Alternate 3 planes Carrier, Air oriented for G40 or 1942.2 with TacBs

@crusaderiv:

_Actually, I’m just trying to make all the three genuine aircrafts from the A&A franchise working together more consistently and as much as possible balance and historically accurate.

In fact, the basic Attack 2 Defense 2 values for both Fighter and Tactical Bomber are also consistent with the aircraft unit of the new A&A 1914 game._

I understand that but you know we started to play World at war 20 years ago. We make some evolution but progressively.  **Play the same game with the same during so many years….it must be boring…**AL.

Probably not possible to always play it with the same set of rules. A&A seems a game which constantly appeal to develop House Rule one way or another.

Do you think these different bonuses can be accurately described by the associated underlined comments?

FIGHTER
Attack 2, same in SBR
Defense 2 or 3, same in SBR
Move 4
Cost 8
1 hit
Air combat unit, Fighter as an Air Superiority aircraft:
All hits are allocated to aircraft units first, if any available.

Combined Arms Bonus, Fighter as a close-escorting aircraft for Dive or Torpedo Bombers:
Gives +1 Attack/Defense to any Tactical Bomber paired 1:1 with, if TcB is able to attack Ground or Naval units or defend against them.

Fighter as Carrier Air Patrol or as part of an extended Air Defense System:
Receive +1 Defense if paired 1:1 with an Aircraft Carrier unit or paired 1:1 with an AAA unit.
Up to 3 Fighter units receive +1 Defense if protecting a territory with an operational Air Base, (or 1 Fg unit for a Victory City if playing 1942.2)
1 scrambled Fighter from an operational Air Base received +1 Defense.

_Only this unit can intercept in SBR or TBR*_**: Attack @2 / Defense @2, or @3 for up to 3 Fgs if an Air Base is present or +1 Def per any AAA unit paired with.

TACTICAL BOMBER
Attack 2 or 3 or 4, SBR @1
Defense 2 or 3 or 4
Move 4
Cost 8
1 hit
Combined Arms bonus, Tactical Bomber as a less vulnerable “Dive” or “Torpedo” Bomber when escorted by Fighter:
Gain +1 Attack / +1 Defense, when paired 1:1 with a Fighter and, also, attacking or defending against any Ground or Naval units.
Said otherwise: if there is only enemy’s aircrafts units remaining in a SZ or a Territory, Combined Arms bonus doesn’t apply.

Air Supremacy Bonus, Tactical Bomber as a “Dive Bomber”:
Gain +1 Attack / +1 Defense when no ennemy’s aircraft is present.
These two bonuses can be added to raise up to Attack @4 or Defense @4.

Combined Arms Bonus in Air Supremacy situation, Tactical Bomber as a “Tank Buster”:
Gives +1 Attack / +1 Defense to any Tank paired 1:1 with, when no enemy’s aircraft is present.
Both Air Supremacy associated bonus can be added.
In this case, a lone TcB reach Attack @3 or Defense @3 while the paired Tank reach Attack @4 or Defense @4.

@toblerone77:

I’ll move past the aircraft and move toward the 3 plane carrier concept HBG has several models of carriers that may work well for this “super carrier” concept.

The issue I have; historically speaking, with most of the HR topics regarding aircraft, is that the TB is being portrayed as almost as a modern-day multi-role aircraft. I really, really wish that some in-depth book research into aircraft was being done before proclaiming a rule is “historical” and true to the role each aircraft sculpt is portrayed in the game. The material is easily found. Dive bombers and torpedo bombers were even weaker defensively than a strategic bomber. They were slow, lumbering and many, many times missed their target entirely, or had defective bombs or torpedoes. Research into all aircraft that participated in the war would help anyone creating their own HRs rather than a few scattered examples.

I think the fault is mostly due to the naming conventions used by the producers of the game which may mislead house-rulers. The fighter’s OOB stats could well represent not just what we think of as a fighters, but fighter/bombers as well as other sub categories of aircraft. The same could be said for the other two categories of OOB aircraft.

If I were going to implement a more historical feel. I would use custom sculpts to portray the various “sub-types/categories” of aircraft. Tall Paul has done this with great success.

Added content*

I’m not discrediting the work put forth, but I would suggest If one is to move into such specialization, that custom sculpts are a must and more categories of aircraft must be introduced with such a heavy re-vamp of the OOB rules.

