How do airplanes work?

[Sietrin]

I tried finding this info on wiki with no results. So should non-fighters have any air attack and air defence? Do they even shoot at the plains trying to shoot them? What is the point of air defence for non-fighters if AA both ground (this one ignores agility too) and naval ignores it? If I were to attach to a carrier fighter a bomb to strike ships would it even strike them or fulfill onl its roll in battle (being on a carrier)? Or would a naval bomber actually fight any warplanes having decent air attack (being on a carrier)?
And a less important question to me: are there any decent builds for the medium air hull?

 

[billcorr]

What is the point of air defence for non-fighters

My understanding (and I could be wrong) is that Paradox chose the words "air defence" to describe how many points of damage an airplane can take before being destroyed.

That is to say,

HoI4 "air defense" is what the rest of the world's wargame designers call "hit points" ("HP").

[I admit, I could be totally wrong...please correct me if "air defense" is not the same as "hit points"]

 

[blahmaster6k]

Air defense isn't strictly representative of HP, it's more like armor in that it reduces the damage your planes take. More air defense -> Lose fewer planes to the same amount of air attack. Planes only have one HP really, they either are shot down or they are not. A simplified explanation would be something like this: when air combat is calculated, the combined air attack of the attackers is put against the air defense of the defenders and the result decides how many planes are destroyed.

There's a detailed breakdown of the air combat formula on this wiki page.

To answer OP's question, having some air attack and extra defense on non-fighters can help lower casualties and inflict a few more to enemy fighters attacking your bombers, but it's questionable whether it's worth the cost to do so. If your bombers are regularly being intercepted and shot down by fighters, it might have been a better idea to invest in fewer CAS and more fighters so that the CAS you do have has a better chance to get through, while the extra fighters help to remove the threat posed by enemy planes, freeing you up to use more CAS later.

 

[billcorr]

Air defense isn't strictly representative of HP, it's more like armor in that it reduces the damage your planes take. More air defense -> Lose fewer planes

Thanks!

 

[HugsAndSnuggles]

If I were to attach to a carrier fighter a bomb to strike ships would it even strike them or fulfill onl its roll in battle (being on a carrier)? Or would a naval bomber actually fight any warplanes having decent air attack (being on a carrier)?

You might want to check this thread on the subject:

Clarification on CV NAV and CV Fighter "missions"

I've been fooling around with carrier aircraft again, and I wanted to make sure I'm not missing something. 1) When based on a carrier, an aircraft with the first module being a fighter module (HMGs or whatever), the plane is now a CV fighter and...

forum.paradoxplaza.com

 

[Cavalry]

I tried finding this info on wiki with no results. So should non-fighters have any air attack and air defence? Do they even shoot at the plains trying to shoot them? What is the point of air defence for non-fighters if AA both ground (this one ignores agility too) and naval ignores it?

Just look at real life or non DLC game to have an idea how to design planes.
- They should have a little air attack just in case, the turret is for them and not for fighters. Don't overdo it at the coast of bomb load. The turret can be as cheap as only 1 IC 1 weight and can reduce distruption too, no reason to skip it.
- Yes they can shoot and receive attack from enemy fighters.

 

[Ferrous Will]

To answer OP's question, having some air attack and extra defense on non-fighters can help lower casualties and inflict a few more to enemy fighters attacking your bombers, but it's questionable whether it's worth the cost to do so.

I should probably point out that air attack on CAS/TAC/STR/NAV does contribute to disruption negation, so it does help the planes in question in doing their job a little better. If you can't destroy every enemy fighters in a war then that might be worth considering. (still probably questionable though)

 

[Cavalry]

Yeah the 1-2 IC gun turret have the best efficiency than invest in a few more fighters, and think about having 1000 more turrets in the air. Most of the time they will shoot, if you stick to fighter: CAS ratio 1:1 or when the enemy is numerous enough. For strategic bombers, the cannon turrets alone can beat a few interceptors if bombers have number advantage enough (up to 3:1)

 

[Synicus]

How do airplanes work?
It's all about thrust, weight and lift.
Piloting is a bit like driving a car in 3D.