Battle of Okinawa

[216th_Lucas_From_Hell]

Introducing Il-2: Eastern Turkey Shoot, featuring the Okinawa and Manchuria maps, 10 Allied aircraft and 2 Japanese fighters, and an all-new kamikaze campaign where good pilots who can throw their aircraft at critical ship parts are rewarded with medals for marksmanship.

[sniperton]

... and they shall rest in peace ... for ever 

[Cpt_Cool]

I dont have time or desire to explain to you how wrong you are mate in that conclusion.

 

oh ok 

[US63_SpadLivesMatter]

oh ok

I'd actually really like to hear why. Out of curiosity.

[Danziger]

I dont have time or desire to explain to you how wrong you are mate in that conclusion.

But why mention it then?

[BlitzPig_EL]

OK, Midway lasted all of three days.

 

Okinawa was pretty much a turkey shoot for the Allies, who had overwhelming air superiority.

 

 

New Guinea lasted over 2 years.  There is far more varied game play options with New Guinea over either Midway or Okinawa, and because of the time frame you get to have early and late war aircraft.

 

New Guinea is by far the best option for keeping Pacific theater game play alive over an extended period.

[ShamrockOneFive]

It seems to me, having thought about it a fair bit, that the IL-2 series in its current 8+2 format could probably do well with Midway (and Coral Sea/Wake/etc.) with the 1942 set, New Guinea with the 1943 Army aircraft set, Solomons with a 1943 Navy aircraft set, and despite some misgivings from some folks... Okinawa is ideal for a 1945 set. Maybe even the attack on Japan which overlaps with the 1945 set but with different aircraft. There are other battles in the Pacific but those are the key ones in terms of the historical turning points AND having unique aircraft sets.

 

A number of these would overlap each other over the years and time periods to fit fairly well overall with the whole package. Kind of like how the Eastern Front works too.

 

I am still very much excited for Okinawa. I'm excited about some late war Japanese planes like the N1K, Ki-84, Ki-67, etc. and for some late war American types like the F4U Corsair and all kinds or rocket attacks. Okinawa was a huge campaign. It was months of tough fighting for Okinawa and there was a storm of Japanese aircraft attacks on American ships of both the kamikaze and conventional style. Marianas was the 'turkey shoot'... Okinawa was a grind. Not a particularly favourable one for the Japanese but when it comes to flight sims we have experienced pilots on both sides which will even up the online battles and even offline still remains interesting from an individual pilot point of view.

[Danziger]

It's going to be epic no matter how many times you slice it.

[ShamrockOneFive]

It's going to be epic no matter how many times you slice it.

 

Agreed! 

[Gambit21]

Yep...just give me my Zeke

[Pharoah]

At the end of the day, MP is like a sandbox. 1C give us the tools (maps, aircraft, environment) and we do the rest. As long as you have some semblance of balance or the a/c that were used IRL. Even though Japan suffered with the lack of veteran pilots by 1945, that may not necessarily translate to our MP missions and online gameplay as long as we have the same a/c eg. F6F, F4U, Seafire, P51D, etc vs the late war Japanese a/c (which were quite good but i can't remember the names). Just focus on that. 

[busdriver]

oh ok 

 

BlitzPig_EL succinctly nailed it. WRT to Okinawa...

 

