what is the bomber class?

[markiegee]

got my claymore bomber free as part of a mission ages ago,
never used it,
what's special about the bomber class?

[maphys]

They fit special missiles that do a lot of damage - kind of like mini-M7Ms. The Terran ones are a nightmare to get the missiles for, though.

M

[MegaJohnny]

Slightly heavier than a fighter, they have only one laser (in the back turret) and they use their own special missiles that can kill light corvettes in one shot.

Claymores I'd expect are especially hard to use since they have the Terran bomber missile, and Terran weaponry isn't terribly easy to get in bulk.

[Targ Collective]

Bombers are effective against capital ships in large enough numbers. They're useless against fighters.

[Ares23]

Bombers are good for one reason only, the missiles they use have EXTREME range. The downside though is that the AI is too dumb to utilize that advantage so it's never a good idea to leave the bomber you own in the hands of AI.

What I do sometimes, is jump in with the bomber (me piloting it) and some other ship I normally fly into a hostile sector. Launch missiles from the bomber at all targets that I want to launch at, then TP into my main ship tell the bomber to jump out or at least to stay by the gate, and go in with my main ship to mop up any survivors. Works well enough.

[shanrak]

I actually prefer the bomber missiles(tomahawks though, not the terran ones since those are hard to get) to the hammer torps. Much smaller (only size 2!) and packs more punch. Also, the bombers are a heck lot more maneuverable.

[Spaceweed Adict]

Think of the Bombers as long range artillary.
Jump them in only when the coast is clear.
Launch your missile barrage's at your choosen targets and throw a few swarms in to throw out there turrets.
2 or 3 bombers can course devistating results in a battle and linked up with a missile frigate well its goodnight venna to any poor sole on the recieving end.

[NeverSnake]

Bombers are good for one reason only, the missiles they use have EXTREME range. The downside though is that the AI is too dumb to utilize that advantage so it's never a good idea to leave the bomber you own in the hands of AI.

Actually, the bomber missiles only have average range: 40km compared to 75km for the Hammer heavy torpedo and Typhoon.

The advantage of bombers is that they're cheap and do loads of damage. Missiles fired normally do the same damage as 4 PPCs or 16 HEPTs and missiles fired with the barrage command probably do even more damage.

[Spaceweed Adict]

Right here's a little technique I use if I want to give the Xenon a bit of a headache.
First of all get yourself a fleet of say 1/2 a dozen M8's (I prefer the Viper as its a bit faster than most and I like split ships anyway ) fully armed ofcourse.
Right set them up in a wing ready for action.
You could add a M7M to this if you have one but its not manditory.
Next get into one of your fast scout ships, the Kestral is ideal for this if you have one.
Now remember your only playing the role of a spotter in this action to target enemy ships & stations for your bombers to attack.
(Basically like a black opps mission were you have to go into enemy territory and target enemy positions and then call in an air strike.)

Right the target today chaps is Xenon Core Sector 023.
Ok intelligance reports of a west gate entering the sector and thats about all we know at this time.
What we want you to do pilot is enter the sector and scout out all enemy positions and clear a way for are heavy strike team to enter the sector and take down any and all of the enemies major deffences and stations.
The Teladi have assured us that there M5's performance will well outrun anything the Xenon have to date but as a precautionary mesure your ship has been fitted with PAC's front and rear and has an ordinance payload of 20 wasps & 5 Remote Guided warheads.
Unfortionatly due to the ordinance there's insufficiant space for jump fuel so once your in there your on your own.
Good luck pilot, were counting on you.

