This week in the AVA: Changing of the guard

[captain1ma]

CHANGING OF THE GUARD

June 1943:

With the Japanese and American fleets spent and rebuilding after the Guadalcanal Campaign the air battles around New Guinea and the Solomons are left to the land based air units of both sides.
New aircraft are replacing the war weary P-39s, P-40s, F4Fs, and A6M2s. In early 1943 the USAAF's P-38 and USMC's F4U-1 are starting to give the Japanese a mere glimpse of the ordeal by air they will be facing the remainder of the war. In an effort to stem the tide of the Allied advance through the Solomons and New Guinea the Imperial Japanese Navy has managed to replace many of their ageing A6M2 Model 21 Zekes with the A6M3 Model 22. Although the older Model 21 is still common and pressed into service. The Japanese high command sensing the disaster about to befall the Empire starts introducing Japanese Army Air Force Units to the theater in December 1942 with the arrival of the 11th Sentai and their KI-43 Hayabusas. They are soon followed in January by the 1st Sentai. The arrival of the 68th and 78th Sentais in the spring of 1943 brings real hope of countering the ever growing Allied aerial might with the new Ki-61. 1942 is over, gone are the names Sakai and Foss. There are new warriors with names like Bong, Boyington, Sugita, and Takeuchi, ready to take their places in history.

MAP: Slot 2

Allied Forces (Bishop)

On Land:
+ = Available at A41 A35 and A32 only
++ = Available at A32 only

B-25C +
B-26 +
C-47++
TBM
SBD
P-40E
P-39D
F4F-4
P-38G
F4U-1
M3
M4

At Sea:
No Aircraft
LVTA2
LVTA4
PT Boats


Axis Forces (Knights)

On Land:
+ = A11 A12 A15 A16 only
Ki-67+
B5N
D3A
A6M2 playing itself and as a Ki-43 Sub
A6M5 as A6M3 Sub
Ki-61
M3
M4

At Sea:
No Aircraft
LVTA2
LVTA4
PT Boats

Fog is set at 12.5 miles.
Traditional AvA bombsight (must be calibrated).
Radar settings as follows:
Tower 132,000 (feet)
Sector 316,800
Fuel is 1.0 burn rate.
Ack is .25 for low-level ack, .1 for puffy ack
(that is, considerably less effective than MA).
Friendly mid-airs are off.
Killshooter is on.
Strat is disabled.
Note: No aircraft for either fleets. Fleets are for amphipious operations and ship to ship fighting.
Rooks are disabled. Pick Bishops or Knights.

[cactuskooler]

Ooh my favorite.

[whiteman]

Had fun tonight!

[Nr_RaVeN]

Enjoyed Getting pounded into the dirt ~S~  all that were flying. Great wing work~S~ Jolly Rogers

[Shifty]

Enjoyed Getting pounded into the dirt ~S~  all that were flying. Great wing work~S~ Jolly Rogers

I was impressed with your CO Chilli. He would hang out there forever by himself fighting the Allied birds. I'd be on my third Zeke getting back to the fight after getting shot down and he's still be out there. It wasn't until I got out of the Zeke and switched to the Tony until I started getting a little success.

The arena needs checked it looks as if friendly collisions were on towards the end of the night. <S> NrRaven you flew the P-40 very well last night.

[Nr_RaVeN]

Yea Chili is scary    
I got a nice taste of his love too
good in the P40?..well thats kind of you to say I Don't have lots of experience with it but hopfully Ill catch on.

 No way I could come close to the climb or maneuverability of the axis AC..That combined with the well coordinated tactics was impressive.
Your entire crew was one the money.. oh and Bone saw... frigging animal ,give him a  ~S~ for me!
RaVe

[Shifty]

Yea Chili is scary    
I got a nice taste of his love too
good in the P40?..well thats kind of you to say I Don't have lots of experience with it but hopfully Ill catch on.

 No way I could come close to the climb or maneuverability of the axis AC..That combined with the well coordinated tactics was impressive.
Your entire crew was one the money.. oh and Bone saw... frigging animal ,give him a  ~S~ for me!
RaVe

Thanks Bud I'll tell him. Your P-40 gave me more fits than any other aircraft last night. We got four guys TheBug, Bonesaw, Modeus, and Warloc. They don't make a lot of noise or talk smack about their skills as you see on chnl 200 in the LWA and on the boards. In my opinon those four guys are as good as anybody in the sim.
It's always a challenge and a pleasure going aginst you in the AVA Nr_RaVeN .
<S>

[whiteman]

Yea Chili is scary    
I got a nice taste of his love too
good in the P40?..well thats kind of you to say I Don't have lots of experience with it but hopfully Ill catch on.

