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KayBay's Allied Strategic & Tactical Doctrine

 
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KayBay's Allied Strategic & Tactical Doctrine - 10/22/2009 6:10:05 AM   
kaybayray

 

Posts: 424
Joined: 6/1/2007
Status: offline 		Well Sarge, Harley, Swift, and many many others that go unnamed here have been such a tremendous help to me since I first encountered this Treasure of a game a couple years ago. In the perspective of trying to provide some assistance to those that may be struggeling with this game as I did in the early days of my feeble attempts to master it. And to answer the call of some, in particular Hard Sarge, Harley, Swift and those Unnamed, whom I have built a tremendous respect for through this challenging game. I am embarking on an effort to present to this unique, brilliant, talented and very gracious community my interpretation of some of the possible Strategies and Tactics one might consider following to master this game. In doing so it is my hope that this will allow those persons interested in doing so to take their level of emmersion and play in this fantastic game to levels far above those of the standard fare experienced by many.

My focus is from the unique perspective of the Allied Air Forces as that is the area of my passion within the scope of this particular game at this time. I will also focus on the 1943 Long Campaign as I think that is the most challenging aspect of this game. Perhaps at some point in the future I may venture into the realm of the Luftwaffe and Riga Aeronautica. However at this time I am far too ignorant of that aspect of this game and of WWII that I think it would be pretentious of me to do so at this time. I do feel that there are others in this community that are extremely well versed in the actual history and in game play at the level I am attempting to achieve that would do a far better service to this community than I might.

As a disclaimer I must say from the start that in no way by sharing the way in which I go about attempting to destroy German Industry and the Air Forces of the Axis Powers should it be construed that this is “the only way” or “the best way” to do so. At the very best this should be considered as “one possible way”. I say possible because by following my Strategy and Tactical Doctrine you may very well fail. Because in no way do I consider myself an “Expert”. At the very best I should be considered a “Novice”, “Nicky New Guy” or “Johnny Just Arrived”.

So where to begin? For me building Daylight Strategic Strikes, Escort Missions and Fighter Sweeps were not the most challenging aspect of this game. It was operating Bomber Command and performing Night Bombing Missions on Urban targets over the Reich. So that is where I will begin. Why there? Because in my experience this area of this game is the most complex at the early stages of the war from the Allied perspective. I say this because the Daylight Strategic Bombing assets available to you in 1943 are in comparison extremely limited. The assets available to you for Bomber Command are orders of magnitude in greater availability.

The first thing that must be done is to select a target. Target selection is not a simple matter. I consider several factors before I arrive at a mission target. I also do not strike only one urban area for a nights mission. My philosophy is that if I am going to pay for the trip I am going to get as much as I can with each and every trip. So I look for clusters of urban areas to strike. Looking at the image I have pasted of the Target Region you will see 4 cities in a cluster, namely Darmstadt, Ludwigshafen, Wiesbaden and Kaiserslautern. Notice that they are fairly equidistant from each other about the point that I have marked on the map titled “Target Navigation Point”. Also note that this Navigation point is also a natural Landmark that can easily be recognized visually from the air and easily oriented on a map as a reference point. I recall reading in the original game Manual that landmarks should be used when possible. Don’t ask me to find it and quote it because I am not going to. I have found many little tidbits in obscure passages of the manual and I think they were placed there for a reason. So be aware that I have cobbled them into my missions where I deem they are appropriate.

I also try to pick a land mark for this navigation point so that when I am building the flight paths of the strike forces I can orchestrate their motion such that I can keep them in some assemblence of a formation for the trip in and out of the strike. Remember you are over enemy territory and there is strength and safety in numbers. When building a particular flight path for a single squadron those of the others are not necessarily visible to you and a known and recognizable reference point can be of great assistance to you.

Please take note of something else. I mention “Clusters” of cities for targets. If you select target cities too close to each other it is easy for your strike squadrons to either bomb the wrong target or create crop circles. You may wonder why would it not be good for my squadrons to bomb the wrong target… cities are cities right? Well they are going to get confused and move to and attack an area that was already hit thinking it is their target. The idea is to damage as much Urban Area as possible with each trip. Common sense states that a building can only be destroyed once. This applies to Urban Area targets. They do not get repaired like Industrial structures do. At least not as quickly. Ordnance should not be wasted in this way. Remember I want to get the most for the price I pay for the trip. So I want to maximize the surface area of Urban targets I damage.

OK, so now we have selected our Urban Area Targets for this evenings mission. We are now ready to move on to other phases of our operation. Next we will actually build the Strike Mission. That is not a simple task either. However recall that you do not have to play this game at this level. You can very easily point and click and pop the top of your brew and just watch it happen. I don’t choose to play this game so lightly. If you disagree with my play style then I would recommend that you not pursue the further reading of any of my posts as they will all be aimed at this level of emmersion and play of this fantastic game.

Later,
KayBay





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RE: KayBay's Allied Strategic & Tactical Doctrine - 10/23/2009 4:16:02 AM   
kaybayray

 

Posts: 424
Joined: 6/1/2007
Status: offline 		Now that we have selected a target for tonights mission I want to give brief overview of my general Bomber Command Mission Doctrine. I have posted it on another thread but for continuity I will past it here as well as this is the appropriate point to do so for this thread.

I organize my strikes into 4 phases. Seduction, Distraction & Disruption, Strike, and finally Withdraw. I will describe the basic strategy of each phase and will follow up with some screenies of actual missions to describe better what and how.

With this I am by no means saying this is the Only way or the Best Way to run BC strikes. I am sharing what “I” have learned and and observed in running BC Missions. Many lessons learned at a very high cost. Probably very lucky for the RAF that I was not running the show. I have to point out that I am still working my way through my first full on Long 1943 campaign and by far BC has been my hardest hitting resource. Between mandatory targeting from HQ and the lack of long range escort for the Daylight Precision aspect I am hard pressed to really do more than give the Third Reich a bloody nose with anything other than BC at this point. I am sure that those of you that have really worked this game will have much more sound strategic and tactical advice to give than a rookie such as I .

As a Disclaimer, I would not recommend this strategy against a Human opponent. Humans are smart and quick to recognize a pattern and will react very quickly and learn very quickly. All at your displeasure. Also the relative mission time clock values I have shown will be modified as you go deeper into the Reich. Remember that the farther you have to travel over enemy turf the more assets you will have to tend with and the earlier phases of this strategy will become exponentially more difficult to carry out.

Seduction Phase: Mission Time 00:00 minutes
This is my Strike Opener. Stream in ECM AC with accompanying Night Fighters to cover and interdict Luftwaffe Night Interceptors. In this phase I draw LW assets away from the region of the nights target cities. This group of AC also include Night Fighters that maintain a CAP over Airfields either suspected to or confirmed to operate NJG AC. I also include ECM AC to shut down Radar in the vicinity of my strike. I want to get all of these assets in place before my strike force moves in. I also want to draw up the maximum Luftwaffe assets at this early point of my strike that I can and seduce them away from the strike.

