Extra Manual Content 

Here follows the extra content to be added in… 

Small additions 
 
ADD AT BOTTOM OF 1.0: “In December 2020 Air Forces were added to the game. The documentation for the Air 
Forces has been added to a new sixth part of the manual called “Additional Rules” 
 
Change numbering: “6. Credits” to “7. Credits” and add in “6. Additional Rules” 
 
The Airforce chapter can then be inserted as “6.1 Air forces”  

Air forces  
Air forces are the first big post-release addition to the rules of Shadow Empire.  
 
As they might not be everybody's cup of tea, when setting up a new game you can explicitly choose to have these Air 
forces rules enabled or disabled. You do this by flagging the option “Air Forces enabled” under the Development and 
Technology Level settings in the Generation Settings Window during setup. 

Introduction 
Air forces allow you to use many new tactics and strategies. From reconnaissance missions, to ground support 
airstrikes to organizing Air Bridges.  
 
However Air Model Types are a type of equipment that requires careful Model design depending on the type of Planet 
where you find yourself. A Planet with hardly any atmosphere will not be able to support Propellor Engines or Jet 
Engines, as there is nothing for them to use to create velocity, but Rocket Engines might well enable you to take to the 
skies. Planets with both low gravity and a reasonable atmosphere will make it extremely easy to fly and Airpower will 
likely be important on these kinds of worlds. In the right circumstances (air pressure > gravity) Thopters will also be a 
viable option. 
 
Air Model Types are special in the fact that they can be very lethal, but are very vulnerable at the same time. They do 
not have a lot of Hitpoints and are thus vulnerable to Anti-Air weaponry and enemy Interceptors. 
 
It does require a certain level of investment however to develop your own Air Force. Research needs to be done and 
Model Types have to be discovered and then designed. And you’ll need the infrastructure in the form of Airbases to 
properly service your Air Units. 

Moving Air Units 

You’ll need to be in Move Order Mode in order to do this. Once there this is done in exactly the same way as you move 
your Land Units. You left click to select a Unit and then right click on a highlighted (in white) Hex the Unit has to move 
to.  
 
However keep in mind that Aircraft (except VTOL) will need a Hex with a sufficient Airbase Level in their destination 
Hex. Inspect your Air Models’ details to learn the minimum Airbase Level necessary.  
 
Aircraft Model Type  Minimum Airbase Level needed 
 Ultralight Aircraft  Level 1 

Light Aircraft  Level 2 

Medium Aircraft  Level 3 

Heavy Aircraft  Level 4 

Extra-Heavy Aircraft  Level 5 

Helicopters  none* 

Thopters  none* 

VTOL Aircraft  none* 

*=Not needed, but still advised to have your Helicopters, Thopters and VTOL aircraft at optimal Readiness. 

Airstrikes 
To launch Airstrikes you need to switch the Order Mode to Airstrike. An Airstrike is initiated much in the same way as 
a regular Land Attack. You left click to select an Air Unit and then you right click on a highlighted (in red) Hex to initiate 
an Airstrike on that Hex. Doing so will bring up the Combat Selection Popup and allow you to add even more Air Units 
to the Airstrike, from different source Hexes if you wish to do so. 

Air Recon 
To do an Air Recon mission you need to switch the Order Mode to Air Recon. Once this is done you left click to select 
an Air Unit and then right click on a highlighted (in white) Hex the Unit has to perform an Air Recon mission on. Doing 
so will bring up the Combat Selection Popup and allow you to add even more Air Units to join the Air Recon mission. 
 
Keep in mind that Air Recon missions last only 3 combat rounds (and the first 2 are less lethal where it concerns 
air-to-air fire). More about this in the Air Combat section. 
 
An Air Recon mission will give you Recon Points on the Hex in question, but also on neighbouring Hexes. It gives you 
much more recon than any coincidental recon gained with other missions. The Recon Points gained in this way are of 
course only valid for the remainder of your turn. 

Air Bridges 
When in Air Bridge Order Mode you are not immediately executing Air Bridges, instead you are setting the order to do 
so at the start of your next turn. 
 
To order an Air Bridge mission you need to switch the Order Mode to Air Bridge. Once there this is done you left click 
to select an Air Unit and then right click on a highlighted (in white) Hex the Unit has to perform an Air Bridge mission 
on. Doing so will establish the Air Bridge order.  
 
You’ll be notified by the appearance of a letter on the Unit and the Hex. Note that this letter has a background color to 
indicate its status. 
 
Color  Status 

Gray  Just ordered, will be executed early next turn 

Black  Executed without issue start of this turn 

Red  Executed with damage suffered start of this turn 

 Blue  Executed with less logistical points than expected at start of this turn. 

