Hey all!

Been trying to find a way to get targeting sync and a tie phantom on the table together and have kind of hit a wall. (The wall being there are sadly just not enough points!) And was looking for ways it can be fine tuned.

This is what I've been tooling around with to moderate success:

TIE Phantom: · "Whisper" (32)
Veteran Instincts (1)
Fire Control System (2)
Advanced Cloaking Device (4)
· Agent Kallus (2)
TIE Bomber: Scimitar Squadron Pilot (16)
Extra Munitions (2)
Plasma Torpedoes (3)
Guidance Chips (0)
TIE/sf Fighter: · "Quickdraw" (29)
Swarm Tactics (2)
Fire Control System (2)
Lightweight Frame (2)
Special Ops Training (0)
Targeting Synchronizer (3)
-- TOTAL ------- 100/100p. --

I'm 7-1 thus far, but not all of those have been the most competitive matchups. Wins Vs 3 swarms, couple Miranda + X, one Imp ace.

The one loss was to the new hotness, Dengar/Tel -- which ended closer than it had any right to be on paper; with only a one HP Dengar left standing on the table!

The biggest issue is obviously the ballsy no-bid Whisper in a meta that can punish such audacity real quick. But where does one make cuts?

In all my games, getting both Plasma shots off hasn't been an issue and so Extra Munitions is justified. Kallus lets me laugh at TLT (though sometimes I wish it was Rebel Captive to counter Expertise..)

I don't know, what do you think? The 21pt Scimitar that shoots Plasmas at ps9 is pretty nasty though

Quickdraw's synergy with the bomber is very clever. How big of a difference has swarm tactics made? I know making the bomber shoot right away could help, but has it taken anything off the table before it got to fire?

I know someone who is doing something similar, but not using Targeting Synchronizer.

I suggest you try this bomber, and see how you like it:

Scimitar w/ homing missile, extra munitions and long-range scanners

It allows you to drop Target Synch, and leaves you at 99 points.

Advantage: your aces keep their TLs for their own future shots (often very good for them, especially Quickdraw).

Disadvantage: LRS 'telegraphs' your initial target.

6 hours ago, Biggsy_boy said:

Quickdraw's synergy with the bomber is very clever. How big of a difference has swarm tactics made? I know making the bomber shoot right away could help, but has it taken anything off the table before it got to fire?

Yes, swarming up to ps9 helped eliminate more than a couple ships, notably Miranda and Rey, and at the very least ensured the target was sufficiently softened for Whisper to finish off. Found it wasn't too difficult to keep QD at range one either as their dials are play nicely together.

3 hours ago, blade_mercurial said:

I know someone who is doing something similar, but not using Targeting Synchronizer.

I suggest you try this bomber, and see how you like it:

Scimitar w/ homing missile, extra munitions and long-range scanners

It allows you to drop Target Synch, and leaves you at 99 points.

Advantage: your aces keep their TLs for their own future shots (often very good for them, especially Quickdraw).

Disadvantage: LRS 'telegraphs' your initial target.

Oh how I wish I could make that work.. I've tried that bomber loadout quite often and always find that A) I miss guidance chips, and more importantly B) I'm never able to get the second target lock due to range restriction and then subsequently not be able to fire the second volley

I have found what you're saying to be true though, Quickdraw not being able to use his own TL for the first couple shots makes for a pretty weak attack. He becomes a 38 point target painter - unless someone shoots him to trigger ability which hasn't happened yet!

How the games have played out is QD and Scimitar joust while Whisper goes for the flank. The enemy almost always turns towards Whisper, allowing the other two to creep behind them and unload - otherwise they have a phantom behind them! If her flying is on point and the dice are kind, Whisper survives and the enemy usually goes for the spent bomber as it's the softest target.

Would dropping down to Backdraft be the answer?

I don't think backdraft is the answer because you'd either have to drop swarm tactics for VI, in which case, your bomber shoots last, or your bomber shoots at PS 7. I think that change would damage your whole list.

56 minutes ago, S41X said:

Would dropping down to Backdraft be the answer?

