X Wing: Anti-Phantom tactics

[fergo]

Hi all,

I, seemingly along with half of the nerd community, have recently got into X Wing. I've played a fair bit over the last month or so, and have learned a lot from my many defeats (and even from my occasional victories, few and far apart though they are).

One ship I've never had any success against, however, is the Phantom. It's common practice in my club (and probably elsewhere as well) to equip the pilot "Whisper" with Veteran Instincts, giving him (?) PS9, and an Advanced Cloaking Device. That way, he almost always shoots first, and can immediately cloak again immediately afterwards, denying the opponent the chance to shoot back at him without having to deal with his 5 defence dice or whatever it is he gets.

I know the usual tactic against Phantoms involves Han in the Falcon, with that lovely 360° arc. Unluckily, like many British players, it's almost impossible to get the Falcon for a decent price. With that in mind, I've tried putting together an anti-Phantom list with ships that I either already have or can get my hands on relatively painlessly (in this case, the HWK and the Headhunter).

The general idea is to get as many shots off as possible before the Phantom can recloak. With that in mind, I'm thinking:

- Wedge Antilles with Swarm Tactics and R2 D2 (although I also considered R5 D8 or R7 T1 and/or a torpedo).

- Roark Garnet with a blaster turret, so I have at least one 360° shot and can give another ship PS12 (although perhaps an Ion Turret would be more versatile?).

- A Blue Squadron B Wing with a Heavy Laser Cannon, for the extra attack and being able to be effective at Range 3.

- a Bandit Squadron Headhunter.

Overall, the list comes to 99 points, giving my PS9s the edge on "Whisper" if y opponent's playing a round 100 points.

I have an alternative list with two Rookie X Wings instead of the B and the Z, but the Laser Cannon seemed like a good idea--plus, being able to barrel roll might prove vital to get the slippery Phantom in my sights.

Maneuvering so that I can have as many of my ships firing on the Phantom at once while simultaneously staying close enough to use Swarm Tactics will be tricky, but with a bit of practice--and by moving slow and keeping my options open--I hope to have a descent chance.

What do you guys think? What have you found to work against Phantoms in the past?

[hamishspence]

If you check the FAQ - it was updated very recently (toward the end of last month) to fix the Phantom - it now decloaks at a different point in the turn.

Bell of Lost Souls summarises it:

http://www.belloflostsouls.net/2015/...ent-rules.html

[Wraith]

Are you dead set on playing as Rebels? Where I am, Decimators are pretty easy to get a hold of, and Rear Admiral Chireneau's ability is very useful for putting more hits on a target.

If you really want Rebels though, you have 3 decent options which I find have worked in the past.

The first is, as you have said, turrets. I'd strongly advocate Ion Turrets where you can, as if you can Ion a Phantom then you mess up their decloak and can likely position your own ships to get extra red dice on them next turn. I'm not necessarily a fan of the Y-Wings as I don't care for their movement dial, but Horton Salm's ability is very, very useful and it still works.

Secondly, take equipment and upgrades where the Phantom doesn't get to roll defense dice. Secondary weapons are very good - the Mauler Cannon has very good range, the Ion Cannon makes your target easier for your other ships to chase, and as soon as you're in range then the Autoblaster is just death. Put one on Dash Rendar, give him Outrider and Lone Wolf, and go hunting.

Missiles and torpedoes tend to be decent, though sometimes unreliable - if you don't get a couple of good hits, or are evaded, then you've used up your option and wasted a lot of points.
Having said that, Assault Missiles roll lots of dice if you shoot them directly at Whisper, and the splash damage is handy to shoot a nearby target and inflict 1 unavoidable damage on Whisper. Lt. Blount is your best friend here, especially with Ion Pulse Missiles. Read the card - all it has to do is hit, not cause damage, and then the target is guaranteed to be stuck for a beating next turn.

Bombs can work, but I personally wouldn't bother. It's VERY hard to get them under a target that can Decloak, unless it starts it's turn right behind you. Proximity Mines might be okay, provided that a) you can get close to Whisper and b) get a ship reliably to PS10 or higher in order to drop them right on the guy...
[EDIT:] Unless the new updates significantly alter that, of course - I haven't read them yet, but I doubt that it's anything so huge as to change what I just said.

If you're prepared to play Scum & Villainy, Feedback Arrays on all of your ships might seem desperate, but being able to damage any enemy ship "for free" and spread the recoil over multiple ships can be hilarious.

The last option is simple, but universally effective; take more ships with lots of attack dice on them.
Even with 5 defense dice and an evade, I've seen Whisper crippled by 4 naked Blue Squadron B-Wings who rolled reasonably well on all 14 dice they threw down, and then finished off over the next two turns with relative ease.
A canny Phantom player shouldn't allow their ship to be subjected to that sort of abuse, but even a couple of ships consistently firing every turn should eventually wear him down - it become a damage race, and they're not the one with 20 shields to grind through - especially if you're doing things to make your attacks more efficient every round. Keylan Farlander with a HLC and Push The Limit, for example, or Wes Janson with Veteran Instincts to first strip away Focus and Evade tokens.
Other variations include Z-95 mini-swarms with Cluster Missiles (5 ships that can output 30 red dice in a turn! Very few ships will dodge all of them) and a combination of the two - I have personally had success with 2x Blue Squadron and 3x Bandit Squadron/Cluster Missiles against a variety of lists, including Whisper.

