Slitherine

What is the number of British airplanes appearing over Iraq mission?

On the first playthgouh I bet there was a big amount of them, but on the second playthrough there was just hordes of them. I can bet there was around 13-14 of them if not more. I'm sure I downed some 8-9 but they just kept reapearing... I have some 5 Fw 190s and same ammount of bombers. Also 1 Aux Italian Veltro.

I kapt downing them and they just kept reapearing until most of my Fw190's were severely damaged. Although I finally have spare prestige I don't think this mission was supposed to be brute forced (as most mission are not brute forced, and can be DVd with some clever strategy). I beleieve the mission is depenadant on neutralizing radars or airfilds around Bagdad but I'm not sure if this will drop number of British aircraft significantly or if this is the trigger for swarms? If so I will do my best to destroy radars with bombers because with this many Spitfires mission is almost impossible without heavy air losses on my side.

You must neutralize the radar stations with your strategic bombers to reduce the amount of British aircraft. I do agree that there seem to be a ridiculous number of enemy a/c in that scenario.

Neutralizing Baghdad airport radar erases British planes from the skies. In that case there are mere 4 of them.

So neutralizing Baghdad airport should be done ASAP otherwise there is no way to win air battle.

Yes, there are lots of planes and they are quite powerful, but they are manageable as long as you neutralise the radar before the second wave arrives - from memory you have until the end of turn 7 to do this - the briefing warns you of this. This is the crucial part - one time I failed to neutralise the radar, and had a very nasty surprise.

Initially, a few well placed anti aircraft guns can make a big difference. I had an 88 with +1 move hero last time, which was very handy, along with one of the lightweight fast halftracks. Also, don't feel you have to engage more powerful fighters with you own early on. You can use fighters to cover your ground troops to deter attacks and this will keep you close to any supporting AA guns. If you are lucky, the enemy aircraft will attack anyway, take casualties from defensive fire and make it easier for you to finish them off the following turn.

There are some good tips in discussions elsewhere on this forum on the role of initiative in combat, and how to stack the odds in your favour in any form of combat. In my experience this is particularly important for aerial combat, but maybe that's just because a failure is apparent very quickly. The mathematical details are not for everyone, but having overstrength, hard hitting attackers and mass attacks are all important. In essence, you want the higher initiative (5 more gives best results - anything over 5 is wasted) and start with whatever does most damage, so there is less remaining to fire back. Taking a few points off with AA fire before attacking also helps.