Orange  Executed with less logistical points than expected at start of this turn. And 
also suffered damage. 
 
You can cancel the order by going to the specific Air Bridge Detail Popup (accessible through Air Bridge Report in your 
Reports Tab or through Zone Logistical Bottom Subtab) or by re-issuing the Air Bridge Order on the same Hex (which 
will be interpreted as a cancelling of the order) 
 
However keep in mind that Aircraft (except VTOL) will need a Hex with a sufficient Airbase Level in their Air Bridge 
destination Hex. Inspect your Air Models’ details to learn the minimum Airbase Level necessary.  
 
As Air Bridges are only executed at the start of your next turn make sure you’ll leave enough Action Points (and 
maximized to Readiness) with your Units. Otherwise they might not be able to execute the Air Bridge Order. When the 
Air Bridges are executed it is possible enemy Air Units intercept your mission, or enemy Anti-Air Units fire upon your 
Air Bridge attempt. This can cost you Air forces as well as impose a Damage Percentage on the Air Bridge.  
 
Keep in mind that Air Bridge missions last only 3 combat rounds (and the first 2 are less lethal where it concerns 
air-to-air fire) 
 
If two Air Bridges are present between Hex A and Hex B, one from A -> B and one from B -> A any Logistical Point 
usage is spread over the two, same for determining damage. Both are weighted for their size when applying these 
rules. 
 
Having a Damage Percentage on an Air Bridge means that any Troops or Items flowing through it will probably lose 
that percentage. For automated flows it is possible to set a maximum Damage Percentage in the SHQ Unit 
Administration Popup. If you set this to maximum 20% Damage, for example, your SHQ will not try to use an Air Bridge 
with 30% Damage to supply a Unit. 
 
Some Items have no weight (Water/Energy) for regular land transport, but for Air all items have at least a weight of 1.  
 
If a logistical connection by Land is possible the Air Bridge will not be used. 
 
Air Bridges can be used for: 
● Supply to Unit (SHQ can disable) 
● Supply to Zone (SHQ can disable) 
● Pickup from Zone (but not Maximum Storage) (SHQ can disable) 
● Strategic Move Mode (either as Air Landing or Air Evacuate) 
● SHQ->SHQ Transfer 
● Replacement Troops buying (auto-replacements do not work through Air Bridges) 
 
When you have Air Bridge into enemy terrain you can use it to do Air Landings which can result in Combat. The 
defender will have +50% bonus on their attack scores during such a combat.  
 
You can initiate an Air Landing or Air Evacuate by using the Strategic Move Mode. The Air Bridges simply extend your 
normal road/rail Logistical Network. 

Air Intercepting 
For each Air Unit you have you can set its Air Intercept order in the Unit Administration Popup Window. The Intercept 
order is based around the Readiness Score of the Air Unit. This is because Readiness plays a major role in combat 
performance. Having an Air Unit intercept at 50 Readiness instead of 100 Readiness can easily double the losses for 
the interceptors.  
 
Air Intercept tests are made during the enemy turn. The Air Units Intercept range is calculated using the Readiness 
Score instead of the Action Points and diminished with 33%. Interception is never a certainty, but the closer the 
Interceptor Unit is to the Hex where the enemy Air Units are active and the higher the Readiness, the more chance an 
Air Intercept will take place.   

Anti-Air Units 
If an enemy attacks (or otherwise engages) one of your Hexes any Anti-Air weapons that are in AA-Range will join the 
defense of the Hex.  
 
Keep in mind that out-of-Hex Units will fire, but will not be able to be targeted themselves.  
 

Air Missions Comparative Overview 

A quick overview of some of the particularities: 
 

Mission Type  Range  Uses up Action  Fuel Consumption  Combat Rounds 

Points 

Air Recon  Depends on Action  Yes  100%  3 

Points 

Air Strike  Depends on Action  Yes  100%  10 

Points 

Air Bridge  Depends on Action  No  50%  3 

Points maximized 
for Readiness 

Air Intercept  Depends on  No  50%  Depends on 

Readiness Score  attackers mission 
acting as Action 
Points 

AA Intercept (out of  -  No  None  Depends on 

Hex)  attackers mission 
 

Airbases 
Active Airbases produce Airbase Points. 
These Airbase Points are needed to properly service any Air Units on the Hex. 
The needed number of Airbase Points needed is the sum of sqrt(size) of all Air in the Hex. 
 
