Final 8 you pick 'em

[cardboard_killer]

We started with 36 planes, and are down to 12.  Last round, pick the top 8 planes you'd like to see as collectables or in modules.

 

The original 36:

 

Douglas A-20G
Northrop P-61B
Savoia-Marchetti SM.79-I
Dewoitine D.520
Messerschmitt Bf-109 G10
Fiat C.205V
Curtiss P-40N (Kittyhawk IV)
Yakovlev Yak-9U
Fieseler Fi 156
Junkers Ju 87 B-2
Junkers Ju-188A
Morane-Saulnier M.S. 406
Messerschmitt Bf-109 E3
Reggiane Re.2005
Bell P-39N
Republic P-47C-5
Lockheed P-38G
Piper J-3 Cub
North American A-36 / Mustang I
Dornier Do 217K
Tupolev Tu-2
Macchi C.205
Brewster B239E (Finnish Buffalo)
Curtiss P-40B/C (Tomahawk IIA/B)
Yakovlev Yak-3
Polikarpov I-15bis
Douglas C-47 / Lisunov Li-2
Fairey Battle
Ilyushin IL-10
Dornier Do 17M
Ilyushin IL-4
Gloster Gladiator
Fiat CR.42
IAR 80/81
Polikarpov I-153
Lavochkin La-7

[cardboard_killer]

I think once the final is over in four days, it will be apparent that more people want bombers/attack planes added than more fighters. It looks right now that only two of the final eight will be fighters. I prefer fighters, but will buy anything produced.

[Jaws2002]

[Jaws2002]

10 hours ago, cardboard_killer said:

I think once the final is over in four days, it will be apparent that more people want bombers/attack planes added than more fighters. It looks right now that only two of the final eight will be fighters. I prefer fighters, but will buy anything produced.

 

Edited February 10, 2020 by Jaws2002

[cardboard_killer]

20 hours ago, Jaws2002 said:

 

Dont look at me; I included in the original list and was happily surprised it made it this far in the heats.

Edited February 11, 2020 by cardboard_killer

[Jaws2002]

1 hour ago, cardboard_killer said:

 

Dont look at me; I included in the original list and was happily surprised it made it this far in the heats.

 

 

I just posted that screenshot to show that versions of the IAR were built as attackers/ dive bombers. Half the IAR 80/81s that fought at Stalingrad were the dive bomber version.

[BeastyBaiter]

Yikes, only voted 3 as I have zero interest in the others, the I-153, IAR and P-40N and of those, the only one I'd pay for is the I-153. And I'm the guy who wants basically everything...

[cardboard_killer]

27 minutes ago, BeastyBaiter said:

Yikes, only voted 3 as I have zero interest in the others, the I-153, IAR and P-40N and of those, the only one I'd pay for is the I-153. And I'm the guy who wants basically everything...

 

I am the guy that will buy anything Still, I prefer new fighters, but fighters seem to be losing out to twin engine bombers.

 

I worked reasonably hard on coming up with the top 36 a/c that seemed compatible with BoX. I tried to get a balance of a/c types while respecting limitations on engines and crew positions. My goal has simply been to see what users were willing to give up to get "their plane". E.g., it's all well and good to pine for a Do-17M, but do you want it more than a C-47? Etc..

 

In just making the list, I felt that if BoB, strategic bombing and PTO are off the table for now, then the main alternatives are going to be Tunisia, Sicily/Malta, BoF, and more USSR/Poland. It seems from the choices winning that more USSR battles are going to be more popular (i.e. Italian and allied MTO planes, and French and German BoF planes) have almost all lost out). I can live with that, indeed I welcome that as most of the fighting and dying took place in the USSR.

Edited February 11, 2020 by cardboard_killer

[cardboard_killer]

Voting ends tomorrow at about 20:00 GMT. Not that it matters, just a poll for fun.

[Redwo1f]

Honestly, there are no clear winners and the distribution of the voting of the final 8 at this point are all really close (realistically speaking) - even the spread from top vote choice to lowest vote choice is not that great, at least at this point (I think there may have  been a greater variance if voting choices were limited to perhaps max3 instead of 8).

...............

 

I actually predicted that the Hurricane and the IAR 80/81 were going to be released as collector planes (instead we are getting two variants of the Yak 9 (one of which only barely fits into Kuban, and the second they have to fudge the testing date with the  operational date to fit in).  IAR would have been a perfect paring with the Hurricane for Moscow, imho. Hope we do eventually see it.

