Having previously played SR 2020 and being a big fan of the cold war era I decided to buy this game. In general I've been having a blast, just figuring out how things work was a lot of fun (haven't played SR2020 in years so I was a bit rusty in that area). At some point I started modernizing my military as the USA. There were a few things I noticed. Building a few buildings or increasing production ever so slightly; causes unemployment to drop like a brick, which quickly reaches <3,0% and thus causes problems for me. However doing the opposite (ie reverting to old production quotas and deactivating newly constructed buildings) doesn't even come within the vicinity of possibly maybe in a decade; having the opposite effect on the unemployment figure. So what gives? How is building something so effective in tanking your unemployment, but destroying or deactivating that same building hardly effective in raising it again?
Second my military. How In gods name do I control that monster? Every time where I reach the point where I want to use my military; I just get frustrated in the first few minutes! This because it either has a life of its own, or it doesn't do anything at all. So I have a few points about that very topic, and I'm just going to list them step by step. I might not always ask a direct question; but please tell me if my observations are correct and I just have to deal with it, or if I'm being stupid and then please correct me by telling me how to fix it.
I. Aircraft don't load themselves onto aircraft carriers: Do I actually have to load them on manually? And secondly when I do, they often chose to leave the carrier again making them quite pointless. The AI doesn't seem to see any use for them as far as I can tell.
II. Aircraft crossing large stretches of water, which are beyond their range, don't have the initiative to call on nearby Tankers. Thus forcing them to return to the mainland or crashing (which seems to happen quite frequently).
Sub II. Even when I order a few tankers to patrol that stretch of water, it really doesn't seem to do much. I have tried using the function in which a fighter escorts a tanker across the ocean, but when you have a 800 fighter air force, that may become cumbersome. Is there some setting for the AI that actually allows them to think of refueling without having to micromanage every single situation?
III. Even though I have dozens of airbases all across the country, my aircraft seem to stay in the location where they were initially deployed even when using theater and battle zone settings.
IV. My naval ships seem to have an idea that the ideal thing for them to do is zigzag on the rivers and lakes of the USA and Canada. At some points up to 50% of my 200+ ship blue water navy can be stuck on the Mississippi river or some similar location.
V. Like in the areal refueling question/observation I have the distinct impression my units do not cooperate. Its merely a case of which unit happens to be in the required location at any given time, which pretty much means that you can have your entire tank force in one sector of the world without any air defense at all.
VI. Is it at all possible to create some form of carrier groups, where the ships actually stay together and support each other, without having to micromanage them every step of the way?
In summary the entire military aspect of the game drives me completely mad: Either I have to micromanage a few thousand troops every single minute OR my AI just does random stuff by which not even one fighter jet can cross the Atlantic (while many crash while trying) while at the same time I have an armada of KC-135's just pointlessly waiting to be used. I love the game when it's all about diplomacy and building an economy: but the very instant that a military response is required, I try to work it but I get completely frustrated and end the game by nuking the USSR or just pressing ESC.
Second my military. How In gods name do I control that monster? Every time where I reach the point where I want to use my military; I just get frustrated in the first few minutes! This because it either has a life of its own, or it doesn't do anything at all. So I have a few points about that very topic, and I'm just going to list them step by step. I might not always ask a direct question; but please tell me if my observations are correct and I just have to deal with it, or if I'm being stupid and then please correct me by telling me how to fix it.
I. Aircraft don't load themselves onto aircraft carriers: Do I actually have to load them on manually? And secondly when I do, they often chose to leave the carrier again making them quite pointless. The AI doesn't seem to see any use for them as far as I can tell.
II. Aircraft crossing large stretches of water, which are beyond their range, don't have the initiative to call on nearby Tankers. Thus forcing them to return to the mainland or crashing (which seems to happen quite frequently).
Sub II. Even when I order a few tankers to patrol that stretch of water, it really doesn't seem to do much. I have tried using the function in which a fighter escorts a tanker across the ocean, but when you have a 800 fighter air force, that may become cumbersome. Is there some setting for the AI that actually allows them to think of refueling without having to micromanage every single situation?
III. Even though I have dozens of airbases all across the country, my aircraft seem to stay in the location where they were initially deployed even when using theater and battle zone settings.
IV. My naval ships seem to have an idea that the ideal thing for them to do is zigzag on the rivers and lakes of the USA and Canada. At some points up to 50% of my 200+ ship blue water navy can be stuck on the Mississippi river or some similar location.
V. Like in the areal refueling question/observation I have the distinct impression my units do not cooperate. Its merely a case of which unit happens to be in the required location at any given time, which pretty much means that you can have your entire tank force in one sector of the world without any air defense at all.
VI. Is it at all possible to create some form of carrier groups, where the ships actually stay together and support each other, without having to micromanage them every step of the way?
In summary the entire military aspect of the game drives me completely mad: Either I have to micromanage a few thousand troops every single minute OR my AI just does random stuff by which not even one fighter jet can cross the Atlantic (while many crash while trying) while at the same time I have an armada of KC-135's just pointlessly waiting to be used. I love the game when it's all about diplomacy and building an economy: but the very instant that a military response is required, I try to work it but I get completely frustrated and end the game by nuking the USSR or just pressing ESC.
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