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Air Superiority Fighter (ASF)Polish MiG-29 & F-16 (Krzysztof Kocierz Photography)IntroductionI’ve been thinking about the ASF choices in WG: RD. Such as the debate of Rookie Spam vs a couple of Elite or picking cheap units with higher veterancy options (e.g. F-16 vs F-15A). I’ve had a look into veterancy bonus it can be generalised as {R:0%, T:10%, H:20%, V:30%, E:54%}.I’ve already done a post about MiG-29 ASF variants so I’ll attempt to reduce duplication and focus on different aspects, which will have 3 main parts.Mathematic mechanicsAir Superiority fighters (ASF) generalisation.Experience in WG: RDYou don’t need to read part one, but its purpose here is to provide a foundation for my later discussion and generalisations. Also if you don’t like reading and just like the data, here are tables made:ASF Table: ASF Table linkASF Missiles: ASF Missiles linkBinomial Probability, ACC modifiers: Binomial1. Math ProbabilityBonuses or penalties are Multiplicative and NOT additive, this is a common mistake people make. Using an example if you have a +30% bonus, and the base accuracy is 15%.Additive: 0.15 + 0.3 = 0.45 = 45%Multiplicative: 0.15 x (1+0.3)= 0.195 = 19.5%Multiplicate is a common method in games (example attachment recoil modifiers in CoD). For WGRD. You can create: [ModAccuracy] = [BaseACC] x [TargetSize] x [MoraleState] x [Veterancy] x [ECM] …If the value is not relevant you can just multiple it by x1 and it won’t affect it. So, ECM is not relevant to ground units but if you set it to ‘1’ and the formula won’t break.1.1. Veterancy ModifierIn WG: RD the veterancy bonus is apparently not correct. Testing occurred by “Procyon72”, and they published their results (Link about calc table).I thought it was just going to be a different multiplier compared to the armoury. The formula looks a bit mad: CalcSource= 1+(-(V1 - 1 x EXP(-(ACC / V2) x 0.2))), and V1 {null, 0.9,0.8,0.7,0.6} & V2 {null,360,250,180,145} are different depending on the training level.I attempted to see if the values could be generalized to a single value, and they can, as the variance is insignificant (<0.2%). The veterancy bonus by generalising the calculation are:Rookie: 0%Trained: 10%Hardened: 20%Veteran: 30%Elite: 54%Note this is different to what the in-game armoury states, which is 8% per veterancy level, with an elite bonus of 32%. The actual values are 10% per level with the gap from Veteran to Elite being a massive 24% difference.1.2. Gaining VeterancyI haven’t done proper testing, to my knowledge, there is 3 way a unit can gain veterancy.Destroying enemy unitsDamaging enemy unitsReceiving damage from the enemy.I’m not certain about the exact formula but when I do rough testing in skirmish mode, I try to pick units of similar price multiplier (easier mental math for me). I think veterancy progression is linear, so from Rookie to trained should require the same experience as a veteran to elite. A quick test that I did twice with a 25pt AS-LAV (Trained) destroyed a 100pt CV. It gains 2 levels of veterancy immediately to “Veteran” it also gained experience 8/10 towards Elite too. My rough estimate is you need 2x destruction of the unit’s point value to gain a level of veterancy. The multiplier would be less if you consider damaging a unit, but I just going to ignore it for some simple math.If we take a Rookie Rafale (180pts) it would need 4 levels to get to Elite and 2x destruction per level which is 8x the original value which is a total of 1,440pts. This is a reason why Upvetting expensive units are useful as it will be difficult to gain that naturally in-game before you can take advantage of this veterancy level.Rookie [Current Veterancy, XP: 0]Trained [+360, XP: 360]Hardened [+360, XP: 720]Veteran [+360: XP: 1080]Elite [+360 XP:1440]The natural advantage of a unit starting at higher veterancy means it requires less experience to become elite. For example, A Veteran Polish MiG-29 (135pts) only needs 270pts to increase to elite, while a hardened E-German MiG-29 (150pts) would require 600pts.Myth: I’ve heard a rumour that an “Elite” plane has a better evasion bonus and has different evasion animation. I think this rumour is false, I have not noticed any different animations or behaviour in elite veterancy planes. The is no obvious data that indicates a bonus, this still could be possible as the raw data used as input could be used to generate