You are assuming you can spend IPC for IPC and that also assumes if you do, you are ignoring Japan. You also need to produce transports and men at some point. You are also not including the “free” IPCs that Germany and Japan have when compared to USA in terms of starting pieces. Thats 5 fighters, 5 tacticals, 2 bombers, bb, cv, ca, 1-2 subs, vs likely zero US starting pieces since ignoring Japan is not advisable turn 1. Lets not mention the Japanese navy of 2bb,2ca,3cv,4dd,2subs and 11fighters, 8 tacticals, and 2 bombers in free pieces when compared with USA’s bb,3ca,cv,3dd,2sub,6fighters,tactical, and bomber. I always see most of the starting USA go towards Japan.
And the biggest thing is this, you never attack with bombers, unless you have enough to ensure 1 combat round, never, ever, ever unless the second round is low hits and the mission requires a “non optimum” strike.
Therefor I will not attack unless I will win and win in only 1 combat round. To do so, risks too much of your bomber force and is a desperate move.
Remember USA is fighting a two front war, they cannot match German bomber builds, without ignoring Japan slightly, and Even though Germany has 3 fronts, these bombers cover all three, so I take turns, first I capture moscow, then I capture London, then I’ll sink the fleet. Or I capture London, then Moscow, then fleet. Or I go fleet, London, then Moscow…etc. Normally axis forces are slow moving land units committed to one theater. The bombers (when preserved by starting fodder) are free to redeploy each turn after they complete there task at hand.
Each round the bomber stack grows, the threat to all three fronts grows…London must balance pressure on navy, London, and Egypt. Moscow must balance pressure on land force, bombing, and protecting its production by leaving men in the rear or falling back to the capital. USA must balance bomber forces by Japan and Germany, and still prevent Japan from getting to 60+ IPCs while containing Germany.
So yes, IPC for IPC bombers come up short, but my whole point has been Germany and Japan start with too many “free” pieces that the bomber concept creates a “shortcut” for you production to skew a normal timeline and shave turns off of a game. I literally captured Moscow on turn 5 (I should have survived with a tank and 7 bombers, but I still had a tank and 3 bombers (fighters were in africa and that was a mistake) And that was because I was not patient. If I advance over the Russian factories my task is complete, Russia is gimped, I outproduce their fodder with my own and my bombers move to S. Italy to Threaten London and Egypt while I wait for “good weather”. The speed of the bombers is why with this map and this starting set up, the game is perhaps broken.
Each bomber built in W.Germany can hit Moscow the following turn and land in Bryansk or any of the other 4 territories surrounding Moscow. Same if staged in Southern Italy…but what is killer, is even 12 bombers defending at 1’s prevents your starting pieces from being counter attacked (because the 14 Italian land units and 3 planes take the soil to land German air on), Yes you won’t remove bombers the first combat round, but they will give you 2 more hits…and force your opponent to think twice, at some point you will take off bombers to keep the 10 fighters/tacticals rolling 3’s and 4’s more times…I know defending with bombers is not wise, but on a stack that consists of 81 pieces…it will work and it breaks the battle calculator cause it will tell the ally they will lose since it takes off bombers 1st round…calling into doubt the battle calculator and the opponents psychology.
