@Baron:
Strafe is a separate phase than ground battle. This forbid ground to hit aircrafts.
During strafe, Fg can choose to crashed down other planes instead of ground units.
Ground cannot shoot any aircraft (as in 1914), except for AAA guns preemptive strike during the Air-to-Air phase or a previous Flak only phase.
This I can like.
But after reading a lot about air combat during WWII, I figure that only fighters and AA guns should be able to hit other aircrafts. Most of the Dive bombers did not have weapons to fight other aircrafts, and even if some of the heavy bombers, like the B 17 Flying Fortress, did have some machine guns in rear and front, it was very rare that they killed other fighters. All stats show that bombers without fighter escorts was an easy target to interceptors. To give fighters Anti Air ability is the same as only the Destroyer unit has Anti Sub ability, since in the real world all ships have some ASW capability. I say, give the fighter an unique ability, like the Destroyer unit have
Then I suggest a preemptive air to air combat phase as followed.
Fighters A1 and D2, must target aircrafts before land
Tacs A3 and D4, can not hit fighters
St. Bombers, carpet bomb infantry stack A1+A1+A1, D1. Or SBR facilities
AA guns target aircrafts A1+A1+A1, limited to one die for each plane
Then remove casualties, and since all hits are preemptive, they cant return fire any time.
Or a more innovative idea, say aircrafts can not kill land units, only lower their combat value. So when a plane roll a hit, then a matching ground unit is removed to the casualties board, but can not return fire to other ground units for the duration of that turn. This look historical correct.
In the case where two inf and 3 planes attack the lonely inf, and the planes hit, then the inf can not return fire to the attacking inf.
Or what about this. Each plane can absorb one hit in the ground combat, modelling that air supremacy suppress the enemy. This will be in the same alley as tanks absorb hits with the blitzkrieg tactic, which also suppress the enemy.
I think maybe fighters can boost artillery to A4, but not boost tanks.
Tactical Bombers should of course boost a matching tank to A3, since they act as ultra long range artillery, the same way as artillery boost infantry
The naval combat can go as OOB.
Fighters A1 D2, must target other planes before ships
Tacs A3 D4, and get a boost to A4 if paired with a fighter
St. Bombers D4
Battleship A4 D4
Cruiser A3 D3
Destroyer A2 D2
Maybe the inherent Carrier defense value should be boosted, to compensate for the weaker fighter. Let say you can land 2 planes on the Carrier, but the Carrier itself has a little fighter force just to close combat self defense, making the carrier defend on D3 ?