STAR WARS IMPERIAL TACTICS: WHISPER

Next up is the ship that I used almost exclusively to learn how to play X-Wing last year.

The 2nd Edition version is genuinely one of the more interesting ships I have had a chance to play so far.

• No longer playing the Advanced Cloaking Device Trap Game is liberating
• Comm Relay is good and Phantoms basically have Comm Relay
• Whisper no longer needs to be the 100% center point of your list, at 52 pts like Soontir she can be absurdly good Ace filler
• Imperials have the coolest Crew options in the game by a very wide margin.
• There are few ships that can change their gameplay as drastically as Whisper can with just the crew upgrade choices alone.
• I am mostly just putting Juke only on Whisper and feeling completely ok with what she can contribute.
• Whisper is fragile enough that any mistake at any point can very quickly lead to disaster. That is rewarding.

This is just intended to summarize some stuff and spark a discussion about builds/lists for a specific pilot.

In some ways its also just to highlight how cool all the Imperial crew cards are...

Pilot Card

• Initiative
  • i5 is high enough to deal with a # of heavy hitters Boba, Guri, Luke, Norra, Inquisitor etc.
• Pilot Ability
  • 2 Green Dice & 2 Evade Tokens anytime you shoot and hit your target first
  • Its not uncommon to end up with 1 Focus Token and 2 Evade tokens before anything else fires.
• Ship Ability
  • Essentially the 2nd Edition version of Comm Relay
  • Allows you to almost always have a focus and evade provided you have room to decloak
  • Able to Cloak and Decloak while stressed since you spend the evade to "gain" a cloak
• Stat Line
  • 3 Red Dice is plenty in this new world.
  • 2 Green Dice makes this thing vulnerable to focus fire just like nearly everything else
  • 3 Hull and 2 Shields along with that free evade is durable enough for the new role Whisper plays
  • Compares very favorable to almost any X-Wing with or without crew/system equipped

Dial

• Not alot of blue but the usual path of banks and decloak strafing still applies here
• That hard 1 turn is still just as good and but just as predictable
• I still tend to avoid K-Turns unless I know for sure they are safe to do.
• The implications of stress have changed slightly thanks to the wording on the ship ability.

Talent

• Obvious and likely default choice for any Tie Phantom.
• Whisper with just this and nothing else is a solid use of 56 pts
• Stapled Juke to Omega Leader in 1.0, probably can do the same with Whisper in 2.0

• Cheaper way to boost Whispers offense a bit. Send a ton of generics in and chip away.
• This might out right be a better choice than Juke depending on what Min-Swarms people come up with to sacrifice
• Looks very interesting with Sloane Crew

• Gives a slight boost on both sides of the dice, think I prefer Juke for the 4 pts though

• Failing a decloak is bad news even with 4 green dice.
• I won't be using this but its at least interesting to consider if it works?
• Mainly including here just to find out if it works...
• Not an action. Doesnt work.

Sensor

• The combo of decloak, evade, barrel roll, hard turn is at minimum fun and in practice useful.
• Gives you a chance to end a K-Turn or Bump with a Focus/Evade, or fly over rocks if thats your thing
• Gets total pts expensive though especially when there are so many great crew cards to pay for

• The bottom part of this text is legitimately awesome.
• There are absolutely times when being able to decloak forward or through a rock would be massively beneficial.
• Allows you to engage an opponent in places that you would otherwise never consider which makes Whisper less predictable

• I can only imagine taking this if Tarkin is around on another ship to allow Whisper to acquire a Target Lock
• FCS is crazy good value for 3 pts in general so if Whisper does some how acquire that lock its worth a look.

Crew

• At 3 points this card seems potentially very useful.
• Gives Whisper the equivalent to a force charge at range 1.
• I can't imagine many players will choose the stress token but I have been wrong before.

• One of my favorite crew cards that the Imperials have access to.
• Fits very nicely on Whisper as whatever ship has Sloane becomes a target priority and cloak/decloak lets you stay on the move to protect it and force an advantage.
• All around solid 10 pt option and makes those Mini-Swarms happy.

• No longer grants the defensive bonus
• Now can be shifted to another target of your opponents choosing after the initial hunted ship is destroyed
• Nice option at just 6 pts and lets you save Whisper's pile of tokens for defense.

• Also seems excellent on Whisper.
• Grants both one rechargeable force charge and the ability to stay cloaked and stay relevant for 14 pts
• This is almost comically entertaining.

• Another force user...force charges are good. This time 16 pts
• I love this card. The art is badass. The ability is seemingly game changing for a ship like Whisper.
• Your basically paying for a force charge and an infinite initiative action
• Given the fact that Whisper can cloak this thing becomes even more powerful and offers some help against Vader/Fenn/Han.

