elxaime
Posts: 304
Joined: 11/3/2004 Status: offline
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Hi - I am the Allied player on the other side of this December 1943 massacre (the Japan player is my brother). In actuality the Allies had a numerical advantage in this fight. The Allies had roughly 100 RAF Thunderbolt II's and 25 RNAF Corsair IV's flying from Akyab against 100 JAAF Tony based out of Rangoon. The T-bolt squadrons had all spent several weeks attacking Jap ground targets in Burma, so their average experience levels were all in the low to mid-70's. The Corsair IV's averaged in the mid-70's. This means that, while the Japanese had some good pilots in the 80's and 90's, so did the Allies. Overall, I think the Allied pilots average experience levels were 5-10 points higher than the Japanese. Plus, this was a fighter sweep, so the Allies were all coming in at maximum altitude and generally got the "bounce" in the first few rounds. The result was 100 Tonys flamed vs 6 T-bolts. The sweep was followed by about 350 or so Liberators who erased the remaining 50 or so Japanese fighters on the airstrip. We have halted our game for other reasons (the disappearing leader and disappearing units bugs have basically just worn us down from wanting to play on) but I told my bro' my sense was that this result was within reason given the quality of the Allied squadrons and planes, the type of mission, etc. I think we both agree though that the air combat model is too bloody. It doesn't account for limited ammo in each planes guns, the numbers of planes that historically didn't actually engage during fights (abort, etc.) and generally the fact that squadrons tend to have more planes in "ready" status than they did historically. The conclusion I draw from this is that the Japanese, even with the most sophisticated pilot training programs and player-controlled upgrades, simply cease being competitive in the air with the Allies once the new US aircraft types are deployed in numbers. While tweaking the air model might spread out the carnage, I don't think it changes the overall situation. Anyway just hope this helps debate.
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