ideal attack helicopter tactics

[Atrocious]

I need a sanity check on how to use attack helicopters most effectively. Flanking is an obviously decent use for them, but flying over an entrenched mechanized platoon deep in a forest or a few meters too close to an unidentified AAA platoon will result in the helicopters getting torn apart fast. How would one most effectively flank enemy forces with attack helicopters? And what about other effective ways to use them (depending on their armament)?

[MERRY COKEMAS]

I personally think choppers get chopped too easily by AA in this game, but valid tactics include :

1) Recon as much as possible. The area recon tactical aid reveals the size of enemy platoons, so a platoon with 2 vehicles has a fair chance of being AA, especially if it's behind larger platoons.
2) Destroy known enemy AA positions with howitzers, mortars and artillery tactical aids.
3) Suppress large areas with MLRS.
4) Attack with the choppers while using an airplane as a bullet/missile magnet.
5) If enemy AA is within range of frontline units, target the AA first.
6) Infantry only has a few MANPADS per platoon ; if recon confirms all MANPADS are dead, you can finish off the enemy infantry platoon with chopper-fired rockets, even maybe autocannons.

[CantStopTheComf]

First you should ask yourself: What helicopters do I have and what do I want to do with them?

Basically, there are two different types of helicopters.
The first being light helis, usually deployed by NATO states (e.g. West German PAH-1 or French Gazelle) . They are basically scout helis with AT capabilities, so while they combine good speed and vision range, they have little durabilitiy and cant do anything against infantry.
The second one are the "tanks of the air" because they combine firepower, armor protection and mobility (e.g. US Apache or Soviet Mi-24P). They have high durability, can fight tanks and infantry alike and some even have armor. They pay for this with limited vision and speed and are the most expensive helicopters in the game.
(Warsaw Pact also has the Mi-8, which is a worse Mi-24 without anti-infantry weapons).

Now, what do you wanna do with them?
Do you want to make use of the combined arms doctrine and let them fight along your main force? Do you want them to be an emegerncy response unit that can quickly relocate in case an enemy attacks a badly defended position of yours? Do you want them to harass the enemy backline and take out artillery?

Now matter what you do, try this:
- Scout ahead. This is like the solution to 90% of all problems in Regiments. Only let your your helicopters take a path that you know is free from enemies (or let them fly a very big circle around possible enemey locations)
- Dont engage entrenched units
- If you only have helicopters with AT weapons, only engagae IFVs/APCs as long as the inf is still loaded up
- Don't brawl. Fly into attack range, shoot a few times, fly back to a save distance, repeat
- Use an arial tacaid marker to scout for enemy AA: simply click on it, move the circle around the map and see where the threat marker changes

[Terra Nova]

apaches and hinds will slaughter all vehicles from a safe distance when those vehicles are not entrenched...

use scouts to cover areas you can with main forces and use choppers to respond to enemy pushes...

your choppers are safe and easy to retreat and your enemies advance is cut in half before they even reach your lines...

[MERRY COKEMAS]

There's another problem with choppers ; they're generally costly, both in supplies and in deployment points.

A 240-point AH-64 section means that not only I must save 240 points to deploy them, but also that if I retreat them, I need to save 240 points again to redeploy them. This effectively lowers the tempo of operations, and I generally get better results with the equivalent amount of points in tanks, infantry and artillery, with combat power that stays higher as I can deploy units sooner and gradually retreat them to refit/rearm them.

The deployment cost may not be a problem in operations, but it definitely is in a meeting engagement.

They also require more micro, which incurs opportunity costs, like forgetting to keep an eye on an infantry platoon about to be overrun.

[Senor Smoke]

It turns out in a peer-to-peer conflict attack helos are actually short-ranged, fast-moving artillery that can't use cover. the russians IRL have confirmed this in The Ukraine, you have them move up to spray rockets at a target from max range after you already know the target is there and then have it back out almost immediately.
The fantasy from old action movies of having the invincible domination helo hover over the enemy tearing up their army un-touched -- won't happen. Or at least it won't happen for long enough to make a difference, and then it'll cost too much to do it again before you've lost.