Best Japanese interceptor

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All Forums >> [New Releases from Matrix Games] >> War in the Pacific: Admiral's Edition >> Best Japanese interceptor

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Best Japanese interceptor - 1/11/2010 5:16:38 PM

Athius

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Joined: 9/12/2009
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What plane do you think is the best bomber interceptor the japanese have?

Iam leaning towards the ki-45 for the army (it has armor and some good 20 mm cannons) and the Jm2 for the navy

I considered the ki44B and the fighter variant ki-46 as they both had a impressive 40mm (!) cannon. However the cannon has a terrible accuracy (just 2) so I've decided that they are not worth it

Any thoughts?

Athius

Post #: 1

RE: Best Japanese interceptor - 1/11/2010 5:34:32 PM

WITPPL

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I would love to hear about these too.

(in reply to Athius)

Post #: 2

RE: Best Japanese interceptor - 1/11/2010 5:42:50 PM

Nemo121

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Well, the reality is that since you can't assign targets to your fighter groups ( e.g. you can't assign a daitai to "bomber intercept" vs "fighter intercept" ) the Ki-45 never reaches its potential as it happily will dogfight the enemy escorts (* and die in droves ) instead of boring in towards the bombers, as it would try to do in real life.

As such the best bomber interceptor in AE is NOT going to be the best bomber interceptor in real life but, rather, the fastest, most manoeuvrable single-engined fighter which carries multiple 20mm cannon.

In real life if you could get enough fighters to keep the escorts busy a twin-engined fighter which was less manoeuvrable but more durable and usually more heavily armed will be the better bomber interceptor.

(in reply to WITPPL)

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RE: Best Japanese interceptor - 1/11/2010 10:06:14 PM

Athius

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Joined: 9/12/2009
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So in your view the Tony is the best mid war interceptor?

(in reply to Nemo121)

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RE: Best Japanese interceptor - 1/12/2010 12:08:15 AM

Nemo121

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Well, the qualities you're looking for an an interceptor for bombers ---- leaving aside the issue of surviving any tangle with escorting fighters ) --- are:

1. High rate of climb.
2. Speed
3. Armour
4. Centre-line main cannon armament.

If you look at the planes of late 42/early 43 the Tony C most closely meets those requirements. There are planes which are faster or can climb faster but they don't have the armour or armament necessary.

TO be fair though the Japanese just never built anything until very near the war's end which could do the same job as the Fw-190A8 or Fw190F. I think, in terms of mods, adding in Fw-190 variants would be very interesting indeed... Just the A8 and F variants, no need to make the Ds or Ta-152s.

(in reply to Athius)

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RE: Best Japanese interceptor - 1/12/2010 1:52:06 PM

xj900uk

Posts: 1340
Joined: 3/22/2007
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I have a feeling that in the Home Islands, the Jack (Raiden?) was the best & most popular high-altitude interceptor, with it's powerful battery of 4 x20mm cannon. However it was not a good dogfighter & many fell prey to the escorting Mustangs.
Ironically, it has been documented in several places that the most common JAAF interceptor prior to '44 (and indeed, continued in a few places right ot the end of the war) was the Oscar, again because of it's high/fast climb rate. However the armament of 2 mg's was perhaps not the best for banging away at a B17 or B24 with...

(in reply to Nemo121)

Post #: 6