Aircraft replacements....

[SamRo]

in WITP is there going to be a UV type replacement model? or is it going to be like PAC?? & will we be able to manually change the type of aircraft allocated to squadrons??

I think this has been covered but I don't think I read the "official" responds... any one of you guy's care to enlighten me?

[worr]

Originally posted by SamRo
in WITP is there going to be a UV type replacement model? or is it going to be like PAC?? & will we be able to manually change the type of aircraft allocated to squadrons??

I think this has been covered but I don't think I read the "official" responds... any one of you guy's care to enlighten me?

I'ld love to see a production control as in PacWar.

You could choose to devope certain ac types over others.

Worr, out

[Piiska]

Ah. The good old, ‘do we have control over the production’, question. I tried to find the old thread were this very topic was discussed ad nausea, but it is gone.

Short summary of that thread could be: Only Matrix knows how the production will be implemented. Maybe Alfa testers could reveal something for the rest of us …unless they are bound by a holy oath of secrecy.

Something else occurred to me when reading this (shameless hijacking attempt).

Do airplanes in airbases that are isolated receive replacements automatically from the replacement pool?

I explain a bit. Let’s say that there is an island that has 20 Wildcats. These Wildcats were originally transported to the island by a CV and the nearest airbase is beyond the maximum range of the Wildcats. If this air group suffers losses, are these losses automatically replaced from the replacement pool, even though the planes produced in the mainland can’t reach the base due to their inadequate maximum range?

I would be relieved if this happens automatically when the island is receiving continuous stream of supplies from the convoys to avoid micromanagement, but what happens if this island is under a siege?

Can all the planes in the base be destroyed so that the base doesn’t receive any new planes before a supply convoy arrives? Or does the invading force have to fight every turn against new set of airplanes that came to the island from the replacement pool -even when their range would not be adequate to fly there.

What about the plane types, such as B-17s that could reach the base via another nearby airfield? Do they beam up to the isolated base automatically, or should the force laying the siege be able to ‘have a go’ on the arriving replacement aircraft when they attempt to land?

[lucascuccia]

I agree with the last writer on this thread. Spare or replacement aircraft to isolated bases does need to be considered. When the 67th Fighter Squadron was sent to New Caledonia in early 42, the had IIRC 47 or 52 crated P-400 (the export version of the P-39). Anyway, the TO&E of a Figher Squadron was 25 A/C. Thus when America had a few more a/c to spare, squadrons brought at least some of their spares. Now, going back to your arguement, isolated bases would be able to pull from these spares (while they lasted). If the base were not under siege, the spare pipeline might not need to be tapped, they are there for emergencies.

Also, at the early part of the war, US A/c shortages might preclude many spares, they could be added like new pilots are automatically added to squadrons in supply

With all of this said, .There needs to be a limit of total pilots in a squadron and of total a/c. This would include the 24 active fighter a/c and 24 pilots plus the spare pilots and spare a/c. In the game I am playing now, one of my squadrons which has been trainning at Nomea has nearly 100 pilots. That seems to be a flaw. A squadron would never have 3 x the reserve #s of pilots as opposed to how many could fly.

[mdiehl]

In PW isolated bases did not get automatic replacements. One can expect similar I hope from WitP.

Most US air groups had more pilots and crews than aircraft when operating at paper strength. IIRC about 1.3:1 for fighter groups and 2:1 for bomb groups, but the standards shifted as the war progressed.

Japanese parts shortages and lack of spare planes should affect all Japanese bases except those in Japan throughout the war.

[Piiska]

Originally posted by lucascuccia
I Now, going back to your arguement, isolated bases would be able to pull from these spares (while they lasted). If the base were not under siege, the spare pipeline might not need to be tapped, they are there for emergencies.

I think the spare part airplanes are indicated by the "reserve" airplanes some squadrons have.

Originally posted by mdiehl
In PW isolated bases did not get automatic replacements. One can expect similar I hope from WitP.

Yep in PacWar this was modeled, but the reason why I was asking is the experiences I have had with UV. I’m not 100% (not even 50%) sure, but I think that both sides do receive replacements even if an airbase is ‘under siege’. However, the distances in UV are usually so short in comparison to the whole Pacific theatre, that the ranges can usually be covered by almost any airplane.

But Pacific as whole is an entirely different kettle of fish indeed. If the replacement mechanics are taken straight out of UV it could be possible that bases under siege would receive replacements even if the base is ‘out of range’.

I’m simply asking out of curiosity, as I was never quite able to find out how the replacements work in UV.

A small clarification: I singled out Wildcat as an example of such an aircraft that could not be flown over wide ranges. Japanese have such fighters as well, so it goes without saying that the same restriction should apply to them as well

The other thing I was wondering was the replacement of airplanes that can be flown in; such as Lightings and Zeroes.

How did this work in reality? I have read about the Raid of Truk and inspite of staggering airlosses, in that case the Japanese didn’t send any reinforcements to the island during the raids in 16th and 17th of February 1944 -even though Zeroes could be flown there from Rabaul. Would it even be possible to replace losses during a siege if the enemy has the air superiority?

I would imagine that the planes would be flying in to the conflict area from nearby bases and engage the enemy normally, but instead of flying back to their home base they would land on the base under siege. That is if the airfields in the area are still in such condition that it could be done.

Ok. Now I’m ranting. So the question is: Is it possible to reinforce an airbase under siege and if so, how can this be done as I would imagine that any plane attempting to land while the enemy has the air superiority would be a sitting duck.

[byron13]

Originally posted by Piiska
Ah. The good old, ‘do we have control over the production’, question. I tried to find the old thread were this very topic was discussed ad nausea, but it is gone.

Probably not gone. You just have to go to the main forum page for WitP and, at the bottom, select a search for threads that were active in the past year or so.

By all means we should resurrect this debate. It has been months since we've gone at each other's throats over this issue. I've recuperated and am ready to do battle again. The fact that the alpha is out and the production is largely set makes no difference.