I'm sure the AI doesn't cheat but...

[vimhawk2]

The Allies kept bombing my airfields on my side of the Gustav line, and I finally bit the bullet and realised that it was not viable to defend them, and the morale of those groups was shot. I therefore moved all my air groups north (to a sort of Pisa to Bologna line) and resolved not to even fly from them until morale was back up and most aircraft were operational. This took a couple of days but luckily weather was bad.

The next day, before I'd even flown one sortie from any of those airfields, the Allies bombed four of them, the newly occupied ones. Over 20 aircraft destroyed on the ground (no I didn't intercept I wanted to see where they were going). They ignored all the airfields where the groups used to be based (which were still full of flak etc), and bombed four airfields that they had not attacked before, and from where no Axis aircraft had ever operated from. I get there is intelligence, but this is pretty perfect intelligence!

Rather annoying because the constant airfield attacks does get boring. Yes of course it is a legitimate tactic. But at the same time they are ignoring industry and other game winning stuff!

[warshipbuilder]

Well, my jaundiced eye view of the AI cheating is this: if it is, it is doing a lousy job. See all the posts of the LW players talking about winning the game before Overlord. Or conversely, Allied players having it in the bag before the end of 1944. It may be misguided, cheating, I don't think so. Now watch simovich undercut me.

[vimhawk2]

After a couple of days of bad weather, the Allies returned to Italy again. On this occasion they did bomb a couple of airfields I was no longer using. But they also bombed two of the same four again that I had recently moved to. They didn't bomb one of the new ones around Pisa that I had evacuated to move even further north. It was a great day in air to air combat and I managed an over 3:1 kill ratio, which makes it all the more frustrating when you lose 13 aircraft on the ground. Clearly it's something I'll just have to live with, and soon the airfields I will not abandon will have the world's greatest AA defence too. It's just a fun thing, and as much as I like the game this aspect of constantly losing aircraft on the ground is not fun. Yes I know it's realistic but I can't help feeling the way I do, since the rest of the campaign is going so well. (The night fighting isn't fun either, but a lot of people probably think that.)

And yes, the fact that I might win the campaign early so why am I complaining is a fair point. But maybe the resources that the Allies are putting into airfield attacks could perhaps be put into bombing industry to get points, which might avoid them losing the game early?

[mark dolby]

Hi.
Remember that book I recommended, 'Air War Italy'? Well in there the research on released documents showed the Allied signals and tracking units could pinpoint individual Axis aircraft, call signs and airbase locations extremely well. Plus, many of the airbase would have been built years before and well known about. Finally and especially relating to France, I would not be surprised if resistance groups would radio back if a previously unused airfield had a new Axis unit starting to use it.
Ground attack and destroying those aircraft and infrastructure on the ground was a key part of the Allied attempt to destroy the Axis air forces.
Mark.

[vimhawk2]

Yes absolutely agree with the history, but doesn't stop me getting upset with all the aircraft I lose on the ground! It's a bit like cheating. Aren't doing so well in air to air combat? No problem, just keep bombing airfields, you're bound to catch a load of them on the ground eventually!

NB I have an insight into the aircraft detection thing as my father was a radar operator during the war.

[vimhawk2]

... that last comment didn't come out right, I didn't mean to suggest I know more about radar detection than anyone else!