Best Strategy Games - Axis & Allies Strategy

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Strategic Bombing

Waves of bombers dropping tons of bombs on industrial targets - it’s a captivating picture in old WWII reels, but how effective is this strategy?

Let’s do the math:

A 15 IPC bomber will destroy on average 3.5 IPCs. The AA gun that is protecting the factory gets to roll as well though, and has a 1/6th chance of getting a hit. 1/6 * 15 IPCs = 2.5 IPCs. That means that you destroy 3.5 IPCs and have 2.5 IPCs destroyed of your own on average each time you strategic bomb, a mediocre investment at best that has a 1 IPC yield (3.5 IPCs – 2.5 IPCs).

But wait, it’s worse than that.

That AA gun gets to fire BEFORE you get to roll your strategic bombing roll. That means that 1/6th of the time, you won’t get the 3.5 IPCs. So in other words, you’ll only get 5/6ths of 3.5 IPCs, or 2.9 IPCs. So now it comes to 2.9 IPCs – 2.5 IPCs, or a return of only 0.4 IPCs, and that’s for a 15 IPC investment.

Bottom line: don’t have a long term strategy of strategic bombing your opponent into submission, because it’s not going to happen. And this is not all just Axis and Allies fiction- few people realize that German industrial production actually peaked in 1944, during the most intense strategic bombing. The Germans simply moved production to forests and basements.

You should only strategic bomb when you have nothing better to use your bomber for. If your opponent builds a new factory without protecting it with an AA gun, then your expected return is the full 3.5 IPCs, because there is no risk- so bomb away with impunity until your opponent recognizes the error of his ways!