Ground strikers taking AA fire

[Courtenay]

For most bombing missions (port attacks, naval combat, strat bombing, ground support) it makes no difference how one assigns any reduction in bombing strength caused by AA fire, because all that matters is the total strength delivered. Ground strike is different. There the strengths of the individual planes matter.

The person doing the ground striking is always the person who assigns the AA damage. To maximize his chance of flipping each defender, it is best to assign the damage to the lowest strength bomber. For example, say you have a 5 and a 3 point bomber ground striking, and you've taken one point of AA. You can make the strengths 5 and 2 or 4 and 3.

In the former case the chance of flipping each defender is 60% (1 - (1 - .5) * (1 - .2) = 1 - .5 * .8 = 1 - .4 = .6)
In the latter case the chance of flipping each defender is 58% (1 - (1 - .4) * (1 - .3) = 1 - .6 * .7 = 1 - .42 = ,58)

To repeat, always inflict the AA damage on the lowest strength bomber.

This assumes that the bombing strength is not halved by terrain or weather. If it is, first reduce all even strength bombers by one, then apply any excess to the weakest bomber.