88 Flak in an anti-tank role

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TomaszPudlo
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88 Flak in an anti-tank role

Post by TomaszPudlo »

If I assign an 88 flak regiment from a city to a corps HQs, will it be used in an anti-tank capacity? Is there *any* point in spending 50 administrative points on re-assigning those flak regiments?
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morvael
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RE: 88 Flak in an anti-tank role

Post by morvael »

As long as they are dispatched to help in battle, then yes, they should. Just like 88mm guns in smaller AA support units.
TomaszPudlo
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RE: 88 Flak in an anti-tank role

Post by TomaszPudlo »

So the issues raised in this thread

tm.asp?m=3284657

have been resolved?
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morvael
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RE: 88 Flak in an anti-tank role

Post by morvael »

I just said they will work like 88mm in other support units. Not that they will be efficient as dedicated AT guns.
Stelteck
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RE: 88 Flak in an anti-tank role

Post by Stelteck »

Trying to figure out how efficient are anti tank support units is one of my holy grail in this game.
I have completely no clue.
Brakes are for cowards !!
TomaszPudlo
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RE: 88 Flak in an anti-tank role

Post by TomaszPudlo »

ORIGINAL: morvael

I just said they will work like 88mm in other support units. Not that they will be efficient as dedicated AT guns.

Pelton's point -- from more than three-and-a-half years ago -- was that anti-aircraft guns don't work at all, not even in their primary capacity, much less in their anti-tank rôle. So my question is, has this been resolved? If so, could someone please direct me to the relevant patch notes?
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821Bobo
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RE: 88 Flak in an anti-tank role

Post by 821Bobo »

There actually can be some issue with AA. In my current Soviet game Axis is bombing Osinovets(which is infested by Soviet FlaK) for 5 turns in row. Axis recon is usually massacred over Osinovets. So far so good. But the port strikes are untouched by AA fire. Either it is only display issue or AA is not shooting at all.



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Pionpion
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RE: 88 Flak in an anti-tank role

Post by Pionpion »

Do you mean that it is useless to put some AA units into frontline units to inflict losses on attacking planes ?
BTW, if I want to protect my air bases with AA units, does allocating AA support units to Air HQ work ?
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821Bobo
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RE: 88 Flak in an anti-tank role

Post by 821Bobo »

Yes the AA normally works. Just when bombing ports it looks like there is some problem.
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morvael
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RE: 88 Flak in an anti-tank role

Post by morvael »

ORIGINAL: TomaszPudlo

ORIGINAL: morvael

I just said they will work like 88mm in other support units. Not that they will be efficient as dedicated AT guns.

Pelton's point -- from more than three-and-a-half years ago -- was that anti-aircraft guns don't work at all, not even in their primary capacity, much less in their anti-tank rôle. So my question is, has this been resolved? If so, could someone please direct me to the relevant patch notes?

AA units attached to cities participate in combat when city is attacked. I think this was one of the problems listed.

I also created dual AT/Flak ground element type to make sure 88mm work as normal AT guns in combat but I think Denniss didn't change their type. Maybe they were too good then. AA guns are generally shielded from combat and that causes them to make little damage in return.
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morvael
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RE: 88 Flak in an anti-tank role

Post by morvael »

ORIGINAL: 821Bobo

Yes the AA normally works. Just when bombing ports it looks like there is some problem.

Interesting, will have to check that. Port bombing is part of one big bombing routine, and if flak works there, it should work here too.
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821Bobo
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RE: 88 Flak in an anti-tank role

Post by 821Bobo »

Maybe it is just not displaying in the combat resolution. Many LW planes have been shotdown over Osinovets but now it is looking like all the work is doing CAP.
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morvael
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RE: 88 Flak in an anti-tank role

Post by morvael »

I checked flak and it's working, even if it's not listed properly on battle report.
In your examples 2 recon were most likely downed by fighters, not by flak. On the other hand the bombing run was well protected by fighters.
I think flak is more effective against GS attacks, than city bombing. It's done at higher altitude and flak becomes less effective.
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Dinglir
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RE: 88 Flak in an anti-tank role

Post by Dinglir »

ORIGINAL: morvael

I checked flak and it's working, even if it's not listed properly on battle report.
In your examples 2 recon were most likely downed by fighters, not by flak. On the other hand the bombing run was well protected by fighters.
I think flak is more effective against GS attacks, than city bombing. It's done at higher altitude and flak becomes less effective.

