The use of strategic bombers has been brought up now and then. For some time they were directly unusable in 1.5, but AFAIR they were tweaked to make more useful.
However, I still have been unable to find any use for them. I have build some in the last 3-4 games, but never had any real use for them. It is more like an in-your-face thing I do to my enemies in the end-game.
Here's why I think they fail to fill a significant role:
- I find that tac-bombers can do most of the long range bombing (airfield strikes etc.) quite well.
- When you need to directly take out an airfield, missiles are better. One use for sure, but unkilable and much faster. Makes up for the cost.
- When prioritizing research, you cannot go for every branch. And in terms of necessity, strat bombers are low in priority. So I generally don't have the option to research strat bombers until the end-game, and the game is usually decided by then anyway.
-Start bomber tech comes too late. I could imagine the use of a strat bomber in the early-to-mid game, but as it is now, fighters are usually all over the map before the first strat bomber comes off the assembly line.
- I imagine strat bombers would be useful to damaging the enemys economy. Damage to the economy in the early to mid-game has some serious consequences that are often overlooked by players. However, I find that raiding is much more effective for that. Fast or stealth units can cause a lot of damage to rear areas and you need such units anyway.
- If the war is static and you cannot break a deadlock, maybe strat bombers would be good for reducing defenses or bombing nearby bases. But this situation close to never happens. I remember one game a few years ago on the world map, but since then it has been an all too familiar meta-game: war of the stacks bulldozing in one direction, then getting bulldozed back. Strat bombers have no role in mobile warfare of stacks.
To sum up, I think strat bombers need some better competitiveness. And instead of fiddling with their unit stats, my suggestion would be to reduce the availability of rockets. Sort of to make strat bombing the rule and rockets the exception (today it is opposite).
Rockets should have much increased cost or longer construction time- And perhaps strat bomber tech should be moved forward.
However, I still have been unable to find any use for them. I have build some in the last 3-4 games, but never had any real use for them. It is more like an in-your-face thing I do to my enemies in the end-game.
Here's why I think they fail to fill a significant role:
- I find that tac-bombers can do most of the long range bombing (airfield strikes etc.) quite well.
- When you need to directly take out an airfield, missiles are better. One use for sure, but unkilable and much faster. Makes up for the cost.
- When prioritizing research, you cannot go for every branch. And in terms of necessity, strat bombers are low in priority. So I generally don't have the option to research strat bombers until the end-game, and the game is usually decided by then anyway.
-Start bomber tech comes too late. I could imagine the use of a strat bomber in the early-to-mid game, but as it is now, fighters are usually all over the map before the first strat bomber comes off the assembly line.
- I imagine strat bombers would be useful to damaging the enemys economy. Damage to the economy in the early to mid-game has some serious consequences that are often overlooked by players. However, I find that raiding is much more effective for that. Fast or stealth units can cause a lot of damage to rear areas and you need such units anyway.
- If the war is static and you cannot break a deadlock, maybe strat bombers would be good for reducing defenses or bombing nearby bases. But this situation close to never happens. I remember one game a few years ago on the world map, but since then it has been an all too familiar meta-game: war of the stacks bulldozing in one direction, then getting bulldozed back. Strat bombers have no role in mobile warfare of stacks.
To sum up, I think strat bombers need some better competitiveness. And instead of fiddling with their unit stats, my suggestion would be to reduce the availability of rockets. Sort of to make strat bombing the rule and rockets the exception (today it is opposite).
Rockets should have much increased cost or longer construction time- And perhaps strat bomber tech should be moved forward.
