Post by Angrybirds on Jul 8, 2013 12:50:43 GMT -8
I was thinking of making this information (which we're using for the Fall of Miramar over in the Krickan Union Rises board) available to everyone.
Definition of "aircraft"
In this context, whenever I say aircraft, I mean small vessels that are typically transported inside a mothership, are unable to go very far from said mothership without refueling, and rely primarily on agility and speed as a way to avoid destruction. Some fly exclusively through the air, others operate in space, and some can do both.
Yes, I know, the word aircraft denotes something travelling through an atmosphere and shouldn't apply to starfighters and the like, but I can't find a better word for it. If you guys have any suggestions, please comment!
Types of Aircraft
Modern aircraft lie somewhere along the spectrum of agility vs. power.
Type I: Interceptors
On the far end of the agility side, we have interceptors, aircraft that are designed for speed and maneuverability, and as such have to be very light. They carry very few heavy armaments and are typically used to chase down and outfly other aircraft in a dogfight. It's fairly straightforward. Often, they will carry a few guided antiaircraft missiles which they will fire before engaging with their targets with repeating weaponry.
Type II: Bombers / High tonnage
On the other end, we have power and bulk, the bomber. Conventional bombers are designed to carry very heavy loads, typically for use against ground targets. Their high tonnage can also be used to carry supplies from one point to another (B17's during the Berlin airlift, for example). However, their bulk makes them large and clumsy targets in a dogfight. They cannot perform the same maneuvers as smaller and more nimble craft, and as such are easily outmaneuvered and placed in positions where they can't fire back. To make up for this, many B17 bombers (nicknamed "Flying Fortresses") were outfitted with turrets on the side and rear of the plane. They didn't even try to swerve and tumble when they were swarmed by German aircraft, instead flying straight and trying to nail them with machine gun fire as the fighters flew around them.
Since the B17, bombers only got bigger. First we had the B17 "Flying Fortresses," then the "Super Fortresses," and then the "Strato Fortresses." Modern conventional bombers are bigger and Boeing 747 passenger planes, and can drop a MASSIVE amount of conventional bombs at one time!
Type III: Tactical bombers
Near the middle, you have the regular fighter, possessing decent flying capabilities and more tonnage than the interceptor. It will be outmaneuvered by the interceptor and would be no good at transporting anything else than a few missiles. This kind of design was first used to down other aircraft, but when the USSR developed the first interceptor, its role quickly changed to that of a tactical bomber, an aircraft that would be able to carry and launch guided missiles at ground targets with accuracy while travelling at high speeds. This kind of bomber his harder to take out than the conventional bomber.
Use in Ground Warfare
Aircraft play a key role in the waging of planet-based warfare. Controlling the skies––meaning, being able to fly your aircraft over a portion of land without getting potentially shot down by other aircraft or enemy anti-air positions––is critical because it allows you to bus in supplies and troops through the air to reinforce positions that can be more quickly accessed through the air (or positions that can only be accessed through the air). It also allows you to call in bombers to mercilessly pound enemy positions while they are unable to reciprocate. Commanding the airspace also means that the enemy won't be able to call in their own bombers or come too close to the battlefield with their own aircraft for fear of being shot down.
Gaining control of an airspace
How does one wrestle control of the skies, you ask? Well, it can be done in several ways. Either you flood the skies with interceptors capable of defeating the enemy aircraft and enforce your airspace whenever an enemy aircraft violates it (meaning, shoot it down whenever it comes within range), or you deploy ground-based (or naval based) anti-aircraft weaponry (homing missiles or flak weapons) that shoot down any aircraft that dare venture close. Aircraft typically cannot see anti-aircraft weapons until it's too late, and typically do not survive if caught unawares.
A combination of both methods is deadly. Though if no aircraft are available, some form of ground-based anti-aircraft weapon is highly recommended especially for an advancing army.
