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I've read through the RAC a couple of times now, and played through the Barbarossa scenario as well. But I can't figure out how or when I can declare "combat air patrol" missions? It sounds like these missions are a pre-emptive defensive posting of a fighter to a hex, rather than flying an intercept to the hex? Is that correct?

If so, what's the advandage over an intercept, which seems much more flexible? And moreover, how/when can I declare a combat air patrol mission?

ORIGINAL: 76mm

I've read through the RAC a couple of times now, and played through the Barbarossa scenario as well. But I can't figure out how or when I can declare "combat air patrol" missions? It sounds like these missions are a pre-emptive defensive posting of a fighter to a hex, rather than flying an intercept to the hex? Is that correct?

If so, what's the advandage over an intercept, which seems much more flexible? And moreover, how/when can I declare a combat air patrol mission?

Most CAP is disabled for solitaire play for obvious reasons.

To change these settings select "Command" option on your control panel then select "disable phases". You can disable or enable certain phases you don't want to save time.

Sorry for being dense, but what are the "obvious reasons"? Wouldn't they also apply to general solitaire play?

Also, it seems like if my goal is to ultimately play multi-player, I should learn how/if to use CAP?

ORIGINAL: 76mm

I've read through the RAC a couple of times now, and played through the Barbarossa scenario as well. But I can't figure out how or when I can declare "combat air patrol" missions? It sounds like these missions are a pre-emptive defensive posting of a fighter to a hex, rather than flying an intercept to the hex? Is that correct?

If so, what's the advandage over an intercept, which seems much more flexible? And moreover, how/when can I declare a combat air patrol mission?

The advantage is that whether when you intercept you can react only with half the range of your aircraft, when you fly CAP you can do it with the full range.

Flying CAP is not a good idea usually, it's better to have planes covering factories, ports, stacks, ..., but not needing to use them unless something happens but, if for any reason, a key stack is without protection (for example you used you run out of interceptors close enough at half range and couldn't rebase more by then), then it can be wise to send a CAP with some who wouldn't reach otherwise (as an interception), even if it happens that the enemy didn't want to bomb that stack or decides to bomb others instead and "you sent the plane for nothing".

One thing that I am surprised in MWIF (and that makes sense, so we were probably playing it wrong in our WIF games) is that it seems to be only one CAP phase, we used to do one CAP possibility for each enemy air phase in which he declared he would act against us. But in this case, Is the same CAP valid for all the phases (ground strike + ground support, for example)? Sounds wrong to me.

Because most people don't CAP for CAP. Trading the full range of a fighter for the fact that you're committed whether or not your opponent feels like bombing is usually a poor one.

I rarely cap, and about 4/5 of the time that I do, it's late in the turn and I'm trying to squeeze a poor man's rebase out of it, not that I particularly want the protection.

Of course CAP is a usually a "poor decision", in the sense that it means you had previously made a mistake in covering your land or sea units with air units or that you didn't produce enough of them in the first place.

However it's not a poor decision "a posteriori" cause once you realize your enemy is going to bomb your otherwise unprotected units, it may be the only or the best solution unless you want a couple of carriers sunk or a key stack disoganized in a land front.

Select Disable Phases under the heading Command to change what phases you want CAP to be available in.

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CAP should be for one mission only. For example: If you fly CAP in the beginning of the Ground Strike step then the FTR you flew CAP with returns to base after the Ground Strikes are finished. Anything else is a bug. With that said a fighter flying CAP to a hex do not specify if it is a night or day mission until after all aircraft have flown to the hex.

ORIGINAL: 76mm

Sorry for being dense, but what are the "obvious reasons"? Wouldn't they also apply to general solitaire play?

Also, it seems like if my goal is to ultimately play multi-player, I should learn how/if to use CAP?

Two reasons:
1 - To be able to fly a fighter to a vulnerable hex which the fighter couldn't reach using half its range.
2 - To reposition a fighter when your opponent is the phasing player, or if you do not want to spend a rebase air mission when you next become the phasing player.

#2 is rarely used and obscure at best.
#1 is avoided by better players simply by positioning your fighters so they are within range of vulnerable hexes using half their range.

ORIGINAL: 76mm

Sorry for being dense, but what are the "obvious reasons"? Wouldn't they also apply to general solitaire play?

Also, it seems like if my goal is to ultimately play multi-player, I should learn how/if to use CAP?

Well I should have been more specific. As people have alluded to on this thread CAP relies on you anticipating an attack and allows you to fly at your full range. However in solitaire play you know where your going to bomb where as a real opponent would be making a guess and therefore may be wasting an aircraft. In effect you could fly CAP to all the areas your going to bomb because you already know your going to bomb them[:)]