Good afternoon,

I really want to see my new bombers on the field doing what they should be doing best, dealing out ordnance damage. I understand that ordnance is currently an unfavourable option but thematically I hope it can be fun.

Currently, I have:

Lambda shuttle: Jendon + ST-321 + Fleet Officer

Tie Bomber: Jonus

Tie Bomber: Rhymer + Cluster Missiles + Extra Munitions (when available)

Total: 86 points

I like the synergy these 3 bring to the table. Shuttle obtaining a TL from anywhere on the table and passing it to Rhyer - along with a focus. Jonus giving Rhymer re-roll abilities. That is 2 x 3 red dice with re-rolls (when using cluster missiles).

I'm not sure where to allocate the remaining 14 points to make this list stand a chance against the opponents. It will never be played competitively. What would you suggest?

Help me FFG forums, you're my only hope.

unfortunately, your only threat in this list is Rhymer. who is horrendously over costed. I'd rather drop rhymer down to a scimitar and use the extra 10 points elsewhere. that leaves you 27 pts.

flechettes on jonus? Royal Guard Pilot + PTL as a flanker? maybe FCS instead of Title on Jendon? makes him alittle more dangerous once those missles go off.

Or drop the shuttle, put PTL on Rhymer to get his focus + Target lock and maybe a black squadron with wingman to pull that stress off?

I love the idea, support shuttle handing off target locks to his supporting bombers. How comfortable are you flying the shuttle? it probably needs something to be alittle more effective once the furball starts up.

how about-

Jendon + FCS

Jonus + Concussion +EM

Scimitar + Cluster + Extra Munitions x 2

I think that using Jendon + Jonus + Rhymer is way overkill. I think Bombers can work quite well, but you're spending too much stuff on gimmicks. What's your plan after you've used your two cluster missiles? What happens when your opponent focuses Rhymer and kills him, before he can even fire his second set of missiles? What if one of your missiles misses out of bad luck? Imho, you either need a HUGE alpha strike or a good backup plan.

The big disadvantage of bombers is their low pilot skill. They will move first and still be out of range to target lock valuable targets. Jendon is a good opportunity to give target locks to multiple low PS pilots. However, Major Rhymer doesn't need that. With a PS of 7, he's perfectly able to get a target lock himself. Jonus is great, when you have a lot of secondary weapons, but you're basically spending 6 points to buff 2 Cluster Missiles (at best). Counterintuitively, Jonus is paired best with Heavy Laser, Ion or Mangler Cannons.

You really have to decide:

Do you want to play a bomber swarm? Go for Jendon + Scimitar Squadron Pilots. A different alternative to give target locks to low PS bombers would be using Squad Leader on Vader, Howlrunner or Mauler Mithel. Jonus is nice to have, but difficult to fit in and purely optional.

Sample List Not perfect, but a lot more streamlined. The bombers move and focus, while the shuttle and Jonus allow them to target lock onto the enemy MVPs. Because of the focus action, Concussion Missiles are superior to Proton Torpedoes. This hopefully results in a huge alpha strike that takes out a valuable target in the first joust.

Do you want to have a single strong bomber? Go for Rhymer + Predator/Veteran Instincts + Ordinance or something similar. But don't invest too many points into him, because he's pretty overcosted, while being vulnerable. If you invest too much into Rhymer, your opponent will simply kill him first, which you will never be able to prevent.

Sample List As cheap as Rhymer can be, without being useless. He doesn't need any support, so you can use the remaining 67 points for some ships, that will be more useful in the endgame and hopefully draw attention away from Rhymer until he used both his missiles. You might use any missiles or torpedoes here. It all depends on what you expect your opponents to play.

As a general rule, I don't think Jonus is worth bringing if you aren't able to give his rerolls to at least two other ships.

FFG should really have had Jonus be PS8 for his current price and had Rhymer at PS 6 for 20 points. That would let Squad Leader Jonus dole out rerolls and Target Locks to Rhymer who could actually afford some ordnance. Either that or let Jonus benefit from his own rerolls at his current PS and cost so he'd be worth putting into a squad by himself with some ordnance.

Some good advice. Thank you all. Upon review of the above and Flight School: Lambda 101 thread I have concocted this list.

Shuttle: Omicron Pilot + ST-321 + FCS + EU + Fleet Officer (33)

Bomber: Gamma Pilot + Concussion Missiles + Seismic Charges + Munitions Failsafe (25)

Fighter: Black Squadron x 3 (42)

I'm missing some high PS, but I feel it helps pack a little punch in the alpha strike, and has a little sustainability for the end game.

Some good advice. Thank you all. Upon review of the above and Flight School: Lambda 101 thread I have concocted this list.

Shuttle: Omicron Pilot + ST-321 + FCS + EU + Fleet Officer (33)

Bomber: Gamma Pilot + Concussion Missiles + Seismic Charges + Munitions Failsafe (25)

Fighter: Black Squadron x 3 (42)

I'm missing some high PS, but I feel it helps pack a little punch in the alpha strike, and has a little sustainability for the end game.

