Matrix Games

• 26 x A6M2 Zero on morning sweep mission
  
• weather is heavy rain
  
• initial Allied estimated altitude is 17k, actual sweep comes in at 15k
  
• warning time is 9 minutes
  
• no Allied fighters intercept
  

• 3 x A6M2 Zero on morning sweep mission
  
• weather is heavy rain
  
• initial Allied estimated altitude is 20k, actual sweep comes in at 15k
  
• warning time is 6 minutes
  
• no Allied fighters intercept
  

• 66 x Ki-21-IIa Sally bombers, with an escort of 33 x Ki-43-Ic Oscar fighters on morning airfield bombing mission
  
• weather is heavy rain
  
• initial Allied estimated altitude is 16k, actual bombing comes in at 12k
  
• warning time is 5 minutes
  
• 3 x 75A-7 Hawk fighters of Dutch unit 1-VI.G.IV are training and airborne at 9k
  
• the bombers come in "overhead" of the locations where the Dutch are training and an interception results
  
• Japan suffers 2 damaged Sally bombers, the Dutch suffer no damage to their airplanes
  
• the bombers inflict 2 Airbase hits + 20 Runway hits
  

• 19 x Ki-21-IIa Sally bombers with no escort on morning airfield bombing mission
  
• weather is heavy rain
  
• initial Allied estimated altitude is13k, actual bombing comes in at 12k
  
• warning time is 2 minutes
  
• the Dutch unit 1-VI.G.IV is no longer conducting training and has no planes airborne
  
• 1 x 75A-Hawk is set to scramble to go to 19k to intercept the bombers
  
• estimated time for Dutch fighter to intercept is 59 minutes
  
• Japan suffers 2 damaged Sally bombers, the Dutch suffer no damage to the sole airplane
  
• the bombers inflict 6 Airbase hits + 3 Runway hits
  

• the 75A-Hawk has max speed of 321, cruise speed of 262, maneouvre rating of 34 at both 12k and 15k
  
• the A6M2 Zero has max speed of 331, cruise speed of 207, maneouvre rating of 33 at both 12k and 15k
  
• the Ki-43-Ic Oscar has max speed of 305, cruise speed of 199, maneouvre rating of 46 at both 12k and 15k
  
• the 75A-Hawk has a 2500 feet per minute climb rate
  

• compared to the best British and American fighters, it has relatively weak armament, no armour and no production
  
• compared to the best American fighers, it's max speed is slower by about 30 mph
  

• far superior maneouvre ratings
  
• a large part of the Allied fighter inventory is comprised of aircraft with similarly weak armament, no armour, no (or minuscule) production, slower max speed
  

quote:

ORIGINAL: Alfred

Normally I allow LoBaron to take First Chair on these sort of "issues" but in his absence I'll step up.

As I said before, this is not an exploit. Nor is it a case of "Training CAP" behaving differently from any other CAP. Nor are there any objective grounds for making the blanket statement that the sweeps should have an even higher chance to intercept the training missions.


(1) The Zeros were set to sweep 6k above the altitude set for the training.

(2) The weather conditions were very poor and as page 224 of the manual states, the worse the weather the greater is the likelihood that an Air Mission will miss its target.

(3) A delta of 6kin altitude is significant and markedly increases the chances that opposing aircraft will not see each other, particularly when detection is not based on radar reports but the Mark I eyeball operating in poor weather conditions.

(4) The 75A-Hawk is one of the best Allied aircraft available in the first few months of the war. It's major shortcomings are:

• compared to the best British and American fighters, it has relatively weak armament, no armour and no production
  
• compared to the best American fighers, it's max speed is slower by about 30 mph
  

Against those shortcomings it's strengths compared to the Allied fighter inventory are:

• far superior maneouvre ratings
  
• a large part of the Allied fighter inventory is comprised of aircraft with similarly weak armament, no armour, no (or minuscule) production, slower max speed
  

(5) Taking into account the fighter mission profile adopted by the Japanese player in this instance, the 75A-Hawk's strengths were maximised and it's weaknesses minimised.

the Zero is slightly inferior in maneouvre rating and just a little bit faster in max speed but significantly slower in cruise speed. In combat much would depend on the pilot quality to determine which aircraft would come out on top but in searching to locate the enemy somewhere in the 40 mile hex, the advantage clearly lies with the 75A-Hawk.


(8) The "Training CAP" was not particularly effective. All the Japanese bombers, with their limited payloads, were able to drop their ordnance and achieve a satisfactory result.

Alfred

• weather conditions. With the poor weather in question, as per page 224, the Offensive Mission (ie the sweep) might still miss it's target (ie the Allied fighters on CAP)
  
• CAP percentage set. Even if the Dutch unit were set to 100% CAP, it would have had only 1 aircraft airborne at 9k. The rest of the unit would have attempted to get into action but may not arrive in time to see combat.
  
• warning time, patrol altitude and climbing rates. The 1 Dutch fighter airborne on CAP would probably be just able to climb up to the desired altitude (which is ideally above the estimated altitude of the incoming strike package #1). The Dutch fighters on the ground might not have enough time to get up