Just posting to discuss the bomber. =)

Been playing with bombers for a bit and its been really fun.

List 1:

Colonel Jendon (26)

So far my only worry has been losing a PS2 bomber before it unloads its missiles against an offensively focused build. I think the bomber is in a good place but I were to add something I'd add some sort of mod that allows for taking an evade.

It would also be nice to have a few higher PS skill generics so that TL-ing is a little easier.

Movement dial and no shields kind of suck but its not that big of a deal. The ability to add whatever you want to the ship is really nice. Bombs and Missiles have been really fun and powerfully offensive.

Also, any tips on the squad building or flying tricks?

So, I'm a huge fan of the bomber, but I generally don't put secondary weapons on them. Yes, I know, I take the cheapest imperial ordnance carrier and I leave the ordinance at home.

See, the TIE Bomber is a decent dogfighter. It's attack isn't bad, it's got a LOT of hull, and the dial is actually pretty decent. The moment you start putting missiles/torpedoes on them, however, you lose the economy advantage.

My favorite upgrade on them is Seismic charges. I took the following list to a Regionals and placed Top 8:

5x Gamma Squad Pilot + Seismic Charges

This created a zone of death behind my squad, enough to obliterate a swarm of pretty much any variety. Their high Hull value paid off as they were difficult to kill. And because I didn't have missiles, they were immune to the anti-ordnance shenanigans, like breaking their TL.

Overall, I'm pretty happy with the Bomber in the dogfighting capacity. Excellent jousters.

I'm not sure what jousting exactly means yet. What is it?

Also, I've read your posts about it. Seems like a lot of fun. I'd try it too but between me AND and a friend, we only have 3 bombers. (Actually, the only ship I own is a bomber. =] ).

Can you give some advice on how to fly the bombers then? I get into a lot of cases at the end game where my bombers are flying everywhere and one of them is on the 3 hard turn, 3 ht, 3ht around to get back. A lot of times I've split up and my bombers are coming back in from every angle off k-turns.

Also, is 2 the minimum range to get away from your own bomb?

And, how important was it to have had all PS4 ships? I haven't played any tournaments, so this part of the meta eludes me.

Jousting = the 1 on 1 capabilities of a ship, often including how well it does with 0 upgrades.

Also, the minimum range to get away from your own bomb is a 1 maneuver. Remember, it's already 2 distance back from where your maneuver will start (1 for the template you use to deploy, and 1 for your ship's base itself).

The only way to catch yourself on your own bomb is to barrel-roll back into it.

Having a higher PS means you can drop your bombs with greater intelligence, as you know more of which ships will be effected by the blast. PS4 moves you after all but the named pilots, and more importantly, after all of the Swarms.

I enjoy my Bombers, but i think to do Bombers well, you have to commit to one of two ideas...

Alpha Strike or Durable Fighter Swarm.

The Alpha idea is obvious...high risk high reward. Having Capt. Jonus close by with a Squad Leader or Swarm Tactic only furthers this initiative.

Durable swarm is a war of attrition. Ha ha, look at me with my 6 hull points! Oh BTW, don't get behind me or i'll stuff a Seismic in your throat!

I just took this list to a regional. And while i didn't do too bad (i'll write about it later), most of the reasons for my losses were because of stupid mistakes on my part. Throw in a little luck (for good or bad) of the dice, and there you have it.

Jonus /w Squad Leader

2 x Gamma Squadron /w Concussion and Cluster

2 x Academy Pilot

Jonus sits in the back and buffs the Bombers for re-rolls. Squad Leader allows one of the bombers in the initial volley to have TL + F shenanigans on top of what Jonus allows. Usually results in almost Max damage every time. Gamma over Scimitar for the higher PS. The 2 academies are there to try to block to keep the opponent at bay. Sometimes the academies get ignored and can K-turn and pick off the opponent in the back as they keep marching towards the bombers.

