Matrix Games Forums

Hi,

Why can Allied Fighters (P40E Kittyhawk, 6 x .50, NO Bombs) Sweep and kill IJA troops, (AAR Air attack on Lae P-40E Kittyhawks x 3, no losses, Japanese ground losses: Men lost 53, Guns lost 1), whilst IJN fighters A5M4 Claude/A6M2 Zero on Sweep hit nothing, no matter how many you send.
An old wargame saying was 'When the enemy is in range, you are in range of the enemy' which leads me to ask:
Why the hell do troops that are being straffed, not use their own MGs and rifles to shoot back? In war films how often do you see GI Joe grab his BAR and pot a low flying Zero/Oscar?
In UV the troops line up to make it easier to kill them, not historical!

Why does the game give the US such an advantage?
Why not the same for both sides?
Is this problem carried over to WITP?

Somebody please tell me that I am wrong[&o]

--Bob

okee
ur wrong

lolz[:'(]

in my experience ive inflicted allied ground losses by low level 100 feet altitude strafing runs with zekes

though rarely anything in a hollywood movie is historical, all hollywood cares about is making box office hits[8|]

and its REALLY hard to shoot down a fighter or bomber with a tommy/BAR, at least in my experience

Losing a plane to small arms fire was a very freak and rare thing. Shooting skeet is hard. Try it when the target is going 300 mph.

I have seen some success with zeros when strafing but it is rare. I do not ever waste them in strafing attacks.

Historically, the zero was a bust at low level ground support attacks. It was poorly armed with a low ammo load for the 20mm canon and if any aircraft could be shot down with small arms it was the zero-due to its light weight construction and poor armor protection. Don't count on them for strafing attacks and don't use them for that purpose. The p40-39s were superior to the zero in that respect but for all other purposes in game terms, the zero is superior. You could do worse than zeros.

ORIGINAL: crsutton

Losing a plane to small arms fire was a very freak and rare thing. Shooting skeet is hard. Try it when the target is going 300 mph.

I have seen some success with zeros when strafing but it is rare. I do not ever waste them in strafing attacks.

Historically, the zero was a bust at low level ground support attacks. It was poorly armed with a low ammo load for the 20mm canon and if any aircraft could be shot down with small arms it was the zero-due to its light weight construction and poor armor protection. Don't count on them for strafing attacks and don't use them for that purpose. The p40-39s were superior to the zero in that respect but for all other purposes in game terms, the zero is superior. You could do worse than zeros.

exactly


its like pricking a rhino with a needle hoping to bring him down

or jabbing a tigershark with a thumbtack

plus the zeke didnt have self sealing fuel tanks- dumb japs[:D]

A well crafted reply from crsutton.[&o]

Everything you say about the A6M2 Zero is correct, it was not until the A6M5 Zeke (to use UV nomenclature) that things improved.

However I would like to point out the following: (AAR+Gamefile available)

3 * P40E Kittyhawk (6 * .50MGs, No Bombs) cause 53 Men & 1Gun lost.
3 * 6 = 18 .50MGs = almost 3 lost men per MG.

26 * A6M2 Zero (2 * 20mm Cannon, 2 * 7.7mm MGs, No Bombs).
26 * 2 = 52 20mm Cannons and 52 7.7mm MGs = 104 Guns for nothing.

Might one be forgiven for thinking that the game be slightly skew-whif?

--Bob

Well yes, it may be skewed in this respect. However, I would not worry too much about this. You are not going to win or lose the game based on your strafing attacks. Wait till your zeros meet up with corsairs. Then you are really gonna have something to bitch about..[;)]

You mean that my Zeke's will be facing F4U-1's (the greatest combat aircraft in history!!!)....... . . . . .

I don't feel well[X(]

Wait a minute, the US Navy did not fly Corsairs from CV's until after the RN had been using it from their CV's, so it will be the Land Based version from Feb '43 as I am playing Scen.17 I only have to last 10 months [:(]

note: Must start to practice bitching about unfair UV, letting the US use better planes than the IJN.[:D]

--Bob

I'm afraid the game is utterly accurate, havent you seen Flying Leathernecks?

Sounds like a 50's John Wayne film.[&o]

Films of that era did us a lot of real WW2 footage, but many only tried to show that it was 'tough at the top'.

--Bob