Mare! I think you missed my points, or i was not clear enough. I would like to answer like following (just valid for props):
- WT is no simulator, the BR system tries to flatten actual combat effectiveness gaps in order to make a video game playable.
- You proposal to decrease BRs in order to make certain planes more “survivable” is comprehensible, but won’t change anything.
- Following you logic in your last post (in service) you should be consistent and set the Me 262 at the same BR as the B-29.
- I have no clue what you mean with “available” - but B-29 saw combat mid 1944, same as the Me 262. Your 1942 figure must be a typo.
- The order of appearance of planes in a tech tree has more or less nothing to do with irl events or time of active combat and follows mostly other rules.
- Lowering planes active in 1944 and 1945 to stupid low BRs like the P-39 N or P63 A is owed to the misuse or inappropriate actions by their pilots. Even a 109 F-4 from 1941 eats a 1943-1944 B-25 or B-17 for breakfast, just by their design, so reducing the BR s for bombers like early B-17s or B-25s just prevents the majority of pilots from learning.
- With lowering ranks from rank III. to rank II you eliminate the ability of those planes to do daily/special/BP tasks, i am not sure if you have considered this.
The main issue with bomber game play is the huge gap at around BR 2.7 and above. In the lower BRs most bombers are protected by their spawn altitude and the low high alt performance and insufficient armament of most fighters.
So the average pilot comes to the conclusion (and imho illusion) that playing bomber is a milk run and is not forced to improve regarding positioning, map knowledge and target selection.
In addition the game itself has so many “features” which were implemented to make the game playable for masses and to supplement PvP interactions. So hitting a prop bomber far away outside any real combat ranges is no challenge with mouse aim and instructor, the weak damage models of bombers is part of this.
Finally the motivation of people playing bombers plays a significant role. So either you want to grind or just to fulfil daily tasks or you want to have fun and you want to contribute to your team effort in order to win the game.
Unfortunately the last portion of players is quite small and there are actually just a handful of light or medium bombers capable of making a difference. And making a difference requires actually to be smarter than your average fighter opponent and to find the right strategy for each potential scenario.
And you won’t make a difference by bombing a base, you need to distract enemy interceptors - either by luring them away from your climbing fighters or by damaging or kill them. You might need to kill a few enemy bombers or at least damaging or tracking them for your fighters and you have to learn to “read” a match.
So sometimes it is better to bomb some ground units to reduce tickets, sometimes to kill a base or sometimes just try to surprise enemy fighters by bombing them on their airfields - even if you risk a 0 point score in case you miss.
All in all - u have to be more experienced than most of your enemies and your bomber should be able to be played in an offensive and defensive role. If you are not a wizard like hitman (watch his bomber vids) or this koma guy (frequently aces in Ki-67) you have to chose your bomber not due to sentimental reasons - you should chose a bomber which can make a difference.
A last word regarding to defend vs fighters going for bombers. Have in mind that you should divide those players in 3 categories:
- Players with daily or special tasks (" kill x bombers")
- Players new to the game or unable/unwilling to kill enemy fighters
- Players just looking for ez kills
Usually experienced players go for fighters first, but you find a lot of experienced players in group 1 and 3, even in group 2 you find guys with 12.000 kills and 600 deaths - the are eager to get 13.000 kills with 600 deaths. You can very often scare players away with precise long range gunnery - as they are then look for easier targets. As a basic rule - pilots of group 1 and 2 follow you even into your own airfield aaa and will try to ram you when out of ammo or damaged.
But the majority of bombers i see dying are not even flying evasive and they are relying on ai gunners, can’t fly and and use gunners simultaneously (=autopilot off) - and it looks like that they have zero clue that their gun range with 0.50 cals is insane. You get easily hits and crits at around 2.4 km (when chased) whilst a chasing fighter needs to close in to 1.8 km to get crits with 0.50 cals.
So your goal should be to keep them as long as inside yours, but outside the gun range of enemies at your six. This simply does not work if the bombers is to slow or too low when attacked; so preparing for a fight begins long before the actual attack - situational awareness and right assessments based on correct estimations of relative and absolute positioning vs enemies is the key.
Based on my observations the overwhelming majority of bomber players sees playing bombers as a tool to get somewhere and not to enjoy the here and now. That’s why the fail to have fun - and as a few posts earlier some fellow players confirmed - a bomber can decide an win games; it depends on the BR, plane selection and individual experience (and passion level) to make a difference.