Originally posted by hitech
Simaril: Are you talking about towns or cities?
HiTech
HiTech, the story I told was about an attack against a fresh base and associated town -- not city. (Good point about timing, SlapShot, though it didnt apply to this particular situation.) And yes, it could have been 15 min by the time the second run finished, the covering fighters went into dogfight mode, and the goon tried to approach.
I really appreciate Zanth's post, because the failure to take down the strat city was probably the source of our difficulty. I see the strategic point of the realtionships, but I now have to wonder if the chain is a little to long to keep strategic play enjoyably balanced.
Here's what I mean. The triggering event for our local (couple bases over) tactical bomber assault was continued pressure on a friendly base, that friendly fighters just hadnt been able to relieve. Allow time for that realization; allow time for organizing a "fine, hit THEIR starting base" bomber mission; allow time for climbing out and making initial positioning; allow time for the actual bombing of the offending enemy base. Even without having to hit regional strat targets, the base we were trying to relieve had fallen by the time our goon was trying to run in.
While you could argue that we should have pre-emptively wiped out their city and factory complexes, before any specific problem developed, realistically I don't think you could pre-emptively get enough people excited about the target to make the run effective. In real life, most everyone uses strat targets as milk run destinations (or as places to hang out and torch some bombers). Wiping out strat targets deep behind enemy lines, risking 3x kills to fighters with short runs from bases along the way, takes commitment -- and especially time sacrifices -- that very few guys are going to have.
However, just as SlapShot said, most fliers simply don't know the strategic layers that are there. I never realized that wiping out strats had THAT powerful an effect on replacement times. Maybe the first step should be to get the info out of the instructions and in to the hearts and minds of the players.
I still wonder if the strat effect chain is too long to have a practical impact, though.
And HiTech, thanks for your attention to our threads. It means a lot to know you guys care that much.
