Forward Air Observers for the US

[Aidan]

As a soon-to-be US player, if I choose to field a FAO for 75 points, I get the chance to drop 2 airstrikes.

Is it worth it? On one hand, I want the make the most of the US’ national rules, to get the full experience. On the other, I might be setting myself up to get my own troops nuked twice.

Note that this is for casual games only, AFAIK there are no tournaments here in Alaska.

Cheers.

[L.T. Russell]

I would if/when I play the US….

[Nat]

it has the potential for great comedy … epically if you have a lot of flack and shoot down your own aircraft! :p

Its one of those rules that can greatly vary between games from really bad (have 2 friendly airstrikes) to absolutely evil (2 airstrikes that neutralise the whole enemy force) and pretty much everything inbetween.

It also has the downside of the first one has to come in before you call the second in – this gives you the result of not getting the second, either due to the game ending or the FAO getting removed.

So long answer short – can be fun, can get a lot out of it… or you could end up with the same waste of points as any other FAO
ps – a lot of the time Soviet players are only using half  their rules (massed batteries rairly gets table time, and comissars… well only 2 out of the 3 actually have that rule)..

[Aidan]

Hahaha yeah lol. Troops be like: ” sorry sir, we accidentally shot down our air support because it looked like a Stuka.” Commanding officer: “get some glasses! How does a P47 look like a Stuka you idiots!?”

Yeah I see. Looks like for casual games it’ll be a good unit to include for the randomness and comedy.

I think I’ll model a FAO, but if I don’t like using it then it’ll just get used as a mortar spotter or something.

[SteveT]

“I think I’ll model a FAO, but if I don’t like using it then it’ll just get used as a mortar spotter or something.”

Very wise. Will save you from having to  fill out all those Friendly Fire Incident Forms.

 

[Aidan]

“Very wise. Will save you from having to fill out all those “Friendly Fire Incident Forms.”

Lol, those are the worst. Very time consuming and embarrassing.

[Nat]

my (soviet) Air Observer is one of the BRS 28mm Ace pilots they did (Johnny Red)… so he can always double up as a ViP / downed pilot if the scenario requires one as I cant actually recall the last time I run him as an air observer….

mind you I think I’ve only run an artillery one once or twice in the last 18 months….

[Charles]

I use one sometimes because it’s fun, not because it’s always effective. Worst case scenario I’ve seen was a three round tournament where a player brought a US air observer. He got two strikes to arrive in each game. For five of the six strikes, he rolled a one resulting in him loosing a lot of his own troops. On multiple occasions, I’ve used one and could never get the first strike to arrive, much less the second one.

[Aidan]

Oh my word, you think they would reduce the points cost or something. But Iv’e heard that they can be a Death Star if they actually work like they’re supposed to.

“so he can always double up as a ViP / downed pilot if the scenario requires one as I cant actually recall the last time I run him as an air observer….”

That’s pretty smart! Sounds like a fun scenario, except for the pilot of course. He’s probably running for his life the whole game…

[Charles]

Yes, when they work they’re great. However, if someone has even a little bit of flak or pintle mount mg fire, they have a pretty good chance of chasing the plane off. For more predictable damage, I think the artillery FO is better. It almost never hits its own side, and even if it doesn’t score a hit, it still usually leaves enough pins behind to slow the other side down.

[Aidan]

Yeah I was looking at that, artillery looks like a way better option even though it’s more expensive. I was considering Air observers because the US gets bonuses for them. I might just not run either to save myself the embarrassment of strafing my own troops.

And my friend is pretty open to trying new things, I might try the experimental warplane rules.

[Aidan]

Now that I think of it, I am definitely going to run the experimental warplane rules by him. It would be an easy way to get my army to 1000 points, and it sounds fun.

[Author]

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