I have a Store Championship on the upcoming weekend. I'm a returning player after 2 years of hiatus and now i'm back into X-Wing again and this is my first Store Championship. I'm an Imperial player and here's my list ... I call my list The French Toast

Rear Admiral Cheraneau (46)

+ Expose (4)

+ Experimental Interface (3)

+ Ysanne Isard (4)

+Rebel Captive (3)

"Whisper" (32)

+ Veteran Instincts (1)

+ Fire Control System (2)

+Advanced Cloaking Device (4)

Total: 99 points

Basically this build is very aggressive and hit very hard. With cards like Expose + EI, Decimator able to roll 4 attack dice and "Whisper" with VI will always get to attack first and with 4 attack dice as well.

Im still learning on how to play this build, I have 2 games with this build under my belt and I have watched a lot of YouTube video.

I would prefer some advice and feedback and maybe some strategy tips as well. Really appreciate it. Thanks

Cheers

Due to Whisper with VI being 9 and initiative being important, you will see folks doing 98 point builds to cripple whisper. Either that or running a PS8 pilot on something with VI which then again gets to fire while Whisper is decloaked.

Last tournament I went to had a lot of Decimator/Phantom builds. You have to fly smart and have a backup plan if there is a PS10 or PS11 opposing you.

Due to Whisper with VI being 9 and initiative being important, you will see folks doing 98 point builds to cripple whisper. Either that or running a PS8 pilot on something with VI which then again gets to fire while Whisper is decloaked.

Last tournament I went to had a lot of Decimator/Phantom builds. You have to fly smart and have a backup plan if there is a PS10 or PS11 opposing you.

Yea, fly smart and have a backup plan is always great. I always have problems placing asteroid when is comes to playing big ship. I need to placing my asteroids perfectly for my Decimator to fly around.

Due to Whisper with VI being 9 and initiative being important, you will see folks doing 98 point builds to cripple whisper. Either that or running a PS8 pilot on something with VI which then again gets to fire while Whisper is decloaked.

Last tournament I went to had a lot of Decimator/Phantom builds. You have to fly smart and have a backup plan if there is a PS10 or PS11 opposing you.

Yea, fly smart and have a backup plan is always great. I always have problems placing asteroid when is comes to playing big ship. I need to placing my asteroids perfectly for my Decimator to fly around.

Throw yours at the 3 of the 4 corners if you want flying room but if you are against a swarm it is better if you bunch them in the middle and force them through it. This is where your game strategy begins. Lots of folks don't really care where they place them but it really can make a big difference.

Due to Whisper with VI being 9 and initiative being important, you will see folks doing 98 point builds to cripple whisper. Either that or running a PS8 pilot on something with VI which then again gets to fire while Whisper is decloaked.

Last tournament I went to had a lot of Decimator/Phantom builds. You have to fly smart and have a backup plan if there is a PS10 or PS11 opposing you.

Yea, fly smart and have a backup plan is always great. I always have problems placing asteroid when is comes to playing big ship. I need to placing my asteroids perfectly for my Decimator to fly around.

Throw yours at the 3 of the 4 corners if you want flying room but if you are against a swarm it is better if you bunch them in the middle and force them through it. This is where your game strategy begins. Lots of folks don't really care where they place them but it really can make a big difference.

Thanks for the advice, Ynot. I will definitely give it a try later during my playtesting session with a friend of mine and see how well it goes.

I have been running the exact same list and love it, I feel like there may be a better option than whisper just because he/she is so expected with the decimator right now. Maybe a vader once the raider has come out, or soontir?

This is my Whisper killer build.

Rexler Brath+VI+HLC - PS10 45 points

Commander Kenkirk+Expose+Ysanne Isard+EI - PS8 55 points

Rexler gets to shoot first and is always shooting 4 dice. All you need is a nice 4 dice hit/crit roll with target lock and blanks on evade for Whisper to get rid of her in 1 round before she even gets to fire. The decimator after that will be gone in a few rounds at most.

Rexler gets to shoot first and is always shooting 4 dice.

Rexler, ideally, wants to shoot after another ship so that he's got more chance of dealing damage cards rather than plinking off of shields.

