AE Air Issues and Air OOB Issues [OUTDATED]

[jcjordan]

This mostly an AI type question on air - will the "die roll" for air units to attack something that has a strong CAP being worked on/changed? In most of my games vs AI I set a very exp/morale unit to Nav Atk & it won't attack something like the KB Death Star TF the AI uses in the next hex w/ or w/o escort yet it will attack this single ship AP that is at the extreme range & in no danger to the base. IRL the air units would attack the KB as it's the most dangerous. This seems to plague land air more than naval air that if there is a strong cap presence or fighter presence, the unit fails the "die rolls" to attack a target very regularly while IRL they would attack the target.

[ctangus]

Follow-up to your post on different plane types - you mentioned light bombers require a minimum level 3 AF for offensive ops. What's the minimum for fighter-bombers & attack/medium/heavy bombers?

[TheElf]

ORIGINAL: Brady

" Night Air search phase "

WOOHOO![:)]

Torpedo's, Tracked for alunits or just CV's, I supose each CV will have a number they can carry dependenbt on Class? What about AV's?

Correct on CVs. AV's fall under the Naval team. Sorry.

[TheElf]

ORIGINAL: jcjordan

This mostly an AI type question on air - will the "die roll" for air units to attack something that has a strong CAP being worked on/changed? In most of my games vs AI I set a very exp/morale unit to Nav Atk & it won't attack something like the KB Death Star TF the AI uses in the next hex w/ or w/o escort yet it will attack this single ship AP that is at the extreme range & in no danger to the base. IRL the air units would attack the KB as it's the most dangerous. This seems to plague land air more than naval air that if there is a strong cap presence or fighter presence, the unit fails the "die rolls" to attack a target very regularly while IRL they would attack the target.

That whole dynamic was one of the first things to go. Better be sure before you send units unescorted...

[Mike Solli]

ORIGINAL: TheElf
Torpedoes are tracked now.

Very cool. [:D]

[TheElf]

ORIGINAL: ctangus

Follow-up to your post on different plane types - you mentioned light bombers require a minimum level 3 AF for offensive ops. What's the minimum for fighter-bombers & attack/medium/heavy bombers?

FB's SHOULD be considered the same as Lt Bombers or DBs (need to finalize this). Heavies are Level 4 AF restricted as are Mediums. Though I THINK Med. and Hvy's might be able to fly with extended range loads...I'll have to ask michaelm to follow up on this for me...

[TheElf]

Ok that's it for Day 1 folks. This guy has to rack out. Keep the questions coming. More answers in the morning...

Oh and welcome to our wonderland, we're as excited about this as you all seem to be!

[spence]

ATTACK BOMBERS - Think Kenney's 5th AF. These are the strafers, masthead attacks, and Parafraggers. They will be mostly limited to units in the 5th AF.

Essentially the 5th was the only numbered AF that operated regularly this way, so we have made them a special unit of sorts by limiting Attack bomber variants to units in this command. You can still order other units to perform low level attacks, but without large numbers of forward firing .50s AAA will cause higher attrition and FATIGUE.

I hope that the USN land based bombers (PV-1s and PV-2s, PBJ's, PB4Y-1s and PB4Y-2s) figure into this low level stuff also. They never got into the "high level precision bombing" thing. The PV-1, Navy version of the short lived USAAF B-34/B-37, had a window in the nose for a bombardier originally but that was removed and replaced with a 3 pack of .50 cal MGs fairly early on. My father flew these planes and says that his bombsight was a dead fly on the windscreen and his training was entirely for masthead and glide bombing attacks. PB4Ys operated in pairs with one flying circles around a target ship strafing with all its turret guns while the other ran in for a masthead attack.

Oh yeah, good night[:)]

[Don Bowen]

ORIGINAL: Brady

Night, is it the same as before, or have their been changes made?

Seems to be getting warmer and more humid. Must be global warming.

[Terminus]

[:D]

[USSAmerica]

ORIGINAL: Mike Solli

ORIGINAL: TheElf
Torpedoes are tracked now.

Very cool. [:D]

You like tracking anything, Mike. [:'(]

[Brady]

B5M......yes....Mmmmm-?

[ChezDaJez]

ORIGINAL: Brady

B5M......yes....Mmmmm-?

Nothing is cast in stone as yet but probably not given its very limited run and immediate obsolesence.

