The Slot 1943 - Friday 13 Sep

[Soulyss]

I have to say I take a different approach to the CT.  The main attraction to the CT for me, is the plane vs plane matchups.  Most my time is spent looking for the air to air battle in the MA to, but because of the axis vs allied nature of the CT it's even more true in the CT.  That along with the reduced icon ranges are the biggest draw the CT has IMHO.  

That being said, I feel that CM's have to make those consessions to balance.  A job I think they do rather well, I've had a couple differences of opinion with decisions they've made in regards to planeset, but everyone does from time to time.  It is my opinion that trying to give both sides a viable option for victory is a must.
Even if it has to bend history a little given the planeset available to work with.   The biggest problem the CT has is a low population of regulars.  Creating a setup where one side has little or no hope of prevailing would dwindle those numbers even further.

[Löwe]

Somebody better tell those P-47 drivers the N1k2 is uber.
A couple of 880 FAA, and VF-27 boys have been running amuk in the CT this morning. They don't give a crap what your in, their just killing everything.
Whats tha motto Sancho has in his signature? "Fear the Thunderbolt". I'm a believer.
Personally I think it's bad form for you guys not to wet your pants and die for me when I up in a N1k2.
Hijacker, Warloc, I demand you make your pilots fight fair!!:D

[Miska]

I will have to concede that the p47 is the most fearsome machine in AH

[Sixpence]

Was in CT all yesterday evening and had a blast. Started at a5 with 2 invasion fleets. Shelled the VH, de- acked, then landed LTV.From there, we sent the invasion fleets east and met with the Shokaku(or however u spell it) and worked our way SE. We sunk 2 CV fleets in the course of the evening. We re-captured a11(that had been captured) to reset.

Love the setup, thnx.

I don't think engine failure and gun jamming is a good idea, it would empty an arena, discos are bad enough.

The invasion fleets are brilliant. I like having 2 battleships in a group,I thought that was real kewl. And thank you for the lack of PT boats, nothing like watching someone respawn repeatedly launching 100's of torpedoes.

I would like to say they should bring in the Frank(Ki-84)There were 2 versions I think, the 1a and 1c  the 1a had 20mm and mg, the 1c had 30 and 20mm(bomber hunter)

[Soulyss]

Boy you guys were relentless last night at A1 Sixpence was a bit frustrating on the allied side as usual when you're back's against the wall.  I remember I stopped flying cap over the beaches for 2 seconds to try and help sink a cruiser and that's when you guys got A1 I was rather upset.  But ended the evening having some success flying the F4F-4 and getting into some real good scraps, boy that thing will hang on to a A6M5 when it's limited to 25% fuel.


Great fights last night axis!

[J_A_B]

Squire--

What the Ki-44 could do, that the Zeke and Tony can't, is climb.   That thing climbs like a rocket compared to the other 2.  

1943 is a bad year for balance in terms of Pacific setups.  The Allies were introducing the F6F's, F4U's, P-47's, P-38's and such and the Japanese were largely stuck with Zekes, Tojo's and Tony's--all slower.      Even if we DID have all the 1943 PAC planes, it'd still be impossible to balance well for gameplay.  The fact is, war isn't terribly fair and doesn't always make for a good game.

1944 is a little better; at least the Japanese got the Ki-84 which can match most the Allied fighters at low altitudes.  The one other Japanese fighter that might be able to match the Allied jobs in speed is the Ki-61-II; I've never seen much data on this airplane's speed.  I've heard that it was faster than the Ki-100 (which was itself one of the faster Japanese fighters), but that's about all I've heard.

J_A_B

[Karnak]

Service Entry dates for AH Pacific Theatre aircraft for all you purists:

Japan:

A6M2: July, 1940
A6M5b: June, 1944? (production began in April, 1944)
D3A1: 1937
Ki-61-KAIc: January, 1944
Ki-67: April, 1944
N1K2: November, 1944?

UK:

Seafire Mk IIc: October, 1942

USA:

F4U-1: October, 1942
F4U-1C: April, 1945
F4U-1D: April, 1944
F4U-4: April, 1945
F4F-4: 1941
F6F-5: July, 1944
FM-2: September, 1943
P-38L: July, 1944
P-40B: January, 1941
P-40E: August, 1941
TBD-5: April, 1943
TBM-3: March, 1942

[Squire]

Thats basically the problem I have with this. The notion that no matter what, we CANT have a Solomons 1943 setup, even though we have a good many of the a/c needed.

The entry dates are fine, changes nothing to the central argument.

As for the Ki-44. It never flew in the Solomons as far as I know, and I dont think it climbed much better than the Ki-61 either.

