I didn’t want to start a new topic for this, but I can’t seem to find my answer or a proper thread to pose this question. Up till now, whenever I have done an SBR in Alpha+2, I have only used one bomber so it hasn’t been an issue. However, in a game last weekend, the US flew 2 bombers to SBR a German IC.
My question is: Do you add the +2 points of damage to EACH dice/strategic bomber or to the TOTAL?
Yes, I believe it is +2 for each bomber that isnt shot down in Alpha+2
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On an aside, i feel that even bombers that get shot down by AA over their target (not the ones intercepted by fighters) should get +2 damage. I mean come on…they drop their bombs over the target while the AA is shooting at them.
This suggestion might be the simplest way to make SBR a sane move for the attacker
Hmmm, VERY interesting idea. So basically, you would be making the bombing run and AA fire simultaneous. Just like regular combat which is why we have the casualty strip – so defenders that are taken as casualties still get to fire back that one last time.
Yes, this would make SBRs much more of a better idea. Interceptors aside, it really sucks when you send in a bomber(s) and the dang AA gun gets that lucky ‘1’ shot so you lose the bomber with no damage to the facility. At least this way, you still lose the bomber (12 IPCs against you) but at least the facility still gets damaged.
This is a VERY good idea for a new house rule.
Oh yeah, thanks for the answer on the +2 damage. Adding that to each dice will really rack up the damage points. I imagine that was Larry’s way of making SBRs more acceptable.
Hmmm, VERY interesting idea. So basically, you would be making the bombing run and AA fire simultaneous. Just like regular combat which is why we have the casualty strip – so defenders that are taken as casualties still get to fire back that one last time.
Yes, this would make SBRs much more of a better idea. Interceptors aside, it really sucks when you send in a bomber(s) and the dang AA gun gets that lucky ‘1’ shot so you lose the bomber with no damage to the facility. At least this way, you still lose the bomber (12 IPCs against you) but at least the facility still gets damaged.
This is a VERY good idea for a new house rule.
I like this idea a lot too!
Right now nobody i my playing group (including me) is keen on strategic bombing. This could seduce people to give it a shot again.
I had another idea regarding this. Since we now add +2 points of damage for each bomber, perhaps any bomber that is hit by AA fire still gets to roll a die for damage but DOESN’T get the +2 extra points. For example; You run an SBR with 3 bombers (no escorts or interceptors). The AA guns hit 1 of your bombers. So, you roll 3 dice – the 2 surviving bombers get their roll +2 and the 1 destroyed bomber only gets the roll of the dice.
You could say that the bomber that got hit went down with part if it’s load or suffered less accuracy due to being hit. Maybe this way we can still make SBRs a more “want to do” thing yet the defender does get a little bit of a break with the damage to his facility.
Well, as someone who almost never SBRs, my latest game saw me doing it quite a bit with the Japanese. As the 100% US pacific strategy washed over the home islands my Japanese fleet fled before them, being shepherded by 3 lvl bmbs and a small army. In combat in the indian ocean the army was attacked by UK mobile elements out of India after a US can opener on WIndia. With the Japanese army dead, no incoming IPCs because of US subs, and the final Japanese redoubt in China holding out until eventual elimination I needed something for them to do to impact the game.
The lvl bmb back on Japan hit US Korea every round and my other bmbs hit some Russian factories in Stalingrad/ukraine. These raids were effective because the Russians do not have the ftrs available to defend all their factories from SBR, and America did not want to leave ftrs in Korea when the fight was near moscow and persia. I also occasionally used Japanese based aircraft to clear US ground units out of Korea, keeping them from moving through Siberia to hit the axis flank.
My point being that SBRs are now just a bit more situational. You’re not going to be able to bomb the daylights out of a powerful nation with a large airforce, but you might find opportunity along the way anyways.
I’ll SBR just about whenver possible. The risk/reward is now in my favor. So unless I can get more than 3 IPC for using my bomber elsewhere, I’ll use it to SBR (if I can.)
Why: Average Cost: 2 IPC; Average Damage: 4 IPC, net 2 IPC, if I can get an extra infantry, it’s better for me, otherwise, bombing is a good alternative to parking.
