[TC] Tips for using bombers?

Arendee · Post by **Arendee** » Fri, 15. May 09, 22:42

Hi, I just bought 10 hades, gave them jumpdrives, shields, a defensive hept, and 24 tomohawks each.

The issue is, they don't fire. I targeted a xenon Q, told my bombers to have at it, and they just fly around it in circles and die.

However, randomly (I'm not sure what triggers it yet), they decide to wake up and start firing (missile probability at 100%). When they work... they F'ing work!

but what do I have to do to get them to operate the way I want? (Sit way back, tell them to attack with front turret set to missile only, and watch the fireworks)?

Carlo the Curious · Post by **Carlo the Curious** » Fri, 15. May 09, 22:44

Try using missile barrage instead (in Additional Commands) - fires 8 missiles at once.

Dreez · Post by **Dreez** » Fri, 15. May 09, 22:56

I hated bombers, until i learned how to use them. Currently i only fly my
Argon Bomber during patrols, it kills capitals way faster then anything else.
It's loaded with 200 Tomahawks and the rest is jumpfuel and 2guns on missile defense.

Keep a distance of minimum 10km and only use barrage as main option.
A 'K' requires 2Barrages while a 'J' requires 1Barrage +some 2-3 additional
ones shot manually. I suggest you build at least 3 factories to continuously
produce tomahawks because once you start bombing at lots of capitals, you'll
spend 200 missiles faster then you can say *blueberrypie*.

I usually also have a fast cargoship standing by with 200+ tomahawks & fuel
to resupply fast if needed. Just keep your distance and whatever you do... DO NOT
fire a tomahawk if fired upon, it might..."brighten your day" in a not so good way.

/Edit: Don't let AI fly bombers, they'll just get them killed by flying straight
into the arms of the enemy. Sell all but 1 bomber and fly it yourself.

BigRuckus · Post by **BigRuckus** » Fri, 15. May 09, 22:59

Barrage is best. 8x 625,000 = 5,000,000 damage.

And that's only one barrage, during the barrage command it asks you how barrages to fire.

Unfortunately, I don't think you can order multiple bombers to fire barrages all at the same time.

If you say you set front turret to "Missile Only", that means the turret is set to only attack missiles. If you want it to fire on enemy ships, you have to set it to Attack Enemies.

Also you have to load the Tomahawks as the operative missile via the ship's Weapons console, they won't do it automatically. If they fire themselves dry, and you reload them, you'll have to set their missile again, too.

[edit] Also on Dreez's post, if possible check the ship info (u) of your target before you attack. Enemy Capital ships aren't always using the max possible shields that they can carry, and since tomahawks cost around $22,000 to buy (and $texas in time to build) conserving your ammo can leave you a lot more time to spend firing tomahawks rather than waiting for your supply ship to show up.

Dreez · Post by **Dreez** » Fri, 15. May 09, 23:04

BigRuckus wrote: If you say you set front turret to "Missile Only", that means the turret is set to only attack missiles. If you want it to fire on enemy ships, you have to set it to Attack Enemies.

I'd say if you're flying a Bomber and your turret which has a range of max 2.5km,
you're way to close to the enemy ships. Bombers might seem cool with 5x25MW shielding,
but trust me... you'll die very fast if you go up against enemy fighters because
your 2 rear guns won't save you, and you don't want to fire a Tomahawk
while being shot at, as stated in my previous post

.

BigRuckus · Post by **BigRuckus** » Fri, 15. May 09, 23:07

Dreez wrote:
BigRuckus wrote: If you say you set front turret to "Missile Only", that means the turret is set to only attack missiles. If you want it to fire on enemy ships, you have to set it to Attack Enemies.
I'd say if you're flying a Bomber and your turret which has a range of max 2.5km,
you're way to close to the enemy ships. Bombers might seem cool with 5x25MW shielding,
but trust me... you'll die very fast if you go up against enemy fighters because
your 2 rear guns won't save you, and you don't want to fire a Tomahawk
while being shot at, as stated in my previous post .

I thought the turret range was dependant on the weapon equipped there, ergo the tomahawk turret on that bomber would have a range of 40+ km?

delray · Post by **delray** » Fri, 15. May 09, 23:08

You should have a Centaur with you carrying Wasps, Typhoons, Hornets, Thunderbolts, Silkworms, RGWs and whatever else you picked up in your travels.

When your bomber is being ******* in his *******, just "X" yourself to Centaur and... bomb them with normal missiles from him.