By late January 1945 the Fast Carrier Force had grown to 12 CVs and 6 CVLs. These 18 flattops embarked the staggering total of 1,365 aircraft, of which nearly three-quarters were fighters. The fleet defense problem, as far as the mere number of fighters, was solved. The large carrier air groups averaged 102 aircraft, the light carriers 27. Hellcats still represented over 80 percent of the total fighter force with 820 in all, but 174 Corsairs were spread among the Essex, Wasp, Bennington, and Bunker Hill air groups. In fact, Air Group 84 aboard the latter embarked 71 F4U-lDs and only six Hellcats, all photo planes. The reliable old F6F-3 was almost gone now. Only 63 remained with the force, scattered among eight squadrons where -5s were unavailable in sufficient number. Four of these were CVL units but the largest -3 contingent was VF (N) -90’ s sixteen F6F-3Es. The fighter emphasis on some ships was astonishing. The Wasp’s Air Group 81 boasted 127 fighters with 91 Hellcats and 36 Corsairs. As a result there was no dive bomber squadron, but 15 Avengers were retained. Five other CVs operated at least 70 Hellcats, and, combined with F4Us, eight of the ten CV day air groups each had 70-plus fighters. The two exceptions were the Hancock’s Air Group 7 with 64 Hellcats and the Bennington’s Air Group 82 with 33 Hellcats and 36 Marine Corsairs. Sharply contrasting with this wealth of aircraft was the depleted Air Group 22 aboard the Cowpens. Fighting 22 had only nine F6Fs on hand at this time, and VF-29 aboard the Cabot retained 16. The other three CVL fighter outfits all had two dozen F6Fs.

 

Hellcat Squadrons in Combat: February to May 1945

VF-3 Yorktown  

VBF-3 Yorktown 

VF-4 Essex  

VF-6 Hancock 

VF-7 Hancock  

VF-9 Lexington, Yorktown  

VF-12 Randolph  

VBF-12 Randolph  

VF-17 Hornet 

VBF-17 Hornet 

VF-23 Langley 

VF-29 Cabot  

VF-30 Belleau Wood  

VF-34 Monterey 

VF-45 San Jacinto  

VF-46 Cowpens  

VF-47 Bataan 

VF-49 San Jacinto  

VF-53 Saratoga 

VF-80 Hancock 

VBF-80 Hancock 

VF-81 Wasp 

VF-82 Bennington

VF-83 Essex  

VF-86 Wasp 

 

Tillman, Barrett. Hellcat: The F6F in World War II Naval Institute Press. Kindle Edition. 

 

Essentially a 1945 Okinawa scenario is great for an American pilot. And if you include the British Pacific Fleet with another half dozen fleet carriers with armored decks and over a dozen smaller carriers, playing a British RN pilot would be sweet. On the other side of the ledger are IJNAF and IJAAF forces where the bulk of pilots were barely trained (like VVS guys at the start of Barbarossa). The Japanese could only muster a few mass raids to reach the fleet, and typically (from aboard a US carrier) raids were singletons.

 

EDIT: Less a reader think I was dismissing the Japanese effort, I was trying to emphasize their less organized and poorly trained threat.

 

Okinawa is only 350 miles from the southern tip of Kyushu, placing it well within range of Japan-based aircraft. With the fast carriers that were supporting the invasion tied to a 60-square-mile area off Okinawa, the Japanese had no trouble locating their prime targets. And Task Force 58 remained in this precarious situation for two months— from mid-March to mid-May. It was probably the most trying period of the Pacific war. Under constant threat of massed suicide and conventional air attacks, the fliers and ships’ crews were worn down by the strain of operations— particularly the fighter pilots, whose responsibility was awesomely simple: shoot down the attackers before they could destroy the carrier decks.

 

To provide better advance warning, 16 radar picket stations were established around Okinawa. They were plotted in reference to “Point Bolo,” the tip of land on Okinawa’s west coast known as Zampa Misaki. The picket stations averaged 52 nautical miles from Point Bolo, with RP-13 being the closest, only 18 miles offshore, and RP-8 RP-8 the farthest, 95 miles southeast. Each station was usually patrolled by two destroyers, which had highly trained fighter-director teams on board, and was supported by utility vessels.

 

The Japanese flung their first massed attack at the invasion fleet on D-Plus-Five, April sixth. It involved nearly 700 aircraft, including 355 kamikazes. Three squadrons of TG-58.1 were credited with nearly 90 kills among them, as Hellcats met succeeding waves of attackers. A series of large battles was fought over Okinawa and the invasion fleet that afternoon and evening. Sixteen Air Group 17 Hellcats met “a swarm of kamikaze-bent Japs” evidently headed for the landing beaches. The Hornet pilots barged in and gunned down 33 as other squadrons arrived on the scene. In this combat Lieutenant Willis E. Hardy was credited with a Zeke, two Judys, and a pair of Vals— the last with only one gun firing.

