Hey guys, I'm pretty new to the forums here and only have about 5 games under my belt and am loving this game. Thought I was going to be all Rebels until I played Echo...good gracious what a fun ship to fly! Little nerve wracking and time consuming but it's pretty fun! I just got another phantom and have been toying around with a 2 phantom build. Let me know what you think:

Sigma sqd. - stygium

Sigma sqd. - stygium

Royal guard pilot - PTL

Scimitar sqd. - flechette torps, ion pulse missiles

So kind of a modified "tank and flank" list as it sits. Just got the bomber so I want to try it out, and I friggin love the interceptors with PTL. PS6 on the RGP's is awesome too. Pulse missiles can ion a firespray or falcon, while the flechettes can stress and damage from range. Good looking unit on paper, but I'd like some feedback. Thoughts?

One major concern is that those phantoms will either not get much use out of the decloaking maneuverability or they'll be taking turns with no one in their firing arc. They're gonna be hunted down real fast and without an ACD they'll be relatively easy to catch. If you see that your opponent is gunning for them though you could use the RGP and Scimitar to smack them from behind a bit, as long as you don't mind using your phantoms as bait. It would definitely be a tricky list, especially in the first round of combat, but it's not impossible to win with.

This is true, but I wanted to save some points with the stygium, also I get a free evade token when I decloak or cloak so when I decloak i'll get the movement bonus and an evade token, which should help. Of course I'm tempted to drop 1 phantom, change the other to echo - ACD, VI and add in another royal guard tie w/PTL, but I'd like to fly the generic phantoms to see how they perform before shelving them completely. I totally see your point though, if my opponent maneuvers well and can get behind me and I'm decloaked (at PS3) I could take some hurt in that first exhcange.

What would you think for deploying and opening moves? close to the edge and hug it before turning in rounds 2-3?

Yeah I understand the desire to save points, phantoms are expensive glass cannons. Echo is a completely different ship to fly as well, so don't let your experiences with low PS phantoms be your only guide. The banks with echo are incredibly useful as you can turn 135 degrees in a single movement which is about as good as a K-turn in most situations.

As far as opening moves go it'll be tricky because your opponent will most likely set up right across from your phantoms. If they do, don't hesitate to do a hard 1 turn to move laterally along your side and draw them in towards the middle. If they don't set up directly across take advantage of the decloak boost and go as far up the side as you can. Decloak two forward and move four forward for two turns and you'll be in a good spot to do a hard turn in and flank them.

So I am picking up my rebel aces this afternoon and have some games slated for tomorrow. This is a list idea with 3 rebel aces on the table:

Nera Dantels - VI, 2x Flechettes, adv sensors, failsafe

Farlander - Predator, adv sensors

Farrell - refit, test pilot, predator, PTL

So the B's slug it out mid table while farrell tries to scoot around back and flank. Decent strategy? I know ordinance isn't that awesome, but I needed to take advantage of Dantels' ability with those torps, so there they are.

Thoughts?