Most folks running Imperial builds at the local events tend to run whisper/chiraneau. Having Rexler shoot Whisper before cloaking is ideal. If whisper cloaks then she can't shoot so it pretty much neutralizes that threat. After that damage is damage. Yes crits are nice and effective but you typically aren't going to be getting past the shields of big ships on the first round anyway.

Another fun one I like:

Rexler Brath+VI+HLC+SHIELD+AM - PS10 54 points

Whisper+Gunner+FCS+ACD+Decoy - PS7 45 points

As long as Whisper is within range 2 of Rexler, she can swap PS with Rexler with decoy.

I have been running the exact same list and love it, I feel like there may be a better option than whisper just because he/she is so expected with the decimator right now. Maybe a vader once the raider has come out, or soontir?

Yea .. i can't wait for the Imperial Raider to hit the stores. I have a Three Amigos build for that.

Most folks running Imperial builds at the local events tend to run whisper/chiraneau. Having Rexler shoot Whisper before cloaking is ideal. If whisper cloaks then she can't shoot so it pretty much neutralizes that threat. After that damage is damage. Yes crits are nice and effective but you typically aren't going to be getting past the shields of big ships on the first round anyway.

My local meta here,, most players will be either running Fat Han or Super-Dash, Im not sure how good my build will go up against that, and Im kinda worried about swarm build which will totally destroys me.

On the contrary, I know the defender does well against swarms. I beat a 6 ship swarm with a defender, bomber and interceptor. The defender alone dispatched 5 of the swarm.

I also think the defender equiped with HLC is more than suitable to handle fat han.

Whisper is the swarm killer. If you go against Fat Han builds, setup opposite corner of the board from the tala's. Whisper can handle the tala's with ease but if you let them get all 4 together against you they will be shooting 4 against your 2. Han is going to be tough and he'll use c3p0 on the whisper attack against him leaving it open for the decimator attack. Keep the decimator at range 3 and use expose as much as you can since there is no defence penalty on the decimator.

Whisper/Chiraneau is a strong build.

I'd put rebel captive on Whisper though if you keep this build. The decimator is going to be your meat shield unless you keep it at range 3 of the other ships and at range 3 you still get 1 defence die even with expose. The only issue is that keeping Chiraneau at range 3 will mean his ability is useless.

I'm not really sold on Ysanne. She is expensive and only gives you 1 evade. If you use EI to Expose after getting a target lock and take 1 stress from EI you can't use her anyway cause you can't perform any actions, even free actions, while you have a stress token. From my experience, the decimator is an all out attack ship. Don't worry about defence abilities. Just keep it at range 3 or out of arcs and it will prove to be quite effective.

Think about this build as well.

99 Points

Gunner will give you more bang for your buck since you'll get to attack again if you miss and getting the focus with Whisper depends on an attack that hits.

If you get bunched up by a swarm, you can still perform actions with the dauntless title. Just something for you to think about.

I'm not really sold on Ysanne. She is expensive and only gives you 1 evade. If you use EI to Expose after getting a target lock and take 1 stress from EI you can't use her anyway cause you can't perform any actions, even free actions, while you have a stress token. From my experience, the decimator is an all out attack ship. Don't worry about defence abilities. Just keep it at range 3 or out of arcs and it will prove to be quite effective.

The same shenanigans work with PTL and Engine Upgrade to let you boost at the start of the combat phase.

Right - its getting late lol.

I just find that the 1 evade makes very little difference either way and the 4 points can be spent better on something else.

If you've got time to test build options might want to test this one:

EDIT: forgot to give the list name.

"7-10 Split"

"Whisper" — TIE Phantom 32
Decoy 2
Fire-Control System 2
Rebel Captive 3
Advanced Cloaking Device 4

Rear Admiral Chiraneau — VT-49 Decimator 46
Veteran Instincts 1
Mercenary Copilot 2
Gunner 5
Moff Jerjerrod 2

The VI + Decoy gives you some extra trickery since until the Combat phase you're opponent won't know if you are going to attack with the R.Adm first; if ever. It also has Whisper attacking at PS10 the majority of the time.

Merc.Co and Jerjerrod equal the cost of Isard so if you prefer her then take her. Merc.Co is a nice upgrade on the R.Adm if you can fit one in. Having him Crit-Happy at all ranges is like having a pseudo-Vader for 1pt less.

