Planes not flying ground strike missions

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Planes not flying ground strike missions - 3/14/2017 2:13:24 PM

Bismarck2761

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It is late '43 and I have 400 FBs in the heel of Italy. I set them to interdict the German forces in front of them. Sometimes one hex; sometimes a 1- or 2- hex area. Sometimes I let AI allocate; sometimes I allocate groups. Air Groups in good shape and min flying % is 20%. I'm finding that half the time the FBs do not fly. There's plenty of supply; good aviation support.

Similarly, I allocate the A-36s/A-20s to Ground Support. They do not fly on matter where I base them.

What am I doing wrong?

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RE: Planes not flying ground strike missions - 3/14/2017 6:55:44 PM

Helpless

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I'm not sure what exactly is not flying. Is this some AD which gets not sorties or you see no planes on ground support strikes during ground combat?

This thread has some hints on GS strikes:
http://www.matrixgames.com/forums/tm.asp?m=4252413

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RE: Planes not flying ground strike missions - 3/15/2017 5:01:53 PM

Bismarck2761

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Thanks. Min % isn't the issue. Nor other issues identified in the threads. Min = 0; allowing Auto allocation; happens in all weather.

is there some reason that attaching too many air units to an air HQ might make a difference? I have about 90 attached to TAC.

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RE: Planes not flying ground strike missions - 3/16/2017 1:59:47 PM

Helpless

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quote:

is there some reason that attaching too many air units to an air HQ might make a difference? I have about 90 attached to TAC.

No, it shouldn't be a issue.

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Pavel Zagzin
WITE/WITW/WITE-2 Development

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RE: Planes not flying ground strike missions - 3/17/2017 1:19:40 PM

Bismarck2761

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Thanks so much. I'm really stumped. I'll try to put some in a different HQ (Malta) and see what happens.

This raises a larger question: Why ever, as the Allies, would you want your B-17s split between 8th and 9th AF, except to get more total air directives?

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RE: Planes not flying ground strike missions - 3/17/2017 2:19:46 PM

LiquidSky

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You don't really.

Whenever I play the allies....and start the game, I spend hours doing my first turn air phase. Most of that time is spent moving squadrons around

To increase my level of sanity.....I put all the British 4 engine bombers (Lancasters and Halifax) in Bomber Command. I put all the US 4 engine bombers in 8th air force along with all the Lightnings.

The RAF Tactical I put all the Typhoons. Along with all the non Night-fighter mosquitos.

Twin engine bombers go to the Med. I put all the planes on Auto Upgrade, which will turn about half the spitfire squadrons into Hurricane squadrons. On subsequent turns I will train them as bombers to be used in the MED as tactical bombers.

Basically I make a role for every air HQ. One of them will be all the recon aircraft. Another will be American 2 engine bombers....and so on. That way it is easy for me to pick the proper HQ for an airdirective.

I find that you do not need a lot of air directives for some mission types. My B-17s will bomb the same 10x10 grid of factories. Bomber command pretty much bombs only the Ruhr. The B26's bomb another grid with a good fighter escort. English 2 engine bombers may hit railyards while the American ones provide Ground support.

Overkill is okay..at some point you will notice about half your bombers are usually resting (recovering morale) while the others are flying.

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RE: Planes not flying ground strike missions - 3/17/2017 2:19:50 PM

loki100

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quote:

ORIGINAL: Bismarck2761

Thanks. Min % isn't the issue. Nor other issues identified in the threads. Min = 0; allowing Auto allocation; happens in all weather.

is there some reason that attaching too many air units to an air HQ might make a difference? I have about 90 attached to TAC.

if you are using auto allocate (ie the selection of planes for each AD) then it *might* be that the Ground attack missions are eating up your airmiles so there is not enough left for the GS mission? This can happen when the distance airbase/front lines is close to the range of your planes.

as to your second question. Guess is like a lot in that the answer is 'it depends'. I tend to try to think of the air commands as discrete blocks either defined by geography or purpose. So with the axis I'll use the regional fleigercorps to put a cluster of fighters etc say into N France or Italy and the 2 Jagd Corps to organise the day/night defense of the Reich. There is no particular logic to this but it seems to work for me.

With the Americans, at the start I empty out 9 Air and then use when the tactical bombers and ground attack planes start to turn up in early 1944, so I'd put all the B-17s into 8 Air. With Bomber Command, early on I might move say the Halifaxes (or at least some) to tac air if I am using them for daylight raids in France while keeping BC for night bombing. As D-day approaches I'll prob shift them back to BC so I have a lot of ADs available from tactical air.

But this is really just how I've mentally organised things so it makes as much sense as possible to me.

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RE: Planes not flying ground strike missions - 3/17/2017 4:21:07 PM

Devonport

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Another thought on organisation. I do much as Liquid Sky does although I don't switch much between theatres (a handicap I give myself as I only play against the AI).

Within Bomber Command I will usually use the two different 4 engine bombers (Lancasters and Halifaxs) in separate Directives. Similarly with the B-17s and Liberators in 8th USAAF. This makes it simple to change load outs if you want to maximise bomb loads on closer targets. It's not much of a chore, and can make a significant difference to the payload delivered.

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Post #: 8