demonterico
Posts: 292
Joined: 10/16/2002
From: Seattle WA
Status: offline
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From the Japanese perspective the primary function of an AV is aircraft maintenance. They are usually seaplane carriers as well, although I believe the Japanese do have an AV or two with a capacity of only one. It is my understanding that in UV, AVs can not fly planes while at sea. I could be wrong on this point, but when I started playing UV I asked this same question, and the answer then was only a CS could launch and recover seaplanes while at sea. I'm speaking here about how things work within the game of UV itself. From that time I have always played UV following that limitation. I also believe that in UV, AVs do not maintain the larger floatplanes such as Emilys and Mavises, I believe I tried it once and had to finally ship in a base force to get the planes out of maintence. Once again I could be wrong on this point as well, but thats how I've been playing it. AVs only support seaplanes and do not support standard ground landed aircraft. They do support Ruffes, as well as Jakes, Alfs, and Petes. So thats the answer to your question, what are AVs used for. The next question you might ask are what are the seaplanes they support used for? That is a question I've also seen from time to time in these forums. I find seaplanes useful in several different capacities.
Ruffes- Zeros with pontoons. Use them for cap/LRcap on locations without airfields. A friend once told me that the Ruffe pilots were the most elite. However, they are quite limited in number so I don't over expose them.
Alfs- Great range. Use them for naval search. I even take them off the cruisers and mass them at key locations to have good coverage of all enemy approach routes.
Jakes - Good range, carries bombs. If enemy ships are known to be in the area, or if there is nothing with better range available, they can be used for naval search. Otherwise I use them for ASW. For ASW I once again select key locations and then station a squadron or two of float planes there. In this manner I'm able to keep well covered the best operating grounds for enemy subs. I've even used Jakes, loaded on a CS, to make a naval attack on a convoy. Unfortunately, their small bombs were not very effective.
Petes - Very short range. Because of its range limitations its useless as a search aircraft, so therefore I use Petes exclusively for ASW. Placed at an impotant base they can prevent enemy subs from blockaiding to close. Deployed correctly in the Solomon Islands they can harras enemy subs trying to enter or patrol the slot. Deployed at Gili Gili they can cover the straight between the Coral Sea and the Solomon Sea.
You'll soon see that often a key location lacks any type of airfield, or maintenance support. Thats the best place for your AVs. Unfortunately they are easy targets, so I usually try not to over expose them to attack. At the first sign of any nearby enemy activity I send them scurrying back to the rear areas. Also, don't deploy them unescorted, or a sub will get em. One last point, even though AVs are seaplane carriers I try to avoid using them in this role. If the AV gets sunk any planes on board go down with it. For that reason I prefer to transfer the squadrons off the AVs onto the land. The maintenance on the seaplanes is still done, and if I need to move an operation to a new location, I sail the AV there, and fly the planes there, fatigue and wearther permiting, of course.
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The world has never seen a more impressive demonstration of the influence of sea power upon history. Those far distant, storm-beaten ships, upon which the Grand Army never looked, stood between it and the dominion of the world. -- Alfred Thayer Mahan
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