Using Tac Air for Interdiction
Posted: Fri Jan 13, 2012 5:44 pm
The US,Soviets and Germans counted on interdiction. It was a major component of their combined arms. After gaining air superiority they let loose their fighter bombers or ground attack aircraft and stopped anything from moving to or from the front during the daylight hours. This greatly crippled the Germans. It was a crucial part of the Allies tactics.
Remember the classic gun camera movies of the P38s and P47s shooting up trains and having them blow up in their faces or the stories of the panzers trying to make it to the front only to be rocketed by the IL2 or the P38s and the battle being lost. Even as early as 1939 the Stuka dive bombing the Poles, French and British slowing up their advance and counter attacks.
Interdiction is a vital piece of the Blizkrieg and Soviet Deep Battle as well as an essential part of the US Combined Arms Doctrine.
The Germans had there panzers. The Soviets had their artillery and the US had it's tactical air power. And interdiction was a major part of it's role. I guess you could say it is modeled in game by units taking hit points but much of it's major impact was slowing or stopping the movement of enemy units and cutting and destroying supply. Actual damage to the front line unit was also a major part but I would argue not as important as interdiction.
How about it could only occur within a certain distance from a city or unit? That way you wouldn't have bombers flying far inland hitting and isolated junction. But then again this was a major tactic in the US airwar.
There has to be a way to model it so that if you don't pay attention you'll get yourself in a pickle much like the Germans did after D-day when they tried to move the panzers to counter attack and they were slowed down and useless or the French in 1940 unable to bring their tanks to the battle.
Is there anyway to simulate TAC and Strat bomber attacks on RRs? It might be a great addition if an air unit could disrupt supply and strategic travel by a certain percentage for the turn it successfully attacks a RR hex.
Another idea might be that you could cut the supply route through a strategic hex for a turn and thus make an unit out of supply by air power along.
Some kind of formula based on the strength and level of the air unit that would either cut strategic movement and reduce supply level to a cities organic number if cut off from the supply source.
And example might be Danzig. If you bombed and cut that RR hex just south of the city it would fall back to it's 15 supply instead of it's 30 supply for a turn. In addition you could not move by strategic movement either to or from Danzig for a turn. In most cases this reduction in supply might not mean much but it could in certain situations.
Another example you could cut Warsaw off from Germany by successfully bombing the RR hex north and the on SW of the city and there-by drop the supply from 30 to 14 which may be significant in some cases as well as preventing any strategic movement.
The bombers would have to have another choice for an attack option. Call it INTERDICTION or something.
Making it so that you had to have air superiority to be able to attack would strengthen the air war game. more attacks on the enemies fighter units in order to eliminate them so you could use interdiction to slow up or isolate land units.
It seems to me I've played games that model this by having the hexes you interdict cost more to move through. Maybe that's the way to do it.
All in all it would be another tactical option and create another vital role for the fighter unit. The US spend much of their resources on fighters and winning air superiority over the battlefield in order to bring tactical fighter bombers into play.
I think it would add a quite different and realistic choice to this already great game and create a historically accurate use and reason for the fighter unit. Gain air superiority with your fighters and gain a huge advantage over the battlefield like historically was the case.
Remember the classic gun camera movies of the P38s and P47s shooting up trains and having them blow up in their faces or the stories of the panzers trying to make it to the front only to be rocketed by the IL2 or the P38s and the battle being lost. Even as early as 1939 the Stuka dive bombing the Poles, French and British slowing up their advance and counter attacks.
Interdiction is a vital piece of the Blizkrieg and Soviet Deep Battle as well as an essential part of the US Combined Arms Doctrine.
The Germans had there panzers. The Soviets had their artillery and the US had it's tactical air power. And interdiction was a major part of it's role. I guess you could say it is modeled in game by units taking hit points but much of it's major impact was slowing or stopping the movement of enemy units and cutting and destroying supply. Actual damage to the front line unit was also a major part but I would argue not as important as interdiction.
How about it could only occur within a certain distance from a city or unit? That way you wouldn't have bombers flying far inland hitting and isolated junction. But then again this was a major tactic in the US airwar.
There has to be a way to model it so that if you don't pay attention you'll get yourself in a pickle much like the Germans did after D-day when they tried to move the panzers to counter attack and they were slowed down and useless or the French in 1940 unable to bring their tanks to the battle.
Is there anyway to simulate TAC and Strat bomber attacks on RRs? It might be a great addition if an air unit could disrupt supply and strategic travel by a certain percentage for the turn it successfully attacks a RR hex.
Another idea might be that you could cut the supply route through a strategic hex for a turn and thus make an unit out of supply by air power along.
Some kind of formula based on the strength and level of the air unit that would either cut strategic movement and reduce supply level to a cities organic number if cut off from the supply source.
And example might be Danzig. If you bombed and cut that RR hex just south of the city it would fall back to it's 15 supply instead of it's 30 supply for a turn. In addition you could not move by strategic movement either to or from Danzig for a turn. In most cases this reduction in supply might not mean much but it could in certain situations.
Another example you could cut Warsaw off from Germany by successfully bombing the RR hex north and the on SW of the city and there-by drop the supply from 30 to 14 which may be significant in some cases as well as preventing any strategic movement.
The bombers would have to have another choice for an attack option. Call it INTERDICTION or something.
Making it so that you had to have air superiority to be able to attack would strengthen the air war game. more attacks on the enemies fighter units in order to eliminate them so you could use interdiction to slow up or isolate land units.
It seems to me I've played games that model this by having the hexes you interdict cost more to move through. Maybe that's the way to do it.
All in all it would be another tactical option and create another vital role for the fighter unit. The US spend much of their resources on fighters and winning air superiority over the battlefield in order to bring tactical fighter bombers into play.
I think it would add a quite different and realistic choice to this already great game and create a historically accurate use and reason for the fighter unit. Gain air superiority with your fighters and gain a huge advantage over the battlefield like historically was the case.
