AAA taken as casualty?

[Simon98v]

From the rulebook about anti aircraft artillery.

It can, however, be taken as a casualty. If a territory containing AAA units and no combat units is attacked,
the AAA units are automatically destroyed.

What does this mean, my friends and I are unsure about it.

Option 1: Anti-air craft each have 1 hp and can be place behind the casualy stripp. If this is the case where would you place it along the battle stripp.

Option 2: Anti-air craft are lost when there are no other defending units and only then.

Which option is true?

[Panther]

@Simon98v:

…
Option 1: Anti-air craft each have 1 hp and can be place behind the casualy stripp. If this is the case where would you place it along the battle stripp.

Option 2: Anti-air craft are lost when there are no other defending units and only then.

Which option is true?

Both are wrong, sorry.

Anti-Aircraft neither have an attack value nor a defense value for regular combat. Thus they don’t go to the battle strip but stay on the board.  AAA units fire only once at planes, before the first round of combat. They can be chosen as casualty at any time during the “Remove defender’s casualties”-part of the General Combat Sequence. If the attacker faces only (remaining) AAA units (no defending combat unit is left), they are automatically destroyed.

HTH :-)

[Krieghund]

@P@nther:

Anti-Aircraft neither have an attack value nor a defense value for regular combat. Thus they don’t go to the battle strip but stay on the board.

That’s not exactly true.  From page 16 of the Rulebook:

Antiaircraft artillery units and transports have no combat value and are not represented on the battle strip. Place these units beside the battle strip, as they are still participants in the battle and may be taken as casualties.

[Panther]

@Krieghund:

@P@nther:

Anti-Aircraft neither have an attack value nor a defense value for regular combat. Thus they don’t go to the battle strip but stay on the board.

That’s not exactly true.  From page 16 of the Rulebook:

Antiaircraft artillery units and transports have no combat value and are not represented on the battle strip. Place these units beside the battle strip, as they are still participants in the battle and may be taken as casualties.

Not in my rulebook, I am afraid.

@rulebook:

Step 1. Place Units Along the Battle Strip
The battle strip has two sides, labeled “Attacker” and “Defender.” Place all of the attacking and defending land, sea, and/
or air units from the battle onto their respective sides aligned with the number columns that contain those units’ names and
silhouettes. Industrial complexes don’t participate in general combat, as they may only be attacked and damaged by strategic
bombing raids. The number in a unit’s column identifies that unit’s attack or defense value. An attacking or defending unit
must roll its column’s attack or defense value number or less in order to score a hit.
In a sea battle, place any cargo (whether your own units or an ally’s) beside the transport ship or on the aircraft carrier
(guest fighters) that is carrying it. Cargo does not roll attacks, nor can it take a hit. It is lost with the ship carrying it if that ship
is destroyed.
If you are attacking in a sea zone that already contained friendly units, your ally’s units are not placed along the battle strip,
but remain out of play for this combat sequence.

Step 2. Submarine Surprise Strike or Submerge (Sea Battles Only)
…

So the sentences you have quoted must have been added silently at any time.
Not that the above issue is of practical relevance in this case, anyway, but do we have other changes or probably other additions to the rulebook, that nobody is aware of? Would you please post a list of changes (as you did for Europe/Pacific/Global 1940 last May)?
Thank you!  :-)

Edit: I have just downloaded those 180MB from the Avalon Hill site - I cannot find it in this version of the rulebook, either… :?

[Krieghund]

Huh.  I thought the posted rulebook was the latest iteration, but apparently it’s not.  When I get a chance, I’ll see if I can identify the tweaks that were made last time around.

[Panther]

@Krieghund:

Huh.  I thought the posted rulebook was the latest iteration, but apparently it’s not.  When I get a chance, I’ll see if I can identify the tweaks that were made last time around.

Fine, thank you :-)

[Wolfshanze]

I’m still a bit confused… as I understand naval transports have ZERO bearing on combat and only are removed if their escorts are destroyed, they are removed after all combat units defending them are destroyed… they cannot be chosen as casualties during naval combat, right?

Similarly, is this how AAA is treated, like a land version of transports?  If you have a bunch of tanks attacking a territory with a bunch of infantry and AAA, and the tanks score multiple hits… can the defender choose AAA instead of infantry as casualties, or are the AAA completely out of the battle till no infantry remain (then are removed).

[taamvan]

That is why they are different than transports.  AAA fire at planes, the battle begins.  Then, you can take the AAA as the defender as casualties first, losing all of them until you get to the units that do fight.  Unless you think that the enemy will be backing out and attacking you with planes again, losing the AAA first is usually the best move.  This is also why it is better to spread AAA out 1 per territory (because having more than one doesn’t usually help that much).

The attacker can’t have AAA with him because they cannot Combat Move.  They can noncom into newly captured territories however.

Transports don’t block movement but you can find several examples right now on the G40 forums of how subs/planes/transports could be attacking and defending and where transports were obligated to take hits before subs or fighters, for example (because subs cannot be hit by planes, and subs cannot hit planes, when destroyers are not present)

[Panther]

Correct, Transports do have the "Chosen Last "-characteristic…

@ruelbook:

Chosen Last: Transports can be chosen as casualties only if there are no other eligible units. Normally this will occur when
only transports are left, but it can also occur under other circumstances. For example, air units attacking transports and
submarines will hit the transports because they can’t hit the submarines without a friendly destroyer present.

… that AAA does not have.