Armed reconnaissance missions? Career mode.

[Sybreed]

Are these bugged? I just did one in battle of Rhineland in a P-47 squad, all we did was circle a city until our entire escort ran out of fuel. Then, a few planes decided to drop 2 bombs a on single truck.

 

This mission type seriously needs a revision, it's bugged to the point that it is broken.

[I./JG52_Woutwocampe]

Yeah these arent great as of now. Most of the time you get jumped by many 190s way before you reach your target. Since you are not escorted often, well, its a slaughter most of the time. If you and a couple of your P-47 friends manage to survive, well, like you said. You will forever patrol above a small village until out of fuel with no soft target to engage....

 

A few times, I actually managed to reach the target with my bombs/rockets. The only thing you can destroy are some factory facilities within the village.

 

Armed recons, as well as traffic interdictions, need a serious rework because these types are mostly bogus so far.

Edited October 14, 2022 by I./JG52_Woutwocampe

[Mtnbiker1998]

I've only flown one of these so far as a flight lead in P-38s, aside from some wingman shenanigans that I think were air start related, it was fine. Pretty fun mission actually, exploring and hunting for targets. Shot up 2 airfields and a convoy before running out of ammo and rtb'ing. 

 

It probably helps to lead the flight in these missions, the AI will probably struggle in the "free hunt" aspect of the mission.

[Talon_]

4 hours ago, Mtnbiker1998 said:

It probably helps to lead the flight in these missions, the AI will probably struggle in the "free hunt" aspect of the mission.

 

To be honest this goes for the whole Career mode unfortunately.

[Airborne506]

Yeah I had one of these on a P38 career last night - we made it to the target mainly because of our speed and some cloud cover so the 190s that scrambled to meet us lost sight/interest. Once we were in the triangle though the flight lead gave no orders to patrol for ground targets they just circled the object marker and never dropped the bombs until time was up and they headed for home. There was one convoy and some AA positions that we flew right over on the way to the marker but no action from my flight (besides me).

[Wilhelm_Heidkamp]

I skip this kind of mission. A lot of them in Rhineland with P-47. Pffff.

[DBS]

I find they work okay as a flight lead. I was doing an RAF mustang campaign and there were usually a mass of enemy units around the frontline. So I start low, drop my bombs on them, and then climb up to deal with the enemy patrol(s) in the target area.

[PB0_Roll]

So, any improvement to be hoped on this kind of missions ?

 

That's everything I got in BoBp at the moment , and they are really immersion breakers, when they could be the most exciting .

 

Drop the "circle over waypoint" thingie, make sure at least a convoy or an artillery battery will be met somewhere , occasionally a transport aircraft or a ground attack aircraft group returning to land or whatever, and you're done.

 

If ennemy fighters intercept you while you're attacking planes or trucks, why not, but stop waiting for them doing circles over a city !!!!!!!

[Hotaru_Ito]

When they're normal day missions, AI circles the objective marker and doesn't attack anything unless it happens to be right there. However, about half the time in my last Spitfire career, armed recce missions were set up like night missions--with each plane taking off and flying the mission separately (even though it was not nighttime). When that happened, it worked great. Each plane went off on its own and attacked different targets, and the mission was actually a lot of fun.

 

Not sure what caused this or which way it's supposed to be, but if you see one where the planes take off separately--you can tell on the runway right away because only the leader turns his nav lights on first, not the whole flight--give it a try.

Edited November 20, 2022 by Hotaru_Ito

[PB0_Roll]

Well I expect these missions to work when flying in a group too, if they can work for single planes. ?

[Skycat1969]

I've had mixed results with Armed Recon missions. I think the problem is there isn't a specified target assigned so the AI circles over the city until it is engaged, or perhaps until a certain number of minutes pass (like the cover river crossing missions), or until a number of ground targets are destroyed. I usually go off on my own and shoot up nearby airfields, and often that satisfies the mission causing the rest of the squadron to return to base.

[Noisemaker]

My issue with the  armed recon missions, and specifically with the Mosquito, is where we are tasked as a single aircraft to engage and destroy enemy aircraft (as per the mission briefing), and we are inevitably met with not only a flight of 109s or 190s (our target for the day) that outnumber us 6-1, but that there is also a flight of 109s or 190s further away, that has our flight (1 aircraft) as a waypoint and will follow us no matter where we go on the map.

