Hi guys, I'm building a list that's not for myself, so I'd like to hear your thoughts on it.
I made the same thread on reddit, in case it sounds familiar

The list has to include Whisper (I know that she's more fragile than ever with Kylo and bombs around, but that's set)
Now one idea is of course Whisper + RAClo. But another idea that I came up with myself is the following, and I'd like to hear your input on the different crew combinations:

Whisper (Total 40-43)
VI (1), FCS (2), ACD (4) and *either* Kallus (2), Intelligence Agent (2) or HSCP (4)

Darth Vader (Total 35)
Determination (1), Title (0), ATC (1), EU (4)

Scimitar Squadron Pilot (Total 22-25)
Shuttle Title (0), LWF (2), Kylo Ren (3), and *either* Inspiring Recruit, Mara Jade, OpSpecialist, Rebel Captive, or Ysanne Ysard

Now why I consider these crew as options for the bomber, and that's what I would really like some input on, in no particular order:

• Inspiring Recruit: helps against the re-emerging double stress, which hurts both Whisper and Vader more than many others. Also it allows for HSCP on Whisper, which in turn increases the chance that Vader's crit is pushed through
• Mara Jade: the idea is that the shuttle rushes in to pull aggro, so to speak, while Vader and Whisper do their work. That way the shuttle also stresses.
• OperationSpecialist: If Whisper or Vader miss, the other one can get a focus - which allows more repositioning or other actions, or simply more defense. Which could also go on the shuttle to have it survive longer.
• Rebel Captive: increases survivability by making it an uncomfortable target
• Ysanne Ysard: that one was not a serious thought, but I have to admit I like it. The Bomber will get chances to have 1+ damage and this makes him almost into a Defender - Evade every turn with 3 green dice (LWF) is rather good. Also improves survivability.

So to summarize, the options either increase the direct survivability of the shuttle by evade, focus, unfeasible target, or stress. Or it improves the chances of Whisper/Vader to survive.

I'm leaning towards Recruit/HSCP, but I think OpSpec/IA or OpSpec/Kallus would also work out.

What do you guys think? What are advantages/disadvantages of these choices? Which ones did I miss?
Also, while I see the worth of Kallus, I personally really like Intelligence Agent on Whisper. Feel free to comment on that, too!

I think that Determination is a bit of a waste of Vaders Elite slot, as Kylo really isn't so common that you need to build against him.

Ignoring that, I would consider Gunner on Whisper with no second crew for the Bomber, too. Buzzsaw Whisper is a pretty nasty ship, still.

OpSpec is not a bad idea on the Bomber, but you really have to look at any point you put on it, because it falls over being sneezed at, even with LWF, since you want to use your action to Kylo. Inspiring Recruits isn't bad and it is only one point, but I don't know if just throwing it in in case of a certain enemy is worth it.

HSCP I have not considered putting on Whisper, yet. It is 4 points of crew that do nothing for herself. It does allow Vader to hit more reliably for Kylo triggers, but I don't know if that is worth those 4 points.

Here is what I'd do with those ships: https://geordanr.github.io/xwing/?f=Galactic Empire&d=v4!s!79:27,36,21:-1:9:;22:57,-1:23:3:U.124;49:-1,-1,-1,-1,-1:35:-1:u.195,u.-1&sn=Unnamed Squadron

It is a bit different, though.

Are you set on the phantom? How about making the bomber a bit more effective:

I would put Kylo on Whisper. Works great... also determination on Vader doesn't seem great.

A Phantom and Vader (especially with EU) will be difficult to keep in range of a bomber to benefit from a lot of the other crew options suggested.

You could have Whisper, Vader and a Bomber (Deathfire, or missiles) that should work OK.

Ysaard can't go on a bomber. Too many points. It would be awesome though. I also think Rebel Captive on Whisper is the best crew.

44 minutes ago, CatchySlim said:

Ysaard can't go on a bomber. Too many points. It would be awesome though. I also think Rebel Captive on Whisper is the best crew.

Sure she can, she is only 4 points.

On 3/30/2017 at 5:19 AM, GreenDragoon said:

Whisper (Total 40-43)
VI (1), FCS (2), ACD (4) and *either* Kallus (2), Intelligence Agent (2) or HSCP (4)

Darth Vader (Total 35)
Determination (1), Title (0), ATC (1), EU (4)

Scimitar Squadron Pilot (Total 22-25)
Shuttle Title (0), LWF (2), Kylo Ren (3), and *either* Inspiring Recruit, Mara Jade, OpSpecialist, Rebel Captive, or Ysanne Ysard

I played against this in Regionals. Wasn't particularly impressed. Whisper and Vader are always scary, but the bomber (kylo/rebelcaptive) is a waste of points and flew around doing nothing, so really it was my three ships vs his 2 ships. His bomber had the problem most ordnance lists do, it couldn't get in range on my higher PS ships for initial engagement. For 22-25pts you can field Pure Sabacc or Deathfire which can probably help out more I would think.

I like Dave Grant's list having Whisper carry Kylo. Really it only wastes one of Whispers actions until you get the crit through. Its not an action card to use every round.

Thank you all for your replies!

In the end we also tried Whisper, PureSabacc, Backdraft and then Whisper, Duchess, PureSabacc. The strikers gained more and more favor with my SO who not only is quite a good pilot but also loved the look of the list. And she did quite well, coming in third out of 19.

Which is ironic to me because while I crushed her (:P) in our only serious training game, I then went on to lose basically every game and came in 16/19. And it was not the list, not at all. I played very, very badly.

Sounds like you don't need any more advice, but I figure another perspective cannot hurt, so here's my thoughts on the list:

I've flown these 3 ships quite a few times and have done fairly well with it. However, I think its not 'perfect' in the sense that it does still have a few bad matchups (lack of autothrusters makes turret-heavy lists very difficult to defeat).

My version is:

Whisper w/ VI, FCS, kallus & ACD = 41

Vader w/ lone wolf, x-1, ATC & engine = 36

Scimitar w/ title, Kylo & rebel captive = 22

99

A word on some of the choices:

Lone wolf: I have been using this card on Vader forever. Absolutely worth it. It gives Vader considerable staying power (something he needs since he lacks autothrusters) and the single re-roll on offence is often all he needs for 2hits + crit.

Rebel Captive/Kallus: I much prefer to have this card on Whisper, tbh. However, after many games, I have found most opponents target the bomber first. For that reason, I feel it benefits the list more on the bomber. Kallus allows Whisper to quickly eliminate one problem ship and that is really a boon for this list. It also allows Whisper to take her preferred action: evade. She wants to be evading whenever there is a threat of being shot (that barrel roll cannot save you from) because that encourages the opponent to attack the bomber and get stressed (you don't care that much if the bomber dies, anyway).