Everyone states and restates that LRS help the low PS bombers with acquiring a Target Lock to combat range release their missiles or torpedoes against their target...

Yes, people can read the text in the card.

Why I cannot see is why would the target decide to still joust the bomber when it is clear that the bomber has target-locked it. Nobody in their right sense would joust a bomber that carries ordnance and comes with a target lock and a focus token.

The clever player will start a goose chase as soon as the bombers lock him at range 4-5. In order to make most of their action economy, the bombers will chase their locked targets to be able to actually release their payload.

Then the clever player will backstab the bombers in their silly chase.

The only sensible point I see on LRS is to try and create a negative zone in front of the bomber firing arc where the target-locked ship won't want to get into. Some kind of board control, if you will.

This has always been true of Target Locks, though, with or without ordnance. The onus to outmanoeuvre switches from the Attacking player (who can now take peremptory TLs), to the Defending player (who avoids/dodges the ship/s with TL) back to the Attacking player (who must position or block the Defending player such that the TLs can pay off).

This won't change the smart play from Locking onto the VIP ship though. You always want to Lock on Fel, and you'll spend it as soon as you're able, even if it isn't first engagement or with all ships at once.

One Missile/Torp -> LRC

More than one missile/Torp -> GChimps

easy like that

Would you run a TIE bomber with a single missile on it though? The only ships that can't take multiple rockets can't take LRS.

This isn't so much "Justifying LRS" as "Explaining to the OP how they actually work".

Y-Ye-YEA!

Joe Boss how could you betray me in this way

Everyone states and restates that LRS help the low PS bombers with acquiring a Target Lock to combat range release their missiles or torpedoes against their target...

Yes, people can read the text in the card.

Why I cannot see is why would the target decide to still joust the bomber when it is clear that the bomber has target-locked it. Nobody in their right sense would joust a bomber that carries ordnance and comes with a target lock and a focus token.

The clever player will start a goose chase as soon as the bombers lock him at range 4-5. In order to make most of their action economy, the bombers will chase their locked targets to be able to actually release their payload.

Then the clever player will use some other ship to backstab the bombers in their silly chase.

The only sensible point I see on LRS is to try and create a negative zone in front of the bomber firing arc where the target-locked ship won't want to get into. Some kind of board control, if you will.

The R3 arc is wide. If you want to arc dodge that you'll have to put some serious effort into it, and if you're doing that, you're not being much of an offensive threat. If my 22 point Bomber can make Fel or Dameron scamble to get away, that's a huge area control advantage in my favour. Now, if I have two of those Bombers...

Everyone states and restates that LRS help the low PS bombers with acquiring a Target Lock to combat range release their missiles or torpedoes against their target...

Yes, people can read the text in the card.

Why I cannot see is why would the target decide to still joust the bomber when it is clear that the bomber has target-locked it. Nobody in their right sense would joust a bomber that carries ordnance and comes with a target lock and a focus token.

The clever player will start a goose chase as soon as the bombers lock him at range 4-5. In order to make most of their action economy, the bombers will chase their locked targets to be able to actually release their payload.

Then the clever player will use some other ship to backstab the bombers in their silly chase.

The only sensible point I see on LRS is to try and create a negative zone in front of the bomber firing arc where the target-locked ship won't want to get into. Some kind of board control, if you will.

You are correct, but you should look at this as a feature of LRS, not a bug. If some number of LRS ships can TL a key opposing ship (basically, the bigger the target, the greater number of committed LRS locks are probably a good idea), and that ship stays out of the fight for a while, then the LRS squad is in pretty good shape. In the case of a quad TIE Bomber squad, committing, say, 2 LRS locks to Fel and 2 to supporting ships let you hit supporting ships with 2 TL+Focus ordnance shots and 2 focused primary shots. That's still dangerous, and pretty likely to destroy something like a B-wing, Y-wing, TIE/fo ace, or a couple TIE fighters, or a in the opening salvo. That's a good opening exchange for the Bombers, because the locks on Fel haven't gone away, and he'll have to commit he wants to win. Alternatively, maybe you have a couple TIE Bombers in support of your own Ace. In that case you can use Bombers to keep an Ace counter at bay until you achieve an advantage against the supporting ships. Finally, you have scenarios with K-wings and Firesprays where the ship doesn't need a TL to fight. These ships can just grab a TL early, and keep it in their back pocket until a particular enemy ship presents itself. Look at Miranda. She could pack a Homing Missile and LRS, TL someone early, and if they disengage, just use her TLT on the support as she would anyway. Small price to pay to keep an enemy ace out of her hair for a few turns.

