Hi Ho Whisper, away!!! Um yeah. Nevermind

So I like the Defender and I like the phantom. Why not fly them together?

Whisper w/ VI, FCS, gunner & ACD = 44

Vessery w/ Opportunist, HLC, shield up. & proton rockets = 53

Packs a wallop for only 2 ships, but I fear Vessery will get focussed to death since defenders are not exactly arc dodgers and that's a lot of points for 7 hitpoints. Still might be fun. I imagine the opportunist won't trigger all the time, but just the threat of it might keep attackers from spending their focus offensively (no one wants to eat 5 red dice that are focussed & target locked, or even 6 dice from the proton rockets if that presents itself...)

Thoughts?

I'd recommend Lone Wolf on the Defender. You would probably need it for defense and it probably won't be an issue to be far enough away.

Lone wolf is an interesting choice for vessery. Early in the game it's effectiveness is neatralized by using a target lock. But if whisper goes down it does allow him some extra offense in the end and better defensive rolls. It'd be one to test out

I could also recommend going with vi and engine upgrade instead to give the defender better position

I would nix opportunist, giving stress to yourself as a defender is never ideal. I would also suggest cluster missiles on Vessery because they're quite unfair when shooting on a target that he's getting free locks on.

Stressing your Defender voluntarily while you're already afraid it will get focused down quickly is not the wisest of moves.

If you're not worried about stressing Vessery you might even go the PtL + EU route, for extra arc-dodging.

I'd recommend Lone Wolf on the Defender. You would probably need it for defense and it probably won't be an issue to be far enough away.

If I went with Lone Wolf, then it makes much more sense to use Rexler.

Stressing your Defender voluntarily while you're already afraid it will get focused down quickly is not the wisest of moves.

If you're not worried about stressing Vessery you might even go the PtL + EU route, for extra arc-dodging.

Hmmm, something to consider, especially if Push is only used strictly in circumstances where arc-dodging is possible...

Rexler might be the better option here. I love the Col, but go with the best.

Rexlar with vi hlc and engine.

Rexlar with vi hlc and engine.

I've tried engine a few times and I don't feel it helps much - whereas a shield upgrade bumps a defender from slightly less tanky than a firespray to slightly more, and since it can't arc-dodge effectively, I feel it needs all the tank it can get.

So I had a chance to try the idea out yesterday against a friend. Although he was experimenting with a new list he had never flown it before (so maybe not the best 'test'). I went with:

Whisper: VI, FCS, gunner & ACD

Brath: lone wolf, prockets, HLC & shield up.

= 97 pts

It worked pretty well. I created a 'wall' of asteroids to discourage going after a flanking whisper, and so my opponent went straight for Brath, and since I managed to get a range 3 initial shooting with him, he only lost a single shield. Brath ended up dying but not before dealing some serious damage (although I forgot all about the proton rockets). In the end it was a victory with whisper not taking a scratch. I think the big weakness is a bad first round of shooting: if I get terrible green dice and brath takes too much damage early on, he might die too quickly to be worth his somewhat extravagant 53 points. Then it might be too much of an uphill battle for whisper. Still, it was fun to fly and the two together can deal some significant damage.

When I saw "Lone Defender" I immediately thought wow, lone wolf on a defender! I agree that Rexler would be better suited to actually use Lone Wolf... I don't think Vessery is someone I would want to use in a two ship build.