I don't think the title on that Shuttle is doing much for you. Between EU and Fleet Officer your actions are going to be spoken for and the title doesn't really do anything for FCS unless you also have a Weapons Engineer.

Since you aren't taking EPTs on those Black Squadrons, I'd save a few points and drop them to Obsidians. Or drop one of the Blacks to an Obsidian and put Wingman on the other two with the points from not taking the title.

You want 3 scimitar bombers with prox mines... they are a hoot to fly and the look on your opponents face is always priceless..

You want 3 scimitar bombers with prox mines... they are a hoot to fly and the look on your opponents face is always priceless..

Alas, I only have 2. That has been my policy, 2 of every OT small based ship (with the exception of X's and TIEs) and 1 of every large based ship.

I was almost tempted to pick up a Z-95 the other day .. that would have opened the doorway to EU expansions. My wallet does not need that.

bombers are sadly in need of the pending buff for ordnance and even then the jury is out on how good they will actually be.

i used to have 5 bombers but sold two after i wasnt playing that number anymore. 2 attack dice just isnt cutting it right now. sure the bombers are durable and have a decent dial but imo theyr still a bit underpowered.

heres what im looking at playing in an upcoming store event (dont want to hijack the thread, merely throwing another list up that uses at least one shuttle).

Omicron group pilot + tactician + tactician

Omicron group pilot + tactician + tactician

Omicron group pilot + vader

Turr Phennir + veteran instincts

those tacticians are there to help vs lists that use PTL like brobots and any list with soontir. im hoping it will be durable enough and pack enough punch to take down a decimator. if uv ever flown a shuttle without engine upgrade then you know just how hard they are to fly - the worst dial in the game by a wide margin imo. getting quality shots on name pilots that are not a large ship is going to take some doing i know. large ships with engine upgrade will be tough to pin down as well. As i am writing this i am thinking of dropping one tactician from each ship and putting engine upgrade on the one that has vader. my reasoning is that it will be able to chase down fast ships and get into range more quickly.

I am working on a similar build, but only have one bomber. In your case, here's what I would recommend if you want to play these 3 ships:

Lamda-Jendon (26) +Heavy Laser Cannon (7) + Advanced Sensors (3) + ST-321 (3) + Rebel Captive (3) = 42

Bomber Jonus (22) + Wingman (2) + Flechette Torpedoes (2) = 26

Bomber Rhymer (26) + Veteran Instincts (1) + Ion Torpedoes (5) = 32

On set-up, you can put Jendon near a corner at an angle and position Jonus behind him - in the corner, and Rhymer in a position close by or facing Jendon.

JENDON - First round allows you to use Advanced Sensors, get a target lock, do a 0 move with a stress and at the start of Combat phase pass the TL to one of the Bombers.

JONUS/RHYMER - First Round a one straight to run into the back/side of Jendon. Jonus removes the stress on Jendon.

Second round - you can again use advanced sensor to TL with Jendon, move and pass the lock to a bomber. When the bombers move they can focus and will have them to spend to make sure the missles hit.

Hopefully - by this time - your opponent has moved close enough for you to get in a 4-dice range 3 HLC shot with Jendon, a 4-dice Ion Torpedo shot with Rhymer and the 3-dice Flechette shot with Jonus.

Jendon and Rhymer can get a reroll of 2 dice with Jonus abilities and Rhymer and Jonus both have a focus to help them hit.

If you're lucky, you get heavy hits on one ship, a group of ships ionized if they are running close together and possibly one ship with a Ion token + stress.

Against a swarm this would make the follow-up round one where you could possibly take out a second ship and get close to get a chance at 3 dice attack by Jonus and Rhymer.

Keep Jendon close to Jonus to allow stress to be removed and he can make hard 2 turns - allowing him to be very maneuverable and keep a 4-dice attack going every round.

Anybody who targets Jendon is also gonna get some stress and make them more predictable.

Alternatively - you can put a bomb on Jonus to help protect your rear and flank and you could put a Mangler Cannon on Jendon to free up 3 more points to play with upgrades or more munitions for Rhymer.

I've had some huge successes and horrendous losses (and a whole lot of fun) flying;

Rhymer

Proton rockets

Ion pulse missiles

Advanced proton torpedos

Extra munitions (proxy)

Push the limit

Omicron group pilot

Fleet officer

Tactical jammer

2x

Black squadron pilot

Draw thier Fire

I'm pretty sure that leaves you two points to play with as I usually throw some

Seismic on rhymer too.

The shuttle is moving cover and your blocker whilst the two blacks stick close to rhymer. He can be a pain to bring down, being able to draw two crits away per Attack and being able to have two focus tokens.

All his ordinance is designed for maximum ease of use; ion pulse you will have TL/focus for, APT you will have a focus and inbuilt ability, and proton rockets not only can you fire as a TL/focus Attack, but if you bump or k turn you can still have a decent 4 dice focused Attack from fleet officer.

You need to be tricksy with the bomber and only use PTL when you have the kill-shots or need defencive focus but the build can be trouble for two ship lists. And it's fun getting to actually blow **** up with missiles and torps for a change! I find it best to simulate the launch noise while ou throw your dice for maximum effectiveness.