OP:
How many planes does it take per wing to not get penalized in air combat (assuming no overlapping).
Some people suggested 2 planes per wing others say 3-4 planes per wing is good.
I am starting a new Germany campaign but would like to know how many planes is "best" to avoid" stacking penalties.
I am planning to tech out the fighters and have either 2-3 planes per wing and once I get air superiority send in my bombers to assist my ground forces.
The answer by turku...but I will explain about the optimal size issue at bottom:
For air to air battles stacking penalty start with the second wing, for air to land it start with the first wing. So optimal wing size for air to air battles is 5-6 wings and for air to land battles is 4-5 wings. This optimal of wings number doesn't change with any other bonuses. No radar bonus or mission efficiency will increase this.
This is true, the stacking penalty for aircraft never changes, since for air-to-air it starts at the second squadron, while for air-to-ground it is actually with the first squadron in the wing that it applies, then the stacking penalty is unavoidable. (I gather you understand that it is cumulative.) So at some point it will reach a point where there is either no extra benefit from adding another squadron in or it is actually reducing the total amount of effectives. However it is 5 max for both kinds. A 6th squadron doesn't add anything to air-to-air combat at all while the 5th aircraft in air-to-ground combat is of minuscule benefit, the 6th is actually a negative, because it is greater than a 50% reduction. The important thing to understand is that there are other things than just the penalty itself, like
bonuses that go in favour or make up for it.
Further issues to weigh up as well, like:
These "optimal numbers" are calculated only on the basis of the firepower/stacking penalty curve, and take no account of factors such as IC construction cost, Supply load, your ability to cover an entire front at the stated unit density, etc.
With those other factors included, the "optimal numbers" are rather smaller... four squadrons per wing sounds good to me.
If it was the only penalty/bonus effecting your wing sizes then 5 max for INT and really 4 max for everything else that is air-to-ground, but as others have indicated it isn't the only thing, let alone the only penalty or bonus modifier.
Another issue is having enough wings to effectively cover the front:
Covering the front is why I went with 4....groups of 5, I wind up short a group and the allies always come through that gap. Thx
Another is sort of defensive, soaking up and spreading the damage both against air-to-air and from the ground:
Also, the stacking penalty doesn't take into account the distribution of damage to your wings.
Too many planes might mean that they all can't fire, but they still all can take shots.
In Intercept missions, this isn't much benefit... since the objective is to shoot down planes, you don't want to hamper your plane-shooting any.
However, if you are doing something like... say, STR bombing a provice, and your STR bombers get attacked by enemy INTs, then sending up some absurd number of your own INTs into the fight can benefit the STRs immensely. While no enemy INTS will be getting shot down, the enemy INT fire wil get distributed between your STR and INTs, and while this is going on, the STR's land-bombing mission (which only the STRs take part in) will continue on.
Well that is a bit extreme for me, but a valid way to play it to be honest, more squadrons per wing provide greater numbers of targets for the opposition.
The other thing is that there are bonuses that soak up (to my mind anyway) or mitigate the level of the air stacked penalty. For instance, mostly you will build using the highest level of training as Germany, therefore you can count on a 30% bonus right there off the bat. Employ skilled air wing Commanders which I think give you a 5% bonus per skill point, not to mention a 10% bonus if they have the correct trait. Then there is also things you can research and TECH up on such as the type of mission efficiency, radar and Navigation. All these add up. As you improve you can have larger stacks, or suffer less penalty impact.
In regards to using your bombers I have found it best to go after small stacks (read very small, ie a single Division as much as possible) to not suffer too much damage in return, otherwise there is safety in as high as the number that you can go with counting up on your TECHs, skills & trait for each wing individually. I try to get a 30% bonus over all if I can manage it, certainly no less than negative 30% when it all adds up as minimum optimal!
So early on 6 squadron wings might net you a 50-60% air stacking penalty, but the net result will really be at least a 10% bonus or more latter with developed Techs or more squadrons per Wings, cheers.
