B29 - too weak?

[Cavalry Corp]

Thinking about a tweak to the B29 in my mod - finding the B29 a bit too vulnerable.
Attacking 8000 feet they got chewed up - is that because the fighters have optimum mvr - is that why they are safer higher as the fighters have low mvr???

should I put the armour to 2? i have never noticed armour 2 making much difference actually.

How much difference does durability make?? Is there limit to the number they are 70 currently.

what is realistic load out - a realistic one for short and long range?

Help and suggestions appreciated

[LargeSlowTarget]

Maybe the issue is not the stats but your use of the B-29s? The Superfortress has been designed for very high-altitude bombing (like 25k and higher), the idea being that high altitude was the best protection because Japanese fighters could barely reach that altitude and catch the speedy bombers. Furthermore, the initial raids were conducted at night. Since the accuracy of bombing from that altitude was pretty bad and Japanese night-fighters and AA turned out being pretty bad as well, the US changed tactics and went lower, with the added advantage that the bombers needed to carry less fuel and could carry more bombs. However, tactics of going in low and in plain daylight against capable Japanese (day) fighters is an invitation for disaster.

[JanSako]

They are not invulnerable; against well experienced late model Japanese planes they should get chewed up pretty bad, especially that low, unescorted & if the CAP gets the drop on them (early detection - Radar). The low level not only give the fighters the maneuverability advantage but it virtually guarantees that the CAP will get the first 'dive' bonus on the bombers. If the base has any radar, that is. Check how far out the bombers were detected!

As a suggestion, maybe start with your desired result & tweak from there. What sort of results would you want to see?
E.g. a raid of 96 B-29's at 25k. Launching from a large airbase (less OPS losses for damaged planes)
Opposition - 27 or 45 planes (What kind?) - Radar or not?

Run it 5-10 times.

Durability will make a difference for sure. More durability means less outright destroyed planes, but no idea what say 5 points of durability translates to. I would say add 10 points, then run the same test series again. There is so much variability in combat that you need to have a large sample to draw any conclusions though. Then stuff like say rookie fighter crews will have a hard time shooting down even rookie bombers, but high XP fighters probably less so, just that highly (DEF) skilled bombers will probably take down more of the attackers as well.

[Cavalry Corp]

Thanks for the replies. Actually it is the only raid so far not me but my opponent - It was detected and yes we had a nice height advantage - guess that goes a long way toward the issue. I am inclined to raise the durability a bit as that also affects attrition due to the long range -

Is there a hard coded limit to Durability as there is on ships - which seems to be 245?

thanks again

cav