ORIGINAL: Historiker
According to what I know, the Ju87D had a range of 1000km with 1800kg Bomb load. How many hexes are that? At least 5, no? So I see no reason why a EEO or EOS Japan shouldn't use this great possibility to have a DB with incredibly devastating bombs in the early years.
If it's range is still seen as to short, one could equip one DB units with D3A and one with Ju87D per ship, no?
REPLY: The range with max bomb load is not even in the game. The range with normal bomb load is 25% of transfer range and the range with reduced load is 33% of transfer range. RHS modifies that (we "cheat" by increasing transfer range) so normal bomb load is 34% and extended range is 42%. Even so, ranges for ETO aircraft are usually very low - if the range was 1000 km (and I have not looked it up) - that = 621.5 miles = 10 hexes = extended range of 3 hexes and normal range = 2 hexes. RHS would increase that to 677 miles = 11 hexes which is still an extended range of 3 and a normal range = 2 hexes. NEITHER will get max bomb load - not an option in WITP for many aircraft types - you will get probably 1 x 500 kg bomb at 3 hexes and 2 at 2 hexes. Just a guess - I have not looked up the normal load nor the range for any model - but that is ball park what we will get in game terms.
To your other suggestions:
As the Ju-88 is better than the He-111, we should only think about the Ju-88. It's bombload is with 3500kg nearly as high as the bombload of the G5N and it's range is with 2500km also nice enough to equip at least army bomber units.
REPLY: We studied options pretty carefully: I don't think you are right. You are confusing ranges with bomb loads with ranges to change bases. Nor do you get max load (normally - except for planes where max load IS normal load) - so again - I think you are not understanding how we get game factors.
Ju 188? nice, but the slot can perhaps be used better
Ar-234B would be realy some good improvement. Shall be added as it may give the Japs the possibilty to punch even through heavy CAP but I don't know how effectiv CAP stays against faster bombers.
REPLY: It is a bad idea to add a late war plane. We have way too many. That means the usual game NEVER gets to use it. It would work well - due to speed - but it has pretty lousy range when bombing. All early jets do.
He-177A5? Great! 7700kg bomb load, range of approx. 6000km
REPLY: This is an awful plane - as you probably know. Not sure we can fairly simulate a plane whose wings are as likely to fall off or which is very likely to burst into flames without being shot at? Its paper statistics do not reflect the reality - and it is awfully short ranged for PTO - again if you understand how we get operational range (which is NOT transfer range).
Me-262 why as attack bomber? Why not as interceptor?
REPLY: The date is for the Me-262 AS DESIGNED - which was a bomber. An interceptor version would be later in time. Making it very late war - see above. It will not get in 99 games out of 100. It also needs wierd engines - and Japan has a hard time with those. A scaled down version (kikka) to use the smaller engines was not impressive.
FW-200 is in game early enough and can carry more bombload than the Betty and the C3 has a even larger range than the G4M
REPLY: We looked at this very hard several times: Japan DID pay for this plane's development (and that is the ONLY reason Germany had it available when it needed it - it failed to develop it in time on German funding). But it is horrible for range, payload and it is not well protected or armed. Two Betty's (which use the same number of engines) go farther, and deliver a much better punch - 2 torpedoes. Its performance for a 4 engine aircraft is pretty dismal by Japanese standards. There are several threads in archive going into all of this. I have extensive materials on German aircraft- and we ultimately concluded Me-264 would have been a better investment - and one available at the same time - and one ALSO NOT funded by German funds at the time it could have been. But in game use, Nemo found its huge fuel requirements were unacceptable - and that is also accurate - so we went back to the G5N - which Japan can afford the supplies to use. [Germany only planned 60 of them, and never got any of the production run at all - never enough priority for aluminum, engines, plant or labor - in spite of several tries. See Luftwaffe Over America, a new book.]
Ju-290A why not?
But what abnout my suggestions?
What's about Fw 190, Me 110/410, and the Me 262 as interceptor?
I've already written about the Ju87...
REPLY: The Ki-44 was selected over the Me-109E - which was in Japan for flying tests and which was licenced for production. Francillon writes Japan had no reason to regret the choice - it is a much better interceptor. I only put the Me in EOS because it can enter production sooner - as a stopgap. The Fw is not available at the same time - and the later Me-262 suffers being too late for play in almost all games - nor is it a particularly great fighter. Japan has some very fine equipment by the time the Me-262 is available in fighter format.
The question is, how many japanese planes are better than german ones? A most intelligent Japan might have begun to buy the production rights of every German plane and of other german equipment, too.
REPLY: This is probably untrue. Japanese designed aircraft have several advantages in general: (a) they can enter production sooner - no delays for transit of plans, jigs, prototypes, etc - no delays for conversion to Japanese production methods - all of which take about a year if things go well; (b) they are designed (usually) with PTO range requirements in mind; (c) in many cases they perform better. The problem is that fanboys of German aircraft love to take some wonderful variant of something - and compare it with a Japanese something or other - and never throw in WHEN it might have been possible to have the wonderful something in JAPAN? When you compare planes by date of availability - and that isn't when it first flew in Germany - but a much later date - after it is politically released for export - after the negotiations are done - after the details are sent to Japan and converted - after essential jigs are either transported to Japan - or made in Japan (either way takes many months) - after working up the same sorts of things for engines - or substituting engines if that is possible (often not with German designs) - you end up with a situation where usually the realistic options for Japan put the German wonderful something in 3rd or 4th place on the list.
Just think about the Japanese Radar or it's MGs... A German MG42 would have been an extreme improvement to the Japs as their MGs were crap.
REPLY: Essentially false. First of all, this neglects that Japan adopted a number of German MG (and also cannon) for production in Japan. If it was really bad - it was bad in Germany as well. Second, in many cases Japanese weapons are in the same league - and it is a matter of opinion which is better? Third - Japan (like Germany) has FAR TOO MANY guns in production - and should have standardized on a much lower number - not sought to complicate matters by importing still more types.
If that's to much for you in EEO you might think about one more szenario, where Japan acts in this way. By trying to improve their abilities they might buy many German designs. This isn't totaly irrealistic as Japan already buyed many german designs and i.e. the german industry was adviced to give the Italiens the design plans for the PzKpfw. V Panther
for free! The plannings were already done when Italy changed sides, but in other ways it would have started to produce the Panther in 44 or 45.