output. To myth bust this you would need to look at the actual computer code and not just the raw data.1.3. ECM ModifierIn simple language the ECM value reduces the accuracy by the amount stated. For ECM the value is subtracted from 1. Using ECM value of 30%, and accuracy of 60% the modified accuracy is 42%. Which is calculated as = (1- ECM) x ACC = (1-0.3) x 0.6 = 0.42 = 42%.1.4. Binomial probability“Binomial” is just a fancy way of saying 2 terms and “probability” is a measure of the likelihood of an event to occur.Quick question:Which has a higher probability to hit a target 2 or more times:(A) A missile with 30% accuracy with 8 attempts OR(B) A missile with 70% accuracy with 3 attempts?Figure 1. Binomial probabilityBinomial probability (fig.1) helps calculate the quality vs quantity argument. It works by taking the probability of an event happening in a single trial and then adding all the probability of each sequence relevant to the calculation.Out of the 8 results, 4 are valid (2 hits from 3 attempts).Add the probability of each valid sequence = [HHH + HHM + HMH + MHH] = [0.343 + 0.147 + 0.147 + 0.147] = 0.784 = 78.4%The other option (A) (30% with 8 attempts) probability is 74.5%. In this example, the 70% with 3 attempts (B) has a higher probability than 30% with 8 attempts. I have a more concrete example with actual units later in the post (2.3. Veterancy Modifier section). Both results can be seen in this table (table 1). Also, this is a good reference if you have the final modified accuracy and the amount. Note that the 100% is a rounded value there is a very small possibility that you can miss it.Table 1. Binomial %: 2 hits of X trials2. ASF Units2.1 Attributes of a good ASFWhen considering what makes a good ASF, there are many attributes to consider, with the 3 main groups being firepower mobility and survivability.For firepower, the significance goes Primary Long-range AA missile, Secondary Short-range AA missile and then the Autocannon. Mobility is Speed and the turn radius. Survivability is ECM it affects the chance of being hit although turn radius, speed and air detection also help.2.1.2. Primary Anti-Plane MissilePrimary Anti-Plane missile stats (high base accuracy, HE:5, Range, quantity).Planes have a strength of 10 and no armour, which means the HE value is the value that damages the plane. Note if the plane has armour:2 like A-10 or Su-25, the damage it receives is half of the HE value. HE:5 is a common value that only requires 2 hits for destruction. There are no HE:10 ASF missiles so one-shotting is not possible, unless a critical hit also occurs which somehow brings the total to 10.The higher the HE value the greater splash damage, Multi-kills can occur depending on how close they are.5 (n=31)6 (n=13)4 (n=8)8 (n=4)The primary Anti-plane missile range is usually 7,000, 7,770m or 8400m.7700 (n=22)7000 (n=15)3500 (n=6)8400 (n=5)4200 (n=4)Planes tend to have 2,4 or 6 primary missiles, this is worth noting as it influences the style of the plane. Only having 2 means it will only target a single plane while having 6 means has the potential to take out multiple planes in a single sortie. 4 is a good number, the way I use my air force I doubt I’ll be taking out loads of planes in a single mission, taking out 2 would be good.2 (n=24)4 (n=22)6 (n=8)1 (n=1)3 (n=1)High base accuracy is important. An Elite (1.54x) base accuracy of 50% has a modified accuracy and ceiling value of 77%. While a Veteran (1.3x) base accuracy of 60% has a modified accuracy of 78% a ceiling value of 92%. The lower the base value the less the impact the veterancy multiplier will be.60% (n=20)50% (n=12)40% (n=10)35% (n=5)70% (n=4)Tag: [SA] or [FnF]?[FnF] “Once fired this missile doesn’t require any more action from the operator”[FnF] (n=29) (Rearm: 1000L / 28.5s )[SA] “This missile is guided but can be fired on the move. Its operator needs to aim at the target until the impact”[SA] (n= 26) (Rearm: 700L / 20s)Shot Reload: 2s between [FnF] (Finish MiG-29 is an exception with value 0.4s) for [SA] it has to be guided until impact which tends to be longer than 2s. This allows [FnF] missiles to have a higher RoF by comparison.Morale state: Another reason why [FnF] is generally preferred since it doesn’t require any more action after being fired if the Morale State changes it won’t affect accuracy.2.1.3. Secondary Anti-Plane MissileAn extension on the previous point. You can reduce