Sam Fubar?

[Alexander Seil]

I'm amazed that after 3 years of playing (since I mostly play pre-1945 and even pre-1939 scenarios, so it didn't jump out at me) I haven't realized that SAMs are bugged. At the very least, using 1.04.01 COW, I'm getting no range for SAM missiles if they are marked as AAs, and a range of one if they are marked as artillery, and that at 2.5km per hex in the editor. I was made rather suspicious by the fact that some of the Cuban SAMs stating a 3 hex range shown only 1-hex range as a unit (they were marked as fixed artillery). Standard AA units don't even show range. It basically renders the entire SAM part of the database kind of pointless, at least as far as area coverage is concerned (I suppose it still works against direct air attacks), methinks. Strangely, I don't remember ever noticing this problem before, so perhaps it was introduced in a patch? :crosseye:

[JMS]

I'm amazed that after 3 years of playing (since I mostly play pre-1945 and even pre-1939 scenarios, so it didn't jump out at me) I haven't realized that SAMs are bugged. At the very least, using 1.04.01 COW, I'm getting no range for SAM missiles if they are marked as AAs, and a range of one if they are marked as artillery, and that at 2.5km per hex in the editor. I was made rather suspicious by the fact that some of the Cuban SAMs stating a 3 hex range shown only 1-hex range as a unit (they were marked as fixed artillery). Standard AA units don't even show range. It basically renders the entire SAM part of the database kind of pointless, at least as far as area coverage is concerned (I suppose it still works against direct air attacks), methinks. Strangely, I don't remember ever noticing this problem before, so perhaps it was introduced in a patch? :crosseye:

Some experimentation has led me to conclude that the problem is not that ranged SAM fire doesn't work but that the factors are way too low. IF ECM ratings are high enough, AND AA factors of the SAMs are high enough (I tried multipliying the factors times 100 and 1000) you are able to provoke losses (11% in the x100s, 34% in the x1000s) so there are 2 ways around this: SAM units with the correct number of launchers x a factor (i.e. 600 for a S-75/SA-2 battalion) or modding the executable through the use of Bioed.

But note that ECM are critical in the ability of SAM to connect a hit.