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I have a suggestion for a new aircraft rules (I know that there is rather little chance of them being adopted, but perhaps it will interest somebody).
Those rules are supposed to resolve the following problems:
a) implausible aircombat, strange positioning of bombers to attack fighters etc.
b) poor scalability, with ground-based anti-air weapons better on a more densely populated board.
c) fighter not being used as interceptors or escorts
d) aircraft sitting landed in Hot LZ, fighting landed in an assault and getting overrun (it irritated me as rather unrealistic).
Proposed rules:
1. I would reintroduce an air phase, as a second phase of a turn, after the Strategy Phase.
2. Remove the AA rating on aircraft weapons. On the board only the ground based anti-air weapons can target aircraft, aircraft cannot target each other.
3. Give aircraft an AA value instead of Firefight value. As someone remarked, aircraft interceptions don't usually happen over the target, so aircraft duels should be conducted off the board. I suggest that they should be conducted according to firefight rules, with all units assumed to be in range of all others. Aircraft should be set in line, and hits should be allocated from left to right.
4. Air phase begins with both players, in secret, (eg behind a screen, or writing on a piece of paper, or with markers etc) allocating missions for their formations.
5. The missions are - Combat Air Patrol, Escort, Ground Attack, Stand Down. Only fighters or fighter bombers can choose Combat Air Patrol or Escort. Player cannot send planes both on escort and combat air patrol missions in the same turn (he cannot have one formation on CAP and second on Escort). Players then roll activations for all planes on CAP or Escort.
5. After rolling activations, players can voluntarily change Ground Attack missions into Stand Down. In that case, formation does not lose all blast markers, as usual, and receives one blast marker after that.
6. If at least one player has planes on CAP, and his opponent has no planes on CAP or Escort, the player with planes on CAP can receives air superiority automatically. If all planes are on ground attack or escort missions, both players can proceed with Ground Attacks unimpeded.
7. If one player has air formation on CAP and the second player has any air formations on CAP or Escort, there is an air combat. All formations on CAP or Escort from both sides fight in one firefight, (as if both were intermingled, or on Combined Attack). All units are assumed to be in range of all others. Aircraft are set in line, formations together, and hits are allocated from left to right. With that exception, conduct firefight as usual, with the loser suffering additional hits for combat resolution etc. (As I suggested above, aircraft should receive AA value insted of Firefight and treated like Firefight. That value would be used in air combat). Air formation cannot be broken, so I would propose that losing formations must be on Stand Down next turn.
8. The winner has air superiority. His ground attack missions can proceed unimpeded. The loser had lost air superiority, and his ground attacks can be attacked (if the winner has any planes on CAP).
9. Each formation of the player who lost air superiority on Ground Attack must be attacked separately. The player with air superiority can assign his remaining formations on CAP as he wishes, all against one formation on ground attack, or one against each, or in some other way. Each attacked formation cannot conduct Ground Attack that turn and must fight instead in a separate firefight according to the above rules. The losing formation must be on Stand Down next turn. (Aircraft with bombs etc dump them when attacked, so that they can manouver freely).
10. All formations that took part in aircombat receive one blast marker (even if they took part in two combats). All formations that took CAP, but not the ones that failed the activation roll, receive additional blast marker (to represent time and fuel lost searching for targets).
11. Those formations on Ground Attack that were not attacked can conduct ground attack according to normal rules. Player who won the strategy roll decides whether heorshe wants to activate hisorher formations first or second etc. After a formation is activated it makes its attack run, then a second formation is activated etc.
12. Ground Attack is conducted according to the present rules. The differences are:
13. Aircraft cannot fire on aircraft.
14. Each ground-based AA weapon can fire only once in a turn. To recompensate this, they get twice the number of shots.
15. Aircraft transporting other formations cannot make a Ground Attack before they land and disembark the units they transport. The plane immediately lifts off and can make ground attack in the same turn.
16. An Aircraft transport which did not disembark a formation can pick up a formation (but not a formation that landed in that turn). In that case it cannot make a ground attack (picking formation up is more time-consuming that dropping it off). Also in that case the aircraft immediately lifts off and leaves the board.
17. AA weapons firing at landing or starting aircraft (in the place where it landed, not before or after) get twice a number of shots (aircraft has to slow down to land and is particularly vulnerable during that operation).
18. Thunderhawks and Landing Craft should be fearless (so that when they lose air combat they are not lost due to assault resolution with all the transported formations).
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