So, to complete my collection of Imperial ships, I picked up a pair of TIE Bombers a couple weeks back. Now I have to find some way to justify this purchase. I'm sure after Waves VII and VIII come out, they'll be a lot more practical to fly, with the extra munitions and XX-23, but at the moment, I'm having a real hard time building a squad with them.

On top of having the starting set, I have two TIE Fighter expansions, the TIE Advanced, two TIE Interceptors, the Imperial Aces set, a Lambda, a Firespray, a Phantom, a Defender, a Decimator, a StarViper, a Y-Wing, and the Most Wanted pack. So, suffice to say, I'm not lacking on upgrade cards (Though I am missing a few that I'd really like to get my hands on, like Engine Upgrade, Wingman, and Draw Their Fire).

So, with only the ships I've listed and the upgrade cards they come with (No proxies), what would be a good build you guys would suggest to include a pair of Bombers in?

I've been toying with this build over vassal...

Scimitar pilot

-Extra munitions

-Plasma Torpedos

-Cluster missiles

x3

OGP

-Fleet Officer.

99 points

A pair of them with proximity mines are excellent for killing high PS arc dodgers like Soontir Fel. I believe SableGryphon wrote an article about it awhile back - since you move before him you can drop the mines directly on Soontir for 3 reds vs 0 agility. The pair is 38 points, a bargain in my book!

I've been toying with this build over vassal...

Scimitar pilot

-Extra munitions

-Plasma Torpedos

-Cluster missiles

x3

OGP

-Fleet Officer.

99 points

Interesting suggestion. Unfortunately, I only have two Bombers, and I don't have access to Extra Munitions or Plasma Torpedoes yet.

A pair of them with proximity mines are excellent for killing high PS arc dodgers like Soontir Fel. I believe SableGryphon wrote an article about it awhile back - since you move before him you can drop the mines directly on Soontir for 3 reds vs 0 agility. The pair is 38 points, a bargain in my book!

That does sound pretty awesome. I'll have to get my hands on another Proximity Mines card before I can pull it off, though.

Thanks for the suggestions, guys.

Maybe give this a try, pretty sure you have all the cards for it.

http://xwing-builder.co.uk/view/262266/jonus-and-jendon

You'd prolly get blasted off the table at a tournament against a tier 1 list, but for a casual list it's a ton of fun - Jendon with Weapons Engineer hands out free target locks to your bombers as long as you can stay in formation (no small challenge with the shuttle crappy dial), meaning you might actually have the opportunity to use all your ordnance. You can play around with different torpedoes and bombs, and it's also fun to make room for the shuttle title so handing out target locks is even easier.

To make a competitive bomber list you're almost certainly going to need two more bombers, or another Defender so you can play Jonus Brothers (which also requires some pretty salty formation flying).

If you've only got two bombers, then I probably wouldn't try an ordnance-based squad.

One thing that works well is using two bombers as escorts for the Decimator - they can soak up far more fire than a TIE fighter for only a pittance of points more, and if the Decimator's taking the heat they can target lock to make the most of the guns.

Jonus with massed cluster missiles is nice, too - but that requires multiple bombers and multiple advanceds, neither of which you currently have.

One thing that works well is using two bombers as escorts for the Decimator - they can soak up far more fire than a TIE fighter for only a pittance of points more, and if the Decimator's taking the heat they can target lock to make the most of the guns.

Until you get Extra Munitions, I'd also run them naked. They can soak up a lot of damage, and you then have a lot of points free for other ships.

Maybe give this a try, pretty sure you have all the cards for it.

http://xwing-builder.co.uk/view/262266/jonus-and-jendon

You'd prolly get blasted off the table at a tournament against a tier 1 list, but for a casual list it's a ton of fun - Jendon with Weapons Engineer hands out free target locks to your bombers as long as you can stay in formation (no small challenge with the shuttle crappy dial), meaning you might actually have the opportunity to use all your ordnance. You can play around with different torpedoes and bombs, and it's also fun to make room for the shuttle title so handing out target locks is even easier.

To make a competitive bomber list you're almost certainly going to need two more bombers, or another Defender so you can play Jonus Brothers (which also requires some pretty salty formation flying).

That's a pretty neat build. I'll have to replace one of the cluster missiles (Probably Jonus') with something else until I buy another Advanced, but I still really like it. I'm planning on getting two more of them in the near future, to prep for when the Raider comes out. Might pick up a couple more Bombers as well, just to make ordinance builds more practical.

