Allied Bombing

[Wolff]

Googled my problem and took me to the Matrix forums, tried posting there and can't share images until after 7 days from your 10th post, really...
Not sure what I'm doing wrong but, my bombing victory points are going down to 3 and I'm hitting mostly, manpower, heavy industry, fuel, and oil.

Forcing players to play a certain way is not what I would really agree with for a strategy war game, doesn't really leave many choices to play non-historically. Right from the get-go, US 8th is forced to hit u-boats then in 44 v-weapons. Like, why force someone to play only one way? Leave the decisions for the strategy to the players.
I'm guessing my problem right now is going for fuel more than manpower, not sure though.

I've followed the advice from Harrybanana on Matrix forums http://www.matrixgames.com/forums/tm.asp?m=3872809.

Screenshots from my campaign.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/8i2o31fn06u963j/VP5.jpg?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/pp5mor9q0qgeoj8/VP1.jpg?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/ms7aemkywivtk1j/VP2.jpg?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/ft71ossub7ekdbe/VP4.jpg?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/vubzwhnuwmyaydl/VP3.jpg?dl=0

[Denniss]

Se it the other, more realistic way: you have to bomb submarine facs so the subs wont torp your supply and troop convoys in the atlantic.
Same with V-weapon, so they wont bomb the british island

[LiquidSky]

Bombing points are calculated (as per the rulebook) by multiplying the percentage damage done to the size of the factory.

This applies to Manpower, Heavy Industry, Oil, Fuel, Synthetic Fuel factories.

This number is divided by 1000 to give you your bombing points. Then a divisior is applied based on date. This is why your points seem to be 'dropping'.

1943: Divisor is 2
First half 1944 Divisor is 6
Second half 1944 Divisor is 9
1945 Divisor is 12

So taking the Ruhr as and example (Duisburg, Essen, Bochum, Dortmund, Krefield, Hagen, Dusseldorf, Wuppertal, Cologne) there are a total of 193 Heavy Industry, 199 Manpower, and 35 Oil/Fuel/Synth factories.

If you bomb them to 50%, that would give you 21 bombing points, for 10 vps in 1943, 4 in early 1944, 2 in late 1944....

U-Boats and V-weapons factories work differently. Any damage to the factory AT ALL will prevent it from scoring negative points. You don't have to hit them every turn. I usually only hit the U-Boats once or twice before 1944 when I dont have to hit them anymore. And the V-wpns are mostl;y on the coast. I use twin engine bombers to hit them.

Nobody is making you hit these targets however. I mention the Ruhr because the British get a night time bonus for bombing in range of their radar..which covers the Ruhr. So you might as well bomb it with Bomber Command.

But the Americans can bomb whatever they want. You also get points for taking territory, and if the bombers help you get those points instead, does it matter you arent getting bombing points?

Unless by ahistorical play you mean, don't bomb at all. Some good ahistorical targets are vehicle and afv plants. The Germans have a very difficult time defending ground if they dont have trucks and tanks. You can bomb units, although the 4 engine bomber is a horribly expensive and poor ground attack aircraft, it can still do the mission. And it will help.

The game is full of tradeoffs. Lots of decisions to be made. Bombing U-Boats/V-Wpns is not really one of them for something you will do only a few times out of the hundred turns of game.

[Wolff]

Originally posted by LiquidSky:

Bombing points are calculated (as per the rulebook) by multiplying the percentage damage done to the size of the factory.

This applies to Manpower, Heavy Industry, Oil, Fuel, Synthetic Fuel factories.

This number is divided by 1000 to give you your bombing points. Then a divisior is applied based on date. This is why your points seem to be 'dropping'.

1943: Divisor is 2
First half 1944 Divisor is 6
Second half 1944 Divisor is 9
1945 Divisor is 12

So taking the Ruhr as and example (Duisburg, Essen, Bochum, Dortmund, Krefield, Hagen, Dusseldorf, Wuppertal, Cologne) there are a total of 193 Heavy Industry, 199 Manpower, and 35 Oil/Fuel/Synth factories.

If you bomb them to 50%, that would give you 21 bombing points, for 10 vps in 1943, 4 in early 1944, 2 in late 1944....

U-Boats and V-weapons factories work differently. Any damage to the factory AT ALL will prevent it from scoring negative points. You don't have to hit them every turn. I usually only hit the U-Boats once or twice before 1944 when I dont have to hit them anymore. And the V-wpns are mostl;y on the coast. I use twin engine bombers to hit them.

Nobody is making you hit these targets however. I mention the Ruhr because the British get a night time bonus for bombing in range of their radar..which covers the Ruhr. So you might as well bomb it with Bomber Command.

But the Americans can bomb whatever they want. You also get points for taking territory, and if the bombers help you get those points instead, does it matter you arent getting bombing points?

Unless by ahistorical play you mean, don't bomb at all. Some good ahistorical targets are vehicle and afv plants. The Germans have a very difficult time defending ground if they dont have trucks and tanks. You can bomb units, although the 4 engine bomber is a horribly expensive and poor ground attack aircraft, it can still do the mission. And it will help.

The game is full of tradeoffs. Lots of decisions to be made. Bombing U-Boats/V-Wpns is not really one of them for something you will do only a few times out of the hundred turns of game.

Thank you very much for taking the time to write your reply!
I'm still doing something wrong. Seems like the AI does a better job then when I do it manually for setting up my air phase. Think I might just restart the campain and stick to the AI setting it up. Just a heads-up. 2 of my invasion in Northern Europe got repulsed and took -51 VP for allied losses. Lost almost halve of my VPs in one turn lol.

[LiquidSky]

I played the first turn of the Breakout scenario over and over to figure out how to play the tactical air game. The strategic airgame is pretty easy since it is a blunt weapon. You just hammer an area. In the beginning, that is just the Ruhr area, but when the escorts get longer ranges, you can hit the Ruhr with the British, and somewhere else with the Americans.

Later...you can make two areas for the Americans...one for the B-17's unescorted, and another for the B-24's escorted.

I never let the AI make missions for me. I may let it use AUTO for picking the planes of a mission, but I choose the targets...choose the altitude and area of bombing.

But play the Breakout scenario...first turn only. Plan your air missions. Try different things. Bomb units....do interdiction. Try different altitudes. If you are adventerous you can even adjust altitudes/ payloads. You will learn lots.