Command : BOMB
NAME
bomb - Dispose of inconvenient enemy assets with air power.
Level: Basic
SYNTAX
[##:##] Command : bomb mission-type route|desti-
nation
The "bomb" command is used to rain destruction upon helpless enemy ships,
planes, and sectors. It represents a complete mission for one or more bombers
and escorts taking off from one place and returning to base at the end of the
mission.
represents a list of planes which can carry bombs. Only planes
which have a bomb bay, belong in a sector which is stocked with gas and
shells, and have sufficient mobility will be successfully selected for the
mission.
represent a list of fighter planes which are capable of escorting
the bombers all the way to the target. To be selected, escorts must have fuel
and mobility.
Mission-type must be one of "pinpoint" or "strategic". Each mission has dif-
ferent objectives for the planes performing it. Pinpoint missions allow
bombers to attack ships, sector efficiency, commodities in sectors, and planes
on the ground in the target sector. Strategic missions damage all commodities
in the entire target sector, while not damaging any ships or planes resident
(similar to the ship and sector "fire" missions). If a plane is armed with a
nuclear warhead, then it will drop the bomb rather than using conventional
weapons. Nuclear devices damage everything in the sector; planes, ships, and
commodities. Only missiles in hardened silos can avoid damage from a nuclear
mission.
represents an assembly point, where all of the planes in the mission
meet before proceeding on to the target sector. The assembly point must be
owned by you or an ally, or you or an ally must have a ship there. It must
not be more than four sectors away from any of the planes selected for the
mission.
Route is a normal empire path specification. You may also give a destination
sector on the command line, or at any time while giving the route, and empire
will use the best path from the current sector to the desired destination sec-
tor.
When getting a path interactively, empire will show you a small map (from your
bmap) concerning the current area, to help you plot your course.
Light bombers (with the tactical capability) are used primarily for pinpoint
bombing. They perform as well as fighters do for strategic bombing. Heavy
bombers (with the bomber capability), while they can perform pinpoint bombing,
are notoriously inaccurate and in general miss what they are aiming at. They
are used mainly for strategic bombing.
During the course of a mission, your planes may fly over someone else's land.
If you fly over land owned by another country, and this country is either hos-
tile or in any war state (see info relation) with you, fighter planes from the
enemy country will scramble and attempt to intercept your force. If the coun-
try is simply neutral, he will be notified that his radar tracked your planes
as they flew over his country. If the country is allied, then nothing will
occur.
If you manage to fight though the enemy fighters and arrive at the target sec-
tor, your force must still contend with any flak guns which your enemy has
stationed there. What's more, any enemy ship in the target sector will also
shoot at each of your bombers before any attacks are performed. Any enemy
land units with the 'flak' ability will also fire at all your planes at this
time.
A well-equipped fleet of battleships in a heavily-defended harbor can be very
risky to attack, even though hitting ships in harbor is like shooting fish in
a barrel.
When bombing ships/planes/units, entering a '~' character will cause a partic-
ular plane not to bomb. Other planes on the mission will still be asked for
their targets.
If your plane has anti-submarine (asw) capabilities, you will be told when you
arrive in a sector whether it has submarines in it. If you then choose to pin-
bomb ships, each plane in turn will attempt to find submarines (this ability
varies with the plane's accuracy rating). Each plane can only bomb the subs
it can find. (It is assumed that planes on anti-sub missions split up to cover
the area)
Planes have differing air-to-air combat abilities, differing ranges, and load-
carrying capacities. Some airplanes don't need runways, but can operate out
of any sector which has fuel in it.
ASW capable planes may attempt to fly pin-bombing missions versus submarines.
To do this, the plane gives a target sector, and flies there. If there are any
subs in the sector, a message will be printed saying that. If the plane then
attempts to bomb ships, it may get the chance to bomb subs in the sector.
The chance to detect a sub is the same as the chance of hitting it.
If the plane does not detect a particular sub, it may not bomb it on that mis-
sion. On other missions, it could roll again.
Trying to pinpoint bomb land units is similar to trying to bomb a sub. The
chance to find the unit to bomb it is based on the unit's visibility & the
type of the sector it is in.
When you pin-bomb a land unit, it will fire flak at the plane bombing it,
unless it is an 'flak' unit (in which case it fired earlier), or it has an AA
fire rating of 0.
In the case of pinpoint bombing, see "info Hitchance" for the formula deter-
mining whether a plane hits its target.
Note that a plane must be at least 40% efficient before it can leave the
ground.
SEE ALSO
Plane-types, build, fly, paradrop, drop, recon, relations, Mobility, Dam-
age, Planes