Because for what ever reason my last video evidence did nothing to change the fact that many of you still think Air is too strong, I am going to try and post these small collections of tests showing the interactions of Air and AA units. My goal is not to change your mind, I genuinely don't care what you think. I'm just hoping that someone from the balance team can read these posts and decide that AA units are fine exactly where they are.
Test 1
20 Hornets vs 8 Wolves 9 Mechs
20 Hornets vs 16 Hogs and 8 Wolves
Baseline 80 pop v 80 Pop. The AA wins crushingly here. In both cases the Air tried to focus fire the AA which might seem like a good idea on the surface, however, when trying to focus fire, the Air units will try and bunch up which both increases the effectiveness of the splash of the AA and increases the chance of taking a 6 o'clock leader power right in the jaw
Cost of each army
Air --> 6500 supply
Vehicle --> 4350 supply, 1520 power, 5870 total (mech)
Vehicle --> 5200 supply, 1520 power, 6720 total (hog)
The vehicle army is significantly easier to fund since you are getting income from two different currencies.
"But Wall, I cant tech up if I'm using my power on wolverines"
While this is true, if your opponent committed to full banshees, you wont need to tech up because he will have lost his full army and you will still be at either 9 mantis or 14 wolverines to start attacking his base with some wolverines left over if he tries any more of that air nonsense
Test 2
25 Hornets vs 8 Wolves and 9 Mechs
25 Hornets vs 16 Hogs and 9 Wolves
100 pop air vs 80 pop Vehicle
While it is not a "crushing defeat" here, the vehicles still win, rather easily. The mechs still have 5 mantis while the warthogs have 11 warthogs. Still enough to harass a base with wolverines left over to kill any air units that might be newly build.
Cost of each army
Air --> 8125 supply, 750 power (reinforcements)
Vehicle --> 4350 supply, 1520 power, 5870 total (mech)
Vehicle --> 5200 supply, 1520 power, 6720 total (hog)
Test 3
20 Wingman Hornets vs 8 Wolves and 9 Mechs
30 Hornets vs 16 Hogs and 8 Wolverines
I'm sorry if you let your opponent get to tech 3 and max out his army, or get a t3 upgrade and 80 pop air, while you stay at t2 unupgraded everything, you got outplayed and there is no balance patch should be able to fix that.
Note: The Wingman Upgrade makes a HUGE difference in combat power
Cost of each army
Air --> 9750 supply, 3500 power (reinforcements, reinforcements, T3), 13250 total
Air -->6500 supply, 2250 power (t3, wingman), 8750 total
Vehicle --> 4350 supply, 1520 power, 5870 total (mech)
Vehicle --> 5200 supply, 1520 power, 6720 total (hog)
Bonus Test
Manatee and I were trying to discard our left over units so veterancy wouldn't skew test results. We wanted to see what would happen when a full air army attacked a base with 4 AA turrets and 4 wolves left behind on defense. All 25 of the wingman hornets died in the engagement while the base only lost 2 turrets and 1 wolverine.
Disclaimer: This test will be repeated with the Air being split around the base and the base without any Base Fortifications for the sake of consistency with the rest of testing.
All we wanted to do was to show you that it is infact possible to play defense against air units if you split your units, don't double tap the right bumper, and keep control of your units.
4 AA Turrets and 4 Wolves vs 25 Wingman Hornets
Plans for Next test.
Reavers & locust v Hornets
Banished and UNSC Base Arrangements with AA for defense against Air
I look forward to an educated and civil discourse in the comments to follow.
Test 1
20 Hornets vs 8 Wolves 9 Mechs
20 Hornets vs 16 Hogs and 8 Wolves
Baseline 80 pop v 80 Pop. The AA wins crushingly here. In both cases the Air tried to focus fire the AA which might seem like a good idea on the surface, however, when trying to focus fire, the Air units will try and bunch up which both increases the effectiveness of the splash of the AA and increases the chance of taking a 6 o'clock leader power right in the jaw
Cost of each army
Air --> 6500 supply
Vehicle --> 4350 supply, 1520 power, 5870 total (mech)
Vehicle --> 5200 supply, 1520 power, 6720 total (hog)
The vehicle army is significantly easier to fund since you are getting income from two different currencies.
"But Wall, I cant tech up if I'm using my power on wolverines"
While this is true, if your opponent committed to full banshees, you wont need to tech up because he will have lost his full army and you will still be at either 9 mantis or 14 wolverines to start attacking his base with some wolverines left over if he tries any more of that air nonsense
Test 2
25 Hornets vs 8 Wolves and 9 Mechs
25 Hornets vs 16 Hogs and 9 Wolves
100 pop air vs 80 pop Vehicle
While it is not a "crushing defeat" here, the vehicles still win, rather easily. The mechs still have 5 mantis while the warthogs have 11 warthogs. Still enough to harass a base with wolverines left over to kill any air units that might be newly build.
Cost of each army
Air --> 8125 supply, 750 power (reinforcements)
Vehicle --> 4350 supply, 1520 power, 5870 total (mech)
Vehicle --> 5200 supply, 1520 power, 6720 total (hog)
Test 3
20 Wingman Hornets vs 8 Wolves and 9 Mechs
30 Hornets vs 16 Hogs and 8 Wolverines
I'm sorry if you let your opponent get to tech 3 and max out his army, or get a t3 upgrade and 80 pop air, while you stay at t2 unupgraded everything, you got outplayed and there is no balance patch should be able to fix that.
Note: The Wingman Upgrade makes a HUGE difference in combat power
Cost of each army
Air --> 9750 supply, 3500 power (reinforcements, reinforcements, T3), 13250 total
Air -->6500 supply, 2250 power (t3, wingman), 8750 total
Vehicle --> 4350 supply, 1520 power, 5870 total (mech)
Vehicle --> 5200 supply, 1520 power, 6720 total (hog)
Bonus Test
Manatee and I were trying to discard our left over units so veterancy wouldn't skew test results. We wanted to see what would happen when a full air army attacked a base with 4 AA turrets and 4 wolves left behind on defense. All 25 of the wingman hornets died in the engagement while the base only lost 2 turrets and 1 wolverine.
Disclaimer: This test will be repeated with the Air being split around the base and the base without any Base Fortifications for the sake of consistency with the rest of testing.
All we wanted to do was to show you that it is infact possible to play defense against air units if you split your units, don't double tap the right bumper, and keep control of your units.
4 AA Turrets and 4 Wolves vs 25 Wingman Hornets
Plans for Next test.
Reavers & locust v Hornets
Banished and UNSC Base Arrangements with AA for defense against Air
I look forward to an educated and civil discourse in the comments to follow.