Distraction & Disruption Phase: Mission Time + 15:00 to 30:00 minutes
In this phase all my ECM birds to distract NJG AC are in place in regions of a proximity of the strike area to pull assets from the strike region to the ECM AC and keep them pinned there. I also attach Night Fighters to the locations of these ECM AC to interdict the NJG interceptors as they attempt to engage my ECM Distraction AC. I also station ECM birds over every single Radar site that has any Radar coverage of the Target Region or the path into it taken by my Strike Force. At this time I also have Night Fighters capping NJG Airfields. I maintain an overlap of these AC over the airfields so that I don’t lose my interdiction capability at these airfields during any portion of the strike. This also allows me to capitalize on an increased odds ratio when individual Luftwaffe AC RTB against my orbiting Night Fighters.

Strike Phase: Mission Time + 30:00 to 45:00 minutes
In this phase I path my Bombers to their target cities. I select cities that are in the same region but have significant separation between other target cities. Typically 4-6 target cities are selected for a strike with a approximately a total strike force of 100 AC allocated to each target city. I don’t want my strike to be confused and water down the strike. I have used the Mossy Pathfinders as recommended by many in the past but my results show that… no offense guys but they couldn’t hit a bull elephant in a volkswagon beetle with a hockey stick. They tend to soak off their attacks in small groups some hitting the target and some hitting Aunties Garden. My best results have been from using straight up Line Squadrons with higher Experience and Morale. Perhaps just the unit selection I am using for the Mossy’s but that is what I have found. During this phase my Night Fighters start to get kills as many of the NJG AC are either low on fuel or damaged and must RTB.

Withdraw Phase: Mission Time + 60:00 to 75:00 minutes
In this phase I try to collapse my overall strike and concentrate them into a major withdraw stream. To facilitate this phase I must carefully orchestrate the flight paths of the Stike Groups to and from their individual target city such that they have completed their strikes and return to the main stream path of withdraw in the general formation I want them to exit the region in. I maintain my cap over NJG airfields with my Night Fighters during this phase as this is where I generally yield most of my kills of NJG AC.

Typical results from this strategy net me <5 AC lost and >25 enemy AC destroyed with the target cities taking 30-50% Urban Damage. As I run more strikes and learn more I will update my strategy. So this may not work as well later on in the war as it is at this time. But then once I can field decent long range escort AC I will be able to do more than hurl threats and bad language at the Reich with my Daylight formations and this may help the situation. We will see.

Later,
KayBay


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RE: KayBay's Allied Strategic & Tactical Doctrine - 10/23/2009 4:18:56 AM   
kaybayray

 

Posts: 424
Joined: 6/1/2007
Status: offline 		Ok on our previous session we selected our Urban Target Cities for tonights mission. Now we must build our actual Strike to and from these targets. Take a look at the image I have pasted. Note that all of our strike aircraft follow the same path in to and out of the Target region. Each strike group consists of one Pathfinder squadron and four follow up squadrons. Each should consist of approximately 20+ aircraft. This may not always be possible due to attrition, Morale, Fatigue, etc… The goal is that each Strike Group for each Target City should consist of approximately 100 aircraft. You can add more but if you do, in time you will have to stand down Bomber Command until you have enough crews above the minimal Morale for a mission. This will allow the Luftwaffe to rest and regain strength.

I make it a point to never fly a squadron with a Morale of < 50. I have found that the farther you get below that the more problems you will have. Their accuracy will be poor, they will have trouble finding and attacking the target. They will not deal well with interceptors. You will tend to have higher losses and an overall lower effectiveness of your strike. Keep in mind that how Bomber Command Strikes go about performing their strike is much different than how your Daylight Precision Bombing Strikes do. Bomber Command strike squadrons basically follow the lead of the Pathfinder units. They will attack points of fire or Urban Areas they locate that they determine to be in the approximate Target Area for that mission. They attack one squadron at a time in the sequence that you have routed them into their target. So in effect each squadron is performing an independent attack on the city.

I set all strike groups to an altitude of 10,000 feet. Each squadron is set to a TOT (Time Over Target) at 5 minute intervals from each other. Since there are 5 squadrons in each Strike Group the attack will be sustained for 25+ minutes. I synchronize the Pathfinder units of each Strike Group to be over their targets at the same time. I will speak to this in much more detail in my next post. So be patient and I will sequentailly lay out a procedure to build and execute a Strategic and Tactical Doctrine of use for Bomber Command assets.

I build the strike for each city by first building the Pathfinder squadron flight path. I adjust it to try to avoid within reason potential major flak concentrations. As from my experience flak causes more damage to my aircraft than enemy interceptors do. So IMHO it is wise to try to avoid it. I am currently using the Original BTR game so I am limited to only 4 waypoints. This will change once I have the Matrix version here in the next week. Once I have the Pathfinders plotted and set I then use the “New Raid” and then the “Follow” command to copy the flight path of the Pathfinders as that of the next squadron I am building the strike for. Then just select the squadron for that flight path and then on to the next until I have the Strike for that city completed. I then use the “Review” command to access the set of 5 squadrons whom I have just set up so that I can adjust their TOT to the 5 minute interval I run.

Repeat this procedure for all the remaining Strike Groups. Just make sure that as you set up each sequential Pathfinder unit that you make sure to overlap the flight path of it over the others. The exception being that each will fly to the “Target Navigation Point” mentioned in my last session and from there turn to it’s target. More on this aspect in the next session. The idea is to concentrate your strike force into a relatively small area on the flight to and from the target region. This is important because we are going to build other elements of this mission and having your strike groups scattered all over will reduce the effectiveness of these other Mission Elements. We will be adding a Seduction Element as well as a Distraction and Disruption Element along with a Withdraw Element to our overall mission.

Ok I have described the basics of building a Strike. However I need to discuss the routing from the Target Navigation Point in more detail. So please go to the next post and read it before you actually go about building a strike. You can only past one image per posting so I have to break it up by the images I will post. So please be patient and bare with me. It will be well worth it.

Later,
KayBay




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RE: KayBay's Allied Strategic & Tactical Doctrine - 10/23/2009 4:40:34 AM   
kaybayray

 

Posts: 424
Joined: 6/1/2007
Status: offline 		Now I will discuss in much more detail the plotting from the Target Navigation Point to the Targets and back again. Look at the image I have posted. You will note the axis of all the flight paths correspond with the location of the Target Navigation Point which is located at the bend in the river. (LOL hey there is a River on the map… sorry this is an inside joke from a post near the time when I posted this) This point is selected for two purposes. The first is so that you have a reference point when building all the flight paths of squadrons to their target and the second is for Landmark for you crews to use to assist them in locating and attacking the correct target.