The list may not have won the tourney, but i enjoy it and has become my "go-to" bomber list as i feel the most comfortable playing with it.

If i acquire one more Bomber however, i may just give 5 Gammas /w seismic a run.

I enjoy my Bombers, but i think to do Bombers well, you have to commit to one of two ideas...

Alpha Strike or Durable Fighter Swarm.

The Alpha idea is obvious...high risk high reward. Having Capt. Jonus close by with a Squad Leader or Swarm Tactic only furthers this initiative.

Durable swarm is a war of attrition. Ha ha, look at me with my 6 hull points! Oh BTW, don't get behind me or i'll stuff a Seismic in your throat!

I just took this list to a regional. And while i didn't do too bad (i'll write about it later), most of the reasons for my losses were because of stupid mistakes on my part. Throw in a little luck (for good or bad) of the dice, and there you have it.

Jonus /w Squad Leader

2 x Gamma Squadron /w Concussion and Cluster

2 x Academy Pilot

Jonus sits in the back and buffs the Bombers for re-rolls. Squad Leader allows one of the bombers in the initial volley to have TL + F shenanigans on top of what Jonus allows. Usually results in almost Max damage every time. Gamma over Scimitar for the higher PS. The 2 academies are there to try to block to keep the opponent at bay. Sometimes the academies get ignored and can K-turn and pick off the opponent in the back as they keep marching towards the bombers.

The list may not have won the tourney, but i enjoy it and has become my "go-to" bomber list as i feel the most comfortable playing with it.

If i acquire one more Bomber however, i may just give 5 Gammas /w seismic a run.

That's the exact list I've been playing with since wave three first dropped. It's a good one. I really love the bomber and think the only "help" it needs is more pilots! I fully expect a gamma squadron repaint to come out, with the white stripes on the panels. Hopefully with new bomb types and/or some nifty title or modification.

Would really love to see a pilot that allows for wingmen to take TLs in the Combat round. Screw you, Toryn Farr.

So, I'm a huge fan of the bomber, but I generally don't put secondary weapons on them. Yes, I know, I take the cheapest imperial ordnance carrier and I leave the ordinance at home.

See, the TIE Bomber is a decent dogfighter. It's attack isn't bad, it's got a LOT of hull, and the dial is actually pretty decent. The moment you start putting missiles/torpedoes on them, however, you lose the economy advantage.

My favorite upgrade on them is Seismic charges. I took the following list to a Regionals and placed Top 8:

5x Gamma Squad Pilot + Seismic Charges

This created a zone of death behind my squad, enough to obliterate a swarm of pretty much any variety. Their high Hull value paid off as they were difficult to kill. And because I didn't have missiles, they were immune to the anti-ordnance shenanigans, like breaking their TL.

Overall, I'm pretty happy with the Bomber in the dogfighting capacity. Excellent jousters.

I took Rhymer into an Epic battle with Determination. Though I did end up losing (spectacular run of bad luck for me/good luck for my opponent second half) he shrugged 4 of the 6 critical hits he took because they kept being pilot ones. Funnier still, those were hits that the Transport kept changing from regular hits to crits. If my kill-greedy opponent had just left well enough alone, Rhymer would have been dead turns earlier. Ha!

Just picked up my fifth bomber yesterday. I'm very tempted to try it myself...

I run a similar list to your version 2. I've replaced two of the Scimitars with Gamma Squadron Pilots though. If you plan on using missiles and torpedoes the PS shouldn't be too low. Otherwise you will have problems with getting a target lock and the chances are higher that a bomber goes down before having fired all his ordinance.

I also put Squad Leader on Jonus to give the the PS2 pilot a target lock later.

My list would be this one:

I need to get some Bombers, I hate going up against them. They have enough hull to usually survive a few rolls. With two agility they can be as tanky as Y-wings. Like others have said, their dial is pretty good. The 5 K-turn really helps them bug out of furball situations and lets them clear stress on the next turn while re-engaging. If you aren't rolling a few crits, Bombers will frustrate you.

