Target:Rabaul

[OG_Gleep]

As Allies, all things considered, what is your favorite base to station the 'heavies' for a sustained bombing of rabaul.

Key thing for me is Ops losses. Against the AI atleast, PM is an obvious base because its easy to supply and its in range...but because of distance, your looking at high ops losses.

So what is your favorite base to station these beasts at?

[OG_Gleep]

BTW: Incase it matters, it will be 43 in a day or two, and you guys were right. They can't mount any Betty flights out of Rabaul due to attrition. They will eventually.
 
Don't know if that factors into the situation or not.

[decaro]

I didn't think the 4Es suffered high Ops losses from PM to Rabaul, but as I regain bases in PNG, Lae is a good choice for a strong air base; second choice is Buna.

[OG_Gleep]

I was losing up to 4-7 per mission just ops losses. I think that has something to do with damage but it was high.

[decaro]

That strikes me as rather high, but I don't know the numbers that you're sending over to hit Rabaul.

Are you rotating your bombers? I often rotate them by sending 4Es to one town, 2Es to another, and so on; that way I have a good idea where they are when I need them.

[RGIJN]

ORIGINAL: Joe D.

I didn't think the 4Es suffered high Ops losses from PM to Rabaul, but as I regain bases in PNG, Lae is a good choice for a strong air base; second choice is Buna.

Dobadura with its lvl 6 (hence up to 9) aerodrome makes another good place to base your bomber fleets too. It suffers from only minor port facilities, an advantage Gili-Gili has on the other hand. Further, this town is easier to keep in supply.

Your rather heavy ops losses are startling indeed. Do you encountered strong CAP? What wx conditions you were operating in?

[anarchyintheuk]

PM for the heavies, Dobodura for the B-25s.

[OG_Gleep]

With the 4E's I have been running them all, then pulling them when morale gets in the 50's, and wait until they are strong enough to give a punch. The last time I had them up, the cap was light. Op losses made me pull the entire force of em the in Sept (its december now).

I had forgotten all about Dobodura. Swear its like I never played this game before.

As for Lae, its pretty heavily defended, and if I remember right that can take a toll on your transports. Do you guys land at a base nearby and march, or take the hit on the chin? I have an invasion TF with a couple divisons steaming toward there now.

[decaro]

There are beaches to to S/SW of Lae, and sometimes unoccupied areas to the east, even Finchaven.

Lae can be a tough nut to crack, but an Allied airbase there can cut off the flow of IJ supplies to Wewak and other points West, as well as hitting enemy islands to the North. Futher, paramarines from Lae can take several key islands.

[OG_Gleep]

Its currently Late Jan. Lae is rough going, but I have had good results. Kongo, Haruna, a couple of CA's and a horde of DD's are at the bottom of Lae harbor. Poor bastages.
 
I need to start thinking about a fighter base to escort any raids on Rabaul. Do you typically plan a forward base for corsairs/p-40's/Wildcats or do you rely on P-38's?

[tocaff]

Forward bases such as Fin, 2 hexes closer to Rabul than Lae, are good to have.  Once bombers can be escorted over Rabul the game is over, even without escorts Rabul gets closed.  Allied LBA is omnipotent in UV.

[jeffs]

Agreedwith Tocaff..
If you can use corsairs to fly cover you have won. No way Japan can stand up to 100 medium bombers every turn...Maybe they can hold them off for a while...But if you can escort with corsairs....Lights out.

[tocaff]

Consider Corsairs as the angels of death in UV because the Japanese have nothing to deal with them.  The only things that can hurt the F4Us are ops loses and you'll wish they had a bit more range.

[daveja vu]

One of my favorite tactics is to get a 100+ raid of B-25's with good P-38 escort to hit Rabaul at treetop level (100ft). As long as your escorts are up to dealing with Rabaul's CAP, the B-25's should absolutely tear up the place, causing LOTS of enemy aircraft to be lost on the ground. I can only do this once a week due to the morale hit for low-level missions, but it's worth it to see the pride of Japanese aviation reduced to junk at an accelerated rate. Obviously useful late in the game, when your B-25's and P-38's are built up with sufficient numbers, high experience, and plenty of morale.

[Denniss]

ORIGINAL: daveja vu

One of my favorite tactics is to get a 100+ raid of B-25's with good P-38 escort to hit Rabaul at treetop level (100ft). As long as your escorts are up to dealing with Rabaul's CAP, the B-25's should absolutely tear up the place, causing LOTS of enemy aircraft to be lost on the ground. I can only do this once a week due to the morale hit for low-level missions, but it's worth it to see the pride of Japanese aviation reduced to junk at an accelerated rate. Obviously useful late in the game, when your B-25's and P-38's are built up with sufficient numbers, high experience, and plenty of morale.

Have you ever thought of using only one bomb group per day using a different bomb group every other day? Should really wear down the Japs if you visit them daily to say hello.

[daveja vu]

ORIGINAL: Denniss
Have you ever thought of using only one bomb group per day using a different bomb group every other day? Should really wear down the Japs if you visit them daily to say hello.

I have tried that tactic but I just don't seem to get the spectacular results that I get from huge massed raids. True, it does damage and wears out Rabaul's CAP, but it seems to cost me more in the long run without decisive results. I DO like to mass bomber groups at different bases when I'm able (B-25's at Dobodura, B-17's/B-24's at Port Moresby) and rotate them around for strikes on Rabaul, with an occasional fighter sweep thrown in to keep the Zeroes down. I like to take Kiriwina Is. and turn it into a fighter base - P-47's are great for tearing up Zeroes on fighter sweeps. I just seem to get better results by being able to mass my strikes, particularly when I can eradicate most of their bombers sitting on the ground at Rabaul.

[Hornblower]

bump

[SuluSea]

I'd rather not daylight raid any heavily defended airfield unless the bombers have escorts. The last game I played had 2 and 4E Bombers flying out of Lae with P38s as escorts.

[HansBolter]

ORIGINAL: OG_Gleep

With the 4E's I have been running them all, then pulling them when morale gets in the 50's, and wait until they are strong enough to give a punch. The last time I had them up, the cap was light. Op losses made me pull the entire force of em the in Sept (its december now).

There are two other important factors that could be coming into play with regard to OPs losses.

Fatigue and weather.

[daveja vu]

I normally base my heavy bombers at PM and Lunga, once the airbase is fully developed.  I usually run them constantly on naval search missions, which builds up good experience without too many op losses, and every so often let them have a crack at Rabaul or Shortland.  I normally don't fly them lower than 15,000 feet; they seem to be able to take care of themselves pretty well at high altitudes.  Japanese fighters just weren't as well equipped as German fighters to take down heavy bombers at high altitudes.  Any closer bases I like to stack my fighters, particularly P-38's, at so I can use them either as escorts or for fighter sweeps.  And true, once you can escort bombers over Rabaul, especially if you get bases close enough to fly Corsairs, the game is all but over.  I also discovered that P47's, if you get them close enough, are pretty formidable vs. Zero CAP.