Next Scenario

[swareiam]

Stukas woulda been in it, and if the A5 is present (an EW model) we would also have the G2. June 1944 would also give us the A8 IIRC.

Actually not... By 1943 the allied air superiority in the MTO was so great and the attrition rate of the JU87 in the MTO was so unbelievable. In September of 1943 the last 75 Stukas in the MTO were moved to Greece for operations against the British. SG units in northern Italy were using the FW-190G series as there standard dive bomber. So, JU87s would not make this scenario.

As far as the A8 was concerned. Yes, it started production February of 1944 and in service shortly after. But the onslaught of USAAF daylight bombing campaign in europe proper kept the A8s in europe to defend the Reich. The only FW190s available for service for the Battle of Rome (Casino/Anzio) would have been A5-6s and G3s. The G series based on the design of the A6. So, no A8s in this scenario.

If you are referring to the BF109G2, it was pretty long in the tooth by then. The G6 began production in early 1943 and had been in service for almost a full year at the time of this battle. So, no G2s either... G10-14 series Messerschmidts were on the way, but not in large quantities.

Cheers...

 

[perdue3]

CM's talking trash? Oh no, CM's aren't allowed. BTW, if you are gonna talk smack, you should do a little homework. I dont like uneven matches (K4 v I16), I like em even and fair. Most importantly, fun. Go PTO Early War!

There is no Allied bias. BoG for example, we Luftwaffe hacked so ya'll should be complaining. Oh wait...

Honestly, IDC what next scenario is. I will be there no matter what it is. I do like Eastern Front and NO ONE here can say that we do too much Eastern front. CM's sure like PTO though.

[Wildcat1]

I'd like to see an MTO or an Eastern Front event for sure

[swareiam]

Guys, we have not a shortage of ideas ourselves and we have several designs either complete or in various stages at this time.

Thanks for your interest.

Our problem is that we have a great deal of great scenarios we can do, or soon will be able to do in the SE Pacific area.  However we are very concerned that no-one will fly Japanese.

Fencer,

I hear your concerns over the flying of Japanese aircraft in scenarios. Many great campaigns went on in the SP. But, it is my opinion that the scenario needs to lean to the strength of the Japanese aircraft for a change. For instance, the second battle of Wake Island October 1943.


Allies:

F4Fs
F6Fs
SBDs
TBMs

AXIS:

A6M2-3s
D3As
B5Ns

There is balance in a scenario such as this. It is mainly dogfights and guys want to dogfight, so let them. We know your work. Brooke and yourself with the aid others always put on a fabulous show. Write in a possible disadvantage for the highly armoured hardware and see what happens.

BTW, The second Battle of Wake Island was where the Hellcat was introduced into combat for the first time...

Cheers...

 

[HighTone]

I love and will always side with the Japanese any chance I get. People don't always like what they don't understand and I get that. But when you have a bunch of vets that seem to cherry pick only the winning teams on the most favorable side....Philippine Phandango...there is going to be a balance problem.

Maybe I'll just keep me and my guys out of the slow and predictable (boring) ETO and Eastern Front setups. Should be a real fun event with no NME.

[Wildcat1]

Retail, the balance problem is that no one wants to fly a zeke against a hellcat. Also for early war events, there is a serious lack of variety for the Japanese. For instance, this is what i proposed for a Solomon islands campaign, one that progresses like BoG

USN:
F4F - F4U-1 - F4U-1A
SBD - TBM (for SB2C)

USAAF:
P-39D - P-38G - P-38J
B-17G
B-25C

RAAF:
P-40E - F4U-1A
Mosquito Mk. VI (later frames for beaufighter)


IJN:
A6M3 - A6M5b
D3A
B5N

IJAAF:
Ki-61 (later frames, max 12 aircraft)
G4M-1

You see there is a major lack of variety, and this is the best I can come up with. I don't think there would be a whole bunch of appeal for the Japanese side, because I for one would not like to fly a zeke against corsairs, p-38js and mossies.

