Is it that they actually have 4 dice worth of attack or that they're ability to cloak makes an already respectable attack that much better? If it's the latter, does that set a precedent of attack values being set based on two criteria: native weaponry and the host platform's ability to make the best use of said native weaponry?

They have 4 attack, because they are the only ship we have to date that has 5 laser cannons. Notably, 3 attack goes to 3/4 laser cannons, and 2 attack goes to ships with 2 laser cannons, with 1 going to weird misfits like the Hawk.

In the fluff, the Phantom's flight is controlled by an experimental, extremely sensitive and therefore extremely precise avionics system. If you're a video gamer, it could be considered "twitch" sensitive, which makes it precise but difficult to fly for anyone but the best pilots, in a similar way to the Defender. Combine that with the fact that it is one of only a handful of craft in the galaxy that carries five forward-facing, precision blasters that are controlled by its primary weapon trigger. Most ships have 2 blasters, some heavier craft like X-wings have up to 4 but their blasters aren't as precise and are carried by a clunkier craft.

Phantoms have four attack dice because FFG wanted to make a ship with four attack dice.

Phantoms have four attack dice because FFG wanted to make a ship with four attack dice.

Basically. Sadly everyone thinks it's 100% due to five laser cannons and that's firmly cemented in people's minds now. Which is extremely silly.

Considering the Falcon effectively has EIGHT 360 facing and since it can only attack one target at once (oddly) then one can only assume by laser cannon count = firepower that the Falcon should have about six.

X-wing is an extremely abstract game.

A common mistake amateur game designers (in any game) make is trying to assign 1:1 correspondences between background facts and in game stats.

Phantoms have four attack dice because FFG wanted to make a ship with four attack dice.

Basically. Sadly everyone thinks it's 100% due to five laser cannons and that's firmly cemented in people's minds now. Which is extremely silly.

Considering the Falcon effectively has EIGHT 360 facing and since it can only attack one target at once (oddly) then one can only assume by laser cannon count = firepower that the Falcon should have about six.

The power of the cannons had to be taken into account too. The quad blasters are less powerful individually than say a laser on an Xwing.

Phantoms have four attack dice because FFG wanted to make a ship with four attack dice.

Basically. Sadly everyone thinks it's 100% due to five laser cannons and that's firmly cemented in people's minds now. Which is extremely silly.

Considering the Falcon effectively has EIGHT 360 facing and since it can only attack one target at once (oddly) then one can only assume by laser cannon count = firepower that the Falcon should have about six.

The power of the cannons had to be taken into account too. The quad blasters are less powerful individually than say a laser on an Xwing.

You know what? I don't buy that for a second. I don't buy that Han wouldn't be packing as much firepower as possible on his ship.

Phantoms have four attack dice because FFG wanted to make a ship with four attack dice.

Basically. Sadly everyone thinks it's 100% due to five laser cannons and that's firmly cemented in people's minds now. Which is extremely silly.

Considering the Falcon effectively has EIGHT 360 facing and since it can only attack one target at once (oddly) then one can only assume by laser cannon count = firepower that the Falcon should have about six.

The power of the cannons had to be taken into account too. The quad blasters are less powerful individually than say a laser on an Xwing.

You know what? I don't buy that for a second. I don't buy that Han wouldn't be packing as much firepower as possible on his ship.

Both of your points make sense. Also consider that only two of the four blasters on each turret can fire at once, and they alternate, presumably for cooling purposes. The Phantom can, in theory, fire all of its weapons simultaneously. Just a thought.

Maybe FFG wanted a ship in the game that was more likely to one shot an X-wing? At least more likely than any ship we had already.

Phantoms have four attack dice because FFG wanted to make a ship with four attack dice.

Basically. Sadly everyone thinks it's 100% due to five laser cannons and that's firmly cemented in people's minds now. Which is extremely silly.

Considering the Falcon effectively has EIGHT 360 facing and since it can only attack one target at once (oddly) then one can only assume by laser cannon count = firepower that the Falcon should have about six.

Falcon can only fire the top gun from the cockpit and only in the forward arc so that's four guns giving three attack dice, you should need a crew member to gain 360 arc, and two crew to get two separate 3 attack die attacks.

Phantoms have four attack dice because FFG wanted to make a ship with four attack dice.

X-wing is an extremely abstract game.

A common mistake amateur game designers (in any game) make is trying to assign 1:1 correspondences between background facts and in game stats.

