Crack Shot is better than an extra attack dice, so your missiles are more powerful than if they were buffed by something like Jan or N'Dru's ability. Tomax has incredible burst damage potential, which is somewhat different than what Omega Leader does. Whether he's priced correctly remains to be seen.

Crack Shot is better than an extra attack dice, so your missiles are more powerful than if they were buffed by something like Jan or N'Dru's ability. Tomax has incredible burst damage potential, which is somewhat different than what Omega Leader does. Whether he's priced correctly remains to be seen.

It's hard to see how he could be priced very badly. Unless PS scales more weakly on bombers than it does on other ships for some reason, he costs 8 points more than a Scimitar for +7 PS and a really good ability. Of course you have to buy an EPT for him, but the best choices are all just one point--meaning you can outfit him with a decent amount of ordnance for as little as 30 points.

He fits nicely in the pocket-ace range, and he gives you a potent damage spike early. That niche hasn't really existed before, but if it becomes a competitive staple, I think Tomax Bren will be the gold standard.

I think he's going g to do great and probably help to get people using bombers. I've not come across a single person who uses them to date and it seems a real shame.

I think he's going g to do great and probably help to get people using bombers. I've not come across a single person who uses them to date and it seems a real shame.

I am the only one in my local comunity who has and uses 4 of them. On one hand it is a shame, on the other I like being a special snowflake and getting easy wins against unprepared people.

Hah I can imagine! I remember my first store Championship I played against my first list against Punishers and wasn't really sure of what to do either.

Bren (24), Crack Shot (1), Homing Missile (5), Long Range Sensors (0), Extra Munitions (2) = 32 points

The shot he puts out is basically the second most dangerous shot in the game (Miranda+Jan Ors Homing Missile is better), and the most dangerous from a single ship. It's very bad news to aces, and good against everyone else. I think you maybe consider him as third ace in an Imperial Aces build. He has the PS, he sits at a decent point cost, and provides you with a significant, if short term, bump in firepower when it matters most. Compared to another ace, he probably lets you get a ship off the board a turn faster, which can be leveraged into some real advantages later. Compared to a Gamma Vet, he is more likely to PS-kill stuff, and he's more dangerous after his missiles are gone.

N'dru with Crack Shot, Homing Missiles, Glitterstim and Guidance Chips would seem to have a more dangerous shot than Bren (granted Bren gets two of them). Five dice with full modification and Crackshot that also ignores evade tokens is hard to beat.

Yep, I forgot about N'dru.

N'dru is technically stronger, but I think I like that Tomax Bren can pull it off as the start of an unpleasant salvo, because he's not having to keep away from his team-mates during setup. Fly him with Vessery (VI, /D, Tractor) and the Inquisitor, and there's a lot of target locks floating around for a rather horrifying range 3 opening engagement...

The Inquisitor (25)

Push the Limit (3)

Autothrusters (2)

TIE/v1 (1)

Colonel Vessery (35)

Veteran Instincts (1)

Tractor Beam (1)

TIE/D (0)

Tomax Bren (24)

Crack Shot (1)

Extra Munitions (2)

Homing Missiles (5)

Total: 100

Or swap out the Inquisitor for OL, beef up Vessery, and have two oh-god-must-kill-now targets on the field with a must-not-leave-till-last. Don't forget that once his loadout is spent, Tomax is also more flexible in target selection than the Juke-ers. That can be helpful.

Really, he'll be fine. He's not going to warp the meta, because he's 'yet another solidly PS8 imperial ace' and the meta is already shaped by the fact that the Imperials have plenty of these. But there's nothing that makes me sad about having another one.

Assuming there's a Guidance chip somewhere in there, that's exactly the build I've been running. Doing quite well in training and in practice, but haven't quite been able to destroy U-boats (it's always ridiculously close, maybe I just have to practice more).

Hmm. You'll have the PS, but they out-alpha you so you'd have to emphasise the aces part there, and try to keep Tomax out of the firing line given that, amusingly, ordinance (and especially proton torpedos) are his worst enemy.

If I manage to pop a few shields on a first turn of combat (I've tried this with the Inquisitor dodging main arcs), then I have a good chance of alpha-striking one of the jumpmasters. In return I might lose a ship, but the only way I see it working.

If I get the Inquisitor in the endgame against a single jumpmaster, I'm golden. Except I need the time to take it down to half-health, otherwise I lose on points.

Second option was to take that crackshot and make him into a torpedo boat with protons (or ion torps), munitions, chips... Except those 3 extra points of pilot skill and abiltiy are costing you 5 squad points compared to a gamma vet, and also you end up without deadeye, which is really painful if your opponent has PS8+ ships.

Why go Deadeye when you can just go Vet Instinct for the same point? This way, you have a PS 10 Bomber that goes after Soontir arc dodges and most other ships move.

It's still better to use Crack Shot, though. That mixed with Guidance Chip and Homing Missile is just brutal. 4 red dice w/ no Evade and the use of the TL is one of the best shots in the game. Throw in the Crack Shot and you are going to hit almost anything.

I guess if you are facing nothing but PS 9+ aces, then sure, don't take him. I think he's worth it, though. The Alpha strike is great to just smash a ship early in the game. Omega Leader is more endurance combat. Still....you can go with both...

Get a cheap shuttle to pass him a focus and he's pretty much set on defense until his munitions are spent.

