Originally posted by Squire
"The odds were always hideously unfavorable to the Nips"
Really? At Pearl Harbor, Phillipines, Wake, Coral Sea, Midway, Gudalcanal, Singapore, CBI, Darwin 1943, unfavorable how?
You mention one of the best examples of the Intel battle, Midway. Nimitz had pretty much exactly what he needed to blast Yamamoto's fleet. He had it pretty much exactly where he needed it. Yes, it was a hard fought battle but the fact that Nimitz was reading Yamamoto's TOE and Op orders was decisive. In this sense the situation was hideously unfavorable. In fact this particular battle caused a huge uproar in the Intel community because Nimitz did not fall for Yamamoto's feints, did have everything where it was needed, did proceed to blast the IJN to bits. Dr. Turing and Commander Schoen had fits because of the improbability of this occuring without our being able to break Indigo. They were deeply concerned that this battle would cause the IJN to switch ciphers because they felt Indigo was broken. After this battle Nimitz takes extreme precautions to make accidental detection of enemy intents because Roosevelt chews him a new orifice.
"Allied aircraft would be waiting several thousand feet above them on full fuel tanks when the Nips were stuck down low and slow trying to conserve fuel"
Again, what battle was that? I read Major Foss's accounts of the Guadalcanal campaign, he doesn't mention any of that. He seems to remember it as a hard fought camapaign for some inexplicable reason. Did INTEL help the air war? of course it did, when it could, but you present it like it was a pre ordained kabuki dance with everybody knowing their parts in advance. Hardly!
Only Theatre Commanders, Heads of State, and the actual cryptanalysts were on the MAGIC list (Indigo Intel take codeword). Naturally enough Major Foss wouldn't have anything to say on the subject. Again part of the reason for these battles being hard fought were due to the need to keep the break secret. No action could be taken that explicity or implicitly informed the Japanese command that Indigo was broken. Therefore some opportunities had to be passed on.
As for the crappy Allied a/c well, try fighting a P-38 in a Ki-43, or a F4U or F6F in a Zero. Again, an overgeneralised statement. Some were dogs, like the P-39, and some had no equal, like the P-38.
Actually I was referring to P-39s and P-40s. Once the Corsairs, Hellcats, and Lightnings started showing up in Theatre in great numbers with the teething problems of these classes worked out things went much better. This is the "getting planes that work" part I was referring to.
P-40s fought the IJN, against the odds and sometimes came out the better, sometimes not, (just like the CT), they were surely not the only allied fighter used in the PAC, however.
Sure they did never said they didn't. I was pointing out that many of the major engagements were won because we were reading the enemies mail. Aside from the mail aspect there is also the training issue. After the initial stages of the war US pilots were generally better trained, supplied, and equiped.
"(probably no one in this group of WW2 experts)"
Gee whiz mister, shucks, thanks for stopping bye...lol.
Re-read the sentence and note what it actually says... I'll try again. I'm certain that everyone here knows what Indigo is because everyone here is a bunch of WW2 enthusiasts.
Originally posted by eddiek
Jazz, I didn't tweak anything.
The "ATTACK" button should work.
Flew an A20G yesterday with the attack button pressed. Earned Bomber perks not Fighter perks. Only did this once and couldn't get out again for a second try. I'll do it again and confirm.
I guess it all boils down to tactics ...(SNIP)...That is, unless the Zero pilot is inexperienced or you have numbers on your side.
WMaker1 schooled me and two others yesterday, he in an A6M5, me in a P-38 and two other guys in P-40's. To put it bluntly, he flat outflew all three of us and was untouchable.
...(SNIP)...In a P-40, ya gotta (unfortunately) take off from a base at least a sector away from where you want to fight, grab alt, and hope like heck you are above the Zeroes when you meet them. Otherwise, you have little recourse but to dive away or keep going straight and don't turn even a smidge.........once the Zero has reversed course, he takes a while to get up to your speed again.
Most of my experience yesterday was as follows...
1) Only 1 time was I actually higher than the A6M I engaged.
2) I was never flying against an inexperienced pilot in an A6M.
3) I was always flying from A40 a sector away and climbing to 12K to 20K.
4) I was flying 1 vs 1 or once 1 vs 5.
5) I could get 1 good gun solution on the initial merge and put rounds into the target but never enough.
6) After the initial merge I'd get 1 or 2 opportunities for HO or hi deflection shots but couldn't take advantage of it. Some rounds would land but not enough.
7) Having sucked all the E out of my aircraft in these 3 passes without a kill I'd be screwed. Totally defensive and trying like hell to get out of the fight.
Rules of Engagement in this setup1) Never engage unless E state is far superior to IJAF.
2) Only work 2 gun solutions... initial merge and the next pass after that disengage.
3) Open fire with half second burst on any opportunity for HO at D1.7.
4) If WidowMaker is flying for IJAF switch to MA immediately and don't even bother.