The clever player will start a goose chase as soon as the bombers lock him at range 4-5. In order to make most of their action economy, the bombers will chase their locked targets to be able to actually release their payload.

Then the clever player will use some other ship to backstab the bombers in their silly chase.

Bomber player can swap targets in this case - or move to head off the running party. When one player moves slowly and angles his ships towards yours - it's incredibly difficult not to come head on with that ship at some point vs a savvy opponent, you've got to have the speed, and when you do that, the other player can usually see it. The enemy chooses the flank really.

It's not a bad idea to try, but the list and setup will have to support such bait and switch games.

Everyone states and restates that LRS help the low PS bombers with acquiring a Target Lock to combat range release their missiles or torpedoes against their target...

Yes, people can read the text in the card.

Why I cannot see is why would the target decide to still joust the bomber when it is clear that the bomber has target-locked it. Nobody in their right sense would joust a bomber that carries ordnance and comes with a target lock and a focus token.

The clever player will start a goose chase as soon as the bombers lock him at range 4-5. In order to make most of their action economy, the bombers will chase their locked targets to be able to actually release their payload.

Then the clever player will use some other ship to backstab the bombers in their silly chase.

The only sensible point I see on LRS is to try and create a negative zone in front of the bomber firing arc where the target-locked ship won't want to get into. Some kind of board control, if you will.

So basically, LRS allows a lower PS bomber to dictate the game to Super Fel or others. That is the whole point. And if they make a mistake, they dead or hurting. I think (and hope) that the game is on the cusp of becoming much more interesting.

My biggest complaint about LRS is seeing them on TLT K-wings as just another way to make that ship more depressing to play against.

Everyone states and restates that LRS help the low PS bombers with acquiring a Target Lock to combat range release their missiles or torpedoes against their target...

Yes, people can read the text in the card.

Why I cannot see is why would the target decide to still joust the bomber when it is clear that the bomber has target-locked it. Nobody in their right sense would joust a bomber that carries ordnance and comes with a target lock and a focus token.

The clever player will start a goose chase as soon as the bombers lock him at range 4-5. In order to make most of their action economy, the bombers will chase their locked targets to be able to actually release their payload.

Then the clever player will use some other ship to backstab the bombers in their silly chase.

The only sensible point I see on LRS is to try and create a negative zone in front of the bomber firing arc where the target-locked ship won't want to get into. Some kind of board control, if you will.

Uh... yes? If you're going for a massed-fire alpha strike, you don't want LRS. (Probably, anyway--thespaceinvader makes a good point about overlapping fields of fire creating a kill zone.) I'd rather run something like an Advanced Prototype with Thread Tracers to set up a few low-PS bombers with Guidance Chips; that gives me the enormous advantage of making targeting decisions after the end of the Activation phase, plus it generates action efficiency across the whole list.

If you're running a single Scimitar Squadron Pilot + Concussion Missiles + Long-Range Sensors, though, the point would be to get exactly that board control. It's just 20 points, and either you get a Biggs effect where your opponent is compelled to hunt down and kill a throwaway ship, or you force your opponent's target-locked ace to play defensively rather than aggressively. If you get the damage, great, but even if you "only" get 2-3 turns where you're dictating the tempo of the match, you've still created a huge opening for the rest of your list to exploit.

One Missile/Torp -> LRC

More than one missile/Torp -> GChimps

easy like that

Would you run a TIE bomber with a single missile on it though? The only ships that can't take multiple rockets can't take LRS.

Why? Cheapness and survivability. You do it because you don't expect to get a second shot with any given bomber, and instead you hope that those four or five first shots will be enough to kill the biggest threats in your opponent's list, and the pew pew primaries can mop up the rest.

Dead = 0 DPS. Guidance Chips does you no good if your ship gets killed before it has a chance to unload the ord in the first place. So the ships that best make use of it are ones that you know can get that shot off.

Also in the first turn of nearly every game I've played, turn 1 you can pretty much skip your first action because it won't do anything. With LRS that's no longer true which on the right ship/build can be a pretty potent thing.

Two points of cheapness though. I suppose if you really need the points elsewhere you could make a case for a one rocket bomber though.