Toblerone,
do you think this can reduced the impression that TacB is like a multi-role aircraft?
Is it what you were criticizing about my Tactical Bomber unit?

TACTICAL BOMBER: Torpedo Bomber Example: IJN “Kate” Nakajima B5N or TBF Avenger or TBD Devastator (Midway’s celebrity)
Attack 2 or 3, or 4 / SBR @1 No SBR
Defense 2 or 3, or 4
Move 4
Cost 8 7
1 hit
Combined Arms bonus, Tactical Bomber as a less vulnerable “Torpedo Bomber” when escorted:
Gain +1 Attack / +1 Defense, when paired 1:1 with a Fighter and, also, attacking or defending against any Naval units only.
Said otherwise: if there is only enemy’s aircrafts units remaining in a SZ , Combined Arms bonus doesn’t apply.

Air Supremacy Bonus, Tactical Bomber as a “Dive Bomber”:
Gain +1 Attack / +1 Defense when no ennemy’s aircraft is present.
These two bonuses can be added to raise up to Attack @4 or Defense @4.

~~Combined Arms Bonus in Air Supremacy situation, Tactical Bomber as a “Tank Buster”:
**_Gives +1 Attack / +1 Defense to any Tank paired 1:1 with, when no enemy’s aircraft is present.
Both Air Supremacy associated bonus can be added.
In this case, a lone TcB reach Attack @3 or Defense @3 while the paired Tank reach Attack @4 or Defense @4.

Can do a Tactical Bombing Raid (TBR**) vs Air Base and Naval Base.
Tactical Bombing Raid: Attack @1
TBR damage: 1D6 on Air Base or Naval Base
On SBR can also do escort mission*: Attack @1

Up to 2 TcBs can land on a newly captured territory, if there is still 1 movement point left. (Max: 2 units, 2 Fgs or 2 TcBs or 1 Fg & 1 TcB)

Carrier operations: up to three units can be on board a Fleet Carrier (Max.: 3 units whether Fgs or TcBs per fleet Carrier.)

Torpedo launcher unit:
_Any hit must applied against a Naval Unit first, and to a plane when there is no other choice.__**~~

And is this also to your taste Toblerone?

TACTICAL BOMBER: Naval Dive Bomber Example: SBD Dauntless or IJN “Val” Aichi D3A
Attack 2 or 3 or 4, SBR @1
Defense 2 or 3 or 4
Move 4
Cost 8
1 hit
Combined Arms bonus, Tactical Bomber as a less vulnerable “Naval Dive Bomber” when escorted:
Gain +1 Attack / +1 Defense, when paired 1:1 with a Fighter and, also, attacking or defending against any Ground or Naval units.
Said otherwise: if there is only enemy’s aircrafts units remaining in a SZ or a Territory, Combined Arms bonus doesn’t apply.

Air Supremacy Bonus, Tactical Bomber as a “Naval Dive Bomber”:
Gain +1 Attack / +1 Defense when no ennemy’s aircraft is present.
These two bonuses can be added to raise up to Attack @4 or Defense @4 against Naval Target only.

~~Combined Arms Bonus in Air Supremacy situation, Tactical Bomber as a “Tank Buster”:
**_Gives +1 Attack / +1 Defense to any Tank paired 1:1 with, when no enemy’s aircraft is present.
Both Air Supremacy associated bonus can be added.
In this case, a lone TcB reach Attack @3 or Defense @3 while the paired Tank reach Attack @4 or Defense @4.

Can do a Tactical Bombing Raid (TBR**) vs Air Base and Naval Base.
Tactical Bombing Raid: Attack @1
TBR damage: 1D6 on Air Base or Naval Base
On SBR can also do escort mission*: Attack @1

Up to 2 TcBs can land on a newly captured territory, if there is still 1 movement point left. (Max: 2 units, 2 Fgs or 2 TcBs or 1 Fg & 1 TcB)

Carrier operations: up to three units can be on board a Fleet Carrier (Max.: 3 units whether Fgs or TcBs per fleet Carrier.)