 

Then later that afternoon, Marsh Beebe led two VF-17 divisions on CAP north of the force and bounced a formation of Val and Judy dive bombers, splashing eight. It brought the Hornet fighters’ one-day total to 41 ½. Fighting 30 had things entirely its own way in what it called “Turkey Shoot Number Two.” Over the island, 14 F6F-5s under Lieutenant R. F. Gillespie almost immediately contacted several small enemy groups when taking station at 1530. In a two-hour running battle, formations and singles of Vals, Zekes, and a handful of Tojos and Oscars were met— about 60 bandits in all.

 

The Hellcats found their opponents inexperienced, unaggressive, and poor marksmen. Every Belleau Wood pilot scored, and upon return to the ship, the only damage VF-30 had suffered was 16 holes in one plane, put there by a “friendly” F6F night fighter. Belleau Wood’s 14 pilots accounted for 26 ½ Vals, 14 Zekes, 5 Tojos, and 2 Oscars. The top scorers were all ensigns, three of whom became “instant aces”; Carl C. Foster got six kills, Kenneth J. Dahms got five and one-half and Johnnie G. Miller bagged five. Michelle A. Mazzocco got three singles and three halves for a total of four and one-half, and three other ensigns each scored quadruples. The total of 47 ½ prompted Belleau Wood’s skipper, Captain W. G. Tomlinson, to query the task group commander, Rear Admiral Jocko Clark, “Does this exceed bag limit?” To which Clark replied, “Negative. . . . This is open season.”  

 

The hunters of VF-83 certainly thought so; the Essex Hellcats claimed 56 kills from dawn to late afternoon. Four night fighter sorties contributed nine of this record total for 6 April, but the daylight F6Fs dropped 47 in the course of two CAPs, an airfield strike, and a shipping search. The latter was a planned 300-mile mission to the northwest which included 15 Hellcats plus a dozen Corsairs of VBF-83, but few of the fighters got more than halfway outbound. The divisional search teams, flying ten-degree sectors, encountered widespread enemy planes and engaged 53 of them. Thirteen of the Hellcat pilots shot down 26 planes of six different varieties while losing one of their own and sustaining damage to eight more Grummans. The Corsairs added another half-dozen victories for a total of 32 on this mission.

 

An hour after the search-strike combats ended, a pair of Essex Hellcats on a special CAP near Yoro Shima sighted nine bomb-armed Zekes headed for the invasion force. The section leader, Lieutenant (jg) Hugh N. Batten, took advantage of the eight-tenth cloud cover and thick haze to approach undetected from astern. He and his wingman, Lieutenant (jg) Sam J. Brocato, dropped four Zekes between them before the others could take evasive action. In the brief dogfight that followed, the two F6Fs remained together even through violent aerobatics, splashing four more Zeros. Batten and Brocato had downed eight of the nine Zekes with barely 1,500 rounds of .50 caliber, all confirmed by gun-camera film or nearby witnesses. In all, over 200 of the 350-odd victories claimed were credited to Mitscher’s Hellcats during this, by far the largest one-day air attack of the campaign. Though the Japanese lost half of their committed aircraft, they succeeded in hitting 19 ships. Thirteen were destroyers on radar picket patrol, a foretaste of the ordeal to come.

 

Tillman, Barrett. Hellcat: The F6F in World War II Naval Institute Press. Kindle Edition. 

 

 

Edited August 23, 2017 by busdriver

[=362nd_FS=Hiromachi]

But why mention it then?

Meh, I guess I was a bit grumpy. I aimed at provoking someone to do a research and learn more, guess it didnt work.

