If set up right you end up with two Agility 3, 9 hp Goons trundling around dropping Proton Bombs and generally making a nuisance of themselves.

Process to set up the "stealth" effect during the first 2 game turns: In the first round you'll need to maneuver so that both Y-Wings are within range 0-1 of the G-1A (the Gand Findsman, our Cik carrier). Cloak the Y-Wing with the Cloaking device during its Perform Action step. First End Phase use Cik's ability to swap the Cloaking Device on the Y-Wing that started with it for the Contraband Cybernetics on the other Y-Wing. Second round the non-cloaked Y-Wing needs to stay within range 0-1 of the G-1A and Cloak during its Perform Action step. The other Y-Wing can head off where you want it to. During the Second End Phase swap the now expended Cloaking Device to the G-1A in exchange for the Contraband Cybernetics that the G-1A started with. From there have fun. The G-1A, Scyk and Mining Guild Tie run screen while the Y-Wings pummel with continual bombing runs.

Crymorah Goon (31)
Skilled Bombardier (2)
R4 Astromech (2)
Proton Bombs (5)
Cloaking Device (5)
Shield Upgrade (4)

Gand Findsman (41)
Cikatro Vizago (1)
Contraband Cybernetics (3)

Crymorah Goon (31)
Skilled Bombardier (2)
R4 Astromech (2)
Proton Bombs (5)
Contraband Cybernetics (3)
Shield Upgrade (4)

Tansarii Point Veteran (32)
Marksmanship (1)
Autoblasters (2)

Mining Guild Sentry (24)
Total: 200

View in Yet Another Squad Builder 2.0

Why this works: The check on the Cloaking Device upgrade only applies to the ship that it is on and is checked at the start of the Planning Phase. A cloaked ship without the device equipped does not make the check.

Didn't the most recent FAQ remove the ability to drop/launch devices when cloaked?

4 hours ago, PartridgeKing said:

Didn't the most recent FAQ remove the ability to drop/launch devices when cloaked?

You can't place a device in the same phase you decloaked (but you can place a device before decloaking). If these ships remain cloaked the whole time, they can drop all the bombs they want.

14 hours ago, Hiemfire said:

If set up right you end up with two Agility 3, 9 hp Goons trundling around dropping Proton Bombs and generally making a nuisance of themselves.

Why this works: The check on the Cloaking Device upgrade only applies to the ship that it is on and is checked at the start of the Planning Phase. A cloaked ship without the device equipped does not make the check.

It works, to be sure. Would it be fun? Fun depends on the player. Does it win games? Eh. I've flown enough Defenders and IG-88s to know that they can go pretty fast under bad rolls, if they're in the wrong spot. Meanwhile, giving up the guns on like half a list probably is going to make the damage race really hard.

I feel like one of these bomber Y-Wings would probably be wicked cool in Epic: either a major threat to ships using the flight tools, or a probably cost-effective distraction piece. I'd run it a bit more lean, however. No Shield upgrade, R4, or Skilled Bombardier. Ideally, the Y-Wing will have Contraband Cybernetics in the end, so there's decent resilience to being stressed at some point.

Hrm. Maybe that'd work in the main list...

• Crymorah Goon (Proton Bombs, Cloaking Device) 41
• Crymorah Goon (Proton Bombs, Contraband Cybernetics) 39
• Gand Findsman (Cikatro Vizago, ContraC) 45
• Serissu (Marksmanship, Autoblasters) 43
• Sunny Bounder (Autoblasters) 32
  • Could also easily be Seevor or Ahaav with Crack Shot, if there aren't two Scyks or two Autoblasters.

I think upgrading the partners could be handy. Sunny is cute, and can get extra mileage out of primary shots if you get lucky (she'll also hit a lot harder and be a decent amount tankier than a plain MGT). Having a named pilot for the MGT would also be nice. Serissu is, I think, a really under-rated scum piece. Those rerolls can be quite handy. In my experience, she'll add enough evades to a list to make up for cutting stray hull/shield upgrades to get the points for her. Also, higher init works really well with the MMS/AB combo.

21 minutes ago, theBitterFig said:

You can't place a device in the same phase you decloaked (but you can place a device before decloaking). If these ships remain cloaked the whole time, they can drop all the bombs they want.

