How to Put Planes on the Plains?

[AbsntMndedProf]

How do you put airplanes on a map for a scenario? Thanks!

Eric Maietta

[returnfire]

How do you put airplanes on a map for a scenario?

IIRC you can try the following trick:

1. Use the SPWAW Editor to make it a ground unit (just change it to another class). You may want to give the unit a faster speed. (When the plane is placed on the ground, a speed of 5 means 5 hexes- you may want to give it a speed of 15+)
2. Go into SPWAW and open the editor. Buy a cargo aircraft formation.
3. Use the "Change unit to another type" feature to put those planes in (this would be allowed since the "planes" are now ground units ).
4. Load the unit into the cargo aircraft. The screen should now display something like "Douglas C47 Loaded, Passenger- P-47D" Select a drop point for the cargo aircraft, save the scenario, and then quit SPWAW.
5. Run SPWAW Editor and change the airplane back to class 44 (aircraft). You can change its speed back (for game balance purposes- the scenario won't be affected).
6. Now run the scenario. You should see the strike aircrafts being dropped by cargo planes.
7. The same can be done with level bombers. However, you may want to give the unit more crewmen, faster speed, and perhaps smoke ammo, since level bombers will be treated as regular artillery when put onboard

Other Notes regarding onboard strike planes:
1. Actual testing shows that the planes' LOS work differently. In addition, rockets and the main cannon/MG can NOT be fired at range 1.
2. Rockets can't be used for indirect fire with the "Z" key. Bombs can be Z-fired, though.
3. These planes can call air strike missions themselves with a response time of 0.1 turns.
4. Pressing N/P won't cycle through the planes. You will have to left-click on them.
5. The enemy can still op-fire AA's (continuously if it's the other player's turn) on the onboard aircrafts!

[AbsntMndedProf]

I must not have been specific enough. I want to place static aircraft on a map to just sit there. (The idea for airdropping aircraft is interesting, however. I'll keep it in mind for future use.) Thanks ReturnFire!

Eric Maietta

[arethusa]

.....(The idea for airdropping aircraft is interesting, however. I'll keep it in mind for future use.) Thanks ReturnFire! Eric Maietta

I can't say I'd want to do it in SPWAW but but the concept of airdropping aircraft actually did exist in WWII and was used to a limited extent by the Luftwaffe.

The only difference is that the aircraft doing the dropping was the small fighter plane, usually an Me109 or FW190, and the aircraft being dropped was a twin-engine bomber like a Junkers, Dornier of Heinkel.

What they did was build a framework on top of the bomber to mount the fighter plane on the top. The bomber would be filled with explosives and the lone pilot would sit in the fighter cockpit. The whole combination taxied on the bomber's undercarriage but both plane's engine would be used for take-off and flight.

When they reached the target, the fighter pilot would aim the whole thing in a dive and then release his smaller plane to fly home while the bomb-laden larger plane crashed into the target.

The whole idea was an attempt to create 'semi-guided' bombs that would continue on their intended course more like a rocket than like a ballistic 'dumb-bomb'. It was almost as pin-point accurate as using a Stuka dive-bomber but the problem with the Stukas late in the war was that they were too slow to escape the allied fighters of the day and too vulnerable to the late war radar-guided and more powerful AAA.

I have no idea how much it was used but I have seen several pictures of it with different combinations of aircraft. I think they were experimenting which combo would work best for accuracy, damage and survivability of the pilot.

[Voriax]

Ahh..the 'Mistel' aircraft.
http://www.warbirdsresourcegroup.org/LRG/mistral.html
http://aerostories.free.fr/appareils/co ... age15.html


Voriax

[serg3d]

One of the most famous airdropped aicraft system - WWII Soviet "Aviamatka PVO"
(translated approximatly as "anti-aircraft defense mothership")
- heavy bomber TB-3 carrying 5 light fighters. It took part in the russian attack on the romanian Ploeshty oilfields in the beginning of the war.

http://vvs.hobbyvista.com/ModelArticles ... /index.php

[arethusa]

One of the most famous airdropped aicraft system - WWII Soviet "Aviamatka PVO"
(translated approximatly as "anti-aircraft defense mothership")
- heavy bomber TB-3 carrying 5 light fighters. It took part in the russian attack on the romanian Ploeshty oilfields in the beginning of the war.

http://vvs.hobbyvista.com/ModelArticles ... /index.php

That is without a doubt the strangest thing I've ever seen. That Tupelov bomber would have been a weird looking thing even without the assortment of fighters attached to the wings. The fighter pilots, especially the ones under the wings, must have had nerves of steel to take off sitting in their cockpits.

