Helo Ops Hints, Tricks & Traps

[berto]

Helo Ops Hints, Tricks & Traps

• When moving helos (helicopters), get in the habit of using the PgUp & PgDn keys to Climb & Descend. When I maneuver helos around the battlefield, I generally hover my left hand over those keys, ready to press them at a moment's notice. Sure, you could use the Toolbar buttons all the time. (And sure, the PgUp & PgDn keys are inconveniently positioned at the right side of the keyboard.) But you will save yourself lots of mouse sweeps and time by using the hotkeys. And both of your hands!
• Make good use of the Air button category! Don't just use Common or Combat (or, shudder, All) all the time.
• When flying long distances, fly High! Your helos will fly farther, faster. If you fly Low, or worse at NOE, you will fly shorter, slower. Thereby exposing your helos to possible ground fire, especially when flying NOE. Also, you consume those precious Turns Until Refuel unnecessarily. Fly High, fly fast to your destination, then back to base again. In between, that leaves more turns you can hover around the battlefield before you are forced back to base to refuel.
• The purpose of "Cannot do two consecutive climbs/descents in the same hex" is to enforce flight arcs, to thwart straight up/down climbs/descents all the time. Note: The relevant flight zone crossover is Low to High, or vice versa. That is, you can do two climbs in the same hex from G to N to L, or two descents from L to N to G. But if you climb L to H, or descend H to L, no can do in the same hex; you must move to another hex in order to continue your climb/descent. (There may be obscure exceptions to these general rules.)
• To find LZs, remember to use:
  * the Highlight LZs Toolbar button, and/or
  * the Display > Highlight > Landable LZ Hexes menu item, and/or
  * the Alt+Z hotkey
  Recall also: Options > Highlight Colors to set your preferred color. (Tip: Different highlight colors work best with different prevalent terrain.) I find Zoom 8 or 9 best for picking out highlighted hexes.
• To find the LZs with supply -- for refueling, but also to rearm gunships etc. -- remember to use:
  * the Highlight supply units Toolbar button, and/or
  * the Display > Highlight > Supply Units menu item, and/or
  * the Alt+Y hotkey
  You will also need to use the Highlight HQs for helo resupply purposes.
• Helos flying High generally cannot fire (except at other helos; n/a in CS:Vietnam). Flying Low, they can fire, and effectively so. For best effect, fire from NOE.
• But watch out! Flying Low, you are vulnerable to enemy ground fire. Flying NOE, you will be quite vulnerable. If flying NOE, you will want to make good use of elevations and covering terrain to sneak around the battlefield, swoop in, fire fast, and retire immediately. When flying NOE, don't loiter in the vicinity of the enemy!
• The farther away a unit fires, the less effective its fire. Helos at ground 2 hexes away from an enemy firing unit are considered to be at range 2. If at NOE, still range 2. If at Low flight level, range 2 (hexes) + 1 (flight level), i.e., range 3. If at High flight level, range 2 (hexes) + 2 (flight levels), i.e., range 4. And so on. Bear this in mind when firing helo to ground, or vice versa (enemy AA fire).
• Pay attention to the phase opening Command Reports! They will alert you if you have helos Low on Fuel, or worse, Out of Fuel. Note that later in the phase, you can recall the earlier Command Report (for the current turn only) via Status > Command Report.
• If you Highlight Aircraft Units (Toolbar button, menu item, or hotkey Alt+H), helos will be highlighted, while helos Low on Fuel (or Out of Fuel) will highlight with the Alternate Color to the Primary Highlight Color (as specified via Options > Highlight Colors). Primary Color & Alternate Color are closely matched, e.g., Yellow/Orange, Sky Blue/Turquoise, Black/White, etc. Experiment with the different Highlight Colors for best effect.
• Understand the differing roles between helo transports, helo gunships, and recce helos. Don't rely on your transport & recce helos in a fierce firefight! Use your gunships if you have them.
• Protect your Loaded helos! If they are destroyed, their passengers die with them. So be very careful maneuvering Loaded helos around the battlefield. Pay close attention to your flight zones, your directions of approach, elevations and covering terrain. Using your ground units, maybe induce enemy opfire first, hopefully where they expend it all, before you swoop in and attempt to land at (or take off from) an LZ.
• Losing a helo hurts, badly! Not just the usual SP/VP loss, but also you might lose a heap of EPs (Event Points) per special CSEE scripting. Protect your precious helos!
• If your Out of Fuel helo is forced to land (and survives the forced landing), it sucks! Because unless you can somehow get a suitable resupply unit to that hex, the helo is stuck there maybe for the remainder of the scenario. Worse, although a grounded helo does have some defensive value, it can be fired at, assaulted, etc. by enemy ground forces, and cannot retreat (since at ground).

What else did I miss?

[to be continued...]

[bruce205]

Thanks Berto !! Very helpful.

[berto]

Do not mimic Jason's helo play in his ongoing Week in the Mekong video series at YouTube. By his own admission too reckless, Jason has only a single helo gunship SP remaining. Or blame it on John.

