Soviet A20C Havoc *DONE*

That sounds like a solid plane to me.

Some comparisons might be useful:

6 point PBs w/4/8/1 armor: B-17E Flying Fortress
7 point PBs w/4/8/1 armor: Ju88A-4/R, B-26B Marauder
8 point PBs w/4/8/1 armor: Z.1007 Alcione, PV-1 Ventura
9 point PBs w/4/8/1 armor: Lancaster B.I, Ju88A-4, B-25H Mitchell

Possible I missed one someplace, but I believe that's all of them from the Official and the "Team" decks. Excellent Endurance makes the comparison a little difficult - the only PB above that has it is the Lancaster. The only one that carries Torpedoes as a "primary" armament is the Ju88A-4. However, many of the planes above have Defensive Armament or Light Defensive Armament, which this plane does not.  I'm not sure 7 or 8 on this one, but I think it comes down to the value placed on Excellent Endurance.

I thought it was the number not the purpose that was the qualifier for LDA

Sounds good. I'll talk to Brigs about a playtest game as well. He does love his Ruskies.

Generally, I think the number refers to guns used for AA since that is what the SA is for. On most bombers number of guns used for AA is all of them. There were only a few that were specially equipped with extra heavy nose armament specifically for strafing. But I wouldn't lose sleep over it. However,  I think this unit is better off with the other SAs, and to not overload it with LDA. I think "Expert Strafer" is a more fitting defensive SA for this one. I think one or the other anyway.

Watched two friends play a 200pt 1943 game Russians vs. Germans using two fleets I built which included 2 of the Havocs.

The BF-109 defensive screen (sent out 2/turn, had 4 BF-109) met the Russians 2 Havocs, 1 Hurricane (Lend-Lease), and PE-2. (The PE-2 and Hurricane were each on an Airfield for the first two turns).

The first turn of contact the Hurricane got in a lucky shot and managed to take out a BF-109, while the BF-109s chased off both Havocs (aborted/declared Torps) while the ships failed to connect due to the PE-2 Split the Defense. The PE-2 did still manage to get a hit in on the Van Der Tann.

The second turn of contact using Excellent Endurance saw the same attack/defensive pattern. This time the German Air took no damage, while the combined Air/Surface AA aborted the Patrol Boats.

Turn 4 saw the return of the Havocs and this time instead of consolidating everything in one sector, the Russian player spread things out having the Havocs go after 2 destroyers (1 was crippled) and the PE-2 and Lend Lease Hurricane went after the Van Der Tann again. The Havocs were met with one BF-109 while the other went after the PE-2 and Hurricane. A havoc and PE-2 were aborted while the remaining Havoc Strafed the crippled destroyer sinking it beneath the waves.

We didn't get to turn 6 so the Havocs didn't make it back on the map. The Germans ended up winning the game by claiming 2 objectives and destroying half the Russian Force (including an ER5 shot from the Tirpitz to Vital an Airbase)

In short, I think they operated well but really didn't have much of an effect. They did pair nicely with the Hurricane and PE-2, but they never had a chance to use their Alt Payload. When I asked the German player why he focused on the Havocs instead of the PE-2 when the VDT was targeted he stated that he'd rather take the almost guaranteed 1 damage as opposed to take 2 or more damage from multiple torps plus they were easier to hit.

The unit is on the bubble between 7 or 8 points, but I think with the lack of defensive armament (light or otherwise) and two OPG SAs... I'm still leaning that 7 points is the right call.

Are we calling this done?

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Soviet Union

A20C Havoc

Aircraft – Patrol Bomber

Cost: 7

1941

MG: 4

TT: 2

A/VA/HP: 4/8/1



Alternate Payload 7 - Once per game, this unit can make a 7-dice Bomb attack instead of a Torpedo attack during your Air Attack step

Excellent Endurance - Once per game, at the beginning of the air mission phase, you may remove a rearming counter from this unit.

Expert Strafer - This unit can make Gunnery attacks without taking penalties to its Armor or Vital Armor