Not if you wish to continue using Targeting Synch AND swarm tactics. PS 7 is just not worth it, imho.

Personally, I don't think you should worry too much about getting the 2nd shot off with the bomber. The best play for your opponent is to destroy the bomber first, unless they have an excellent opportunity to take out an ace. I'm surprised your opponents are initially going after whisper, but if so, that's great! Always nice to capitalize on enemy mistakes. Having said that, I would still think of the 2nd shot as more a 'bonus' than a requirement to win games.

If you did drop down to Backdraft, here's what I would suggest running instead:

Whisper w/ VI, FCS, intel agent & ACD = 40

Backdraft w/ adapt, FCS, spec ops & LWF = 31

Tomax w/ crackshot, proton torp & chips = 29

100

The advantage of Tomax is you don't care about getting a 2nd shot off because of the 'perma-crack-shot'. Of course, your PS9 alpha becomes a PS8 alpha, so that might not be better, but your firepower is improved overall.

Update: A few more games of practice and I'm 12-1 with this current iteration. Resolved to not worrying so much about an initiative bid and just learning to fly more responsively.

Things I've noticed..

- Better players will charge the bomber and do not allow torpedos to fire, this can be responded by charging the bomber in first for a block, 5k'n behind the following turn. Kinda messes with the game plan but beats getting erased.

- Agent Kallus only comes into play maybe every other round, if that, most of the time he just chills in the valuable crew slot silently judging me.

- Quickdraw still never gets shot at

With a tourney coming up in a week, I'm considering tweaking to what I'm expecting to be a scum heavy meta with the following:

TIE Phantom: · "Whisper" (32)
Veteran Instincts (1)
Fire Control System (2)
Advanced Cloaking Device (4)
· Rebel Captive (3)
TIE Bomber: Scimitar Squadron Pilot (16)
Flechette Torpedoes (2)
Extra Munitions (2)
Guidance Chips (0)
TIE/sf Fighter: · "Quickdraw" (29)
Swarm Tactics (2)
Fire Control System (2)
Lightweight Frame (2)
Special Ops Training (0)
Targeting Synchronizer (3)
-- TOTAL ------- 100/100p. --

Doubling down on the stress with Rebel Captive and Flechette Torps over Kallus and Plasmas. Shutting down Expertise and limiting Mindlink, not to mention double stressing any PTL Aces with the Flechette.

You think these changes are worth the trade?

I am a big fan of Rebel Captive, and I think you won't be disappointed with that change. Having said that, it does really encourage your opponent's targeting order: they will always go for the bomber first (unless you can mess that up with clever positioning). That's not necessarily a bad thing, though---but its something to keep in mind.

Flechette torps on Scimitar are ok. They do have the advantages you mention, but that still leaves them in the 'situational' bracket. Meaning there will be games where you're happy to have them and others where you aren't.

If you are really finding it difficult to get off that initial shot, perhaps you should consider cluster missiles? They are not going to deal a ton of damage to high agility enemies, but will put the hurt on low agility stuff. Another option would be ion pulse missile (but you lose the extra munitions). Ion pulse missile can be a death-sentence to many types of ships. They are surprisingly quite a bit better than the flechette torp for only a single point more. If you really wanted to keep the extra munitions, you could always go back to Agent Kallus on whisper...

I've been using the following:

TIE Phantom: · "Whisper" (32)
Veteran Instincts (1)
Advanced Cloaking Device (4)
· Rebel Captive (3) (or Kylo, cuz backdraft)
TIE/sf Fighter: · "Backdraft" (27)
Veteran Instincts (1)
Fire Control System (2)
Lightweight Frame (2)
Special Ops Training (0)
Targeting Synchronizer (3)
TIE Striker: · "Duchess" (23)
Adaptability (Increase) (0)
Lightweight Frame (2)
Adaptive ailerons (0)
-- TOTAL ------- 100/100p. --

The goal was to give either duchess or whisper the lock, depending on need, but I fly whisper like garbage, so its certainly a work in progress.