Naval bombardment question

[HansBolter]

Recon mission. I Target the base and have never had an issue. Not sure what BBfanboy meant about getting it to spot but not recon by not setting a target.

[Alfred]

ORIGINAL: HansBolter

Recon mission. I Target the base and have never had an issue. Not sure what BBfanboy meant about getting it to spot but not recon by not setting a target.

With a designated target the recon mission will (subject to weather permitting) only fly to that target. With no designated target the recon mission might fly to another base which is not the intended bombardment target instead.

Alfred

[BBfanboy]

ORIGINAL: Alfred

ORIGINAL: HansBolter

Recon mission. I Target the base and have never had an issue. Not sure what BBfanboy meant about getting it to spot but not recon by not setting a target.

With a designated target the recon mission will (subject to weather permitting) only fly to that target. With no designated target the recon mission might fly to another base which is not the intended bombardment target instead.

Alfred

Will that happen with range set to 0? I have not had any problem keeping the aircraft in the bombardment hex if I set that range.
My supposition with setting a base as target is that the FP may do a general recon mission instead of spotting. I know bombardment usually happens before the night air phase, but sometimes bombardments get delayed.

[Alfred]

Range "0" simply means recon is limited to hex which holds the TF.  Thus without setting a target, even with range 0, there is a chance that if the bombardment TF transits any base hex before arriving at the bombardment destination, a recon of a non bombardment hex might result.  Not a likely scenario but theoretically a possibility.  Whereas if you do specifically target the recon to the bombardment hex, that possibility is not possible.
 
Usually a bombardment TF will have more than one ship equipped with a floatplane unit.  As you only need 1 unit to act as a spotter for the bombardment (2 units if you want both night and day coverage) there is no downside when assigning the specific bombardment target to the recon mission.
 
Alfred

[BBfanboy]

ORIGINAL: Alfred

Range "0" simply means recon is limited to hex which holds the TF.  Thus without setting a target, even with range 0, there is a chance that if the bombardment TF transits any base hex before arriving at the bombardment destination, a recon of a non bombardment hex might result.  Not a likely scenario but theoretically a possibility.  Whereas if you do specifically target the recon to the bombardment hex, that possibility is not possible.

Usually a bombardment TF will have more than one ship equipped with a floatplane unit.  As you only need 1 unit to act as a spotter for the bombardment (2 units if you want both night and day coverage) there is no downside when assigning the specific bombardment target to the recon mission.

Alfred

Ok - I understand now the part about transiting other bases.
I am somewhat non-standard in that I usually do not do a nighttime in-and-out bombardment, preferring to remain and bombard during the day as well (I am reducing isolated targets). This means I need both night and day spotting and additional recon if there are enough FP equipped ships.

But if selecting the base does not interfere with spotting I will try that method too (as opposed to not selecting a target, which also works IME).

[Chickenboy]

ORIGINAL: bradfordkay


No, I don't have my shipborne spotter aircraft over the target, as I did not believe that they would fly for a night bombardment. I will try that... do I have to set them to "night ops"?

Two approaches (do both):

1. During the day, have IJAAF / IJNAF dedicated recon aircraft "recon" the hex. The goal is to get the DL up to 9/10, 10/10 or 11/10.

2. Set the bombardment TF and have float planes switch to 'night operations' and 'recon' the base in question. It's OK if the base is currently out of range because the TF will be moving in closer to blast it to kingdom come.

[bradfordkay]

ORIGINAL: Chickenboy

ORIGINAL: bradfordkay


No, I don't have my shipborne spotter aircraft over the target, as I did not believe that they would fly for a night bombardment. I will try that... do I have to set them to "night ops"?

Two approaches (do both):

1. During the day, have IJAAF / IJNAF dedicated recon aircraft "recon" the hex. The goal is to get the DL up to 9/10, 10/10 or 11/10.

2. Set the bombardment TF and have float planes switch to 'night operations' and 'recon' the base in question. It's OK if the base is currently out of range because the TF will be moving in closer to blast it to kingdom come.

Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere Fanboy... I am the Western Imperial Powers. I've been flying recon over those troops for weeks, though that eats up one of only four recon squadrons in the area. I had not been using the spotter aircraft to fly recon over the target, however... so I appreciate you being willing to help the evil overseers maintain our immoral hold over the downtrodden people of Asia. [;)]

[Edward75]

Is there any difference in night or day naval bombardment?
It is bad that it is impossible to establish such an option: day / night naval bombardment.

[BBfanboy]

ORIGINAL: Edward75

Is there any difference in night or day naval bombardment?
It is bad that it is impossible to establish such an option: day / night naval bombardment.

If the TF has enough ammo left after the night bombardment, the day bombardment is usually more effective because the D/L has been raised and because the enemy troops are still suffering disruption from the night bombardment. Weather can change between phases though, so that could affect the accuracy of the bombardment. If the visibility is bad enough the TF might not bombard at all.

To do a daytime bombardment you usually must set "Remain on Station" rather than the usual Return to Port. In rare circumstances a TF set for night bombardment will have some delays and bombard during the daytime, but you do not have a way of ensuring that happens - it is a mostly random event.

Similarly, if you start with your TF more than one phase's movement away from the target in hopes it will arrive in daylight, the bombardment routine will usually thwart you by moving your TF only a few hexes so that it can reach the target on the next night phase.