I play and like this load out:

100 points ------

Captain Jonus (25): TIE Bomber (22), XX-23 S-thread Tracers (1), Squad Leader (2)

3 x Scimitar Squadron Pilot (25): TIE Bomber (16), Extra Munitions (2), Proton Rockets (3), Concussion Missiles (4)

Until you get run over by a tantive

Step 1: Don't fly directly in front of Huge Ships.

Step 2: Target Lock that giant metal space whale.

Step 3: Fire off Cluster Missiles!

Step 4: ?????

Step 5: Celebrate Victory.

Step 1 - attempt to fly round tantive to get cr-75 (mission objective)

Step 2 - get caught by turning circle

Step 3 - curse!

TLT is God and the Y Wing is his Prophet.

TIE Bombers relevant again, wooooo.

Meh, just load Bombers with Cluster Missiles. Y-Wings don't like Cluster Missiles.

In my experience, nobody likes Cluster Missiles except the player using them. More attacks is more chances to punch through enemy defenses. If you run the missiles on the cheaper pilots like scimitars, you have room to put in some higher pilot skill aces to attack first and strip defensive tokens. If they go for your bombers, they're ignoring your Soontir/Whisper/Echo and allowing you to freely attack with that ship. If they go for the defensive arc-dodging ace, they might either miss their attack or more likely, their firing arcs will be dodged.

In my experience cluster missiles do one of two things.

1. Die and never get a chance to fire thanks to blocking and arc dodging.
2. miss completely because dice modifications are not available.

Sure the numbers may look good at first but after hard crunching the data cluster missiles never earn anything more than add 4 more points to your opponents MOV.

ordnance though still suffers immensely from horrible action efficiency, one-shot status (which, combined with horrible action efficiency, causes some horrible crap-shoot scenarios), and low PS locks, even if it can make for a nice TLT counter. Personally don't think we'll be seeing any competitively (apart from select pilots like stim N'dru and possibly Redline) until wave 8 hits with its magical Inq. Tie + Tracers + Mod (also Pogostick Torp Boats with R4 + Recon specialist + Deadeye)

PS is a definite issue, but the Bomber's natural hardiness and the theoretical reduction of PS driven by TLTs can help somewhat. Number of shots is solved by EM pretty well.

As for action efficiency, I don't really buy that argument totally. Control loads like flechettes and Ions have as much or more expected damage as the Bomber's primaries, and are coupled with a potentially game-changing effect. Damage loads do much more damage er shot than a primary, even with only a Target Lock. This holds even for ships with 3 dice primary weapons. Protons, for example, have an expected damage around 3, and a high probability of generating a crit, as well as ignoring the range 3 defense bonus. The problem is that they were too expensive for a one turn damage increase, generally. EM helps with that.

I haven't run bombers lately...mostly because Redline with Clusters is soooo much fun!

First off, I'm quite happy to see this thread. I don't think enough people have been exploring the Tie Bomber with Extra Munitions lately (from what I've seen). I've gone round and round with Fickle about it and we don't agree. I'm more on your side of things. I've got quite a bit of experience playing with 4 Tie Bombers in the past. I narrowly missed winning a Store Championship with it in my last game. They are fantastic at blowing up fat turrets....and other lists.

I've played with Jonus before, but I think he's not needed now. Why? Because of Homing Missiles and Extra Munitions. They were too costly before, but now that you spend 7 and get 2 of them, they are worth it. I would highly encourage you to look at some builds that use Homing Missiles. There are times when your dice just suck. Yes, you will need to expect that with a Tie Bomber list, but Homing Missiles can really save your bacon. They also give that "action economy" that fickle is always saying is missing. It's 4 dice that lets you keep the TL. Not only that...your opponent can't use Evade tokens. That normally doesn't matter, except for the Falcon, Soontir Fel, and bro bots with IG-88C. It's great vs. them. The problem is finding the extra points for them. Perhaps 2 of the ships have Homing Instead?

Concussion Missiles and Proton Torpedoes are good options to go with if you don't go Homing. Each has the ability to adjust one die, which is good as you will most likely not get a Focus as well as a TL. I do like to take both of them. Try to use the Concussion first and hit their shields and then fire the Torpedoes to score the crits. It does work well when it works. You will just find that sometimes the dice will crap out on you. That's why I prefer Homing. Even then, they will occasionally hate you.