air combat to the number of hits required, which is usually 2. As common loadout on planes is for primary and secondary to have HE:5 missiles, if the secondary is HE:4, it increases the hits require to 3. By having both weapons a HE:5+ ensures only 2 hits are required.The secondary missile has a shorter range (4,200m) which is a gap of 3,500m if the primary is 7,770m. The secondary can be used simultaneously with the primary which is important to dogfighting. Secondary missiles cost 500L which takes 14s to rearm (Rate: 35L per second)2.1.4. ECMNo ASF have armour, their defence relies on not being hit, and the main factor for is the plane's ECM value. ECM value affects all weapon systems targeting it.40% (n=19)30% (n=10)20% (n=9)10% (n=8)50% (n=7)2.1.5. SpeedASF Planes are either 900km/h (250m/s) or 1,000km/h (277m/s), although the value is similar (27m/s difference) if your plane 900km/h the enemy can chase you, while if you are equal speed or faster, the can’t close the gap unless you change direction when flying away. 1000km/h is more common.1000 (n=34)900 (n=22)2.1.7. Low/tight Turn radiusFigure 2. Visual of turn radius (MiG-29K & JH-7) Note colour is the same point in time.Having a better small turn radius makes the plane more manoeuvrable. To illustrate the importance (fig.2), take note of the colour of the label at different stages. Both planes have the same speed and are attempted to rotate to the same point, a quick reference is the dark green the MiG-29K has done a full turn while the JH-7 is still turning due to the larger turn radius.300 (n=23)400 (n=19)350 (n=11)320 (n=3)2.1.8. Air DetectionASF should have Exceptional it’s only very cheap ASF planes that do not have it. If the plane is only “very good” you can be ambushed. Note that “Interceptors” also have exceptional air optics but the values are higher than the standard exceptional value.2.2. Tiers of ASFPrice is generally a good indicator. In WG: RD the ammo capacity increases the price. Example Su-27S & MiG-29 (POL) are very similar, but the Su-27S is 20pts more expensive, has +2 more primary AA missiles although is 1 level of veterancy lower at ‘hardened’. There is no clear definition of what the Tiers are, but this is my attempt.2.2.1. S-TierS-Tier is the best of the best. You should expect the planes to be expensive and cost 160pts or more. Eurofighter is probably the best example of what attributes to expect; Top tier missiles, 50% ECM, sharp turn radius, and a card option of 2x Rookie or 1x Elite. Other examples include:Rafale C F1Su-27PUF-15C Eagle2.2.2. A-TierA-Tier or often called ‘Workhorse ASF’. I think this is the most interesting tier as you get to see different styles yet are still balanced. A-Tier should cost between 135 & 160pts. ECM is typically 40%. You should be able to select either 2x Hardened or 2x Veteran depending on the unit.Examples:F-16C Block 52Barak IISu-27S2.2.3. B-TierB-Tier is ASF that I still consider usable, but it lacks in one or more areas. A lot of variety so hard to generalise, again unit around 100-135pts would be here. I know both the KFC-16C and Finish MiG-29 are in this price range but they are exceptions due to the specialisation.2.2.3. C/D-TierEssentially anything under 100pts. You may have noticed I didn’t include every single unit which is defined as ASF in the table. Many of ‘ASF’ which cost fewer than 100pts are typically used in the ‘helicopter hunter’ role like the MiG-21 and not anti-plane.2.3. Veterancy Modifier (Quality vs Quantity)Air combat is not decided on a single hit, but often 2 are required (Only armour:2 from Su-25 & A-10 reduced HE value by half), but multiple shots can occur, this is where the binomial probability gets applied and is used to illustrate the quality vs quantity argument. I’ve included this table with specific units to give a good idea. I put a constraint that [FnF] has double the fire rate of [SA] to help simulate an air combat scenario. The table (table 2) is to give a more concrete example.Table 2. Binomial Calculator: ASF VisualThe things I take away from the data are:Importance of base accuracyQuantity of shotsVeterancy2.4. InterceptorsIn WG: RD there are 3 interceptors in the game, Blufor gets the Tomcat, Redfor (USSR) get MiG-31 & MiG-31M. Interceptors get an air detection that is even better than exceptional (hidden stat), and their primary missile is longer-ranged than any other ASF, although their base accuracy