Allied Thread - Over the Reich JPetroski vs. McMonkey

[JPetroski]

Turn 20

Spoiler :

-Calais shelled and emptied of enemies
-2x U-Boat sunk in Convoy Zone
-Fw200 shot down by P-38s
-Factory destroyed near Brest (got a good roll), but since I got the code error below, I didn’t press attack on the shipyard too as not all of your defenses seem to be firing

8 cities build an improvement. Nine of my cities are maxed out now. With the significant work I’ve put in towards fuel refineries, I can support 2 techs per turn while running a surplus. I figure I might as well do this. The city improvements are being built with political support funds and I can’t really use money for rush-building units as they’re so expensive, anyway. I might as well get better equipment sooner. Political support II should come on line in another turn or two and I should finish my build out and convert fully to military production by turn 25 or so, maybe sooner.

I continue my efforts in the Battle of the Atlantic. I’ll need to keep significant aircraft assets over here.

I clear out Calais because every one of his military units that is destroyed is a good thing – he requires a certain threshold to bring in maximum freight trains. He seems to have brought back everything that he can away of the range of my ships (a very smart move, but it will let me land wherever I want some day.

Thinking through “Operation Shutdown” further, it would only stop him for 2 turns because you’d think he would instantly use trapped freight trains to rebuild the area.

What I need to start thinking about instead is sending B-17s on deep, unescorted raids, because I need to lose a large amount of them (50) before I can research the P-51. The more escort techs I research before then, the deeper they need to fly to trigger this.

Thus, it might make more sense to target the Biscay Coast for “easy” points/Luftwaffe destruction and potential port destruction/freighter increase as my “western offensive” and then start sending in the heavies unescorted to the Ruhr. It would be interesting to see how they do, anyway.

I end with a score of 204.5 to -6.1

 

[JPetroski]

Turn 21

Spoiler :

-Gun Battery and protected radar in Calais both destroyed, though it takes one heck of a bombardment to do so
-2x Schutzen destroyed in Calais

I receive news that the Allies have landed in Salerno! This means I’m getting closer and closer to the vital airfields at Foggia that I require to take the fight to the southern Reich!




I’ve assembled my largest escorted raid to date to hit the sub pens and factory at La Rochelle:

* 9x B-17 (1 is off photo as I found it after taking this)
* 2x P-38’s in close escort, 6 remaining within range at base
* 4x Spitfire Mk IX in close escort, 2 remaining within range at base



This represents my entire B-17 force and the largest strike force I’ve assembled to date. I still want to try and hit ports to see if I can start bringing in more freighters, but the factories are also important. If I’m able to strike hard and not waste many turns, I’ll carry on to Bordeaux, which has a fuel refinery I want to hit (a priority target for me) as well as another port. Depending on range, Nantes has a factory I might hit on the way back, if I still have enough movement to. The factory at St. Nazaire is right next to an airfield making it very likely any interceptors could take off and land with no chance for escorts to pounce, so it’s a less favorable target.

These units should drag the Luftwaffe south allowing a strike on the port of Brest from B-17s being rush built this and next turn. While working over the Bay of Biscay I’ll start building up in the East to start some large-scale raids on fuel refineries in Germany, trying to take losses so I can move towards the P-51.

My cities were boosted a second turn with Political Support II – I have 9 cities fully developed with a further 4 topping off next turn. 7 of them have capacity to build a freight train every 4 turns or less with a few very close to that. In short, we’re going to start swimming in freight trains soon.

Because the cities that need development are now so far from the coast I’m devoting 100% of my Atlantic shipments to aircraft production on a 60/40 split between daylight and night operations. The RAF only has 3 active Stirlings, (though one will crash next turn as I misjudged how far it could go despite the tab field helping me). As stated above we have 9 B-17s, all of which are in danger this turn. I hope I can increase the amount of freighters I receive so I can add to this and really pile it on the Germans.

I’m slowing down without the RAF and hope the strike on La Rochelle, Brest, and Bordeaux will start bringing in more freighters. There’s no guarantee I can destroy any of them, however, given that the Luftwaffe remains strong in this region (I am playing with fire a bit by convincing him to keep the Luftwaffe here as they are close to my freighters. I’m truly surprised he hasn’t ever challenged the sea approach with his aircraft. I’m prepared to meet him, but I’m not positive I could win, especially if he threw everything into it). The sooner I can start drawing his forces east, the better.

