I have wanted to field a tie bomber for a while, since it isn't really seeing tournament play

Major Rhymer buffing APT to range 2 is solid but lacks double mods

Colonel Jendon (48)
Ship total: 48 Half Points: 24 Threshold: 5

Major Rhymer (37)
Adv. Proton Torpedoes (6)

Ship total: 43 Half Points: 22 Threshold: 3


Total: 91

This is a base, I don't think rhymer needs anything else

What upgrades and wingmates could compliment this squad?

Add krennic and soontir and something else?

Thoughts?

Maybe a pair of inquisitors(/brother/sister/grand) with missiles?

The upside of generic inquisitors is that they can have supernatural reflexes for 8 points and do pre-maneuver boot/roll into focus, a blue maneuver, and then take a lock(/passive) or evade.

Brother and sister duo instead have their special abilities, better initiative, and 2 force charges.

Major Rhymer (37)
Adv. Proton Torpedoes (6)

Ship total: 43 Half Points: 22 Threshold: 3

Colonel Jendon (48)
Director Krennic (4)
ST-321 (4)

Ship total: 56 Half Points: 28 Threshold: 5

Fifth Brother (42)
Fire-Control System (2)
Homing Missiles (5)

Ship total: 49 Half Points: 25 Threshold: 2

Seventh Sister (43)
Fire-Control System (2)
Cluster Missiles (5)

Ship total: 50 Half Points: 25 Threshold: 2

Total: 198

Major Rhymer (37)
Adv. Proton Torpedoes (6)

Ship total: 43 Half Points: 22 Threshold: 3

Colonel Jendon (48)
ST-321 (4)

Ship total: 52 Half Points: 26 Threshold: 5

Inquisitor (35)
Supernatural Reflexes (8)
Passive Sensors (3)
Concussion Missiles (6)

Ship total: 52 Half Points: 26 Threshold: 2

Inquisitor (35)
Supernatural Reflexes (8)
Passive Sensors (3)
Concussion Missiles (6)

Ship total: 52 Half Points: 26 Threshold: 2


Total: 199

PS: Another option if you have a gunboat is running a rookie hatchetman, or stripping 5th brother to fit full Vynder hatchetman.

Major Rhymer (37)
Adv. Proton Torpedoes (6)

Ship total: 43 Half Points: 22 Threshold: 3

Colonel Jendon (48)
ST-321 (4)

Ship total: 52 Half Points: 26 Threshold: 5

Fifth Brother (42)
Fire-Control System (2)
Homing Missiles (5)

Ship total: 49 Half Points: 25 Threshold: 2

Nu Squadron Pilot (32)
Proton Torpedoes (13)
Advanced SLAM (3)
Os-1 Arsenal Loadout (0)
Adv. Proton Torpedoes (6)

Ship total: 54 Half Points: 27 Threshold: 4

Total: 198

Major Rhymer (37)
Adv. Proton Torpedoes (6)

Ship total: 43 Half Points: 22 Threshold: 3

Colonel Jendon (48)
ST-321 (4)

Ship total: 52 Half Points: 26 Threshold: 5

Fifth Brother (42)
Ship total: 42 Half Points: 21 Threshold: 2

Major Vynder (41)
Proton Torpedoes (13)
Advanced SLAM (3)
Os-1 Arsenal Loadout (0)
Adv. Proton Torpedoes (6)

Ship total: 63 Half Points: 32 Threshold: 4


Total: 200

16 minutes ago, Cerebrawl said:

Major Rhymer (37)

Adv. Proton Torpedoes (6)

Ship total: 43 Half Points: 22 Threshold: 3

Colonel Jendon (48)
ST-321 (4)

Ship total: 52 Half Points: 26 Threshold: 5

Fifth Brother (42)
Ship total: 42 Half Points: 21 Threshold: 2

Major Vynder (41)
Proton Torpedoes (13)
Advanced SLAM (3)
Os-1 Arsenal Loadout (0)
Adv. Proton Torpedoes (6)

Ship total: 63 Half Points: 32 Threshold: 4


Total: 200

This is where I'd start, but I'd tweak it a bit:

• Inquisitor (Concussion Missiles, maybe also FCS) 41-43
  • I think Fifth Brother and Seventh Sister are solid, but I at this price point I'd rather have a missile and FCS. I guess FCS could be cut, but I think with Jendon here to make missiles easy, I'm taking the 3rd attack die over the 2nd Force charge. Could go either way, though.
• Colonel Jendon (Passive Sensors or Nothing) 48-51
  • I don't mind ST-321, but it kind of clashes with his ability. On the Jendon activation turn, ST-321 doesn't gain extra reach or anything, but something like Passive Sensors or Targeting Computer (PS is better) lets you have the early lock, and you won't need to coordinate to get one.
  • Mostly, I find other upgrades more useful. I want stuff like a missile on the v1 but more importantly FCS on Vynder more.
• Major Rhymer (Advanced Proton Torpedoes, maybe also Cluster Missiles) 43-48
  • Getting Range 3 coverage would be nice, and cleave from Clusters is also nice. Not necessary, however. Depends on what's free in the list.
• Major Vynder (OS-1, Advanced Proton Torpedoes, Advanced SLAM, Fire Control System, + 1 more Torpedo/Missile ) 58-61-65
  • I tend to consider FCS essential, more essential than taking Protons compared to the alternative "4" dice options. This lets Vynder reload and maybe be coordinated a focus each turn, and keep churning out double-mods Torps each turn.
  • I think there are three reasonable options for the non-APT ordnance on Vynder: Proton Torpedoes, Plasma Torpedoes, and Diamond Boron Missiles.
    • Protons are probably the best, but they're the most expensive, and would require a Jendon without upgrades, or Inquisitor without FCS.
    • Plasma are pretty solid. Vynder is tied for highest initiative, so has a good chance to hit shields for an attack that's almost like 4-dice. This saves points for both FCS on the Inq and Passives on Jendon. Of course, not all ships have shields, so this can be a waste.
    • Diamond Boron Missiles are a *great* budget option on Vynder, so Rhymer could bring Clusters if desired. DBM with the charge spent is almost like a 4-dice attack, and the potential splash damage can be nice against the right opponents.

