Are Fighters Useless?

[MarkWayneClark]

This is an embarassingly newbish question, and for that I apologize. I bought this game because I love the concept. I have read the manual more than once, and yet I am still having a hard time mastering even the basics.

My latest difficulty is with fighters. They only have one movement point, that is, they can attack into a neighboring territory, and then return to base. This means that in order for them to be in the fight at all, they MUST be based on the front lines. But when they are based on the front lines, they are sitting ducks for enemy air attacks. You can have a stack of 20 infantry and two fighters in a province, and the enemy will just attack with three or four planes, destroy the fighters, lose nothing, and retreat.

What am I missing here?

Thanks for your patience.

[a511]

welcome to the game! and wish to play pbem with u someday!!
 
ftrs are not useless ... but how useful they are depend on how u are going to use them to.
 
leaving ur ftrs outnumbered within the range of enemy ftrs is a sin ... u either use flak units to protect the sky (although they may not be too effective ... esp at the end of the game against the mighty US B-52s) or deploy enough ftrs+flaks to make it hard for any air raids.
 
the other obvious thing is u can increase the range/Att/Ev of ur ftrs by research (but of course, ur enemy will do the same thing) to mininise the loss/ make the attacker paid.
 
hope it helps and enjoy the game!!
 
a511
 
 
 

[MarkWayneClark]

Thanks!

I tend to leave my flak behind my lines to protect major industrial centers from strategic bombing. Should I move it forward? Or build more? Or build more fighters?

[a511]

Well, for industrial centers protection, a "screen of ftrs" outside enemy ftr range is the best defence strategy as enemy HBs will be blocked by opt-fires. flaks are used to protect areas outside the "screen".
 
to answer ur questions re: whether to build more ftrs, it all depends on which side u are playing and what strategy is in ur mind.
 
i presume that u are playing GER.
 
the answer will be build more ftrs if sealion is ur goal.
 
However, if u intend to go for an early barbarossa, flaks will be a better choice to protect the atlantic wall. one thing to note is if u want to do intensive strategic bombing in Russia and find the RUS go heavy in ftrs, u still need the Me-109s w/ range of 2 to achieve air superiority.
 
a511

[MarkWayneClark]

I am playing as USSR. I was building infantry and trying to make do with my starting air force (1941 scenario). Wrong strategy?

[a511]

well, the beauty of this game is there is no strict right or wrong. it all depends on counter-measures.
 
as RUS, the ftrs can be very good defence of the nazi strategy bombing so long as they are OUTSIDE the range of the Me-109s. what i used to do is to cover the factories within the range of Me-109s by flaks.
 
btw, are u playing the solo mode? imo, it is good to get yourself familiar with the game engine (esp the adv supply system) with the solo mode. but once u master the game engine, pbem is the real thing u should go for.
 
a511

[MarkWayneClark]

I am playiing solo, for now at least. This game is harder for me to grasp and get into than I thought it would be.

The ideal level of complexity for me would be something like A&A Europe/Pacific, but with more territories on the map, and some of the better player-created rules. I got this game on the theory that it was sort of like that but it's actually quite a bit more complex.

[rjh1971]

ORIGINAL: a511

btw, are u playing the solo mode? imo, it is good to get yourself familiar with the game engine (esp the adv supply system) with the solo mode. but once u master the game engine, pbem is the real thing u should go for.

a511

Agreed but don't play a511 in your first game or you'll get your butt kicked [;)]

ORIGINAL: Mark Clark

I am playiing solo, for now at least. This game is harder for me to grasp and get into than I thought it would be.

Hang on there the game is worth it, we've all been where you are, just keep re-reading the manual and feel free to ask questions, not too many new people around lately in the forum but there are some hard core players still around that will help you.

Rafael

[a511]

Agreed but don't play a511 in your first game or you'll get your butt kicked [;)]

 
Rafael, I also make a lot of mistakes in the game ... the fact that the royal army was kicked out of the southern italy resorts in our tournment game ... is a very good example.  may be the fact that only playing the two 2v2 tournment games in the past months, which on ave only progress by at most two-turn-a-month makes me rusty in the game.
 
i think i need to start some new games ...
a511