Patch at the end of this month?

[LargeSlowTarget]

In that case, shouldn't the correct answer been 'Sir, no, sir!!!' ? [:)]

[Culiacan Mexico]

ORIGINAL: jwilkerson
…Boy what a gift to the JFBC ( Japanese Fan Boy Club ) ...

Operationally, it should allow the Japanese player to have ‘better’ aircraft in more of his front line groups, but strategically… do you think it will matter?

My opinion.

The Japanese Naval Aircraft will be relatively unchanged, except most players will swap out their land base groups armed with Petes for… well… anything else.

The Japanese Army Air, especially fighter groups, should see more significant changes in aircraft deployed, but Tonys and Tojos while clearly superior to Nates aren’t going to change the course of the war.

Personally, I see changes in the reorganization of…

Sea/float planes… overall effect minimal.
Land based bombers with less Lilys and more Sallys…. overall effect minimal.
Land based fighters with more Tojo/Tony and less Nate Oscars… overall effect marginal.

The heart of the Japanese problem is aircraft, but pilots. As it is, during the early part of the campaign I spend consider effort in ‘stripping out’ my good pilots from many groups and assigning to groups that I will use as front line combat units (especially from groups that never advance beyond Oscars). I see no reason to change this with 1.5.

What 1.5 will allow me to do is fill out returning groups with very low experience pilots and have them fly old excess Nates while they are in training, and then upgrade to their new aircraft before being sent to a front line combat unit (some historical accuracy as the Nate was used as an advanced trainer during the later half of the war).

What 1.5 will also allow me to do is select which group will be a front line combat group (receive the best aircraft) and which will be relegated to either the back waters or training.

PS. If the Japanese aren’t still getting slaughtered in the air in 1944… I will be disappointed.

[WhoCares]

ORIGINAL: Freddy Fudpucker
Don't switch anything to night fighting unless the bug has been fixed.
*Hopes that someone will confirm that it is* [:)]

Posting didn't work for me the last days, so I'm a little late with my answer...

I don't plan to put them on night mission, as the AI doesn't attack at night anyway. The plan was more to put some Nicks on intercept missions in rear areas to attack unescorted heavies, as the Nick has the best gun rating of its time.
Now it would be interesting to know which plane types are eligable to upgrade to Nicks, or whether it is still just the few groups that upgrade to them and those that arrive later on schedule.

[tsimmonds]

Now it would be interesting to know which plane types are eligable to upgrade to Nicks, or whether it is still just the few groups that upgrade to them and those that arrive later on schedule.

No entire types upgrade to Nicks, just a Sentai or two of Nates. Plus the ones on the track. Of course, in 1.5....[;)]

[WhoCares]

ORIGINAL: irrelevant
...
No entire types upgrade to Nicks, just a Sentai or two of Nates. Plus the ones on the track. Of course, in 1.5....[;)]

But this is the whole question I am asking again and again - how are Fighter-Bombers and Nightfighters treated in 1.5. In the screens posted so far, they seem not to be part of the Army Fighter or Bomber upgrades. What's left? Dive Bomber? Recon?? Transport??? Navy????

[The Gnome]

I don't plan to put them on night mission, as the AI doesn't attack at night anyway.

The AI in my game more than happily attacks at night... At least in late 42/early 43. It's not often or with great force, but it does attack at night from time to time. I notice this happen if I have been repelling the daytime attacks successfully.

[doktorblood]

Ya, I've noticed that some types don't seem to be in the upgrade lists shown so far. IMO the KI45 fighter versions should be an allowable upgrade for fighter groups. The ground attack (b) version should be an eligible upgrade for the Japanese Lt Sentais (Lillys and Sonias), along with the KI102b Randy (which should replace the KI102a). ALthough Lilly is rated as a level bomber I don't think it should be allowed to upgrade to the Heavy Sentai track (Ki21Sally -> Ki49Helen -> Ki67Peggy).

[pad152]

ORIGINAL: Mike Wood

Hello...

Yes, they do. Considered changing that, but in the end, left it as it is.

Bye...

Michael Wood

ORIGINAL: Oznoyng

Do aircraft factories still auto-upgrade to new types?

I don't mind factories doing auto-upgrades, but I hate it when the computer overrides my changes, either the player is in control or the computer, not both.

[Oznoyng]

ORIGINAL: freeboy

maybe you should find a way to turn off the destruction of all those great nates and oscars, then use thjem in mass attacks toward the wars end in a blasing Zamikazi attack to end the war?

All you have to do to keep the planes around is to keep enough squadrons flying them that you have 1/10 the number of deployed/reforming groups as you have aircraft in the pool. So, let's say you have a pool of around 1000 a/c. To avoid having them turn into resources, all you need to do is have Daitai totaling at least 100 a/c either on map or reforming. Given that this change allows upgrades and downgrades, this is easily doable if you are also using the Mogami method for pilot training. Simply put your army training groups into Nates and Oscars. When they are done training, upgrade them to the target aircraft and merge them in. When they come back, "upgrade" them to Nates or Oscars before training starts.

[Tanaka]

ORIGINAL: Mike Wood

Hello...

Yes, they do. Considered changing that, but in the end, left it as it is.

Bye...

Michael Wood

ORIGINAL: Oznoyng

Do aircraft factories still auto-upgrade to new types?

so we cannot choose to keep producing older/different models??? EX: (Ann's instead of Sonia's) [&:]