Feinder
Posts: 6589
Joined: 9/4/2002
From: Land o' Lakes, FL
Status: offline
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Experience can make a BIG difference. The IJN bomber crews start with an average experience of about 85-90, whereas the USN bomber crews start in the low 70s. That directly affects the number of hits you're going to score. Even 6 - 8 IJN planes that get thru your CAP are likely going to hit something. The USN pilots, with exp of around 70-75 however, are going to put alot of holes in the water before before you see a satisfying explosion on Shokaku.
There are checks and balances tho to USN vs. IJN airgroups :
Pros for IJN
1. Nothing beats IJN exp ratings at start. His fighters and bombers have excellent crews. His fighters are going to kill your planes 2 to 1 or even 3 to 1 ratios. His bombers can be lethal, as even a few as 6 bombers that make it thru CAP and Flak are likely going to hit something.
2. USN carriers start with the F4F3, and only 21 of them to boot. Historically, this was a lesson learned at Coral Sea, MORE FIGHTERS = GOOD. The F4F3s don't pair that well vs. the Zero, and the USN pilots are initially mediocre compaired the IJN exp ratings. And you've only got 21 planes in each of the squadrons, so the USN at start, is really running at 75% capacity with sub-par aircraft and mediocre pilots.
Pros for USN
1. It doesn't take that long to recieve the F4F4s (about a month for the first squadron to refit), it will seem like forever tho. But F4F4s have 2 extra 50cals, which amounts to a 50% increase in firepower. You'll notice a big difference in effectiveness over the F4F3s.
2. The USN squadrons fill out fairly quickly to 36 planes. You've got to wait for the F4F4s to replace a squadron first, but once you've got CVs with 36 fighters it helps alot. The IJN CVs only field 24 fighters (or less), so this will give you an advantage as you can put up more CAP than he can (and you'll need it because he has more bombers on his CVs and better pilots to start).
3. USN bombers seem to be generally more durable. It has been my obseration that USN bombers are morely to survive CAP and Flak and at least able to make their runs, than their IJN counterparts. Not to say they'll hit anything if their experience is low, but you can't hit anything if you never make a run.
3. RADAR. Radar helps to keep your CAP in the right place at the right time. That means that over the course of several attacks, you're less likely to have the number of your fighters reduced after several attacks due to loss of cohesion.
4. Attrition. Those IJN fighters might be knocking yours down in a 2 to 1 ratio, but this is actually working in your favor (eventually). Kill the IJN experienced pilots, and it'll just get easier. A 2 to 1 ratio against you (initially) is acceptable. 3 to 1 is too high, you're doing something wrong. Obviously, better than 2 to 1 works well too.
Ok, so I went on a tagent. But experience does make a big difference in the performance of each pilot. A fighter pilot of 85 exp in a A6M5 is (likely) going to kill the pilot in an F6F with only 60 exp. And a bomber pilot with 80+ experience is alot more likely to put his bomb on target than than one with only 60 exp.
-F-
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