Bombers,Your outta the game

[99molly]

I hate to say it , but bombers are little more than useless
window dressing in this game. Gotta go in so low your little
more then fighter bait, and even at that alt. you can do
little more than carpet bomb. I remember a day when bomb-
ing and bomber hunting served a purpose in this game.
Now there something you go after if you have nothing
else to shoot at.
 Tell you what tho., if we kept formations and added the old
bomb site do think people would fly em to do more tham keep up their rankings.Do you think they would be part of the game
again. What could  be done with em when your  team is
outnumbered.
 Actually I was just on a run at 13,500 feet,got clobered by
an n1k and wanted to vent. been nice to be at 20 and have
made him work for it .

[Mickey1992]

Bombers are currently frustrating.  However, with the bomber damage bug fixed and new strat targets coming in the next version, I predict you will see many more bombers than before.

I disagree with you point about only being able to carpet bomb.  With good calibration, I can still pick off a GV from 15K with one salvo.

[Chairboy]

I don't get it, I can bomb with almost the same accuracy as before.  The trick is learning how to calibrate.  

The only beef I have about the new bombing model now that I've leared how to use it is the AR-234.  

Here was the deal:

HTC will give you a formation of 3 bombers instead of one.  

To avoid making the bombers three times as effective, we will use this new bomb sight.

So far, ok.  A three bomber formation is now as lethal as the old one bomber setups with the laser site.

My beef:

The AR-234, however, costs 3X as much to fly now, even though it is only as effective as it was before.  What's the deal?

[whels]

Originally posted by 99molly
I hate to say it , but bombers are little more than useless
window dressing in this game. Gotta go in so low your little
more then fighter bait, and even at that alt. you can do
little more than carpet bomb. I remember a day when bomb-
ing and bomber hunting served a purpose in this game.
Now there something you go after if you have nothing
else to shoot at.
 Tell you what tho., if we kept formations and added the old
bomb site do think people would fly em to do more tham keep up their rankings.Do you think they would be part of the game
again. What could  be done with em when your  team is
outnumbered.
 Actually I was just on a run at 13,500 feet,got clobered by
an n1k and wanted to vent. been nice to be at 20 and have
made him work for it .

sorry but i can hit almost everything i aim at in buff
and i dont buff alot. Buffing is harder but not as impossible as
most make it out.

whels

[Curval]

Originally posted by Chairboy
I don't get it, I can bomb with almost the same accuracy as before.  The trick is learning how to calibrate.  

Yup...I couldn't hit anything and couldn't figure it out...my biggest problem was holding the key down for 2 seconds when calibrating, try for at least 5-10 seconds.  First time I did this I scored hits BIG TIME.

[AtmkRstr]

Originally posted by Chairboy
The AR-234, however, costs 3X as much to fly now, even though it is only as effective as it was before.  What's the deal? [/B]

Arn't bomber perks still useless?

[Revvin]

Got some nice shots of mission targets visited by No.9 at 15-20k all on target. Bombing is not hard at all it just takes practice. Strat targets the way they are set now make bombing strat targets a little futile which is strange because this is suppossed to be what HTC want heavy bombers to do but my squad still has fun every week as do those who tag along with us.

and even at that alt. you can do
little more than carpet bomb

This is how it's suppossed to be, the days of laser guided bombs are thankfully behind us. In RL bombers could not pick off AA guns a 20,000ft

[SirLoin]

I agree..Bombers are now very frustrating...The bombing model is now ahead of game strat...The strat in 1.11 from what I've read,will even this out.

[Wotan]

If you looked at the new terrain editor the strat obj are different now. As for you not being able to hit anything well that takes practice. Several guys posted how to guides and I am sure several would help ya out.

To make bombers a viable part of the main would take a whole rethink on the reset trigger. Strat even if it were tweaked is out of play for the most part due to the 50 man base rape land grabs.