Why Centaur? Fast, with good shields and very good turret coverage and also with very big cargo bay.

I always have my Pirate Centaur and my Hades trailing my Kraken in boarding missions so I can quickly barrage from Hades, eliminate escorts from Centaur and then switch to Kraken to create "Flail tunnel" and fire pods.

Works like a charm this combo.

Dem0n_Dude · Post by **Dem0n_Dude** » Fri, 15. May 09, 23:16

the only problem with a barrage is that the eplosion of the first missile hitting destorys the closer missiles and they don't seem to do any damage. Well that's me anyway

Arendee · Post by **Arendee** » Fri, 15. May 09, 23:22

holy crap, thanks guys, didn't know about the barrage command... though I get the feeling the missiles are blowing each other up from the close proximity of the barrages.

I think 10 bombers was overkill. I really only need a few.

But I'm still going to have to figure out the lowered damage thing. they don't have that problem when I just tell them to attack.

Arendee · Post by **Arendee** » Fri, 15. May 09, 23:36

I like the thing with the centaur, though I've been looking for a reason to buy a heavy centaur.

Edit: ok heavy centaurs have less cargo space than regular centaurs... thats odd.

Screw it I'll use my minotaur.

delray · Post by **delray** » Fri, 15. May 09, 23:57

Heavy Centaur has smaller cargo bay since it's loaded with turrets and generators and shields and other stuff you don't need at all in warfare based on missiles. That's why for a missile platform I use capped Pirate Centaurs, they look cool and they do the job without problems.

Dreez · Post by **Dreez** » Sat, 16. May 09, 00:06

It would actually be great if Egosoft could solve the issue with missiles killing
each other with AoE. Sending a few torps to a target only to see the first one
killing the rest incoming can be... aggravating.

delray · Post by **delray** » Sat, 16. May 09, 00:09

It's also very realistic. I think it shouldn't be changed the way you're proposing it.

Carlo the Curious · Post by **Carlo the Curious** » Sat, 16. May 09, 00:16

I was playing around with barrage the other day in a test game, and didn't notice much on an issue.

I was targetting mostly station and capitals though - maybe it's more of a problem with smaller targets.

Dreez · Post by **Dreez** » Sat, 16. May 09, 01:48

It depends on the matter how they hit. Sometimes the barrage has a tendency
to 'spread out' and thus, removing the damage done from AoE, and sometimes
they stay in tight formation. I've yet to see if this is affected from moving
towards, away or to the side of your current target. I will check that tomorrow.

What i do know is that bombers, used correctly, can kill 4-6 M2's in a few
seconds using the barrage, and let a Tiger clear the leftovers.

Snowship · Post by **Snowship** » Sat, 16. May 09, 02:01

For the OP:

Make sure the Tomahawk missile is selected as the missile to use via the ships- Advanced>Weapons menu (missile selections are under the weapons slots and above the resupply selections).

Because regardless of whether it's a M8 or M7M, they won't fire a thing unless a missile option is given.

EmperorJon · Post by **EmperorJon** » Sat, 16. May 09, 19:53

You can do multiple barrages at the sme time, not sure if it's a bug or something, but if you type in either a really high or really low number, not sure which, it's a bit buggy, then it'll fire ALL your missiles at once. All of them. And when the target goes they choose the next one. Great for spamming!

X-Tie · Post by **X-Tie** » Sun, 17. May 09, 01:14

Losing missiles due to the AoE effect is collateral damage

! What is more bugging is the fact that the AI can't use bombers or M7Ms properly... Or at least, I've yet to see one act like it should do IS...

Shame really, would be nice if they implemented Khaak and Xenon bombers, have a strong patrol force of a K, couple of Qs, lots of Ls and Ms and 2 or 3 "I" bombers hehe... Now that would call for some interesting fights!

Arendee · Post by **Arendee** » Sun, 17. May 09, 02:13

I just downloaded the "Race Response Fleets" script, and in the case of a threat, bombers come into the sector and annhialate everything. Its just a script though, not in vanilla.

dukedroklar · Post by **dukedroklar** » Sun, 17. May 09, 04:35

I wonder how well CODEA script will handle the bombers? http://forum.egosoft.com/viewtopic.php? ... le+frigate I just installed it last night. I have just got to the point of beginning station building and fielding small fleets so it'll be a while for me to test that out.

It does seem to have some really cool features so far.