This Guide is a work in progress.

The game and manual provide no information on how to execute aircraft attacks accurately and effectively. There is none of the information that would be available to the aircrew to assist in making an accurate attack: airspeed, altitude, angle of attack, estimated range to target, weapon ideal release range, general doctrine. All that is given is a rough idea of how to use the offset slider for beam-on torpedo attacks. Even the meaning of the units of the offset slider is not clarified.

This guide attempts to close that very big gap by providing some repeatable techniques that can be applied to make reasonably accurate aircraft attacks. These techniques don't enable perfect attacks (except in one case) but they at least provide guidance on how to attempt a reasonably effective attack.

Where possible I have described techniques that make use of the in-game mechanisms, the aiming point slider and aim offset slider, and/or visual cues. However in many cases these are insufficient. The in game controls are very limited, inadequate to many tasks. It soon becomes apparent that while the aimpoint slider gives 360 degree freedom (though not in both directions of rotation) the offset slider offsets relative to the axis of the target ship, not relative to chosen the axis of attack. This significantly limits (unrealistically) the actual attack paths and aimpoints on the target that can be commanded. There is by no means complete freedom to plan the attack. The offset slider basically behaves in a qualitatively different way, depending on the weapons used and whether the attack angle is more beam-on vs bow-to-stern or stern-to-bow. To be honest it appears to have been designed with a fixed attack angle in mind, probably a direct perpendicular beam-on attack. For other cases it makes less sense.

Hence for many cases the best approach is not to use the offset slider but to use a stopwatch - as aircrews often did during this period. These "timing" approaches vary according to the type of aircraft, type of weapon, and particularly whether the aircraft executes a Dive during the attack sequence. Timed Dive attacks are three-phase attacks (fly towards target, dive, release/fire). Timed level bombing attacks and torpedo attacks are simpler, only two phases (fly towards target, release).

Aircraft are first divided into Land based or Carrier based. Only the Allies possess carriers in this game (which is more or less historically accurate, certainly as far as the Atlantic is concerned).

Land based and carrier based aircraft have different game mechanics in that carrier aircraft are re-usable, but require management, and operational carriers with operational flight decks; land based aircraft require no management or pre-requisites, but are "one-shot". There are also different aircraft types, with different weapons, available in each group.

There are four classes of aircraft role, some of which are only land based and some are only carrier based, and some are both/either. The four role classes are fighters, torpedo bombers, dive bombers and high level bombers. Some aircraft can perform more than one of these roles.

The aircraft can use one (only) of the following weapons per mission:

• Depth charges
  
• Torpedoes
  
• Bombs
  
• Rockets
  
• Guns ("None" selected when Readying Fighters)

Not all aircraft can use all weapon types. Different carrier types and classes will embark different types of aircraft with different weapon options.

Each of these weapons is employed differently and so each will be dealt with in turn, in the following sections.

The manual describes carrier operations reasonably well. Please consult the Atlantic Fleet game manual at sections 1.1.5 and 1.1.6.

Some elements that are unclear, incorrect or absent in the manual:

• The wing size is 4 for escort carriers and 8 for fleet carriers, not 2 and 4 as stated in the manual
  
• Although the manual states 24 aircraft embarked for escort carriers and 48 for fleet carriers (reasonably historically accurate), only one third of that number can be operational at any one time.
  
• Only a maximum of one bomber 'wing' and one fighter 'wing' can be active at any time. Both wings may be active at the same time however.
  
• The LAUNCH button really means "do the selected air operation", with the exact air operation being the one selected in the button below, eg Ready - Launch - Air Strike - Recover
  
• Initial air strike selection targets the carrier itself. This is confusing and generally unhelpful. To attack an enemy ship you must select one in the 3D view or on the tactical map and then clicking its name in the top right
  
• Fighters without Bombs fitted can still attack vessels. They do so using Guns (strafing)
  
• The initial attack bearing shown is the direct bearing straight from the carrier to the target
  
• Smoke between the carrier and the target will prevent an air attack being launched in the 3D view
  
• A workaround to this is to select the target in the map view, return to the 3D view and select the target with F2.
  