is much lower (Max: 40%), and their turn radius is worse (400-500).3. Game Experience3.1. Keybind / HotkeysIn WG: RD you are able to bind specific units to a numbered key from ‘0’ to ‘9’. This can be done by selecting the units that you would like to be grouped and pressing a combination of the keys [CTRL] + [Number:0-9]. If you have done this successfully when you press a specific number key those grouped units should be selected.Using hotkey I think is really important for specifically ASF and aircraft in general. I typically have the key binds, I only purposely leave ‘0’ unbound so I can deselect units easily by pressing 0.This is just a pattern that suits me, just pick whatever suits you. Not pressing [Shift] + [Number] allows you to [Select/Deselect] multiple groups.ArtilleryASFSEADAT PlaneHE Bomber???Radar AAIf you attempt to select your planes manually you will be often too slow to react, while switching between hotkeys you can manage an air force well.3.2. Importance of ASF RoleAir superiority is an important ‘minigame’ happening within the game. If you can achieve complete air superiority; defensively you can stop any enemy strike planes (SEAD, AT, Bomber) from targeting your units. Offensively you enable your strike planes the ability to attack with less hassle as enemy ASF is a critical element of the AA network.Each AA unit has its own advantages and disadvantages. The main disadvantage of ASF is the fact it requires active usage (Micro intense). Firstly you need to call it out, if the map is large you may be too slow in just reacting. If you just let the ASF circle above your forces, if may be facing the wrong direction when the enemy comes in range and may miss the opportunity completely. Also, ASF cannot provide a persistent presence as it has to rearm and refuel. Despite these disadvantages, it has significant advantages in the sense, that it doesn’t cost any supplies to rearm, repair or refuel (just time offscreen). It is extremely mobile, planes are the fastest type of units, also planes have a longer range than ground-based AA.Since Air superiority is a key area of battle, it is highly contested and is difficult to accomplish dominance. You will likely have many skirmishes with many resulting in early EVAC-ing or damaged units. One reason for this is the actual combat engagement time is small. Losing an ASF plane can be as significant as losing a superheavy tank depending on the type of game. A player will probably have between 4-9 planes in their deck.3.3. ASF in the context of deck building goalsThe plane tab is expensive 1/2/3/4/5, bring 5 cards of planes is 15 Activation Points. Usually, a deck will have 1 or 2 cards of ASF depending on the composition goals. Also, planes are expensive units, with decent ASF costing 120-180pts per unit.1x card of ASF:If you are limiting yourself to only one card of ASF you should pick the most effective unit which you will get 2 or more from. With this limitation in mind, this is the order I would prioritize if I was only using one card.2x A-Tier (hardened/Veteran)2+ highest Veterancy B-Tier2x S-Tier (Rookie)1x S-Tier (Elite)Note, when I was experimenting with 2x Rookie S-Tier to see how bad it was (I usually use 2x Elite). When playing there were multiple occasions where the target escapes being damaged, when using a plane with better veterancy it should have been destroyed. Overall, I was less confident in the ability in my 2x Rookie units for offensive actions. Even in long games, it was rare for the veterancy gained to ever be ‘Veteran’, usually was ‘trained’ occasionally ‘hardened’.I can’t really recommend 2x Rookie S-Tier as a single card, the only circumstance I can give where it may make sense would be a Commonwealth deck when the second card of ASF would cost you 5AP and you don’t like Tornado / F-18 and as a compromise, you decided to have 2x Rookie Eurofighters and accept the lower offensive capabilities (point efficiency) for better survivability.The reason 1x Elite is lower is to do with the drawback of only having one unit per card. If it is lost, you now have no ASF. If it is damaged, you are unable to provide cover at all while it is repairing. Also, many nations that have access to S-Tier planes also have access to A/B Tier planes, which I would probably prefer to pick anyway.2x cards of ASF:Taking USSR as an example, they are many viable options depending on your playstyle preferences. You