Note that this point is relatively equidistant from each target city. The purpose being that you want to maintain some level of formation integrity as each of your Strike Groups break up from their formation they entered the target area in, move to and strike their targets and then return to this navigation point after their strike is completed. They will all arrive at this point in relatively the same order they left it thereby sustaining some formation integrity. It is important to try not to allow your formations to be spread out over a large area. They then basically become stragglers and can be singularly detected and attacked by NJG aircraft much easier. Remember we are going to place other mission elements out here that will serve to protect your Strike Elements.

There is another element to maintaining formation integrity through this phase of our mission and that is the synchronization of our initial TOT for each Strike Group. In order for this flight path pattern to function to maintain formation integrity we must synchronize them all to the same point in time. This will keep most of our aircraft in relatively the same location with respect to other aircraft of our Strike throughout the mission. Most of all of our bomber aircraft all fly at about the same speed with the exception of the Mossy’s. They fly much faster and tend to get separated from the Strike Force. Would be nice if we could adjust the time we wanted aircraft at each waypoint and also at what speed we want them to fly. Or perhaps some command that would force them to stay in formation with each other. But that is not the case. So this method will do something to address that issue for most of the aircraft in your Strike Force.

Now the Strike Element has been built for our mission tonight. However within the time frame of our mission this is the last element to enter the target region. The times and altitudes of the other elements will all be coordinated around that of the Strike Element. All the other elements of our mission act to support the Strike Element. In our next session I will discuss the building of one of the other mission elements.

Later,
KayBay






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RE: KayBay's Allied Strategic & Tactical Doctrine - 10/23/2009 8:05:49 AM   
Dixie


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quote:


I set all strike groups to an altitude of 10,000 feet. Each squadron is set to a TOT (Time Over Target) at 5 minute intervals from each other. Since there are 5 squadrons in each Strike Group the attack will be sustained for 25+ minutes. I synchronize the Pathfinder units of each Strike Group to be over their targets at the same time. I will speak to this in much more detail in my next post. So be patient and I will sequentailly lay out a procedure to build and execute a Strategic and Tactical Doctrine of use for Bomber Command assets.


I'd say that 10,000 feet is too low for regular use, as a rule 15k is the absolute minimum my groups will use and that's only the Stirlings. If there's any real defences then flak will tear apart a raid at 10k, especially the flak-trap that is the Ruhr or Berlin.

Splitting the raid into smaller waves seems to result in better bombing concentration around the aiming point, usually this is a good thing. Sometimes you might want to plot a raid as a single larger group to take advantage of the creepback effect to hit new areas.

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RE: KayBay's Allied Strategic & Tactical Doctrine - 10/23/2009 2:11:51 PM   
kaybayray

 

Posts: 424
Joined: 6/1/2007
Status: offline 		Dixie,
Quote
Each squadron is set to a TOT (Time Over Target) at 5 minute intervals from each other.
 
Each squadron is an independent attack. I do not mass all the squadrons into one huge overall single formation attack. I do this for the exact reasons you state in:

Quote
Splitting the raid into smaller waves seems to result in better bombing concentration around the aiming point, usually this is a good thing. Sometimes you might want to plot a raid as a single larger group to take advantage of the creepback effect to hit new areas.

Later,
KayBay 


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RE: KayBay's Allied Strategic & Tactical Doctrine - 10/23/2009 8:03:29 PM   
kaybayray

 

Posts: 424
Joined: 6/1/2007
Status: offline 		I want to thank Dixie for his post. I can see that I wasn’t really clear about some of the specifics of how I actually setup strikes to each of the target cities. In an effort to clarify it a bit I will explain it a bit more.

Recall that Bomber Command attacks targets differently than your Daylight Strategic formations do. Your Daylight formations form up in one huge mass and drop their ordnance simultaneously thereby the term Precision Daylight Strategic Bombing. The idea being a focus on Concentration of ordnance delivered to a single aiming point. The goal being to destroy a single structure or facility, namely an Industrial Facility. It may consist of a small complex of buildings but compared to an Urban Area target it is very small. So to destroy it you want to focus your delivery at a single point to maximize damage to that one particular facility.

The tactic employed by Bomber Command is focused on spreading the delivery of ordnance over a large area. Hence the name Area Bombing. The focus being to cause destruction to a maximum of surface area of an Urban target, IE: cause damage to as many structures as possible during the course of one overall attack. Unlike the “Combat Box” formation employed by your Daylight Bombing forces, Bomber Command forces employ “Streaming”. Rather than producing a rigid regular shaped formation this produces an elongated stream of Bombers flowing into and out of the target. This results in a pattern of delivery of ordnance much different than that of they\ Daylight formations. Rather than being concentrated about a single point they are scattered about an area.

So when building a strike utilizing Bomber Command forces you must take a different approach from the Daylight strikes. In this particular mission I am building I am attacking 4 different cities. The attack will start simultaneously in all 4 cities but I will be employing a staggering of the attack of each successive squadron of each attack by an interval of 5 minutes. Recall I have set 1 Pathfinder squadron and 4 Follow up squadrons to attack each city. The timetable for the attacks are shown below. Note that I have staggered each successive attack in a 5 minute interval. This will promote the “Creep Back” that Dixie spoke of. This effect is very desired as it is the spreading of collateral damage and fire cause by each successive attack as the ordnance delivery is spread over the area of the target throughout the attack. In some extreme instances a “Firestorm” can be produced. I have not yet created such an event but there are some here whom have.

I hope this further explains the more specific structure of the Bomber Command strikes I create.

Later,
KayBay





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RE: KayBay's Allied Strategic & Tactical Doctrine - 10/24/2009 7:50:10 AM   
kaybayray

 

Posts: 424
Joined: 6/1/2007
Status: offline 		In the last few sessions we built our Strike Phase missions. In this next session we will build the Seduction Phase of our nights operation. This phase of our mission is basically it’s name sake. The purpose of this phase is primarily to seduce Luftwaffe assets, namely NJG aircraft up to engage this force and draw them away from the area that the actual strike will take place.

This force consists of groups of 1 RCM aircraft accompanied with 2 Night Fighter aircraft. I place the RCM aircraft at 11,000 feet and the Night Fighters at 12,000 feet. Each is a Single aircraft. If you use the small groups they will not orbit on station, they will basically tag the final destination and then immediately RTB (Return To Base). This particular force is made up of Mosquito aircraft versions of their particular models. These groups will fly to their destination and then orbit until they are Bingo (low on fuel) and must RTB (Return To Base). To the Luftwaffe these small groups appear as bomber streams. We will use this fact to our advantage in our mission plan. Passages in the manual state that these aircraft produce large volumes of radio chatter while in flight. They also have the ability to disrupt Radar if in close proximity to the Radar unit. We will use these to our advantage as well in our mission build. We will use the radio chatter feature in this portion of our mission. This will promote the feint that this force is in the mission for. The Radar disruptive capabilities will be put to use in another phase of our mission.

