Was I “skilled” or “lucky”? To have my bomber survive has only a 22% chance. What about the landing spot? He can bring 2 inf vs my 1 inf, 1 bomber and I’m probably going to lose the inf before the bomber. Am I skilled or taking too huge a risk? Consider that that trn by attacking midway gains no IPCs, abstains from sending forces to the mainland for one round and if the inf fails to capture or kill the bomber it is a sitting duck for a new bombing mission. (No capital ships in range) Even by staying in sz60 a new capital ship will have to be built to protect it as no other ships are in range.
No roll of the dice could ever be called “skilled.” Â All dice rolls are lucky or unlucky, accepting the notion that they are truly random.
Your opponent clearly saw your Bomber in Novo, and took the risk of leaving 3 unescorted transports within easy striking distance. Â Probably assumed that you wouldn’t risk the Bomber against 3 1s. Â You were bold and made the attack, with a very low likelihood that your Bomber would survive the combat. Â You were lucky in the results, no question.
The issue of skill comes into play when determining your strategy and tactics accounting for the luck factor built into the game. Â Every player must take risks in individual battles at some point. Â The question is how skillfully you are able to judge when to take those risks and when not to, and whether or not you have developed a backup plan in case your carefully-judged risks should end up on the unlucky side for you.
The US can usually afford to lose the Bomber if it means crippling the Japanese transport system… I wonder if you would have made the same decision to attack if it were a UK Bomber nearby? Â
~Josh
PS - Â And I think your opponent will certainly attack Midway. Â He definitely wants to kill that Bomber now. Â Maybe it wasn’t a good idea to leave it in reach of anything.