The issue is the hordes like being hordes. Giving the option to split into smaller groups isn't going to do it. It's nice with the option there, bit they won't use it. They have the option now to hit 3 bases at once with the extra numbers they have and never do it.
They know they can't win the base unless they have the big numbers.
Exactly. I'll admit it, I sometimes fly in the horde. But after an hour, I'm bored and in the mood for a fight, not an uneventfull commute from airfield to airfield. Air combat simmulator would imply combat, and combat is a two-way action. The problem is that the lemmings' goal in AH has become to remove combat from the equation.
To put it in layman's terms, people won't stop hording because they can't take bases without doing so. Source of the problem: defense against small groups is too easy, or effective use of small groups is too difficult. Changing either would aleviate said problem.
Since the one carrot we have (bragging rights) doesn't work, and people are intimdated by
using the stick for some reason, what we need is either more carrots, or a slightly smaller stick.
Since a smaller stick would be (as the name implys) less effective, I propose we get some more carrots.
Impliment local ENY, which is tied to white-flag percentage and number of troops needed. Would have to be exponential in its effects, so as to be very gentle with small numbers, but tyrannicly cruel with massive 40+ hordes. Updates every 5 minutes to prevent manipulation through fighters bailing out. Base numbers would be 40% of town destroyed and 5 troops for a single person (a single person can't do both simultaneously, giving any defenders plenty of time to up), maybe the current numbers for, say, 6-10 people. Doubled for 20, Town percentage maxes out at 100% (duh), and troop requirment maxes out at 40 (this would be for big 35+ man hordes, where a couple less pilots in fighters is barely noticable)
This would both make small-numbers captures easier and large attacks more defendable.
Increase incentives for capturing a base quietly and intact. Maybe increase hanger down-time for newly captured bases to 25 minutes.
Town buildings stay down for an hour, auto ack stays down for 30 minutes for newly captured bases.
Once time limits are reached, the respective objects respawn in the standard time if destroyed again. This would mean defense of a heavily damaged base is nessecary, providing more incentive to do it quikly and quietly.
