BlitzPig_EL

Any early Pacific campaign is going to present interesting challenges, to both sides. F4Fs, P-39s and P-40s in the Solomons against A6Ms, and trying to intercept IJN bombers that are coming in, in your slower climbing Allied planes, or P40s and 39s in New Guinea going up against the slow but agile Ki-43, then out of nowhere running in to a sleek, fast and still agile Ki-61 that can stay with you in the dive. Much to look forward to.

In all honesty I'll be happy with any scenario that doesn't involve Bf 109s, FW 190s or other ETO axis aircraft.

New Guinea is my favorite as well. So many opportunities for both multi and single player, over several years of operations, with a myriad of aircraft types. And, it is a theatre that has never gotten proper attention before. Bring it.

Love that early paint scheme.

Just don't use that map for the sim as it's a modern one.

The Boeing 314 Clipper is one of my favorite aircraft of all time.

Please? You know you want it.

I know they have a 100, and I believe they also have an 84. Is that not so?

The dubbed in helicopter sound FX were hokey.

Simply outstanding!

The Imperial War Museum in Britain has had a Ki-84 in their collection for some time, and is currently the only complete example in the world.

Kawasaki has a restored original Hein in their corporate museum, and at least two are in storage in New Zealand as well, awaiting restoration.

I so want to have that Mitsubishi as a flyable in the sim.

It's a pity that after air intelligence and the boffins at Wright field and elsewhere were done with them that so many were scrapped.

Welcome to the muddy world of ground attack! The BlitzPigs specialized in it back in the days of Pacific Fighters. Blowing stuff up is very satisfying, and in multiplayer is/was often the key to victory. We very often flew for the Emperor back then, and owing to the limited numbers of IJN/IJAAC attack aircraft found the Ki-61 to be quite good as a fast hit and run blitz bomber. We also were known to press the H8K "Emily" into that role. The Allies really have the attack role covered, as you note in your post. Don't forget that the P-40 was used to great effect in the attack role in every area it was used in the war against Japan, in particular by ANZAC forces in New Guinea.

What we are discussing is the biggest problem with carrier based campaign play. They were short. Two to four days, then back to Pearl or Yokohama to replenish and lick your wounds. Not the best scenario for long term single player satisfaction, though it will work well in multiplayer. Contrast that with the Solomons or New Guinea, which gives you months to years of campaign game play. Midway makes sense as an introduction to the new sim, but will quickly have to shift to a land based scenario to give sustainable opportunities for offline play. It will be interesting to see how it progresses.

The A6M is a truly beautiful aircraft. Mitsubishi did an amazing job with it, especially considering the difficult specification that was tendered by the IJN for it's design.

Direct hit on the armor belt. If it had hit higher up on the hull, or on the superstructure it would have done more damage.

One squadron of P-26 aircraft were stationed in Hawai'i at the time of the Pearl Harbor attack. They were painted black and were intended for the role of night fighter because of the supposed better visibility of their open cockpits. They were never used in action.

Outstanding modeling work. I am looking forward to flight ops from and against either ship.

USS Ranger is probably near by.

The A20 was absolutely the best operational light bomber in the Southwest Pacific AO, and it was used to good effect.

The real pity is all the Japanese aircraft that came to the US for testing after the war, and ended up in land fills and scrap heaps.

The sad truth was that the B29 and atomic weapons made all other bombers in the inventory totally obsolete almost overnight. Also, it was obvious to planners that the best piston engine fighters were soon to be made redundant by jet powered fighters. The market for surplus military aircraft was actually quite small, so what to do with the massive numbers of now useless aircraft? Scrapping them at least recovered some of the initial investment in them. Economics can be a cruel reality.

One of the BlitzPigs has been involved in aviation in California for many years. He says that crop dusters would buy surplus B17s just for the fuel in their tanks, then scrap the airplane to recover their cost.