Originally posted by Krusty
As a side note... Once a LONG time ago in AH1, way way WAY the heck back I popped into the SEA and gunned for a JU88. A group of Italian fighters were practicing a North Africa bombing run, flying Ju88s and escorted by C202s. This is back before I even bothered looking at 202s. I didn't know they really existed. However, I *DO* distinctly remember them having drop tanks! In-game!!! Nobody can confirm/remember if they ever had them in AH1, though. I swear I saw DTs under their wings! I only got screenshots of the landing, they musta dropped them while engaging some spit1s over the drop zone. No DTs on the runway landing pics.
Well, I've been playing Aces High for quite some time and during that period there was never any option for under-wing fuel tanks or bombs in AH1 or now. I'm not sure what you saw, but I can tell you what you didn't see. I still have AH1 on my machine.
Now, as to the C.202 and C.205: They are decent fighters, with the C.202 having very good comparable performance when used in early-war period scenarios. However, in the MA both are well down on the performance curve. At high to medium speeds they offer very good handling. Climb is good, roll rate is about average. Gun packages go from weak (202) to good (205), and they have a good ammo load.
Unfortunately, both have some glaring weaknesses. Low speed handling is miserable in the C.205 and not much better in the C.202. Get either of these fighters slow and you get dead mighty fast. Simply stated, if you get slow enough that flaps can be deployed, you're far too slow. I need not detail the poor outward vision.....
Compare the C.202 to the Bf 109F-4... the 109 wins and does so with relative ease. Likewise, compare the C.205 to the Bf 109G-2 and the 109 wins by a similar margin. Why? Better acceleration, climb and vastly superior low speed handling. Why do I harp so much on low speed handling? Well, the facts are that neither Macchi has the suds to disengage from either of those two 109s, unless both are high enough to dive away at high speed, and that buys you only a momentary respite as you will eventually run out of altitude.
By the way, the Macchis are not alone when it comes to inferior low speed handling. Although generally thought to be very good "turners", both Yaks, the P-40s and the Ki-61 all suffer badly at low speeds.
In general, the C.205 was a very minor player in WWII, barely on the radar, so to speak. Likewise for the 2000 series Fiats and Reggiane fighters. Grumman often produced more Hellcats in 10 days than all C.205s manufactured up to Italy's surrender. In Aces High, Macchis are a novelty. Therefore, you can expect that HTC will concentrate on more common fighters with their limited availability of time. When the Macchis get a graphics update, maybe then HTC will add additional options (external fuel and bombs), but I suspect that the Macchi update is a long way down the road.
My regards,
Widewing
