Turn 2 and beyond air setting for axis

[Sarge11]

Any suggestions, all kinds of info for T1, but after that???

[Intelligent]

T2 depending on T1 can vary greatly. I will give 2 examples. In the first, the German novice, having suffered losses in the amount of 500-600 aircraft, inflicted losses in 3500-5000 aircraft. In this case, you should concentrate on restoration. Your long-range aviation most likely does not exist and will have to be replenished. But luckily for you, you don't really need it later. To work in the near front, you have the tact of a bomber, and in the long-range, it is dangerous to fly without cover. Therefore, you can use your long range bombers to attack enemy airfields, but it is worth considering the losses, because if they are too bad, it is better not to do this. I don’t advise attacking troops, they have air defense and there are obviously too many of them than you have aircraft. You can turn on long-range aviation on the GS at the end of the turn so that it only flies during the USSR turn. Since, as a rule, your fighter aircraft will go into battle next to the bombers. But this tactic is dangerous for aircraft. So you can not do it. Also, don't forget to put your fighters on superiority over your airfields. Since the USSR, if it decides to fly less than 30 bombers per battle, will inflict acceptable losses on you.

The second option is if you are an experienced player and can inflict losses of 4700-5000 while losing less than 100 aircraft. In this case, perhaps you know better how to operate aviation.

Another perhaps not obvious use of non-German aircraft is to send them to the theater as part of the need, this will allow you to get more combat divisions and German aviation from there. German aviation is the best that you have, except perhaps for 2 railway artillery regiments. Save it.

[Sarge11]

Is there any sense in night bombing???????

[PeteJC]

I play the GC as Axis against the AI. After T1 I only use the following:

1. GS on important attacks only.
2. Every turn I use recon. It is invaluable as it tells me where the AI has set their line.
3. I use naval patrol to isolate Odessa. Later I use it to isolate Leningrad but that is very difficult and usually does not work. Later in the game I isolate Sevastopol.
4. I ground attack Odessa Sevastopol railyard and port. I do not do it to Leningrad as it has too much flak.

That is it. I do not bother with anything else. In general, I make sure my fighters and recon units keep up with the front. I move bombers up only when they are fully out of range. I typically do immediate transfer BUT that is out of laziness, and I do not mean to suggest it is the best way to move your planes.


Night bombing is pointless as the Axis. Probably not that effective as Soviet either.

[AlbertN]

T2+ onward, 41:

Send any potential Fighter squadron that is trained as Bomber to retrain as Fighter.
Send any pure Bomber squadron to airbases around the NSS, within 3 hexes of them. If needs build some extra airfields around NSS. Forget of them - they drain supply that you do not have (in terms of freight) and do little to nothing.
Anything that is a fighter tends to be quite needed.
Anything that is air transport gets relabelled as 'kamikaze transport' (due to extremely high OPs losses).

The German mantra is to advance some, once a new airfield is secured, ferry in air supply to create some freight and then rebase in fighters to provide some scarce aircover for your supposedly advancing ground forces, facing infinite amounts of Soviet planes. Then were possible airlift there some more freight. (In general what freight is already there will get converted in some air support personnel if at hand; and what is brought after tends to be fuel and ammo for planes for the majority).

It may sound sarcastic or absurd but that's how I do.

42':

Same as above. With the extra freight I thought to try bombers but pretty much they are a mere hindrance.
Soviet bombers at lower exp fare better, Soviets have no logistic issues when in their homeland. SO they can sustain bombers which are effective.
Germans (not to mention the minors) seem to hinder their fighters - like German fighters alone perform better, I assume / suspect because they are not tied to escort duty and are free hunting.

Suffices that I tried in '42 to use the LW and the VVS inflicted pretty severe losses in 1-2 turns. (Soviets still lost more... but they produce way more and replace infinitely better freight wise).

'43:
Never got there in current / recent patches except a game where I am Soviets and the Germans buckled in.

[PeteJC]

AlbertN - do you not use bombers for GS as German? I do agree that getting rid of some of them will save on supply drain from the ground forces but not using any seems drastic. Also, if you want to get rid of them isn't sending them to reserve better than sending them near a NSS?