Take a look at the image I have posted. You will note that the flight paths of these groups run parallel to those of the Strike Groups. They are approximately 50 miles on either side of the flight path of our Strike Groups. This force will be our mission opener. They will be the first groups of our mission to arrive at their destination. Note that as their flight path takes them to a relative close proximity to our Strike Target region they make an abrupt course change for the most part away from the target region. They fly to very close proximity to other cities which many are approximately 100 miles away from our strike targets. They will be approximately 15-30 minutes ahead of our Strike Groups. This will allow them to be very visible to Luftwaffe detection.

I fly them parallel to the Strike Groups course so that they will have a good chance of pulling Luftwaffe assets along the path that our Strike Groups will take. This will get NJG aircraft airborne and moving to engage these forces and act to soak off many that would have otherwise engaged our Strike Groups. This will also pull them away from that actual strike as they turn away from the strike region. This will also put them in a position to be engaged by Luftwaffe assets moving into the operational area of our mission from regions outside of the strike region.

Once these aircraft arrive at their destination they now become elements of our Distraction & Disruption Phase. They serve to continue to seduce or distract NJG aircraft to engage them as opposed to elements of our Strike Groups. The Night Fighters attached to these groups act to interdict NJG aircraft as they attempt to engage the RCM aircraft. These aircraft are only a small part of the Distraction & Disruption Phase.

I will discuss the Distraction & Disruption Phase in our next session. Please bare with me if I have not fully explained some aspects of this or other phases as I work through this.

Later,
KayBay





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RE: KayBay's Allied Strategic & Tactical Doctrine - 10/24/2009 8:10:42 AM   
TechSgt

 

Posts: 306
Joined: 9/19/2008
From: Los Angeles
Status: offline 		Kaybay;

If I follow you correctly, you are giving each squadron its own mission slot?
This would mean the four targets, 5 squadrons per target, equals twenty mission slots? That is 10% of the total available.

But, if you added the four squadrons onto the Pathfinder's slot, in experience/morale order, they will follow on bombing at about three minutes behind each other. This way you have only used four mission slots.

Later in the "simulation", as the commands fill out, you need every mission slot you can get.

Good stuff;

TS

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RE: KayBay's Allied Strategic & Tactical Doctrine - 10/24/2009 9:01:23 AM   
kaybayray

 

Posts: 424
Joined: 6/1/2007
Status: offline 		Hey TechSgt

I was not aware of that. I am not sure exactly how to go about setting that up. I was afraid that I was putting together strikes like those of the Daylight forces. I want to make sure that my strikes are streaming into the target at intervals and not one mass gaggle.

I also thought that the mission number cap had been raised in the Matrix version. Is this true or not?

<S>

KayBay

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RE: KayBay's Allied Strategic & Tactical Doctrine - 10/24/2009 9:20:44 AM   
kaybayray

 

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Distraction & Disruption Phase
In this phase all of our RCM aircraft that were the force of the Seduction Phase are now on station and orbiting on the perimeter of the Strike Region of tonights mission. Their TOT (Time Over Target) was scheduled at be at 22:00 which is 30 minutes prior to the TOT we have schedule for our Strike Groups attack to begin. The Distraction & Disruption Phase aircraft are scheduled to be on station at 22:15 which is 15 minutes prior to the scheduled time of the Strike. What remains to be done for the elements of this phase is to station RCM aircraft on Radar sites for Jamming operations, station Night Fighters on airfields known or suspected to operate NJG aircraft for Interdiction Operations, place the Top Cover aircraft over the Strike Area for Interdiction Operations within the Strike Area and place small streams of Night Fighters within the streams of the Strike Groups for Force Security Operations.

The first order of business is to station our RCM aircraft over Radar sites in range of our operation. I place RCM aircraft on every single Radar site that has any coverage over the Strike Area or the flight path region approach to the Strike Area for about 150 to 200 miles back from the Target Area. Although the effect of our RCM aircraft are on Radar is not that effective the Radar itself is not that effective either. Passages in the manual state that RCM aircraft can have disruptive effects on Radar so I am going to use it. Using the display options you can look for the operational radii for each Radar site. I place an RCM aircraft on the appropriate Radar sites. I place them at an altitude of 11,000 feet. They will orbit the Radar site performing Disruption Operations for typically 45-90 minutes depending on fuel at that point.

Now that I have plotted my RCM Radar Jamming aircraft I will build my Night Fighter Airfield CAP. This is a very critical aspect of our operation. I want to build redundancy into this portion of our operation. For this I select Night Fighters with the longest Range remaining after the Patrol Station has been slelected. I station pairs of single Night Fighters at each of the Luftwaffe airfields that are either known or suspected to operate NJG aircraft. Typically this is about 10-15 airfields or less and unless I have a very strong suspicion I don’t CAP the field. I build my list from Recon missions and obtaining kills at a base during either Daylight or Night Operations.

I station them at 12,000 feet. I also add pairs every 60 minutes for a minimum of 2 hours from the commencement of the Distraction & Disruption Phase. Typically during the Strike some NJG aircraft RTB due to damage or fuel. This is where I usually start accumulating kills of NJG aircraft attempting to land. As the Strike continues the number of NJG aircraft RTB begins to increase. The Strike is schedule to start at 22:30 and the last attack is scheduled for 22:50 but typically the actual times can vary so the Strike will last approximately 25 minutes total. So by about 22:55 the last Strike Group Squadron should have made its attack. This will be about 1 hour into the major portion of tonights mission engagement with Luftwaffe assets. At this point many NJG aircraft have been airborne for approximately 90 minutes and are getting low on fuel. I typically begin to see an increase in the level or RTB aircraft at capped airfields at this point. Once the Strike has been completed and the Strike Groups are about 150 miles on they way back I start to see significant numbers of NJG aircraft RTB. This is where I begin accumulating most of my kills.

Now that I have placed my airfield CAP I now place the Top Cover over the Strike Area. This consists of about a half squadron of single Night Fighters dispersed about the Strike area at 12,000 feet. The Strike Groups make a lot of navigational course changes and fly back and forth through this region on their route into and out of their target. I want to have some security on top of my strike forces in this area as this is where they are very likely to be sighted from the ground. NJG aircraft are going to be vectored to this region. I want to have some Night Fighters in here for Interdiction Operations during the strike.

At this point everything has been done except placeing some small groups of Night Fighters streaming through my Strike Force. I place them at 12,000 feet and adjust their schedule such that they are flying through the Strike Force as it is returning from the strike. These are typically Mosquito aircraft and I place their destination a few miles short of the target area and overlay their flight path on that of the Strike Force. I adjust their time schedule such that they will pass through the Strike Force on their way to their destination and then once again on their way RTB.

