@Krieghund:

Of course the Soviet units die - they are cargo.  Germany need not declare war on the USSR in order to attack UK ships.  The Soviets take their chances when they board a ship that’s in danger of being sunk by an enemy.

@Gamerman01:

The Russians can wail on the German carrier and displace the Italian fighters, and the Italian fighters (very oddly) will just fly around watching.  Then they have one space to land, and in the Med they would usually have a safe place to land.

Ok, thanks zane and Gamerman, I guess it settles it. The planes certainly (I believe now) have to take off prior to combat, even though they do not take part in it. Great, now solve this one:

Japan attacks the Soviet Union early and they respond by sending off planes to a British carrier off the coast of India (the Brits are also at war with Japan one way or the other). They can get there in two turns. British captain then decides to steam towards Egypt, oblivious to the fact that the Euro Axis are still honoring the non-aggression deal with Stalin. The Brits are thus ferrying the Soviets who should not be there in the first place (totally neutral on that half of the world). If a Euro Axis power attacks that British convoy, the Soviets are in a quandary: if they take off (and it seems they must), they can never return, even if the carrier survives intact! “Frightfully sorry lads, your ticket expired half the way across from Bombay.” Their only hope is a slim chance of finding a piece of Russian soil (or a carrier!) nearby…

Is the British player even allowed to do this, take the Red air force to the no-hope zone, without their approval?

@zanetheinsane:

Aircraft from another country are treated as cargo when they are on board another power’s aircraft carrier. In this case the Soviets combat move into the sea zone and only battle German units. Even if Italy and Russia were at war the aircraft do not take part in the fight.

I think (sic) that when everybody’s at war all the units defend together, including the planes naturally. The question is whether the aircraft on a defending carrier are treated as cargo when neutral or they still launch (even if not taking part in the battle - “sort it out among yourselves guys, we’re off”). In the latter case, they should have their one space wiggle room to land if the carrier is rendered unavailable.

@zanetheinsane:

Must you declare war on a power if you attack a ship that is merely carrying that ship’s cargo?

Yes, in general what if/can you sink (ships with some) cargo of a power that you are not at war with?

Trapped-planes-inside-a-carrier topic, again…

Hi everyone. I own the two 1940 games for almost a year now, but unfortunately our small group here in Croatia hasn’t had a chance to play the Global that often, hence only now this first posting. This summer we are trying to set it straight somewhat. In the process, I seem to spend more time here and on the HGD site reading about it than actually playing the game, and yet it is hard to believe that we still have some questions that appear not to have been mentioned yet. Nah, it must have been my frenzied reading and missing it.

Anyway, here is the rather simplish scenario that almost happened in our last game: European Axis concentrated on the Brits and left the Soviets alone until R4. Along the way, Germany built a carrier in the Med to help protect the Italian transports, and later received Italian aircraft aboard. Now, the Soviets at the beginning of the R4 combat movement have the option to declare war on any or all Axis powers. They choose to DOW only on Germany. After that they move their aircraft to attack the sea zone with the German carrier in it, along with the Italian planes and any other naval units that happen to be there. Is it not that only the German navy fights? Italians are still not at war with the Soviets! Now, if the carrier is damaged and Soviets retreat (or are destroyed), what happens to the Italian air? I know it has been said repeatedly that only attacking foreign planes may be trapped inside a carrier, but how to resolve this situation?

Thanks in advance and cheers, EG