Squadron with Escort mission and CAP

[Gratch1111]

So if I understand correctly a unit of 24 fighter with a 50 CAP is divided as
12 on escort and 4+4+4 on CAP. What I do wonder is the range, if I put a 1 on the range because I want the CAP to mainly be above homebase, how far will the escorts fly? 1 as set on range, 5 as on normal range or 6 with fuel tanks because that is where the bombers are going.

[RangerJoe]

"4 + 4 + 4 "?

Your CAP will not help the bombers when they attack. Range "0" is for the base hex only.

[Gratch1111]

If you have 24 fighters set on escort mission and 50% on CAP duty, my understanding is that the remaining 50%(12) will escort bombers going from that base to a target. The 50% that I have on CAP cant all be on CAP at the same time. 4 will be on CAP, 4 will go up and down to the cap and refuel and 4 will rest. If there is an enemy raid, the 8 aircraft that are resting and refueling etc will try and join the 4 that are currently on CAP.

As for the 0, I understand that, but my question is what range will my 12 fighters on escort fly with the bombers on bombing missions? The range that I set for the CAP, normal range for the fighter or extended range with drop tanks?

[RangerJoe]

They fighters will fly escort to the maximum range set for the unit. If you want a dedicated CAP for the base, either bring in an entirely different unit or break the current unit into thirds and use 1 or 2 sections for only CAP. In this game, there are no separate ranges for CAP and escort duties.

[dmaramba]

So if I understand correctly a unit of 24 fighter with a 50 CAP is divided as
12 on escort and 4+4+4 on CAP. What I do wonder is the range, if I put a 1 on the range because I want the CAP to mainly be above homebase, how far will the escorts fly?

If "Target" is set to "Commander's Discretion," your planes will fly out to the range you set (in this case, one hex). If, on the other hand, "Target" is set to a specific hex, your planes will fly to that hex (providing they can reach it, with or without drop tanks), ignoring the range you set.

Fighters set aside for LRCAP behave the same way.

Fighters set aside for CAP ignore all range settings and defend the hex they fly from, except as noted in manual section 7.4.1 (page 172).

[Chris21wen]

There seems to be some misinformation here. Units given an escort mission they can fly up to the range you have set for them in an attempt to escort bombers although this is not guaranteed. They, like any fight grp (not rest) that are present at the base during an attack will attempt to take off and defend their base. How many a/c fly escort depends on the % used for the patrol setting CAP, LRCAP, training and rest. If you want a strong escort be prudent with these setting.

CAP is set as a % of the escort mission with only a third of that number flying the remainder on stby. The airborne CAP engages first followed by the stby CAP which usually take off at the time the raid is detected. Other groups not at rest can also take off but they join even later. The longer the detection range and the larger the raid is the more the likelyhood is that this other CAP will engage.

Now to CAP range. You cannot set CAP range independantly of the escort range BUT, big BUT CAP will not engage anything over 3 hexes. I tested this roughly this time last year and it boils down to this. The manual is wrong but as this test ia year old it's possible it may have changed to 2 hexes.

• Cap only engages up to 3 hexes or the range set if less, with a range of zero meaning just it's home base.

• CAP will protect any target within their set range.

• The maximum range cap will engage is 3 hexes but the range must be set to >=3 for it to do so but setting cap range to anything over 3 is pointless. This overides any escort range setting oer 3 hexes. Many have commented before that it's best to have separate escort and CAP groups.

• The further away cap flies the fewer a/c engage immediately. Setting a cap target within 3 hexes helps here but the other rules still apply in that the same cap will still protect other locations within 3 hexes of it's home base, numbers permitting.

• If you want to protect anything >3 hexes away you need to use LRCAP but you also need to set it as a target. LRCAP behaves like cap if no target is set even if the range set is >3.

I repeat what I said in an different thread, just becasuse you give an order that does not mean it will be carried out. There are a miriad of things that can prevent, or enable, any a/c form flying they including, damage, fatigue, morale, weather, spotting, radar, leaders and not least luck in die roles, so don't be surprised if your cap does not fly, just swear.

If you doubt this you can test it yourselves (as someone esle did) but look here first https://www.matrixgames.com/forums/view ... 1#p5032721.

[Gratch1111]

Re: Chris, TY, so some as I thought and some was new. Very good explanation