TACTICAL BOMBER: Dive Bomber or Ground Attack aircraft Example: Sturmovik Il-2 or Stuka Ju 87 or UK’s Mosquito or Hawker Typhoon
Attack 2 or 3 or 4, SBR @1
Defense 2 or 3 or 4
Move 4
Cost 8
1 hit
Combined Arms bonus, Tactical Bomber as a less vulnerable “Dive Bomber” when escorted:
Gain +1 Attack / +1 Defense, when paired 1:1 with a Fighter and, also, attacking or defending against any Ground units.
Said otherwise: if there is only enemy’s aircrafts units remaining in a SZ or a Territory, Combined Arms bonus doesn’t apply.

Air Supremacy Bonus, Tactical Bomber as a “Dive Bomber”:
Gain +1 Attack / +1 Defense when no ennemy’s aircraft is present.
These two bonuses can be added to raise up to Attack @4 or Defense @4 against Ground and Naval units.

Combined Arms Bonus in Air Supremacy situation, Tactical Bomber as a “Tank Buster”:
**_Gives +1 Attack / +1 Defense to any Tank paired 1:1 with, when no enemy’s aircraft is present.
Both Air Supremacy associated bonus can be added.
In this case, a lone TcB reach Attack @3 or Defense @3 while the paired Tank reach Attack @4 or Defense @4.

Can do a Tactical Bombing Raid (TBR**) vs Air Base and Naval Base.
Tactical Bombing Raid: Attack @1
TBR damage: 1D6 on Air Base or Naval Base
On SBR can also do escort mission*: Attack @1

Up to 2 TcBs can land on a newly captured territory, if there is still 1 movement point left. (Max: 2 units, 2 Fgs or 2 TcBs or 1 Fg & 1 TcB)

Carrier operations: up to three units can be on board a Fleet Carrier (Max.: 3 units whether Fgs or TcBs per fleet Carrier.)****~~

Thanks for answering.
A&A already provided some (debatable) sculpts as paradigma of Tactical Bombers.
My perspective is the reverse of starting from WWII weapons.
I started with the A&A 2 units: Fighter and Tactical Bomber, and trying to simulated something in the game similar to what was done with that type of weapons and trying to stay balance as much as possible.

I realized that your main critics was that abilities and bonus given to TcBs went in all directions. It was because the generic TcB unit was used in all game situations: inland, naval and carrier operations. (That’s why I cut some abilities from the generic TcB unit to describe specific ones, and asking you if it is still accurate somehow.)

It is also true if we keep a generic Fg unit: it will mostly attack and hit ground units and all Fg units can land on an aircraft carrier.

The last point clearly contradicts what was done with any air superiority aircrafts. A few were able to land on carrier and were not mainly used to strafe ground units.

So I tried to solve the main issue about aircraft: planes not able to shoot planes in land combat, or only possible at the end of many combat rounds (to the contrary of the moto: “control the air space first”).

Do you think this Fg unit can work and can figure air superiority aircraft, as well as Fighter bombers, because it is still possible for Fg unit to hit ground units when there is no more enemy’s aircraft?

FIGHTER
Attack 2, same in SBR
Defense 2 or 3, same in SBR
Move 4
Cost 8
1 hit
Air combat unit, Fighter as an Air Superiority aircraft:
All hits are allocated to aircraft units first, if any available.

Combined Arms Bonus, Fighter as a close-escorting aircraft for Dive or Torpedo Bombers:
Gives +1 Attack/Defense to any Tactical Bomber paired 1:1 with, if TcB is able to attack Ground or Naval units or defend against them.

Fighter as part of Carrier Air Patrol or of an extended Air Defense System:
EDIT: Up to 3 Fighter units receive +1 Defense if paired with an Aircraft Carrier unit
1 Fighter receive +1 Defense if paired 1:1 with an AAA unit.
Up to 3 Fighter units receive +1 Defense if protecting a territory with an operational Air Base, (or 1 Fg for a Victory City if playing 1942.2)
1 scrambled Fighter from an operational Air Base received +1 Defense.

Because of the higher attrition rate amongst plane and also because OOB Fg at 10 IPCs has 7 points for combat and lowering 3 points for 3 IPCs (1 point for 1 IPC basis) make it at 7 IPCs and 4 combat points, I’m wondering if it is not better to put Fg at 7 IPCs while keeping generic TcB at 8 IPCs.

Does anyone think it is too low and too near Subs A2 D1 cost at 6 IPCs, making Subs a far less interesting unit compared to this Fg A2 D2 cost 7 when put on Carrier?

