Interceptors and ASFs

Historically, interceptors were used for intercepting bad stuff (planes, or missiles) that were coming towards your important stuff (cities, etc).

Some of the defining characteristics that made certain aircraft good interceptors were they could be readied very damn quickly, could take off quickly (read: on a short runway, or an empty road that doubled as one, or if you weren't Russian, any open field you could drive a fuel truck to), and shoot from a long way away (missiles, not guns).

In effect, interceptors were defensive kings.

On the other hand, your MRF and ASF are the ones making the first move, which means they can take their time getting ready and taking off. ASF are for shutting down interceptors, or other ASF, which means they were expected to get close and dirty. They were designed to be agile and fast, because heavy plates of armour don't particularly work well on aircraft. ;P


IMO, loosely following reality would make for interesting gameplay. You have at least two roles for combat aircraft, that (for the most part) don't overlap.

I've had an idea that might work for this. T1 Interceptors are the same as usual, but the equivalent of the ASF is an AA gunship, just like the Restorer from FA but with one key difference - it can't shoot at the ground.

So it is heavily armoured, has enough AA capability to decimate anything in the sky but it is too slow to be used offensively as any other air unit can outrun it (also perhaps mobile land AA should move at the same speed?). And unlike the game-breaking 3599 Restorer, it can't shoot at the ground so there would be no incentive to fly it over bases or defenses. Perhaps even it would not need heavy armour, just the ability to outrange interceptors and powerful guns. Low to medium armour would mean even less incentive to get near flak or SAMs.