There is a tournament coming up and currently I have a Leebacca build as my main contender for a squadron, but I am also trying to come up with something unique. Does this seem viable:

Rexler (37)

Stealth Device (3)

Lone Wolf (2)

Whisper (32)

VI (1)

ACS (4)

FCS (2)

Scmitar (16)

Prox mine (3)

I was also thinking about putting an HLC on Rexler and just running an academy instead of the bomber, but I wasn't sure how beneficial that would be (plus that puts him at 49 points, which is an even bigger target). What do you guys think?

You could go all in and drop the third ship alltogether.

Rexler

Lone Wolf

HLC

Proton Rockets (they leave you your focus so at range 1 you shoot 5 dice with a focus to modify or trigger the ability)

Shield Upgrade

Whisper

VI

ACD

FCS

Rebel Captive

Both of the above lists look fun.

Seems a bit tricky so if you can maybe find a friend to practice the list once or twice. But it seems a lot more intriguing that dual YTs!

Seems fun to me! People are conditioned to go for Whisper first, so dumping 49 points into Brath doesn't seem like a gamble to me. Heck, if they try to chew through his 7 health 3 agility before they target Whisper's 4 health 4 agility, then I'd consider that a win. You will have 2 ships shooting longer, plus Whisper is deadly in the end game, so winwin imo.

Plus, anything that's not a giant flying rotating gun is a good choice imo.

My own local meta is colored with Falcons with the title, C3PO and R2D2. Under those circumstances, if Whisper is stuck alone in the end vs the Flacon then it will not look good for her. My personal preference would therefore to add a gunner on her.

That's why you proton rocket the Falcon first.

If my opponent has a Rebel Captive on board, which is the better choice for my first shot? I know it is tough to clear stress from a defender, but I had stress on an echo before and it pretty much ruined his maneuvering for a couple turns.

That's kinda dependent on the situation of course, how are the ships lined up, where are the asteroids, what ship is the captive on, but my gut instinct is to use the Phantom first.

If my opponent has a Rebel Captive on board, which is the better choice for my first shot? I know it is tough to clear stress from a defender, but I had stress on an echo before and it pretty much ruined his maneuvering for a couple turns.

In most cases, you'd want to destroy everything else first. If you are forced to shoot on a ship with rebel captive then you might as well make the most of it and have your entire fleet shoot at the same target (earning a single stress). So if everyting fires then it means Whisper first, naturally.

I have played this:

How often did you use Gunner or EU in that setup if I might ask (trying to determine whether they are worth the cost on those ships)

If my opponent has a Rebel Captive on board, which is the better choice for my first shot? I know it is tough to clear stress from a defender, but I had stress on an echo before and it pretty much ruined his maneuvering for a couple turns.

In most cases, you'd want to destroy everything else first. If you are forced to shoot on a ship with rebel captive then you might as well make the most of it and have your entire fleet shoot at the same target (earning a single stress). So if everyting fires then it means Whisper first, naturally.

Right, because pilot skill. *hangs head in shame*

How often did you use Gunner or EU in that setup if I might ask (trying to determine whether they are worth the cost on those ships)

With only 2 ships, EU on Rexlar gives him some more maneuverability but my main goal is defensively, to get out of arcs. I used it a few times in those 2 games but ultimately I couldn't tap the defender's true potential.

Gunner is there to make sure whisper cloaks and to make sure that with only 2 ships you are getting hits in. So I can't remember how many times but I'm pretty sure it was effective.

Looks interesting, although I wonder about the utility of the Bomber. Ideally, you want to give your opponent questions about what to shoot first, and the Bomber can be too easily left until last.

I played an absolutely evil list at a recent tourney,which was sat on Table 1 and didn't move from the 2nd game onwards:

Whisper - Advanced Cloaking Device, Veteran Instincts

Colonel Vessery

Omicron Group Pilot - Darth Vader

I'm not 100% sure where the last 4 points went in the build, all I can remember were the questions the list posed when I faced it. Do I try to chase down Whisper first? If so, the Shuttle and Vessery will hammer me from range. Do I go for the DoomShuttle? Easy target, but Whisper and Vessery will have freedom to engage. In the end I went for Vessery first (because two of my ships shot before he did), but it didn't really help me much. I played a similar list in the same tournament which featured Rex instead of Vessery and Fel instead of Whisper, that was a tough old fight as well.

Yeah, at first I thought about running a doom shuttle with it. I had just Lone Wolf on Rexler, and the same whisper you listed. I suppose I could drop him down to Vessery and lose lone wolf. That would net me 4 to give FCS to Whisper, and go for the initiative bid.

I dunno though, stripping the Defender down so much kinda kills the main goal of having two powerful pilots flying around.

Have you thought about pairing Rexler with a Firespray of choice?

You could drop the Bomber for Dark Curse+ Stealth Device, I tried that once 19 points of pain in the but to kill, it was kinda fun, and his damage will probably be comparable to the Bomber and I would say significantly more durable

You could drop the Bomber for Dark Curse+ Stealth Device, I tried that once 19 points of pain in the but to kill, it was kinda fun, and his damage will probably be comparable to the Bomber and I would say significantly more durable

That is a really interesting idea! I haven't seen Dark Curse played in my local area in a very long time, I have forgotten about that pilot. In theory, a really resilient Tie Fighter can go a long way to boost the effectiveness of a Rexler + Whisper list!

Yeah, at first I thought about running a doom shuttle with it. I had just Lone Wolf on Rexler, and the same whisper you listed. I suppose I could drop him down to Vessery and lose lone wolf. That would net me 4 to give FCS to Whisper, and go for the initiative bid.

I dunno though, stripping the Defender down so much kinda kills the main goal of having two powerful pilots flying around.

A nekkid Vessery in that particular combo isn't so bad - one of the reasons I targetted him first was because the Shuttle was had acquired a target lock that Vessery could use as well through his ability - and of course if you put the FCS on Whisper as well, then Vessery can potentially be attacking with both Focus and Target Lock until both his wingmen are dead.

Two points still left over, you could go for initiative or add VI to Vessery so he's shooting higher up the order as well.

VI on vessery is a solid choice.

There is a tournament coming up and currently I have a Leebacca build as my main contender for a squadron, but I am also trying to come up with something unique. Does this seem viable:

Rexler (37)

Stealth Device (3)

Lone Wolf (2)

Whisper (32)

VI (1)

ACS (4)

FCS (2)

Scmitar (16)

Prox mine (3)

I was also thinking about putting an HLC on Rexler and just running an academy instead of the bomber, but I wasn't sure how beneficial that would be (plus that puts him at 49 points, which is an even bigger target). What do you guys think?

Scimitar + Prox gives you a better match-up against other Phantom lists, and the Scimitar has the best survivability/cost ratio in the game. Keep this.

If anything, I'd consider dropping Lone Wolf and Stealth Device on Brath, in favor of Engine Upgrades and Adrenaline Rush.

Lone Wolf is brilliant on Defenders, though. I'd consider switching to Ion Cannon or Hull Upgrade if you want to keep it

Alternatively, if you could figure out how to drop Rexler's upgrades to 4 points instead of 5, then you could trade FCS for a Rebel Captive, and make Whisper that much more annoying.

Vessery plus vi (36)

Dark curse plus tc (18)

46 points left for whisper...