Neil Amswych Looks at an Ace TIE Phantom Pilot

http://www.fantasyflightgames.com/edge_news.asp?eidn=4880

I laughed again. A sideways flying ship!

I like the 6 range between his farthest starting positions. Not that either manuever is going to see much use. I much prefer how small Echo's manuevers can be over how big.

Interesting that all his suggested builds are 3 ship builds.

Interesting that all his suggested builds are 3 ship builds.

I mean, they don't even mention the basic Vet instincts an Advanced Cloaking minimalistic Echo over the course of the list. Yet I guarantee we'll see that on more phantoms than anything else.

It's says Blaw Blaw Blaw Blaw Blaw Blaw Blaw Blaw

Wave 4 Ships next week

Interesting that all his suggested builds are 3 ship builds.

I feel like FFG pushes them to fill all upgrade slots in the builds for these articles, and non-Metagame aware lists. That pretty much relegates Phantoms to 3 ship builds.

I mean, they don't even mention the basic Vet instincts an Advanced Cloaking minimalistic Echo over the course of the list. Yet I guarantee we'll see that on more phantoms than anything else.

Are you suggesting that FFG does the same thing magic the gathering article writers do, building in reasons to buy new products through the lit? Sound tactic, though lame.

Interesting that all his suggested builds are 3 ship builds.

I feel like FFG pushes them to fill all upgrade slots in the builds for these articles, and non-Metagame aware lists. That pretty much relegates Phantoms to 3 ship builds.

I mean, they don't even mention the basic Vet instincts an Advanced Cloaking minimalistic Echo over the course of the list. Yet I guarantee we'll see that on more phantoms than anything else.

Are you suggesting that FFG does the same thing magic the gathering article writers do, building in reasons to buy new products through the lit? Sound tactic, though lame.

Good graphics... not much else of great use. From the initial "Hydra" graphic, are they suggesting that you may also slide the forward template back and forth or they just didn't want to overlap? I'm guessing it was just lazy art as they don't utilize that through the rest of the article.

Putting aside the critiques, I did think the graphics helped to illustrate the insane potential for movement that Echo specifically has, he can travel laterally nearly halfway across the table for sith's sake!

And as for equipping him, I have been looking at a decked out Echo as a 4 ship build:

Echo

-VI

-FCS

-Rec Spec

-ACD

Omicron

-FCS

-Gunner

-EU

Obsidian

Obsidian

Comes in at 98pts for initiative and has 4 ships

Good graphics... not much else of great use. From the initial "Hydra" graphic, are they suggesting that you may also slide the forward template back and forth or they just didn't want to overlap? I'm guessing it was just lazy art as they don't utilize that through the rest of the article.

I noticed that too, the placement of the forward templates is not legal for a forward "maneuver".

Good graphics... not much else of great use. From the initial "Hydra" graphic, are they suggesting that you may also slide the forward template back and forth or they just didn't want to overlap? I'm guessing it was just lazy art as they don't utilize that through the rest of the article.

I noticed that too, the placement of the forward templates is not legal for a forward "maneuver".

I'm thinking that it was to prevent overlap

Interesting that all his suggested builds are 3 ship builds.

I feel like FFG pushes them to fill all upgrade slots in the builds for these articles, and non-Metagame aware lists. That pretty much relegates Phantoms to 3 ship builds.

I mean, they don't even mention the basic Vet instincts an Advanced Cloaking minimalistic Echo over the course of the list. Yet I guarantee we'll see that on more phantoms than anything else.

If that is the Phantom build we expect to see the most, won't the "better" build be the one with more upgrades that lets you counter the mass # of phantoms we might see?

I know we all talk about "countering the Phantom" with turrets and such, but how do we "counter the Phantom" WITH a Phantom? The answer is likely: more upgrades. At least some of your matchups will come down to Phantom vs Phantom, after all. And nothing in the minimalistic build gives you an edge.

I guess I've got one questions/issues with that. Is that initial diagram correct? I was aware that the "barrel roll" of decloaking worked like a normal barrel roll where you could slide the template along the edges of the ship but you can also do that along the FRONT of the ship? So instead of being like boost where you must use the guides to position the template leading to the ship's final position you can instead use the template anywhere along the edge of the ship. This would say that even a normal decloaking forward would give you a much wider box to land in than if you must just go straight forward 2.

Well, decloaking says,"perform a 2 fwd maneuver" (I think, I'm not at home) so I always thought you had to use the guides.

I guess I've got one questions/issues with that. Is that initial diagram correct? I was aware that the "barrel roll" of decloaking worked like a normal barrel roll where you could slide the template along the edges of the ship but you can also do that along the FRONT of the ship? So instead of being like boost where you must use the guides to position the template leading to the ship's final position you can instead use the template anywhere along the edge of the ship. This would say that even a normal decloaking forward would give you a much wider box to land in than if you must just go straight forward 2.

I was going to say the exact same thing! I don't know if it was for illustrative purposes only, or you could actually slide the template across the front AND back of the ship. However, wouldn't the nubs get in the way? You couldn't have a "flush" template on the front or back of the ship. It would give a a couple extra millameters in distance.

Article has been corrected to show the correct illustration.

I guess I've got one questions/issues with that. Is that initial diagram correct? I was aware that the "barrel roll" of decloaking worked like a normal barrel roll where you could slide the template along the edges of the ship but you can also do that along the FRONT of the ship? So instead of being like boost where you must use the guides to position the template leading to the ship's final position you can instead use the template anywhere along the edge of the ship. This would say that even a normal decloaking forward would give you a much wider box to land in than if you must just go straight forward 2.

I don't think the diagram is correct. I think the card for Decloak states something like "perform a 2 fwd movement, or a barrel roll using the 2 straight manuever template". A 2 fwd manuever implies using the guides.

If you look at the rest of the article, it shows the forwards being between the guides, just like a normal maneuver would be.

I expect they did it to spread it out and show both templates without overlapping them. It is a bit confusing, but probably not anything we should take as a ruling. The actual use is pretty clear.

If you add Navigator as the crew, you'd have even more of a headache trying to figure out where Echo is going to "appear".

I suspect it has to use the guides. Would have been really nice for the non-echo phantoms to have that slightly larger box though.

One thing the 1st graphic doesn't show is the although it's upwards of 90 positions if you look at the 6 different options, it's really more like 180+ with putting the template at the extreme of either side and flipping the template around. How many times do we see millimeters making the difference in this game? Let alone just placing the template centrally. I don't think the human mind is capable of analyzing all of those possibilities without getting called for slow play!

To countering a phantom with a phantom: Echo! Echo beats all the the others except whisper (and maybe even then with being able to arc dodge differently!). Also the difference between ACD and StygPA in a phantom vs. phantom fight will make a difference. So could advanced scopes and advanced sensors and jammer... and crew options... lots of variation and options are possible and viable.

Echo/ VI,AC

Rex/Pred

Omni/FCS,APL

Interesting that all his suggested builds are 3 ship builds.

If she's on the board, you're looking at 2-4 ships of support, tops.

Pretty much every time there is an article like this, there are beautiful graphics which have some sort of mistake in them. Nothing new here.

I'm pondering a cloaked Phantom with Sabotuer, and a Doomshuttle and bombers.

A bunch of Ties are going to be the Phantoms friend. Throw at your opponents squad to clog it up, and have your Phantom tear into them. If he's going for the phantom, simply flee with it across the board like it can. Its ability as a flanker is unmatched.