I end the turn with 209.5 points.

 

[JPetroski]

Turn 22

Spoiler :

-7xFw190 loss of 2x P-38 and 1x Spit
-The first wave presses on to Nantes and La Rochelle. A factory at Nantes and the port at La Rochelle are attacked but not destroyed.
-Light flak on channel island destroyed

A massive dogfight has erupted. I forgot about that radar set I could never quite destroy in Brittany. That caused my entire force to be discovered and much of it to be shot down.

Nonetheless, I’m able to knock out 7 of his 190 interceptors. I have little doubt that several if not all of my P-38s will fall next turn as they’re an easy mark, but the 190s cost 550 shields compared to just 350 for the P-38’s. Each freight train allows 300 shields, so it’s a great trade off that I’m willing to take, especially since each 190 grants me half a point as well.

I’m aware of his having 6 FW190 left in the area and at least 3 Me109s. So, between my attacks and his losses from attacking the bombers, his fighter strength is likely reduced by about 40-60% in western France. Not a bad trade off. Not a bad trade off at all.

He’s going to have to make a choice with his remaining fighters – either take on my interceptors or go after the bombers that are further south. He can’t do both. My Lightnings can still attack him if he chooses to go after the bombers.

His fighters are truly the prize. They’re what I covet destroying more than anything else. For example, while moving in the second wave, I notice he has already rebuilt Cherbourg’s port. That’s unfortunate, but, on the other hand, with 10 fighters lost his turn, he now needs to devote 20 trains to rebuild them. He’s not going to be able to do that and rebuild his industry. If he keeps on attacking me where my fighters can reach him, I’m going to have him on the ropes.

Domestically, I continue to flex my industrial capacity. I’m running 80% science (the max allowed) and still am bringing in 494 fuel per turn. Engines II will be researched next turn which will allow Strategic Bombers II to be my next target. This will bring the Halifax bomber which will allow for 3x bombs per attack. I’d like to devote a large number of freight trains to massing this for another night raid to keep compelling him to spread his forces around.

I now have 14 cities that are maxed out on production. The full power of the United States has landed in England and turned it into a giant aircraft carrier.

I decide to build one more airfield (the 4th new one) in Wales now to allow me to mass-produce aircraft every turn. I’ll likely follow that with a 5th.

I end the turn with 219.5 points. 5 from the destruction of 10 Luftwaffe fighters, and 5 from unloading freighters. 30.5 to go to opening the southern front.

I also notice that a few of his airfields are within range of naval bombardment and I decide to redeploy the Royal Navy to such locations to say hello.

 

[JPetroski]

Turn 23

Spoiler :

-Panzer destroyed by battleship
-2x Fw190 shot down and a 3rd damaged
-Factory at Nantes destroyed (near run thing considering the cloud cover but I make it happen).
-Port at Cherbourg badly damaged but not destroyed
-Sub and something else sunk near Holland
-Heavy cruiser badly damaged near Holland

Quite the battle has been raging over the past several turns. I continue pouring resources into building more and more P-38s to keep attacking him. I figure that the best thing I can do with this situation is shoot down as many of his fighters as possible. It is much more difficult for him to replace them than for me to.



A second look at Vannes would seem to suggest most of his aircraft in the region have been committed. Hopefully the next turn will see several more drop to defensive fire and also my P-38s.




His willingness to do battle here is making for a difficult decision: do I send surviving B-17s east and prepare a strike beyond escort range there, or do I continue to inflict losses on him on the Biscay coast? He clearly sees this area as vital to defend so perhaps I need to continue viewing it as vital to attack. Even so, all bombers not built from the convoy route should probably be positioned in the east (I’m also slowly rebuilding Bomber Command in such fashion though with only 4 bombers available, I’m going to need to make a bigger commitment to start striking at night again—night is a hard place to kill his forces, too, as everything worth attacking is beyond escort range). I actually think the best thing I might do with my night forces is build up as Operation Gommorrah could be just around the corner and the more forces I have to support it, the better.

I end with a score of 231.5. I’m getting very close to Italy. At most, 4 turns away given my freighter success rate.

