Unit class question
 

I think I may have asked this before, but I can't seem to find an answer. Does the attack helicopter class actually differ from the regular helicopter class in how the game treats the unit or is the stipulation that light helicopters shouldn't be armed in the game manual just a design convention?

If the formations were properly balanced, would armed light helicopters really be an issue?

Re: Unit class question
 

well - you could try arming some light helos and then playing two sides AI versus AI, one with these things, and then see if the AI uses them as attack helos?

Also - in the next version of the exe, light helo class will get the FOO benefits, and added cost adjustment for same.

Why not just use the light attack and coin armed helo classes if you need a different sort of armed helo?.

Cheers
Andy

Re: Unit class question
 

This is for the Vietnam pack I've been working on. In terms of formation accuracy, there really should be no difference in the US OOB between the scout helos and light attack ones. Arming of scout helicopters in the Aeroscout elements of Air Cav units became pretty much the norm after studies concluded the importance of this by the mid-1960s. This was the first consideration.

Secondly, in that OOB I'm currently using all the armed helicopter classes as such:

Attack Helo - For what its intended, attack helos
Light Attack Helo - Armed Aeroscout type helicopters
COIN Armed Helo - This is perhaps the issue, because this class is for Aerial Rocket Artillery until the end of 1969, but for "Nighthawk" type gunships specially modified for night operations.

Now the Nighthawks were intially just another attack helo, but seperating them by class allowed them to be more isolated in terms of how they could be purchased, and for more specific formations including them to be created.

The primary issue with the historical accuracy, is the fact that the AH-1G was used in the ARA role after 1969, and I'm not entirely sure when ARA was removed from the TO&E, if it even technically has, but so this was the reason I asked. If I could combine the light attack helos with the light helos, then I could make the nighthawks light attack helos, and free up the COIN armed helo class for ARA helicopters.

Re: Unit class question
 

If it for your own OB - then do as you wish, but remeber to check what happens if the AI gets any.

The fact that most light observation helos have no armament is because they typically don't - they are there to spot, (and in the next release will be arty spotter specialists as well)- not to get into combat.

Cheers
Andy

Re: Unit class question
 

Alright, good to know. The more I think, and with the fact that for my OOB set I've removed all air force air craft from the US Army OOB and placed them in a seperate one, that it might be better suited as a strike aircraft anyhow, because of how ARA was employed.

Heh, just a really slow strike aircraft.

Re: Unit class question
 

Wow! That's a good news http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif Looking forward to see Kiowa Scouts peeping over the hills and calling in a rain of shells http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

@Thatguy: just got the same idea with Hind helicopters for Afghanistan, they were often employed with 100kg or even larger bombs (up to 10 FAB-100 if the location was lowland)... Most likely will get them into some COIN class.

Re: Unit class question
 

Yeah, but I'm wondering if it might be better suited to an attack helo class. My Vietnam pack turned into a sort of total conversion, so I still have the strike aircraft class and both the bomber classes free. I might use them for things.

Also, how is this shift in the benefits of the Light Helo class going to affect nations which don't use unarmed scout helos anymore? The most glaring instance of this to me is the US. The OH-58D is the primary unit in this role currently, and is not fielded in an unarmed configuration. Are OOB designers simply going to create a fictional unarmed OH-58D as a light helo and armed OH-58Ds as light attack helos?

Re: Unit class question
 

If you look at the OOB you'd see the answer to your question

There's already a unit in the US OOB that falls into that catigory ( U-296 ) so no, we won't have to create one as it's already been created and been there for years and there are already FOUR OH-58D's in the OOB as light attack Helos.

Don

Re: Unit class question
 

I had meant create one in terms of how it exists in reality, for purposes of gameplay and AI functionality. I did not know the unarmed OH-58D existed, but this makes sense because both the USA and USMC OOBs both have formations for these helos that go from 1946-2020. I was merely talking about real life employment, and so as you've said, you've already created this unit for this functionality, though in reality it doesn't really exist in the US Army TO&E.