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rustysi -> RE: PDU 'off' (7/30/2018 7:10:57 PM)
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Mike's AAR is great, but he's really not that on top of the R&D as with many other things. Neither am I for that matter, and there are many paths you can take. It all depends on your style of play.
First:
quote:
I've read that a/c become available on their specific date, but wouldn't this allow one to cheat and speed up R&D on some other type with factories originally set to R&D the first?
Its not a cheat, it how the game was designed. IMHO Japan's research was pretty much all over the place, especially considering her limited engineering capacity back then. She needs to streamline this to certain aircraft if she wishes to stay somewhat competitive with the Allies. Even then the task will be difficult and costly. Costly in HI and supply that is.
As I've said it depends on your style of play, so you won't find any 'wonderful guides' as you say. What I can tell you is there're many threads discussing the topic over the years. And as your thread title alludes to there's a huge difference whether PDU is on or off. I play with it on for two reasons. If I'm streamlining my R&D I want to be able to use said A/C the way I choose, and PDU off will restrict that. This is not to say that you'll be able to convert all IJA fighter units to Frank's, you won't. There are limits built into the game that will prevent such things, and rightly so. Also with PDU off its a whole different ballgame as you'll need to develop certain aircraft you might otherwise skip as replacement air groups will need them to be of use. That to me takes more time and I have enough on my plate and don't wish to deal with all that, so its PDU on for me. I mean it really gives the Allies more freedom as well so what's the harm.
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build more Tojos
That's good. Its an early war plane that you'll need for the expansion of the empire. Its also one you can use throughout the whole war, but in a more limited role as time goes on. Remember every early war plane you produce is one less late war aircraft you get. You just won't have the resources to build large numbers of everything. So when it comes to first and second 'generation' aircraft build only what you need. A thousand TojoIIa's will do you no good. OTOH you may want to build several thousand of the IIc's, with heavier firepower and armor.
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Kates
Here's a little hint WRT these guys. Build the first Kate rather than the latter one. It uses a different engine and there's already a 'stockpile' of them at the start of the game. 'Stockpile' is a bit if a lose term here, there's actually about 70 of them, but that's all you should need if you do your R&D properly. That one comes directly from Mike Solli, so thanks to him. The second Kate uses the Ha-35 which you will have a bunch of too, and they're well into production. The problem with this engine is demand is high early in the game and if you're not careful you'll run out before you can increase its output to the required levels. With all that said you'd better R&D the Jill, which is the next Japanese torpedo bomber.
And on and on it goes as all these decisions will impact the next. It takes quite a bit of effort and consideration to come to the desired results, and even then it could be that you'll not quite get what you want. For me it was the last aspect of playing Japan that I delved into properly, but I'm playing the AI so its not that big a deal.
Oh, and there are some twists and turns in the game as well. For instance if you're playing scenario one the Tojo use the Ha-34(?) engine. The question mark is that I'm not 100% sure, but its something like that. Only the Helen bombers use that engine as well. In scenario two the Tojo uses the Ha-35. Why? Don't know, its the Dev's decision. Now that changes things quite a bit, if you consider what's going on here. For instance, do I now want to spend resources on the Helen at all, its not really that different from the Sally and since its the only plane that would use the Ha-34 do I want to make a large investment for a 'one engine' wonder.
On top of all that, and trust me there's a lot more, now you have to consider engine R&D. What good is an air frame without an engine. Just ask the Japanese themselves. Hein, plenty of air frames no engine. Trouble with the development of its liquid cooled engine delayed the planes' development to the extent that eventually Japan fitted a different engine to it to get use of those aforementioned frames. So a whole other layer of complication.
And I could go on and on if you get my drift. So that's why you won't find one of those 'wonderful guides' as you say. You'll see that if anyone else chimes in and gives you their take on the matter, as I'm sure it'll differ substantially from my views.
The above is JMHO, but I hope it helps some. Ciao[:)]
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