Bomb Fuse settings for skip bombing

[RedKestrel]

Just what the title asks. For soviet bombs, what's the best fuse setting to use for skip bombing against enemy ships? If the ship is moving, do you use a different setting to make sure the bomb goes off before it slips past? Is there any difference in required altitude/time for bombs to activate when skipping them along the water in comparison to conventional bombing? 

[CanadaOne]

I'm no expert to be sure, but since skip bombing is low and close, and the bomb will stick in the ship if it hits, the fuse can be almost any length as long as it's not short. 5 seconds+.

 

I've skip bombed with looooong fuses, then fly off and just wait for the fun.

[RedKestrel]

3 minutes ago, CanadaOne said:

I'm no expert to be sure, but since skip bombing is low and close, and the bomb will stick in the ship if it hits, the fuse can be almost any length as long as it's not short. 5 seconds+.

 

I've skip bombed with looooong fuses, then fly off and just wait for the fun.

Ah, the bombs stick in this game? I remember in old Il-2 the bombs would hit the side of the ship and sink, and if the ship was moving along quickly the bombs would explode too far behind to damage the ships. 

If the fuse is 5+ seconds it can be dropped from just about treetop level and still explode right?

[CanadaOne]

Yeah, pretty much far as I've seen.

 

One weird thing is that if you drop a bomb and it hits the top of the mast on the ship, it sticks there and blows up there.

[unlikely_spider]

28 minutes ago, CanadaOne said:

Yeah, pretty much far as I've seen.

 

One weird thing is that if you drop a bomb and it hits the top of the mast on the ship, it sticks there and blows up there.

If I did that, I'd just be happy with my marksmanship.

 

One issue is when doing scripted campaigns, the fuse is usually set as "Default". I don't know what that means - is it set then by the specific mission parameters?

[BubiHUN]

We use 5 sec fuse on both sides, no problem with skip bombing.

[69TD_Hajo_Garlic]

For soviet bombs I use 5 seconds, for germany, uk, and us you can use 3.

[unlikely_spider]

4 minutes ago, Joeasyrida said:

For soviet bombs I use 5 seconds, for germany, uk, and us you can use 3.

Do you do that all the time? What if you are unsure of what your target will be, or if you know that it will be moving vehicles or those little fast boats?

[69TD_Hajo_Garlic]

8 minutes ago, engrish_major said:

Do you do that all the time? What if you are unsure of what your target will be, or if you know that it will be moving vehicles or those little fast boats?

All the time, as bubbi said, you could just set it to 5 seconds and forget it.  On small ships I use rockets or +30mm cannon fire (mk103, mk108, bk37, m4 cannon, ect).  Il2 ptabs appear useless against shipping.

Edited April 30, 2019 by Joeasyrida

[CanadaOne]

1 hour ago, engrish_major said:

If I did that, I'd just be happy with my marksmanship.

 

One issue is when doing scripted campaigns, the fuse is usually set as "Default". I don't know what that means - is it set then by the specific mission parameters?

 

I fly precious little in campaigns. I'm all about the (hopefully one day drastically improved) QMB. I set the fuses according to the type of plane and bomb size.

[Velxra]

I've never had a problem with a 3 second timer on German bombs. I have not witnessed bombs sticking. However I have noticed that the bomb will stop on top of the water where it hits a ship and float there until detonation. So a short fuse is necessary to prevent the ship from moving away from your bomb in some cases.  The best way to bomb ships is from above and aiming down the length of the ship. Which in turn is also the safest method. Skip bombing is possible however there is a great risk of crashing into masts or other parts of the ship because skip bombing requires getting real close before bomb release. There is also the side effect of ship gunners having the ability concentrate firepower on you from the sides of their ship. This is because skip bombing is such a predictable and straight path.  Hope this helps.

[Jade_Monkey]

11 hours ago, engrish_major said:

If I did that, I'd just be happy with my marksmanship.

 

One issue is when doing scripted campaigns, the fuse is usually set as "Default". I don't know what that means - is it set then by the specific mission parameters?

 

The bomb fuze delays cannot be set in the mission editor, there is no such functionality in the current state. Same thing for convergence, they need to be set in the hangar before starting the mission.

[ShamrockOneFive]

11 hours ago, engrish_major said:

Do you do that all the time? What if you are unsure of what your target will be, or if you know that it will be moving vehicles or those little fast boats?

 

I pretty much stick with 5 seconds at all times. My preferred attack style almost always is to fly low, fast, and drop either from a high angle (because I want it to stay put) or a low angle because I want to skip it into the target (a ship, or a large building or hangar). 5 seconds is the sweet spot for me.

[unlikely_spider]

9 hours ago, Jade_Monkey said:

 

The bomb fuze delays cannot be set in the mission editor, there is no such functionality in the current state. Same thing for convergence, they need to be set in the hangar before starting the mission.

I see - then what does "Default" mean?

[Jade_Monkey]

My guess is default = contact. 

[Sublime]

Mu guess is default is whatever the mission would automatically select 

For example in CM (career mode) if I leave it in default its often 3 second delay.

[Leon_Portier]

15 minutes ago, Sublime said:

Mu guess is default is whatever the mission would automatically select 

For example in CM (career mode) if I leave it in default its often 3 second delay.

To my knowledge its not possible to set default bomb timer in Mission Editor, its fixed to some value close to contact.

[Sublime]

Oh. Maybe thats my mistake. I meant in the career mode? Itll say default and if you go into settings its just 3s. It *does* change but the comp seems to hace presets for targets. U can change em obviously.

[[CPT]Crunch]

Don't skip bomb, slam it directly into the ships side above the water line.  They didn't put armor banding above the water, would have made the ship too heavy and useless against a torpedo up there.  Penetration is modeled very well, your usually going to take a ship or two or three down with a good fighter bomber load out.  If you skip bomb, plan on multiple sorties just to get one.  Just forward of the engine room is the sweet spot, take it and the cargo out and she's a gonner.