How do Air Units Work?

[Compass Rose]

How do air units work in PzB?

If they are available for your turn and you decide not to use them, are they automatically available for your next turn(s) weather permitting, or if you don't use them, you loose them and you run the risk that they don't automatically come back for your following turn?

[ComradeP]

They seem to use the PzC system for availability. The main difference I've seen is that the wider range of possible visibility distances for a scenario increases variability.

I'm not sure if the AA unit formula wasn't updated in the manual or wasn't changed, because if it wasn't changed they're now 4 times less effective than before, so the weaker AA fire compared to PzC is another difference.

[Compass Rose]

They seem to use the PzC system for availability.

Which is what?

Thanks

[ComradeP]

My apologies, I thought you were familiar with those.

There's a certain Air Availability percentage per side which can be seen in the Parameter Data screen. If it's 50%, your units will on average be available every 2 turns provided they're not disrupted or fatigued.

There's an optional Low Visibility Air Effects rule, on by default, which determines by a percentage how many of the aircraft of a certain side can be active during a certain turn out of the available air units. This percentage can also be found in the Parameter Data screen.

As an aside: when I said that there's more variability for the low visibility rule, I meant that it takes longer for the weather to move from one percentage chance to the next and I'm not sure if it scales up to the next given percentage for a certain visibility or if it only increases at the next given visibility.

As in: if it increases when the when going from 8 hexes (25%) to 9 hexes, if the next given value is 50% at 12 hexes.

Variability can vary a lot. In my first State Farm PBEM, visibility is 12. In the second, it's 4.

Edit: here's the description given in the PzC manual, nearly the same manual as the PB manual. I've added some Parameter Data values in the middle.

[Compass Rose]

Thanks ComradeP for all of the info.

So if I am understanding everything correctly, if air units are available, use them that turn; don't save them?

[Tide1]

Thanks ComradeP for all of the info.

So if I am understanding everything correctly, if air units are available, use them that turn; don't save them?

I would never try to save them. If you don't have targets that's another thing but you never get enough air support. That's just my sir

[ComradeP]

So if I am understanding everything correctly, if air units are available, use them that turn; don't save them?

Well, it depends on how heavily defended in terms of AA the targets you can see are likely to be and if they're worth an air strike.

Personally, I normally don't bomb random infantry stacks as my air groups are likely to gain fatigue from the mission and the soft attack value of most of the tactical/fighter bombers isn't great. On the other hand, there are more carpet bombing units in PB than the PzC scenarios I've played, and those can cause significant casualties to a stack.

Unlike in PzC, where you can bomb anything as long as a unit that can spot for the available air unit can see it, you have to plan air missions 1 turn in advance in PB. This makes selecting targets carefully even more important, and means the player is more likely to engage guns (which often don't move) or targets with a predictable movement path (like a number of units using the same road, where you know where they'll end up in the enemy's next turn).

Also unlike in PzC, your air units don't get replacements, which makes me more conservative than I'd usually be when it comes to using them. You don't want to fall into the trap of trying to preserve their strength until it's too late for the air units to make a difference, but just bombing a target because you can is in my opinion not the best way to use air units.

[Compass Rose]

Ok Thanks guys for your input and suggestions; it greatly helps!