Air recon units: problems and solutions

[Vorskl]

Just like 21cm artillery, IMHO, air recon units are superpowered and require some nerfing to bring the balance back to the game.
Air recon cost ridiculously low (1 slot, 50-70 prestige), provide higher sight than ground recons (4 vs 3 hexes), and allow to spam/distract AI by splitting them and blocking the skies.
These planes were shittiest "plywood and glue" models flying normally alone (in comparison, fighters, Il-2 etc were always used in group). Yet in the game 10-unit strong recon survive an encounter with a 10-unit strong fighter.

To bring the sense back to this class, may I propose following changes:
- 'cardboard' planes like Po-2, Storch, L-2 grasshopper and such should have a fixed, no-split unit strength of 3 (prestige and slots could be the same as now). That guarantees the player cannot exploit game mechanics and makes these units very vulnerable, oneshot-able, hence decreasing their utility. Also, limit their sight to 3
- introduce new units - specialized recon planes, such as Fw-189 UHU, Su-12 (Soviet prototype similar to Uhu), Curtiss O-52 Owl. Make them normal strong, 4-5 sight range, more expensive slot and $$$-wise.

This will present a choice for the player: invest into something that can withstand a rendezvous with AA or fighters OR buy cheap single-use junk to get some info.

[George_Parr]

I don't really see a problem with them.

Them flying alone doesn't seem like a reason to me for making them so weak. Downing one plane doesn't somehow destroy the whole wing. If anything, them operating seperately would make them less vulnerable, as the enemy can't be everywhere at the same time. It's much easier to destroy something that bunches together than it is to destroy something that is spread far apart. I also think the added recon-range is just fine, seeing how one has a view from the sky, while the other can only report what he sees from ground-level. The former gives a much broader overview over the area.

If anyone feels the need to split them to do something gamey, that is up to them. No need to punish everyone else for it. It's not like splitting a rather weak plane like that doesn't come at the risk of losing both parts.

Now, it could be worthwile to allow for stronger and more durable recon-planes later on, but I don't see any general issues which require drastic changes.

[Tassadar]

Recon units were often flying low and/or slow, which made intercepting them surprisingly difficult. In fact a Po-2 in the Korean war is credited with the only known aerial victory against a jet fighter by a biplane (although it's an overstatement to use the term victory) when a Lockheed F-94 Starfire slowed down too much and fell to the ground when trying to take one out.

That's why I think the 10 power, understood just as a game mechanic is perfectly fine. Also making them cost more then 1 prestige would make players less likely to get them, as it's prestige that cannot contribute damage. That said, there could be 2 slot recons that would have superior range, spotting and passive air attack to defend themselves, I've been an advocate of this for quite a while to make things more interesting. This could be followed by a small stat nerf to the lighter planes to make them more vulnerable and justify the more expensive ones, but this would have to be a very subtle stat change to not render them totally useless.

[adiekmann]

The Fw-189 Uhu was originally developed as a light bomber and had defensive armament. Therefore, it could have a weak ground attack stat, greater defensive stats and range than the existing recon aircraft. Plus, it was used as a recon aircraft a lot! We're not talking about a fringe/prototype aircraft where only 5 were made. In fact, and I've said this before on this forum, it rather than the Storch should have been the only recon aircraft available to the Germans in the game. The storch was more of a personal transport plane for officers than a purely dedicated recon aircraft like the Uhu.

The AI seldom attacks recon aircraft I have noticed. It only bothers to when no better targets are available. Otherwise, I think the stats changes discussed above are unnecessary.

[Vorskl]

Recon units were often flying low and/or slow, which made intercepting them surprisingly difficult. In fact a Po-2 in the Korean war is credited with the only known aerial victory against a jet fighter by a biplane (although it's an overstatement to use the term victory) when a Lockheed F-94 Starfire slowed down too much and fell to the ground when trying to take one out.

That's why I think the 10 power, understood just as a game mechanic is perfectly fine. Also making them cost more then 1 prestige would make players less likely to get them, as it's prestige that cannot contribute damage. That said, there could be 2 slot recons that would have superior range, spotting and passive air attack to defend themselves, I've been an advocate of this for quite a while to make things more interesting. This could be followed by a small stat nerf to the lighter planes to make them more vulnerable and justify the more expensive ones, but this would have to be a very subtle stat change to not render them totally useless.

Fw-189 (and Stuka) are probably the most iconic Luftwaffe planes in the Soviet culture. Virtually any war memoir mentions Fw-189 (nicknamed 'Frame' in USSR) and how much Soviet troops hated it because Fw-189 would virtually stall in the sky for hours, coordinating the enemy fire. That was the particular case at Stalingrad and Kursk battles. With that, Fw-189 were tough and self-protected; Soviet pilots managed to shot them down easily only from 1944 onwards. I think in the western literature Fw-189 considered as well one of masterpieces of German war aviation. Yet we dont have this iconic plane, instead have Romanian planes that noone heard about.

[R2G2]

Just like 21cm artillery, IMHO, air recon units are superpowered and require some nerfing to bring the balance back to the game...

I wouldn’t say they are superpowered, but I do agree with the splitting issue you mention. I added the No Split trait for an air recon mod I recently uploaded.

As for unit strength, it never changed the AI’s response in my testing. The AI will completely bypass a 1 strength unit to attack a 10 strength unit. I think this is because Prestige damage inflicted plays a big role in the AI’s attack decisions.

When air recon Prestige cost increases, the AI will give them high attack priority. Unfortunately, I could never find a nice balance with the AI’s priority on all air units. So I kept the prestige the same, but changed some other traits/stats.

If you get a chance, please check out the mod and let me know what you think. Also, I could easily make you a custom mod based on your personal preferences. I’ve already got all the files made, so it would only take a few minutes to make adjustments.