Slitherine

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ORIGINAL: Lowpe

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ORIGINAL: obvert
On the Allied side I can also tell you I don't fear even the last model A6M8, Ki-43 IV or Ki-61c right now in late 43 but I do fear the Ki-44 Ia, N1K2 and J2M1.

I have been disappointed with Ki44IIc...perhaps your house rules and pdu off make it much more fearsome than it is in my game.

I have noticed something about converting factories...there is a random die roll to determine how many factories are destroyed, but it seems that random die roll is good once for all the conversions that day.

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ORIGINAL: Lokasenna

The Frances night fighter is still not fast enough, IMO. If you can, I would look at getting some NF Judys or Zeroes. They don't have radar, but they are fast enough to catch B-29s. They also have better climb. The Judy's armament leaves a little to be desired, but it uses the "right" engine IMO. Same with the Zero version, though it's a bit better.

The Denko is obviously the best, but hardest to get by a large margin.

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ORIGINAL: obvert

I meant the Ki-84 Ia. Typo!

The Tojo IIc is good in 43 and early 44, but fades a bit after that.

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ORIGINAL: obvert

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ORIGINAL: Lokasenna

The Frances night fighter is still not fast enough, IMO. If you can, I would look at getting some NF Judys or Zeroes. They don't have radar, but they are fast enough to catch B-29s. They also have better climb. The Judy's armament leaves a little to be desired, but it uses the "right" engine IMO. Same with the Zero version, though it's a bit better.

The Denko is obviously the best, but hardest to get by a large margin.

Maybe because it was in combination with others but the Frances caught up to the B-29s for me. It has staying power the 1Es and planes without armor don't which makes a big difference. I found this out by pure chance, just giving it a try.

Even the Irving at only just above 300mph works. I just read Fortress in the Pacific and when the Irvings showed up at Rabaul in 43 they were very effective from the start, which I had never realized. They worked by letting the searchlights spot a plane, then diving in to get under it and hitting before being seen.

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ORIGINAL: Lokasenna

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ORIGINAL: obvert

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ORIGINAL: Lokasenna

The Frances night fighter is still not fast enough, IMO. If you can, I would look at getting some NF Judys or Zeroes. They don't have radar, but they are fast enough to catch B-29s. They also have better climb. The Judy's armament leaves a little to be desired, but it uses the "right" engine IMO. Same with the Zero version, though it's a bit better.

The Denko is obviously the best, but hardest to get by a large margin.

Maybe because it was in combination with others but the Frances caught up to the B-29s for me. It has staying power the 1Es and planes without armor don't which makes a big difference. I found this out by pure chance, just giving it a try.

Even the Irving at only just above 300mph works. I just read Fortress in the Pacific and when the Irvings showed up at Rabaul in 43 they were very effective from the start, which I had never realized. They worked by letting the searchlights spot a plane, then diving in to get under it and hitting before being seen.

If only we could force them to actually use that behavior in-game... despite setting mine to 2000, with bombers coming in between 3000 and 7000, mine almost never attack from below. Not a lot of use, considering their only gun faces upwards... Can't wait until I get "real" night fighters like the Nick, Judy, and Zero.

Since the radar doesn't come online until later anyway, I'm not concerned with accelerating the radar airframes.

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ORIGINAL: Lowpe

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ORIGINAL: Lokasenna

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ORIGINAL: obvert

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ORIGINAL: Lokasenna

The Frances night fighter is still not fast enough, IMO. If you can, I would look at getting some NF Judys or Zeroes. They don't have radar, but they are fast enough to catch B-29s. They also have better climb. The Judy's armament leaves a little to be desired, but it uses the "right" engine IMO. Same with the Zero version, though it's a bit better.

The Denko is obviously the best, but hardest to get by a large margin.

Maybe because it was in combination with others but the Frances caught up to the B-29s for me. It has staying power the 1Es and planes without armor don't which makes a big difference. I found this out by pure chance, just giving it a try.

Even the Irving at only just above 300mph works. I just read Fortress in the Pacific and when the Irvings showed up at Rabaul in 43 they were very effective from the start, which I had never realized. They worked by letting the searchlights spot a plane, then diving in to get under it and hitting before being seen.

If only we could force them to actually use that behavior in-game... despite setting mine to 2000, with bombers coming in between 3000 and 7000, mine almost never attack from below. Not a lot of use, considering their only gun faces upwards... Can't wait until I get "real" night fighters like the Nick, Judy, and Zero.

Since the radar doesn't come online until later anyway, I'm not concerned with accelerating the radar airframes.

My Irvings always attack from below and are real killers versus 2E beasties. I am hoping the Sa version with the extra cannon makes them lethal versus 4Es. Why are you having problems?

I love your use of real nightfighters like the Nick, Judy and Zero! Can't disagree with you more here.

