Vengeance IV and 3.0

[sw30]

Ok, so I have this wonderful Brit/allied plane called the Veangeance IV, it even comes with a nice factory. But what groups can fly it? There are no dive bomber squadrons for the allies in sight, and the USN/USMC groups can not fly the Vengeance IV... Still in the first part of '43, so maybe a group will show up?

Jeff

[Jeremy Pritchard]

The Blenheim IV auto upgrades to the Vengeance IV.

[Dean Robb]

The Vengeance (I-IV -minor variations between models) was a dive-bomber flown by the RAF/RAAF.

The Aussies had 5 squadrons (342 aircraft total buy) starting in 1942; the squadrons mostly upgraded to the B-24 in 1943.

The Brits bought 700 of them in July 1940 and got another 300 early in Lend-Lease. The majority served with distinction in the Burma Theater. over 1500 were built for the RAF in total.

The Fleet Air Arm (RN) got a few very late in the war but by then they were obsolete.

In game terms, I created a Vengeance squadron in Calcutta to reflect the pre-war usage of the aircraft there and it's successes in Burma. By the time the Aussies would get the plane, there should be plenty of SBD-3s in theater.

A note on the Blenheim IV: 'Net sources show 4 RAF squadrons flying them: 211, 84, 62, 34. 62 & 34 actually had Mk I's, but we won't quibble . The aircraft was in service in Burma as a front-line plane through 1945 despite it's losses. The only upgrades I can find are for 211 Squadron upgrading to the Beaufighter X in late '43; that should probably be the upgrade, not the Vengeance dive bomber.

[Denniss]

In the "Japs win at Midway" scenario from Pacwar 3.0 I'm using the Vengeance to replace Dauntless dive bombers in the US Marine Corps - they have Range 5 instead of 3 from the Dauntless .
Error in the scenario ?
Never seen a Blenheim IV wishing to upgrade to Vengeance IV .

[Jeremy Pritchard]

I have found countless sources for the Blenheim IV being predominantly upgraded to the Vengeance IV, which was in turn, upgraded to the Mosquito.

The Beaufighter was not used quite as extensively as the Vengeance, in RAF service in Burma.

The upgrade line is there in the program.

[sw30]

Ah, so that's what they're there for. Useless to me, cuz I swithed all production over to Beauforts so that they would auto-upgrade to Beaufighters. (Beauforts are the only useful allied planes with an upgrade path with cost <=10)

I understand the reasoning behind having the cost >10 for a lot of the planes, but it sure limits people who want to consolidate plane types.

Jeff
PS here's another thing that puzzles me, assuming you have the Corsair, why would you need the extra range for the Vengeance over the Dauntlesses? The Dauntless has much better manuverability.

[IntellWeenie]

The main reason I can see to go with the Vengeance IV instead of the Dauntless would be firepower. Looking in th editor, the Vengeance has twice the cannon (10) and twice the bombload (20) as the Dauntless. Range of 5 vs. 3 doesn't hurt, either. IMHO, not too bad a tradeoff for a 25% loss of maneuverability, especially once you've knocked the Japanese fighters back a bit.

[Dean Robb]

Deciding to get the straight word on this matter, I went to http://www.rafweb.org/ - an excellent site for info on every RAF squadron ever in existance. Not all have histories up yet, but every squadron does have a list, in order, of the aircraft that they flew.

Of the 38 combat squadrons that flew the Blenheim IV in *any* theater (without histories, it's hard to break down Pacific only); excluding oddities (90 sqd upped to B-17s) and clear patrol squadrons, it breaks down like this:

10 up'd to Beaufighters
6 up'd to Wellingtons
6 up'd to Hudsons
5 up'd to Bostons (USAAF A-20 Havoc)
4 to Vengeance
4 to Hurricanes
1 each to B-26, Mosquito, Baltimore (USAAF A-30)

Of the squadrons I've been able to positively place in the Pacific Theater:

2 to Hurricanes
2 to Vengeance
1 to Beaufighters
1 to Hudsons.

So....perhaps, since the upgrade paths are all over the place....perhaps the Blenheim IV should not have an upgrade.