Airbase Level  Airbase Points 

Level I  40 

Level II  80 

Level III  160 

Level IV  320 

Level V  640 

Level VI  1280 

 Level VII  2560 
 
If the number of Airbase Points is equal or larger than the Airbase Points needed everything is going just great. 
However if there are too many Air Forces in the Hex it will result in a decrease of Max Readiness and Readiness 
Recovery. 
 
Shortage of Airbase  Readiness Recovery  Readiness Recovery  Max Readiness for  Max Readiness for 
Points  Modifier for regular  Modifier for  regular aircraft  VTOL, Helicopter or 
aircraft  VTOL, Helicopter or  Thopter 
Thopter 

25%  -12.5%  -12.5%  75  95 

50%  -25%  -25%  50  90 

100%  -50%  -50%  10  80 

Air force Research Council and Air Techs 

It is possible to form an additional Research Council solely focussed on research of Air Force related Techs. You can 
play perfectly fine without it as the regular Military Research Council can discover and research the same Techs. 
However if you want to focus more on Air Force research while still continuing research on other Techs as well this 
extra Air Force Council will allow you to do exactly that. 

Air Model Types 

Model Types 
Aircraft 
Aircraft come in 8 frame sizes. From the Ultralight Aircraft Model Type to the Extra Heavy Aircraft Model Type. The 
larger the frame the more engines and weight it can carry. Except for when they are using VTOL engines they’ll need 
Airbases to take off from and to land on. 
 
Helicopters 
Helicopters come in 3 frame sizes. The largest one even has two rotors. All helicopters can take off and land 
anywhere they please. Helicopters are notoriously slow compared to Aircraft and Thopters equipped with Jet Engines.  
 
Thopters 
Thopters are superior to Helicopters as they have the same advantage in being able to take off and land anywhere, but 
being equipped with Jet Engines they can have much higher speeds and thus higher Dogfight Scores. 

Overview of Choices 
Here follows an overview of the Choices you can make when designing a new Air. 
 
Role 
This is an important choice as the role determines in what kind of Formations the Model will be usable, what altitude it 
will fly and if it will try to dogfight with enemy aircraft… 
 
Role  Avoid dogfighting enemy aircraft?  Altitude 

Recon  Yes*  Low 

Fighter  No  Low 

 Fighter-Bomber  No  Low 

Tactical Bomber  Yes*  Low 

Level Bomber  Yes*  High 

Transporter  Yes*  High 

*=if possible 
 
Engines 
The more powerful the engines the more range and/or maximum speed the Model will have.  
 
Type  Notes 

Propellor  Basic start. Heavier ones get very heavy and guzzle really a 
lot of oil. 

Turboprop  33% more power. Heavier ones lose the expensive weight 
increases and oil consumption. It is definitely an 
improvement, but not humongous. 

Jet Engine  Double the weight and fuel usage, but also double the 
Engine Power. 
Requires Machinery Items to build. 

Turbojet  Increases engine Power with +100%. 

VTOL Turbojet  Same as Turbojet but more expensive to produce and 

taking more Weight on the aircraft. (max upto 2 engines) 

Plasma  Increases engine Power again with +100% 

Rotor  More powerful, but Helicopters need that. Also more 

expensive as helicopters are costly. 
But they are the first Tech that allows you to land anywhere. 

Rocket  Super powerful, but guzzles fuel in amazing quantities 

 
Wings 
Only for aircraft. Helicopters and Thopters do not need to make this choice. The larger the wings the more lift, the 
lower the takeoff speed and the stall speed. 
 
Fuel Tank 
The more fuel on board the more range the Model will have. 
 
Air-to-Air Weapon 
Used to engage other aircraft.  
 
Type  Notes 

Twin Heavy MG  Simplest way to obtain air superiority 

MG Cupola’s  Simplest way to have some defense against enemy Fighters 

Air-to-Air Missiles  Innovation in destroying enemy aircraft from a long distance. The 
heavier the missile the longer the distance. 
 
 
Air-to-Surface Weapon 
Used to engage ground targets. 
 
Type  Notes 

Bombing hatch  Powerful against structural and soft targets 

Precision  Powerful against hard targets 

Bombs 

Air-to-Surface  Innovation in destroying hard targets. More 

Rockets  effective than Precision Bombs. 
 
Cargo Space 
Used to transport Troops or Items through Air Bridges.  

Viability 
When you are designing an Air Model there is a final viability check being performed before the Design of the Model 
can start. This Viability check ensures that your parameters will result in a Model that can obtain enough speed to take 
off and stay in the air and at least have a range of several Hexes. 

Anti-Air Model Types 

These Model Types compromise the SAM Launcher, Flak Gun and Manpad. All three follow the regular Model Design 
rules for Land Units. 
 
