Top 3 Allied planes of '43

[Rusty1961]

1. P-38 H/G. Place these at a base from which you launch your B17s and B24s, to ensure sweeps go in first, and you can clear a path for your bombers. Don't use these planes as escorts, only sweepers.

2. B24s. "base killers". Don't use them against bases that are heavily defended unless your P-38s can clear the skies first. Don't put them on an island base that the Japanese navy can bombard unless you have lots of ships defending the base.

3. B-25 D1. Most versatile plane in '43. train the pilots at 100' for naval attack and their straf ratings will increase. ditto with 1000' and their low-naval attack will increase. finally train them for ground bombardment. Two squadrons (32 planes) are more than enough to devastate any Japanese AK or TK convoy. Don't use them against Japanese CAs or BBs though; their 500# bombs will just bounce off and your precious D1s will get shot down.

[Korvar]

To build off of that -

1. Set the P-38s to 20k+ altitude (or whatever altitude will consistently give them a dive bonus on your opponent, subject to possible house rules in PBEM). This will give the best sweeping results. Set them to the same altitude as the bombers to help ensure they go in ahead of them.
2. Basing the bombers' HQs with them helps immensely with keeping the formation together as one big group and not a small trickle of planes which will more likely get slaughtered by enemy CAP.
3. If it's not too late, keep a good chunk of the older bomber airframes back in the states / OZ / India (anywhere safe) to equip the training squadrons to feed the front line squadrons with 70+ skill pilots. It keeps the front line squadrons at max tempo, reserves the best airframes for their replacements, and ensures maximum effectiveness. Just like dive bombers, also train their naval search skill (once the others are sufficient) to maximize how well they locate enemy ships/TFs.

[IdahoNYer]

Agree with your B-24 and P-38, but never had that great success with the B-25s - they always seem to find the CAP traps or warships in my PBEM.

I'd also put the P-47 and Corsair as my #1 and #2. They change the dynamic of the air war, totally mastering the Zero and Tojo. I'd put B-24 #3 and P-38 probably four, but its a hard call. Both are great planes, but limited in numbers until the P-38J and B-24J arrive. Service rating also hurts the P-38, but it does for early Corsairs as well.


The Jug is my favorite Allied plane. Great speed, excellent service rating of 1, durability and 8x .50 cals! Its a beast!

Probably should also add the Hellcat to this list....big step up from the Wildcat, and better than the 1943's Zero variants. And the 130 a month production is a needed boost to the Navy fighter squadron needs.

[Lowpe]

ORIGINAL: IdahoNYer

Agree with your B-24 and P-38, but never had that great success with the B-25s - they always seem to find the CAP traps or warships in my PBEM.

I'd also put the P-47 and Corsair as my #1 and #2. They change the dynamic of the air war, totally mastering the Zero and Tojo. I'd put B-24 #3 and P-38 probably four, but its a hard call. Both are great planes, but limited in numbers until the P-38J and B-24J arrive. Service rating also hurts the P-38, but it does for early Corsairs as well.


The Jug is my favorite Allied plane. Great speed, excellent service rating of 1, durability and 8x .50 cals! Its a beast!

Probably should also add the Hellcat to this list....big step up from the Wildcat, and better than the 1943's Zero variants. And the 130 a month production is a needed boost to the Navy fighter squadron needs.

+1, thanks for mentioning Hellcat.[:)]

I would put the b24 at the bottom of the list, it is a great plane, just not as great an improvement as the fighters are when compared to the B17 and B24s really start showing up in 42 anyhow.

[AW1Steve]

My number one fighter is the B-17E. More range than the B-17F, if less well armed. All of the B-24's and B-25's are more fragile. They are better bombers than fighters. P-38's ate wonderful sweepers, but you never get enough. You need to husband them till you absolutely need their excellent range. P-47's are the most resilient American fighters, and once their drop tanks show up, become excellent sweepers , and need to take over the brunt from the P-38's. F4u's at 1st are very limited at first , but once they get their drop tanks can take on their share of the sweeping duty.

F-6F's are a big disappointment. Good range , but they don't seem as robust as a Corsair. And I'm a huge Hellcat fan. Better as a CV defender.


Speaking of defense , has anyone experienced the phenomena in which 150 fighters engage 12 twin engine bombers (Betties) and NONE get shot down? Or even much bothered as the Betties then score torpedo hits on ships? It seems like the various P-40's and F4F's do better at defense then the later planes (even if flown by the same pilots). [:(] [&:][X(]

[Anachro]

ORIGINAL: AW1Steve
Speaking of defense , has anyone experienced the phenomena in which 150 fighters engage 12 twin engine bombers (Betties) and NONE get shot down? Or even much bothered as the Betties then score torpedo hits on ships? It seems like the various P-40's and F4F's do better at defense then the later planes (even if flown by the same pilots). [:(] [&:][X(]

Have had this happen to me. Seen a group of 5-6 betties break through my CV cap to hit a carrier. I think it's a function of your altitude, cap settings. Always good to have layered CAP altitudes.

[Korvar]

Yes, the CAP fighters above 10k altitude seem to have difficulties intercepting the planes coming in low on the deck up to about 5k. If you're encountering a lot of "sea skimmer" attackers, it's a good idea to have at least a few CAP fighters in the 1k-5k altitude band. In cases where CAP fighters are not plentiful, 10k seems to be a good general compromise altitude for CAP.

The types and numbers of radars available in the task force affect the detection range of incoming raids and thus give CAP fighters more time to adjust accordingly. That said, nothing's certain!

[Rusty1961]

ORIGINAL: IdahoNYer

Agree with your B-24 and P-38, but never had that great success with the B-25s - they always seem to find the CAP traps or warships in my PBEM.

I'd also put the P-47 and Corsair as my #1 and #2. They change the dynamic of the air war, totally mastering the Zero and Tojo. I'd put B-24 #3 and P-38 probably four, but its a hard call. Both are great planes, but limited in numbers until the P-38J and B-24J arrive. Service rating also hurts the P-38, but it does for early Corsairs as well.


The Jug is my favorite Allied plane. Great speed, excellent service rating of 1, durability and 8x .50 cals! Its a beast!

Probably should also add the Hellcat to this list....big step up from the Wildcat, and better than the 1943's Zero variants. And the 130 a month production is a needed boost to the Navy fighter squadron needs.

The problem with the P-47 is it's limited range. It almost never in '43 sweeps important airfields to make way for the bombers. That is something the P-38 excels at.

Ditto with the Corsair, until it get's its drop tanks late in '43.

[Timotheus]

What the hey, I'll put in my pontificatin'

The answer is the same for every year of WW2 in the Far East: the Catalina PBR.

The eyes and ears of the fleet. The rescuer of downed pilots. The saviour of drowning seamen. The special ops plane smuggling spies and commandoes behind the lines. The supply workhorse bringing food, medicine and ammo to the most far flung outposts everywhere in the Pacific. The hospital plane evacuating clinging to life soldiers, marines and seamen. The post office, which brings good cheer from home.