@swamp: you may fly a green manoeuvre now

I don my hat to you in gratitude to both your comment and starying this thread, i am loving me some bombers at the mo.

I am convinced as always there might be a trick we are missing somewhere and sooner or later enough discussion will reveal it.

For your sake, lets try 2 T/B and 2 T/I with ace pilots:

100 points

I don't know how well Elusiveness works with Soontir ... but there were only 2 points left ^^

Maybe better yust use one ace and a Saber

100 points

Somehow i like the idea putting Daredevil on soontir, though I never tried it. Of course you can just swap it to PTL.

PS: i wished the builder at http://xwing-builder.co.uk would also produce a good result to copy and paste it somewhere ... not just for print.

As far as squad builders go I'm on my crappy phone all day and can't use any of them, have to do it from memory and phone calculator. Grumble over.

I quite like the idea of using bombers purely as bombers and then providing them an escort, much like you suggest and englishpete at top of page almost.

I also like to try and present a tough choice of firsy target for my opponent much like you have done by adding in soontir.

Perhaps this could be achieved by just presenting powerful guns that shoot early and are as such tempting to remove early.

Maybe

Alpha

Alpha

Scimitar + proton bomb

Scimitar + proton bomb

Howlrunner + stealth

99

Got to go while think of others

Alpha

Alpha

Scimitar + proton bomb

Scimitar + proton bomb

Howlrunner + stealth

99

Yes I got the point. Lets tear your list apart:

1. I don't like Alphas. You cant really use the boost to gain an advantage with PS1 ... so Alphas ar not worth the 18 points. But I know you don't want to let them boost around, getting the enemy from behind, you want them to stay in formation with Howlrunner.Also they fire at very last with the good attack 3. As a rebel player I propbably would kill the Alphas before they could fire. So you probably dont need stealth on Howlrunner. The question is: 2 Alpha Interceptors or 3 Academy Tie Fighter? If you had Academies instead of the Alphas, I probably wanted to kill Miss Howlrunner first. A smart player would try to kill at least one bomber with the bomb still in bay, so he would probably ignore the Alphas and Howlrunner and concentrate on the bombers. So maybe Alphas aint that bad for this job. I'm not sure.

2. I don't like the idea sticking the overpriced proton bombs on PS2 pilots. Scimitars are fine with Seismic charges and a missile. You dont want to hit open space only with your proton bombs. This are expensive. Proton bombs must really really hurt.

3. I don't like initiative. You want to move last to place the bombs.

----

So you can go with this list:

Alpha

Alpha

Gamma + proton bomb

Gamma + proton bomb

Howlrunner

100

OR

Academy

Academy

Academy

Gamma + proton bomb

Gamma + proton bomb

Howlrunner

100

OR try even this

Academy

Academy

Gamma + proton bomb + Homing Missile/Assault Missile

Gamma + proton bomb + Homing Missile/Assault Missile

Howlrunner + SL

100

hey I really like this one ... maybe I'll give it a try at the next locals

Hope my writing didn't come across funny, ..condescending or anything , whatever, sorry.

I like what you've come up with.

My brain keeps wanting to cover all bases, impossible to do fully i know.

As such I have been thinking that 3 proton bombs if delivered well should kill almost any small ship, rebel or imp.

Food for thought.

So i like your list 2. The potential to double proton. Also if against ties with no shields, the assaults.

A little of the wall maybe, and not symmetrical but what about dropping an asssult to try and place one proton better and help the assault:

AP x2 (24)

Gamma + PB + assault (28)

Jonus + Vet Ins + PB (28)

Howlrunner + SqL (20)

100pts

This is a pretty mean squad. Lock at range 3, shoot with focus at range 1. Drop the seismic and pull a K-Turn. The Ints fly interference.

If you get both APT's off you will play havoc on most builds and you have a good chance of doing so.

looks nice and I like the points spread.

My concern would be getting the lock at range 3 so I could fire at lock and focus. At least I'm concerned about locking the ship I really want to.

That is sadly true of all ordinance :-(

I like Petes list.

Sadly I don't have 2 PTL cards ... I refused to buy another puny A-Wing.

Some good food for thought in this thread. I am definitely going to test fhat list Englishpete. I was running a similar one with 3 bombers and Turr.

Maybe you guys can help me finish off this 6 ship bomber + tie list. Without playtesting I cant decide how to finish the loadout of bombers and howlrunner. Here is the core:

Howlrunner + Swarm Tactics

Scimitar Squad + Concussion x 2

Acadamy Pilot x 3

This leaves me 4 points to work with. This could be a Stealth Device on howl. 2 seismic charges on bombers. Upgrade to Dark Curse. An additional missile. I suppose I want that 100pt mark for the bombers, but initiave is just so good even when running just a couple PS1 units.

The original goal of the list is Swarm Tactics with additional alpha strike potential.

I kinda like 3-ships. I used to run Phennir, Vader, Fel with some toys.

And i was really surprised how well Rhymer did while replacing one of those. I have tried to replace Vader or Phennir with him. Both worked well. When i gave rhymer 2 Advanced torps and PTL, he 2 hitted a B-Wing, that was impressive. Ok after that he is kinda meh, but i still won the game since at the beginning my adversary focused Rhymer and then when he had no torps left, Fel and Phennir were undamaged, which suited me quite well! At least you give your enemy some serious choices to make... Focus him

First and risk that The other 2 mop you up, or leave rhymer alone and endure 2 advanced Torps.

