Strategy: Air-Raiding

There's alot of debate on whether air-raids are an effective tactic or not. Players commonly think that its too risky, that you'll lose bombers before making an effective dent in the enemy economy, and that only the Allies can afford the risks involved. By not understanding when it's appropriate to air-raid, the player denies him/herself the ability to gain an advantage over the enemy economy.


Quick-Review of Air-Raid Rules

- Tactical-bombers can only raid airbases and seaports.
- Strategic-bombers can raid factories, airbases, and seaports.
- Only fighters can be used as escorts (attackers) and interceptors (defenders).
- Interceptors are NOT "scrambling", therefore they can be used during the next turn.
- There is only ONE air-raid per territory per turn. All planes participate in the same "battle" regardless of their target.

Refer to the previous post: "Rules: Air-Raid" for a more detailed explanation of how it all goes down.

Why Should I Air-Raid?

You can air-raid for a few reasons.

#1 - Damage factories/airbases/seaports - damaging these structures obviously forces your enemy to spend money to repair them, and prevents them from spending all their IPC's on units. If your enemy is strapped for cash, you may force them to compromise and keep the structure "closed" during the next turn. "Closing" far-flung airbases and seaports is relatively safe (if no fighters are there to intercept) and can force your opponent to repair it later.

#2 - Gain air-superiority - sometimes the enemy has some pesky fighters you need to take out, but there's too many land units present to make a conventional attack plausible. You can lure an enemy's fighters into a tactical-disadvantage by forcing them to defend against air-raids.

When to (and not to) Air-Raid


- If you need to whittle down an enemy's economy, and force them to waste money. Then air-raid.
- If you can spare losing some planes and your enemy can't, then air-raid.
- If you can't afford new planes, don't air-raid and save them for a conventional battle.

Air-Raiding with the Axis - Target: Moscow

If all three Axis powers build an extra strategic-bomber or two and send them to attack Russia, they can really hurt the Soviet economy while Germany rushes Moscow with the army. Russia has a poor air force, so its a relatively safe way to hurt their economy. If Russia builds fighters, then they are leaving their ground forces weak. If they build infantry, then they leave their factories vulnerable. A smart Russian-player will only repair factories that are producing units, but this is OK because it allows the Axis to turn half their bombers into reserves for later.

If the Axis combine a strong attack on Russia with the bombing described above, the Russian player will be in trouble fast. Even if their capital does not fall quickly, the Axis can hurt them by capturing and destroying factories that are left poorly defended.

Air-Raiding with the Axis - Target: London

If Germany plans on going for Operation Sea-Lion, it can consider air-raiding London in lieu of attacking the entire Royal Navy. Bring tactical-bombers as fodder for the battle (they can participate because London has airbases and seaports), and build 2 bombers in turn 1. With a little luck, you can force UK to spend some IPC's on turn one, and up to 20 IPC's on turn two in order to fix its factories. Thats big-money for cash-strapped UK.

Air-Raiding with the Axis - Target: Calcutta

If Japan wishes to be bold, it can make air-raids on Calcutta after declaring war on the UK. UK-Pacific doesn't generate much income, nor do they have much of an air-force. By building strategic-bombers, Japan can easily grind Calcutta's industry to a halt, making an invasion of India all the more possible. Of course, this allows for the US to enter the Pacific-theater early. But we're rolling for 1's here, right? Go big or go home.

If You Think Air-Raids in A&AG1940+.2 are too Hard, "Keep Calm and Carry On"

Game Summary # 2 - (23 June, 2011)

TURN 2

GERMANY

Germany ended the first turn with the entire Luftwaffe stationed at the airbase in West Germany. This put them in range of making an air-raid on London.

Situational Awareness: Airbases - Airbases increase the movement of all planes by 1. Fighters/tactical-bombers can move 5, and strategic-bombers can move 7. This airbase in Western Germany allows the Luftwaffe to threaten London, the Northern Mediterranean, and the Russian border at the same time.

The UK left London relatively undefended, instead bulking up its navy. Having underestimated the potential Operation Sea Lion, London was vulnerable. The Germans made a surprise attack across the channel and take London to the dismay of the commonwealth. The British home-army is decimated at the cost of half the Luftwaffe in a dramatic single roll. Because they captured the main British capitol, the Germans raid London's IPC's.

Situational Awareness: Operation Sea Lion - The likelihood of Sea Lion taking place in the first 3 turns is fairly high. A clever German player can disguise the attack by using airbases/seaports. If seaports are present, German transports can land troops in London that are stationed as far back as Poland. If airbases are present, fighters/tactical-bombers can attack London from Western Europe or Norway. For the UK player, it is always better to overestimate the potential of Operation Sea Lion, rather than underestimate it. You could lose your capital if you do.

At the end of their second turn, the Germans take the UK at the cost of half the Luftwaffe. But the additional IPC's from raiding the capitol brings Germany 99 IPC's on turn 3, more than enough to make up for the planes lost (5 tactical-bombers were lost at 55 IPC's)

Situational Awareness: Operation Sea Lion - The US made a blunder and left their unloaded transports off the eastern seaboard. While neutral, the US players should always keep loaded transports (carriers and cruisers help too) off the coast of Greenland so they can immediately attack Scotland in case Operation Sea Lion is successful (if the Germans take London, the US is automatically allowed to declare war, so being in Greenland is absolutely necessary).

GAME 2 CONCLUSIONS

At the end of Germany's turn, the Allies conceded. The Germans would have been able to reinforce London before the Americans could even arrive, so the chance of a successful counter-attack was low. After playing this game, we realized that the UK needs to build infantry in London in case Sea Lion occurs, and the US needs to keep a naval-group (including loaded transports/carriers) off Greenland during neutrality. If the Allies perform these two actions in the European theater, then they can immediately occupy Scotland in the same turn. Germany's extra IPC's from raiding London don't mean they've automatically won the game. But if the US cannot counter-attack in the same turn, then the Axis can capture Russia's Victory-Cities without worrying about maintaining an expensive western front.