Where will AA vehicles fit in?

[SYN_Luftwaffles]

The other thread descended into a bit of a swamp and got locked, so I just wanted to ask here: where will the AA vehicles fit in? 

Let me preface this by saying that I'm excited that we'll have more content. I mean, I'm going broke and all, but I remember back when they added the two tanks without interiors just for fun for us. So @Jason_Williams and team went above and beyond in that regard and gave us an entire module of tanks. That's something we haven't had since Steel Fury Kharkov (which is mega-long in the tooth, now). 

Will they be available in multiplayer to spawn at objectives to protect them? Or what if it's like a moving objective (trucks, tanks, etc..)? My biggest thing would be that I can hardly identify aircraft now in VR without being right up on them, so I can't imagine having to ID them farther away in AA vehicles. 

Anyway, it could be a dumb question. I just wondered. 

Edited October 7, 2020 by SYN_Luftwaffles
Grammar

[migmadmarine]

All of that is up to the mission makers to determine frankly. 

 

[Thad]

Salutations,

 

They will be available in multiplayer. Mission builders can deploy them any way they see fit. They will deployable as a player vehicle just like tanks. As the player manning an AA vehicle, one can defend a friendly airfield or move along with a tank column to provide air defense. I deployed the currently available SdkFz n-FLAK vehicle as a AI support for the tanks. It engaged and took out several ATG and HMG positions, plus provided anti air support. Enemy ATGs and other vehicles can indeed be targeted and taken out.

 

We will most likely have a ZOOM capability as the AA gunner. We will be able to recognize enemy craft or vehicles.

 

When in doubt... the ones shooting at you are the enemy. ?

Edited October 7, 2020 by Thad

[Mitthrawnuruodo]

15 minutes ago, SYN_Luftwaffles said:

Will they be available in multiplayer to spawn at objectives to protect them?

 

"Up to the mission maker" is the correct answer.

 

16 minutes ago, SYN_Luftwaffles said:

My biggest thing would be that I can hardly identify aircraft now in VR without being right up on them, so I can't imagine having to ID them farther away in AA vehicles. 

 

They'll almost certainly get the same binoculars that Tank Crew commanders have.

 

[vonGraf]

I want to have a binocular as pilot (or observer, gunner) too. 

[216th_Jordan]

On Finnish Virtual Pilots I often spawn in a T-34 with HE only and try to shoot down attacking planes. Works quite well and in a recent mission I got 2 110s and a duck. Ranges up to 2 KM and larger are well identifiyable.

[BlitzPig_EL]

The AA guns are going to be a fun new dimension for the sim.  I will add them to all player usable airfields and also add some dedicated spawn points for them closer to the front lines and targets that need air defense, and all tank spawns. 

 

Maybe even figure out how to have an AA vehicle road race...  Just because I can.

 

[FeuerFliegen]

After hearing that the vast majority of players of this sim only do single player, I'm surprised that we would get a vehicle like this if it only had a role in multiplayer.  

 

I hope they do offer some cool single player missions for it though.

 

I also wonder what will be the ammo situation?  I'm pretty sure the vehicle couldn't carry much ammo and relied on nearby supply trucks or trailers, etc., I would absolutely hate to spend a long time traveling somewhere just to have a tiny amount of ammo.

[Lord_Strange]

1 minute ago, SCG_FeuerFliegen said:

I hope they do offer some cool single player missions for it though.

 

Taken from the collector vehicles store page:

 

"Our [flak vehicle name] can be used in both single-player and multiplayer scenarios and it will include several custom-made missions to demonstrate its ability at knocking down enemy planes."

 

It's all right there, guys.

[Gambit21]

3 minutes ago, SCG_FeuerFliegen said:

After hearing that the vast majority of players of this sim only do single player, I'm surprised that we would get a vehicle like this if it only had a role in multiplayer.  

 

I hope they do offer some cool single player missions for it though.

 

I also wonder what will be the ammo situation?  I'm pretty sure the vehicle couldn't carry much ammo and relied on nearby supply trucks or trailers, etc., I would absolutely hate to spend a long time traveling somewhere just to have a tiny amount of ammo.

 

It’s as much a single player unit as any aircraft.

 

Honestly I don’t understand where the confusion is coming from with regard to these vehicles. Aside from career, they’re no different than the aircraft. It will be up to the mission creators.

[FeuerFliegen]

I don't see much confusion.  I think we're all just wondering what specific scenarios we will find ourselves in, and how well it can be implemented.

[Gambit21]

5 minutes ago, SCG_FeuerFliegen said:

I don't see much confusion.  I think we're all just wondering what specific scenarios we will find ourselves in,

 

Defending covoys, airfields etc.

 

5 minutes ago, SCG_FeuerFliegen said:

and how well it can be implemented.

 

As well as any other unit.

 

Ammo is no problem and can be handled a few different ways depending on how the mission designer decides to handle it.

