Q about Air Warfare / Squadron Commanders

[vorlon_mi]

I've had the least experience with squadron commanders, compared with army commanders or fleet commanders.

At the base level, I can see that SqC would soak up the experience that planes earn through their missions.
How do you move a SqC? Can you pack planes? Where would you unpack them -- onto an aerodrome district? Can we unpack them into another urban district (analogous to the city center in Civ6)? The rebase action for a plane changes its location, but what if there is no SqC there to receive the experience? What's the deal with aircraft carriers? Do they serve as a squadron commander for the planes on the carrier? Or do I need to have a commander there *also*, to soak up the experience?

 

[MutilationWave]

Each aerodrome acts as a squadron commander. It can't move, but gains experience. Planes parked there are packed in like a commander but can attack individually and automatically track.

The squadron commander is the one you can build. It is just a mobile aerodrome commander. It can set up on any flat tile that is neutral or owned by you. Then it behaved exactly like the other one.

No experience with carriers and no you can't park/pack aircraft in cities.

 

[vorlon_mi]

Thanks! That confirms my experience in my previous game (Trung). One of the options for the SqC is to make a new airbase, where a bunch of eligible tiles are highlighted. IIRC, the planes are automatically packed and move with the commander if you switch from one airbase tile to a new airbase tile. The aerodrome district has its own aerodrome commander, which soaks up experience from the planes based there. The SqC soaks up experience from the planes based with it.

The aerodrome can be attacked, just like any other urban district or quarter. If the enemy is nearby, you will want to put a land unit there as well for defense. Same for the airbase where the squadron commander lives; it needs defending. Be thoughtful where you set up an airbase.

Even though a squadron commander is *born* in an aerodrome, it's not useful to live it there. Use it to set up an airbase somewhere, say, on the back side of a border town. It can launch air attacks, get experience, but not be vulnerable to a surprise attack.

I haven't built one yet, but I expect an aircraft carrier to work like an airbase on the water: soaks up experience from the plans based there, needs to be defended. If I were playing a continents map again, with really large oceans between the land masses instead of many islands, I could see the utility of an aircraft carrier.

 

[magicq99]

Maybe a related question about relocating aircraft. Apparently there is a range limit to rebasing aircraft. Similarly, the squadron commander has a range limit for creating an airbase.

My question is now: what is the best way to get a squadron commander and also any newly build aircraft from the old continent to a new continent, if it is out of range of the old continent?

I guess the sqadron commander can kind of leapfrog via an island and take his aircraft with him. But how do I get newly build aircraft to reinforce the commander over there, once it is out of range for aircraft rebasing?

Is here the best way to simply have an additonal sqadron commander or aerodrome on an island spot, so that newly build aircraft can be rebased via this intermediary base? Or do I need an aircraft carrier, which I guess could also be used to transport aircraft to the other end of the world?

 

[vorlon_mi]

Great questions! I think you will need either a squadron commander's airbase or aerodrome on an island, to allow the aircraft to rebase (in two steps) from the homeland to a distant lands aerodrome. I have a small preference for the airbase, to save the gold for purchasing an aerodrome in an island town.

Yes, if you've unlocked aircraft carriers, they could work also. They have the advantage of being able to move, if the distance is just a little too far.
Land aerodrome --> aircraft carrier, which moves 5 hexes --> land aerodrome

 

[Krikkit1]

Also the Aircraft rebasing is farther than the Squadron Commander Rebasing.