Air Defence

[Rowan]

With a stack of fighters in a city;why don't they scramble when the city is attacked by AI air units?

The title should read air defence;sorry.

 

[Superior Man]

If I have a Fighter deployed in a city getting attacked by enemy Fighters or Bombers, my own plane intercepts them. So it works here. Or do you mean that your unit stack in the city consists ONLY of Fighters?

 

[Duke of Marlbrough]

Try having the fighter be sentried or fortified in the city.

 

[CSDanger]

Try to fly patrols with own planes around of your citys so that you can attack enemy planes before they coming to your city. And you can build a SAM-Battery who is double your defence against enemy aircraft when they attacking your city.

 

[sethos]

... and later an SDI-Defence which quadruples your defence.

 

[CSDanger]

... and later an SDI-Defence which quadruples your defence.

But SDI is only against atomic rockets isn´t it?

 

[Superior Man]

If my memory serves me correctly, it quadruples the defence against rocket attacks (Cruise Missiles, Nuclear Missiles are immediately destroyed) in combination with a SAM Battery. Does not work against aircraft, e.g. defence against fighters and bombers is "only" doubled (with a SAM in the city, that is).

Anway, I feel the answers after Duke's are not really touching Rowans question. He was curious about a particular situation, not air defence tactics in general.

Try to fly patrols with own planes around of your citys so that you can attack enemy planes before they coming to your city.

How should this work? Fighters can't stay outside a city / airfield, they are destroyed at the end of their turn. Bombers are able to stay outside for one turn, but if they attacked your city in the secound turn instead of returning to a city / airfield, they'd be destroyed too. And Helicopters do not count as Air Units, if I'm not mistaken. So you really can't patrol for enemy aircraft. Works good against ground units though.

 

[CSDanger]

How should this work? Fighters can't stay outside a city / airfield, they are destroyed at the end of their turn. Bombers are able to stay outside for one turn, but if they attacked your city in the secound turn instead of returning to a city / airfield, they'd be destroyed too. And Helicopters do not count as Air Units, if I'm not mistaken. So you really can't patrol for enemy aircraft. Works good against ground units though.

I mean that in the same turn your fighters fly a little round around your city and then returning to the base before theyr fuel is empty. But I had read in this forum that enemy aircrafts have unlimited fuel and maybe they are flying to the near of your city and then theyr turn ends and so they "staying" in the air and then you can attack them before they attack your city in the next turn. Yes you have right helicopters can´t attack other airplanes I had tryed it but they can´t. Thats stupid because a helicopter IS a aircraft.

 

[Superior Man]

Unlimited fuel for eney aircraft? I've seen their planes crash frequently. o_Ô Maybe a bug or something.

 

[CSDanger]

Really? In the great thread "List of AI stupidities" some players had write that the AI has unlimited fuel for theyr planes and theyr Triremes don´t can sink after finished theyr round:

In the latest game I played, an enemy bomber came over on reconnaissance. It ended up, deep in my territory, on the only neutral square for miles around. So to see what it would do, I surrounded it with a bunch of spies. It would have to blunder into a spy if it wanted to move at all. It stayed there, in mid-air, for over 20 years!! I eventually got fed-up and moved the spies elsewhere, whereupon it flew off. Add it to the list of other unfairness (like AI triremes never sink).

That stands in the List of AI stupidities. I don´t know it is true but I think so too.

 

[Rowan]

I'll try and flesh it out a bit!
What I mean is that when an AI air unit attacks ; it would be nice if your fighters would scramble to take out the threat.I mean that your citys air units defend against an attacking air unit.[independent of what ever ground unit you have in the city]
I have had one unit {air} sleeping,one fortified but it seems to make no difference.
I guess then that the strongest unit defends.

 

[Ace]

Your fighters are suposed to "scramble" when your city is attacked, one at a time. IIRC, the fighter has to not have moved in that turn in order to scramble, but its been so long since I have been in that situation that I might be remembering incorrectly.

 

[Duke of Marlbrough]

I'll try and flesh it out a bit!
What I mean is that when an AI air unit attacks ; it would be nice if your fighters would scramble to take out the threat.I mean that your citys air units defend against an attacking air unit.[independent of what ever ground unit you have in the city]
I have had one unit {air} sleeping,one fortified but it seems to make no difference.
I guess then that the strongest unit defends.

What other units do you have in the city? I did a quick test and sentry/fortify/unit moved/ had no factor is the fighter scrambling.

I put a Mech Inf and a Fighter in a City and attacked it with a bomber.

Base Units:
Fighter scrambled

Both vets:
Fighter scrambled

Both Vets and fortified:
Fighter scrambled

 

[CornishGuilt]

Don't bother with air defences. Retaliatory capability is all that matters. Build bombers, stealth and regular ones. Build at leasr forty bombers and stay on the offensive. Set all fighters to aerial supremacy. That's all you can do.

 

[small lawe]

I generally build SAM sites, but before I get rockety I rely on fighters. They always scramble and I only need 1 or 2 (vetrans).

Also like CornishGuilt said retaliation is always best "The best defense is good offence"-who ever said that. . .

 

[Anithraldur]

In theory, if you have a bunch of coastal cities with a SAM battery, wouldn't fortifying an AEGIS cruiser in the city wtfpwn any air units that come that way?

If I'm really having a problem I do the standard SAM/MechInf, and then identify the cities the AI is pounding at the most and terraform until I get hills. Nothing can get through that, let me tell you.