Ground Convoys.....

[Hammerhead]

Can we have a formation of tanks (like the bombers) instead of just the one.  Tanks seldom go off on lone wolf hunts....they work in small groups to eliminate nme tanks.
I think it would be cool to drive a small platoon of tanks (3 is enough) with perhaps a M16 attached as anti-aircraft cover, whenever under attack from the air switch to M16 (like jumping bomber positions) and fire. Also could have other players join in and take command.

And whilst i am at it, can we please have artillery....(perked of course).....evey tank platoon leader with say 50 perks can call in an artillery strike (and direct strike with dot commands).

Perhaps fractional additional perks can be given to aircraft that assist in airstrikes. Tank types in ".airstrike" and puts smoke on target GV convoy and asks an aircraft to bomb em to bits......might actually give some purpose to all the grnd attack aircraft (Il2, Yak9t, Hurri2d etc etc.)

Just think that Gvs are not used so much for battle due to their less numbers and lack of firepower (if u comparing with bombers tht is).

[Sabre]

IIRC, HiTech has mentioned that there could be ground A/I forces to give purpose to JABO missions, and to make GV missions more immersive (same purpose for A/I bomber formations that will be in AHII).  I for one am quite curious about what types of missions will be in AHII, and what affect such missions will have on the strategic progress of the war (see my post below):

AHII: What will it take to succeed?
The primary consideration, in my opinion revolves around the strategic aspect of the game, a.k.a. gameplay. How will the server determine when and by how much the front moves in AHII? Given the information we’ve been told so far, it sounds as if progress in “the war” is driven by the relative success or failure of each side in accomplishing missions. This sounds similar to the way progress was tracked in Falcon 3.0. You were given an air tasking order (ATO) by your HQ, as well as a draft mission plan to work with. Often you had more than one mission objective, such that your level of success could vary. Thus, you didn’t necessarily have to achieve every objective to be awarded a successful mission. Based on your performance, the front would move one way or the other. The map displayed this using blue-shaded circles that represented areas of the terrain you controlled. Pink-shaded circles were enemy controlled areas. The circles centered on strategic points on the map, such as towns and cities, and overlapped each other in some cases. Where friendly circles overlapped enemy circles, this indicated contested areas.

My hope than is that AHII will use a similar methodology. If so, then it is reasonable to assume that some mission types will have a greater impact on the war effort than others, and that that impact will differ in how direct that impact is. For instance, if one side launches an armored attack on another, a strategic attack on armament factories will not have a direct impact on the attack underway. A JABO attack directly against the attacking column, or taking out a key bridge along its route of advance, would be necessary to thwart it. Likewise, the side supporting the attack may be required to support a paratroop drop on that key bridge, to secure it for their use. On the other hand, a successful string of strategic attacks on factories, POL, and troop training facilities might reduce the number of armored thrusts the enemy launches; it might also reduce the forces available to meet your own country’s armored attack.

As you can see, this could get pretty involved; the algorithms could include some pretty elaborate logic for generating and scoring mission. My guess is that the initial A/I will be pretty simple, but to be a success in the long run it will have to grow and grow quickly. That’s because people will tire of missions that are repetitive and overly simplistic. The following list represents my own thoughts on what type of missions I’d like to see in AHII:

Fighter:
CAP, intercept, close escort, bomber sweep, JABO – CAS (includes support for amphibious operations), JABO – Interdiction (forces on the move, supply depots, marshalling areas), JABO – transportation (trains/rails, supply convoys, bridges), JABO – anti-shipping, JABO – SEAD (airfields, radar, AAA)

Bomber/Strike:
Strategic (cities and factories), infrastructure (rail yards, bridges, ports), SEAD, anti-shipping, interdiction (supply depots, marshalling areas)

GV:
Attack an objective, defend an objective, search and destroy, meeting engagement, amphibious assault (a specialized form of attack)

Naval:
Surface action, PT boat ops, naval gunfire support

This is certainly not all-inclusive, but is a start. Looking at these, one can see that determining the affect of each mission type on the progress of the war can be complex; however, every mission MUST have some effect, or it doesn’t belong in AHII. That affect might be immediate, or may affect future events. Some missions could go either way. For example, taking out a rail yard can affect both strategic production as well as operations currently ongoing in the field. If AHII is to reach its goal of becoming the on-line alternative to the boxed sim crowd, it must have the same kind of depth to the strategic component of the game.

