AA Defense

[Paulinski]

Hey All

I don't really post much and recently I re-discovered SPMBT and the WWII sibling.

I have played China Punishes Vietnam scenario 5 or 6 times as Vietnam and every time it was a draw.

The Chinese just obliterate my armor with air strikes. I have I pair of 14.5mm BR40 (I think that is correct name) Strela team and ZSU=23 as reinforcement. I managed to down one plane in 6 games with the ZSU

Does anyone have any tips how to conduct proper AA defense.

Cheers

Paul

[jivemi]

There's no way "to conduct a proper AA defense" beyond making sure your AA assets are in decent defensive terrain (or dug in) with clear lines of fire to all directions above your units while being concealed from enemy direct fire. The rest is up to chance.

[Suhiir]

AA is very much a "luck" unit.
Do you hit at all?
Do you do enough damage to drive off/kill anything?

[Wdll]

Originally Posted by Paulinski

Hey All

I don't really post much and recently I re-discovered SPMBT and the WWII sibling.

I have played China Punishes Vietnam scenario 5 or 6 times as Vietnam and every time it was a draw.

The Chinese just obliterate my armor with air strikes. I have I pair of 14.5mm BR40 (I think that is correct name) Strela team and ZSU=23 as reinforcement. I managed to down one plane in 6 games with the ZSU

Does anyone have any tips how to conduct proper AA defense.

Cheers

Paul

Check elevation and line of fire. If your AA unit is for example at 50m elevation and right next to it are very higher hexes, the AA might have problem even spotting the enemy planes.
If the weather/visibility is bad and your AA have no radar or other way of seeing the incoming plane, make sure the AA is close to potential targets to provide cover. Make sure the AA doesn't move for at least a turn if you want it to have better chances of firing and hitting a plane.

[Imp]

Same principals apply for accuracy do not move and fire.
The ZSU is by far your best air defence system with radar and a EW rating better than the Chinese planes most likely.
As they are reinforcements I would suggest turning off the main weapon till you have moved into position.
Possibly time your movement for just after China has made an air strike and keep the ZSU out of sight of enemy units as it is likely to become a high priority for the Chinese air.
Possibly don’t be in a hurry to commit your tanks fight the air battle first by heading back to your AAA so they do not have to move first. Getting complicated time it right and U turn and the AI will probably expect you to be somewhere else when it attacks. Enough time for your vehicles to be stationary so hard to spot and the decision is do you turn off the tanks AA fire so they do not give away their locations?

[Paulinski]

Thanks for replies everyone.

I'm stubborn so I played another time last night. Draw as expected but I did down 3 Chinese planes. I'm beginning to question if the Chinese have too much air assets unless historically it was the case.

I don't think is feasible to hold back my armor because the Chinese armor arrive in turn 2 and just punishes my infantry.

I'm going to try again and see if I can hold the ZSU to fire on closer targets as it seems they target the planes far away.

The Strela is somewhat useful the 14.5mm is useless.

[Wdll]

Originally Posted by Paulinski

Thanks for replies everyone.

I'm stubborn so I played another time last night. Draw as expected but I did down 3 Chinese planes. I'm beginning to question if the Chinese have too much air assets unless historically it was the case.

I don't think is feasible to hold back my armor because the Chinese armor arrive in turn 2 and just punishes my infantry.

I'm going to try again and see if I can hold the ZSU to fire on closer targets as it seems they target the planes far away.

The Strela is somewhat useful the 14.5mm is useless.

Don't let your AA guns shoot at max range. That's a waste of ammo.

[Imp]

Originally Posted by Wdll

Don't let your AA guns shoot at max range. That's a waste of ammo.

Varies vs Helos for sure reduce the range to draw them in.
Planes however get lead time each consecutive shot is more accurate so hit chance goes up.
Therefore effective so long as flight path is not all at far range.

[Wdll]

Originally Posted by Imp

Varies vs Helos for sure reduce the range to draw them in.
Planes however get lead time each consecutive shot is more accurate so hit chance goes up.
Therefore effective so long as flight path is not all at far range.

I rather have the planes approach and have higher chance of hitting them, than shoot at them from afar and have very limited chance of hitting them.
Plus shooting them several times without hitting them gives away the position of the AA guns.
I prefer to have them shoot at most at 75% of their range.
Depending on various parameters.

[jivemi]

A bit OT but it's interesting that Vietnam has difficulty winning this. Usually when the AI attacks (here as China) it hurls itself willy-nilly upon the foe without regard for casualties. And since China starts the scenario as Player #1 (Human) it would appear that Camo Workshop intended Vietnam to be played by the AI.

Now this really piques my curiosity. Maybe when I'm done with a current WW2 LC I'll have a go as Player #2, as I've already played the Chinese side several times. It wasn't easy to get a marginal win IIRC.