Air Tower Strategy

[BadAsh]

I have an idea for taking full advantage of the powerful air towers that are on every continent. I got the idea while working with a squad yesterday what was basically doing this, just on a smaller scale. Here is the idea:

What you need:
A Squad or Platoon
3 members with CE and Burster MAX certifications
7+ Members with Reaver/Mosquito certifications

How to use what you have:
1. capture an air tower
2. have the CEs set up their deployable defenses (with 3 CEs that�s 60 mines! 30 spitfire turrets! And all the motion sensors you need)
3. 2 of the CEs then suit up in AA MAXs and head to the roof
4. The 3rd CE mans a turret (if the air tower has them) and keeps the MAX units in full repair
5. The Air Calvary use the tower as a base for rearm/repair and cause the enemy as much grief as possible
6. Be sure to have a system for the tower defenders to call for support at any enemy sighting. Don�t lose the tower!
7. Remember the tower is your power� unlimited easy repairs and reloads for aircraft.

Tactics:
Aircraft should stick together and work as a team
Wounded aircraft should return to the tower if more than 1/3 of their armor is damaged
Pilots should go down with the aircraft (no bailing out) and get a new aircraft ASAP. This prevents the wasted time of walking all over the place and getting side tracked.
If you don�t yet own a Tech facility recall upon death to get a new reaver or pick up a mosquito (whatever the current need is)
If you have someone on your tail that you can�t shake head to the tower and let the AA MAX Units make quick work of your azz bandit.
SLs and PL set all of your way points with 1 being the air tower to make returning easier especially if under pressure where you don�t have time to check the map for navigation. You should set a series of targets and organize hit and run raids that way. Go to an area, kill everything, and move. If you stay in one area get ready for the inevitable AA MAX and Sky Guard horde countermove.

Purpose:
Survive as long as possible to harass the enemy
Kill enemy AMS stations
Eliminate their sniper positions
Deny them modules, LLU runs, and ANT runs
Escort your modules, LLU runners, and ANTs
Destroy enemy air support (Galaxies, Loadstars, and Liberators)
Pick off stray enemy troops and vehicles
If you muster a full platoon (up to 27 reavers using this model) you can add air superiority to this list and blast any enemy aircraft you see. With a smaller group (say 7 for example) you�d want to stay focused on your harassment duties. Defend yourself against enemy fighters of course, just don�t actively hunt them.

Special Considerations:
If you own bases on the continent just raid the air tower of choice and set up your defenses
1. Make sure to take the time to charge your vehicle shields is available
2. Make sure to keep a few flyers in mosquitoes they make great air to air interceptors and excellent scouts and �cloaker busters�

If on a continent that you don�t have any bases established:
1. Take the tower but don�t hack it, just blow the spawn tubes.
2. Have an Adv Hacker hack the equipment terminals for the CEs to set up defenses
3. Hack the tower after defenses are set up and your air crews are back from warp gating to this continent. This prevents the enemy from getting the global tower capture warning before you are ready to fight.
4. Pilots need to fly very conservatively as replacing your aircraft (especially reavers) won�t be easy.
5. Team tactics in flying will win the day (e.g. a AA MAX locks onto one aircraft, he hits full AB and bolts away, meanwhile a few other reavers in the area make short work with the MAX, etc)
6. Reavers make swooping attacks don�t hover and make yourself an easy target. Usually to get a kill you need to hover over an enemy vehicle and subject it to several volleys of rockets. With a Squad or Platoon of Reavers this is unnecessary. The same effect can be achieved by several Reavers diving at the vehicle. You will kill it quicker and take less personal risk by working together.

Other thoughts:
With outfit alliances on the way this might be very effective if an air specializing outfit teamed with an armored outfit. I�m imagining a horde of prowlers and lightning tanks escorted/covered by a platoon of reavers/mosquitoes and I�m liking it. Additional troops can be stationed at the tower/base to help defend and to act as repair crews for the armor. 2 or 3 guys repairing while the crew stays in the tank ready to fight and actively covering the engineers would be every effective.

[scarpas]

good stuff

[JakeLogan]

EXCELLENT post rock on.

[Incompetent]

Probably going to want at least five guys at the tower, 2 AA MAXs, two inf in the turrets and one AI MAX camping the CC. Other then that it all seems fairly sound, although the air units might with to incorporate Liberators into there formation, both for there ground attack capability and for bombing.

Edit: now if only they'd put ground rearm/repair pads on gun towers.

[gonnagetyou]

Excellent post.

A good anti-airtower trick for someone with CE and hacking is to go to an airtower that the enemy is using and don't hack it. Just grab some ACEs and go up to the landing pads. Lay mines in alternating corners of each pad. If you do this right you can place two mines per pad. Damaged aircraft come along thinking it is a safe tower. BOOM! They usually learn from their mistake, but it's an interesting trick when you have the time.

[Fenrys]

That platoon is going to have a ton of targeting intel. A flail or 5 could have a fieldday with nme troop location reports comming in from 20+ piolets . . .

[Jagd]

You'd have to have some pretty patient AA-MAXes, but that's essentially what my squads are perpetually doing. Secure the most strategic air tower in the area (usually skipping towers that are in an enemy SOI cause they make for too much resecure work), and keep it under control. Rather than devote soldiers to defense, we just fly back together if it gets hacked out from under us and resecure. If you cruise in at 40% power in a Reaver or Lib, the turrets only go off about half the time, and if you land in the middle of the repair pads they can't even shoot you.