are TIE bombers any good or are they not worth while due to lack of maneuverability or guns relying on single use missiles to be effective?

I've been loving them lately.

I've been opting 2 bombers and a tie in some builds vs 3 ties.

They have same dmg output as a tie, but twice the hp at the cost of few more pts and and 1 less agility.

You can one shot a tie, but not a bomber.

I been loving Proximity mines since the new faq update. While they are still situational, and the dmg from them isn't consistent, I've taken out a few ships with them.

Nera,Jake,green Squadron,jonus and wedge that I can remember.

As for loading them up with missles, I still don't find a whole lot of use.

But as a substitute for tie fighters they are great

Edit

Ok well I guess I stand corrected

You can still one shot a bomber, buy it sure as hell not as easy as a tie lol

The still suck, until they fix missile/Torpedoes they will always suck. Bombers are supposed to launch ordinance, not substitute for Tie Fighters. Bring naked Bombers against B-wings and you will lose.

I've been loving them lately.

I've been opting 2 bombers and a tie in some builds vs 3 ties.

They have same dmg output as a tie, but twice the hp at the cost of few more pts and and 1 less agility.

You can one shot a tie, but not a bomber.

I been loving Proximity mines since the new faq update. While they are still situational, and the dmg from them isn't consistent, I've taken out a few ships with them.

Nera,Jake,green Squadron,jonus and wedge that I can remember.

As for loading them up with missles, I still don't find a whole lot of use.

But as a substitute for tie fighters they are great

I can agree with most of this post! I took a six Bomber Swarm in a 150 point game a couple of weeks ago and it was amazing! I managed to launch three Proximity mines as well and they helped mess up my opponent!

Now the one point I must disagree with is that a tie bomber CAN be one-shotted, as I did it once! Cluster missiles with three hits followed by three hits against a bomber with no tokens and an opponent who couldn't roll a single evade!! LOL!

"Beefcake" - howl with swarm tactics and five scimitars - is remarkably good. Dom won the galactic cup with it; I subsequently took top 8 in Wisconsin regionals and made the Saturday cut at nationals with it.

You can swap out a scimitar for backstabber for a sleightly different list style.

But yeah - ordinance I wish it was better.

I wouldn't know much about bombers, having only done very well with them at Worlds, but I would suggest they aren't as bad as some keep saying.

Bomber swarm won my local regional. Bombers with proximity mine have been pretty playable as of late, but there is almost no playability above the generics. Jonus can be fun casually though.

but missiles aren't worth putting on it? only bombs and then they help mess up your opponents with said bombs?

Hm, other than the standard Concussion Missile and Proton Torpedo, I'm not as down on ordnance as many here seem to be. I think Flechettes and Clusters are pretty good. I think it took FFG a little to find out that the old ordnance wasn't that good, and the newer ones are more worth it.

However, bombs are just a lot of fun - partially because your opponent will tend to forget that you're carrying them (even when you tell them explicitly at the beginning of the game). Before long they think that K-turning right behind you is a good idea, and then you start pooping it out in front of their face. You'll want the Seismics (or Protons) on Gamma Squadron or the names bomber pilots, and the Proximities on the Scimitars.

Now, I'm not saying that they're the best ship in the game - clearly they're not. But they have some attributes that people don't tend to think about much, and then they get underestimated.

There's a few recent threads on the TIE Bomber, which you can search.

I think that at 19 or 20 points (1 bomb or oridance on a scimitar) the bomber is a great filler hitter. Durable enough to get off one good salvo then make itself a nuisance. That having been said you get more than 2 of them and you maybe would be better off with just basic ties.

how do you search threads?

SableGryphon rears his head in a thread on bombers. LOVE IT.

Bombers are solid. They can do great work with an alpha strike with ordinance and then have the staying power to grind out a opponents force. Bombs are awesome and can do great work, as SableGryphon showed at worlds.

how do you search threads?

At the very top of the page there is a search function. As long as you're in the right subforum, it will search just that forum.

are TIE bombers any good or are they not worth while due to lack of maneuverability or guns relying on single use missiles to be effective?

The trick to bombers is that they're perfectly good without missiles or torpedoes.

This comes down to two factors:

1. Scimitars have the best survivability to cost ratio in the game.
2. Bombs are incredibly effective at forcing your opponents behavior.

The mediocre dial and damage do not overtake the advantage of the above, particularly when you still have the Barrel Roll and Target Lock actions.

Frankly, what's keeping the Bomber out of the metagame is that it doesn't fare well in such a high PS environment. In a Mid-Low PS world, they reign supreme.

This is primarily because they only have 3 pilots. Major Rhymer sucks.

Frankly, what's keeping the Bomber out of the metagame is that it doesn't fare well in such a high PS environment. In a Mid-Low PS world, they reign supreme.

This is true, but that's why the FAQ'd Prox Mine is great.

I think the Bombers with ordinance do really well in a high PS world. When you take the ship count down bombers launching missiles can end a ship in the first shooting phase, and for a high PS build that can be a nightmare loss.

Scimitars are awesome and can protect your ordinance with just a ton of ship. To take out a full six points of Scimitar at range three takes a lot of focused fire. Three dice defending and 6 hull keeps them in the game. Plus at Range three they have the advantage big time as you don't get extra defense dice against Ordinance.

