Patrols

[drmweaver2]

Kinda noobish question here.
I'm having "trouble" understanding the mechanics of fighter sweep patrols. Oh, I can do the clicking, but I'm not sure of the results.

What I mean is, I set a Primary Target, then click a Patrol point (wherever). Do the planes then go back and forth between the target and the patrol point or do they "orbit" - the target or the patrol point?

Like I said... a noobish question.[&:]

Edited for spelling/typo

[simovitch]

Welcome drmweaver2.
They don't go back and forth, they will strafe the primary if it's an airbase, and then move on to the patrol zone until they bingo and head home. Bf109's in 1940 don't have much range to follow up with an effective patrol after a strafing run but you can set the patrol location such that you try and draw the enemy fighters away from where your level bombers will be coming in. There may be better ways to sweep, but that's what I do usually.

[drmweaver2]

Okay... (remember I'm talking about BtR, not ED and I'm playing the Allies if that makes any difference.) But that's what doesn't make sense to me graphically.

1. You set a target to fly to and the white line shows the outbound route to the target along with a red line/return
to base route.

2. Setting a patrol point gives a new box with a different colored line - that only connects to the return route by going back to the target point.

So, what happens at the Patrol point?[8|]
a. Does it loiter?
b. How big is the "patrol location"? How close do enemy aircraft have to come to the patrol location in order to be seen/detected/intercepted?

Am I mixing up some kind of technical difference between daylight patrols and night interceptor mechanics (where you can send a single NI to an airbase and it loiters [but sending multiple NI's to the same airbase results in an immediate RTB])?[&:]

Thanks for any insights.[&o]

[drmweaver2]

Okay... I am a dumb***.
I answered my own question by running a simple FS with a patrol point.... DOH.[:o]

Sorry for wasting forum space.

We now return you to your .... well, to whatever it is you were doing.