Is the Ki-43-Ib Oscar a dog?

[DivePac88]

What’s wrong with the Ki-43-Ib Oscar, some players call it a dog. But packaged with a good pilot I can see nothing wrong with it. Also in comparison with Allied fighters of the same period it seems ok. About the only problem I can see is that it is maybe under gunned for taking on Allied bombers. It also appears that the Japanese pilot’s only complaint about it, was that it was less maneuverable than the Ki-27 Nate. Official USAAF analysis stated that it was a dangerous opponent.[:'(]

[String]

ORIGINAL: DivePac88

What’s wrong with the Ki-43-Ib Oscar, some players call it a dog. But packaged with a good pilot I can see nothing wrong with it. Also in comparison with Allied fighters of the same period it seems ok. About the only problem I can see is that it is maybe under gunned for taking on Allied bombers. It also appears that the Japanese pilot’s only complaint about it, was that it was less maneuverable than the Ki-27 Nate. Official USAAF analysis stated that it was a dangerous opponent.[:'(]

Light as a feather, and horribly weak armament. Otherwise a good plane

[Terminus]

The Oscar's only flaws were insufficient firepower and structural integrity. Other than that, a good plane.

[AW1Steve]

Compared with the Nate, it's great! Compared with the Corsair or Mustang, not so good. I'd put it in the same class as a P-36, Buffalo, or P-39. Be very carefull against B-17's and other 4 engine bombers. You might consider using it as an escort , rather than cap , if heavies are around.

[Mike Solli]

ORIGINAL: AW1Steve

Compared with the Nate, it's great! Compared with the Corsair or Mustang, not so good. I'd put it in the same class as a P-36, Buffalo, or P-39. Be very carefull against B-17's and other 4 engine bombers. You might consider using it as an escort , rather than cap , if heavies are around.

Very true, but until the Tony and Tojo come out, what else does the IJAAF have?

[AW1Steve]

ORIGINAL: Mike Solli

ORIGINAL: AW1Steve

Compared with the Nate, it's great! Compared with the Corsair or Mustang, not so good. I'd put it in the same class as a P-36, Buffalo, or P-39. Be very carefull against B-17's and other 4 engine bombers. You might consider using it as an escort , rather than cap , if heavies are around.

Very true, but until the Tony and Tojo come out, what else does the IJAAF have?

Not much , that's why I like to mix IJN and IJAAF units , to use each others strongpoints to nuetralize the weak points. No reason Zero's or Claudes can't do cap while Oscars do escorts for nells, betties and sally's. I suppose , that some people might think it gamey, the INJ and IJA working together. [8|]

[Mike Solli]

I do much the same thing, Steve.  Unfortunately, I usually can't spare many Zero Daitai because there aren't many and there are too many missions for them.

[Yamato hugger]

Nates and Oscars serve very well as TF escorts. The game doesnt take type of plane into consideration when it looks at numbers of CAP over a TF when it decides to attack or not so you can usually "cover" low value TFs with these to good effect.

They are also useful in backwater areas attacking enemy ground troops. In other words, training for the day when they get that shiney new Tojo.

[AW1Steve]

ORIGINAL: Mike Solli

I do much the same thing, Steve.  Unfortunately, I usually can't spare many Zero Daitai because there aren't many and there are too many missions for them.

I tend to keep the older models on my CV's due to range , which means that my newer models become shore based CAP's. Claudes don't do badly against bombers , only fighters. A mix of a smaller group of Zero's, (9) with a larger group of claudes can be very effective for CAP.


Don't worry Bobo, I shan't be using these tactics against you as I have no Claudes or Oscars in the scenario. [:D]

[Mike Solli]

I pull my Claudes from the frontline as quickly as I can.  Why use a Claude when you can use the superior Zero with the Zero bonus?

[AW1Steve]

ORIGINAL: Mike Solli

I pull my Claudes from the frontline as quickly as I can.  Why use a Claude when you can use the superior Zero with the Zero bonus?