For specific advice on your list, I'd probably say....
= One turret isn't enough' Whisper is fast enough to just avoid it. Try to cover as much of the battlefield with arcs as possible.
= Your naked Bandit Squadron is going to be an early victim. Don't get me wrong, I love Z-95's but he's clearly there just to fill up points and really doesn't DO anything for the list as a whole.
= I'm not a big fan of Wedge Antilles, as his ability only helps himself. To take down Whisper you need to concentrate your fire on him from as many ships as possible each turn, not just one or two here and there, and it's more efficient if you can find a way to make multiple ships get a bonus. Again, Wes Janson or Garvin Dreis are good, if you like X-Wings in particular.

Good luck!

[hamishspence]

Bombs can work, but I personally wouldn't bother. It's VERY hard to get them under a target that can Decloak, unless it starts it's turn right behind you. Proximity Mines might be okay, provided that a) you can get close to Whisper and b) get a ship reliably to PS10 or higher in order to drop them right on the guy...
[EDIT:] Unless the new updates significantly alter that, of course - I haven't read them yet, but I doubt that it's anything so huge as to change what I just said.

If you're prepared to play Scum & Villainy, Feedback Arrays on all of your ships might seem desperate, but being able to damage any enemy ship "for free" and spread the recoil over multiple ships can be hilarious.

Emon Azzameen from Scum and Villainy Most Wanted pack (Firespray pilot) is a very good bomber:

http://capitalship.org/2015/03/04/a-...third-faction/

[Squark]

Well, first off, make sure they're playing with the FAQ- Okay, technically it doesn't apply until the 15th, but most people are already using it. The real danger of the phantom was it's Schrodinger-esque ability to dodge arcs when it decloaked- Green dice are treacherous, and will fail you whenever you need them the most.

That being said, there are a number of tried and true anti-phantom tactics;

1) Control: Ion tokens force them to move predictably- Whisper will always be in one of three places after she moves when she's ioned (Whisper is female according to FFG, apparently). Stress, on the other hand, prevents them from taking the cloak action- That includes the free cloak action from Advanced Cloaking device. It's expensive because you need the Rebel Transport pack for Stressbot, but Luke, Wes, or Wedge with Veteran Instincts and R3-A2 is a very effective phantom hunter because you get to shoot first and will always apply stress, meaning no re-cloaking, although for best results you want an Engine Upgrade for boost.

2) Sheer quantity of Red dice. BBBBZ (Four Blue Squadron B-wings and a Bandit Squadron Z-95) has a lot of hit points and firepower. Like I said, Green dice are treacherous, and they will fail your opponent eventually. "Panic Attack" (3 B-wings with the E2 modification and Tactician, plus a Gold Squadron Y-wing with R3-A2 and an Ion Turret) is another option that also packs a ton of control

3) Fat Han/Chiranaeu: Combine damage mitigation with a tough hull and a strong attack, and you can eat phantoms alive while they struggle to get any damage through.

4) Blocking: This is tricky especially now that de-cloaking happens before anyone moves, but the tried and true tactic Tie Swarms used against Phantoms was trying to block the de-cloak to deny a Phantom a chance to attack, or, failing that, try to deny the Phantom it's action at least.

[hamishspence]

That being said, there are a number of tried and true anti-phantom tactics;

1) Control: Ion tokens force them to move predictably- Whisper will always be in one of three places after she moves when she's ioned (Whisper is female according to FFG, apparently).

Echo's referred to as "she" in the FAQ (some of the articles on the FFG site use "he" though.)

Whisper, I haven't found anything about.

[Squark]

Echo's referred to as "she" in the FAQ (some of the articles on the FFG site use "he" though.)

Whisper, I haven't found anything about.

Whoops, wrong Phantom pilot, sorry.

[hamishspence]

No worries. Echo's extreme manoeuvrability does seem to make her the more commonly used of the two, so I did wonder.

[Wraith]

Emon Azzameen from Scum and Villainy Most Wanted pack (Firespray pilot) is a very good bomber

He is indeed, and I'm looking forward to learning how to use him when I've got the chance. I'm under the impression, however, that boxes of Firespray-31's are nearly as hard to find for a sensible price as the YT-1300 - since fergo was suggesting all Rebels so far, I didn't want to suggest a list that might cost the Earth to actually put together.

