So everybody loves a Rhymer Ball.

But its very slow.

It can be tied up by enemy fighters if not protected by additional TIEs.

It (to some degree) can be flown without the need of a carrier ship.

If flown without a carrier ship it can be very hard to get the most out of your 'ball'.

It out-ranges all squadrons in the game.

Chirpy and Corruptor seem made for each other.

It requires points dropped on upgrades that don't directly hurt your opponent.

You will need to support your bombers with Squadron Commands.

It doesn't rely on clustering around a single squadron.

It cannot be tied down by enemy fighters (BIG PLUS).

I'm interested in the 'groupthink' opinion regarding these two methods of delivering your bomber payload?

I have played it using Chirpy and Corrupter and it works like a charm. I mostly ignore the squadrons and just pound on the ships especially with Vader running escort. I played my buddy yesterday with them and he was running without squadrons (2 VDSs and a Glad) and he scoffed at my build until my squadrons finished off both his Glad and his Vic in one round and helped to wipe out his untouched Vic II the next round. It is worth the 15 points just in case you come up against other squadrons.

I know it's not the answer you want, but... last game I used both, and obliterated an AF2 and a Neb-B for a 9-1 win. It's expensive, but it means you don't need to use Squadron commands every turn. This means you can throw in some Repair commands which let you move the carrier more confidently towards the enemy.

If I had to choose only one, in Wave 1, it'd be Chirpy and Corruptor. But in Wave 2, with the advent of Intel, Rhymer will probably be ahead by a significant margin.

I guess I am curious why you feel the need to choose between the two. Rhymer with Chirpy and Corrupter are stupid good.

I guess I am curious why you feel the need to choose between the two. Rhymer with Chirpy and Corrupter are stupid good.

And lots of points sunk into Fighters. and fighter support at the expense of fighting ships.

I guess I am curious why you feel the need to choose between the two. Rhymer with Chirpy and Corrupter are stupid good.

And lots of points sunk into Fighters. and fighter support at the expense of fighting ships.

Ahh, the age old argument.

Here is the thing, I firmly believe that fighter are worthwhile in the game, but I feel they need to be part of your fleet and not the entire point of your fleet. if you are spending you 1/3 points on Rhymer, Bombers and Advanceds to keep him safe and then layering on ship upgrades you've swung too far away from a balanced fleet. Where as taking a limited number of bombers equal to your Squadron values on one or two ships and using them alongside your fighting ships is a much better strategy.

With that in mind you can separate Imp Bomber Doctrine into the two strategies in my OP.

The other reason for not taking both is because for either to be effective you do not NEED to take both.

Not disagreeing with you but I guess it also comes down to play style. This is the build I use and just by looking at it the first the I built it I was very on the fence about until I played and realized that Rhymer is so ridiculously good. In my games I dont think I have had a single round go by without getting shots on the enemy ships and that is with me barely using squadron commands. I think its worth it have to both your options above because it allows to face multiple types of builds and is more well rounded.

Where as I was looking at...

1 x VSD1
Motti

1 x VSD1
Chirpy
Corruptor
Hangar Bay

4 x Bomber

1 x Gladiator
ACM
Demolisher

Very different styles, I'm obviously in the 'only a few upgrades' camp.

Comparing them seperately:

Rhymer - you can easily let him run on his own. Kepp other bombers near him and use your escort (or interceptors if you use them instead) to tie up enemy fighters. Due to rhymer allowing to shoot at medium range, you will not need to feed squadron commands to them as most of the time with decent placement you can easily get shots in on a ship (especially a VSD) over multiple turns.

Chirpy + Corruptor - also good, but this has its own downsides. The first is that your bombers need to stay near the VSD, if your bombers get seperated, they will be all but useless until you get them back in range to the VSD. Also this will require you to feed squadron commands to your bombers, because unless your opponent comes right up to your carrier for an attack, your bombers wont be able to hit anything.

Both are great, they just have different benefits.

Do you want a more independant bomber squad? Then you want Rhymer.

Do you want to not waste points on a fighter screen to tie up opponents fighters and dont mind feeding some squadron commands now and then to them? Then chirpy + corruptor for you.

Do you want some bombers that doesnt require a fighter screen, dont mind giving squadron commands, and can be indepent if neccessary? Then why not all 3!

I far prefer Rhymer to chiri + corruptor

reason being VSDs aren't terribly maneuverable, so it's far more likely to hit enemy ships and maintain command range with Rhymer's ability than it is with corruptor's speed boost. There's also the small problem of Cheri being build dependent (enemy all ship build = useless upgrade; no squadron command from Cheri's ship for whatever reason = useless upgrade) whereas Rhymer is almost always relevant (because you can't not bring ships ) unless engaged.

imo, Rhymer is simply far more flexible

once Firesprays come out in Wave 2, though, I'll be sure to sing a different tune

Oh man... the thought of Fett and Solo fill me with glee...

When 400 comes around, running both won't sting quite so much. I also like Tarkin plus Offensive or Defensive Liaison (depends on style and fleet) while spamming squadron a bit more at 400 points as well. Sometimes you only need the one squadron activation from the token to readjust your stuff. Meanwhile, Tarkin and DL allows you to turn sharper and repair more than Motti can offer (that extra hull doesn't always help as much as a way to clear a crit or move shields). But Motti is much cheaper. Gotta cut something.

Yeah but if you take a liaision you can't take Chrienau. Officer slots are at a premium!

I find chirenau by himself essential. He can help the fighter war a lot also, but unfortunately he tends to result in very predictable VSD behaviour as you basically need to lock in the "squadron" button.

Rhymer is an awesome upgrade also, and hes only 7 points more. As mentioned he lets your bombers attack independently of the mothership. Take both (17 points). Corrupter is a great upgrade also, but slightly less essential imo.

Another idea - with Chirenau, you don't necessarily HAVE to win the fighter war to get good service from your bombers. They are tough enough to get engaged and still then get commanded onto a ship unless you are fighting a strong anti fighter build with its own squadron command support.