Or too low compared to Destroyer A2 D2?

According to Battle Calc, an OOB Fg Defense @4 for 10 IPCs is similar to Fg Defend @2 for 7 IPCs.
10 units A2 vs 7 OOB Fgs D4 = Overall %*: A. survives: 49% D. survives: 48.1% No one survives: 2.9%

But OOB Fg Attack @3 is similar to Fg attacking @2 for 8 IPCs.
8 OOB Fgs A3 vs 10 units D2 = Overall %*: A. survives: 46.3% D. survives: 51.7% No one survives: 2%

So, this means that Fg should be at 7.5 IPCs.

This is one of the main reason why I put Fighter at 8 IPCs but keeping many Combined Arms situations giving a better defense value up to @3 for Fgs.

@Baron:

Because of the higher attrition rate amongst plane and also because OOB Fg at 10 IPCs has 7 points for combat and lowering 3 points for 3 IPCs (1 point for 1 IPC basis) make it at 7 IPCs and 4 combat points, I’m wondering if it is not better to put Fg at 7 IPCs while keeping generic TcB at 8 IPCs.

Does anyone think it is too low and too near Subs A2 D1 cost at 6 IPCs, making Subs a far less interesting unit compared to this Fg A2 D2 cost 7 when put on Carrier?

Or too low compared to Destroyer A2 D2?

I revised the three opening posts.
http://www.axisandallies.org/forums/index.php?topic=34676.msg1338630#msg1338630

You get the final result for the three generic aircrafts.
Fighter stay at 8 IPCs and Aircraft Carrier gives a +1 Defense bonus to up to 3 Fighters.
Of course, if playing a game considering that Fighters from USAF cannot be mixed with USAN aircrafts, then this bonus only apply to USAN planes able to land on a Carrier, such as Grumman F6F Hellcats, and never apply to any scrambled P-38 Lighting Fighter, for example.

With such a cost redux for planes and a more than able Aircraft Carrier holding 3 planes,
AAA is now revamped and at 4 IPCs while Cruiser and Battleship should be put at 10 IPCs and 18 IPCs.
Subs, Transports, Destroyers and Carriers stay at the same cost.

Here is the (most balance, IMO) combat units roster:
Name : Cost
Infantry: 3 IPCs
Artillery: 4 IPCs
Mech Inf: 4 IPCs
AAA: 4 IPCs *Give +1 Defense to up to 3 Fighter units as special Combined Arms Bonus when paired with
Tank: 6 IPCs **Received +1 Attack or Defense as special Combined Arms Bonus when paired 1:1 with Tactical Bomber.

Submarine: 6 IPCs
Transport: 7 IPCs
Destroyer: 8 IPCs

Fighter: 8 IPCs *** All hits are allocated to aircraft units first, if any available.
Tactical Bomber: 8 IPCs **** Gain +1 Att / Def, when paired 1:1 with a Fg or a Tank and, also, attacking or defending against any Ground or Naval units.
Strategic Bomber: 10 IPCs ***** Naval combat restriction against aircrafts: when no more enemy’s warships, combat value get down to Attack 1

Cruiser: 10 IPCs
(Escort Carrier: 11 IPCs)
Aircraft Carrier: 16 IPCs (14 IPCs in 1942.2) Hold up to 3 planes : 3 Fgs / or 2 Fgs and 1 TcB / or 1 Fg and 2 TcBs / or 3 TcBs
Battleship: 18 IPCs

The ultimate 5 IPCs unit now should be a Mechanized Artillery / Assault Gun.

Now, do you think it can works, or is it totally doomed, anyway?

Do you agree with Wild Bill statements? Or the cost redux is a good counter-weight against some issues he forsees?

Dog fights would be cool, but very costly especially at full values (just think of how dog fights have cut down SBR and it uses lower values). As you said you could force air to air combat to knock out your opponents defending planes. The flying tiger was a good example, but would still get destroyed even if there was ground units involved because Japan could overwhelm it, in even a one round dog fight. China needs the final battle to go several rounds so the tiger can roll 2-3-4 times to take out some Japanese ground units.

