Airstrike

[HOTEC]

When I disembark a unit, I get an airstrike. So, I attack the airfields. Disregarding reporting the Airfield:0, 1 or 2 heavy damage, I still get the air attacks to my disembarked unit.

a) What is the meaning of the number after Airfield?
b) What level of damage should the airstrike stop?

[AlvaroSousa]

Air strikes on airfields mostly lower effectiveness of the air unit there. It does very little "airplane" damage.

airplanes were abundant, pilots were not.

Germany made 40,000 aircraft in 1944..... but their airforce was less than 5,000. Why? Lack of pilots and fuel to train them.

[CHINCHIN]

What Hotel mentions is a serious problem, if the axis player places 3 bombers in France, D-Day fails. Since they bomb the amphibious transports and the allied units reach the beaches very depleted.

Even if the allied player has overwhelming air superiority, he cannot avoid this, since the fighters slow down the bombers slightly, and the attacks on airfields do not manage to reduce their effectiveness by 50% so that they do not intercept.

A solution would be that each attack on an airfield would prevent an interception, so with two attacks on an airfield you prevent them from intercepting, if they can only intercept twice, which I am not sure about.

[AlvaroSousa]

If the Allies are having problems with Axis airforce in 1944 it means they don't have enough airforce.

[sveint]

What Hotel mentions is a serious problem, if the axis player places 3 bombers in France, D-Day fails. Since they bomb the amphibious transports and the allied units reach the beaches very depleted.

Just use decoy fleets. They get bombed, then send the transports.

[CHINCHIN]

Yes, of course, that's the way. But you need 6 naval groups for 3 bombers, and those ships are needed to support the landings, and the Allies don't have that many ships either.

The problem is that it doesn't seem very logical that having overwhelming air superiority you can't stop them from bombing your ships.

[ncc1701e]

As Allies, you are normally doing a strategic bombing campaign to destroy German air units. If you don't and if the Luftwaffe is still powerful, yes D-Day will be a problem. I see no game issue here.

[aaminoff]

What's sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander. The same mechanics that make Sealion hard in 1940 make D-Day hard in 1943. The difference historically was the level of air superiority. The Axis can base air units back far enough that striking the airfields is not possible, or at least not with range 6 interceptor escorts. So then do supporting fighters counter-intercept Axis air when they intercept moving transports about to amphib-invade?

One approach I suppose is to use longer-range bombers with good escorts to bomb the distant air fields. Another would be decoying with less fragile fleets beforehand, or just escort the transports with warships, which presumably provide AA cover in addition to spreading the bomb hits.