U2 night bombers

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All Forums >> [New Releases from Matrix Games] >> Gary Grigsby's War in the East Series >> The War Room >> U2 night bombers

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U2 night bombers - 6/9/2020 2:52:16 PM

mmoaorrke

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What is the current thinking on making U2 night bomber squadrons? Worth it? Useful for ?? Specific time of war? Waste of a squadron (and limits)?

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RE: U2 night bombers - 6/9/2020 3:41:00 PM

Telemecus

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There is a mix of opinion tbh. I have not played a game as soviets using them and not played a soviet side for a while. If I was to do so I would certainly start with some and train them up to high kill (Morale/Xp) and then concentrate on attriting German or maybe Finnnish manpower in quieter sectors by micro managed ground bombing. Concentrate on the least fortified infantry. Worth it for a short period. Long term if you are getting to the 600 soviet air group limit you will have to disband them for more useful Il-2 airgroups.

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RE: U2 night bombers - 6/9/2020 5:33:05 PM

eskuche

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I've tried them in my Soviet game and can tell you for free (no conflicts of interest to declare :) ) that they're not good. If you have an IL-2 crunch as I suspect you might in our game they are fine for training up, but SB-2 are equally as good. I would say they're better because the U2's have such short range (9) that 1) they can only hit a few hexes before retiring and 2) they have to be pretty close to the front lines. The R-Z's and I-153bs perform pretty on-par with IL-2's and Su-2's surprisingly but their production runs are over, which means you are going to swap to IL-2's eventually.

Edit: The main benchmark for air force training outside of unit kills I think is number of missions run, for bombers at least. I'm not quite sure how fighters get more experience.

< Message edited by eskuche -- 6/9/2020 5:34:01 PM >

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RE: U2 night bombers - 6/9/2020 6:14:04 PM

Telemecus

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Given what eskuche has said then it might not make sense at all to make U2VS groups. At least with I-153Bs you can swap them to Il-2s and likewise for Sb-2s to other plans. With U2VS you are stuck with them forever as they cannot be swapped. So you are not training up an air group to deliver an experienced team to better planes.

One question though - the U2VS is known to use very little supply. Given the problems Soviet players are now encountering with too few railyards after 1941, would not U2VS be one way of keeping any functioning air force at all?

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RE: U2 night bombers - 6/9/2020 7:15:25 PM

eskuche

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That�s a terrific point. I was going to do a disband test later on tank brigades to see how much that frees up (as per BrianG�s game). It might make sense to see what happens if 600 regiments are reserved. Spitballing numbers here, but if each IL-4/fighter sortie takes just one ton of supply/tuel overall average per plane, and the entire front of 100 units is hit twice a turn with the max of 24 x 20 plane regiments, that�s that�s over 100,000 rail cap used assuming 1:1 supply/fuel moved per rail point.

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RE: U2 night bombers - 6/10/2020 5:11:41 PM

Laits

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Also, it could be useful to have some U2VS regiment if you have difficulties to field IL2 units (lack of production in 1941 - 1942). The USSR factories produce lots of these small planes.
It would be a kind of transition when the situation is dire. Don't forget that you need mass to wear and tear the luftwaffe. When you can't afford IL2 because it's better than nothing.

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