Recon Aircraft

[dmenbor]

I'm playing Axis Operations 39 and I get a message from the briefing officer that I should consider using a recon aircraft because there's a pilot tht is needy of action... this sounds like H.U.Rudel is getting impatient and I don't want to miss him out bolstering my Stukas in the future.
So I get my first Fieseler Storch and taking into account how useful recon cars/tanks are, this A/C is totally useless. Besides being cannon fodder, it doesn´t bomb even if it's listed under tactical bombers instead of recon, doesn´t have phased movement and only provides a bonus if you attack the unit DIRECTLY BENEATH it.... so no bonus for your A/C attacking that unit. This doesn't make any sense even from a geommetric point of view: scout cars provide a bonus to the six hexes around them and an aircraft, having a much better vantage point, only to one hex. Can you reconsider this?

[Breca]

I find a 1 Core Slot Recon plane quite useful (but 1 only) to round out my army. If given the choice between a 1 Core Slot strategic bomber or recon plane, I'll generally choose the Recon Plane.

• Better in general at spotting than ground recon.
  
• Able to conduct deep reconnaissance, to discover depth/concentration of enemy forces, allowing you to plan several turns ahead
  
• Only air unit able to support ground attack without triggering enemy AA or fighter plane fire (without additional heroes)
  
• Use to "double-up" recon support bonuses in combination with ground recon and artillery
  
• Inexpensive

They're not "better" than ground recon. But they do add more flexibility to your army, and a single recon plane can complement your ground recon very nicely. If you get a Double Move hero, that can pair very nicely with your Recon plane.

[Grondel the 10/10]

recon units generally get xp way faster than my other units, leveling a recon-plane to 2 stars then switch it to stuka rince repeat.....

[Vathek1]

Except for very early in the war, the 1-slot strategic bombers aren't that great. I agree with Breca that a recon is a much better choice. Moreover, the recon planes are dirt cheap, which means that losing them is nowhere as punishing as having an actual fighter or tactical bomber squadron shot down by repeated enemy air attacks.

Ironically, recons are also useful for air defence as well. Want to make sure that the enemy airmen can't touch your Karl Gerat or Gustav gun? Just park a recon aircraft over it, and unless the AI really wants to devote all its fighters to shoot down that recon plane so that it can bring in a bomber, your irreplaceable and un-reinforcable prototype will be safe from air attacks. Whilst any aircraft works well for this purpose, recons are especially useful since they are cheap to reinforce and your other aircraft likely have more important things to do.

One other benefit of recon aircraft over scout cars is that they can reach places where scout cars cannot, due to their greater range. The only reason why I don't use Fieseler Storchen and Bf 109 PRs exclusively for recon is that during inclement weather, I won't have any recon whatsoever. That, and in the early war, scout cars are generally on par with some of the early war Panzers for anti-infantry duties.

[dmenbor]

Thank you all for the answers. I am aware of the benefits of deep recon, what I don´t get is the lack of phased movement like the A/C and that only one hex gets the benefit of improved accuracy and not all 7 like the A/C...
How do these Recon AC get experience if they can't attack anything - just by getting shot at??? Or do they get experience from ground units attacking the unit they are overflying?
Using them to protect high value targets because of the one-unit-per-hex limitation of the game, is kind of unhistorical IMHO.

[Vathek1]

Originally posted by dmenbor:

Thank you all for the answers. I am aware of the benefits of deep recon, what I don´t get is the lack of phased movement like the A/C and that only one hex gets the benefit of improved accuracy and not all 7 like the A/C...
How do these Recon AC get experience if they can't attack anything - just by getting shot at??? Or do they get experience from ground units attacking the unit they are overflying?
Using them to protect high value targets because of the one-unit-per-hex limitation of the game, is kind of unhistorical IMHO.

Recon aircraft do indeed get experience from friendly ground forces attacking the units they are overflying, and from being shot at (and surviving). However, since they have 0 attack value, they don't really benefit from veterancy which is another advantage since you can use green reinforcements on them (and save some prestige) with no drawbacks whatsoever.

Alternatively, you can convert another aircraft type to recon.

As for using them to protect high-value targets by just parking on top of the hex, yes, it is historically inaccurate and unrealistic. But so is the idea of being able to drag a Gustav Gun with you in every battle from Sevastopol onward* and using it to snipe tanks, infantry, AT, etc. This game isn't intended to be a historical simulation, friend :D.

*If you disband the auxiliary Gustav Gun you are given at Sevastopol before the start of turn 1, you can buy twoGustav Guns for your core force. Now that is definitely not historically accurate!

[Black_Hole]

Originally posted by Vathek1:

Recon aircraft do indeed get experience from friendly ground forces attacking the units they are overflying, and from being shot at (and surviving). However, since they have 0 attack value, they don't really benefit from veterancy...

That's mostly true. Veteran recon planes do benefit by their increased defense capabilities due to hightend enemy inaccuracy, however. For this reason veteran recon planes work to a degree quite good as bait and hit soaker for enemy fighters and fighter-bombers.

[Dampfnudel]

1) They are cheap air shields. You can shield expensive unit with a 50 prestige unit against any bomber hits.
2) They can explore the map to give you vision in advance to plan your moves.
3) They can quickly give 10%+ bonus accuracy anywhere on the map where some extra damage is needed
4) They are dirt cheap and allow you to gather early exp for later CAS.