[hazed-]

Sabre thats an interesting article.

Just had a thought. Maybe there will be ways to cancel certain missions.
Ie you are given the mission fly to destroy an enemy bridge. As your mission is displayed and people are joining the enemy player has luckily targeted YOUR home field for an attack.
His bombers reign bombs all over your base as you sit in the tower watching waiting for your mission to roll,
The damage to the base is heavy enough to cause the server to announce the mission must be cancelled.The server then makes another mission to hit the bridge but sets it from an untouched base.

This doesnt sound too great but if you think about it it allows players to try to disrupt operations in local bases. You can attack your main target to capture it or destroy it but also you send several strikes to hit the 3 or 4 nearest bases causing (if you damage them enough) missions at them to be cancelled and rerouted.With luck we will disrupt a mission that was due to attack our home base and this helps keep your home airspace clear of attacks also.

This is a tactical and strategic tool which we could use.

[Sabre]

Yep, that's a good idea too, Hazed.  In fact, I'd make it so that if an attack was headed into the area of your base, the server should suddenly cancel your planned mission and generate a scramble-to-intercept mission to counter it.  Turns the intensity up a bit, and keeps you guessing.  Falcon 4.0 does this; you can be in the middle of planning your mission, based on the ATO you recieved, and suddenly find an enemy strike inbound to your area.  "Flexibility is the key to air power," someone once said.

[Ridge]

Often times when im in a tank, I'll fire a smoke shell onto the nmy tank, then ask someone nearby in a ground attack plane to attack the smoking tank...

[Rutilant]

Originally posted by hazed-
Sabre thats an interesting article.

Just had a thought. Maybe there will be ways to cancel certain missions.
Ie you are given the mission fly to destroy an enemy bridge. As your mission is displayed and people are joining the enemy player has luckily targeted YOUR home field for an attack.
His bombers reign bombs all over your base as you sit in the tower watching waiting for your mission to roll,
The damage to the base is heavy enough to cause the server to announce the mission must be cancelled.The server then makes another mission to hit the bridge but sets it from an untouched base.

This doesnt sound too great but if you think about it it allows players to try to disrupt operations in local bases. You can attack your main target to capture it or destroy it but also you send several strikes to hit the 3 or 4 nearest bases causing (if you damage them enough) missions at them to be cancelled and rerouted.With luck we will disrupt a mission that was due to attack our home base and this helps keep your home airspace clear of attacks also.

This is a tactical and strategic tool which we could use.

All missions at this point are gonna be -computer- generated, no players making missions.

[hazed-]

Originally posted by Rutilant
All missions at this point are gonna be -computer- generated, no players making missions.

Im happy they will be computer missions at first.

For a start hopefully everyone will start out at the lowest  rank and therefore should not be able to give orders.Hopefully once a player has gained enough rank he will be able to either steer the AI missions in a direction he wants or he will be allowed to order his own.
For now im more than happy to follow orders.Hopefully later HTC will decide its time again for the players to make some missions again.

Hammerhead btw i like the perk idea for artillery etc a lot, sorry just re-read my reply and realised i didnt say that! The tank formations I have been asking for before.  Sabre i like the sound of that mission change thing from falcon4.Sounds just the thing id hope for.

[rogerdee]

all these ideas are good guys  and should open up the game more and generate  more coperation between the flyers,instead of now when most things are done half arsed at best.
        with these  items if included you have to work togeather