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When the war in the Pacific broke out, the Japanese Navy had a total of 521 carrier fighters on strength of which 328 were A6M2s equipping most of its first-line units.

ORIGINAL: treespider

Weren't those in the daitai that engaged the Nimitz's CAG? You may say it never happened but do you really know for sure....

ORIGINAL: el cid again

Actually, 18 seems like a reasonable number to have been delivered to the Navy, but not yet assigned to any unit. Gamers may tend to assign everything that comes off the line - and in WITP it goes all the way to the most distant field unit instantly - but IRL planes will spend some time in depot unallocated, and then more time in transit. If CHS is this close - it is virtually dead on right about the numbers that could/would be fielded.

ORIGINAL: el cid again

If in the pool, they would instantly allocate to very distant units on the very first day of the war, and not be good simulation. Where they should appear is in the initial production rate - which should be about 18 higher than whatever the estimated initial production is - so you get them over a month or so of time. Ideally the initial production rate should include two values: damaged and undamaged production. The Dec 41 rate plus 18 should be the total for undamaged. The maximum desired rate minus this value should be the damaged rate. That way you will get a ramp up from historical start plus 18 to maximum historical rate.

ORIGINAL: el cid again
Let us assume that November production made it to the field - but December did not - as a working foundation for analysis - and a very optimistic one.

ORIGINAL: Gary Childress

In CHS 2.08 I count a total of 310 A6M2s in the game. Default production is set at 104 A6M2s per month. Therefore by March 1942 the Japanese should have a total of 726 A6M2s produced in the game.

According to Francillon's book on Japanese aircraft Japan probably produced a total of 837 Zeros between March 41 to March 42. It would appear that CHS comes up 111 planes short for the year of production. Granted, that may be all well by way of operational losses leading up to December 1941, however, it also states in the book that...

ORIGINAL: Gary Childress

When the war in the Pacific broke out, the Japanese Navy had a total of 521 carrier fighters on strength of which 328 were A6M2s equipping most of its first-line units.

Francillon, page 365.

It therefore appears to me that CHS is 18 Zeros short, the size of an escort carrier daitai. [:)]

ORIGINAL: timtom

ORIGINAL: Gary Childress

In CHS 2.08 I count a total of 310 A6M2s in the game. Default production is set at 104 A6M2s per month. Therefore by March 1942 the Japanese should have a total of 726 A6M2s produced in the game.

According to Francillon's book on Japanese aircraft Japan probably produced a total of 837 Zeros between March 41 to March 42. It would appear that CHS comes up 111 planes short for the year of production. Granted, that may be all well by way of operational losses leading up to December 1941, however, it also states in the book that...

I'm sure you meant to write between March 39 to March 42

Mikesh gives somewhat different figures: 749 A6M's incl. all prototypes, 676 by Mitsubishi and 73 by Nakajima. The sticking point is the number produced by the latter. 11/41 production is given as 52, 12/41 as 66. (Mikesh, Robert: Zero: Combat and Development of Japan's Legendary Mitsubishi A6M Zero Fighter. Motorbooks 1994, p.124-125)

ORIGINAL: Gary Childress

When the war in the Pacific broke out, the Japanese Navy had a total of 521 carrier fighters on strength of which 328 were A6M2s equipping most of its first-line units.

Francillon, page 365.

It therefore appears to me that CHS is 18 Zeros short, the size of an escort carrier daitai. [:)]

Francillon doesn't state where he got the 328 figure from, but Okumiya & Horikoshi just happens to give the figure 328 (Okumiya, Masatake & Horikoshi, Jiro: Zero! The Story of the Japanese Navy Air Force 1937-45. Cassell 1957, p.28-29), or 322 (p.31). 3rd & Tainan Ku's are each credited with 92 A6M's, while the Genzan Ku "attachment" is creditted with 36 A6M, ie 220 total.

By contrast, Hata & Izawa gives the effective strength of 3rd & Tainan Ku's as 45 A6M's each, and that of the the Yamada detachment as 25, ie 115 total (Hata, Ikuhiko & Izawa, Yasuho: Japanese Naval Aces and Fighter Units in World War II. Airlife 1990 (1975), p.123, 132, 143).