 

My point is that neither Midway nor Okinawa feel like Pacific defining themes. First one is merely a short clash of massive fleets and latter one is a desperate campaign to stall Allied offensive and buy time, filled with kamikaze. Obviously both of those are well known, but as mentioned above, more defining themes to Pacific are campaigns in central or south west pacific area. Whether that would be Solomon Islands or New Guinea. Then there is also a China/Burma that gives JAAF and British perspectives. 

 

 

 

New Guinea with the 1943 Army aircraft set, Solomons with a 1943 Navy aircraft set, and despite some misgivings from some folks... Okinawa is ideal for a 1945 set. Maybe even the attack on Japan which overlaps with the 1945 set but with different aircraft. There are other battles in the Pacific but those are the key ones in terms of the historical turning points AND having unique aircraft sets.

 

You forget about Leyte.

 

Either way, I still wonder how this will work for Okinawa. It's damn far from Kyushu / Formosa to central Ryukyu Islands. Some aircraft wouldnt make it even with external fuel tanks, so mid landings might become a need. 

 

Ps. If you want my personal and honest opinion I simply think Okinawa is a waste of opportunity. Sure, you get American and especially British aircraft carriers but there are no Japanese ones. Japanese fleet involvement was insignificant overall. So all this building of technology for navies for Midway will be to a fair degree unused and I find a great interest in Japanese Navy changes throughout 1943 - 1944, which we may never see. Variety of objects and missions will also be limited due to that. 

Edited August 23, 2017 by =LD=Hiromachi

[216th_Jordan]

I personally think the can go with Okinawa (however they would do that..), but they should do a 1943/44 pacific theater first! (many good suggestions for that already)

 

My reasoning for this is BoM related:

I think BoM did not solely sell inferior to BoS or BoK because of unlocks and performance issues but also because its timeframe was behind the already released one (BoS), by this it had one less, powerful, "pull factor": an upgrade to the already released planeset.

 

Also 1945 planes would not be well suited to fly with 1941/42 ones.

Edited August 23, 2017 by 216th_Jordan

[Chief_Mouser]

Okinawa is a complete no for me. Please tell me just who is going to want to fly for an hour with their only ambition being to crash into a ship, or get shot down trying? What genuine air combats there were at that time took place much nearer to Japan than Okinawa.

If you want a late war scenario where there is some point in flying Japanese fighters then the US bombing raids on Japan are far more interesting. Except that we're never going to see a B-29 so that finishes that.

Whatever Pacific scenario is decided on, let's have one where the fun is to be had from both sides having a sporting chance.

[ShamrockOneFive]

Meh, I guess I was a bit grumpy. I aimed at provoking someone to do a research and learn more, guess it didnt work.

 

My point is that neither Midway nor Okinawa feel like Pacific defining themes. First one is merely a short clash of massive fleets and latter one is a desperate campaign to stall Allied offensive and buy time, filled with kamikaze. Obviously both of those are well known, but as mentioned above, more defining themes to Pacific are campaigns in central or south west pacific area. Whether that would be Solomon Islands or New Guinea. Then there is also a China/Burma that gives JAAF and British perspectives. 

 

 

 

 

You forget about Leyte.

 

Either way, I still wonder how this will work for Okinawa. It's damn far from Kyushu / Formosa to central Ryukyu Islands. Some aircraft wouldnt make it even with external fuel tanks, so mid landings might become a need. 

 

Ps. If you want my personal and honest opinion I simply think Okinawa is a waste of opportunity. Sure, you get American and especially British aircraft carriers but there are no Japanese ones. Japanese fleet involvement was insignificant overall. So all this building of technology for navies for Midway will be to a fair degree unused and I find a great interest in Japanese Navy changes throughout 1943 - 1944, which we may never see. Variety of objects and missions will also be limited due to that. 

 

I recognize Leyte as one of (if not the largest) naval battles ever fought but from a flight sim perspective it doesn't necessarily add something. Midway, Solomons, New Guinea and Okinawa each offer a unique aircraft set. Leyte has basically the same as the others. I can see being able to argue back and forth on it... these four would just be my picks for ideal mixtures of aircraft and options for both sides.

