6 airframes

Airframes have two jobs — and they do not overlap

Helicopters in WARDOGS divide cleanly into transport and attack roles. Transport airframes move people and, in some cases, cargo. Attack airframes carry weapons and carry nothing else.

This is not a soft distinction. An attack helicopter has no cargo bed at all, which means it cannot resupply itself or anyone else. If it fires, someone on the ground must feed it.

Cargo costs seats — and the price is steep

Loading the rear bay of the Z20 Lakota consumes eleven seats. That is not a packing choice; it is a strategic one. You decide whether the aircraft is moving a squad or moving supplies before anyone boards.

The MH-6 uses two separate side slots instead of a single bay. That looks flexible, but it is not: a load that fits in six connected cells may not fit in two isolated strips of three. Shape matters as much as volume.

Air transport solves distance, not danger

On a map 16 km across, a helicopter turns a rotation that would cost most of a match into one that costs a minute. Air transport is the fastest way to reach the fight.

What it does not do is arrive quietly. A helicopter is loud, visible, and expensive to lose. The refund rule that makes loadouts cheap does not protect an airframe left burning in a field.

Attack helicopters need a spotter

An attack helicopter flown blind wastes its price. A pass without coordinates finds the target late and leaves with ammunition still in the gun.

The efficient pattern is simple:

• Ground callouts in coordinates
• One pass
• Disengage
• Reset for the next run

Loitering over a contested zone is how you lose an aircraft, not how you win a fight.