CHS 159 Aircraft and Engine production

[ChezDaJez]

In my game with Brad, we have reached May 1943. The war is going well and we are enjoying it immensely. CHS 159 seems to have gotten many things corrected.

However, I am having a minor problem with building Adv. Nakajima engines for the George. We are 11 days into May and as yet, not one engine has been built despite having plenty of resources, oil, HI, supply, etc... The screen tells me that 120 engines are being built but there aren't any in the pool. Nor have any Georges been built. I have checked and the city where the engines are supposed to be built shows it in production (i.e. the factory shows "Halt" not "Restart")

I didn't have this problem with building Adv. Mitsubishi engines.

Ideas?

Chez

[okami]

The engines are not available until 9/43 and so you can not build any until then and nor will your George production start until you have those engines. I have this same situation in one of my games. Engines have a start date that can not be altered like airframes can.

ORIGINAL: ChezDaJez

In my game with Brad, we have reached May 1943. The war is going well and we are enjoying it immensely. CHS 159 seems to have gotten many things corrected.

However, I am having a minor problem with building Adv. Nakajima engines for the George. We are 11 days into May and as yet, not one engine has been built despite having plenty of resources, oil, HI, supply, etc... The screen tells me that 120 engines are being built but there aren't any in the pool. Nor have any Georges been built. I have checked and the city where the engines are supposed to be built shows it in production (i.e. the factory shows "Halt" not "Restart")

I didn't have this problem with building Adv. Mitsubishi engines.

Ideas?

Chez

[el cid again]

This is almost correct.

The game DOES allow have a provision for accelerating when production begins - and it is even documented in he manual.
IF you try to produce an engine (or aircraft) not yet in production, every time you would have produced 100 of them,
the date of production advances one month. [Joe Wilkerson disputes this - he thinks it is one day - and I think it may be one week - based on tests] Further - it appears that you DO get production on the same occasion - that is - when it would normally be 100 - you get 1.
If there are any at all - you will should get a George. Not that you can use just one of them.

[ChezDaJez]

Thanks for the replies guys.

Seems to be a bit of a disconnect between the arrival date of the george and the engine that powers it.

Chez

[el cid again]

If so that may be perfectly correct - and if not - it is correct in kind.

By that I mean that I think many Axis aircraft were ready to produce and fly but had to wait for the powerplants for them.
And I think the George is an example of that.

I do Japanese aircraft by official designation rather than by Allied code name - but if my memory is correct the
code name George is N1K1-J. The N means seaplane fighter as the basic type. In this case - the N is the same as in the suffex
A6M2-N - for the Rufe seaplane fighter. [A means carrier fighter as teh basic type] But the suffex J means land based fighter. In other words - this was the land based fighter version of the Rex - the N1K1 - a seaplane fighter. It was INTENDED to enter service - with this engine - in 1942. IF it could have done that - it would have given seaplane fighters a better reputation. [Imagine Rufes early in 1942 and Rexes late
in 1942] When stripped of floats - the plane turned out to be an even better land based fighter. BUT it could not be produced -
for lack of engines - for a long time.

[ChezDaJez]

ORIGINAL: el cid again

If so that may be perfectly correct - and if not - it is correct in kind.

By that I mean that I think many Axis aircraft were ready to produce and fly but had to wait for the powerplants for them.
And I think the George is an example of that.

I do Japanese aircraft by official designation rather than by Allied code name - but if my memory is correct the
code name George is N1K1-J. The N means seaplane fighter as the basic type. In this case - the N is the same as in the suffex
A6M2-N - for the Rufe seaplane fighter. [A means carrier fighter as teh basic type] But the suffex J means land based fighter. In other words - this was the land based fighter version of the Rex - the N1K1 - a seaplane fighter. It was INTENDED to enter service - with this engine - in 1942. IF it could have done that - it would have given seaplane fighters a better reputation. [Imagine Rufes early in 1942 and Rexes late
in 1942] When stripped of floats - the plane turned out to be an even better land based fighter. BUT it could not be produced -
for lack of engines - for a long time.

Except that the problems with the Homare 21 engine were worked out long before the plane itself was ready for production. The original prototype which flew in Dec 42 used the Homare 11 engine which had several teething issues and never developed the projected power. Preproduction models used the Homare 21 which was relatively reliable and powerful. The aircraft though suffered from landing gear and visibility issues which were largely resolved during testing. 70 aircraft were built by the end of 1943 but the primary delay in production stemmed from the fact that the aircraft was a private development and never officially condoned by the Navy brass. The Navy was therefore reluctant to approve a project in which they had little developmental control.

In this case, the Homare 21 engine was ready before the N1K1-J aircraft was. So CHS should show the engine as available for production in Spring 43 and the airframe in the latter part of 43 not the airframe in May 43 and engine in Sep 43. CHS has it backwards.

And the N1K1-J was never intended to enter service with the Kasei engine that powered the N1K1 (Rex). The chosen powerplant had always been the Homare.

Chez

[el cid again]

You are reading this way too specifically. There are only ten functional engine slots (the manual says more - but the rest don't work for reporting to players). Engines are not a specific model but a number of models - or possibly all the models of a manufacturer (or most of them) as concieved by WITP. Modding is a compromise art - and a more powerful engine representing several types should be date set for the best possible date for that whole set of engines.

I reviewed this matter - under the supervision of Joe - specifically for CHS. It was my first act - assigned to the task of reviewing Japanese aircraft by Andrew - although I wanted to work on ships. It was a difficult subject - and in the end I elected to go a different way - one Joe like a lot - redefining engines into power ratings. Even this ran into technical problems: some of the slots never report; some reports are hard coded so changing the name does not permit a player to see it in the report. I had to compromise using manufacturer names instead of engine names - I really use both but sometimes all you see is the stock name. There are real advantages to this system - but in the end ANY system is a compromise - made in the context of too few slots to do the job very well. I wish to defend the CHS choice on the basis that it was a compromise - and there MUST be unhappy consequences of any compromise. That is different than "wrong" however. It is simply a choice.