Here's my take on everything. The Meteor... All it ever did was chase down V1s, the same job the P-61B in British hands did. Should it be added as a Perk Plane? Yep. The round and round argument basically boils down to this: For every aircraft the Luftwaffe put up, the Allies had something slightly better. This is true in EVERY case. The D9 would get chopped to pieces by any competant Spit 14 driver. So in order to fly any German aircraft with even remote effectiveness, you have to know how to fight.
A Spit with an altitude advantage is a nightmare for me, and I drive 109s. I agree that most any late war RAF aircraft have to be Perked. The same goes for the Ta-152 series and the jets. If a Komet shows up, Perk the sucker. As it stands now all I see in H2H games are C-hogs, Nikis, Mudstains and 109-G10s. Early war would cease to exist when those aircraft [perks] show up. Instead of getting a G10 with full fuel + drop tank to hit that Lanc, you'd grab a Komet. If enemy fighters are swarming in, you'd saddle up in a Spit 14.
It's the same old round and round arguments. 1.05 WILL change this, and those changes MUST be factored in to your debates. Strat is horribly under-used. 1.05 will add in more targets that HAVE to be hit. A ship parked 2 grids from your field means one of two things.
1) Possible bombardment
2) Enemy carrier fighters
I've read about most of these aircraft you're discussing. Any Spit beyond a Mk X would mean at least a G10 required to kill it. Put an experienced pilot in the cockpit and you'd better grab what he's driving. Why? There's no other way to kill him. Tempests, D9s, Meteors, Spit 14s, Ta-152s; this debate could go on forever.
What do you feel would drastically change current conditions in the Main? What should be done to make things better, NOT worse? First, check the gun calculations to see if something was missed or a typo snuck in. Then do the same for the Flight Modeling. Torque, spins, roll rates; check it all. Once that's done, and broken things have been repaired, find a solution to the current problem. That problem being, the lack of early war aircraft.
If all you want to do is scream around in a P-51H or Ta-152, then go offline and have at it. Raid a H2H game where only '44-'45 aircraft are allowed. Hit a Late War arena for all I care. What is needed in the MA is balance. A Spit V versus a 109 F4 is balance. The same goes for a Zeke versus an F6F, or an La-7 against a 109 G2. Want ground attack? Throw in an Il-2, Hs-129, Panzer V Panther, Sherman, Churchill Mk.4; what ever floats your boat.
Bottom line: Should jets be allowed in Aces High. Answer: Yes. Why? They were built and in combat. I don't care if that combat was blowing up V1s or killing B-17s. The same goes for ANY other aircraft. If it saw combat in WW2, it should be included.
Perk Planes: I define this as any aircraft that would completely unbalance either
A) this board or
B) the game. Included in both categories are:
Spit 14
Ta-152, any model
Any Jet
Komet
Tempest, any mark
P-47M
P-51H
P-61C
That list alone could be expanded to well over 100 aircraft of various models. So, if you've got an idea on how to work a Meteor or Spit or P-51H or a Ta-152, let's hear it. Instead of going round and round on the subject, I'd like to hear some ideas on HOW to work those aircraft in to a given arena. If this means a rolling plane set, then it means an RPS. As long as your solution fixes the problem and does not cause any of its own, run with it.
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Flakbait
Delta 6's Flight School"My art is the wings of an aircraft through the skies, my music the deep hum of a prop as it slices the air, my thrill the thunder of guns tearing asunder an enemy plane."
Flakbait
19 September 2000[This message has been edited by flakbait (edited 10-18-2000).]