TLDR: To make sure unengaged AI bombers get extra dice during the squadron phase because you were busy doing something else during the ship phase.
So this card was bugging me at first for how utterly valueless it seemed when compared to the other fighter-based offensive retrofits you could take due to the following principles:
1) Generally you want to move later rather than sooner before the shooting starts
2) When the shooting starts you want to activate sooner rather than later
HSB seemed utterly useless because it specifically worked against both these principles because you basically only get to use more fighters at a time in the squadron phase with the AI benefit only kicking in if you were attacking only and not moving.
That meant you could use the card to move more fighters early in the squadron phase which works against you because you generally want to move after your opponent (unless you just want to be shot during the squadron phase) and can't effectively defer the effect of the card for long because even if you don't use it you still have to activate squadrons normally leaving you fewer squadrons to use as the phase goes on. Violates principle 1.
It also means that you could attack with full armament provided you're willing to wait until the squadron phase. But that means you'd have to be engaged with someone first going INTO the squadron phase. Given half the droids are 3-hull, this struck me as a terrible idea. If someone engaged you during the turn or you engaged them the turn before you're probably not going to make it to the squadron phase unless you're throwing an enormous swarm of them and counting on some of them living long enough. Violates principle 2.
And you have to feed the card!
But I finally had an epiphany this morning. You could use HSB to trigger AI on bombers to strike at full armament during the squadron phase while controlling starfighters with squadron commands during the ship phase. If you're playing correctly, enemy squadrons are tied up elsewhere with fighters but you're close enough to command them while bombers who are hopefully further from the fight and planted right in a ship's path earlier can be reached by HSB which naturally extends communication range.
This is just about the only circumstance I can think of where HSBs would win out over the other offensive retrofits on offer.
Anyone have any other ones?
Edited by Garrett17