[hamishspence]

He is indeed, and I'm looking forward to learning how to use him when I've got the chance. I'm under the impression, however, that boxes of Firespray-31's are nearly as hard to find for a sensible price as the YT-1300 - since fergo was suggesting all Rebels so far, I didn't want to suggest a list that might cost the Earth to actually put together.

I did notice that they seem to be disappearing from places like Forbidden Planet.

I couldn't find B-Wings for ages either, before a recent big re-release. Except the Rebel Aces ones, that is.

Proximity Mines might be okay, provided that a) you can get close to Whisper Echo and b) get a ship reliably to PS10 or higher in order to drop them right on the guy...
[EDIT:] Unless the new updates significantly alter that, of course - I haven't read them yet, but I doubt that it's anything so huge as to change what I just said.

After a bit of searching - I've figured out a way for the Rebels to get a PS10 bomber - a Y-wing. Unfortunately, it requires a card from the Rebel Transport pack (R2-D6), Veteran Instincts (which only come on the Falcon and Slave One anyway) and the Bomb Loadout card from Most Wanted. - it's not Scum only - Rebels can take it too. You put all those on the PS8 Horton Salm. (IG-2000, like Slave One, offers Proximity Mines).

So, it's an option that requires a lot of stuff (one Rebel Y-Wing pack, one Most Wanted, one Rebel Transport, plus either a Falcon or a Slave One - and, if it's a Falcon, then an IG-2000 is needed as well for the Proximity Mine).

Might be of interest to those who already have most of the combo though.

1) Control: Ion tokens force them to move predictably- Whisper Echo will always be in one of three places after she moves when she's ioned (Whisper Echo is female according to FFG, apparently). Stress, on the other hand, prevents them from taking the cloak action- That includes the free cloak action from Advanced Cloaking device. It's expensive because you need the Rebel Transport pack for Stressbot, but Luke, Wes, or Wedge with Veteran Instincts and R3-A2 is a very effective phantom hunter because you get to shoot first and will always apply stress, meaning no re-cloaking, although for best results you want an Engine Upgrade for boost.

2) Sheer quantity of Red dice. BBBBZ (Four Blue Squadron B-wings and a Bandit Squadron Z-95) has a lot of hit points and firepower. Like I said, Green dice are treacherous, and they will fail your opponent eventually. "Panic Attack" (3 B-wings with the E2 modification and Tactician, plus a Gold Squadron Y-wing with R3-A2 and an Ion Turret) is another option that also packs a ton of control.

The first option does have the same issue with Veteran Instincts being only on those two hard-to-find ships. Engine Upgrade is also Falcon-only.

[fergo]

Hi all,

Thanks for all of the suggestions so far.

It's news to me that the Firespray is disappearing--my current plan is to get the two Aces sets next, then the Firespray and the Rebel freighter in a couple of months time, but I may step things up if I might lose the opportunity to get the pretty pretty Slave One.

As some of you have worked out, I'm focussing on the Rebels for two reasons: firstly, I'm a sucker for the good guys, and secondly, most people at my club play the Imperials. Plus, X Wings are so cool, you guys.

I'm also trying to match my Rebel expansion with Imperial ships, for the couple if friends I have who don't have their own models yet. Plus, I like playing the Empire as well.

I have no intention if expanding into Scum, as I'm already spending far too much money. Luckily, someone I bought some models off second hand was kind enough to throw in some extra cards (bomb loadout, mangler cannon, a few of the cards from the Rebel huge ships).

Anyways, thank you for all of your advice!

Firstly, the new FAQ should make a significant difference in actually being able to shoot the damned thing, but I still feel having a healthy number of ships at PS9 or higher would be useful. That said, as Wraith pointed out, perhaps Wedge wouldn't be the best choice after all: someone else with Veteran Instincts may be better. I'll think about it. I hear a lot of people talk about basic B Wings, but what do you guys think about Keyan Farlander? His ability strikes me as being very useful indeed, although I've never had the chance to play with him yet.

Squark, I like the look of the three Bs + Y combination, mostly because I'll have all of those ships when I buy the Aces (minus the Phantom for Tactician, but I can hopefully borrow or proxy that in friendly games), and also because I really, really love Y Wings because they look so cool (if you're noticing a theme, it's because I love all of the fighters that appear in the OT, I guess).

[Peelee]

Etahn A'baht's ability states,

When an enemy ship inside your firing arc at Range 1-3 is defending, the attacker may change 1 of its Hit results to a Crit result.

Ten Numb's ability states,

When attacking, 1 of your critical hit results cannot be canceled by defense dice.

That's a match made in heaven.


Conversely, Advanced Proton Torpedoes states,

Attack (target lock): Spend your target lock and discard this card to perform this attack. You may change up to 3 of your blank results to Focus results.

Push the Limit exists, letting you both focus and target lock once you get in Range 1. Toss those on someone like Wedge Antilles, and it's basically a "here's your damage" attack.

Do note that I don't play low-point games. Either of those on their own are pricey builds (though Wedge with Push the Limit is one helluva heavy hitter).