Matrix Games Forums

I'm being hit by level bombers every turn. I have fighters and fighter-bombers with "air intercept" set in their unit settings and maximum readiness. The bombing of my troops is happening within their range (it's seven tiles away, their range is nine tiles). But I never get a successful interception, nor do I see any suggestion in the combat reports that interception was even attempted. How can I see what is happening re: interception and increase the chances of it, aside from building an airbase right on top of the front line tile?

From the manual:

"""
6.1.6. AIR INTERCEPTING
For each Air Unit you have you can set its Air Intercept order in the Unit
Administration Popup Window. The Intercept order is based around the
Readiness Score of the Air Unit. This is because Readiness plays a major
role in combat performance. Having an Air Unit intercept at 50 Readiness
instead of 100 Readiness can easily double the losses for the interceptors.

Air Intercept tests are made during the enemy turn. The Air Units Intercept
range is calculated using the Readiness Score instead of the Action Points
and diminished with 33%. Interception is never a certainty, but the closer
the Interceptor Unit is to the Hex where the enemy Air Units are active and
the higher the Readiness, the more chance an Air Intercept will take place.
"""

From this, I'm getting that the maximum air unit intercept range (at 100% readiness) is 66% of the fighter range. If this is correct, a nine tile max range means their max intercept range is 5 or 6 depending on how rounding works for the calculation. Even then, it appears interception is not certain, just possible at some percentage change.

I am not aware of reporting to the player re: interception chance or attempted unsuccessful intercepts. If anyone knows, glad to hear about it.

Interesting, I read that but assumed the action points would only affect combat endurance but not range. The distance is just over 66% - maybe that's the problem. I will try relocating the airbase or developing a longer range fighter to test this hypothesis. Thank you!

It works! Building an airbase closer, but not right on top of the front line brought the combat within interception range, which I suppose is 66% as you suggested. Thanks for the idea.

For posterity, I'll add that I'm impressed at how quickly the AI seemed to learn its lesson after I bloodied its nose with Air Intercept. It's now exclusively targeting areas I can't reach even if they're suboptimal to hit. I'm disappointed in how the AI isn't really ramping up the air war and trying to out-produce me with new units - it doesn't seem eager to overwhelm my meager air force - but it seems good at avoiding damage.