 

[JPetroski]

Turn 24

Spoiler :

-2x German ships (believed to be heavy cruisers) sunk off coast of Holland
-Cherbourg port destroyed, B-17 that attacked is damaged but not destroyed and can return to base
-Port at La Rochelle attacked with no effect
-2x Fw190 and 2x Me109 destroyed near Cherbourg.
-Shore Battery destroyed near Brest
-U-Boat destroyed in Bay of Biscay

I’ve shot down about 16 of his fighters over the past two or so turns. There is simply no way this is sustainable for him. I think he's making a mistake by losing this many fighters over France - I made a similar mistake by attacking the Royal Navy in my match with Garfield. If he keeps on attacking me within escort range, I’ll start to wear him down. To that end I rush build a further 2x P-38s in addition to 6 B-17s that will be available next turn.

A new toy is going to arrive next turn: The B-24J. It might be well to explain the difference between it and the B-17.

B-17F “Flying Fortress”
Cost: 300 shields
Speed: 20 spaces per turn
Range: 240 spaces
Defense Strength: 6
Hit Points: 20
Firepower: 20
Payload: 2x 250lb bombs
Defensive Fire: 2 reactions at 2 tiles away
Special: When killed, spawns “damaged B-17F” unit that cannot attack but can fly home to be disbanded for (most) of a new unit

B-24J “Liberator”
Cost: 250 shields
Speed: 30 spaces per turn
Range: 360 spaces
Defense Strength: 5
Hit Points: 20
Firepower: 20
Payload: 3x 250lb bombs
Defensive Fire: 1 reaction at 1 tile away

These are two very different tools. The B-17F is a bullet sponge that has proven quite capable of badly damaging or even destroying Luftwaffe fighters sent against it. The B-24J, however, can carry 50% more payload at 50% faster speed. It’s not nearly as good defensively and when destroyed, it is destroyed.

As long as Germany is willing to fight over France, I might as well send the B-17s to attack his ports and factories there that are within escort range. My 17’s do a pretty good job of wounding his fighters and my escorts are doing a fair job of shooting several down each turn.

I think I will start producing some B-24s however, as it *probably* will only take 2-3 B-24’s to destroy a target over Germany, and their range and speed means I can probably get past his fighter shield (especially if he has significantly reduced his fighter strength in Germany to reinforce France, which is possible).

One of the side effects of the game is that whenever a terrain changes, I can see the change (you don’t need to ‘walk over it’ to see), so I do know where his refineries are. From studying the map it seems that he’s invested heavily in fuel refineries. I think B-24s are going to be my best bet to hit these distant targets.

I have to figure he is trying to go for jets--potentially rushing towards them--and while I can’t stop him from doing that, they require 50 fuel per attack, so if I can destroy enough of his refineries I’ll effectively ground them/reduce the threat. Indeed, considering how expensive flak batteries and other industry is, if I concentrate on fuel refineries before the others, his problems will compound.

The other plus of using 24’s over Germany, somewhat morbidly, is I need them to die over there so I can trigger the Mustang. I need them to die from fighters though – not flak – so I think the 24’s are going to hit random targets rather than ones that are expected to be heavily defended, such as the Ruhr.

So, essentially, the B-17 will be the anvil and the B-24 will be the hammer. The 17’s will continue to concentrate on France, eventually the Ruhr, and any other “tough” targets. The 24’s will try to get past the defenders and inflict pinpoint raids on the fuel capacity of the Reich.

I end the turn with the score of 238.5.

 

[JPetroski]

Turn 25

Spoiler :

-P-38’s catch Luftwaffe fighters refueling at Servon! 2x Fw190, 2xMe109 destroyed on the ground. Carpiquet is also attacked to no effect.
-1x Fw190 is shot down in the skies near Carpiquet
-Woensdrecht AFB is shelled – radar damaged as is an Me109. 1x Me109 destroyed.
-St. Nazaire factory attacked by B-17s but not destroyed
-88mm Gun in Brest attacked by destroyer but not destroyed. Destroyer lost.

Strategic Bombers II discovered. I decide to go for “window” next. Because I don’t really have effective night escorts I need to use subterfuge and I want to try to use this to a large extent. I’m going to hold off on making night raids for 3-4 turns until I can really put this to the test.