can have 2x Elite Su-27PU, swap a card of Elite for a card of YAK-141 / Su-27S to have 3x ASF or if you want 4x ASF a card of YAK-141 & Su-27S.2x Elite S-Tier [360pts]1x Elite + 2x A-Tier [480pts]4x A-Tier (Hardened / Veteran) [570pts]1x Elite S-Tier, 2x Rookie S-Tier [540pts]4x S-Tier (Rookie) [720pts]4x Rookie S-Tier is a trap. Rookie planes are much less effective in combat than Elite. To get the Benefit of the Rookie ‘spam’ you need all 4x planes to be operational, this means you need to spend about 720 points to be slighter more effective than 2xElite which costs 360pts. Also note this is only if all 4 rookies from the plane train can shoot at the target, if planes 3 or 4 are not in range to fire, the offensive capability is lower as it is only rookies 1 & 2 firing at the target.2+ cards:Diminishing returns and inefficient usage, and decks composition is hindered. The points required to have the air force operation are very expensive in points in-game. Compared to other forms of ‘spam’ in-game you are limited to 9x plane slots at one time. If you have too much ASF you may not have enough room for strike planes in the air panel. Although you ‘may’ achieve air superiority you can do nothing with it. Also, you shouldn’t be trading planes as they are expensive and low in quantity it’s just a poor strategy. Note Air specialised decks may try to force trades of ASF, so you don’t have any ASF through attrition and it can free them up to use Strike planes in the future uncontested.3.4. TacticsHow / when to Evac:[Shortcut Key: ‘V’] When you EVAC the plane will attempt to escape by turning toward the near Air spawn with the shortest angle to turn. While EVAC-ing the plane will also be increasing its altitude until it is out of the game space. I’m not sure of the exact duration but I think all planes have the same EVAC time regardless of speed or turn radius (would need to test confirm). To my knowledge, I think EVAC takes 8 seconds for all planes.Even when you are in danger, sometimes it is best not to EVAC immediately. Once you EVAC you cannot fight back or control where the plane is travelling. Sometimes it can be wise to fly towards your own air spawn and air defence network to give you space to EVAC safely.3.4.1. LurkingA tight turn radius allows it to patrol a spot and react quickly to an enemy detected. Just to be safe make sure you are lurking behind your front line. Enemy AA shouldn’t be a threat. In larger maps like floods, you will have to do this to protect your forces from strikes planes. Calling out planes when an incoming strike is detected may take too long.3.4.2. BaitingA common bait is luring the enemy plane towards you and you fly past your own ground AA and toward your own spawn. Another Version required 2 or more Planes. 1 Plane is the bait and will evac just before the enemy can engage so any missiles fired cannot hit. The 2nd plane will target the plane trying to strike the bait plane. If you are able to Target the plane from the side or behind, the enemy plane cannot return fire until it has turned around.3.4.3. Attacking AA HelicoptersUsually, if you attack a helicopter you should be able to get 1st missile hit, I generally fly through or break off immediately so I get out of the enemy Helo AA range. The helicopter may rotate too slowly to get a 2nd shot off. It’s not advisable to attack a blob of AA helos, however, a single helicopter can be vulnerable to a forced attack.3.5. Ingame examples3.5.1. Enemy Plane spamFigure 3. MiG-29(x4) all survive and destroy many aircraftI was playing this game (fig.3) and the enemy had Air players (I was E-Bloc Unspec). I initially started off with 2x MiG-29 but noticed that they were being very intense with their air force so it escalated that I was using all 4 of my ASF. Note I’m still trying to play the game normally so I had to save for planes 3 & 4 over time, whilst maintaining a balancing force. Games like this don’t happen too often. There were many times when planes could have been traded but I knew, in the long run, it would pay off by making sure that all planes survive and the destruction list reflected that.3.5.2. Vs Stackers as E-GermanyI had a recent game against a lobby of stackers. I played as East Germany, my team were randomers. A specific player on the other team had a 70%+ win rate and 1000+ games, they were playing as USA Airborne, and other players had similar stats. I thought this would be