Moonlight

[7th Somersets]

It will be my fault Im sure... but I cant find info on moon phases. What does the Moon number mean? At first I thought it was a % but that doesn't seem right.

[Cripes A Mighty]

The Moon number is a percentage of daylight. A full moon is 26, or 26% of daylight. A new moon, or if the moon is not out, will be a zero. Other phases of the moon will be somewhere in between - a gibbous moon will be closer to 26, and a crescent will be closer to zero.

Hope this helps.

[7th Somersets]

That is a great help. Thanks.

I will continue resting RAF Bomber Command.

[Creeper]

Thanks Cripes,
good explanation

[Cripes A Mighty]

ORIGINAL: 7th Somersets

That is a great help. Thanks.

I will continue resting RAF Bomber Command.

If you don't mind my asking, what date are you on, and what is your terror score? After 140 completed turns, my terror score is 13. I suppose it could be higher if I pressed matters, but I refuse to chew up my bombers for an extra point or two now. Units with morale < 70 or fatigue > 10 do not fly. I like to keep a few Pathfinder units in reserve with morale > 90 and fatigue < 5. I only bomb in zero moonlight conditions.

I like to think this is a good strategy, but who knows for sure? I'd like to hear what you (or anyone else) thinks.

I have found that if I give my Bomber Command units rest that they can consistently hit recently reconned targets under zero moonlight conditions, without taking prohibitive losses. The lion's share of my losses are due to flak - not much can be done about that. Luftwaffe night fighters are ineffective on the ingress and the egress when it's dark - in bright moonlight they can be deadly. Most of my Luftwaffe losses occur when my bombers are over a brightly lit city. Not too much can be done about that, other than diversionary Mosquito raids to try and draw off Luftwaffe strength and aggressive use of night fighters to ambush LW night fighters when they land. Use of night fighters as "escorts" in the bomber stream is fruitless and a waste of resources.

I also make sure my RAF units are supplied with a healthy diet of carrots.

[7th Somersets]

Cripes

I am playing an Allied 44 campaign. On about turn 26 at the moment with terror at 9 - just under 10.

The last night bombing mission was a disaster with around 25 losses to night fighters. The moon had been fading towards zero and then went to 00 which I took to mean 0... I now assume that 00 = 100% and heavy losses!

My most recent tactic has been to target industry within urban areas. Missing the factory usually scores decent urban damage. Hitting the factory is a bonus.

Re urban damage - can all of it regenerate? ie - if you reduce a city to a pile of black pixels will that come back?

Cheers.

[Cripes A Mighty]

Hey 7th

Sorry I didn't get back to you earlier. Haven't been online much lately. How dare the real world interfere with gaming!

Losing 25 bombers in a single raid is definitely a punch in the nose. That's essentially an entire squadron. Can't do that too often. Just curious... how many aircraft did you send on that raid? If it was a huge one, then as a percentage, that might not be too bad.

One other question about your raid losses: Did the lion's share of your losses occur in any particular place? On the ingress? The egress? Or over the target area? If it was over the target area, you may have been gored by the Wild Boar, and as such, the moon may not have had much to do with your losses.

I'll have to try that tactic of night bombing industrial targets within urban areas. There's a big fat steel mill in the middle of Essen that is just begging to get creamed. Thanks for the tip.

Good luck, and happy bombing.

[7th Somersets]

Cripes,

Good luck with the night tactic - I hope that I don't cause you too many casualties!

Re bomber losses - I lose most on egress with pursuit night fighters. My 25 bomber loss was an excpetionally bad night's bombing - usually I get it down to 10 or so. The losses were from mixed raids - Halifax, Stiriling and Lancasters. Probably around 400 flying although I didn't count them. It is still far too high! I tend to try to overwhelm the defences by repeated raids on either the same target or a series of targets in the same area.

Regards.

7th.