re: #94 jamesfirecat

Not a problem in this case, like I said with nine fighters able to run interception (basically if you try and attack a ground unit next to the fighter, the fight gets to automatically attack you first) for my ground forces, I doubt I will have much trouble winning control of the skies.

I might even get more aggressive with my birds than normal, from what I can see as a preliminary view of the map the Polish AA is pretty weak tea compared to what the Soviets were throwing at me, my special Stuka Group lead by Hans Rudle might end up going on some “Wild Weasel” missions to take them out to clear the way for the rest of my flyers…

9 fighters? That ain’t gonna be enough, boyo! These are B-17Gs, James, and the missions in question tended to feature formations of 36 of them. Each group of 6 bombers flew in a tight formation called the ‘Combat Box’ to mass their firepower, USAAF doctrine called for stacking 3 combat boxes (18 aircraft) vertically and having the second stack of 18 following close behind. And each one of those B-17Gs carried 12 M2 .50 cal MGs. You can do the math.

No 9 fighters the Luftwaffe had could stand a chance against 36 Flying Forts of the Mighty 8th!

Image: b17-formation.jpg