Later,
KayBay

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Post #: 11
RE: KayBay's Allied Strategic & Tactical Doctrine - 10/24/2009 6:44:11 PM   
daft

 

Posts: 406
Joined: 5/18/2002
Status: offline 		Very interesting reading. Is it really necessary to assign every individual squadron to the target as you suggest? When adding bombers to a mission you automatically create a stream that will hit the target a few minutes apart, and I would imagine that this is sufficient unless you really need to stack the TOT for the squadrons very accurately.

Secondly, there really isn't any good way of knowing what type of RCM you are employing unless you check the weapons DB before hand? The Mozzie RCM a/c have ELINT receivers and Gee on board, but the game really doesn't do much in terms of helping you understand what the equipped RCM actually does to the defenders systems. I wish this was a bit more intuitive and helpful. Currently, I'm not entierly sire what types of RCM a/c I want and how to employ them. Only the Stirling and Halifax RCM have active jamming through Mandrel if the weapon db is to be trusted.

Also, your excellent advice just screams out to be supported by some sort of "mission packager" where you can define a mission and set all sorts of support action where flight paths, times etc are all relative to the packages main effort. Then you could have multiple packages for a night, and even cross-package support mission as well, but that is another discussion I guess.


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RE: KayBay's Allied Strategic & Tactical Doctrine - 10/24/2009 7:37:29 PM   
kaybayray

 

Posts: 424
Joined: 6/1/2007
Status: offline 		Hey Daft

Thanks for your post.

Nothing is necessary. This is just how I am currently doing things with BC. Like I stated early on I do it this way because I have obtained results here and there read tidbits in the manual, received advice from others etc... and kind of ended up at this Doctrine over time. Is it over the top? Heck yea. LOL... That is kind of my entire purpose here. Take my level of emmersion and play to a new level. This game allows one to do that so I am.

Just for the record I dont necessarily know anything about this game. I do know a little teeny tiny bit about the Strategic Air War of WWII in Europe. However that knowledge could be easily encapsulated within a few Halfnium atoms. I am basically the kid over in the corner drooling. Well at my age... maybe I am the Ole Codger drooling in the corner.

I am basically sharing this with the community because when I first loaded this beauty up and "attempted" to play it I was just completely on Sensory Overload. It took me literally months to put together what I would even begin to consider a "Mission". I had to do so much reading and searching to know what was what and then came the stumbing and bumbling... combined with frustration and anxiety followed by self loathing and ridicule. If I was not the over the top Tenacious Over Zealous Freak that I am I would have moved back to easier games like PacMan or Pong. I mean the learning curve on this game is past vertical.

As you can see I am not a fan of the "Point n Click Gaming Club". IMHO playing like that is not a challenge. I am of the opinion that playing in that manner I am not actually playing the game, the game is playing the game because I am mentally disassociated from actually participating in the game in that style. Playing this game in the style I do has IMHO given me some level of insight as to what a daunting task it must have been for those on either side of the war to perform. Yeah my play style is at least in the 99th% region.. but thats ok for me. That is pretty much my entire life so I am kind of on familiar turf.

For those that choose to play other styles I think that is awesome. It's absolutely cool and I hope they are enjoying it as much as I do where I am. I bare no ill will or condescending feeling towards any other play style. But this game allows me to do it "My Way" and so I do.

Are there a lot of mistakes, misconceptions, errors, confusion and confoundings in my style? Heck yea. Like I said I dont really know anything about this game. I did not build it and I dont have any list that catagorizes all the capabilities and quantifies all the effects of all the pieces. So I just do the best I can and have fun my way.

Hope everybody is having fun with it, that is why it is here

Later,
KayBay

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Post #: 13
RE: KayBay's Allied Strategic & Tactical Doctrine - 10/24/2009 10:42:44 PM   
daft

 

Posts: 406
Joined: 5/18/2002
Status: offline 		Many thanks for the effort, and I can certainly say that your methodology has helped me A LOT in planning and coordinating my nightly strikes. In fact, I find the night battle to be the most interesting part of the air war, so that was my natural starting point in the game. :)

I think your tactics are sound, and I love to tinker and test things out to see what works and doesn't work. I just struggle a bit with coordinating all my efforts in a streamlined fashion. But I'm getting there. I just wish there was an option to play the massive night time battle from -41 all the way to the end.

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RE: KayBay's Allied Strategic & Tactical Doctrine - 10/24/2009 11:56:06 PM   
kaybayray

 

Posts: 424
Joined: 6/1/2007
Status: offline 		Hey Daft,
<S> Thanks for the post.

I agree with you however you can pretty much do just that if you want from 1943 on. Believe me there is plenty to be had with that. I think it will take me several years to actually play a campaign out but no matter. I am havin a great time on the journey.

And yes the Bomber Command aspect of this game has brought me to a completely new area to explore. Much different than the Daylight aspects. Had to do a ton of reading on it to have a reference point. There are a lot of cool options with it. I figure you could just about play it out with almost only using BC. It would be interesting to try that.

As far as I can see the only real weakness of this game is the Mission # cap. That is your only limitation. I really wish that would go away. I just have to pay attention to my force Morale and Fatigue as well as the weather and aircraft availability. I can dance day to day between Daylight Precision and Bomber Command Night operations. You will find that you have to stand down forces a lot to deal with those things. I have not had much trouble so far. However I cant really run a Maximum Effort Operation like what I have been describing here for both aspects in the same day. The Mission # cap puts a lid on that. But no matter... just Sauce for the Goose as it were

There are a lot of really awesome people in here. Cruise around this forum there are literally tons of great stuff in here. This game has been around since 2000 so there are some real afficiandos in here that just ooze knowledge and understanding.

I just got the Matrix Version today. My Wife let me get it for my Birthday. So I will be tinkering with that. I will be posting on other aspects of this game on this thread. Just keep in mind this is "The Kaybay way" not necessarily a good way... LOL

<S>

Later,
KayBay

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Post #: 15
RE: KayBay's Allied Strategic & Tactical Doctrine - 10/25/2009 7:04:09 AM   
TechSgt

 

Posts: 306
Joined: 9/19/2008
From: Los Angeles
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: daft

...

Secondly, there really isn't any good way of knowing what type of RCM you are employing unless you check the weapons DB before hand? The Mozzie RCM a/c have ELINT receivers and Gee on board, but the game really doesn't do much in terms of helping you understand what the equipped RCM actually does to the defenders systems. I wish this was a bit more intuitive and helpful. Currently, I'm not entierly sire what types of RCM a/c I want and how to employ them. Only the Stirling and Halifax RCM have active jamming through Mandrel if the weapon db is to be trusted.

...



Just an FYI...

Start up the late war night scenario, (No III I think), when you send out the Halifax RCMs and such switch on the radar rings.
I know it doesn't answer your question, but it is interesting to watch.

