Hey all,

I've had a bit of a fascination with bombs of late, and was wondering if anyone has experience running Y-Wings with bomb loadout (possibly with EM thrown on cuz why not). I realize that the K-Wing is fundamentally superior; that is the point of that ship, after all. I suppose the question fundamentally boils down to: is the reduction of points cost worth the reduction in performance (and resultant additional upgrades/ships)?

A sample list I was considering if Y-Wings proved functional as bombers is...

Miranda-- 29 (45)

• TLT- 6
• Extra Muni- 2
• Sabine- 2
• Adv SLAM- 2
• Seismic Bombs- 2
• Prox Mines- 3

Gold Squadron Pilot-- 18 (27)

• R2 Astro- 1
• Autoblaster Turret- 2
• Bomb Loadout- 0
• Extra Muni- 2
• Cluster Mines- 4

Gold Squadron Pilot-- 18 (27)

• R2 Astro- 1
• Autoblaster Turret- 2
• Bomb Loadout- 0
• Extra Muni- 2
• Conner Net- 4

The bomb and turret package being essentially 17 points of whatever you prefer or need to combat in your meta. Hypothetically, the edge here over 3 K's is having a late game regen ace and a more flexible gameplan. Just curious as to what you guys think!

Apologies in advance if this feels more like a squad list topic. It is intended as a general discussion, but I thought adding an example list might add a bit to that discussion.

If I have a few spare points, I like throwing a seismic charge on a stress hog to deter people from following it too closely, though I'm not sure how much play the classic Y Wing stresshog is likely to get going forward in an ARChog world.

If I had to choose between a 27 point Y wing and a 33 point K wing, I would take the K every day of the week. The hyperaccuracy is worth the points, and maneuvering with SLAM is just so valuable. If I was to swap out for a Y wing, it would have to be much cheaper to be worth the points. 24 points for 2 seismic charges and an autoblaster turret sounds better to me, personally.

Way back in the day when rebel control was still viable i always tried to get siesmic charge on my stresshog to help against tie swarm. It had the added benefit of catching aces occasionally that tried to fly past the formation. Dial bombs seem okay on y wings, I really cant talk myself into anything else.

Mainly tried them on Scum Y-Wings.

Just as with Imperial bombers I prefer mines for the lower and mid PS range.

Unless you fly 3 or 4 in formation

Dropping 4 bombs in a zone messes up everyones plans. But must admit, I tried the latter only in epic

y-wings and bombs are lots of fun....

I just took a similar list to top 16 at the Baltimore regional. You really want the ion in this meta, connor nets and ion bombs. Helps in the dengaroo and defender matchup. I also went tlts all around with those same lists in mind. It means that the bomber Ys are a little less bombs, but if you go abt and bombs people will just run away from the ys since they are only a threat close up.

I've had a lot of fun with Bomb Loadout on Kavil. It's an expensive build, but hilarious.

Kavil - Autoblaster Turret, Proton Bombs, Extra Munitions, Genius, Engine Upgrade.

Could probably get away with a Hired Thug with Vector Thrusters for a much cheaper version.

Never tried it, only faced it. 2x TLT -ywings with conner nets + EM, and another ship next to them (can't remember which, probably a scum).

it's a pain to face since you do not expect the bombs.
It changes the gameplan vs TLT carriers since you cant just chase them to death.

I used to run two Conner K-wings and a bomb Y, but it didn't work that well, in most cases the Y went down before it could drop both (or any) bombs and it couldn't keep up with the K-wings. I bought the third K and it works much better, either as the third Conner Warden or as diet Miranda.

There's a kamikaze bombing Scum Y-wing I love for his trolling potential:

Syndicate Thug

-Autoblaster Turret (2)

-Bomb Loadout (0)

-Extra Munitions (2)

-Proton Bombs (5)

-"Genius" (0)

For 27 points. Doing a 4-K to drop a Proton bomb while blocking someone and then Autoblasting someone else never gets old. Bonus points if you manage to block him again next turn while dropping the second Proton.

I know it's really fun in HotAC. I haven't really tried it much in other areas. I think it's also good in Epic as you can lay out mine fields to block all those ships.

Thanks for all the replies, everyone! I haven't had all that much chance to try anything out yet, but in my list dojos I've come to realize that to make a Y-Wing truly a bomber with upgrade support requires narrowing the points gap between it and a similar K-Wing to around 5-6 points cheaper (essentially what the Y had in its favor in the first place, cost-wise, which shouldn't have really surprised me..). Good news is, that opens up lots of space for fleshing out other ships in the list, but I always come up just short of getting an extra Y-Wing in, which is what I was more or less aiming for. That being said, some of y'all were suggesting a cheap bomb on a turret Y (essentially emphasizing the turret first, bomb second-- the opposite of what I've been attempting). I definitely think this has merit! Will work on some lists using this philosophy over the next couple of days.

I love the list, definitely give it a whirl. I recommend one Y have reveal bomb and one have action bomb. Good luck!

mine had Ion and Prox mine

I find that tacking on a bomb is unexpected and therefore often effective. I have not found it worthwhile to commit to running EM. it's pretty much a one and done sort of thing. It's a cheap add on that can hurt people k-turning off the joust and is a nice surprise for defenders.

The mere presence of a bomb in your list will give some players a bit of hesitation before doing something brave stupid unexpected.

I find that tacking on a bomb is unexpected and therefore often effective. I have not found it worthwhile to commit to running EM. it's pretty much a one and done sort of thing. It's a cheap add on that can hurt people k-turning off the joust and is a nice surprise for defenders.

That's a fair point that's been made a few times in the thread. It is certainly possible to lean into bombing primarily with Miranda then have the Y's support via ion turrets or TLTs and a single, cheap bomb themselves. I'm still far from set on what upgrades to take in my example list (other than TLT, Sabine, and EM on Miranda, that is...), which really means there's quite a bit of testing lying ahead for me and a lot of room in the list to adjust to playstyle preference and meta.

Don't forget Sabine crew in a Bwing! Go light for a bonus damage or go big (Ibi likes stress and double actions)...Maybe not the best thing ever but UNEXPECTED every time.