SAM Launchers have superior range and can reach high altitude aircraft. Manpads are cheap, but are only useful 
against low altitude aircraft. Flak Guns are in between. 
 
Weapon Type  Anti-Air  Tech Level  Anti-Air  Effectiveness  Effectiveness 
Value  Required  Range  versus Low  versus High 
Altitude  Altitude 

Sam Launcher  100  -  2-4  100%  100% 

Small  (kill-40%) 

Sam Launcher  130  Tech 3  3-5  100%  100% 

Medium  (kill-60%) 

Sam Launcher  150  Tech 5  4-6  100%  100% 

Large  (kill-80%) 

Flak Gun  50  -  0  100%  50% 

50mm 

Flak Gun  75  -  1  100%  75% 

88mm 

Flak Gun  100  Tech 3  1  100%  100% 

100mm SHV 

Flak Gun  200  Tech 5  1  100%  100% 

Twin-100mm SHV 

Manpad  40  -  0  100%  0% 

 (Guided RPG Tech) 

Heavy Manpad  50  -  0  100%  25% 

(Heavy Guided RPG Tech) 

Super Heavy Manpad  60  -  0  100%  50% 

(Missile Tech) 

MG*  4  0  0  100%  0% 

Twin MG Heavy*  20  10  0  100%  0% 

Quad MG*  30  0  0  100%  0% 

*=Note that any Model with MGs will have some limited Anti-Air value against low altitude aircraft. 

Air Formations  
For a specific Air Formation to be raised you’ll need to have developed a Model using the Role that the Air Formation 
needs. So for example to raise a Recon Squadron you’ll need to have designed a Model with the Recon Role.  
 
All Air Formations are accessible without the need to discover them or to operationalize them. 

Air Combat 
There are a number of special rules you should be aware of. 

Air-to-Air missiles 
Air Models with MGs suffer big combat penalties (attacker and defender) in air-to-air dogfighting during the first 2 
combat rounds. However Air Models with Air Missiles will have much less or no such penalty and therefore will be very 
lethal against Air Models just equipped with MGs. 

Dogfight score 
The Air Models will have their Dogfight score ratio used as a modifier, meaning that for example Air Model A with 
Dogfight Score 20 attacking Air Model B with Dogfight Score 40 will have its attack value reduced with 50%. The 
reverse effect is also there subject to a square root. This effect is also less pronounced in the first combat round and 
somewhat during the second combat round, as the initial distances involved will negate any dogfighting advantage. 

Airbase under attack 

Any Air Units that are attacked on their own Airbase Hex will suffer combat penalties. Their attack points will be 
reduced in combat round 1,2 and 3 by respectively -100%, -66% and -33%. Their hit points will be reduced by -66%, -44% 
and -22%. These penalties simulate the time needed to scramble and get up in the air. It might well be advisable to 
place some Anti-Air weaponry on Airbase Hexes in order to protect them. 

Air OHQs and Leader Skills 

It is possible to Raise a special Air OHQ. Such an OHQ can have up to 8 Air Units under its command. It allows you to 
assign a dedicated Leader to command these Air Units.  
 
Such an Air Commander will be able to learn different kinds of air combat related Skills and significantly improve the 
performance of your air forces.  
 
The following Skills can be mastered: 
 
Air Tactics  
This Skill will help improve communications and flight plans of all Aircraft in combat 
(Increase Attack Value) 
 
Air Intercepts 
This Skill will help intercepting Aircraft to most smartly intercept and target enemy attacking aircraft. 
(Increase Attack Value of Defenders) 
 
Air Offensive 
This Skill will help attacking Aircraft to use optimal tactics and surprise vectors to target enemy interceptors or 
grounded aircraft. (Not used in Air Bridge Missions which are not deemed offensive) 
(Increase Attack Value of Attackers) 
 
Ground Attack 
This Skill will help coordinate Aircraft to strike ground targets at the best advantage. 
(Increase Attack Value of Air Attackers versus ground targets) 
 
Aerial Logistics 
This Skill will help immensely with getting Air Bridges to perform better than normally expected. 
 
Anti-Air Tactics 
This Skill will increase the aim and placement of Anti-Air weapons like SAM Launchers and Flak Guns. 
(Increase Attack Value of ground Defenders versus Air targets) 
 
Against the Odds + Lead from the Front 
Also used by Air Commanders 

AI rules differences 
The AI gets Free Airbase construction, but still has to pay for their operating costs. 
The AIs aircraft do not have Minimum Airbase Level rules, but still need an Airbase to operate. 
The AI does not try to establish Air Bridges as for now. 
The AI does not get reduced Max Readiness and Readiness regain for insufficient Airbase Points.