 No way I could come close to the climb or maneuverability of the axis AC..That combined with the well coordinated tactics was impressive.
Your entire crew was one the money.. oh and Bone saw... frigging animal ,give him a  ~S~ for me!
RaVe

Thank you and big <S> to you sir, going to hate to see you in that P-40 when you have more "experience" in it.

[captain1ma]

***PLEASE NOTE***  in the original post there was an error. the sides have been switched and this is reflected in the MOTD in the AVA arena. Please Check the AVA Motd to ensure that you are on your correct side. Thank you for your co-operation.

[bc21]

Hi,
  I really like the set ups we have now in the AvA!   The plane match ups and the no icon are what I like the best! Although it is some what harder to get used to when you are joining a fight to tell just who is shooting at who. It is more like real air to air combat. I really enjoyed the set up a few months ago when it was Midway. Love that map!!  Hope this keeps going like this!

[Noah17]

I'll join my squad in the complements on the AvA. Especially the "changing of the guard" scenario, my favorite so far (I'm partial to PTO).It has been a balanced scenario as well.

I think the "no icon" set up is a plus though I'm having trouble adjusting to it. But the reason I'm having trouble is the plus of it if you get my meaning. It does add realism. Our normal squad ride is the F4U and to be successful it must be flown in a certain way vs the Axis/Jap. planes it is fighting. It is more difficult to do that with the no icon set up because it is very easy to lose sight of your opponent and fall in to the trap of "turn fighting" the easy turning Jap planes. But that is the beauty of it. Air combat is not easy and you have to be disciplined in your approach. The no icon set up makes it very deadly and eventually (IMO) will instill that discipline. Why??? Because I was getting my A _ _ Kicked!!! LOL The  no icon set up made me want to get in close and turn so that I wouldn't lose sight of my opponent. Flying against planes that turn very well while in an E/BnZ fighter is much more difficult that way. I think the difficulty of the situation demands that you employ more group/squad tactics and bringing that to the AvA would also increase the historical value of it all.

I'd like to see greater participation in the AvA. Maybe advertise/sell it more? Maybe run a kind of snapshot to start off the new scenario for the week? Maybe award perks(but not take them away) in certain situations? Maybe new plane releases could be featured in AvA for the first week? Perhaps a special group of targets like a regularly resetting flotilla of destroyers as the "Tokyo Express" on it's way to Guadalcanal that needs to be bombed?

I don't know anything about how the arena is designed but, maybe adding more things to it that cant be gotten elsewhere is a way to get more people involved. I hope my thoughts are useful.

Again, great job!
 

[Atticus4]

Ditto to Noah's comments.  The no icon is fantastic.  I actually believe that after I've been flying AVA and go to the MA's, it is easier.  The realism is fantastic.  The camaraderie is great---truly teaches you to work together to be successful and if you do, those successes can put your name in lights.  Keep it up and good work 

[modeus]

<S> Nr Raven. It has been awesome flying with and against you.

I'll agree with my squad on the AvA setup. I love no enemy icons, it makes the sim that much more interesting, everything from the SA challenges it brings, trying to figure out which enemy plane it is at range, to having to adjust your shooting without a bright red range over the bandit. I hope that this stays in the AvA regardless of the setup.

I have to say that the changing of the guard is my favorite setup. The map is small enough to keep the action close without forcing you into a fight too early. The plane set is incredibly well balanced also, I can't decide if I do better in the Ki-61 or the F4U. It presents the chance to fly any way you like too, you've got planes like the zeke and the wildcat if you want to turn fight, as well as planes like the KI-61 and the P-38 if you're more of a BnZ style of pilot. The best part is that no matter which one you pick, they're all close enough you can win or lose in any of them.

<S> to the designer and the AvA staff, I greatly appriciate this weeks AvA arena.

[bacon8tr]

Those that have flown in the AVA with it's current no enemy icon, will know that of which I speak.  Never before in my time flying AH has it become more evident that two basic elements of aerial combat are necessary to survive, or at least give your self the proverbial "fighting chance" in the AVA.  Those two elements are communication and SA(or as the old saying goes " Lose sight,Lose the fight").  I enjoy the immersion and expierience of the AVA more than ever.  For me the senses have been awakened by having to constantly make split second decisions.  Last night I made a bad one, but it was alot of fun.  I was poking along at about 10k in a F4F trying to catch up to my squaddies.  Radar was down and while in a slow bank to the left I saw two specs below.  I figured WTH? and with that I pushed the nose over and began my dive.  Around the 6k mark I had that adreniline kick in when I realized I just dove in on five bandits.  I think I startled them as much as the sight of all them had startled me, as everyone began to take evasives.  Long story short, they made quick work of my F4F.  But it was a blast. 

So for those who are still skeptical of the "new" AVA, grab a wingman and stop in for a few sorties.  You may just be glad you did