[Mobhack]

Helicopters are best for moving troops in your own rear area, but not for intrusions into defended airspace (they don't do well against flak, and really don't like hot landing zones).

If you need to use them offensively then you must first suppress the enemy AAA (with HE or smoke if no radars) and if planning to drop into a defended LZ, plaster the place with artillery for several turns first. SEAD will take time, as will preparation of the LZ.

But transport helicopters aren't battlefield transports, just very fast trucks, unless you have total air supremacy (including suppression of all air defences). Or use them to go where the enemy isn't - which means that they might have some use on very large maps, but certainly less so on smaller or average sized ones.

Attack helicopters are a different matter - they are the pure expression of the WW2 US tank destroyer doctrine. But even there, they are best restricted to flying over your own lines and not going forwards into the enemy zone of control as and until you have dealt with all air defences.

My helicopters stay on my side of the map for probably the first half of the game. Scout helos might sniff about till I identify a SAM or AAA system and then hide with pride while the arty then deals with it and then have another sniff at the situation. Attack helos do over-watch from way deep inside my baseline.

Transports (if I bother) stay safely in reserve behind a hill till its time to do their thing on a well prepared objective (or just deal with his artillery park) near the end game, and only once I have an idea that I have fully depleted his AAA assets. But mainly if I should have transports, its to move my "fire brigade" ATGM teams about to block off unexpected armoured thrusts.

Use of helos requires caution and patience. They are extremely manoeuvrable but at the same time highly vulnerable assets.

cheers
Andy