I shudder to think about the ord perk system in the works. Espcially with the hardened fields and towns.
I'd have no problem with planes meeting the average performance specs of three reliable sources. Going with one source will always have folks pointing to other numbers, and quite simply, the numbers do vary from source to souce to original specifications when it comes to things like this.
Game balance is NOT a big issue in THIS game. The idea is taking different craft with different capabilities up against one another..... so screw balance and go for as close to historical accuracy as you can with these birds within limits of the code.
Of course, if the Ki-84 was bumped up to Janes' specs, it'd probably come with a Perk cost too.
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As for your plane picks:
I agree the buff drivers need more rides, and another perk plane than the Ar234, or the Lanc in early war (?!).
The B25 I can argue against easily enough, because once it is in game, these boards will be filled with posts about carrier launched B25's. Similarly, we won't see a perked B-29 because of the "I wanna nuke" posts that would generate (I seriously doubt there are many that would consistenty take a B29 to 35K for a run.... inserting high alt jet stream is one fix... not a bad high perk ride, but we won't see it). But, due to what will appear on these boards, you won't see either of these planes in AHII is my bet.
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The He-111 would be more of a senerio ride or early war if that arena survives.... it was totally outclassed by the begining of the war as it was.... It is better looking than the 110 and Ju88, but it is slower, carries less ord, and is overall less capable than many other bombers.
Similarly, the Russian Tupolev ANT-40 was outdated by 1941, although it formed the majority (90%+) of the Russian bomber force at that time.
This could also be said for the entire Japanese bomber force... the Ki-67 is probably the best they ever produced. Ki-48 "Lily", G3M "Nell", G4M "Betty", Ki-21 "Sally", Ki-30 "Ann", Ki-49 Donryu "Helen" were all pretty much outdated by 1941, or were underperformers as bombers go.
Neat little planes in some cases, but outdated early in the war and mostly early arena or senerio use rides. Hard to justify their inclusion unless ToD or early war arena takes off at some point.
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The He-117 would be a nice perk bomber. But there is a problem with it too...
Performance
* Maximum speed: 350 mph at 21,000 ft (565 km/h at 6,100 m)
* Combat radius: 960 mi (1.540 km)
* Ferry range: 3.200 mi (5.600 km)
* Service ceiling: 30,800 ft (9,400 m)
Armament
* 2 x 20 mm MG 151 cannon
* 3 x MG 131 machine gun
* 3 x MG 81 machine gun
* up to 7,200 kg of bombs or two guided missiles Henschel Hs 293 or Fritz X
Faster than a Lanc, typically carries more ord than a Lanc (although a Lanc could max out at 10,000kg of ord, our run the more typical 6,400kg ord loads), but the types and numbers of bombs the He-177 carried are a problem, and then there would be calls for the Henschel and Fritz guided missiles..... Early He177 also tended to burn nicely, on their own, but later models fixed the self immolation problem they had.
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Douglas A-26 Invader . Now THAT'd be a ride worth spending perkies on!
