Doug Beman Posted June 10, 1999 Share Posted June 10, 1999 How are you handling ground fire against airstrikes? Is it all/nothing, or can planes be damaged, lowering effectiveness? Does the mere presence of ground fire lower the planes' effectiveness, making it important to take out AA vehicles? (like the line from _Red Storm Rising_ "if you see any ZSUs, for God's sake take them out. They're murder on the A-10s.") I'd also appreciate additional information about how you're handling airpower. Basically, read my mind and answer the questions I haven't asked DjB ------------------ A fool takes no pleasure in understanding, but only in expressing personal opinion. remove the caps letters in my address to email me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moon Posted June 10, 1999 Share Posted June 10, 1999 42. That's the answer for the questions you haven't asked. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doug Beman Posted June 10, 1999 Author Share Posted June 10, 1999 Moon, I see you found the Scrabble set I left for you. Did you make any words other than "ugh?" DjB ps Slartibartfast says "hi." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Big Time Software Posted June 10, 1999 Share Posted June 10, 1999 Airplanes come in on their own and try to acquire their own targets. You have ZERO control over this. The planes themselves, and their bombloads, are also decided by the game. The scenario designer has very limited control over what actually comes into play. Planes do have experience ratings though, which influences all the stuff below. When a plane comes in it will try and acquire a target. You just have to hope that they acquire an ENEMY target. If it can't get a good angle on it, the plane will try for another run without actually attacking. This can take a couple of turns. When it does come in it will try bombing the target first (or using rockets if that is what it has) and fly off. If the plane has any more primary weapons it will come back for another strike. After that it will come in for 2 or 3 passes of strafing. Enemy AAA can do any number of things during the above. It can, though rarely, score a direct hit on the plane and shoot it down BEFORE it gets a chance to attack for the first time. Chances are this will not happen. More likely the plane will get at least one strike in before taking any damage from Flak. The heavier the Flak, the less accurate the strikes and the more likely the plane will break off and go away. If the plane takes any damage this will greatly increase the chance of a miss and disengagement. Right now the Germans only have 20mm AAA guns available. But once the quad 20mm and single 30mm guns are in, the Allied planes are going to be in for a rough ride when they are encountered. AAA guns automatically target enemy planes. However, if they are engaged in shooting at ground targets the are far less likely to notice the planes and will not switch to shooting at them. I had this happen to me once and I was not pleased. So keep that in mind when you are using your AAA guns to shoot at ground targets!! I've been the victim of several airstrikes so far. A few were dead on (taking out 4 tanks with one 500lb bomb!!!), some were dropped early, some late. As the US player I even had a single rocket salvo from a friendly fighterbomber fall short and strike a house I was in (no casualties though). So far I haven't been strafed when I have at least 2x20mm AAA guns shooting back. I almost always get a hit or two, and that convinces the pilot that it might be better to go elsewhere Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doug Beman Posted June 10, 1999 Author Share Posted June 10, 1999 One 500 pounder? Were they that destructive, or were the tanks grouped VERY close together, or were they light tanks? I seem to recall reading in numerous sources that airstrikes were only marginally effective against well armored tanks. DjB ------------------ A fool takes no pleasure in understanding, but only in expressing personal opinion. remove the caps letters in my address to email me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Big Time Software Posted June 11, 1999 Share Posted June 11, 1999 The 500lb bomb *is* quite destructive, but so much more in this case because all my tanks were parked in a line AND the bastard got a DIRECT hit square in the middle. I should have had them moving all over the place but thought I had another turn to do that. Pays not to gamble sometimes I think 2 tanks were knocked out due to serious damage, another was immobilized, and a 4th had its main gun damaged. Since I was still in my assembly area, this effectively took out 4 tanks because the two that were still semi-functional were needed for offensive functions, but one couldn't move and the other was reduced to an armored MG pillbox. Whatever you read about airstrikes on armored vehicles was wrong if it said such attacks were marginally effective. The fact is a 500lb bomb could lift a Tiger up off the ground and flip it over (pretty sure anyways). Sure the armor might not be penetrated, but the crew would likely dead and the tank no longer operational. The trick is that the plane has to hit close enough, and this is were the uncertainty lies. In the same game where I lost all those tanks a second plane came in and dropped its bombload short. Made a HUGE crater and a lot of noise, but it didn't do squat to the tanks it missed. Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marko Posted June 12, 1999 Share Posted June 12, 1999 I'm sure they were brave, but first and foremost they were magnificent! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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