As I interpret it, if I am unable to attempt an attack (e.g, no target in front arc), then ACD's ability which triggers on "after you perform an attack" cannot trigger, and thus I cannot recloak.

Is this interpretation correct, or did I miss some weird clause regarding trigger conditions.

Correct!

Sadly this is exactly what caused the death of my Phantom on it's first outing. Decloaked, moved and ended with Chewie just out of my arc - no attack, no cloak. Then the walking carpet one-shot me.

Sadly this is exactly what caused the death of my Phantom on it's first outing. Decloaked, moved and ended with Chewie just out of my arc - no attack, no cloak. Then the walking carpet one-shot me.

Yep, the danger of the "glass hammer!" If it doesn't get to hit and cloak, it may shatter! High PS on the Phantom helps keep it facing the right way for a shot.

If you have no shot, why not recloak? Also, ACD is really only good on Whisper or Echo, so you should have been moving after chewy. How did you not get him in arc with a barrel roll? Correctly flown, a phantom should either have a shot or a cloak every turn. Sometimes, a decloak action isn't your best option. Phantoms take practice to use well. Keep working on it and you'll get the hang of it.

If you have no shot, why not recloak?

There are multiple possible reasons:

1. Lower PS than the target, which you are hoping will move into your LOF

2. You have a shot, but due to unexpected luck a higher PS pilot takes out the target first

3. After moving and barrel roll, target is still _just_ out of arc. In tournament settings you can't pre-measure for a barrel roll, and once declared you can't switch to a different action.

I had Echo with ACD, It was the decloak that I got wrong. With the placement of my other two ships slightly ahead and to each side of Echo, I decided to Decloak to the rear with the 2-bank. Decloaked, moved forward, then boosted and just couldn't get Chewie in arc. No attack, no ACD recloak. Ended about an inch away from certain death.

The next game I swapped out Echo for Whisper and much better success. It's just going to take some more flying time to get used to.

What I am saying is that he was talking about missing chewy, and chewy would move before Echo. So you would know if you had a shot after decloacking and moving. To see if you will have arc after a barrel roll all you have to do is look down your arc to where the ship is equal, and see if a two move would get there. Visualizing the arc is not super easy, but it can be done with practice. If it doesn't look like that will work then recloak and wait for the prime shot. Phantoms are a cat and mouse game. Wait for the prime shot. If you aren't sure you have the shot it is better to be safe than sorry.

This was the very first game I played with the Phantom. The decloak put Chewie out of arc, so I declared a banking boost thinking that would bring me round just far enough and I was millimetres out. Couldn't take it back as the Phantom didn't overlap anything and had to be placed. If it had have worked, I would have had a 5 dice shot and then cloaked. Just an unlucky miscalculation, and I paid the price. But that's what it's all about. The next game with Whisper, I finally got the hang of it.