• Another force user (12 pts)! How do they have this many??
• Not entirely sure how to get enemies to gain stress besides Sloane and one or two other things.
• Could make K-Turns/Talons/Sloops and certain ships with more red on their dials a little more scared of Whisper
• There might be something really nasty involving Sloane, Death Troopers, and Seventh Sister Whisper.
• All cool stuff but I don't know how to use it for anything other than the force charge just yet

• Phantom's don't have Target Locks. Until now!
• Thanks Krennic for facilitating so many achievements
• Greatly toned down from 1.0 thankfully but still a very good card and only 5 pts.
• I kinda like the idea of taking Juke/Krennic/FCS Whisper, Optimzed/Super/FCS/Burner Vader, and 40 pts of something

• Now that dials and arcs matter a little more I feel like Informant has slightly more value in general than it once did.
• Things will move after you and good players will be very difficult to pin down when they do.
• Still better just to "predict" where your opponent is going
• But for 5 pts this could really help a little against an i6 like Vader or Fenn within Range 1-2
• Though its worth mentioning that often you wont have "multiple" decloak options so the benefit can be limited

• Are you an Imperial player?
• Have you ever wondered what it would be like to Regen a shield.
• GONK!
• 10 pts...

• 10 pts feels like alot for this given other options at that cost...and possibly unnecessary with the ship and pilot ability available

• Mentioning this one here not because Whisper can take her ( she can't )
• Mainly because the options available to a decloaking ship that can BR into a rotate and take a blue move are absurdly entertaining

Modification

• Lately I have been getting in the habit of putting Afterburners on everything that moves just to see what happens
• Tie Fighters, Tie Bombers, Low PS stuff you want to use as blockers etc.
• A Tie Phantom that can boost twice per game while stressed to stay range 1 to trigger a crew effect or get a kill shot?
• Or pair with collision detector decloak peace out through a rock?
• Might make it easier to set up those all important Decloak lanes for strafing runs.
• Points are probably better saved for other ships in the list but it still has some appeal!

• 5/6 pts to pick up essentially a full X-Wing stat line plus all the nonsense mentioned above?
• Seems good but again approaching to many upgrades territory
• Stealth Device with a force charge is maybe worth a look but also gets expensive

Notes & Questions

• Right now I am exploring a huge # of Whisper builds...mostly just to see how various crew work occasionally throwing in the system
  • Juke ( 56 pts )
  • Juke/0-0-0 ( 59 pts )
  • Juke/Krennic ( 61 pts )
  • Juke/Kallus ( 62 pts )
  • Ruthless/Sloane ( 66 pts )
  • Juke/Gonk ( 66 pts )
  • Juke/Seventh Sister ( 68 pts )
  • Juke/Vader ( 70 pts )
  • Juke/Grand Inq ( 72 pts )
  • Whats your favorite option so far? In general. Listed points totals above just for reference.
• Are you even using the System upgrade?
  • There are 2 solid options but I keep wanting to save the pts
  • Boils down to Nothing vs Collision Detector vs Advanced Sensors
• Is Afterburners Whisper worth consideration?
  • Confident the answer is no even though boosting seems fun
  • Obviously cuts into the crew upgrade budget.
• I often read cards wrong so corrections are welcomed.
• Most of this from a post last year no longer applies or was wrong to begin with but the bottom picture might be helpful to new players wondering how Phantoms can move around, so have a look.
• Whisper really has changed in alot of ways and I think it all seems very positive.

Great write-up as always.

I really enjoy the devil's dilemma that Vader and Juke will present. If you lose the green token then the following Juke shot is even scarier. Excited to try it out

I love phantoms in 2.0

Not played 2.0 but planning LW/Stealth/Seventh Sister

Juke/Krennic/FCS. That‘s 5 actions per turn once the TL is set (Jendon?).

Or LW, both are well worth it. LW more i think, but also more squad dependent. No FCS krennic then though.

Also, I noticed that I put Whisper in way too many list ideas.

I don‘t get 7th sister unless you want to pay 12pt for the force. Which could be worth it, but is also half a tie fighter.

pretty skippy that decloaking isn't an action, so don't put it on your phantoms ?

if you're escorting your Juke Phantoms with a Jam Reaper, though...well, Range 1 is very easy to misjudge!

People keep saying stay cheap, but my goodness the following is hard to kill. Pair it with a mini swarm perhaps

Whisper, LW, Grand Quis, Col Det, Stealth Device

Just park her behind asteroids and if they don't shoot you, spend your free evade to cloak, then decloak around the obstacle. Otherwise use CDet and you're good anyway. If they surprise you and catch you out Quis can give you a br to block them or just cloak and rock 6+ defense dice that round (base/stealth/cloak/rock + maybe range vs some)

83 pts but I think it's the most fun in imperials right now - and its legit tough to take her down. She some damage dealers alongside her though

17 minutes ago, FriendofYoda said:

my goodness the following is hard to kill.

