Best US-Brit carrier ac combo

[buzz21]

Hi,Iam new to this.But what are the best Aircraft group or types to have on my US carriers.

[angus]

Originally posted by buzz21
Hi,Iam new to this.But what are the best Aircraft group or types to have on my US carriers.

The ones they arrive with, or whatever the game upgrades them to, will be the best available. That will be F6Fs, SBDs and TBFs if you have them and F4F-4s in place of the F6Fs otherwise. If you are stuck with F4F-3s instead of F4F-4s or TBDs instead of TBFs you have a problem. Putting Marine F4Us on carriers (is this possible, I've never played that far ?) would be a bit gamey because they weren't used on carriers in the S Pacific until after UV ends.

Angus

[pasternakski]

Originally posted by buzz21
Hi,Iam new to this.But what are the best Aircraft group or types to have on my US carriers.

In Pacific War, you have to work with the groups that are assigned to your carriers. They cannot be flown off and other groups cannot be flown on. You can upgrade your groups when you have sufficient numbers of better planes in your aircraft pools.

Replace the F2A "Buffaloes" immediately with F4F "Wildcats" (the only US carrier to sport the F2A at the beginning of the 1941-onward campaign games is the Lexington). These will be your mainstay carrier fighters until F4U "Corsairs" and F6F "Hellcats" show up later on. Eventually, there will be so many of these in your pools that it is a matter of personal preference which aircraft type you equip your CV groups with (although carriers arriving in early 1943 onward will be equipped with the F6F). Historically, the F6F was the better carrier plane, while land-based VMF groups were generally equipped with the F4U. In PW, the differences are not worth writing home about. If you're still playing in '45, the F8F will show up, which is kind of a "super F6F."

SBD "Dauntlesses" are a great dive bomber and will eventually be replaced by the SB2U "Helldiver," which is not much of an improvement, but is produced in huge numbers, so you might as well use it (historically, the SB2U was an unstable weapons platform that cost several pilots their lives and was seen by many of them as an undesirable replacement for the steady, reliable SBD).

The poor old TBD "Devastator" torpedo plane is all you've got to work with at the beginning. In May '42, you will start receiving the vastly superior TBF "Avenger" (later, TBMs start showing up, which are basically the same aircraft with improvements, the most significant being self-sealing fuel tanks, which make it more durable than the TBF). The TBF (TBM) is a good ground attack aircraft, as well, so be sure that your CVEs capable of carrying their own air groups are equipped with them to support your amphibious advances after the tide turns (if it does. If it doesn't, reboot and give 'er another shot).

The British planes at the beginning of the early campaign are the next closest thing to hopeless. Replace them with American designs at your earliest opportunity. Change aircraft factories to production of the superior American designs as soon as you can ("Swordfish," "Albacores," "Fulmars," and the like are just not worth having). By the time competent British designs come along ("Seafire," et al.), you will be fully equipped with excellent American gear, and there's no reason to go back.

If you play the Japanese (which is a kick), in campaign games beginning in 1941, you have some small carriers that have obsolete A5M "Claudes" for fighters. Replace them with A6Ms. D3A "Val" dive bombers and B5N "Kate" torpedo planes are your attack planes for most of the war. If your carriers survive long enough, you will get more advanced replacement planes eventually, but your pilot quality will erode fairly quickly, and these later designs arrive in less than adequate numbers, particularly if the Allies are making inroads against your production infrastructure.

Much of this is subjective, and other players may have different ideas. I have over a decade of experience with the various permutations of PW, though, and the above seems to me to be pretty sound. I hope that you find it helpful.

I also hope that you enjoy PW. It's a great game despite its age.

[CynicAl]

Basically what he said, with a few refinements.

US:
The F4Fs are the best carrier fighters you've got in the early Allied game, so get those distributed to all Fleet and Marine squadrons as fast as you can. The F4U will arrive in late 42 or early 43 (depending on what version of GGPW you're playing), and if you like you can switch your VF squadrons to this type as aircraft become available. About mid 43 you get the F6F, the "natural" upgrade for the F4F and standard equipment in your carrier-based fighter squadrons. If you haven't switched to the F4U, your F4F squadrons will automatically upgrade to the F6Fs as they become available. In most versions of GGPW, there's no in-game difference between the F4U and the F6F, though that's scheduled to change for v3.2; both are clearly superior to the F4F. Finally, in mid to late 1945 the F8F will become available; your F6F squadrons will automatically upgrade to the F8F with the usual caveat; and the F8F is largely superior to the F6F/F4U. TBDs aren't very good, but they're all you've got for the first several months. Worse yet, you won't get very many replacements, so be careful with your VT squadrons until the TBFs start rolling off the lines.

UK:
Go US all the way, as early as possible. Never operate a British aircraft type from a carrier one turn longer than you absolutely have to. Land-based air is a different story, but at sea the US types are clear favorites over their British contemporaries. Fulmars are hopeless; Seafires are equivalent in maneuver but inferior in range and durability to the F4U and F6F; the Firefly arrives too late and leans too much to the "bomber" side of "fighter-bomber" - if you fill your fighter slot with Fireflies, you won't have a fighter. The attack side is even worse: the old biplanes they start with don't compare well to even the TBD; the Barracuda, when it finally arrives, is thoroughly outclassed by the much earlier TBF/TBM. The only reason to use the British types at all is if you're a real stickler for historical flavor - or looking for ways to make your life more difficult.

[pasternakski]

Oh, Al, I just LOVE the way you refine me ... tee-hee, tee-hee ...