Wishlist: High Speed Reconnaisance

[Kurt Montandon]

Just a suggestion for future consideration:

High speed recon aircraft. Rather than slow-moving spotter planes, which are way too easy to shoot down - something like RF-105s, or all the other century fighters that were converted to that role.

And perhaps a wider variety of UAVs, now that there are dozens out there.

[Mobhack]

Nope.

if you want a fast mover air recce pass - use a strike plane, as it gives you target information instantly, unlike a real strike plane or recce job where the information has to be sent back to the air force and passed down the chain of command before the battlefield commander gets the info.

The present UAVs do the job perfectly well for what they are intended for - overflying areas with no real anti-air capability. Flying over any modern army with a real anti-air capability better than 12.7mm AAMGS, drones would have a very short life expectancy indeed - no manoeuvrability, negligible ECM, long reaction times as the signals are bounced back and forwards to Nevada or wherever the controller lives. And that is what happens in-game against a capable opponent.

Drones can only live where there are no fighters or decent SAM systems defending - as proved in the Georgian war. Handy in areas without air defence, mind you.

Sure - there are those models that live up at stratospheric altitudes where the U-2s live, but they are national strategic assets and so the ground commander will only be receiving intel from those many hours, or days, later as part of his daily intelligence brief. Not instantly.


cheers
Andy

[Aeraaa]

I agree that high speed recon aircraft are out of the scope of the game.

However, one thing that I think its a very useful asset and its overlooked in the game is artillery spotting aircraft (not helos).

[Mobhack]

Originally Posted by Aeraaa

I agree that high speed recon aircraft are out of the scope of the game.

However, one thing that I think its a very useful asset and its overlooked in the game is artillery spotting aircraft (not helos).

Can't be done, since an arty spotter must be an on-map asset in order to open the bombardment screen.

(In fact, I cannot think of any set of wargame rules, tabletop or computer, that has fixed wing arty spotter planes)

Andy

[arkhangelsk]

Can't you kind of do it by making a "helo" with a ridiculously large MOVE? (Of course, it must be human-controlled and the player must keep himself EXTREMELY honest) :-)

[Mobhack]

Originally Posted by arkhangelsk

Can't you kind of do it by making a "helo" with a ridiculously large MOVE? (Of course, it must be human-controlled and the player must keep himself EXTREMELY honest) :-)

Someone made a "harrier" for an early SP2 (or 3?) hacked OOB like that, and recce "planes" AFAIR, back in the 90s.

So you got hovering strike planes and recce jobs - there is no compulsory minimum move for a helo (not to mention the way these planes could turn on a sixpence or do 180s). And "recce" planes with enough moment to look at half the hexes on the map one by one (back then helicopters overflying grunts did not get rifle fire from them, so Vietnam type scenarios were a total walk-over for the USA if the US had rotary wing assets).

I also vaguely recall someone trying a helo with a replacement C-130 icon for a scenario so it could "land" - same problems, as well as being "VTOL" so it could drop stuff off in a 50m jungle clearing, and then take off from there after depositing the tanks or whatever.

Not to mention that these helicopter fixed wing substitutes would also do evade moves from FLAK etc. and were flying at helo altitudes for game purposes (ie rather low). WinSP type games do now have rifle fires at passing helos - so these will get sprayed with AK47.

A human player might use these in the spirit intended (e.g. moving by large "chunks") - but the AI will use them as helicopters. Not to mention the sort of use the irritating 13 year old (mentally if not physically) opponent that is unfortunately found out there will make of them.

Andy