Hi, friends. Intimidating. Bomb throwing. Aviation. These words can be used to describe the first tests after the introduction of airstrike in Soldiers: Arena. It is always a joy to add new features to the game, but an airstrike ... is a story that deserves to be in epos. The planes dropped bombs, anti-aircraft guns fought back and avenged, all others sought shelter. Sought in vain. One cant hide from the fiery gaze of aces. Cant get away from their punishment, which pours from the sky like rain, turning brave men into the dead. Damn, it's hard not to switch to a high syllable, remembering how epic it looked in the game.

"Now mount we our horses, Now bare we our brands, Now haste we hard, maidens, Hence far, far, away." Poetic Edda

You already know that reconnaissance and paratrooper planes have been around for quite some time. And the most attentive noticed a place for an airstrike in the technology tree. Since last week, this is not just an icon, but also the opportunity to order a flight of valkyries laden with bombs. Lets discuss how it works now (in draft form). As a reconnaissance aircraft, an airstrike does not take CPs, but launches a timer after completing a combat mission. The time required to return to the airfield and maintenance depends on the damage received during the flight. Of course, damaged to death plane becomes unsuitable for airstrikes. You, as a commander, are only required to indicate a point on the map, sometimes adjusted for a moving target. The pilot will do the rest. Your air Aesir will go to bomb the Jotun-tankmen and the Vanir-infantrymen, dropping one bomb at a time. High-explosive action of the projectile is enough to destroy the majority of opponents, clearing a pair of buildings, destroying trenches. Or you can hit the preemptively-intimidating strike, the purpose of which is to show that you still have aces in the hole and in the sky.
Air strikes can be used by all infantry battalions, Mechanized and Panzergrenadier tank battalions, Howitzer and Air defense battalions artillery ones. The Sapper commander can put airstrike in two slots, the rest only in one. Now the supportive troops have become strong not only in defensive actions but also in the offensive ones. The ability to send two planes at the same time can sometimes turn the tide of battle or, at a minimum, clean up the area before the offensive. Strengthening the spot and bombing the attacking enemy is also a good strategy. Anti-aircraft systems are rarely placed directly on the collision line, which means there are more chances that the enemy units will go to Valhalla, but not your pilots.

"Cattle die, and kinsmen die, And so one dies one's self; But a noble name | will never die, If good renown one gets." Poetic Edda

Is such a high-explosive lightning strike at a point on the map too strong? - you may ask. No way. Because we do not introduce ultimate and uncounterable abilities, and always think about the balance of forces on the battlefield. The plane can be seen from afar, and if you are attentive, and your unit is fast enough - you can just ride away. The situation is worse if you are seated in a fortified building, in a trench or immobilized in a tank ... In such cases, your only hope is in anti-aircraft guns. 61-K or Wirbelwind prudently spawned can cut the wings before dropping the bomb, or at least revenge. The struggle of aviation and air defense in the session adds not only the epicness to the fight, but also realism in the use of anti-aircraft guns. Although the FlaK 18 was quite successfully used against armored vehicles, it was still created to combat air targets.
Airstrike is a very fresh feature, so we still need to customize it, add new models and a realistic arsenal to each aircraft. For example, before the spawn of the Stuka, you can choose what to hit the enemy with: one 500-kg bomb or two 250-kg with a large spread. And the IL-2 will have a choice between firing RS-82 missiles, bombing with anti-tank cumulative anti-tank bombs (PTAB) or shoot with VYa-23 cannon. Frankly, we have already added this. Just the day before yesterday.
With aviation, things are getting better, so in the future, we are only going to expand the capabilities of the airfield. The logical development of the idea with an airstrike looks like the addition of the Pe-2 and Ju 88 front-line bombers. More survivability, more bomb load, more epic - isn't it great? In the future, unique US battalions with a bonus on the use of aviation could be interesting too. There is a lot of space for perks here too. Yeah, we have a lot of plans. But what do you think? What kind of aircraft would you like to see in Soldiers: Arena? Wish you all the best!

[ 2019-06-22 18:41:14 CET ] [ Original post ]