Making the Case: PBY Catalina

[Karnak]

Enable it at ports.

That doesn't magically make it worth the dev time.  While it would take less dev time than the Sunderland or Emily, both of those would be far, far more useful in the MA.

Flying boats of any kind would rarely be significant participants in scenarios.

[skorpion]

That doesn't magically make it worth the dev time.  While it would take less dev time than the Sunderland or Emily, both of those would be far, far more useful in the MA.

Flying boats of any kind would rarely be significant participants in scenarios.

what if instead of a PBY we add something like a GV instead? something russian (we only have 10 or so russian vehicles in game i believe) like tha KV-1S

[Karnak]

Well, from a dev resource point of view, it isn't "Do we add the KV-1 or the PBY?"  Just because a unit is a single choice in the hangar it is not equal in dev resource costs.  A multi-position aircraft takes more graphics and programming work than does a single seat aircraft and that single seat aircraft takes more than a GV does.  Variants of existing AH2 designs also take less dev resources than do new AH2 standard units.

From a dev resource standpoint I can't think of another unit that would cost as much as the H8K2 'Emily'.  The Sunderland might, but I am less familiar with it's layout.


When I talk about the best application of those resources I mean things like 1) How often will it be used in the LWA? 2) How much scenario use does it have? 3) Does it change gameplay for the better?

For example, the Ki-43 will probably not get used that much in the MA, has a lot of scenario use and won't really change gameplay much for good or bad outside of the players who want it.  As a single seat aircraft it will take a moderate amount of dev resources and being Japanese performance data for modeling may be hard to get.

[Rich52]

why shouldnt we add it? just because it got massacred in the day doesnt mean it will in AH. basically anything lighter than a B-17 gets massacred daily (EX: JU-88's) in game. but yet we have it. if it got its butt spanked in the day that means it didnt meet requirements to make it in game?

Both are battlestars with FTL drives compared to the PBY. The PBY was successful in the war due its ability at night and the fact it operated in the vastness of the PTO where the enemy finding it was difficult. Most of all in the last years of the war when Jap air power was so decimated.

In Aces High imagine the screams on Vox when all these 190s, 51s, La's, Spixteens...ect see one of these things floating by at 179 mph ? It will be like lunchtime at the Lion cage. And is anyone really going to bob in cartoon water for 30 mins on the off chance a PBY makes it to you, let alone makes it back?

[skorpion]

In Aces High imagine the screams on Vox when all these 190s, 51s, La's, Spixteens...ect see one of these things floating by at 179 mph ? It will be like lunchtime at the Lion cage. And is anyone really going to bob in cartoon water for 30 mins on the off chance a PBY makes it to you, let alone makes it back?

who ever said it HAD to take downed pilots just so they get their name in lights?

[gyrene81]

who ever said it HAD to take downed pilots just so they get their name in lights?

pilot rescue is one of the main arguments for adding the pby, besides what else would you want to do with it? make an attempt to drop 4000lbs of bombs on a cv from 15,000ft at ~170mph? i don't mind a suicide run once in a while but, it gets tiresome quickly.

It might not be an idea you like or agree with, but it is one I like and have thought about quite a bit. What surprises me is the part of your post I highlighted in bold; normally you don't make such generalized and ignorant posts. You had no idea if I had thought about this or not, but I figure with the general quality of internet posts these days it is a natural conclusion to jump to.  I saw no reason not to mention it on this thread because it is one of the tasks performed by PBYs during the war and it is also about as likely to be included in the game by HTC any time soon as any float plane or bringing back the night in the game.

what i said was neither ignorant nor generalized as both of those would require making a statement without having fully considered the utility of the pby in the main arena. in a battle near a friendly base, if you ditch or bail a jeep or half track would be faster getting to you than a pby. in a battle near a friendly cv, if you ditch or bail on water, a pt boat would be faster getting to you and it has a slightly higher probability than the pby of surviving the effort. any battle around enemy bases, it would not only be time consuming making the attempt but nearly impossible to succeed, not only due to the enemy units in the area but the terrain as well. the pby is big and slower than anything in the ww2 arenas, the only thing it has going for it is the ability to carry bombs and barely adequate defensive armament.

it would most likely be used frequently for one tour after being introduced, then only those who find themselves bored and new people who are curious would try it out.

[skorpion]

pilot rescue is one of the main arguments for adding the pby, besides what else would you want to do with it? make an attempt to drop 4000lbs of bombs on a cv from 15,000ft at ~170mph? i don't mind a suicide run once in a while but, it gets tiresome quickly.

you can do much more than ruin a CV party, you can go scouting for a CV, bomb**** GV's if your that butthurt about being killed over and over in a spawn camp or just plain mess around.

[gyrene81]

you can do much more than ruin a CV party, you can go scouting for a CV, bomber GV's if your that butthurt about being killed over and over in a spawn camp or just plain mess around.

i would love to see your stats for the late war arena. how many hours do you spend in slow early war aircraft looking for cvs or bombing ground vehicles?

[Karnak]

you can do much more than ruin a CV party, you can go scouting for a CV, bomber GV's if your that butthurt about being killed over and over in a spawn camp or just plain mess around.

There are vastly superior choices for those tasks already in the game.

[skorpion]

i would love to see your stats for the late war arena. how many hours do you spend in slow early war aircraft looking for cvs or bombing ground vehicles?

oh so this is all about the late war? yeesh...im sure the PBY would see alot more use in the early/mid war arena's though.

There are vastly superior choices for those tasks already in the game.

ever stop to think about the early war? we dont have much along the lines of a cv killer in there other than the JU-88.

[Karnak]

The Ju88, Boston Mk III and G4M1 are all vastly superior choices in the EWA.

[skorpion]

The Ju88, Boston Mk III and G4M1 are all vastly superior choices in the EWA.

how is the betty vastly superior? its ripped apart by a few .303's and its payload isnt that great. the boston and the JU-88 are just a step better than the PBY though. i think the PBY would fare better than the betty.

[Ack-Ack]

you can do much more than ruin a CV party, you can go scouting for a CV, bomber GV's if your that butthurt about being killed over and over in a spawn camp or just plain mess around.

Why use a PBY to scout for a CV when a bomber or even a fighter is much more effective?  I too am one that would like to see the PBY added but I am also a realist and realize that the PBY currently does not have a place in AH and would be a waste of development time to add.

ack-ack

[titanic3]

you can do much more than ruin a CV party, you can go scouting for a CV, bomber GV's if your that butthurt about being killed over and over in a spawn camp or just plain mess around.

Take a fighter, fill it up with fuel, and fly in circles for 2 sectors+ and tell me if that's any fun. Now imagine doing it but 2-3x slower. You want to break a spawn camp? Bring in an A20 or level bombers for the VHs. The PBY was a good plane, no doubt, but in the MA, it'll see as much use as a D3A1.

And if you played online, you would notice that almost all CVs are found either accidentally or because the other country began their attack with it. Elimanating the need for any "scout" planes. Only a few time have I ever seen anyone scout for a CV. Such as hiding them in a corner of the map and the port is captured.

 

[Ack-Ack]

oh so this is all about the late war? yeesh...im sure the PBY would see alot more use in the early/mid war arena's though.
ever stop to think about the early war? we dont have much along the lines of a cv killer in there other than the JU-88.

The problems that would make the PBY a hanger queen in the Late War arena would also delegate it to hanger queen status in the Early and Mid-War arenas as well.

ack-ack