Turnaround? Lowpe (J) vs Tiemanj (A) Stock

[Lowpe]

Really![&:] Come on guys...where are the damaged CVEs, the tankers, the large AKEs! Oh, you miss those, but hit yard patrol boats a fraction of the size.

[Lowpe]

IJN subs are killers sometimes...another one gone.

[Lowpe]

Lots, and lots of target left. Japan will run out of torpedoes before the Allies do of cargo ships.

[Lowpe]

At Guam forts are knocked down to 3.

And that is pretty much it for the day...normal Allied bombing in Indochina.

[mind_messing]

I think I am making great strides at get the Islands around the HI built up, but nothing really will stop the Allies only delay them. Naha, Tsushima, and Kunashiri are the best potential airfields, while Naha has the best port of those three.

Iki-shima, adjacent to Tsushima, is another good candidate for a moderate airbase - more battleship grade guns to defend against bombardments.

[ny59giants]

Any AF with the potential to be built to size 9 has to be seriously considered defended. Even in clear terrain at this point. Yes, there are too many to defend, but with the number of SeaBees the Allies have....

[Lowpe]

ORIGINAL: mind_messing

I think I am making great strides at get the Islands around the HI built up, but nothing really will stop the Allies only delay them. Naha, Tsushima, and Kunashiri are the best potential airfields, while Naha has the best port of those three.

Iki-shima, adjacent to Tsushima, is another good candidate for a moderate airbase - more battleship grade guns to defend against bombardments.

After those three above, there are 10 size 7(4)AF available within striking range of the HI. Then there are 12 size 6 (3) AF, and 6 size 5 (2).

This doesn't include the island north of the HI.

So many, so many.

[Lowpe]

Dec 11, 1943

This game really rewards combined operations. Yesterday the Iboats descended enmasse to Ramree and struck out. Part of the reason for the surge was to recover downed pilots, if any.

But with the successful strike to the north, the Iboats are surging along the expected path of the Allied convoy and strike, this is the second to be hit.[:)]

[Lowpe]

Naval battle near north Sumatra...IJN lose 2 destroyers, then 605 casualties and 44 destroyed planes in the bombardment that follows at Sabang.

They miss all my mines. Again.[:(]

[Lowpe]

I have to make the decision to produce Frank A or not, and just move on and r&d Frank R.

It seems to me that a fair number of of Japanese players are dis-satisfied with the Frank a....but I wonder if they are using the plane correctly, it seems to me to be a low altitude fighter and used that way, I suspect see does give good service.

She doesn't have the Altitude to sweep the Allies (no alt restriction in my game).

She lacks CL cannons to really stand out against enemy bombers.

She does have speed, so I was thinking down low with the Oscars, etc...and speed advantage over the enemy bombers might make up for the lack of cl cannons.

Should I make Frank a or not?

[Lowpe]

I really like the second Frank, with all the cannons. Unfortunately, no planes upgrade to her, but I think she would make the best Army bomber killer in the game.

Randy takes 2 engines, big cl gun that misses a fair amount, and two other CL, plus on 370 speed. Ugh. Same story with the FB.

Tony I pictured below is my current Army bomber killer....and the Frank has Tony beat everywhere but SR.

I think there is a place for the plane, but it is just hard to justify the r&d for it....so you will see this plane in the AAR only if I survive several months into 45 and by then the supply will probably be to dear to make any.

[koniu]

Frank is great plane. Both "a", "b" and "r" versions. You should build "a" asap and move toward "r" when will be available.
While "a" and "b" are interceptors, "r" is also great sweeper

Today with experience i have i will say that any Jap player should also build some numbers of "b" version(sadly You will not). "b" is the same stat as "a" but have super 4x20mm army guns (two are cl) and probably is best bomber killer in game. Fast enough to survive enemy sweeps and with super firepower can kill fast. Add to that mix SR1 Ki-100II and You CAP is like wall[;)]

[obvert]

ORIGINAL: Lowpe

Should I make Frank a or not?

YES!!!

While it may not be the Ki-94, it's the best you've got at this point, and will certainly give the Allies trouble. I wouldn't think low is the best usage. With no altitude restriction it's tougher, but the Frank Ia was my top CAP plane for a long time with Oscars, Tonys and even Georges lower to draw the sweepers down and let them chase after the most maneuverable planes. The dive cannot be beat though, especially against the P-47.

No Japanese plane is perfect, but this one is very good for late 43-44. As I got better airframes in late 44-45 they did become lower CAP and escorts.

On the Allied side I can also tell you I don't fear even the last model A6M8, Ki-43 IV or Ki-61c right now in late 43 but I do fear the Ki-84 Ia, N1K2 and J2M1.

The Franks in my game recently got almost 1:1 sweeping against P-47s, so they are plenty good with high quality pilots.

