Matrix Games Forums

(1) Many learned players say create your RECON missions first in air force tasking queue (regardless of days of the week). If so, then why when I only set my priorities and let the game AI create the ADs, does RECON show up last in the queue?

(2) A question on AUTO fighter bomber load out for ground attack. It is a real pain to pick the squadron load outs. Is AUTO smart enough to look at the AD and see that the distance from the launch field to target area is only 80 miles, and thus load up the FBs with as heavy ordnance as they can carry?

(3) I am somewhat confused how interdiction works. It leaves a pseudo delayed (mine) in one or more hexes which the AI will encounter. If no enemy unit passed through that hex, then (I assume an AI unit entering a HEX or being in the target HEX resets interdiction to 0.)

(3a) How long does the interdiction state of the HEX persist? Both sides of the turn? Until an enemy passes through it? Degrades over time?

(3b) The game notation seems to indicate that interdiction from an AD-Mission is cumulative with "+3". Does that mean it is cumulative across turns or just within the same turn?

(4) If I am HEX-to-HEX against a STACK/SUs/RESERVES which I must break (plan to attack this turn), then which is better to GROUND ATTACK UNITS in the HEX or INTERDICT? I've heard INTERDICT is better for broad areas, but my own testing seems to indicate UNIT is better for target stack during the coming GROUND PHASE?

(5) Refit prioritizes units to receive equipment and manpower. Did I understand correctly that there is no combat penalty to be attacked with REFIT set versus READY?

Thank you!

1) I personally think that recon can be separated out in that apart from maybe escorts (& you can usually do without them) it uses a completely different set of assets to various combat related missions. I'm not sure I've seen this but I do tend (esp with the Allies) to rely on manual allocation to my AD so I rarely have planes that can be used in multiple AD

2) Yes, not perfect but it certainly uses drop tanks in relation to range and local fuel stocks. Again as above, I tend to use a number of ADs with a degree of specialism, so I can often tell it to put all my Typhoons on a given load out for a complete air command. Its the strategic bombers I fiddle around with, esp BC as sometimes I shift the Lancasters etc away from their standard incendiary load

3) yes it creates an air attack in the hex that is latent. This applies all through the next ground phase (yours), the enemy logistics phase and then their ground phase. It hits any movement out of the hex and that includes trucks carrying supplies - so its not just unit moves. It also hits units that reserve react from an interdicted hex - so find the enemy Pzrs and dump a load of interdiction on them

3a) as above your ground phase, enemy logistics phase, enemy ground phase

3b) just that a given mission has added 3 pts of interdiction, so yes it stacks over the air phase but it all evaporates at the start of your next logistics phase

4) tricky, if you think its likely to be a hex with reserve units then interdiction can pay off (they suffer horribly if they react), if you are sure you can get a retreat heavy interdiction can be fatal (all those disrupted and damaged elements trying to escape) but in general the best is GA-unit (anything damaged or destroyed can't fight in the ground attack and anything disrupted now has extra fatigyue) and GS (thing where GS shines is it goes in first and anything disrupted is not available in the upcoming combat). Generally this is the way to go, I usually use LB for the GA-unit and FB or TacBombers for the GS

5) yes, refit has no other effects

edit (4), there is a trade off, GA-interdiction costs you less planes than GA-unit. The unit mission you are telling your bombers hit this road junction, that fortified village etc and of course that is where the AA is. Interdiction, is more flexible so your assets don't have to go head long into the best defences, its all about denying easy movement to the enemy and hammering them if they do move (when they are more vulnerable)

maybe a bit niche, but in the main you can sustain GA-interdiction commitment longer than GA-unit. Even in 1944 the allies can end up with most of their tactical assets out of use if you do too much GA-unit and GS.

Interdiction in the end, wrecks entire armies but its a slow process - and needs to be teamed with a railway campaign

edit (4) as an eg, use the British Mosquito FB in Italy well behind the lines and target railway (the Adriatic coast is ideal as its mostly a single line of raill hexes). By 3 turns of this the German forces will be really struggling for supply and your Mosquitos can hit turn after turn. If you did GA-unit/GS, you get the big immediate hit and then find your air is not available till its recovered.

Thank you very much.

You have saved me much experimentation.

Well, I did do a little experimentation.

Mainly, I wanted to see how much impact bombing a very strong unit made in getting it dislodged. (especially as the road to Messina is a choke point)

So, I ran a before and after. Despite the displayed CV did not seem to change much for the counter or pop-up, the impact of bombing and the AAR was huge.

But the thing is that even in the AAR, it is hard to link the bombing with the fact the final CV just evaporated. Air power is only measured when it is GS in the AAR. The state the air phase puts the unit in prior to ground combat doesn't seem to have any screens which closely correlate air and ground.

Or have I missed something?

Thanks.

PS: I am retired and play games and take courses in my spare time. I was watching one class on the Celtic world and the history of England from Hadrian to the Normans. I think one of the pagan gods of the Celts was Loki. Is that where your ID comes from; Celtic?

What happens is most of the bombing damage is disruption. Once the air phase moves onto the ground phase those disruptions are cleared and converted to fatigue. So even if play left hand - right hand its very hard to see exactly what has happened especially as at the end of the turn the fatigue in turn is reduced.

Now fatigue does hit the cv but it can be a bit lost in other factors. Crudely this is where the cv is a bit misleading, it assumes a value for every element and that there is a mathematical relationship between them. In reality some elements are more important for combat and even a small weakening can escalate.

So the fatigue from the disruption maybe marginal across the unit but really important for the elements hit. If your heavy weapons and combat infantry took the brunt then the unit is now vulnerable.

So yes GA/unit + GS can be lethal but air power is very indirect in this game series.

The name I use is actually from one of my cats at the time I signed up. He was one of those Toms who was convinced the world existed simply to meet him, so I called him Loki after the norse god of mischief.

I come from a Gàidhlig background though I'm not fluent. Typical of my generation my mother basically refused to pass it on and insisted on speaking only English to us (in part as my father was English). So my sister (who lives in the Gaelic speaking western islands) and myself had to relearn as adults. That region was briefly Norse controlled around the 10C but that ended and left little but some place names. Where I live (the Orkneys) is more Norse and the local accent and dialect sounds Norwegian (although with a lot of typical Scots-German in it).

The Gaelic mythos is mostly animist, not sure I'd call it Celtic but its not really an area I know anything over. We tend to animals such as kelpies and selkies linked to places (& of course all overlaid with 1500 years of Christianity)

best advice is not to mess with a kelpie [8D]