Hello again,
Getting into the Aerospace portion of Alphastrike, its fun, but ... confusing.
We are only using the Commanders edition, as its the latest and only (?)current in print book(?).
First. page 101.
Bombs and Thrust.
Declare how many bombs you are carrying, up to your BOMB#, reduce thrust by that much. If you do not declare you are Carrying bombs, you are not carrying bombs.
(ok, this is so extremely different then Mechs, LRMs don't 'declare ammo or are empty' This got me thinking about infinite ammo vs finite ammo possibilities in aerospace.
Second. page 181.
Air to ground attacks.
Step 1 to Step 7.
(I'll come back to this in a sec)Third. page 181.
Altitude Bombing.
"Altitude Bombing allows an aerospace unit with the BOMB special ability to select 1 or more points of impact (POIs) along its flight path. There must be at least one POI per 2 inches along the path and a minimum of 1 bombed dropped at each POI."
Ok, this is confusing to someone who has no clue how aerospace works.
my plane has BOMB2, and declared 2 bombs being carried (going back to the
FIRST above.)
now going back down to the
THIRD, I can't place a POI every 2 inches of my flight path, I assume I can only drop 2 bombs per run, I suspect that this was suppose to say "
POI must be 2 inches apart" not "
At least one POI per 2 inches along the path"
Fourth Does BOMB2 mean I have 2 bombs to drop every pass? (More on this at
FIFTH.. as to why i'm asking)
(this is how id assume it must be due to consistency with the game as a whole, mechs, Vehicles, and Infantry don't run out of ammo in alpha strike, and nothing has stated otherwise in aerospace rules as of yet)Because on page 102 ROLL TO HIT, and APPLYING DAMAGE says NOTHING about removing bomb totals from your aerospace fighter when doing these attacks.4b Altitude bombing with BOMB2 means I can pick UP TO 2 POI, but can choose to declare only 1 and drop all my bombs on that location if I choose to.
I was reading through this forum before asking these questions, I saw that in the past you told someone you can drop all your bombs on 1 single POI, the book does not clarify this point at all it only hints at it FifthBOMB TYPES page 183
Bomb type paragraph talks about bombs as being finite. Not infinite like everything we have experienced in alphastrike mechs/vehicles/infantry, and it is the first place that actually says bombs have a limit in all of these rules.
"Each bomb carried (Up to that units maximum BOMB special ability value), will reduce the aerospace thrust by 1, thus each bomb an Aerospace unit drops it reclaims 1 Thrust...etc"
Yet, at no time has the Aerospace rules spoken about bombs being Finite, at all, up to this point in the manual.
FIRST definitely makes me think bombs are finite, declare how many you are carrying but beyond this point it is completely ignored up till now.
SECOND does not state to reduce ammunition anywhere
THIRD does not ever state to reduce ammunition.
FOURTH kind of hints at the fact that bombs might be expended, but it doesn't state it.
FIFTH all of a sudden throws expending bombs at you, and reclaiming thrust..
This fifth is the first time saying dropping a bomb reclaims thrust.
but it STILL doesn't state bombs are finite. Does it reclaim thrust until the end of the turn when it can drop 2 more next turn, I doubt it logically, but no where from page 183 on does it state anything about ammunition being finite, not even the air to air combat states it as finite in that area either.
Finally some clarity? Page 147 in OPTIONAL RULES, which any beginner person will utterly ignore as optional is optional and cluttery for starting.
An aerospace unit can generally carry as many bombs as its BOMB# special indicates. Unless otherwise stated. Each of the bombs described below occupy 1 bomb "slot" and is expended whether or not its attack is successful"
the ArrowIV missiles expand this a bunch again...
This info needs to be included in the base aerospace rules, it should not be stated in the optional rules only. I suspect this is how bombs are meant to be played as they are AOE.so in essence we have two possibilities.
my BOMB2 bomber will be able to drop 2 bombs every pass under normal rules, no where does it state to reduce bombs in any of the targetting/rolling to hit/damage portions of the rules.
OR the more likely truth:
My BOMB2 bomber will be able to drop 2 bombs from start of the game to the end of the game, with no way to reload them?
Thank you.
TLDR BOMB# finite or infinite, needs clarifying in the main rules, not optional rules pages.