A thousand times this. The Phantom has 4 attack dice, because that allows it to function differently than an interceptor or basic TIE. It is even more of a glass cannon.

Nobody ever complains about the two hull/evade, but they're just as important mechanically and make just as little sense in the lore. This ship is really weaker structurally than a basic TIE? It's really less maneuverable aside from its cloak? The different stats aren't to separate it in the lore, but to fill a different game role. Why is the E-Wing's hull weaker than an X-Wings? Because that's how they balance and distinguish. Same reason a Defender isn't 6/6/6/6.

EDIT: And no, the Falcon doesn't have less power in its quad cannons that the X-Wing does in one laser. Both of them have wonderbillion fantasyjoules that instantly vaporize targets. They are energized by Plot Crystals, charged by Narrative Batteries, and focused by Fiction Lenses.

Q: What is the energy output of the Falcon's laser cannon?

A: Whatever the director needs for the scene.

Q: What is the energy output of the TIE Phantom?

A: Whatever FFG needs to balance this game.

Phantoms have four attack dice because FFG wanted to make a ship with four attack dice.

X-wing is an extremely abstract game.

A common mistake amateur game designers (in any game) make is trying to assign 1:1 correspondences between background facts and in game stats.

A thousand times this. The Phantom has 4 attack dice, because that allows it to function differently than an interceptor or basic TIE. It is even more of a glass cannon.

Nobody ever complains about the two hull/evade, but they're just as important mechanically and make just as little sense in the lore. This ship is really weaker structurally than a basic TIE? It's really less maneuverable aside from its cloak? The different stats aren't to separate it in the lore, but to fill a different game role. Why is the E-Wing's hull weaker than an X-Wings? Because that's how they balance and distinguish. Same reason a Defender isn't 6/6/6/6.

Hmm defender would be 5555 instead six guns would be five attack if the theory holds true, thing is naysayers declared defender DoA before ever playing it, even 4334 at 30 points would be horrendous the k turn used properly is a massive advantage it alone possess.

People have been slow to accept it but that's changing.

Phantoms have four attack dice because FFG wanted to make a ship with four attack dice.

Basically. Sadly everyone thinks it's 100% due to five laser cannons and that's firmly cemented in people's minds now. Which is extremely silly.

Considering the Falcon effectively has EIGHT 360 facing and since it can only attack one target at once (oddly) then one can only assume by laser cannon count = firepower that the Falcon should have about six.

Remember its a 3 direction game and the Falcon turrets are placed above and below a huge fricking disc so it is unlikely all 8 barrels can be brought against a single target at all times and I feel the gunner mechanic more than makes up for any "lost" firepower

I agree that FFG can do whatever they want but I am just playing Devil's advocate for why the Falcon doesn't have 7 Dice

Ok, so while I'm not going to 100% agree with the number of Cannons theory, if we look at it it really is quite interesting:

TIE/LN, TIE/x1, TIE/SA, Z-95, Y-wing, A-wing: all have 2 cannons and 2 attack (Y-wing turret is a separate weapon).

E-wing has 3 cannons and 3 attack.

TIE/IN, X-wing, TIE/D: have 4 cannons and 3 attack. The Defender has a cannon upgrade for the 2 ion cannons.

Phantom: 5 cannons, 4 attack.

Now to the "odd" ships:

Firespray: it has 2 pairs of two guns on each side, a total of four and Attack 3. A cannon upgrade represents the retractable weapons

YT-1300, YT-2400, Decimator: a single pilot cannot fire with any accuracy 2 turrets at a time, thus only one turret is "initialized." The Gunner activates the second turret.

Lambda: Standard configuration has only 4 laser cannons forward facing (3 attack). A cannon upgrade represents the militarized version.

HWK: produced either without or with minimal armament. Most was added aftermarket (thus 1 attack and a turret).

Thus the only real outlier is the B-wing from this line of reasoning. Now I'm not saying it is right nor am I saying it is wrong, but it is logical how many arrive at this conclusion.

Fluff aside, I figured it was because most of the time they're only firing every other round. But as far as why?

-que the little mexican "why not both" girl-

They have 4 attack, because they are the only ship we have to date that has 5 laser cannons. Notably, 3 attack goes to 3/4 laser cannons, and 2 attack goes to ships with 2 laser cannons, with 1 going to weird misfits like the Hawk.

