Does a Battleship provide Air cover?

[Myriad]

So I popped out a freshly new Modern Armor Army to defend an outpost on another continent, but I had to travel close to Macedon. And since Alexander was being a ♥♥♥♥, I escorted the Army underneath a Battleship Armada.

I stayed a couple tiles away from his border just to be safe, but regardless, he sent a couple, fighters I believe, against my Armor Army, destroying them in one shot while the Battleship sitting on top of them did nothing. The description indicates that the Battleship provides air cover. Is that wrong?

[tempest.of.emptiness]

I believe that bombers (or maybe just jet bombers) have access to the ability to target a vulnerable unit that is defended by a military unit, similar to the same ability possessed by the Spec Ops unit.

[Stavbearer]

hey, uh, how do you get a plane to take off?

[Myriad]

Originally posted by tempest.of.emptiness:

I believe that bombers (or maybe just jet bombers) have access to the ability to target a vulnerable unit that is defended by a military unit, similar to the same ability possessed by the Spec Ops unit.

Maybe. I'm new to Civ6. Very familiar with the series though. I should also mention that I don't have Gathering Storm and Rise and Fall, if that's what they're called and if that matters.

These are the jets that are wrecking havoc on me and capable of destroying an embarked Modern Armor Army in one shot. Looks like Fighters to me.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2290728812
Also those Anti-Air Guns are useless.

Originally posted by Stavbearer:

hey, uh, how do you get a plane to take off?

Haven't built a Bomber in Civ6 yet, but I imagine you click on it and then a unit as normal. For Biplanes you just click Deploy and click an area within their range. Haven't experimented with them much either because mine got taken out by those Fighters the turn after I deployed them.


Edit: Just read the popup on my own Screenshot. Those are Jet Fighters lol. Well I'm not looking forward to Bombers then. Modern Armor fortified on a hill with a couple upgrades fares ok.

[tempest.of.emptiness]

Originally posted by Myriad:

Those are Jet Fighters

Jet Fighters also get the Priority Target form of attack, which is what allowed them to bypass your defending Battleship and attack the embarked unit directly.

Originally posted by Myriad:

These are the jets that are wrecking havoc on me and capable of destroying an embarked Modern Armor Army in one shot.

Embarked units are generally much more vulnerable than when they are not embarked. The defense strength of embarked units is based on your tech era, not on the unit itself - and I don't believe that it is increased for a corps or army. That makes such units especially vulnerable when embarked. The Jet Fighter's attack strength (110) is just so much higher than the defense strength of a transport (50, if you are in the modern tech era, according to civilization.fandom.com/wiki/Combat_(Civ6)#Attacking_embarked_units) that it can kill in one shot.

Originally posted by Myriad:

Also those Anti-Air Guns are useless.

Yes. In order to put the enemy fighters at any risk of being shot down you'd need to have AA guns and also your own fighter patrolling the area that is attacked. Even that is unlikely to do more than slow down the pace of attacks, because presumably the enemy will simply wait for the aircraft to heal before sending it out on another mission.

[Myriad]

Originally posted by tempest.of.emptiness:

Jet Fighters also get the Priority Target form of attack, which is what allowed them to bypass your defending Battleship and attack the embarked unit directly.

I'm starting to notice all these little details. I never built a Jet Fighter before I posted this OP. They do seem a bit brutal though. I had to pull back my Battleships because one attack from those Fighters took them below 50% health. I can understand transports, but Battleships? Is it an Era thing?

[tempest.of.emptiness]

Originally posted by Myriad:

I never built a Jet Fighter before I posted this OP. They do seem a bit brutal though. I had to pull back my Battleships because one attack from those Fighters took them below 50% health. I can understand transports, but Battleships? Is it an Era thing?

Your era isn't affecting the strength of your battleships in the way that it affects the strength of your transports. However, battleships are a Modern era naval unit, and Jet Fighters are an Information era air unit. Basically, your opponent is two eras ahead of you and that is why their attacks are so devastating to you. Ideally you would want to have Missile Cruisers (the Information era upgrade of a Battleship) to compete with enemy Jet Fighters.