But maybe it's still score after all?

[Lusche]

Beware, another strat topic! 

The question is a bit polemic but this afternoon made me think about it again.
Many of us have in the past expressed the wish for "better strats" (though with many different meaning). The most frequent explanation why they are hardly being attacked at all since we went from zone to central strategic complex was "not worth the effort".
Which in fact I fully agree with, if you weight usual sortie length due to range and other factors, it is quite pointless - particularly when being compared to the effort necessary to make an impact tactically (for example porking)

But today (as well as on some occasions in the past), there was a different situation, at least for the rooks. (please ignore that rook & nits are swapped on this illustration):





The strats had been just 4 sectors away from a convenient high altitude (4k) base, ords were there all the time, activity level in that are was moderate, Rookland wasn't really under pressure for most of the time.

Perfect situation... yet nothing happened.

I did a few sorties myself. A high altitude B-29 sortie in which I managed to get the crucial City below 50%, all by myself alone. Then I played around with a few different follow up sorties from A243 (B-17, Mossie B16, Ki-67)

The point is: With only 1 wingman in addition to me, we could have totally killed off the City (which stays down for 6! hours) in a single mission, and with a single follow up raid in B-17s from A234 we could have wrecked at least one important factory (for example ords) within a very reasonable time (not much longer than it had taken to kill the hangars on an enemy airfield). With only 4 players, the results could have been even greater, though it may have had attracted more attention by the defenders.

And  City + Factory down does have quite an impact, even more so that it had been years ago with the local strats.

So... why did no one else care to attack the strats (I was on for ~6 hours)? Why didn't all the players flying bombers during that time consider a sortie there? And in particular I have to think of that mission organizers, generals and "we have to organize" players -  This would have been a good opportunity to help your country and hurt the enemy.

And this is not the first time I noticed this.
Not to be misunderstood: This is not a complaint or whine, I wasn't even trying to get support. I was just observing, testing, and thinking (And getting accused of cheating by a solo handed pilot  )



Is it, because attacking the strats is horrible for the score ( I thoroughly wrecked mine with my B-29 sortie - despite every bomb hitting it's mark, my hit% went from over 3000 down to 280)

Is it, because you are just waiting for someone to lead?

Or is it, because after ~2 years of "new" strats nobody even bothers to think about that option anymore, no matter what the situation really is? (This would worry me the most, as it reminds me of tanktown's fate  )

I just want to know... 

 

[uptown]

I wouldn't attack the factories in that case because they're just to far away for me. I'd spend 3o/45 minutes getting there and fly through 3 dars rings, just to get shot down by a 262 or something when I got there. I can have more success quicker just hitting fields. I don't know if that's good or bad for score but I really don't have time for that.
I suspect many feel about it the way I do. The 1 and only time I took a B29 up, 30 minutes into the flight, a high lone Chog shows up and killed me. Apparrently the top fighter sticks in the game look for buffs to kill otw to factories.
Felt like I wasted my time and perk points. 

[BaldEagl]

Or is it, because after ~2 years of "new" strats nobody even bothers to think about that option anymore, no matter what the situation really is? (This would worry me the most, as it reminds me of tanktown's fate  )

I think this is the reason.  For myself I just quit flying bombers so I don't even think about where the strats are anymore.  That part of the game is gone and I never think about it anymore.

[guncrasher]

lusche  you want to know why people dont attack the factories and I'll give you my honest opinion, because it is boring.  I dont log in to go for a 1 or 2 hour mission, some guys like it most dont.  It is cool for an occasional thing but I sure as hell wont do it every day or several times a day.

you cant force people to do what they dont want to do.  some can go and say most players are shortsighted and dont understand or miss our on another part of the game, but the fact is what attracts most players is being in action within a few minutes of taking off.

if some enjoy the long range bombing part of the game, hell I support your right to enjoy it but dont expect me to follow you every time  .

semp

[Lusche]

lusche  you want to know why people dont attack the factories and I'll give you my honest opinion, because it is boring.  I dont log in to go for a 1 or 2 hour mission, some guys like it most dont.

I know why players don't do long and medium to high altitude bombing runs at all...

But there are still a lot that do, and that was my question aimed at

I wouldn't attack the factories in that case because they're just to far away for me. I'd spend 3o/45 minutes getting there and fly through 3 dars rings, just to get shot down by a 262 or something when I got there. I can have more success quicker just hitting fields.

