Gliders or Paratroop transport?

[Mobhack]

why do gliders show as DESTROYED after a landing?even when they
land ok?

Gliders fly to the LZ then offload troops and are then marked as destroyed because they are no further use to the player. If they were left "live" then the AI would spend lots of time shooting them up if it got LOS to them as soft vehicle type targets.

In reality, the glider crews left the things and went to a central rally point and were eventually sent home. They are too valuable as trained pilots to use as infantry.

Another point to destroying them on landing - it stops silly players using the glider crews as "scouts". It also gives their VP to the opposite player, making the use of glider borne troops need a bit of thought.

The gliders advantage is that any troops landed in them are reasonably concentrated on landing whereas paratroops are usually spread all over the landscape like confetti. Gliders like about 500M of open flat space to land on - they do not like trees, orchards, buildings, slope hexes, marshland, rough ground or water landing hexes!. Good visibility reduces landing crashes, but this opens up the chance of AAA, and gliders are slow fliers...

Cheers
Andy