Air to Ground Attacks

[Starmyth]

I have had such terrible luck with any effective air to ground assaults that I pretty much rely on arty and ground forces. A side benefit is that the arty and ground forces gain xp that would have gone to the air units.

[desh44]

Air attacks are hard to use effectively....I find that you have to set the angle of ingress and egress to allow for the lest exposure to AA fire....I also try to have the have several and have them all arrive on the same turn or after suppressing any AA guns with artillery....If nothing else they are good for spotting hidden units sometimes...On the first turn of the game I shut off the main bomb load and send groups of aircraft across the board and they can usually spot several concentrations of troops...I seldom pick spotter planes...They just don't survive long enough and usually get shot down without seeing anything.

Tom

[Double_Deuce]

desh44 said:...On the first turn of the game I shut off the main bomb load and send groups of aircraft across the board and they can usually spot several concentrations of troops...

This should also prevent unwanted fratricide until you have located a nice big juicy target to attack in a follow up strike.

[Helm]

I've had no luck with recce planes either, it's a suicide or punishment posting in my army heh

[narwan]

As flak units are usually deployed behind the frontline troops, try to get smoke screens between the two. You'll still be able to spot the combat troops but screened from (most) AA fire. And plan your spotting circle right, get it as far away from the suspected enemy positions as possible while still having the edge of the circle close to the area you want to see.
And always have an arty strike on the area first immediately prior to your spotting run to discourage close range aamg fire. Most vehicles with those will be buttoned after the arty hit so won't fire these.

And only plot those spotting runs if you're ready to immediately exploit the info they'll get you. Otherwise the enemy might displace and you'll have risked your spotter for very little gain.
Then there's the option of flying runs well into your own area. You might spot moving vehicles from quite a long way away and perhaps some Flak will fire at you from extreme ranges. Those won't be likely to hit your scout (eg recon by contact using spotters) but now you know a few area's to either stay away from, screen with smoke for closer looks or hit with arty.

Buy multiple spotters and combine these tactics: use smoke to screen some likely Flak positions, use artillery to strike the area your spotters will overfly, have one or two fly well over your own lines to draw (some of) the remaining AA fire and end with one or two flying over the spots you really want to have a look at and have a good chance they'll live through it.


Narwan

[Mobhack]

The spotter plane is an amazingly useful defensive aid, as moving vehicles are easily seen.

Potter above your own lines, and enemy thrust lines will become apparent. No need to brave his flak.

Also useful in PBEM, as human opponents will tend to move motorised forces about to shift into new defensive positions more than the AI. The spotter plane circling over your lines (and well away from his flak!) can usuallly see these moving vehicles reasonably easily. (especially in high visibility maps).

Cheers
Andy

[Mobhack]

Helm said:
I've had no luck with recce planes either, it's a suicide or punishment posting in my army heh

On the contrary, they are so easy to use that it makes an advance against the AI a cake-walk, especially in say a desert terrain

There are 2 ways to use recce planes
1) The suicide option, where you target areas deep in the enemy zone, and trundle happily to your execution at short range. Remember that your recce plane will be making a circuit, so will get more shots than a strike would. And being withing 500m of an AAA piece is rather dangerous, esp if you are circling and so it does not lose LOS on your scout plane..

2) The sane option, which I use. First circuit is over my lines, or in lower visibility, just enough to perhaps see into the enemy front line. But without exposing myself to any but (possibly) long range fires. If no AAA fire is recieved, next pass will be a little closer. If AAA fire is recieved, I should be far enough away that it will only be lucky shots that get me. But I usually buy 2 anyway, recce air is far mor valuable than strike air. As and when AAA is recieved:
a) Don't fly around there again - or at least until point b) is addresed:
b) drop great dollops of art on the revealed flak area.
c) Once you have killed the flak - try teasing it out again, see if it is neutralised.
d) meanwhile, look (cautiously) elsewhere, maybe there is a blind zone, or you find another flack nest - if so, add to the list for "treatment"

Smoke can also help to block AAA lines of fire, but HE is better

If you tease out the enemy flack, and apply anti-flack treatment, then you may well be able to overfly the enemy eventually later in the battle. Until then, look slantwise from behing your safe line.

If I use strike air, then I wait till the spotter planes have determined the flack spots, and till the AAA threat is reduced by the arty. Then I use my flights.

Cheers
Andy

[Flyboy]

Some great tactical advice. Thanks guys.

I especially like turning off the bomb loads to use strike aircraft as spotters on the first turn - sneaky!