                                Command : BOMB

NAME
   bomb - Dispose of inconvenient enemy assets with air power.

Level: Basic

SYNTAX
   [##:##] Command : bomb <BOMBERS> <ESCORTS> mission-type <SECT> route|desti-
nation

The "bomb" command is used to rain  destruction  upon  helpless  enemy  ships,
planes, and sectors.  It represents a complete mission for one or more bombers
and escorts taking off from one place and returning to base at the end of  the
mission.

<BOMBERS>  represents  a  list  of  planes which can carry bombs.  Only planes
which have a bomb bay, belong in a  sector  which  is  stocked  with  gas  and
shells,  and  have  sufficient  mobility will be successfully selected for the
mission.

<ESCORTS> represent a list of fighter planes which are  capable  of  escorting
the bombers all the way to the target.  To be selected, escorts must have fuel
and mobility.

Mission-type must be one of "pinpoint" or "strategic".  Each mission has  dif-
ferent  objectives  for  the  planes  performing  it.  Pinpoint missions allow
bombers to attack ships, sector efficiency, commodities in sectors, and planes
on the ground in the target sector.  Strategic missions damage all commodities
in the entire target sector, while not damaging any ships or  planes  resident
(similar  to the ship and sector "fire" missions).  If a plane is armed with a
nuclear warhead, then it will drop the bomb  rather  than  using  conventional
weapons.   Nuclear devices damage everything in the sector; planes, ships, and
commodities.  Only missiles in hardened silos can avoid damage from a  nuclear
mission.

<SECT>  represents  an  assembly point, where all of the planes in the mission
meet before proceeding on to the target sector.  The assembly  point  must  be
owned  by  you,  and  must  not be more than four sectors away from any of the
planes selected for the mission.

Route is a normal empire path specification. You may also give  a  destination
sector  on the command line, or at any time while giving the route, and empire
will use the best path from the current sector to the desired destination sec-
tor.

When getting a path interactively, empire will show you a small map (from your
bmap) concerning the current area, to help you plot your course.

Light bombers (with the tactical capability) are used primarily  for  pinpoint
bombing.   They  perform  as well as fighters do for strategic bombing.  Heavy
bombers (with the bomber capability), while they can perform pinpoint bombing,
are  notoriously inaccurate and in general miss what they are aiming at.  They
are used mainly for strategic bombing.

During the course of a mission, your planes may fly over someone else's  land.
If you fly over land owned by another country, and this country is either hos-
tile or in any war state (see info relation) with you, fighter planes from the
enemy country will scramble and attempt to intercept your force.  If the coun-
try is simply neutral, he will be notified that his radar tracked your  planes
as  they  flew  over his country.  If the country is allied, then nothing will
occur.

If you manage to fight though the enemy fighters and arrive at the target sec-
tor,  your  force  must  still contend with any flak guns which your enemy has
stationed there.  What's more, any enemy ship in the target sector  will  also
shoot  at  each  of  your bombers before any attacks are performed.  Any enemy
land units with the 'flak' ability will also fire at all your planes  at  this
time.

A  well-equipped fleet of battleships in a heavily-defended harbor can be very
risky to attack, even though hitting ships in harbor is like shooting fish  in
a barrel.

When bombing ships/planes/units, entering a '~' character will cause a partic-
ular plane not to bomb. Other planes on the mission will still  be  asked  for
their targets.

If your plane has anti-submarine (asw) capabilities, you will be told when you
arrive in a sector whether it has submarines in it. If you then choose to pin-
bomb  ships,  each plane in turn will attempt to find submarines (this ability
varies with the plane's accuracy rating).  Each plane can only bomb  the  subs
it can find. (It is assumed that planes on anti-sub missions split up to cover
the area)

Planes have differing air-to-air combat abilities, differing ranges, and load-
carrying  capacities.   Some airplanes don't need runways, but can operate out
of any sector which has fuel in it.

ASW capable planes may attempt to fly pin-bombing missions versus  submarines.
To do this, the plane gives a target sector, and flies there. If there are any
subs in the sector, a message will be printed saying that. If the  plane  then
attempts to bomb ships, it may get the chance to bomb subs in the sector.

The chance to detect a sub is the same as the chance of hitting it.

If the plane does not detect a particular sub, it may not bomb it on that mis-
sion. On other missions, it could roll again.

Trying to pinpoint bomb land units is similar to trying to bomb  a  sub.   The
chance  to  find  the  unit to bomb it is based on the unit's visibility & the
type of the sector it is in.

When you pin-bomb a land unit, it will fire flak  at  the  plane  bombing  it,
unless  it is an 'flak' unit (in which case it fired earlier), or it has an AA
fire rating of 0.

In the case of pinpoint bombing, see "info Hitchance" for the  formula  deter-
mining whether a plane hits its target.

Note  that  a  plane  must  be  at least 40% efficient before it can leave the
ground.

SEE ALSO
   Plane-types, build, fly, paradrop, drop, recon, relations,  Mobility,  Dam-
age, Planes

