Wait, didn't we have this exact discussion two weeks ago?

So for all those excited about Rhymer I have one word for you, A-Wing. This will be your nightmare as they swoop in and engage him before you get a chance to pull the bomb run. There is even a upgrade for Rebels in wave 2 that appears to increase the Squadron's movement too.

We know all about Rhymer and he will be the first ship shot at unless you bring an escort.

Wait, didn't we have this exact discussion two weeks ago?

So for all those excited about Rhymer I have one word for you, A-Wing. This will be your nightmare as they swoop in and engage him before you get a chance to pull the bomb run. There is even a upgrade for Rebels in wave 2 that appears to increase the Squadron's movement too.

We know all about Rhymer and he will be the first ship shot at unless you bring an escort.

To be honest, I was concerned about those even before Rhymer was discussed.

Which is why I've pondered giving those bombers TIE advanced escorts.

Whatever happens with this strategy, it will force the Rebel player into actions he was not planning for, and force squadron movements. That could be just what the Imperial player might want. He still has 100 points on the board. The Rebel player can't make a mistake to counter it, and will have to do alot of measuring for the current round and where his ships will be in the next turn. Either give it away or make some good guesses for range. I do think this is an Imperial advantage - because - a title card, hero squadron and working to together with a medium capital.

Someone is going to do this, and look forward to hearing about it.

I do hope you bring other squadrons besides just bombers

Also, try not to see the strategy as a crutch. Corrupter bombers present a great way to cover for the Victory's rather intimidating forward firing arc and highly discourage rebel ships from slipping around them (or, if they do, they'll get a face-full of black dice and some clingy presents for their trouble )

There isn't much to ponder right now. Those tie advance squadrons will be a must for now, as they're the only imp fighter with escort. This is what prompted me to get two fighter packs, because if you're going to commit to the tie bomber, you should at least have 3-4 tie advance squadrons with you, and make sure you're really adamant about squadron placement. Let vader lead and soak up damage with his defensive abilities. As long as you're digilient, it appears to be a viable strategy for now.

This is the kind of stuff that if I were playing Rebel, I would deploy Wedge instead of Luke, or both.

Once the Bombers get here Both factions are going to have to deal with them. Both sides have nasty combos and honestly if the Squadrons are ignored you will pay for it. I like this aspect and as we find new combos we will also find counters or new threats that disrupts our plans.

"No plan survives contact with the enemy."

Has any tried these using proxies? I mean the tie fighters already have the curved wings

Has any tried these using proxies? I mean the tie fighters already have the curved wings

be hell and a half to remember which one is a fighter and which is a bomb-packing ninja in disguise

I see bombers being good for corvettes on objectives. That threat range is awesome and unless you have multiples of A-Wing squads, there are few rebel fighters that can keep up with a corvette going flat out, so that ship will be ripe for picking while LN's swarm and bombers attack.

Has any tried these using proxies? I mean the tie fighters already have the curved wings

be hell and a half to remember which one is a fighter and which is a bomb-packing ninja in disguise

I love this description sooooo much!

I have proxied up some bombers (but not used them with the major – want to see his rules on release, could see it becoming range 2 attacks rather than medium range attacks).

The bombers were great, they don’t seem to be a fantastic deterrent against flank/rear attacks because the CR90 is so fast they tend to get one volley off before becoming out of range. Once that happens they need additional squadron commands to allow them to keep up and keep attacking……..they are probably still the best flank protection the imperials have, but its not that easy to get multiple shots off on the same target with them. Having said that a CR90 doesn’t really want to be taking any more attacks from black dice than it really needs to, the bombers deal the first hit making them easier to finish off with victory broadsides later on.

The have been very good for repeatedly hitting anything going slowly (they will probably be really handy in imperial mirror matches), and can make for a solid area denial threat. In one game I had two victories deployed diagonally, and the bombers on the flank not covered by the second victories front arc. Means anything that wants to avoid getting caught has to bail out of the engagement really early.

I don't know. Using fighters to rush a list that tears apart fighters... What could possibly go wrong?

I will say though FFG was really wise to add the engagement rule. Not only to prevent such rushes but also the carnage the rebels could do in reply(B/X/Y-wings)

The Tie Bomber is great, but it should be used wisely. Wasting all of one's fighter points prevents an effective screen and would allow rebel bombers to throw more attack dice.

if you have a team of low and high speed and use your first action to seperate the team as far as possible youve used your speed to your disadvantage i believe. this will get the bombers killed before they get to do a 2nd attack. and they will not be able to down something worth theire own points with just one attack.

I think of those buffed bombers more as a fast 2nd response troop. this way they might get a 2nd shot.

I don't know. Using fighters to rush a list that tears apart fighters... What could possibly go wrong?

I will say though FFG was really wise to add the engagement rule. Not only to prevent such rushes but also the carnage the rebels could do in reply(B/X/Y-wings)

The Tie Bomber is great, but it should be used wisely. Wasting all of one's fighter points prevents an effective screen and would allow rebel bombers to throw more attack dice.

