Need Carrier/Fighter workflow explanation (tutorial?)

[MoonDragon (OP)]

I'm having a bit of a hard time figuring out how to properly employ fighters in the frontline combat situation. I have a carrier with sensor fighters and mason armed fighters. This means that I need the sensor fighters to either fly pickets to the fleet for purposes of targeting incoming missiles, or to shadow the enemy fleet at a distance, painting them with the active sensors for my attack ships to have targeting ability. My mason fighters need to go kick some butt, away from the carrier ship group. The purpose of the doctrine is to have fat and slow mothership group that takes the fight to the enemy by deploying small, fast, and agile weapons platforms that are hard to get rid of (i.e. cannot be easily seen and targeted).

My problem is fleet management. Do I have to spawn off individual fighters as new task groups in order to serve my purposes? Do I really have to have a single fighter task group in order to run my sensor picket? And if so, is there an easy way to tell it to come back home and refuel without micro managing it every few turns? What about the attack fighters? Do I have to separate them into a separate TG as well? And then, how do I tell them to attack--I know how to target, but how do I actively attack? Do I really have to make them follow the target at a distance and manually activate guns? Finally, what are the fighter squadrons for? I can figure out how to make them, but how do I use them? What are they for?

[Father Tim]

Steve is rewriting these rules as we speak, so 5.0 will work differently. For the moment, if you want the sensor fighter to be off on its own, watching, it basically needs to be in its own TG (or squadron).  Attack fighters in their own TG, orders set to 'follow (enemy) contact at X distance'.

Fighter squadrons are basically special-purpose TGs that are associated with a carrier.  They have a few extra orders (such as 'land on carrier') and a persistant status.

[Charlie Beeler]

MoonDragon,  

I presume from this post that you don't have a dedicated scout ship only scout fighters, correct?  This is going to be problematic if so.  

Assuming this is the case, and your carrier has very long range passives, I would not use the scout fighters for recon.  The reason being that your going to be majorly micro-managing and burning through your fuel in a hurry if you do.  In my opinion your best choice is to use the carriers passives for scouting and the scout fighters to identify as needed.  

More personal opinion.  Maintaining a combat space patrol sounds great but is a logistical nightmare, fighters just burn though the fuel too fast.  You really need some dedicated scout ships to act as the forward eyes of the carrier.  For your purposes, I'd go with a scout that only has passive sensors and a hanger for scout fighters.  The scout fighters sortie to get hard id's with active sensors and "paint" targets for your gun fighters.

[MoonDragon (OP)]

In my opinion your best choice is to use the carriers passives for scouting and the scout fighters to identify as needed.

That's what I do now. My mothership has fairly big passives on it. And the fighters get sortied out to do ID work and support targeting.

Maintaining a combat space patrol sounds great but is a logistical nightmare...

As I have learned the hard way.

For your purposes, I'd go with a scout that only has passive sensors and a hanger for scout fighters.  The scout fighters sortie to get hard id's with active sensors and "paint" targets for your gun fighters.

In other words, you're suggesting that I separate the carrier function into combat carrier and scout carrier. Where combat carrier lugs around my combat wing only (and possibly serves as a collier/supply/jump ship), while my scout carrier has strong passives and a couple of active sensor fighters for focused detection. Interesting suggestion.

[Charlie Beeler]

In other words, you're suggesting that I separate the carrier function into combat carrier and scout carrier. Where combat carrier lugs around my combat wing only (and possibly serves as a collier/supply/jump ship), while my scout carrier has strong passives and a couple of active sensor fighters for focused detection. Interesting suggestion.

Functionally yes.  Keep the scout as small as possible.  Boat bay instead of hanger bay and a smaller scout fighter than the one you posted and the beginning of the month.  The idea is to maintain a lower profile than the ships being supported/screened to reduce the chance of detection and intercept.  Build up enough to give a good detection zone for the operational range of the combat fighters.  

Since your using gunfighters you'll need a dedicated carrier class that shuttles new squadrons forward becuase they are going to take regular losses.  GF's have to enter the defense envelopes of the ships they attack and will be detected before they enter gun range.  Especially if the defender has a function PD for missile defense.  

This is way I prefer light missile fighters for the strike role.  They can launch missiles at ships from the edge of effective missile defense envelopes and return to thier carrier before being effectively engaged.  At least until Steve releases v5.0.  

[Thtb]

Adding this here since its ontopic...

I build 4 carriers with 4 hangers each (space for 16 fighters each) and ended up - untouched - with 4 carriers, 1 loaded with ships, 16 ungrouped, flying around fighters (not in anything) and 2 empty carriers...

What... the... frakk?

How do I get them back into the box and how would I refill the empty build carriers (all are the same type, all from the same shipyard) with fighters?

[MoonDragon (OP)]

You have to build fighters with industry, just like missiles (it's just a different category). Then reload the carriers from the population, just like you would missiles.

As far as recalling the fighters, there is a button at the bottom of the Task Group window (F12) called "Recover Para". But you have to make sure that fighters have the appropriate carrier assigned as "mothership" under their description in the Ship window (F5).

--Edit--

That ship window is where you can also manually dock/launch individual fighters.

[Charlie Beeler]

Fighters are managed through the F7 fighter squadron screen.  You create squadron id's and then assign fighters to the squadrons.  Then assign squadrons to carriers and recover then.  Carriers and squadrons must be co-located at first.  Once squadrons have been recovered the first time they can then be launched (using the F7 screen).  Squadrons launched in this manor then create new sub-task groups that managed as any other task group.  

Squadrons that have an assigned carrier (mothership) can be given a TG movement order to land on thier assigned mothership.  The TG filter must have task group check box active for this command though.  Fighters are refueled and rearmed automaticly...mostly.  Even though the rearm clock for launchers counts down while aboard the carrier, the reload button on the F7 screen still needs to be used before the fighters will show missiles in the launchers again.  Provided the carrier has ordinance available.

[Steve Walmsley]

Launching fighters and FACs can also now be managed through the Organization tab of the F12 window. I am starting to build fighters in my own campaign at the moment so I imagine that will lead to some improvements in the ease of handling carriers and fighters

Steve

[welchbloke]

Launching fighters and FACs can also now be managed through the Organization tab of the F12 window. I am starting to build fighters in my own campaign at the moment so I imagine that will lead to some improvements in the ease of handling carriers and fighters

[Vanigo]

Is there any decent way to do task force training of fighters, i.e. without stopping to refuel every 12 hours?

[sloanjh]

Is there any decent way to do task force training of fighters, i.e. without stopping to refuel every 12 hours?

Have them embarked on their carrier, and train the carrier.  This works for GB - I assume it works for fighters too.

John

[Vanigo]

Is there any decent way to do task force training of fighters, i.e. without stopping to refuel every 12 hours?

Have them embarked on their carrier, and train the carrier.  This works for GB - I assume it works for fighters too.

John

Ah. Does that work for overhauls, too?

[MoonDragon (OP)]

For as long as the fighters are docked, they do not accrue the maintenance clock. But they do get fleet training. I'm pretty sure you can enter overhaul with fighters docked, and I'm pretty sure the fighters get their clocks reset. But you don't get individual messages for all of them. Just the carrier.