Some radar starts 6/44 and it is the most important upgrade for nightfighters there is! You ignore it at your own peril, I think.

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ORIGINAL: obvert

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ORIGINAL: Lowpe

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ORIGINAL: Lokasenna

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ORIGINAL: obvert

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ORIGINAL: Lokasenna

The Frances night fighter is still not fast enough, IMO. If you can, I would look at getting some NF Judys or Zeroes. They don't have radar, but they are fast enough to catch B-29s. They also have better climb. The Judy's armament leaves a little to be desired, but it uses the "right" engine IMO. Same with the Zero version, though it's a bit better.

The Denko is obviously the best, but hardest to get by a large margin.

Maybe because it was in combination with others but the Frances caught up to the B-29s for me. It has staying power the 1Es and planes without armor don't which makes a big difference. I found this out by pure chance, just giving it a try.

Even the Irving at only just above 300mph works. I just read Fortress in the Pacific and when the Irvings showed up at Rabaul in 43 they were very effective from the start, which I had never realized. They worked by letting the searchlights spot a plane, then diving in to get under it and hitting before being seen.

If only we could force them to actually use that behavior in-game... despite setting mine to 2000, with bombers coming in between 3000 and 7000, mine almost never attack from below. Not a lot of use, considering their only gun faces upwards... Can't wait until I get "real" night fighters like the Nick, Judy, and Zero.

Since the radar doesn't come online until later anyway, I'm not concerned with accelerating the radar airframes.

My Irvings always attack from below and are real killers versus 2E beasties. I am hoping the Sa version with the extra cannon makes them lethal versus 4Es. Why are you having problems?

I love your use of real nightfighters like the Nick, Judy and Zero! Can't disagree with you more here.

Some radar starts 6/44 and it is the most important upgrade for nightfighters there is! You ignore it at your own peril, I think.

I always set my NY close to the expected altitude of the incoming bombers, not lower. If at 9k against a raid at 6-9k they seemed to attack using the 20mm just fine. From lower I'd think you don't get the dive and lose time as they climb.

The Sa with radar is much better.

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ORIGINAL: Lowpe
If I can make great numbers of them: Frank r, Ki202, Ki100, Randy 102b; for the Navy it will be Sam J, George ver 3 and Jack ver 2 or ver 3.

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ORIGINAL: Lokasenna

I cut the Jack off at version 2, and get the George to version 3. The Jack-v3 (the J2M5) just has an oddball combination of changes from the J2M3. It's 382 instead of 365, so less likely to be penalized by faster Allied fighters that are coming in for sweeps, but can't go as high. It is more maneuverable at its top band, however.

But compare to the George-3, the N1K5. Pretty much the same speed, George with more firepower (albeit a bit less accurate), same SR, same maneuver, and George can go to 39370 - high enough that P-38s can't get the dive on it although Mustangs and P-47s still can. Climb rate vs. the J2M5 isn't as much of a difference as the other versions. So it's as if the J2M5 is meant to be a filler in your CAP against sweeps, but it's SR3 which seems antithetical to the role of a filler. J2M5 and N1K5 are almost the same plane and so you're better off sticking with the faster-climbing J2M3. Also, if it ends up mattering, the N1K5 carries bigger bombs if you end up kami'ing them .

*shrug*

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ORIGINAL: Lowpe

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ORIGINAL: Lokasenna

I cut the Jack off at version 2, and get the George to version 3. The Jack-v3 (the J2M5) just has an oddball combination of changes from the J2M3. It's 382 instead of 365, so less likely to be penalized by faster Allied fighters that are coming in for sweeps, but can't go as high. It is more maneuverable at its top band, however.

But compare to the George-3, the N1K5. Pretty much the same speed, George with more firepower (albeit a bit less accurate), same SR, same maneuver, and George can go to 39370 - high enough that P-38s can't get the dive on it although Mustangs and P-47s still can. Climb rate vs. the J2M5 isn't as much of a difference as the other versions. So it's as if the J2M5 is meant to be a filler in your CAP against sweeps, but it's SR3 which seems antithetical to the role of a filler. J2M5 and N1K5 are almost the same plane and so you're better off sticking with the faster-climbing J2M3. Also, if it ends up mattering, the N1K5 carries bigger bombs if you end up kami'ing them .

*shrug*

Well, it costs nothing in supply to upgrade to the last Jack, so that is what I will do. It does cost to switch from Jack to George.

Jack doesn't have the range to be a good kamikaze - or the payload.

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ORIGINAL: koniu
Also remember engines.
Jack is using Ha-32 for all versions while George changing from Ha-45(K1 and K2) to Ha-43(K5)

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ORIGINAL: Lowpe

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ORIGINAL: koniu
Also remember engines.
Jack is using Ha-32 for all versions while George changing from Ha-45(K1 and K2) to Ha-43(K5)

Great point Koniu. That funky engine is also used in the Sam J -- important to me.