[Lowpe]

Great advice Gentlemen![&o] I shall heed it.[:)]

When I took over the game, I did look at r&d the b version with cannons, but simply wanted to use the r&d factories for rockets. Heck, I didn't even know I would make it to 44.[:D]

[Lowpe]

ORIGINAL: obvert
On the Allied side I can also tell you I don't fear even the last model A6M8, Ki-43 IV or Ki-61c right now in late 43 but I do fear the Ki-44 Ia, N1K2 and J2M1.

I have been disappointed with Ki44IIc...perhaps your house rules and pdu off make it much more fearsome than it is in my game.

I have noticed something about converting factories...there is a random die roll to determine how many factories are destroyed, but it seems that random die roll is good once for all the conversions that day.

[Lowpe]

In a few short months the HI will come under possible air attacks from the Marianas by B29s. I think early on the Allies would be best served by attacking my plane r&d facilities slowing down my late war fight plans. Knocking back any fully repaired r&d factory would be very painful and probably impossible to stop. But I hopefully can extract a cost for such a strategy.

I have read lots of JFB saying you need only Jack or George but not both. I am starting to disagree with that. I think you need to r&d George -- it is your best counter to Thunderbolts and Lightnings. But, Jack comes along at reasonable dates to make production only quite attractive as an anti-bomber interceptor.

The J2M3 is especially well suited. 4 cannons; fast enough for bomber work; low SR 2; this will be the mainstay daytime fighter protecting the HI industry and research. Now, I have to keep the Thunderbolt away, and that is asking a lot of me, but if I can the J2M3 should do very well in this role -- I may up the production again depending upon how long I can keep oil flowing from the SRA. Paired up with the Ki100i and FightBombers daytime protection looks good.

On the night side, I will probably be flying the second generation Irving (with 3 cannons and radar in 6/44) plus the Nick D. Not great. Frances and Peggy (again not great) will be coming along in the April/May time frame and I am expecting big things from the Frances. Not much more you can do here...I am r&d the Zero Nightfighter, on the off chance I decide to boost the size of the Navy squadrons from 18 to say 36....that would do wonders but is it kosher?

Also in April 1944 Japan gets a huge influx of AA guns...which will be greatly needed. My concentration of AA in Burma and Indochina cause the Allied to fly around 20K...a great benefit.

[Lowpe]

Here are the final generation of the Night fighters for me.

I chose not to go after Randy or Denko. Randy's radar doesn't activate till really late, and Denko has a horrible SR.

Peggy is absolutely unknown to me. I have flown a few in Downfall...but it is hard to know if they work well given the very mediocre pilots there. It is at least a tough, armored plane, and fairly fast, but not fast enough. I will always have Nick D to fall back on...but I do hope Peggy performs better than Nick.

I kind of regret not going after Myrt, but I wanted armor on my nightfighters so this is what I will have.

I have no regrets not going after Judy.

Both Peggy and Frances look to start Production in June, maybe May.

[Lowpe]

And finally, rounding out the Night defenses will be Pete and KAI Dinah (the daytime fighter). Well, at least until their pools run out since they are no longer in production.

Gamey or not, think of them as screening or early warning planes, they will be up over the 5 largest cities set at 10% cap to interfere with all the bombing runs.

Oh, that reminds me, I will be making the night time Dinah but only for conversion purposes so I can get the maximum number of night fighters into the air.

[Lokasenna]

The Frances night fighter is still not fast enough, IMO. If you can, I would look at getting some NF Judys or Zeroes. They don't have radar, but they are fast enough to catch B-29s. They also have better climb. The Judy's armament leaves a little to be desired, but it uses the "right" engine IMO. Same with the Zero version, though it's a bit better.

The Denko is obviously the best, but hardest to get by a large margin.

[Lowpe]

ORIGINAL: Lokasenna

The Frances night fighter is still not fast enough, IMO. If you can, I would look at getting some NF Judys or Zeroes. They don't have radar, but they are fast enough to catch B-29s. They also have better climb. The Judy's armament leaves a little to be desired, but it uses the "right" engine IMO. Same with the Zero version, though it's a bit better.

The Denko is obviously the best, but hardest to get by a large margin.

Speed is important, but more importantly I think are other things: Radar! Paying close attention to Obvert vs Jock the Sa Irving was his most important NF, but Frances of which he had one squadron was really good. Myrt is pretty effective in Downfall despite no armor.

The KAI III Dinah, which is a barn burner in the speed department, died like droves, and the Nick didn't die as much. Which is another reason I am trying for Peggy...the coolness factor of having the huge gun. If Army NF are equally horrible it is hard to make a bad choice!

I will have one small size 20 factory cranking out Zeroes, but they proved equally ineffective.

I will stick with my choices, and only rue the fact I didn't go for the Myrt.

In downfall the Denko can't be kept flying with a SR of 4![X(] Would be different if you could have more than 10-11 squadrons of them, but you can't. Myrt may very well be the best, but the radar doesn't activate until 10/44.