Quote:
Originally Posted by rga
I'm looking forward to seeing the Eins Zwei Drei (Hs 123) in action.
OT: why do you all think that the Fokker will be again the best fighter in the sky in game? I mean it was indeed a superb fighter, but it did not automatically own every opponents it met in 1943. CEM plays a very importal role in CloD, much more than in IL-2, and before you tell me about the Kommandogerät, I believe it was not perfect and sometimes manually adjusting gave better performance (at cost of work load though).
I know I have opened the can of worms, so let keep talking about the Doppeldecker, OK  |
Actually, it's because of the CEM that the 190 will work well in the new sim, not only in the eastern front scenarios but later theaters as well.
In Il2, the aircraft with the best aerodynamics and highest HP for a chosen altitude band would usually win.
In reality, a flight of P-38s was once bounced at high altitude by Fw-190As (the same Antons that had trouble up high because of their engines being insufficiently boosted at the altitudes bombers would operate at).
The 190s being fully automatic, all they had to do was point and shoot. The P-38 pilots were so busy going from cruise to combat power settings that 6 of them got shot down.
As an eastern front example, the La-5 was also a handful. I read once that the pilot had to manipulate 6 separate controls just to accelerate from cruise to combat power.
As for how close to specs the automatic system performed, it's not really a big factor in performance when you consider that most of this technology already existed in one form or another. I mean ok, it might not always work 100% correctly with super-precise mixture adjustments and supercharger gear switching, but it certainly can't be worse than what the 109E-4 had in 1940. At the very least it will be about equal in operation (ie, the pilot still only has to worry about throttle), but with more speed and four cannons
Radial engines are great, reliable and powerful, but there's a reason pilots of the time preferred to boom and zoom than mix it up in dogfights: too much workload, which forces you to keep your head in the cockpit and not outside looking for threats.
We now have this kind of complexity modeled in the sim and if we get late war USAF aircraft, things are even more complicated. A P-47 for example has the following engine controls:
Mixture
Prop pitch
Throttle
Turbocharger
Cowl flaps
Intercooler
Oil cooler (i think these can be set to automatic thankfully)
and in a standard boom and zoom attack (dive, then climb) of more than 5000ft you have to adjust almost all of them due to the changes in speed (and hence airflow/cooling) and ambient temperature changes (lower is hotter, higher is colder), not to mention the case of going through a cloud (incorrect intercooler settings=carb icing).
It's going to be really interesting, because it will really take skills to use all that power the late war birds have. I'm really looking forward to it and in fact, if something can get me out of the 190s and into an allied warbird in late war scenarios, it will be the challenge of doing CEM correctly in them.
Back on topic however, i'd love to see a 190 but i agree it was too late to see action in Moscow. However, it makes sense as an add-on to our BoB map. If we get 109Fs for BoM, maybe we could also get 190s and Spit Mk.Vs and then use all three types to simulate the channel front fights of 1942
EDIT: Even more back on topic.
What i expect to see in BoM is the range of main VVS planes involved. Early Yaks, I-16, I-153, Mig-3, IL-2 for example. It will be a blast flying IL-2s or I-153s down low with the new graphics and improved sense of speed and ambiance in the environment. Dodging flak in flimsy biplanes and firing rockets over the snow will be a blast. I'm up for Po-2 as well, imagine bombing at night while flying a Tiger Moth to get an idea of how we'll use it
Then, for the blue side, apart from the fighters (mostly late Emils and early 109Fs), i too would love me some Hs-123 action. But most of all, i'm itching to see some Ju88 variants. I have a thing for the multi-role twins of WWII and that's why i love the 88 and the Mosquito.