This week we are joined by @LagJanson as he briefly shares his experiences with four TIE Phantoms in both first and second edition.
So you want to fly TIE Phantoms... Well, there won't be a whisper about the named pilots here, but this isn't an echo chamber. What I have is experience flying Four generic pilot TIE Phantoms during the later years of X-Wing 1.0, and current experience under the joys of 2.0.
So you want to fly TIE Phantoms... Well, there won't be a whisper about the named pilots here, but this isn't an echo chamber. What I have is experience flying Four generic pilot TIE Phantoms during the later years of X-Wing 1.0, and current experience under the joys of 2.0.
What began as a joke back in the spring of 2017 has become
something of a fallback list for me. I wanted to do something crazy and pulled
the ol' 4 TIE Phantoms out to create a crazy jousting list. 16-red dice at
range was nothing to sneeze at, even for meta lists. It had some advantages,
even in these later broken times.
It had frightening joust potential
It had speed to circle the board faster than any other list
It could dictate the initial combat position
It punished mistakes.
The last point is the key factor in all of this. The Phantoms
lacked action economy and were locked to focus tokens once combat began. It
meant that these low PS ships had to weather the storm of attacks before they
could retaliate in kind, and even then it's attacks depended on some level of
luck. Average dice are good, but one doesn't get average results on every roll.
Variance doesn't work that way. You get very high rolls, which make TIE Phantom
formations extremely dangerous, but the potential for four blanks are there and
do happen.
Illustration 1: 2nd round of fire, my opponent conceded with
the loss of Fenn Rau, Serissu while Assajj is at a single hull
Rather than spend too much time on the much maligned 1.0 times,
however, I'll just leave you with some of the base tactics. If you have a list
you can outjoust, sure, box formation and away we go. Throw enough red dice and
both Assajj and Rey will go down despite all their defensive modifications. If
it was a list that jousting didn't work? Cloak and decloak over a few turns to
spread out and form a killbox. Even FSR2 didn't much like what TIE Phantoms
unchecked could do. When 2.0 was announced and the new stats for the TIE
Phantom were announced, I took my four Phantom list on a farewell tour. I knew
the list would never be the same without the fourth red die. The days of
playing chicken and seeing if my opponent flinched were over...
I wasn't the first to see the potential these new TIE
Phantoms had, I'll admit. From the moment somebody mentioned four Sigma Aces
with Juke however I knew it was something I needed to put on the table.
Instantly everything I thought about these cheaper ships was gone. These played
at a higher level that I had only occasionally touched upon.
TIE Phantoms now have the built in capability to get a free
evade action when they decloak, and after combat if they have an evade token
they get to recloak. Immediately this offers opportunity to move about the
battlefield like nothing else can. With Juke, the loss of the red die is offset
by the ability to steal away the target's chances to defend and retaliate. The
TIE Phantom is a leaner and meaner version now despite the reduction in
firepower.
The key strengths?
Frightening joust potential
Has speed to circle the board fast
Can dictate the initial combat position
Can continue to dictate where the fight will be
Will severely punish mistakes
The ability for four TIE Phantoms to make a kill box, and
then continually make more kill boxes each turn to follow is unlike any other
ship in the game.
In the linked match, TIE Phantoms are used to make repeated
kill boxes against TIE Interceptors. The Interceptor pilot tries not to get
caught in the kill box, but it's too late. Focus tokens are lost through bumps,
and forced to be spent on early defense before the repeated attacks drive home
damage and eliminate one ship at a time. Further, without focus tokens, the
Interceptors have little to offer in return fire.
Remember: this is not a perfect game by either player. It
does illustrate some key things however.
The TIE Phantom is sturdier than it used to be. The addition
of that evade token means it does have it for emergency purposes. The addition
of an extra hull is also a huge point allowing it to survive what would have
been fatal in those old 1.0 days.
The addition of a 1-bank to the dial cannot be dismissed
either. This gives the player the ability to make more subtle adjustments in
heading without rocketing in too quickly. Ideally the TIE Phantom player wants
to remain at range, maximizing the firing arc while limiting accurate focus
fire in return. The 1-bank, 1-hard turn and repeated cloaking and decloaking
allow the TIE Phantoms to rotate and slide the kill box around the target,
keeping fire arcs in place. A ship in the kill box is a dead ship.
The ability to use Juke in repeated attacks on the same
target is absolutely devastating and demoralizing. The first Juke is a slap to
the face. The next three are gut shots that the opposing ship cannot defend
against. This helps the TIE Phantom reach closer to that high potential damage
with less variance. If you can't fix your own dice, fix your opponent's dice
against them.
The list is not without fault, but in the current pricing
environment, it's gone from a terror list to something that actually has teeth.
Something else to be aware of. I've yet to be defeated with
them. Not even by Redline.
Article by @LagJanson
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