Bombers - escort coordination

[invernomuto]

I am esperiencing a lot of bombers that "lose" their escort. From Khota Baru, a squadron of betty just got slaughtered by Allied CAP over singapore. My fighters escorted the sallys but ignored the betty. They were at the same altitude (10.000 fts).
In the PI it's 6-7 turns that my Lilys bombard Baatan alone because Zeros refuse to escort them. Usually zeros sweep over Baatan but they do not escort the bomber.
How can I maximize the chance of a successful escorted raid? Which elements do I have to consider? Number of fighters (squadron, planes?) compared to the bombers? Leader skill of the fighter squadron?
Please help...

[m10bob]

It is possible the fighter pilots are dog tired, or their morale be low from getting a "Dear Johnimoto" letter.....These things matter..

[morganbj]

... or a new shipment of saki came in the night before ...

[Q-Ball]

ORIGINAL: bjmorgan

... or a new shipment of saki came in the night before ...

...which would IMPROVE morale, wouldn't it? Though I could see it increasing fatigue...

[Halsey]

Things to look for...

Same altitude settings.
Layered Air HQ's within range.
Leaders of air units, and HQ's.

Weather[:D]
This one is why I still try to have dedicated escorts operating from the same airfield as the bombers.

[invernomuto]

ORIGINAL: Halsey

Things to look for...

Same altitude settings.
Layered Air HQ's within range.
Leaders of air units, and HQ's.

Weather[:D]
This one is why I still try to have dedicated escorts operating from the same airfield as the bombers.

Thanks!

[TheElf]

ORIGINAL: Halsey

Things to look for...

Same altitude settings.
Layered Air HQ's within range.
Leaders of air units, and HQ's.

Weather[:D]
This one is why I still try to have dedicated escorts operating from the same airfield as the bombers.

Halsey is quite right. There are many things that aggregate into a successful and regular rendezvous. As usual I won't divulge how these things are weighted, but I will say that co-located Escorts are the most likely improvement. In the war years, rendezvous were often subject to a myriad obstacles, chief among them miscommunication, misunderstanding or the inability to update all units in a timely fashion, particularly as resultant from being separated by great distances.

LDR skills/stats, weather, improper player input (incorrect or differing altitudes, or Commander's discretion set) also play a role.

Check as many of these boxes as you can and there is still no guarantee. Murphy's law rules. But it should help.

[P.Hausser]

I recommend you to send 1/3 of your fighters on Sweep, then 2nd day send the other 1/3 on Sweep, and on the 3rd day use the last 1/3 on Escort and the first 1/3 on Sweep.

In my opinion fights take longer time now, Ops take more days both to prep but also to do, who IMHO is more realistic.


The Air Model is lacking 1 important thing IMHO, and that is the option to not engage Sweeps.. the RAF made that decision during BOB.


It works pretty good I think.

[jwilkerson]

I execute the option not to engage sweeps on many turns - I stand down my fighters! ((if I think the enemy will hit me with a heavy fighter attack))

Another "standard" tactic I used in stock (WITP) which will still work in AE - is to defend forward bases only with "bleed over" CAP. Bleed over CAP are the few planes that will stray out 1-3 hexes away from a base to CAP nearby hexes, even when not on LRCAP. This is "LRCAP on the cheap". It is effective in encouraging the enemy to try to escort every strike (else even a few of your fighters might take a heavy toll on unescorted bombers) and your own losses will be low, because you have so few planes committed. In the mid-late war - it can drive Allied commanders nuts!
[:D]

[tigercub]

I am liking that twisted idea.

Tiger!

[sfbaytf]

Escorting bombers isn't a cut and dry proposition. WW2 was the day of paper, pencil, protractor, slide ruler navigation. Far, far too easy to miss a rendezvous point. GPS and other modern day tools we take for granted like calculators were simply not available.

Command and control was primitive to say the least.

Then you had the terrible and unpredictable weather in the Pacific. Some regions like the South Pacific has atrocious weather. Try flying in a prop plane even today and see what its like.

Then you had the fighter pilot vs bomber issue. Most fighter pilots loathed the prospect of escorting bombers. To keep pace with slower moving bombers fighters had to zig-zag, reduce speed and maintain close proximity to bombers, something they preferred not to do.

Sweeps now actually serve a purpose, unlike WitP