Help with Japanese fighters

[niceguy2005]

I am trying to learn the performance hierarchy of Japanese fighters. I am currently going on assumptions, but I would assume that the following is a list of planes from worst to best

Claudes
Nates
Oscars
Zeros
Zekes
Franks
Tojos

Is this correct?

[Mike Solli]

I'd say it's all a matter of opinion. One thing you have to keep in mind is Army vs. Navy fighters. You can't mix them in units (Navy fighters in Daitai or Army fighters in sentai). What you really need is two lists, one for Navy and one for Army.

[castor troy]

ORIGINAL: niceguy2005

I am trying to learn the performance hierarchy of Japanese fighters. I am currently going on assumptions, but I would assume that the following is a list of planes from worst to best

Claudes
Nates
Oscars
Zeros
Zekes
Franks
Tojos

Is this correct?

Frank is definetly better than Tojo!

[niceguy2005]

Thanks. SO maybe the list would be something like.

IJA
Claude
Nate
Oscar
Zero
Zeke
Tojo
Frank
Tony

IJN
Zero
Zeke

[worr]

I'd make another category of defensive vs offensive....the tony for example has limited range.

[Gen.Hoepner]

Tony has a range of 6
Tojo has a range of 5

the Frank is the best IJAF fighter.

The ranking should be something like

Nate
Oscar
OscarII
Tojo
Tony
Frank

The Tony is slighly better than the Tojo. Its armament is defently superior and makes heavy differences expecially when intercepting heavy bombers formations.
The Tojo is a better A2A fighter probably, due to its superior speed, but i still prefer the Tony.

[Yamato hugger]

Tony/Tojo are very close. I personally prefer the Tojo. Frank is hands down the best on that list.

[alfrake]

The Tony is slighly better than the Tojo. Its armament is defently superior and makes heavy differences expecially when intercepting heavy bombers formations.

As the two are close in performance, is it a good idea to skip one model entirely?

[Gen.Hoepner]

Tojos and Tonies aren't so similar IMHO. I've checked the results i'm having in my pbem with MC. At the same exp level the Tonies do a defenetly better job against his heaviests, while the Tojos seem to have more chances of engage in A2A with enemy fighters.
Against the 4Es seems that what counts most is the armament, while against other fighters speed seems to be the key.

I like to have both of them. Consider that the Tojo has a GREAT climb rate and can get the 4Es even when they fly at 36k ft....
So i usually keep the Tonies between 16,000 and 7,000 and the Tojos above 16k

[Yamato hugger]

ORIGINAL: alfrake

The Tony is slighly better than the Tojo. Its armament is defently superior and makes heavy differences expecially when intercepting heavy bombers formations.

As the two are close in performance, is it a good idea to skip one model entirely?

No. You need to produce some to get the reinforcements of that type. I make around 50 Tonys and call it good. When a new group comes online I convert it right away freeing up them planes for the next one.

[niceguy2005]

Thanks everyone for the comments and answers. Its good to know that the Japanese also have specialized fighters. What about the Zero and Zeke? I assume that they are not quite as good as the Tony or Tojo, as they are earlier versions.

[Yamato hugger]

Tony and Tojo are army planes. Zero and Zeke are navy. Army cant use navy and vice versa.

[Gen.Hoepner]

True, however the Zekes are inferior both to Tony and to Tojos. Only the A6M5c is a great plane! It's 20 armament points are a fantastic 4Es killers!

My personal hit is the following, mixing up IJAF and IJN

Claude
Nate
Oscar
OscarII
DinahIII
A6M2
A6M3
A6M5
Tojo
Jack
Tony
A6M5c
Frank-a
George
Frank-c
Reppu
Shiden

[niceguy2005]

Great. I think I have a much better handle on Japanese fighters. Thanks everyone for the help.

[Woos]

This thread not only has a graphical representation of all the Japanese aircraft upgrade path but also spread sheets to calculate a rating for the aircraft based on weightings (between speed, gun, durability, armor, ...) you can modify. (*End of shameless self-promotion*)

Of course one would have to know the combat formulas to really know what rating is important for what type of mission.

[Rob Brennan UK]

Great link Woos ! .. thanks

[Sneer]

check climbing speed
Tojo as I remember is excellent interceptor

[Gen.Hoepner]

ORIGINAL: Sneer

check climbing speed
Tojo as I remember is excellent interceptor

It is. It has a great climb rate. However armament has a great weight in fighters vs bombers ratings, so the Tojo seems pretty useless against enemy 4E bombers.

Usually i keep Tojos mixed up with Tonies. In every base i want to defend i have something like 60/70% Tonies and 40/30% of Tojos for IJAF. Tonies stay 1/2000 fts above the altitude i presume the bombers will arrive, while Tojos stay some 5k ft above, to intercept the escort.

I haven't experienced the Jacks in a serious Pbem Yet, but looking at the numbers these beasts will be of great use for CAP duties.
16 points of armament makes it even better than a Tony and with a decent speed and a good climb rate it's probably a very good mix of the latters 2.

[mc3744]

ORIGINAL: Gen.Hoepner

Tojos and Tonies aren't so similar IMHO. I've checked the results i'm having in my pbem with MC. At the same exp level the Tonies do a defenetly better job against his heaviests, while the Tojos seem to have more chances of engage in A2A with enemy fighters.
Against the 4Es seems that what counts most is the armament, while against other fighters speed seems to be the key.

I like to have both of them. Consider that the Tojo has a GREAT climb rate and can get the 4Es even when they fly at 36k ft....
So i usually keep the Tonies between 16,000 and 7,000 and the Tojos above 16k

Good to know [:D][:D]

[Yamato hugger]

The biggest advantages of the Tojo over the Tony is the fact that you dont have to convert those Kawasaki engines to Nakajimas later . Not to mention converting a bunch to Kawas beforehand. Also, when the Frank comes online, all your Tojos automatically convert to Franks. Saves a lot of down-time.

Yes, in a one on one comparison the Tony is marganilly better than the Tojo. But in the big picture, it isnt. Build a few Tonys, sure. But with PDU, your workhorse should be the Tojo.