Umm . . . never heard of Ploesti?
Actually no. But I did look it up.
And that mission proves my point. NOE missions were extremly rare and extremly dangerous. So now there is proper risk involved.
So if you run an NOE expect to be slaughtered. Otherwise run a real mission with proper fighter cover. But, see this takes too much time. Players would rather run NOE, kill the FH, take the base, and go to the other side of the map leaving GV's to stop a re take.
From this source:
http://www.b17sam.com/ploesti.html"The formations, somewhat disorganized by the loss of the lead navigator, descended to 500 feet at Pitesti, 65 miles from the targets. Halfway to the initial point where the final turn was to be made into Ploesti, the 376th Group, followed by the 93rd Bombardment Group, made an erroneous turn southeast toward Bucharest. The other bomb groups, the 389th, 98th, and 44th, continued as briefed. When Ent discovered the error, both groups headed back toward Ploesti. The 376th was told to strike targets of opportunity, and the 93rd attacked the original targets from the opposite direction as briefed.
The return flight to Libya was disorganized and under heavy German fighter attack for much of the way. In all, 54 planes were lost, but the bombing destroyed up to 42 percent of Ploesti's cracking capacity. The AAF's 30 percent losses meant that a follow-up mission was not practical, and with no opposition, the Germans were able to repair the facilities rapidly. Five officers received the Medal of Honor for bravery on this mission.
"
