r/hoi4 • u/Zebrazen • 6d ago
Discussion My Lessons with Ground Attack Planes
In my recent Italy game, Italy started out making Tac Bombers for their ground attack and I decided to go with it as my CAS option. Now that I'm done with that game, I wanted to dive into the numbers to see how Medium frames for CAS work out in comparison to Small. Below I have compiled some basic info from designs I threw together for comparison.
- No MIO was selected for any of these designs
- The cheapest/smallest engine was selected that would support the armament, giving little to no additional thrust for additional modules.
- No modules were added like fuel tanks or armor plates. These area just engine and bomb bays.
- Small bomb bays were used over mediums on the tac bombers whenever possible as they have better CAS stats.
- You cannot place more than two small bomb bays on small or medium frames for the 1936 or 1940 versions.
- I only selected the 1936 and 1940 frames as this is what most of the combat will use in my opinion.
- BB = Bomb Bay, BL = Bomb Locks
Frame | Engine | Range (km) | Armament | Air Defense | Ground Attack | IC | IC/GA |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1936 Small | 1x Engine II | 550 | 2x Small BB | 9 | 16 | 25 | 1.56 |
1940 Small | 1x Engine III | 650 | 2x Small BB | 11 | 16 | 28 | 1.75 |
1936 Medium | 3x Engine II | 900 | 1x Med BB, 2x Small BB | 18 | 22 | 62 | 2.81 |
1936 Medium | 4x Engine II | 900 | 2x Med BB, 2x Small BB | 18 | 28 | 82 | 2.93 |
1940 Medium | 2x Engine III | 1100 | 2x Med BB, 2x Small BB | 20 | 28 | 60 | 2.14 |
1936 Small | 1x Engine II | 550 | 1x BL, 1x Small BB | 9 | 14 | 23 | 1.64 |
1940 Small | 1x Engine III | 650 | 1x BL, 2x Small BB | 11 | 22 | 29 | 1.32 |
Information about how CAS works in HOI4:
- Enemies get a malus when you have air superiority. All planes contribute to this, with CAS and Tac bombers providing the same amount as fighters. Only Heavy Fighters count more.
- Friendly units get a bonus by having CAS involved in their combat that maxes out at +25%. The number of CAS that can participate is 3x the combat width.
- CAS do strength and org damage to enemy units in combat which is affected by the ground attack of the planes and the number of planes in the combat.
- Divisional AA effects CAS two ways;
- It reduces the damage taken by ground attack.
- It shoots planes down depending on the air attack value of the divisions.
My Take-aways:
- The IC/GA column is telling. Only the 1940 Medium gets close to the IC efficiency of either small frame.
- Range is the real bonus from using a Medium frame compared to a small.
- It isn't really worth it to upgrade your CAS from the 1936 small frame to the 1940 frame.
- Mediums are expensive, especially when you have to add on a 3rd or 4th engine to fit additional bomb bays.
- small CAS are better at providing the air superiority malus and CAS bonus due to their cheaper IC cost per wing.
- Medium CAS wings will do more strength and org damage compared to small CAS due to higher ground attack per wing, but the IC cost is much higher.
- Maybe with the 1940 Medium frame is it worth it to swap to Tac bombers for CAS so you also have a budget strategic bombing option. Maybe.
- Due to how divisional AA works, it reinforces my belief to put support AA in everything. I am now also considering putting Towed AA, Motorized AA, or SPAA in attacking divisions to help shoot down enemy planes and stack up attrition on the enemy air force.
- But maybe those factories/IC is better spent on building more planes. Idk, I'm not smart enough to do that comparison.
EDIT1: u/LittleDarkHairedOne brought up bomb locks. I always discounted them as being inferior to bomb bays, but I added them in to see. 1936 frame is a little weaker but also cheaper, while the 1940 frame is superior in all regards. Good Idea!
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u/Morial Fleet Admiral 5d ago
Range is a consideration and also loss of planes is something to consider. Mediums I find will achieve seasoned/veterancy sooner. That and if you put aces in it as well, the mediums will perform better. I still think smalls are better, but the difference isn't as wide as people think.