Chez

[Brady]

 The Japanese Navy aparently orderd as noted and received 125 of these machines, and then decided on the Kate instead, prefering it in the end over the Mitsubishi machine, Both Machines are very similar in ofensive ordance capabalitys, in fact their prety much identical, Torp and bomboad the same( But so are Most Japanese Bombers).

Various referances (Book's) I have indicate that the B5M was operationaly deployed from SE asia during the first part of the war, the Unit show above is as noted by the Tail code part of the 33 KoKutai, again acording to a referance of mine this unit was operation from Late 41 to late 42, the game does not howeaver "Do Composit" so I beleave this unit is Not represented in game as such. Many Japanese KoKutai were in fact composit formations, the game side steps this in part by using Hikotai (squadron's) though I dont beleave any Hikotai from this unit are present either ( I may be wrong on this though).

............

Above from: Name This...(464), Which raises an interesting question:

Are Japanese are units still modeled the same or are thier composit unit's?

[Mike Solli]

ORIGINAL: USS America

ORIGINAL: Mike Solli

ORIGINAL: TheElf
Torpedoes are tracked now.

Very cool. [:D]

You like tracking anything, Mike. [:'(]

Yup, that's my curse in life. [:D]

[Williamb]

Can you please put a "toggle" switch in that allows us to turn off recon missions. It would speed up the game and takes so damn long to resolve all the photo recon missions. Rather just have them in Intel reports

[Brady]

Just to be clear, thier was mention of Air to surface search radar, but is their air to air radar as well, and if so are they both intended to operate as one would expect? Like if you had a Jake on Nigfht Naval Search and thier was no moon would it "see" better than a Jake that did not have radar?

[pad152]

1. Pilot Pools Japan

The numbers never make any sense to me because, every naval aircraft type gets it pilots from the same pool. I doubt a carrier figther/bomber pilot got the same level of training as the pilot flying a float plane or tranport plane.[;)] Japan starts the war with a lot of understrength naval air units I always hated to waste a good naval carrier pilot on some float plane group!

- The pilot pools needs to be separate for General Naval Aviation and Trained Carrier Pilots.

2. Operational losses vs pilot replacements

- Losing more pilots to Op losses than you get in a month is just wrong, no airforce in world could operate like this! If Japan is losing 30 pilots a month to op losses then they need to generate more then 30 a month. It's all to easy to break the back of the Japanese air forces in 1942 due to this. This makes the Japanese air forces a dog that eats it's self.

3. Editor

- Allow setting the experince level for the pilot pool for each year of the war.

4 Airgroup Experince

Allied Airgroups seem to go from can't the broad side of a barn to killers that can't miss, Japan's Airgoups go through the same process in reverse. I beleive this is due to the Japan bonus in 1942.

- I say let (pilot experince + aircraft type + HQ air) define the airgroups performance not some hard coded trigger in 1942.

[ChezDaJez]

Various referances (Book's) I have indicate that the B5M was operationaly deployed from SE asia during the first part of the war, the Unit show above is as noted by the Tail code part of the 33 KoKutai, again acording to a referance of mine this unit was operation from Late 41 to late 42, the game does not howeaver "Do Composit" so I beleave this unit is Not represented in game as such. Many Japanese KoKutai were in fact composit formations, the game side steps this in part by using Hikotai (squadron's) though I dont beleave any Hikotai from this unit are present either ( I may be wrong on this though).

The B5M1 was primarily built as a hedge against Nakajima's B5N Kate and its various teething problems including those with the hydraulics. The B5M Mabel was terminated once it became apparent that the problems had been resolved. had been resolved. Most B5M's were already relegated to secondary duties by the start of the war and by the end of 1942, there weren't any remaining in front line service. It's possible that if a strong enough case can be made for it, it could possibly be included but I wouldn't hold my breath over it.

As far as composite squadrons go, they won't be modeled as such. In other words, no unit will have a mix of aircraft. While it is recognized that many Japanese units used hacks (small transports) for ferrying personnel around, they can't be included under the current game limitations.

There are many changes to the way the Air OoB is presented (smaller units and such) but I'll let one of the Air OoB experts give the details.

Chez

[ChezDaJez]

ORIGINAL: Brady

Just to be clear, thier was mention of Air to surface search radar, but is their air to air radar as well, and if so are they both intended to operate as one would expect? Like if you had a Jake on Nigfht Naval Search and thier was no moon would it "see" better than a Jake that did not have radar?

Not sure about the air-air radar as it was generally a very short range affair. Air-surface radar will give a greater chance of detection regardless of time of day.

Chez