14.01.2009, 06:15
Hi everybody,
Nothing to say about the campaign made by Peter : all of them are great included Darwin Defenders. The accuracy of the gunners is a problem but this is obviously due to AI. From times to times, i modify myself the status of the crews using Quick Mission Tuner and put them as rookies, just like Peter did with 2.0. This is not very historical but much more playable.
Concerning tactics, as it was stated, i think the best in order to avoid defensive fire is to attack from front or diving from the front side. You can also climb, dive and finally attacking from rear below; you will have plenty of time to aim and fire but so will they have !
Fighter tactics at Darwin were mainly based on hit and run. Indeed US fighters pilots in Darwin (49 FG) were mainly rookies included flight leaders : among the 102 pilots who initially arrived in Australia in february-march 1942, 89 of them came directly from schools. During this campaign 25 japanese planes were effectively destroyed (for 76 victories claimed; just classic overclaiming !) for the loss of 42 P40 (included 22 by accidents); 4 US fighters pilots were KIA (one of them downed by friendly AAA) plus 8 killed in flying accidents. On the other hand, some 86 japanese airmen were killed included 10 fighter pilots. So we can say US pilots performed well considering japanese were better trained, experienced and flying the superior A6M. They made them doubt about their superiority.
One of the problem for US fighters was to climb quick enough to intercept. Japanese bombers were flying high (some 20-21 000 feets or more) and delays were short. On the other hand, in some cases, it seems that bombers, on seeing US fighters, just turned back ...
Nothing to say about the campaign made by Peter : all of them are great included Darwin Defenders. The accuracy of the gunners is a problem but this is obviously due to AI. From times to times, i modify myself the status of the crews using Quick Mission Tuner and put them as rookies, just like Peter did with 2.0. This is not very historical but much more playable.
Concerning tactics, as it was stated, i think the best in order to avoid defensive fire is to attack from front or diving from the front side. You can also climb, dive and finally attacking from rear below; you will have plenty of time to aim and fire but so will they have !
Fighter tactics at Darwin were mainly based on hit and run. Indeed US fighters pilots in Darwin (49 FG) were mainly rookies included flight leaders : among the 102 pilots who initially arrived in Australia in february-march 1942, 89 of them came directly from schools. During this campaign 25 japanese planes were effectively destroyed (for 76 victories claimed; just classic overclaiming !) for the loss of 42 P40 (included 22 by accidents); 4 US fighters pilots were KIA (one of them downed by friendly AAA) plus 8 killed in flying accidents. On the other hand, some 86 japanese airmen were killed included 10 fighter pilots. So we can say US pilots performed well considering japanese were better trained, experienced and flying the superior A6M. They made them doubt about their superiority.
One of the problem for US fighters was to climb quick enough to intercept. Japanese bombers were flying high (some 20-21 000 feets or more) and delays were short. On the other hand, in some cases, it seems that bombers, on seeing US fighters, just turned back ...