I use my recon aircraft to identify that he’s landed most of his fighters between Servon and Carpiquet. There is no defense at either (a large mistake). I send my fighters in to strafe these airfields heavily and am able to destroy 4 aircraft on the ground and 5th in the skies.

I also notice that he now has 4 airfields in Normandy so I’ll bet he’s taking his free freight trains from Southern France and just using them to build fighters there. I’ll have to start looking for trains on the southern approach.

I send a fleet over to bombard Woensdrecht and destroy a 109 in the process, wounding a second. He’ll probably abandon this airfield next turn.

All in all, 6 Luftwaffe fighters are shot down or bombarded this turn which is, again, unsustainable for him, I would think. I feel that I’m doing a good job of keeping the pressure on.

4x B-24s and 2x P-38 will be built next turn. I also convert my factories to build the B-24s – I’ll probably still rush build B-17s in the west to keep up the attrition on the Luftwaffe but everything in Anglia is going to start producing stuff to attack far and wide into the Reich.

Bomber Command converts to Halifax production with orders not to launch raids until a huge force is assembled and supported by Window. He’ll get a bit of a respite for now.

I would estimate that within about 10-15 more turns the Luftwaffe is going to feel incredibly stretched.

Edit-by my count, he has lost 24 fighters over three turns. My losses are also astronomical but I can lose twice as many aircraft as him and keep chugging along.

I end with 246.5 points.

[/SPOILER

 

[JPetroski]

Turn 26

Spoiler :

-2x U-Boats sunk
-1x Heavy Cruiser sunk
-2x Me109 bombarded and destroyed at Woensdricht
-1x Fw190 destroyed over Carpiquet
-Brest shelled to no effect

Recon supports that he has moved light flak units into these airfields which will make new attacks less effective until I have true tactical bombers with large payloads.

For whatever reason, he hasn’t moved his units out of Woensdrecht so I continue to hammer it. I know there are some airfields to the west I can hit with ships so I am moving into position to attack these as well. This might cost me my battleships but I’ll just have to make due with heavy cruisers (I can’t build new battleships).

I launch the first B-24s towards Germany. They’re flying out over the North Sea, hopefully out of range of his radar. Their target are oil refineries at Bremen.

I’ll be launching 2nd and 3rd waves next turn with targets of oil refineries Karlesruhe and Amsterdam. I expect 6 more liberators to be completed next turn and I have a further 3 that are just moving into position in England.

From this turn on, Germany’s fuel refineries will come under constant attack.

As I now have 253 points, I also anticipate the 15th Air Force launching attacks against oil refineries at Munich and Linz next turn. Potentially Regensburg as well depending on how successful the first few attacks go. I have no idea what he has for defenses down here but I do know I have no access to freight trains so I might as well hit him with everything I get right from the start, before he has a chance to redeploy fighters. The 15th will largely serve to keep several of his fighters in the south when they could be better used elsewhere – kind of like trapping all those Germans in Norway. I don’t know that I’ll be able to effectively launch many attacks from there given the lack of trains.

 

[JPetroski]

Turn 27

Spoiler :

-Linz fuel refinery destroyed by 15th Air Force
-Fuel refinery at Regensburg was destroyed – it didn’t trigger the terrain change and I’m not 100% certain that I can do this without causing issues. I don’t *see* why this would be an issue but I’m inclined to simply let you have it rather than risk having to replay a turn. Can you confirm that the fuel refinery improvement was destroyed so I can at least confirm that part of the event works?
-Fuel refinery at Munich attacked but not destroyed
-Woensdrecht shelled and a few Schutzen destroyed or badly damaged
-Brest port attacked but not destroyed
-Bodilis AFB shelled to no effect

The 15th Air Force showed up and immediately was put to use. I think they’ll be more or less a novelty as once these bombers are gone (which, for all I know will be this turn) it’ll be very expensive to replace them and it probably won’t be until after I’ve researched all techs that this happens. We’re talking 5,000 or so to rush build just one so it’s a loooong way off. Even so, if I can keep a few of his fighters down there….

Meanwhile, I have 10 B-24s on their way to targets in Germany and a further 2 sent to supplement B-17 raids on ports in France. I am rush-building a further 3x B-24, 1x P-38, and (annoyingly) 1x Photo Recon. I am anticipating 4 freight trains being built domestically next turn as well as five that have recently docked, and it looks like a few cities are within range of rush-building the 24’s for cheap.

