Level bombers
 

I tried an experience which conclusion can be interresting:
I take a battle opposing US to China.
US forces:
- 12 Level bomber carrying various bombs,
- 4 A-10 (for the fun)
Chinese forces:
- 2 MBT platoons (the last one, type-89 I think)
- 2 mechanised Co
-> US points were really under China points
I depployed Chineses on roads, as if it was a moving mechanised force...
at the end of the turn, there was only one surviving unit: a single MBT, all others were dead or derouted and useless...
A single blackhawk with a javelin team could "finish" the work...
Conclusion:
When playing on large maps, ennemy needs mechanised troops to go fast and will deploy them on road, just buy a spoting aircraft and let your planes destroy more points than they do cost to you...

Re: Level bombers
 

Was this a scenario that you created? Were the Chinese moving when the airstrikes were deployed, and was there LOS during the airstrikes? This sounds like a very successful use of air power!

Re: Level bombers
 

I agree - I've posted description of the battle exactly like that in "campain 2006" thread. Russia vs Poland - most of Poland armor was moving in tight group on the road. It seemas AI need more rendom factor in the force distribution. From the gripping hand I myself moving by the road in tight group in the assault scenario - it's the easiest way to clear path through the mines...

Re: Level bombers
 

Some more informations:
The 12 bombers where:
-3 B-52 with AP-cluster bombs -> meca troops
-3 B-2 with 2000 kg bombs (BOUM)
-6 B-1 with 84 250kg bombs (each)
The 4 A-10 had each 4 mavericks

It was a scenario I created, there where no LOS from an observer, some of the bombers didn't hit any aim, Chineses wheren't moving since it was set before the first turn, when deploying...

Re: Level bombers
 

And did the Chinese have any high-level SAMS or large AAA guns which could reach the bombers extra-high altitude?.

Try re-running bombers against Chinese with some Favorits for a more "interesting" bomb-run http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

Cheers
Andy

Re: Level bombers
 

Would be interresting for sure, but depends a lot (in the "real" situation of a battle), of the number of flight allowed.
Once I got 11 !!! support missions, I was able to bought 3 SEAD flights more, but when you only got 3 flight, this sort of attack becomes useless...

Re: Level bombers
 

as for spotters, i tend to play 1980-1983 Nato V Warsaw Pact. the big difference is vision. with a couple of Hueys and vision 40 everywhere gets hits with smoke, tow missiles and ammo = massacre

Re: Level bombers
 

I've been running lots of experimental scenarios like the one you set up lotkarr. I've found that for all the gripes expressed about airpower and cluster bombs especially in these forums are a bit odd..... air power is amazingly effective if:
A) the enemy is on the move
2) you airstrike actually hits them/there are enough of them for your cluster bombs to make a nice wide coverage over them.

I've always found (I mainly play USA/USMC vs VC or Korea) that I can purchase air support that in a test scenario is utterly devestating, but in an actual battle the enemy just don't stick together close enough for me to get a good coverage from cluster weapons. Napalm is excellent, but not when some COIN fighter drops it on an open hex of jungle with no one in it....

Hopefully some of the changes in the v2.0 patch should improve things.

I've had some experiences where airstrikes have been highly effective, but it nearly always happens when they kill my forces, which as you can imagine, are advancing towards the enemy and therefore moving and more vulnerable.

Re: Level bombers
 

Level bombers are great in theory but worthless in reality. It takes them four turns to reach their target, and it's very rare to find an enemy soo bunched up and traveling in a long, straight line. That's the problem with air power- the aircraft always dump their ordnance in empty hexes. This needs to be fixed.

Re: Level bombers
 

They attack on the intended turn IF you plot them as pre-game bombardment (with perhaps a delay). They were not intended as "on call" assets, so the delay is artificially short for these, as with air landing troops you do not plan as pre-game bomabardment.

They were only ever intended for WW2 Normandy type scenarios, e.g the opening stages of COBRA.

Level bombers go to the targeted area, offload HE iron bombs and return to base. The accuracy goes up as the decades pass.

Cheers
Andy

Re: Level bombers
 

I tend to use them just before an asswult on a ridge line or town. nothing says I hate you like a Buff strike on that nasty and dug in company inside a town.

Re: Level bombers
 

Air power can be deadly, but AAA and SAM's can also be very "efective". Try for example conduct such air raid against force protected by section of "Tunguska" AAA and some Area SAM's... it's one way to grave for those pilots. Remember that you knew where op4 is, and enemy was totaly unprotected, in normal game such raid would be unefective...

Re: Level bombers
 

I tried this a few times (pre-planned level bomber strikes), but it turned out they never hit the market hex, just somewhere nearby- unlike the pre-planned artillery, which is very accurate... I only tried with one coultry though (Libya) - could this have something to do with the experience of the crew or something?

Re: Level bombers
 

I supose it has a lot to do with quality of equipment, for example bomber flights of Tornado's are quite deadly, but same flights conducted by Su-22 where... hmmm... well they hit ground quite randomly http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/wink.gif

Re: Level bombers
 

Remember the "Highway of Death" in the first gulf war? Sounds alot like that.

Re: Level bombers
 

I played a little battle recently where I bought two B52 with AP cluster...
They kinda culled the poor Iraqis in their bombing run killing between 30and 40 units each...