Air doctrrne settings as Axis

[Titan]

Its 1941 12 turn, cant seem to get it right, what do others have?

[terje439]

Define right wopuld be my first reply, but what I use is;
Percent required to fly - 10
Ground Support - 300
Ground Support Escort - 300
Ground Attack - 200
Ground Attack Escort -200
Airfield Attack - 0
Airfield Attack Escort - 0
Interdiction Attack - 200
Interdiction Attack Escort -200
City Attack - 0
City Attack Escort - 0
Fighter Intercept - 75
Night-Fighter Intercept - 75
Ground SUpport - On
Recon Escort - On
 
I change the settings to this AFTER T1. During T1, I try to do as many airbase bomb runs as possible.
 
 
Terje

[Disgruntled Veteran]

ORIGINAL: Titan

Its 1941 12 turn, cant seem to get it right, what do others have?

Just keep in mind that the higher the % the more planes every mission will use. Personally I keep my interdiction low because it wears out your bombers and keeps their morale low. I also keep Ground support low except when I need all the help I can get. On Ground Attack I keep it at 0 until I need to soften up a target then I decide what setting to put it on. I usually keep the escort missions very high.

Finally, in 1941, I will often not use air support at all so the bombers get retained to be flying fuel cans.

[821Bobo]

ORIGINAL: terje439

Percent required to fly - 10
Fighter Intercept - 75
Recon Escort - On

Terje

- with recon escort you are wasting your fighters for unnecessary missions
- with only 10% required to fly your air groups are more fatigued = worse performance next turn, more planes ends turn as damaged = higher attrition looses
- fighter intercept 75 is IMHO to low, more = better, use the highest possible setting

[SigUp]

The doctrine settings also depend partly (if you play against the AI) on what difficulty you play. Just to compare, while at morale 100 it really doesn't matter most times whether you have ground support or not, on 119 or so ground support can swing many battles in your favour. As for the main aspects, I always switch intercept to 300 and keep percentage required to fly at 30 or so. As the game progresses and the Soviet air strength increases I tend to reduce interception. Otherwise, at least that's my perception, the Bomberwaffe will wear out pretty quickly.

[terje439]

Well, as can be seen, all agree to disagree [:D]

[swkuh]

"Well, as can be seen, all agree to disagree [:D]" Of course, but helps to see others reasons to sharpen play.

For new players, one thing to know is that 1st factor, participation %, is just that, a percentage. All other terms are absolute numbers modified at application by that %.

[Michael T]

I could be wrong but I think I remember a 2by3 guy telling us that it doesn't matter how many planes fly a mission, whether just 1 or the whole group, that fatigue, miles flown, morale etc all get applied the same. So if a 1 plane fly's 200 miles then whole group has effectively flown 200 miles. So I wonder what is the point of having interdiction missions les than 100% ?

[swkuh]

Hmmm... if Michael T is right (not doubting) then have to rethink Air Doctrine...

[Balou]

ORIGINAL: Michael T

I could be wrong but I think I remember a 2by3 guy telling us that it doesn't matter how many planes fly a mission, whether just 1 or the whole group, that fatigue, miles flown, morale etc all get applied the same. So if a 1 plane fly's 200 miles then whole group has effectively flown 200 miles. So I wonder what is the point of having interdiction missions les than 100% ?

BTW, what’s the point of interdiction anyway? It causes disruption, losses of men, materiel, MPs (?) but it costs miles and less punch available for other maybe more important missions.

[carlkay58]

Interdiction is your potential to slow down your enemy during their action phase. It gives some possibilities that may pay off for you, on either side, that will make the best laid plans fail.

[Balou]

Right. To be more specific (axis view): in 41, in my planes are mostly concerned with support/resupply. I am asking myself if interdiction - which is not for free - makes sense until the ger offensive comes to an end by late 41?

[morvael]

It all depends on how has your opponent configured his airforce, so there is no ideal solution for every game due to how the air combat system works (usually when there are more fighters of one side, they get free shots on enemy bombers, no matter how effective the escort is, that's my impression). So, if your opponent has set his ground support to be fighter-heavy, then you will likewise have to set yours, otherwise you will lose a lot of bombers. That's why it's better to set interception high - to get at the bombers if they do ground attack, interdiction and airfield bombing. There is also no need to set manually launched missions to 0, because they will not launch without you clicking the appropriate buttons.

[morvael]

Edit: interdiction is dangerous, it's possible to lose a lot of planes doing it, and it works really rarely (works=takes away MP), but when it does and spoils enemy battleplan it's awesome. Unfortunately this happens 1 time out of 50 or so...

[Balou]

So: Interdiction = dangerous and poor odds... that answers my question.

[Chaplain Lovejoy]

Interesting discussion! I think the USAF of today views ground support as the lowest of priorities. Highest of priorities is air superiority, which would be airfield attacks in the game (I know--too much flak). Priority below that is knocking out fuel trucks, etc., behind the front lines (is that included with interdiction in WitE?), theory being that if knocking out a fuel truck immobilizes 10 tanks, no need for ground attack against the tanks. Leave ground support to the rotary-wing aircraft (i.e., helicopters; none in '41, I know) of the army. IIRC, that is.

[Disgruntled Veteran]

I never use interdiction...doubt I will ever change my mind on that one.

Ground support however is a very powerful tool in the axis arsenal. The main problem with ground support is the (bug??) with the close support planes like the JU-87 which lose morale too quickly. Other than that I've seen the air force swing battles which should have been lost. I use 100% on Ground support and 100% on intercept/ 200% on night intercept.

Recently I have started switching the level bombers directly to the Luftflotte's and keeping them well to the rear and on tracks. I keep the fighters, CAS, and transports attached to the FliegerKorps to get close to the front line. I find this helps in getting the full use of my airforce.

Finally, in 1941 for the Germans, if you are going to use your bombers as supply planes you either have to keep them way to the rear or turn ground support off because it nullify their fuel carrying capacity for the given turn. In 1941 that's probably their best use. My thoughts at least.

[SigUp]

ORIGINAL: Disgruntled Veteran

I never use interdiction...doubt I will ever change my mind on that one.

Ground support however is a very powerful tool in the axis arsenal. The main problem with ground support is the (bug??) with the close support planes like the JU-87 which lose morale too quickly. Other than that I've seen the air force swing battles which should have been lost. I use 100% on Ground support and 100% on intercept/ 200% on night intercept.

Concerning interdiction I agree, even though up till now I always activated it (always the hope to get one of those MP breaking attacks, against the Soviets in 41 it can quite valueble), I'll intend to decline their use in the future. Especially together with ground support is simply wears out the bombers too quickly.

As for the morale losses, I think it's WAD. I think I heard something once, that morale gains / losses of planes are tied to air combat results. So of course, as bombers practically never shoot down enemy aircraft, but rather suffer losses, the bomber's morale drops rather quickly. If it's truly like that, WITW or so should make bomber morale tie to bombing results, and losses. Another issue I have is, somehow I feel the bomber losses during ground support during enemy turns is huge for the Axis. Especially when in like 1943 the Soviet can amass hundreds of fighters, the Stukas and JU-88s drop out of the sky like flies, that I don't dare to activate ground support for the enemy turn at all.