tiemanjw
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ORIGINAL: obvert
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ORIGINAL: tiemanj
A quick note about sweeps from an AFB perspective (sorry, I know I'm a bit late - just getting caught up).
If you are referring to our game at all, most of my sweeps are between 15k-25k. Strato sweeps may require different settings.
And the reason I do this is because it seemed like my strato sweeps were getting beat up. I tried lower sweeps and seemed to have more success. I ran some tests that strongly suggest this isn't a fluke or imagination. I can post the details if anyone is interested.
Now I'll go work on my turn 
I'm doing some tests in a late war situation, where speed differentials are greater. I'll post these soon too.
One factor in all of this has nothing to do with the planes or altitudes, and that is radar/detection. If raids are detected earlier, planes will not be in the band you set them in, but they'll be adjusting to the incoming strikes. Japanese planes tend to have a better climb rate, on average, than Allied. So setting low doesn't men they stay low, and testing strato sweeps with and without decent radar at the base could provide very different results.
Just so I base my tests on useful situations, here is a list of factors I think I'd want to be aware of, and please let me know if I'm neglecting something;
altitude settings (putting airframes within their better maneuver bands for CAP, sweepers higher than CAP to get dive)
%CAP setting (at zero hex distance, noticing how many actually take part in combat vs those set to active CAP)
layering of CAP (or not)(keeping 3-5k between layers of CAP)
radar (for Japanese make sure to have multiple sets per base)
weather (noticing what effect weather has on tests)
distance to target (keeping in normal range for tests)
airframe(s) sweeping (choose fast with good armament for high sweeps, maneuverable and durable for lower sweeps)
airframe(s) defending (choose fast with good armament for high CAP, maneuverable and durable for lower CAP)
airframe fatigue (make sure it's consistently low)
numbers of planes for each side (how much numbers matter)
pilot fatigue/morale (low and consistent between tests)
pilot quality (aiming for equal between sides and consistent between tests of different airframes/situations)
air group leaders (high leadership, inspiration, air, aggressiveness)
HQ present in defending base with good leader (high air)
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the planes or altitudes, and that is radar/detection. If raids are detected earlier, planes will not be in the band you set them in, but they'll be adjusting to the incoming strikes. Japanese planes tend to have
Nothing I can disagree with here, though I didn't test all of these conditions. I was looking for the best sweep settings for a '44 allied campaign... for example I can't control (or really even know) weather when I set the sweep, so I never bothered to look at its impact.
Also, we all know (or at least suspect) you are better off with low fatigue, high moral, good leaders, etc - but I didn't attempt to isolate any of those variables in testing. I just used "good" for all of that, and reset the turn after each attempt so I was starting with the same every time. I used "custom" airframes with "average" early '44 stats, and varied a variety of them (maneuver, speed, climb rate) up to a high allied rate. The Japanese custom fighter was approximately the Frank-A (and always the defender)
You mention radar - and its impact is HUGE. If the place you are attacking has no radar, strato sweeps are the way to go. If it does have radar (even if the detection time is only a few minutes), strato sweeps where never the way to go. You where (as allies attacking Japanese) better off in the 15-20k maneuver band (though I didn't test the 20k-32k one).
You are better off with maneuver, than speed. Strangely, climb rate had a negative associated (better climb rate, poorer performance). In game terms this means get your spit VIIIs in first, followed by the jugs. It does seem that "time to climb" is factored into "time to target", so all things being equal, lower flying A/C seem to arrive before higher flying A/C more often than not. I did not explicitly test this though. (It also seems sweeps below 20k seem to arrive before my bombers way more often than when I did strato sweeps)
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Playing Allies it's hard to get more than one air group to sweep at a time and if there is anyway to increase that probability of happening, I want to know.
This happens so rarely, I just ignore its possibility from a planning perspective. If it happens, great, but don't count on it. It does seem to happen more often when using like airframes from CVs, though still not regularly enough to plan for.
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