Drop Bomber Ballots Here (March 6, 2010)

ChrisReid

Super Soaker Collector / Administrator
The new poll asks what your favorite bomber is. There's plenty of fighters that can take out a massive warship and many ways to launch a torpedo, but what's the best ship to do it in? You have quite a few to choose from!









The last poll inquired about landing methods. Different ships we've flown off have markedly different touchdown routines. Although far less technically advanced than zooming through the Victory's flight deck (the 2nd place winner), the most popular option was lining up with the Tiger's Claw's nose.



What's your favorite way to land?





Lining up with the Tiger's Claw
33.11%
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Roaring over the Concordia runway
16.29%
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Zooming through the Victory's bay

25.76%
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Clearing the Intrepid's ceiling
6.70%
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Picking a rear bay on the Midway
5.12%

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Ducking around the Cerberus gun
2.63%
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Entering a Gemini landing zone
10.38%
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Ended on March 6, 2010 | 761 votes







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Original update published on March 6, 2010
 
Last edited by a moderator:
This is a really hard one as I like several of those craft listed, but for various reasons. Many of them serve different purposes and also behave in different ways due to the different ways the various games worked.
 
The best bomber feeling for me comes with the WC2 Broadsword (and Crossbow).

But taking out capships was always easiest with the Morningstar for, which I voted for. Closely followed by Armadas Gladius and WC4's Vindicator.

Very fun was also leeching a Ralatha with Academy's Wraith and then destroying it with guns.
 
Lance - do you mean Black Lance Dragon?

If so, all I can say, it is definately the ultimate bomber!
It can cloak, has grat speed, shields and armour (important for torpedo runs) and It's got something more - flashpacks! I wish I had one of theese when I was fighting two elite Fralthras. It would take me like 1 minute to kill them both with this avesome vessel.
 
Well... Just love the Devastator. Very heavy load, nice look...

ps: it's very sad we never seen the Dev teaming up with the Shrike carring the wild weasel loadout...
 
it's very sad we never seen the Dev teaming up with the Shrike carring the wild weasel loadout...
Because it wasn't really necessary or effective? Devastators need agile fighter protection to counter its low speed and manoeuvrability.
 
I might get flamed for this, but shouldn't the Thunderbolt be in this poll? I know she's classified as a heavy fighter, but she's got Torpedo capability, and surely if the Sabre are Gladius are included, the 'Bolt should too? :)
 
I would tend to agree. The Tbolt is certainly as much a bomber as the Sabre or Glaudius, and far more so than the Banshee.

It looks like the poll is just a choice of "craft we fly in the games that can carry torpedoes". Except they left off the T-bolt.

I would define "bomber" a little more narrowly...I would say to qualify as a "bomber" and not a heavy fighter, it has to carry multiple torpedoes and have at least one turret.
 
I might get flamed for this, but shouldn't the Thunderbolt be in this poll?

I don't see why you'd get flamed for that. We can add the Thunderbolt.

I would define "bomber" a little more narrowly...I would say to qualify as a "bomber" and not a heavy fighter, it has to carry multiple torpedoes and have at least one turret.

In coming up with the options for the poll, you quickly find that it's very hard to define bombers. The Vindicator is classed as a medium fighter, but it's got 3 torpedoes and a rear turret. Something like the Morningstar has no turret and is certainly more nimble than traditional bombers, but it has two torpedoes and the incredible Mace. Academy recognizes it "as the current Confederation state-of-the-art capital ship destroyer." The list grows fast.
 
What Vinman said. Most of the others are a lot of fun but feel more like heavy fighters to me, and I like the more extreme transition of switching to a broadsword. With the broadsword, I can keep on making my approach and fight ships off with my turrets and superior shields, while with the others I feel like I have to dogfight like I was in a normal fighter to avoid getting clobbered. And it has no afterburner.
 
What Vinman said. Most of the others are a lot of fun but feel more like heavy fighters to me, and I like the more extreme transition of switching to a broadsword. With the broadsword, I can keep on making my approach and fight ships off with my turrets and superior shields, while with the others I feel like I have to dogfight like I was in a normal fighter to avoid getting clobbered. And it has no afterburner.

I agree with this sentiment. The Broadsword really required a completely different flying style than most other fighters one would fly.

