The most powerful tool at the Tie Phantoms disposal is the modification Advance Cloaking Device. Allowing the ship to recloak and gain the all important 2 agility dice. Without the Decloak movement the Phantom can become a lot easier for lower pilots skilled ships to track and kill. With only 2 agility and 4 hits to kill it, the Phantom becomes a glass cannon.

R3-A2 is a droid that reads : "When you declare the target of your attack, if the defender is inside your firing arc, you may receive 1 stress token to cause the defender to receive 1 stress token"

Only a few ships can carry the droid and have a high enough pilot skill to pose a problem for the Phantom. We are limited to an X-Wing or E-Wing for this duty and just a couple of pilots in each who can play the role.

Wedge Antilles + R3-A2 + Engine Upgrade (35)

Corran Horn + R3-A2 + Veteran Instincts + Engine Upgrade (42)

Luke Skywalker + R3-A2 + Veteran Instincts + Engine Upgrade (35)

Wes Janson + R3-A2 + Veteran Instincts + Engine Upgrade (36)

Jek Porkins + R3-A2 + Veteran Instincts + Engine Upgrade (33)

These 5 pilots can get to a Pilot Skill 9 or higher to compete with a decked out Whisper. The engine upgrade allows the ship to get the Phantom in arc to stress it. Once the Phantom is Stressed even a Z-95 poses a problem for the Phantom when it's not cloaked.

Porkins handles the stress the best of all these ships but can only get to a 9 so he may have a hard time achieving a good shot as the Phantom may either move after he does or shot before him. The other 4 can get above the Phantom in PS and the bid is won allowing it to move after and shot before the Phantom. These load outs to come at a hefty price point for a 100pt squad however and doesn't leave much room for more toys to play with.

Has anyone tried any of these load outs against a Phantom and did it have success?

I was running Hobbie or Biggs plus Roark for a while. The issue is still getting the bastard in arc though, so I'd end up making Chewie my 12, then swarming Roark so they can both take turret shots while it's uncloaked.

I am aware of the turret answer to the Phantom but was more interested in finding a different way to approach the battle.

Ah, forgot to add that Hobbie/Biggs had R3-A2 I ended up dropping it though because I could almost never get to use it on a Phantom. That would have been helpful to mention!

I am aware of the turret answer to the Phantom but was more interested in finding a different way to approach the battle.

I'm happy to read this! Turrets, I hope, won't come to dictate just because they are the quick answer! There have to be alternatives.

From my own end, I'm focusing on highly maneuverable ships in quantity sufficient to tackle all comers! However, I've been concentrating on Imperials up til now!

With the R3-A2 info, I'm going to take a look at some Rebel builds! Thanks for the lead and I'll let you know what I come up with.

Ah, forgot to add that Hobbie/Biggs had R3-A2 I ended up dropping it though because I could almost never get to use it on a Phantom. That would have been helpful to mention!

This is why I singled out the 5 ships capable of hitting the Phantom before the ACD trigger. Once the ACD triggers the Stress is almost meaningless. Shooting at 12 helps but if the Phantom gets to see where you are the Roark ability doesn't help as it will avoid your arcs.

Rebel Captive goes KEKEKEKEKKE!

(You didn't say Rebels only )

I came up with the following list that I think has good "all around" potential against Phantoms, YTs, Swarms, everything! What do you think?

100 points

32 points

Wedge Antilles to be used against Phantoms and he potentially shoots before Han!

11 3 2 3 2

Unique

When attacking, reduce the defender's agility value by 1 (to a minimum of 0)

Wedge Antilles/X-Wing (29)

R3-A2 (2)

– When you declare the target of your attack, if the defender is inside your firing arc, you may receive 1 stress token to cause the defender to receive 1 stress token.

Veteran Instincts (1)

– Increase your pilot skill value by 2.

29 points

Biggs Darklighter takes those hits and with R2-D2, can keep taking them!

5 3 2 3 2

Unique

Other friendly ships at Range 1 cannot be targeted by attacks if the attacker could target you instead.

Biggs Darklighter/X-Wing (25)

R2-D2 (4)

– After executing a green manoeuvre, you may recover one shield (up to your shield value).

27 points

Dagger Squadron Pilot takes a beating and dishes out attacks regularly by getting its actions every turn!

