Why'd we need more 4-engine buffs when no-one flies them as intended?
Large-scale strato-bombing is completely useless.. All the worth bombing has is only dropping two types of buildings here in MA.. the main element of air-battle in MA consists of low-mid alt 'quaky' furballs..
How long would mere Ki-21 Sallys or H8K Emilys last in this sort of environment(not clear on armament of Kawanishi H8K Emily but.. a JP bomber like Sally? One 7.7mm gun forward and one 12.7mm guns aft/top?)?
I remember last time someone put up a wonderful large scale base strike mission. It consisted of 4 LA-7s and 8 IL-2s.. 12 people coordinated for good attack and guess what, it lasted 2 minutes, The moment we get to the base like zillion red dots pop up.
Why'd we ever expect someone has the courage, determination, and patience long enough to put up a nice bomber wing of 3~4 planes to 28k alt when hoardes of base circling jabo guys would do the same thing needed automatically/voluntarily, without having to beg someone to fly a buff wing with 'im? After all, as some people claim, the jaboing/hoarding/furballing is always so much more 'fun' than having 'realistic' level bombing strikes on targets.
After all, there is no real 'need' for buffs in the MA.. no matter how well you slip a critical attack through the monstrous 'red bar', it's worth sh** if nobody in your country ever wants to make good use of it. Why'd they bother to make use of it when furballing around in some obsolete, single field is always more 'fun'?
I've seen dedicated buff pilots leave and deteriorite - even in the short time I ever played in the MA(!). The rooks lost Degas to WW2ol(hope he comes back..). Now only few people who grasp the concept of air combat as something more than 'furballing' climb into those cumbersome 4-engined fatsos, wait patiently 30 minutes, drop a few eggs and get intercepted by hot-shot buffkillers who knew a strike was coming the minute buffs start rolling.
In this kinda environment, adding a new 4-engine plane is a complete waste of kilobytes. A plane that no one flies. It's just there because AH has to be some kind of encyclopedic 'collection'(like maybe a stamp collection..) of WW2 engines of war, that'd satisfy some people's needs of fiddling through plane lists and saying to themselves "oh look, we even got a xxxx! cool!"
Don't get me wrong. I'd love to see more mid/large size planes for JP and all other kinds of countries(I'd love to see the B-24J Liberator!). But having them in the list, and never getting the chance to fly them usefully is not my idea of fun.
I suggest HTC develops more reason and need worth putting up a buff up the sky. Maybe more cities or villages or factories that supply different fields(instead of that collective complex known as 'HQ area') scattered throughout the map would help.. or maybe supply lines of roads and bridges, railroads which truck convoys or maybe trains supply material and fuel from those scattered strategical targets to individual fields.
Hitting VHs and FHs are nice. But dragging a heavy buff-butt to 'furball' areas capped by zillion enemies is all the 'strategy' we have currently. And after the bombing, one gets flamed by even their own countrymen - "Hey? what wuss dropped the FH? lamer!"
Spread out the targets. Give something we need to kill that lies away from the furball area, which would effect enemy performance dramatically as much as taking down a FH or a VH. Then, only then we'd really want to see more buffs - in numbers and in variousity. Other than that, adding more buffs is, as I said above, is just 'stamp collecting'.
MA might need some changes more 'strategical' than just putting up a historical arena or disabling the radar. There is a way we could dramatically increase the immersion without putting up a HA or killing the radar.
If MA becomes more strategical, the numbers and planes would spread out naturally. Who'd want to furball around a single field when the consequences of losing roads and bridges, villages and factories would result to losing airpower over ALL the fields in the covering range of the 'strategical target' - no fuel, no ammo, no aircraft respawning, no troops etc etc..
Well, that's only my idea on 'adding more buffs' and 'changes needed for immersion'. Just give it a thought.
