And A-wings.

The hawks can give you a fair chance vs the Phantoms. At the same time the ruin your chances vs anything else.

The hawks can give you a fair chance vs the Phantoms. At the same time the ruin your chances vs anything else.

Of course, because firing at PS12 is a detriment against anything that isn't a phantom.... It's not like firing first against Fel, or Wedge, or any other named pilot can possibly help you. And at 24 points it is not only draining a incredibly large portion of your total list, but giving you an Ion Turret that hinders you!

Distributed Howlrunner, tie ln upgrade only, an ally within range 1 May reroll 1 attack die. Now the pairs can split up and corner the board.

I doubt it will ever happen, but it would put the swarm back on top.

Death star turret. Range 1-5, attack power is 20 dice. After attacking you may turn all blanks and eye balls into critical hits. Cost would be -50 squad points.

To the original question: "Design something that would threaten Whisper's top-tier status"

Here is what I would design: I would take a few recognized top tier players (world champions and such), have them write an article about how they use their favorite fleet in conjunction with proper positionning, asteroid placements, etc to kill phantoms, followed by concrete examples. I would then post them on FFG's website.

That's the only thing I would design. Seriously, I'm willing to bet that half of the losses against Phantoms or fat Hans are due to people having only a fuzzy idea of what they should do instead of having a concrete plan of "this is how I defeat my opponent with my list".

Doug Kinney, former World Champion, already wrote an article on TC that basically concluded that no matter what the swarm player does, the phantom player can always counter it if he's goo enough.

And that is the flaw in your argument. As someone stated earlier in the thread the Phantom was DESIGNED TO KILL SWARMS...it was essentially a hard counter to the swarm heavy game that was popular at the time. How about getting someone who doesnt play what the phantom was designed to destroy to write an ariticle.

Dotswarlock has a good idea here. Get a "good" player to write an article about how they tackle the phantom...not only what ships they use but how they move...how they approach fighting a phantom...and how they try to predict where the slippery little bugger will be.

I dont play in too many tourneys but I have faced a few of phanotms....I win some and I lose some but it usually comes down my flying and my opponents flying...its not a super popular ship in my group...

That said...there is no broken ship nor broken mechanic in this game (though I am sure many of you will disagree with me...) I am not going to tell you to learn to fly better cause that would be stupid...but there are plenty of counters out tehre for phantoms. And alot of people were using them regularly before the phantom was released.

Though I am finding the same wailing and gnashing of teeth I always see when a phantom issue come up amusing, so carry on.

I am a relatively new player and might be reading the rules incorrectly or I might be unaware of a faq but I wonder if just removing the imperial auto initiative win would level the playing field with the phantom? Rebel PS 9 pilots would potentially get to shoot before a recloak if they won initiative bid.

I am a relatively new player and might be reading the rules incorrectly or I might be unaware of a faq but I wonder if just removing the imperial auto initiative win would level the playing field with the phantom? Rebel PS 9 pilots would potentially get to shoot before a recloak if they won initiative bid.

In the tournament rules, there is no auto imperial initiative. The guy with a lower squad count decides, who has initiative. If both field a list worth the same cost, a coin is tossed to determine who gets to decide who has initiative.

This ship build has been pretty effective for me against both named Phantoms:

B-wing: Nera Dantels

+ Fire Control System

+ Flechette Torpedoes x 2

+ Munitions Failsafe

+ Ion Cannon

+ Predator (substitute Deadeye if you like)

= 360 degree stress turret with multiple uses.

I am a relatively new player and might be reading the rules incorrectly or I might be unaware of a faq but I wonder if just removing the imperial auto initiative win would level the playing field with the phantom? Rebel PS 9 pilots would potentially get to shoot before a recloak if they won initiative bid.

In the tournament rules, there is no auto imperial initiative. The guy with a lower squad count decides, who has initiative. If both field a list worth the same cost, a coin is tossed to determine who gets to decide who has initiative.

What about changing the rule so in the case of a PS Tie the lower point value ship wins rather than the whole list value? So in this case other PS 9 ship that cost fewer points than the phantom would be to shoot before a recloak?

Have phantoms uncloak before dials are revealed (but-obviously- after they have been chosen).

I think it fits in with the logic of the cloaking device.

Nera + Deadeye + Flechette Torpedo

Roark + Ion Turret

Blue + FCS (or -FCS for another flechette on Nera)

Rookie + R3-A2

Roark PS 12's Nera to fire off a 360 deadeye torpedo. Hit/miss the flechette deals stress to the phantom. PS 9-6 Phantom fires and can't ACD due to stress. At PS 4 Roark ions the 2 agility phantom with his turret. If blue has a shot takes it and gets a free TL. If rookie has a shot he R3-A2's and gives another stress. Next round phantom can't decloak from the ion token and moves a 1 straight and performs no actions due to stress. 2 B's plus an X wing close to range 1 and eliminate the phantom.

If you expect more than one phantom then drop FCS to give Nera another flechette. The PS 12 torpedo turret can wreck a phantom's day. Took out a 2 phantom list with this list.

If you expect to face Fat Hans/Super Dash as a result, swap out the blue and rookie for:

3 bandits + ion pulse missile

Nera + Deadeye + Flechette Torpedo

Roark + Ion Turret