My kingdom for a decent fighter

[PaxMondo]

Your build balance between IJA and IJN doesn't seem right.  You're building 450 IJA and 500 IJN fighters/month.  I would expect you to be building more IJA fighters ... and I would be shifting the IJA fighters slowly to the Frank.  For IJN, I would be building minimal Zero's.  They should only be used on CV's, all LB IJN fighter groups should be using either George or Jack.
 
As other note, until you get your 3rd generation fighters, the allies have the upper hand in a big way.  I would choose your places to defend carefully, and when you do you need at least 2:1 numeric advantage.  Even with your 3rd Gen fighters, the P51H is really tough to deal with.  Miller said it: speed kills. 

[Numdydar]

Thanks Pax. Good advice. I will definately start retooling my builds [:)]

I already found out that I need to chose my battles as everywhere I do not have a pretty big advantage, I lose [:(]

[crsutton]

ORIGINAL: PaxMondo

Your build balance between IJA and IJN doesn't seem right.  You're building 450 IJA and 500 IJN fighters/month.  I would expect you to be building more IJA fighters ... and I would be shifting the IJA fighters slowly to the Frank.  For IJN, I would be building minimal Zero's.  They should only be used on CV's, all LB IJN fighter groups should be using either George or Jack.

As other note, until you get your 3rd generation fighters, the allies have the upper hand in a big way.  I would choose your places to defend carefully, and when you do you need at least 2:1 numeric advantage.  Even with your 3rd Gen fighters, the P51H is really tough to deal with.  Miller said it: speed kills. 

Yeah, I am about to get the P47N. What a monster!

[PaxMondo]

ORIGINAL: Numdydar
I already found out that I need to chose my battles as everywhere I do not have a pretty big advantage, I lose [:(]

Yes you do. I like 3:1 myself ... but very hard to attain.

[PaxMondo]

ORIGINAL: crsutton

Yeah, I am about to get the P47N. What a monster!

It is ... when you face them, they're just about as bad as the P51. Little less manouver, little less speed, 25% more hitting power. Still, for the IJ, you gotta have at least 2:1 with a 3rd gen fighter to be able to win. With Tojo ... I don't know ... a lot more for sure. Even then, the P47/P51 will be withdrawing when they are out of ammo faster than you can get a hit on them.

[Numdydar]

ORIGINAL: PaxMondo

ORIGINAL: Numdydar
I already found out that I need to chose my battles as everywhere I do not have a pretty big advantage, I lose [:(]

Yes you do. I like 3:1 myself ... but very hard to attain.

I had that for awhile at Bangkok and was doing ok, but then he realized what was happening and stopped. Damn human intellinence [:)] Where is the AI when you need one lol?

[DivePac88]

ORIGINAL: obvert

Corsairs, P-47s and Spit VIII eat everything alive. I almost hope to get a P-38 sweep these days!

What about Hellcats... obvert mate you forgot about Hellcats! [:-]

[koniu]

ORIGINAL: DivePac88

ORIGINAL: obvert

Corsairs, P-47s and Spit VIII eat everything alive. I almost hope to get a P-38 sweep these days!

What about Hellcats... obvert mate you forgot about Hellcats! [:-]

I always look at Hellcats like decent plane but far behind P-47, F4U, Spit VIII or even P-38. They are much better from A6M, on the same level(little better) with Tojo and George and little behind Frank i think. But what can i know? In my game i am still days before they will show up.

[obvert]

ORIGINAL: DivePac88

ORIGINAL: obvert

Corsairs, P-47s and Spit VIII eat everything alive. I almost hope to get a P-38 sweep these days!

What about Hellcats... obvert mate you forgot about Hellcats! [:-]

Getting isolated Hellcat sweeps are the goal these days! [;)]

If I'm seeing 5-6 groups of T-Bolts whizzing past, getting a group of Hellcats at what, 50-60mph slower means we can usually get around 1:1 with a good mix of Georges/Franks/Jacks on CAP. That is a big win these days for the Japanese! [:D]

[castor troy]

ORIGINAL: DivePac88

ORIGINAL: obvert

Corsairs, P-47s and Spit VIII eat everything alive. I almost hope to get a P-38 sweep these days!

What about Hellcats... obvert mate you forgot about Hellcats! [:-]

Hellcats? They are pretty much comparable with Tojos. I am not a big fan of Hellcats, they are great on the defense (my P-40K are great on the def too) but on the offense, they are just a tad too slow with around 370mph.

[koniu]

ORIGINAL: castor troy

ORIGINAL: DivePac88

ORIGINAL: obvert

Corsairs, P-47s and Spit VIII eat everything alive. I almost hope to get a P-38 sweep these days!

What about Hellcats... obvert mate you forgot about Hellcats! [:-]

Hellcats? They are pretty much comparable with Tojos. I am not a big fan of Hellcats, they are great on the defense (my P-40K are great on the def too) but on the offense, they are just a tad too slow with around 370mph.

Biggest impact with hellcats is not in air combats in LBA vs LBA battles (there You have P-38 and F4U)
That plane is balance changing plane in CV battles.
Until Hellcats arrival A6M have advantage against F4F but F6F is different story.

