147 replies to this topic

[CorvusCorvax]

Reitousair, on 04 December 2019 - 10:39 PM, said:

Alright, just to give an update:

 

As of Monday when the Fall Campaign rewards were distributed I got the P-39N-1, now, while just about everybody knows everything about this plane, it's still new to me and I'm working on getting a good feel for it currently.

 

So... P-39N-1 guide/review thingy coming Soon™! (I don't actually know when I'll do a write-up for it as I have a somewhat busy December ahead of me)

The P-39N is like cheating at T6. Almost as bad as the SpitVDB605.

 

[legoboy0401]

I'm going to start reviewing, in the vein of Reitousair's reviews, my hangar of 22 Tier V and under premiums. If anyone would be so kind as to donate me one that I don't have if you like these reviews after I finish all 22, I would not refuse of course, but these 22 are more than enough for now(Except I don't have ANY Japanese premiums, period, so I will skip them this review cycle)

 

 

Edited by legoboy0401, 09 December 2019 - 04:48 PM.

[legoboy0401]

 

U.S. Aircraft

 

 

Tier II: Curtiss F11C-2

 

 

 

Recommended Skill Level: Medium-High

 

Availability: Available in tech tree and Premium Shop(somewhat common plane from Unique Supplies crates)

 

 

 

Similar tech tree plane(s): F2G(fairly loosely)

 

 

Equipment Slots: Cockpit, airframe, ordnance

 

Consumable Slots: Cockpit, airframe, ammo, ordnance

 

 

Pros:

Middle of the road stats across the board, not the single worst in any category

Great ordnance loadout: 1 470(!) pound bomb with a 60 second reload

Bomb doesn't impact speed too much, with or without taking it, the plane will still be able to outrun only a specific few other Tier II multiroles, and get outrun by only a specific few other Tier II multiroles

Standard stall speed for ordnance-carrying multiroles at Tier II

Average turn time for ordnance-carrying multiroles at Tier II

 

Cons:

Middle of the road stats across the board, not the single best in any category

Fragile

In common with the Hawk III, Tier I firepower that just barely gets a passing grade against Tier IIs and is AWFUL against Tier IIIs (which this plane does see fairly often)

Second slowest ordnance-carrying Tier II multirole(second only to the somewhat larger, 2-man, light-bomber-based Hawker Demon)

Dive speed isn't anything to write home about

Average turn time for ordnance-carrying multiroles at Tier II

 

Opinion: A very cheap and underwhelming Tier II multirole. Everything about this plane apart from the ordnance load-out is very mediocre at best and far too middling and safe for my tastes. In particular, the firepower really holds this plane back. In exactly the same way as the Curtiss Hawk III(that I do not own, and am glad I don't), it's Tier I firepower, on a Tier II airframe, that can see Tier III planes, and that is a big issue. It just doesn't have the punching power to go toe-to-toe with Tier IIIs and take any less time than an AGE to kill them. In addition, this plane overall lacks any real carrying capacity in a mostly Tier II match, and that's also a problem because of how many pro or even average players in much better Tier IIs(AR-68, XP-31, I-5 ShKAS) it sees. Even most tech tree Tier IIs overall have much, much better carrying capacity/ability to rack up solid scores than this plane does. Speaking of this plane's general inability to rack up solid scores, that is yet ANOTHER fault with this aircraft. It's not very good in a crew training role, at all. Period. It is a Premium that is anything but good at a Premium's job. Yes, the bomb is fun, yes, you could probably bomb-trap a few bot GAAs here and there with its ludicrous blast radius, yes, one could use it for ground attack daily missions, but other than that, why would you buy this thing? One could just, I don't know, buy the Fieseler Fi-98 or the BSh-1 or the Blenheim Mk. IV(e) or the Ju-86 E(whenever that becomes available again) instead for ground target attacking daily missions, they are all infinitely better at such missions than this plane is. For crew training for U.S. aircrews? This plane is nigh-useless for that purpose. Why would one buy this plane for that purpose? Sure, it's the only American Tier II or III Premium available in the Premium Shop or Tech Tree, and the only other U.S. Premium available in Unique Supplies Crates is the F2A-1 Buffalo, which I haven't even touched yet I'm so scared of its awful stats, but that is the only strength of this plane besides that bomb, its availability. But being easily available doesn't mean good, and that's definitely true for this aircraft.