I’m two turns away from striking up to 4 more fuel refineries.

I’m rebuilding my RAF strength and have 8 bombers (2x Halifax and 6x Stirling) and have just rushbuilt a Pathfinder unit to lay out window deception.

I have researched window and decide to go with Escorts I as I need that to progress towards Strategic Bombers III and the 200-shield, 500lb bomb carrying B-17G. The P-47D11 that comes with Escorts I is better defensively than the Spitfire though it has weaker offensive ammunition. It is deadly from a dive, though, and quite good at intercepting aircraft at high altitude. It will help with the offensive in France. It also carries a 500lb bomb.

In short, I’m starting to gear up and plan on eventually swamping him. He’s using his flak more than his Luftwaffe lately. I think he needs a breather after the beating it took over the past few turns. That’s fine by me – if he doesn’t show up to contest the skies I can attack his ports with impunity (and I TRULY need to kill more of his ports to get more freighters – I have too many objectives at this point and without more freighters Bomber Command has been slacking. I want to hit him on ALL fronts to wear him down).

I end the turn with 268 points. The next target is the 1,000 it will take to allow for D-Day. As you may recall from one of my earlier posts, I want to achieve that in 125 turns. 98 to go to earn 732. I need to average 7.5 points per turn. This seems achievable, especially if I continue to get at least 5 freighters in every turn.

 

[JPetroski]

Turn 28

Spoiler :

Attacks in the south continue though I am disappointed they don't destroy all three targets this turn. I don't think I have much of a window of freely roaming without interference and I'd really prefer to avoid a situation where most of my aircraft there are destroyed, as I want to keep a "Fleet in Being" to compel him to keep fighters local.

In the north, I plan on hitting him hard next turn with several liberators striking oil refineries in Bremen and Holland. I'll be interested to see his response to this. I doubt he can keep reinforcing France to this extent and also properly defend Germany. I suspect he'll start feeling very dispersed.

As he may not be aware of the looming northern attack so I anticipate him striking my western fighters heavily. I make a point to rush build several more. Brest is not an ideal battleground as my fighters' first sortie from base only allows one attack due to range.

I believe I end the turn with 279.5 points IIRC but I'll check and confirm later.

 

[JPetroski]

Turn 29

Spoiler :

-Leipzig fuel refinery destroyed
-Linz fuel refinery destroyed
-Vienna fuel refinery attacked but not destroyed
-Bremen fuel refinery attacked but not destroyed – 2 B-24 lost to flak
-Bremen port attacked but not destroyed
-Amsterdam fuel refinery attacked but not destroyed – 1 B-24 lost to flak
-U-Boat attacked near Brest and destroyed

As I start my turn I learn that Arthur Harris has ordered Operation Gomorrah to commence:





I supplement the 10 Halifax squadrons with a further 7 bomber units for an all-out attack. I send an 18th to the south with a pathfinder unit dropping window to throw the Germans off the scent. I wasn’t able to get as many window drops as I wanted because the pathfinder was out of range but I’m hoping that this will draw his fighters south if he thinks I’m going after the upper Rhine region again.



There is a very significant bonus if I can destroy Hamburg within 8 turns so I launch everything I have. I anticipate arriving over the city in 5 turns, leaving radar alone (it really might make sense to hit the Danish radar with liberators to cut this to 4 turns but I didn’t think of that until typing).

There is a chance my raid will be discovered but I don’t think I’ll know if that is the case. At any rate I’m hoping that my lack of activity has led him to spread out his defenders by night – we’ll see.

By day, my raids on Bremen and Holland don’t go as well as planned. I manage to damage several refineries but don’t knock them out. At the very least, perhaps he’ll grow concerned at the fact that I’ve attacked 5 cities in one turn, all relatively spread out from one another.

I make a brief attack on Vienna but decide I’d better withdraw many of my 15th Air Force bombers so I can keep the “Fleet in Being” effect (if he has spy planes and checks in I want him to see units there so he’s never quite comfortable moving his units elsewhere).

I research Escort Fighters I and though I need to research Escort Fighters II to get to Strategic Bombers III, I decide to go with Tactical Bombers II instead because I want to test how they do at destroying airbase defenses so I can attack his fighters on the ground.