 

You make a good point about Japanese carrier involvement at Okinawa. Non-existent. Still I'd be pretty excited to fly missions as a the 343 Kokutai over Okinawa in their N1K2Js. Not sure if they staged through a forward airstrip in their journey back and forth from Kyushu. I'm not sure if Jason factors Kyushu as part of the Okinawa map or even if the map technology could allow for that. US carrier raids on Kyushu were pretty intense moments too.

[=WH=PangolinWranglin]

I still don't know how I feel about BoO... I can see its upsides and downsides. I love the later planes of both sides, but the whole set of circumstances surrounding the battle (I feel) will have very little effect on multiplayer. But, I trust the devs. I feel like they will handle it well and do the absolute best they can, should they go through with BoO. 

 

Personally, I just want more planes to fly and more maps to fly them in. BoO's set would be my favorite plane set, even if the map was just an expanse of ocean. Speaking of open ocean... did the Carriers have radio navigational beacons for the planes to orient themselves off of?

[=362nd_FS=Hiromachi]

 

 

Leyte has basically the same as the others.

Depends how you look at it. 1944 Philippines camapign involved all available assets to both Army and Navy, with use of some new aircraft for the first time such as N1K1-J (technically, since campaign effectively for Leyte ended in January one could include as premium N1K2-J), Ki-67, A6M5c or used previously only in limtied quantity such as Ki-84 or P1Y.

 

 

 

You make a good point about Japanese carrier involvement at Okinawa. Non-existent. Still I'd be pretty excited to fly missions as a the 343 Kokutai over Okinawa in their N1K2Js. Not sure if they staged through a forward airstrip in their journey back and forth from Kyushu. I'm not sure if Jason factors Kyushu as part of the Okinawa map or even if the map technology could allow for that. US carrier raids on Kyushu were pretty intense moments too.

They didnt, from memoirs and data given in Gendas Blade they went only as far south as Amami Oshima which is still good 250 km from Okinawa itself and even further from Allied fleet.

The latter is exactly my concern. How exactly they imagine Okinawa in any realistic manner.

[Herne]

busdriver . . .that was a very good read

[=WH=PangolinWranglin]

 

 

one could include as premium N1K2-J

I'd buy that if only to make stupid jokes about its allied reporting name being the same as my name   

[Cpt_Cool]

For better or worse, I believe sales are a higher priority than gameplay followed up by realism. From a sales perspective there is more emphasis on aircraft set and name recognition. From a gameplay perspective, I agree that it will be significant (but not insurmountable) challenges associated with Okinawa. From a realism perspective (which I believe is the one Hiromachi holds) I also agree that there are even bigger challenges. No one wants to fly for hours to try for a kamakazi attack, but I could live with an airstart, or fictional island to take off from, or some other clever solution (for the sake of gameplay at the expense of realism). 

 

My main conclusion, however, was that they may not make more than two pacific titles. In that case, I think Midway1/Okinawa2 (plus some extra maps and collector planes to round things out) makes more sense, cause it will be a while until we go to the far east again. 

 

However, if they know now that they plan on making three pacific titles, I would be all for going to the Solomon Islands or New Guinea after Midway. Luckily it is not for me to decide. 

 

All I really want is for Gambit to get his Zeke   

[-=PHX=-SuperEtendard]

I think that jumping from Midway to Okinawa, and still retaining the 8+2 aircraft set would leave some holes in terms of aircraft line ups.

 

You have US Navy, US Air Force, British Navy, Japanese Navy and Japanese Air Force all with their own little line up of late war planes (4 or 5 each, some shared with the British). Imho for Okinawa you would need around 20 planes. With just 10 it would feel a bit too empty imho. It would leave out some of the forces (like for example US Air Force out if you want to get US Navy complete, or Japanese Air Force out if you want to get Japanese Navy complete, or vice versa).

Edited August 23, 2017 by -=PHX=-SuperEtendard

[216th_Lucas_From_Hell]

A complementary approach would work, like in BoM/S/K. All aircraft there overlap the game immediately after, and half also go from BoM into BoK (MiG-3, I-16, P-40E, Ju-88, Bf-109E-7). To do that though, it's best to go into 1943 from Midway instead of jumping right into 1945.

