Question about vehicle convoy flak

[DarkWolf29]

Say I have a convoy of trucks that includes a flak halftrack and I'm using a Command:AttackArea to get the AA to fire and defend the convoy, should I object link the AttackArea to the flak vehicle itself or to the lead vehicle of the convoy?

 

Is one or the other the better choice or does it matter either way?

 

Thanks in advance,

 

DW

[Gambit21]

3 minutes ago, DarkWolf29 said:

Say I have a convoy of trucks that includes a flak halftrack and I'm using a Command:AttackArea to get the AA to fire and defend the convoy, should I object link the AttackArea to the flak vehicle itself or to the lead vehicle of the convoy?

 

Is one or the other the better choice or does it matter either way?

 

Thanks in advance,

 

DW

 

Action MCU's, attack, cover, attack area, land, take off etc are always object linked to the unit (aircraft, vehicle) executing the action.

That said, if the halftrack is part of the convoy, you needn't do anything other than make sure the convoy waypoints are NOT set to 'high'.

 

If the AA gun is sitting by itself/not moving...you can use a "Force Complete" MCU set to "Low"...ie "do your thing"

This will cause the gun to fire even without at attack area MCU. If you want the gun do attack/defend a specific region only, then you must use "attack area"

[LLv34_Temuri]

7 hours ago, Gambit21 said:

If you want the gun do attack/defend a specific region only, then you must use "attack area"

And this area does not move with the column, so don't use it with a moving column.

Edited April 1, 2021 by LLv34_Temuri

[[DBS]Tx_Tip]

20 hours ago, DarkWolf29 said:

Say I have a convoy of trucks that includes a flak halftrack and I'm using a Command:AttackArea to get the AA to fire and defend the convoy, should I object link the AttackArea to the flak vehicle itself or to the lead vehicle of the convoy?

 

Is one or the other the better choice or does it matter either way?

 

Thanks in advance,

 

DW

 

For best results you should have the flak halftrack as the Lead Vehicle. Perhaps make the second one a Flak Halftrack as well. Never had satisfactory results with the Flak Vehicle in anything but the Lead Vehicle. What matters most for your scenario is that flak vehicles do not fire when in motion.

 

   The halftrack flak vehicles must come to a stop, drop their doors, have a crew member man the gun and in some case have the commander step out the vehicle, put his binoculars on, and scan the horizon for E/A.

All this takes a few seconds and then of course the vehicle needs to acquire a target in range to start firing.  

 

What needs to happen for a flak vehicle within an activated convoy to fire?

1) Convoy needs to stop either in panic or straight stop when one of its members is killed or an enemy aircraft is in close proximity.

This is accomplished using a Command: Formation targeted with an On Killed Event or a Trigger: Proximity pulsing for enemy aircraft at a preset distance and object linked to the Lead Vehicle. 

 

2) Once stopped give the Flak Vehicle some time to do its thing.  

You do this by setting up a timer loop to order, using another Command: Formation, to move the Convoy after whatever amount of time you wish.

 

   Scenario: Enemy aircraft approaches and blows up the number 3 truck of the convoy.

(I've set a On Killed Event to target a 2s timer which targets a panic stop Command: Formation and a 45s timer which targets a forward Command: Formation.)

(I 've also set up a Trigger: Proximity which is pulsing for E/A at a distance of 700m which targets the same 2s timer to 45s timer which begins the stop then start loop.)

 

Either way the Flak vehicle stops and begins its routine to open fire, and will continue to either be stopped and open fire as the Trigger: Proximity does its thing when the E/A leaves and re-enters it's radius or another of the convoy is destroyed. 

   If, after 45s loop period, the E/A has not returned nor has another member of the Convoy been destroyed. The Halftrack raises its doors, the crew jumps back in and off we go again.

 

Good Luck with your Mission Design,

Tip

[DarkWolf29]

Ok, thanks for the info. I tried using a Force Complete in place of the Attack Areas and it seems to be working the same, they engage quickly aside from the setup time for the mobile halftracks. I assume the Force Complete method uses less resources than Attack Areas?

 

Previously I was adding an Attack Area between the convoy or train's start and end waypoint and dialing the diameter of the Attack Area up to encompass any location where the they might be attacked.

 

I've tinkered with a panic stop setup similar to what you are describing, Tip. Though it didn't include on On Killed Events. I'm still trying to figure out the basics at the moment, I'll have to try that in the future.

 

I wonder if there is a way to force an AA vehicle to stay in a deployed state for use defending a static position? If not maybe the devs could add an Artillery version that is like that, always ready for action so it responds as fast as stationary AA.

 

DW

[[DBS]Tx_Tip]

18 hours ago, DarkWolf29 said:

...

 

I wonder if there is a way to force an AA vehicle to stay in a deployed state for use defending a static position? If not maybe the devs could add an Artillery version that is like that, always ready for action so it responds as fast as stationary AA.

 

DW

 

   Perhaps with the advent of the player controlled Flak Vehicles they'll work that in along with having aircraft gunners at the ready.

Something like a Stop and Deploy Command: Formation for the Flak Vehicles along with a Gunner Deploy Command: Formation for aircraft within the ME.

A Key combination for "Gunners at the Ready" for aircraft and vehicles when manned would be useful. Although the AI gunners can certainly be brutal as is.

 

Good Luck with your Mission Design

Tip

 

 

 

 

[IckyATLAS]

On 4/2/2021 at 8:28 PM, [DBS]Tx_Tip said:

 

   Perhaps with the advent of the player controlled Flak Vehicles they'll work that in along with having aircraft gunners at the ready.

Something like a Stop and Deploy Command: Formation for the Flak Vehicles along with a Gunner Deploy Command: Formation for aircraft within the ME.

A Key combination for "Gunners at the Ready" for aircraft and vehicles when manned would be useful. Although the AI gunners can certainly be brutal as is.

 

Good Luck with your Mission Design

Tip

 

 

 

 

You could try as follows:

Have your AA vehicle in a given position move say 2 or three meters via a waypoint with priority parameter set to low. This will ensure maximum rate of fire.

Have also a ForceComplete MCU linked to the vehicle and set to Low to be activated. This will ensure the shortest reaction time. 

With this your vehicle will have the minimum reaction time when the enemy will be at firing distance.

The reaction time will depend of the vehicle itself. If it is a vehicle where the activation has some animations (like truck side opening etc.) there will be time lost.

And it is not possible to keep the truck sides open. They will automatically be closed if the enemy is out of range.

If there is no preparation animation then there is just the rotation time of the AA gun to face the incoming enemy and maybe the elevation time too. 

Faster than that, is not possible.