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Aircraft & Torpedo Ordnance Vs Sorties Question
Posted: Thu Jan 29, 2026 12:33 am
by kaybayray
Greetings <S> All
Reading through the Editor Manuals for Ship Classes there is a section 3.2.3 Weapon Restrictions. Specifically with regard to the Aircraft Ordnance and Torpedo Ordnance for lines 19 and 20 respectively. The manual states that the value input in the "Armor" field determines how many sorties can be run for that weapon type.
My question is, are the "Number of Sorties" defined as per individual aircraft or per attack launched?
I checked the values in both these fields for several CV's on both sides and found the Torpedo Ordnance value to be around 30 or so for most and the Aircraft Ordnance ranged from 250 to 500 or so.
I also know that with respect to actual Combat that, for example, if a Squadron of 15 Dive Bombers flew a strike that this would be counted as 15 Sorties, not just 1 overall sortie. That being said, 30 Torpedoes seem a very small amount for a Fleet Carrier to carry as its full complement of Torpedoes. However I was not there so I ask about it with respect to this game.
Thank you very much for any and all replies.
Re: Aircraft & Torpedo Ordnance Vs Sorties Question
Posted: Thu Jan 29, 2026 7:12 am
by Chris21wen
kaybayray wrote: Thu Jan 29, 2026 12:33 am
Greetings <S> All
Reading through the Editor Manuals for Ship Classes there is a section 3.2.3 Weapon Restrictions. Specifically with regard to the Aircraft Ordnance and Torpedo Ordnance for lines 19 and 20 respectively. The manual states that the value input in the "Armor" field determines how many sorties can be run for that weapon type.
My question is, are the "Number of Sorties" defined as per individual aircraft or per attack launched?
I checked the values in both these fields for several CV's on both sides and found the Torpedo Ordnance value to be around 30 or so for most and the Aircraft Ordnance ranged from 250 to 500 or so.
I also know that with respect to actual Combat that, for example, if a Squadron of 15 Dive Bombers flew a strike that this would be counted as 15 Sorties, not just 1 overall sortie. That being said, 30 Torpedoes seem a very small amount for a Fleet Carrier to carry as its full complement of Torpedoes. However I was not there so I ask about it with respect to this game.
Thank you very much for any and all replies.
Neither, sorties represent the amount of bombs a carrier can carry hence how many offensive missions it's ac can carry out before having to re-arm where a sorty is one a/c. In your example 15 a/c, 15 sorties. Torps are separate to bombs but it's the same concept. Note that the a/c have to carry out the mission, sometimes they can return having not dropped their load, rare but it can happen.
I can't comment on the quantity of ordnance but I suspect it correct, the games been going long enough to correct any errors.
Please see the Air War Guide.
https://forums.matrixgames.com/viewtopi ... 3&t=396274.
Re: Aircraft & Torpedo Ordnance Vs Sorties Question
Posted: Thu Jan 29, 2026 10:26 pm
by Cavalry Corp
Chris,
Very interesting Doc... have put it on my downloads page as well, OK?
I am not sure if returning planes come back with ordnance. I know they sometimes did, but I cannot see Kate's returning carrying live TT?
BTW, in my Audible books on the Pacific, I found a live reference to the TT Akagi actually loaded on one occasion, being 54 TT for the Indian Ocean raid (applied in my mod to Kaga as well). So the game made a fair guess.
Michael
Re: Aircraft & Torpedo Ordnance Vs Sorties Question
Posted: Fri Jan 30, 2026 7:28 am
by Chris21wen
Cavalry Corp wrote: Thu Jan 29, 2026 10:26 pm
Chris,
Very interesting Doc... have put it on my downloads page as well, OK?
I am not sure if returning planes come back with ordnance. I know they sometimes did, but I cannot see Kate's returning carrying live TT?
BTW, in my Audible books on the Pacific, I found a live reference to the TT Akagi actually loaded on one occasion, being 54 TT for the Indian Ocean raid (applied in my mod to Kaga as well). So the game made a fair guess.
Michael
It is stange and it's been a while since I checked this. TT and sortie counts do'nt go down until a strike goes in so it may mean they just don't take off as opposed to actually returning.
Re: Aircraft & Torpedo Ordnance Vs Sorties Question
Posted: Fri Jan 30, 2026 9:12 am
by LargeSlowTarget
30 Torpedoes seem a very small amount for a Fleet Carrier to carry as its full complement of Torpedoes. However I was not there so I ask about it with respect to this game.
I have read that Japanese carriers carried a limited supply of "ready torpedoes", plus a reserve of disassembled (spare) parts. The reserve was of little use during an engagement because it took hours if not days to assemble the parts into a working torpedo. Physical space was a concern, not only for storage. Torpedoes required a lot of space plus large specialised shops for routine maintenance and preparation. On the converted carriers Kaga and Akagi, ample space was even more difficult to find than on carriers build as such from the keel up. The figures I have found say that Akagi and Kaga carried 36 "ready torpedoes" and Shokaku and Zuikaku carried 54. Doctrine demanded three torpedoes per torpedo bomber, but space restrictions reduced this to 1.5 to 2 torpedoes per torpedo bomber.
Guess the USN had to face the same space limitations and their carriers had 2-3 torps per torpedo bomber at most.
Re: Aircraft & Torpedo Ordnance Vs Sorties Question
Posted: Fri Jan 30, 2026 1:56 pm
by Cavalry Corp
ok guess we will never know, interesting that Zuikaku has that many - I think I missed that in my mod, will add it for a patch in 6 months! The figure for Akagi was given in a book I was listening to on Audible.
Cav