Shooting down the recon plane before he could complete his important mission was the raison d'etre of the pursuit planes. The loss of one, two, three or even more pursuit planes was considered as an acceptable trade off if the recon plane was shot down. A pursuit plane and a pilot were easily replaced, but losing several kilometers of ground because the recon mission was successful in identifying and mapping the defenses could cost THOUSANDS of lives and tons of supplies and munitions to win it back.

War gamers tend to lose sight of the "big picture" and tend to concentrate more on the minutiae. A gamer tends to think in terms of a single battle, believing that if THEY had been in charge they would have changed the course of the war. They like the feeling that THEY have succeeded where others have failed.

Let the victory conditions represent the Big Picture. Holding the field should be the big determination when counting victory.

Two-seaters were the unsung heroes of the war [...] The glamour boys in the pursuit squadrons could shoot down each other every day without chainging history by one iota, but a single picture could change the course of a battle.