I end the turn with 294.5 points.

 

[JPetroski]

Turn 30

Spoiler :

-Fuel Refinery near Amsterdam is destroyed, 1 Liberator is lost
-Train attacked at night in the low countries and destroyed
-U-Boat sunk near Brest

I’m sending whatever random RAF units I have to France and the low countries, anywhere that they might be detected or throw up a radar signature. Any fighter that needs to be sent to investigate is one less that the Germans can use against the main strike force.

I’m also building up a liberator strike force in England to strike against some French ports, possibly by taking a long route around, to try and secure more freighters. I badly need more than 5 per turn to up the pressure here.

I also send a photo recon bird out to check for the location of his radar sets and will be sending liberators to destroy them next turn so they won't give away the position of the strike force. I am hoping that the fact that daylight bombers are showing up over these targets now will convince him that more are on the way, via daylight and all this subterfuge will work. We'll see though...

I end the turn with 304.5 points.

 

[JPetroski]

Turn 31- 32

Spoiler :

Nothing of note happened on turn 31 except one radar station was destroyed by Liberators.

on Turn 32:

-Port at Amsterdam destroyed
-Fuel refinery and port at Rotterdam attacked but not destroyed
-Port at The Hague attacked but not destroyed
-Train destroyed south of Belgium
-Port attacked at Bremen but not destroyed

It looks very unlikely that Gomorrah will succeed – he has not fallen for the ruse and has substantial fighters in the area. I wasn’t too concerned until I realized that in addition to his night fighters, he also has several day fighters in the area!!! He obviously took advantage of the Wilde Sau technology and is putting this to good use! I’m hoping that I have enough bombers in the area, spread out far enough, that he can’t kill them all and I’m able to destroy the special target at Hamburg, but I’m not counting on it. My one potentially saving grace is that MOST of his units (9 by my count) are Me110s that have very limited range, but I also noticed a few Ju88Cs and Me109s in the region. He has a very strong nachtjagdflieger force…

The good news is that my liberators have been very effective at taking out his ports and I am now producing 7 freight per turn. I decide to double down on this to try and push it to 9 as fast as possible.

Although I want the “fleet in being” with the 15th AF, he must know that Hamburg is the target and I suspect he’s going to send every fighter he has north, so I gamble and send 4 bombers towards some oil refineries in Prague.

I end the turn with 314.5 points.

**I am going to pat Garfield and myself on the back right now. These historic missions are intense!!!!**

 

[JPetroski]

Turn 33

Spoiler :

-Hamburg destroyed in Operation Gomorrah
-Additional RAF Bombers attack Kiel, destroying an urban target.
-Radar attacked NW of Jever but not destroyed
-Port at La Rochelle is attacked through cloud cover and eventually destroyed
-Port at The Hague destroyed
-2x Freight trains destroyed NE of Lyon

Operation Gomorrah was a near run thing. I really wasn’t expecting to pull this off after finding how prepared he was for it, but I had enough bombers survive and there wasn’t cloud cover over the target. It actually fell quite easily and I only lost 2 bombers in the attack. Even so, it doesn’t bode well for additional historic missions in the future – I had a reserve of 7 aircraft for this and that’s a darn good thing. I have NO idea how I’d hope to succeed with Schweinfurt (though in fairness, the Allies really aren’t supposed to succeed at that one).

My recon flights are showing me that he has invested in rebuilding his radar assets though he’s moved them in deeper and they aren’t quite along the coast. This is just as well because I want him to start attacking my day bombers with his fighters so that I can start taking the losses that I need to convince Washington to invest in fighters with adequate range!

I swap over about half of my day production to B-17s now and the remaining half to B-24s. I’m going to keep trying to knock out more and more ports with B-24s to hopefully increase freighters from 7 to 9 soon. The B-17s I’m going to send on routes that avoids flak, is visible, and calls the fighters up. I figure that the 17’s are better at defending themselves and when stacked in large enough formations they often take several fighters with them.

I found an additional city in the west now that I’m making 7 freighters per turn.