In almost every match where i run bombers, 1 of 2 things happen...

The match is over in 20 minutes.

The match goes to time.

MM selling bombers for cheap.. Resisting the urge to buy 4 more. ><><><><

MM is tempting me to buy another 2 bombers too. That said, we also have epic to consider... how many of 1 ship type can you take again?

Now that I've got two bombers on the way have any of you had success with a squad with say one bomber as a flanker with a mini swarm?

Now that I've got two bombers on the way have any of you had success with a squad with say one bomber as a flanker with a mini swarm?

I have not tried such a squad. You need to try it and let us know.

I will say that the dial of a bomber doesn't lend itself to flanking so much as jousting, but give it a try and let us know.

Maj Rhymer w/ Outmaneuver and Cluster missiles could be a nice alpha strike flanker and he only costs 33 points. Plenty of room for a decent swarm..

I'd probably try Predator instead of outmaneuver. It'll trigger on both cluster shots, and still be quite relevant later.

Just picked up my fifth bomber yesterday. I'm very tempted to try it myself...

Try 5 bombers with Howlrunner and Elusiveness. You really gotta be good with formation flying.

I have tried a Howlrunner Swarm + 2x Scimitars with Proton Bombs.

I won, handily, against a local meta that had neither encoutered Proton Bombs or a Howlrunner swarm.

I found that the Bombers, once their payload was deployed, made for exceptional Tanks: The enemy targeted them down immediately after Howlrunner, simply because they were worth more points than the academy pilots. Nevermind that they could take more hits, and I was making full use of their quirky little dials (moves of 1-5, are always fun when you're chased).

First game I ever had a bloodless board-wipe was with this fleet (I killed all ships, and lost none of mine).

I have tried a Howlrunner Swarm + 2x Scimitars with Proton Bombs.

I won, handily, against a local meta that had neither encoutered Proton Bombs or a Howlrunner swarm.

I found that the Bombers, once their payload was deployed, made for exceptional Tanks: The enemy targeted them down immediately after Howlrunner, simply because they were worth more points than the academy pilots. Nevermind that they could take more hits, and I was making full use of their quirky little dials (moves of 1-5, are always fun when you're chased).

First game I ever had a bloodless board-wipe was with this fleet (I killed all ships, and lost none of mine).

How does that thinking even make any sense?

Sounds like your local meta is pretty casual if they havent even seen swarms

I have tried a Howlrunner Swarm + 2x Scimitars with Proton Bombs.

I won, handily, against a local meta that had neither encoutered Proton Bombs or a Howlrunner swarm.

I found that the Bombers, once their payload was deployed, made for exceptional Tanks: The enemy targeted them down immediately after Howlrunner, simply because they were worth more points than the academy pilots. Nevermind that they could take more hits, and I was making full use of their quirky little dials (moves of 1-5, are always fun when you're chased).

First game I ever had a bloodless board-wipe was with this fleet (I killed all ships, and lost none of mine).

How does that thinking even make any sense?

Sounds like your local meta is pretty casual if they havent even seen swarms

Eeyup. They're right terrified of it now.

I have tried a Howlrunner Swarm + 2x Scimitars with Proton Bombs.

I won, handily, against a local meta that had neither encoutered Proton Bombs or a Howlrunner swarm.

I found that the Bombers, once their payload was deployed, made for exceptional Tanks: The enemy targeted them down immediately after Howlrunner, simply because they were worth more points than the academy pilots. Nevermind that they could take more hits, and I was making full use of their quirky little dials (moves of 1-5, are always fun when you're chased).

First game I ever had a bloodless board-wipe was with this fleet (I killed all ships, and lost none of mine).

How does that thinking even make any sense?

Sounds like your local meta is pretty casual if they havent even seen swarms

Eeyup. They're right terrified of it now.

beeting up nuubs.