jumper
Posts: 489
Joined: 2/23/2006 Status: offline
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With regular fighters you have no other option. If you want them to attack PTs they have to strafe. But its their 30/60kg bomb what brings definitive results and not strafing. The best way to get rid of those PTs is to drop bombs on them. Fighter bombers can do it without flying at 100ft and suffer from deadly low level AA fire. Setting fighter bombers to 100ft attack is unnecessary risk for your pilots in exchange for just a very small additional benefit (strafing). Is it possible to damage PT by strafing? Yes but not easily. Is it possible to sink it? Yes, but that is even harder. Would be strafing (if there was no bombs droping) itself worth of anything? I believe no. This is a good example: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Day Air attack on TF, near Timoeka at 45,81 Japanese aircraft D3A Val x 24 Japanese aircraft losses D3A Val: 2 destroyed, 14 damaged Allied Ships PT PT-336, Shell hits 12 PT PT-339 PT PT-335 PT PT-338 PT PT-341, Shell hits 4, Bomb hits 1, on fire, heavy damage PT PT-337, Bomb hits 1, on fire, heavy damage PT-336 was not even smoking when next day my surface TF arrived. Machine guns are useless. No matter if PT has armor or not.. Jacks are better as they have heavier armament. This was my best attack so far, but still: Day Air attack on TF, near Timoeka at 45,81 Japanese aircraft J2M Jack x 12 No Japanese losses Allied Ships PT PT-300, Shell hits 16, on fire, heavy damage PT PT-283, Shell hits 12, Bomb hits 1, on fire, heavy damage PT-283 went down after the bomb hit. It was lightly smoking before. PT-300 remained and fought next day. After a several days it is still there ruining my air attacks: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Day Air attack on TF, near Timoeka at 45,81 Japanese aircraft Ki-45 KAIb Nick x 8 No Japanese losses Allied Ships PT PT-300, heavy damage Ki-49 are not much better. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Day Air attack on TF, near Timoeka at 45,81 Japanese aircraft Ki-49 Helen x 13 Japanese aircraft losses Ki-49 Helen: 3 destroyed, 7 damaged Allied Ships PT PT-340, Shell hits 4 PT PT-335, Bomb hits 1, on fire, heavy damage PT PT-336 Notice those very high AA fire losses. I have to stop using my crack zeroes in this missions some time ago because the attritional rate was too high. Operational losses (does anybody know if they are higher for this mission?) and AA fire caused I was loosing 5-10 planes (and pilots) for each PT. I have choosed above examples, because it is when I actually hit something. There were countless attack of 80-90xp without any result except AA and ops losses. If I could switch my Jacks/Helens/Vals for a few fighter bomber sentais which could fly STANDARD naval attacks missions against these PTs I would do it instantly. But as everything else it is matter of taste..
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