In another thread, Hrathen posted:

My worry is for the new TIE Bomber. They basically are set up to load out with all sorts of ordinance, Torps, Missiles and Bombs. (don't get me started on bombs) My worry, is what good will this ship be if it doesn't take torps, missiles, or bombs. What else is there to a TIE bomber? I have to admit, it has always held a special place in my heart, and I will of course buy three. I just don't know if I will ever use them.

This got me to thinking, is having all those ordinance slots really just for choice or would anyone ever fully load a TIE Bomber?

Even on the spoiled 18-point generic TIE Bomber, the cheapest full load will double the cost exactly (2x Proton Torps, 2xConcussion Missiles, Seismic Charge = 4+4+4+4+2=18). Would such a ship really be worth it for 36 points of your build squad?

You can go even crazier with Adv Torps x 2, Homing Missiles x2, and Mine for 3: 6+6+5+5+3=25 points! Throw in say a pilot upgrade (on a named TIE Bomber like Jonus) and a ship upgrade and you can put 30+ points on a single ship but would a such a TIE Bomber ever be worth 50+ points - over HALF your squad!

I'm kinda in the same boat as Hrathen - love the TIE Bomber but can't see the purpose of all those slots.

custom mission bomb run.
rebels must stop the imps before they bomb a rebel base.

like the old demo of the death star turbo lasers.

I fully believe it's for options. Some people (obviously, if you've read the proton torpedoes thread) prefer missiles over torpedoes. It would severely limit their customization capacity if there were only one torpedo slot and one missile slot. And besides, who ever heard of a TIE bomber carrying two types of ordnance? (Though admittedly, I will probably fly them with one missile and one torpedo). The 4 ordnance slots were probably not designed to be used simultaneously. This is my view. I think it's silly to put more points in upgrades on a ship than the original point cost of that ship.

Got fun I will deck out a few 18s and see what happens, but for a real game, no more the 2 on the ship.

Why? Because you CAN! No further eason is needed. Certainly not practical for all cases but I can see it being done.

I think it will be a tool to help in both tournament and story-based games. Like Gabriel mentioned, a bombing run story game, or in a tournament setting, something that will give you flexibility against a larger range of targets so you don't have to sell out to beat a swarm or large ship.

I think they should have had an ordinance slot instead of 2/2 torpedoes/missiles. An ordinance slot could take either torp/missile but would at least limit the number. I am still excited to fly torpedoe/adv torp/cluster missile though

I can see it happening. It depends on the abilities of the supporting ships. Captain Jonus with swarm tactics makes it kind of tempting.

if it's a casual at my buddy's house on his kitchen table kinda game then i may load it up full just so i could throw ordinance at him all day.

Event or tourny or something like that, i doubt it...unless one of the pilots we don't know about just has some incredible ability that makes you WANT to load it out.

I think it's mostly for the sake of making it as customizable as possible. At the same time it will be one of those ships that, like the Y-wing, you probably don't want to bring in completely bare unless it's a named that has a useful ability. For example I can see Captain Jonus not carrying any secondaries himself so that there are more points to give to pilots his ability will benifit.

Yeah...variety. The really cool thing is you can take conc missile and advanced torps, so no matter how far or close your target is, you can unload some hurt on them

I agreement with parakitor. Likely I will field these as either missile or torp platforms, but for the heck of it, will try decking one out at least once.

It's variety. I can't see any Imperial player in their right mind willingly putting that much expendable secondary ordinance on a 6HP fighter with only 2 agility. It is going to be targeted first, it is going to die, all before you can let off all those missiles.

It's for the variety.

Heck Yea, I'm gonna load up a TIE bomber, except for bombs (haven't got the hang of them). Strap them with Deadeye when you can, and you've got a missile boat that has a shooting options. Sure it'll draw fire, but that means that your opponent won't be noticing the other tie fighters pouring damage onto your ships, just trying to take out those bombers.

That'll be great if you can find a generic bomber with an elite pilot talent. Gamma squadron bombers don't have that. I know, because I wanted to do that with my bomber squadron.

Heck Yea, I'm gonna load up a TIE bomber, except for bombs (haven't got the hang of them). Strap them with Deadeye when you can, and you've got a missile boat that has a shooting options. Sure it'll draw fire, but that means that your opponent won't be noticing the other tie fighters pouring damage onto your ships, just trying to take out those bombers.

Well if you deck it out, it will rather be bomber (singular) or the escorting Ties won't be really even worth noticing...

It's variety. I can't see any Imperial player in their right mind willingly putting that much expendable secondary ordinance on a 6HP fighter with only 2 agility. It is going to be targeted first, it is going to die, all before you can let off all those missiles.

It's for the variety.

To be fair, stealth device would make it a three agility, 6 hull ship at least until it gets hit. I wouldn't do it personally but I'm sure there's at least a few people out there that could pull it off well enough to be a threat if not a tournament winner.

I'd love to try fully loading a TIE bomber with a Large support ship to take hits for it. Unloading a massive amount of destructive weaponry could take down enemy ships very quickly. Of course, if you rolled poorly and didn't destroy your enemies fast, you'd be wiped pretty quickly after that, but it seems worth a try....

I feel like with the newly announced Epic system they're talking about, Tie Bombers will have a really strong role to play against the large Rebel ships now. I sense some pretty fun scenarios in the future!

I can see some squads with a bomber escorted by a couple of BSP's with draw their fire or a bounty hunter with draw their fire to soak crits. Again, pricey, but could work.

I really hate that 'draw their fire' card!!!!! :-)

if it's a casual at my buddy's house on his kitchen table kinda game then i may load it up full just so i could throw ordinance at him all day.

Event or tourny or something like that, i doubt it...unless one of the pilots we don't know about just has some incredible ability that makes you WANT to load it out.

i saw a sneek peek of the pilot cards,

1 of the unique pilots can modify the range by 1 in either direction.

so he can always fire as if the target is at range 2.

no bonus to agility for range 3, this is big

i imagine that with the large ships coming next year, you will want to use all the slots to hit them hard

if it's a casual at my buddy's house on his kitchen table kinda game then i may load it up full just so i could throw ordinance at him all day.

Event or tourny or something like that, i doubt it...unless one of the pilots we don't know about just has some incredible ability that makes you WANT to load it out.

i saw a sneek peek of the pilot cards,

1 of the unique pilots can modify the range by 1 in either direction.

so he can always fire as if the target is at range 2.

no bonus to agility for range 3, this is big

It applies to secondary weapons only, so there's no bonus to agility anyway. But it does mean you can use EVERY secondary weapon at range 1 and 2, and all but the APT at range 3.

I think a 2 or 3 ship squadron of TIE bombers fully loaded for bear would make a good object based target scenario. All the Imperial ships have to punch a hole thru the rebel lines, escort the bombers to there target and beat off any counter attacks.