup leaving your opponents the option of continued pursuit while being double flanked, or abandoning their initial quarry and going after one of two very slippery pilots.

I would say drop howl runner and put on Soontir w/ PTL. Make your opponent go after the BH, flank the hell out of him with your two PS 9 very maneuverable pilots and then book the BH out of there to regroup leaving your opponents the option of continued pursuit while being double flanked, or abandoning their initial quarry and going after one of two very slippery pilots.

Moves last without VI and has a great turtle ability with focus evade stress focus. I prefer Soontir over turr b/c you can't PTL before you attack with turr, which makes him vulnerable.

Dropping Howlrunner seems to be a universal constant. She's rarely a direct aid to the Phantom and with only one ship to boost her added cost is questionable. You could demote her to AP level as well which gives you six points to play with after adding the second AP. I've wondered if flying 24 points of AP can be helpful when you split the other 76 points between two other killers.

Drop Howlrunner.

Add Night Beast and a Black Squadron Tie with Draw their fire. Or two of the second Tie if you really want.

Following this pattern I'd be tempted with:

Whisper, VI, ACD, Rebel captive, AdvS

BH

AP x2

The APs can get in the way and the bounty hunter will die next leaving a nasty phantom when they're down to a ship or two.

I like the idea of the captive on a phantom. The AdvS are just because there was 3pts left and why not?

I really like sensor jammer on the phantom. They have to use focus to reliably have a chance to hit, and it works against all attackers. The trick to the phantom is just stay alive to use that big gun again. Maybe even flight instructor if you want to get really annoying.

The only problem with Sensor Jammer is that it takes a slot from Adv. Sensors. Having that option to barrel roll before decloaking just adds so much flexibility in terms of where and whether you'll be able to decloak.

I'm not so hot on the Veteran's Instinct on Whisper, either. Its a high enough PS on its own.

That, and Howlrunner's ineffectiveness when only being able to babysit 2 ships, leave us with 31 points of More Ship.

...Kinda makes me want to slide a Delta Squad Defender in there, honestly.

Alternatively, that's 2 Academies + a HLC on the Bounty Hunter, which is also nice.

Or 2 Academies and an HLC Defender, with 3 pts for PS 3, or a hull upgrade