@krieghund Yeah. Fair enough. Fortunately he resigned because of Germany. I wanted to play out the fight. :-)

@kevlarfirestrike

Okay, follow-up. Say Japan attacks 33 with both the forces from 45 (traveling through 34) and from 6. See picture attached.

Assume I assign all defender hits to my carriers, then retreat after 1 or 2 rounds until 34. Can my aircraft then, being stranded, land on Palau Island? Per the following, I think the answer is yes?

“Stranded defending air units also land during this phase. These are carrier air units whose aircraft carrier has been damaged or destroyed in combat or scrambled air units or fighter interceptors (see “Conduct Combat,” page 15) whose original territory is now under enemy control. These units are allowed movement of up to one space to find a friendly territory or carrier on which to land.”

@surfer ok. I thought maybe stranded aircrafts could still fly to the nearest island per the second paragraph I mentioned. But it did feel a bit odd. Thanks. It will dictate how I make my next move! :-)

I have a weird rules question.

Presume I move a fighter 3 moves to a battle that has an aircraft carrier on which he may land. The sea zone has no island on which he can land. The carrier is destroyed during combat. During the noncombat phase, he moves 1 more to a sea territory that has an island under his control, for a total of 4 moves. See page 21, right column first full paragraph. There is no aircraft carrier to land.

Is he then considered stranded per the next paragraph? It’s a total of 5, but perhaps because he is stranded he can make it. Or is he stranded in the sea zone battle where the carrier was destroyed even though he has one move left?