On this page:
Flak attacks
May be further scope to rationalise along with the AA topic. Consider changing the title to 'Flak attacks with Anti-Aircraft (AA) weapons'.
Anti-Aircraft (AA) weapons can put out defensive fire against attacking enemy aircraft. This is called a flak attack.
Flak attacks happen after an enemy aircraft formation makes an approach move or a disengagement move.
Who can make flak attacks
Flak attacks by ground units
You may make a flak attack against the enemy aircraft formation with every ground unit you have that has AA weapons, as long as the enemy aircraft passed within range (and fire arc) of the weapons at some point during their move.
- Making a flak attack does not affect the overwatch status of a ground formation.
- Units belonging to a formation that is Marching or that is Broken may not make flak attacks.
Flak attacks by aircraft units
If you have aircraft that are carrying out a Ground Attack action and that have AA weapons, you may also use these to make flak attacks against enemy interceptors that are attacking them and that end their approach move within the weapons' range (and fire arc).
Changes I've made due to problems with the rules for flak attacks by aircraft units
Even with errata and FAQs, the original texts are especially unclear about exactly when and how aircraft may make flak attacks. I had to make some decisions for it to be sensible. You may prefer a different interpretation, but here is my rationale in case you'd like to compare.
In effect, flak attacks by aircraft are purely defensive. Aircraft are subject to all the following additional restrictions on when they may make flak attacks (unless there are landed at the time and therefore acting like ground units):
- They must be carrying out a Ground Attack action.
- They may only target enemy interceptors that are attacking them, and that end their approach move within range (and fire arc) of the defending AA weapons.
- They may only make flak attacks in the Action phase. (The approach move is explicitly mentioned in the source texts for flak attacks by aircraft, but the disengagement move is not — and trying to work out the order of events for multiple aircraft flak attacks in the End phase gets surprisingly complicated when they all have to cross each others paths!)
The source texts do imply or allude to all these restrictions in some way, but are unclear and fragmented.
My interpretation does have some advantages: It is much simpler to play than some alternatives, and seems consistent with real aircraft.
I mean, real bombers in the Second World War put out defensive fire against fighters that were attacking them. But they didn't have actual 'flak' weapons and couldn't make opportunistic flak attacks against other aircraft who would never be close enough to present themselves as nice targets! In contrast, ground-based flak weapons put huge amounts of explosive ordnance into the sky around enemy aircraft.
My interpretation reflects these precedents, meaning that aircraft get far fewer opportunities to make flak attacks than ground-based AA weapons do.
Making flak attacks
Resolve your flak attacks by making the AA weapon attacks in any order you like, one unit at a time.
- Flak attacks are a free bonus attack, and making a flak attack does not stop the unit attacking again later in the same turn.
- An AA weapon can make any number of flak attacks each turn against different aircraft formations, as long as it does not attack the same aircraft formation more than once in a turn. Units that make a flak attack on an aircraft formation as it made an approach move may not then make another flak attack on it when it makes a disengagement move in the same turn.
Flak attacks in the Action phase
- Your opponent activates an aircraft formation and completes an approach move. Note the route that the aircraft take.
- If your opponent is taking a Ground Attack action and you have aircraft on Combat Air Patrol, you may use them to intercept the enemy now. See the Ground attack rules (or the Transport aircraft rules, if appropriate) for the exact steps in context, as this gets complicated!
- Resolve your flak attacks.
- Return play to your opponent so that they can complete their action, if able.
Flak attacks in the End phase
- Your opponent chooses one of their aircraft formations that is in the play area and makes a disengagement move. Note the route that the aircraft take to see which of your flak units they pass within range of that have not already fired at this formation this turn.
- Resolve your flak attacks when the aircraft reach the edge of the table, before they return to base (that is, just before your opponent places them back in reserve). Apply a -1 to hit modifier for flak attacks from weapons in formations which made a move during an action this turn. Which actually made a move, or which took an action that can include a move?
- Your opponent places any surviving aircraft in reserve, along with any Blast markers they received.
To hit modifiers for flak attacks
The -1 to hit modifier for flak units in formations which made a move during an action in the turn only applies in the End phase, and is the only to hit modifier that may apply for flak attacks. None of the to hit modifiers for normal shooting — such as for Double, Marshall or Sustained Fire actions — apply to flak attacks.
FAQ
Q. Can units with weapons that don’t have an AA value be suppressed when making a flak attack?
A. Yes, and they only need to be within range as all ground units have a line of fire to flying aircraft.
Unclear. Normally only 'units that could otherwise have shot' are suppressed, which is daft for flak attacks because it'd generally mean a single Blast marker on a formation would shut down its only flak. But what is this FAQ really trying to say instead? Seems a bit backward, may have to write it completely differently to make them underlying point clear..
Q. An aircraft makes its approach move and suffers flak attacks from one unit in a formation. As it makes its disengagement move it comes into range of another unit from the same formation; may this unit flak attack the aircraft?
A. Yes, each unit with AA weapons may make flak attacks on a particular aircraft formation up to once per turn, even if this means that some flak attacks from units in the same formation actually happen in different phases.