This week we return to the South Pacific.
Guadalcanal has been taken, and the USN and IJN have withdrawn their fleets to lick their wounds after several savage and costly battles.
The focus this week is on the air battles fought between the Japanese air forces and the U.S. Army Air Force in the SW Pacific in late 1943 and early 1944.
Thus......no naval units (ships) will be enabled for either side. All naval vessels will be made neutral and moved to the far corners of the map.
The Slot map does not have the Japanese stronghold of Rabaul included, which is a shame as it was a primary focus of Allied forces as they attempted to move closer to Japan.
The plane/vehicle sets:
Japanese:
A6M2
A6M5b
B5N
D3A1
Ki-61 (available at rear bases initially, moved forward as the week progresses.....this is to reflect their general rarity in the theater at this time)
Ki-67
C-47
M-3
M-16
M-8
LVT's
USAAF:
A-20G
SBD (A-24 in USAAF terminology)
P-40E
P-38L-0 (perked at 10 points to represent rarity in theater at the time period) available only from rear bases at the start of the setup BUT made available at more bases or moved forward as the week progresses
C-47
M-3
M-16
M-8
LVT's
As stated above, the front will be setup more to the northwest than in previous setups to reflect the US's successful invasion and capture of Guadalcanal.
Also, please read closely the descriptions of aircraft deployment:
The Lightning and Tony will be enabled at rear bases only at first, but I will enable them at more and more forward bases as the week progresses. I was toying with the idea of having the Lighinings perk points removed as the week progressed to indicate that it was more and more common as time went by, but that would be a LOT of work for Skuzzy, so the perk cost will remain in place through out the setup. Only change that I will make is to enable the Lightning at more bases.
Now, as Sabre told me in the CT Staff forum, this is an imperfect setup, but all the major players are represented for both the IJAAF/IJN and the USAAF.
The A6M5b is faster than the A6M3 which was in service at the time, but I added it add flavor and a touch of equality to the planesets.
Initially, I expect to see mostly Zeroes against P-40's, which was pretty much what you would have seen had you been there. Later, there will be more Ki-61's and P-38 matchups.
Everyone's perk points will be reset to ZERO tomorrow to allow everyone to build perks from scratch again.
Tomorrow's setup will begin at or around 9AM CDT to allow Skuzzy to reset everyone's perks. Once he has done that, I will set the arena and open it up for your enjoyment.
PS--To those who want to see the Hawgs in action, wait til my next setup, please. This is a USAAF versus the Japanese setup.........your time is coming, I promise.