Ahha! Thank you for the clarification. That's really quite interesting.

Okay, played it yesterday vs a Kavil (Doubletap Dorsal with Proxies), Serrisu (Marks/AB) and Nym (Hotshot Ion turret with Proxies, 4-L0M and Static)… It was fun but went about as probably should be expected (I got hammered). @theBitterFig is dead on about the lack of firepower and the match leaves me wondering why people hate going against bombs so much. Even if I had Traj Sim I don't see the match going much different. Still, throwing out the bombs and bombardier for tried and true gunships and dropping the TPV down to my old dependable HLC Spacer, refining the list as follows. Might be a week or so before I can test it but here it is:

Crymorah Goon (31)
Dorsal Turret (3)
Veteran Turret Gunner (8)
R4 Astromech (2)
Cloaking Device (5)

Gand Findsman (41)
Cikatro Vizago (1)
Contraband Cybernetics (3)
Hull Upgrade (3)

Crymorah Goon (31)
Dorsal Turret (3)
Veteran Turret Gunner (8)
R4 Astromech (2)
Contraband Cybernetics (3)

Cartel Spacer (28)
Heavy Laser Cannon (4)

Mining Guild Sentry (24)
Total: 200

View in Yet Another Squad Builder 2.0

The cloak is now more for setting up a "surprise" pincer for the first engage. I'm sticking with the MGSen to init match for activation order flexibility (there were a few times where I'd wanted the TPV to be activated first but I couldn't). I might run AB Sunny instead of the HLC Spacer for the occasional lols of a nat double crit from the flank being upped to a triple crit.

I think folks hated bombs due to 1e, @Hiemfire . Sabine used to add an extra damage once per round, plus Miranda could often drop mines on people after they moved. There's going to be a lot of flashbacks to that, I think.

Also, early 1e, Trajectory Simulator Punishers were too cheap. Deathrain/Trajectory Simulator/Barrage Rockets was 11 points cheaper than now (13 points cheaper, with Ablative Plating), and TrajSim wound up being particularly nasty with launched Seismic Charges extending the threat range (range 1 of an obstacle at range 1 of the bomb was a lot more distance than just a launched Proton Bomb).

Overall, most stuff that was nutty in 1e got tuned down, but folks still hate and fear it excessively.

//

Using a Cloaking Device for an extra boost could be handy on sluggish Y-Wings that love to get in close.

That said... Cloaking Device + 2x Contraband + Cikatro = 12 points, same cost as 2x Afterburners. That gets at a lot of the same premise, but isn't as fiddly, and doesn't require set-up. I can imagine games where there isn't time to shuffle stuff around for a few turns.

Only other thing I'd say about the list is that if you can find 2 points Sunny Bounder is a nice improvement over a Cartel Spacer. Maybe that's an R4, maybe that's the Hull off of the Gand, maybe that's dropping the HLC down to an Autoblaster. Haven't put in too many reps on HLC, but 4-dice Range 1 shots aren't too uncommon. 14% chance to score a double-into-triple-hit, 6% for a double-focus, and 1.6% of double-into-triple crits. About 0.22 extra damage per attack overall when focused. Sunny isn't in the GateOfStorms damage calc, and I don't want to math out Lock over Focus, but IIRC from 1e, Lock works out a bit better. Seems like a decent enough buff for 2 points, but the other stuff adds value, too.

21 minutes ago, theBitterFig said:

Using a Cloaking Device for an extra boost could be handy on sluggish Y-Wings that love to get in close.

That said... Cloaking Device + 2x Contraband + Cikatro = 12 points, same cost as 2x Afterburners. That gets at a lot of the same premise, but isn't as fiddly, and doesn't require set-up. I can imagine games where there isn't time to shuffle stuff around for a few turns.

Afterburners don't permit a lateral shift before a turn unlike decloaking, nor do they permit a Lock or Focus after a K-turn or 3 turn. As for shuffling things around, how often are you engaging Turn 2 after a pair of 1 straights (0 stop - 1 straight for the Findsman)? There is plenty of time.

To be sure, there's advantages and disadvantages to each.