My current air force is fairly dilapidated but I suspect it will increase in size rapidly from this point out:

USAAF
18 x B-24
1 x B-17
2x P-47D11
10x P-38H
2x 15th AF B-24

RAF
3x Spitfire IX
2x Hurricane IV
2x Beaufighter
1x Stirling
13x Halifax
1x Pathfinder
1x Mosquito photo recon

I end with 379.5 points (the raid on Hamburg paid off in a big way).

 

[JPetroski]

Turn 34

Spoiler :

-Aircraft factory east of Ruhr attacked with no result
-He111 and U-Boat destroyed in mid Atlantic – 1x Hurricane lost
-Port at Bordeaux destroyed, 1x B-24 lost
-Fuel refinery made of adamantium attacked at Bordeaux but not destroyed
-Port at Antwerp destroyed, 1x B-24 lost

I pressed on with attacks against several ports, trying to inch closer to having 9 freighters per turn, but I’m still only triggering 7. I’m going to need to hit the ports in Germany proper now.

I am building up a large amount of B-17s to send into Germany. I’d like to see what a truly massive formation of these can do in terms of defending itself. This will compel waiting a few turns to strike with it, but I’ll use the B-24s in the meanwhile to try to keep the points coming.

Speaking of which, I finished with 387 turns.

 

[JPetroski]

Turn 35

Spoiler :

-Port at Rotterdam destroyed
-Factory at Rotterdam attacked but not destroyed
-Port at Calais destroyed
-Le Havre port attacked but not destroyed
-Fw190A5 destroyed over Netherlands
-Fuel refinery at Bordeaux destroyed

Recon flights support that the Germans are rebuilding their ports, so I’m going to need to keep units available to keep striking them. Nonetheless my campaign against his ports has gone well enough that I am now bringing in 9 freighters per turn and running into issues where I can’t unload them all in any city. I need to rebuild Swansea finally to accommodate more freighters!

The bomber near the aircraft factory didn’t trigger the “out of range” trigger. I now have the P-47D25 and it can move [edit: 51] spaces before heading home. This means that I’m looking at a line of Bremen eastwards to trigger this. Even though the B-24s could get there so much quicker I almost feel like I need to send the B-17s because they can still knock down enemy fighters without escort. It has been many turns since I was able to dent the Luftwaffe and I want to keep pressure on him so he doesn't just build an insurmountable force.

In addition to the strikes bulleted above I send out the RAF – 4 or so bombers are headed to Karlesruhe and 3 or so are headed to Wilhelmshaven/Bremen. My main goal is to continue activity so he doesn’t feel free to simply use Wilde Sau to bring all night fighters to daylight ops.

I end the turn with 398.5 points.

 

[JPetroski]

Turn 36

Spoiler :

-I destroy the port of Le Havre

I only received 7 freighters this turn that likely means he has slipped U-Boats through again (I've been slacking once again) or has rebuilt some ports, or a combination.

I realize that I misjudged how far P-47D25's could fly and now understand that I need to attack targets east of Bremen to trigger the bomber losses. I'm assembling a very large force of B-17s that I hope to take off with in about 2-3 turns. I expect the formation will have over 30 bombers and several P-47's and P-38s to escort it at least part of the way. Their target is going to be oil refineries east of Bremen. This will be the largest formation that I attempt and probably the last huge formation with the B-17F. I will likely convert back to B-24s for a few turns while I wait for the B-17G to arrive on the scene. Once the B-17G is around, it would almost make sense to cut science production until I can build Mustangs and just use the extra funds to rush-buy B-17G (at "only" 200 shields, they are the least expensive bomber option I'll have). The more bombers hitting deep targets in Germany the quicker to the Mustangs, after all. Once the Mustang comes around I feel that will be a true game changer for me.

I end with 406.5 points.

 

[JPetroski]

Turn 37

Spoiler :

This is a slow turn though the two night attack forces approach their targets. If they aren’t picked up by radar they will strike next turn. I also slip a B-24 past Denmark to try and strike a port east of there. Who knows, I could get lucky.

I will be launching my massive B-17 raid next turn as well with around 30 bombers and a number of fighters. I start converting to B-24s to carry the fight deep into Germany. I hope that they can follow up on anything the B-17s can’t destroy.

I finish with 415.5 points.

