I'm trying to get a Bomber list set in my head that would be fun and frustrating for my nephews who think they're slow and dumb. I have three, but I'm hoping that the Imperial Veterans comes out soon; or I'll have to break down and get another single here soon. Anyway, I need some Bomber Pilot advice here. I'm thinking of starting with a basic 96 point squad like this:

23 Gamma Pilot – TIE Bomber (16), Homing Missiles (5), Extra Munitions (2), and Guidance Chip (0)
23 Gamma Pilot – TIE Bomber (16), Homing Missiles (5), Extra Munitions (2), and Guidance Chip (0)
23 Gamma Pilot – TIE Bomber (16), Homing Missiles (5), Extra Munitions (2), and Guidance Chip (0)

23 Gamma Pilot – TIE Bomber (16), Homing Missiles (5), Extra Munitions (2), and Guidance Chip (0)

Questions:

What other set-ups might be fun to try?

If I don't get that extra Bomber, what about substituting in my Punisher (I have one) for the missing Bomber?

Flying advice against small Fighters? (two like to put as many on the board as possible)

How about coming up against turreted ships like the Falcon? (the other two love the biggest ship possible)

I've been thinking about running:

Gamma Squadron Veterans x2

Guidance chip

Deadeye

Plasma torp

Extra munions

homing missiles

with a vader as an ace

Downgrade to concussion missiles across the board and you can get Captain Jonus in for one of them. Give you some nice rerolls, like Howlrunner, coupled with guidance chips should really dish out the damage.

TIE Bomber: · Captain Jonus (22)

Extra Munitions (2)

Concussion Missiles (4)

Guidance Chips (0)

TIE Bomber: Gamma Squadron Pilot (18)

Extra Munitions (2)

Concussion Missiles (4)

Guidance Chips (0)

TIE Bomber: Gamma Squadron Pilot (18)

Extra Munitions (2)

Concussion Missiles (4)

Guidance Chips (0)

TIE Bomber: Gamma Squadron Pilot (18)

Extra Munitions (2)

Concussion Missiles (4)

Guidance Chips (0)

What about pulling in 'big ugly' into a 98 point mix?

Advanced Sensors (3)

Extra Munitions (2)

Plasma Torpedoes (3)

Advanced Homing Missiles (3)

Cluster Missiles (4)

Proton Bombs (5)

Cluster Mines (4)

TIE Bomber: Gamma Squadron Pilot (18)
Extra Munitions (2)
Concussion Missiles (4)
Guidance Chips (0)
TIE Bomber: Gamma Squadron Pilot (18)
Extra Munitions (2)
Concussion Missiles (4)
Guidance Chips (0)

TIE Bomber: · Captain Jonus (22)

· Squad Leader (2)

TIE Shuttle (0)

Systems officer (2)

TIE Bomber: Scimitar Squadron Pilot (16)

Extra Munitions (2)

Concussion Missiles (4)

Seismic Charges (2)

Guidance Chips (0)

TIE Bomber: Scimitar Squadron Pilot (16)

Extra Munitions (2)

Concussion missles (4)

Seismic Charges (2)

Guidance Chips (0)

TIE Bomber: Scimitar Squadron Pilot (16)

Extra Munitions (2)

Homing Missiles (5)

Seismic Charges (2)

Guidance Chips (0)

-- TOTAL ------- 99/100p. --

Ran the Gamma Squadron list tonight. Got the dog cap beaten out of me.

I just ran this at a 14 player Spring Kit. Placed 3rd after going 2-1. Lost to Brobots, Beat a rebel Tycho, Jake, Miranda and beat a Dengar, IG88B build.

I flew pinwheel, was patient for the target locks. Thread tracers hit well enough that 1 agility and 2 agility ships will probably give your squad locks. I lost half the squad to the rebels and got lucky against the scum pair to stay whole. The general plan was Tracers make up moving before aces and at PS4+ I'm shooting before most Scout and swarm builds. It's got firepower in spades and medium staying power.

Ran the Gamma Squadron list tonight. Got the dog cap beaten out of me.

I feel your pain. I ran the Jonus/Gamma list and felt I got the crap beaten out of me; came down to the very end mono-a-mono. Funny thing was, my dice rolls were TERRIBLE! I had more total blank rolls with blank target-lock rolls; if the game was purely auto-ratio dice results, this list would have won going away; I want to try again with new dice.

