General Status after turn 14
Main Goals: Have fun and defeat Great Britain with an air superiority victory.
I’m definitely having a great time playing this game. The comments and feedback make it even more enjoyable.
As for progress toward victory, I’m not sure. I have no idea if I’m doing well or not. My feeling is that I’ve hit most of the oil targets I planned to attack, particularly those around London. However, I haven’t achieved much with the remaining oil targets. I’ll have to cross my fingers and hope for more success during the next full moon night raids.
The upcoming challenge will be clearing a route to the north through airfields and radar stations.
The Weather
There’s not much I can do about it. On cloudy days, I’ve had many canceled raids and unsuccessful bombing missions. From now on, cloudy days will just be an unscheduled break for my bombers, while my fresh fighters sweep the airfields in the London area.
The RAF Response
The RAF keeps sending interceptors up every day.
They’re deploying patrolling fighters to cover the gaps in the radar chain.
It seems like they’re focusing on raids containing bombers and ignoring my small fighter-bomber raids along the coastline aimed at airfields.
I’ve tried different tactics to lure them into chasing decoys, but I haven’t found the right method yet.
I hope I’ll soon be able to reap the benefits of my bombings on oil targets and fighter sweeps.
Losses
For aircraft losses, I feel like I’m doing well: 257 vs. 452 planes lost.
I’m not very familiar with the game yet, but from what I’ve read about the real Battle of Britain, I know that Britain produced about twice as many fighters as Germany. So, in that sense, it seems like I’m doing better than just maintaining the status quo.
As of Turn 14, estimated British Hurricane and Spitfire losses are almost 400, while German Bf 109 and Me 110 losses are around 90.
Most of my casualties are bombers, but I still have plenty of them in reserve.
For pilots, the future looks much bleaker.
I’ve lost 234 combined KIA and MIA pilots compared to the British total of 56.
This is worrying, and I’m not sure how to address it, especially since most of the action for the rest of the game will take place over Great Britain.
Pool
The Next Two Weeks
The next full moon is in about two weeks, so I’ll need to prepare by creating gaps in radar and airfield coverage. My goal is to set up raids gathering in the area around Caen and flying north toward Liverpool.
I’ll focus on lighting up airfields and targeting manned ones with sweeps and bombings. I aim to build a greater advantage in fighters.
On every clear day over the next two weeks, my goal is to hit one high-value target hard (capacity 7 or greater). These targets will include oil storage, oil refineries, chemical plants, industry, or power plants.
Now that I’ve realized the importance of the radar chain, I’ll assign my Stukas to sneak in and deal with all the coastal radar stations.
Today’s Question
What is the replacement rate of pilots for both sides?
What is the skill level of replacement pilots compared to currently active pilots?