Well, this is my first time posting on the forum, so greetings to everyone! I’ve actually been playing the original Europe and Pacific for a little while now, but just recently was lucky enough to find a copy of Europe 1940 - which definitely seems to be a huge improvement over the original theater game (which is still a great!).
My friend and I have been sorting through the rulebook and we’ve come across some rules questions about carriers that I thought you all would probably be able to clear up. It concerns the movement that carriers are allowed make in their interaction with aircraft. First, during combat movement, are carriers allowed to move sea zones if they are launching aircraft into a battle? What I mean is, can a fighter take off from a carrier into an enemy sea zone while the carrier moves one or two spaces into a non-hostile sea zone? Likewise, can a carrier move two movement spaces and then launch aircraft so that the fights and tactical bombers are in range of the intended target? Or, can the carrier only move during combat movement if it is actually entering into a hostile sea zone?
Secondly, during noncombat movement, after fighters and tactical bombers land on a carrier, is that carrier then allowed to move its full two movement spaces? Also, I believe that at least in the 1940 rules (please correct me if I am wrong) carriers that did not make a combat move are allowed to make a noncombat movement so as to allow planes to land. However, in the original Pacific rulebook it seems to state that the first part of noncombat movement is landing planes, and that by landing a plane on a carrier you end noncombat movement for that carrier. Is that the case in the 1940 rules?
Anyhow, I tried to word all of that as clearly as I could - hope I didn’t make myself appear like too much of a noob. Thank you all in advance for your help!