Generally, the Proximity Mine is considered to be fairly bad when Bombs are concerned. It has a possibility of dealing 0 damage, only damages 1 ship, can be out-flown fairly easily, and requires an action.

However, I just had this revelation when commenting on another thread:

The fact that the Proximity Mine uses an Action is actually its greatest asset!
The trick here is to load it onto ships with low pilot skills. You move first, and perform your actions first. You have a fair shot at planting it in an unavoidable position for your foe if you plot your movement with this specifically in mind, as it has a huge detonation base.

Moreover, with folks learning how to avoid Seismic Charge and Proton Bomb clusters, the Proximity Mine's ability to be dropped immediately after a maneuver gives it a significantly larger element of surprise.

It has also inspired the following fleet (3 Variations)

======================================================

Scimitar Squadron Pilot

+ Proximity Mines

[19]

Scimitar Squadron Pilot

+ Proximity Mines

[19]

Scimitar Squadron Pilot

+ Proximity Mines

[19]

Scimitar Squadron Pilot

+ Proximity Mines

[19]

Variable Ship(s)

[24]

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Variable Ship 1:

Howlrunner

+ Push the Limit

+ Stealth Device

This option gives me excellent swarm-support, allowing my Bombers to Barrel Roll or Focus for extra damage and defense rather than Target Lock. Provides a fairly clear target for Focused Fire, which is troublesome.

Variable Ship 2:

Omicron Group Pilot

+ Ion Cannon

This option concentrates on ensuring those proximity mines get used very efficiently. Probably not the best option, though.

Variable Ship 3:

Academy Pilot

+ Another Academy Pilot

Turning this from a playtesting fleet into an actual swarm, though I am unsure of how strong a swarm is without Howlrunner. Still, this is the option with the most survivability.

I'm currently running 5 scimitars w/prox mines one ship has concussion missiles also...in the vassal tourney....currently 0-2...but the second game was closer than the first. They are fun to fly and drop the mines :-).

I think Prox mines are greatly underestimated, but they do have some real drawbacks compared to other bombs.

The biggest is obviously the ability to cause zero damage but I find their great asset also often a weakness.

The ability to block a path and make the opponent fly through them.

As you postulated above you could make a swarm of Scimitars w/prox and Howlrunner.

The problem you run into is that you drop them and then have to avoid them with the Ties at the back of your formation, either generics or Howlrunner.

I have found that if you can save them ( a risk) till mid game then you can split your bombers from the swarm and potentially herd your opponent into the line of fire of your other ships as they are no longer so inclined to risk flying over them (mainly I play against rebels, bloody shields)

Another thing is that while, sesmic and protons are excellent against tie swarms and other squads that focus on large numbers of preferably fairly low health ships Proximity mines are great at taking out high priority ships if you can get someone onto them, as I recall the damage isn't opposed by agility so you could potentially one shot a tie or squint, or severely cripple anything else that has a high defense.Yeah you might completely wiff and roll three blanks but odds are at least one hit.

It might be an interesting combo with some ION:)

Other than that, I would use it to control enemy movement like a deployable asteroid.

Proximity mines have great tactical value for channeling ships as you really must assess how likely you are to sustain significant damage if you fly through one. Several, placed well, can cause havoc.

They work well on low PS Bounty Hunters as well.

It might be worth considering Howlrunner with Squad Leader as one of your subs. That way you get the rerolls for primary fire, and she can potentially donate an action to still drop a mine if one of your bombers gets blocked. Might also let you stack focus and target lock on some primary shots. A Black Squadron Pilot could fill that role too, perhaps freeing points for missiles to use on the way in (again stacking focus and TL).

Just had the pleasure of dropping a Proximity Mine right on the nose of an A-Wing so he had to fly right through it next turn.

Rolled 2 Crits and a blank :-)

I recently had the pleasure of dropping a Prox mine directly onto Han who had three hull left. Rolled two crits and a hit. Not bad for three upgrade points.

I feel the fact they can crit is the sway in my book, it really increases their value for me.