Air Units

Fighters, helicopters, and strategic bombers can attack and defend in territories. All can attack in sea zones. Fighters and helicopters stationed on carriers can defend in sea zones. All air units can land only in friendly territories or, in the case of fighters and helicopters*, on friendly aircraft carriers. Your air units cannot land in territories you just captured, whether they were involved in the combat or not. Air units can move through hostile territories and sea zones as if they were friendly. However, they are exposed to antiaircraft fire during combat whenever they attack a hostile territory that contains an antiaircraft gun. When conducting strategic bombing raids, bombers are only exposed to the antiaircraft fire from the industrial complex or base, not the antiaircraft gun on the territory.

 

*(See Air Units – Helicopters)

 

To determine range, count each space your air unit enters “after takeoff.” When moving over water from a coastal territory or an island group, count the first sea zone entered as one space. When flying to an island group, count the surrounding sea zone and the island group itself as one space each. When moving a fighter or tactical bomber from a carrier, do not count the carrier’s sea zone as the first space—the unit is in that sea zone already. In other words, each time an air unit crosses a boundary between spaces, whether territories or sea zones, it uses one movement point.

 

An island is considered a territory within a sea zone; air units based on an island normally cannot defend the surrounding sea zone. An exception to this rule is fighters on an island that has an operative airbase. These island-based aircraft can be scrambled and moved to an adjacent sea zone that comes under attack. Strategic bombers cannot be scrambled (see Scramble).

 

You cannot send air units on “suicide runs”—deliberately moving them into combat with no place to land afterward. If there is any question about whether an attack is a suicide run, then in the Combat Move phase you must declare, prior to rolling any battles, some possible way (however remote the possibility is) for all your attacking air units to land safely that turn. This could include a combination of combat moves. It could also include noncombat moves by a carrier. If it does include a noncombat move by a carrier, then the carrier cannot move in the Combat Move phase.

 

In order to demonstrate that an air unit MAY have a safe landing zone, you may assume that all of your attacking rolls will be hits, and all defending rolls will be misses. You may NOT, however, use a planned retreat of any carrier to demonstrate a possible safe landing zone for any fighter or helicopter.

 

If you declared that a carrier will move during the Noncombat Move phase to provide a safe landing zone for a fighter or a helicopter moved in the Combat Move phase, you must follow through and move the carrier to its planned location in the Noncombat Move phase unless the air unit has landed safely elsewhere or has been destroyed before then, or a combat required to clear an intervening sea zone failed to do so.

 

Air units can hit submarines if a friendly frigate is in the battle. Whenever a round of combat starts and there is no enemy frigate, submarines may submerge before being fired upon.

 

Fighters

Cost:                   Allies: 12+                  Opfor: 12+

Attack:              4

Defense:          3

Move:                6

 

Unit Characteristics

Carrier Operations: Fighters can land on and take off from a carrier. (See Aircraft Carriers.)

 

Fighter Escorts and Interceptors: Fighters can participate in strategic bombing raids as escorts or interceptors. Any or all defending fighters based in a territory that is about to be strategically bombed can participate in the defense of the industrial complex and/or bases that are targeted. Escort fighters (those accompanying the bombers) can escort and protect the bombers, and they can originate from any territory, range permitting. (See Strategic Bombing Raids.)

 

Air Superiority (aarhe) Close air support CAS (SITREP): Fighters and Helicopters can be combined with tanks. A matched up set of a fighter or helicopter with a tank increases the tanks attack and defense number from 3 to 4, only once during the first round of combat. After the first round of combat, the normal attack and defense value resumes.

Under these same sircumstances (a matched fighter with a tank), the fighter’s defense number increases from 3 to 4, only once during the first round of combat.

(see also Tanks and Helicopters).

 

Strategic bombers

Cost:                   Allies: 14+                  Opfor: 16+

Attack:              4

Defense:          1

Move:                10

 

Unit Characteristics

Strategic Bombing Raid: A strategic bomber can either participate in normal combat, or it can make direct attack against an enemy industrial complex, airbase, naval base, missile solo and/or bunker complex. An attack on such a facility is a strategic bombing raid. This occurs during the first step of the Conduct Combat phase. Strategic bombers that survive any antiaircraft fire originating from their designated target, as well as any fire from any fighter interceptors, can attack that specific target. Roll one die for each surviving bomber. The bomber will cause a number of points of damage to the facility equal to the total rolled. The maximum total damage strategic bombing raids can inflict on an industrial complex is twice the production ability indicated on the industrial complex’s counter (20 for the major and 6 for the minor). The maximum total damage that can be inflicted on an airbase, naval base, missile silo and/or bunker complex is 6 points.

 

Missiles (sitrep): Is capable of transporting and launching one (1) cruise missile (See Missile).

 

Paratroopers: Each of your bombers can act as a transport for up to one infantry, but it must stop in the first hostile territory it enters during a turn and drop off the infantry, ending its combat movement.

A bomber can load an infantry unit in territory before, during, and after it moves.

The bomber may still attack during the Conduct Combat phase, but it cannot make a strategic bombing run in a turn that it transports an infantry unit. The infantry unit may retreat normally to a friendly adjacent space during combat.

(aarhe) Both units must start in the same territory. Airborne Infantry is offloaded before “Conduct Combat” phase.

 

Air Transport (aarhe): A strategic bomber may carry one infantry or one airborne infantry (optional unit), one tank unit, one APC unit, one LAV unit, one artillery unit, one MRLS unit, one AA unit, one helicopter or one missile unit to a friendly territory. Both units must start in the same territory. If optional unit Transport Plane is taken only it may perform Air Transport.

 

Helicopters (SITREP)

Cost:                   Allies: 9+                  Opfor: 7+

Attack:              3

Defense:          4

Move:                4

 

Unit Characteristics

Helicopters represent attack and transport helicopters in land operations and naval operations.

 

Carrier Operations: Helicopters can land on and take off from a carrier. (See Aircraft Carriers.)

 

Air Superiority: Helicopters can be combined with fighters. A matched up set of a fighter and a helicopter increases the helicopter attack number from 3 to 4.

 

Air Superiority (aarhe) Close air support CAS (SITREP): Fighters and Helicopters can be combined with tanks. A matched up set of a fighter or helicopter with a tank increases the tanks attack and defense number from 3 to 4, only once during the first round of combat. After the first round of combat, the normal attack and defense value resumes.

Under these same sircumstances (a matched helicopter with a tank), the helicopter’s attack number increases from 3 to 4, only once during the first round of combat.

(see also Tanks and Fighters).

 

Special Force unit / Air Transport (Sitrep): Each of your helicopters can act as a transport for up to one special force unit, or one light armored vehicle (LAV) unit, or one artillery unit into a territory and/or sea zones (fleet), but it must stop in the first hostile territory it enters during a turn and drop off the infantry, ending its combat movement.

 

A helicopter can load and offload a unit in territory and/or sea zones (load and offload from amphibious assault ships) before, during, and after it moves.

A helicopter can support the offloaded unit’s attack in the same and subsequent rounds of attack.

The carried units are offloaded before “Conduct Combat” phase.

 

Capture a territory: Air units cannot capture a territory; a helicopter can capture a territory.

 

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