I was interested in what seaplane support might be added that would not be out of line with historical use and still fit in the game. My first choice would be the PBY. I went and looked at all the other threads regarding the PBY and yes, there's a long list going a long way back, but I think there's a possible niche that the plane could fill.
First, historically, the PBY was used extensively in the Pacific due to its range. It was used for sub hunting, maritime patrol, night attack and naval interdiction, and search and rescue.
What do we not need from the PBY in AH? We don't need it for sub hunting or night attack. I suppose it could be used for naval interdiction if anyone was inclined to take a slow plane like the PBY over a fleet (which is why it was used for night attack), but it wouldn't be my first choice. We don't need SAR either. That pretty much leaves maritime patrol and the ability to run supplies.
Running supplies is something that is probably faster done by GVs if it's intra-island field resupply. If it's inter-island, then C-47s are faster, as longer as there are airfields to takeoff from. So what happens if a map uses a substantial number of port only islands between countries? For example, in the ndisles map, what if all the small islands only had ports or mostly had ports? This would probably be a more idealistic representation of a maritime conflict anyway. The only way to run supplies inter-island would be a long hop from a large island airfield in a C-47 or a short hop from a port. Hence, one particular need for the PBY.
Now, if we do two things, the PBY could play a significant role. The first is that radar identifies not only air targets, but CV groups as well. If you want to make a distinction, then radar at ports is allowed to identify CV groups. Note, that fleets should be able to see other fleets on radar as well. I would expect CV groups and ports to detect other CV groups at longer ranges than aircraft due to their size.
The second thing we need to do is enable PBYs. PBYs should only launch from ports. They can carry GV or field supplies or up to 4,000 lbs of bombs if you are desperate. However, they also carry mobile radar which can identify CV groups as well as air targets. Hotpad would be allowed at airfields, but if you tower out, you can't takeoff in a PBY from an airfield. PBY pilots could get fractional perk points for having enemy targets destroyed within their radar coverage.
Losing radar is a common issue we all have run into, particularly when someone takes out HQ. Adding PBYs could provide AWACS style radar support for fields under attack assuming that a port is reasonably close for a PBY to get into the air and fly there. It would also work quite well for CV group search functions (maritime patrol), to monitor the gaps between the island port radars. To make it even more interesting, allow AWACS support only within local radio range (vox or chat? hmm?) of the PBY. In other words, you only get to see the mobile AWACS radar data if you are close enough to talk to the PBY radar operator to get situation updates.
If an AWACS style PBY were allowed, then taking out the HQ could be made harder to recover from, which would add more interest in the strategic aspects as well. It gives options for expending resources to strategically recover the HQ / country radar or expend resources for tactical radar coverage.
I can think of other possible ways to use a PBY in this fashion that mirror military tactics, but that will have to wait until possibilities become realities.
