Plane Baiting

[AnalogGamer]

Greetings all,

How do you do it? What are your favorite methods for drawing those enemy aircraft to their doom?

One of my favorite ways is to use their own priorities against them.

My Wurfies only fire two hexes. That means they are seen. My fighter sits one hex back. Blap. Every time. The enemy AI has a real fetish for those things. A 7/1 AAA makes a great pairing with a fighter, to vaporize an enemy plane.

Placing a fighter on a line between the enemy airfield where I know a wounded plane is re-fitting and my intentionally-exposed units works very well. They fly out all fresh, and right into my guns.

I would also like to ask the community if anyone has done tests on which unit the enemy planes hate the most. Which one has the greatest potential for air response? My vote goes to the Wurf, but that is just from personal observation.

Thanks for your attention.

[proline]

Anti-AI exploits have been discussed in detail here:
http://www.slitherine.com/forum/viewtop ... it#p470089

[PoorOldSpike]

Greetings all,
How do you do it? What are your favorite methods for drawing those enemy aircraft to their doom?
One of my favorite ways is to use their own priorities against them.
My Wurfies only fire two hexes. That means they are seen. My fighter sits one hex back. Blap. Every time. The enemy AI has a real fetish for those things. A 7/1 AAA makes a great pairing with a fighter, to vaporize an enemy plane.
Placing a fighter on a line between the enemy airfield where I know a wounded plane is re-fitting and my intentionally-exposed units works very well. They fly out all fresh, and right into my guns.
I would also like to ask the community if anyone has done tests on which unit the enemy planes hate the most. Which one has the greatest potential for air response? My vote goes to the Wurf, but that is just from personal observation.
Thanks for your attention.

I'm not sure I understand mate. When an enemy fighter attacks your Wurfie, that's no guarantee that your fighter and nearby flak will be able to destroy it. And what's the Wurfies 2-hex range got to do with anything?
We all have our own play style of course, mine is to buy extra fighters to form a hunting pack of 3 to pounce on enemy fighters wherever they are and wipe them out.
PS- I find that enemy planes seem to like attacking my trucks.

[AnalogGamer]

Thanks proline. Always like new info.

My wurf targets usually see two hexes so my two hex range gets wurf into visual range when I want it to. No, there is no guarantee the plane will die when it attacks, but it won't live past my next turn.

If I show the enemy seemingly unprotected targets, I know where it is going. If all it "sees" is covered units, things get more chancy.

[PoorOldSpike]

I'm not a big AA fan myself because AA units are so weak. The average AA unit will inflict only 2 kills on a 10-size aircraft, so next turn the plane will still have a size of 8 and still be dangerous.
That's why if I've got enough purchase points and free slots, I'll always buy enough fighters to kill him and his mates stone dead once and for all, as I rarely buy AA..

[captainjack]

AA weak? Yes, when inexeprienced, but I think you are missing out on the joys of experienced AA with +2AA per star and the -5 defence penalty for attacking Tac bombers and fighters.

I have a 13 strong 3* Sdkfz 7/1 which can take off 7 or 8 points (and occasionally 10) off a careless attacker. Add the ability to take 3 or 4 off pretty much any aircraft wihin range from an attack before the fighters get to work on it (one has a range hero which helps), and the fact that it deters most tac bombers and fighters from trying to attack (unless they don't spot your AA), and you have a useful unit. Sure an AT or artillery switch would be nice for when you have cleared the skies, but that never really happens after about 41, where second and third waves of aircraft are common. Even if you do clear the skies, with two artillery backup your AA unit can bait infantry in Stalingrad with minimal risk.

[PoorOldSpike]

AA weak? Yes, when inexeprienced, but I think you are missing out on the joys of experienced AA with +2AA per star and the -5 defence penalty for attacking Tac bombers and fighters...

Thanks, in a perfect world experienced AA would be easily available, but the engine has a habit of only dishing up ordinary zero-exp units for us.
However maybe I was a bit too harsh on AA when I said it was weak, because on second thoughts an ordinary zero-exp AA will usually kill 2 planes and supress 2 more, which takes a hefty 40 percent of a 10-size air unit out of the game that turn.
PS- The minus 5 defence penalty for attacking Fighters and Tacs, is not showing in the combat readouts, so who exactly gets penalised, the AA or the planes?

[stormbringer3]

When captainjack mentions a range hero on an aa unit, does that only apply on offence and on defence you still need to be adjacent to the unit so the extra range won't help?
Thanks.

[goose_2]

When captainjack mentions a range hero on an aa unit, does that only apply on offence and on defence you still need to be adjacent to the unit so the extra range won't help?
Thanks.

Correct, a range hero only assists in the offensive mode of a unit. You must be adjacent to unit to protect it whether you are arty or AA

[AnalogGamer]

I adore my 7/1. Once it gets any over-strength, it rips into planes on offense and defense.

It helps keep most attacks on in-range planes down to a single-fighter attack, rather than using two to make the kill.

I usually only have 1 AAA until USA, but sometimes I "prep" for America by buying two early and ramping them up.

Once a 7/1 has earned some heroes and stars, it can be turned into an uber-88 if desired. Test a 13-strength 88mm on planes and watch the carnage.

My five fighters still only allow one to roam in order to cover my attack planes, so the AAA is needed somewhere every battle. I deep-strike my planes to kill/wound things before they ever reach me, so my air clusters are not often over my ground clusters after the initial breakout. If I just wait around for all that Kursk armor to break against me I would never get a DV. I hunt 'em down with planes and movement-hero Tigers and attack-hero Panthers.

AAA is critical to baiting for me. I used to have one for each of my three main forces by USA.

[captainjack]

When captainjack mentions a range hero on an aa unit, does that only apply on offence and on defence you still need to be adjacent to the unit so the extra range won't help?

Correct. Defensive fire only applies when your AA or any unit next to it is attacked, and range has no effect. Defnsive fire is when you benefit from the low altitude attack penalty, which reduced an attacking tac bomber's or fighter's defence by 5, which is typically worth 15 to 20% extra kills (1 or 2 for 10 strength, 2 or 3 for a 13 strength unit).

While AA can be used to attack, its true strength is in defending units. The combination of high move plus long range is very handy as the mobile AA can protect front line units (which a towed gun can't) which are the primary targets of the enemy aircraft, and teh longer range allows it to weaken planes while still protecting front line troops. For an 88 or 128, I'd want a move hero, because they already have a long range and the move allows them to be a better defensive unit as it can keep up with moving units.