Funkedup - that is one of the better ways of dealing with the problems I've seen suggested (you'd need some edge fields at low level, for low-level raiders), but does err towards looking at things from a fighter pilots point of view.
From a bomber pilots point of view, enemy fighters are a bloody nuisance one wants to try to avoid, for preference. Yes, it gets exciting when an attack by fighters comes in, but it's also exciting working out how best to minimise risk from defences, looking out for enemy fighters and hoping to hell you don't see any, checking your position to ensure you havent drifted off course, (and working out what to do if you have). Just surviving flak over target and en-route can be pretty tense...
I'm sure you realise this, Funkedup, but so's we're all on the same page, as it were..... chop things down in size TOO much, and half the skill and fun for bomber pilots is lost, and we will inevitably meet enemy fighters. Fun for the fighters, not so much fun for the bombers. If we go that way, we'll need to find a happy medium which allows the buffs a chance to outwit the defenders, but doesnt make it a nearly impossible task for the defenders to intercept the bombers. Given the visibility range in AH, that shouldnt be too hard, if fighters fly patrols and are directed by radar ops from the ground (we need to do away with clipboard radar whilst flying altogether, IMO)
As for increasing the escort until the buffs can survive - NO! AH and other such sims already suffer from way too many fighter pilots, because bomber flying is either fundamentally not interesting enough or not rewarding enough (or both) in them, due, IMO, to a decided lack of imagination (and quite possibly a lack of understanding of WW2 aerial warfare) amongst some game developers, and an over-concentration on the "glamourous" fighters. Bombers CAN be made interesting and rewarding to fly - heck, the very reason I fly AH now is because AH has the fundamentals, from a bomber pilots point of view, to be much more satisfying to fly than any other smilar game I've seen. And what's more, HTC seems intent on adding even more stuff to make buffing more interesting. Frankly, the price difference didnt matter a damn to me, it's just icing on the cake.
I have NO interest in being one of a handful of buffs amid a swarm of 2-3 squadrons of fighters trying to fend off another 2-3 squadrons from shooting me down. If I am in an escorted buffs situation, I want to be amongst several squadrons of buffs escorted by a couple of squadrons of fighters trying to fend off one or two squadrons of fighters, generally. That's far more realistic, generally (yes, I do know about the raids the RAF did over the channel with a handful of buffs with lots of fighters...)
And I want decently dark night, nights when the moon ISN'T up, and occasionally some really foul (very cloudy) weather, both by day and night, so that sometimes just finding the target is difficult. And I want there to be suitably equipped nightfighters prowling around trying to outwit me and stop me when I fly by night, too.
The essence of serious bomber flying is devoting time and developing skills to outwit the enemy; to try to avoid the defences, and to try to make ones own defensive effort as good as possible under the circumstances, when one encounters opposition. I HOPE that my esteemed fighter colleagues would also like to dispay their skills in flying effective patrols, guided by a good ground organisation. Simply setting it up so that the bombers are practically flung into the laps of the opposing fighters doesn't cut it.
And yes, I know one has to cater to the community one has, in general; but it'd be nice if an effort was made to ween a few more off of the EXPECTATION that every time they takeoff in a fighter that they will see one or more enemy aircraft and get one or more kills. Having flown both bombers and fighters in S3 games in WBs, it was my experience that the few times when one didn't make contact with the enemy made the excitement of the times when one DID all the better. Chiaroscuro - light and shade, a varied diet, not just continual gorging on furballing and buff-bashing. In the long run, it's SO much more fun!
With regard to how people fly in-game; in the S3 games, orders are issued to units by their sides CO, and it is up to each unit CO how they implement them (usually). So KG2 based at Derna gets ordered (a few days before the game) to attack Tobruk along with an Italian bomber Gruppo, with JG26 and an Italian fighter Gruppo for escort. Me and the Italian bomber CO liaise on our plan, sort out the loadouts, route and timings, rendevous point (if we are not flying from the same base), and then start talking to our escorts.
They work out where they will rendevous with us, and make suggestions/objections, and so we end up with an agreed plan for the raid which we communicate to our side CO. Thats the way we did it in the S3's, and it worked well. Or USAF colleagues did the same, and trust me, the better ones were quite capable of flying tight formations of B17s and B24s, and generally did, only the less serious units flew like a rabble. (KG2 often flew very loose, but then, we fly Ju88s, manouverability rather than firepower is our best defence).
It might take time to get enough people to see the advantages of form-flying in buffs and then practice it enough to do it well, but it'll come. Especially if flying buffs becomes more interesting and thus more attractive to more people. :-)
Esme