But a regular level bombing attack on a field is not quicker. You still have to climb and get there, (suicidal 5k lanc runs aside)



Just to clarify again, it's not coming from the complain department, nor do I want everybody to go on that boring hi alt raids
It's just a question why isn't that done anymore even when the circumstances are near perfect, particularly as they are still more than enough buffs flying around, at higher altitudes too.

[Butcher]

My biggest problem when intercepting strat raiders, is the fact they are generally well above 20k - well "above" is more like 25-30k. The time to intercept is a whole new story, which could be half hour or longer, assuming you catch up with the raiders in the first place.

In reality I look for the short combat, something I can jump into within 10 minutes - not chasing after some empty bomber flying at 30k half way across a map.

[RTHolmes]

its because the opportunity to do this is so incredibly rare that most people have no idea of its effect, and probably didnt even spot it.



btw I waved at your mossies from below but you must have been 20k+ so you didnt see me

[AWwrgwy]

B.

Or is it, because after ~2 years of "new" strats nobody even bothers to think about that option anymore, no matter what the situation really is? (This would worry me the most, as it reminds me of tanktown's fate

Why do people bomb towns?

"XXY has landed 20kazillion points"

Why do people bomb airfields?

Spite   

its because the opportunity to do this is so incredibly rare that most people have no idea of its effect, and probably didnt even spot it.

Despite the opportunity being rare, it does happen more often than one thinks.

What is the big map with all the water with the strats right on the coast three or four sectors from the nearest enemy base?

They are almost always there on that map and almost never bombed. It is the map where the vulnerability of strats should most be tested.

Doesn't happen.

With the old strats, the target to bomb for hit % was the city, for me anyway. Three clumps of lots of buildings all close together.

It's all about score, or at least Name in Lights.



wrongway

[Baumer]

I think of myself as someone who's learned all the various aspects of playing Aces High, and I can offer a few reasons that come to mind for me. These are not complaints just my own personal reasons for not playing this part of Aces High much. They are listed in decreasing importance to me.

Reasons for not attacking the current strat system

• Usually it takes to much time (it's nice when you have the example above but that is a rare occurrence)
• It takes a large amount of ordinance to have an impact (fine when you can gather a lot of people but hard by yourself)[this is good for balance but discourages strat play]
• The current fuel burn rate limits the choices of escort fighters
• It's not required as part of "win the war" for map reset. Since it has no impact on the actual win requirement why bother with it, just go attack bases
• It's rather easy to spot a strat attack inbound therefor they are almost always defended
• Strat defenders are usually in good interception aircraft which makes penetrating to the target difficult (ie ENY seldom impacts the ability to defend strats)[this is good for balance but discourages strat play]
• And finally, the individual reward doesn't justify the effort or time

[MK-84]

Here might be part of the problem Luche...

Since usually the strats are not convient to hit.  and since there is little reward for score, or in terms of effect.

Many of us might not even know how it effects the game?  I know hitting HQ destroys radar for a brief moment, but hitting the city does wha...?

[zack1234]

What effect does bombing strats have on the country?

[Lusche]

What effect does bombing strats have on the country?

It increases the downtime of porked items. The factories resupply the fields, and the factories are resupplied by the City.

Porked items on a base stay down for 45 minutes with fully working auto resupply. It can be extended to up to 2 hours if you cut of the auto supply, either by taking out each & every convoy, or by killing the corresponding factories.
The factories in turn are subject to similar rules: Each factory building stays down for 45 minutes when the City is fully up. If the City is completely down, this increases to up to 2 hours.
The City blocks stay down for 6(!) hours, no matter what.

Hence, it's very important to kill the City first, then the factories. And it's much better to completely kill off a single factory than to damage several different.

[MK-84]

I don't think that's common knowledge, that alone would be a large part of the problem

[Karnak]

I would do more runs to the "Big City" if it was worth it.  For my part, I don't care about score but I do care about Bomber Perk points and the city and factories are vastly less efficient than town centers for perk gathering.  The only reason for me to hit the city is for role play reasons.

I think that perk values and score values need to be adjusted so that the cities and factories are a little more productive than town centers.  Attacking the city is riskier than town centers.

[mipoikel]

I did enjoy bombruns to strats. There just seems to be one experienced 109 pilot waiting for me almmost every time... Weird but that pilots callsign is Snailman.