PS10 Tomax Bren TIE Shuttle to hand out 2 Systems Officer Target Locks at PS10 each turn. No, I don't think it's good, but I find the idea fun.

Absolutely nothin'

bweow-chicka-bwoomp-bwow

Tomax Bren, Bomber Man!

What is he good for?

(Flippin' crackshot all **** day-ay)

Absolutely nothin'!

Pretty ladies stay away

Disrespectful man ain't got no shame

He treat that card in his own way

Not cruel or mean just flipped around

Even though he says for just one round

He'll flip that EPT all over town

Tomax Bren, what is he good for?

Absolutely (bweow-bwomp-beedle-bweeble-beeble-doo-bee-bee-bow)

Nothin'!

Edit: Those unreadable bits are Bass guitar solos, I figured I'd point that out since most people don't know the Bassist is even there let alone what a Bass solo sounds like via forum chat, so... just imagine it's really funky ala' Lowriders classic hit "War".

-snip-

good god, y'all!

Has anyone considered Lightning Reflexes with Navigator on Bren? That seems like loads of fun to fly. Maybe add MKII for more greens.

I like him as a cheap missile carrier:

29 Tomax w/ Crack, ConcussionM, LRS.

At PS8 he can almost always get his missile off. After that he either gets ignored because he's a lesser threat with no missile, or he gets beaten up and buys time for your other ships.

Something like this could be fun:

34 Inquisitor w/ PtL, PRockets, AT, V1.

29 Tomax w/ Crack, ConcussionM, LRS.

37 Vessery w/ VI, Tractor, TIE/D.

Tomax will either take a bit of heat off Vessery, or chip away at the enemy with his infinite Crackshot.

Tomax is hot stuff.

Crack alone, I think you're underestimating it's value.

As a shuttle, cool hand and the ept can make it quite survivable (yes, at a high point cost, but fleet officer is swell) to make sure the support actually gets dished out.

But the biggest advantage is to use her as the high PS ordnance crackchimp delivery system that tomax should be. Really takes a chunk out of the enemy in the opening salvo to make life easier for the rest of your squad.

PS10 Tomax Bren TIE Shuttle to hand out 2 Systems Officer Target Locks at PS10 each turn. No, I don't think it's good, but I find the idea fun.

Systems Officer is Limited, I fear.

Ultimately, duplicating what tomax bren does isn't hard.

A Gamma Veteran with Crack Shot, Homing Missiles, Long Range Scanners is just as capable.

(As -admittedly for a different faction - is N'dru Sulhak, Crack Shot, Homing Missiles, Glitterstim, Guidance Chips)

Where Bren matters is that you're essentially paying 7 points more (Gamma Vet - Tomax Bren + Extra Munitions) to have a second Crack Shot/Target Lock/Focus missile, whilst managing that with normal ships requires a whole 'nother 25 point bomber. Plus, he's somewhat more capable even after the missile tubes are empty.

I like him as a cheap missile carrier:

29 Tomax w/ Crack, ConcussionM, LRS.

Why wouldn't you spend the 1 pt to give him Homing Missile instead of Concussion Missile? It's so much better that I don't know why you wouldn't do it.

Ultimately, duplicating what tomax bren does isn't hard.

A Gamma Veteran with Crack Shot, Homing Missiles, Long Range Scanners is just as capable.

(As -admittedly for a different faction - is N'dru Sulhak, Crack Shot, Homing Missiles, Glitterstim, Guidance Chips)

Where Bren matters is that you're essentially paying 7 points more (Gamma Vet - Tomax Bren + Extra Munitions) to have a second Crack Shot/Target Lock/Focus missile, whilst managing that with normal ships requires a whole 'nother 25 point bomber. Plus, he's somewhat more capable even after the missile tubes are empty.

I think you underestimate Tomax Bren as a PS 8 Tie Fighter with Crackshot. He can still use it once the ordnance is down.

Mk2 engines, Lightning Reflexes, Tactician, Rebel Cap, Title = 31pt insanely agile and elusive stressboat.

Not joking. I originally did this as a joke because LOL I FLIP EVERY TURN LOL but i noticed he was doing a ton of work since he rarely got shot at and always had a shot back, usually causing stress. Its actually pretty **** solid lol

White 5K turns are pretty strong yo.

Definitely homing missiles for him. Especially in the x7 world we live in. Crack shot, or cool hand is personal preference. I like him with Crack shot in a 3 ace list. If I can get the second missile off, the opponent usually focuses on other targets thinking Brin is not a threat any more. This is a huge mistake as his 2 dice with crack shot can whittle down most enemies.

Crackshot, Extra Munitions, Homing Missiles, Guidance Chips. You can put Proton Bombs on there too, but there's no way he'll live long enough to fire more than twice.

Any other combo (Adrenaline Rush, Cool Hand) is fun, but this is the only really competitive one.

I like him as a cheap missile carrier:

29 Tomax w/ Crack, ConcussionM, LRS.

Why wouldn't you spend the 1 pt to give him Homing Missile instead of Concussion Missile? It's so much better that I don't know why you wouldn't do it.

Context my friend. In the list I shared I don't have a spare point to upgrade to Homing, and Vessery is shooting first anyway, stripping any evade tokens.

You can spend the 3pts to upgrade to a homing and get a second missile, but I often find it's just not worth it. That 3pts is the PRocket on the Inquisitor, which I've found to be more useful.