Strategic bombing raids…

@Linkon:

The main cases to use SBR:

You have Heavies.

Do you build anything EXCEPT bombers if you have heavy’s???

Let’s be honest, Heavy Bombers are so powerful that it is an almost assured game victory for whichever side gets them.  And I have never seen a game last long enough after one side gets heavy’s for the other side to also get them.

@Linkon:

Your opponent has (1) low income, but a (2) ton of defensive units holed up in the capital, and (3) your seige forces are not sufficient to win the capital battle.

Combining SBR and the trading of territories next to your opponents capital will allow the build-up of your seige forces to gain the eventual edge.  By then, your income should be several times higher than the opponent you are about to kill off.

I still like using SBR’s to PREVENT my target from building up massive defensive forces.  That is why as Japan I bomb Russia every chance I get… each run means less INF in Moscow upon my force’s arrival.

Of course it could also be that I just HATE siege warfare.  I’ll press a battle against a strong oponent just to weaken those forces if I feel I can re-build faster than he can; rather than wait for me to build to overwhelm.  That way, if one of my allies gets to a position to ALSO be able to strike, they face a weaker target.  And if my allies don;t get a chance to strike, my nation that made the original suicide run will still be outbuilding the target and can move more forces in and take it anyway.  Now, I have to be able to last long enough to do SOME damage… I won;t attack with a fighter and 3 INF against 30 INF.  But give me 7 INF, a couple of tanks, and several fighters on 30 INF, and I’ll blast in, inflict damage, and retreat; then do it all again as more cannon fodder arrives at the front.

Lather.  Rinse.  Repeat.

as far as i’m concerned, a dedicated strategic bombing campaign by either side is a waste of money insofar as building bombers and then replacing any that happen to get hit. the only time i generally use bombers is when i can’t use them to support any other attacks i might be using. it is worthwhile if you can get in some free shots, e.g if an IC has no AA to protect it, but I don’t generally like to use my bombers like that.

See, this just proves the love in our community, even an over-the-hill geezer like Jefe can still have fun. :D I am going to have to put the drinking game to use, as soon as I teach my roommate how to play.

@MacArthurFan:

I’ve been playing A&A for quite awhile now. Has anyone else tried the strategy (while playing the Allies) of having Britian and America buy nothing but bombers, and sending them all to Germany (I’m not talking about heavy bombers, but just plain old bombers). I have tried this numerous times, and by the end of the 3rd round, Germany usually can’t buy anything. Even when Russia falls to Germany, and Japan gets really strong, if UK and US keep buying bombers, Germany and ultimately Japan simply can’t make enough money to buy anything. AA guns have proven to my satisfaction that they are not able to combat this strategy. I am very interested to know if anyone else has tried this.

amen to that brother but its stupid

No. On a SBR the only thing that can shoot at a BMR is an AA gun.
-BMR flies to SBR the IC.
-Any territory that has an AA gun which the BMR flies over on the way to the IC gets to roll one die per plane. 3 BMR = roll 3 dice, add the #s, the defender returns that # of IPCs to the bank. :)

If 1 BMR is hit only 2 get to SBR the IC. 2 BMR = 2 dice, add the #s, the defender returns that # of IPCs to the bank. :)

In one variation of the game the BMR can be shot at on the return route if it passes over an AA gun. But, for example, if the UK BMR flies from UK to Germany, is missed by the AA, bombs and flies to Russia there is no second chance for the BMR to be hit.
I do not like this variation. In the regular game, the limited bombing and limited retaliation give you a simple idea of a complex war. Why try to make the game more difficult? If you want that GET A HARDER GAME!

In a second variation friendly FTRs can escort and enemy FTRs can intercept the BMRs. But again, it just makes it more complex. And do you allow the FTRs to intercept and fly attack missions or not?

Don’t you love long answers to what you think is a simple ? :lol:

BB,

i am kind of right and wrong. Just as you stated the “steady state”, i mentioned the process of getting there.

"Odds of your bomber being shot down on or before the 5th sortie: 1/6 + 1/6 + 1/6 + 1/6 + 1/6 = 5/6 "

thats not true at all. u have to use a multiplicative connection in this case: the odds of the bomber performing strat.bomb successfully are 5/6. U are going for 5 runs. So the result is 5/65/65/65/65/6 = (5/6) ^ 5 ~ 40%

u have a probability of 40% to strike for 3,5*5 = 17,5 IPC at costs of 15 IPC. which still isnt a good deal imho…

Cystic Crypt is exactly right on his observation. For this reason alone, to this day I will never buy bombers – Axis or Allies. With bombers, you are risking too much. I, being a strict pessimist when playing A&A, will always believe that everything that can possibly go wrong will. As chessmaster Savielly Grigorievitch commented on the game’s opening position, “The mistakes are all waiting to be made.”

Now say I buy bombers and on subsequent raids, I roll consecutive 6’s. Guess I’m the hero, the greatest since Air Marshall Brig. Gen. Ira Eaker, commander of the Eight Bomber Command. But what happens if the AA guns roll 1’s? What if this happens? Now, I have to kick myself in the back as I poured 15 IPCs down the drain. And since it takes at least 3 runs (even if I rolled 6’s) before I can make good on my investment, those are three turns in which AA guns are free to score hits. In addition to being a pessimist, I am also a control freak. On SBR’s I have no real control on the outcome of the battle. With inf and ARM, I can at least dictate when and where to hit, as well as when to retreat. The sheer suspense in SBR is already enough to kill me many times over.

I would much rather do more with less, which is the prevailing thought of the NASA space program. This means I buy 5 infantry instead of 1 bomber. So incase something goes wrong, which it usually does for me, I don’t crack all of my eggs in one basket.

“Only the spirit of attack, born in a brave heart, will bring success to any fighter aircraft, no matter how highly developed it may be.” - Aldolf Galland
“The create? The create matters not. It is the man who pilots the create that truely counts” -

[ This Message was edited by: TG Moses VI on 2002-05-17 21:19 ]

[ This Message was edited by: TG Moses VI on 2002-05-17 21:20 ]