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I was thinking that air units within range of a convoy route should have a chance to sink the occasional merchant point.

The German airforce trying to interrupt lendlease to Russia from Norway might not have been big enough to be a air unit in game terms but I think if you place a bomber in Norway/Finland they should have a chance to sink some merchants without having to spend a operation point on it just being close to the convoy route should be enough.

I guess this could matter in the pacific as well. Again just an idea [:)].

/MM

It is already on my list. I am trying to find a fair way to put it in the game.

Good suggestion. Much like port interdiction bomber units within range of a convoys route should sink the occasional merchant.

While we are at it, how does the game handle subs and bombers currently. I mean that subs operating within range of bombers are at much greater risk of being caught or should be anyway. I am thinking about the Atlantic gap early war, before Allies had long range planes to close the gap. Or maybe Allies trying to block the iron ore route during winter. Operating within bomber range should be risky for any fleet, surface or sub alike.

ORIGINAL: PanzerMike
I am thinking about the Atlantic gap early war, before Allies had long range planes to close the gap. Or maybe Allies trying to block the iron ore route during winter. Operating within bomber range should be risky for any fleet, surface or sub alike.

You realise, of course, that the Mid-Atlantic gap was never a problem of a lack of Bombers? IIRC when it was eventually 'closed' it required the commitment of ~36-48 aircraft. That's 1 and a bit Bomber points.

The aircraft were always available, from the get go, in 1939, but RAF Bomber Command (Bomber Harris) repeatedly vetoed the idea until it was taken out of their hands and the Bomber allocated over their protests.

Now, this is another of those 'I'm smarter than Hitler' moments where the German Player claims that some particular game effect that means he can do things the Germans couldn't actually have done because of real world constraints SHOULD become an ...

'I'm smarter than Bomber Harris' moment where the Allied player should get the effect of deployed the bombers earlier.

Note that it wasn't that the Bombers in question sank a lot of Subs, it was that it made the surfacing for refuelling and reprovisioning (for torpedoes, mostly) of subs in the theater more and more difficult.

To really represent what was going on you should increase the Endurance loss of German subs once Bombers are committed to ASW at select locations ... making their 'time on station' much much less, meaning that the Germans will either have to build many many many more or face rapidly declining numbers actually on station ... and, therefore, rapidly declining allied loss rates.

Phil McGregor