AA not firing?

[Vincentz]

Im new to the game, and when Im attacking the AI (planes or ground troops) their AA always fire at me if im within range, but when I have AA, they (almost) never fire. Can anyone explain to me why?

The following images shows 3 AA positions that should have fired against the enemy planes, though none of them did.





also :"Forbidden. Your IP belongs to a high spam risk network. Please, try again without VPN."
I'm not using any VPN. I post from Denmark. Not exactly high risk...

[Trepko]

To be able to fire, a unit needs to:
- be in range
- have ammo
- have at least 1 unsuppressed point.



Judging by your images, my best guess for why your AA didn't fire is simply because ennemy planes attacked your planes (and not your ground units). AA only supports ground units, not planes.

Remember:
- fighter supports tac & strat bombers. Fighters can't be supported
- AA suports every ground units (including other AA) against planes (fighters & bombers)
- "soft support" artillery supports every ground units (including other artillery) against soft attackers
- "hard support" artillery supports ground units (including other artillery, but excluding AT units) against hard attackers
- "counter battery support" artillery supports every ground units (including other artillery) against artillery attackers, but only if you see the artillery attacker
- AT supports ground units (except other AT units) against hard attackers

[Vincentz]

Thanks It was planes against planes. That was very helpful, but does leave the AA even more undesirable imho.
So fighters doesnt support ground troops, only air?

[Trepko]

Fighters also support ground units against fighters & bombers. Sorry, I forgot to mention that in my first post.

Like all units in PzC2, AA are useful. It only depends on situation and how you use it.
Remember, AA (like artillery) has the "mostly suppress" trait (which means they mostly do suppressing dommage, but few kills). That means that when they get XP, they increase precision (like all units), but also their kill/suppress ratio (unlike the other units).
So, a 0-star AA is quite weak, but a 5-star AA is totally overpowered.

[Wolfenguard]

mhh i think it depends on what you play and what general Traits you have
in the normal campaign iam not really use the AA, i work more with Aircrafts

in the SCW i use the denied aircraft and the deadly AA Trait, the planes are so bad, that they only realy work after you get the new stuff
in 39 and 40 i work with the aircrafts again and switch back to AA in the later Scenarios of 41 to 43,
there are some scenarios where the weather change every round, so you can´t really use your aircrafts and have a higher kill rate and support Area with the AA´s

[dalfrede]

20mmAA have LowAltitudeAttack. Which means they fire at CD [Close Defense] of Aircraft with LowAltitudeAttack [Fighters, TB: CD=0].
20mmAA also have MachineGun or QuadGun Trait.[1.5x, 2x].
With high experience the 20mAA will rip into Fighters and TB. ie 4-6 kills.
Strats not so much.

[scorehouse]

Wolfman, when playing the SCW with denied aircraft, 1. What other units to u stock up on? 2. What about acquiring Galland? 3. How many AA's do you carry? and how many 88's do u upgrade to once available? 4. AA's and experience. I think I've read where at a certain level of exp reflected in (fill in the blank) Stars, the AA Hero isn't necessary. U know about that?

[dalfrede]

2. What about acquiring Galland?
4. AA's and experience. I think I've read where at a certain level of exp reflected in (fill in the blank) Stars, the AA Hero isn't necessary. U know about that?

You keep the aircraft you start with, so you can get Galland.
4 Stars on AA will make AA Trait necessary.
88 is good as AT, or against Strats, 20mm better against TB.

[scorehouse]

thanks. I was thinking he didn't bother to use aircraft at all? so I'm curious what units he subs?

[scorehouse]

so Frede, do you spend the slots for the 88's ? its hard to keep infantry away from them especially with none of your own to go on offense? replacements r a prestige gas guzzler! in fact that's a new Hero idea, Zero Replacement Hero!

[dalfrede]

I get 5x AA in SCW and rotate them[for exp]. I use all at Ebro [and other defensive scenarios].
In my latest campaign I upgraded one to 88mm in AO40.

I get 2x 37mm that are used as AT most of the time. When armored AT arrives they stay AA.
I have been using AgressiveDeployment and don't need to upgrade AA [or Art ]to motorized .

[scorehouse]

by 5x AA do you mean 15-OS or does it come with 5x like some other Tank units come with 1.5?

[scorehouse]

or do you mean 5 AA units?

[scorehouse]

I ssume u rotate to build experience stars? I selected Battle Academy but it doesn't seem to work very well?

[VirgilInTheSKY]

Battle Academy doesn't have much meaning in AO, I think. You usually just hit the exp cap during it anyway, and when exp cap gets lifted, it's already 1943.

[Wolfenguard]

Wolfman, when playing the SCW with denied aircraft, 1. What other units to u stock up on? 2. What about acquiring Galland? 3. How many AA's do you carry? and how many 88's do u upgrade to once available? 4. AA's and experience. I think I've read where at a certain level of exp reflected in (fill in the blank) Stars, the AA Hero isn't necessary. U know about that?

1. i Use different AA´s, if you want you can use the planes from the secret caches, the main Problem is, the standart planes dont have really a big chance against the enemys, later it will change a little bit when you get the new stuff, its the same with the tanks, the first one nice to have but the newer versions are more usefull,
2. You get Galland, it not depends on denied aircraft, you only need the right amount of CC
3. it different some times i use more of the 88 and sometimes i stay low and use the smaller versions, the 88 is nice for AT use and the smaller versions are good against inf
4. you need the AA Deadly Trait from the general, to kill the planes with low exp. later when your AA units have some XP Stars and some Bonus like bether supportfire, the trait is a Bonus

5. for overstreng you can overstreng some of your units to 13 for free, like the tanks, where you can overstrengh to 11 for free

[scorehouse]

I knew that about OS to certain levels for free. thanks for the exp info. still don't know why Exp takes so long to build with Battle Academy. I know in the training scenario's u can build it quickly especially without BAcademy, supposedly Double Attack even accelerates it more?