However, I disagree that it was the only one. I think both the Longbow and the Devastator "felt" like bombers. In both of them you only fired at fighters if they came at you, and instead relied on your fighter escorts, turret, or (in the case of the Longbow) a flurry of Pilum FF's to keep you safe, while you concentrated on making runs on the big boys.
 
ChrisReid said:
I don't see why you'd get flamed for that. We can add the Thunderbolt.

Thank you, team Thunderbolt is grateful :D

Justice said:
With the broadsword, I can keep on making my approach and fight ships off with my turrets and superior shields

Now that's something I've always struggled with, I think it depends on how much fighter cover you've got - but regardless as to what ship I'm flying, I always remember
the late
Bossman's advice

Kien Chen said:
Thing to do is clean up the fighter cover first, then go in for the battleship.

Even in the Broadsword, turrets and all, I get mauled if I haven't picked off a few fighters first - the mission to destroy the Kilrathi supply depot with Angel is a good example, three Jalkehi on your case and it's very difficult to make a good Torpedo run.

Teaches you how to dogfight in even the heaviest of ships, WC2 turret gunning is IMO the best to control in the series.

See what I did there eh? With the spoiler? :D
 
I would concur with the Broadsword sentiment, for me, its got that "Flying Fortress" feel for the preconception I've got of what a heavy bomber is from watching WW2 films.
I get a similar feeling off the Devestator as well with its sluggishness and the four turrets.
 
I would concur with the Broadsword sentiment, for me, its got that "Flying Fortress" feel for the preconception I've got of what a heavy bomber is from watching WW2 films.

That's good, because it's *exactly* what Origin was going for. :) They both have the same designation (A-17/B-17).
 
The Dragon was definitely the most effective bomber. You can't beat the ability to sneak up on a ship while cloaked, uncloak and knock it out with one flashpack. Kilrathi fighters were the first to show the powerful effect of a cloaked capship attack when they destroyed the Tiger's claw.

The Dragon's ability to knock off fighters was nice too, but probably not necessary for destroying bases and capships since you can use a good sneak attack against the large target. We see Seether using Bossman's technique of knocking out the Hellcats first, but that was probably with the goal of leaving no witnesses, or else due to his aggressive perfectionist nature.
 
The Dragon was definitely the most effective bomber. You can't beat the ability to sneak up on a ship while cloaked, uncloak and knock it out with one flashpack. Kilrathi fighters were the first to show the powerful effect of a cloaked capship attack when they destroyed the Tiger's claw.

A lot of this was largely due to the novelty of its technology...this effectiveness wouldn't have lasted long in wartime. Indeed, we already see measures against this appearing in WC4. The flashpack couldn't be used on the Vesuvius except from inside the hangar bay, because of some alloy in her hull? And I'm guessing trying to sneak even a cloaked ship into the hangar bay of a ship is a bit of a challenge. Especially because we see in WC4 that basic cloak detection is possible (the Lances/Dragons could "see" other cloaked ships, even if they couldn't track them on radar). Also, there may have been other countermeasures that would be easy to deploy to reduce the flashpack effectiveness...perhaps some kind of fast acting catalyst in the atmosphere of the ship that would neutralize the flashpack's chemical explosiveness? Or maybe something as simple as a double hull or foam-filled void between hull plating?

The ability to sneak up, get a torpedo lock, uncloak, and let fly is certainly powerful, which is why cloaked attack fighters are so fearsome. However, it's probably worth noting that cloaking and countercloaking technologies are probably constantly evolving...just as stealth and counterstealth technology is constantly evolving today.

Plus, there's cost. Something could be the best bomber in the world, but if it costs too much to field more than a squadron of them, you're not going to build too many of them. I've read (probably non-canon) descriptions of the Lance/Dragon that imply that each one cost more than a star system. Now, that could certainly be an exaggeration, but I'm sure they weren't cheap.
 
I have love for both the Longbow and the Broadsword... They both not only looked cool....but could Blow S*it UP ! :D
 
The ability to sneak up, get a torpedo lock, uncloak, and let fly is certainly powerful, which is why cloaked attack fighters are so fearsome. However, it's probably worth noting that cloaking and countercloaking technologies are probably constantly evolving...just as stealth and counterstealth technology is constantly evolving today.

There are a bunch of good examples of this. Armada Proving Grounds includes a gun that disables the cloak on cloakable ships, WC4 has the system that "sees" through cloaks, Arena has the "sensor ping" that reveals cloaked ships.
 
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