Is air support worth the cost?

[Pak_40_Gunner[11b]]

I was wondering if buying planes was worth the enormous cost? Do they do a lot of damage?

[Nolloff]

I´ve yet to play a quick battle but in the CMBB scenarios I´ve played they seemed to be well worth every Reichsmark.

[ October 25, 2002, 05:10 PM: Message edited by: Nolloff ]

[Vergeltungswaffe]

Air support can do tremendous damage. Sometimes, its even done to the enemy.

Seriously though, because of its unpredictability, I think most players would much rather spend those points on arty.

[Shadow 1st Hussars]

I played one battle where my own air support attacked me, and my opponent's air support attacked him. It all worked out in the end.....

[Pak_40_Gunner[11b]]

could you give me an example? like how many tanks can a plane take out, in an ideal situation?v How much AA fire can they take?

[Shadow 1st Hussars]

It's shown on the purchase screen in the unit info area.

[Vergeltungswaffe]

CMBB aircraft often make several passes if not driven off by AA. They can theoretically destroy a number of things. If your opponent bunches up armor, a large bomb can destroy/immobilize multiple AFV's.

Strafing doesn't usually cause a whole lot of damage, but strafing aircraft typically make a bunch of runs, in my experience.

As for AA fire, it isn't quite as tough as it should be due to range of spotting issues and a number of other things, but I believe that the 1.01 patch will correct that. Dedicated AA vehicles can sometimes be effective.

[Tyym]

In CMBO, air power used to be a joke IMO. Way too expensive and very ineffective and unpredictable.

From my limited experience in CMBB, they are much improved. Overall, its cheaper to buy, they have more armament, more strafs on many, and do more damage. I definately like to use them now (as the germans at least). I think you get the most damage from them when you play a larger point battle though.

Tyym

[Gaylord Focker]

I think planes are alot of fun in CMBB, it's like arty on cruise control, very convient, and it's a riot when they strafe your own army.

[Sargon70]

Originally posted by Pak_40_Gunner[11b]:

I was wondering if buying planes was worth the enormous cost? Do they do a lot of damage?

That depends on the plane - and luck.

In my first CMBB PBEM game my enemy had chosen a FW-190 fighter-bomber. The first attack killed a tank commander of a IS-2, but the blast of the bombs killed two dozen infantrists some 70m away, too. The next attack killed one of my AA-assets, an M-17 halftrack. Then that pesky plane killed an M-5 halftrack an immobilized a BA-64 scout vehicle. The M-17 - when it was still usable, of course - and two 25mm-AA-guns fired at the plane all the time, but without any effect.

Sargon

[Ex Bellator]

You gotta be kidding. Buy an aircraft with a decent amount of strafe runs in addition to it's main attack.

Any medium or light armour on the field is toast, failing that it will probably panic a bunch of infantry. Plus you get the bonus of it's bomb run which might just be seriously lethal as well.

I'm now at the stage in my TCP fights where if I see that aircraft are an option in the buying phase, I head straight to the support section and stock up on as much AA as I can.

[demoss]

I have yet to see air support actually accomplish anything. I've seen it early and late in the war. At least the late war stuff didn't get shot down (though my Wirbelwinds were toast already, so who knows what might have happened?). I have had a Stuka (Ju-87 shot down by a single 25mm AA gun after a few passes, and I believe that cost me a couple hundred points of casualties. At least three Stukas made appearances in that scenario (judging by the three bomb attacks I saw happen at different times), and not one of them did much more than put a big crater on the map. One of them used its bleepin' bomb on an abandoned T-34! :mad: I was sure that was going to cost me big time, but fortunately I managed to take one big flag and contest another in the last few turns (the taken one was legit, the contested one a gamey rush ) and came away with a major victory thanks to that and some massive damage done in the end by my finally-unopposed armor.

That's the big problem I have with air support - it's out of your hands, and it might cost you in victory determination. Of course, to be fair, having it be out of your hands is also an advantage in some ways (can attack targets you don't see, can do better than you would if you're 5T00P1D). :cool:

[ October 25, 2002, 06:13 PM: Message edited by: demoss ]

[Commissar]

Personally, I don't find air support all that useful. This is because by the time my planes hit enemy vehicles/tanks, I've already destroyed them with my AT assests or tanks. All the rocket fire and strafing hits would mainly hit already destroyed/abandoned enemy vehicles.

It's fun to watch but my points are usually spent better elsewhere.

[Ex Bellator]

Hehe, just shows what a good game we have on our hands. In my last TCP battle a Stuka and an ME-109 blew up EIGHT of my AFVs between them and damaged several others. They were absolutley lethal.

[Blackbear]

I think planes are better modeled in CMBB and surely more usefull. Playing 21st Army Counterattacks operation as russian, I saw all my planed assault demolished by succesive german air attacks. I lost two T-26s (abandoned) and almost an infantry ¡company! in just one turn strike. It was quite frustraiting as a virtual comander but very chalenging too. I supose real russian officers of the time thought the same.

[Redwolf]

Yesterday I was Soviet defender in 1942 in a very small game.

The attacker chose to solve the problem of heavy tanks (KV-1, 2) possibly appearing by buying a fighter-bomber, a variant with bombs. It worked.

It came extremly late after my KV did substancial damage, however it came early enough that the KV got gun-damaged from the bomb and hence the apponent could move his remaining StuG to a flag, neutralizing it while I could also do nothing against his infantry taking the second flag.

It also helped that my infantry was driven out of their foxholes by panic'ed crews and then got exhausted by always switching to sneak to other cover...

[demoss]

Yeah, those panicked crews can be something. I very recently saw a crew bail from a Panzer IV and almost immediately slaughter a Russian platoon HQ that chanced by.

Doug