Air Mission Altitudes

[tbriert]

I am greatly enjoying getting to learn this game. One thing I am still trying to figure out is what the best altitudes are to set for the various air missions. I am playing as the allies against the AI.

I have been setting recon in the Tactical Air Force at 12000 feet and giving the planes a low level loadout, as the manual suggests this is the optimal height. For strategic recon, I am using 31000 feet with the high level loadout, as per manual recommendations. Beyond that, I am a bit stumped.

What is the best altitude for tactical missions against units, airfields, interdiction, and the like. I believe that they dive down to a certain level regardless of ingress level. But what should that ingress level be? Below 10,000 to avoid high level flak? Above 20,000 to avoid the reach of low level flak? Does it make any difference what altitude you set depending on the target? Should I come at a different height if I am going after airfields as opposed to rail or port facilities?

On the strategic side, I would have the same questions. Is there a basic altitude I should remain at for these missions? Any difference between American day and British night bombing with regards to altitudes? If I am going after cities should I use same or different altitudes as I would to hit airfields or industries or ports or general strategic interdiction?

What level is best for naval patrol missions?

Finally, what about air superiority? Should I try to keep it a 25,000 feet or more to give a height advantage? Or should some fighter sweeps be set to a lower level?

Any help would be greatly appreciated. There is so much to learn, and as an older gamer with a lot of responsibilities outside of playing WITW, I unfortunately don't have a ton of time for trial and error, so I am hoping that others might be generous with the knowledge they have gained from their experiences.

[marion61]

I'm not sure if anyone has found the altitude sweet spot yet vs flak. One piece of advice I have is to switch your altitudes every few turns or every other turn. I vary my altitudes mainly to keep the axis fighters guessing. If you have your fighters set to 25k and the bombers decide to come in lower, you may not get an interception. Setting them higher or lower vs flak, I've not really seen much difference in planes lost. The best thing to do about flak is to plot your course and fly around the larger concentrations, and don't make huge area bombing air directives unless necessary. Check the type of flak your going up against, and if one number is lower bomb the target from the least amount of flak. Hit shift-o to see flak. Sometimes players forget about light flak over the reich and you can sneak in a low strike or two.

[Helpless]

In general lower altitudes provide better bombing accuracy and you won't be fired by the neighboring hexes flak (<10-15k), but you have more risks to miss target, get a lot of small flak fire (especially for the slow flying level bombers), more risky landing. Also if you go below 5000 your tac bomber won't try to dive in and will be doing less accurate glide bombing.

Flying very high can provide better position for your fighter intercepts, but you may miss it if difference is too big. It is also much safer for the slow level bomber raids - less of flak and usually all fighters has degraded performance at high altitude.

[Balou]

ORIGINAL: Winfield S. Hancock

I have been setting recon in the Tactical Air Force at 12000 feet and giving the planes a low level loadout, as the manual suggests this is the optimal height. For strategic recon, I am using 31000 feet with the high level loadout, as per manual recommendations.

12,000 for low Level camera is ok, but One Page Guide #9 says 25,000 is optimum altitude for high level cameras.

[tbriert]

Thanks, these are helpful tips