Question about airstrikes

John Given · 03-06-2008, 12:32 AM,

I notice that when airstrikes hit, it's always from the same direction for a particular side, in a scenario. (i.e. If a russian player's planes always come from the south, then ALL of his future airstrikes will also be from the south)

My question is, do planes ignore the armor facing of tanks? Or is this just a graphics issue?

In a scenario I'm playing, i'm advancing one direction, but the planes are atacking from another, hitting my tanks in the back armor. Turning my tanks to face incoming planes would leave them open to attacks from GROUND targets - it's a catch 22!!

Thanks in advance for any advice.

Huib Versloot · 03-06-2008, 12:40 AM,

Armor Facing and planes.... hilarious... never seen a tank turn it's front towards the air...

Hawk Kriegsman · (This post was last modified: 03-06-2008, 01:26 AM by Hawk Kriegsman.)

If I am not mistaken airstrikes always attack the rear armor of a vehicle.

Turning the vehicle will not help.

Historically the deck armor on most AFV's was very weak, hence the great effectiveness of 20mm and 37mm cannon on tank hunting aircraft.

Thanx!

Hawk

John Given · 03-06-2008, 06:45 AM,

Thanks for the reply.

I'm going to pay extra-special attention to the direction the planes attack from. Last turn, I rotated many of my tanks to face NW, instead of south. I could be wrong of course, but I can't remember planes ever attacking from more than one direction in a scen for a given side, *but* after the first few strikes, I don't pay close attention either.

I hadn't thought about the AI always having them attack the rear armor by default, or if airstrikes even pay attention to armor facing to begin with.

I've lost five PzIIIj's already and I'm worried about losing some tigers...

And yeah Huib, I agree it's not realistic to have tanks try to turn to face the suspected direction of incoming planes, but I really want to know if turning my tanks will cause the planes to come from a different direction. Hawk could be right on this - he has a lot of games played after all.

anyway, thanks in advance for any replies.

Fubar1 · 03-06-2008, 11:27 AM,

Huib Wrote:Armor Facing and planes.... hilarious... never seen a tank turn it's front towards the air...

Completely off topic here....but Huib...why does your logo look like it came from this video ;););)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CUod3jGQt0U

Big Dawg · 03-06-2008, 12:00 PM,

Jim,

THAT WAS SO FUNNY!!! ROFLMAO!!!!

"Take me on...."

That was a MTV hit.

Jack

Huib Versloot · 03-06-2008, 07:38 PM,

Fubar1 Wrote:
Huib Wrote:Armor Facing and planes.... hilarious... never seen a tank turn it's front towards the air...

Completely off topic here....but Huib...why does your logo look like it came from this video ;););)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CUod3jGQt0U

Has to be the spirit of the 80's Big Grin

My logo is a drawing I made in 1984 or 1985. Recently found it in the attic and scanned it.

John Given · 03-22-2008, 03:53 AM,

Quick update to the airstrike question.

a. The following turns, I had indeed turned my tanks to the NW, and the planes CONTINUED to strike from the north.

b. This could be a coincidence, but the next few airstrikes only got a few disruption and a "no effect" result.

Very interesting to say the least. All this seems to suggest that if tanks are facing the direction of incoming planes, the planes will have to deal with frontal armor of the vehicles. And yes, I realize the direction the planes swoop in from could just be a graphics issue, and have nothing to do with how hard they hit. I also realize there are different types of planes that conduct different types of strikes, and I also realize "dice rolls" are a factor as well. But one thing is for certain; the first few strikes striking the tank's rear armor got reductions, (one a "reduced by FOUR result), and the northernly-faced tanks only had disruptions and no effect results.

Hmm, now that I think about it, I'm more confused about the possible ramifications of this than I was before...:conf:

It'd be neat to hear some more blitz member opinions on this... :whis:

Mike Abberton · 03-22-2008, 06:48 AM,

I was always under the impression that airstrikes always used the "overall" armor factor for the unit, that is the general armor factor listed in the manual for non-armor facing rules, and that it used this number for airstrike resolution (and mine attacks, IIRC) regardless of whether the optional armor facing rule was being used or not.

Hawk Kriegsman · (This post was last modified: 03-22-2008, 07:28 AM by Hawk Kriegsman.)

John Given Wrote:Quick update to the airstrike question.

a. The following turns, I had indeed turned my tanks to the NW, and the planes CONTINUED to strike from the north.

Your opponents Airstrikes always come from his side of the board. It does not matter which way you are facing.

Quote:b. This could be a coincidence, but the next few airstrikes only got a few disruption and a "no effect" result.

Did you pay attention to the types of planes making the attacks?

There is a big difference between getting hit with a Ju87b verses an He 123 or getting hit with a Typhoon verses a P51. I am willing to bet it had more to do with the planes attacking then anything.

Quote:Very interesting to say the least. All this seems to suggest that if tanks are facing the direction of incoming planes, the planes will have to deal with frontal armor of the vehicles.

Just not true at all. The game engine does not work like that.

Quote:And yes, I realize the direction the planes swoop in from could just be a graphics issue, and have nothing to do with how hard they hit. I also realize there are different types of planes that conduct different types of strikes, and I also realize "dice rolls" are a factor as well. But one thing is for certain; the first few strikes striking the tank's rear armor got reductions, (one a "reduced by FOUR result), and the northernly-faced tanks only had disruptions and no effect results.

The direction is a graphics issue. Your air attacks come from your side of the board.

Different types of planes is a huge factor.

A reduced 4 result gives me an indication that you might have been overstacked or a real light armor unit PZ II got hit.

Quote:Hmm, now that I think about it, I'm more confused about the possible ramifications of this than I was before...:conf:

It'd be neat to hear some more blitz member opinions on this... :whis:

No reason to be confused. Have your armor facing your foes ground forces. There is not enough air attacks in most scenarios to worry about it.

Or just turn armor facing off.

Thanx!

Hawk