• Alternatively, for a target previously targeted by the spotting carrier prior to being obstructed by smoke, click on the label 'Smoke' that appears in the top right, where the name of the currently targeted ship normally appears.
  
• If the carrier is itself emitting Smoke it can't perform any air operations, including air strikes
  
• The manual is not quite correct to say only one air strike can be launched per turn. Provided enough carriers are available, each carrier can direct one carrier airstrike per turn. So potentially ten airstrikes could be made per turn, from ten carriers.
  
• A Fighter CAP wing will shoot down about 50% of incoming airstrikes. This seems to be true regardless of the wing size. (Test: 4 and 8 CAP gun-armed Seafire fighters, vs Stuka attacks). Attackers that survive CAP are then engaged by AAA.
  
• CAP itself doesn't seem to ever suffer any attritional losses of aircraft while defending.
  
• However CAP effectiveness seems to decrease over time. Possibly, after - or every time? - there have been more attacks received than there are CAP aircraft, the chance to defend is halved?
  
• Submerged submarines may not be targeted by airstrikes unless they have been spotted by sonar-equipped friendly escort vessels.
  
• You will always see 5 aircraft on deck after the Ready operation, even though the 'wing'size is never 5, it is always either 4 or 8.
  
• It seems likely that you never run out of aircraft, regardless of losses to AAA. Certainly you can lose more aircraft to AAA as are listed as carried in total by the carrier, with no effect on your ability to deploy wings of aircraft from that carrier.

The manual describes land based operations reasonably well. Please consult the Atlantic Fleet game manual at section 1.1.5.

Some elements that are unclear, incorrect or absent in the manual:

• You must cycle through the weapon types list of a friendly ship to discover if you have land based air attacks available in the scenario. This is easy to miss. It's important to check at this at the start of each mission.
  
• Initial air strike selection targets the friendly unit that is calling in the airstrike itself. This is confusing and generally unhelpful. To attack an enemy ship you must select one in the 3D view or on the tactical map and then clicking its name in the top right.
  
• Smoke covering the target from the perspective of the friendly unit calling in the airstrike will prevent an air attack being launched in the 3D view.
  
• A workaround to this is to select the target in the map view, return to the 3D view and select the target with F2.
  
• Alternatively, for a target previously targeted by the spotting ship prior to being obstructed by smoke, click on the label 'Smoke' that appears in the top right, where the name of the currently targeted ship normally appears.
  
• The manual is incorrect to say only one air strike can be launched per turn. Provided enough land based aircraft are available, each ship can direct one land based airstrike per turn. So potentially ten airstrikes could be made per turn, from ten spotting ships.

TBD Work in Progress



Classes:
Courageous
Illustrious (W4 May 1940)
Attacker/Ruler (RN version of Bogue) (W2 October 1942)

All classes embark Seafire as Fighter.
As Bomber:
Courageous class embarks Swordfish
Illustrious class embarks
Barracuda (not Avenger - has torpedo but not rockets)
Attacker/Ruler class (Bogue class in RN service) embarks Swordfish

The manual states that some or all of these Swordfish are replaced by Barracuda later in the BotA campaign only.



Fairey Swordfish - Torpedo/Shallow Dive Bomber
- Torpedo x 1
- Bomb 3 x 500lb
- Depth Charge x 4
- Rocket x 8

Seafire - Fighter
- Bomb 3 x 250lb
- Guns (strafe)

In the dynamic (Battle of the Atlantic) campaign the Swordfish is apparently replaced by the Barracuda at some point:

Fairey Barracuda - Full Dive Bomber
- Torpedo x 1
- Bomb 6 x 250lb
- Depth Charge x 4
(no rockets unlike Swordfish)

It doesn't seem to be possible to get the Barracuda in Single Battle mode or in regular Campaign mode except by getting Illustrious class CVs?

