Flak commander

[HagarTheHorrible]

Flak was possibly the most important part of the late war German effort to dent the Allied air effort and yet in the sim it is left in the hands of the all seeing all knowing , pathetically inadequate or zen like sniper A.I .

 

I was was wondering if there is a role for human airbase flak commanders who might control and provide a more natural element to airbase defense.  

 

The flak could be set on it's lowest ability by default with the opportunity for the flak commander to make it more effective.  He does this by looking, listening and directing, using the various camera points/ flak positions  etc to organise and direct the airfield defense.

 

It might make raiding airfields a credible and accepted thing, pitting the wits of the attackers against that of the flak commander.

 

If not in BoBp then maybe in the Tank Crew add on ?

[-SF-Disarray]

Sort of like a gunner's position but for an airfield? That sounds fun. And it might just make AF air defense guns a credible threat; more often than not it is more dangerous to the pursuit fighters than the enemy.

[xvii-Dietrich]

According to the Tank Crew announcement (ref: https://il2sturmovik.com/news/360/announcing-battle-bodenplatte-flying-circus-tank-c/ ) there will be the Sd. Kfz. 10 + Flak38

 

Maybe not a Flak commander as such, but an online squad of these things could make life rather interesting for attacking aircraft.

[AndyJWest]

I think we can safely assume that the flak guns in Tank Crew will be mannable. As for controlling airfield flak, I suspect it would involve an awful lot of sitting around admiring the trees.

[HagarTheHorrible]

14 minutes ago, AndyJWest said:

I think we can safely assume that the flak guns in Tank Crew will be mannable. As for controlling airfield flak, I suspect it would involve an awful lot of sitting around admiring the trees.

 

Yes, but they are nice trees.

[-SF-Disarray]

But if it is jump in/jump out like the bomber's gunner positions a player could take the position when the field attack warning goes off, kill what needs killing and be on their way. 

[-TBC-AeroAce]

Nice idea but the problem would be if nobody wanted to man the AA.  If no player was controlling, it would have to revert to ace level for fairness. 

[56RAF_Roblex]

4 hours ago, AndyJWest said:

I think we can safely assume that the flak guns in Tank Crew will be mannable. As for controlling airfield flak, I suspect it would involve an awful lot of sitting around admiring the trees.

 

I have not flown CLoD for a while but they had mannable AA and it was quite popular.  Maybe only when a field was being vulched but it did get used.   WW2-OL also has mannable AAA and a lot of people enjoy doing it (again, I have not been there for a while).    I think it would see some use in BoX, especially when a field is being vulched or a target is being attacked and you cannot fly there fast enough. Perhaps make it easier to know where to man guns by having a 'Gunner' screen that highlights which AI guns are currently tracking an enemy? It could be quite exciting defending not just airfields & factories but also ships or truck convoys or trains!  I can see that being very immersive.

Edited May 21, 2018 by 56RAF_Roblex

[unreasonable]

What sort of flak will you be commanding?

 

If it is light AA I do not see that there is much to do. The commander's job is to position the guns, give them a firing arc, then make sure that they are manned and supplied. The actual operation in action is all down to the individual gun commanders. There is no top down co-ordination: or at least was not in WW2. edit - just manning an individual LAA gun would be fun for a while.

 

For the larger calibre guns - 88s and so on - there would be something to do, but you would need a set of simulated range finders/ analogue computers etc to carry out predicted fire on medium/high flying targets. That might be interesting but I suspect that most people would find it extremely frustrating.  

Edited May 22, 2018 by unreasonable

[D3adCZE]

Mannable flaks would be great with the introduction of BoBp. We could have a squad that specialises at combination manned flak - doras to protect team's 262s

[Yogiflight]

There will be drivable Flak mannable in Tank Crew, to defend the tanks against ground attacking aircrafts.

[HagarTheHorrible]

6 hours ago, unreasonable said:

What sort of flak will you be commanding?

 

If it is light AA I do not see that there is much to do. The commander's job is to position the guns, give them a firing arc, then make sure that they are manned and supplied. The actual operation in action is all down to the individual gun commanders. There is no top down co-ordination: or at least was not in WW2. edit - just manning an individual LAA gun would be fun for a while.

 

For the larger calibre guns - 88s and so on - there would be something to do, but you would need a set of simulated range finders/ analogue computers etc to carry out predicted fire on medium/high flying targets. That might be interesting but I suspect that most people would find it extremely frustrating.  

 

I suppose I was imagining something along the lines of a resources commander.  Placement of units, readiness states, priority of targets, direction of threat response times, result, repair etc etc.  The commander would use a combination of radar reports, for high flying aircraf, and a combination of eyes, ears and binoculars for low flying raiders.

 

It would only work, obviously, if the enemies mission goal was to attack the base, rather than just living in the hope that someone might drop by with evil intent.  I was imagining a situation where the flak commander would be putting his wits against the opposition, trying to ambush and surprise while giving attacking aircraft the opportunity to try and outwit the flak commander, adding a human element to the challenge of defending, or attacking prime defended targets.

 

Flak, and how it works will be important to the enjoyment factor when creating either specifically Bp or raids on German airfields.  If it's too lethal then the attackers  won't enjoy it, although at least they have the opportunity to try again and again .......  And if it's too easy then the defenders will soon get fed up and look else where.

 

 

Anyway, it was really nothing more than an idle thought that flited across my mind ( it didn't take very long, given it's size)

[unreasonable]

You are looking at some kind of wargame then - I do not see that description as being viable inside the BoX universe which can hardly deal with any C&C issues at all.. 

 

I am quite interested to see how this game will turn out:  http://militaryoperationshq.com/