PoorOldSpike wrote: ↑Sun Jun 28, 2020 1:36 pm
Returning to the AA topic, did I imagine it or did my bomber suffer a 1-point strength loss when attacking a tank?
Maybe a recent tweak in a recent patch ? Because the same thing happened to me twice in a random scenario last night , my Italians vs. British. Two different air units took a one point loss while attacking British ground units in two different attacks.
Perhaps the odds of it happening were increased because the Italians aren't using super star equipment to begin with ,
AND I was playing with Green Army against AI British who obviously were not using Green Army ?
---
I really , really love the AA / Air defense aspect of this game. I'm almost disappointed when my Fighters clear the skies of enemy aircraft , because then my AA guns have nothing to shoot at , and nothing to do.
It's hard to talk about AA , though , in coherent , concrete terms , because up to this point I haven't been using / studying the combat log feature , so I have been managing air defense exclusively via vague impressions.
I never use the AA Veteran trait , so AA / Air Defense is exclusively about suppression , so , I suppose , it is even more about the look of things , and feelings in my big toe .
The AI's number one priority target seems to be artillery . So my AA guns follow around my artillery like Siamese Twins. In my movement phase , barring the occasional exceptional circumstance , I always move my artillery first , then position my AA guns to hopefully cover the artillery , and then move everything else.
I cast covetous eyes on the SturmPanzer and the Wespe , ( but never buy them .
) and I always DO buy a half-track towed Nebelwerfer , but , otherwise , despite all the tempting choices in artillery , I only ever buy half - track towed 15 cm , and half - track towed 21 cm guns.
Consequently then , I only buy half - track towed AA guns , and only two models ; The 3.7cm Flak 37 , and the 2cm Flakvierling 38 , because , as I said , their number one job is protecting the artillery , and they only have to keep up with towed artillery.
Sometimes I wind up with two Flakvierlings and one Flak 37 , or , two Flak 37's and one Flakvierling 38.
I have acquired a lot of experience with the 3.7cm Flak 37 because it is very cheap ( one core slot )
AND I LIKE THE LOOK OF IT.
The Germans themselves seemed to like it ; they later mounted that gun on the Stuka , and mounted it later on the Gepard ( Another unit I would love to buy , but never do.
)
The Flakvierling 38 with its rapid fire
SEEMS to perform better ( ? ) against low - flying ( ? ) tactical bombers and strafing fighters .
But the 3.7cm Flak 37
SEEMS to perform better against high - flying strategic bombers ( ? ) , and performs , err , tolerably well against the low - flying aircraft.
Further up the page someone said the Flakvierling 38 performs well against infantry ? I wouldn't know because I never move my AA guns into the front line on account of some nasty experiences I have had with my good - looking 3.7cm Flak 37's.
The listed stats of the 3.7cm Flak 37 against infantry or tanks look pretty darn good , and as I pointed out , they later mounted that gun on the Stuka to turn it into a wicked tank killer , but , in my experience , the 3.7cm Flak 37 performs really badly against infantry and tanks.
Maybe my technique in using it in the ground role somehow sucks ?
The Italians have an AA gun called the Breda -- something ( ? ) which looks very similar to the 3.7cm Flak 37 and
SEEMS to perform very similar to the Flak 37.
As impressive as the German 88 is , I can buy three Flak 37 's / Flakvierling 38 's for the price of one 88 , and if I want AT , I always wind up buying SPAT anyway. So I never buy the 88.
Speaking of the 88 though , the Italians have an AA gun --- I forget what it is called
--- very similar to the German 88. Like the German 88 , it is hell on aircraft , and a darned decent AT gun too. Indeed , if we ever get an Italian campaign , I would forgo the the early war towed Italian AT gun , and buy the Italian 88 - clone instead and use it for both AA and AT in the particular case of the Italians.
( In the particular case of the Italians , because their tanks suck so bad , their infantry essentially ARE their front line , at least early war , so I find towed AT to be a lot more handy in their case than in the German case. )
Now , finally , as to my Air Defense strategy ;
Hopefully my Flak 37 / Flakvierling 38 trio mitigates substantially the damage to my artillery from the enemy air , and it indeed
SEEMS to do so.
Secondly it softens up the enemy aircraft sufficiently for my Fighters to knock them out of the sky with minimal fighter losses . ( I concentrate on destroying enemy fighters first , then tactical bombers second , then strategic bombers third , in that order. ) And that likewise
SEEMS to work pretty well.
