Lokasenna
Posts: 9297
Joined: 3/3/2012
From: Iowan in MD/DC
Status: offline
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The Rufe jumps to the A6M5, not the A6M3a. And yes, you want the armor on the A6M5c and/or A6M8. It makes a huge difference in plane losses and therefore pilot survivability. I don't know who gave you the advice to skip the rest of the A6M line after the 3a... 
I think you may miss the Jack. I use both Jack and George and they each have distinct roles. The Jack is a far better defender, but the George is a decent defender and retains the ability to conduct offensive operations. It is an OK sweeper. I'm talking about the J2M5 and N1K5 here - you should be going for both. I don't see a huge difference between SR2 and SR3 fighters, although I'm sure if I looked more closely I would see it.
I don't like the Oscar at all. It's a stopgap until the Frank arrives, which still has decent range. I've kept a few Oscar-IV squadrons around, but their uses are very few. The Frank even makes a better kamikaze: more of them will get through to the target and they carry the same 2x250kg bombs.
The Nick is not a great night fighter, in my experience. It lacks radar, while the Randy has radar. I don't actually have the Randy yet, but soon. There are few IJAAF NF squadrons in any case. The weapon difference on the Randy is that it has a much more accurate CL cannon, and it has 2 of them. The Nick has one large inaccurate CL cannon. The Randy is superior in every respect, on paper, and is still fast enough to catch B-29s.
There isn't much difference between the -Ia Helen and -IIa Helen, IMO. The -Ia does have a radar device. Yes, it carries the same stuff as the Sally, so there's no need to rush the Helen development, but the Helen is a superior aircraft and once you've got it produced in enough numbers you'll be swapping out where appropriate. You're going to be making the Ha-34 engines anyway. Meanwhile, the Sally would be eating up the same engine model as some of your other planes (Jill, Betty, Emily, Frances, and Jack). The Helen-IIb does get some more guns, but honestly it's not much. The Sally gets 1 more hex of range over the Helen-Ia but that's it.
Grace vs. Judy - here's the crux... Yes, the Grace is superior, however you can't get it in October 1942 like you can get the Judy in October 1942. And you can't keep using the Val until you get the Grace. Therefore, you're getting the Judy. You'll have invested supplies into Judy R&D factories. You don't need to produce more than 60 Judy per month (probably) initially, and presumably you'll have more than 1 factory allocated to Judy for R&D. You'd crank one of them to 60 when you get D4Y1 in production, and leave the rest of your Judy factories on R&D for the D4Y2 and D4Y3. Meanwhile, you won't get the Grace until early 1944 at the absolute earliest. The Judy-1 and Judy-2 are both SR3, while the Judy-3 is SR1 and just as fast as the Grace. I don't put any stock in the armament of DBs. It will never make a difference in any game - you don't have the time nor the ability to cross-train your DB pilots in Air skill. You're going to want that Judy-3 before you unlock the Grace in early 1944 because you're not going to want to float along on the earlier Judy models for all of 1943.
Also, the Grace doesn't carry 2x250kg bombs, it carries 1x800kg just like the D4Y4 IIRC - at normal range.
Yes, factories can be expensive if you greatly overdo it. But the real supply burner for you, long term, is going to be your combat operations and your LCU replacements rather than any "extra" or overdone factory expenditures (full factory expenditures over the course of the war may be greater, but that's the case even with a skimpy industrial expansion).
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RE: Japanese Air Production Plans - No AcePylut! - 
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