Only a little harder to kill than a 73 pt super fcs evade focus 1 force charge left Grand Quiz Tap though right?

Its a fun idea but I think part of the reason people are keeping Whisper light is to fill a slightly different role and because the 80+ range introduces other options.

Doesn't mean there isnt some amazing 80 pt Whisper build out there though.

You can put Ciena on Squad Leader Whisper if you really want, it's a dumb idea, but you can do it.

Great Topic. I love Phantoms in 2.0

I personally use whisper with Vader and Echo with grand inq. together. Both Crew Members seem to be made for Phantoms. They come with 70 pts cause of juke which is incredible.

With 60 pts. left you can add a supporter or even soontir.

The other option worth considering is krennic/fcs. I love the idea pairing this with Vader btw.

I think a hull upgrade is legit because it’s only 5 pts. and can save a life.

8 hours ago, Boom Owl said:

Are you even using the System upgrade?

I think all three options are solid. FCS requires setup (Krennic), Advanced Sensors are a bit expensive but 1.0 Krennic already helped in demonstrating how good it is. And Collision Detector gives you great options for moving around. The problem with the latter two is that we can not yet say how much worth the improved movement is. Dice mods on the other hand are an established benefit that is deeply ingrained into our X-Wing thinking. Movement also depends on player skill while dice mods are just statistics and easily quantified.

8 hours ago, Boom Owl said:

Is Afterburners Whisper worth consideration?

Same problem as with AS and CD. Maybe? Maybe it's too expensive for the benefit, maybe you find the points easily and those few moments really save you a game every now and then?

I have questions about your choices though:

Why Ruthless?

What about the force users compared to Kallus? His benefit is purely offense and limited to one ship, but also 6-10pts cheaper. The Grand Inquisitor for example allows you to BR and block, yes, but also stresses you and then you lose your decloak evade. Using him to cloak heavily limits your dial to blue. Otherwise you're pretty much done for as 4 dice naked are worse than 2+focus+1-2evades. On one hand this looks like 1.0 thinking against a 2ship list. On the other hand, rolling into the first ship of a swarm can be devastating but is extremely situational and I'm not sure 16pts are worth that. The force token on all three is of course great because independent of actions (block+stress don't matter). Still, so expensive!

8 hours ago, GreenDragoon said:

I don‘t get 7th sister unless you want to pay 12pt for the force. Which could be worth it, but is also half a tie fighter.

I'm on Sister for cheap Force, but also with decloak reposition my opponent has to think about where Whisper will be before he dials a red move.

I was originally on Vader/Juke but I think that too offense-focused and the LW/Stealth version has more frustration- in my squad Whisper is the ship I want owning endgame.

"Whisper" — TIE Phantom52

Outmaneuver6

Collision Detector5

Grand Inquisitor16

Stealth Device*

Ship Total: 85

Rear Admiral Chiraneau — VT-49 Decimator88

Trick Shot1

Director Krennic5

Minister Tua7

Agile Gunner10

Hull Upgrade*

Ship Total: 113

The "Oh now you've really pissed them off" list, featuring the experimental weapons division.

1 hour ago, SOTL said:

I'm on Sister for cheap Force, but also with decloak reposition my opponent has to think about where Whisper will be before he dials a red move.

That makes sense.
Assigning a TB does trigger the repositioning, right? So he reveals and performs a red maneuver, you assign a TB, reposition him, then he gets to take an action because the ship is not stressed anymore? Similarly with Jam, where an action for tokens is now pretty much wasted? Sounds good but also situational.

I'm still used to the 1.0 frequency of red moves, and it looks like 2.0 has generally more of them. Plus, I expect more people to joust again, so any intuition I have about the frequency of red moves is now even more wrong than it was before. But it might be well worth it.

5 hours ago, GreenDragoon said:

The   Grand Inquisitor for example allows you to BR  an  d  block, yes, but also stresses you and then you lose your decloak evade. Using him to cloak heavily limits your dial to blue. Otherwise you're pretty much done for  as 4 dice naked are worse than 2+focus+1-2evades  . On one hand this looks like 1.0 thinking against a 2  ship list. On the other hand, rolling into the first ship of a swarm can be devastating but is extremely si  tuational and I'm not sure 16pts are worth that. The for  c  e token on all three is of course great because independent o  f   actions (block+stress don't matter). Still, so expe   n  si  v  e!   

I see your point here. Because using grand inq against higher ini ships limits your actions to blue maneuver + evade next round. But then you still have your force charge.

I’m using his ability only when it really matters especially against aces or higher ini ships because it could change a game. Against lower ini pilots you can dial in a blue maneuver, using grand inq to perform an action and fly a blue maneuver afterwards to clear the stress.