4 3 1 3 5

Dagger Squadron Pilot/B-Wing (24)

Advanced Sensors (3)

– Immediately before you reveal your maneuver, you may perform 1 free action. If you use this ability, skip your "perform Action" step during this round.

12 points

Bandit Squadron Pilot is the pesky fly that keeps pecking away and takes attacks away from the big boys when the opponent swats at him!

2 2 2 2 2

Bandit Squadron Pilot/Z-95 Headhunter (12)

You would pretty much have to put engine upgrade on wedge instead of r2-d2 on biggs.

The best non-turret Phantom counter I have seen, used and been on the end of is:

44 Corran Horn, VI, FCS, R3-A2, Engine

To make it even eaiser you can pair him with a VI Cracken to give him the ability to Barrel and Boost if required but I think it is a touch of overkill.

The cone of probability for non-Echo Phantom is mostly predicatable and you just point Corran in the general direction and let the Boost or Barrel take care of the rest.

Get a free Tgt Lock and shoot it twice for a double stress if it's not dead by then.

I am well aware running a list of only two ships is not normally wise, but I think the following might be enjoyable to play against other high PS builds; especially those using TIE Phantoms.

Corran Horn (35)

Veteran Instincts 1 (36)

Fire-Control System 2 (38)

Flechette Torpedoes 2 (40)

R3-A2 2 (42)

Munitions Failsafe 1 (43)

Han Solo 46 (89)

Millenium Falcon 1 (90)

C-3PO 3 (93)

Luke Skywalker 7 (100)

The OP was exactly what got me thinking of this setup. I think Corran Horn with VI can be a highly effective Phantom slayer. Along with R3-A2 I also chose to give Corran the Flechette Torpedoes with Munitions Failsafe after re-reading the FAQ on those cards. The Munitions Failsafe will guarantee your FT's hit, but even if they don't hit on the first or second attempt, the stress will still be given to the target (as long as it meets the FT's requirement of 4 or lower hull value).

I am also aware the OP wanted a non-turret counter, but I wanted to create a list that could incorporate both.

Planning to playtest it later this afternoon.

Wedge Antilles + R3-A2 + Veteran Instincts + Engine Upgrade (36)

Etahn A'baht + R2-D2 + Predator (39)

Bandit Squadron Pilot (12)

Bandit Squadron Pilot (12)

That Squad could be an interesting mix that could handle a Phantom while still having tricks for other squads it would face.

Wedge + R3-A2 does two things well. It's a great anti Phantom Weapon, but he's also a great anti Super YT. C3P0 doesn't work if you roll 0 dice. You just have to find a way to protect Wedge, and there's lots of ways to do that.

Combine it with Flechette Torpedoes and you can double-stress. Even Gold Squadron Pilot's good for that.

How about Ten Nunb with VI, Engine, and AdvSens? PS10, and we all know how many positions AdvSens Bwings can get into. If you want the stress, add some Flechette Torpedoes, everyone forgets Bwings can take 2 of em. The real problem with Bwings is that they can be neutralized by ion turrets.

I haven't had too many issues with locking down a phantom. If we talk specifically about Whisper for a moment, MOST of the time, there are only two decloaks that make sense. If you block one of them, then you know where he's going to go (or he won't be shooting which is fine too) and can make a good effort to get him in the sights.

That said, hitting the darn thing is just as annoying as trying to track down Fel... You basically have to wait for the dice to screw him (and he will always feel screwed when you hit him while cloaked). So I'm toying with the idea of Roark coupled with an X/E carrying R3A2 specifically as a phantom counter, but it also works as a super han counter preventing the PTL. Seeing as those are the two largest and most challenging squads right now, I think R3-A2 is a sound addition to any rebel list.

Use the points to actually deliver firepower at PS9-10 where he has a harder time arc dodging. Stress is not that needed, specially if you are shooting afterwards (wedge for example) and you are stressing yourself.

I've used Wedge with R3-A2 and Predator many times. He doesn't have the ability to arc dodge and it's not guaranteed to shoot before the phantom but I usually build a 99 point squad and he's gotten at least one shot on the phantom in every game. He absolutely shuts them down. It's awesome.

I can see the appeal of VI on him but I'd rather build all-rounders in case I don't face the phantom. Besides, it puts the phantom in a really awkward position if they have a choice of initiative. Do they move second so they can try to arc dodge, but allow Wedge to shoot first if they can't dodge? Or do they move first and shoot first so they know they can activate their ACD, but hamstring their maneuverability.