High Altitude Bombing

[Drongo]

OK, I can report the problem now after seeing something that made the Pearl Harbour attack look like a kid's balloon fight at MacDonalds.

Day Air attack on Rabaul , at 61,88


Allied aircraft
F-5A Lightning x 2
B-17E Fortress x 34


No Allied losses

Japanese Ships
BB Nagato, Bomb hits 26, on fire
BB Kongo, Bomb hits 23, on fire
BB Yamato, Bomb hits 24, on fire
BB Kirishima, Bomb hits 28, on fire
CL Tatsuta, Bomb hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
CA Myoko, Bomb hits 3
BB Mutsu, Bomb hits 18, on fire
AK Glasgow Maru, Bomb hits 1, on fire
DD Oite, Bomb hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
CA Haguro, Bomb hits 2
AP Tama Maru #2, Bomb hits 1, on fire
CL Kinu, Bomb hits 3, on fire
AP Meiten Maru, Bomb hits 1
AP Teiyo Maru, Bomb hits 1, on fire
CL Abukuma, Bomb hits 2
AK Cuba Maru, Bomb hits 1, on fire
CA Takao, Bomb hits 2
CL Jintsu, Bomb hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
CL Sendai, Bomb hits 1, on fire
CA Kinugasa, Bomb hits 2
CL Tama, Bomb hits 2, on fire
CA Maya, Bomb hits 1
AK Yodogawa Maru, Bomb hits 1, on fire
CA Furutaka, Bomb hits 2
CA Suzuya, Bomb hits 3, on fire
AP Jinsai Maru, Bomb hits 1, on fire
CL Yubari, Bomb hits 1
CL Tenryu, Bomb hits 1, on fire
AP Haaburu Maru, Bomb hits 1, on fire
CA Chokai, Bomb hits 1

Japanese ground losses:
207 casualties reported
Guns lost 2

Port hits 47
Port fuel hits 1
Port supply hits 4

Aircraft Attacking:
34 x B-17E Fortress bombing at 33000 feet

I'll make pass this on the the developers. Sorry if earlier complaints were missed.

Cheers.

P.S. All the hits on the BB's were non-penetrating so there should be no concerns about bombs dropped from high altitudes reaching hyper-velocity. The BB's all suffered fires and lost their top decks but the highest sys damage taken was 12%.

Also note that max altitude wasn't used. It appears any altitude around 33,000 ft or greater can cause these type of results.

[von Murrin]

That's nearing 100% accuracy. Bizarre. I haven't seen this at all, but I like 15-20k as a bombing altitude for Norden equipped aircraft.

Just one of those things that occasionally slip through, I guess.

[Ron Saueracker]

Kinda makes the Carrier raids vs Rabaul in '43 and Truk in "44, and most others, redundant with these results.

I have a personal house rule against four engined bombers utilizing port attacks. Twin and single engined tactical bombers, sure, but any IJ player who utilizes ports in range of Allied Mitchell's, Beaufighters, Marauders etc deserves these losses. Same goes for an Allied player who does not have sufficient CAP over his ports within Betty/Nell/A6M2 range.

[WiTP_Dude]

These hits obviously indicate there is a bug. In one playtest 44 B-17Es put 44 bombs on ships, in the other 34 B-17Es - 125+ bombs. In both cases the bombers are operating at over six miles above the target. They should be lucky to get one hit at this range.

[latosusi]

I also get good results with my B-17's. Not with any other level bombers.
I have 12 B-17s at Soarabaja bombing Palambang port/airfield. They
have numerous fighters based there but no organised CAP. I haven't
been able to penetrate armor of the BBs though. Encouraged by the
good results i decided to send one BG with B-17 to help british in India/Burma.
We'll see what happens!

[barbarrossa]

Yeah, this B-17 thingy should be looked into, that's just too wacky for the hit ratio to be so high.

Glad I haven't made the attempt at a port attack on Rabaul yet. I'll impose a "house rule" on myself[:D]

[satisfaction]

ORIGINAL: Joel Billings

ORIGINAL: satisfaction

Don't know if this has been discussed, but I've noticed that my B-17e's have uncanny accuracy from 35,000 feet. I have about 50 based out of Port Moresby in June '42, set to daytime bombardment (Rabaul) from 35,000 feet (above the zero's). About half are attacking the port, the other half are attacking the airbase. Every turn they absolutely smash 6-8 ships in harbor (as many as 30 hits on some battleships), and score well over 100 runway hits. I've completely shut down Rabaul in only a week. It seems more like 50 B-52's dropping JDAMS...the amount of destruction is incredible.

Do you get this result at lower altitudes (20-25k)? Just wondering if there is something wrong happening at extremely high altitudes based on other player comments that indicate your bombers' hit rates are unusual.

Glad to know that it's not just my game. I'm imposing a house rule of 25,000 ft until this problem is addressed. Just to answer this question...no my results were much lower number of hits (at 25,000 ft). I couldn't shut down the base, not even close. I just wanted to disrupt it while I moved heavy transport TF into lower Solomons.

[latosusi]

Have you tried with other level bombers?

[Joel Billings]

Gary confirmed that there is a bug with high altitude bombers (probably at 32768 as posted earlier, thanks for that note). He has sent a fix to Mike so hopefully it will be fixed in the next patch. Until then, keep your altitudes below 30k and you should be fine.

[latosusi]

And those bombers would be even better off above that! Lol!

[Speedysteve]

Reminds me of BTR[;)]

[esteban]

I suppose that those of us with active PBEM games will not be helped by any changes to this in upcoming patches?

[Joel Billings]

ORIGINAL: esteban

I suppose that those of us with active PBEM games will not be helped by any changes to this in upcoming patches?

This fix will work with old saves.

[brisd]

Thanks for the quick response. I remember the Uber bomber B-17's from early versions of UV, those nightmares were returning. Stuff like this is why I am not playing PBEM (long campaigns) till a few more patches.

[satisfaction]

Well glad to know it wasn't just me...stick to house rules for now I guess.

[BRZ]

Is it near? I am dying to start my 1st long run.