Is Close air support worth it?

[killerbill0787]

I have plenty of CAS but I really can't tell a difference in battles with and without CAS. I see the "has air support " modifier in the battle overview screen but Im not sure really what it even does. What I do dislike is that I can bomb a particular set of forts or use my CAS (for whatever it's worth) in a battle of my choice where I think is most important.

[KOW Joshyboi]

air support does nothing dont waste your resources on them

[GOT_NO_SKILLZ]

CAS deals direct damage to enemy equipment in battle. At the top of the battle summary screen it shows how many aircraft are involved in the battle, how many aircraft have been lost (I think), and the Org/Str damage they've inflicted. The Strength damage is the important contribution for CAS. Depending on how long battles last, and how many CAS aircraft are involved, you can chew threw enemy divisions with them. Some guys on the Paradox forum have posted screenshots of ridiculous CAS-inflicted damage (like 600-1000 damage) in really long battles.

Also, CAS aircraft contribute to your "Air Superiority" % like fighters do. They also ignore armor when dealing damage, making them very useful against tank divisions. Their short range is their only major drawback. If you are a major nation fighting a ground war in Europe, build them. If you are IC-limited and need long-range combat power....you might wanna build tactical bombers instead.

[killerbill0787]

Can you link those screen shots? I would like to see the damage they are dealing. I have never seen a way to tell if they are doing aynthing at all, and it certainly dont feel like they are.

[Ryan]

Here's another way you can tell how your air power is helping. Just having air superiority helps your troops. Open the battle screen and mouse over all the unit stats for each side. Look at Soft Attack, Hard Attack, Breakthrough on your side. On the enemy side mouse over their Soft Attack, Hard Attack, Defense. You will see modifiers granted or inflicted based on your air power which can help and hinder the battle stats. In addition, as was mentioned above, airplanes also damage the enemy. Air power can REALLY help when you are attacking a well defended enemy.

You can also see the effect of Naval Bombardment by mousing over the stats. If you have a few battleships, it can lower the enemies attack across the board by 25%. You can also see the impact of Forts, terrain, weather, etc.

Saying CAS aircraft doesn't do anything is like saying a good General doesn't do anything. They all add combat modifiers to the battle. The more you have the faster you kill the enemy and the less losses you will take.

Here's another tip. In the upper right corner of the screen you will see the Theatres of War. To the right of the name there is a little notepad. Click on it, and you can see your battle summaries for all your battles. It shows how many men and equipment lost for both sides. Pretty cool!

[Paragon]

Depends on your industry and air presence. Terrain matters to a lesser extent.

The number of CAS planes that can join any one battle is 3 times the combat width of said battle. That means an 80 width battle can have a total of 240 planes swoop in. A wing of over 240 CAS planes CANNOT join that battle, so a recomended wing size for CAS flight is 120 planes each (for 40 width battles or retreating enemies). One CAS wing can only join one battle at a time.

As you can see from above, you'll need a powerful industry to make CAS worth it. Similar to tanks, they really crush enemy troops when used properly and in sufficent quantity. They do more damage to strength than organization, unlike tanks. Used right this can cause crippling losses to the enemy, to a degree where they will be unable to reinforce their own troops. This also clogs up supply even further, halting costly offensives or incursions into poorly developed (or shot to ♥♥♥♥) regions.

Make sure you maintain air dominance in any region you operate CAS out of. First of all, air superiority can very easily turn a battle with its bonuses and penalties. Your CAS planes will also be shot out of the sky very quickly otherwise.


Useful for countries like the UK (air superority and no place for tanks), the Soviet Union (they're very good versus tanks, and the giant red blob starts with many planes. Also clogs up german supply well) or the USA (muh industry, muh amphibious landins). Otherwise, just invest in tanks and motor to win your difficult battles.

[GOT_NO_SKILLZ]

https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/index.php?threads/how-important-is-the-air-force.974211/page-2#post-21970609


You can see the aviation-caused damage just above the national flags in the battle window: over 1100 strength and organizational damage inflicted. The entire thread is worth a read.

Paragon, good info there about what wings can participate, I didn't know that oversize squadrons are essentially useless since they can't join battles.

[Ryan]

Thanks for that info on the number of planes per combat width. All this time I was making 100 or 200 sized wings. I was thinking of making larger ones, so that my Ace pilots had a greater effect. Now I see 120 is the best size. Or maybe have 240 when you want a wing dedicated to the larger battles.