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castor troy -> RE: Battle of Fiji (3/17/2010 9:15:53 AM)
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quote:
ORIGINAL: wpurdom
quote:
Such things would just not have happened if that number of bombers would scream down on IJN carriers. We´re not talking about idiots in flying junk but USN pilots in SBDs. And exactly those trashed the IJN carriers in the war. While doing this with far SMALLER numbers over the carriers.
I'm not sure that comment properly adjusts for thunderstorms weather. At Midway, for instance, one had perfect flying conditions.
The Japanese results are also quite poor compared to fair weather performance. At Midway, the Japanese sent a strike force of 18 Vals, 11 were shot down prior to release and the remaining 7 scored 3 hits. They sent 10 Kates, 4-5 were shot down prior to release and the remaining 5-6 got two torpedo hits. There seems to be a consensus that the other 3 CV's of Carrier divisions 1 & 2 could perform at similarly high levels (Akagi, Kaga, and Soryu)
In contrast, at Midway over 40 Devastators got no hits. The Dive bombers came in untouched without any fighter opposition on a sunny day. Many dive bombers were into their dives before Japanese AA could respond. I don't have Shattered Sword with me, so I will have to comment on the results later, but IIRC, the percentage of hits under ideal conditions was less than the Japanese percentage with all their planes getting shot up. Is morale affected in the midst of a strike by hits and teammates getting killed, I don't know.
I do not know what the game mechanics are on air strikes, but it makes sense that being hit by flak or an enemy fighter could affect accuracy, perhaps through morale adjustments. In the Battle of Fiji 13% of the USN 1st strike completed their mission undamaged, 68% of the Japanese flight did. Of course, I don't know what percentage of any strike was damaged after release of weapons. Thunderstorms may accentuate advantages in morale, experience and skill.
You noticed the weather during the IJN attack didn´t you? What goes for one side should go for the other side too, if not, something is off. And if not then it again should be the other side because the rugged USN bombers should definetely do BETTER in bad weather than their IJN counterparts IMO. If the Japanese get a mega attack in thunderstorms but the USN doesn´t then hey ho.
If the Japanese attack is reasonable then the USN attack is completely off. You can´t say on one side thunderstorms was the killer while on the other side it hardly had any effect.
Just as a reminder:
Morning Air attack on TF, near Kandavu Island at 129,167
Weather in hex: Thunderstorms
Raid detected at 160 NM, estimated altitude 15,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 60 minutes
Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 84
B5N1 Kate x 53
B5N2 Kate x 183
D3A1 Val x 161
Allied aircraft
Martlet II x 15
F4F-3A Wildcat x 13
F4F-3 Wildcat x 14
F4F-4 Wildcat x 38
Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 5 destroyed
B5N1 Kate: 4 destroyed, 7 damaged
B5N2 Kate: 10 destroyed, 39 damaged
D3A1 Val: 4 destroyed, 63 damaged
Allied aircraft losses
Martlet II: 1 destroyed
F4F-3A Wildcat: 1 destroyed
F4F-3 Wildcat: 2 destroyed
F4F-4 Wildcat: 3 destroyed
Allied Ships
CA Vincennes, Bomb hits 1, on fire
CV Saratoga, Bomb hits 6, Torpedo hits 2, heavy damage
CA Louisville, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires
CV Yorktown, Bomb hits 5, Torpedo hits 3, and is sunk
CA Chester, Bomb hits 1, Torpedo hits 3, heavy fires, heavy damage
CL St. Louis, Bomb hits 3, heavy fires, heavy damage
CA Pensacola, Bomb hits 1, Torpedo hits 1, heavy fires, heavy damage
DD Lamson
DD Case
CL Helena, Bomb hits 1
DD Vendetta
CL Trenton
DD Flusser
DD Clark
DD Shaw
CA Chicago, Bomb hits 3, Torpedo hits 1, heavy fires
DD Perkins
CL Raleigh
CL Nashville
DD Conyngham
DD Cushing, Torpedo hits 1, heavy damage
DD Preston
DD Porter
DD Dent
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