[5./StG.1_DLMalloy]

I would REALLY LOVE to see Battle of Iwo Jima.

[=362nd_FS=Hiromachi]

There you go 

 

 

[InProgress]

I am for early war love cliffs of dover for it. Would be nice to have some 1938-1941.

Ohh would love to see fall of Singapur.

 

Eventually would be nice to see Okinawa or other fanous and late war island but they should do early war first before moving up. Who said every expansion needs 8 new planes and 2 premium? Having just new map and campaign for 10 or 20$ cheaper also would be nice.

[US63_SpadLivesMatter]

The problem with airstarts; What about landing? Does one side never get to actually land their planes?

[Feathered_IV]

The problem with airstarts; What about landing? Does one side never get to actually land their planes?

Good point. Japanese aircraft wouldn't need an operating undercarriage at all. That would certainly save a few developer dollars.

[216th_Lucas_From_Hell]

Go the extra mile - landing gears as premium content.

[Pharoah]

no landing gear? c'mon thats just silly. If you're going to do it, do it properly. 

 

This is why a North African / Med campaign (incl the raids on Malta) would've been a better evolution in my books. Hell you already have the Axis half (except some Italian bombers) plus a Spit V...just need Hurricanes and Beaufighters! but anyway, we are where we are. 

 

To be successful I think they should pick two time periods ie. 1942 (Guadalcanal/Midway) and 1945 (Iwo/Okinawa). IL2 1946 had quite a few maps of islands (Wake, etc) which the USN attacked - I'm sure the devs could do the same which would potentially require less dev time than a full land map.

[ShamrockOneFive]

I would REALLY LOVE to see Battle of Iwo Jima.

 

It's not really an air battle. I mean we might be able to do it as an extra map but there isn't much for a pilot to do.

Depends how you look at it. 1944 Philippines camapign involved all available assets to both Army and Navy, with use of some new aircraft for the first time such as N1K1-J (technically, since campaign effectively for Leyte ended in January one could include as premium N1K2-J), Ki-67, A6M5c or used previously only in limtied quantity such as Ki-84 or P1Y.

 

 

 

They didnt, from memoirs and data given in Gendas Blade they went only as far south as Amami Oshima which is still good 250 km from Okinawa itself and even further from Allied fleet.

The latter is exactly my concern. How exactly they imagine Okinawa in any realistic manner.

 

Well pointed out Hiro. I underestimated the variety of aircraft in the Philippines campaign.

 

Also I'm surprised about the 343. I thought for sure they were fighting over Okinawa... that was certainly implied in some peripheral stuff that I read. Thanks for clearing it up!

[Juri_JS]

It's not really an air battle. I mean we might be able to do it as an extra map but there isn't much for a pilot to do.

Iwo Jima would be fine as an extra map. Maybe it could be a community project like Velikie Luki and Odessa.

 

There was much more air activity over Iwo Jima than most people are aware of. There were large air battles over the island during the carrier raids in summer 1944 when Saburo Sakai's unit was based there. Later the Japanese army and navy had small detachments on the island to defend it against raids by B-24, B-29 and P-38 flying from the Marianas. There were also a small number of Japanese air attacks during the invasion, one of it sank the escort carrier USS Bismarck Sea.

[Chief_Mouser]

 

 

 

They didnt, from memoirs and data given in Gendas Blade they went only as far south as Amami Oshima which is still good 250 km from Okinawa itself and even further from Allied fleet.

The latter is exactly my concern. How exactly they imagine Okinawa in any realistic manner.

 

Genda's Blade. Essential reading for those of you wishing for an Okinawa scenario. Your hopes of flying Japanese fighters that far south will be dashed.