Edited February 13, 2020 by Redwo1f

[cardboard_killer]

28 minutes ago, Redwo1f said:

even the spread from top vote choice to lowest vote choice is not that great, at least at this point.

 

With 70+ voters with 8 choices each, the spread should be low (although some will not vote the full 8 for whatever reason). Within the error rate? I don't know--how many of us accidentally hit the wrong button from time to time?

[cardboard_killer]

Final results. Not much actually changed in the last three days, despite another 20 voters. If nothing else, it certainly makes one think that bombers top the want list of the majority of players.

 

I started with 36 planes, in four groups of 9 planes each, with each voter picking five of the nine.

 

The winning 20 were then put in four groups of five planes, with each voter picking three of the five.

 

Finally, we picked eight of the last 12 standing.

 

Make/Model	Country	Votes3
Douglas C-47 / Lisunov Li-2	USA	56
Polikarpov I-153	USSR	52
Dornier Do 217K	Germany	48
Tupolev Tu-2	USSR	48
Douglas A-20G	USA	46
Ilyushin IL-4	USSR	46
Junkers Ju-188A	Germany	46
Lavochkin La-7	USSR	42
Curtiss P-40N (Kittyhawk IV)	USA	40
Dornier Do 17M	Germany	40
IAR 80/81	Romania	40
Junkers Ju 87 B-2	Germany	35

[Lusekofte]

On 2/11/2020 at 6:42 PM, BeastyBaiter said:

Yikes, only voted 3 as I have zero interest in the others, the I-153, IAR and P-40N and of those, the only one I'd pay for is the I-153. And I'm the guy who wants basically everything...

Ask yourself what kind of gameplay you want. 
only fighter against fighter? Only Berloga like servers?  Or do you want airwar simulation? 
 

Planes available is not really what you want to fly, it tells more about gameplay and what target your after. 
 

Personally I reduced my online flying time to almost nothing,  and by the looks of it many with me from the early days. Because it is all about fighters 

[cardboard_killer]

2 hours ago, LuseKofte said:

Planes available is not really what you want to fly, it tells more about gameplay and what target your after. 

 

If I just wanted targets and not bombers to fly, well, I have them. I don't care about having an A-20G to shoot down when I have an A-20B already. Or if I have a Do-217k when I already have a He-111.

 

Sure, to simulate attacks in MP we need people willing to bomb. But again, we have bombers. No, I think it's because people want to fly these planes, not out of some sense of realism of mission duty. I play for fun not as part of some weird re-enactment fetish. And I can bomb in most fighters anyway if it comes to that.

[Lusekofte]

19 minutes ago, cardboard_killer said:

don't care about having an A-20G to shoot down when I have an A-20B already. Or if I have a Do-217k when I already have a He-111.

I agree. What I was trying to put forward is that even if you only like fighters. A objective oriented gameplay might be more fun than a berloga dogfight only scenario. 
I hate flying fighters, mostly because I find it incredible boring guarding places and escorting bombers. I find flying bombers , fighterbombers or attack planes give meaning

Edited February 15, 2020 by LuseKofte

[Chief_Mouser]

I too prefer ground attackers and bombers. I think it's an age thing with me, my reflexes aren't quick enough to keep up with the wannabe aces out there, and if I fly fighters I get my arse kicked most of the time. At least with the multi-seat planes I get a warning when something nasty is about to blow me to bits!

 

Interesting poll though. I'm surprised that the IAR 80/81 didn't finish higher; a very different plane because of its origins - half PZL24 with a supposed SM79 wing profile and a French engine. Perhaps not enough folk have heard of it and those that did were the ones that pushed it into the last 12? I'd still buy it, as I would 75% of those in the last 12.

Cheers.

[cardboard_killer]

1 hour ago, 216th_Cat said:

I'm surprised that the IAR 80/81 didn't finish higher

 

I'm surprised about the lack of desire for the 1943 planes--(P-47, P-38, Mc.205, A-36) as well as the BoF planes. I was hoping for a MTO battle, but doesn't seem to be any new planes of interest to top the list. Still might get one, though, as these votes are all at the margins. There are very few planes no one wants.

[cardboard_killer]

I'm also surprised the Stork and the Piper failed to make the cut. The Piper lost in the first round IIRC, and the Stork in the 2nd.

[cardboard_killer]

Circling back to this, out of the original list, the first two to be produced will be the C-47 (one of the winners) and the IAR (one of the close seconds). Once BoN is done, it will be interesting to see where we go.