how do airplanes work?

[Five_of_Swords]

Trying a long generated campaign as france, i notice my nice experienced units are getting mowed down by airplanes a lot. The french AA guns dont seem terribly effective. (very effective against infantry but not planes...i shouldve gotted a bunch of AA guns rather than HMG)How do airplanes work exactly and whats a good counter for them? If i get airplanes and dont send them on missions, is there a interception chance like the counter battery chance with offboard artillery? Does AA with no penetration do anything? whats the little number in front of the airplane, is that armor?

[KG Erwin]

Airpower is a bit tricky. They do NOT engage in off-the-board combat. You must assign entry/exit hexes for bombing/strafing missions, BEFORE assigning a particular target hex. It is similar to assigning off-board artillery.

1) select the air unit
2) choose the entry/exit hexes
3) pick the target hex

I love air units, in that they also recon/spot other enemy units in their flight path. HOWEVER, if the enemy has AA assets, they can get damaged/shot down. Don't get too adventurous. I usually use them to damage rear-area arty positions or advancing enemy units. IF you can get one flying directly down a road and catch enemy armor in column you can potentially create a "highway of death".

[m10bob]

Considering the cost, I have always thought planes were way too easy to be shot down, and there is little defensive compensation for their altitude, ability to "dodge", hide behind treelines or terrain, etc.
The scale of the game certainly might have given planes a maneuverability factor built in to decrease ability "to hit".

[JEB Davis]

The number in front is a measure of the amount of damage the plane can sustain, I believe.

If there is also a number larger than zero, i.e. (1) or (2) in the parentheses, that is armor, and is also a code that makes the plane a dedicated ground attack plane.  This means it will continue to be available for multiple strafing runs after the initial bombing/strafing run.  A very valuable attribute, since non-dedicated ground attack planes (0) typically are only available for one run.

[KG Erwin]

I suppose that the fighter-bomber is the ideal choice, then. The late-war USMC has the F6F Hellcat, a fearsome beast equipped with 5-in rockets and 50 cal MGs. There's also the SB2C Helldiver, a dive bomber which carries rockets, MGs AND a half-ton bomb.