S41: Why is the Luftwaffe so fragile?

[Ubercat]

I just started playing this again after a year hiatus and was almost immediately reminded of what put me off before.

It doesn't seem to matter what's in the target hex; airstrikes invariably give away more VP than they gain. At least every other airstrike loses a plane, even when the target hex only contains a Soviet Rifle division HQ and a disrupted rifle battalion, both isolated. (No enemy AA within 20 hexes)

I understand that attrition happens, and a soldier gets lucky once in a while with his Tokarev, but this is ridiculous! Why should a player concerned with VP bother using airstrikes when he's going to kill 4-6 enemy soldiers and lose a bomber? It's not a good trade.

In a slightly related note, last year I started a campaign game as the Germans and was surprised at how quickly my PzIV companies got chewed up attacking enemy bunkers occupied by rifle battalions.(I think it was bunkers. It was the next thing up from trenches) My memory is rusty, so maybe I didn't support them sufficiently with infantry but they seemed to suffer an inordinate amount of losses to troops that shouldn't have been that tough. It was direct fire, not assaults.

The tank losses occurred in the far north of the map, where there is a fortified, skimpily occupied Soviet line running southeast from the northern map edge.

[M.Wittmann]

Do not know what happens there with your game,perhaps you don't have latest patch but i recently finished S41 game and during at least 40 turns
did not shot down not a single German plain even with AA guns in range.Thing was so frustating

[JDR Dragoon]

I understand that attrition happens, and a soldier gets lucky once in a while with his Tokarev, but this is ridiculous!

Soviet infantry units of WW2 and the immediate post-war period would have 12.7mm (and later 14.5mm w. multiple barrels) as their organic AA assets. Weapons such as these are perfectly capable of shooting down low-flying airplanes. The AA strenght of the HQ perhaps even includes weapons in the 23-37mm range.

[Ubercat]

I understand that attrition happens, and a soldier gets lucky once in a while with his Tokarev, but this is ridiculous!

Soviet infantry units of WW2 and the immediate post-war period would have 12.7mm (and later 14.5mm w. multiple barrels) as their organic AA assets. Weapons such as these are perfectly capable of shooting down low-flying airplanes. The AA strenght of the HQ perhaps even includes weapons in the 23-37mm range.

Thanks for your replies.

Perhaps I need to give it more time. At this rate, however, it seems that all my planes would be dead before the 3 or so weeks of a grand campaign are completed. I wonder how many VP THAT would give up?

I do have the latest patch.