Something else that would just be cool, but probably couldn't be balanced; Miniaturized Fabricator - uses two Torpedo slots - "Whenever you make an attack with a Missile (and/or Bomb) upgrade that tells you to discard it, don't."

Do you think it might have helped if they had called it the Interdictor, instead of the Punisher? 'Punisher' sounds threatening, but vague. Does it just mean massive damage? Should it just be considered a heavy bomber? Interdictor actually gives an idea of its intended purpose. Its supposed to be a high-load strike craft made to target support ships, transports, supplies, and generally make a mess of the enemy's logistics. It's not a front line fighter (TIE/LN), an interceptor (TIE/IN) or a bomber/assault craft (TIE/SA Bomber). Unfortunately for the Punisher/Interdictor, those are the most useful roles in a game of this scope. There is a niche role for it though, I think, in something that this game doesn't have right now, which is a designated hunter of large ships. Since most large ships are, or were, mainly designed as freighters, this would perfectly fit in with the idea of the Interdictor. So, what sort of titles or fixes could help it see the light in that new, clarified role. Interdictor - title - When attacking a large-based ship, turn one/all [focus] results to [hits] Interdictor - title - When attacking a large-based ship, treat your PWV as 3 Punisher - title - When an enemy gets a target lock on you, you get one on them Gunnery Schematics - punisher only system - add a red die when attacking a large based ship Pursuit Logistics - punisher-only system - autothrusters-like effect for clunkers Just a few quick ideas, but the theme is something to play around with. I definitely feel that clarifying its purpose will help with fixing the ship.

Very cool!

M-3A bombers are really fun. I can see the concern about aces like Corran. We had someone try it out with Poe to similar effect. In our experience though, Imp Aces usually have the advantage over Rebel Aces, so this tips the scale back the other way a bit. It's certainly not unbeatable though, unless the Imp player insisted on flying exactly the same way they would have if the Rebels didn't have bombs. I think with the Rebels, you're often paying for upgrades slots that you're not going to use in the torpedo, so this option works out nicely. Again though, thats just for our group, and your mileage may vary if you find the Rebels dominant already. I appreciate the back and forth on this, its great to test the boundaries of an idea.

Han Solo, Corren Horn, Biggs... The Empire might have been better off just not training anyone, given the amount of rebels they produced.

I guess I just don't see how the bomb slot is so much more useful than the torpedo slot you're losing to get it. I understand that access to a wider range of options is theoretically worth more points, but given that you're paying for those alternate options by losing the objectively more useful torpedo upgrade slot I don't see how it is unbalanced. It would seem that FFG saw it the same in how they costed the actual upgrade. As for Soontir and Whisper, they don't have torpedo slots so its really not relevant. If your point is that high PS, high maneuverability arc-dodge type ships would make bombs too powerful, they already have a very high premium on actions, and while they could make good use out of bombs, surely they also get more use out of torpedos by being able to target lock last. Also, there are already aces with the ability to take bombs, and they're hardly groundbreaking. Thematically, if you're worried about that, a torpedo is just a bigger (by damage potential) bomb with a self-propulsion mechanism added on. It also needs a launcher, a more sophisticated piece of equipment than a bomb bay. I don't think stripping that out for a bomb would make a ship heavier or less maneuverable. We tried it out in some casual games today, and it definitely didn't come off as broken. A couple X-Wings tried it out, and it was fine. Opened a new tactical choice for them. The big surprise was someone using a bunch of the torpedo M-3As with bombs instead, and suddenly they were actually useful. Not great, they didn't win, but a lot of small, quick bombers was an entirely new thing to deal with. Haven't tried it with HotAC yet, not sure how it will work with Extra Munitions being available as a mod, but given the odds you face in that I'm not expecting it to be too strong.

...yes, Y-Wings are fine bombers. Not looking for a dedicated bomber though. Mechanically, would it be unbalanced to give fighter/interceptor types a bomb instead of a torpedo?

What would be the problem with the Protectorate Fighter? The Y-Wing's definitely a capable bomber, I'm just thinking that it would be fun to have bomb access on some ships that are not dedicated bombers.

I'd love to use bombs more, but the dedicated bomb carriers all leave something to be desired. There's a lot of ships with throwaway torpedo slots though that I'd love to throw a bomb on. Can you foresee any major problems if the Bomb Loadout upgrade wasn't restricted to just Y-Wings?

I've been toying with this https://geordanr.github.io/xwing/?f=Scum%20and%20Villainy&d=v4!s!173:176,136,126,122,118,-1:-1:-1:;125:176,135,173,145:-1:-1:;101:176,-1:-1:15:&sn=Unnamed%20Squadron

Spoilers, man! Settings with incredibly long background timeframes are bothersome for a lot of reasons. A 10,000 year Republic makes no sense when you think about it in comparison to the rise and fall of societies in the real world. It really shows too when in the ~30 years the movies cover thereafter, there's what, 4 or 5 changes of government. As for the evolution of ships, maybe it can in part be explained by the way weapons evolved through history. You have a weapon (or tactic, strategy, etc extrapolating upwards), then a defense is created against it, so a new weapon emerges, and a new defense, new weapon, etc. People start wearing chainmail, so swords start being made with chisel points. Tallships keep getting bigger and bigger, until small quick ones undercut them.