Low Level Bombing

[Anthropoid]

Hmmm, maybe obsolete info left over from WiTP or maybe I just got it wrong, but . . . I was under the impression recons get better intell at lower altitudes, down to some theoretical minimum.

I've been using them a lot at 6K, 4K and even 3K feet. I seem to get lots of intell at 4K, as in, a single aircraft might even gather all the salient information about a location in one sortie. 6K seems fine too, though perhaps a bit more erratic in terms of intell gathering. 3K they definitely seem to get chewed on by flak and/or fighters, though I rarely see a recon get attacked by fighters anyway.

Good to know about the Dive and TB! 10,000 FTW!

[crsutton]

ORIGINAL: Anthropoid

Hmmm, maybe obsolete info left over from WiTP or maybe I just got it wrong, but . . . I was under the impression recons get better intell at lower altitudes, down to some theoretical minimum.

I've been using them a lot at 6K, 4K and even 3K feet. I seem to get lots of intell at 4K, as in, a single aircraft might even gather all the salient information about a location in one sortie. 6K seems fine too, though perhaps a bit more erratic in terms of intell gathering. 3K they definitely seem to get chewed on by flak and/or fighters, though I rarely see a recon get attacked by fighters anyway.

Good to know about the Dive and TB! 10,000 FTW!

You probably do but OP losses for Allied recons would be unacceptable at that level. You just don't have enough to squander in the first half of the war. High altitude passes with a camera equipped plane generally get most of the dope you need in one or two passes-given decent weather.

[Anthropoid]

So, one or two recons at low altitude to get the dope, then go up to highest possible alttude, gotcha![:D]

{assuming of course it is a location at which little enemy presence is expected}

[Yaab]

Thread resurrection.

Does anyone know what is the approach altitude for level bombers set to attack a base at 100 feet?

I have been mucking recently with a A-20 Havoc group attacking Lae from Port Moresby at 100 feet. As designed, I suffer a loadout penalty, flying with just 1 x 500lb GP bomb, and a morale hit (after each mission morale drops by 7-9 points, then stabilises at barely 20 points). Yet, each time when I attack the base I seem to suffer flak twice in combat animation - once over the base, and another time when airplanes conduct strafing at 100 feet. When I bomb at 2000-4000 feet altitude, I seem to suffer flak only once. Basically, at a 2000-4000 feet attack, I get 0-15 flak bursts in combat animation, and 20-25 flak bursts at 100 feet attack. There are 14 heavy (75mm and 10cm) AA guns at the base.

It seems level bombers at 100 feet behave the same as dive bombers and torpedo bombers -- they suffer flak both at approach altitude and release altitude. If so, this is another reason not to attack bases/unit at 100 feet if there is AA present.

[Yaab]

Just tested again. This time the Japanese BF had 18 x 7.7mm AAMGs as it sole AA defence.

Results:

1) Bombers suffer only one phase of flak, namely during their strafing run. Bursts ranged from 5 to 12 bursts per combat animation. This means Havoc approach altitude must be at least 2000 feet, above the 1700 feet ceiling of the AAMGs.

2) One Havoc (durability 35, armor 1) was DESTROYED by AAMG fire. The pilot was killed. This was during the last test when only 4 Havocs flew due to low group's morale (30+) and AAMG fire was concentrated on individual bombers.

The above means that heavy flak guns (75-120mm) fire TWICE at bombers attacking at 100 feet - at the approach altitude (which must be at least 2000 feet or more) and during the strafing run at 100 feet. This is contrary to what JWE had posted in flak threads about the fire of heavy AA guns being less effective at lowest altitudes.It also beats the purpose of 100 feet missions, which should be approaching at tree-top level to cut down on aircraft exposure time to enemy flak. You worst choice it to go at a base with heavy AA guns at 100 feet.

AAMGs fire ONCE, but still can kill durable aircraft.

[crsutton]

Interesting but I just do not fool with low level attacks vs any but the weakest targets. In fact with the latest patch and the added strength of AA, I find that I have moved my bombers up to over 10,000 feet against defended bases. In stock, I just set every bomber at 7,000 feet and suffered very few flak losses. Now that does not work so well. I think AA is working much closer to normal now. Thanks to some hard work by others.

[Yaab]

I agree.

You can still fool around with durable bombers vs AAMG-only LCU provided you can saturate their defences (ie 18 bombers vs 18 AAMGs, or 30 bombers vs 18 AAMGs etc.). In all other situations you need to use attack bombers to suppres TWO phases of flak during 100 feet missions.

[Yaab]

One more thing.

Since the approach altitude for 100 feet attacks must be at least 2000 feet and probably more, I can NEVER evade CAP patrolling at 6000 feet over the base, even if the detection time is in range of 2-4 minutes. The CAP always intercepts approaching aircraft and gets the dive bonus. Now, I still remember my US P-35s sallying once from Clark Field to attack Jap ships at San Fernando at 100 feet. They got intercepted by Zeros on LRCAP and butchered, with a tune of 10-15 P-35s destroyed. That was in 2012 and I wondered how the CAP could actually find my fighters attacking at 100 feet. Now I know the altitude difference between the CAP and the attackers was not 5900 feet, but more like 2000-3000 feet.

Wish that was explained in the manual.