The Battle of Midway is one that I have studied since I was very young. I even ended up doing a project on the battle for one of my Air Force classes in college. This was clearly one of the most important battles of World War II, and is important for many reasons. Rarely do you see such a decisive battle, that has such clear implications as a turning point. The forces were very nearly equal in many ways, with the Japanese having a slight edge in aircraft and weapons quality, as well as in numbers of ships, although this was balanced in part by the American knowledge of their intentions through the broken Japanese code.
I have long wished to have the opportunity to replay the Battle of Midway in a flight simulator. I had Aces of the Pacific, but it didnt do a good job with the Midway campaign. That was my last WW2 simulator that was set in the Pacific theatre, or featured Pacific theatre aircraft, until Aces High. I am extremely excited about the prospect of having the Battle of Midway as a special event at some point. For a long time, the plane set to do this just didnt exist, but now it seems that we may be close.
The following planes were present at the Battle of Midway:
USA: F-4f, F-2f, SBD, TBF, TBD, Vindicator, PBY, B-26, B-17
Japan: Zero, Kate, Val, various spotter planes
The ones that I consider crucial for a AH scenario of the event at the very minimum:
F-4f, SBD, Zero, Val, and some type of torpedo plane for both sides.
We already have the B-17 and B-26 although not the correct versions, they will be fine for our purposes, especially since neither of these aircraft types played a significant role in the battle. B-17s bombed from altitude, only scoring one possible minor hit. B-26s carried torpedoes, which their crews had never dropped before, and participated in the lo-level torpedo attacks that were decimated by the IJN fleet AA guns and Zeroes.
The Vindicator and Buffalo were used by the USMC from the island itself, but were slaughtered and didnt accomplish much except to provide bullet sponges for the IJN fighters.
The PBY was one of the major heroes of the battle, as it located the IJN fleet, and also did a torpedo attack that resulted in a hit on a Japanese support ship, but I think we will have to do without it for now, since it would have little role in AH as the game is currently set up.
The prime players, however, were the Carrier based fighters, dive and torpedo bombers on both sides. We know we are getting the older variant of the Zero, the F-4f, and the Val in the next release already.
We already have the Avenger (which made its combat debut at Midway, when 6 of them launched from Midway itself, and were promptly massacred by the Japanese fighters, with only 1 making it back to the island).
The TBD Devestator was the torpedo bomber used by all the US carriers at Midway, and they were wiped out almost to the last man (in the case of one squadron, Torpedo 8, from the Hornet, literally to the last man, as they only had one survivor). The Devestator isnt likely to make it into the game any time soon, and I dont think that many would argue that it should. It was hopelessly obselete by Midway, and wouldnt stand a chance in AH. Although I normally detest plane substitutions, the Avenger can and should substitute for the TBD.
The IJN need a torpedo bomber, but likely the Avenger will get to sub in for them as well, although I dont really like that idea. I would prefer to see the Grace introduced, and use that to sub for the Kate.
The one aircraft that we really need for this scenario most of all, that we do not currently have, is the star of the battle, the SBD Dauntless dive bomber. This aircraft, flown by the brave pilots of the USN and USMC, was responsible for almost all the damage done to the IJN at Midway. The SBD sank or severely damaged 4 Japanese fleet carriers as well as one heavy cruiser. The SBD also accounted for a number of Japanese fighters as well, both with the tail guns, and in at least one case, with the fixed pilot fired .50s.
When we get the SBD, I think we need to do the battle of Midway.