Bogue (W4 September 1942)
All carrier types:

Grumman Avenger - Torpedo/Dive Bomber
- Bomb 4 x 500lb
- Depth Charge x 4
- Rocket FFAR x 8
(No torpedo option for some reason!)

Grumman Wildcat - Fighter
- Bomb 3 x 250lb
- Guns (strafe)

Lancaster - Level Bomber
- 14,000 lb Grand Slam bomb x 1
Liberator - Level Bomber - UK/US
- Bomb 500lb x 6
- Depth Charges x 6 (Dive)
- Rocket x 8 (UK only!)
Sunderland
- Bomb 500lb x 6
- Depth Charges x 6

See section 5.2.2 of the Atlantic Fleet game manual for full details.

Aircraft: Swordfish

No Dive

You will need a stopwatch. Start it at the same time you hit the Launch button.

Aircraft will automatically pull up after 10 seconds usually, aborting the attack. This time is variable depending on the angle of attack and the target ship. It may depend on the size of the target and when your aircraft would collide with it. So if you attack bow-on or stern-on to a battleship the pull up time is nearer 9 seconds. Against a sub it is much longer (never?).

Release torpedo at more than 6 seconds to hit your target point AFTER the target vessel has moved once.

In order for the torpedo to hit before the target moves, you would need to release at around 10 seconds. This is rarely possible - maybe only against subs?

Since it's rarely possible to run in for 10 seconds, you may as well release at > 6 seconds to minimise the amount of flak you take. Extra delay between 6+ and 10 seconds will not affect the point at which the target is struck (or not) so there is nothing to gain by delay, only the risk of being shot down. A safe number is 7, maybe 8, seconds.

To account for the movement of the target, review the tactical map at highest scale (128x) to see how many multiples of its own length it moves per turn.

Use the 3D view and the target offset slider (middle of left side) to measure the length of the ship in terms of units of the target offset slider: move the slider to -1 and then to +1 to measure the ship length compared to 2 units (-1 to +1) of the target offset slider.

Then combine these two values: use the target offset slider (middle of left side) to adjust the correct number of ship lengths. That assumes an attack at 90 degrees to the ship's movement, a perpendicular attack, which is the easiest torpedo attack and most likely to hit. If the attack is not 90 degrees, reduce the amount of offset accordingly. For a bow-on or stern-on attack, use no offset at all (apart for wind).

Then adjust for wind. This basically just requires player practice and experience (like wind adjustment for gunnery).

Note that wind affects all aircraft weapons even if the Option "wind affects player shells" is turned off.

As the RN aerial torpedoes have the shortest range in the game, you only get one chance for the torpedo to hit. It will not hit on its first half-move (unless you were able to delay release for 10 seconds), so its only chance to hit will be its second half-move, after the target has moved.

Against submarines, you can get a certain instant kill by attacking beam-on (perpendicular to the heading of the sub) and releasing the torpedo at (for Swordfish) 10 seconds after Launch.

Same as Swordfish
Tested vs U-boats

IMPORTANT NOTE
Much of the Torpedo data given at section 5.2.1 of the manual is completely incorrect and does not accurately reflect how they perform in the game.

TBD - Confirm correct range and speed(s) of RN aerial torpedoes. Looks to be the stated 3500 yards.

If you arm Fighters with "None" (no Bombs) they are still capable of executing air strikes on vessels. They do this by strafing with Guns.

Aircraft that Dive will have a Dive phase, then Guns become available after you commence the Dive.

Fighters (Seafire - any others) will pull out of the Dive after about 5 seconds, aborting the attack.

Guns will fire for about 3 seconds.

The ideal (but hardest) attack path is bow to stern or stern to bow, maximising the damage inflicted to the ship.