TS

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Post #: 16
RE: KayBay's Allied Strategic & Tactical Doctrine - 10/25/2009 7:45:37 AM   
kaybayray

 

Posts: 424
Joined: 6/1/2007
Status: offline 		Hey TechSgt

I just got the Matrix version loaded up and been getting all the setting smoothed out. Was looking throught the Weapon Database. I will be changing the AC I use for Radar Jamming in my Distraction & Disruption Phase for sure. I started up a new Long 43 Campaign so I will be posting some changes to this thread as I learn some things.

One of the next areas I want to focus on are Fighter Sweeps. I want to run the new version for a while first though. So far it really appears like some changes have been made to the mechanics. My AC are fighting back much more aggressively. Also saw that I could use a lot of AC for Escort duty that I couldnt before. Gona have to spend some time in the new manual. I think these changes will make my Doctrine more sound. We will see.

<S>

Later,
KayBay

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Post #: 17
RE: KayBay's Allied Strategic & Tactical Doctrine - 10/26/2009 7:20:44 PM   
kaybayray

 

Posts: 424
Joined: 6/1/2007
Status: offline 		Well now that I have the new EDBTR I guess this would be a good place to discuss how to open the Long 1943 Campaign. There a lots of things you can do but this is the KayBay way so here we go.

First off I go though all the Commands and do sweep to see where all the various types of aircraft are. The thing I keep in mind is Bombers have relatively long service ranges and Fighters have relatively short service ranges. So I am looking for Fighter Squadrons that are way back in the Hinterlands and Bombers Squadrons that on the front lines. I am also looking to see which bases have what capacity in the number of squadrons they can operate. Then I put together a plan as to just where I am going to move squadrons to for each command.

On the first turn you have a huge amount of Transfer Points. I make it a point to use them all or as close as I can to them all. I don’t believe you can move partial squadrons. So I usually have a few points left. At any rate my strategy is to make sure all my Fighter Squadrons are up front so that I can use them for the maximum escort range and also for Fighter Sweeps and Patrols. My Bombers don’t really matter where they are as for the most part Range is not a problem.

Don’t worry about what particular squadrons go to what particular bases where. You are limited to staying within the command structure of each Group with respect to the bases you can move them to. So just distribute them to the front. The only place where you do want to consider where you put exactly what is in the Med. You do want to have some fighters on the West side of your zone so you can hit Corsica and Sardinia. Typically there are several Axis Squadrons there. You can run Fighter Sweeps across them easily and destroy a lot of Fighters on the ground. You may also be able to run some night bombing missions there if you can transfer Night Bomber units close enough to form strikes. With the rebuild of this game there is a 205 Group base just south of Corsica and you have some Night Bombing units there. There are also some Night Fighter units near that can be moved in so you can work on some night action until you take the southern end of the Boot where 205 Group really gets expanded and you can really work Night Bombing in earnest. Focus on moving units to bases that fit your Strategic Plan until you get everything moved you want to. You should be able to get it all done in the first turn unless you are even more particular than I am.

What I recommend you actually fly the first turn is Recon. Recon Recon Recon and even more Recon. If you mouse over all the targets, Industrial, Transport, Airfields and Ground Forces they are all very stale for recon photos. If you want your aircraft to be able to find them for a strike of any kind you need to have recent recon photos done. Yes when you fly a Strategic Daylight Precision Strike on a factory the recon photo date gets refreshed…. You just have to find it to bomb it. Like I do for Night Bombing Strikes I don’t like to waste Men or Material on a useless trip. So recon everything before you even attempt to hit it. So my Strategy is on Turn #1 is “Every Recon Bird that can Fly… Flys”. Set your courses wisely. You don’t want your recon birds getting biffed because it was inconvenient for you to plot their courses around Flak. If You don’t plot the mission and you let the Game plot the mission…. Stop Reading Now because I guarantee you that your are wasting your time.

I run massive recon the first several turns to accomplish several things. First and Foremost I am trying to locate enemy airfields that are operating Fighter Groups. I focus on the areas that I will be operating in first and then expand my quest from there as time marches forward. I follow up on anything found with “Recon by Fire”. I run Fighter Sweeps on bases that I have found aircraft on and then I not what type of aircraft I am destroying and damaging. This helps me determine where to plot Night Intruder Airfield CAP missions on my Night Bombing Strikes as well.

Next I want to refresh my recon on the industrial targets so that my forces can actually find them when I launch a strike at them. If you have recent recon photos of a target this makes a significant contribution to your strike force actually finding it when visibility is poor. It also can have a positive effect on the accuracy of your bombing run.

The first actual missions I fly are typically some Fighter Sweeps and maybe some Tactical Strikes. If things look particularly well I try to hit the Sub Pens in France. This will buy you some time before the Mandatory Targeting Constraints kick in up north and force you to go to your Tactical Air Groups and Fighter Bombers to attack targets. Yeah I know that the Mandatory targeting wants you to hit the UFAC facilities… but look at the map and check just how far away that is. Jeez that might just as well be on the other side of the Globe. Besides I know better than anybody in the White House what needs to be destroyed. Like Lyndon Johnson knew what the heck he was doing dictating tactics of Tactical Air Strikes in Vietnam from the White House. But I digress. I will dance around the UFAC Targeting mandate until it goes away. Until late in 43 you’re really gona pay dearly if you attack the UFAC’s way out East there. So I avoid it as long as possible. If I am boxed into a corner, well what you gona do? So you have to throw away crews. Which I really don’t like to do. I go to great lengths to develop a Tactical Doctrine to protect my crews and maximize my effect on the enemy.

There is one way around that and that is the use of BC. It is very inaccurate but at least you can get some bombs on the target without losing 40+ crews. As far as I am concerned the Convoys can just take their chances because I am not gona toss an entire Group in the dirt for somebody’s spreadsheet.

So this is how I typically open the Campaign. I will put together some more detailed looks at this and include some images to clarify things. The main thing is don’t get in a hurry. You have a long time and you need to be very organized for each step you undertake. Otherwise you will pay dearly for your haste.

Later,
KayBay




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Post #: 18
RE: KayBay's Allied Strategic & Tactical Doctrine - 10/27/2009 4:35:22 AM   
kaybayray

 

Posts: 424
Joined: 6/1/2007
Status: offline 		Now here is my Recon Opener in the Med.




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RE: KayBay's Allied Strategic & Tactical Doctrine - 10/27/2009 4:37:14 AM   
kaybayray

 

Posts: 424
Joined: 6/1/2007
Status: offline 		And here is the Recon Opener in Europe.

Total 149 Slots taken. Now for my Figher Sweeps and some Tactical Strikes and of course ... BC Run... but... only 200 slots.. so guess I'm gona have to wait a day or two.




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Post #: 20
RE: KayBay's Allied Strategic & Tactical Doctrine - 10/27/2009 5:06:02 AM   
TechSgt

 

Posts: 306
Joined: 9/19/2008
From: Los Angeles
Status: offline 		KayBay;

The new game is great, eh?

