BOB Defending as RAF tips

[todolist]

Hi, so i was wondering how do i play as the defending side in BOB because i played the 1 day campaing and don't know how to effectively intercept german raids and when i do i lose many planes so any tips would be appreciated thanks.

[simovitch]

Remember it takes several minutes for your planes to climb up to incoming raids so it's best to set some patrols early or when the radio traffic gets above 100 or so if you want to intercept before the LW gets to the target. Get an idea of what altitude the LW is coming in at and patrol a few thousand feet higher than the estimated raid altitude.

Launch small 4-plane patrols with Gladiator's and Defiant's or even a few Canes near the coast to force the 109's to engage and burn fuel before the Spits and Canes can chew the bombers up inland. Be careful with this idea though because a Gladiator is the same kill-points as a Spitfire.

Don't try to intercept everything, just one or 2 of the bigger raids per day. Pick off stragglers whenever you can. Don't get caught on the ground, better to patrol over your airfield when the time is right - and that's the key, timing. Play the introductory scenario and try some things.

[MarkShot]

After spending 1-2 hours planning my own 20-30 LW raids, it is really intimidating to see 100+ LW raids as the RAF on the board. They may be badly coordinated, but if they are trying to overwhelm the single guy in charge, then they are doing an excellent job!

[simovitch]

80% of the AI raids will be single plane recons. Easy meat for the RAF if you can climb up to their altitude before they are too far away to catch. Most of the time I think it's best to just let them be.

[todolist]

Launch small 4-plane patrols

Thanks for the help but how do you launch smaller patrols or interceptions ? Is it even possible.

Cheers

[simovitch]

When you set a patrol, click on "launch 4" and only 4 planes from the group will launch.