I've been having quite some fun and success with a pure bomber squad in the past but that was before the latest stuff came out. The reason my bombers worked was that I had weapons on board like Seismic Charges and Assault Missiles which are great against formations and especially swarms. I was able to dish out enough damage with the Secondary weapons to make up for the poor primary attack of the bombers. I'd say my squad was based on a meta were one had to expect swarms and mini-swarms on the Imperial side and lists of 4 ships on the Rebel side.

What I'm asking myself now is - did the meta change with wave 4? I think there will be less Tie swarms now and also quite a few Imperial lists including Phantoms and consisting of only 3 ships. On the Rebel side there might be swarms now but I also expect to encounter Falcon lists with 3PO on board and 2 additional ships. I think I'll have to go up against less formations and more lists where the ships are flying more spread out which will be hard to handle for my bombers.

I've thought about tweaking my squad by replacing Assault Missiles with Flechette Torpedos and Ion Pulse Missiles but that would mean a lot less firepower in the alpha-strike and the bombers will be too weak in attack afterwards with only their primary weapons.

What do you think or what was your impression lately - did the meta change? Are pure bomber squads still viable?

yeah, meta changed and bombers are struggling. they need some sort of help i think

Sounds like you might need to adjust which kind of missiles or torpedoes you use, rather than scrap the list entirely.

Dont use flechette or ion pulse (except maybe on one bomber) but how about cluster missiles for some nice anti falcon firepower? Homing missiles for anti phantom perhaps?

What is your actual list? How many bombers are you running?

If it's pure bombers with assault missiles and seismic charges, probably 4 Gamma Squadron Pilots?

It worked well, and isn't bad against dogfighty lists; bombers are tough and the risk of seismic charges pattern-dropped are good at persuading people to get off your arse.

Well, anything involving a squad formed up en masse you can deal with; it's not just TIE/ln swarms - Biggs becomes a much less attractive shelter with 4 assault missiles aimed at his ridiculous facial hair.

Changing up ordnance isn't a bad plan. Flechette Torpedoes are cheap and whilst they may not hit too hard, 3 dice is still better than your primary attack and stressed targets are gold. For that matter, one or two 'heavy damage' missiles (concussions for preference) might help with the falcon.

Ultimately, 4 bombers remains a nice list - to be really effective you need to pick the ordnance that matches who they're going to be facing most often.

Against phantoms, 2 fletchette torpedoes per bomber is going to be nasty as you don't need to hit to stress them, and that can leave them unable to cloak for several turns. Which means either they stay cloaked and can't attack, or stay decloaked and get gunned down like Z-95s.

Against Z-95s, massed light fighters means your standard Assault Missile loadout works fine.

Against Falcons, Ion Missiles are nasty and can leave it completely out of position.

Against medium fighters, Concussion missiles are probably the best damage/cost mix

Against B-wings, cluster missiles are lethal.

Which missile you take is up to your reading of who you expect to face, but whatever you take, I'd still take 4, or at worst 2 pairs. Mixing and matching ordnance tends to leave you jack of all trades and master of none

High Pilot Skill Bombers are not a bad plan too. With the benefits of stuff like Stay On Target, Major Rhymer becomes a half-decent dogfighter.

That's one other option, too. Multiple bombers without ordnance are actually quite good. 6 Scimitars (or 5 Gammas) are a nice dogfighting force. 5 Gammas plus siesmic charges only can do **** well in dogfights.

My list has so far been this:

Jonus

- Squad Leader

- Seismic Charges

Gamma Squadron Pilot

- Assault Missiles

- Seismic Charges

Gamma Squadron Pilot

- Assault Missiles

- Seismic Charges

Scimitar Squadron Pilot

- Assault Missiles

- Seismic Charges

Sometimes I replaced one of the Assault Missiles with a Cluster Missile. I flew it in a tight formation and went forward slowly to dish out the alpha-strike from range 3 and afterwards I broke up the formation and let go with Seismic Charges and primary weapons.

I dont have any experience with bomber wings, but I would run this kind of list

http://xwing-builder.co.uk/view/107846/bomber-wing

Are bomber lists still viable? Yes. Resilient, decent dogfighters and some nasty tricks up their sleeves.

Jonus + Predator + Concussion Missile x 2

Scimitar + Concussion Missile + Seismic Charges

Scimitar + Concussion Missile + Seismic Charges

Scimitar + Concussion Missile + Seismic Charges

Or

Scimitar + Concussion Missile

Scimitar + Concussion Missile

Scimitar + Concussion Missile

Scimitar + Concussion Missile

Scimitar + Concussion Missile

Will wreck low agility ships quickly, and can be difficult for Rebel lists to deal with.

Should still work. As noted, if you don't expect to see massed swarms, swapping out one assault missile for another weapon (plus a second weapon on Jonus if you save enough points) wouldn't hurt.

Jonus-guided assault missiles should have enough punch to mess up even a falcon (a bit).

Maybe try swapping out two missiles if you don't expect to see many swarms - Fletchette Torps times 2 (or torps plus a failsafe) are good Phantom-neuterers.

Falcon problems?