It makes strat a waste of time in terms of how it impacts the main. Airfields have also been easier suppressed and taken by fighter-bombers and attack planes.

[2Slow]

I prefer the carpet bomb mode.  It is very RL.  The frustration is the hardness of targets.  A single 1000 lb bomb will destroy any hanger in RL.  Should do the same in AH.

I would have no problem salvoing all bombs on one run, if one could count on target kills.

I do salvo all when striking cities or towns.  6 of us with B17 formations can destroy a city in one strike setting salvo to all and adjusting the delay to get a good dispersal.

[gatso]

Mollydog my friend.   Nice to see you in this place of disrepute

We need to spend some time practising, Give us a shout next time I'm on and I'll sort ya out. It is possible to pinpoint bomb from 25k. A bit of planning needed and you need to be unharrased by fighters.

Couple of good things BUFF related coming in the next version as announced by HT in the last news post:

Drones no longer get the last of the damage on the lead plane when it died.

Adjusted factory and city down times.
Cities are now down for 3 hours.
Factories are 3 hours.
Player supplies now provide 15 minutes of down time.
Convoys & Trains supply 30 mins.

Terrains have been reworked with lager cities and factory complexes with denser objects.

Fixed a CTD bug related to bomber groups.

Gatso

[rod367th]

Bombing is simple. killing HQ from 30k is easy killing a city in 2 passes is a snap. Have killed 2 cv's in one sortie. and have landed 5 kills in b17.



 secret is SPEED,SPEED,Speed


 You must be at level flight max level speed and door s open before u cailibrate.

 Took a squadie up for his first bombrun ever he got 14 buildings in city 1st pass. and he had never flown a bomber before.


 Read post BOMBING 101. It goes thru steps on how to calibrate right every time. Includes how to turn bombers using rudders only so u don't lose formation bombers.



 and any time any one wants bombing lesson just ask if u see me on. takes 5 mins to learn.

[icemaw]

I have figured out the new bombsight and I can hit targets. I have made the calibration process an exacting science. The thing that bothers me is I calibrate exacly the same way every time.  With speed and direction stabilized for at least a sector. But I still miss a great deal of the time. When I am on target I hit perfect dead center I can salvo 1 egg and hit targets. However when I am not on target I hit long every time about the same distance every time. The other night on the AK map I noticed we had some very bad connect problems. I flew 4 bomber sorties at least 4 passes on each sortie. I missed long on every pass. I calibrated the same way. When I missed I recalibrated the same way and missed with every egg. I had to log and go do something. When I came back about 2 hours later the connection problem was gone. Again I flew multiple sorties with multiple passes on each sortie and I hit every thing I dropped on. When I hit a target on the first pass I do not recalibrate as long as I dont change alt or drop on another target with a differt target alt I will hit with every bomb with out calibrating again.

  So it seems for me anyways that connection issues effect my bombing accuracy. If I have terrible lag I hit long if I have a good connect I hit targets. I dont know if this is in fact true that it does effect bombing accuracy but from my own observations it seems to.

 One other thing that bothers me is the wind I have no problem coming in below 14k on sea level bases or even bases below 8k. But on the AK map with bases at 12k 13k I thing the wind layer should be much higher say 20 25k. Its one thing having to defend against fighters. It is another thing all together to have to defend against fighters while taking hits from the base ack.

[Pongo]

Close as I can tell Ice you just have to be pointing EXACTLY at the point of impact when you calibrate, almost any figiting in the gun sight at all makes bombs drop short or long. Thats why towns are such good targets right now. You can carpet them with a string of 4 1ks from any direction and take the town pretty much flat.

[gatso]

Originally posted by Pongo
Close as I can tell Ice you just have to be pointing EXACTLY at the point of impact when you calibrate,

In my experience, Above the wind, yes it helps. Multiple calibrations with course changes in beween help a great deal.

Below any wind and as long as your speed and height don't change your OK for minor course changes made from the bombsite.

Gatso