I love em, just trying to tweak my list to show them off better, Ran 4 friday night had a blast doing it.. 4 Prox mines.. and a few Flechette torps.. tons of fun. may try 5 scimitars, with a few proxy mines.. that should be a hoot.. 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.

He had no idea Idea what he is talking about.

Bombers are great if you use th right

Unless you really suck.

3-4 unarmed bombers, especially with proximity mines can shred a bwing.

I guess I should have lose my game

Decimator two Bomber, and a tie vs vrill, Nera, and blue

Oh and I didn't lose a single ship

So no bombers don't suck.

I love me some bombers. Sure Ordnance could be a little better, but bombs are still effective when used correctly. I took Bombers to a regional, and if not for the fatigue of a long day of play, i would have ended the day pretty good.

Some ships are better than others for sure...no question, but in the end i would argue that skill in maneuvering and a good judge of predicting your opponents moves far outweighs the plastic ship on the table.

but missiles and torps all suck?

but missiles and torps all suck?

With that said proton rockets are cheaper, and don't require to spend the focus to use, leaving it for you to modify, so they are little better.

Same can be said with homing missles. Don't need to spend the target lock to use, but they are more expensive, so proton rockets I thibk have become the best investment, but still it's a one time use

Proximity mines are better since faq.

Naked Bombers are tanky.

12 hit points for 2 for four more pts, same attack and 1 less agility vs 6 hit points for 2 ties.

Bombers can be nasty in mini swarms, or swarms with howlrunner

5 sc and howl is a nice tanky swarm

Imo I love the change the faq brought to prox mines.

I've been finishing off a lot of ships with them.

Just having them can change the way your opponent thinks. You don't want to go head on with bombers with prox mines unless you know for sure you can kill one.

Proximity mines work best on low ps ships.

They require an action to use, so your ps 2 ship can move before wedge. Fly past him, and drop mine, and hit him

Bombs such as seismic charges and proton bombs work best on high ps ships.

You drop them before you reveal your dial. So you want to drop them after your opponent moves.

Since they blow up at the end of the activation phase.

If you move before your opponent you will have to guess where he is going.

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

Direct Hit + Direct Hit + Direct Hit

Highly unlikely, but possible.

Well yes, but it's really unlikely.

A bomber is not as likely to get one shoted like an academy pilot

Hi,

the empire can use

Colonel Jendon with fleet officer, weapons engineer and the st-321 title (35 points) with its bombers. The bombers can get the target locks from the shuttle right from the start. In the round where they will shoot their missiles, they can focus and get a second focus from fleet officer, so even if they use cluster missiles, they can modify both 3-dice attacks with a focus.

but missiles and torps all suck?

Most of them. Fletchette and IPMs are nice for control and the Assault missile and Ion Torp can be great at changing how your opponent plays.

But all the others are just too pricey. They need a modification that lets you take a second ordnance for 0 or close to 0 cost.

but missiles and torps all suck?

This isn't entirely accurate. By and large, many are very expensive and can be prohibitive to use. Ion, flachette and proton all come to mind as worthwhile if you are not supporting them with anything. If you are going to take Jonus I am a strong proponent of cluster missiles. Getting to reroll two dice on both volleys enables a high degree of reliability, translating to roughly 5-6 damage for four points. Certainly not a terrible deal. Additionally as they are fired in two volleys, the first shot will often strip any tokens, leaving the second shot to have a high chance to go through.

A case can be made for any of the ordance in the right circumstances. It really is a matter of playstyle, experience and what you can expect to face in any given match. In an enviroment brimming with tanky low agility ships, cluster missiles shine. In one full of phantoms, interceptors and other arc dodgers bombs could be the way to go. If you are facing off against action heavy/synergy lists look to ion/flachette to but a strong hindrance in them.

I would say try them out in a variety of circumstances and see what you like.

I flew 5 gamma bombers with siesmic charges this weekend against new ships. They survive due to their hull and really cause people problems due to the threat of bombs. If you joust them, you are in for a world of hurt. They are hard to fly and forgiving of mistakes. They never suck, but are not likely to win a tournament.

I think they do quite well on the tournament scene. Again they aren't the new big cool kid on the block but they are super reliable and pack a punch when loaded out thoughtfully.

We had a tournament on the weekend where a Bomber squadron came within a hair's width of first place. The list was Howlrunner, 3 Scimitars with Seismic Charges, a naked Scimitar, and an Academy Pilot. Turns out thirty hull is quite difficult to chew through in 75 minutes, the Charges make it difficult to get in behind them, and it's not losing that much firepower compared to a "traditional" TIE swarm. It was quite impressive.

I was thinking just running 5 bombers and howlrunner

Need another bomber though

33 hp

Sable, are two bombers workable or do you really need numbers to get anywhere with them?

This is my go to bomber squadron. Lot's of health, rerolls for everyone and eats through tanky ships.

