This mod is cribbed from the Yahoo! group. It is expanded a bit but fundamentally the same. I've had the pleasure of using it in my campaign game, and I'm in love with it. I've had to totally re-evaluate my fighter strategy for dedicated heavy bombers. Using this rule, offensive fighter AS sorties
demand an escort of fighter flights to screen against enemy anti-fighter dedicated fighter missions. Meaning, it does just what I'd hoped
During the anti-fighter damage determination phase, after determining the final damage that occurs against oncoming fighter flights, that amount is the number of DV that must turn back that round, and are unable to get through the defenses of the target. Then, half of that number is applied to the remaining ships as AF damage.
Example: You attack with a force of twelve 2/2/2 fighters. I do 8 points of AF damage to your oncoming fighters. 8 DVs worth of your fighters (4 flights in this case) are turned back, undamaged but unable to damage their target this round. For the remaining 8 flights, I apply ½ the original damage, thus 4 DVs worth are destroyed (2 flights in this case). Thus, only 12-4-2=6 flights get through to do damage this round.
This rule, proposed by Charlie Lewis on the VBAM forums, reduces the impact of fighters on the game. I prefer ships to be the main focus, not fighters.
