new Fighter missions (suggestions requested)

[n003lb]

I was just brain storming about a couple of new missions I would like to see added to the fighters. I thought of this after a game that I just finished tonight. This was the first game I had gotten to the point of building aircraft (haven't had time to play for about 3 weeks, so this was my first "real" game on Civ IV)

I just finished a game in which I was at war with Arabia for most of the latter stages. They actually out classed me technologically. I had both bombers and fighters, but they were only good for sinking Arabian ships when I saw them (modded to allow aircraft to kill units). Everytime I sent a bomber in against a city, it was shot down by enemy CAPs (intercepts). I can't figure out any way to take out the CAP before my bombers go in and get slaughtered.

2 new fighter Air Missions I would like to see:

Fighter Sweep: Can only be carried out against a tile with an active CAP (intercept mission). Has a chance to damage or destroy the CAP fighters. Damaged CAP reduces it's chance to intercept bombers.

Escort: Similar to the CAP (Intercept Mission) in that, when you order an escort mission, at first the fighter will do nothing. It watches for friendly bombers and protects them from enemy intercept missions. Combat would work similar to the Fighter Sweep mission, in that any damage the escort causes to the intercepters will reduce their effectivness against the bombers. A fighter squadron can only defend one bomber per round, so if you have 2 fighter squadrons on escort duty and you attack with 3 bombers, the third bomber will not be escorted.

When I say "bombers" I am refering to bombing missions, whether it's actually a bomber conducting it or a fighter doesn't matter. They would still both be entitled to escorts.

Does this sound like something that would be possible to add into Civ? If we can add it in, is there any way to get the AI to actually use the new missions? If the AI never uses them, then it would be too imbalancing I think. I just hate the fact that aircraft always seem to take a back seat in Civ.

n003lb

 

[n003lb]

Nobody has any thoughts on this?

I'll bump it no more after this.

 

[Louis XXIV]

I have no idea if it would be possible, but it would be nice. I think escort is vital. Number 1 isn't necessarily needed, just escort your bombers and you can fight fighters.

 

[NKVD]

escort would be really more realistic...sending bomber alone is just crazy in my mind!

 

[panzooka]

yet, really dont think its possible, adding an action is not possible without SDK

 

[TegPeg]

I'ts true that those missions would be important. If escorting bombers is hard to get, maybe it would be possible to allow your fighters to attack foes fighters which are intercepting. It would be kind of "escort".

I havent tested enough with fighter actions yet, but it seems that when you try to tie enemy interceptors (bombing, recon...) with your fighters, only you get damaged which was not case in CIV3. You SHOULD be allowed to clean your operative area from enemy airforce.

/Tegpeg

 

[Paasky]

Also, if a plane is intercepted, it should be able to fight back. Bombers less (perhaps -50%?) and fighters with -20% strength, as they have to have fuel to return.

 

[n003lb]

One thing I did notice happen in another game I had going. If you send in fighters on Air Strike missions against a city with an active CAP, there is a chance that your fighter will damage the enemy fighter covering the city. It seems that Air Strike missions randomly select one of the units in a tile, and depending on how many units are in the city, your airstrike may hit the fighters.

I tried this out, and it seemed to work. I massed half a dozen fighters against a city. Lost one of them, but the other 5 made it through the enemy CAP. 3 of those hit the fighters that were covering the city and reduced their attack to something like 2. Then I sent in 5 bombers and only one got hit, and it only recieved light damage. I guess that is a sort of fighter sweep mission, but it sure as hell isn't very efficient.

The problem is we need a way to tell our fighters to target the enemy fighters specifically, instead of just launching as many fighters as possible at the city in the hopes that a few of them will hit the right target.

I hope the SDK comes out on schedule. I can hardly wait to delve into the game and see if I can put this in. If we can do this, then I'll look into a more incompassing air combat mod for civ.