Air Units - Their Combat Range?

[Capt Cliff]

Ok, I looked and looked. So how do you display the air units combat radius?

[Gandalf]

There is no on-map display of air units radius, YET. It has been suggested. If you read thru section 16.0 of the EBook manual however, you will note that there are different operating ranges (2x, 3X and even 4x) based on mission type. Also, if the air base moves in a turn, it will proportionally affect all the air units based within combat ranges.

[Mehring]

It's also apparently of little relevence. You can hover over a target and it wil tell you XXX amount of fighters and bombers are in range and when you ctrl+ R click to select them, they aren't available. Then when you choose a different target and/or target type next door, they may be available (but then maybe not). There is no palpable logic to the air system. No devs have commented in the numerous threads I've mentioned it. Elephant in the room?

[Jabba]

This was something that I felt was very poorly explained in the manual. Pages and pages on how to group your air units, and only in the very last section of the chapter (8.4.2.1) is there a passing reference to their range. [&:]

[jimkehn]

Mehring try SHIFT-right click.

[ComradeP]

Sometimes I'm wondering how many people with questions actually read what I post, as the same questions keep popping up. The range is the radius divided by 10 from the nearest air base to the target, sometimes with an extra hex added due to rounding.

[elmo3]

Aircraft ranges in miles are shown when you click on an air unit in the airbase window.  Divide by 10 to get the range in hexes.  As has been pointed out in the manual and other threads, air units need a form up airbase for a mission so they rarely fly direct routes to and from the target.  Air unit availability has more to do with readiness and air doctrine than range.

As JimKehn said above, you can shift right click on a target to get a popup with all available air units with their range to the target and other useful information.  The air units the AI will send are highlighted but you can overrule that by clicking a unit to remove it from the mission.  When you actually launch the mission some units may not fly for various reasons including bad weather, leader checks, etc.

It has been stated that the devs are considering adding more realistic air system in the future.  So I don't see any elephant here, maybe a mouse or two.

[Mehring]

ORIGINAL: JimKehn

Mehring try SHIFT-right click.

Yes, that's what I meant and it doesn't work.

[Capt Cliff]

ORIGINAL: ComradeP

Sometimes I'm wondering how many people with questions actually read what I post, as the same questions keep popping up. The range is the radius divided by 10 from the nearest air base to the target, sometimes with an extra hex added due to rounding.

Ahem, why are we doing any math in our head with a computer game? It's simple ... click, or shift-rh-clic on the air unit or what ever and the units it can attack at=re highlighted!! Simple!! So divid by 10, what number and where?? Then I have to count on my screen from the air unit ... give me a break. Didn't WIR have a range display? Maybe not. So here we are supreme commanders having to use a pen and paper instead of having an flunky looie aid do it for me.

Oh, and I am also getting a "bomber out of range" message when bombing a unit ... then I click the same unit again an I get an attack ... click again an "bomber out of range "... click again I get an attack ... what's it doing scrolling through the units one by one?

This needs to be fixed! An please will the play testers refrain from jumping in and defending the game with some obsure work around. Thank you.

Addendum: Ok ... to display available aircraft you select a base, the stagin base and then hover over a propose target and the number of aircraft available is displayed. But ... deplying and redeploying air bases requires the ranges of the aircraft.

[randallw]

The factors that go into air missions is certainly something to ponder.

[Gandalf]

ComradeP:

Please feel free to post all the helpful work arounds that you can think of. Most of us appreciate the help. [:)]

[ComradeP]

This needs to be fixed! An please will the play testers refrain from jumping in and defending the game with some obsure work around. Thank you.

So taking note of a number on the air unit information screen, and dividing that by 10, is a serious mental exercise that could be considered "an obscure work around"? Of course it would be nice if the PC would do that for you and ranges would be displayed, but it's not like you need a math degree to calculate the range.

[Steeltrap]

Posted this in another 'air' related thread, but it applies here, too.

Well as a new player I can say the whole air system is somewhat of a nightmare to comprehend/organise.

As is the case for the rest of it, the manual tends to talk about 'what/how' but nothing much about 'why/when'. It is very off-putting as a new player with dozens of airbase counters and all sorts of arcane mechanics behind them (the air commitment etc etc). And to make it clear, I am a fan of the manual and the amount of effort put into it.

Not having range obvious on the map seems a remarkable oversight. How do I know what coverage I have from all those different fields? Work it out in my head? Sure I can. But why on earth would I want to??

I'm talking from the Soviet perspective. The first 20 turns are so dreadful to organise through the interlocking mechanics of the game - C&C, support units, air etc etc - that I've all but thrown my hands up and decided not to play until I see the 'user guide' being put together.

I do think looking at the complexity a player has to confront to play the game is a different thing from the complexity behind what's on the screen. Right now, I find it all so horrible to get to grips with I'm regretting spending my money to be blunt.

[henri51]

So far what I have been doing is leaving all air operations to the AI, except for the first-move airbase bombings (using the AI button) and occasionally moving my air bases closer to the front. [&:]

Henri

[MengJiao]

ORIGINAL: henri51

So far what I have been doing is leaving all air operations to the AI, except for the first-move airbase bombings (using the AI button) and occasionally moving my air bases closer to the front. [&:]

Henri

I agree. There doesn't seem to be much of a mind-boggleing nature going on. If you put your battle reports on 0 (so that things go faster and nothing clutters the screen), set your air doctrine to minimize loses (ie don't fly missions if you have too few planes), move your airfields up and only attack vital targets, you can see the support graphics during the battles and judge how things are going.