 

 

 

 

 

[=362nd_FS=Hiromachi]

Since there are plenty of Aussie guys around I figured this might be interesting for many: 

 

Just saw on facebook message about it, containing authors words:

" Thought you might like to know that I've collaborated closely with author Peter Ingman on finalizing a massive joint project on the early Pacific air war. We've dug deep into both the Allied and Japanese sides of the early aerial Pacific war and come up with fresh material everywhere, particularly on the New Guinea side. We hope this first Volume (one of three) will become the 'bible' for the early Pacific aerial war, the Japanese side in particular. The Japanese 'firsts' to be included are markings for No 4 Kokutai A5M4 Claudes and A6M2 Zeros. The book should be available in about two months. I will keep you all updated on its release. Draft cover attached.

Separately, I have been researching and writing the history of No 4 Ku fighter detachment in New Guinea for the past five years. The unit only lasted seven weeks or so with the Iwasaki, Kawai and Okamoto chutai before being assimilated into the Tainan Ku, but it was a jam-packed era, and I'm pleased with the detail I've assembled including, inter alia, the early encounters with 14th Reconnaissance Squadron B-17Es. I am proud of 'Eagles of the Southern Skies' - history of Tainan Ku in New Guinea - however I regret its poor print quality. The history of No 4 Ku will be better quality and a more reasonable price, as it will be produced by regular publisher. It will be packed with accurate profiles and information from many unique sources, including interrogation reports. Will keep you informed on its progress, but hopefully out before end of year.

Apologies for low-res draft cover. Cheers. MC "

[Pharoah]

So assuming a Battle of New Guinea release with the standard 8+2 a/c format. What would you have?

 

USN/USAAF

- F4F Wildcat (fighter)

- SBD Dauntless (dive bomber)

- TBF Avenger (torp bomber)

- B25 Mitchell (level bomber - yes please!!)

 

The US also used the Airacobra which we have already thankfully.

 

IJA/IJN

- A6M Zeke (fighter)

- Mitsubishi G4M Betty (level bomber)

- Nakajima B5N Kate (torp bomber)

- Aichi D3A Val (dive bomber)

 

Premium aircraft? 

- B17 or B24 (I will pay for this)

- ??

 

The above would cover most of the 1941/1942 period I reckon as it also uses IJN aircraft (operating off carriers) as well as land based. 

[BlitzPig_EL]

For New Guinea you need USAAF and IJAAF aircraft, it was mostly an army show, for both sides, with the IJN only there in numbers very early on.

 

P39

P40

B26

Hudson

 

KI43

A6M

Betty

 

If you want to go a bit later add the Ki 61, and a bit later yet P38 and P47

[Chief_Mouser]

also Ki-48?

Edited August 30, 2017 by 216th_Cat

[Cybermat47]

So assuming a Battle of New Guinea release with the standard 8+2 a/c format. What would you have?

 

USN/USAAF

- F4F Wildcat (fighter)

- SBD Dauntless (dive bomber)

- TBF Avenger (torp bomber)

- B25 Mitchell (level bomber - yes please!!)

 

The US also used the Airacobra which we have already thankfully.

 

IJA/IJN

- A6M Zeke (fighter)

- Mitsubishi G4M Betty (level bomber)

- Nakajima B5N Kate (torp bomber)

- Aichi D3A Val (dive bomber)

 

Premium aircraft? 

- B17 or B24 (I will pay for this)

- ??

 

The above would cover most of the 1941/1942 period I reckon as it also uses IJN aircraft (operating off carriers) as well as land based.

 

Don't you think it's a bit ridiculous to have no RAAF aircraft in a game about a battle that took place in Australian territory?

[Pharoah]

TBH I think i screwed up - I was really looking at the guadalcanal/midway planeset (which is why some of those a/c are navy)

[Gambit21]

TBH I think i screwed up - I was really looking at the guadalcanal/midway planeset (which is why some of those a/c are navy)

 

Except no B-25 at Guadalcanal.

Also no 4 engine bombers are going to happen, and even if they were somewhat more practical to create (which they are not) their impotence in the theater in question would make them somewhat pointless.

As it stands, the first circumstance makes the renders the second moot.