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Supremacy in air

Posted: Thu Oct 18, 2001 1:28 am
by Chairman
What tactic does other players use to get air supremacy as german or russian??

When I play the germa I try this tactic.
After 2-3 turns I starts to hunt soviet fighters.
I am using the tactic to attack with small bomber raids (airfield bombing or interdiction) with heavy fighter cover, doing this with 4-7 bomber units and I will only face bombers on the battle field (well the odd fighter do pop up).

I presume this tactic will work ok for a year or two but might have to change the tactic when the western allies starts to bomb Germany.

Posted: Thu Oct 18, 2001 4:08 am
by Yogi Yohan
Originally posted by Chairman:
What tactic does other players use to get air supremacy as german or russian??

When I play the germa I try this tactic.
After 2-3 turns I starts to hunt soviet fighters.
I am using the tactic to attack with small bomber raids (airfield bombing or interdiction) with heavy fighter cover, doing this with 4-7 bomber units and I will only face bombers on the battle field (well the odd fighter do pop up).

I presume this tactic will work ok for a year or two but might have to change the tactic when the western allies starts to bomb Germany.

This is the strategy I use to re-establish air superiority in the springs of 1942 and 1943 when
playing German against the computer (playing Russian against the Computer is to easy).

I put next to all of my air units on training during rain (since AI doesn't fly airfield attacks in rain). On the first turn of clear/snow, I keep the bombers training and the fighters on CAP, but I do not fly airfield attacks because enemy fighter units will be strong and my escorts might not be able to clear a way for the bombers.

Being able to concentrate on CAP, my fighters do easily defeat most Soviet airfield raids, severly reducing the number of enemy fighters flying. If there is ground combat, enemy fighter forces are furhter depleted. Then, on the second turn, my fresh bombers attack the most important enemy airgroup HQs. Being fresh, they usually outnumber the battle-worn Soviet fighters (especially after my escorts have done their work) and a lot of them hit enemy airfields. These are full of planes damaged from the previous week of fighting and usually suffer huge losses.

This tactic does usually gain me a massive air superiority for the remainder of the year.

Posted: Thu Oct 18, 2001 10:45 am
by sw30
As the soviets, here is what I do:

Keep any and all IL-2, IL-4, and TB-3 units on training in a HQ out of the way. I also keep the new first line craft (Yak-1, LaGG-3 and MiG-3) units on training for a while. You really have no chance until experience is at ~70 or 80. With your junky planes that you don't care about, you just set them together in groups of 10 and pray you inflict some damage. Remember, these planes (I-15/16s, SB/SUs, MiG-1s, etc.) suck, and they are pretty much free throw-aways. so you don't care about losses. I typically have 5 groups of bombers, and 5 groups of fighters, with I-15s on Cap, and the 16's and MiG-1s on Escort. Sometimes, I rest the bombers for a turn, and put everthing on cap. The computer are drawn to these like moths to flame, and you might be able to kill a plane or two. Don't bet on it, but hey, anything's possible. <img src="smile.gif" border="0">

After winter of '41 is over, Yogi's tactic works just as well for the russians as for the germans, now that you have planes on par (well, sort of) with the Germans, and Experience only 10 points below them, Yogi's idea works perfectly against the computer, you can even transfer out the bombers, and transer in the fighters (to a total of 10) all on cap, it's hilarious to watch, because the computer does not know that the 10 groups have no bombers. <img src="smile.gif" border="0"> Versus a human, I try to spread out and do pin-pricks, again, in '42 and '43, you're going to get mauled, but be patient. Eventually, the loss ratio will turn around, and you will have at least parity, if not superiority, in '44 and '45.

Jeff