S3 Series

Here is a list of what we have left and what the allies have. JG51 and the 4th will be our main fighters for this frame since its what we have left. JG77, TK, 100th and AE, I will presume you will be using up your 110's this frame. If so please confirm that with me as I will plan some sort of bomb missions for your groups.

Hawk please advise what you have left. I am not sure who your fighters are or your bombers. Your group according to the rules can still fly what you want if your pilots wanted to switch it up.

In the list below for the allied the 352nd is the only group that has mixed the pilots up in rides, so in frame 4 and 5 the will have a mix of H2 and H1. I assume all other squad will be in the same rides as they have been for the 1st three frames.

JG-51 --- Ki43 or 109e4
JG-77 --- 110c4 or Ki43
TK --- 110c4 or Ki43
Knights --- hawk please advise.
4th --- Ki43 or 109e4
100th --- 110c4 or 109e4
VFA211 --- all options
AE --- 110c4 or Ki43
Nomads --- all options
--------------------------------------------------------
23rd --- Hurri 1 or H2
352nd --- Hurri 1 or H2 Mixed
416 RCAF --- Hurri 1 or H2
417 RCAF --- Hurri 1 or H2
Doolittles --- Wellington or Swordfish

I am waiting for the map to come out to start my planning but may not get back here until Thursday or Friday. Hawk if you have any devious thoughts in your head about what the knights could do please advise and I will try to work around and protect the mission.

Methinks the 4th will mix 109s and 43s next 2 frames sir...

If we have any show up not flown 110s, we may have a couple with ord.

I was the only 109 flyer in frame 1, if, and kind of a big if, any other JG 77 show up they still have 109s and Ki-43s left. I may not make this next frame either, lots of drama at work requires my attention.

Thanks, Dart, for stepping up.

If there's one thing, it's we ain't following the Blitzkrieg model. Last frame the strikers went for almost 45 minutes and the Frogs were ready for us. NS and Knight and Nomads were shot down easy.

IMHO, gotta have a combined effort and it ain't gonna be at 30K or even 20K for lites of buffs. Gonna be lower and the lites must adapt, innovate and overcome. Buffs already know how to die, heh heh.

The S6 stats show us losing big time for Frame 3, so we gotta come up with quick strikes and no long cruise missions.

I feel that NS and Knights will agree.

Gums opines...

Bf109E-4: High altitude fighter.

Ki-43-II: Mid/low altitude fighter.

Speed at 30k+:
Hurri2: 312
109E4: 332
Ki-43: 300

Speed at 20k:
Hurri2: 332
109E4: 363
Ki-43: 335

Speed at 10k:
Hurri2: 293
109E4: 333
Ki-43: 330

Choose wisely
/robert

Salute!

O.K., Robert. Nice stats if flying st-and -level and such. A few mph or knots at top speed is no big deal when you look at corner velocity, acceleration, sustained gee, and the beat goes on. I would rather have 2 or 3 gees at 150 mph when fighting the other guy who can only pull 1.5 0r even 2.

That ain't gonna win battles if there's any ground action going on.Gotta get down and dirty and force the other guy to do the same. The 23rd figured it out and were there at 5K or so looking down for us and the Stalkers. BINGO! Turkey shoot.

The Allied ites ain't gonna do any good at 30K if all the action is down at 10K or even lower. They can look down and see their brothels and such burning.

I completely understand the advantage of being high for an A2A engagment. BFD. If all we had was a pure 2A series, then this might be a factor. But I have never seen a pure A2A series. Sooner or later, the altitude fanatics must bite the bullet and adapt to help out down lower. We can't all be Stalkers, and even they were killed Sunday nite with the Knights/Nomads.

Gums rants....

I agree with Her Gums. Gums your email was correct and we really need to be smart on this one. We are done with those damn DO-17s and have HE-111s and Ju-87s left. Swanee has 110's and Ki-43s left. The 110s are completely worthless against the Hurris so I am not sure what he wants to use.

Gums, lets put our old brains together and decide what to do. I would like a quick in and out and gain as many points as we can. Air coverage is really important to if we are going to survive. It does look like the 352nd has been more in the east than the west and hope if stays that way.

Just some thoughts.

I think the Frame 2 Axis plan worked well. The 110s should be in the West so they can strafe and take down the isolated front line locations and smaller fields. Always try and have a few 109s in the area. MC200(Ki43) are pretty good strike a/c as well with two big bombs. The key is dividing up your remaining 109s so half are in this frame and half in the next. Then sic them on the larger Hurri squads which are causing havoc to the 110s. The 109s should be all about searching out the enemy fighters and keeping them bottled up on their side of the line.

First off I think we should be playing the cards we've been dealt correctly. No sane bomber-squad CO would ever fly TBDs on a 2 hour route from London to Berlin, while using b17s for noe coastal strikes next frame. So looking at the speeds I posted, I would encourage the frame CO (or squad COs) to order the Ki-43 for squads flying strike escort, as this plane performs best at low altitudes, while the CAP/high escort/intercept assigned squads should fly the Bf109 or a mix of Bf109/Ki-43.

Secondly I'm sorry I can't agree with you Gums sir. Speed is more important than turn-rate if you know how to use fighter tactics. It dictates who can attack and from what altitude. You can boom n zoom all day without the enemy able to touch you if your speed is way superior. It also doesn't matter if I'm outnumbered 1v10 if I can outrun them all, while a greater turn rate would only buy me a few extra seconds to live.

The turn-rate dictates how commited I can get to a furball or duel someone 1v1. The Bf110 for example is awful at pulling Gs compared to the Hurricane and thus it's fatal to get low and slow with them. But the reason I didn't post turn-rate is because the Hurri/Bf109/Ki-43 are close to equal, with the Ki43 just a little ahead.

I however understand your frustration with fighter squads not staying with the strikers at a mid/low alt where they can actually protect you guys. This is however a tactical error and not related to my post about speeds, and at start of the frame strikers might need to remind their escorts to stay with them, as fighter pilots can sometimes get more concerned about their own safety than the success of the strike mission.

<S>
/robert