Look, the IJ flew the Ki-43, A6M2/3/5 and The Ki-61 in the SW Pacific. The US opposed them with P-40s, P-39s, F4Fs, P-38s. We have the P-40 and the F4F, it doesnt matter that we dont have the early P-38, we can use the USMC F4U-1A if that works, and call it a day.

BTW, I guess we will never see a Channel Front 1941-2 in the CT? RAF with Spitfire Vs vs the LW with 190A-5s and 109F-4s. Thats hardly fair either, so lets cross that one off too.

I just did the CAP event today. RAF with all HurricaneIs vs 109Es and 110s. Hmmm, no more of that either I guess, no more Norway 1940 designs.

The next TOD "Tunisia" is having the Allies face 190s, 109Gs and 109Fs in P-40s and SpitfireVs. Fair? hell no. Accurate? yes.

Have a look at my proposed CT set again and tell me whats unbalanced out of it.

Regards.

[Karnak]

Squire,

You do know that the Ki-44 was designed for climb and speed, right?

The Ki-44 climbs faster than the N1K2-J or Ki-84.  Even the J2M, also designed for climb and speed, doesn't outclimb the Ki-44.

The Ki-44 was the fastest climbing Japanese fighter, not just from among its contemporaries, but among all Japanese fighters.

[jarbo]

In re-evaluating the inclusion of the N1K2J , i am gonna try to simulate limiting the production of it.  It will only be enabled at rear japanese airfields.  It is a bit too imbalancing at ALL airfields, as I had it set up originally.  

I am always open to suggestions, and thanks for the feedback.

Jarbo
CT Staff

[J_A_B]

I'm not saying you can't have a balanced 1943 PAC setup.   I'm saying you can't have a balanced 1943 PAC setup AND stay 100% true-to-history, because in history it wasn't balanced.

That's fine by me.  It isn't fine by some people, which is why this thread got so long.  

As for the Ki-44, as Karnak pointed out it out-climbs all other Japanese fighters that saw signifigant use.  This also means it out-climbs all US fighters currently in AH by a useful margin.  Its climbrate is over 1000 FPM better than the Ki-61 we have in AH.

J_A_B

[Sixpence]

Late model planes at limited bases is a good idea Jarbo. I hear all this talk about realistic times of serviced planes, and although some good points are made, I think this is a good arena. Don't forget, we only have so many maps, so tweaking them with different planes can put one map to many uses. I would like to make some maps but it is not working on my OS(windows XP pro).

Soulyss      Great flyin

[Löwe]

Jarbo.

If you take away the N1k2 it's gonna be a slaughter. If you saw what the P-47s did today you wouldn't be pulling it. I've said this before and everybody laughs, but the P-47 against Zekes is like  the 262 vs anything.
In fact it's worse, the P-47 guns are accurate at 500 yds, and it carries a buttload of ammo.
I flew in the CT on and off most of the day, and the N1k2's were not stopping anything the Allies were trying to do.
Pull it  if you want, but if you do it's just going to be a cake walk  for the Allies. Maybe it's supposed to be, but this will be the third time in the last 3 setups you guys have come back and made adjustments to help the Allies.
The Hedge rows setup they came back and perked the 262, Norway halfway through the spit was added, now your considering the putting the N1k2 at rear bases.
If you do that, do the same thing with the P-47, it's the monster of this setup not the George.
If you pull it though this is going to be another Kurile Islands, everybody and their uncle flying Allied, and only handsomehunk Sentai pukes flying Japanese. Hmm did I just call myself a handsomehunk puke?
Anyway Jarbo your call.  If your feeling the heat because the George didnt fight in the Solomons, I understand, but the P-47 wasn't there ethier. I know guys are calling your set-up Science fiction, the butt whupping I took today may have had everything to do with science, but it sure as hell wasn't fictional.

[jarbo]

I am not pulling it totally, just moving it to rear airbases.  This way as allied advances deep in to japanese territory, it becomes tougher.   I also still want it available for some Japanese variety as well.

jarbo

[Löwe]

Just went in and checked, you already did it huh??
LOL  Figures.
Well better give the Allies the Chog, and the PonyD too, they belong there as much as the PonyB, and P47.
Christ you guys beat all sometimes.
LOL why don't we just agree right now to never include the N1K2, the ME262, the TA-152, and the FW-19D, in CT setups. That will save everyone a lot of trouble and typing.
Even though an Allied plane can dominate an arena like the Jug is doing right now, by all means don't allow an Axis one to counter it.
This is too funny to even be pissed about .
AXIS PILOTS BEND OVER AND TAKE IT LIKE A MAN!