[dthompson]

First off, I should just introduce myself since I'm new to the forum: Dave Thompson, a great SP-WAW solitaire enthusiast, deeply grateful to Wild Bill and all the other great folks who have worked so hard on this fantastic game! My hat's off to you, fellas!

Now more specifically, thanks to "absent minded prof" for asking the same question I had about aircraft, and thanks to "returnfire" for this suggested solution. I'm still wondering, though, if there is any simpler procedure just to put stationary planes on the ground (as targets) for airfield scenarios such as we have played in the fascinating "Raiders of the Sahara" campaign, where two otherwise-marvelous scenarios were marred by screwed-up icons. (In one case what appeared to be halftracks and infantry represented grounded planes and in the other, planes that were just plain invisible.)

I've tried creating a new "Ju-52, grounded" unit using the OOB editor, and it looks fine in the scenario editor but just will not appear when I actually try to play it. Weird things seem to happen behind the scenes when we attempt to tinker with aircraft in this game.

Another glitch in the Raiders of the Sahara, in both the first and last scenarios, was the appearance of two British commando squads that not only looked like but also functioned as tanks, although they did have commando armament. I wonder if the designer's attempt to modify the grounded aircraft units somehow bumped these other units off-base.

[KandaJE]

Greetings...

It's quite possible to put grounded planes on the map. There are 2 methods-

I use the Norway OOB as the place holder for them - It's got the most room.

Method 1: (preffered)
Find the plane in the OOB that you want to use example a Ju-52 in the German 70 OOB using the OOB Editor (Spwaw-Editor.exe)
and hit copy. Go to the Norway OOB and find an empty slot - hit paste. Change the Unit type to Ammo dump if you want it to explode nicely when destroyed, otherwise just change it into something other than a leg unit - Like a Prime Mover or something.
Change all the ratings and stats to reflect your impression of a grounded aicraft - such as speed 0, any armor etc... Make sure you change the nationality to NORWAY! Be sure to remove any weapons and ammo - You can even edit the carry capabilities if you would like leg units to be able to hide in it!

The ONLY important piece of information here is the Icon Number - It's the plane that you selected... Everything else is just a detail of that plane...

Save the OOB (you did back up your original first - of course you did)
Go to the Formations tab and make a formation that includes them. Save the OOB again...
You can now select and buy them according to the information you set up in the formation - year availability etc...

Side effects : They cost you points to buy - they count againt the number of units you can purchase.

Method 2:
In the OOB editor (Spwaw-Editor.exe) make a new formation in whatever OOB that includes more than 2 aircraft and starts with a leg unit as the HQ Example: 1 FO unit with transport and 8 aircraft called a Close Support Squadron...

You now buy them as part of your core or as support in ANY weather Because they don't count as an Air unit. However the game actually DOES count them against your Air purchases even though you aren't supposed to be able to buy them (due to weather). It's Bizarre...
You can place them on the map during mission setup normally.

Side effects: Can crash the game, the Air units move as Air units with very slow speed, they are NOT able to be called in (They aren't really air units to the game) They spot enemy units as air units, and they are immune to weapons fire... However their very slow speed limits their usefulness! But they do make great ambulances, or minefield hoppers in an assault...
They can't be destroyed and the AI will not move them if you buy them for it... However they do make great targets for direct HE fire. Their immunity to damage though can be very frustrating...

[bchapman]

Check out this thread:
SP:WaW Scenarios/Campaigns >> New scenario maker units in upcoming V8.x patch
Planes on the ground + many other scenario building goodies are on the way.