Why I love SP and why I hate SP

[JTullman]

Wow, truth be told, I'm surprised that people are only mentioning the air strike comment. Thanks for the input.

[Mobhack]

Originally Posted by JTullman

Wow, truth be told, I'm surprised that people are only mentioning the air strike comment. Thanks for the input.

If your main enemy is not heavily vehicle-oriented, then choosing the "COIN Fighter" formations would likely help, since they are more grunt-oriented in targeting and they also tend to have a more HE load-out than regular strike air.

But fixed wing aircraft should never be aimed at target areas within a KM or so of your own boys, best to keep them for targets way back on his baseline (e.g. killing his arty park).

But since all SP battles are within artillery range - barring any scenario the designer decided not to allow that option - if you want to deliver HE presents, then why not just use artillery?. Cannot be shot down by a lucky Dushka round. Don't care if it is night or fog (planes want to see the target for most weapons other than guided missiles). Deliver more ordnance per unit of time etc.

If the enemy has little or no AAA capability, then the attack helo and scout helos win over fixed wing air, esp for recce. And they can be reloaded too. Just don't blithely fly all over enemy territory or you can get an embarrassing burst of AK fire should you get too close. Helos are best kept on your side of the FLOT.

Or, just do not buy air, and then any points he has invested in ADA assets are wasted, bar any cannon that can do grunt-bashing on the side.

(Air would make more sense in a campaign type game, with its ability to be concentrated from airfields all over the place and far away. Whereas your supporting arty may have lagged behind. But then again, in a corps+ campaign type game I would be using my air on its natural targets - his supply dumps and convoys, counter-force on his airfields etc. after first reducing his ADA network. Only once all of that was dealt with would I use air as a tactical support - i.e. when there was nothing important for them to deal with. Like the WW2 allied forces used battleships for invasion fire support - they were not really all that good at that task (cruisers were better in terms of accuracy and weight of actual HE delivered), but by the end of the war there was nothing much else for them to usefully do, since the enemy battleships were dealt with ).

Cheers
Andy

[JTullman]

Thanks for the tip about COIN fighters Andy, never thought of that despite noticing the COIN aircraft.

Also, I agree that air power is really more of large scale item. I'm not suggesting that SP become a 'tactical air strike game'.

Given the geographical area of most maps and the amount of game time used in the average SP battle, air power should really only be a minor aspect. Of course there is defiantly room for nice, perfectly placed airstrike just in the nick of time. Not to mention the fact that air power is FUN! The issue with the game isn't one that I can see a solution to simply because from the most basic level the game doesn't simulate modern tac air methods.

Generally speaking non-strategic ground targets are attacked from the air in one of three ways.
1. Pre-Plan CAS: In this kind of operation targets are carefully handpicked on the ground well before take-off. Pilots enter the combat area and destroy the designated targets and leave the area.
2. On-Call CAS: This comes in different forms, with improved communications technology and the addition of the JSTARS aircraft/comm. system basically anyone in the service can get on the horn to strike elements. Thus during mission creation flights are designated a specific piece of the battlefield that they are responsible for. During the flight an FAC (forward air controller) who themselves are in another jet will designate targets for the CAS aircraft in real time. This could be done through ground or air based laser target designators and also good ol'fashioned white phosphorus rockets. Of course, target data is also sent through traditional radios and data links as well. Thus, the pilots enter the operational airspace and destroy targets as they come up and leave when they are relieved or when out of ammo.
3. CAS: Pilots are given a geographical area and allowed to destroy ground targets at will.

Of course these definitions are not exhaustive and there are countless variations to these. SP is not really set up for these tactics nor should it be. This is a GROUND combat game and we are privileged to have a neato air support FEATURE.
You could argue that pre-plan CAS is similar to designating "bombardment" flights before the game but this isn't a good example because you can't get "recon" on the enemy positions. What SP emulates is something in between On-call CAS and CAS whereas the player designates a hex (on-call) but when the jet actually arrives it attacks whatever they feel like (CAS).

My issue is one of common sense. I just want my jets to stop shooting my dang tanks! Jets rarely accidentally attack friendly units anymore.