Strategic bombing and escorts. How does a raid work?

@Gerry
Sending the escorts not only gives you the option of losing a lower value unit as a casualty, it also allows you to ensure the bombers don’t get shot down, thus preventing them from dropping bombs, and allows more chances to shoot down your opponent’s air. Every PIP is a PIP.

4 Bombers vs 4 intercepting figs - 4 @1 vs 4 @1
4 Bombers 2 escorts v 4 intercepts - 6@1 v 4@1

And if he hits 3, you still have 3 bombers going on to their targets. Extrapolate this out:

4 bombers 6 escorts vs 4 interceptors: 10@1 v 4@1
No bomber will be lost against the interceptors, and a very good chance of shooting down 2 interceptors, furthering your advantage against your opponent.

@Gerry said in Strategic bombing and escorts. Hoe does a raid work?:

@mainah Thx. But then these fighters cannot be deployed to another battle.

That is true. So you need to weigh your options. Every turn in every game is different.

The price difference seems small to me (10 vs 12 ipc).

Same as a mech v tank. But 2ipc per unit over the course of a game can be a 100ipc difference, or an additional 30 inf and 10 art on the field.

It seems more useful to use multiple bombers (as long as the possible interceptors are the same amount or less then the number of bombers).

If they are available. And again - without interceptors, the bombers now have twice the odds of being shot down, with the result of no bombs dropped. A fig as a casualty means the bomber has a 5/6 chance to beat AA and drop bombs. A intercepted bomber that gets hit has a 0/6 chance of dropping bombs.

At what point should you refrain from strategic bombing with regard to number of interceptors?

I would be wary of bombing with a less than 3 bombers more than they had figs without escort.

Interceptors are only fighters or also tactical bombers?

Figs only.

@Gerry There is also the fact that different variations of G40 have different intercept rules.
OOB = out of the box = original rules has ftrs defend/attack at 1 for intercept

But BM4 and PTV mods, which are popular on this site, make a significant change in that ftrs intercept at 2, so twice as likely to shoot down. Plus, bomber cost can go up 14 vs 12 IPCs. This basically ensures that you’ll need to escort the bombers.

@Gerry said in Strategic bombing and escorts. How does a raid work?:

@mainah Thx. But then these fighters cannot be deployed to another battle. The price difference seems small to me (10 vs 12 ipc). It seems more useful to use multiple bombers (as long as the possible interceptors are the same amount or less then the number of bombers). At what point should you refrain from strategic bombing with regard to number of interceptors? Interceptors are only fighters or also tactical bombers?

Same goes for the bombers as well. Doing strategic bombing removes them from other targets.
A strat bomber run only has an expected outcome of 3.5ipcs. In most battles it can make a much bigger impact.