Maritime Strike Bombers

Ok, I worked up the basics for the Bombers. I've had this idea for a 
good while. I'd built an SWACS a good while back last year or so and 
tried it once. The model had me thinking about bombers the day I made 
it and now I've decided to throw some fiction in as well. Its going 
to both the Atlanta Full Thrust list as well as the International GZG 
list.

At the bottom is the information about the Strike Bombers. Let me 
know what you think. The big question is the speed. I wanted to 
capture the effect of extra speed that Bombers sometimes seem to have 
over interceptors over the history of the type. Fast fighters can 
catch them easily but only if you buy them. Otherwise you've got to 
be in the right place at the right time. I figure the 4 CEF's limits 
the After Burner (Reheat for the Commonwealth types) CEF burns.

I don't really en-vison these guys flying off of carriers. Though I 
suppose that could be arranged. They take more space and seem to be 
more akin to the bigger bombers.

*******

The mission had droned on for hours...Major Michael Jennings glanced 
at his copilot, Lt Genie McCandles, who had her visor darkened, 
peering at the projected virtual imagery of the 'Eurie' convoy and 
the surrounding space. Glancing at his HUD, Jennings noted that they 
were still on course for the target. The Euries had been shuttling 
supplies towards the Free Korean space for several weeks now and the 
Admiralty had decided to pinch their supplies off.

There had been waffling in Parliament for weeks as to whether the NAC 
was going to help the Koreans or not. Finally after what had seemed 
like months it had been agreed it was time to fight again. So, the 
Euries, attention directed elsewhere, were in for more blows after 
several years of grudging peace. This was as good a time to try out 
the new bombers as any. And, in a good tactical situation too. This 
wasn't against the pair of Konstantin CVAs that this convoy was bound 
for.

They'd spent months training. He had liked the idea from the time 
he'd heard of it and had jumped at the chance to try a new ship. They 
didn't maneuver as fast as the smaller craft, but they were faster.

Operating from fixed bases was much easier too. However the long 
flight times from one side of the system to the other seemed to drag 
on for ever. The big plus was being able to actually get up and go to 
the head, that sure beat using piss bag that he'd used as a 
Lieutenant when flying Attack fighters in the Black Lions.

"There they are!" Genie reported. Major Jennings looked at the 
tactical display. The NAC raiding squadron of 4 Vandenberg Heavy 
Cruisers, 2 Black Prince Battle Cruisers and 2 Beatty Class Fast 
Battle ships, had the Euries running. Several of the Eurie Frigates 
and Cruisers were already streaming reaction mass and atmosphere. 
Jennings could just make out several drifting hulks as more data was 
transferred over the 'whisker net'. Several more vessels were out 
ahead of the convoy trying to escape. They were dealt with quickly by 
the Battleships, Battle Cruisers and Cruisers.

The line of Eurasion Solar Union Warships and merchantman stretched 
out for 8,000 Kilometers. There were still 3 Novogorod Frigates and 
three Tibet class Light Cruisers. There were also a good number of 
merchant vessels present. Looking closer he realized that one of the 
central vessels was a warship.

"Damn!...We're trailing them. This isn't where we're supposed to be. 
Someone got the timing off... How's our intercept vector? "

"not great, but not bad." We should be able to land most of our 
birds. If the Euries evade, then they'll loose all their cohesion and 
then they're lunch."

"Hmm, what's that center vessel?"

"Oh! Looks like an escort carrier of some kind. Its definitely not a 
Tsiolkovsky."

"Fighters?"

"The tactical officer on the Nelson reports that the fighters are 
holding position 4000 Kay from the Eurie ships. It looks like 3 
groups. They aren't engaging, just running Interference."

Jennings breathed a silent 'thanks'. He wasn't sure he wanted to see 
how the Bombers faired against real pilots. They were faster mostly, 
but if the intercept vectors were right, they'd be in very deep if 
those Eurie fighters came out to play.

"Range?"

"30000 Kay almost on the dot" Jennings knew, but he was verifying 
just to be doubly sure....'measure twice, cut once' as they say...

"Eagle One to all ships! Arm your birds! Fire when ready. I say 
again, Fire When Ready. "

"Genie, fire when you're ready..."

"Birds Away!" Genie almost shouted.

