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Hey guys, help me round out my bomber squadron. I'm really quite pleased with how it's been doing in my meta, and I'm starting to get really good at flying it.

The original premise was to have all 4 bombers with identical loadouts, as that symmetry really pleases me and keeps things easy to keep track of.

With the release of the Ghost kit, thermal detonators have crept into my list. That added stress is SO worth the extra point, but now it's made my list asymmetrical. On one hand, I could have jonus add in his ordinance for extra damage, as my opponents will undoubtedly target the only named character in my list first. On the other hand, I could load him up with defensive crew or buffs from TIE shuttle. That might keep him alive longer, but really knocks down those extra red dice.


-3x Scimitar Squadron Pilot
Extra Munitions, Guidance Chips, Plasma Torpedoes, seismic charges
-Captain Jonus
Guidance chips, extra munitions, plasma torpedoes, seismic charges

-or-

-3x Scimitar Squadron Pilot
Extra Munitions, Guidance Chips, Plasma Torpedoes, Thermal Detonators
-Captain Jonus
Guidance chips, plasma torpedoes, thermal detonators

-or-

-3x Scimitar Squadron Pilot
Extra Munitions, Guidance Chips, Plasma Torpedoes, Thermal Detonators
-Captain Jonus
Determination, TIE shuttle, fleet officer, Moff Jerjerrod

Thoughts? What're your opinions? Which would you choose?

I really like Tomax Bren with Cool Hand, TIE Shuttle and Fleet Officer. Being able to hand out two focus and still get a focus or evade every turn is a really cool mechanic. And only 28 points. You could even add a Tactician for an even 30 and have more stress control if you're bringing thermal detonators. Fleet Officer is also less restrictive of formation compared to Jonus' ability. Jonus is much better for Clusters but it doesn't look like you took those lol so no loss.

Clusters no, I prefer plasma torpedoes for cost efficiency.

The problem with Torps is the R2-3 band. Most Aces lists these days can easily jump from R4 into R1 (especially since your moving first and they can Action-move closer or out of arc).
IG88s can get you in R3 on turn 1 and dump 2 HLCs into you before you even get a shot off (since you moved first and have no T/L to shoot with), then make the jump into R1 and dump 4 normal shots into you.
Ordnance is getting much better, but the Range issue with Torps is still going to hurt you.

While I agree with the range issues, my meta is filled with y-wings, b-wings, and now ghosts. Plasma torpedoes have been a blessing, stripping 4-5 shields reliably with each shot. After that, with gudance chips and jonus' re-rolls, the plasma torpedoes does 3-4 hits very reliably. I'm considering moving to concussion missiles, as that extra guaranteed hit is really nice, but I have a very hard time shying away from my 3 point 4 red dice ordinance.

Maybe if I had a chart comparing the average damages cluster missiles, plasma torpedoes, and concussion missiles put out I would be able to make a better decision.

3-4 HLC equivalents with re-rolls, all of which can cause crits for only 3 points is sexy enough for me to take them. Plasma strips shields more efficiently than concussion, and puts out a near equivalent amount of damage once they are off.

Clusters with focus and rerolls and guidance chips can probably net you 6 hits most of the time. For 1 point more. A ship with one agility can only reliably cancel 1 hit from two attacks. Plasma torps do cancel extra agility at R3 and remove shields even if you miss because all your his are cancelled. But Clusters will do full damage with both attacks even to ships that have no shields left. I prefer to have both because they complement each other nicely but I think it's personal preference when choosing one or the other

Plasma torps only remove extra shields when they hit and do damage. I'll test out some builds on vassal tonight and find out what I like. I'm not worried about being in R1, I still have 3 dice, and the next turn they'll take bomb damage if they don't disengage me. taking a target lock at the R1 shots, dropping the bombs, and pulling my 5 k-turn should land me easily at R2-3 for a finishing volley.

As a major fan of bombers, +1