Statistically speaking, GC is equal to LRS BUT as soon as you use an ordnances that already allow a dice modification or roll less than 4 dice, GC is superiror to LRS.

On a 3 dice attack, GC gives 1 hit, while Target Lock rerolls would gives an average of 0.75 hit (3 * 0.25).
On a 4 dice attack, GC gives 1 hit, while Target Lock rerolls would also gives an average of 1 hit (4 * 0.25).
On a 4 dice attack with a modification (ex: Proton Torpedoes or Concusion Missiles), GC gives 1 hit, while Target Lock rerolls would gives an average of 0.8 hit (3 * 0.25 + 1 * 0.0625).

P.S. I don't think I made any mathematics error here, but feel free to correct me if I did.

At the moment it doesn't seem powerful next to guidance gimps, because nothing can shoot past range 3. I think this card might be coming out in readiness for cards in wave 9 or 10.

Everyone states and restates that LRS help the low PS bombers with acquiring a Target Lock to combat range release their missiles or torpedoes against their target...

Yes, people can read the text in the card.

Why I cannot see is why would the target decide to still joust the bomber when it is clear that the bomber has target-locked it. Nobody in their right sense would joust a bomber that carries ordnance and comes with a target lock and a focus token.

The clever player will start a goose chase as soon as the bombers lock him at range 4-5. In order to make most of their action economy, the bombers will chase their locked targets to be able to actually release their payload.

Then the clever player will use some other ship to backstab the bombers in their silly chase.

The only sensible point I see on LRS is to try and create a negative zone in front of the bomber firing arc where the target-locked ship won't want to get into. Some kind of board control, if you will.

LRS gives you the ability to get the TL early and hopefully have a focus. Beyond that, though, it allows you to slow roll at people. The Tie Bomber has a pretty good dial and the ability to Barrel Roll. People like to just throw the word "arc dodger" out there as if it's easy to just fly around a bunch of Tie Bombers that don't need to spend an action to grab a TL. If those Bombers are not flying in formation, it's not so easy. All you have to do is bank towards your opponent and cover a huge range of fire. It's not easy to go from beyond R3 into R1 on someone, unless it's straight, you go 5 and then boost. Even at that point, if you stagger your Bombers, you won't be able to avoid all of them. A one bank and Barrel Roll can cover a lot of territory and it's not so easy to sneak up on a Tie Bomber that wants you in range.

It should only take 2 Homing Missile + Focus shots to kill a Stealth Soontir. If you have 4 Bombers, you don't need to have them all face off against Soontir. The other two ships can protect their flanks and fire at the rest of the enemy's list. Also, if just having one Bomber scare off Soontir, then your 25 pt ship is delaying their expensive Soontir for a round or two? I'll take it.

There is all sorts of other shenanigans you can do, as well. What if you put 2-3 TL on Soontir on the round before everyone engages. Everyone picks their dials and goes. Your Bombers then moves and picks new targets. Soontir has picked a delaying tactic and is out of the fight, expecting your Bombers to be sitting out doing nothing. Oh, now they don't have a Focus and TL for their Homing Missile. They just have the Homing Missile with TL.....that still has pretty good roll averages. You have just pushed Soontir out for a round and most likely killed one or two enemy ships with your alpha strike. Save a couple of Missiles for Soontir and you should be fine.

A smart Tie Bomber player doesn't chase after their target. They can slow roll and wait. There is only so much board space a ship can go and a slow rolling Tie Bomber can cover a lot of area in R 2-3. If you chase them, you will just allow them to dodge your arc. 1 Bank and Barrel Roll backwards can pretty much cover your flanks.

There is also pscyhing them out, like I suggested. You change your targets and go for the rest of the list now that you have the flanker running for a turn.

Also, I've found I like to deploy in the middle of my zone and have at least one big rock in the middle of the board. It encourages your opponent to send someone like Soontir to go flanking. If you start off that way, it's pretty easy to send everyone out for Soontir early. You can stagger your firing arcs so that no matter what Soontir does, you should have 2 shots at him. The rest of the list is usually not fast enough to catch up in time.

That's just two tricks you can pull with LRS and TLing someone. I'm sure there are 101 more.

A smart Tie Bomber player doesn't chase after their target. They can slow roll and wait. There is only so much board space a ship can go and a slow rolling Tie Bomber can cover a lot of area in R 2-3. If you chase them, you will just allow them to dodge your arc. 1 Bank and Barrel Roll backwards can pretty much cover your flanks.