The easiest attack path is across the beam at an acute angle, maximising the chance to hit the ship somewhere.

It is not necessary to use the offset slider as the target will not move before the attack is completed.

You could use the offset slider to compensate for wind which does seem to affect the trajectory of Guns.

Don't expect dramatic effects from Guns, even against unarmoured targets like merchants or subs.

Aircraft that Dive will have a Dive phase, then Rockets become available after you commence the Dive.

Aircraft will pull out of the Dive after a few seconds, aborting the attack if it has not yet been made.

The best attack path is probably bow to stern or stern to bow, maximising the chance to hit the ship somewhere, unless there are strong winds across the target. In that case the best attack may be into the wind or along the wind, but timing of firing will be more critical.

As with most/all weapons, when attacking specific components of the ship it may be necessary to attack across the ship's direction of travel. This requires more accurate aiming.


Swordfish:


Swordfish Dive phase about 7 seconds maximum (vs BB).

Rockets (8) will fire for about 2 seconds.

Initiate the Dive the instant you can see your target point under your wings. Continue the Dive for about 3.5 - 4.0 seconds, then fire. The Rockets should hit the target area.

It is not necessary to use the offset slider as the target will not move before the attack is completed.

You could use the offset slider to compensate for wind which does seem to affect the trajectory of Rockets.

Liberator:

Liberator Dive phase about 6 seconds maximum (vs BB).

Rockets will fire for about 2 seconds.

Need to use significant amounts of forward offset, in order to be aligned to the target area during the Dive phase.

Looks like 8 rockets fired, same as the Swordfish

Notes

Historically these weapons were highly effective against surfaced submarines, and were capable of striking surfaced subs below the waterline.

In game it is entirely possible to destroy multiple systems on a KM battleship, such as Spot and Radar, in a single Rocket attack pass.

Accurate Rocket fire is highly effective against surfaced submarines. It is less effective against submarines at Periscope Depth and ineffective against submarines at Shallow or lower depths.

Work in Progress


For well armoured capital ships this is the most effective form of attack, since it generally engages Deck armour which tends to be the weakest. However it is harder to execute than a torpedo bombing attack.

Probably the ideal attack path is stern to bow or bow to stern, wind permitting. If wind is blowing across the target the attack becomes very difficult.

Aircraft that Dive will have a Dive phase. The attack is aborted if Bomb is not pressed before the end of the Dive phase. If the attack is aborted that aircraft remains available for attempting a later attack.


Fighter - Seafire vs Large Freighter, or Battleship
Swordfish Vs Battleship

Dive phase aborts after:

Fighter about 3 seconds
Swordfish about 4 seconds

Push the offset way past the target, probably all the way +2.5 lengths. This will start your run as close to the target as possible
Fly "past" the target - you want to have almost a full (freighter) or half (BB) ship length of water behind the target visible under your wings before you Dive. Release Bomb as safely as you can near the end of the Dive phase.


Swordfish must Shallow Dive
Drops 3x 500lb bombs
In triangle pattern?

Use the technique described (in the next section) for Depth Charges:

6 second flight after Launch
3 second Dive
=9 seconds (total): Bomb


Avenger must Steep Dive
Maximum Dive 4 seconds
Drops 4 x 500lb bombs
In stick along flight path?

Same timings as Swordfish nearly
Use the technique described for Depth Charges:

With a strong headwind:
6 second flight after Launch
With a little wind:
5.5 second flight after Launch
With a strong tailwind:
5 second flight after Launch
Then
3 second Dive
Then
(At 8/8.5/9 seconds total): Bomb


Cannot use the technique described for Depth Charges. Liberator does not Dive with bombs (unlike with depth charges) - it does Level Bombing.

Drops 6x 500lb bombs in one stick
Stick runs along the flight path

With a single stopwatch running from Launch:

Against a strong/medium headwind
At 6/5.5 seconds (total): Bomb
With no/light head/tailwinds
At 5 seconds (total): Bomb
With strong/medium tailwind
At 4.5/4 seconds (total): Bomb

This will bracket the target.