The list I posted is effective against most lists, but it really tears up HSF lists. The bombers target Han with the APT's, the Ints take it to the support flight. If the bombers make it out alive, they join the hunt on Han.

I've been enjoying this thread and all the great discussion. I have to go back to this build though for me personally.

Cpt. Jonus

Squad Leader

Proton Bomb

Gamma

Proton Torps

Assault Missile

Seismic Charge

Gamma

Proton Torps

Proton Bomb

Black Sq. TIE

Draw their Fire

100pts

My only pitfalls with the list are the gamma loaded to the gills and my opponent with every pilot fielded being over 6. If the gamma doesn't get his alpha assault/PT off with Jonus' help and just gets insta gibbed I'll get poopy pants.

I really like the idea of bombers and interceptors. Rather than offering a list I will just talk about what I like and why.

Major Rhymer - my bomber pilot of choice if I an only going to take one bomber. He makes advanced torpedoes really good. I usually give him Cluster Missiles or Assault Missiles as well (for the first turn attack). He is good with PTL so he can target lock and focus for his range 3 attack.

Captain Jonus - I love him if I am fielding more than one Bomber (usually three, that is all I own). I might give him bombs or missiles/torpedoes, but only if I have points left over for them. With only 2 agility dice I don't really like giving him stealth device, but I do like to give him stuff to protect him. I like Elusive or a shield upgrade. You can also protect Jonus by not giving him missiles or torpedoes. I also like to give Jonus squad leader so he can help his wingmen focus and lockone with their weapons.

The other two bombers usually have Assault or Concusion missiles for the first round of fireing, and cluster missiles for the second. Cluster Missiles + Jonus's rerolling 2 dice on each attack is awesome.

TIE Bombers - in general the TIE Bomber is a great ship even naked. 6 hull is more hits than a X-wing (with the same agility)

Bombs - I haven't used them a lot, but I think they are way better if your pilot skill is higher than if it is low. If I have already loaded Rhymer up, I usually don't want to give him more points, but his high pilot skill would be good for bombs. I am just worried that with all the points invested in him he would die before he could drop the bombs. Jonus on the other hand is often kept pretty cheap and Seismic charges are pretty cheap and not likely to draw a ton of hate down on his head.

Interceptors - I will agree with much of what has been said about how you want them to have a high pilot skill. I really like Saber Squadron ships naked or with a stealth device. The TIE Interceptor has the best agility/attack in the game. 3/3 awesome, unfortunately nothing draws fire like Interceptor. But I have found that if you can do two things Interceptors are AWESOME. 1 - survive the first couple of rounds - this is hard, stealth device helps, sometimes enough. 2- once the furball get's going, you need to out fly your opponents. This requires three things, A) maneuverable ship (this one is taken care of), B) a good pilot skill (this you can buy), C) a good skill at the game (this is the hardest and most indispensable of the three). But I have found that if you can get your ships into the furball and out-fly your opponent, your Interceptor will probably survive the game.

Soontir Fel - Give him PTL, I think everyone already knows this. You should also give him a stealth device or and extra shield. (I actually prefer the latter).

Turr Phennir - He was the first Interceptor pilot I ever tried, and was originally unpressed with him. But then I realized that his special ability can trigger his PTL. Sure it will give you two stress tokens, but you can conceivably take an action PTL then take another action, then after you attack you boost and use PTL again. A boost by itself is not very likely to get you out of your opponents firing arc, but a boost+barrel roll just might. I would recommend not using PTL during your normal action phase if you plan on boost+barrel roll-ing after your attack. One stress token is easy to shed before it hurts you at all.

Not sure what you mean by Turr only having 2 agility dice?

Not sure what you mean by Turr only having 2 agility dice?

I meant stress tokens. I have know idea how that came out "agility dice". I have edited my post.

I am sure you can use PTL only one per round. This is even true for Turr.

Enlight me if I am wrong. I'm not the Pope, you know?

PtL says once a round so no you can't use it twice.. Also you can only do each action once a round, so even if PtL wasn't once per round it would be fairly impossible to use effectively twice.

PtL says once a round so no you can't use it twice.. Also you can only do each action once a round, so even if PtL wasn't once per round it would be fairly impossible to use effectively twice.

I'd love to do it to a hypermobile B-Wing, or to an Interceptor. Barrel Roll and Boost for positional shenanigans, and you maintain your Focus and TargetLock/Evade (respectively) while doing so? Christ on a cracker, that's a ship that needs to die!

Agreed, you can not PTL twice with turr or anyone.

You can of coarse take one action with Turr and then after shooting use his free move to trigger ptl and get another action.

does this look any good, its a bit haphazard on pilot skill

academy x2

Scimitar + adv proton torp

black + draw fire

Mithel + swarm tactics

howl + squad leader

let's get critisizing it and see how it fails

Indeed, that can get you out of a firing arc in a fast way.. Barrel roll, boost... as long as you didn't do one in the Action phase..

Agreed, you can not PTL twice with turr or anyone.

You can of coarse take one action with Turr and then after shooting use his free move to trigger ptl and get another action.

You can first lets say focus, then shoot then boost and then use barrel roll with PTL? Never thought about this trickery. I like this.

academy x2

Scimitar + adv proton torp

black + draw fire

Mithel + swarm tactics

howl + squad leader

let's get critisizing it and see how it fails

Its hardly a bomber list with only one PS2 bomber.

I can imagine what you try to archive ... basically this is the same like you want to use Maarek Stele and build your squad around him and his cluster missiles.

I would rather prefer the list in post #1