Maintaining control of an airspace
Just sending the enemy aircraft running isn't enough to ensure you aerial dominance; you have to enforce your airspace. Having all of your aircraft constantly in the skies is not useful, however. You would just be wasting fuel unnecessarily and at one point, all of your birds will have to land for fuel, leaving your whole airspace undefended for a time. The best thing is to recall your birds to a well defended airfield or carrier within reach of the battlespace and refuel them. When an enemy enters your army's airspace, you can send out your interceptors to intercept them. If you send out bombers, having an escort/patrol in the air would be advisable given that an enemy aircraft could quickly swoop in, "snipe" one of your defenseless bombers, and then hightail the heck out of there before your fighters can even get off the ground.
Attacking airfields
Airfields are very useful assets as it is an absolute pain to carve out a runway of uneven terrain. It is also where enemy aircraft are kept, so targeting them might destroy one or two of their birds while they're still sitting ducks on the ground. Bombing runways was also useful at a time because a runway that has a huge crater in is not at all useful and must be flattened again before any more aircraft can get off the ground. This might not be a problem with starfighters and space-born bombers that can take off and land vertically, but with certain types of interceptors, that ability (which adds weight to the craft, and therefore impairs mobility; it is also likely to consume more energy) is removed.
For example, the maneuvering thrusters of the LAF Falcon (FPC) are just canisters of highly compressed gas that are released into space, allowing it the pilot to minutely adjust his heading by releasing the gas in a specific direction. It's a lightweight and simple alternative to what would otherwise be a fuel-costly and heavy asset. What it implies, however, is that the canisters cannot generate enough energy to allow the Falcon to take off and land vertically. It needs to use its main thruster in the back to build up enough speed and take off from a runway like a normal jet plane.
When seized, airfields can be used to field your own birds closer to the enemy's retreating line. That's why it's a good idea to destroy the runway (it's easy, just use detonate one of the bombs you invariably cannot take with you) while retreating (after all of your birds have taken off for another airfield, of course).
While airfields might be rarely built by attackers since most aircraft can deployed from carriers anywhere, they are still often built by planet-based defenders who need a place to store their garrison of aircraft. Attackers can choose to land their massive carriers on the battlefield, providing an easily accessible and very reistent (shields!) airbase to which they can retreat to refuel and resupply.
Definition of "aircraft"
In this context, whenever I say aircraft, I mean small vessels that are typically transported inside a mothership, are unable to go very far from said mothership without refueling, and rely primarily on agility and speed as a way to avoid destruction. Some fly exclusively through the air, others operate in space, and some can do both.
Yes, I know, the word aircraft denotes something travelling through an atmosphere and shouldn't apply to starfighters and the like, but I can't find a better word for it. If you guys have any suggestions, please comment!
Types of Aircraft
Modern aircraft lie somewhere along the spectrum of agility vs. power.
Type I: Interceptors
On the far end of the agility side, we have interceptors, aircraft that are designed for speed and maneuverability, and as such have to be very light. They carry very few heavy armaments and are typically used to chase down and outfly other aircraft in a dogfight. It's fairly straightforward. Often, they will carry a few guided antiaircraft missiles which they will fire before engaging with their targets with repeating weaponry.
Type II: Bombers / High tonnage
On the other end, we have power and bulk, the bomber. Conventional bombers are designed to carry very heavy loads, typically for use against ground targets. Their high tonnage can also be used to carry supplies from one point to another (B17's during the Berlin airlift, for example). However, their bulk makes them large and clumsy targets in a dogfight. They cannot perform the same maneuvers as smaller and more nimble craft, and as such are easily outmaneuvered and placed in positions where they can't fire back. To make up for this, many B17 bombers (nicknamed "Flying Fortresses") were outfitted with turrets on the side and rear of the plane. They didn't even try to swerve and tumble when they were swarmed by German aircraft, instead flying straight and trying to nail them with machine gun fire as the fighters flew around them.
Since the B17, bombers only got bigger. First we had the B17 "Flying Fortresses," then the "Super Fortresses," and then the "Strato Fortresses." Modern conventional bombers are bigger and Boeing 747 passenger planes, and can drop a MASSIVE amount of conventional bombs at one time!
