@Obergruppenfuhrer:
I just got my first plane. A japensese Zero. Now if I could only get the Meserschmitt Ace & Stuka plus an ammo & fuel dump, I’d be perfectly happy.
I do not fully understand the plane rules & I don’t find them explained in depth in the online advanced rules. I’m figuring it out the best of my ability though.
The game flows in this order:
deployment
movement phase
aircraft placement
aircraft attack
assault phase
casualty phase (remove aircraft)
It can be a big advantage to go first if you have an Ace aircraft because of their 4 hex defensive fire ability. Unfortunately, the Zero is the crappiest plane you could’ve possibly gotten, so don’t let its shoddy performance turn you off the idea of using them. The aircraft can only shoot straight ahead, so whichever way they are facing, use the lines going diagonally forward to determine that. In terms of getting attacked, anything attacking the aircraft without the anti-air special ability suffers a -1 to it’s dice rolls. I don’t remember the rule exactly, but if the unit is not directly infront of the aircraft, it suffers a -1 penalty to its range as well (so if it’s 3 hexes away, you count it as 4 away).