Air Traffic Control Asset

[Carbon-14]

Hey I don't know about the rest of you, but getting destroyed by air power is getting tiresome. And being a grunt on the ground it seems theres little I can do. I was thinking about a mod that would add an Air Traffic Control Asset. Destroying it would prevent air power (both fix wing and rotary wing) from respawning/repairing/rearming. Anyone have any thoughts on this? Good/Bad?



MCpl_Carbon

[Jusb]

Originally Posted by Carbon-14

Hey I don't know about the rest of you, but getting destroyed by air power is getting tiresome. And being a grunt on the ground it seems theres little I can do. I was thinking about a mod that would add an Air Traffic Control Asset. Destroying it would prevent air power (both fix wing and rotary wing) from respawning/repairing/rearming. Anyone have any thoughts on this? Good/Bad?



MCpl_Carbon

The planes dont bother me as much as choppers. aside from the.50 cals nothing an infantry can do against a chopper. This game badly needs an RPG or equivalent to give some deterence to helo pilots targeting armorless squads.

[TychoCelchuuu]

Nothing infantry can do? A support weapon will blow up a chopper in a couple of overheats, and that's if nobody on the team bothers to help. A couple of assault rifles plus a support machinegun will damage a chopper enough that is has to leave.

[Preston85]

Most squads will have 1 support, a couple assaults and at least 1 AT.... thats more than enough to scare off a chopper if everyone focus on it...

Of course the tank and infantry also attacking you could be a problem.

Don't forget to try to call in air support from your own fighters/helicoper, a strafe from a jets cannon will get that helicopter smoking or scare them enough to start running with its tail between its legs looking for the return attack run.

[Steel_Penguin]

A couple assaults can easily scare off a chopper. If the squad empties a clip into the attacking helo it should do enough damage to scare it away. In fact, if it's flying low enough, you can hit it with a nade launcher. I've tuned a couple already damaged attack helo's to wreckage like this. I've evev gotten one REALLY low flying helo with a well placed C4 . I've really only seen one or two squads even try to shoot the helo with anything other then AT rockets or 50 cals in all the time i've gunned in helos.

[Kilrogg]

Choppers are extremely weak to everything except infantry so making them weak to infantry as well would pretty much defeat the purpose of even having them in the game. A .50cal on a vehicle takes down a chopper in about 5-6 seconds of continuous fire and so do planes. This is a team-based game, if youre having trouble with a chopper call in your pilots to take it down or something.

[CymBa]

Choppers take a pounding from .50cals and AT's and u guys are really getting good with the AT's

[ABRA]

People are talking about this as if shooting down the chopper is the end of your worries. Seems to me on some maps all it needs is 60 seconds after being shot down to be right back on top of you. It's not a tank that takes 3 minutes to crawl across the map to find you after dying.

That being said I for one am not too terribly troubled by the air/ground balance TG players seem to have found these days. I think it comes down to the simple fact that if you yourself can't fly the aircraft in the game, you would prefer they not be in it at all. To put things in perspective I can drive a tank just fine and I wish this was an infantry-only game because that is the gameplay I enjoy most.

[munchkin]

Jepzilla has mentioned his idea of an ATC position similar to that of the commander to me, with the idea being that the person holding that position gives clearance to land/refuel etc, thus avoiding embarrasing midair smashes. I think something like that would be better than an asset which can be destroyed easily./

[FPS_Douglas]

Bottom line. There is an effective counter to choppers, there is no effective counter to bombers. Aweness, aim, movent and a buggy can chase a chopper off. So can a good tanker, one or two very good AT's or a jet. Nothing, not even good fighter pilots, can effectively stop a good bomber pilot. In a team game, if something has not counter, it is a problem. When that thing is the most effective killer in the game, it it a very serious problem There is nothing else in BF2 without a counter.

Good idea tho, about an asset to stop them from spawning.

[BaneII]

It would be nice to have some way for the infantry to negate the air assets of the opposing team. Whether it be an air traffic control to destroy or making the hangars destructable. Due to the rules, most air assets are off-limits to attack by ground troops before they take to the air. Most pilots only encounter the enemy troops as little ants on which they drop bombs on. They pretty much have no fear, because if they die, they respawn and just wait for the plane usually in a safe UCB. In BF1942, at least the carrier could be destroyed, which made it an important target to protect. BF2, for some unknowable reason, took that away giving USMC a distinct advantage.

IRL, an airfield is a high military target. It should be that way in the game. If added, the commander could make an effort to deny the enemy use of his air assets by sending in spec ops. Make hangars, runways, and helipads destructable. No more unlimited bombing and resupplying. This would allow the ground troops to have an affect on the air war without depending upon the unreliable and totally vulnerable AA. Plus it would give engineers a more important role.

[Acid]

ya, but then destroying the airfield would give an excuse to camp the UCB. people spawn to hop in the helos and planes so if an enemy squad is there just to make sure that they cant do that, then wouldnt that be camping? making the airfields destructable would carry some major issues with enemy planes then bombing them and squads trying to destroy them while people are spawing there.

[BaneII]

There is a difference between camping the base and entering the base to destroy assets. There is no prohibition against entering the UCBs to destroy assets. However, you cannot touch the vehicles in the UCB, camp spawn points, or kill someone not engaging you. For example, mining the vehicles or runway is a no no. So the only change in gameplay would be additional assets to attack/defend/repair. And by destructable means being able to be destroyed by C4. Well maybe except for the carrier. Now that there isnt coastal guns or other naval guns, air or arty is the only thing that can touch it.

[Jusb]

Originally Posted by Kilrogg

A .50cal on a vehicle takes down a chopper in about 5-6 seconds of continuous fire and so do planes.

i dont know what game you're playing with that statement.

[AzrealDarkmoon]

Generally it takes 2 50cals to kill a chopper. Choppers dont worry me to much except on Oman, the beach is just a dead zone. Now bombers, they worry me all the time.

Az