It may surprise you to find that we will list Hinds and Longbows with Tanks. But think about it. What is the difference between aircraft and tanks. Both can neutralize threats. But the aircraft must go back to base. The tank can remain there and invest the territory that it took. According to the Soviet Army "Junior Officer" who wrote "Inside the Soviet Army" in collaboration with General Sir John Hackett after defecting to the West, the Hind is merely a tank with rotors instead of tracks. (This Officer's pen name is Viktor Suvorov.) It need not fear mines and is much faster with the same firepower. A "tank company" of Hinds can fly in with a mixed group of Hind-A and Hind-D tanks. After taking the territory they can land. The Hind-D crews will reload in the field from internally carried stores. The Hind-A crews use that same space to carry rifle squads to secure and HOLD the area. The Hind-A is a flying version of the Iraeli Merkava MBT. Big weapons with APC function built in.
Bottom line is to factor your flying tanks as tanks, not aircraft. Use them accordingly. Hypothetically a Soviet Tank Company could use one platoon of Hinds with 3 platoons of Chinooks assault a forward base, wipe out the ground defenses then land engineers and infantry to take and hold the base until ground tanks arrive. The Allied side needs to factor this in when planning defenses. Likewise Allied aerial tanks platoons are obviously part of the QRF that would be used to defend the trucks in the ore fields. We have seen Generals place flying tanks in ore fields with ground troops to invest the field, or somewhere nearby. The footpads protect the Hind/Longbows. The Hind/Longbows do not have a travel time delay to respond to attacks upon the truck.
Long Range Recon Patrol
Yes, Generals do use footpads in a prolonged war. Unless you have mechanics, and regardless if you are Soviets, you cannot fix rolling stock in the field. A LRRP is a good way to recon and fight far from base and for the Allied side, being self healing cuts costs. (We are back to economics again.) The LRRP is a self contained infantry fighting group whos TO&E should be something like 2 sections of minigunners, a section of Tubes for organic AAD and anti-tank use. Basically a short to full platoon. Don't forget to include one Medic per section to maintain the self healing functionality that makes the LRRP such an economic concept. Just remember to keep the medics away from the front line during a firefight so that they survive to heal the survivors. DURING the firefight check the health of your individual troopers and rotate wounded from the front to the back to rotate your men on the line. That way you are always presenting fresh men to your dying enemy and your wounded can survive to be healed by the medic in order to continue their mission without needing to be expensively replaced.
For the Soviets, the LRRP is not self healing. But due to the speed of the grenadiers and riflemen. A LRRP without organic AAD can be surprisingly fast and effective. A LRRP with organic AAD will obviously be slower, but the grenadiers are very effective and cheaper than the Heavy and Mammoth tanks that they can outrun.
QRF:
Quick Reaction Force This is a necessary unit to keep around the base. To the Allied side, it is a mixture of APC's loaded with minigunners, light tanks and rangers. For the Soviets, it must consist of slower moving equipment such as heavy tanks, V2s and tesla tanks, with lots of mixed infantry. For either side, aerial tank platoons should be assigned to the QRF as well. The objective of this force is to be able to as a Numbered Group move on command to interdict and neutralize threats to the base. If somebody chronoshifts, parachutes, runs a commando into your base or whatever, this is the force to move against that Threat. They are intended as a highly mobile force that can cross the base quickly to meet that Threat in the shortest possible amount of time to minimize base destruction. The minigunners (dismounted from the APC's), APC guns and ranger machine guns are to resolve footpad threats including commandos. The light tanks, flying tanks and APCs are anti-armor vehicles for the Allied side. The Soviets have the better base defenses so their QRF choices are slower. Footpads and V2's versus footpads, and the tanks/flying tanks to counter tanks. In this case the Hind is probably the fastest part of the Soviet QRF. But the objective is to move as quickly as possible to counter the threat.
If multiple QRF's are built up. The spare can be used for an armored LRRP or other fast attack force against trucks or the enemy base. By the same token, the QRF also has the function of responding quickly to a Truck's call for help. If one of your Trucks comes under attack, the QRF is the force to respond and get that Truck Home.
Factor in distance, especially if you are Soviet when using flying tanks in conjunction with ground forces over a distance. The air assets can arrive too early for a coordinated attack and be vulnerable to AAD.
Allied Base Defence QRF
The Allied forces have a significant advantage in the area of QRFs. The Allied forces have the light tank, APC and ranger, these units are faster than their soviet counterparts in the heavy tank and tesla tank. The Soviets have no APCs and that gives a major advantage to the Allies in infantry mobility, the wise General will take advantage of this by adding mechanized infantry to their QRFs. A standard composition for an Allied QRF is shown Here. It consists of an armour platoon (four light tanks), a vehicle section (two rangers) and a mechanized infantry section (10 Rifle Infantrymen in two APCs).
Allied AAD QRF
The thing that is sadly lacking in the QRF outlined above is AAD. For an anti-aircraft QRF, just substitute rocket soldiers for the riflemen in the APCs. This arrangement is shown Here
Soviet Base Defence QRF
A Soviet QRF will be slower than an Allied one as a general rule because the Allied units are faster. The best way to deal with this is to have some light, fast units and some heavy tanks that are NOT in formation as your qrf, that way the fast units arrive first to delay the enemy advance, then the heavys can show up to finish the job. A good combination is shown Here. It involves an armor platoon (4 heavy tanks), a light armor platoon (4 tesla tanks) and a self propelled artillery section (2 V2s). The teslas and v2s will arrive first and can hold off at long ranges to allow the heavys time to arrive. This is less effective outside your base in the open. In open areas it is suggested that you use airborne armour or MiGs.
Soviet AAD QRF
The soviets must relay solely on rocket soldiers for an anti-aircraft QRF. Mammoths make good AAD but they are SO SLOW that the war will be over by the time the mammoths arrive. They are good for guarding armour columns that would otherwise be vulnerable to air attack. Basicaly a Soviet AAD QRF will just be a rocket infantry section (8-10 guys). This is heavy on the AAD and really light on the QRF portion of the definition. However, keeping a section or platoon of chinooks loaded with Tubes would allow for a highly mobile long range AAD QRF providing that you are willing to pay for it.
