Paratroop drops rank among the most powerful orders in CAOS, but also the easiest to catastrophically misuse and send good divisions to their death. Let’s dive into the paradrop system and learn how to harness the maximum potential of paradrops in the upcoming Operation Husky update!
Hitting the Ground:
Paratroopers land on or within one hex of the targeted drop zone on impulse 1 of turn resolution, although the presence of enemy troops can make them land even further away. Upon landing paratroopers suffer casualties and cohesion loss that leaves them vulnerable to immediate hostile counterattacks. Although some of these casualties automatically trickle-back to the unit over the succeeding turns. See the section on paratroop sub-types below for details on how drop casualties and trickle-back differ between paratrooper types. Due to the uncertainty of the precise landing zone and the risk of drop casualties, it’s usually wise to avoid dropping paratroopers directly adjacent to powerful enemy units or too far away from relief forces. You don’t want to end up jumping a bridge too far.
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Here's a high risk paradrop operation, we're going to insert the 504th/505th US Parachute Infantry Regiments, alongside the British 1st Airlanding Brigade, immediately behind the Axis line to block their retreat while US ground forces advance to link up with the paratroopers. If this goes to plan the Axis flank south of Arras will be completely crushed, and their defense of the city compromised. We'll see how it goes at the end of the dev blog...
Paratroop sub-types
Paratroopers come in three sub-types, Paratroopers, Glider troops, and exceedingly rare Para-Commandos.
Paratroopers
Paratroopers are the most common airborne units and they suffer consistently high casualty rates on drops.
Paratrooper casualty and trickle-back rates vary between years and nations, but US Paratroopers in 1943 suffer between 35-50% casualties on drop and recover 40-60% of these casualties over the succeeding 2 turns.
Here's an example of the US 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment before and after drop from the operation earlier in the blog:
Some of these losses will trickle-back over the next few turns, but the unit is very vulnerable to counter-attack immediately after landing. Bear this vulnerability in mind while planning your drops.
Glider-borne
Glider units are the high-stakes gamblers of airborne assaults. Glider landings can go flawlessly and deliver an entire fighting force with minimal casualties, or be total disasters that render units combat ineffective. While glider infantry are the most obvious glider-based airborne units, most airborne artillery and anti-tank units are glider-borne as well.
Glider casualty and trickle-back rates vary between years and nations, but US glider-borne forces in 1943 suffer between 10-60% casualties and recover 30-50% of these casualties over the succeeding 2 turns.
Para-Commandos: Para-Commandos suffer the lowest drop casualties, but also tend to be the smallest paratroop capable units. Para-commando units are exceedingly rare and only a few nations deploy them, such as the: French Bataillon de Choc, British SAS, US/Canadian Special Service Force, and some Italian Arditi.
Commandos suffer between 10-30% casualties on drop and recover 50-80% of these losses over the succeeding 2 turns.
Drop Restrictions
Air Control: Paratroop drops can only be conducted within airspace you control. Dynamic Air control is another new feature in development for Operation Husky, and will be featured in its own dev blog further down the line. But for now, suffice to say that if you intend to use paratroopers you’re going to need air superiority to cover them.
Terrain: Paratroop drops cannot be ordered in mountain or swamp hexes, although paratroopers can still accidentally fall off course and end up landing in these terrain types if they are adjacent to the selected landing zone.
Surviving the Drop: Using Paratroopers Effectively
There are three broad ways to enhance the survivability of your paratroop drops. 1) Dropping a small number of units away from known enemy positions and then slipping into their rear to cause havoc. This technique is well suited for para-commandos seeking to capture poorly defended enemy objectives or supply depots. 2) Dropping paratroopers directly behind a large enemy force you intend to hit with ground forces the same turn, thus blocking their line of retreat, potentially creating an unexpected encirclement, and keeping your paratroopers within a stone’s throw of relief. 3) Concentrating many paratroopers in a single target area and hoping that enough force lands intact to hold off counterattacks until relief arrives. In any case you should always conduct thorough air recon and identify favorable terrain near the landing zone for the paratroopers to fall back on and defend until rescue arrives if things go badly. Paratroopers are simply too rare and valuable to waste on a whim.
With all of this in mind, let's revisit our paratroop drop from earlier.
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The drop went...poorly, but it did not entirely fail. The paratroopers mostly hit their drop zones and they successfully blocked Axis reinforcements from the east, who otherwise could have halted the breakthrough entirely. However, unexpectedly stubborn resistance against the relief forces prevented a total collapse of the Axis line. The StuGs at the crossroads, exposed Italian artillery south of Arras, and Italian infantry north of Peronne will likely be destroyed next turn, but the US 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment will be overrun before help arrives. The problem with this paradrop plan was that it required everything else, outside of the paratrooper's control, to go perfectly, and in combat reality tends to clash violently with your neatly planned operations. Never plan a paradrop based on the assumption that everything will go according to plan, be prepared for the worst and plan accordingly.