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I hated P-39s when I started playing as the US vs AI-controlled Jap forces. The Zeroes chopped them to pieces, racking up victories and increasing the experience of the Jap pilots at my expense. I wondered why these worthless fighters were even there. But after doing a little experimentation, I found out the answer: low-level attack! These aircraft are devastating when turned loose at 100 feet altitude against shipping and airfields. They can decimate those pesky AG convoys the Japs use to resupply their bases, something the aircraft at higher altitudes patently ignore (another beef of mine). And as for airbase attacks - yikes! By the time I've established a base at Gasmata, waves of P-39s tear the Jap aircraft at Rabaul to pieces! Using the heavy bombers to shut down Rabaul's air strip and repair facilities, all these grounded fighters, bombers, and recon aircraft get slaughtered by ground-hugging P-39 attacks. So the next time you dismiss the P-39 as a worthless piece of junk (as a fighter), don't despair - they have a shining place in the game as well!

It's gamey and ahistorical but it's the only good in-game use for them.

Yes, well, a lot of things about this simulation are ahistorical, but the question is whether you want to be historical and get punished by the arcane rules of engagement imposed by the programmers, or do you want to win the game? I play to win, not to get thrashed by the AI for using historical methods (and if you think about it, both sides in the actual conflict got some sobering doses of reality early on that forced them to alter tactics, such as no more Banzai charges by the IJA after a few murderously ineffective results).

Anyway, using the P-39s strictly in the low-level attack role yields results like these, which are a lot better than what they get in a fair fight with a Zero:

Air attack on Rabaul , at 21,28

Japanese aircraft
Ki-43-Ib Oscar x 1

Allied aircraft
SBD Dauntless x 58
TBF Avenger x 14
Wirraway x 40
P-400 Airacobra x 56
P-39D Airacobra x 108
P-40E Kittyhawk x 40
P-40E Warhawk x 35

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-43-Ib Oscar x 2 destroyed
A6M3 Zero x 14 destroyed
A6M3 Zero x 4 damaged
A6M2 Zero x 72 destroyed
A6M2 Zero x 25 damaged
D3A Val x 13 destroyed
D3A Val x 8 damaged
G4M1 Betty x 2 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
P-40E Warhawk x 1 damaged

FLT C.Palmer of No. 76 Sqn RAAF is credited with kill number 2

Japanese ground losses:
Men lost 349
Guns lost 1

Airbase hits 12
Airbase supply hits 1
Runway hits 183