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ORIGINAL: Lowpe

Well, it costs nothing in supply to upgrade to the last Jack, so that is what I will do. It does cost to switch from Jack to George.

Jack doesn't have the range to be a good kamikaze - or the payload.

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ORIGINAL: Lokasenna

Aren't you already producing George? If so, the last model of the George wouldn't cost supplies to create, correct?

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Given the number of losses in airframes that the 4Es cause, I'd rather use and lose 2* the number in Zeroes/Judys than in Irvings. Unfortunately, the IJAAF only has 2-engine versions.

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Looking at my Tracker, there are actually 2 groups other than the Endo Detachment (321 Ku S-1 and 321 Ku S-2) that can only use the J1N1-S version and no others. The rest can all choose from any of the other IJNAF 2Es or the C6N, and only 4 groups are allowed to use the A6M or D4Y frames (3 each). It's worth noting that you can probably resize those 3 units...

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ORIGINAL: Spidery

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Given the number of losses in airframes that the 4Es cause, I'd rather use and lose 2* the number in Zeroes/Judys than in Irvings. Unfortunately, the IJAAF only has 2-engine versions.

Is the HI cost that significant? I would be concerned about the extra supply to replace the aircraft and the loss of a few more of your best pilots. The only advantage of the 1E night fighters I can see (apart from the option to resize air groups) is they use up less space at smaller bases.

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Looking at my Tracker, there are actually 2 groups other than the Endo Detachment (321 Ku S-1 and 321 Ku S-2) that can only use the J1N1-S version and no others. The rest can all choose from any of the other IJNAF 2Es or the C6N, and only 4 groups are allowed to use the A6M or D4Y frames (3 each). It's worth noting that you can probably resize those 3 units...

PDU On, I think all the groups can use any model once they have changed to a night fighter model. However, there are some groups that need specific models in order to change to using night fighters.

I haven't yet had to counter the B-29 but against the B-24 the only night fighter that seems to pull its weight has been the J1N1-S. Not sure why the Ki-46-III isn't performing well.

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ORIGINAL: Lokasenna

I cut the Jack off at version 2, and get the George to version 3. The Jack-v3 (the J2M5) just has an oddball combination of changes from the J2M3. It's 382 instead of 365, so less likely to be penalized by faster Allied fighters that are coming in for sweeps, but can't go as high. It is more maneuverable at its top band, however.

But compare to the George-3, the N1K5. Pretty much the same speed, George with more firepower (albeit a bit less accurate), same SR, same maneuver, and George can go to 39370 - high enough that P-38s can't get the dive on it although Mustangs and P-47s still can. Climb rate vs. the J2M5 isn't as much of a difference as the other versions. So it's as if the J2M5 is meant to be a filler in your CAP against sweeps, but it's SR3 which seems antithetical to the role of a filler. J2M5 and N1K5 are almost the same plane and so you're better off sticking with the faster-climbing J2M3. Also, if it ends up mattering, the N1K5 carries bigger bombs if you end up kami'ing them .

*shrug*

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ORIGINAL: obvert
The 1Es die like flies, as does the Dinah for whatever reason. The J1N1-S is very reliable and steady. Not spectacular, but it works. The best though is having a mix, as then the benefit of the fast climbers get a lot of planes early, and really numbers engaging work better than anything else.

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ORIGINAL: obvert
For whatever reason the combination of climb, speed, armament and maneuver at height really make the J2M5 a solid defender late. It is the best I used to take on sweeps, but I didn't get to the George N1K5, so it could be similar. I have a feeling from what I've heard though that it's better lower in the CAP as a bomber killer and in any offensive missions you still have capability to initiate. I'd keep Frank 'r' up high with the Jacks, and it and the Ki-83 are the sweepers.

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ORIGINAL: Lowpe

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ORIGINAL: obvert
For whatever reason the combination of climb, speed, armament and maneuver at height really make the J2M5 a solid defender late. It is the best I used to take on sweeps, but I didn't get to the George N1K5, so it could be similar. I have a feeling from what I've heard though that it's better lower in the CAP as a bomber killer and in any offensive missions you still have capability to initiate. I'd keep Frank 'r' up high with the Jacks, and it and the Ki-83 are the sweepers.

Joc also mentioned that the Jack was the only fighter he feared.

Causing fear in the Allies is a good thing, as it will slow him down I think. This is another reason why I decided to up my production of Jack. Ideally, I think I would like to get it around 75 planes per month for the 2nd version, but it all depends on how long I can keep shipping oil from the SRA.

Here is hoping I survive long enough to get to the third Jack.