AA Guns: Unit vs. SAM Improvement

[Patine]

I'd like some feedback on the pros and cons of the AA Gun as a unit vs. being represented by the SAM Missile Battery improvement. I used a unit in EotRS myself, and found there (and a lot of other scens) it gets abused to be used as a buffer defense against land attacks and naval bombardment, something I'm sure designers didn't intend. In the KW, I opted to use the improvement, which has merits (it can't double as a land garrison and it's immobile by nature) but it can easily fall into the hands of an enemy capturing the city, it can't be placed in the countryside, and it effectively gets an attack per defending unit. Anyone have thoughts on this?

[curtsibling]

These days, I tend to give AAA units like this a slightly lower att/def, and a high hitpoint level and 1 point of firepower.

Meaning they can be sometimes tough cookies, but take a while to be killed off.

This represents the difficulty of defeating AA complexes.

...

[McMonkey]

There are many examples of AA guns being used to bolster ground defences. The famous German 88mm being the prime example, but even a 20mm quick-firing cannon in a good defensive position can be devastating.

Using the SAM improvement to represent an AA Battery in a WWII scenario would make sense. It would also free up a space for another unit, but I don't think there is any harm in including an AA unit if the stats are carefully thought out and tested.

[curtsibling]

I tend to give WW2 AA guns the ability to fight planes too...
They are not always successful, but they can cause some mayhem!

[MacGalleo]

In the "Redfront" scenario, between A.A.Battery (def 5) and KV-1 Heavy Tank (def 9) with SAM improvement, the game seems to choose at first A.A.Battery to defend cities against German fighters and bombers....

[Patine]

I see thoughts lean heavily toward units with an improvement as an option. I myself kind of favour the improvement, but I admit, with proper stats and the 'can attack aircraft' and 'x2 defense vs air' flags, a unit can indeed be good too. And there are certainly some nice AA unit graphics out there.

[kobayashi]

see below

[kobayashi]

I usually use both (88mm and Early Warning Radar). The Radar should come later when the 4 engined bombers appear so when the same old 88mm is stacked with Radar, it is still effective.

In some cases, I even add the SDI (fighter airfield?) so air defence can be quadrupled.

[Eivind IV]

That is quite clever, Kobayashi. Shame I missed this for Blitzkrieg, which was based on your ZWK stats...