Interceptor positioning question.

[VonWulfen]

Hello all.
I am building up my Air Superiority interceptors on the Western front.
If they are set to full support will they automatically interdict enemy aircraft, and what range do they have?
While my main army moves East I want to dominate the western front with airpower in order to decrease allied airpower in the west.

[AlbertN]

They have range 6, and if they're set on Full Support to me it's a mystery when and if they intercept or escort.
The Brits can obliterate all the Rhur and my fighters either sit down in their airfields or fly and hardly do anything.

Something's definitely wrong - but I cannot do anything about it.

[MOS96B2P]

Yes, on full support they will attempt to intercept aircraft within a range of six hexagons.

Which made me think of the following: In the top right of an air counter panel is: bomb naval, bomb armies, bomb airfield and bomb strategic.

One of these four must be selected. So for air superiority you would set the unit to full support and (I think) bomb airfield.

[VonWulfen]

Many thanks.
I only have Air superiority interceptors on the western front. My intention is to leave them all on full support and deteriorate the incoming allied air strength.
There are frequent allied air raids along the western front so a good opportunity to slowly reduce their air strength.
As for the bomb naval, bomb armies, etc button, these should not really apply to the mission I have set them.
I feel there should be another button for air superiority.

[MOS96B2P]

ORIGINAL: VonWulfen

As for the bomb naval, bomb armies, etc button, these should not really apply to the mission I have set them.
I feel there should be another button for air superiority.

Possibly the bomb airfield button is just labeled in a strange way. The buttons probably could be labeled Anti-Ship, Anti-Ground, Anti-Air, Anti-industry. Since one of the four must be selected the bomb airfield seems to be the most appropriate for air superiority. Maybe bomb airfield = Anti-air / air superiority stance? I wonder what if anything those buttons do besides highlight the four types of targets? Maybe it doesn't really matter which one is selected?

[VonWulfen]

I think the addition of air to air interception only button would be great. It's not really covered as the current options all involve missions into enemy territories.

[AlvaroSousa]

The air missions are only for when you manually attack a target so the computer knows what you want to bomb.

Full support by itself is the only thing you need to escort and intercept with air sups.

They will not intercept if their effectiveness is below 50% or their strength is below 1/3rd max. I forgot the exact #s. If an air unit is too damaged it won't kill itself.

[AlbertN]

I am sure my fighters half the times (not sure of half the times precisely but often they don't) don't intercept even at 60 - 70 Efficiency and 20/20 Health.

In '39 and '40 I've no way to protect the German production from bombing. Fighters parked litterally even adjacent to stuff, don't take off.

Pratically the best solution seems to try to counterbomb the enemy bombers but then the Luftwaffe is needed to ground support attacks so...
I am not sure if that is fixed in next patch but as it is now, fighters sleep in their airfields.

[TrogusP96]

Does the Detection Advancement affect interception probabilities by naval and air.
Right now Detection Advancement increases Air combat, Anti sub Defense and Range. Is this the overall range of the unit and thus its scope of operation? What about interception probability? Alvaro uses the Bismarck chase as the prime example of difficulty location ships in the open sea. I thought Norfolk and PoW did track Bismarck with for awhile until she shook them and was found by an unauthorized US Catalina?

[AlbertN]

That is a technology you can associate only to bombers, not fighters.

[AlvaroSousa]

It grabs the best air sup in range. If you see 60-70 effectiveness on your turn the plane has already recovered. But on THEIR turn it might have been knocked down. Some damage is absorbed and some converted to more effectiveness loss on the unit representing damaged planes instead of destroyed ones.

Also you can only intercept twice per the enemy turn per air sup.

[AlbertN]

Would it be possible to have a way to select which missions a fighter has to intercept btw?
Because as it is now they can otherwise baited first by doing some ground attacks here and there in range, fighter intercepts that (which could be made by a fighter, escorted by another fighter! So you intercept vs 2 fighters!), and then once your efficiency is lowered down enough, strat-bombers arrive. Or your airbase even gets obliterated.

[TrogusP96]

Cohen good question. I just lost a corps coming back from Dunkirk with 3 RAF fighter groups on the coast. Whoops one was set to mission. Still 100k men down the drain in one go. Singapore too soon. I like the effective losses across the board a concept that works well across air, naval and land. Excellent. Jives with Dunnigan's book How to Make War ? and the daily attrition and wastage of war. Great use of this concept Alvaro.

[AlvaroSousa]

I read that book.

Very tough to set fighters to a particular mission mode for interception. So say I am ground striking your land units. You set all your fighters to defend land. Ok fine I swap to attacking your airfields. Now you sit back and relax while I vaporize your air fields.

Well I could combine them. Ok so say I combine all land into one. You have them all set to defend vs naval. Now I bomb your air fields. Wait but I want to also protect my airfields.....

See how it is tough to make this possible. I'd have to make 20 buttons. So players have to manage their air unit placement and use land based AA effectively. Somethings are incredibly difficult to mimic from a board game to a computer game. It took me a very long time to work out the air and naval system. Interception of naval units literally came out in Beta.

You can thank the testers for that one. I couldn't figure out how to do it effectively for a long time.

[VonWulfen]

Cheers

[TrogusP96]

Alvaro, I thought you might have read it. Great use of effectiveness. Advance over static print counters. Cant just attack with your SS panzers over and over and over again.

What factors affect interception?
Number of potential interceptors in range?
Range to intercept?
Flight path - near friendly territory for certain number of hexes or over it?
Deception - radar?
Effectiveness level? Do HQs help with air or naval recovery?
HQs?
Airfields?
Other factors part of your secret sauce?
Luck? Of bad luck as in if it wasn't for bad luck I wouldn't have any luck at all as my poor UK Home Guard went down in the English Channel right in sight of the White Cliffs of Dover. Boo Hoo.