First game questions

[Mike Solli]

ORIGINAL: GetAssista

All Japan AARs are sweating over massed 4E in 1942-43. The ability of 4E strikes to close whatever particular airfield with couple massive raids no matter the opposition is a given. But it's not wunderwaffe - running sustained 4E bombing campaign is hard: replacement rates are low, supply usage is high. If Japan adds some more attrition with AA and bombings/bombardments of airfields, campaign would stop faster. And then George/Jack come

Boy, ain't that the truth. The only saving grace in my AAR (May 43) is that the bombers, for whatever reason (supply, rest, etc.) need to stand down periodically. That allows me to repair the damage. Then it begins all over again.

[swatter555]

I hadn't considered that.

I am thinking about stopping my game versus the AI Allies. The AI put his whole carrier fleet in the Indian Ocean, I don't know if he's ever going to take it out (even send new ones there). If I got my kicks from sinking cargo ships and transports and the occasional capital ship, this would be a great game.

[Mike Solli]

I recommend PBEM. Playing the AI is a great tool to learn the mechanics of the game, but nothing will do a number on you better than an opponent who does something you never expected. Once you play a PBEM, you probably will never go back to the AI.

[zuluhour]

3-4 raids MAX per week with 4E, especially at range. One good bushwhacking and you will not be able to fill your groups for months.

[Alpha77]

ORIGINAL: GetAssista

#2. 4Es are supposed to be the menace by design as them is the only upside allies have in 1942. Concentrated AA and next-generation fighters like George help. Zeros are supposed to be fragile as them were designed with sacrificing protection for range and maneuver.
BTW, I've shot down some b17s with Nates so they are not invincible. Surely much more Nates went down in flames than b17s in that standoff )

Yup, I was already reporting here several times that Allied bombers are their best fighters. This is partly wrong tho.

a) They have Kitihawks and P39 which are both decent vs. fragile IJ planes. If they have good pilots. I had half a CV zero unit and almost all the bombers from this CV slaughtered over Australia by mostly P39s but also a lot of P400 and P40s. The latter were not so good in shooting down Zeros but their numbers counted, so the apparently better P39s could shoot down a lot of my stuff (this was also due to commander error, = under estimination of enemy of course)
The British Hurris seem to be not so good in contrast, a bit surprising I believe in the Allied game I played they were better...it maybe that the planes that are stationed in / near Australia are the best trained, a Marauder even scored on a ship...

b) All Allied bombers can be shot down. By Zeros yes. By Nate not so much, but they damage them and some crash on the trip home or on landing. By Oscar yes, but only if you have a big CAP. Yes, a lot of your fragile fighters will go down, but it is your home base the bombers attack so many of the pilots may be saved.... the biggest trouble is poor armament and non existing protection of IJ planes. Also their speed is not the best, some bombers can not be caught. This is why you need asap a fast and better armed fighter, might it be not very agile so be it....

In general I was surprised that some Oscars managed to shoot down several B25s and the best was a small Rufe unit apparently downed 2 B17s (E or F I do not know). They lost 4 B17s per loss statistics so if you can sustain a steady wearing down of their 4E forces you may be lucky in the middle phase of the war. I can not remember how many they get, but what I remember from the Allied game is that 4Es are one of the best assets you have (along with subs, the better DDs from 43 on and tanks of course)

[Alpha77]

BTW: I viewed a air war series at youtube recently and they also have some gun camera footage. Mostly from the BoB and the air war over France/Germany. I learned their is no real footage from eg. BF109s from early war (they did not have a camera, as for not enough space and weight saving). So the early war footage is from the British, the He111 and Do17 posed not much trouble for the RAF without good escort. But the most terrifying and revealing footage is from the middle of the war when BFs finally had a camera and FWs had them by default. So you can NOT make fast pass on eg. a B17 and hope the few hits you get then will be enough. You need to stay on target for a longer while and thus also be a target for their .50 MGs. Early on when fighter pilots did not know how tough B17s were there were no good results, the pilots would make a fast pass or run on the bomber and try to get out of their MGs range asap. Did not work. They needed to convince pilots to stay on target and be a target to score a massive amount of hits on the bomber. This would be more true for 13mm MG, with 20mm cannon the situation is better for the fighter.