Balkan re-alignments

@DarthShizNit:

I would agree that the Balkan armies should start off bigger to represent their veterancy, but yeah, more IC doesn’t make much sense, I mean BUlgaria collapsed economically without ever really being challenged. They weren’t exactly economic powerhouses.

Agree to more planes, by early 1914 Russia already had the best strategic bombers of the war, and even the Austrians had their own flight schools. Every nation should start out with at least one plane IMO.

And for Argentina, I mean for game purposes sure, makes an easy balance, but as long as we recognize that it wouldn’t happen historically  :-D.

In fact, the Russian air force was the largest in the world at the start of the war. It seems that it wasn’t used very effecitvely at first, but picked up greatly from there. Some of the tactics developed by the Black Sea Fleet with seaplanes and carriers were highly advanced for the day.

@Flashman:

Another possibility is that the level of a plane also relates to movement, so that a level 4 plane would be able to conduct bombing missions, e.g. a German L4 aircraft based in Belgium can bomb London and return to base, corresponding to 1917 Gotha bombers conducting such raids. So maybe we don’t need a seperate bomber unit at all…

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gotha_Raids

By level 4, I assume you mean an aircraft attacking on a 4 or less? Seems a bit much for me. Perhaps that might be true against air-to-air action, but what about their involvement in the land battle? Fighters strafing at 4 or less would be kind of ridiculous for this time period. They could certainly do damage to ground targets, but not on the scale of WWII.

Russia, France, and Germany should start with air forces. Everyone else should build them. I’m going to see what sorts of numbers I can find for air forces, c. 1914.

Great Britain should start with planes as well. The Royal Naval Air Service had 93 planes when the war broke out and would conduct what might have been the first strategic bombing missions of the war for the Entente when they bombed German Airship hangars on September 22, 1914.

In fact, every major nation should start with a plane (though I could understand not giving the Ottomans one as their air force at it’s apex was nothing more than a few planes, hell Romania fielded more planes than the Ottomans).

@Flashman:

In the later war aircraft conducted some pretty damaging strafing runs. We’re only talking about a few machines, so I don’t think 4 is that excessive.

But perhaps aircraft should only be able to straf if there is no air to air combat.

The level would also apply to movement; so German planes based in Belgium would be able to SBR London and return to base only at level 4, available 1917 which is about right. This depends on if you want separate bomber units or not.

Ok, I see where you are going. I’m not a big fan of a seperate bomber unit, but at the same time, the Zeps, Gothas, etc., at least need some representation. They were an innovative use of airpower, but their casualties were horrendous. I’m not sure what a Zeppelin (or Gotha) cost, but it probably never broke even. Just seems like a piece that might cost a lot of IPCs for relatively little return. My feelings are mixed.

@Flashman:

My point is that the material damage done by bombing in WWI was insignificant; but the moral panic it caused was highly damaging, forcing nations to build their own bombers to retaliate, and withdraw fighters from the front line to defend their cities.
Bombers only become a viable unit if morale is the main factor in forcing the enemy out of the war.

Sort of like an SBR on a nation’s morale factor, is what you’re thinking? I could go with that, in addition to their tactical abilities. Assuming we’re talking about Gothas, Handley Pages, Zeps, Capronis, etc. and not D.H. 4s!  :-D