Personnel casualties from night bombing

[Tristanjohn]

My record so far is something over 500 (five hundred) GIs killed from Japanese "Betty's" and "Nells" bombing Kiriwina at night. The Japanese planes regularly score 200 or better and _always_ more than my B-17s hitting Rabaul.

That's a joke.

While I'm on it, I recently switched over from hitting the Rabaul airfield complex (wasn't doing much good anyway--I rarely wreck any planes and whern I do these are rarely the level bombers--doubt I've destroyed more than two or three of those on the field so far, and we're halfway through December 1942) to bombing the port there. This is for the reason my opponent has most of warships repairing damage from the countless bombardment missions he sent them on in November in an attempt to stop my development of Kiriwina.

My first mission got nothing but my second scored hits on a CVL, BB, CA and a few other ships. Thrid raid scored on the CVL again with more hits on a BB and CA and like that.

This is according to the AAR--don't know what the actual score has been.

This persuaded my opponent to send his ships over to Kavieng and Negros instead, where I've continued to pummel them with more hits (weather permitting).

Now it's nice to know B-17s actually can hit something in this game but that many hits on shipping from night attacks strikes me as heavy handed. My medium bombers have joined in as well (from Kiriwina over Rabaul and now from Munda since it rose to a level-4 airfield) with pretty much equal success, these attacks, too, going in at night.

This is crazy.

One more gripe about these board: I can barely see the print well enough to edit my copy. I have to go into "preview" in order to see what I'm doing, try to remember what I saw and then squint over this pica text to make needed corrections.

See what I mean?

[BruceAZ_MatrixForum]

I have had similar results with B-17's and IJN ports. Not very effective and I usually take a lot of damage to my planes. However, the 17's did well against units (infantry, etc.) NOT located in a city. I also tried to duplicate the problem but was not successful so I have always chalked it up to a zealous AI that prefer Saki to Coors. If you can repeat the same event 3 or 4 times in a row then it may be an issue or a bug. I have always thought the IJN has/had an advantage in carrier battles when we were equal in ships and planes. Unfortunately, I could not prove my argument so I did what every good wargamer does - shoot the AI and buy a new computer. DELL assures me a quick victory by December 1943.

[:D]

Recon
Semper Fi

[crsutton]

If you have FOW on, then those figures will not be accurate. I think night attacks should be less deadly-or at least cause the attacker higher operational losses. Neither side was very good at it. Port attacks are especially beneficial in that you will make the base unusable for enemy ships and supply hits come more frequently It is the quickest way to starve out the enemy. I find that players do not use Port attacks enough. If you want to kill airplanes then, knock out the enemy airfield with high and medium level attacks. airfield. Once you do that, send your bombers in at 1000 to 100 feet. They will kill lots of planes. Your morale will suffer so rotate your bombers. But high morale mediums going in at treetop level are just plain deadly.

[mariovalleemtl]

I alway play my PBEM with this "House Rules" ; ''All kind of night air attacks or just bombing attacks (i.e. airfield/port/ground unit air bombing) are unacceptable''.

It is way to easy and unhistorycal to damage ships in ports at night without that house rule. [:-] That one of the only major think I don't agree with the designer.

mv

[DJAndrews]

My experience is not so much that bomb damage is too high, but that the fatigue accumulated in night bombing raids is far to low. Bombing from Kiriwina or Dobadura I have bombed with 4e bombers on consecutive days for a week without reaching 15 in accumulated fatigue. For 2e bombers you can bomb forever at night and never have fatigue rise above 20. In comparison, daytime attacks from the same bases require that you rest half your planes each day if you want to maintain consecutive day bombing. In addition, night attacks require no escort, so all fighters are free to rest overnight and fly the next day. Night bombing gives a huge advantage to the allies because of the numbers of bombers available and the fragility of the Betties (op losses).

[Odin]

How about night attacks on airfields or ports at 100feet with 2-engin Bombers?

Someone tried this?[:)]

[jmkas]

Tried it several times against Shortland with twin engine planes. Lost more planes than people on the ground killed by bombs (or my falling aircraft) - Perhaps I was very unlucky that day...but I am not doing it again.