Hi everyone, first time posting here.

I've been working on a list for casual play (I know that I don't yet have enough ships or practice to be anywhere near competitive at a tournament), and I was wondering what did and did not work.

Whisper [32] with:

Veteran Instincts [1]

Rebel Captive [3]

Sensor Jammer [4]

ACD [4]

Rexler Brath [37] with

Predator [3]

Heavy Laser Cannon [7]

Ion Pulse Missile [3]

Shield Upgrade [4]

98 pts

I decided to go with a more defensive build on Whisper to promote longevity, while Brath is a heavy hitter, with Shield upgrade for durability and Ion Pulse Missile to "ruin a big ship's day" as I heard someone put it should the ship get too close to the edge, or an obstacle.

Thoughts? What works, and what doesn't?

Nice list. Should do you well as long as you don't make any grievous errors

Fly it with Whisper to the fore----she's actually more durable than Rexler so she's more likely to shrug off damage better (although you don't want too many firing arcs on her, of course---the more you dodge the better!)

just to change a few things

1) Shield upgrade is 4 points.

2) if you're going to run a missile, i'd get something to cover your 1 range, and the only thing that does that super effectively with a defender is PRockets, same amount of points as well. also if you get super good rolls (and rerolls) you can get potentially 5 crits with brath's ability.

3) if you're going to fly a two ship list of defender phantom you have to pretty much know where your enemies will be flying their ships, one misstep and its as good as over. be in too many arcs and its certain doom.

just to change a few things

1) Shield upgrade is 4 points.

2) if you're going to run a missile, i'd get something to cover your 1 range, and the only thing that does that super effectively with a defender is PRockets, same amount of points as well. also if you get super good rolls (and rerolls) you can get potentially 5 crits with brath's ability.

3) if you're going to fly a two ship list of defender phantom you have to pretty much know where your enemies will be flying their ships, one misstep and its as good as over. be in too many arcs and its certain doom.

1) True dat.

2) naw. You might think prockets are good on Brath, but they're not. You see, brath doesn't really want to get into range 1. I flew him with prockets in about a dozen matches and fired it maybe twice. Not a good ROI. Ion pulse missiles are a better idea, not because you are likely to use them more often, but because they give you something you otherwise lack----control. And while its not a big deal, it can make a big difference on those few occasions you need it.

3) Yep. Still fun though.

I'd probably try and make Whisper a little more offensive, either through a crew or the system slot. I see Jammer as a TLT counter, so maybe you go with Gunner for the crew (maybe Kallus when he comes out). With only two ships you need both to be really carving up enemy ships as quickly as possible.

Also, since it's only 2 ships, see if you can get good flying Brath with Lone Wolf instead of Predator. The defensive effect is useful against anything, but positively nuts against swarm attacks like TLTs.

Ok, so possibly try and make Whisper more offensive so that both ships can bring the hurt, and then fly Whisper in the front.

Had not noticed that, would likely have been flying Rexler first. Thanks for pointing that out blade_mercurial.

However, if I do use one of the upgrade slots to make Whisper more offensive, do I still want to be putting Whisper out front? Or is Rexler always just the less durable one?

And yah. This list is going to be unforgiving, but trials by fire are always just so fun.

I think the lead ship will depend on the list you're facing, and you might not even have a lead. I would try and flank the enemy formation and bring shots from two directions. The ship in the most exposed position will be the one most resistant to the main enemy threat. If you're facing TLTs, for example, whisper with her higher AGI and Sensor Jammer will be more resistant, so she goes in the position where they can most easily reposition to engage her. If you're fighting HLC Dash Rendar or any 3-dice turret with Gunner, Rexler is the one you want taking the shots, because he can let one through and it's not too worrisome for his 7 hit points.

I think the lead ship will depend on the list you're facing, and you might not even have a lead. I would try and flank the enemy formation and bring shots from two directions. The ship in the most exposed position will be the one most resistant to the main enemy threat. If you're facing TLTs, for example, whisper with her higher AGI and Sensor Jammer will be more resistant, so she goes in the position where they can most easily reposition to engage her. If you're fighting HLC Dash Rendar or any 3-dice turret with Gunner, Rexler is the one you want taking the shots, because he can let one through and it's not too worrisome for his 7 hit points.

Yes this. HLC and gunner do mess up whisper pretty bad, so you don't want her in the line of fire in those cases. Also, rebel captive. Really ruins her day.

You can either spread your ships or fly them close. It depends on your opponent and how they deploy. Generally speaking, Whisper likes open spaces, and while she can fly into a cluster of asteroids, its not ideal (even then you want to try to position her so at least 2 decloak directions remain available as much as possible). The defender can pass through asteroids easily, but again, when approaching rocks, make sure you have more than one exit (for example, you might be able to 5 straight, 3 hard turn 1 direction, or something like that). If Rexler only has one obvious path through the rocks, he will get into trouble...

When I was flying these two together, my list was:

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

Brath w/ lone wolf, HLC, ion pulse missle & Shield upgrade = 53

97

I also tried predator and proton rockets on Brath, and I even tried running with vessery for a bit. Ultimately, I think Brath is the way to go because PS8 is better than PS6. I found the proton rockets not worthwhile enough to justify their points, so went with ion pulse missiles instead (although didn't use them much neither, but you have the points, so why not?).

Lone wolf vs predator. I'm still torn on this one. The defensive buff from lone wolf is certainly nice. It almost always comes into play, adding one more evade per game (on average) than you would've otherwise have gotten (worth it, imo). But predator definitely adds more damage over the course of a game than lone wolf...

I like that whisper build, but having used a lot of rebel captive recently, I would consider that as well. It doesn't help against thugs carrying TLT & unhinged, but it does help against pretty much everything else...