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Seacat54 wrote: Sat Aug 16, 2025 4:18 pm Should you give those groups only trainer aircraft that cant be upgraded?

RangerJoe wrote: Sat Aug 16, 2025 4:24 pm

Seacat54 wrote: Sat Aug 16, 2025 4:18 pm Should you give those groups only trainer aircraft that cant be upgraded?

If the trainer aircraft can't be upgraded, what happens after a player runs out of them and needs more? Especially if there is no factory producing the engines? Also, if the aircraft are not upgraded, then what happens when the Allies come visiting with bombers and a fighter escort?

Response on Trainer Aircraft and Upgrades

• IJN Flight Schools (Navy)
  → I will activate production of the K5Y Willow.
  → These aircraft will be set to No Upgrade, so they remain permanently as trainers in the schools.
  → Historically, over 6,000 Willows were built, so it makes sense that in-game a small, steady production line keeps them available for the training pipeline.
• IJAAF Flight Schools (Army)
  → Instead of blocking front-line fighters, I will create a modified version of the Ki-27, specifically as a training aircraft.
  → This variant will also be set as non-upgradeable and used purely for schools.
  → I will add small factories producing about 5 planes per month – enough to keep the schools running without flooding the pool.
• Balance & Realism
  → To compensate, I will slightly reduce production of some front-line aircraft.
  → This creates a realistic balance: schools get their steady flow of training aircraft, while front-line units remain constrained by limited production capacity.
  → Players will feel the historical situation: modern fighters are scarce, while older types keep circling in the training pipeline.

Advantages of this approach:

• Historically accurate (Willow & Ki-27 as main trainers).
• Prevents schools from accidentally tying up front-line aircraft.
• Predictable, steady flow of training planes.
• Clear separation between front-line and school units.
• Realistic production balance since trainer factories are offset by cuts in front-line production.

Peiper1944 wrote: Sat Aug 16, 2025 8:46 pm 1. Pilot Numbers and Game Balance
Very good question – I have also given this a lot of thought.
My approach does not give Japan any additional pilots compared to the stock version. The overall numbers in the pool remain the same; I simply moved part of them into the flight schools. This means these pilots are not immediately available for the front but must first "mature" in the schools.

→ Effect: In the short term, there are actually fewer replacement pilots available at the front. Only after the training period does the flow of replacements start again.

So the system is not a buff for Japan, but rather a more realistic representation of the delays and bottlenecks that historically existed. The player gains more control and realism, but no unfair strengthening.

In other words, more minutiae and clicking for the Japanese player. Players can already pull trainees into units if they want to do so. You are just having the player do more work as well as to decide where/how to have the pilots trained before they otherwise would be selected for their roles in the game.

2. Accuracy & Roleplaying
The main purpose is historical accuracy and stronger roleplay immersion. Each unit can effectively have its "heritage" (Akeno, Tachiarai, Kasumigaura, etc.), and the player can feel the training bottlenecks. This makes the decision harder: throw half-trained pilots into the front immediately, or wait longer to secure better quality?

This is an abstract simulation, there are other games that are more detailed and role playing if a player wants to play them.

3. Kamikaze Option
Of course, the kamikaze option remains open. The school system only affects regular pilot training, not the mechanics of late-war kamikaze operations.

It also consumes more HI with the production of aircraft instead of a simple HI expense every month not to mention more supply usage for the Japanese player.

Historical Reality of Japanese Flight Schools
Both the IJAAF and the IJNAS operated a vast network of training centers.

IJAAF: Akeno, Tachiarai, Kumagaya, Mito, etc., with many branch schools.
IJNAS: Kasumigaura, Yatabe, Oita, Tainan, etc.

These schools were not “minor facilities,” but the backbone of the Japanese air force. Every pilot passed through these stages before being sent to the front.

→ In the vanilla game this entire layer is missing. Pilots simply “appear” in the pool.
With the school system, reality is mirrored: pilots spend months in training before they are combat-ready.

Delayed Combat Readiness – historically accurate
Historically, pilot training in 1941 took about 12–18 months. Later, due to the war situation, it was reduced to only a few months.

• Early war: solid, experienced pilots (XP 40–50).
• Later war: hastily trained “cannon fodder” pilots (XP 20–30).

→ With the school system, this break becomes visible: strong early classes, weaker later ones.
→ Without schools, this qualitative decline is not really reflected in the game.

Risk Factor – historically and in-game
Flight schools were not automatically “safe” during the war.

• In Japan itself, they became vulnerable to B-29 raids after 1944.
• On the Philippines, Formosa, or Korea, some branch schools were within Allied range.

→ If schools can be attacked in-game (e.g., by strategic bombing), this is not a flaw, but instead reflects the historical vulnerability of the Japanese training system.

Front vs. Homeland – the historical dilemma
Japanese leadership constantly had to weigh:

• Send more pilots immediately to the front → shorten training, but quality drops.
• Keep training longer → maintain quality, but fewer pilots available short-term.

→ With the school system, the player experiences the exact same dilemma.
This adds a major historical value that vanilla completely lacks.

The Historical Decline becomes visible in-game
• Without schools: Japan has “magical” replacement pilots available until 1945.
• With schools:
– 1941–42: qualitatively strong pilots, solid training.
– 1943: first bottlenecks, schools produce fewer XP and fewer pilots.
– 1944–45: quantity over quality, pilots arrive young and inexperienced – just as historically.

Thus, the historical collapse of the Japanese air force is felt in-game – something vanilla hardly simulates.

Even with PDU on, the Japanese player gains no real advantage by upgrading training schools to front-line aircraft. On the contrary: