I decided to try something different this past week when I actually had time to play a match. We decided on 125-point builds, and I loaded out an Imperial list for the night. I also have been looking at the System Upgrade of Enhanced Scopes and how to make use of it. Specifically, how it would work with a Phantom given that the "official" way to build a Phantom means including the Advanced Cloaking Device modification in every build and go for a high PS with Vet Instincts.

Instead, I went with a Sigma Squadron Phantom with Enhanced Scopes, Stygian Partical Accelerator & Intelligence Agent. Woah, I seem to feel folks thinking... going for a PS 0 ship with only a PS 3 for firing? Are you crazy?!?

It's certainly a different way to fly a Phantom. Instead of stalking and pouncing late in the round after most everyone else has moved and action'd, the ES Phantom becomes a different kind of predator. Using the Intel Agent, I'd pick out the one enemy ship most likely to be a viable target, and if it made sense, take my decloak move and free Evade token (thanks SPA!), take my maneuver and then action accordingly. This is probably the most critical part of the whole play with an ES Phantom - being highly selective as to when you're going to decloack. Being able to accurately visualize where your target ship will end up and how it meshes into the decloak / maneuver combination is key to get that Range 1 shot.

I find that it gave me the ability to force my opponent into taking actions to respond to the imminent threat of the Phantom's guns, instead of making the Phantom work with what's left on the board. Moving first gave me the opportunity to always pick the most opportune route of decloaking / move / action. This is a combo that really needs to be planned out in your head before you do it though, as the Phantom is exposed for the round and you'd never want to decloak if you're going to end up in a firing solution of another ship. I was up against Wedge, Airen, two Knaves and two Bandits, and the Phantom only lost one shield point by the end of the match. It works if flown intelligently.

The next match I play, I think I'll be going for Echo or Whisper and see how they can make use of it.

I got berated in this forum for daring to use a named phantom and enhanced scopes with SPA, so don't expect much different.

I myself have also been trying to come up with ways to utilize pilots and upgrades that fall outside the "your list should look like this" standard so that I can always be expanding my toolbox of skills and tactics and avoid stagnation, and it is good to see accounts of others thinking outside the box. Nice to see you had success with the low PS Phantoms with SPA!

Thanks for the write-up!

Always enjoy reading about lists that go against the group-think. Glad it worked for you. I have only begun to explore the Phantom myself. I've wondered if the Enhanced Scopes would work on the Phantom so that you move first and can get in the way of other ships but, if using the high PS, shoot first and re-cloak

ES + Int Agent is actually a pretty good combo.

Use Int Agent to see where your victim will be.
Use Enhanced Scopes to know how not to collide, while still maintaining and capitalizing on the knowledge of where they will land.
Profit.

There's been some noise over the last couple of months around "what is Enhanced Scopes good for?", and I think the key to answering the question is understanding how valuable it is to move at a time when you know the exact state of the board.

Consider Whisper + VI moving at PS9 in comparison to Sigma + Enhanced Scopes moving at PS0. Whisper has the advantage of knowing the board's final state when you move, and that's absolutely a big and important deal. But you have to contend with a massive gap between the board state when you plan your maneuver and the board state when you execute your move--and experienced players know how much can happen between PS1 and PS9.

The Sigma looks at the same tradeoff and runs the other way. You give up knowing the board's final state, but (barring an opponent with initiative running Enhanced Scopes) the gap between planning and executing your maneuver is nonexistent. That's a definite advantage when you're running a ship that depends as heavily on its positioning as the Phantom does, and (as noted in the OP) you can cheat and get back some of that trade by running an Intelligence Agent as well.

And the best part is that making a different decision with respect to the tradeoff nets you an extra 6 points for the rest of your list. That's a pretty good deal when you think of it in terms of moving from (e.g.) Whisper + 5x Academy to Sigma + Howlrunner + 4x Academy.

It's not perfect, and it's a different style, but it's absolutely worth exploring.

The other bit to consider with Enhanced Scopes is that it's non-unique.

Every ship in your fleet with Enhanced Scopes moves simultaneously, allowing you to activate them at will.

Tell me THAT ain't huge.

Just put this in another thread. No Phantom, but it does have Enhanced Scopes!

It's certainly a different way to run a Phantom, that's for sure.

While it was only the first game that I had tried it, I did manage to line up a perfect IA peek, combine the decloak and maneuver, then end up with that perfect Range 1 shot for five dice, and took out Airen in his Z95 in one shot. No one had arc on the Sigma from picking just the right decloak option and action.

Know that it was impossible for me to be blocked with the Sigma - every single turn - was a huge advantage, along with being a bit of a mind game on my opponent. He always had to think about where the Phantom *may* go when picking his dials, knowing full well that it would go before him. I even managed to use the Phantom to get bumped from behind to deny Wedge his shot with the IA peek/decloak on him. Gutsy move sure, but it worked.

However, if not used with a lot of thought, and a decent understanding of what possible move each of your opponent's ships has available, it could end up very disastrous very quickly.

I really like this idea. How viable would you say it is to run three Sigma's outfitted such (in a 100 point game) with an AP? If one, why not three?

I really like this idea. How viable would you say it is to run three Sigma's outfitted such (in a 100 point game) with an AP? If one, why not three?

I was debating trying that. However, I only have two Phantoms right now, but I do happen to have a $20 gift certificate for my FLGS... Oh, the possibilities.

With three IntAgts out there, it would certainly make a battlefield where all your ships get to know exactly what to do. It's an intriguing idea that I'd like to try. Even something like this for 99-points:

"Echo" — TIE Phantom 30

Veteran Instincts 1

Advanced Sensors 3

Rebel Captive 3

Advanced Cloaking Device 4

Sigma Squadron Pilot — TIE Phantom 25

Enhanced Scopes 1

Intelligence Agent 1

Stygium Particle Accelerator 2

Sigma Squadron Pilot — TIE Phantom 25

Enhanced Scopes 1

Intelligence Agent 1

Stygium Particle Accelerator 2

The two Sigma's go first, and generally are annoying with the IA opening up the two most viable targets and moving accordingly, and then Echo going late round to get the best firing option.

Now just to requisition another Phantom from Supply, and we'll see what we can do with it.

Pre-FAQ SPA + advanced sensors was a viable option and the phantoms it were on were 2pts more for less defense and more options. I understand why the FAQ ruled as it did but wish that there was a way to make SPA still viable.

Since then I've done SPA and sensor jammer. Makes a tough phantom to crack and it draws a lot of hate fire. It's a Biggs that costs more and has more dice. That's ok but it jus doesn't shine in 100pts. It's fabulous in epic.

I really like this idea. How viable would you say it is to run three Sigma's outfitted such (in a 100 point game) with an AP? If one, why not three?

I was debating trying that. However, I only have two Phantoms right now, but I do happen to have a $20 gift certificate for my FLGS... Oh, the possibilities.

With three IntAgts out there, it would certainly make a battlefield where all your ships get to know exactly what to do. It's an intriguing idea that I'd like to try. Even something like this for 99-points:

"Echo" — TIE Phantom 30

Veteran Instincts 1

Advanced Sensors 3

Rebel Captive 3

Advanced Cloaking Device 4

Sigma Squadron Pilot — TIE Phantom 25

Enhanced Scopes 1

Intelligence Agent 1

Stygium Particle Accelerator 2

Sigma Squadron Pilot — TIE Phantom 25

Enhanced Scopes 1

Intelligence Agent 1

Stygium Particle Accelerator 2

The two Sigma's go first, and generally are annoying with the IA opening up the two most viable targets and moving accordingly, and then Echo going late round to get the best firing option.

Now just to requisition another Phantom from Supply, and we'll see what we can do with it.

That's a really wicked list. You probe in first looking for the soft spot then plunge the dagger in. Good stuff.

I got berated in this forum for daring to use a named phantom and enhanced scopes with SPA, so don't expect much different.

It's much different since, as Vorpal pointed out above, your PS is no longer the advantage it was with a PS 8/9 phantom and you're saving points. Also, IA is a key here, too.

I got berated in this forum for daring to use a named phantom and enhanced scopes with SPA, so don't expect much different.

It's much different since, as Vorpal pointed out above, your PS is no longer the advantage it was with a PS 8/9 phantom and you're saving points. Also, IA is a key here, too.

I wouldn't call it removing the advantage. ES only makes you PS 0 for the activation phase. So instead of moving last and shooting first you move first and shoot last.

Now moving last has some advantages over moving first likewise there are advantages to moving first (such as avoid blocking). The biggest drawback to ES over say the more expensive AdvS is that ES is mandatory thus giving AdvS more flexibility in movement.

I think it all comes down to how can you maximize the advantages of moving first, the intel idea is rather great.

I've been thinking about random ways to use Phantoms and some of the ideas that popped into my head were:

AdvS + Fleet Officer

Activate Sensors, use Fleet followed by Green Maneuvers to clear stress.

ES + Saboteur

Use ES and Cloak to approach to R1 for Saboteur.

Original thought was for a doom-Shuttle:

OGP + ES + Saboteur + Saboteur + EI

But it could be adapted to the Phantom just as easily.

FCS + WepEng

Teamed with Vessery the Phantoms act a spotters for him.

Could also work with ES + TC + WepEng

So you don't need to decloak and attack for spotting.

ES + IA

Was mentioned earlier makes a great spotter for "Blocking" Tactics.

ES + Navigator

"The Blocker" to pair up with the spotter. Although using a Large base with APL would probably be a better blocker.

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I'm sure that the future is bright for ES there's once more [Action] Crew cards become available.

I got berated in this forum for daring to use a named phantom and enhanced scopes with SPA, so don't expect much different.

It's much different since, as Vorpal pointed out above, your PS is no longer the advantage it was with a PS 8/9 phantom and you're saving points. Also, IA is a key here, too.

I wouldn't call it removing the advantage. ES only makes you PS 0 for the activation phase. So instead of moving last and shooting first you move first and shoot last.

Now moving last has some advantages over moving first likewise there are advantages to moving first (such as avoid blocking). The biggest drawback to ES over say the more expensive AdvS is that ES is mandatory thus giving AdvS more flexibility in movement.

I think it all comes down to how can you maximize the advantages of moving first, the intel idea is rather great.

ES allows you to move first and shoot at your original PS. On a high PS Phantom, you want to move as late as possible as that's really the strength of the phantom, not the four defense dice or ACD, though are huge advantages as well when being able to position yourself where you want. It is the reason the meta has turned to the falcon to counter it. You either bring the falcon or higher PS, both of which minimize the movement advantage and a higher PS can minimize the movement and get in before ACD.

I never planned to use the Sigma / ES / IA as a blocker. Quite the contrary. To be fair, I did use it that way one turn, but that was more of a happy coincidence of opportunity than anything else. I used it as a deliberate peek at the enemy dial and then move exactly into a spot where I was going to light that target up with 5 attack dice at Range 1. It made for my opponent to always be trying to figure out what the Phantom was going to do, rather than move his ships to the most advantageous position for their own attack.

It's a different beast, with ES. I fully get, and have made great and fun use of Whisper or Echo with VI and ACD. But I wanted to just turn the Phantom on it's head and go a different way. It's not for everyone though.

Okay. Somebody in Worlds is like top 8 or 10 with a List with two Sigmas and Enhanced scopes.

How is it working out for you all?