Air phase target area option

[nesscafe]

I first got WITW about 7 years ago and played it for a few weeks and I got the general hang of it. I've been returning in the past few days and am shocked at how little I remember!


So I generally enjoy learning new games but I'm having trouble with the concept of air target hex size. My common sense made me assume that it was a tradeoff- small target area selection results in a more concentrated effect, while a larger target area selection means less damage to individual hexes but affecting more area. That's how most games work. But looking at my combat results so far doesn't seem to indicate that.

So if there isn't much difference between choosing a small target rea and a large one why choose the small hex area option? I could perhaps see the wisdom of avoiding a heavy flak area. But in the introductory scenario Operation Husky I instructed both Strategic Air and Tactical Air to concentrate ground attack missions on just one hex that contained a strong German panzer division. My gaming senses told me that seemed like a good idea, but it didn't seem noticeably effective. Is it better to cover the whole of Sicily in ground attacks rather than try to single out one particular enemy unit for maximum damage?

[Platoonist]

So, if there isn't much difference between choosing a small target rea and a large one why choose the small hex area option? I could perhaps see the wisdom of avoiding a heavy flak area. But in the introductory scenario Operation Husky I instructed both Strategic Air and Tactical Air to concentrate ground attack missions on just one hex that contained a strong German panzer division. My gaming senses told me that seemed like a good idea, but it didn't seem noticeably effective. Is it better to cover the whole of Sicily in ground attacks rather than try to single out one particular enemy unit for maximum damage?

Regarding attacking ground units from the air, the impression I've always gotten from reading this forum is that a relatively wide interdiction mission is the better weapon to use than a concentrated ground attack. The idea being that you're hitting that panzer division as it becomes more vulnerable trying to roll around in the open, not when it's hunkered down under camo-netting. With interdiction even if you're not always destroying panzers, you're very likely wrecking support vehicles. The only exception might be a ground attack that consisted of carpet-bombing with a horde of the 4-engined heavies, but I've yet to try that.

[Joch1955]

The AI will try to spread the assigned missions to all chosen targets in the area, so if you have a large area, you can potentially hit (but also miss) a lot of targets and some targets may only be lightly hit. If you concentrate on a smaller area, you will inflict more damage over those hexes. Note that in the game as in WW2, concentrating on one division in one hex will rarely devastate the unit, but will help in subsequent ground combat, so it can be an effective tactic.