I think I've come up with a very casual list to fly tomorrow with the ships I've got. Let me know what you think:

Howlrunner - Squad Leader - Stealth Device - 23 points

Major Rhymer - Advanced Proton Torpedoes - Cluster Missiles - Swarm Tactics - 38 points

Captain Jonus - Proton Torpedoes - Concussion Missiles - Predator - Proximity Mines - Munitions Failsafe - 37 points

Total=98 points

Howlrunner's Squad Leader lets Major Rhymer take two actions, so he'd be able to focus and acquire a target lock for his Advanced Proton Torpedoes at the same time, making them extremely deadly. He'd get two re-rolls for both of his attacks with the Cluster Missiles, thanks to Jonus, so he'd be likely to get 2-3 hits both times (unless my dice betray me, which they are wont to do at times).

Jonus can't modify his own dice using his ability, sadly, so instead I gave him a torpedo and a missile that modify themselves, along with Predator to re-roll at least one dice, so there's at least some modification going on in case I roll horribly. And if worst comes to worst, I have the Munitions Failsafe as backup, so he'll be able to use his ordinance a second time in case of terrible luck.

Once the secondary weapons run out, Jonus still has Predator, and Howlrunner will still be able to help with re-rolls until she goes down (Which probably won't take long, though I will preserve her as long as possible with defensive focuses or evades and the Stealth Device).

The way I see this squad working is by rolling slow for the first three rounds, wiping out as much of the opponents shields as possible in the first round of combat, with the Cluster Missiles and Concussion Missiles, then dealing as much oomph as I can on the second attack with my Proton Torpedoes and Advanced Proton Torpedoes. Should at least be able to do some serious damage to a Decimator, which is what I'll likely be facing tomorrow.

Now the real tricky part is going to be dealing with the Soontir Fel who my buddy tends to field with his Decimator. I'll be sure to post the results tomorrow after the game.

APTs are terribly overcosted, even on Rhymer.
Rhymer is terribly overcosted, even with ordnance.

Jonus' bonus doesn't apply to himself, so putting ordnance on him isn't the greatest idea.

Howlrunner's bonus doesn't work well when you've put so much ordnance in the lists.

Wow, so much positivity!

I think as a casual list, as you said, that looks like a lot of fun! Who did your opponent want to kill first? My guess would be Rhymer, as once he is dead, Jonus' ability is kind of a moot point. The big question is then, how many missiles and torps did Jonus get to shoot?? You have some pretty heavy hitters in this list!

Go with Vess. He loves bomber buddies.

Vess

2x scimitar

Night Beast + targeting computer

Room for bombs, EPT or PS upgrades.

I was flying a TIE-bomber list back in the time of Rebel Aces that was designed to make people confused and surprised. It did just that, everytime:


Major Rhymer:
Proton Rocket (x2)
Stealth Device
VI

Captain Jonus

Delta Squadron Pilot
HLC

Honestly, I could not get enough of "What, Proton rockets can't be shot at range 2!"

"Rhymer's ability"

"Well, it should only be 4 dice!"

"Stealth device."

One of the most successful Bomber builds in the history of the game was back in Wave III, run by SableGryphon when he wasn't messing around with the Great White Space Bison

It was simply 5x Gamma Squadron Pilots + Seismic Charges.

Now we have Cluster Mines, so you could theoretically do 5x Scimitar + Cluster to similar (devastating) effect.

So, a report on the match I ran with the squad I posted two days ago:

Long story short, it was shockingly effective against the build I intended to run it against.

The list he flew is as follows:

Soontir Fel - RGT - AT - SD - PTL - 35

RAC - Expose - Prox Mines - Darth Vader - Gunner - EI

I dropped the Swarm Tactics off of Rhymer and the Munitions Upgrade from Jonus. They weren't really doing anything for my squad. So, I was sitting at 95 points.

In the first round, he covered as much distance with RAC as possible toward my formation, with Soontir set up for flanking the next round. My formation was fairly basic, with the Bombers in front and Howlrunner in back.

During the first round of combat, RAC and Fel focus fired on Rhymer, landing three hits and two crits. Not that I minded much, because in order to do so, he used Vader with RAC, then Gunner, and Vader again, effectively stripping all of his shields for me. Rhymer opened up with his APT, which he was allowed to modify with a Focus token he got from Howlrunner's Squad Leader, landing four hits and a crit, while Jonus fired off his PT and got two hits and a crit. Howlrunner didn't have any shots at the time, unfortunately.