Fighters don't go flying off -- to Dover.
Setting up a fighter Patrol point on the bomber's return route has been very "fruitful".

The massive amount of operation points on the first turn, allows setting up groups and squadrons to execute a strategy much quicker than TOH.

But, I'm finding the Recon change to be... interesting. Pick the main target, secondary, then plot every outbound waypoint over a target, also.
Since each plane will take extra photos, intell will add up in a hurry. Plus, you can save on the recon mission count. Having the "real" mission as an outbound waypoint also hides the target from an Axis player.

For a 1943 campaign, Bomber Command is where the action will be till Jan 1944.
Then it switches to daylight bombing till D-Day -- the historical Italian breakout occurs about this time, too.
Then it goes tactical till the breakout from Normandy.
Now the game is going on all cylinders -- 2 strategic daylights AF's, 2 night strategic AF's, 3 tactical AF's -- till the end.

Anyways, you've got a good read going, so get back to work!

TS

Edit: Remember of 17 Aug '43, Bomber Command launched a maximum-effort mission to Peenemunde!


< Message edited by TechSgt -- 10/27/2009 5:11:34 AM >

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Post #: 21
RE: KayBay's Allied Strategic & Tactical Doctrine - 10/27/2009 6:55:01 AM   
kaybayray

 

Posts: 424
Joined: 6/1/2007
Status: offline 		TechSgt,
Oh I got something much better in store for the Third Reich with BC. Man it would be Lights Out if I had the Halifax II with Jamming right now. But I will just have to use my wits until then.

What is this you saying about Recon? I really havnt read through the manual much yet. You saying that Recon birds will recon anything they fly over? Only what about Ack? I mean I dont like losing Recon birds.

Yeah its awesome now that my 38's on Fighter Sweeps across the Med do head for Tea in Dover. Jeez that really ticked me off with the original. About 15% of my Fighter losses were birds takin off on the World Tour.

And yeah I have been working real hard learning how to use BC. That is why I started off with that on this thread. That is your most Lethal weapon until 44. I have toyed with the idea of just working BC to kill Germany but I dont think you can. Too much industry must be shut down to take the legs from under the Luftwaffe. BC is just too sloppy and slow with respect to hitting Industrial targets.

I hear Fighter Sweeps have been Nerfed. I hope not to bad. I loved setting up Bushwhackes with Fighter Sweeps. About 25% of all my kills are ground kills. At least with the Original. We will see with this version. I also got to get a handle on the Fighter Patrols with the Allies. I didnt see it explained in the Manual but as I said I havnt really dug into it yet. I'm like my kids on Christmas..... couldnt wait to get going with my new toy. LOL

Later,
KayBay

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Post #: 22
RE: KayBay's Allied Strategic & Tactical Doctrine - 10/27/2009 7:28:34 AM   
kaybayray

 

Posts: 424
Joined: 6/1/2007
Status: offline 		Hey TechSgt,
I just gave the Recon section in the Manual a quick read. Yeah... sounds good. I will have to pay attention to how it works as I have my Recon birds running on this first day. Thanks for the great Tip man

LOL.. was funny.. I read in the Manual that "if you launch your Recon missions early enough in the morning you can have the latest recon photos for Today's Mission"... And what is the Appropriate Engineering Term for this Revelation??? "DUH"

Man all my birds launch at Oh Dark Hundred and get back before the stove is even hot. My Law is "No Recon = No Mission"

Man this is such an AWESOME game !!! Hard as Molybdenum though. But that is what makes it so cool

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RE: KayBay's Allied Strategic & Tactical Doctrine - 10/27/2009 9:00:43 AM   
TechSgt

 

Posts: 306
Joined: 9/19/2008
From: Los Angeles
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: kaybayray

Hey TechSgt,
I just gave the Recon section in the Manual a quick read. Yeah... sounds good. I will have to pay attention to how it works as I have my Recon birds running on this first day. Thanks for the great Tip man

LOL.. was funny.. I read in the Manual that "if you launch your Recon missions early enough in the morning you can have the latest recon photos for Today's Mission"... And what is the Appropriate Engineering Term for this Revelation??? "DUH"

Man all my birds launch at Oh Dark Hundred and get back before the stove is even hot. My Law is "No Recon = No Mission"

Man this is such an AWESOME game !!! Hard as Molybdenum though. But that is what makes it so cool

KayBay;

If you work the timing, you can have the recon land just before the bombers reach the target and watch that recon number drop to zero! That's going to give the bomber boys the best chance to hit the target.

I think each recon flight can take up to five photos per mission. I found by using the outbound waypoints, I ensure the flight has a chance to take some extra snaps. Now if the clouds would follow the path I want!

If you watch during the Action Phase, if a Recon plane @ 12K flies over an airfield and takes some flak, that airfield has 37mm AAA.

As far as fighter sweeps, I'm back to square one. They are working like I always hoped they would, but now I have to see if those ten years old ideas actually work!

TS

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Post #: 24
RE: KayBay's Allied Strategic & Tactical Doctrine - 10/27/2009 2:34:07 PM   
kaybayray

 

Posts: 424
Joined: 6/1/2007
Status: offline 		Hey TechSgt, <S>

Yeah in the past with the Strike Recon I would send out the day before to get Pre Strike Recon then I would plot Recon to over fly just after the raid to get Damage Assessment of the Strike. Worked pretty well. I know we can make the same day pre strike recon work for targets early on. Later in 44 wont be so easy. I dont like flying my strikes late in the day unless my overall strategy for the days missions calls for it.

Guess I am back on the learning curve with respect to Fighter Sweeps. Not sure what changes were made and how they will effect them. But this next few weeks should be very interesting.

Later,
KayBay

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If you dont mind... It dont matter

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Post #: 25
RE: KayBay's Allied Strategic & Tactical Doctrine - 4/1/2010 2:36:43 AM   
kaybayray

 

Posts: 424
Joined: 6/1/2007
Status: offline 		Greetings All <S>!!

I have built my next addition to this thread. It deals with Daylight Strategic Bombing. I am sorry for the way I am going to have to post it. I will have to post text and image and then post another, etc... until I get it all in. I think there will be some going back and forth between pages of the board because I think I am near the bottom of this page. I appoligize for that but I dont have any control over how you post Excell spreadsheets on this board. I hope it wont be too difficult to make sense of it because of how I am going to have to post it.

Thanks,
KayBay

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Post #: 26
RE: KayBay's Allied Strategic & Tactical Doctrine - 4/1/2010 2:39:53 AM   
kaybayray

 

Posts: 424
Joined: 6/1/2007
Status: offline 		Greetings All <S>
The KayBay has Returned!!

Sorry I have been away deep in my Bunker pouring over the game and analyzing the possibilities. I have spent a lot of time looking at the different Industries, how the German Industrial Base is proportioned and looking at how one might go about effecting the destruction of German Industry. I have read a few more books from both sides and am currently working on my next group of books in my attempt to take the immersion to a new level. The Matrix Crew made a lot of changes and I have been doing my homework.