@Tie Pilot - I've used them in different amounts and it really comes down to how you want to use them. Like anything in this game figure out what role you want them to play and then test it. I like running Jonus with them if I'm giving them torps or missiles, but if I'm not I take them with homing missiles or flechetes.

As bombs go I'm always a fan of the cheap seismics, they just do good work at preventing people from flying behind you, and or punishing those who do.

I was thinking just running 5 bombers and howlrunner

Need another bomber though

33 hp

Hm... this is making me think I might want to buy just one more bomber to add to the four I currently own.

Lately, I just feel that Howlrunner has such a target on her back, and essentially is only good for maybe one or two rounds, before the swarm members are either on their own (because she's been taken out), or they're scattered and out of formation.

I wonder if anyone has had any luck with a 6xScimitar swarm.

Anyway, how about this:

1x Scimitar + Prox Mine

3x Scimitar + Seismic Charge + Flechette Torpedo

1x Scimitar + Seismic Charge + Ion Pulse Missile.

100pnts

The ordnance won't do that much damage, but it will constrain the targets' movement options which is when the bombs become fun. That said, I think you have to be going up against a fairly unobservant opponent who will fall for the shenanigans of this list.

I thought that the tie bombers dial only had green straight maneuvers, and all bank and turn maneuvers were white. Guess I was looking at the wrong dial. It did remind me of the e-wing dial without all the greens though.

Also, do bombers make the perfect escort to kenkirk?

I thought that the tie bombers dial only had green straight maneuvers, and all bank and turn maneuvers were white. Guess I was looking at the wrong dial. It did remind me of the e-wing dial without all the greens though.

Also, do bombers make the perfect escort to kenkirk?

Don't know about Kenkirk, but Colonel Vessery loves 'em

This is my go to bomber squadron. Lot's of health, rerolls for everyone and eats through tanky ships.

=============

Stinger Salvo

=============

100 points

Pilots

------

Howlrunner (18)

Captain Jonus (22)

Scimitar Squadron Pilot (20) x 3

TIE Bomber (16), Cluster Missiles (4)

------

This was pretty close to the first list I ran. I like giving them protons though for the crit. They average the same number of hits I find but the crit makes the difference. Or mix it up with a cluster to drop shields and a torp to end it.

The problem with Ordenance is that it is subject to chance. You pay 4 points for a Concussion Missile or Proton Torpedoe, but you don't get to TL or Focus. So, your chances of just rolling bad are there. I've used ordenance before with Vader and a Bomber working together. Vader is rare in that he can actaully be effective with missiles. In fact, use Vader w/ Homing Missile and Focus and you have a great chance of causing 4 hits. There are times, though, that you will just roll badly. That's a lot of points to put into something where you just might flub the roll.

If you are able to make missiles more effective, I've seen how they can combine to do a lot of damage. With just 2 good hits, you can wipe out a regular snub nosed fighter (b/c that's 8 hits). I've found that it's particularly effective against Rebels, who tend to have a smaller number of ships and less green dice to counter. The plan is to fire at the same target with ordenance to blast them all at one time. I've found it can really hurt your opponent if you do it early enough.

Sable Griffon has a list that I think I'm going to take (as soon as I get more Bombers) that is good. It uses Jonus for his re-roll ability. If you took Concussion Missiles and Jonus, there are strong chances of getting a high number of hits.

Jonus w/ Homing & Siesmic

3 x Scimitar w/ Concussion & Siesmic

You could also throw in an Assault Missile to deal with hordes. Proton Torpedoes also work if you want to give crits. I tend to roll blanks too often, but maybe throw one PT on one bomber to fire at the bigger ships when the shields are down.

I've been loving bombers, but flying just 4 bombers leaves a big weakness for faster more maneuverable ships.

My opinion they are excellent filler ships.

my favorite phantom list to run since wave 4 dropped (yes, even before the faq update) is supported by 3 scimitars with proxy mines. it was one of those things that i put together based on how the bomber complimented the phantom's strengths and weaknesses in the list well while also throwing in a unique wrinkle that noone was prepared for at the time (being the proxy mines). since the faq update and sable's awesome job showing them off at worlds, the proxy mine scimitar has kinda become this new thing, so that unfamiliarity advantage will probaly wear off soon. still, it's been a lot of fun to see a list that i enjoyed running casually have a bit more competitive teeth, now. still, the bomber is definitely not a bad ship. like anything in this game, the real trick is knowing how to fly it properly to accentuate the positives and minimize the negatives.

Riddles in the Dark (99 pts.):

whisper + VI + ACD + FCS + Rebel Captive

scimitar + proxy mine (x3)

I've been loving bombers, but flying just 4 bombers leaves a big weakness for faster more maneuverable ships.

My opinion they are excellent filler ships.

I believe the following could be said about any monolist though: You'll do great if you come up against something weak against you, and terrible if you come up against your own weakness.

To cross universes for a wee moment: Overspecialisation breeds weakness. It's a slow death.