Okay, I have a few questions about designing bases...

 

Now, if I'm just putting together a base for a scenario, I obviously do not have a full blueprint of the facility to use. So I guesstimate things. I assume that I need one of the generic airfields, a control tower, and an ammo depot appropriate to the nation where the base is located. That lets me fly things in and out and provide them with ammunition.

 

But what else should I add? Obviously, some SAMs, some AA guns, etc., but how many? Obviously, some of these things are on trucks and more can be added during a crisis, but generally speaking, how many SAMs and AA guns should a base have? 3 of each for a small base and 5 of each for major one? What?

 

And if a "base" is a municipal airport that also gets used by military aircraft, would it have any air defenses at all? I would think so, but I really don't know.

 

Also, anything else I should generally add, either for realism or because it's something that might be worth either blowing up or protecting?

 

As a side note, I suppose if I really wanted to get fancy, I could actually set up runways, hangers, etc. instead of just using one of the four generic airfields provided in the HUD 4 database. So, again, assuming I don't have exact specifications for a particular airfield (which I probably won't have), what's normal for a small airfield, a medium one, a large one, etc.?

 

Thanks in advance. I look forward to your comments.

 

Mark

Hi Mark;

 

To reply to your question, I'd say it's always a matter of feeling. Moment to make decision is when planning the scenario: what role will have the base (target? home for interceptors or strategic bomber?)? Usually, I plant 1 runway and 3 hangars attached to it (2 runways mean 6....), 1 control tower, 1 C3I bunker, 1 fuel tank/farm and one ammo dump. Size of the base will depend on a/c based there... small base would be 4 miles² (2x2 square to group structures).

As for defenses, I'd say it depends on how hard you expect the base to be hit. I grew up near a French AF base, they had towed AA guns, but in some cases, I could see Crotale SAMs being ferried by train to the base. So it's up to you to expose a base to T-hawks strikes and being defended only by a handful MANPADS, or by more capable systems like the Russian SA-15 Gauntlet

 

FG

Hi Mark,

 

Okay, I have a few questions about designing bases...

 

Now, if I'm just putting together a base for a scenario, I obviously do not have a full blueprint of the facility to use. So I guesstimate things. I assume that I need one of the generic airfields, a control tower, and an ammo depot appropriate to the nation where the base is located. That lets me fly things in and out and provide them with ammunition.

 

But what else should I add? Obviously, some SAMs, some AA guns, etc., but how many? Obviously, some of these things are on trucks and more can be added during a crisis, but generally speaking, how many SAMs and AA guns should a base have? 3 of each for a small base and 5 of each for major one? What?

 

And if a "base" is a municipal airport that also gets used by military aircraft, would it have any air defenses at all? I would think so, but I really don't know.

 

Also, anything else I should generally add, either for realism or because it's something that might be worth either blowing up or protecting?

 

As a side note, I suppose if I really wanted to get fancy, I could actually set up runways, hangers, etc. instead of just using one of the four generic airfields provided in the HUD 4 database. So, again, assuming I don't have exact specifications for a particular airfield (which I probably won't have), what's normal for a small airfield, a medium one, a large one, etc.?

 

Thanks in advance. I look forward to your comments.

 

Mark

 

 

I usually start with a Comm Center. Then I add runways (if possible, according to an available base blueprint) and a Control Tower. Then hangars, one or two ammo dumps, fuel depots, several buildings.

 

Normally I turn off auto-detect for all facilities, this makes it much harder to kill the base. You first have to localize them and can run in some nasty traps.

 

I never use generic airfields or something like this stuff. Micromanaging bases/ammo dumps etc. is one major H2/H3 strongpoint.

 

Now we come to SAMs and radars. I always try to set up a strong, layered air defense for the AI side. That means an outer SAM belt, an inner one and point defenses.

 

All in all I love to create detailed bases with lots of facilities, turned off auto-detect and brinkling with SAMs and AA guns. If the base is close to the shore, I usually add SSMs.

 

 

 

Hope that helps,

 

Ralf