Ligther units and cluster bombs

[crude fjord]

The cricket suffer from an annoying issue related to the 12.7

It is useless against most target. I get that this plane is supposed to be a cheap option when you run low on money but there is a point where it's just a joke

So, either allow a full 20mm build
Or
Add lighter units, vulnerable to the 12.7 and always ahead of the main force

And this is where i ask for a cluster bomb to allow the bigger planes to deal with those units quickly

[raven garden]

With the right build the cricket is fairly capable against most ground targets. Lynchpins can kill most ground targets currently in the game, and AGMs mop up the rest. While I do agree a cluster bomb would be incredibly neat and very cool, unless they’re super bunched up, they’re simply not going to do too much.
It is a very fun suggestion though.

[ivory grail]

or make it so that vehicles can suffer from mobility kills by destroying the tracks/wheels or the engine, which are vulnerable to cluster bomblets, so that it becomes viable against heavier units

[glad tangle]

Yeah, I get that. The Cricket definitely struggles with the 12.7s feeling underwhelming. I think adding lighter units could help give it more purpose, and a cluster bomb option for the bigger planes sounds like a solid way to handle them faster. Both ideas make sense!

[raven garden]

One addition that would make cluster bombs viable would be loitering munitions mixed in with the bomblets.
Something like AT mine submunitions embedded in with the rest of the bomblets. The JP233 is a good example of this, but it’s a dispenser rather than an actual bomb and it was mainly designed to hit runways. I’m sure a bomb design can be modeled off of this principle, though.

[crude fjord]

I agree
Bombs and agm48 are solid option but very limited in ammo compared to a canon with a good aim

[zenith grove]

The most recent live stream revealed the cricket is getting updated to carry 16 AGM-48s.

[jade bobcat]

16? Omg. This isn't too much?
I think probably too much. Okay if 12 or 10... Insane loadout. Interesting, if devs decide to increase so much loadout, what that can mean? Probably they are create enough targets for them..? Or this is just tests...

[zenith grove]

With the size of the huge map, they might be trying to increase the value of every sortie

[crude fjord]

The cricket is very vulnerable to anything
It's only justice to give it the counterpart of more ammo

[void relic]

I think cricket should just get twin 20mm autocannons with a small amount of ammo, the .50cals can barely scratch planes unless you hit engines

[pearl meteor]

Criket is usually late to the party and doesn't carry many munitons aside from lynchpins, i doubt it will be too much

I still think light units like trucks and unarmed boats would be nice for for more gun runs tho

[jade bobcat]

Could be too heavy

[jade bobcat]

I saw dev stream yesterday and mitch sayed there is no place for smth bigger there is right now installed most bigger weapon. Smth bigger only to external pylons.
And yep, install 20 mm gun in place 12.7 unreal

[crude fjord]

Yeah they are pretty much just for show

[crude fjord]

Agree for the rocket pod but i feel like I mostly run into tanks, which even the agm48 cannot always one tap

[restive patio]

I still stand by single barrel 20mm pods on the 2345 positions and 50 cal gun mounts as an option

Anyways i think cluster bombs would be awesome, you could make them guided too, and have dropped canisters or pods for strafing

Getting super low and fast and dumping like 30 largish retarded BONUS style bomblets right on top of a convoy would be so cool and would be a good way to overwhelm SPAAGs by relying on the pilots skills to reach necessary proximity rather than just rolling the dice if the SPAAG misses the 48s or not

[restive patio]

A smart bomblet dispenser such as this would be to the lynchpin as the pab 250 is to the agm 68
Similar or greater volume of fire at a lower price, with a greater damage effect, but short range, lower accuracy, and no evasive maneuvers.

[acoustic star]

Replace the 12.7mm guns with 2x 20mms. That should at least do a bit better.

[acoustic star]

It shouldn’t be too heavy. The OV-10 Bronco had the ability to carry a 3 barrel 20mm gatling cannon (M197).

[void relic]

that's what im saying
give them 60-100 HE/HEF rounds each and it'll be a fine backup

[acoustic star]

100-200 TBH. The F-5 is a very small aircraft and had 280 rounds per gun. A-4 had 100 rounds per gun. 60 seems it bit too little, considering we also have heavier armored in the game, and very little weak armored/unarmored targets to being with.

[void relic]

I don't know how much fits in those wings

[restive patio]

it fits 500 rounds of 12.7, per gun
i think theres room for at least 180

[crude dome]

I think we need more soft targets in general; stuff for crickets and other 12.7mm armed aircraft to take on and eother suppress or destroy with their guns.

Another issue though is the fact that ground based 12.7mm is pretty accurate; so anyone doing a gun run is just as likely to end up being shredded themselves as they are to actually do something.

[crude fjord]

I forget the Tarantula also have 12.7

Which is useless too

I mean, come on !
You can fit a 20mm in the nose of the attack helicopter but not in something bigger ?

[crude dome]

If there were infantry; the chin mounted 12.7mm would be useful in suppressing nearby infantry to allow the Tarantula to provide CAS and do drops in contested areas.

But there is no infantry; so the chin gun is essentially a nasty surprise for dogfights.

[crude fjord]

I was thinking about that when i wrote the post

But then I realized it would be several thousands of little unit across the battlefield

Plus, but that's another debate, how do you implement infantry in the game ? Because until now, ground combat is essentially vehicles moving in column on the roads and exchanging shots when they meet

[void relic]

maybe just exposed TOW emplacements or something

[crude fjord]

Adding infantry as defensive units in urban area and bases can be fun too

Forcing you to use GPO500 to destroy buildings, cluster bombs, or even glide bombs like in Ukraine (and i'm talking about big ones, not the current one already in game)

[crude dome]

Doesn't need to be.

RTS games tend to represent infantry as platoons or companies, and sometimes tie them to vehicles.

So they'd be one unit with a model consisting of many individual soldiers or something.

Just look at games like Regiments, Broken Arrow, or WARNO

[crude fjord]

Yeah

But still
how do you implement that ?
Do you create an AI that allow them to maneuver and flank tank column for example ?
Do you add manpads ?
Can they interact with APC and dismount when they are attacked ?

[crude dome]

I like the Regiments model.

They're basically tied to their vehicles and "deploy" from them.

The vehicles and infantry are always a single unit/group, with the infantry surrounding the vehicle and the vehicle not taking damage till the infantry around it is dead.

The infantry deal extreme damage to vehicles if they get in close, but don't have a much range (unless they have ATGMs), additionally infantry that's in urban terrain or forests can garrison, and infantry that's been sitting in place for about 30 seconds "digs in" and becomes massively tanky.

They have MANPADs, but they have low range and bad reaction time, not to mention being unable to use them when suppressed.

More to it, but that's the gist of how they operate in Regiments (a game I'd really recommend BtW).

They're effectively a really spicy deployable shield for APCs and IFVs, which can dig in and garrison areas if they're left stationary for a bit.

It's a fair bit of abstraction, but IMO it works quite well and more or less captures the role that infantry usually plays on a mechanized battlefield.

[crude fjord]

Imagine a commander role that offer a greater level of control over the units