Because I don't seem to often run into people playing Phantoms, I finally sat down with my favorite ship (the TIE Defender) and played out a series of about half a dozen one-on-one engagements. I was using the cheap, but punchy Whisper with FCS, ACD, and VI at 39 points. In my tests I used a souped up Rexler Brath with HLC and Predator for 47 points or a cheaper 37 point Delta with HLC. Obviously, Rexler Brath is more expensive and should have an edge, but at a one-on-one level, specific interactions often trump a raw points comparison. For example, a cheaper 45 point Rexler Brath with HLC and VI would have an enormous advantage over Whisper, but would be weaker against many other things.
First off, this is an interesting comparison in a vacuum, because opinion and Major Juggler's analysis has the Defender as a decidedly an inferior ship. Nevertheless, there are a number of reasons it has some advantages in a fight vs. a Phantom compared to most snub-fighters. The first is the White K-turn. I've often heard that if you get Whisper on your tail, you're hosed. The interesting thing about a Defender is there isn't really a tail. The K-turn lets you flip and keep firing at maximum effectiveness. The second is the HLC. 4 red dice, while denying the 5th green at Range 3 is an effective, if simple way to nullify a cloaking device.
The field: I clustered 3 asteroids in one corner (representing those placed by the Defender's player) and 1 in each of the other corners.
The rules: I planned the Defender's moves first, then selected moves by the Phantom to try and avoid the Defender's arc while keeping the arc on the Defender. If that was not possible, the Phantom tried for a joust, trying for close range when possible. Typically, the Defender tried to stay near the cluster of asteroids.
Wins and losses: I didn't really keep track of wins and losses, simply because I kept fiddling with lots of things throughout the trials. For example, if a TIE Defender rolled 3 natural Evades, or a Phantom rolled all blanks, I re-rolled it just to keep the fight interesting and not have outlying die rolls strongly effect wins and losses. I didn't document this at all. This is a decidedly non-scientific way to do things, but I was able to glean some interesting lessons anyway, which was the whole point of this exercise.
Caveats: I am not an experienced player with or against Phantoms. My lack of skill or foresight in choosing maneuvers certainly could undermine any lessons I learned from the tests. I did not use non-HLC Defenders in my tests. While certain broad observations will still apply, some specific observations will not be applicable to cannon-less Defenders.
Things I learned:
1.) The opening exchange is the best exchange for the Defender. Whisper won't have a TL from FCS, and the exchange is more likely to be at longer ranges. In this case, the two sides are doing equivalent damage, and Whisper is often faced with interesting decisions about how use the Focus token initially. A mediocre Whisper attack opposed by a good Defense roll by the Defender could leave Whisper with no Focus against a 4 die attack that has a Focus. This isn't the most likely circumstance, but it comes up often enough to make Whisper's life a little rougher, particularly with a Predator re-roll.
2.) When fighting in or near asteroids, there is often one direction of decloak that is disallowed. The Defender (or any ship) can make use of this to cover the other lanes of decloaking with its guns. This is compounded of asteroids will prevent the Phantom from turning in onto the Defender.
3.) In a joust, 4 attack vs 3 Defense with 6 hit points is a bit worse than 4 attack vs 4 Defense with 4 hit points, particularly with Whisper's ability to gain a Focus back. However, the Phantom is more susceptible to poor luck. A Defender might be willing to joust in certain circumstances because the chances of landing a killing blow are higher, even if the average damage over time would favor the Phantom.
4.) The Predator upgrade on the higher point Defender was quite useful. Several turns of 4-hit Attack dice rolls can beat a Phantom down even with 4 greens defending it.
5.) The open field of play heavily favors the Phantom. This almost goes without saying, but is included for completeness. It usually allows two avenues of attack, and the Defender must simply guess which way the Phantom will chose to turn. An undamaged Defender in this case may have some success by sprinting straight, possibly getting inside the Phantom's bank or turn (or simply taking the shots). This sets up a K-turn on the following turn to bring the Phantom back into arc. If at all possible, the Defender should stay near asteroids to limit the Phantom's options to a more predictable set. The white K-turn can be invaluable in this regard.
6.) The firepower and defenses of the TIE Phantom and TIE Defender are closely matched in a one-on-one fight. Games often came down to luck and good use of asteroids, which doesn't seem unreasonable for ships of roughly similar costs.
Regardless of the outcome of my tests, those things won't (and shouldn't) change, because one ship can be good against another but a poorer overall choice. That being said, fans of Defenders like myself shouldn't feel that a Phantom is an automatic trump card over them in the end-game.
Overall, I apologize that this is not very explicit or well-documented with images illustrating the things I've discussed above. Nevertheless, I encourage players to try what I've done, or with either the TIE Defender or their own favorite ships. You'll likely gain a better understanding of what Phantoms can and can't do, and this is probably a better way to learn to combat them than occasionally meeting them when an opponent brings a Phantom list.
If you've made it this far, thanks for reading.
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