Detection level and "air balance"

[whippleofd]

1) Is there anyway to tell the detechtion level of an enemy base or unit?

2) When you mouse over a base, in the upper right hand corner is the phrase "air balance". I can't find any refrence to this any where. Just what is this?

Thanks ahead of time.

Whipple

[Feinder]

1. You cannot know exactly what the detection level is. I believe it ranges from 0 - 10. Not sure tho. Higher DL means more info (and more accurate), however, you don't know the actual DL level. If your reports are giving you explicit ship names and LCU names, that's probably a 10.

2. AirBal is the relative airstrength of a base, even if there are no actual aircraft at the base (other sqdns may be in range). A positive number means you have air superiority. A negative number means the enemy has air superiority. If it's less than 100 either way, the airspace is pretty much in doubt. If the airbal is extrememly high, bombers will be less likely to fly unescorted, and air-tran to base with extremely negative number, may not fly at all.

-F-

[dtravel]

ORIGINAL: Feinder
2. AirBal is the relative airstrength of a base, even if there are no actual aircraft at the base (other sqdns may be in range). A positive number means you have air superiority. A negative number means the enemy has air superiority. If it's less than 100 either way, the airspace is pretty much in doubt. If the airbal is extrememly high, bombers will be less likely to fly unescorted, and air-tran to base with extremely negative number, may not fly at all.

I believe that should be "A positive number means the base owner has superiority. A negative number means the other side has superiority."

[Feinder]

^
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What he said.

-F-

[Sonny]

Does the definition of air superiority include only fighters (as in real air superiority) or are bombers included?

[Feinder]

All planes, except transports and recons project air balance.

A base with 50 transports (and nothing in range) will not project air balance.

A base with 50 fighters (or 50 bombers, or 50 FBs or whatever), will project an air balance.

AirBal is the net effect of conflicting airbals. So the airbal of your USMC base at Lunga represents the net effect of the airbal(s) being projected from other bases in range (depending on the aircraft). So the Japanese bases at Shortland and Rabaul are (likely) intereacting with your airbal number at Lunga (just as you are probably affecting their airbal).

So by (very over-simplified example), you have 50 SBDs at Lunga, and he has 50 Kates at Tassaforonga (1 hex away), you might very well cancel each other out for a net air bal of zero-ish, even tho you both obviously have planes close by.

If you have 50 at Lunga, and he has 50 at Rabaul, you'd likely both see positive airbals over your own base, and somewhere along The Slot you'd see airbals changing as you move farther/closer to each base, representing the "relative" projection of airpower.

-F-

[Sonny]

Thought so.

The problem is that bombardment TF at times will not carry out their assignment if the air balance is too high. Fine if the air bal is bombers but having all fighters should not deter a bombardment TF.

[Ideologue]

The problem is that the air balance number is in the game at all.[:(]