Bombing airfield G1 to prevent scramble?


  • Am I reading the rules correctly that, if Germany bombed London’s airfield as part of G1 attacks, and scored a 3 or higher, U.K. could NOT scramble any fighters out of London?

    Seems like an easy choice to make, since it would also force U.K. to pay to fix before doing Taranto.


  • I need confirmation on this rule because it would be the wisest move to make for Germany but you risk losing your bomber.

  • '21 '20 '18 '17

    It seems like a great exploit, but the letter of the rules states that even though you can attack the airbase just before its used in certain sea/scramble battles, that even though the airbase would be disabled (3+/6) damage, the fighters can still scramble in the combat move phase but only on that (eg Germanys’) turn.

    So the airbase may need to be repaired in order to prevent further attacks (eg by Italy) but it doesn’t help during that combat move. You’re not allowed to “predisable” it.

  • '19 '17 '16

    I wish there was a defender decision phase between combat move and conduct combat to clarify these things. Declare kami, scramble and intercept are all effectively done before any dice are rolled.


  • Ok, so G1 that doesn’t work, but Italy could use it’s bomber to hit an airfield so that on Germany’s turn they couldn’t scramble… Got it.


  • @simon33:

    I wish there was a defender decision phase between combat move and conduct combat to clarify these things. Declare kami, scramble and intercept are all effectively done before any dice are rolled.

    There is.
    Scramble happens at the end of movementphase (as the last thing)
    Kami assignment happens as the first ting in combatphase, and are resolved before any combat begins
    then you do bombing raids
    then you do all your amphibous assault combats
    then you do general combat.

    RulebookE page 16 says

    Scrambling is a special movement that the defender can
    make at the end of this phase. It must be done after all of
    the attacker’s combat movements have been completed

    RulebookP Page 16

    Japanese
    player can announce at the beginning of this phase that he or
    she intends to launch one or more kamikaze strikes in that sea
    zone. They are resolved before any combat begins.


  • @weddingsinger:

    Ok, so G1 that doesn’t work, but Italy could use it’s bomber to hit an airfield so that on Germany’s turn they couldn’t scramble… Got it.

    Like Shadow said a lone bmr (German or Italian) probably isn’t the best idea because of UK interceptor ftrs. Could do it Ity2 though allowing Italy to set-up to have its own ftrs/tac in the SBR run on London’s air base. That way in a G3 Sea lion the Germans wouldn’t have to account for UK scramblers to the sea, and the Germans could use all it’s air power on London.


  • You should have rule in game where Tac Bombers can only SBR an Airbase. Airbase AAA gun gets a shot at each Tac Bomber 1:1  and if any AAA misses then the Tac Bomber rolls for damage and any 3 (4?) or more damage roll the defending figs cannot scramble.

    Wouldnt this give Germany a bit more chance of winning the game by going sea lion more ? What I mean is how much would it help Germany If UK couldnt scramble those 3 figs ?
    Would it help to counter GHG US naval build he has proposed in another thread ? Just asking.

  • '21 '20 '18 '17

    I tried a plan at one point that involved a G1 airstrike/stratbomb like that, when I thought this rule went the other way.  The problem is that the bombing must succeed, or your attack will likely get scrambled against, but that so many planes are needed to accomplish the bombing, that you can’t hit both UK fleets and so they are able to repair the base and stand you off at sea, rather than land.

  • Liaison TripleA '11 '10

    As noted - Scramble is decided at the end of the Combat move Phase.  No combat occurs before this.  No dice can be rolled until the scramble is chosen!

    So bombing the airbase makes no difference, because it happens after the aircraft have chosen to scramble/intercept or not.

    Where this situation can matter however, is if say Italy bombed the london airbase, and it couldn’t be repaired before Germany attacked.  The allies could then not scramble.


  • @SS:

    You should have rule in game where Tac Bombers can only SBR an Airbase. Airbase AAA gun gets a shot at each Tac Bomber 1:1  and if any AAA misses then the Tac Bomber rolls for damage and any 3 (4?) or more damage roll the defending figs cannot scramble.

    Wouldnt this give Germany a bit more chance of winning the game by going sea lion more ? What I mean is how much would it help Germany If UK couldnt scramble those 3 figs ?
    Would it help to counter GHG US naval build he has proposed in another thread ? Just asking.

    It makes no sense that bombing an airfield would prevent scrambling or intercepting by fighters which would happen before the bombing, especially in a country that had a good radar defense system.


  • Generic

  • '18 '17 '16

    I show quite clearly where in the rulebook that scrambling happens before the strategic bombing raid occurs, it is near the beginning of this video;
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1xhUsMuySeQ&t=1231s


  • @GeneralHandGrenade:

    I show quite clearly where in the rulebook that scrambling happens before the strategic bombing raid occurs, it is near the beginning of this video;
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1xhUsMuySeQ&t=1231s

    My intention was not to know what the rule was. That I knew. Just a rule tweak suggestion. I’ll refrane from posting in this topic thread from now on.  :wink:

  • '18 '17 '16

    Hehe, I wasn’t responding to you, SS. I was posting the link to help newer players learn the rules regarding scrambling. There are a lot of people who read these threads who have never signed up and aren’t about to go back and read pages and pages of threads to find what they’re looking for.  :lol:

  • '19 '17 '16

    @Kreuzfeld:

    @simon33:

    I wish there was a defender decision phase between combat move and conduct combat to clarify these things. Declare kami, scramble and intercept are all effectively done before any dice are rolled.

    There is.
    Scramble happens at the end of movementphase (as the last thing)
    Kami assignment happens as the first ting in combatphase, and are resolved before any combat begins
    then you do bombing raids
    then you do all your amphibous assault combats
    then you do general combat.

    RulebookE page 16 says

    Scrambling is a special movement that the defender can
    make at the end of this phase. It must be done after all of
    the attacker�s combat movements have been completed

    RulebookP Page 16

    Japanese
    player can announce at the beginning of this phase that he or
    she intends to launch one or more kamikaze strikes in that sea
    zone. They are resolved before any combat begins.

    It isn’t as obvious as what I would like. That’s all I’m saying. You have to dig into the nuances of the rules to understand how everything works.

Suggested Topics

  • 6
  • 3
  • 5
  • 10
  • 4
  • 16
  • 42
  • 11
Axis & Allies Boardgaming Custom Painted Miniatures

31

Online

17.0k

Users

39.3k

Topics

1.7m

Posts