As for Cluster Missiles, I don't rate them as much. There are a lot of high agility targets these days. I've had others tell met that you fire enough Clusters at Soontir and he will flub a die roll. I've also fired two Cluster Missiles at a generic Scyk and only managed 2 hits (with 4 missiles, yes). Also, Bro Bots are a real thing and they have high hits (hull/shield) with high agility. They are the worst targets.

The bit about getting the TL is true, but it's also not as bad as you would think. Learn the "Rule of 11" and it's a lot less of a problem. It's all about the approach. The trick is to get just outside of range on the approach, and then to leap into range to get it.....and hopefully bump. Darkhorse wrote a great article about his Tie Bomber strategy that used Seismic Charges and this strategy. His idea was to shoot in close and grab your TL's. They hopefully bump into you, lose actions, and can't shoot. Or, they are right in front and have a hard time focusing fire on one guy. One Tie Bomber is hard to kill in one round of shooting. Next turn, you drop bombs, 5 K-turn, and fire your missiles with your TL. This plan works incredibly well if your opponent has never seen it before. I was able to get an Outrider to land on 4 bombs and 2 missiles finished it off all in one turn.

Besides that one strategy, there are tactics you can use to get the TL and be able to use it. The one above is just one. You can develop tactics that work. It's a lot easier if you don't have to fly in formation (i.e. without Jonus). I will say that most people have no idea what to expect when you fly Tie Bombers as most people have never really seen them on the table. So, that gives you an advantage.....until your regular opponents get used to you. Yes, the TL can be hard, but no, it's not crippling. Just play smart.

Ion Missiles and Ion Torpedoes are excellent ways of controlling the situation. Hit someone with something Ion, you know where they are going to be that turn. It's pretty easy to set up a TL for them, right? It also usually means the rest of his list is going to try to cover that weak ship, so you can set up part of your list to go after the ion target and the rest to cover where you think the rest of his list is going to go. Depends, really. If it's a fat ship, then just pour all your fire on it.

When you are flying, use your 5 K-turns. They are brilliant. Not many ships have them and they get you far past the scrimmage. If you have a TL, you can still be stressed and fire with it after you K-turn. You can get a good field of fire when you K-turn. Besides that, their 3 Turn and 1 bank will become your favorite moves.

Flechette Torpedoes are also key to beating IG-88's. I used one in my Xizor list to great effect. One bot suckers you in while the other creeps up behind you. You go for one. It then either S-loops out of your arc or turns and boosts totally out of your way while the other is behind you. If you hit the bait with Flechette Torps, you stress them out and really take away their ability to get out of there. It really puts them in a panic. Their 4 hull is just enough to get the stress. You can then hammer that one with missiles.

When you fly 4 Tie Bombers, you will have to accept that there is one ship that will probably die before it fires all it's missiles. It's the truth about Tie Bombers. Do you take less because of it? No. Just know some will be wasted. Get your alpha strikes in fast enough and you can smash the enemy quickly. It will be key in keeping your Bombers alive. It also makes it easier to hunt the rest of his list once half is dead.

Overall strategies I've found is that it's better to use all your firepower on Soontir instead of the Decimator most of the time. This way, your main guns can take out the Decimator. Just make sure you kill him fast. It's going to be a terrible rest of the game if you blow up the Decimator and leave Soontir alive. You will have to be good at covering your own flanks to be able to get shots in. Do-able, but harder. It's best to use the approach to stress/ion Soontir and then blast him with your heavy stuff. Homing Missiles are good vs. Stealth Soontir as it's 4 dice with Focus, but no Evade. Try to get that one hit in and his Stealth is gone. Makes the rest of your hits easier.

Bro Bots are hard to beat with Tie Bombers. Their high agility will frustrate you. They can be tokenless and they still roll crazy well. Oh, you will ding them down, but will it be fast enough. If TLT's make them take Sensor Jammer, you will HATE them. My regular tournament practice opponent tried it and it was the deciding factor in me not using Tie Bombers for Regionals. Sensor Jammer will give you fits.

Good luck and please report in with your progress. I really want to hear how it's working out.