[Ace_Pilto]

It's very simple. AA vehicles will fit in on the ground. They will shoot at plens from the ground. That is all.

[Noisemaker]

11 minutes ago, Ace_Pilto said:

It's very simple. AA vehicles will fit in on the ground. They will shoot at plens from the ground. That is all.

I was going to write "between the ground and the sky" but thought the discussion had moved too far on for it to be funny or relevant.  Happy to see another succinct minded person here on the forums.

 

[Gambit21]

16 minutes ago, Ace_Pilto said:

It's very simple. AA vehicles will fit in on the ground. They will shoot at plens from the ground. That is all.

 

/thread

[Ace_Pilto]

6 minutes ago, Noisemaker said:

I was going to write "between the ground and the sky" but thought the discussion had moved too far on for it to be funny or relevant.  Happy to see another succinct minded person here on the forums.

 

Succinct is my roll, if it can't be said succinctly it's not worth saying.

[ShamrockOneFive]

In multiplayer I can see these being really fun. Especially on a server like Finnish Virtual Pilots with a virtual moving frontline and vulching allowed. You'll be able to see the situation, see that a friendly airbase or targets are under attack, spawn in a AAA vehicle and go and defend the target zone. That's really cool and offers an interesting and unpredictable element to fighter-bomber pilots as well. You never know if that's an AI or a perhaps more cunning human player who's got a mobile anti-air vehicle operating on the battlefield.

 

The more I think about it the more cool it sounds.

[Gambit21]

@ShamrockOneFive

 

It’s going to be fun.

In the old Il2 I took the stock Pearl Harbor mission (which was lame) and added a bunch more Japanese aircraft.

 

Then I placed a B-25 on the ground with unlimited ammo. I can’t tell you how many times I booted that mission trying to shoot down attackers with the dorsal turret.

From that time I’ve always wanted a player-controlled AA gun.

 

This is going to be so much better.

[Guest deleted@83466]

On 10/7/2020 at 2:26 PM, SYN_Luftwaffles said:

 My biggest thing would be that I can hardly identify aircraft now in VR without being right up on them, so I can't imagine having to ID them farther away in AA vehicles. 

Anyway, it could be a dumb question. I just wondered. 

 

Well, it's a very real world problem, isn't it?  Think of all the friendly aircraft that got lit up at Pearl Harbor.  And for the Germans during Operation Bodenplatte, because their AA batteries weren't informed of what was going on.  And George Preddy, Gambit's avatar, above.

[Chief_Mouser]

1 hour ago, Ace_Pilto said:

It's very simple. AA vehicles will fit in on the ground. They will shoot at plens from the ground. That is all.

 

Not quite. Stuff the tanks, I'm looking forward to AAA vehicle wars. ?

[40plus]

Right here...

[Gambit21]

1 hour ago, 216th_Cat said:

 

Not quite. Stuff the tanks, I'm looking forward to AAA vehicle wars. ?

 

Holy crap I hadn’t even thought of that!

[Yogiflight]

10 hours ago, 40plus said:

Right here...

The difference for the Gepard is, it has quite effective antitank guns, not like the two vehicles we get, which only can knock at battle tanks.

[Elem]

4 minutes ago, Yogiflight said:

which only can knock at battle tanks.

What?

[FeuerFliegen]

Half of the time I'm in Finnish Virtual Pilots server in a tank, I'm sitting there on the ground with numerous enemies flying all around me, and I think... if only I had a proper AA gun... 

 

I think it'd be cool if under options/modifications for the AA truck, would be to have a supply truck follow you around, and give you the ability to give him orders just like a tank platoon commander would do.  Then maybe if you were a ground attacker and constantly were getting beat up by other player AA trucks, taking out supply trucks would make a big difference in how much longer they could defend themselves.

 

I can't wait to see a group of 6+ AA trucks hidden behind a building, mountain, etc. unleash their fury onto unsuspecting airplanes

[Jaegermeister]

4 minutes ago, SCG_FeuerFliegen said:

I think it'd be cool if under options/modifications for the AA truck, would be to have a supply truck follow you around, and give you the ability to give him orders just like a tank platoon commander would...

 

I think to a certain extent you can. If you were in a tank or another AA vehicle, you should be able to give orders to any vehicle with you targeted as the leader. Assign targets, formation orders, etc.

 

The rearming process should work just like a tank. With a supply vehicle, you will most likely just shut down the engine and execute a simple command, then wait a specified time.

 

I can also see missions being written with these vehicles moving between airfields to defend, ground targets and soft vehicles to destroy, various reconnaissance or ambush duties, guiding tanks on target, etc. There is no reason you can’t lead tanks into a scenario and assign them targets also.

 

There are many possibilities, just limited by what you might want to do, keeping in mind that almost anything including a machine gun can probably kill you.

[[CPT]milopugdog]

You could try the AAA we already have in-game to find out a bit more.