Level bombing. Same technique as Liberator, above.
Timings maybe nearer to 5.0s +/-0.5s, rather than +/- 1.0s?

TBD


Wind has a major effect on level bombing. Side-wind is particularly problematic.

On a merchant target with a strong crosswind at 90 degrees, for a Sunderland level bomber, using the offset slider, offset about 0.3 slider units from the desired impact point.


Fighter Bombing
It's possible to sink a merchant with one well placed bomb run, or destroy Spots and Radar on a BB, or do medium damage to BB Secondary batteries for example.

Swordfish/Avenger Bombing

It's possible to sink a BB with a few well placed bomb runs.
Submarines can be destroyed by a single accurate run whether on the surface or at Periscope Depth.

Liberator and Sunderland Bombing

Heavy damage to surfaced submarines. Moderate damage at periscope depth

Possible to sink a BB with 1-2 very well placed bombing runs. Or a merchant with a couple of runs or one good run.



If you have time, it's good to rotate the view during the attack so that you view both the target and your plane side-on. An "elevation view". There's rarely time to do this though. Regardless of what camera angle you previously selected, the camera snaps to a standard view (along the attack path) as soon as the attack itself starts.

The techniques advised here assume being forced to use the standard "chase plane" viewing angle. On some attack types it is not possible to switch away from the scripted view of the attack run anyway.

Work in Progress

Similar in execution to Bomb Attacks (oftentimes identical), and similarly difficult (compared to torpedoes, guns and rockets).

Probably the ideal attack path is stern to bow or bow to stern, wind permitting. If wind is blowing across the target the attack becomes very difficult.

In general (with bombs, rockets and guns as well as depth charges), a bow-to-stern or stern-to-bow attack angle will do more damage if it is accurate, whereas a beam-on (perpendicular) attack is more likely to hit and cause at least some damage. If there was less certainty about the position of the submarine, attacking across its path (perpendicular) rather than along its path (bow-to-stern/stern-to-bow) would definitely be preferable.


Unfortunately the game does not permit aircraft depth charges to work below Shallow depth. Once a sub dives to Deep or lower, it is invulnerable to aircraft depth charges. Only escort ship depth charges are effective. This is probably not historically accurate but is a limitation of the game for some reason. It's probably related to the aircraft depth charges detonating only at two set depths (Shallow and Periscope Depth), rather than variable-depth detonation as the game implements for surface ships' depth charges.

Even a well executed depth charge attack on a surfaced submarine may have a limited effect - light damage for example. It is possible to sink a surfaced sub with depth charges but seems more difficult.

Aerial depth charges seem to ignore collisions with surface objects and will pass through a surfaced submarine, detonating beneath her. Likely it would be possible to successfully engage a submerged submarine with aerial depth charges even if the sub was concealed by a surface vessel. Though it's possible that ASW weapons will detonate in contact with a surface ship, but do no damage - this seems to happen with Hedgehog.

Note that against submarines at Periscope Depth from a Torpedo Bomber, a torpedo is vastly more effective. And air dropped depth charges seem to be ineffective below Shallow depth. Hence only use depth charges from torpedo-capable bombers against Shallow depth submarines.

Aerial Depth Charges will cause no damage against surface ships (not historical). You can see them exploding right against the hull of merchants but they will do absolutely no damage. Use any other weapon instead.

Dives
6 second max Dive duration
Depth charges are dropped along the line of flight at spaced intervals, at two different depth levels, 3 depth charges at each level. The depth levels seem to be Periscope Depth and Shallow.

Significant delay in the Dive/attack sequence is needed to get the attack on target. Immediate Dive plus latest possible release is way short.

Liberator Offset Method:

Attack bow-on (or stern-on), offset -2.5 (+2.5) units towards/past the target; immediate Dive; release weapons near the limit of Dive (5+ seconds) = a good hit!