The second round opened with RAC dropping his Prox Mines, which suited me just fine. Rhymer wound up getting popped and Jonus took some damage. However, Jonus still managed to finish off RAC with his Concussion Missiles.

The third round almost won me the game right then and there, with my opponent barely misjudging a maneuver with Soontir. Fel grazed the Prox Mines, taking a damage. Just after, Howlrunner managed to land a lucky shot, dealing a second damage. Fel was now flying with a single hull and no Stealth Device against a full health Howlrunner with a Stealth Device, and a TIE Bomber that had just laid a second Prox Mine on the table, and still had four hull.

After much maneuvering, attacking, missing, mind games, and so on, over several more rounds, the end of the game came when Jonus and Fel had positioned themselves opposite of each other, both at range two and both within the other's firing arc. Jonus still had two hull left, Soontir of course, still had his one. Soontir shot first, rolling two hits and a blank. Sadly, Jonus rolled two Focuses, and since he had just K-turned to get where he was at, he had no Focus token.

All in all, it was a shockingly close match. It very easily could've swayed in my favor at several points throughout the endgame, and in the end this build did even better against the DeciVader/Soontir build than I had hoped.

For the record, before I left the store today, I also picked up two more TIE Advanced expansions and another TIE Bomber. So now I can field a more proper Bomber team, and I have enough TIE Advanceds for when the TIE/x1 hits and I decide to have some fun with those.

That sounds like it was a really fun game! Did you just leave your list at 95 points though? If you dropped Swarm Tactics, you could always think about adding in Determination, as anything that can keep Rhymer alive for a little bit longer is great! Adding on a hull upgrade is also awesome, as 7hp behind 2 agility is nothing to sneeze at.

Looking at your list, the only thing I would consider changing is switching out Jonus for a Scimitar, or even two, as Rhymer will always be the primary target. Once he dies, you are paying 6 points for an ability that you can't use.

I would think about switching to something like this if you want to keep Rhymer:

Rhymer: Adv Proton Torps, Cluster Missiles, Determination (37)

Scimitar: Cluster Missiles, Prox Mines (23)

Scimitar: Cluster Missiles (20)

Howlrunner: Squad Leader (20)

Obviously you can switch out the ordnance as you see fit, but built this way you have the same amount of ordnance, but spread around another ship, so if you get that TL you can fire 3 missiles in one go! That is why I chose Clusters, as the first engagement should be at Range 3, freeing you to TL the next round. This squad looks a lot better once Extra Munitions comes out, get your hands a Punisher and K-Wing ASAP! If you are proxy-ing I would drop the Cluster missiles on Rhymer and drop the prox mines down to a seismic charge to get Extra Munitions on all 3 bombers.

That sounds like it was a really fun game! Did you just leave your list at 95 points though? If you dropped Swarm Tactics, you could always think about adding in Determination, as anything that can keep Rhymer alive for a little bit longer is great! Adding on a hull upgrade is also awesome, as 7hp behind 2 agility is nothing to sneeze at.

Looking at your list, the only thing I would consider changing is switching out Jonus for a Scimitar, or even two, as Rhymer will always be the primary target. Once he dies, you are paying 6 points for an ability that you can't use.

I would think about switching to something like this if you want to keep Rhymer:

Rhymer: Adv Proton Torps, Cluster Missiles, Determination (37)

Scimitar: Cluster Missiles, Prox Mines (23)

Scimitar: Cluster Missiles (20)

Howlrunner: Squad Leader (20)

Obviously you can switch out the ordnance as you see fit, but built this way you have the same amount of ordnance, but spread around another ship, so if you get that TL you can fire 3 missiles in one go! That is why I chose Clusters, as the first engagement should be at Range 3, freeing you to TL the next round. This squad looks a lot better once Extra Munitions comes out, get your hands a Punisher and K-Wing ASAP! If you are proxy-ing I would drop the Cluster missiles on Rhymer and drop the prox mines down to a seismic charge to get Extra Munitions on all 3 bombers.

It was a ton of fun to play, and I really enjoyed how it turned out. Yeah, I did keep my squad at 95, but only because the changes I made were pretty last minute and I didn't bring all of my other cards. (I've taken to only bringing the things I need for the builds I want to run, that way I'm not toting around quite as much stuff every time I decide to go in and play a game or two of X-Wing).