a great opportunity to test a couple of theories in the post so far.Firstly I didn’t lose a single plane the whole game (2x MiG-29 ASF[150pts], 1x Su-22 SEAD [90pts], 1x Su-22 [95pts]).ASF (2x MiG-29), managed to destroy 7 planes;{[J 35D Draken], [Cheetah D], [F-14 Tomcat], Cheetah D2 (x2)], [Eurofighter Typhoon], [F 35 Draken WDNS]}.My AT Plane manages to destroy a Leopard 2A5, an Otomatic, a couple of M-60 ERA, and a few IFVs.The SEAD took a few SPAAG and a couple of HEAVY RADAR AA.The enemy air force was ineffective at destroying my units, I’m not superhuman just had decent awareness and was opportunistic in my strikes. To give credit to the enemy, some ground strikes were aborted due to air presence so my effectiveness in using strike planes was reduced, also my ability to counter their strike planes and ASF was reduced also due to air presence.Things panned out as expected. The game scoring was roughly even the whole game, end result was a draw. Some stackers who found it more difficult than usual quit.3.5.3. Intercepting InterceptorsFigure 4. 1xEurofighter destroys 3x Redfor Interceptors (with assistance)This is an example of how not to use interceptors (fig.4). Intercepters don't dogfight well and it shows in this skirmish where they initially targeted the pair of tomcats but I reacted and forced a dogfight with them with my pair of Eurofighters.3.6. Common Mistakes witnessed3.6.1. Strike planes with no EscortPeople will use strike planes (that don’t have exceptional Air optics), so they don’t see enemy ASF coming to intercept them. This is when “lurking” with ASF can really pay off. You will get a sense of which areas are suitable to support with ASF, often bombers will attack Urban/forests against infantry and AT planes where a tank is visible at the frontline.3.6.2. Spamming low-quality ASFSpamming Trash tier ASF may force ASF to move but do not mistake that as weakness, just waiting for a better opportunity to strike. I had a game recently, where I was playing against an East German player, who wasn’t using an ERA deck but oddly decided to use 4x MiG-23 as the main ASF. I destroyed all 4 in 3 different skirmishes with my 2x Elite Eurofighters with no losses (Then they rage quit shortly after). If I was the enemy player I would have used my ASF more defensively with assistance from Ground AA to deter the Eurofighters attempting to attack.3.6.3. Spamming high-quality ASF earlyGoing to ignore the veterancy, but spamming 4x 150pts+ at the beginning of the game. This just signals that you have neglected ground forces. This is only an effective counter if the opposite team spams strike planes with minimal ASF presence. ASF can be acquired into the air tab with a single click and doesn’t require movement time like ground forces. If you intend to spam high-quality ASF, keep the points in reserve, and evaluate the intensity of the enemy Airforce and how much ASF you think you will need.3.6.4. Forcing a Trade for no reasonThe only deck that can force a trade is an ‘Air deck’ as it will have more ASF than you have, and if you both keep trading the non-air player will exhaust their ASF the Air player. Planes are expensive both in points and the quantity available for a deck. The only time I can think when you should force a trade is when you got ambushed and you think EVACing will result in certain death so you attempt to ‘trade’ before destruction.3.6.5. Planes flying too close to each otherFigure 5. Polish MiG-29 destroys 4x Tomcat with Splash DamageThis happens most often on long patrols when you constantly move then to the same location. If my planes group, I'll make them split for a bit before regrouping them with spacing. Be careful that you don't let your planes bunch up of they can be destroyed by splash damage. The most planes I've ever destroyed with a single hit with splash damage is 4x. 2x is most common, and I've had 3x a few times but 4x is very rare (fig.5).Also, be very careful if one of the planes in your "group" has low ECM if may be the target and although the other planes may have high ECM the low ECM plane may get hit damaging other nearby planes.----------------------------I Appreciate it if you made it here, if you enjoy more posts like this they can be found here.Also, I'm conscious of the word limit there are still other things I would like to discuss, anyway feel free to ask questions.
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