The battle for Moscow would be another major blow to the defender. Imagine a 1-2 punch with Japan or Italy forcing the Russian/allied fighters to a dual to weaken the overall defense of the Russian capital, then the Germans hammer the ground units. The ground game is balanced partially on having defending fighters rolling higher, and surviving till the end. If you allow the attacker to call those defending planes out into a dog fight, you have taken away what was a defensive advantage and given a huge advantage to the attacker IMO.

With that said, I agree with you that it is silly for the fighters to be the last unit standing in a ground battle and you can’t call them out to some degree. We have tinkered with some stuff in the past. One of those house rules were to have the ground battles as normal, but if a fighter or tac rolled a 1 (attacker or def) that casualty had to be applied to an air unit. If no air on the other side, then to a tank and so on (higher ranking units). In sea battles it was similar (1’s rolled by ftr/tac applied to air units, then to capital ships etc.) That way some of your air hits went to something other then infantry or destroyers. I will say in sea battles sometimes you would rather take out a destroyer then air (scrambles or subs involved) so it could back fire if you use this at sea. We have also just allowed the person who rolled the “1” with an air unit to choose the opponents casualties (targeting). As an option you could allow attacking strat bmrs that roll a 1 to choose causalities as well. We have also at times given defending carriers AA defense at sea allowing them to roll as normal each round, but if they hit (2 or less) it goes to attacking air units.

I’m not saying that I’m against some kind of air combat, but I think something would have to change in the game mechanics to incorporate a full fledged dog fight. I would also be interested in Larry’s view on this subject, and some of his own house rules or test runs involving air. I know that initially the tac bomber was given target capabilities (but that was scrapped).

http://harrisgamedesign.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=18642&p=66073&hilit=air+retreat#p66073

Here is, follow the link, and you will find the new placement set-up for G40 second edition adapted for weaker Fighter and Tactical Bomber units.
It is the third post in this thread:
http://www.axisandallies.org/forums/index.php?topic=34676.msg1338661#msg1338661

Happy New Year everybody!

During Christmas vacations I played a few games with regular 2 planes Carriers and custom 3 planes Carriers.
My main conclusion is that too many specific bonus for this or that situation is slowing down the game during combat rounds. Especially when there is too many different units which get them and when it depends on other side to get the bonus or not (Air Supremacy or presence of ground/naval units). It needs to constantly be aware of any change occurring during the combat round. It also slow down the decision process on which casualties must be chosen.

It is also easier to balance and smooth the play with a 3 planes Carrier with weaker Fighters A2 D2 C7 unit able to hit planes than with a 2-planes Carrier.
The main reason is that starting with a low Fg A2 D2-3 C8 requires many bonus for Air Supremacy, pairing with other planes or with Carrier to reach the OOB A3 D4 in situation when there is no enemy’s plane.
And adding a TacB A2-4 D2-4 into the mix is also a complex matter about pairing in Combined Arms, Air Supremacy and the availability of ground/naval targets.

In addition, in some battles this specific bonus only apply in one combat round and not the previous or the following (simply because the unit has been taken as casualty).
This doesn’t add much too the overall experience.

So, I tried with better success this much more stable (and simpler) values for Fighter and Tactical on defense and only Tactical Bomber get special bonus on attack for specific situations:

FIGHTER
Attack 2, same in SBR
Defense 2 or 3, same in SBR
Move 4
Cost 7
1 hit
Air combat unit, Fighter as an Air Superiority aircraft:
All hits are allocated to aircraft units first, if any available.

Combined Arms Bonus:
Gives +1 Attack to any Tactical Bomber paired 1:1 with.

Fighter as part of an extended Air Defense System:
Up to 3 Fighter units receive +1 Defense if protecting a territory with an operational Air Base, (or 1 Fg for a Victory City if playing 1942.2)

TACTICAL BOMBER
Attack 2 or 3 or 4, SBR @1
Defense 3
Move 4
Cost 8
1 hit
Combined Arms bonus, Tactical Bomber as a less vulnerable “Dive” or “Torpedo” Bomber when escorted by Fighter:
**_Gain +1 Attack, when paired 1:1 with a Fighter .

Air Supremacy Bonus, Tactical Bomber as a “Dive Bomber”:
Gain +1 Attack when no ennemy’s aircraft is present.
These two bonuses can be added to raise up to Attack @4.