A6M5 - 351mph fastest Zero
F4F-4 - 318mph 33 miles slower from Zero
F6F-3 - 373mph 22 miles faster from Zero

EDIT: Hellcat speed correction

[pmelheck1]

I also believe the F6F had a higher power to weight ratio. I recall reading an account of a zero ace who used the zeros climb rate to get wildcats to follow him and when they stalled he would shoot them down. When he met his first F6F he tried the same trick and not only did it not stall but it closed the distance and flamed him. Another advantage wasn't so much the weapon as the pilots. I believe U.S. pilots were more focused on the teamwork aspect of air combat than their Japanese counterparts.

[oldman45]

According to my friends dad, if a zero turned in the same direct the Hellcat prop turned, they (F6F) could out turn them by using the prop torque of the R2800. Apparently the Hellcats could do a snap turn that the zero's just could not do under any condition.

[FatR]

ORIGINAL: Numdydar

It is 8/44 and as Japan, I do not seem to have any fighter that is half way good enough to do anything to the Allies. I have the first version of Franks a version, 5c Zeros, and Tojo IIcs. Plus Jack v5 and some Georges J version. I have tried stacking my CAP plus anything else I could think of and I still get beatened down [:(].

I'd advise you to use the ability to switch research facilities to models down the line and go for Ki-84r as your primarily fighter and N1K2-J as secondary (possibly N1K5-J too, but you need a fighter with less than terrible service rating to resist repeated sweeps). Jack is not as good at George. Tojos are good only as strategic bomber interceptors now, and Zeros only as expendable escorts (A6M5b is preferable, due to bigger range). But it is too late to reprioritize research now... Either way, you need tons of fighters, because those are outclassed anyway.

Oh, and while Ki-94, Ki-83 and J7W are quite good, they are very difficult to accelerate, you need both massive investments and luck to get them in time to counter masses of Mustangs Allies will get soon enough.

As about pilot management, I find that very important. Whenever I'm not pressed to get some warm bodies into pilot seats right now (which is admittedly often, both in 1942 and in 1944-45), I train fighter pilots to Air 70+, Defense 60+, and I avoid missions over enemy territory if I expect a kill ratio worse than 2:1 in my favor (naval strikes are an exception of course, but to escort them I set aside special fighters groups staffed by fresh replacements to avoid wasting my trained pilots).

[FatR]

ORIGINAL: DivePac88
What about Hellcats... obvert mate you forgot about Hellcats!

I feel that Hellcats should not be used outside of carrier battles, if the Allies can allow it at all, unless you play with HRs that let them exploit the fact that they get full MVR at four altitude bands. Without HRs they are approximately on Tojo level, and Georges/Franks destroy them pretty hard.

[JocMeister]

Hellcats are a great fighter to use when you expect looses. Its the only allied air frame that sustain any kind of attrition. Stuff them full of green pilots and let fly. But losses will be heavy as many Japanese air frames are on par or better then the Hellcat.

While things might look dark for the Japanese player in late 44 most Japanese players can still outproduce the Allies in good air frames by quite a good margin. In early 44 I´m still fighting my pools more then anything.

[wdolson]

Historically Hellcats were used as land based air sometimes. Why would you want a HR preventing it?

Just curious.

Bill

[Numdydar]

ORIGINAL: JocMeister

Hellcats are a great fighter to use when you expect looses. Its the only allied air frame that sustain any kind of attrition. Stuff them full of green pilots and let fly. But losses will be heavy as many Japanese air frames are on par or better then the Hellcat.

While things might look dark for the Japanese player in late 44 most Japanese players can still outproduce the Allies in good air frames by quite a good margin. In early 44 I´m still fighting my pools more then anything.

It is not so much a matter of lack of aircraft, it is a lack of aircraft where you can get 2:1 or higher odds on the Allies. Once you lose most of PNG, it really cuts down on where you can meet the Allies on even close to even terms. The only plane I have low numbers in my pools is the Franks. The rest have over 300.

It does not do much good to have 100's of planes in the Home is. and/or the pool if the bases you need them at can't support them [:(]. Franks et el are hard enough to keep flying without having them penilized for the AF being overcrowded [:)]

[FatR]

ORIGINAL: wdolson

Historically Hellcats were used as land based air sometimes. Why would you want a HR preventing it?

Just curious.

Bill

Who, I? No, I'm talking about HRs that restrict altitude to bands where a plane has its best or second-best MVR. Hellcat benefits from these, out of Japanese fighters that can appear relatively early only crappy Ki-100-II can fly at the same altitude, other will suffer from an initial bounce. Without HRs N1K1-J can sail at 41k and bounce Hellcats first.

[inqistor]

ORIGINAL: Numdydar

It is 8/44 and as Japan, I do not seem to have any fighter that is half way good enough to do anything to the Allies. I have the first version of Franks a version, 5c Zeros, and Tojo IIcs. Plus Jack v5 and some Georges J version. I have tried stacking my CAP plus anything else I could think of and I still get beatened down [:(].

Is it just the number of planes the Allies have (plus quality) and I just have to accept the carnage or (hopefully) I am doing something wrong that the kind people here will explain using small words [:)] so that I can correct the errors of my ways.

Of course if my mix of fighters that I have produced is way off, then that will need to be fixed in a different game as it is too late to fix my production now [:(]

And why exactly are you fighting on their terms?

Allied fighters sweep, to attack your fighters. Your only advantage in accepting this fight is to lower loses for your pilot over friendly territory. So:

1) Do not fight his sweeps
2) Destroy his planes on ground
3) Catch his fighters during escort

You can control somehow your numbers over time using LRCAP, and low LRCAP percentage, so you will have low number at the turn beginning (and get slaughtered), and it will be rising, as time goes (so you will have more planes, when bombers arrive)