I highly doubt that with bombers at 9 points a pop and rhymer at w.e that you won't have room for a gaggle of ties @ 300. @ 400, you can probably upgrade them to interceptors

Victory 1 (tarkin, defense liaison) Victory 1 (corrupter, hangars, weapons liaison) fit in snugly with Mauler, 6 tie fighters (would probably roll two of them into Howl), and 4 bombers with Mauler holding the fort down till I can see rhymer's card.

no idea how many squadrons (and of which type) will be optimal when wave 1 hits, but suffice it to say you can fit in plenty with some bombers

I don't really enjoy the bombers' incredibly lackluster anti-squadron dice, but hey 9 points. When Wave 2 rolls around, we'll have some more potent multirole bombers (such as firesprays) to abuse Corrupter with.

I don't really enjoy the bombers' incredibly lackluster anti-squadron dice, but hey 9 points. When Wave 2 rolls around, we'll have some more potent multirole bombers (such as firesprays) to abuse Corrupter with.

I'm not sure you'd want to... it looks like the Firespray has rogue in addition to bomber, which means while the Corrupter would make it faster, you're also using a squadron command on a ship that already gets to move and fire without the command.

I don't really enjoy the bombers' incredibly lackluster anti-squadron dice, but hey 9 points. When Wave 2 rolls around, we'll have some more potent multirole bombers (such as firesprays) to abuse Corrupter with.

I'm not sure you'd want to... it looks like the Firespray has rogue in addition to bomber, which means while the Corrupter would make it faster, you're also using a squadron command on a ship that already gets to move and fire without the command.

during the squadron phase*

So for all those excited about Rhymer I have one word for you, A-Wing. This will be your nightmare as they swoop in and engage him before you get a chance to pull the bomb run.

I'm thinking with the range increase on Rhymer, at best you're breaking even on alpha-strike distance. Corrupter removes any doubt. That being said, A-Wings are still the best squadron counter to this combo, naturally. And with proper positioning, it would be fairly simple for a rebel player to avoid getting alpha-struck on the first turn by Rhymer & Co., even without A-Wings.

That said, I think this combo's greatest strength isn't in a first-turn gotcha-attack, but rather in dictating the rebel fleet's manuevers. A centrally positioned Corrupter with Rhymer and Bombers could cover vast swaths of territory as "Fleet-in-being". A rebel player may think twice about bolting for a SD's flank when it runs the risk of being caught out alone, without adequete fighter escort.

There isn't much to ponder right now. Those tie advance squadrons will be a must for now, as they're the only imp fighter with escort. This is what prompted me to get two fighter packs, because if you're going to commit to the tie bomber, you should at least have 3-4 tie advance squadrons with you, and make sure you're really adamant about squadron placement. Let vader lead and soak up damage with his defensive abilities. As long as you're digilient, it appears to be a viable strategy for now.

Interceptors have Escort too, no?

There isn't much to ponder right now. Those tie advance squadrons will be a must for now, as they're the only imp fighter with escort. This is what prompted me to get two fighter packs, because if you're going to commit to the tie bomber, you should at least have 3-4 tie advance squadrons with you, and make sure you're really adamant about squadron placement. Let vader lead and soak up damage with his defensive abilities. As long as you're digilient, it appears to be a viable strategy for now.

Interceptors have Escort too, no?

Nope; they have counter 2 and swarm.

Honestly I think TIE Fighters would serve better as escorts. TIE Bombers already have tons of health and are only 9 points, whereas the Advance is 13 (I think). Defending cheaper ships with a more expensive ship isn't necessarily the smartest thing to do. Fighters are cheap and provide the best anti-squad dice to points ratio in the game, if the enemy intercepts your bombers and targets them they are giving your cheap Fighters a free run at returning fire.

Honestly though, the best tactic is TIE Interceptors keeping pace with the bombers initially then zooming forward and deliberately engaging as many enemy squads as possible, leaving the enemy with nothing to counter-engage your bombers when they shoot forward after that.

So am I right in thinking that even if you put a sacrificial Tie Advanced squadron in there, escort means the bombers can't be attacked but they're still engaged, so they can be stalled and can't move.

yup

I'm having trouble finding any sort of home for the non-vader advance (what is this? X-wing?)

maybe when wave 2 hits and we'll have higher priority squadrons to chaperon the escort ability will come into its own, but every non-bomber squadron we have thus far is something I don't mind being attacked (counter interceptors or cheap as chips fighters)

Your opponent can still screen his capital ships with squadrons, so even with range 2, you would need to be engaged with his squadrons before shooting at the capitals.

Not saying that the upgrades aren't nice, but the one turn rush is not something should happen if your opponent brings enough squadrons.

I'm actually wondering about Vader. He'll hit fighters with his crits, which'll help but I imagine he'll go down quick without the scatter token. I wonder if putting the generic advanced with a bunch of Howlrunner Ties would work, since they could then do four dice-attacks and the advanced has to die first. I'd try the interceptors, but the escort keyword would make them less than ideal for that.