Slitherine

Do you need to set a 'home base' for AI carrier air units, or do they automatically return to the carrier they were launched from?
That could possibly save a few AI Team slots.

If no base carrier is defined they will pick the closest one to refuel/repair. Generally that is the best way to handle it because if you assign specific a carrier that may not be the optimal one.

This thread nicely answered that question for me, thanks, but I have another: Under what circumstances would you direct an air unit AI Team merely to Return to Base as a task in itself?

Answer, as it came to me while I was typing: Some event and trigger changes the status of the AI Team from, say, "Seek and Destroy" to "Return to Base." Like, "Previous orders cancelled."