Air Strategy

[unmerged(266307)]

Hi, so pretty new to the game, and wondering what a good air strategy is? Playing as Germany, and want to know, should I build Tactical or CAS? I mostly want quick, fast wars, so I'm thinking it's one of the two would be best. TAC's are more expensive but pack more punch, but CAS's would be more flexible, I think... For air superiority, should I build Multi-Role or Interceptors? I think Multi-Role's wouldn't be as good since I like to keep my bombers differant from my fighters, but any suggestions?

Thanks

 

[themousemaster]

Hi, so pretty new to the game, and wondering what a good air strategy is? Playing as Germany, and want to know, should I build Tactical or CAS? I mostly want quick, fast wars, so I'm thinking it's one of the two would be best. TAC's are more expensive but pack more punch, but CAS's would be more flexible, I think... For air superiority, should I build Multi-Role or Interceptors? I think Multi-Role's wouldn't be as good since I like to keep my bombers differant from my fighters, but any suggestions?

Thanks

The general "air rule" of this game for the Majors is this:

Build INT and TAC as your primary airforce.



Once you have more game-time under your belt, you can start "mixing it up". CAS can, for example, raid the UK shipping lines off the western French coast while not attacking tank-divisions, but their short range makes them less useful anywhere outside of Europe or the USA-mainland whereas TACs are good in just about all theaters, so a concious decision has to be made as to exactly what you would sacrifice to make those CAS (which is a choice better made by non-1st-time-players).

 

[Traks]

As Germany I am typically keeping 6 CAS, 10-12TAC and at least 20INTs. Built over time, of course.
Usually also 2 transport planes, they are great when you can't keep units in supply in Soviet Union.
I put 3 air units together in one wing, some prefer 4.

 

[GAGA Extrem]

I usually use INT and CAS as germany as stacks of 4 squads each, although recent tests have shown me that it is probably better to use only 3 squads per airwing and instead spread your air units a bit more.

For the european theatre, I prefer CAS since they are cheaper than TAC and provide light aircraft practical, which results in a decent accumulation during my pre-war buildup. They also support the construction of CAG for naval bombing and carrier duty (if I decide to use a german CV strategy) and require less overall research - apart from the fighter techs only "light bomb development" is needed to maximize their effectiveness.

I rarely use MRF, usually only as escorts for TAC in areas where my regular INT cover doesn't reach.

However it should be noted that TAC are much better for later stages of barbarossa due to their increased range and TAC can provide limited strategic bombing capacity, which is vital in some areas since you can disrupt the enemy supply lines via logisitcal strikes.

 

[unmerged(3221)]

TAC are more versatile than CAS. As GagaE mentions, however, you need to research more techs for TAC, but Germany starts with 8 TAC. That is why I prefer them over CAS: might as well use them since you can not sell them or give them away like you could in HOI2.

INT get a bonus against bombers that MR do not, so use them for that reason. Main advantage of MR is greater range and better ground attack capability = mini bombers that can defend themselves.

 

[Pugmak]

I tend to use MR as escorts for my TAC since my TAC tends to get the snot pounded out of it, regardless of my Ints on sky sweep duty over a target area.