Right I jump into a certain nabouring sector in my Trusty M6 with my Kessie safely docked in bay one. ( So we all know what M6 I like to fly then don't we ).
Change over to my scout ship and head off throu the gate into Xenon Territory.
On entering the sector I'm meet by a Q with the usual L & N escorts so its a quick boost on my engines and scream off to the west putting about 15 to 20km between me and the Q patrol.
Here I decide to stop just to check if the patrol is following me.
Yep it seems he's heading my way but his escorts are sticking with him apart from the odd couple of N's closing fast on my position.
Hmm a couple of wasps should keep them busy.
Also my scanners have picked up a K and a J and a mass of xenon fighters to the north of me but they seem oblivious to my pressance at the moment.
Right I head north east to aviod direct contact with those other capital ships and ofcourse the fighters.
Ha! Ha! bingo my scanners have detected a shipyard about 25km from my current position and I'm closing on it fast.
Hmm seems there's another couple of K's and J's protecting the station too with there usual fighter escorts.
Well it is there base of opperations so I never expected it to be quiet.

Ok it seems that Q patrol has moved well clear of the gate now and he's still tracking me but he's well out of range so isn't a threat.
Time to call in the heavy ordinances me thinks as it seems we've tagged most of the deadly stuff around here.
A quick com to red wing and order them to a quiet position about 10km east of the gate.(Red wing is 6 Vipers full loaded with Tommie's )
Next I call in blue wing, my Bombers fighter escorts which consists of 10 Novas and order them to protect the bombers till they get in position.
Then I order the fighters to defend position.
The reason for the defend position command is becouse your fighter group will attack any enemy ship that comes within 10km of there position so they'll intercept any fighters closing on your bombers before they have a chance to fire on them.
Get the idea.
Now its just a matter of picking your targets and ordering a barrage on them, He! He! won't be long before those K's,J's & Q's are just a fireball in the night sky.
Once all the major threats are eliminated take out the station.
Finally I call in my M6 to mop up the stragglers and thats about it.
Mission accomplished, well done chaps, home and tea.
Now thats how to use M8's.

[Angra Mainyu]

Long range? MEH...

Ok i dont have a bomber class ship, but my Titan has 10 Firestorm torpedos and *EVERY* time i launch one and gets close to a cap ship, it gets blown -.-, how's range so important when the missile's gonna get blown when nearing a Destroyer for example?i practically barely use any missiles (1 reason is my osaka can only take terran missiles = hard to find) the second is they are getting blown to smithereens and its no point using them when my turrets can just spam 8xPSP's

[Spaceweed Adict]

Ok i dont have a bomber class ship, but my Titan has 10 Firestorm torpedos and *EVERY* time i launch one and gets close to a cap ship, it gets blown -.-, how's range so important when the missile's gonna get blown when nearing a Destroyer for example?i practically barely use any missiles (1 reason is my osaka can only take terran missiles = hard to find) the second is they are getting blown to smithereens and its no point using them when my turrets can just spam 8xPSP's

Well Angra Mainyu the firestorm is a very powerful missile but its also a very slow one too, making it an easy target for any turret to take out aspecially if your only firing them 1 at a time and expecting it to hit home.
Try thowing in 1/2 a dozen swarm missiles as well to keep the turrets busy while the real threat sneaks in.
Or even Fighter drones that should do it.
Bombers and missile frigates on the other hand will flatten any enemy targat well before they can get anywere near in range to use lasers.
The trick is the number of missiles that they fire on a target, the enemy turrets will take down some of the missiles but its the ones they don't that do the damage.
You fire a missile barrage from a M7M or M8 and set the barrage to lets say 10. Now just watch how many missiles that ship launches against the enemy target.

[shanrak]

Long range? MEH...

Ok i dont have a bomber class ship, but my Titan has 10 Firestorm torpedos and *EVERY* time i launch one and gets close to a cap ship, it gets blown -.-, how's range so important when the missile's gonna get blown when nearing a Destroyer for example?i practically barely use any missiles (1 reason is my osaka can only take terran missiles = hard to find) the second is they are getting blown to smithereens and its no point using them when my turrets can just spam 8xPSP's

It also has to do with the angle your missiles approach them. If they are chasing you and you have a 15-20 KM lead, your missile will typically strike them in the front, and I notice that NPC destroyers will almost never shoot at an incoming missile with their front (heavy) guns. If your missile has to loop around and chase the target from the back, it will almost always be shot down unless you swamp it with swarm missiles (wasps are great for this task).