Air Campaign Questions

Gary Grigsby’s War in the West 1943-45 is the most ambitious and detailed computer wargame on the Western Front of World War II ever made. Starting with the Summer 1943 invasions of Sicily and Italy and proceeding through the invasions of France and the drive into Germany, War in the West brings you all the Allied campaigns in Western Europe and the capability to re-fight the Western Front according to your plan.

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Beruldsen
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Air Campaign Questions

Post by Beruldsen »

As the allies in the main campaign I'm still somewhat confused by managing the overall Air Campaign. Specifically, I have the following questions:
1. Strategic Air Directives - Is there any benefit to having multiple ADs for the 8th Air Force for example?
2. What are acceptable losses per turn for the Strategic Air Forces?
3. How quickly are Strategic losses replenished? How are they replenished?
4. Is there any reason why Northern Tactical Air Groups shouldn't be moved to the Med?
5. I'm not really sure how to best utilize the RAF Fighter command. They have a ton of aircraft...
6. Same for coastal Air Forces ... how are they best utilized?

The Air Campaign is really a game on-to-itself...


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loki100
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RE: Air Campaign Questions

Post by loki100 »

Here's a go at an answer, mostly worked out by reading the forum and learning by trying things out ... the common theme being 'it depends'

a) it depends. I think in 1943 you really have to nurse your strategic air assets, not least hitting the 'political' target of the U-Boats is tricky. So the default AD is a relatively broad area and set as many 'events' (ie sep missions) as you see realistic targets and have bombers. I tend to work in multiples of 100-150 (so if I have 250 bombers I'm pretty sure the AI will populate two missions per flying day). But ... I also set up single hex, single raid/day attacks as well. So I may group 8 Air into one large mission or I may set up 2-4 separate and targetted missions, or one large and one targetted;

b) the production screen is your friend here. The right hand column shows how many planes are 'missing' from your squadrons. If this number is > than the weekly production you maybe working this type too hard. But check out when new types come on line, for example with the at start B-17s you can really run them down as you get a new model pretty soon. The auto upgrade is ok, but think about when you might want to force a swap. As an eg, practically the Lanc 1 is not that much worse than the Lanc 3, but the Halifax II is a dog compared to the Halifax III. Equally the final Wellington is actually a decent bomber if you use on quieter sectors.

c) as above, varies by plane type, check out the production screen and the detailed equipment page in the commanders report

d) I send the FBs to the Med right after I take Sicily till the bad weather sets in. Over winter 43/44 rest all your key FBs so that the production pools are full and morale high, you'll burn through a lot in the summer of 1944

e) Anything that is better in a FB role send to 2 Tac Air and retrain. This includes a Typhoon squadron trained as fighters and all the Hurricanes. Up to the invasion of France let them sit in the UK and they will intercept. If you are bombing in France or the Netherlands you can set up an AS directive to cover the zone the bombers will be in - extra protection for your bombers and the chance to cause attrition to the luftwaffe.

f) really as (e), leave them with no mission till you are on the verge of invading France, you can even send some to the Med early game. They will fly enough naval missions to protect your sea lanes but there is no real gain to causing combat losses till you are ready. A lot of their planes have low/no replacements so its a fragile asset.
Beruldsen
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RE: Air Campaign Questions

Post by Beruldsen »

Thanks ... good information. Do replacements/new aircraft automatically get added to your air groups?
carlkay58
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RE: Air Campaign Questions

Post by carlkay58 »

Yes.
Harrybanana
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RE: Air Campaign Questions

Post by Harrybanana »

ORIGINAL: Arne Beruldsen

Thanks ... good information. Do replacements/new aircraft automatically get added to your air groups?


