Managing the Luftwaffe?

[pustak]

I'm looking for some p[ointers on effectively managing German airpower for the long haul. It seems as though fighter squadrons decline in number and effectiveness too quickly to get any consistent use out of them, but if I keep enough squadrons training in rear areas to continually provide high-strength coverage I limit their availability severely. If I want to keep effective fighter coverage I have to choose either to neglect homeland protection from Allied bombing, or my frontline troops. Is there any effective way to cover both areas with effective squadrons? Or is there simply too much to be done with the limited resource of airpower?

Also, I'd be interested in a PPBEM game, if anyone would like. I've never played multiplayer before, so I expect to be schooled, but it would be fun to get a game going. I'll play either side, in whatever mod or scenario you'd like.

[JagdFlanker]

many experienced players convert most air factories to Fw-190 and build up a nice pool of those first. this is a can't lose deal because it's replacement (or any better aircraft of any air force) do not roll out until 1944 and having only 1 type of fighter for that long makes it easy to keep your wings full. that's one reason i like to have a house rule where only 2/3 of all air factories may produce fighters - the fact that Fw-190s are so cheap gives germany the opportunity to dominate the map in the air for a long time!

[KoenigMKII]

ORIGINAL: pustak

I'm looking for some p[ointers on effectively managing German airpower for the long haul. It seems as though fighter squadrons decline in number and effectiveness too quickly to get any consistent use out of them, but if I keep enough squadrons training in rear areas to continually provide high-strength coverage I limit their availability severely. If I want to keep effective fighter coverage I have to choose either to neglect homeland protection from Allied bombing, or my frontline troops. Is there any effective way to cover both areas with effective squadrons? Or is there simply too much to be done with the limited resource of airpower?

WARNING long post only of interest to gamers who like to play on past the 1941/42 times.
You might try this:

Luftwaffe management in WIR 1941 scenario
1/ Convert all fighter production factories to FW-190
2/ Convert all Me110 fighter-bomber production to FW-190
3/ Convert the He-111 bomber factory (Dresden) to FW-190
4/ Convert Ju-88 bomber production to Do-217

That generates a good pool of FW-190's to gradually change the fighters from the hopeless Me-109 after the first (the Dresden factory alonewill churn out 26 FW-190's per turn when it finishes converting) phase of Barbarossa is complete and enough Do-217's to gradually convert the Ju-88 bomber fleet. The Bombers take a lot longer but the 217 is better in air combat, load and range.

Fighter-bomber Me110 squadrons should be slowly converted to FW-190 fighters.

Axis minor Ally airforces should be re-grouped in the rear for a whole year of training, use a Hungarian HQ after you have drained of hungarian gound units to newly created German corp units. Only use them for turn 1 of the 1941 scenario, afterwards they are so green as to risk being fodder for the soviet air when it "returns" to the front in Autumn/winter.

Don't change Italian bombers from obsolete "mixed bombers" to Do-217, there is not enough time to use them before the Italians surrender. Some of the retrained Italian fighters can be used with FW-190 in the west or Italian front - just remember to convert them back to obsolete equipment before the Italian surrender makes them spontaneously combust.

Leave the stuka factory alone. It will upgrade in due course to the FW-190F, and with one new FW-190F factory that pops up later will convert the stuka force to FW-190F fighter bombers. These then upgrade to
the FW-190 fighter, this eases the fighter shortage.

Economies of scale in fighter production are simulated in WIR by allowing air squadrons that have a supplying force pool of greater than 1000 machines to increase their max strength to 220 from 110 approx.

Watch out for weak, green, squadrons appearing late in the game in the OKW HQ. These are useless unless withdrawn from the air front and trained to 85+ experience before being commited to battle. This is especially true with the force pool > than 1000 effect.

Keep 2 or 3 fighter squadrons in the French HQ from the begining of the 1941 scenario on training mode. Remember to activate at least 2/3 of them in Autumn 1942 because the USAF threat begins soon...

Base all Reich defence squadrons in the France HQ, and monitor them for experience decline after combat with the USAF, rotate high experience squadrons into battle, and rotate bled squadrons made low experience by influx of green reinforcements out of battle to training misson to regain that fighting edge.

Concentrate the Eastern Luftwaffe into the Panzerarmee HQ's to keep the VVS off your bombers, then from winter 1941 onwards keep your bombing missions concentrated to overwelm and gradually annihilate the experience of the VVS squadrons attached to an individual front, then make your ground attacks. Rinse and repeat.

The strategic bombing mission "S" is inclined to produce heavy axis bomber losses to flak, and is dangerous to use unless you have allowed for them by making an expensive surplus of bomber aircraft.
If you go for this option, concentrate all your attacks on an important city with heavy industry and lots of factories, the attacks do cumalative damage to any facility in the city. About two turns of all out "S" bombing on the same high value target, then lick your wounds and resume normal tactical attacks.

The Me-262. Well due to the way the research system works in WIR the best thing is to build up a massive surplus of FW-190's, then convert all those factories in late 1943 or early 1944 to Me-262. That will produce an early appearance of the jet fighter.

Convert only your best 90+ experiance, 200 machine FW-190 squadrons to Me-262, then leave things alone till the Me-262 force pool rebuilds to 1000. If you spread the jets too thin, the units will get slowly pushed down to 150 strength, then 100. They still due a lot of damage to the USAF even so.

Have fun,
Ko

[Poopyhead]

Pustak,
If your strategy is to fight to win, then you don’t have to plan a fight to the bitter end. On the first turn, rail the 2nd Hungarian HQ to location (36,57) and the 8th Italian HQ to (36, 58). Reassign their divisions to aid this and then air trans in the five He 111 squadrons and the four Mixed bomber squadrons. I use two HQ’s so that I can split the squadrons up and not give the Russian an easy target. Also, this location should put them under the protection of any CAP in Ploesti.
Use these aircraft to strategically bomb the oil cities in the Caucasus back to 10,000 B.C. The Russian fighters are hopeless at preventing this. By persistently hitting these targets over the next few months (i.e., every single turn bomb some of them), you will prevent the Russian oil production from rising to 120+, and instead, cause it to drop to about 80. This means that Russian factories will manufacture one third less, the Russian will have one third fewer OP’s and all Russian units will have less readiness. Thus, just about the time that the Russian is thinking about a Winter Offensive, he finds himself dead in the water (snow?). I continue to attack on the ground right through the winter. Eventually, the Russian forces collapse. Leningrad, Moscow and Gorki should be yours by the spring of ’42.
It also helps if you assign the four Ju 52 and the two Me 110 C/D/E squadrons to Central Army Group HQ. The Me 110’s can escort the Ju 52’s on those long range supply runs for the drive to Moscow.
Good luck!