When using helos, patience, Padawan.

[bruce205]

Like I'm one to talk !!

[Jason Petho]

Alas, no, I have 0 gunships left. My last one was shot down last session by a random AAMG.

[Big Ivan]

It's all my fault, sorry!

[Jason Petho]

So, if you've been watching the play in A Week in Mekong and you've noticed I have lost all of my gunships.

Why is that?

Primarily two reasons.

1. I was very aggressive with my gunships, especially the Snakes. Even though I would use the loaches to draw fire, they wouldn't soak up all the fire. So when I brought in my gunships for the attack runs, there would be a Viet Cong Opportunity Fire shot taking out a bird or two. Since A Week in Mekong only has Snakes, I need to fire from one hex away at Nap of the Earth in order to fire at the most powerful attack strength. (since most of my targets have been in bunkers or trenches, firing from anything but that location and height is pretty much moot)

2. Random AAMG's. I should have taken note of the known AAMG locations and avoided them. But alas, I did not and many of the random AAMG's were on the long flight paths of my helicopters for refueling. Even at flying in the HIGH level, I would still be shot down. Not all the time, but enough that I would be losing helicopters every turn or three. Hunting down those AAMG positions and destroying them will be a priority when I play this again.

[berto]

1. I was very aggressive with my gunships, especially the Snakes. Even though I would use the loaches to draw fire, they wouldn't soak up all the fire. So when I brought in my gunships for the attack runs, there would be a Viet Cong Opportunity Fire shot taking out a bird or two. Since A Week in Mekong only has Snakes, I need to fire from one hex away at Nap of the Earth in order to fire at the most powerful attack strength. (since most of my targets have been in bunkers or trenches, firing from anything but that location and height is pretty much moot)

Or maybe one should accept the "fact" that, if you want to preserve your gunships, don't fly them NOE to attack bunkers/trenches, use them elsewhere, to attack enemy units out in the open for instance. You fly them in low & close vs. fortified enemy, you take your chances, which may not be good. <shrug>

But being careful and methodical and patient is not so much fun, is it?

[Jason Petho]

1. I was very aggressive with my gunships, especially the Snakes. Even though I would use the loaches to draw fire, they wouldn't soak up all the fire. So when I brought in my gunships for the attack runs, there would be a Viet Cong Opportunity Fire shot taking out a bird or two. Since A Week in Mekong only has Snakes, I need to fire from one hex away at Nap of the Earth in order to fire at the most powerful attack strength. (since most of my targets have been in bunkers or trenches, firing from anything but that location and height is pretty much moot)

Or maybe one should accept the "fact" that, if you want to preserve your gunships, don't fly them NOE to attack bunkers/trenches, use them elsewhere, to attack enemy units out in the open for instance. You fly them in low & close vs. fortified enemy, you take your chances, which may not be good. <shrug>

But being careful and methodical and patient is not so much fun, is it?

For sure, force preservation, they'd be better left on the tarmac and used for boat/Junk hunting.

But alas, where's the fun in that.

[berto]

So it never happens that enemy ground units are caught in the act of moving. Or they leave their entrenchments and go out into the open, perhaps involuntarily, like when an airstrike or direct fire or assault forces them to retreat. I did not know that.

Different players, different game play. I will have my helos lurking nearby, patiently waiting to pick off soft targets of opportunity. If the sortie is without result, so be it. YMMV.

[Jason Petho]

So it never happens that enemy ground units are caught in the act of moving. Or they leave their entrenchments and go out into the open, perhaps involuntarily, like when an airstrike or direct fire or assault forces them to retreat. I did not know that.

Different players, different game play. I will have my helos lurking nearby, patiently waiting to pick off soft targets of opportunity. If the sortie is without result, so be it. YMMV.

Yes, I wouldn't say never, but 99.5% of the time, after an assault the Viet Cong are still happily entrenched in their bunkers or trenches.

[berto]

Quoting myself , with amendation and emphasis:

So it never happens that enemy ground units are caught in the act of moving. Or they leave their entrenchments and go out into the open, perhaps involuntarily, like when an airstrike or artillery indirect fire or direct fire or assault forces them to retreat. I did not know that.

When attacking an entrenched enemy, lead with your relatively more vulnerable and expensive helos (ordinary VP loss, but also an often very severe EP malus surcharge).

Or first soften up the entrenched enemy with airstrikes and artillery strikes, hoping for the occasional retreat. In addition to the even more occasional retreats due to direct fire and assault. Then sending in the helos to finish off any retreating enemy.

Helos. Use 'em IMO too aggressively, and lose 'em. Or commit 'em judiciously or not at all, and save 'em to fight another sortie, another day.

Disagreement about tactics. Interesting choices. Experimenting to see what works best. Doubt and uncertainty and tension. Game play fun!

[Jason Petho]

Oh, no disagreement at all.

You're mostly right, I was explaining what I was doing WRONG in the scenario and the reasons behind it.

Would I do it again? No. Of course not. Look at the Bing Long AAR, different tactics with the helicopters.