Aircraft

[Poor Yorek]

I wonder if we have any WW2 Air armchair experts in our ranks? I'd love to see someone really dive into the records and come up with some serious performance/combat effectiveness data for application within PG. I've read lots of accounts on Wikipedia about the power of anti-AFV aircraft attack, particularly late war Eastern Front, but that's certainly never been true on MY game table!

I seem to recall a few authors citing interviews with German generals regarding the Normandy campaign: air power was fairly low on their list of what was "most feared." Of course, what I'd like to have done is interviewed logistical staff officers to find out whether they concur with the guys with the gold braid on their shoulders! I might try to document those works when I get home.

That being said, my naive guess is that at the combat length scale of PG, tactical air power was relatively a minor factor: put alternatively, tactical air power was mostly directed to attacks at supply areas; assembly areas; interdiction of transport & roads/bridges, etc., behind the lines of the tactical combat of the scenarios. That is, air power has already been felt in establishing the OOB and any supply special rules that are applicable. "Close" air support perhaps was too fraught with friendly fire concerns to be applicable to tactical combat at the ranges of PG? By this, I don't mean to suggest that it was never done, I just suggest that might be the reason why air power is seldom a "significant" factor in PG scenarios. I guess the other simple possibility is that APL selects actions in which tactical air power was not a significant factor simply to focus on actions in which ground combat operations were predominant and decisive.