I had been referring to the presence of AI surface units (naval is in there too), not commenting on their strength.
Some time ago, I had encountered quite potent ground fire in the AFs modes…but I seldom go into AFs nowadays and have been told that the balancing of AI units’ potency has swung wildly in the intervening time.
From my own experience in RB AFs (when I played regularly (circa 2016)), I know you point about the airfield is basically correct–and that’s what destroyed balance in RB AFs. From 2015 on for at least some spell of time, camping at your own base became the meta due to AI AAA’s potency…it ruined the mode.
As others have mentioned, that sort of map design would not be suitable for air modes’ gameplay (particularly with the airfield AAA issue in mind).
The player SPAAs in air modes idea is such a problematic and niche idea that there’s no way the upheaval that map redesigns as you suggest could justify themselves. Players would be incensed, just as they were when Gaijin made a similar change (Arcade maps in RB, minus SPAAs) about 10 years ago. RB AFs players went ape at that episode and it was reverted shortly thereafter.
In its basic concept (player ground fire versus player aircraft), I’m actually open to the idea that you suggest…I just don’t think it’d actually be practical to implement because of popularity issues and mechanic constraints. I don’t see people signing on for it when getting players into SPAAs in RB GFs (where conditions are substantially more favorable for SPAAs’ needs) is already a tough haul.
To be direct, I play GFs a lot and a fair portion of the time I outright ignore aircraft (as direct fighting goes). While I will usually try to keep an awareness of my surroundings (ground and air alike), I hardly ever attempt to enter into a direct faceoff unless I’m confident it could bear fruit. In general, this seems to work pretty good…I’d say my average death rate (in GFs) to aircraft at ~10% or so.
As I’ve found it, unless you’re actively taunting the enemy team or have really irked someone enough that they want to get you with a revenge bombing, the odds are your tank is most likely more threatened by enemy GFs than any aircraft. Thus, I tend to focus most of my attention to the ground when in GFs.
You make a fair point and you are correct–not all vehicles are so agile as others. However, this still falls into the strengths and weaknesses bit I mentioned previously.
The Na-To is actually a fair example of how the strengths and weaknesses matter goes: it has a superb gun and decent maneuverability (nothing special), but it’s gun handling and especially survivability are poorer than its proper medium tank successes (Chi-Nu II and Chi-To) which carry the same gun. It is because of these differences that the vehicles have the stark BR differences they do (Na-To at 3.3 vs Chi-Nu II (4.3) + Chi-To (4.7)).
Personally, in the Na-To and other open-top vehicles (Dicker Max, Sturer Emil, etc), I seldom die to aircraft…it just doesn’t happen at any extraordinary rate. Does it happen? Yeah. Problematically so? No.
As an amusing twist, I remember using the Waffentrager as a quasi-SPAA at times (including two kills in my first match with it) and at least once scored three air kills in a single match. That vehicle would still be far better with more depression (its elevation range is a bit too well geared for the skies), but it was still comically effective when called upon.
In a game like this with such a diverse range of vehicles supporting one another with 32+ players involved, I cannot say I agree.
While defeats can be upsetting and getting wiped out can be a bummer, it’s just how it is sometimes. It’s the same situation when the awful 75mm Jumbo gets its usual trip to 6.7…where it is flat out useless against such ubiquitous foes as Tiger IIs and Jagdtigers.
The 75mm Jumbo (and the 76mm too) are only where they are in BR because their foes at 4.X didn’t use the counters given to them (Dicker Max, ISU tank destroyers, etc.) to handle the Jumbos when they were at 4.7 with roughly a 1.5 exchange rate and 52% WR.
In a game like this–with so diverse a range of vehicles and varied player tactics–balancing is, charitably, a nightmare. There are numerous balance faults that get through because only the most egregious snags provoke uproars to stop them.