Phantom II Preview: Building a Better Ghost

“To coordinate at the end of the activation phase is a power only one has achieved, but, if we work together, I know we can discover the secret.” 

— AP-5, Revenge of the Sith (2005)

If the Death Star existed in X-Wing, I would fly it. I wouldn’t care if its dial stunk and you could only shoot out of a bullseye firing arc after four rounds of charging. I just love the idea of a superweapon.

So I fly the Ghost—or I did. Despite never watching a single episode of Rebels, I’ve enjoyed flying all three named pilots in a variety of Twin Laser Turret-spamming lists: Kanan/Biggs, Kanan/Lowhrick, Chopper/Biggs, Heragator, etc.

But TLT is lame. I didn’t buy the Ghost because I wanted the experience of flying four Y-wings while only setting half the number of dials. I bought the Ghost because I was drunk at Barnes and Noble and thought it looked cool. In that spirit, I’m determined to make a list which docks the new Phantom II—by far the cooler-looking of the two attack shuttles.

The original Phantom title, which allows the Ghost to shoot twice, is hard to beat. A VCX-100 with the Sheathipede-Class Transport Shuttle attached, however, has two advantages over its predecessor:

1. Cost: Twin Laser Turret costs six points and the Attack Shuttle driven by “Zeb” costs 18. Without the need to attach a turret, Ghost 2.0 can build around its oft-neglected four-dice primary weapon. Since the cheapest Sheathipede pilot is AP-5 at 15 points, that’s already savings of nine points—12 when Kanan can be ditched for the generic “Lothal Rebel.”
2. Coordinate: The coordinate action hasn’t been fully explored in the 100-point format because the Upsilon-class Shuttle never really caught on. Maybe the biggest problem with the Upsilon is the cost, and here I am proposing an even more expensive support ship. But if the shuttle had a rear arc and a K-turn, I think it’d see more play. And the ability to coordinate after everyone has moved seems powerful.

I’ve got two ideas on how to leverage these virtues. One is to create a jousting list that uses coordinate for efficiency. Coordinating an evade onto Kanan seems like an interesting substitute for Lowhhrick’s reinforce:

Come time for shooting, both ships have evade tokens and Kanan should have three focuses to blunt shots. I don’t like the aesthetics of flying two VCXs, though. And this build doesn’t take advantage of the best part of the free coordinate action: it comes at the end of the combat phase, giving an ace one last chance to reposition. So here’s my idea for the Ghost purely as a support ship, in a list I call Pogo (get it?):

Jan and Advanced Optics allow Poe to potentially have a focus, evade, and blue target lock token every turn at PS 11. And if you want to live dangerously and use BB-8, he has the potential to shed two enemy target locks and still token up.

Have I completely lost my mind? Maybe, but imagine dropping a focus on Intensity Jake Farrell after every ship has moved. And there are less-maneuverable ships in the rebel faction that want more actions too (hint: wookiees).

Another possible use of the Sheathipede worth discussing—one suggested in FFG’s preview article for the pack—is to dock the Phantom and fly the Phantom II alongside the Ghost. Stressbot AP-5 and Captain Rex could be an interesting Lowhhrick replacement. Everyone else will be doing it, morphing their three-ship rebel lists into even more evil four-ship builds.

But I’m sick of trying to keep the Ghost alive at any cost. My opponents can light the Ghost up, but they’re just leaving a shield-regenerating ace and his little PS 1 blocker/coordinating buddy for the end game.

I’m pretty committed to making the Phantom II title work, so feel free to sound off with your own ideas that I can steal. Or if you work for FFG and are reading this post, feel free to release a three-dice A-Wing and eight-point General Leia Organa crew that validates this whole quixotic endeavor.

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