I have already posted my Strategic and Tactical Doctrine with respect to Bomber Command and Night Bombing. From what I have seen with the changes my Doctrine is still very sound. I don’t propose any significant changes. I have found that my RCM aircraft are a lot more effective much earlier on so I will not be revisiting Bomber Command for the time being. As I pursue my Campaign I may modify my overall technique but for now that which I have written works very well.

What I am doing now is moving on to the next phase which will be centered on Daylight Strategic Bombing. This area is much more complex as your options increase exponentially with respect to your Target Base. You have a much wider variety of Targets to select from with a huge array of potential pathways. As my Grandmother always told me “Theres more than one way to choke a dog”, and that is what I am going to explore. The various ways in which one might go about choking this dog.

Now as usual what I am discussing here, as always, is The KayBay Way. In no way is this to be considered anything else. Do not look to me thinking I am telling you this is the “Only Way” or the “Best Way”. It is just one “Possible Way”. That might possibly lead to your destruction should you follow it. I make no guarantee of your success. The fundamental premise of this game is “Either side can win”. I do not want to debate that or anything else here. That is for the General Discussion area of this Forum.

This is a fantastic game and I want to play it at the deepest level of immersion that I can take it to given my limited capabilities. If you are looking at this game to drink some brewski’s while munching some “Nosh Material” as you command your little icons around the map then my advice to you is to stop reading this immediately. Go no further because it will just annoy you.

OK, that being said…. Now let’s take a look at German Industry. Now I see it as two distinct categories, Production and Transportion. I do not include Air Bases as well as Ground and Air Forces in this particular discussion as they are, IMHO more in the way of a Tactical Target to be dealt with in a more haphazard way as your campaign unfolds. I do not recommend attempting interdicting Ground Forces as it is quite costly and does nothing towards the destruction of German Industry. Which is the one overall goal for your Air Forces in the first place. I will include dealing with Axis Air Forces at a later stage of this discussion where it is more appropriate. Initially you must determine what your Strategic Pathway is. Then you can go about those details.

Keep in mind “There is more than one way to choke a Dog”. This will be a recurring theme and take care not to jump to conclusions as I work my way through this. I do not have the time to sit down and pen this discussion in it’s entirety all at once. It is extremely complicated and I will have to work my way through it. There will be a lot to digest as we go.

OK so now here is the most basic analysis of German Industry as I see it. I put it in a spreadsheet and analyze it through the perspective of relative proportion and general concentration and distribution of all Industries. Broken down into the two fundamental categories as I see it. Prodution Industries and Transportation Industries.






Attachment (1)

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Post #: 27
RE: KayBay's Allied Strategic & Tactical Doctrine - 4/1/2010 2:41:31 AM   
kaybayray

 

Posts: 424
Joined: 6/1/2007
Status: offline 		Not all industries are equal. Some industries are categorized as Critical and others are Political while others are neither. There are many interconnections and interdependencies between many industries as well. This leads to a myriad of Pathways. I am not showing these connections and dependencies at this time. At this time I want to just look at the most basic analysis. First let me define some of the various categories I have broken my analysis down into. For the most part they should be fairly obvious what they are but in the interest of making sure that all whom read this discussion understand how I came to each value in my analysis I will provide some defintions.

Total Capacity = This is the total summed capacity of an industry. This is calculated by simply summing up the individual capacity’s of each facility of an industy.

% National Capacity = This is the Proportion calculated in percentage that a particular industry is of the overall Total National Capacity of that fundamental industry type.

Total National Capacity = This is simply the summation of capacity’s of all the facilities of all the industries as grouped in that data set.

# of Facilities = This is simply the total number of Facilities or Factories of a particular industrial category.

AVG Capcacity per Facility = This is the calculated average capacity that each facility of a particular industy has. Simply calculated by dividing the total capacity of an industry by the number of facilities in that industy category.

% Facility of Industry = This is the Proportion calculated in percentage that an individual facility is of a particular industy. This is based on the calculated average capacity per facility of that particular industy.

% Facility of National Capacity = This is the Proportion calculated in percentage that an individual facility of a particular industry is of the overall Total National Capcity for that fundamental production type.

Critical = These are the industries that have been categorized in the Game Structure as “Critical” industries. These are described in the Game Manual briefly. The idea being that these industries are more important to German production than non-critical industries are. I will discuss this in more detail and present more specific information on this later in the discussion.

Political = These are the industries that are more important for Political reasons that you will be forced to engage as “Mandatory Targeting” as your campaign progresses. They do have some Industrial and Strategic value but damge to these facilities will have a much less effect to overall German production than the non-political industries.


OK now that we have done our “First Pass” analysis of German Industry I want to point out some things about the various calculated values. As in all things there are “High Flyers” and “Low Flyers”. This is to say that in any industrial category there are individual facilities that are far above or below the calculated average values in my analysis. But you have to start somewhere if you ever hope to choke this dog. So for me I chose to start by trying to build an image of overall and individual industrial density for each industry. This way I can make at least some attempt to Rank each industry. Remember we have to develop a Pathway to enable the development of a Strategy.

For me as always, I want to get the most out of each trip I make to any target. I don’t like wasted trips. Having no Pathway to a Strategy is having No Plan and having No Plan for Success is a Plan for Failure. This also leads to a lot of wasted trips to useless destinations and the loss of a lot of Air Crews and Aircraft.

Now given that we know there is some variability in our analysis we can still glean quite a lot from it. Lets take a look at some Ranking analysis or Pareto’s of the data set we have built. This will help us see some of the Possibilities.






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RE: KayBay's Allied Strategic & Tactical Doctrine - 4/1/2010 2:43:09 AM   
kaybayray

 

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In Chart # 1 and Chart # 2 we have ranked the various Production Industries by their relative Capacity, both by Industry Production Capacity and by % National Production Capacity. What we gain from this is limited though. We can determine which industries represent the larger shares of overall German Production. This however does not reveal anything about Industrial Density. This is more important for our purpose. Recall I want to make the most of each trip over enemy territory and I don’t want to make wasted trips as well. So I need to also look at Industrial Density. By this I am referring to Density as the higher ranking of Production Capacity per Facility of the various industries. To do this I will rank them as such.

Why is the notion of Industrial or Production Density important? It represents the relative Capacity importance or ranking of various industries and individual production facilities within specific industries. I want to make the most of the risk I take with each mission so I want to target particular facilities of particular industries that represent a higher potential production capacity so that I can cause maximum damage to German Production.





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It's all Mind Over Matter....
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RE: KayBay's Allied Strategic & Tactical Doctrine - 4/1/2010 2:44:57 AM   
kaybayray

 

Posts: 424
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Status: offline 		Chart # 3






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It's all Mind Over Matter....
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