[swareiam]

Retail, the balance problem is that no one wants to fly a zeke against a hellcat. Also for early war events, there is a serious lack of variety for the Japanese. For instance, this is what i proposed for a Solomon islands campaign, one that progresses like BoG

USN:
F4F - F4U-1 - F4U-1A
SBD - TBM (for SB2C)

USAAF:
P-39D - P-38G - P-38J
B-17G
B-25C

RAAF:
P-40E - F4U-1A
Mosquito Mk. VI (later frames for beaufighter)


IJN:
A6M3 - A6M5b
D3A
B5N

IJAAF:
Ki-61 (later frames, max 12 aircraft)
G4M-1

You see there is a major lack of variety, and this is the best I can come up with. I don't think there would be a whole bunch of appeal for the Japanese side, because I for one would not like to fly a zeke against corsairs, p-38js and mossies.

Wildcat,

The issue here is campaign length. The Solomon's Campaign lasted from 1942 -1945. So, what battle are you referring to? Therein lays the inherent problem with a scenario such as the Solomon's. The Japanese Imperial command  wasn't really concerned about the survivability of their pilots. If this were the case, the design of the A6M would have either changed in 1943 or stopped on the production line. More armour and self-sealing fuel tanks were a no brainer in 1943.

So with that said, take the edge off by giving the Japanese a bit of an edge. A lower numbers of Hellcats and a greater number of Wildcats or FM2s to offset the Hellcats slight superiority. The F6F would be the uber ride for the scenario, but all Japanese fighters would be uber for this scenario. The fun would be in the possible retaking of Wake Island.  Sorry, no twin engine bombers unless you give the Japanese the G4M in smaller numbers. This would be a furballers scenario. Great dogfighters met on both sides of the line in this battle.

Cheers...

BTW, it's REDtail...

[Brooke]

CM's sure like PTO though.

I like PTO about the same as everything else, not more.  It was part of the historical fighting, so I like to see it present.

It would be nice to have more Eastern Front action.  The terrains for that region have not been available, but that's changing, and when it does, I think that there will be more Eastern Front scenarios.

[Wildcat1]

Wildcat,

The issue here is campaign length. The Solomon's Campaign lasted from 1942 -1945. So, what battle are you referring to? Therein lays the inherent problem with a scenario such as the Solomon's. The Japanese Imperial command  wasn't really concerned about the survivability of their pilots. If this were the case, the design of the A6M would have either changed in 1943 or stopped on the production line. More armour and self-sealing fuel tanks were a no brainer in 1943.

So with that said, take the edge off by giving the Japanese a bit of an edge. A lower numbers of Hellcats and a greater number of Wildcats or FM2s to offset the Hellcats slight superiority. The F6F would be the uber ride for the scenario, but all Japanese fighters would be uber for this scenario. The fun would be in the possible retaking of Wake Island.  Sorry, no twin engine bombers unless you give the Japanese the G4M in smaller numbers. This would be a furballers scenario. Great dogfighters met on both sides of the line in this battle.

Cheers...

BTW, it's REDtail...

Sorry, typo

The Solomon campaign I'm talking about is from guadalcanal to bougainville.

But there will never be a "furball" scenario, because they are most often based on campaigns, and include all aspects of the game. Plus, you cannot simply handicap one side for the sake of balance because it becomes historically inaccurate. Look at BoG. For the early frames, the allies had a theoretical advantage, p-38s, p-47s and p-51s vs. 109gs and 190a-8s. Yet the axis won a majority of those frames due to tactics and planning. You have to work with the tools given to you. you cannot add extra craft for the sake of balance, I.e. fm-2s were not active until 1944, so they would not be available for the battle you are proposing. TFB had some balance issues as well, 109Ks and 190s against spit 16s, p-51s and typhoons, a theoretical disadvantage, but still axis pilots scored a very many kills. Same thing goes for a majority of eastern front events.

Scenarios are designed for historical accuracy to provide a deep sense of immersion. You won't ever see an event designed to handicap one side over the other.

[Tank-Ace]

I'm not big on PTO events. It seems one side or the other usually has a good sized edge in one aspect or another (Be it in heavy movers, speed, firepower, maneuverability, etc). Road to rangoon was pretty even, though excessive numbers of P-40E's to put against the G4M's, IMO  .

I also enjoyed Philippine Phandango, although it seems the axis kind of got shafted on the strategic targets (strats are stationary, and can be hit from high altitude with bombs, ships necessitated a torpedo run).

Love Afrika, love Italy, both areas look great (Afrika in games, Italy in real life  ).

[perdue3]

I love and will always side with the Japanese any chance I get. People don't always like what they don't understand and I get that. But when you have a bunch of vets that seem to cherry pick only the winning teams on the most favorable side....Philippine Phandango...there is going to be a balance problem.

Maybe I'll just keep me and my guys out of the slow and predictable (boring) ETO and Eastern Front setups. Should be a real fun event with no NME.

We won BoG.

[Tank-Ace]

That quote had nothing to do with BoG. Didn't even mention or reference it, did it  ?

[swareiam]

Sorry, typo

The Solomon campaign I'm talking about is from guadalcanal to bougainville.

But there will never be a "furball" scenario, because they are most often based on campaigns, and include all aspects of the game. Plus, you cannot simply handicap one side for the sake of balance because it becomes historically inaccurate. Look at BoG. For the early frames, the allies had a theoretical advantage, p-38s, p-47s and p-51s vs. 109gs and 190a-8s. Yet the axis won a majority of those frames due to tactics and planning. You have to work with the tools given to you. you cannot add extra craft for the sake of balance, I.e. fm-2s were not active until 1944, so they would not be available for the battle you are proposing. TFB had some balance issues as well, 109Ks and 190s against spit 16s, p-51s and typhoons, a theoretical disadvantage, but still axis pilots scored a very many kills. Same thing goes for a majority of eastern front events.

Scenarios are designed for historical accuracy to provide a deep sense of immersion. You won't ever see an event designed to handicap one side over the other.

Wildcat,

I see your point; the second Battle for Wake Island was a battle and not a campaign.  Nonetheless, the scenario would involve every aspect of your standard scenario. For example level and dive bombing by TBMs and B5Ns on ships and shore targets. Some form of amphibious landing to take the island. Plus it would be historically accurate as it was in October of 1943. Yes, we can drop the FM2s. Still the challenge stands for the USN to achieve a victory with pretty good historical accuracy and not an overwhelming amount of beef. The right scripting should attract more players, either by desire or default to fly Japanese aircraft.

The Philippine Phandango was historically accurate, but as lopsided as it could be. I was KKEN's XO for the scenario. It was tough trying to plan against the hardware. The KI-61s were getting ripped apart by P-38Js and P-47D-25s. Even the FM2s were as fast or faster than the KI-61s, not to mention more maneuverable. That is the type of scenario that turns players off. The design was great. The planning was great. Fencer did a fantastic job putting it together. But, the hardware was a historical setup for the Japanese to be defeated, against some super tough and resilient American aircraft.

So, level the playing field for the sake of fun for both sides. When you get started into a scenario where everything is great except for the hardware on one side, folks tend to withhold their interest and commitment to participate for the whole scenario. Try giving the second Battle for Wake Island another try. Relatively short, historically accurate setup and guaranteed to be action packed QUICKLY!

Cheers...

[Fencer51]

Its an interesting problem.  We can get people to fly the later Japanese planes. (KI84/N1K2)  Yet the balance is way against them in those.  Yet the early battles where the balance is even (1942-Mid 43) we have problems getting people in the Japanese side.

[Tank-Ace]

The issue is most people are only willing to fly the uber LW rides. They don't seem to realize that you have the same advantages, everything is just slowed down about 50mph in the EW arena