TIE Bomber: · Captain Jonus (22)

· Squad Leader (2)

TIE Shuttle (0)

Systems officer (2)

TIE Bomber: Scimitar Squadron Pilot (16)

Extra Munitions (2)

Concussion Missiles (4)

Seismic Charges (2)

Guidance Chips (0)

TIE Bomber: Scimitar Squadron Pilot (16)

Extra Munitions (2)

Concussion missles (4)

Seismic Charges (2)

Guidance Chips (0)

TIE Bomber: Scimitar Squadron Pilot (16)

Extra Munitions (2)

Homing Missiles (5)

Seismic Charges (2)

Guidance Chips (0)

-- TOTAL ------- 99/100p. --

Interesting with the crew slot; I don't seem to have one of those. How'd that work out?

TIE Bomber: · Captain Jonus (22)

· Squad Leader (2)

TIE Shuttle (0)

Systems officer (2)

TIE Bomber: Scimitar Squadron Pilot (16)

Extra Munitions (2)

Concussion Missiles (4)

Seismic Charges (2)

Guidance Chips (0)

TIE Bomber: Scimitar Squadron Pilot (16)

Extra Munitions (2)

Concussion missles (4)

Seismic Charges (2)

Guidance Chips (0)

TIE Bomber: Scimitar Squadron Pilot (16)

Extra Munitions (2)

Homing Missiles (5)

Seismic Charges (2)

Guidance Chips (0)

-- TOTAL ------- 99/100p. --

Interesting with the crew slot; I don't seem to have one of those. How'd that work out?

Crew slot will come with the veterans pack. I haven't tried it yet but can t wait to give it a go

Instead of Swarm Tactics, you could throw Fleet Officer on there too. Or find the 3 points for it somewhere else in the list (maybe instead of one of the charges). It really makes it so you can ensure focus and target lock for your guys in the initial joust to maximum extent. Costs stress, but you'll want to do green for systems officer anyway, so not too bad a combo. What do you think?

Saw something similar to this the other day and tweaked it a little:

Captain Jonus (22)

+ Determination (1)

+ Long-Range Scanners (0)

Gamma Squadron Veteran (19)

+ Plasma Torpedoes (3)

+ Extra Munitions (2)

+ Deadeye (1)

+ Guidance Chimps (0)

Gamma Squadron Veteran (19)

+ Proton Torpedoes (4)

+ Extra Munitions (2)

+ Deadeye (1)

+ Guidance Chimps (0)

Gamma Squadron Veteran (19)

+ Proton Torpedoes (4)

+ Extra Munitions (2)

+ Deadeye (1)

+ Guidance Chimps (0)

Deadeye helps you not worry about having to set up TL's in advance of getting anything in arc. Plasma Gamma hits the target first and hopefully takes down enough shields to let a Proton Gamma land some nasty crits. Between the Protons' own mod, Chimps, and Jonus, 4 hits each shot should be easy. Determination helps keep Jonus' ability in play and keep him alive. LRS lets him arrive to the fight with a Focus for his defense and still have a TL for his own offense. And if you can pick up another TL later, great, LRS was free. At PS5, the Gammas will absolutely murder a U-boat before it can fire, too.

Pending Imp Vets release:

==============================

Captain Jonus & Gamma Squadron

==============================

100 points

Captain Jonus (28)

TIE Bomber (22), TIE Shuttle (0), Cool Hand (1), Systems Officer (2), Fleet Officer (3)

Gamma Squadron Pilot (24)

TIE Bomber (18), Extra Munitions (2), Proton Torpedoes (4), Guidance Chips (0)

Gamma Squadron Pilot (23)

TIE Bomber (18), Extra Munitions (2), Plasma Torpedoes (3), Guidance Chips (0)

Gamma Squadron Pilot (25)

TIE Bomber (18), Extra Munitions (2), Homing Missiles (5), Guidance Chips (0)

or

=========

On your second squad, I would switch Bren to one of the attackers. Give him Crack Shot, then watch as you crash through any pesky Ace builds with more green dice than they know what to do with. Bren is going to be the best ace killer in the vets pack by far.

On your second squad, I would switch Bren to one of the attackers. Give him Crack Shot, then watch as you crash through any pesky Ace builds with more green dice than they know what to do with. Bren is going to be the best ace killer in the vets pack by far.

