Flak unit operation

[GBerry]

I have Flak units but I never see them go into action when my cities are being bombed. What am I doing wrong?

 

[sabo]

Did you forget to load them with ammo?? (kidding) actually Flak has a poor chance of hitting anything, I've seen them fire but not much. The more you have in one city the better the chance. Fighters are the best for shooting down bombers

 

[GBerry]

Thanks Sabo. So basically it's just a pile of useless junk!

 

[Zeekater]

You don't see the flak attacking when they shoot down an airplane, the same animation is played as the SAM improvement.

 

[GBerry]

What animation is that Zeekater?

 

[lbhhh]

The animation involves a missile coming up from the city and shooting down the attacking bomber. You should have 4 flaks defending your city for best results.

 

[GBerry]

Thanks Ibhhh, that is helpful information!!

 

[Dogmeat]

4 flaks will have a 31 % chance of shooting down enemy bombers.
1 flak will have a 9% chance.

 

[Fanatica]

While we're talking flak. Will the flak only return fire if they are in the square being bombed? What if you have them along a border that the bombers must cross?

 

[CIVPhilzilla]

Only protects the tile its on.

BTW can you have more than four flak to further increase the chance or is four the max.

 

[Fanatica]

Has anyone ever tweaked it with the interception flag?

 

[lbhhh]

Originally posted by CIVPhilzilla
Only protects the tile its on.

BTW can you have more than four flak to further increase the chance or is four the max.

Four is the max.

 

[lbhhh]

Originally posted by Fanatica
Has anyone ever tweaked it with the interception flag?

IIRC, the interception flag has nothing to do with the chance of flak shooting down planes. If you want to tweak Flak's effectiveness, you can adjust its AA defense rating or play with the bomber's defense.

 

[homeyg]

Wait, are you guys talking about 4 flaks as in it will increase the chance of a flak being able to fire? Because if a flak fires the bomber gets shot down (there are no hitpoints involved), period. There is no chance to increase there.

 

[Fanatica]

I'm saying it would be nice to have flak fire to intercept any plane which flies into its air space in the same manner as jets.

 

[JMK]

Originally posted by GBerry
Thanks Sabo. So basically it's just a pile of useless junk!

Better having a few fighters instead of those useless junk flak.

 

[Longasc]

I agree, the Flak thing is not too rewarding.

They only protect one tile and the idea that there is no difference between elite and veteran unit because HP does not count at all is very unsatisfying.

 

[Pounder]

Doesn't the Flak unit also defend against ground attacks?

 

[lbhhh]

Originally posted by homeyg
Wait, are you guys talking about 4 flaks as in it will increase the chance of a flak being able to fire? Because if a flak fires the bomber gets shot down (there are no hitpoints involved), period. There is no chance to increase there.

When a plane bomb a tile defended by flak, each separate flak unit will attempt to shoot it down, up to a maximum of 4. So by having 2 flaks on the tile you are twice is likely to be able to shoot down an ennemy.

Also, lots of people seem to think flak is less effective than fighters but conisder this:

Fighters only intercept 50% of the time, and can lose against the bomber when they are trying to intercept.

Flak should also be a lot better vs stealth planes, which fighters can only intercept 5% of the time...

As pounder says, they can defend vs ground units, 6 defense just like a rifleman.

Lastly, if the ennemy has a stack of 20 bombers, you need a ton of fighters to stop the assault, whereas Flak will just keep on firing.

Of course, the best idea is to have both, which is what I use for my air defense strategy.

 

[The Last Conformist]

I was once saved from the AI taking a city on a chokepoint, which would have allowed the unwashed AI hordes to ravish my underdefended second tier cities, by a Flak destroying an attacking Vet Tank. That's technically known as luck.