A few questions about airstrikes

[John Given]

Hello everyone.

I have always wondered about a few things regarding the use of airstrikes that never quite made sense to me. I was hoping some of you folks could clarify:

I noticed that airstrikes in a given scenario always seem to come from the same direction for a particular side. So, do airstrikes follow the armor facing rules when striking armored targets?

There are often a number of different planes on the list of strikes remaining, and I wondered; must these planes be chosen ramdomly by the computer when it comes time for the strike, or can I SELECT an anti-armor fighter for an anti-tank strike, a bomber for infantry, etc?


That's all for now! :)

[Jason Petho]

Hello everyone.

I have always wondered about a few things regarding the use of airstrikes that never quite made sense to me. I was hoping some of you folks could clarify:

I noticed that airstrikes in a given scenario always seem to come from the same direction for a particular side. So, do airstrikes follow the armor facing rules when striking armored targets?


No, my understanding is that they do not.

There are often a number of different planes on the list of strikes remaining, and I wondered; must these planes be chosen ramdomly by the computer when it comes time for the strike, or can I SELECT an anti-armor fighter for an anti-tank strike, a bomber for infantry, etc?


That's all for now! :)

The computer will select for you. You have no control over which type of aircraft is coming to attack, nor when it will arrive, nor which target the attack will actually strike when it does come.

Take care and good luck
Jason Petho

[Boonierat]

You can control which planes will make the next attack but I think I remember the program use them in the same order they were selected in the scenario editor, for example, if they were set as:

P-47
P-51
P-47
P-38
P-47

They will be use in that order in during the scenario, but I maybe wrong, been a while I haven't played CS unfortunately :(

[SoccerDJ]

Do you know if there is some way that the computer calculates where it will strike or how far from your selected target it will strike?
Also how does it decided whether or not to come at a certain turn cause sometimes I have to wait a few turns before my airstrike will come? And what are the factors besides getting shot down that keep them from coming?

thanks, DJ

[Jason Petho]

You can control which planes will make the next attack but I think I remember the program use them in the same order they were selected in the scenario editor, for example, if they were set as:

P-47
P-51
P-47
P-38
P-47

They will be use in that order in during the scenario, but I maybe wrong, been a while I haven't played CS unfortunately :(


EF2 Manual states on PG 45:

If a side has more than one type of air attack assigned to it, the Air Attack that arrives is randomly determined from the "pool" of air attacks for that side (as determined by the scenario designer).


Hope that helps
Take care and good luck
Jason Petho

[Jason Petho]

Do you know if there is some way that the computer calculates where it will strike or how far from your selected target it will strike?
Also how does it decided whether or not to come at a certain turn cause sometimes I have to wait a few turns before my airstrike will come? And what are the factors besides getting shot down that keep them from coming?

thanks, DJ


An Air Attack has a 65% chance of arrival on each turn (and each turn thereafter until it arrives). An arriving Air Attack will not always attack the target you pick; it will search for a proper target within about a five hex radius of its plotted hex. The more targets that there are within that radius the less likely it is that the Air Attack will hit the plotted location. There is even a slight chance that an Air Attack may make a mistake and attack a "friendly" unit!

For the arrival, it seems to boil down to the role of a die.

If you lose LOS to the plotted location during the opening of your turn, the airstrike will be aborted - and you lose the strike.

Hope that helps
Take care and good luck
Jason Petho

[SoccerDJ]

Thanks Jason. Its a good thing we have you around or we would all be lost.

DJ

[Jason Petho]

Thanks Jason. Its a good thing we have you around or we would all be lost.

DJ


My pleasure indeed!

Take care and good luck
Jason Petho

[Big Ivan]

A word of caution abot losing LOS and close quarters. I've had my own airstrikes hit my own troops and it hurts! This has happened on more than on ocassion in close quarters combat.

Thanks
Big Ivan

[John Given]

I think the manual said there is a chance the airstrike will hit within 5 hexes of the original target hex. Based on that, I always use airstrikes as a kind of anti-armor artillery.

Also, I've noticed that stikes are composed of exactly 3 planes, and that some planes are armored! (especially some Russian ones in the late-war period)

:cheeky: