[Battlegroup] Light and medium AA guns useless angainst planes?

[Wellington]

Hi!

In the rules and the reference sheet only very light guns are mentioned for anti-air defence.

What about light and medium guns like the 88mmL56 and the british 3,7" AA ?

Cheers

Wellington

[Ragnar]

I believe they are not mentioned because those guns are for AA defence at a much higher level, i.e. not for ground attack fighters.

[Westfalia Chris]

As I wrote over on the BG forum, I suspect it is to represent the fact that in the type and scale of engagement portrayed by the BG rules, larger-calibre AAA, which was essentially  designed to engage level bombers at medium and high altitudes, wouldn't historically be used in an air defense role (given the sizes of table most often used, their inclusion as on-table pieces is debatable, too, but that is another kettle of fish).

From my understanding, their comparatively low rate of fire (~15-20  shots per minute) plus problems with getting them trained quickly enough to account for speed, deflection angle and parallax, means that smaller calibre, rapid-fire auto cannon as described in the rules and listed in the specialist support units sections of the various army lists would be the ones which could successfully engage a fast-moving ground attack plane.

Edit: what Ragnar wrote, with added loquaciousness. 

[Wellington]

Thanks!