Rules question regarding planes landing

[creeping-deth87]

How strict are the rules for finding safe landing spots for planes? Let’s say you have 6 fighters that can attack a territory. They have no safe landing spot except for a carrier off the coast of that territory. Would you be able to move all 6 to attack, or would you only be able to move 2 because that is the capacity of the carrier?

Btw, my group plays Alpha +3, not 3.9, if that makes a difference.

[Rhey]

I assume only 2 are able to attack as only 2 are able to land. At least that’s how we play it. We don’t calculate the losses of planes in the space to land plus I think this would give carriers a enormously huge advantage.

[Spendo02]

Good question.  Best to probably refer to the rulebook to determine if it says a landing location for each aircraft or just a possible landing location for an aircraft.

Its splitting hairs to be able to send 6 Ftr with only 1 CV to land them on and not something I’d be too keen on seeing occur unless it was required to take aircraft as the first casualties based on the potential landing capacity.

[Guest]

Every plane has to have a potential landing spot before the attack.  That may include carriers that “could” be moved during Noncombat Movement, but if there is only th epossibility of land t planes then that is all you can attack with.

[techroll42]

But you can assume “perfect” rolls, so sending a carrier and a sub vs. 20 BB’s would clear that space up for landing.

[creeping-deth87]

I’m surprised there isn’t a more definitive answer. I CAN’T be the first person to think of doing this.

I’m not seeing anything in the rules that would disallow it. A carrier is a valid landing space for any fighter or tac bomber, the rules don’t mention ensuring sufficient capacity for landings.

[Alsch91]

You have to be able to accommodate every single plane involved.  That’s always been the rule.

[kcdzim]

@Alsch91:

You have to be able to accommodate every single plane involved.  That’s always been the rule.

What Alsch91 said.  Definitively.  You CANNOT move 6 planes to attack if you can only land 2.

But, as techroll stated, the rules don’t require an guaranteed landing space, as long as there is a possibility for a landing space to exist during the noncombat phase.  You can make combat moves that may result in the victory and that victory could allow a carrier to move to serve as a landing space, no matter how ridiculously unlikely that victory might be.

This is how it has always been.  prior to Alpha, prior to 1940, prior to revised.  Forever and always.

[Xandax]

@creeping-deth87:

I’m surprised there isn’t a more definitive answer. I CAN’T be the first person to think of doing this.

I’m not seeing anything in the rules that would disallow it. A carrier is a valid landing space for any fighter or tac bomber, the rules don’t mention ensuring sufficient capacity for landings.

It is pretty much definitive. It says you can’t send them on suicide missions (or some wording akin to that).

As the others have mentioned. You need to have a potential landing spot to send aircraft to fight. If only having 2 potential landing spots (assuming perfect rolls), you can only dedicate two air planes.