There is also pscyhing them out, like I suggested. You change your targets and go for the rest of the list now that you have the flanker running for a turn.

Also, I've found I like to deploy in the middle of my zone and have at least one big rock in the middle of the board. It encourages your opponent to send someone like Soontir to go flanking. If you start off that way, it's pretty easy to send everyone out for Soontir early. You can stagger your firing arcs so that no matter what Soontir does, you should have 2 shots at him. The rest of the list is usually not fast enough to catch up in time.

That's just two tricks you can pull with LRS and TLing someone. I'm sure there are 101 more.

This is exactly what Bombers should be doing (especially with LRS, never mind Deadeye UBoats, B-Wings...). Control the middle of the board, and you can control the engagement. Even the plodding B-Wing will catch up to you if it sits in the centre and spins to follow.

A LRS Bomber or three can easily dictate the fight with a considerable R3 threat zone against most opponents. Formation, approach speed, deployment, and rock placement are all crucial to this, but even the vaunted Soontir Fel can't run forever once you set your sights and control the "high ground".

I couldn't fully justify LRS, so I right justified it instead:

LRS

A smart Tie Bomber player doesn't chase after their target. They can slow roll and wait. There is only so much board space a ship can go and a slow rolling Tie Bomber can cover a lot of area in R 2-3. If you chase them, you will just allow them to dodge your arc. 1 Bank and Barrel Roll backwards can pretty much cover your flanks.

There is also pscyhing them out, like I suggested. You change your targets and go for the rest of the list now that you have the flanker running for a turn.

Also, I've found I like to deploy in the middle of my zone and have at least one big rock in the middle of the board. It encourages your opponent to send someone like Soontir to go flanking. If you start off that way, it's pretty easy to send everyone out for Soontir early. You can stagger your firing arcs so that no matter what Soontir does, you should have 2 shots at him. The rest of the list is usually not fast enough to catch up in time.

That's just two tricks you can pull with LRS and TLing someone. I'm sure there are 101 more.

Listen to this man. He knows his bombers.

Having trouble seeing how Long Range Scanners is worth it when Guidance Chips exists.

It fixes the low PS TL problem, and allows one to perpetually focus for double modify their missiles.

HM's, AHM's, IPM's don't require the expenditure of the requisite TL they need to fire. APT's with focus are pretty much always 5 hits so they are also pretty reliable with only a single modifier. Conc Missiles should also be alright with just a focus to modify.

It doesn't do much for the other ordnances, but just don't use those ones.

Statistically speaking, GC is equal to LRS BUT as soon as you use an ordnances that already allow a dice modification or roll less than 4 dice, GC is superiror to LRS.

I get what you're saying... But naturally something that lets you directly modify dice is going to be superior to something that doesn't in terms of damage.

CG is only useful if you actually get that shot off, which for some ships is not a given, for others it is much more likely. So you use LRS on any ship that carries Ord that you think may have problems getting the shot off. Things like low PS bombers, Y-Wings even X-Wings for that matter.

CG is for ships that don't need any help getting the shot off, LRS is for ships that might.

A smart Tie Bomber player doesn't chase after their target.

Listen to this man. He knows his bombers.

I did have this cover made for my template tray.

It fixes the low PS TL problem, and allows one to perpetually focus for double modify their missiles.

....or to Barrel Roll and keep an enemy in arc. Yes, it is better to have a Focus when firing, but it's even better to be able to shoot vs. not having a shot. Barrel Roll can help you get into position when you are trying to cover that firing arc.

My biggest complaint about LRS is seeing them on TLT K-wings as just another way to make that ship more depressing to play against.

I don't mind this at all. Right now there are few reasons to pick a K over a Y (same damage output, similar defensive profile, semisimilar dials, five point difference), so this might get them closer to equal power levels. I guess strengthening Miranda is a negative side effect, but at least she can't combine this with Engine Upgrade or Advanced SLAM.

One Missile/Torp -> LRC

More than one missile/Torp -> GChimps

easy like that

Would you run a TIE bomber with a single missile on it though? The only ships that can't take multiple rockets can't take LRS.

This isn't so much "Justifying LRS" as "Explaining to the OP how they actually work".

Y-Ye-YEA!

Joe Boss how could you betray me in this way

So we have all made mistakes with the wacky rules and FFG's crazy-ass wording... sometimes it is funny.