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I just had my first game with a Phantom today, and it was a load of fun. I used Whisper, but as long as I have an advanced cloak I think any pilot would do fine. I loved the freedom of movement that decloaking and barrel rolling provided. It was also handy having a high pilot skill - moving later, using my maneuverability to get into position, then shoot first and go back to cloaking was great.

However, a couple bad rolls and a "direct hit" card and suddenly I was gone.

My defender was also a lot of fun to play - stuck a heavy laser cannon on it, and 4-K-turned around to my heart's content. Between the K-turn and barrel rolling, I was able to avoid fire and cause lots of damage, especially with Outmaneuver. 3 shields was also nothing to sneeze at, and I wonder if I can maybe purchase a modification for an extra hull point or shield.

So for you guys, which ship do you prefer?

Both are different ships.

TIE Defender is a beefy, expensive line bruiser. Tends to get the job of killing my opponents main threat dead. Will rely on the White K-turn and it's excellent stats to do the job, as it's moves are fairly predictable due to the abundance of red turns.

TIE Phantom is an ambusher. It prowls the edge of combat, picking off enemy ships. Although cloak gives it excellent defence, it goes down fast if it rolls poorly, so needs to position itself perfectly.

I like both.

The phantom seems more impressive, but I think it can be quite annoying to fight.

I haven't quite found the sweet point with the Defender, though I didn't hit into the 4-K-turn until late in the game I recently played. Heavy Blaster cannon seemed to work nicely on the Defender - haven't tried the ion missile, but seems like it would be best used on a side attack against a large ship, using the 4-K to sweep back and forth to rake the opponent's ship.

I'd like to see it running in tandem with Tie interceptors, giving the defender Outmaneuver.

Yeah I had a defender and a royal guard interceptor and had a blast with them. Two with a defender might be awesome as well. A nightmare of maneuverability for my opponents to deal with.

TIE phantom, no question. The defender is a generic jousting ship that overpays for the white k-turn and struggles to justify its point cost, the phantom is a game-changing ship that is simply an auto-win in a lot of situations and a powerful threat even when your opponent is prepared for it. Taking a defender isn't suicide, but it falls well short of the raw power of the phantom. Just look at competitive tournaments: one is a dominant ship that defines the metagame, while the other is rarely seen.

I like both ships quite a lot, but the phantom to me wins out hands down. Its my favorite ship in the game.

Finesse, glass hammer. Love thes hip. And pilot choice has a huge influence on how you play it, even just between echo and whisper.

Agreed. You can use the generic Phantom pilots, but Echo and Whisper are massively better.

Because a phantom gets so much define-on-spec manouvrability from decloaking (and barrel roll if you need it), moving last is critical. That's why you see veteran instincts on their pilots so much.

Defenders are good, too, but I think a defender needs an engine upgrade almost as much as a phantom needs advanced cloak. The white koiogran is so-so, but being able to koiogran then boost really makes it shine. It also lets you pull a green manouvre and still turn, which is important when stress-generating upgrades and pilots come out to play.

I need to play more with both. I like both, so far, though it sounds like those cards would be great and I have neither. What box can I find engine upgrades and veteran instincts in?

My experience is polarized by my experiences with them, too. I had a defender take on five X-wings and survive, dodging and weaving amongst them using the K-turn and barrel rolls or focus, while my phantom, even while cloaked and at long range, got two hits against it, and took both hits, and then got one crit, took it, and pulled direct hit. Not a good experience. It also managed to not do the one point of damage it needed to Biggs at RB1 while target locked. Sometimes the dice just hate you.

 Spellbound wrote:
What box can I find engine upgrades and veteran instincts in?

EU is in the YT-1300, VI is in the YT-1300 and Firespray.

Ugh. I don't want to buy anything rebel.

How do you guys play it, do you require your opponents to have the actual card or if they know the rules/have a picture of the card, can they use the abilities in absence of it?

For non-tournament games (I don't do tournaments any more after some bad experiences with MW), I just print the cards onto photo paper. The folks I play with don't care, as long as I have a copy they can review.

I play exclusively with printed lists from the online squad builder (with the exception of the pilot cards to track damage etc).

 Spellbound wrote:
Ugh. I don't want to buy anything rebel.

How do you guys play it, do you require your opponents to have the actual card or if they know the rules/have a picture of the card, can they use the abilities in absence of it?

As long as its not a tourney, proxy away. It's a nice touch if you print out the cards or have an online army builder thing.

If i dont have some of the specific upgrade carda, i just borrow from friends. I have several friends who buy 2 of every expansion.