Hi.

We've been playing Frontline for the last few months as pretty much the only MP Server we play on, and we all agree in our group that to date, It's the best 'dynamic' campaign we've seen.

One thing I loved immediately as a ground attack/bomber focused pilot was the sheer size of the factories.

I really enjoy High altitude bombing and seeing a stick of bombs wreaking havoc. however I am seeing a huge discrepancy.

Attacker/bomber Balance is just out of whack. Right now:

Axis:

HE111 H6

'Free' plane - 4 * SC250Kg - $1000, rank Gefreighter (0 points)

16 * SC50Kg - $3400, Obegfreighter (251 points)

Allied

PE2 s35

'Free' plane - 2 * FAB250SV - $1000, rank Private (0 points)

10 * FAB100 - $4600, rank Captain (5600 points).

The Free axis plane has twice the bombs for the same price.

The 'best' Allied loadout for high altitude 'stick' bombing (many small bombs) has a HUGE disparity in rank, and is a third more expensive.

In case the concern is Pe2 can also do ground attack, let's then compare the bf110 E2 with the PE2 for 'ground attack' loadout of as many small bombs apossible.

The 110E2 can carry 12 SC50s for $1011 at Stabsfeldwebel rank (1901). So a quarter of the cost, and rank to have more bombs,

I'm sorry - but as a bomber/attacker my view is that that balancing is broken. Please please please please can you change this so that bomber pilots on the allied side aren't shafted.

Thanks,

Arc

It's technically impossible to balance the inherently unbalanced bombers between the two sides.

That's why the Henkel carries more bombs, but it's slower and more vulnerable, while the Ju 88, with the same number of bombs, costs several times more.

Look at it from a different perspective, and you'll see that everything is perfectly configured. Don't just look at the bomb count.

It is a matter of providing the bomber players on both side a viable option to fly. So looking only at the 'bigger picture' alone does not help as it leaves one side with no good load out to fly, especially in the early stages.

26 minutes ago, Denisik said:

It's technically impossible to balance the inherently unbalanced bombers between the two sides.

That's why the Henkel carries more bombs, but it's slower and more vulnerable, while the Ju 88, with the same number of bombs, costs several times more.

Look at it from a different perspective, and you'll see that everything is perfectly configured. Don't just look at the bomb count.

Not asking for 'perfect' balance, I'm asking for 'not completely imbalanced'. Right now - the Allied bomber is completely overshadowed by both HE11 and Bf110.

The biggest problem right now is the rank requirement - Captain is a huge grind to even get to. And the poor returns on a single +1 hour long range bombing mission makes a single loss extremely painful, both in points loss and cost.

I did not include the Ju88 in my original post as the 'basic' bomber each side has and loadout it has available needs to be 'comparable' - and the Ju88 can be 'balanced' separately.

The Pe-2 flies faster. While the He-111 makes one flight with four bombs, the Pe-2 makes two flights with two bombs. Mathematically, both pilots will deliver approximately the same number of bombs to the target in the same amount of time. I understand this.

We cannot balance speed and climb rate. @Denisik_FL flies for both coalitions and is well aware of the challenges and balance of both sides.

I think you're missing the main issue I am raising. Speed/climb rate differences is understood. However there are two variables being used to balance as far as I can see, Rank, and Cost.

Currently - I can understand the 'cost' side of the equation, what I cannot understand is the rank lock.

You could, with speed/number of bombs get a cost/bomb/hour for each sides bomber airframe to use as the 'balancing' mechanism, however the rank lock is based on overall performance over time so is acting as a barrier to use that cannot be balanced due to the infinite number of variables to get that rank.

Why does the PE2 need a rank of Captain to unlock 10 bombs? What is the logic behind such a high gating of a 'capability'.

Just getting to be able to risk 10 bombs in the peshka takes 5800 points. That's ~10 logistics flights currently.

Getting 12 bombs in the he111 takes 1. That's an order of magnitude difference, and the HE111 is not an order of magnitude slower than the Peshka.

As a separate point, this massively imbalances 'team play' mechanics.

To get a ship of 4 pe2 with 10 bombs apiece needs 4 players with Captain (>20000pts), and risks $18400.

To get the equivalent number of bombs on target for axis needs either:

4HE111 - 1000pts total, and $13600 or even worse,

A single He11 (obergefreighter), and 3 Bf110e2s (Stabsfeldwebel) dropping on command - risks 6000 pts, and $6400 only.

Those numbers are too widely disparate to make it 'fun' to fly as an Allied Bomber pilot.

Edited 6 hours ago6 hr by SIA_ArcTander

I ran a quick test on a 100km bombing run timing the following profile:

Take off, best climb to 4Km, set bombsight, release, return at 4Km, begin dive to airfield 30Km out, land. Wind set to 0. Both bombers set to 50% fuel.

PE2 S35 - 10 bombs

Time to 4Km - 9m 31s

Time to Release - 17m 37s, Speed on drop - 370KPH

Time to engines off - 30m 27s = 1827s

1827/10 = 182.7 seconds per bomb

He11 H6 - 16 bombs

Time to 4Km - 15m 46s

Time to Release - 21m 42s, Speed on drop - 310KPH

Time to engines off - 37m 39s = 2259s

2259/16 = 141.2 seconds per bomb.

So for a 100km distance, the He111 H6 is more efficient in fact than the Pe2. I would expect that the Pe2 will become slightly more efficient as bomb runs get longer, however most runs are in my experience 100KM to 150KM.

While, I can therefore, understand having a slightly increased cost for the PE2 (though a 35% increase seems a bit steep) the rank lock discrepancy for having a load of more, smaller bombs is completely superfluous and should (based on above bomb per second) be brought back down to the same as the He111 to give Allied high altitude bomber pilots a viable option sooner.

What this also shows however is that a PE2 does not make two trips to the He111's single trip at a representative distance.

Edited 3 hours ago3 hr by SIA_ArcTander