Dont be greedy 😛 A single mod 5 dice attack is as good as a fully modded 4 dice attack, avg 3.75 hits. Let rhymer roll by himself. He cant fire them at range 3 anyways, so he wont lock until after 1st engagement.

Or ****, add 5th bro to him for fully self sufficient killer at 4.27 expected hits. Who needs Jendon 🙂 Tack on a seismic for some anti swarm stuff.

Major Rhymer (37)
Adv. Proton Torpedoes (6)
Fifth Brother (11)
Seismic Charges (3)

Darth Vader (67)
Passive Sensors (3)
Afterburners (6)

Soontir Fel (53)
Crack Shot (1)
Targeting Computer (3)
Shield Upgrade (8)
Total: 198

Another nice thing about @wurms list is that while Rhymer is the easiest 1st target, that's OK! They're not shooting at Vader or Fel. Personally, tho, I agree with Wurms' first statement, and would drop 5B for a SU and HU on Fel. Maybe a HU on Rhymer?

Kinda like the idea of putting 5th Bro on there....

Ages ago, I ran him.with just APT, alongside Echo and Rex. It was pretty good. Basically just lurked him as a flanker and dared them to ignore the really good, will not die ships for the cheap and not currently scary one. If they did, once he's fired off that one torp, all guns instantly turn on him before he reloads 😄

He had some good games, but was honestly just win more, or lose more. The generally single mod was not really enough... (people avoid a slowly gathering double mods Rhymer like the plague, which can be useful...)

In the end, I swapped Rex out for Vermeil and Kestal, (yup). It was much better, being able to set him up with a before/after coord, and all the incumbent shenanigans of linked actions and passive mods. Was a squishy list, and a bit of a nightmare to plan, but it did good work

Even still, as a lone APT lobber, just his cheap threat is very handy and can be used fairly effectively. It's just.... don't depend on that damage. It'll mostly not swing things at all. It's more the way he influences decisions that creates win conditions.

Either approach can work quite nicely, but I think cheap as chips is generally best, he draws aggro he can't repel and should never, ever get to reload and fire again, so very much a one hit wonder.

I've been kinda wanting to use him again, he's good fun and decent to fly. But when you can get a v1 for the same price, it's a difficult ask 😄

On 4/19/2020 at 6:35 PM, theBitterFig said:

This is where I'd start, but I'd tweak it a bit:

• Inquisitor (Concussion Missiles, maybe also FCS) 41-43
  • I think Fifth Brother and Seventh Sister are solid, but I at this price point I'd rather have a missile and FCS. I guess FCS could be cut, but I think with Jendon here to make missiles easy, I'm taking the 3rd attack die over the 2nd Force charge. Could go either way, though.
• Colonel Jendon (Passive Sensors or Nothing) 48-51
  • I don't mind ST-321, but it kind of clashes with his ability. On the Jendon activation turn, ST-321 doesn't gain extra reach or anything, but something like Passive Sensors or Targeting Computer (PS is better) lets you have the early lock, and you won't need to coordinate to get one.
  • Mostly, I find other upgrades more useful. I want stuff like a missile on the v1 but more importantly FCS on Vynder more.
• Major Rhymer (Advanced Proton Torpedoes, maybe also Cluster Missiles) 43-48
  • Getting Range 3 coverage would be nice, and cleave from Clusters is also nice. Not necessary, however. Depends on what's free in the list.
• Major Vynder (OS-1, Advanced Proton Torpedoes, Advanced SLAM, Fire Control System, + 1 more Torpedo/Missile ) 58-61-65
  • I tend to consider FCS essential, more essential than taking Protons compared to the alternative "4" dice options. This lets Vynder reload and maybe be coordinated a focus each turn, and keep churning out double-mods Torps each turn.
  • I think there are three reasonable options for the non-APT ordnance on Vynder: Proton Torpedoes, Plasma Torpedoes, and Diamond Boron Missiles.
    • Protons are probably the best, but they're the most expensive, and would require a Jendon without upgrades, or Inquisitor without FCS.
    • Plasma are pretty solid. Vynder is tied for highest initiative, so has a good chance to hit shields for an attack that's almost like 4-dice. This saves points for both FCS on the Inq and Passives on Jendon. Of course, not all ships have shields, so this can be a waste.
    • Diamond Boron Missiles are a *great* budget option on Vynder, so Rhymer could bring Clusters if desired. DBM with the charge spent is almost like a 4-dice attack, and the potential splash damage can be nice against the right opponents.

Do Diamond-Boron Missiles with a second charge spent also affect the defending ship? They do, the way I read them, else they’d say “... each OTHER ship at range 0-1 of the defender...” But I want to be sure on this.

7 hours ago, Cpt ObVus said:

Do Diamond-Boron Missiles with a second charge spent also affect the defending ship? They do, the way I read them, else they’d say “... each OTHER ship at range 0-1 of the defender...” But I want to be sure on this.

Yep, the bonus damage can impact the defender.