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One more question. Once I am happy with my pilot's skill, should I release them to the group, reserve, or active?

Rogue188 wrote: Mon May 13, 2024 11:33 pm One more question. Once I am happy with my pilot's skill, should I release them to the group, reserve, or active?

It all depends upon what you want the pilot for.

Group => to be available in case of losses, to rest the pilot, to increase the overall averages for those specific skills that the pilot is trained in as well as experience while other pilots are trained, to be able to grab the pilot to another unit without going through the Reserve pool . . .

Reserve => to be available to be sent to another unit using the get Veteran pilot system . . .

Active => to be used by the unit for whatever mission that the unit is called upon to try to accomplish . . .

Rogue188 wrote: Mon May 13, 2024 11:33 pm One more question. Once I am happy with my pilot's skill, should I release them to the group, reserve, or active?

I'd put them in an active squadron and see if their skills improve.

Sardaukar wrote: Mon May 13, 2024 3:54 pm

Arkham wrote: Mon May 13, 2024 2:36 pm
TB's also suffer from US torpedo dud rates, though not as bad as submarines. If you look at the weapon data in the WiTP tracker you see they have (IIRC) a 50 percent dud rate. Not great. I typically train my TBs in ASW and NS early in the war and hardly use them in the torpedo role. When I do I send them in at 5000 feet while the DB's will go in at 14,000.

Thing is, DBs can rarely sink BBs, so you need those DBs when envountering BB TF. Fire will sometimes do it, but ideally, you need TBs to put holes into hulls.

I wish that was true!! I lose BB's to DB attacks all the time. IJ fire teams are lousy; small fires frequently turn into blazes. I can't take any chances at all with any fire.

Conversely, unless I hit allied BB's with an 800kg AP, nothing will happen. Even the 800's take several (+4) to put an allied BB into trouble. Torps are the only thing that will really work. The 250kg bombs that the Val carries won't scratch an allied BB. Even the CA's are able to take numerous hits.

So, as allied player, don't discount your DB's. They are very effective. That is why historically, the USN emphasized their DB squadrons on CV's and that became more pronounced as the war progressed. They were more accurate and suffered far lower combat losses while still being quite effective. The game models this too well for the IJ player!

When the American player has torpedo planes, even Devastators, set on Naval Attack with torpedoes but the torpedo supply runs out so each torpedo planes is carrying four 500lb bombs, 40 such hits on the Fuso in one attack will sink that ship.

RangerJoe wrote: Wed May 22, 2024 2:51 pm When the American player has torpedo planes, even Devastators, set on Naval Attack with torpedoes but the torpedo supply runs out so each torpedo planes is carrying four 500lb bombs, 40 such hits on the Fuso in one attack will sink that ship.

Sheesh! 40?!? By the 5th hit she'll have fires, by the 7th or 8th hit the fires are already big enough that she will be 50-50 sinking. And if they are 1000lb-ers that the DB's carry, forget it. By the 5th hit the fires will be unsurmountable due to the sys damage. That's assuming there hasn't any secondary explosions, and we know that those are highly likely.

No, the USN shifted strongly to DB attacks for good reason: they were effective and they were far less costly. The game mimics the history to a "T" on this aspect.

PaxMondo wrote: Thu May 23, 2024 3:20 am

RangerJoe wrote: Wed May 22, 2024 2:51 pm When the American player has torpedo planes, even Devastators, set on Naval Attack with torpedoes but the torpedo supply runs out so each torpedo planes is carrying four 500lb bombs, 40 such hits on the Fuso in one attack will sink that ship.

Sheesh! 40?!? By the 5th hit she'll have fires, by the 7th or 8th hit the fires are already big enough that she will be 50-50 sinking. And if they are 1000lb-ers that the DB's carry, forget it. By the 5th hit the fires will be unsurmountable due to the sys damage. That's assuming there hasn't any secondary explosions, and we know that those are highly likely.