So Bren with Crack Shot; what's his ability?

On your second squad, I would switch Bren to one of the attackers. Give him Crack Shot, then watch as you crash through any pesky Ace builds with more green dice than they know what to do with. Bren is going to be the best ace killer in the vets pack by far.

So Bren with Crack Shot; what's his ability?

His ability is "once per round after you discard an EPT card flip that card face up

This is what I'm looking towards trying when Vets comes out

Gamma Vet x3 all with deadeye, EM, Plasma trops, and GC

Jonus - tie shuttle and fleet officer

Comes out to 100 Pts

His ability is "once per round after you discard an EPT card flip that card face up

Essentially, with the errata to the rules, it allows him to keep using those EPTs that have you discard them. Lightning Reflexes is a good one, as is Cool Hand, but I think the one you'll see on him the most is Crack Shot. It already sees play in so many lists, the fact that you can keep using it, round after round on Bren, I think they are a pair you should get used to seeing. If not on your side of the table, at least on the opponents side.

His ability is "once per round after you discard an EPT card flip that card face up

Essentially, with the errata to the rules, it allows him to keep using those EPTs that have you discard them. Lightning Reflexes is a good one, as is Cool Hand, but I think the one you'll see on him the most is Crack Shot. It already sees play in so many lists, the fact that you can keep using it, round after round on Bren, I think they are a pair you should get used to seeing. If not on your side of the table, at least on the opponents side.

I still feel like bombers need the gamma vets with the EPT to hold any water. A low PS squad of bombers without deadeye is going to struggle getting target locks on higher PS aces. Until then, the contracted scouts are really just the way to go for now with their action economy, 360 degree turret, and barrel roll for blocking. I do await the return of the bomber, though. Once they get access to deadeye, I think it will actually be a much superior ordnance list.

Here's what I like so far:

TIE Bomber: Gamma Squadron Veteran (19)

Deadeye (1)

Extra Munitions (2)

Plasma Torpedoes (3)

Guidance Chips (0)

TIE Bomber: Gamma Squadron Veteran (19)

Deadeye (1)

Extra Munitions (2)

Proton Torpedoes (4)

Guidance Chips (0)

TIE Bomber: Gamma Squadron Veteran (19)

Deadeye (1)

Extra Munitions (2)

Concussion Missiles (4)

Guidance Chips (0)

TIE Bomber: Gamma Squadron Veteran (19)

Deadeye (1)

Plasma Torpedoes (3)

Guidance Chips (0)

As long as nothing dies before you get to shoot at ps5, you will get 4x 4 dice shots at something. If you have to put anything in danger, just let it be the one without extra munitions. I tried to get them all with EM but the points just aren't there for 4 of them and deadeye, which to me is essential for hitting aces early.

The issue I see with Gamma vet bombers and Deadeye is that part of your list is firing Plasma Torps, and you're getting no modification at that point except the Chips. That's why I like the support TIE Shuttle to hand off tokens to better manage the PS differences, or stick to munitions that retain some inherent modification (Homing Missiles, Ion Pulse Missiles, Concussion Missiles, Proton Torpedoes).

With the Gamma Vets it might be worth taking Long Range Sensors to set up for shots with modification. Or, I suppose, use a higher PS to set up TLs for the generics, for example:

If you don't mind proxy in unreleased stuff this I believe looks promising

2x gamma veteran

Dead eye

Plasma torpedo ( other has protons)

Extra Munitions

Guidance chips

Jonus

Tie shuttle title

Fleet Officer

2x Academy pilots

I did get into top 8 on a regional (Boston) with the following Bomber/TAP list:

2 x Baron of the Empire
Juke
Cluster Missiles
Guidance Chips
TIE/v1

Captain Jonus

Crack Shot
2x XX-23 S-Thread Tracers

Guidance Chips

Gamma Squadron Pilot
Plasma Torpedoes
Extra Munitions

Guidance Chips

This list is fun to fly and surprisingly very effective.

I like the idea of flying at least a pair of bombers, but really want to run with proximity mines to help against aces (or just turret ships!)

I just keep running out of points!

Any suggestions?

2 bombers and an ace I think - pref with swarm tactics to allow at least one bomber to shoot first.