Irn Bruce
   |
Posted - 2010.01.17 18:42:00 -
[1]
Bombers are fine the way they are. The OP admits he doesn't fly them, and to be quite honest, his proposal shows a lack of understanding of how they work.
There already is a 15 second recloaking delay.
Bombers do not decloak, launch bombs and recloak. They decloak, launch bombs, and warp off. If they have to align to warp off, there is plenty of time to tackle them, since they're only 30km away. If they take the time to set a bombing run up properly, you shouldn't still be mining in a belt when the run starts.
A bomb does 8000 damage before resists. Since they have an exp radius of 400m, anything smaller than a BS takes less than full damage. Anything with low enough HP to die to a single bomb has a small enough sig to only take a fraction of the damage. I have launched bombs at stationary cov ops frigates which have survived the blast due to their small sig. Only MWD frigates and untanked retrievers and haulers will die to a single bomb, realistically.
Since we're talking about bombs here, we're talking about nullsec. In that case, you should never be mining without support, which means scouts on the gates to report what comes in. Therefore, you should always know if a bomber is in local (covert cynos aside). If you choose to stay in a belt when you know there are hostiles in local, it's not grounds for complaint if you die.
Now for covert cynos. They still spike local. Bombing runs do next to no damage unless, as you say, you have a large number of bombers. If 5-10 hostiles suddenly appear in local in a nullsec system, you gtfo of the belt. That rule is about as set in stone as they come. For a covert cyno gang to actually get kills, they usually require a recon to tackle and aggress the target (which is going to be a BC, HAC, or BS, since a good recon can handle practically anything else solo), then pop the cyno for the bombers and other recons to bridge in. In this situation, the bombers are all unaligned, uncloaked, and at different distances to the target. In short, NOT set up for bombing. They'll use torpedoes in this situation.
For a covert cyno gang to be using bombs, they require quite a lot of setup time, and mass bombing runs are almost invariably used to clear gates of hostile fleets stopping a proper support fleet from jumping through.
If you're trying to make the point that bombers are much less risk to use than a recon, you also need to consider that they're much less effective on their own. Like recons, they're gang ships. They just fulfill a DPS role within the gang instead of an Ewar support role. A single Recon is effective against any size of target, and some of them (rook/falcon) can take multiple targets out of the fight completely.
Conversely, bombers need to operate in wings of 5 or more to really be effective. Bombs are a weapon with a very specific purpose, and a very limited opportunity for using them. Both bombs and torpedoes are very ineffective against small targets, and solo bombers will find it hard to kill larger targets before dying themselves. Realistically, you're not comparing a bomber to a recon, you're comparing 3-5 bombers to a recon to get a similar effect in a battle. Suddenly, the risk doesn't seem so small.
Killing bombers should never be your aim. Simply protect your fleet with stuff the bombers know they won't kill. Don't underestimate the fear factor of even 3 or 4 T1 frigates sitting 30km from the main fleet. They're out of bomb range there, and they will eat bombers alive. Bombers usually won't engage if they don't think they'll come out alive, unless the target is just too juicy, and they know they'll kill it before they all die, and they have a substantial recon element to their fleet that will still be around to grab the loot after the fight. A bomber that is too afraid to attack you might as well be dead.
|