Proton bomb 'im.

when aces comes out this could work

Captain Jonus (22)
Predator (3)
Flechette Torpedoes (2)
Flechette Torpedoes (2)
Seismic Charges (2)

Scimitar Squadron Pilot (16)
Flechette Torpedoes (2)
Proton Rockets (3)
Seismic Charges (2)

Scimitar Squadron Pilot (16)
Flechette Torpedoes (2)
Proton Rockets (3)
Seismic Charges (2)

Scimitar Squadron Pilot (16)
Flechette Torpedoes (2)
Proton Rockets (3)
Seismic Charges (2)

Total: 100

View in Yet Another Squad Builder

For a TIE bomber, proton Rockets are only four damage at R1 only. Not worth it on an Agility 2 fighter. You'd be better off with IPM to fly those enemy fighters into your bombs.

I would drop one set of Flechette Torps from Jonus in the list above and/or a pair of Seismics and then upgrade all Proton Rockets to Conc. Missiles/Proton Torps.

For a TIE bomber, proton Rockets are only four damage at R1 only. Not worth it on an Agility 2 fighter. You'd be better off with IPM to fly those enemy fighters into your bombs.

They ARE cheap though, AND don't require Target Lock, And let you use a focus to modify your dice.... so you are still likely to get more hits than you would with most other missiles...

And they're range 1 only, and you're only getting one extra attack die relative to just firing green lasers at them and you're in a low pilot skill fighter-bomber with a fat arse and limited turning ability.

Proton Rockets let you fire 4 dice with a focus token (average 3)

Concussion missiles don't let you focus but do the same dice and add one free hit (average 3) at range 2-3

Homing missiles let you use your target lock with the same dice (average 3) at range 2-3 and stop you using evade tokens.

Thanks for all the feedback so far! Keep it coming!

I'm not so keen on using low PS Scimitar bombers with missiles/torps since it's harder to get the needed target lock when moving relatively early. In addition to that it makes sense to keep the bombers in range 3 for the missile/torp. alpha strike to protect them better against counterfire, so it's even harder to get the target locks then.

Proton rockets are certainly nice but I'd agree that they're not so attractive for Tie Bombers. Experience has taught me that it's hard to fire 2 missiles/torps before a Bomber is destroyed since one might be blocked or stressed in close combat so the needed TL or focus for Protons might not be possible to get after the first round of attacks. Therefore I think bombs are the way to go for close combat with Bombers as they don't need an action and you can drop them and then still do your primary attack which will be boosted in range 1 anyway.

Believe it or not empty bombers work very well

I ran a list of col. Vessery and 4 tie bombers with nothing on em and went 3-0 on the day. With the 6 hull they were tough to take down.

TIE Bombers are still live and kicking but there are some adjustments you will have to make ..

Jonus is much less of an auto-include since anti-formation tactics are on the rise (ethanol-fuel crit-generator being the worst against Bombers) and 5+ Rebel lists are now a reality; in turn Munitions Failsafe has made missiles and torps a much better investment and make lists without Jonus good.

Pairing off Bombers with a named Defender works like a charm in a lot of chases; Vessery benefits greatly from their target locks and Rexler (though expensive at 100) does well when capitializing on heavy, shield depleting strike from Bombers in the previous round (Concussion or Cluster Missiles usually do the trick).

Rhymer is still the odd-man out in a 100-points game. Phonton Bombs are good as ever.

I like to think of the meta like an equilibrium-seeking market. Right now we're getting over a shock to the system, when we're trying to deal with the fear of the Phantom, resulting in the rise of the Falcon. At some point (probably when Wave 5 hits), we'll be back to a place where most list types will have adapted.

Of course, as Keynes said: "In the long run we're all dead."

Why not munitions failsafes? For one point it would be a steal for a loaded out Tie Bomber. It could allow you to take a lot more risks when firing your missiles/torpedoes.

Why not munitions failsafes? For one point it would be a steal for a loaded out Tie Bomber. It could allow you to take a lot more risks when firing your missiles/torpedoes.

I thought the Munitions Failsafe would be a godsend. However, by the time I got my hands on some Z-95 expansions, I found that I had already learned how not to waste my missiles (don't fire them without a focus token or Jonus).

I've been using a couple of gammas with assault missiles, flechette torps, and munitions failsafe. I think its worth 1 point. Especially when you can take a risky shot and hand out a stress even if you miss, but not expend your torpedo.

I've been using a couple of gammas with assault missiles, flechette torps, and munitions failsafe. I think its worth 1 point. Especially when you can take a risky shot and hand out a stress even if you miss, but not expend your torpedo.

Yes, on it's own, it's worth 1 point. 1 point is cheap.

At the same time, when I'm at 98 points and looking what sort of upgrade I might be able to add on here or there, I frequently end up scrapping the Failsafes in return for something else.

Marksmanship + Adv. Proton torpedoes=5 guaranteed hits and at least 1 critical. Granted that you'd have to be at range 1 or 2 in one case to use it.

Marksmanship + Adv. Proton torpedoes=5 guaranteed hits and at least 1 critical. Granted that you'd have to be at range 1 or 2 in one case to use it.

... and have a Target Lock from the previous round.

Anyone try the 5 x Gamma + Seismic Charge list recently? How does that fair in the new meta?