I don't actually KNOW, but every level bomber has a maximum altitude and every gun has a Ceiling. It is reasonable to assume that a level bomber flying at a higher altitude than an opposing guns ceiling is immune to fire from said gun.

Even the German 88mm flak gun has a ceiling of 26.000 feet and some level bombers fly higher than this (eg the SB-2 flying at 29.530 feet). If I am right in my assumption, some Soviet bombers should be virtually immune to flak fire from the Germans.
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morvael
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RE: 88 Flak in an anti-tank role

Post by morvael »

Offline battle report seems to be bugged and has problems listing flak in various circumstances. But when you run battle at high message level you can see flak is there.
Also, there is problem with accounting flak when there is more than one flight (group of planes) during a single mission. Each flight is attacked separately and you see only the flak attacking the last flight.
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morvael
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RE: 88 Flak in an anti-tank role

Post by morvael »

ORIGINAL: TomaszPudlo

So the issues raised in this thread

tm.asp?m=3284657

have been resolved?

In one battle where I had a LW Flak Regiment participating, 127 88mm AA guns damaged 1 tank, destroyed 1 rifle squad and 1 machine gun.

When I changed the element type to dual flak/at they were a bit better. They fired many more times (up to 30 shots at various tanks), sometimes even using AP rounds. But the effects were still poor. 1 tank was damaged and 1 rifle squad destroyed by the guns, while 1 rifle squad and 1 machine gun were destroyed by the Mausers of the crew.

But you can't say they were not used completely in AT capacity.
Stelteck
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RE: 88 Flak in an anti-tank role

Post by Stelteck »

It would be marvelous to have details logs of combat (who fire at who and miss/hit) in a special combat.log in WITE directory each turn, ready to be analyzed offline and without opening the game. It would be a great help to figure what is happening and what is effective.

For example i just took the decision to add a AA batallion at each of my tanks corps in my grand campaign, as AA were rumoured to shoot at tank too and i wanted a cheap batallion size way to increase the anti tank capability of my tank corps.

But you just ruined my strategy by suggesting they are nearly useless [:D]
Brakes are for cowards !!
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morvael
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RE: 88 Flak in an anti-tank role

Post by morvael »

I add AA to my tank corps to protect them from aircraft, not tanks
I add SU (SP guns) and heavy tanks to fight other tanks

:)

I too would like to know which parameter(s) decide that AA guns are bad in AT role.
No idea
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RE: 88 Flak in an anti-tank role

Post by No idea »

ORIGINAL: morvael

ORIGINAL: TomaszPudlo

So the issues raised in this thread

tm.asp?m=3284657

have been resolved?

In one battle where I had a LW Flak Regiment participating, 127 88mm AA guns damaged 1 tank, destroyed 1 rifle squad and 1 machine gun.

When I changed the element type to dual flak/at they were a bit better. They fired many more times (up to 30 shots at various tanks), sometimes even using AP rounds. But the effects were still poor. 1 tank was damaged and 1 rifle squad destroyed by the guns, while 1 rifle squad and 1 machine gun were destroyed by the Mausers of the crew.

But you can't say they were not used completely in AT capacity.

It seems something doesnt work well when all those 88s can just kill that number of enemies.

Irl the 88s were the only real check the germans had against T34s and KV 1s during 1941. And the 88 was a superb all around gun through the whole war. Vulnerable, when not well entrenched due to its high profile and big mover, but a killer nonetheless.
Cavalry Corp
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RE: 88 Flak in an anti-tank role

Post by Cavalry Corp »

I posted about this a while ago - and it was suggested it would be fixed that is allow heavy flak ( LW) to be SU in corps and be committed in the normal way- I hope so ...
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