How does Comabt Air Patrol work?

[CactusAF]

Im having many problems with this. Cap takes off once and lands and gets stuck on ground. It wil not go back to cap. How do I get them to go back on cap to defend all my bases?

Also my land bomber get stuck in forming and dont go to target. They stay in that box for hours and hours until the bomb is cancelled. This is very frustratng and I dont know what Im doing wrong.

Ive read all the manual and read files but this is not explained. Does anyone know how to fix this?

[Prince of Eckmühl]

Hi Cactus,

Go to the airbase screen and turn off the "arm" button, allow the clock to run five minutes, reduce the CAP to "0," and allow the clock to run five more minutes. Then turn the CAP back on by moving the slider to the right. Your a/c should take off and go to the CAP box. Then you can start rearming a/c if need be. The other thing that you can do is simply wait for night to come and go, but that's strikes me as sort of inefficient.

I don't have a clue as to why a/c get stuck in the "Forming Up" box. It may have to do with a/c damage, or a unit not having enough a/c to go on ops. I have noticed that if I cancel the mission, wait for everything to land, arm and then reform the strike with only certain types/squadrons, then the strike may be able to advance past "Forming Up" and proceed "On Mission."

If these are undocumented "features," they're pretty goofy.

PoE (aka ivanmoe)

[jazman]

ORIGINAL: Prince of Eckmühl

If these are undocumented "features," they're pretty goofy.

PoE (aka ivanmoe)

It wouldn't be the first undocumented "feature" we've found, nor the last, I'm sure.

[Gregor_SSG]

ORIGINAL: CactusAF

Im having many problems with this. Cap takes off once and lands and gets stuck on ground. It wil not go back to cap. How do I get them to go back on cap to defend all my bases?

Also my land bomber get stuck in forming and dont go to target. They stay in that box for hours and hours until the bomb is cancelled. This is very frustratng and I dont know what Im doing wrong.

Ive read all the manual and read files but this is not explained. Does anyone know how to fix this?

I haven't noticed any problems with my CAP but if you've got a save game that illustrates this, then please send it along with an explanation of the circumstances to support@ssg.com.au and we'll take a look at it.

Gregor

[JD Walter]

Hi Gregor,

I've had this happen in my games, too, usually where there is a low "spot" value involved.

I "solved" it exactly the same way as PoE, downshifting to Run 5 and clearing the queue until the launch cycle could re-initialize. It's almost become second nature; I now automatically do it whenever I see bases or TF's having trouble getting sufficient CAP up.

I'll try to remember to save an example for you, too, next time I play. (I'm usually ftf, and we play through to the end since the scenarios can be completed fairly readily. In fact, we usually play 2-3 games an afternoon. Good design for us older gamers! [:)])

[Gregor_SSG]

ORIGINAL: Def Zep

Hi Gregor,

I've had this happen in my games, too, usually where there is a low "spot" value involved.

I "solved" it exactly the same way as PoE, downshifting to Run 5 and clearing the queue until the launch cycle could re-initialize. It's almost become second nature; I now automatically do it whenever I see bases or TF's having trouble getting sufficient CAP up.

I'll try to remember to save an example for you, too, next time I play. (I'm usually ftf, and we play through to the end since the scenarios can be completed fairly readily. In fact, we usually play 2-3 games an afternoon. Good design for us older gamers! [:)])

Thanks, that will really help.

Gregor

[Prince of Eckmühl]

ORIGINAL: Gregor_SSG

I haven't noticed any problems with my CAP but if you've got a save game that illustrates this, then please send it along with an explanation of the circumstances to support@ssg.com.au and we'll take a look at it.

Gregor

Respectfully, this problem is very, very apparent when viewed from the flight-deck screen. It's not as though we're dealing with some wildly obscure or difficult to discern behavior, one that would take the likes of Sherlock Holmes to unravel. Is there really no one on your staff that can take ten minutes to replicate a problem that has now been given a detailed description on this forum?

PoE (aka ivanmoe)

[NefariousKoel]

:O
PE.. It sounded to me like Gregor got the info about having a low Spot Number and is looking into it with his reply:

Thanks, that will really help.

Gregor

[Gregor_SSG]

ORIGINAL: Prince of Eckmühl

ORIGINAL: Gregor_SSG

I haven't noticed any problems with my CAP but if you've got a save game that illustrates this, then please send it along with an explanation of the circumstances to support@ssg.com.au and we'll take a look at it.

Gregor

Respectfully, this problem is very, very apparent when viewed from the flight-deck screen. It's not as though we're dealing with some wildly obscure or difficult to discern behavior, one that would take the likes of Sherlock Holmes to unravel. Is there really no one on your staff that can take ten minutes to replicate a problem that has now been given a detailed description on this forum?

PoE (aka ivanmoe)

Well, I've been doing this job for a long time, and in my experience it never hurts to confirm that what you think user said is what really happens, and a save game is the best way to do that. Sometimes the user is reporting something that, on inspection of the evidence, is a special case of a wider problem, so again, the more reliable information you have the better for all concerned.

Gregor

Gregor

[CactusAF]

Thanks to defzep for good answer to hard question. I can play the cap now for all my bases. [&o]

[JD Walter]

Quite welcome, Sir. Glad I could help.

There are a couple of other things to watch out for when preparing strikes (i.e., ways your squadrons can get stuck and never launch):

1. Always "Forming Up":

Sometimes, squadrons will get indefinitely delayed while forming up for a strike. They will spend all day preparing to strike, and never launch. PoE has documented it here:

Delays in Forming Up

One solution is to recall the strike, wait for all a/c to land, then re-input the strike order(s) and try again. This appears to clear the cycle and allow the spot number to re-initialize. This has worked for me. PoE himself recommends changing the strike parameters, so that different armaments or squadrons are used. I've not had to go to that length myself (once again, re-initializing the spot value works fine for me), but others here agree it's helpful, so you might want to try that, too.


2. Accidentally Setting a "Start Time" for Launch:

You can set a specific "start time" for your strike to (attempt to) go off by right-clicking in the strike preparation command screen and setting a delay for form-up. (By doing so, you can start preparing a strike at night, to be ready to launch at daybreak, should you have a good idea where your opponent will be.)

But apparently, this order is persistent and lasts from then on. Should you forget about it (or do it accidentally and not realize it), your squadrons will delay forming up for that length of time, possibly missing all the daylight hours and then "standing down" for the night, never launching at all. There is another thread on it, here:

Strike Delay Timer

To correct, just return to the delay screen and don't choose any value. This resets the timer to zero, and your squadrons will start arming and forming up as quickly as they can.

Hope that helps [:'(]