Possible to play air campaign only?

[poymando]

Hey folks,
New player here...
Is it possible to play a full length game only as an air campaign? I've played the short beginner air scenario but it did not seem like there was a dedicated, air only campaign.
Thanks in advance for the help you might offer

[loki100]

The Torch expansion offers more (longer) air campaigns so maybe worth picking that up?

Also the land campaigns in N Africa are little gems, low unit density and tricky supply challenge so you learn a lot from playing them but they are relatively quick

[poymando]

Thanks for the suggestion Loki!

[barkhorn45]

operation pointblank and The weakest link.

[Stele]

I am trying to play Weakest Link, but I'm feeling a tad overwhelmed with this part of the game managing the air war. It feels like a different game altogether, and it feels more abstract, but it is something I want to learn more of and have direct control over it when I do the land war scenarios.

I've reviewed the composition of all of the air forces and air groups, and I've tried learning the location of my airfields.

Are there any helpful tips when it comes to more direct air management control? I let the AI control the first turn so I can work backwards and see what exactly happens, but it looks like there was a lot the AI considered for planning that I'm not entirely aware of. Thanks.

*edited post

I just saw the thread here, and I'll give it a look over.

tm.asp?m=3964247

[loki100]

I've not played the scenario so this is really from the main campaign.

Start by looking at the VPs.

You either gain (or stop the Germans gaining) by hitting 3 targets. In 1943 these are any damaged U-boat production (even 1% damage hits the VP gain) and in 1944-5 both the v-weapon production and launch sites.

Across the game you get VPs for hitting HI and manpower production.

So start here. Bomber Command is good for manpower bombing, night attacks with incendaries will do a lot of damage and every now and then you will do a devastating raid (best of course not to think about this means in reality). Since manpower is usually found with HI, well the same raid will do for both. So you should get a decent VP haul off Bomber Command going for manpower and HI.

The U-boats are a pain but you only need to bomb every now and then. Bomber Command without incendaries will do for some sites, otherwise use 8 AAF. Go in hard to do as much as you can on each visit as these raids are costly.

When it comes to the v-weapons. 2 engined bombers can deal with the launch sites and 8 AAF can go for the factories (watch out these repair quicker so you need to hit them more often).

Now what else? Well 8 AAF is good for doubling up with Bomber Command or going for specialist production. Good secondary targets are trucks and German medium tanks. Taking these out will hit the German army. I tend not to go for fuel as the game doesn't really seem to model the German fuel shortages. Once you get S Italy, 15 AAF can hit some juicy targets in Austria and S Germany.

Another interesting target is rail depots. Bit of a delayed reward but it will really cut German ability to resupply and refit their formations.

In general, if the target is large or relatively easy to damage, use BC. For more precise raids use 8 AAF.

Nasty secondary tricks are to not use all your fighters for escorts. Some well chosen air superiority missions (esp once you go into 1944 and esp once you get the P-51s) will force the Luftwaffe to go and hide - and remove almost any air defences from the Ruhr etc.

[bomccarthy]

ORIGINAL: loki100

Across the game you get VPs for hitting HI and manpower production.

I tend not to go for fuel as the game doesn't really seem to model the German fuel shortages. Once you get S Italy, 15 AAF can hit some juicy targets in Austria and S Germany.

Clarification - unless something has changed in the updates, you get strategic bombing points for damaging Axis-controlled oil, fuel, and synthetic fuel sites. You only get points for damaging German nationality manpower and heavy industry sites. (Sec. 25.1.1)

ORIGINAL: loki100
Another interesting target is rail depots. Bit of a delayed reward but it will really cut German ability to resupply and refit their formations.

This is one area where the game shortchanges the Allied strategic bombing effort. The targeting of German railyards in the Autumn and Winter of 1944 caused the collapse of industrial production by the end of 1944 (many recall that aircraft production actually peaked in Sep 1944). The official USAAF history highlights that by January 1945 the Allied high Command was extremely frustrated by the apparent inability of the transportation bombing campaign to hinder the movement of German ground troops and frontline supply. It wasn't until the Allied armies crossed the Rhine in March and began interviews with captured German officials and business leaders that they realized the continuous bombing of railyards and river ports within Germany had halted the movement of resources (especially coal) and parts produced by subcontractors by December 1944. Allied ground troops came across large quantities of parts isolated from the assembly factories because of a lack of rolling stock and locomotives (which were trapped in wrecked railyards).

ORIGINAL: loki100

Nasty secondary tricks are to not use all your fighters for escorts. Some well chosen air superiority missions (esp once you go into 1944 and esp once you get the P-51s) will force the Luftwaffe to go and hide - and remove almost any air defences from the Ruhr etc.

Even in 1943, you can use air superiority directives on day 1 of a turn to weaken Luftwaffe defenses, prior to sending in daylight bombing raids on days 2-7. This gets more powerful in 1944, as you get larger drop tanks. With a load out of two 108 gal drop tanks, you can send a large formation of P-51s on a long-range air superiority mission, using waypoints to zigzag the formation by airfields with large concentrations of Luftwaffe fighters (air recon is critical for this). I found that setting the altitude at 30k-35k works best, since P-47s and P-51s outperform the most numerous Luftwaffe fighter models above 25k.