I honestly dont see that place. The game worked perfectly during the time when there was no airfield protection at all and no one was asking in the forums for it either. One day the devs came up with it and opened Pandoras Box.
People will still lurk in vincinity of those airfields once a team has the clear upper hand, waiting for a plane to take off while the plane will have not enough energy to be putting up a fight. Quite compareable to the situation we have now: When the last opponents are on the airfield they may use the AA screen to gain altitude but meanwhile the lurking opponents will just climb as well.
Their only strategy left is “diving back to the airfield in hope an opponent gets tunnel vision and will be shreeded by the AAA”. But that´s a toxic strategy the devs have worked out here as it makes no one happy. The guy using it feels dirty as he lets the AI do his job while - when it works - the enemy team feels betrayed of a victory… plus it has the ability to waste everyones time meanwhile.
I would just give people who take the long way to the rear airfield the additional option to J-Out and pick an airspawn at a random altitude and position - bombers included. This wont stop people from lurking at 5000 altitude either but at least it will give some a momentum of surprise and the ability to instantly start manoevering, even at a disadvantage.
This might be true or just selective perception. In any way nothing has effectively changed since then: It´s a suicide run to attack an enemy whos either on his airfield or diving for it and not worth the try.
To read the old posts mainly leaves the impression to me that this mechanic has been regarded as a problem from the very first days and that its still an actual topic till this day.
I havent heard of any Youtuber or Forum poster through all those years past recommend attacking the airfield as a viable strategy after a change of AAA effectiveness. Which I would interpret that it has been virtually untouched.