As you said, numbers. You should replace the claudes if you can, but always keep a healthy reserve, a very healthy reserve , for you CV squadrons. One accidental scrape could leave you hurting for long legged zeros. [8|]

[engineer]

The Oscar does fine for the first few months of the game.  The problems really start if Oscar formations start tangling with B-17's, Hurricanes, P-40s or Wildcats.  The Japanese player wants to get his IJA pilots into Tojo's and Tony's as quick as possible and the Allied player wants to engage anything other than a Zero at first and anything at all after the Zero bonus disappears in order to attrit the good initial pilots and overwhelm the Japanese training pipeline.  It's the old "Quantity has a quality all it's own" argument. 

[niceguy2005]

ORIGINAL: Terminus

The Oscar's only flaws were insufficient firepower and structural integrity. Other than that, a good plane.

So what your saying is easy to shoot down and no fire power (ie. can't shoot down others), but otherwise its a great plane. [:D]

In game terms I found the Oscar to be a horrible plane. I lost many a good pilot to P-40s. Having it to do over again I would rush research and production of the Tojo as a replacement.

[niceguy2005]

ORIGINAL: Mike Solli

I do much the same thing, Steve.  Unfortunately, I usually can't spare many Zero Daitai because there aren't many and there are too many missions for them.

I agree Zero Daitai are in short supply. Early in the war though, I think it could be manageable. I would send Oscars to Philipines, DEI, North Pac and China, and mix them in in Malaya, while keeping the Zero Daitai at the tip of the spear with a few as garrison in Cent Pac, and otherwise lead the charge into South Pac and Burma.

I get all Nate units to the rear or upgraded ASAP. I hate Nates, totally worthless plane.

[Yamato hugger]

Well a lot of this argument is based on PDUs on of course. With PDUs off, you pretty much have no choice. The Oscar is your plane.

[niceguy2005]

ORIGINAL: Mike Solli

I pull my Claudes from the frontline as quickly as I can.  Why use a Claude when you can use the superior Zero with the Zero bonus?

I agree, if I have Zeros I would upgrade immediately. But I'd rather use a Claude unit than I Nate unit for just about any mission. It probably has more to do with pilot quality, but Claude units do better.

[Q-Ball]

You will count the days until the first Tojo or Tony rolls off the line.

I would invest in some R&D on those, they make a big difference. Either one is fine, but for production reasons I prefer Tojo, but that's just me.

As everyone says, love her or hate her, Oscar is your plane until then.

NOTE: Nate is fine for training in China, so not completely worthless. If you haven't already though, TURN OFF/convert your Nate factories! You start with way more than you will ever want to use.
PS: Same for IDA, and a few other crappy models.

PPS: As to official US Army analysis, the consensus here seems to be that the Hayabusa was more effective IRL than in WITP. We're talking WITP.

[Panther Bait]

In WitP, next time I would definitely keep the Oscars and Nates away from Burma.  I tried to use my Oscars, and all I seem to do was increase the experience of the AVG even higher than it already was.  They are killing me now even with Tonies/Tojos because my pilots are only around 65-70 exp.
 
Since it is a BigB PDU off game, now I have to hope that the Oscar II is some kind of an improvement if I want to take advantage of the remaining Nate/Oscar I squadrons.  At least it has a little armor and a little better armament, but I don't have high hopes it will make much difference against P-40Es.

[Shark7]

There are three main problems with the Oscar:

1) It has poor armament
2) It has poor armor
3) No self-sealing fuel tanks

Combine 2 and 3 together and you end up with a lot of slowly dissapating fireballs at 15000 feet.

The Oscar just can not stand up to the heavier allied fighters.

[Yamato hugger]

Actually the Oscar was one of the best 1 on 1 dogfighters in the world at the time. Its problem was in a many on many fight whoever the Oscar was shooting at had time to get help to get them off his tail.