Ok so FFG dropped some sneak peeks at the new Wave 4 fighter, the TIE Phantom. The big difference between this fighter and all of the previous fighters is its new action: cloaking and de-cloaking.
So when you are cloaked you get +2 agility but cannot shoot.
When you de-cloak you lose that extra agility but gain a range 2 barrel roll or boost.
Notice that this happens before you reveal your maneuver dial. Already people are thinking of decloak-advanced sensors-cloak shenanigans in order to get an extra range 2 barrel roll or boost which I am certain will be FAQ'ed soon.
So a Phantom is vulnerable while uncloaked with only two agility die...but wait there is more.
So a high PS ship could de-cloak, then fire at range one and then immediately after firing cloak again and regain those extra agility dice... wow that is brutal. Unfortunately this card only really works on high PS pilots because a low PS pilot would get shot at before he has a chance to shoot and re-cloak with this card.
However this card....
mitigates some of that vulnerability by adding a free evade action. For only two points? well worth it on the no-name dudes flying the Phantom. Speaking of dudes...
This dude is the highest PS Phantom pilot that comes with the set. At PS 7 he is pretty respectable but add on Veteran Instincts and he is now PS 9 and if you shave a point or two off your list to get initiative he will either shoot before Han or Wedge or force your opponent to use Vet Instincts instead of a more useful EPS for these two. So Whisper gets an EPS, a advanced system and a crew in addition to modifications which the Advanced Cloaking Device is a must take on this dude.
The Dial is...
But the dude everyone is talking about is Echo.
His card text is ridiculous and this guy could end up just about anywhere. So in a game where the core skill is predicting where your opponent's ships are going to be on any given turn this guy just makes that look silly.
this diagram only shows his de-cloak ability with a one hard turn...with the plethora of choices on the Phantom's dial this dude could really end up anywhere on the freakin board on any given turn facing in just about any direction. Throw in Push the Limit, Navigator, Advanced Sensors and his inherent barrel roll and that expands it even further. This guy is more slippery than a bar of soap covered in KY jelly.
I am tempted to put ...
on this dude for 5 attack dice at any range or a whopping 6 dice at range one. Use Echo's incredibly maneuverability to get into crazy positions and then blast the crap out of whatever is in his firing arc. Unfortunately this will not work out so well against anything with a turret so YT-1300s, Y-Wings and HWK-290s will be the bane of this guys existence. Ion Cannons especially because if this guy gets ioned then he can't de-cloak and so can't fire or maneuver. With only 2 hull an 2 shields a pair of cheap Y-Wings could eat this guy for lunch.
This no-name dude I only see being useful against swarms with low PS as even Red Squad and Grey Squad and any of the named dudes will shoot before this guy. At 25 points though...add a Stygian Particle Accelerator and a Recon Specialist and you could maybe make this guy work in a three Phantom list.
It looks like there is a PS 5 dude probably for 27 or 28 points to round out the four Pilot Cards. I think that this ship more than any other ship will change the X-wing game the most and can't wait for it to drop so I can get two of these annoying rascals.
playtest list
Whisper 32 pts
Advanced Cloaking Device 4 pts
Recon Specialist 3 pts
Advanced Sensors 3 pts
Echo 30 pts
Advanced Cloaking Device 4 pts
Recon Specialist 3 pts
Advanced Sensors 3 pts
Dark Curse 16 pts
Total 98 points
This gives me two incredibly maneuverable ships with high attack values and good defense. Dark Curse is there to be another slippery, hard to kill ship who will just fly around taking pot-shots here an there an maybe finishing off wounded ships.
What are your thoughts on the new Phantom menace?
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