Do you have any opinion about this?_**

@barney:

wow
I thought I could just read this and not have to think :)

Sounds way cool. I wonder how it will effect naval battles? In a good way I’m thinking
Yea I 'm gonna try it :)

Well I just read the whole thing! And yea sounds better.
Have you played any games yet?

I playtested this last one:
@Baron:

So, I tried with a better success this much more stable (and simpler) values for Fighter and Tactical on defense and only Tactical Bomber get bonus on attack for specific situations:

FIGHTER
Attack 2, same in SBR
Defense 2 or 3, same in SBR
Move 4
Cost 7
1 hit
Air combat unit, Fighter as an Air Superiority aircraft:
All hits are allocated to aircraft units first, if any available.

Combined Arms Bonus:
Gives +1 Attack to any Tactical Bomber paired 1:1 with.

Fighter as part of an extended Air Defense System:
Up to 3 Fighter units receive +1 Defense if protecting a territory with an operational Air Base, (or 1 Fg for a Victory City if playing 1942.2)

TACTICAL BOMBER
Attack 2 or 3 or 4, SBR @1
Defense 3
Move 4
Cost 8
1 hit
Combined Arms bonus, Tactical Bomber as a less vulnerable “Dive” or “Torpedo” Bomber when escorted by Fighter:
**_Gain +1 Attack, when paired 1:1 with a Fighter .

Air Supremacy Bonus, Tactical Bomber as a “Dive Bomber”:
Gain +1 Attack when no ennemy’s aircraft is present.
These two bonuses can be added to raise up to Attack @4.
With these other units:

STRATEGIC BOMBER
Attack 4,  SBR @1
Defense 1
Move 6
1 hit
Cost 10

Strategical Bombing Raid (SBR*): Attack @1
SBR damage: 1D6+2 on Industrial Complex, Air Base or Naval Base

Fighter: Attack 2 Defense 2 or 3
Tactical Bomber: Attack 1 Defense 0
Strategic Bomber: Attack 1 Defense 0

DEFENSIVE MANEUVERS allowed for all 3 types of aircraft:

• Aerial Retreat for attacking planes (all aircrafts can retreat while letting ground units pursuing battle),

• Limited Aerial Withdrawal of 1 space in a friendly territory after first combat round for defending planes up to 2 StBs or 2 TcBs or 2 Fgs.

• a limited landing in a just conquered territory: 2 planes (either Fighter or Tactical Bomber), as long as it can provide 1 extra movement point for this special landing.

FLEET CARRIER G40
Attack 0
Defense 2
Move 2
Cost 16
2 hits
Hold up to 3 planes : 3 Fgs / or 2 Fgs and 1 TcB / or 1 Fg and 2 TcBs / or 3 TcBs.
A damaged Aircraft Carrier still allowed flight operation for 1 plane unit.

FLEET CARRIER 1942.2
Attack 1
Defense 2
Move 2
Cost 14
1 hit
Hold up to 3 planes : 3 Fgs / or 2 Fgs and 1 TcB / or 1 Fg and 2 TcBs / or 3 TcBs.

ESCORT CARRIER
Attack 0
Defense 1
Move 2
Cost 9
1 hit
Hold 1 plane : 1 Fg OR 1 TcB.
ASV: Anti-Sub Vessel, same as Destroyer against Submarine.

CRUISER
Attack 3
Defense 3
Move 2
Cost 10
1 hit
1 Shore Bombardment @3.

BATTLESHIP
Attack 4
Defense 4
Move 2
Cost 18
2 hits
1 Shore Bombardment @4.

On a battlecalc, these values gives similar odds of survival to a full Carrier with 3 TcBs against itself when 1 CV and 2 Fgs attacks 1 CV and 2 Fgs. You get similar odds about 1 CV, 1 Fg, 1 TcB against itself compared to 1 CV 2 TcBs and 1 Fg against itself (as far as I can put similar numbers in the calc).

The idea is that a full Carrier is better on defense than offense.
So, to keep this principle in line, TacB has been put to a single defense value of 3.
It is slightly higher than Fighter (keeping @2), but remember that Fighters always hit planes first.

The 3-planes carrier provides more units in a SZ and Fgs A2 D2 C7 can be a good fodder instead of loosing a costlier Carrier with the same defense @2.
So during combat rounds, usually owner’s will keep Carriers and sacrifice Fighters and it doesn’t change the defense factor.
That’s the main difference with OOB Naval Combat, often Carriers with lower Def @2 are sacrifice earlier because of the high defense value of Fighters (D4).