That squad suggestion does look pretty cool, though I really like having Jonus on the team for anything Cluster Missiles related. I'm thinking of two alternate builds I could go with now that I have three copies of Cluster Missiles and three Bombers. The one I'm leaning toward most is this:

Howlrunner - Squad Leader - Stealth Device - 23

Jonus - Concussion Missiles - Determination - Proximity Mines - Shield Upgrade - 34

Scimitar - Cluster Missiles - 20

Scimitar - Cluster Missiles - 20

Shield Upgrade and Determination on Jonus are just there to ensure he lives long enough to modify the Scimitar's attacks. Of course, once the Extra Munitions comes out, I'll be dropping Howlrunner's Stealth Device and giving out some Extra Munitions on my ships.

Also, we don't proxy when we play. It's sort of an unspoken rule between all the people I play with that we only use the cards we own.

Anywho, I'll keep experimenting with my Bombers for a while now that I've gotten to test them on the board. Once Wave VII and VIII come out, I can see them being pretty lethal. I still don't think I'd ever take my Bombers to a tournament, but for casual play, I think I'll have a lot of fun with them.

Maybe give this a try, pretty sure you have all the cards for it.

http://xwing-builder.co.uk/view/262266/jonus-and-jendon

You'd prolly get blasted off the table at a tournament against a tier 1 list, but for a casual list it's a ton of fun - Jendon with Weapons Engineer hands out free target locks to your bombers as long as you can stay in formation (no small challenge with the shuttle crappy dial), meaning you might actually have the opportunity to use all your ordnance. You can play around with different torpedoes and bombs, and it's also fun to make room for the shuttle title so handing out target locks is even easier.

To make a competitive bomber list you're almost certainly going to need two more bombers, or another Defender so you can play Jonus Brothers (which also requires some pretty salty formation flying).

Quick question: What is squad leader doing on Jonus? He'll be using his actions for target locks (hopefully) or are you planning on giving the shuttle an action?

carpet bombing

Scimitar (16)

*Seismic (2)

*Extra Munis (2)

[total: 20] * 5 = 100

You know that Howlrunner's ability only works on primary attacks, right? If you want to make your ordnance more effective, you could also switch her out for a black squad pilot with squad leader. It helps you get that TL+F combo, and can be used to block high PS ships.

I like the idea of running 4 Scimitars with a Black with Squad Leader, something like this:

Black Squad Pilot - Squad Leader (16)

Scimitar - Flechette Torp, MFS (19)

Scimitar - Adv Homing, EM (21)

Scimitar - Concussion, EM (22)

Scimitar - Cluster, EM (22)

Clocks in at 100 on the dot, and I think each ship has an important role in the squad, as each ship has a different strength and weakness. Aces will cringe at the homing missiles and Flechette Torps, big fatties will struggle against concussion and cluster missiles.

You know that Howlrunner's ability only works on primary attacks, right? If you want to make your ordnance more effective, you could also switch her out for a black squad pilot with squad leader. It helps you get that TL+F combo, and can be used to block high PS ships.

I like the idea of running 4 Scimitars with a Black with Squad Leader, something like this:

Black Squad Pilot - Squad Leader (16)

Scimitar - Flechette Torp, MFS (19)

Scimitar - Adv Homing, EM (21)

Scimitar - Concussion, EM (22)

Scimitar - Cluster, EM (22)

Clocks in at 100 on the dot, and I think each ship has an important role in the squad, as each ship has a different strength and weakness. Aces will cringe at the homing missiles and Flechette Torps, big fatties will struggle against concussion and cluster missiles.

Yes, I am fully aware that Howlrunner's ability only works for primary weapon attacks. Howlrunner was on my squad for the sake of having some sort of decent fire power after my ordinance had all been spent. Also, Howlrunner provided Squad Leader for Rhymer, which was instrumental to me destroying his DeciVader ASAP. All in all, I honestly had a ton of fun flying the build I listed, though there are some things I would tweak. Perhaps giving Rhymer a Stealth Device or Hull Upgrade so that he can live for one more round.

It's also worth pointing out that at the time I ran the build I had listed, I only owned two bombers, not the three I currently own. For what I had at the time, and without counting proxies, I think my build did its job beautifully during the game.