Right - its getting late lol.

I just find that the 1 evade makes very little difference either way and the 4 points can be spent better on something else.

If you get only 1 Evade from her the entire match it was like paying for a Shield Upgrade. If you manage to use her 4 times in a match it's like you are paying 1 point each for 4 Shields Upgrades.

That said, I think she's probably more valuable on a build with Engine Upgrade that is arc dodging a lot of attacks.

If you've got time to test build options might want to test this one:

EDIT: forgot to give the list name.

"7-10 Split"

"Whisper" — TIE Phantom 32

Decoy 2

Fire-Control System 2

Rebel Captive 3

Advanced Cloaking Device 4

Rear Admiral Chiraneau — VT-49 Decimator 46

Veteran Instincts 1

Mercenary Copilot 2

Gunner 5

Moff Jerjerrod 2

The VI + Decoy gives you some extra trickery since until the Combat phase you're opponent won't know if you are going to attack with the R.Adm first; if ever. It also has Whisper attacking at PS10 the majority of the time.

Merc.Co and Jerjerrod equal the cost of Isard so if you prefer her then take her. Merc.Co is a nice upgrade on the R.Adm if you can fit one in. Having him Crit-Happy at all ranges is like having a pseudo-Vader for 1pt less.

Thanks. I will keep your list in mind. I got a couple of list to try out especially the Decimator + TIE Phantom list provided by Ynot but now is not the right time because my Store Championship is this coming Sunday. Their will be another Store Championship in March, that will give me more time to try some new list.

And I also hope the Imperial Raider comes out soon as well. I wait to try the new Three Amigos list (Vader/Whisper/Fel) with those upgrades from the IR

I would move RC to Whisper.

Not a big fan of Expose+EI, much prefer Predator+EU but that's me.

Otherwise I can only say that I know that Chira/Whisper works, run a quite a few times

Right - its getting late lol.

I just find that the 1 evade makes very little difference either way and the 4 points can be spent better on something else.

If you get only 1 Evade from her the entire match it was like paying for a Shield Upgrade. If you manage to use her 4 times in a match it's like you are paying 1 point each for 4 Shields Upgrades.

That said, I think she's probably more valuable on a build with Engine Upgrade that is arc dodging a lot of attacks.

True enough.

There are a ton of variations on this build. I say run what you came up with as you obviously had reasoning behind it. Have a main strategy and a backup strategy and go with it. Above all, have fun. After all, that is why we all play x wing isn't it?

Chiraneau/Whisper is a pretty strong build no matter how you equip it. At the end of the day it comes down to dice rolls. Hopefully they will be in your favour!

There are a ton of variations on this build. I say run what you came up with as you obviously had reasoning behind it. Have a main strategy and a backup strategy and go with it. Above all, have fun. After all, that is why we all play x wing isn't it?

Chiraneau/Whisper is a pretty strong build no matter how you equip it. At the end of the day it comes down to dice rolls. Hopefully they will be in your favour!

And astroids... I once made such a bad starting placement with whisper that I ended up right above a astroid (none of my 3 choices would have landed me on a astroid-free space) on round 2.

Lost that game hard when a A-wing blocked me on round 3 preventing me from leaving the astroid, died hard....

...the shame

There are a ton of variations on this build. I say run what you came up with as you obviously had reasoning behind it. Have a main strategy and a backup strategy and go with it. Above all, have fun. After all, that is why we all play x wing isn't it?

Chiraneau/Whisper is a pretty strong build no matter how you equip it. At the end of the day it comes down to dice rolls. Hopefully they will be in your favour!

And astroids... I once made such a bad starting placement with whisper that I ended up right above a astroid (none of my 3 choices would have landed me on a astroid-free space) on round 2.

Lost that game hard when a A-wing blocked me on round 3 preventing me from leaving the astroid, died hard....

...the shame

Some days you're the bug, some days you're the windshield.

This is what makes this game so great. No matter how good or bad a build is, there is always a chance things won't turn out quite as you expected.

I heard somebody said this to me before, no matter how good your list is, in the end, is all about how you fly those ships that counts.