DTR is great!

[jonnymacbrown]

"I don't have the game yet... but I was wondering.

What is the most effective: attack the bombers on their way back home (I would prefere that one if possible) or before they arrive to their target?"

You want to get them going in and going out. You want to identify the main force raid ASAP and get as many units into the air on intercept, land 'em, refuel, and then get 'em back up and hit 'em again on the way out. On the shorter missions to Hamburg, Bremen etc. you don't have time for for a double dip, but on the longer raids, to Berlin for example, you can do it. You also need to be on top of where your interceptors are so that when the message board flashes "III/IV NJG is unable to make contact with Raid A" you know which unit that is, send it home to refuel or redirect it to another raid and at the same time, direct another Gruppe to Raid A to identify it. It can get complicated. von ege

[Dog Soldier]

Should interceptors do more damage to raiding bombers before the raiders drop their loads? I think the raids were planned for a constant fuel consumption rate. After the target is hit, the planes can increase in airspeed with the same fuel consumption rate. As the fuel is consumed, the plane gets lighter, until optimal airspeed and fuel consumption is reached.

My uncle was an engineer on the B-17 raids. He said they lumbered into Europe, and ran out...at least until they were in cover from fighters based in the UK.

Dog Soldier

[jonnymacbrown]

[quote=Dog Soldier]
"Should interceptors do more damage to raiding bombers before the raiders drop their loads? I think the raids were planned for a constant fuel consumption rate. After the target is hit, the planes can increase in airspeed with the same fuel consumption rate. As the fuel is consumed, the plane gets lighter, until optimal airspeed and fuel consumption is reached."

They do seem to be moving a bit faster on the way out but that might be my imagination. I don't know if it's a game feature. I don't remember reading anything about that in the notes. von ege

[PK Powers]

I would believe the bombers would gain quite a bit of speed after releasing their loads ; no need for formations at night, the stream would high tail it home.

As for game tactics I've been leaving the spoof raids alone once discovered.

I started out playing the Allied side but now I'm really enjoying the twists of playing the German command!

[jonnymacbrown]

[quote=PK Powers]

"As for game tactics I've been leaving the spoof raids alone once discovered."

I do believe that only He-219 can catch up to, attack and shoot down Mosketos. All you can do with Me-110's on them is identify, same with your Ju-88's and Do-217's and then move on. von ege

[PK Powers]

cool, thanks for that info sir

[FM WarB]

Bring that Luftwaffe to Kursk, Her General von Egan

[Gasbag]

I've been using He-219's as scouts to identify/spot raids as quickly as possible. You can decide whether to attack or ignore them much faster as a result.
Don't forget about the very real possibility of Bomber Command sending Intruder(s) to attack your airfields. Get as many of your gruppen up & flying as you can. A bunch of aircraft parked on a runway makes a very tempting target...:smg: In my last game the AI sent 2 Intruder missions (a long with a spoof raid). They attacked 2 of my airfields & caused some damage but I didn't lose any aircraft to them.

[jonnymacbrown]

[quote=Gasbag]
"I've been using He-219's as scouts to identify/spot raids as quickly as possible. You can decide whether to attack or ignore them much faster as a result."
Yes, I've figured that out too. And it's also important to take Gruppen out of the line and rest them. von ege.