The interceptor arguably has 10 laser cannons.

Now, this is where I'm going to say that neither this nor any other film or game "specification" really has much to do with the mechanics of this game. I say much because FFG has to pay attention at least a little bit, otherwise you'd have torpedo launchers on standard TIE Fighters.

The Phantom has 4 attack because of BALANCE. It is extremely fragile and the cloaking mechanic means that there are times when you simply cannot attack.

Fragile AND can't attack at times. Sounds like it should have some pretty major positives as those two are pretty major negatives. One of the positives is 4 attack, another is the decloak. Also a system upgrade.

"But that's too many positive and my brain is angry!" you might be saying. That's why the cheapest Phantom costs a full quarter of your squad points before any upgrade, and the highest PS is 7 instead of the usual 9.

"PS 7?!"

Yes. Balance. FFG play tested this thing enough to realize how important it is for the Phantom to move last and shoot first, so giving it a PS of 9 would have been wayyy too generous, as a VI-clad Phantom flying around at PS 11 would quite possibly break things.

The key word here is balance, plain and simple.

Standard interceptor armament was four canons, some were upgraded to six but that was the exception not the norm.

Phantoms have four attack dice because FFG wanted to make a ship with four attack dice.

Basically. Sadly everyone thinks it's 100% due to five laser cannons and that's firmly cemented in people's minds now. Which is extremely silly.

Considering the Falcon effectively has EIGHT 360 facing and since it can only attack one target at once (oddly) then one can only assume by laser cannon count = firepower that the Falcon should have about six.

And the Lambada Class Shuttle has 10 Laser Cannons yet it is only 3 Firepower.

Phantoms have four attack dice because FFG wanted to make a ship with four attack dice.

Basically. Sadly everyone thinks it's 100% due to five laser cannons and that's firmly cemented in people's minds now. Which is extremely silly.

Considering the Falcon effectively has EIGHT 360 facing and since it can only attack one target at once (oddly) then one can only assume by laser cannon count = firepower that the Falcon should have about six.

And the Lambada Class Shuttle has 10 Laser Cannons yet it is only 3 Firepower.

And does not naturally have a rear firing arc, despite having a BIG ASS GUN on the back, yet the firespray does, despise having a 180 rotating weapon, and somehow the A-Wing, having the same thing, effin' doesn't.

Where? From the little red "4" on the card. That's where.

Phantoms have four attack dice because FFG wanted to make a ship with four attack dice.

Basically. Sadly everyone thinks it's 100% due to five laser cannons and that's firmly cemented in people's minds now. Which is extremely silly.

Considering the Falcon effectively has EIGHT 360 facing and since it can only attack one target at once (oddly) then one can only assume by laser cannon count = firepower that the Falcon should have about six.

The power of the cannons had to be taken into account too. The quad blasters are less powerful individually than say a laser on an Xwing.

You know what? I don't buy that for a second. I don't buy that Han wouldn't be packing as much firepower as possible on his ship.

Your argument makes no sense. There's a limit on how much firepower he can physically fit. It's the nature of the cannons. Otherwise, why isn't he running 8 superlasers on his ship?

Yes. Han would have big engines before big guns. He's a smuggler, remember?

Is it that they actually have 4 dice worth of attack or that they're ability to cloak makes an already respectable attack that much better? If it's the latter, does that set a precedent of attack values being set based on two criteria: native weaponry and the host platform's ability to make the best use of said native weaponry?

I firmly believe the offensive and defensive dice values take fire power, accuarrcy, size of craft, grade of avionics, ecm, eccm, and situational awarness of the pilots and crew.

The Phantom is having a easier time getting a hardlock on the enemy, which isnt as evasive and or making deathly manuvers trying to jink attacks they think is / will come from a angle the TIE Phantom is not really at.

Little known fact the cannons on the phantom are actually a stellar converter. However the listed stats for Lucas ships are so far beyond most sci-fi makeupthestats that a weapon capable of melting planets in some universes is only 4 dice. This is also why we can't have a ground game as stray shots are likely to shatter the mantel of any planet being squabbled over.

Standard interceptor armament was four canons, some were upgraded to six but that was the exception not the norm.

You're talking about the fluff. In the movies, the TIE Interceptor shot from at least six cannon locations. And on the filming miniatures, there were ten cannon barrels visible, as seen in the post above yours. The intention was obviously to give it extreme firepower, but it was nerfed in the EU.