i read the whole thread before replying. notice i am answering your arguments with my own. Interlocking fields of fire come into play here as the gv your marking may not be the gv shooting you down.
OK; you read the thread; I guess it’s hard to keep track of everything someone says. I was getting frustrated at the way some respondents ignored what had been said previously. My apologies.
at least 1/3 to 1/2 will be defensive, another 1/3 to 1/2 will be offensive and upto 1/3 will be meeting engagements. the Storch currently has a realistic role in defensive and some meeting engagements very few maps with close vbase locations does it play a role in offensive operations. tank town would be a meeting engagement that the Storch may have a role in but not on maps where there is air cover involved in the battle.
My point about “defensive” GV battles was that usually one side or the other will be “defensive” and near a VBase with Storches. Thus their presence is common, contrary to your implications. IMHO, from a GV “hide-and-seek” gameplay perspective, it is often undesirable to reveal either side’s GV positions. Of course, your concept of the ideal GV battle probably differs from mine.
As it happens the place the Storch would be the most use is when it can not survive on the field long enough to make a contribution. This would be during a defense of a base with a combined air/ground and when applicable sea assault.
I disagree here. During base defense against a massive air/ground attack, you don’t really need the spotting a Storch provides, as the environment is target-rich, and the attacking planes will kill your defending GVs fairly quickly anyway, once their tracers reveal their positions. I know in that situation, 90% of my concern as a defender is being bombed or strafed, and rightfully so.
Instead, the situation in which the Storch has the greatest negative effect, is the one where there are only a small number of GVs on both sides. Assuming no attack planes, previously, one could get an interesting “hide-and-seek” situation going. Now, the Storch finds you immediately, and the chance for ambush is lost. Remember, that some low ENY GVs don’t even have AAMGs (M3-75mm, early Pz-IV, etc.).
you can only see them if you have LOS. if they are behind a tree, in a barn, in a clump of trees and not in your LOS you can not see them in a Storch or a gv or another plane. I recall a battle where someone had a panther in a barn that had the door facing our base. Until right on top of them nobody was able to see the panther in question. In the same battle we had some hiding on ridges in clumps of trees. They could be seen from some angles but not all of them and they were using M16s, wirbs and M4's to shoot me out the sky. The Storch should have outlines on the window with captions that say "spray blood here".
LOS in Aces High seems to be fairly generously defined, so that if your Storch is moving, there will be the occasional gap in foliage or trunks, thus allowing the hidden GV icon to appear. That has been my experience over the course of many flights. Barns are a partial exception, but if you fly past the end within sighting distance, you can almost always see through the window, thus momentarily revealing the icon. All it takes is a momentary sighting to reveal that GV. BTW, I mis-stated the Storch sighting distance at 600 yards stationary in trees; I believe that it is actually set to 1200, with 600 for other planes. Moving is worse.
yes we are concerned about game play here. The Storch is not heavily used as it is with all it's disadvantages that it has. I find it a fun plane to fly but many don't fly it. I'm cool with that but just because it has a job to do and can do it does not mean it should be perked. As to the "rule-of-thumb" argument, it's valid whether you like it or not. I don't need to gain score or perks when I fly it but if your going to charge me to fly it, it should be capable of paying for itself.
You are entitled to your perk-earning preferences, but I disagree that they are relevant to the game play issues being discussed. I think the real motivation for most objections to perking the Storch derive from the usual “it will make me ineffective” fears which people have. I think that perking the Storch at 1 point will not have the great negative effect that these people fear; just a minor shift.
MH