 

[JPetroski]

Turn 38

Spoiler :

-Port at Rostock attacked but not destroyed
-Wilhelmshaven bombed successfully
-Factory at St. Nazaire attacked but not destroyed – 1x B-24 lost to flak
-Factory at Paris attacked but not destroyed
-Factory at Munich bombed and destroyed

As I start this turn I get the unwelcome news that Operation Chastise has been ordered – the attack on the Ruhr dams.



I have no confidence in my ability to strike these. Recon flights support that he is shielding radar installations within his airfields, guarded by flak, so it is very difficult to destroy them. It’s unlikely I can get to this part of Germany without being noticed and I don’t think I have enough forces to do so.

All the same, I launch an attack over the north sea:



I also launch a distraction raid with window to the south to hopefully draw some fighters away.



If I can at least get his 110’s out of position I may have a chance (I think it is a pretty slim one, however).

Meanwhile, I launch a massive raid with B-17s, supported by smaller raids through France and Germany to try and spread out his forces. I am taking a route over the north sea to try and get the bombers east of Bremen before they are assaulted by the Germans. The oil refineries and ports at Kiel and Luebeck are the tentative targets. This is, by far, my largest raid to date.



I end the turn with 435 points.

 

[JPetroski]

Turn 39

Spoiler :

-Port at Rostock is finished off by B-24 liberators
-Factory at St. Nazaire destroyed by B-24 liberators
-Factory at Brest destroyed by B-24 liberators for the cost of 1 bomber to flak

My night and day raids continue on towards their targets. Neither has been discovered just yet. I am sending bombers to the west to try and draw fighters away from the east.

I think it’s worth pointing out just how quickly I can accumulate forces. I have 11 B-24s and 29 B-17s for 40 total daylight bombers. I also have 9 P-38H, 2 P-47D11, and 15 P-47D25. These aren’t going to be much good on long distance raids but can provide cover as the bombers return home.

I’m about 4 turns away from being able to produce B-17G. I want to try and build a few more airfields before then. The B-17G and Lancaster are plausible aircraft to rush build, though not every turn. They’re the least expensive aircraft I can buy. So another 6-10 airfields per map would be a good thing and would help me continue to keep pressure on the Germans.

At some point, I’m going to have to start building up a supply of tactical bombers and ground forces such as tanks and artillery to support a landing in France so it would be good to have a large number of airfields that can rush build the heavy bombers I’ll need to keep pressure on him.

Realistically, I need to simply hit points targets for the time being as I’m roughly 550 away from having the technology to land at D-Day. The sooner I can reach 1,000 points the better because that will keep him guessing as to when I’ll actually land. It would also be better to be closer to 1,250 points before landing so that I can quickly get the Russians fighting too.

For now, my aim continues to be deep penetration raids to try and destroy his industry and force him to attack my bombers, giving me access to the long-range fighters that will win me this war.

I end the turn with 454 points.

 

[JPetroski]

Turn 40

Spoiler :

-Fuel refinery at Paris destroyed
-Factory at Rouen destroyed
-Factory at Paris destroyed, 1x B-24 lost to flak
-Jever AFB attacked by Lancasters – several fighters (I believe 4 of which at least one is a Ju88 of some type) destroyed on ground and a few more damaged
-88mm attacked by fighter bombers near Paris but not destroyed

I conduct a recon sweep along the B-17 approach and find very few fighters in airfields meaning that I’ll probably be able to destroy several targets when the main daylight attack arrives in another 2 turns. I think this attack will force him to think twice about leaving Northern Germany undefended.

I figure he’ll probably spot my Ruhr dam raid so I use 2x Lancs to attack his airfield at Jever, scoring several hits. Unfortunately the position of some 110s outside the city prevents me from striking with more aircraft (if he hadn't done that, I could have struck with 1-2 more bombers and may well have destroyed another 6 aircraft on the ground). All the same, I destroy about 4 of his fighters and moreso prove the effectiveness of this tactic. Bombing night airfields could be a pretty good deal in the future…

I decide to escort my “distraction” raids in France heavily with the P-47s while I’m waiting for the main B-17 attack to hit Kiel and return home. I want to continue chipping away at the Luftwaffe.

I strike an 88mm with fighter bombers and feel that if I invested more effort I could have destroyed it. This is not lost on me. Those tactical bombers are now looking pretty darn important.

I end with 480 points.