Jennings glanced out the left cockpit window and then the right. He 
could just make out the launch signatures of the nearer missiles in 
the strike package. 36 Thunder Strike Extended range Salvo Missiles 
and 24 Space Lance Heavy Anti Ship Missiles in all. He'd never see 
them all as the distance between the 3 groups of 18 bombers was too 
great.

Jennings peered at the HUD and keyed the mode from his side stick. 
The icons for all of the bombers in the strike package changed from 
Green to Amber nearly simultaneously. They'd all launched. There 
wasn't any hung ordinance and no targeting problems.

"All Birds Tracking"

"Eagle One to all ships, execute turn Sierra X-Ray"

As one, all of the bombers began a rapid turn to port and all fired 
their main thrusters to change their heading fast.

"How are they tracking?"

"Most of the Tango-Sierras are homing, looks like a few have 
wandered, Looks like a 60% strike. All of the Sierra-Lima's are 
tracking, but the the rear units don't appear to have enough energy. 
hhhmmm...I make 5 that won't intercept."

"Damn, better than average, but worse than the simulations...We need 
work on the final approach vectors. Wing Commander Carter won't be 
happy, but then I'm not either".

As they watched, the faster salvo missiles converged with ships. The 
few fighters converged on their carrier to protect it. PDS fire 
flickered and icons for missiles winked out as they were destroyed 
short. Then a Bulk Carrier exploded along with a Voroshilev Heavy 
Cruiser. A Frigate exploded as well.

After what seemed like hours but was only 10 minutes the much larger 
missiles converged with their targets. The fighters again tried to 
protect their charges. But this these were much harder to stop. 
Several ships were struck with electromagnetic pulses and finely 
focused beams from Bomb pumped X-Rays that targeting specific 
systems. Some began to drop out of the formation. Another heavy 
freighter died to a combination of beam fire from the NAC warships 
and missile warheads.

Out in the cold of space, men were dying. Some were not. Those that 
survived would be picked up by the Raider group and interred in POW 
camps. Strangely they'd be better off. Stories told of the brutal 
conditions on many of the ESU warships. Especially the smaller ones. 
Only the larger vessels had anything approaching the conditions that 
the NAC had aboard ship.

The Captain of the Iron Duke, a Black Prince class fast 
Battlecruiser, whiskered a 'thanks for the assist' at the 3 bomber 
groups.

Satisfied that it was time to leave, Jennings ordered the wing to 
execute the turn to the next Nav point on the way home.

*******
Full Thrust Strike Bombers

10 Pts each (60 pts for a squadron)
Size 2 craft (double that of Fighters)
Mv 30"/turn (occurs during fighter movement)
12" Secondary Move (occurs during normal Secondary Move phase)
4 CEF
Dog-fight on 6's (tail guns)
Carry 1 of 2 strike packages (Fired During Ordinance Phase)
Either 1 ER Salvo Missile package or 2 MT Missiles

They operate as normal fighters and use the CEF burns to escape 
intercepting fighters. They can out run fighters, but not for long.

They do engage ships outside of the normal fighter envelope as they 
have stand off weapons. The missiles are fired in the normal 
Ordinance phase, meaning they will have moved and then fired. This 
gives an option for a hard turn and the beginning of a 12" burn away 
from the target area for home at the "allocate fighter attacks phase".

In the first useage they ended up working quite well. Fighter cover 
was torn between attempting to intercept them or the missiles. I 
settled on the ER salvos based on tactical doctrine plus the fact 
that they are "theoretically" moving forwards pretty fast from the 
launching platform, they'd not need to be accelerating from a 
"slower" moving vessel.

I built the figs by hacking apart two standard fighters of differing 
types. They end up looking pretty good sized and certainly seem 
appropriate.

I haven't decided if Advanced Bomber Types would be a good idea or 
not. Obviously if so then the Fast/Long Range/Heavy forms are the 
only appropriate. They'd be expensive and I think over the top.

Ryan
--
- Ryan Montieth Gill		DoD# 0780 (Smug #1) / AMA / SOHC -
- ryan.gill@SPAMturner.com  I speak not for CNN, nor they for me -
- rmgill@SPAMmindspring.com	     www.mindspring.com/~rmgill/ -