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.

Game Summary #2 (21 June, 2011)

This game features:
Matt D as the Axis (Germany, Italy, Japan)

The Allies consist of:
Brett as Russia, United States, and China
George as the United Kingdom, Australia/New Zealand (ANZAC), and France.

Just some trivia, ANZAC stands for the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps.

TURN 1

GERMANY

Germany bought a major-factory. It sent the navy and Luftwaffe after the UK fleet surrounding the  British Isles. Things worked out well for Germany, who had much of their navy remaining at the end of the turn.

The Germans had an undamaged battleship left at the end of turn one. Their subs wait to reinforce it in turn 2.

The Germans also attacked the victory-city of Paris on turn one and took it despite tough casualties. They lost almost all of their infantry and mechanized-infantry in the attack. The Luftwaffe landed in Western-Germany.

RUSSIA

The Russians built land units and sent their armies to reinforce the victory-city of Leningrad. Russia also sent its Baltic fleet closer to the Germans.

The Eastern Front is quiet for now. Germany's new factory both threatens and tempts the Russian army.

JAPAN

The Japanese built two minor-factories and placed them along the Chinese coast. The Imperial Army moved inland but could not secure the Burma Road, a tough break for Japan.

UNITED STATES

The US bought a carrier and fighter to escort two transports. Being bound by the games neutrality rules, the US couldn't do much besides build and wait.


CHINA

The Chinese have the Burma Road open,  have the option to build artillery. Brett declines the artillery and builds infantry instead. Brett aggressively attacks the Japanese forces bordering the Burma Road, and both sides lose all their forces in the battle. The Chinese army then retreats to their western border with Russia. 

The Burma Road stays open. The Imperial Navy consolidates along the Chinese coast.

 

 UNITED KINGDOM

The UK built a carrier-group in for the Atlantic and infantry for India. In the Mediterranean the UK attacked the eastern Italian fleet, wiping it out. In the eastern theater, the UK sent troops closer to the Burma Road. The colonial army did much worse however, and failed to eliminate the Italian threat in the Horn of Africa.

The UK fleet attacks the Italians in the Eastern Mediterranean. The Italians were wiped out in the first phase of combat but managed to get 3 hits, reducing the UK Mediterranean fleet significantly.

Poor rolls prevent the amphibious-assault from succeeding.

AUSTRALIAN & NEW ZEALAND ARMY CORPS

The ANZAC troops move into the Pacific Rim and begin assuming control of the Dutch colonies.



ITALY

The Italians begin aggressive tactics in the Mediterranean and shut down the Suez Canal by taking Trans-Jordan and French-Syria. The Italian air force makes a gamble by attacking the French navy as well. The Italian expedition in Africa moves toward the victory-city of Cairo, threatening it for turn 2.

The Italians only lost one fighter during the attack on the French fleet.

Mussolini's neo-Roman Empire is a possibility, but by no means guaranteed yet.

 FRANCE

Always playing to win, France makes the best of an opportunity by counter-attacking the weak Germany army-group in Paris. It was a battle that came down to the wire! Charles de Gaulle would have been proud.

Five German tanks and a mech-infantry face off against two French infantry, an artillery, tank, and a fighter.

 

France sacrifices its fighter for a last shot at re-taking Paris.

France rolls a 4 and Germany rolls a 3. Vichy-France is established at the end of turn 1.

Rules: Air Raid

Air raids are much more complicated in Alpha+2 than in Revised-1942. We made a mock air raid to demonstrate the rules. The air raid rules are based off of the Alpha+2 rules posted by Larry (creator of A&A) here http://www.harrisgamedesign.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=40&t=4167.

(Section 8) Strategic Bombing Raids procedure:
• Escorts fire @1, and interceptor casualties are immediately removed.
• Bombers fire @ 1 and interceptors fire @ 2. Remove bomber and interceptor casualties (escorts may be taken as casualties only after all bombers are eliminated).
• Surviving bombers are assigned a specific target (IC, airbase or naval base) if more than one type is in the territory.
• The target fires its AA defenses at the attacking aircraft - @1
• Surviving bombers attack their target, looking for the highest number possible.

When bombing, each Strategic bomber rolls one die and 2 is added to each die result, giving the total number of hits the target will receive. Gray chips are placed under the target for each hit received.  
 
(Tactical Bombers can also conduct bombing raids. They are limited to attacking only naval bases and airbases, however. Other wise they follow the exact procedure as strategic bombers presented above. When bombing they roll one die. The number rolled is the number of hits the target receives. DO NOT ADD +2 DICE ROLL WITH TACTICAL BOMBERS.)

OK, so now that we've reviewed the rules you are all likely either fairly or completely confused. We were as well, so we set up a sample bombing run before our game to test it out. In this air raid, the somehow-mighty Italian Air Force takes off from Africa to bomb a French colony in Brazil. Don't question DeGaulle's logic, just follow this tutorial.

PROLOGUE - The Italian air force comes into Brazil with two"escort-fighters", one tactical-bomber and one strategic-bomber (The tactical-bomber is going after the seaport and the strategic-bomber is going after the minor factory, just fyi). All planes must participate in the air-raid battle before bombing occurs.

STEP 1 - Attacking "Escort-fighters" go first, and roll on 1's (only fighters are allowed to escort!). Any casualties are removed immediately. Italy rolled a 1, so France takes it's third fighter off before the next phase of combat.

STEP 2 - First the bomber's roll for 1's. Then all interceptors roll for 2. All attacking bombers must be used as casualties before any fighters. The Italians choose the tactical-bomber as their casualty after the battle. The French then remove their casualty.

STEP 3 -  If any bombers remain, the attacker declares which bombers will be attacking which facility. In this case, the Italians have their remaining bomber attack the French minor-factory.  All factories, naval-bases, and air-bases have a built in AA gun that only is used during air-raids. They roll on a 1 for each bomber coming after the factory and any casualties are removed immediately.  In this example, the factory-AA misses. (Regular AA guns do not participate in an air raid, they are for regular battles only.)

STEP 4 - Finally, it is time for the remaining bombers to do their thing. The Italian strategic-bomber rolls a 3. Strategic-bombers add 2 damage to their roll, so the total damage is 5. The French place five damage-chips under their factory and the Italians land their remaining planes.

FINAL THOUGHTS ON AIR-RAID RULES - Tactical-bombers can only be used in an air-raid if there is a naval-base or air-base present. You cannot bring tactical-bombers as "fodder" during a raid on a territory that only has a factory in it. Also, a quick reminder that attacking bombers must be taken as casualties before any escort-fighters are removed. Finally, the defending team cannot use tactical-bombers as "interceptor-fighters" during the air raid.

Test Post

This is the test post for the Unofficial Axis & Allies Blog. First postings coming Sunday, June 19th.