Aircraft and Artillery Intensity

[Mobhack]

Originally Posted by void1984

Beware, I have a strong feeling that all my pilots prefer my own tanks to enemy's. That's one of reasons for which I prefer regular artillery over attack planes for generated battles. I use them only in scenarios.

Why would anyone use aircraft when they have their own artillery in range?. All SP battles bar any peculiar scenario which an author has specifically excluded arty support from - is in arty range and the arty has not fallen behind the advancing troops (unless you forgot to buy some! )

Aircraft make sense on the operational level - you can concentrate the firepower of planes based in Southern England on one point in Normandy say. If you are prepared to wait a few hours for them to arrive, and ditto once their limited payload is expended, for them to return.

Also on the operational level - aircraft are better used deep in then enemy operational rear on their soft supply elements, rather than as direct battlefield support. Planes natural targets are trucks, not tanks. Even better, they love supply dumps, fuel storage yards and choo-choo trains etc. All stuff that is rather vulnerable to plain HE bombs, and also to MG and cannon. Distinctly unarmoured stuff, basically that is also a large enough target to spot from the air, and that does not have to be chased down individually like some AFV hidden tactically in woods and whatever.

Thus if SP was an operational level game rather than a tactical one, your planes would have some use - whittling down your opponents trucks and trains in the rear and thus depriving his front line troops of fuel, food, and ammo. And requiring diversion of troops into rear area AAA - those 88mm guns that could have been shooting panzers are needed to guard the railheads and rail bridges etc, and the men crewing them and supporting them are no longer available to use at the front.

But at the tactical SP level - planes are really only scenario "eye candy". A battery of 105mm makes far more sense if you want to expend points on something that can reach any area of the battlefield and apply hurt. All planes bring to the party is reconnaissance (their most valuable function is to tell you about the enemy behind that hill really), and some very limited direct fire ability with weapons that are really quite puny v armour (in WW2). There is a reason why those special attack planes which concentrated on belly-pack 75mm Pak or whatever were rare as hen's teeth in the real world. They were not particularly much more effective than general purpose attack planes, and GP attack planes were much better at bashing the real target - the supply system. The hurribomber had far more utility overall to the air commanders of the time than the specialist hurricane with twin 40mm did.

If you have a problem with tigers then do as the Allies really did in the main. Drench the area with concentrations of arty. Your gunners are always in range, as stated above.

A few planes for recce strikes may be cute, and if you PBEM then buy some from time to time so he has to consider wasted points on AAA. Otherwise, planes tend to lack the persistence of an arty battery.

Cheers
Andy