Advanced Artillery Attrition Attack

Attrition and carpet bombing are 2 different things, although both of them are forms of combat and would be done on the combat phase.

To make an attrition attack you cannot move the artillery on the combat movement or non-combat movement phase. You would declare that they are going to make the attrition attack and then roll for it on the first round of combat only. You could move other units into the territory you are attacking and use them as well for regular combat. The key is that your artillery making the attrition roll doesn’t move at all that turn.

For carpet bombing, you would have to move your strategic bomber into the territory on combat movement. Then resolve any interception and escorting that may be present, and then make your attack roll against the defending ground units present in that territory on the first round of combat. At that point, only an AA artillery would be able to hit the strategic bomber. You may also conduct regular combat with other attacking units in the same territory. If the bomber survives, move it to a friendly landing zone on non-combat movement phase.

Hi, my understanding is that both the Attacker and Defender have to decide how to use their planes, either for escort/interception or part of the land combat and that they cannot do both.

According to rule 9.17, Carpet Bombing is a special form of Attack available to Strategic Bombers. It lasts for one round only. The Attacking bomber is subject to interception from Fighters and fire from Anti-Aircraft Artillery. No other land forces may fire back. Casualties are removed at the end of the combat round.

According to rule 8.5, when you make a strategic bombing (including carpet bombing) you combat move all your Attacking bombers and any fighters that you want to use for escorts to the zone.

According to rule 8.6, Scramble is declared (by the Defender) at the end of the Attacker’s Combat Movement.

According to Table 9-9, if Defender has scrambled Defending Fighters, there is one round of interception combat where all aircraft participate at reduced values. Any causalties are remove at the end of the Interception combat.

After that one round of interception and carpet bombing, the planes from both sides cannot participate in the land combat and will land in the non-combat phase.

The only thing that I did not find is what happens to Defending fighters that were already in the defending territory, went to intercept the bombing, survived, did not participate in the land battle, but cannot land because the land battle was lost? Are they destroyed? Can they land elsewhere?

One possibility is that this option does not exist for the fighters in the territory that is attacked, as the definition of Scramble in rule 8.6 mentions that it comes form an adjacent zone where there is an airbase. Therefore the fighters in the attacked territory would have to take part in the land battle and could not intercept.

I’m curious to know if that is the case.

Rule 8.3 says that aircraft must save enough movements point to return to a friendly land zone or carrier during the Non-Combat Movement phase.

I did not find the equivalent to the A&A Global rule that says that if the carrier is sunk, the aircraft gets an additional movement point to land in a friendly terrirory or carrier.

Ironically, while looking for this last rule, I found that the A&A Global rules cover the previous issue for strategic and tactical bombing raids:

“Any number of defending fighters based in a territory that is about to be strategically and/or tactically bombed can be committed to participate in the defense of that territory’s facilities as interceptors, whether or not there are attacking fighter escorts. The number of defending fighters that will intercept is decided by the owning player(s) after the attacker’s Combat Move phase is completed and before the Conduct Combat phase begins. These fighters cannot participate in other battles during that turn, including a battle in the territory in which the bombing raid is occurring. They must remain in their original territory after the battle. If that territory is captured, they can move 1 space to land in a friendly territory or on a friendly aircraft carrier. This movement occurs during the Noncombat Move phase, before the acting player makes any noncombat movements. If no such landing space is available, the fighters are lost.”

Whether this should be applied in Global War 1936-1945 is another question.