Also, 3-planes Carrier gives more strategy and flexibility on which units (Fg or TcB) you prefer to put on board.
All 3 cheaper Fighters (A2 D2 C7) but with lesser odds A6 D6 C21.
All 3 costlier TcBs (A2-3-4 D3 C8) better on defense but not good against an opponent defending with planes (A6 D9 C24).
The mix of both Fg and TcB is far better in combat 1 Fg & 2 TcBs or 2 Fgs & 1 TcB.

I also like to put small 1 plane-Escort Carrier (A1 D1 C9) (bought from HBG) in the roster.
Their relative strength toward 3-planes Fleet Carrier is better historically depicted.
In fact, a single Escort Carrier can carry around 27-33 planes while a Fleet Carrier is around 90-100 planes.

I also experimented a Fg unit attacking @1 with First strike and defending @2 but the very low value of 1 and specific First Strike ability similar to subs was slowing down the battle process.
That’s why I prefer the A2 D2 C7 Fighter.
(Combat values wich are also similar to 1914 planes. From a A&A game franchise consistency POV.)
In each combat round, you start by rolling both attacking and defending Fighters, then picking up casualties on planes.
After, you continue with regular combat unit rolls.

One historical objections I made to myself was about that Fighters were better defending than attacking.
I answered it by giving a special +1 defense bonus to 3 Fighters when an operational Air Base is present.
This could figure the alertness of interceptors and all the Radar and Survey system against incoming planes.
Also, defenders can also have AAA unit on their side to increase the casualty rates of attacking aircrafts.
That’s why I think it can still be acceptable from an historical POV.
(Also, don’t forget how G40 OOB SBR rules doesn’t care about it, giving all planes a roll @1.)

TacBs Attack 2-3-4 Defense 3 values were more dictated by the defensive capacity required for Carriers to keep the similar balance of their OOB counterpart.

Strategic Bomber are lowered to 10 IPCs and it is required because of the dangerousness of attacking defending Fighters. Each round they could shot it down, no matter the number of ground units for fodder.

Finally, Cruiser and Battleship’s cost are reduced by 2 IPCs, 10 and 18 IPCs to level them against a more dangerous Fleet Carrier at full strength and cheaper planes.
To fully compete with this new carrier (which is a bit better than the regular OOB), it is now a must from the Battlecalc POV that Battleship and Cruiser need a reduced cost of 2 IPCs :
Cruiser A3 D3 M2 should cost 10 IPCs while Battleship A4 D4 M2, 2 hits should cost 18 IPCs.
So, Cruiser will be at the same cost than Strategic bomber (A4 D1 M6 C10),
and the Battleship (18 IPCs) still compete against the Cruiser (10 IPCs) + Destroyer (8 IPCs) combo.

Example: 12 Fgs gives A2 D2 C7, are too powerful against 7 A3 D3 C12 Cruiser.
Overall %*: A. survives: 94.8% D. survives: 4.7% No one survives: 0.5%

10 Fgs gives A2 D2 C7, are within acceptable margin against 7 A3 D3 C10 Cruiser.
Overall %*: A. survives: 75.2% D. survives: 23.2% No one survives: 1.6%

All in all, the additional money made from this savings will be needed to replace for the increased rate of aircrafts casualties.

From my little experienced with 3-planes Carriers, it works well.

Also, if you really want to increase aircrafts combat interactions in contested land territory, you should allow attacker to land a single Fg or TcB, or even up to 2 aircrafts in a just conquered territory.
(I ruled that an additional movement point to land in this zone is required.)
Otherwise, your game would mostly relied on AAA to defend against attacking planes.

I will post something on AAA issue in another thread more sooner than later.
For now, just know that I put them at 3 IPCs to get the maximum incentive to buy them.

Hope you will try and enjoy it.

---

One little physical inconvenient about a fully loaded Carriers unit with 3 TcBs is that there is not much place on the sculpt to put them in a row.
To overcome the lack of room for this bigger sculpt, is to put a chip on a Carrier below a TcB sculpt for additional units.
On the brighter side, any mix with a smaller Fg sculpt fit well on top of a Carrier._**