ITAKLinus
Posts: 630
Joined: 2/22/2018
From: Italy
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quote:
ORIGINAL: Q-Ball
Howdy! After several years I started a new game as Japan, DDB-C #28, so pretty much stock. I wanted to check with the veterans on aircraft development and production choices, because my memory is a little rusty and also performance may have changed with newer game versions. I have some assumptions here and wondered: Could you please tell me if I am on-base or off base? I want the truth, and I can handle the truth.
1. Is there a point to producing the Pete? Jake is a superior search plane, other than as BB Bombardment spotters, is there anything I need PETES for in particular?
2. TONY v TOJO: They are close in capability, but I assume you cancel Tony program due to engine dead-end....correct?
3. OSCAR: You need this plane early. But once the TOJO is available, is there a role for the Oscar, other than as long-range escort? (Or filler for when you don't have enough Tojos)
4. NICK: What is this plane good for? I recall it's not a good dogfighter, it's great vs. unescorted bombers, but Allies don't do that very often. Anything else? I could see it useful in Strafing or Low N, but that seems like a narrow mission set. Tell me what I am missing.
5. R&D PRIORITIES: Frank, George, and Jack are R&D Priorities. Anything else should be?
6. LILLY: Is there a point to this plane, or should you switch to Helen/Sally when you have enough?
7. LIGHT BOMBERS: In DDB-C you have to pay PPs to switch Light to Medium Bombers. Worth it? Seems like it is when you have enough planes. Mary, Ann, Sonia all kind of suck.
I have cancelled the obvious planes (Nate,Ida). Anything else?
1.PETE : I keep producing it for a while. The Jake uses the Ha-35, which is in high demand at the beginning and the Pete is good enough for bombardament spotting. For the first months you won't be able to both replace Jake's losses and upgrade groups around unless you go for a massive, and finally wrong, production.
2. TONY vs TOJO : The Tony arrives later and it's not a big deal in terms of usefulness. The Tojo arrives early, uses a good engine (Ha-34) and it's sufficiently armed/armoured to be an extremely important element of your '43 airforce. The Ha-34 is quite good since you probably will have only the Helen-IIa to use it and you won't produce many of these bombers for the time the Tojo enters into production, making it possible a shift from using those engines for Helen-IIa to using them on Tojos.
Tojo is an excellent climber and it has a relatively short technology tree. It is not well-armed but it is good enough. Its speed is excellent for the early to mid game and it is a wonderful sweeper.
I find the tojo vs tony choice a no brain.
3. OSCAR : Few players actually love the Oscar, at least as much as I do. I find it a wonderful plane. The final version has 2x20mm, which are quite good to shot down the heavier allied fighters. Its speed isn't good at all, with a top speed of only 360mph, but its maneuvrability is high, somehow compensating if you go for an extensive use of low layered CAPs.
The range is amazing and it carries 2x250Kg bombs, something that can be handy in certain situations.
I love the Oscar and I extensively use it, albeit with horrible losses, all along the match.
It shouldn't be forgotten that it uses the Ha-35, an engine that becomes less in demand as the game goes on. At the beginning you need the Ha-35 for basically everything important, but in 1943 its usage decreases drastically (f.ex. the A6M8 uses the Ha-33, you stop producing the Kates, etcetc).
4. NICK : I like the plane as night fighter. It cannot fight against B29, of course, but it's sufficiently good for early and mid game. I tend to convert 12-planes LB groups in China and use them as NF. They're good in that. I tend to produce between 30 and 50 Nick per-month. A niche plane.
I don't use it at all in any kind of bombing run.
5. R&D PRIORITIES : Frank and George are definitely your priorities. Then, it comes to your strategy and your doctrine. I personally invest huge amounts of R&D on three other planes: A6M8, Judy and Peggy(T). But that's me and it's highly situational.
6. LILY : It's a relatively good plane, fastest IJ bomber in the first half of the game. Its range and payload prevent it from being very good. I tend to keep producing it for the first months because I usually have incredibly high losses in 2Es. Don't forget that in 1943 the dive bomber version comes online and it's surprisingly good. Nothing special, eh, but still surprisingly good all considered. I use it against soft targets only, to be fair.
7. LIGHT BOMBERS : I always convert all the 1Es to 2Es, either bombers (Helen-II) or FBs. I keep some Anns to ASW duties, though. They have a range of 8, which becomes 4 in ASW: more than enough for areas where enemy sub activity isn't intese.
Mary isn't that bad. Ida sucks. Sonia sucks.
Production of obsolete stuff:
I keep producing:
- Mary
- Ida
- Nate
until the engines in the pool are exhausted.
To be fair, I tend to just throw away these planes. For example: I besiege Clark Field and I send hordes of 1Es (including Nates) in bombing runs. They do little damage but they make the AA guns shot.
Also, I use Nates as night fighters. It looks weird and mad, but they disrupt enemy formation and, I believe, help the other guys present to target enemy bombers.
Generally, I try to find ways to just consume these planes and I think it has a positive ROI after all.
I don't despise too much neither the Nate nor the Mary. They have both their niche use I believe. Of course, provided you don't have alternatives and/or you want to finish the engines in the pool on 7th Dec 1941.
I don't use in this way the Claudes, though: IJNAF pilots are too precious. I even use those Jean you have in the warehouses at the beginning......
Yes. I'm a stingy b@stard.
_____________________________
Francesco
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RE: Just give me the plane truth - 
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