Wednesday, 17 February 2021

Bomber Crew: USAAF....


A new crew, a new area of operations. The USAAF DLC brings the Mediterranean theater of the war and an increase in difficulty with it. I'd read it would be more difficult but seeing it for myself...... Yea it's an increase. War is hell. 

The increased amount of fighter waves per mission and the numbers of fighters in those waves can be hectic. The further you go in the the DLC campaign the more you get swarmed. The new bomber does have a lot more guns and crew so the in game version lives up to it's real world Flying Fortress. Still the DLC feels borderline unfair, I'll get back to that in a sec. The real injustice isn't the increased enemy numbers it's the moving bomb targets....  Boats. So hard to hit them,such as the second mission with only one spare bomb for mistakes(4 bombs, 3 targets). So needless to say I had been stuck on it for a while. Thankfully I gained an experienced navigator for a later boat mission; Which let me set my own way-points. Was the best way I could align the plane for better approaches. 


Progress overall was slow. So back to the borderline unfair point. It's a grind. It's a harsh environment to do a grind.

Having increased difficulty means losses. As short as the campaign is I've lost more planes and crew than in the original base game! So when (not if) a plane and crew are lost its harsher to be running missions to gain the cash you need to make things better. Never mind try and keep what you have. Loosing crew is a real hurt when your further into the campaign and your stuck with a new crew member(i.e. radio operator) with no upgrades. The grind get more real. The campaign pushes a very 'make do' way with situation when push comes to shove. A stretch beyond 'just' being a game mechanic. That's the unfair borderline. Not because of the harshness but because a lot of it boils down to luck. A whole lot of luck. 


The B-17 also has a tendency to have the undercarriage shot out; Leaving you with situations where you can do everything perfect but have to ditch in the sea. I lost maybe half of my planes that way. Again all down to luck on who survives the crash.... Which depends per crew member on who has the gear and in turn the stats to survive.... But loosing the plane is the big hit.... Loosing it, it's gear and upgrades can be 'the' massive pain in the butt to replace. Compounded with any KIA crew. 

On top of that, my own need to have a specific plane/crew setup was a motivational grind to do the main grind(odd I know, but it's what I needed to do). Thankfully I was more lucky than not.

On a side note I chose the 2 slot equipment racks in plane rather than the 3, for weight reasons. Both slots on the racks were first aid and a fire extinguisher(cash allowing startling with 2 aid packs and a fire extinguisher mid plane). Survival in the air was my main aim. Put out fires and save/revive shot crew members. Having nothing but parachutes in the slots would have made the bailout of a crew better (if there are even enough for all the crew)but it's a situation that's very.... situational. Not one I came across often at all. Better to ditch and take chances on the crew member stat, pigeon and dingy. 

For the campaign's first half, my main motivation was clearing the enemy aces. 
The second half motivation was that the end of the campaign was so near....

The grind is real but the (relativity)short journey of the campaign makes it 'feel' more doable. Even with all the losses. If your into the main game you need to be really into it to get the most out of the DLC. Otherwise frustration can halt your enjoyment. It's harsh but I'm glad I got it and got through it.


It's a campaign that can be run with the bare basics and luck. It'll be hard, but if you don't care about options for getting the job done better and consider each crew and plane expendable per mission..... Did I mention luck....

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