[ECV56_Lancelot]

Originally Posted by RyansPlace

...If understand Oleg, he has up to 40 aircraft in a single formation. This is a good start, but looking down the road, we're going to see a need for even larger ones. Heck, the 1943 8th Air force SOP i'm using requires 60 bombers in a single formation. But that can easily be divided into nine subgroups (see graphics from the first post) of six to seven aircraft each. Numbers aside, I’m encouraged to hear this is being addressed in the next release.

One of the major issues that detract from any sense of historical accuracy is the AI simply can't handle how to attack a large formation. You should be able to program the AI. Add options to the waypoint tab that specifies a priority targets at each waypoint of the flight. Fighters, bombers, ground targets, or avoid enemy contact are the basics. You should also be able to assign what type of attack to perform with a pulldown menu with several options (such as, head on, flank, stern attacks, massed attacks, ect). AI simply can’t make these decisions yet, so it should be left open on the FMB.

Escort fighters should have a ‘wander limit’ option on the waypoint tab that limits how far they will pursue an enemy threat before they break off the engagement and return to there assigned escort group.

To put these into practice: Lets say for example, in the FMB I have a 40 ship formation of German bombers with 12 escort fighters that I want to attack with a group of 20 British fighters. The bombers are broken into two wings of 20 aircraft. The lead wing is assigned the escort with a wander limit of 1000 meters. I take eight of the British fighters and place them ahead of the others with the priority set to 'fighters' on the waypoint. They are the element to draws off the German bomber escorts and otherwise keeps them occupied. The other 12 British fighters have there priority set to 'bombers' with attack type set to 'head on attacks'. Meaning, they will concentrate on the bombers, but only attack from the 12 o'clock position. As the scenario plays out, the escort takes the bait but only tangles with the British fighters until they wander outside the 1000 meter range limit from their assigned escort detail, then immediately breaks off the engagement and attempts to return to the formation. Maneuvering only to avoid British attacks. Once reunited with the formation, they attack British aircraft that pose a threat to there bomber group.....

I understand perfectly, and there is a lot of good ideas. I think you should also post this here

http://forum.1cpublishing.eu/showthr...t=6909&page=57

Its the LONG thread of questions and requests about SoW. Even if its long, you must know that Oleg and its team read and follow that thread, most likely you will not get an answer, but surely it will readed by them.