Sicily invasion - which day of the week?

[antoniusb]

I want to set my night AS missions only for the day which the paradrop occurs assuming that the transport planes are vulnerable to enemy air. No need to have those missions running other than for the day of the drop. I also would want to set a high intensity GA mission targeting units in the landing hexes and have it run only on the days when it is needed. If the game mechanics are such that the combat takes up the entire week with the same level of intensity throughout, I would pass on setting up that mission.

On a related note, is there anything I can do to reduce the risk of my airborne units being destroyed? Seems like I usually lose at least one of them while dropping in advance of the invasion. I am guessing that running the night time AS missions will help assuming the losses are due to the enemy sending in air units to disrupt the drop.

Also wondering if they are even necessary at all for a successful invasion of Sicily. I have a feeling that they are a lot more important to have on hand for the invasion of France and later actions.

[loki100]

one of the rules is that a regimental drop is more likely to scatter than a divisional one.

So I agree you are most likely to lose at least one para drop, esp as there is a risk of scattering into the sea.

The main gain from paras is they generate a lot of interdiction - a worthwhile question is in Sicily do you need that interdiction? The Axis are not going to reinforce the coast, the Italian units in the landing areas are pretty much doomed in any case - so you are not hindering re-supply.

Beware:

there is no such thing as a night time AS. You can run the night intruder mission but that only works over enemy airbases - designed to catch returning bombers and night fighters when they are very vulnerable.

More generally, its not axis aircraft that are scattering your paras, its a combination of inexperience, flak and the regimental size.

[Dobey455]

I have found (anecdotally) that putting some interdiction around para landing zones in Sicily does seem to reduce the likely hood of parachute regiments being scattered.

[HMSWarspite]

And no you don’t need to worry about them not being available later, destroyed units will reappear in UK some weeks later as depleted ones. The VP hurt though and you don’t need them so I cancel the drops usually...