No, the USN shifted strongly to DB attacks for good reason: they were effective and they were far less costly. The game mimics the history to a "T" on this aspect.

If I remember correctly, that attack happened before I had the Avengers . . .

RangerJoe wrote: Thu May 23, 2024 7:53 pm

PaxMondo wrote: Thu May 23, 2024 3:20 am

RangerJoe wrote: Wed May 22, 2024 2:51 pm When the American player has torpedo planes, even Devastators, set on Naval Attack with torpedoes but the torpedo supply runs out so each torpedo planes is carrying four 500lb bombs, 40 such hits on the Fuso in one attack will sink that ship.

Sheesh! 40?!? By the 5th hit she'll have fires, by the 7th or 8th hit the fires are already big enough that she will be 50-50 sinking. And if they are 1000lb-ers that the DB's carry, forget it. By the 5th hit the fires will be unsurmountable due to the sys damage. That's assuming there hasn't any secondary explosions, and we know that those are highly likely.

No, the USN shifted strongly to DB attacks for good reason: they were effective and they were far less costly. The game mimics the history to a "T" on this aspect.

If I remember correctly, that attack happened before I had the Avengers . . .

OK, so yeah, "only" 500 pounders ... more than adequate to squash pretty much any IJ ship except maybe Yamato class.

PaxMondo wrote: Wed Jun 26, 2024 5:21 pm

RangerJoe wrote: Thu May 23, 2024 7:53 pm

PaxMondo wrote: Thu May 23, 2024 3:20 am

Sheesh! 40?!? By the 5th hit she'll have fires, by the 7th or 8th hit the fires are already big enough that she will be 50-50 sinking. And if they are 1000lb-ers that the DB's carry, forget it. By the 5th hit the fires will be unsurmountable due to the sys damage. That's assuming there hasn't any secondary explosions, and we know that those are highly likely.

No, the USN shifted strongly to DB attacks for good reason: they were effective and they were far less costly. The game mimics the history to a "T" on this aspect.

If I remember correctly, that attack happened before I had the Avengers . . .

OK, so yeah, "only" 500 pounders ... more than adequate to squash pretty much any IJ ship except maybe Yamato class.

I hit the Hiei in Tokyo {I think} with port attacks. Getting between 7 and 19 hits till I had hit her just short of 200 times over a month or so with port attacks in some of the squadrons attacking. B-29s and B-24s. It was pretty clear that she was never going to leave port but I could not help myself.

I launched a massive raid with every plane that could make it on port attack. Counting up the hits in the Combat Report, I had 447 hits on BB Hiei.

I would've preferred more port and port fuel hits, but I think the guy that planned the targeting for the raid was Bill Mitchell Jr.

rockmedic109 wrote: Tue Jul 02, 2024 5:49 am

PaxMondo wrote: Wed Jun 26, 2024 5:21 pm

RangerJoe wrote: Thu May 23, 2024 7:53 pm

If I remember correctly, that attack happened before I had the Avengers . . .

OK, so yeah, "only" 500 pounders ... more than adequate to squash pretty much any IJ ship except maybe Yamato class.

I hit the Hiei in Tokyo {I think} with port attacks. Getting between 7 and 19 hits till I had hit her just short of 200 times over a month or so with port attacks in some of the squadrons attacking. B-29s and B-24s. It was pretty clear that she was never going to leave port but I could not help myself.

I launched a massive raid with every plane that could make it on port attack. Counting up the hits in the Combat Report, I had 447 hits on BB Hiei.

I would've preferred more port and port fuel hits, but I think the guy that planned the targeting for the raid was Bill Mitchell Jr.

So being in Tokyo port allowed the Hiei to survive as the port would have put out the fires. At sea, she never would have survived; at least in my experience. Those GP hits at sea would have done only some SYS damage, but the fires that they started ... that's what always kills my ships ... fires ... run away fires ... blazing infernos. Any fire over 10 is concerning, over 25 very small hope that it can survive. Unless in a large port. And NS seems to help against the fires too, but that is strictly anecdotal.