As Carlkay says your replacements/new aircraft do get automatically added to your airgroups. But you also receive new airgroups through out the game as reinforcements. These reinforcements will stay in your reserve until you assign them to an airbase. You probably know this already, but just in case.
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Beruldsen
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RE: Air Campaign Questions

Post by Beruldsen »

Actually, I don't. How do you assign aircraft from your Reserves?
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Seminole
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RE: Air Campaign Questions

Post by Seminole »

When you have an airbase window open click on the 'assigned' tab to see what air groups are assigned to that airbase. Above the air group listing is a link to transfer from the national reserve. Some of these units will already have an HQ assignment which you can change, but beware air groups transferred from national reserve have 100% of their weekly miles burned in the process, so you can't relocate them after summoning them from the reserve until the following week - so be careful you don't overload an air base.

You can't transfer units from air bases into the national reserve, as you could in war in the east, but if you retrain an FB pilot's speciality (eg from Fighter to Bomber) the air group will be withdrawn for 8 weeks and return to the national reserve to be placed on map by the player like a normal reinforcement.
"War is never a technical problem only, and if in pursuing technical solutions you neglect the psychological and the political, then the best technical solutions will be worthless." - Hermann Balck
Beruldsen
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RE: Air Campaign Questions

Post by Beruldsen »

Is it a good idea to train fighter pilots as Bomber pilots?
Harrybanana
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RE: Air Campaign Questions

Post by Harrybanana »

ORIGINAL: Arne Beruldsen

Is it a good idea to train fighter pilots as Bomber pilots?


Do you mean to retrain a fighter-bomber airgroup which is trained as fighter to be trained as a bomber? If so then for the WA the answer is Yes. This is because by 44 you will probably have more fighters than you need to control the skies. But note that some fighter-bomber aircraft (such as Hurricanes and Typhoons) make better bombers then others (such as the Spits).

I have no personal experience with this as I have only recently started my first 43 Campaign game. But this is what I have here in the forum in other posts.
Robert Harris
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Seminole
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RE: Air Campaign Questions

Post by Seminole »

Is it a good idea to train fighter pilots as Bomber pilots?

FB air groups can be put in FB (bomber) or FB-F (fighter) mode.

If trained as Fighters they will be 80% effective if assigned the FB role.
Conversely, if trained as Bombers they will be 80% effective is assigned the FB-F (escort or air supremacy) role.

As mentioned, late war the Allies should own the skies and the FBs that are better at ground attack should be trained for the role they will be in (otherwise you're essentially wasting 1 in 5 of them). It takes 8 weeks for this retraining, after which they will appear again in the reserve to be assigned, so not much use in a small scenario.

With Germany the considerations are different. Their air groups have some different restrictions on their upgrade path.

- Tactical Bombers can switch to Fighter Bombers
- Fighter Bombers can switch to Tactical Bomber if the group is trained as bombers
- Fighter Bombers can switch to Fighters if the group is trained as fighters
- Fighters can switch to Fighter Bombers
- ZG groups can switch to Night Fighters and Fighter Bombers
- JG groups cannot switch to the Bf110
- Groups with the Bf110 cannot switch to the Bf109
"War is never a technical problem only, and if in pursuing technical solutions you neglect the psychological and the political, then the best technical solutions will be worthless." - Hermann Balck
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LiquidSky
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RE: Air Campaign Questions

Post by LiquidSky »



Hmm...I don't think any TACB can Upgrade into a FB
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decourcy2
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RE: Air Campaign Questions

Post by decourcy2 »

I tend (in the '43 campaign) to leave FBs in England on fighter and set up fighter sweeps in north France and low coountries. But, P39's, Kittyhawk IV's, some P40N's, Hurri 2's, etc in the Med I switch almost immediately to bomber role. The Spits, P38's, and some P40N's are plenty to provide cover for your bombers.
ReconMarineatsea
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RE: Air Campaign Questions

Post by ReconMarineatsea »

I added more transports to the 1943 to 1945 Scenario in the Med so Hopefully I could drop whole airborne divisions vs Regiments. The additional units have zero planes? What did I miss?
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