Specter
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Post by Specter on Mar 27, 2005 12:27:13 GMT -5
I put together a 41 DF mission. The general synopsis is that the HMS Illustrious damaged after an attack on Malta is dead in the water and performing repairs. I have a couple historical questions that I can't find the answers too. 1. What kind of ship escort should I include. 2. Plane set HMS Illustrious had a compliment of sea gladiators at the time. I used gladiators, hard to land on the carrier, but you can get them off the deck easy enough. There's a british ground base about 50 km away with Tomahawk MkII, Spitfire MkVb, Hurricane MkIIb and P-400s. The default skin for the P-400 looks like a desert cammo and I remember something obscure about it being in the med theater. Blue side: There is a jabo base, with bf-110G-2, bf109e-7/b and bf109f-2. I know the 110 is newer than it shoudl be, but as long as it didn't take the 108s I didn't see to much of a problem. There's also a bomber base with Ju-87B-2 and bf-109F-2s. I was teatering between the E-7/Z and F-2 while I was building the map. I went in favor of the F-2, because of its speed and maneuverability. Even though the 15mm is not a catastrophic weapon, it will tear through an engine block like butter. Are there any planes I should add or remove? Keep in mind this is '41 so no FW-190
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Hund
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Post by Hund on Mar 27, 2005 13:19:28 GMT -5
Not sure, but maybe Fiat G.50 or even the Cr.42 Falco. Its a shame we don't have Macchi 200 or Italian bombers.
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Mölders
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Post by Mölders on Mar 27, 2005 13:34:36 GMT -5
Possibily add the He-111h2, He-111h6 and BF-109F4. The He111h6 can carry dual torpedos so she would be a great choice. I have desert camo skins for most of the planes mentioned above (including the Heinkels). I think they would add even more realism to the mission.
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Specter
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Post by Specter on Mar 27, 2005 14:24:35 GMT -5
Hunde: The macchi's will be there as soon as we get the patch. Molders: Skins would definatly be cool. I'm loosely baseing the mission on the January 10, 1941 attack on the HMS Illustrious It was only Ju-88s and Ju-87s attacking the carrier, or else I would have added the 111s. Also the H-6 entered service in late 1941. I switched the 109F-2 to the 109E-7 also, the 109F's didn't enter service till Spring of '41. I'm still trying to find service dates for the other aircraft.
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Specter
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Post by Specter on Mar 27, 2005 15:04:55 GMT -5
Revised planeset: After digging some more I have a more "realistic" set.
Blue: Fiat G.50, Cr.42 (for the masicists) Bf-109E-7/B Bf-110G-2 (pseudo C4) Ju-87B-2
Red: J8A (pseudo Sea Gladiator) Hurricane Mk IIB Tomahawk IIA P-400 (Feb '41 -- Close enough)
Got the Axe: 109F-2 Spring '41 109F-4 Winter '41 Spitfire Vb Spring '41
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Stecher
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Post by Stecher on Mar 27, 2005 15:38:10 GMT -5
Well, according to my sources the HMS Illustrious was attacked on January 10, 1941 by Ju 87s and He 111s, so the H-2 would be appropriate. Later, in Grand Harbour, it was attacked by Ju 87s and Ju 88s escorted by CR.42s. As a note, Bf 109F-2 was delivered in January, the F-4 was June. But still, since we are talking about the first month, and usually the Mediterranean was considered a sub-theater, I think the E-7 is more fitting. Some units didn't trade their E-7s for Fs in the MTO until late Summer. The Bf 110G-2 might have similar default armament, but it received a considerable engines upgrade and is really a 1943 aircraft. For the Allies, both the Tomahawk Mk. II and the Spitfire Vb are March, too late for this scenario. And the only P-400s to see action in the area were those of the Twelfth Airforce in North Africa, probably 1943, way too late. The Hurricane Mk. IIb is late 1940, so that should be Allied fighter along with the Gladiators. The IIc is about a month too late for this scenario. So if you want to go by January 1941, Mediterranean: Allies - Gladiators, Hurricane Mk. IIb Axis - Bf 109E-7, Ju 87B, He 111H-2, CR.42, G.50 Of course it's your map and you can fudge all you want on plane set accuracy. I'm sure it will be fun either way.
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Stecher
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Post by Stecher on Mar 28, 2005 1:35:48 GMT -5
Here you go for the ships. Operation Excess, convoys MC-4 and MW-5. users.swing.be/baten/bat/877.htmlObviously the total number of ships involved is way too many for use in a map. And there were numerous Gruppen involved in the attack, as apposed to us. So to scale it down to reason, I guess you could just create Force A, the HMS Illustrious' base unit. One carrier, two battleships, and eight destroyers. That should be tough enough.
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Stecher
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Post by Stecher on Mar 28, 2005 2:51:11 GMT -5
Yikes, LOL ;D I guess that was an understatement. I did a quick set up test using Guam as Axis North Africa and Rota as Malta (about the same size). I put those eleven ships about 40km west of the island and went hunting with a Stuka. No chance, I mean none. Ships were set to Rookie with ROF on 1.0 the first time. The flak gave me a slide show on the way in. And this is the computer that was flawless online over Orel in combat. It ripped me up about a couple kilometers before I got there. Next try, put ROF at 0.5, the lowest possible (have to set to 0 and let it auto-correct). A bit better, chewed up on the dive in, dead just before bomb release. You'll have to scale it down to less than Force A however you set it up.
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Specter
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Post by Specter on Mar 28, 2005 14:37:16 GMT -5
yeah I bet it was a shocker. I had two destroyers and the carrier and I had a hard time at that. I couldn't imagine 8.
ROF is a funny thing with the ships, it seems backwards to me. I put it up to 10 and I was able to skip bomb the carrier with a 110. It got me right after I flew over the deck. When I had it at .5 I couldn't get within 500 m.
I went more to the plane set that you listed. I was doing some testing with the cr.42 vs the gladiator, that was some intense fighting.
hehe, I'm tempted
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Stecher
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Post by Stecher on Mar 28, 2005 19:48:22 GMT -5
Yeah, you're right about the ROF, the higher the setting the slower it fires, oops. That doesn't make sense to me either, but oh well. If you want, try this out and see if you like the balance. Convoy inside 2km square. 1 X HMS Illustrious Carrier, Rookie, ROF 25.0 2 X Rus. "Aurora" Cruiser, Rookie, ROF 1.0 8 X USS Dent Destroyer, Rookie, ROF 1.0
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