Matrix Games Forums

I recently purchased this game and I'm having a great time tinkering with the easier scenarios to get a feel for the game, but I wanted to ask some things that I haven't been able to pick up on from reading through the forums:

1. Cloud cover - how much is too much? Is there a percentage where its too thick for bombing missions to be run feasibly? The heaviest I've ever seen so far was something like 30% cover in a BoB turn as the Germans and I'm wondering if that just means I'll ground the bombers for that day.

Also, does cloud cover only apply to areas where there are actual clouds? Maybe I should still send in the bombers anyway on a heavy day if I can luck at the area is "open" at the time of bombing.

2. Fighter Sweeps - before or after a raid? I'm not exactly sure how to use these effectively yet.

3. Altitude settings - I'm currently using ~8000 for German bombers in BOB playthroughs to stay above British flak, and 33000 for Allied bombers in BTR playthroughs to stay above the German flak (or at least, for any bombers capable of reaching this high). Is it really this simple, or are there other considerations?

Also, what about fighters? I'm currently setting them as high as they can go under the presumption that it'll help them get the bounce, but that may just be a habit from WITP-AE.

4. Night Intruders - what do these do? I'm getting the impression that they're simply a night version of a Recon run

5. Escort delay setting - how/why is this used? I'm not sure I get the point as an escort is supposed to keep pace with the bombers in the first place.

6. Anti-AI strategy - any tips for what the AI is vulnerable to? I've heard that it's prone to reacting to everything it sees, so you can send in one diversionary raid that it'll try to intercept, then you go in later in the day when all of the fighters are on downtime from the one small attack. I'm not nearly well versed enough in the game yet to work out the timing on that, though.

Thanks in the advance for the input!

ORIGINAL: gradenko_2000

I recently purchased this game and I'm having a great time tinkering with the easier scenarios to get a feel for the game, but I wanted to ask some things that I haven't been able to pick up on from reading through the forums:

1. Cloud cover - how much is too much? Is there a percentage where its too thick for bombing missions to be run feasibly? The heaviest I've ever seen so far was something like 30% cover in a BoB turn as the Germans and I'm wondering if that just means I'll ground the bombers for that day.

Also, does cloud cover only apply to areas where there are actual clouds? Maybe I should still send in the bombers anyway on a heavy day if I can luck at the area is "open" at the time of bombing.

2. Fighter Sweeps - before or after a raid? I'm not exactly sure how to use these effectively yet.

3. Altitude settings - I'm currently using ~8000 for German bombers in BOB playthroughs to stay above British flak, and 33000 for Allied bombers in BTR playthroughs to stay above the German flak (or at least, for any bombers capable of reaching this high). Is it really this simple, or are there other considerations?

Also, what about fighters? I'm currently setting them as high as they can go under the presumption that it'll help them get the bounce, but that may just be a habit from WITP-AE.

4. Night Intruders - what do these do? I'm getting the impression that they're simply a night version of a Recon run

5. Escort delay setting - how/why is this used? I'm not sure I get the point as an escort is supposed to keep pace with the bombers in the first place.

6. Anti-AI strategy - any tips for what the AI is vulnerable to? I've heard that it's prone to reacting to everything it sees, so you can send in one diversionary raid that it'll try to intercept, then you go in later in the day when all of the fighters are on downtime from the one small attack. I'm not nearly well versed enough in the game yet to work out the timing on that, though.

Thanks in the advance for the input!

Hi Gradenko,

Hmmm, well my first advice is this....forget EVERYTHING that you know from WITP-AE. [;)]

Here are my answers to some of your questions:

1) Basically you need to look at the clouds and try to anticipate where the gaps in cloud will be. If the target you want to hitis in the middle of a huge clearing then it doesn't matter what the percentage is. HOWEVER the thing to remeber is, that cloud can prevent missions from launching. This becomes a big deal when the weather is good enough for the bombers to launch early in the day, but bad enough to scrub the escort missions later on.

3) Altitude. Yeah you can just do the good ol trick of "Everyone fly at ceiling", you will avoid much of the flak, but you will also not be likely to do much damage. Also the chance of aircraft having to abort due to icing increases above 27,000 ft.
As for fighters flying as high as they can, again this sounds like the WITP tactic of "Everyone fly at your ceiling". Two points to consider: 1) being above the enemy does not gaurentee that you will get the bounce and 2) if you are more than a few thousand feet above the enemy your fighters need to spend time to re-position to get closer before they can attack, so if you are - lets say 10,000 ft above the bombers then the Germans will liekly get in, hit the heavies and get out before your A/C are in position to do anything about it.

4) Night intruders are night fighters. A lot of people think that they can escort night bombers streams with them - you cant.
Loitering over night fighter bases to catch night fighetrs landing is a great way to use intruders. If you mix a few in the bomber stream you might get lucky as well.
They have no recon ability though.

5) Escort delay is a BIG deal.....BIG.

Without it you are robbing your bombers of escort time in enemy territory. For example, in a BTR mission your bombers will form up over the English coast and head to their targets. If delay is set to "0" then the escorts will form up with them at the same time and start to escort them immediately.
This sounds awesome, however your bombers are usually not going to be intercepted until they are at, or near, the enemy coast. This means you have effectively wasted 15 - 20 minutes of your fighters endurance escorting bombers over friendly territory, the answer here is to use the delay to set the fighters to take off 15 - 20 minutes after the bombers so that, ideally, the fighters meet with the bombers just as they cross the coast. Then ofcourse you will set other squadrons to meet up even later, as the first wave reaches bingo fuel. Perhaps more to escort the bombers on the return leg too.
If you ever want to fly to Berlin or anywhere past the Rhur you will need to use delay settings.

About sweeps:

They're best when thy either hit planes on the ground (strafing) or landing planes.


My ideal sequence is this:
1) First send in recons only. They produce no radio alert, thus no interceptor patrols.
Ju 86P-2 recons can be sent in at any time, depends on when you expect the target without clouds. Their outbound route should be over multiple other targets for secondary photos.

Alternatively you can send recons in during the afternoon, 2 hours after the last major missions ops.

2) Major raids, but hit only coastal targets away from the usual patrol points. East English coastal targets, for example. There's a spot where you can easily create a low altitude radar coverage gap. Same in Cornwall (southwest England).

3) About 2 hours later their patrols need to land (see weapons database, Hurricane, Spitfire / Fw 190, Bf 109 endurance) - this about the time when fighter sweeps should attempt to strafe the fighters on the ground. German fighters lack the endurance for circling over an airfield enough to actually catch many landing aircraft.

4) Again 2 hours later (some interceptors will have sortied in response to fighter sweeps): Begin the real attacks. The response will already be weakened. Hit engine factories if possible in Eagle Day because the destruction of planes in repair or maintenance on the ground will decimate their planes, not their pilots. Minimize RAF fighter strength.

5) Again 2 hours later - again fighter sweeps if you still have enough fighters available (unlikely).

6) After dawn: Begin night attacks, if possible timed for action during no moon light. Separate missions for separate bomber types in order to maximise the altitude to every types' ceiling.

Don't fly bombing raids at 33K!

The original game was broken at this altitude. It may be largely fixed, but in my opinion is still a bit off.

If you look at the allied bombing reports and the strategic bombing surveys you will see that they could not and did not try to bomb at these high altitudes with very rare exceptions. To much bomb drift, strain on the aircraft, and crews.

yes.I kown,Thank YOU,I HAVE THE SAME QU

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