Specifications (A-26B-60-DL Invader)
General characteristics
* Crew: 3
* Length: 50 ft 0 in (15.24 m)
* Wingspan: 70 ft 0 in (21.34 m)
* Height: 18 ft 3 in (5.64 m)
* Wing area: 540 ft² (50 m²)
* Empty weight: 22,850 lb (10,365 kg)
* Loaded weight: 27,600 lb (12,519 kg)
* Max takeoff weight: 35,000 lb (15,900 kg)
* Powerplant: 2× Pratt & Whitney R-2800-27 "Double Wasp" radials, 2,000 hp (1,500 kW) each
(Compared to Martin B-26 Marauder's Crew of 7; Length: 58 ft 3 in (17.8 m); Wingspan: 71 ft 0 in (21.65 m); Height: 21 ft 6 in (6.55 m); Wing area: 658 ft² (61.1 m²); Empty weight: 24,000 lb (11,000 kg); Loaded weight: 37,000 lb (17,000 kg); Powerplant: 2× Pratt & Whitney R-2800-43 radial engines, 1,900 hp (1,400 kW) each)Performance
* Maximum speed: 355 mph (308 knots, 570 km/h)
* Range: 1,400 mi (1,200 nm, 2,300 km)
* Service ceiling: 22,000 ft (6,700 m)
* Rate of climb: 1,250 ft/min (6.4 m/s)
* Wing loading: 51 lb/ft² (250 kg/m²)
* Power/mass: 0.145 hp/lb (108 W/kg)
(Compared to Martin B26 Marauder's 287 mph at 5,000 ft; 21,000 ft service ceiling; 2,480 nm (2,850 mi, 4,590 km) range; Wing loading: 46.4 lb/ft² (228 kg/m²); Power/mass: 0.10 hp/lb (170 W/kg)
Armament
* Guns:
o 8× 0.50 in (12.7 mm) M2 machine guns in the nose
o 6× 0.50 in M2 machine guns in the wings
o 2× 0.50 in M2 machine guns in remote-controlled dorsal turret
o 2× 0.50 in M2 machine guns in remote-controlled ventral turret
* Bombs: 6,000 lb (2,700 kg)-4,000 lb in the bomb bay and 2,000 lb external on the wings
(Compared to a Martin B-26 Marauder's 4,000 lbs ordanance, 8 - .50's in 5 turrent positions, and 6(?) in the nose)
These things didn't retire from U.S. Service until 1972. They saw action in WWII, Korea, Vietnam, and as aerial tankers for forest fighting (as in the 1989 Steven Spielberg film, Always) through to modern times.
Ultimate straffers.... fun with the town and field upgrades we see now. Great vs GV's.... could even be used to intercept other bombers. Shorter range than B-26's, which leaves their ord more vulnerable to attacks, but otherwise a great fun ride for buff drivers.
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And instead of the old tri-motor Junkers Ju-52, which would in-game be equivalent to the Goon, why not the Messerschmitt Me 323 "Gigant"? Less than 200 were built before production ceased in April 1944, but they saw a lot of work. The cargo hold was 36 feet long, 10 feet wide and 11 feet high. The typical loads it carried were: two 4-ton trucks, or 8,700 loaves of bread, or an 88 mm Flak gun, its equipment, ammunition and crew, or 52 drums of fuel (45 gal/252 L), or 130 men, or 60 stretchers.
Big slow easy targets, but they were armed, and in-game dropping 40 or 50 troops, or 30 vehicle supplies, or 5 airfield supplies in one shot would be worth it.
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I suppose the Petlyakov Pe-2 (Cyrillic: Петляков Пе-2), nicknamed Peshka (Пешка - "Pawn") could be another contender, but with the P38, Mosquito, Bf-110's, and Ju-88's, that nitch is pretty well covered for now.
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Yakovlev Yak-3 (Russian language: Як-3); smaller and lighter than Yak-9, and produced from 1944-1945 (and again starting in 1991 are a reproduction plane for enthusiasts). From Wiki:
Yak-3 was a very agile dogfighter and a forgiving, easy to handle aircraft loved by both rookie and veteran pilots. Early combat experience found it to be superior to all Luftwaffe fighters at altitudes below 5,000 m (16,400 ft). It could roll with the Fw 190 and its turn was far superior; a full circle in 18.6 seconds. The two biggest drawbacks of the aircraft were its short range and the tendency of the glued-on plywood covering the top of the wings to tear away under high-G loads. The pneumatic system for actuating landing gear, flaps, and brakes, typical for all Yakovlev fighters of the time was also less reliable than the hydraulic or electrical systems, but it was preferred due to significant weight savings. The first 197 Yak-3 were armed with a single 20 mm ShVAK cannon and one 12.7 mm UBS machine gun, with subsequent aircraft receiving a second UBS for a weight of fire of 2.72 kg (6.0 lb) per second using high-explosive ammunition.
A fun little dogfighter and superior to the Yak's in game now.
