Attempting to understand criteria of air spotter calling in planes.

[Flashburn]

Right now seems really random to me when air power gets called into a battle in a campaign.  It seems like you need a Battalion commander in battle.  The question then becomes;

1. Do these guys draw air spotters randomly or do all of them get them?  I am thinking more random.  Like draws on 1 spotter from one of the available squadrons.  I have seen the icon for them, I think, but so small I miss it unless really looking for it. 

2.  What makes a commander call in the air power?   Is it a simple having lower combat power than enemy?  I have usually seen these called soon after battle starts.  But once after taking bad losses, from ironically, enemy air power.  Somewhere around 25 minutes after enemy planes left, mine showed up.  Or is it based on what commander can see.  Or is it what gets reported too him.  What I am looking to know is should I be placing this commander with good LOS of battlefield or far away from the fight.  Does this even matter? 

3.  Is it possible that both sides call on air at the same time?  I think yes.  Which confuses me even more as that throws out that air power is called based on combat power between forces alone. 

 

[Flashburn]

OK, now I really do not get air strikes in campaign. 

Someone called in an air strike and no one has a spotter that I can tell?  Is there a bug going on? 

[chaudard]

With battle editor, regularly, the planes fly above me without attacking me. Yesterday with JU-87.

[wildman]

This was raised in another thread, we got sarcasm and idiot pics as a response.  

The recent addition of notifications about incoming air support is very nice but... it still isn't clear 'where' the air spotters are, 'which unit' they are attached to and 'what targets' they're calling in strikes for.

If campaign air spotters and airstrikes are now randomly generated or abstracted in some way then that needs to be explained, also if a battle is going to involve friendly air support then surely the commander on the ground would know all about it, because after all he'd have air spotters attached to one of his platoons and would want to factor this additional firepower into his battle plan... or maybe not, maybe headquarters often sent unannounced flights of ground attack aircraft to random parts of an operation, however I can find no reference to this in the history books.

There is a notification on the left of the screen telling us air support is available and that seems to be all the information we're getting. I would also like to understand more about the mechanics of air support, preferably without being patronized.  

[Flashburn]

I don't get it at all for campaigns. Seems totally random and I do not think that the case. 

[andrey12345]

I don't get it at all for campaigns. Seems totally random and I do not think that the case. 

I think in operation, airstrikes called by main command due to operation scenario, not battalion commander (player) as in real life.

[Flashburn]

I don't get it at all for campaigns. Seems totally random and I do not think that the case. 

I think in operation, airstrikes called by main command due to operation scenario, not battalion commander (player) as in real life.

Yes, but why?  By what criteria?  I certainly do not think it just randomly says to itself, now is a good time.  I get that in ww2 air power in the early days was often totally unconnected with ground commanders.  Air guy would say, hay, lets go attack that thing over there.  While ground guy was saying hay, lets not attack that over there.  And little to no contact between them.  Or is simply set up in editor that at such and such time and turn, air power pops up?  Like turn 1 will always get an air strike.  But that seems unlike something you would do. 

[andrey12345]

Yes, but why?  By what criteria?  

Somthing like archive data that in this day / hour aircraft bombing this area.

[FB_AGA]

In operations it comes when and where it was historicaly according to documents.

Very generally speaking, air strikes were planned by air commanders according to ground troops top HQs request, in the way: "Army corps XXX needs air support in that area tommorow."

[wildman]

In operations it comes when and where it was historicaly according to documents.

Very generally speaking, air strikes were planned by air commanders according to ground troops top HQs request, in the way: "Army corps XXX needs air support in that area tommorow."

That sounds more like it. 

So... we have no direct control over airstrikes in campaigns, it's all loosely based on what is known about air support ops from historical sources. That should be in the manual/tutorials somewhere.