Fighters do not engage enemy bombers

[Metalist]

Hi all,

Playing as Axis. I just can't make my fighters engage enemy bombers' ground attacks. They sometimes bomb a hex 30 times, but not a single one is intercepted. I tried air superiority, but it just intercepts enemy fighters, recons, and very rarely bombers traveling in the area selected, and not the bombers that destroying my units. Ground support does not work either, I guess it is only for ground combat. So in short, all I can do to protect my units from the devastation coming from air is to assign flak to them.

Is this how it supposed to work, or am I missing something?

[Metalist]

Any tips on this? Airfield bombings are also devastating, what can I do against them? Fighters do not intercept at all.

[matchwood]

Flying air super missions as Axis seems to improve interceptions but yes - they are still hit and miss...maybe that is historical?

[TechSgt]

I have not switched over to the axis yet so this is just guessing,

When you do air superiority how large are the area boxes? Maybe it matters?

From the allied side;

I run recon to find the airfields with enemy aircraft.
I send medium bombers to bomb the airfields in the day,
I place night fighters over the fields at night,

I use small air superiority boxes at the entrances to bombing missions and always seem to pick up a few enemy A/C kills.

I am still pre-invasion, but once enough P-51's arrive I will be stationing AS boxes over the airfields during the daytime, also

I am guessing we will never eliminate German A/C, but the pilot shortage will be the lynch pin.

[Metalist]

Well big boxes can indeed be a problem, but like zero engagement? I do not know. I also tried not to use AS and leave them on auto-intercept, but that does not work either.

[matchwood]

Have you tried a small size AS mission just on the hex you want to protect? I suspect while AS improves interception chances these chances are still spread out over the size of the target. More hexes in scope equals less benefit maybe?

[Metalist]

Have you tried a small size AS mission just on the hex you want to protect? I suspect while AS improves interception chances these chances are still spread out over the size of the target. More hexes in scope equals less benefit maybe?

It has been some time since I played but the smallest box I can work with was like 3x3. And this was necessary as Allies bombed like every single hex on the frontline 20+ times. At some point I said to myself why I don't do the same, and actually LW was causing +6 interdiction in France in '45, Allies barely able to intercept. I couldn't make sense any of this but it is what it is.