Frankly, what's keeping the Bomber out of the metagame is that it doesn't fare well in such a high PS environment. In a Mid-Low PS world, they reign supreme.

This is true, but that's why the FAQ'd Prox Mine is great.

Yep. Prox Mine is the bomb that likes having the lower pilot skill. And boy-howdy is it useful!

Either use it as *Action: Deploy a new asteroid* or as a surprise against a ship with no recourse. Only ships with the ability to move laterally before executing their maneuver would have a chance (coughcoughPhantomcoughcough). Even then, the new FAQ'd version lets you get that damage off simply by leaving it underneath them, rather than waiting for them to plow through it, which kinda makes me wonder why no-one is running this against a Phantom list yet.

...which kinda makes me wonder why no-one is running this against a Phantom list yet.

In my case because people have not been flying Phantoms against me much of late. I fly a bomber list 60-70% of the time, and I always have a Prox Mine in the mix just waiting for a Phantom to rear its pointy wings.

The TIE Bomber's dial is not a bad dial. It's even a good dial. It has a lot of really good green maneuvers. Better greens than an X-Wing in a lot of cases. 1-3 forward green gives you a lot of flexibility. 1-Forward is a great move when engaging the enemy, and the TIE bomber has enough health to withstand significant fire. 3-Forward allows a ship to clear a Large base ship with ease. 2 Banks are quite useful at either clearing a cluster or engaging the enemy while clearing stress. Overall they've got a good selection of greens. Indeed, they have the same selection as the E-Wing.

The 5-K is the best K in the game. Currently, the only other two ships with it are the A-Wing and the TIE Interceptor, which rarely K-Turn. That means many opponents are not familiar with just how far a 5-K will take a ship. It's hard to block such a move, so it will regularly clear the ship kerfluffle. Couple this with the green moves above and you have a solid dial.

Ah, but people will say it only has 1 green turn and it's 3 hard. It does have a 2 hard, but it's red. This is often a good thing though. 3 Hard will clear a lot of space. Paired with barrel roll and the ship isn't bad at turning.

The 5-K turn is amazing on the dial and as SableGryphon said, most aren't ready for it. I love how much room it affords you, even against swarms where people attempt to block you.

The TIE Bomber's dial is not a bad dial. It's even a good dial. It has a lot of really good green maneuvers. Better greens than an X-Wing in a lot of cases. 1-3 forward green gives you a lot of flexibility. 1-Forward is a great move when engaging the enemy, and the TIE bomber has enough health to withstand significant fire. 3-Forward allows a ship to clear a Large base ship with ease. 2 Banks are quite useful at either clearing a cluster or engaging the enemy while clearing stress. Overall they've got a good selection of greens. Indeed, they have the same selection as the E-Wing.

The 5-K is the best K in the game. Currently, the only other two ships with it are the A-Wing and the TIE Interceptor, which rarely K-Turn. That means many opponents are not familiar with just how far a 5-K will take a ship. It's hard to block such a move, so it will regularly clear the ship kerfluffle. Couple this with the green moves above and you have a solid dial.

Ah, but people will say it only has 1 green turn and it's 3 hard. It does have a 2 hard, but it's red. This is often a good thing though. 3 Hard will clear a lot of space. Paired with barrel roll and the ship isn't bad at turning.

It is a 3 white turn.

It is a lot like the defender, going straight is easy turning is hard, but boy can they do some tricky loops.

There's a part of me that wants to try an Oicunn Decimator with 3 naked Scimitars. 34 HP on the squad, and possibly initiative, depending on how I build it.

Edited: Stupid autocorrect

Ah, but people will say it only has 1 green turn and it's 3 hard. It does have a 2 hard, but it's red. This is often a good thing though. 3 Hard will clear a lot of space. Paired with barrel roll and the ship isn't bad at turning.

It is a 3 white turn.

It is a lot like the defender, going straight is easy turning is hard, but boy can they do some tricky loops.

What I think he means that it has a green 2 bank, and a white 3 turn as well as a red 2 turn. With the barrel roll, you can simulate a tighter turn at the cost of your action.

The still suck, until they fix missile/Torpedoes they will always suck. Bombers are supposed to launch ordinance, not substitute for Tie Fighters. Bring naked Bombers against B-wings and you will lose.

Not true at all. I consistently beat 4 advs B-wing against a really good player, flying 4 naked scimitars and a bounty hunter, I won 12 games in a row at least. When one gets low on hull just fly him away, and come back slowly while the Bs are trying to focus down the others. Keep cycling them in and out like that, maximize the 5k and 1 straight, and get use to wide turns and banks.

I would strongly oppose anyone that says that the Bomber is not worth the effort. It is a fantastic ship, bringing a surprising durability to the table given its cost.

Here is a link to a great write up on the wonders of the lowly bomber from someone who had a strong showing at Worlds:

http://teamcovenant.com/sablegryphon/2014/11/10/victory-is-mined-2014-worlds-list-recap/

And a link to another article breaking down the joys that are the proximity mine:

http://teamcovenant.com/sablegryphon/2014/10/23/proximity-mines-explored/

I personally ran bombers during my last local tournament and swept the field. They may not be flashy, but they will do work for you. And don't let anyone tell you different.