Tested vs: Type VII, Type IX, Type XXI. It's quite tricky vs the smaller Type VII. You have to time the release very late, nearly the full 6 seconds.

A visual shorthand for this +/- 2.5 units offset is to position the blue silhouette of the aircraft so that the periscope is dead centre in the silhouette, level with the trailing edges of the wings.

The +/- 2 units offset (if you have a strong tailwind) on the other hand, places the periscope in the centre of the widest blue bar, the one closest to the silhouette of the plane.

In deciding whether to use a bow-to-stern vs stern-to-bow attack angle, I would suggest whichever angle gives the best tailwind, as this attack tends to fall slightly short, if anything. Always considering which approach will have expose the aircraft to the least AAA fire, of course.

In principle this technique ought to also work for a beam-on (perpendicular) attack, though it is more likely to fall short. However in a beam-on attack it's not possible to use the offset slider as a release timing offset. So timing would have to be entirely manual, and this method using the offset slider cannot be used.

Liberator Timed Method:

So in the beam-on manual case, come in perpendicular (90 degrees) to the sub's heading; fly level for 6 seconds after Launch, then Dive for 5+ seconds (but less than 6). This should bracket the target with the stick of depth charges but might not result in a kill. With a single stopwatch running from Launch:

At 6 seconds (total): Dive
(Add or subtract 0.5 seconds for heavy headwind or heavy tailwind)
Dive for 5 seconds
At 11 seconds (total +/- wind): Depth Charge

In principle this 'manual' (timed) method will also work with a bow-stern or stern-bow attack. And if successful, it will do a lot more damage than the beam-on attack.

Same technique as Liberator

4 depth charges per attack
2 sticks of 2 depth charges
1 stick at each of 2 depth levels
Stick is 90 degrees to flight path?
Pretty difficult to hit target

Must Dive
4? second max Dive duration

Liberator technique does NOT work for Swordfish.

Swordfish Timed Technique:
6 second flight after Launch, then
+3 second Dive
= at 9 seconds (total): Depth Charge
= Roughly brackets target
But very hard to get an effective hit
Nonetheless a one-strike kill is possible

Same as Avenger bombing technique. Same as Swordfish depth charge technique above:

Fly 6s
Dive 3s.

4s max Dive
Fly for 6s
(+/- 0.5s for strong head/tail wind)
Then Dive for 3s
Then Release
(Same as Swordfish and Avenger)


At periscope depth it is hardly necessary to correct for wind. At deeper depths, depth charge radius of effect is reduced, so wind correction is probably more important.

TBD

Considerations

• AAA ships near the target or near the aircraft's approach path
  
• for carrier aircraft also consider AAA ships near its exit path back to the carrier - it will fly straight back
  
• Check there are no friendly ships across the line of the aircraft's approach path to the target -these will cause your aircraft to pull up early and abort. (All attacks or just torpedo attacks? - TBD)
  
• If the target is close to your own carrier, the carrier itself can block the flight path. In these cases use an approach angle that is in open space, not one that comes from the direction of the carrier
  
• arcs of the target's AAA (?) - it's unclear if ships can bring more or less AAA to bear on certain angles or not. And if so, whether this varies by ship type.
  
• It appears effectiveness of AAA decreases with range and height. Maybe also with speed? Any reduction while diving?
  
• Each ship type seems to have a hidden AAA value. Some are certainly stronger than others.

If AAA is too intense on any possible approach path, use ship's gunfire against the target or its AAA support before launching air attack. HE shells seem to be better at degrading AAA. Or use high level bombing to degrade AAA before attacking with lower level aircraft. Degrading AAA is pretty easy. It is usually the first system to be damaged, and can be permanently destroyed (red colour in damage control)

TBD - are there specific locations or attack angles that are more likely to damage AAA?