29 minutes ago, GreenDragoon said:

That makes sense.
Assigning a TB does trigger the repositioning, right? So he reveals and performs a red maneuver, you assign a TB, reposition him, then he gets to take an action because the ship is not stressed anymore? Similarly with Jam, where an action for tokens is now pretty much wasted? Sounds good but also situational.

I'm still used to the 1.0 frequency of red moves, and it looks like 2.0 has generally more of them. Plus, I expect more people to joust again, so any intuition I have about the frequency of red moves is now even more wrong than it was before. But it might be well worth it.

People are also forgetting about linked actions. Many ships have that ability now. You are creating a range one threat bubble around you forcing decisions onto your opponent every round.

E.g. Fenn Rau boosts into range 1,does he link into that focus so you can barrel roll him into a rock or so he can no longer shot you?

Most likely not...

30 minutes ago, GreenDragoon said:

Assigning    a T  B  

What does TB mean?

3 minutes ago, Ryuneke said:

What does TB mean?

Tractor beam token.

The worst case for a victim of the 7th sister is imo when you can boost/roll them away or onto a rock so they can‘t shoot you. Unfortunately tractor beam does not allow to use the banks, but still.

51 minutes ago, GreenDragoon said:

That makes sense.
Assigning a TB does trigger the repositioning, right? So he reveals and performs a red maneuver, you assign a TB, reposition him, then he gets to take an action because the ship is not stressed anymore? Similarly with Jam, where an action for tokens is now pretty much wasted? Sounds good but also situational.

I'm still used to the 1.0 frequency of red moves, and it looks like 2.0 has generally more of them. Plus, I expect more people to joust again, so any intuition I have about the frequency of red moves is now even more wrong than it was before. But it might be well worth it.

I'm looking at bouncing people onto rocks or out of arcs, primarily (it's also incredibly niche but I'm also packing two Proton Bomb chucking Punishers to tractor them onto. Affects linked actions too, though they've got a choice about that.

Lord there's a lot of stuff to try out here.

I've barely even thought about Phantoms yet.

Man I'm looking forward to this.

I think there's two Whispers I like:

Whisper - Juke. Keep it cheap, chuck out damage. 0-0-0 is acceptable.

Whisper - LW, Stealth, Force User. If you're going to spend 30pts on upgrades they HAVE to be dedicated to keeping you alive as long as possible.

I'm loving the possibilities of not just Whisper but the Phantom in general. I agree with what seems to be the majority opinion here. Either go cheap with Juke and maybe a <5 point crew or go all the way on Vader/Shield Upgrade/Advanced Sensors for an expensive, tanky beast. I think that flexibility is the key to using the ship well. I also wonder if there's going to be a bit of an edition hangover where people who played 1st edition go crazy trying to kill Whisper ASAP, not realising it's basically a sub-60 point X-Wing. That might be a benefit in and of itself until people adjust to the new edition.

13 hours ago, Boom Owl said:

Is Afterburners Whisper worth consideration?

I would say yes in theory. The best defence is not being shot at all, and Whisper has the most important two things to consider in an afterburners recipient: no native access to boost, and a speed 3 bank and turn (sounds silly but it's surprising how many scum ships don't have the turn).

It depends if you've had problems with Whisper not getting enough repositioning options!

I think it's worth a try, but with a phantom now being slightly tougher and slightly less well armed, it's more likely to seek range 1 for the bonus attack die, and fights are likely to go on longer, making a limited-use upgrade less impressive.

Decloak/Speed 3 turn/Boost is some serious hooning, though. Especially (at the risk of going off-topic) on Echo.

1 minute ago, Magnus Grendel said:

I would say yes in theory. The best defence is not being shot at all, and Whisper has the most important two things to consider in an afterburners recipient: no native access to boost, and a speed 3 bank and turn (sounds silly but it's surprising how many scum ships don't have the turn).

It depends if you've had problems with Whisper not getting enough repositioning options!

I think it's worth a try, but with a phantom now being slightly tougher and slightly less well armed, it's more likely to seek range 1 for the bonus attack die, and fights are likely to go on longer, making a limited-use upgrade less impressive.

Decloak/Speed 3 turn/Boost is some serious hooning, though. Especially (at the risk of going off-topic) on Echo.

Conversely, I would say no. Whisper's dial is decent, but you tend to find yourself using the lower speeds a lot more than the higher ones, and I think those 8 points could be used elsewhere. Plus it interacts badly with Adv. Sensors, which is also expensive and more useful.

What do you guys think about the right supporter for whisper? I’m not sure about the Palp shuttle if you have a force crew on board of the Phantom.

Maybe it’s better to add a third ship with offensive potential...