 

[S10JlAbraxis]

Unfortunately this type of mission seems like it is still broken.  I have several careers going after the invasion of Normandy with both British and American squadrons and get a lot of armed reconnaissance missions where the the flight heads way to the south and just circles an empty city for what seems like forever.  Then they finally head home and may hit a target as they cross the enemy lines or do nothing and land having not fired a shot.  It is really getting boring and frustrating.  The logic for these missions needs to be compleatly redone.  At least add some enemy ground units in and around the target city.  I hope this is addressed in a future update.

 

Has anyone had any luck with these missions working correctly?

[1PL-Husar-1Esk]

6 hours ago, S10JlAbraxis said:

Unfortunately this type of mission seems like it is still broken.  I have several careers going after the invasion of Normandy with both British and American squadrons and get a lot of armed reconnaissance missions where the the flight heads way to the south and just circles an empty city for what seems like forever.  Then they finally head home and may hit a target as they cross the enemy lines or do nothing and land having not fired a shot.  It is really getting boring and frustrating.  The logic for these missions needs to be compleatly redone.  At least add some enemy ground units in and around the target city.  I hope this is addressed in a future update.

 

Has anyone had any luck with these missions working correctly?

Not in the old project i believe (GB series), they are busy with new project,  if they care maybe this would change in new project - couple years to wait unfortunately.

[R33GZ]

I find they work fine, there is always a convoy, bridges protected by AAA and occasional aircraft somewhere in the patrol zone. But I always fly as flight lead, otherwise, yes, the 'AI' can make an absolute dog's breakfast out of most missions. I haven't played Nomandy, but assume it's the same

[KevPBur]

Likewise, as long as you are flight lead these missions can be fun and productive.

 

Of course, if you have the density on the highest setting you will more often than not be intercepted on the way to target and you won't have an escort. I guess it happened.

 

I find it best to issue a "Patrol for Ground Targets" command as the flight passes over artilary or ahead of traffic will encourage the ai to attack that target!

I had a recent mission with lots of stationary planes on airfields and unprotected bridges which the ai would not attack. Turning labels on I realised none of these had enemy labels. I guess this means the ai won't "see" them as targets in the same way trees aren't!

Certainly not perfect but I just left them to a convoy of trucks and I got an easy bridge and a couple of unprotected parked planes. The mission objective was traffic, bridges and airfields so we all did well and drinks all round in the officers mess that evening!

 

[R33GZ]

2 hours ago, KevPBur said:

Likewise, as long as you are flight lead these missions can be fun and productive.

 

Of course, if you have the density on the highest setting you will more often than not be intercepted on the way to target and you won't have an escort. I guess it happened.

 

I find it best to issue a "Patrol for Ground Targets" command as the flight passes over artilary or ahead of traffic will encourage the ai to attack that target!

I had a recent mission with lots of stationary planes on airfields and unprotected bridges which the ai would not attack. Turning labels on I realised none of these had enemy labels. I guess this means the ai won't "see" them as targets in the same way trees aren't!

Certainly not perfect but I just left them to a convoy of trucks and I got an easy bridge and a couple of unprotected parked planes. The mission objective was traffic, bridges and airfields so we all did well and drinks all round in the officers mess that evening!

 

Agreed, I pretty much leave them to their own little mission. I will give them a patrol order, although that mostly gets ignored, unless there happens to be ground units close to them. Strange that there would be neutral objects at enemy bases, that would definitely make the 'AI' pass them over

[KevPBur]

30 minutes ago, R33GZ said:

Agreed, I pretty much leave them to their own little mission. I will give them a patrol order, although that mostly gets ignored, unless there happens to be ground units close to them. Strange that there would be neutral objects at enemy bases, that would definitely make the 'AI' pass them over

I think potrol causing them to fly in a circle and will only see targets close to that point. Hence you really need to lead the horse to water and place them right over the target you want them to attack and at the mission altitude before giving the order. Still doesn't mean they will definitely attack but usually seems to work.

[Letka_13/Arrow_]

Generally what I found in my experience is that the career works much better when you are the flight lead. This is also valid for armed recon missions and what I see that works is when you find some target around the designated area is to give your flight patrol for ground targets and they usually do attack. 

[jeanba]

I agree, leading the mission is very important for enjoyment

Edited April 26, 2023 by jeanba