Air Op Tempo...A teachable moment.

[TheElf]

Something that digital commanders can forget is that WWII was not an every day affair. This is especially true of the Air War. In fact if you add up all the days that Carrier Aircraft were in action against the enemy on either side what percentage of the days from DEC 7, 1941 to VJ day what % of the time do you think they were in action?

I don't know, but I know it was small. Think about it...

What am I getting at? In WitP and even in AE the player's desire for "Action" can lead to some unrealistic expectations. ie. That there need be Aerial Action every day. This just wasn't/couldn't be the case. The Air war was fought in fits and spurts. Days, weeks, even months would pass in preparation for a major action, and the action would often be a fraction as long as the time spent preparing.

Weather often put a stop to daily operations, and reorganization and pilot fatigue further limited OpTempo.

The same is true in AE. Don't think that daily sweeps for months on end are or should be the norm. Watch the weather. If T-Storms or heavy rain are forecast in you base hex or target Hex Set your pilots to 30% CAP and 50 % rest. Limit offensive Ops into Enemy Hexes where little will be accomplished if the forecast is accurate. You'll only add fatigue and likely expose units to fragmented raids with little impact on the targets you hoped to hit.

Save your strength for when you CAN see the target and give RAID COORDINATION every chance.

This game is a marathon, not a race. Plan ahead, concentrate your forces, wait for the weather to clear, and give your Pilots their Crew Rest...I recommend 12 hours minimum.[;)]

[AttuWatcher]

ORIGINAL: TheElf
The same is true in AE. Don't think that daily sweeps for months on end are or should be the norm. Watch the weather. If T-Storms or heavy rain are forecast in you base hex or target Hex Set your pilots to 30% CAP and 50 % rest. Limit offensive Ops into Enemy Hexes where little will be accomplished if the forecast is accurate. You'll only add fatigue and likely expose units to fragmented raids with little impact on the targets you hoped to hit.

Something I keep forgetting about in my Aleutians PBEMs.

Thank Elf

[Laxplayer]

Meh... I start doing that and I will start forgetting to reset them to full alert. Like on a CV that's been in PH for a few days fixing some sys dmg, then comes screaming out to Midway at full speed to meet an invasion force... only to go 2 days without strikes before I could figure out why. [:(]

[whippleofd]

ORIGINAL: TheElf

This game is a marathon, not a race. Plan ahead, concentrate your forces, wait for the weather to clear, and give your Pilots their Crew Rest...I recommend 12 hours minimum.[;)]

You know airdales, they need their beauty sleep. Time to stand in chow lines. Some BS time in those cushy "ready" rooms. A bunch of whiny little girls. 12 hours crew rest? sheese. [;)]

Whipple

[Cribtop]

This raises a question. My read of the manual is that any pilots not assigned duties will rest (i.e. 30% CAP with no other assignments means 70% of pilots rest). However, we can also "actively" set a percentage to rest as well. Will a unit with 30% set to CAP and 70% set to rest recover better or otherwise behave differentely than a unit just set to 30% CAP?