Recon spotting base and TF

[Yaab]

A recon unit in Manila was tasked to recon Japanese-occupied Vigan. It flew its mission for several turns. Didn't know you could get NavSearch skill point if you spot a TF at a base. Neat.

[btd64]

Yup, pretty cool .....GP

[Chris21wen]

It not so much that, any air can get random training in any skill but it's much more likely in skills that ac can fly, search in this case.

[Yaab]

They were set to recon Vigan base (50% Recon, 30% rest) since the Japanese landed in Vigan. Prior to the landing the were set to stand dwon. They performed no other mission/training since the landing, so their NavSearch gains came from reconning Vigan, where they spotted Japanese TFs.

[Yaab]

Uhm, I rechecked my recon units flying from Manila.

Four subgroups recon individual bases, two subgroups recon at commander discretion.
HOWEVER, all subgroups have the same setting: Recon mission, 50% SEARCH, 30% Rest.
Actually, what does search do on recons who have individual bases as their recon destination? Are they actually flying two missions: recon over single base + search (is it naval search? a ground search?) in a set range?

[BBfanboy]

Ground Search is called Recon - there is no broad area ground search.
So your Recon aircraft not needed for the Recon mission (only 2 aircraft per air unit will do that each turn) they will fly a naval search mission - presumably with the same range and altitude as the Recon mission. I set mine spare Recons to train in Recon or NavS skill, but since they may fly a distance I watch the fatigue factors.

[Chris21wen]

They were set to recon Vigan base (50% Recon, 30% rest) since the Japanese landed in Vigan. Prior to the landing the were set to stand dwon. They performed no other mission/training since the landing, so their NavSearch gains came from reconning Vigan, where they spotted Japanese TFs.

I repeat what I said about training. Any group can randomly train in something they are not set to train for. The percentage is not high but it happens. Groups with both missions and patrols set can train in them.

You need whole aircraft to carry out any mission, for recon this is one for attack and escort missions the minimum is three. Bad die roles and ready ac can prevent missions and patrols taking place if these numbers cannot be met.

Ignoring die rolls all missions start with all the ready ac being available. Once you start adding patrol options you reduce this number. With your settings you are saying 30% recon, 50% search, 20% rest with the mission taking priority. So 30% of 4 ac round up to a whole number is 1, leaving 2 (50%) for search and one resting. I repeat this is ignoring die rolls. If there are not enough ac in the unit then the mission gets priority followed by the patrols, no idea which first but probably in the order they appear. So if you only had 3 ac available in your group, rest would dip out. (arguably it's not flying so must be resting but that's another thing).

Setting a target has no effect on patrol missions, they do their on thing. If you look at naval search as a mission it has no target, bit like naval attack. What does matter is range (including drop tanks), it affects both mission and patrols as does altitude and night.

[BBfanboy]

I have the Russians activated and some of their Recon squadrons have 32 aircraft - way more than needed. I set 20% (6 aircraft) on the recon mission and the other 80% split between training and rest. I look at both pilot and plane fatigue to determine the mix. Once Recon skill is decent (40+), I start training NavS - very useful with a large number of aircraft available for search - albeit coastal because of the fairly short range. The Russian main patrol aircraft can only do 5 hex patrols while the main Recon aircraft can do 6.
I rest my squadron when home base has Severe Storms, Thunderstorms, or Heavy Rain. That keeps Ops Losses down.

It's all about knowing your aircraft capabilities and limitations and checking their condition once in a while.

[Sardaukar]

I didn't check but might want to divide recon squadrons if it's possible.

[Yaab]

Thanks for the answers.

[BBfanboy]

I didn't check but might want to divide recon squadrons if it's possible.

Yes, Recon squadrons can be split, but the Russians have too few Air HQs and Major Air Bases so you always lack the admin capacity to have more air units.

[Yaab]

I browsed the forum for clues and this is what I have found.

Some players reported that NavSearch overflying land will sometimes find LCUs. Recons set solely to recon sometimes do not fly their mission even if weather is good (Leader checks? Morale checks? No clear answer). Thus, if you set a recon unit on Luzon to recon a base +search setting you can:

-recon a base with 1 pilot
-find TFs and LCUs in a set range with several pilots on search

If a recon pilot sometimes doesn't fly, pilots dedicated to search should still fly, so at least, each turn, you get a sort of pseudo-recon activity from you air group.

This of course should built fatigue fast, so you need to add some Rest in air group's settings.

[BBfanboy]

Like bombing missions, air recon may not fly if there is a good CAP over the enemy base and the Air Unit has a low aggression leader.

[Yaab]

The manual doesn't mention any checks for recon flights. The manual says it is hard for flak and CAP to intercept recons. Recons shouldn't fear CAP because unlike bombers, recon never fly escorted, so they don't rely on escorting fighters vs CAP at destination. I do see though reasonably high pilot fatigue after just one recon mission as if the pilot had to manuever a lot against something (flak and CAP perhaps?) during the mission. My pilots seem getting similar amount of fatigue flying at 10k or 23k feet.

[Chris21wen]

The manual doesn't mention any checks for recon flights. The manual says it is hard for flak and CAP to intercept recons. Recons shouldn't fear CAP because unlike bombers, recon never fly escorted, so they don't rely on escorting fighters vs CAP at destination. I do see though reasonably high pilot fatigue after just one recon mission as if the pilot had to manuever a lot against something (flak and CAP perhaps?) during the mission. My pilots seem getting similar amount of fatigue flying at 10k or 23k feet.

Recon is an offensive mission it is therefore subject to all the rules governing offensive missions. Basically some may not fly.