Defending against STR (as Germany)

[gremlok]

I am trying to come up with a good defence against GB STR. Their planes usually take off and fly across the Lowlands into German and from there to the Ruhr area or further inland.

Having searched the forum the general approach seems to be to intercept the bombers several times as they fly into INT intercept zones. Although this won't stop the bombers raid it will damage them and thus keep them out of the skies in the ensuing period as they rebuild and refit.

So I have 3 INT wings stationed in Bruxelles (x3), Köln (x2) and Kassel (x3) in intercept duty 24/7. I mapped out their areas of responsibility to avoid overlaps and stacking malus, see below (the planes in Antwerpen are not INT).

However typically my wings only manage to intercept the STR one time during raids.

What am I doing wrong and/or what do you suggest?

Should I disregard the stacking penalty and try get as many fighters intercepting the enemy planes (i.e. overlapping intercept areas)?

Btw, I'm in 1938 and my INT Tactics is lvl2 (researching lvl3)

 

[j_k_k]

I build airbases in Dortmund and Leipzig, and base interceptor groups there. When the bombers are en route to their target, interceptors along the way will only intercept if the bombers' hourly movement ends in their zone, so far as I can tell. So by putting airfields right where I know they will go, I still get bombed, but at least we're able to fight back. Doesn't need to be a big airfield--level 2 is enough for a wing of 4 interceptors. No, they will not all repair at once, but there's time in between the raids. That's also a good rehab assignment for an interceptor group that has gotten chewed up at the front, because while on home defense duty, they will spend most of their time repairing and regaining org. I tried building flak as well, but it seems fairly useless.

 

[Secret Master]

The thing about stopping Allied bombers is that the AI tends to bomb the same three to four places. If you post INTs on constant air superiority in those locations you should massacre the bombers every time they come in.

Intercept orders, even with RADAR, sometimes don't actually get fighters to the right provinces to catch the bombers.

 

[Huron4Ever]

So would a good defense in depth work with this? Meaning, several INTs stationed along a known route, limited by a few provinces coverage each, on Air Superiority missions?

I will have to go fire up a Germany game to see, however I think this would whittle down any bombers as they would fly through several zones of defense, each of which triggering an air battle. If such were the case the benefits to raising leadership and unit stats would also apply.

I've been concentrating on better air dominance the last several weeks, and the forums here have been extremely helpful.

 

[yamato2cz]

i usualy just invade GB straigth away from the start. makes things easier.

 

[Kovax]

Air movement in HOI3 happens in hourly segments. The planes teleport from one point to another, so if they teleport over your intercept zone, your planes will never engage them. The trick is to see which provinces they're pausing in, and have fighters fly Intercept or Superiority missions over those intermediate provinces where they pause, AND to station planes in the primary target cities, where they will successfully intercept almost 100% of the time.

AA will only do trivial damage to the bombers on the first raid. After that, it will be heavily damaged (absurd, because the AA wasn't stationed IN the target cities, but around them) and have even less effect on subsequent raids, if any. Build more AA and the AI might choose another target, which means you need to shift your defenses, and that the new AA you just built will never get utilized.

As long as you're doing more damage to the bombers than they're doing to your cities, you're fine.

 

[yamato2cz]

Air movement in HOI3 happens in hourly segments. The planes teleport from one point to another, so if they teleport over your intercept zone, your planes will never engage them. The trick is to see which provinces they're pausing in, and have fighters fly Intercept or Superiority missions over those intermediate provinces where they pause, AND to station planes in the primary target cities, where they will successfully intercept almost 100% of the time.

AA will only do trivial damage to the bombers on the first raid. After that, it will be heavily damaged (absurd, because the AA wasn't stationed IN the target cities, but around them) and have even less effect on subsequent raids, if any. Build more AA and the AI might choose another target, which means you need to shift your defenses, and that the new AA you just built will never get utilized.

As long as you're doing more damage to the bombers than they're doing to your cities, you're fine.

¨
wont interceptors too just port to enemy aircrafts? from my gameplays it seems like its like that. or it could be alot of luck. i mostly have interceptors around industry centers.

 

[ancientsion]

AA will only do trivial damage to the bombers on the first raid. After that, it will be heavily damaged (absurd, because the AA wasn't stationed IN the target cities, but around them) and have even less effect on subsequent raids, if any. Build more AA and the AI might choose another target, which means you need to shift your defenses, and that the new AA you just built will never get utilized.

How powerful are the stationary AA upgrades ? (40 %in TRP), are they worth it ?

 

[Secret Master]

How powerful are the stationary AA upgrades ? (40 %in TRP), are they worth it ?

I don't know about TRP, but in TFH, they are not worth the investment.

I magically cheated myself to SAMs, and sent STR against level 10 AA in side-by-side MP, and the impact was only marginally painful to the STR. And only for the first run, as Kovax mentions.

In fact, I think 1918 INTs are better at hurting STR than province AA in the long run. That should tell you something.

(The AA brigade is a different beast and has different uses.)

 

[yamato2cz]

I don't know about TRP, but in TFH, they are not worth the investment.

I magically cheated myself to SAMs, and sent STR against level 10 AA in side-by-side MP, and the impact was only marginally painful to the STR. And only for the first run, as Kovax mentions.

In fact, I think 1918 INTs are better at hurting STR than province AA in the long run. That should tell you something.

(The AA brigade is a different beast and has different uses.)

you can mod how much damage can AA take. i modded that to be realistic. ergo-900% more health did the trick. and damage can also be changed