TBD

Basically, assign one or more ships, probably destroyers, to produce smoke, during air operations (Ready & Recover).
Smoke protects against air strikes totally, to a lesser extent surface ship attacks and even submarines.
Potentially keep smoke cover while the carrier gets CAP up and even while it steams away out of gun range (if possible).
Also in extremis to engage vessels approaching the carrier.

Note that Smoke must usually be stopped during the actual Air Strike phase, as the carrier must have a line of sight to the target of the Air Strike. Ensure to be out of effective gun range at this point if at all possible.

For workarounds see my Guide on Use of Smoke.

The game is accurate in using the Fairey Swordfish as the RN's carrier based torpedo bomber from the outbreak of war, and then replacing it with the Fairey Barracuda (from about January 1943). Both aircraft also had dive bombing capability. In between the two was the less successful Fairey Albacore (on RN carriers from November 1940). The Grumman Avenger also came into RN FAA service around January 1943. The Albacore and Avenger both have one third more total bomb payload than listed in the game for the Swordfish or Barracuda. Depth charge and torpedo loadouts are the same (1 torp or 4 depth charges).

On the fighter side, the game provides the Seafire (navalised Supermarine Spitfire) in all campaign dates. But in reality this was not operational on carriers until June 1942 earliest. Prior to that, carrier based RN FAA fighters were Blackburn Skuas (fighter-bombers) and Gloster Sea Gladiators at the outbreak of war, then Fairey Fulmars from around July 1940, then Hawker Sea Hurricanes from July 1941, and Grumman Wildcats (initially called Martlets in RN service) from September 1941.

Early in the war, some RN carriers had no fighter aircraft embarked at all, only bombers (typically Swordfish). This was based on the fact that the Germans had no carriers, but that proved to be a miscalculation when facing land based fighters.

• The game gives the UK aerial torpedo range of only 1500 yards. However this was the range of the early war torpedoes, and even then this was the range at fast speed setting - 40 kts. At the 27 kts setting the range was 3500 yds.
  
• The game data (section 5.2.2) describes FFAR rockets for UK aircraft. However FFAR was an American weapon. UK aircraft would be equipped with 60lb RP-3 rockets.
  
• RP-3s were equipped on RN FAA attack aircraft including Swordfish, Avengers, and Fairey Fireflies. They were also equipped on RAF Coastal Command Liberators (Mks III and VI) as well as other aircraft. However in general the RP-3 was not in Anti-submarine use until mid 1943 (after testing in late 1942). The RP-3 was effective, and to a considerable extent replaced torpedoes in the ASW role.
  
• For some reason the game does not assign FFAR rockets (or any rockets) as a possible loadout for US Liberators.

Specific aircraft tactics - TBD

Presumably most of the principles are the same as for the Allied land based aircraft. The possible exception being the homing glide bombs.

Aircraft and Loadouts available:

Fw200 Condor
- Bomb 10 x 500lb
- Hs293 Glide Bomb x 2

Dornier Do217
- Torpedo x 1
- Bomb 6 x 500lb
- Hs293 Glide Bomb x 2
- Fritz-X AP Glide Bomb x 1

Ju87 Stuka
- Bomb 1 x 500lb + 4 x 100lb

Techniques:

Fw200 Condor - Bomb
- Press Bomb just after the target area of the ship emerges in sight under the wings of the aircraft.

Do217 - Torpedo

- Forced pull up after about 11-12s run-in beam-on vs merchant.
- Release at 9s is close enough to hit at the end of the launch turn, after the target has had 1 move only
- 10s of run-in is not enough for an insta-hit on a sub, unlike for RN aerial torps, because of the slower speed (24kts vs RN's 35kts).
- Somewhere around 14s run-in against a sub should instakill it.

Do217 - Fritz X
- Launch immediately?
- 1 or 2 will sink a Fleet Carrier
- Is described in the aircraft mini screen as "Glide Bomb".

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