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Crackaces -> RE: Turn 63: The Dawn is Surely Coming (5/16/2019 5:58:51 PM)
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The State of the LW:
German Fighters
20 Bf109E-3s were exported to Rumania at the start of the game. Most of the withdrawing fighter groups were swapped to Bf109E3s so that the number converted to fighter bombers was minimized. The LW have no E-3s left in the pool and one fighter group left with it, IIJG51 which withdraws on turn 70 and only has 7 aircraft left.
27 Bf109E-7s could have been exported to Slovakia which now has no airgroups and so would never have been used - but the LW prevented any from being exported. There are no E-7s left in the pools and only two fighter groups have it - IJG53 which leaves on turn 66 and has only 8 left, and IIIJG77 which leaves on turn 70 and has only 3 left.
Bar one stab of fighters awaiting an upgrade we have no fighter groups armed with the Bf10F-2 - there are a substantial number in the pool now where the Germans know they will never be exported so will remain there should the Luftwaffe need them in the future.
The remainder of the German fighter air groups have Bf109F4s, the longest range fighters the Luftwaffe will ever have, and Bf109G-2s. Potentially 49 G-2s could be exported now to Finland, and in 1943 58 to Rumania, 59 to Hungary and 15 to Slovakia. None will be exported so long as there are 19 or fewer in the pool. But from October 42 (turn 68) if there are enough F4s in the pool up to 42 will be exported to Hungary. Twin-seat fighter bomber groups with the ZG designation can be converted to Focke-Wulf single seat fighters or fighter bombers, or Me210 A-1 fighter bombers, and then converted to Bf109 single-seat fighter groups the following turn (and be converted back again). The plan is to do this over two turns. But even if all the fighter and ZG groups (apart from the 3 soon withdrawing with E types mentioned above) with F4 and G2 models, there will still be some left in the pools. This is a good thing - it shows that our fighter losses have been light. But it does mean some will have to be exported.
Hungarian fighters can at least be used over a wider geographical area than Finnish fighters. But Hungary has only 1 level bomber group to escort, Finland has 6. Hungary is also getting the more modern Heja II fighter whereas Finland is still making do with pre-war models including the Gladiator biplane. And the Soviet side knows it - they have spent the past two turns targeting them. With the G2 still in production and if German fighter light losses in the current campaign continue it is not certain that even if all German fighter groups were converted to G2 there would always be too few in the pools for exports - so it may happen in the end anyway whatever the choice. And finally the F4 is the longest range German fighter ever. With the Soviet air force keeping its distance we need our longest range fighters. It would be worse to see them export to the shorter range Hungarian variety. So when a choice is needed by turn 68, and the choice is to export the G2 to Finland. (However by keeping the pools of G2 as low as possible teh Germans might still be able to stop the full 49 going to Finland)
The Germans have been producing Focke Wulf fighters and fighter bombers for a while now but they have remained in the pool. In spite of being potentially better performers, their lower range in the current state of the air war makes them less useful. However they remain in the pools and will not be exported. When the air war flips and we are on the defensive, range will matter less to us and the Focke Wulfs will be invaluable.
German Dive (Tac) Bombers
None of these export until 1943. But we have been swapping our airgroups to models that do, and building our pools of models that do not.
German Level Bombers
Until now if there is only one He111H-4 bomber in the pool, it will be exported to be a Hungarian recon aircraft. And similarly any He111H-3 bomber in the pool will be converted to a He111H-4 bomber and then exported as a Hungarian recon aircraft in the same turn. So at the end of the turn for a while now we have made sure there are none of these left in the pool. But next turn is September 1942 when any Heinkels left in the pool will no longer be exported as a Hungarian recon platform. - The LW has successfully made sure none ever were or ever will be. (However 10 He111H-3s were exported to Slovakia at the start of the game). Similarly no Do17Z-2 or Ju86E-2s have been left for export- only one airgroup with a few of each of these models is left and they will be both be withdrawing soon.
For reasons discussed in a previous post we did allow the maximum 15 He111H-6s to be exported to Rumania. The LW now has substantial pools of Ju88 and Do217E-4, and some He111H-6 bombers, all of that will now be never exported. There are also some He177A-1 that will convert to He177A-3 - a conversion we want.
159 Ju88-4 bombers are scheduled to be exported to Finland, Rumania and Hungary in 1943. Our bomber groups were slowly being converted to Ju88A4s through automatic promotions. It remains to be seen if our level bomber losses are so high in the remainder of 1942 that none will ever be exported, or if they will be so low that some must be.
However with the 1942 strategic bombing campaign drawing down its commitment, some of the most experienced Ju88-4 airgroups are for the moment being converted to longer range Heinkels and Do217E-4s for the next stage in our campaign.
German Recon
9 Fi156C have been exported to Finland, 6 to Rumania and 6 to Slovakia. Potentially 76 in all can be exported but further exports have been prevented by keeping the pools low. Similarly exports of FW189A and Do17P-1 have been prevented. But from September 1942 (turn 64) Ju88D-1 could start to be exported to Hungary. For every 20 of these aircraft in the pools 1 will be exported - so long as we keep the pools below 20 for each type no more will be exported. Losses of German recon aircraft have been much higher here than in other games. By converting all other airgroups to Fi156c, FW189A and Ju88D-1 for now we are able to achieve this. (This game was started in v1.10 and so there is no distinction between recon and strategic recon). But all 3 models are still in production and if losses are lower then ultimately the Germans will have to choose to allow at least one type to be exported.
German Transports
The Germans as a team made a deliberate choice to keep as many heavy aircraft in the national reserve during the blizzard as possible to boost vehicle numbers. There where really no emergencies where the transports were needed. These aircraft have been not been used as expected. - and so many were left in the pool. This inevitably meant that the maximum 30 were exported to Rumania and 53 to Hungary. From now forward, there are no more exports of transports so the Germans do not have to manage their pools.
Altogether this turn alone the Germans had to make 22 manual air swaps as a result.
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