1. Even in this game, if one side has total air superiority, the other side isn't going to take any bases just sending waves of buffs, jabos, and goons to their deaths. The fact that much jabo in this game is either suicide or milk running does lessen air superiority's importance, but not to the point that fighter cover is irrelevant. The one hole that needs to be closed in this game to make it about air superiority instead of sneaking around to undefended bases is the NOE raid thing...I dunno, maybe radar should extend a-historically all the way to the ground? I mean, NOE can avoid radar, but in reality, it would have been harder to avoid all the personelle on the ground spotting 30 110s at tree-trop level
2. The P-47 is a GREAT b'n'z fighter. I consider the P-47N, the P-51D, and the FW-190D9 to be neck-and-neck in that role. Thing about the Jug, it can beat he latter two in a turn fight, with equal pilots. Yes, that includes the P-51. This is almost certainly incorrect, but that is how HTC has it modeled right now. Yes, it is not by preference a slow knife-fighter, although it can do alot in that role, but if you fly it like it was meant to be flown, you can land plenty of kills. The altitudes we operate at are not ideal for the Jug (at 30K it is THE fighter) and STILL it can do very well.
3. No one said anything against bombing and egress...if someone is actually trying to LAND after a jabo run, that is alot less dweeby than kamikaze jabo/bomb and bail you see alot of times.
4. No need for close air support? GVs and Planes working together is GREAT in AHII...it beats GVs working alone everytime. Here is where air superiority comes in...if one side has air superiority in a given area, their attack planes can roam over that real estate bombing and spotting at will. Flaks don't really present insurmountable problems for really accurate divebombers, but having tanks around to take them out instead is nice.
5. The P-47 CANNOT level bomb to any degree. Not unless you saw a hole in the floor to look through...all effective bombing in the Jug will be dive bombing or "glide bombing" (dive bombing at a shallow angle of descent).
I know many of you don't like this guy, but honestly, SOME of the things he is saying are very TRUE.
From the stand point of someone who is only interested in putting ord on target or winning the "war". Fighter planes really are irrelevant.
Fighter planes won't win wars. Bombers win wars. Yes fighter planes help defend bombers but by themselves are not the point in an offensive campaign. In real life you really need your fighters to defend bombers. Winning a real war is a measure of resources. You can't afford to keep losing bombers.
You don't have that problem in the games though. You have an unlimited supply of bombers and crews. If one side really wants to win the "war" they don't need fighters. Put hordes of bombers in the air and flatten everything the other countries have. They won't be able to stop all the bombers.
Also yes pretty much all the fighters can operate in Air to Air mode, but many are better at certain things. The P47 is a prime example. It's strength is not air to air engagements. It's a great bomb truck though. If you're looking at the American plane set and want to establish air superiority in a sector over land, the p47 is not the plane of choice. You fly P51's, F4U's or P38's.
If you want to use a fighter though to flatten a strat target then maybe get in a little air to air on your way home. Then you take the P47, or the P38.
From the stand point of bomb first run second the statements he made are true. Though it still begs the question of why take a P47, instead of a medium bomber like the B25, or maybe a light bomber like the mosquito. Ahh it just occurred to me. You're trying to run up your ATTACk score and not your bomber score. Think the mosquito might count as a fighter, I don't remember.
The thing the P47 was outstanding at was close air support. A job which unfortunately we have nearly no need for at all in Aces High II. Maybe one day in the future when we have like Aces High V we will.
Back to the OP, some of his strategies are a bit off. I personally find dive bombing to be much easier and safer than level bombing. YMMV though. He obviously finds it easier the other way.
A lot of the rest of his post though was pretty much right on the money if that is what you want from the game.
If you want to run up your attack score this is definately a great way to do it. You get a lot more points for getting home in your plane alive than for ditching it, or getting shot down. You also get a lot more points for doing a lot of damage in one plane. So getting home and refueling/arming and returning to target is all things you want to focus on, if you're trying to improve your score.
You won't make any friends of the fighter jock crowd, but obviously you're not playing so they will have fun. This is about your fun. (I'm neither condemning nor condoning the behavior at all. As it's not my place to dictate to you how to have your fun.)
Later on once you've mastered this aspect, and are ready to move onto somethign else, then you can learn to dogfight in it. Or maybe learn another plane. it's up to you.
