Air ace life spans

[Greenboot]

Is it just me or are Air Aces just as likely to be killed off as any other pilot? Aces would often define the strategy of a unit and teach other pilots the ropes which improved the survival rates of the whole unit. It would be a nice battlefield modifier to have reduces losses if Aces were present. I know that Tank and Sub Aces discussions have raised worries about the AI and combats to become unbalanced but I don't think this would be the case to have better survival rates for the unit with a huge survival rate chance for the Ace alone. I would love to see Air Aces be able to be a large asset in the field and not just back home on War Bond/Propaganda drives.

I also support the requests during WWWs for an Ace Hall of Fame. Kill tallies of Aces were used as a point of national prestige and historical Aces had a much better survival rate overall, even when the Aces of WWII fought in the Korea Conflict years later.

 

[jalapen0]

If they are like EU generals, they will have the life expectancy of a fly.

 

[CHRIS3169]

I'm guessing there's no bonus for their survival...if they're in a unit with 20 fighters, and 5 are killed, there's a 25 percent chance that it's them. If they had bonuses and could all be assigned to the same unit, it seems like they'd be unbeatable against similar forces, or overall they could cause unen results in battle. In the last WWW, it was stated that there really are no random elements to battle, and you can determine 100% the outcome of a battle beforehand based on numbers.

 

[Midden]

Pretty sure they have said in game they are harder to kill than the rest.

 

[Loke]

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_World_War_II_flying_aces

I would guess that roughly the top 100 air aces did not participate in the Korea war as they were German.

 

[Ibn_Solmyr]

Is it just me or are Air Aces just as likely to be killed off as any other pilot? Aces would often define the strategy of a unit and teach other pilots the ropes which improved the survival rates of the whole unit. It would be a nice battlefield modifier to have reduces losses if Aces were present. I know that Tank and Sub Aces discussions have raised worries about the AI and combats to become unbalanced but I don't think this would be the case to have better survival rates for the unit with a huge survival rate chance for the Ace alone. I would love to see Air Aces be able to be a large asset in the field and not just back home on War Bond/Propaganda drives.

I also support the requests during WWWs for an Ace Hall of Fame. Kill tallies of Aces were used as a point of national prestige and historical Aces had a much better survival rate overall, even when the Aces of WWII fought in the Korea Conflict years later.

Seconded.
But still overall I wait for a BIG improve on the whole crew/pilots question, about air as marine/submarine warfare. I strongly hope it will come in a DLC/Update.

 

[kviiri]

In the last WWW, it was stated that there really are no random elements to battle, and you can determine 100% the outcome of a battle beforehand based on numbers.

Can't bother to look it up, but it was about land combat, not air, and IIRC they said the tactics and weather add randomness which might tip the odds.

 

[gamedude]

Aces had better chances to live... yes, but it doesn't make them bulletproof. Humans are fragile.

 

[Number 7]

im hoping they add Tank aces in a DLC one day too. it would be quite interesting to repulse the germans at moscow and in the same stroke kill a Tiger Ace who had 15 tank kills credited to him by the game or something dramatic. although they'd basically just be a buff to spearheads and encirclement because thats the only divisions i'd ever assign them to

 

[kviiri]

If they are like EU generals, they will have the life expectancy of a fly.

Not if you can make your sad heir a pilot. He'll rule the skies forever!

 

[CHRIS3169]

It'd be a cool feature to occasionally have the ace parachute to safety, and if he makes it back to his territory you receive a morale/public opinion boost. If he's captured alive, the enemy parades him through Moscow...er I mean, their capital, receiving the same boost.

 

[LordOfWar16]

Aces have an better chance to survive, yes. The problem in WWW was that Daniel for example didnt allow his pilots to retreat, so they died pretty quickly, including his Aces.

Only because they are aces that doesnt mean they are invincible of course. Only one mistake can mean your end, even as the best ace in the battle.

 

[Greenboot]

Aces had better chances to live... yes, but it doesn't make them bulletproof. Humans are fragile.

Completely true, I'm only asking for a small adjustment to their chances of making it though a battle. I like the idea of choosing what to do with them and risk loosing them in combat.

 

[Greenboot]

Aces have an better chance to survive, yes. The problem in WWW was that Daniel for example didnt allow his pilots to retreat, so they died pretty quickly, including his Aces.

Only because they are aces that doesnt mean they are invincible of course. Only one mistake can mean your end, even as the best ace in the battle.

I must have missed where he selected a retreat option for his air units. Which WWW did he do that?

 

[Greenboot]

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_World_War_II_flying_aces

I would guess that roughly the top 100 air aces did not participate in the Korea war as they were German.

Not the top Aces, just the US Aces that flew in Korea, I read somewhere how their WWII experience helped them. I think there is also quite a bit out there on how good their eyesight was compared to 20/20.

 

[JerkyJerry]

I love the aces concept. I think it adds a lot to gameplay. I can't wait to get a handful of them and put them all together.

 

[Kamansky]

Keep in mind also that Ace pilots were treated differently by the allied and axis powers. Where Germany would keep their Aces on the front line in combat roles, the US and Britain would take exceptional pilots and rotate them out into training commands to instruct the newest batch of pilots. In the short term this led to German pilots getting more kills, but their demise taking a larger toll on the Luftwaffe. Whereas in the long term the Allied Air forces gained the experience of the veteran pilots in training, and eventually to a more overall experienced air force.

 

[JerkyJerry]

Keep in mind also that Ace pilots were treated differently by the allied and axis powers. Where Germany would keep their Aces on the front line in combat roles, the US and Britain would take exceptional pilots and rotate them out into training commands to instruct the newest batch of pilots. In the short term this led to German pilots getting more kills, but their demise taking a larger toll on the Luftwaffe. Whereas in the long term the Allied Air forces gained the experience of the veteran pilots in training, and eventually to a more overall experienced air force.

I'd say both played their hands very well in this regard

 

[ringhloth]

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_World_War_II_flying_aces

I would guess that roughly the top 100 air aces did not participate in the Korea war as they were German.

Calculating the "best" pilots be the amount of planes they shot down is somewhat misleading, as it was easier for a pilot on the Eastern front to shoot down 100 planes than on the Western. Evidenced by the huge amount of German aces who are dead on that list, especially compared to other countries.

 

[ObssesedNuker]

as it was easier for a pilot on the Eastern front to shoot down 100 planes than on the Western.

Well, in 1941-42 it was. Once the VVS found its feet in the winter of '42-'43, conditions in the East changed markedly. The minority of German pilots who fought in the west in the '41-42 period and heard tales of how easy air-air engagements in Russia were before being transferred eastward in 1943 were quite shocked when they found the Soviets as skilled as the British they had previously been fighting. And in Korea, Americans found the few Soviet veterans from WW2 who deployed to be so astonishingly good they came up with a nickname for them. And while the Soviets did offer their top pilots the choice of going home to train or leading formations, the top-10 non-Axis World War II aces still wound up being Soviet ones.

WWII air combat was pretty heavily defined by the scores of a relatively small handful of aces, with the top 10% of pilots on all sides responsible for about 80% of the kills. Veteran pilots would learn how to survive, and maybe pick up a kill here and there, but they lacked the true fusion of abilities ever to become top scorers. Many pilots could manage to fly well enough to get an enemy in their sights, but most lacked the shooting ability to inflict lethal damage once they'd done so. Missiles have probably changed this equation in the modern age, since they reduce the skill required for one of air combat's most difficult tasks... aiming.