Type III: Tactical bombers
Near the middle, you have the regular fighter, possessing decent flying capabilities and more tonnage than the interceptor. It will be outmaneuvered by the interceptor and would be no good at transporting anything else than a few missiles. This kind of design was first used to down other aircraft, but when the USSR developed the first interceptor, its role quickly changed to that of a tactical bomber, an aircraft that would be able to carry and launch guided missiles at ground targets with accuracy while travelling at high speeds. This kind of bomber his harder to take out than the conventional bomber.
Use in Ground Warfare
Aircraft play a key role in the waging of planet-based warfare. Controlling the skies––meaning, being able to fly your aircraft over a portion of land without getting potentially shot down by other aircraft or enemy anti-air positions––is critical because it allows you to bus in supplies and troops through the air to reinforce positions that can be more quickly accessed through the air (or positions that can only be accessed through the air). It also allows you to call in bombers to mercilessly pound enemy positions while they are unable to reciprocate. Commanding the airspace also means that the enemy won't be able to call in their own bombers or come too close to the battlefield with their own aircraft for fear of being shot down.
Gaining control of an airspace
How does one wrestle control of the skies, you ask? Well, it can be done in several ways. Either you flood the skies with interceptors capable of defeating the enemy aircraft and enforce your airspace whenever an enemy aircraft violates it (meaning, shoot it down whenever it comes within range), or you deploy ground-based (or naval based) anti-aircraft weaponry (homing missiles or flak weapons) that shoot down any aircraft that dare venture close. Aircraft typically cannot see anti-aircraft weapons until it's too late, and typically do not survive if caught unawares.
A combination of both methods is deadly. Though if no aircraft are available, some form of ground-based anti-aircraft weapon is highly recommended especially for an advancing army.
Maintaining control of an airspace
Just sending the enemy aircraft running isn't enough to ensure you aerial dominance; you have to enforce your airspace. Having all of your aircraft constantly in the skies is not useful, however. You would just be wasting fuel unnecessarily and at one point, all of your birds will have to land for fuel, leaving your whole airspace undefended for a time. The best thing is to recall your birds to a well defended airfield or carrier within reach of the battlespace and refuel them. When an enemy enters your army's airspace, you can send out your interceptors to intercept them. If you send out bombers, having an escort/patrol in the air would be advisable given that an enemy aircraft could quickly swoop in, "snipe" one of your defenseless bombers, and then hightail the heck out of there before your fighters can even get off the ground.
Attacking airfields
Airfields are very useful assets as it is an absolute pain to carve out a runway of uneven terrain. It is also where enemy aircraft are kept, so targeting them might destroy one or two of their birds while they're still sitting ducks on the ground. Bombing runways was also useful at a time because a runway that has a huge crater in is not at all useful and must be flattened again before any more aircraft can get off the ground. This might not be a problem with starfighters and space-born bombers that can take off and land vertically, but with certain types of interceptors, that ability (which adds weight to the craft, and therefore impairs mobility; it is also likely to consume more energy) is removed.
For example, the maneuvering thrusters of the LAF Falcon (FPC) are just canisters of highly compressed gas that are released into space, allowing it the pilot to minutely adjust his heading by releasing the gas in a specific direction. It's a lightweight and simple alternative to what would otherwise be a fuel-costly and heavy asset. What it implies, however, is that the canisters cannot generate enough energy to allow the Falcon to take off and land vertically. It needs to use its main thruster in the back to build up enough speed and take off from a runway like a normal jet plane.
When seized, airfields can be used to field your own birds closer to the enemy's retreating line. That's why it's a good idea to destroy the runway (it's easy, just use detonate one of the bombs you invariably cannot take with you) while retreating (after all of your birds have taken off for another airfield, of course).
While airfields might be rarely built by attackers since most aircraft can deployed from carriers anywhere, they are still often built by planet-based defenders who need a place to store their garrison of aircraft. Attackers can choose to land their massive carriers on the battlefield, providing an easily accessible and very reistent (shields!) airbase to which they can retreat to refuel and resupply.