 

 

 

Fun fact: There are actually 3 F11C-2s in-game, each in one of the 3 different ways it could be configured IRL: the F11C-2(the 474 pound bomb on an under-fuselage hardpoint fighter-bomber config); the Hawk III(the two 100 pound bombs carried one under each lower wing fighter-bomber config) and the Hawk II(the clean, fighter config). None of them are very good, and they differ very little apart from their specific ordnance loadout(or, in the case of the Hawk II, their lack thereof), but still, yay for historical accuracy.

 

 

 

Tier II: Curtiss XP-31

 

 

Recommended Skill Level: Low

 

 

Availability: Rarely in Premium Shop

 

 

Similar tech tree plane(s): Ar-68

 

 

Equipment Slots: Cockpit, airframe, engine

 

Consumable Slots: Cockpit, airframe, engine, ammo

 

Pros:

Powerful armament for a Tier II Light Fighter(3rd best)

Better roll rate than the two Tier II Light Fighters with more DPS than it

Not especially fragile for a Tier II Light Fighter, though not the most durable either

Has the higher common dive speed(500 KPH) rather than the lower common dive speed(450)

Being a monoplane, it is somewhat smaller and harder to hit

Not especially slow

Machine gun armament is grouped fairly close together in the nose, and is quite accurate as a result

Flaps

 

Cons:

In common with the only two Tier II Light Fighters that have more DPS, it has a rather poor turn time(8.6 seconds)

Not especially fast

High stall speed, because of it being a monoplane

 

Opinion: A rarely-available borderline broken aircraft, competing with a only-slightly-more-rare European Premium(Blériot-SPAD S.510) and a nearly gamebreakingly powerful tech tree German Fighter(Arado Ar 68) for the title of the objectively best Tier II Fighter. This plane, like the other two, isn't too bad at all against Tier IIIs, runs roughshod over most other Tier IIs, and EXECUTES Tier Is with startling ease. In addition, like the European Premium, it makes some of the best profit of any Tier II Premiums, because it is so easy to rack up huge scores in. All in all, a very good aircraft that is let down only by it's rarity and the permanent availability of its greatest rival, the Ar-68.

 

 

Fun fact: This aircraft's name, had it entered service instead of losing to the P-26 Peashooter, would have been the Swift.

 

 

Tier III: Boeing YP-29

 

Recommended Skill Level: Medium-High

 

Availability: Once available as a mission reward back in 1.0, somewhat rare otherwise outside of bonus codes

 

Similar tech tree plane(s): none

 

for the sake of comparison: similar premium plane(s): Ba.27 Metallico

 

 

Equipment Slots: Cockpit, airframe, engine

 

Consumable Slots: Cockpit, airframe, engine, ammo

 

Pros:

Good durability for a Tier III Light fighter, third best of all of them

Pretty good roll rate for a Tier III Light Fighter

Quite low minimum optimal airspeed

Solid altitude perfomance

Decent speed

 

Cons:

Worse DPS, slightly, than the Breda Ba.27 Metallico, the most easy-to-obtain Tier III Light Fighter with garbage firepower. Blows away the two lost Japanese Tier III Premiums, but still abysmal otherwise.

Poor turn time

Somewhat high stall speed

Sees Tier IVs heavily, which it CANNOT carry against, PERIOD.

Pretty terrible rate of climb(not the worst, but still firmly on the "bad" side)

Not very good at boom and zoom OR turn and burn

Basically a P-26 Peashooter, Tier III Fighter variation, so it lacks the bombs, and therefore the adaptability, that that plane had, in exchange for... ...being limited to the role of a not-very-good-nor-very-efficient fighter.

 

 

Opinion: A sub-par plane with not a lot going for it that seems to be bottom tier quite frequently(maybe it's just me? I don't know), though it really doesn't exactly make for a passable plane even when top tier, much less bottom tier. What's worse, this plane has no joy. None. None at all. It's always a struggle to do well in and just isn't fun. It struggles at both playstyles, and even if it didn't, the firepower is limiting to the point that it would still be a bad plane. My biggest issue with this plane though, is this: it's a Tier III Peashooter with marginally upgraded firepower, only marginally, and in return for that, it gives up all the adaptability and versatility that the Tier II multirole had in its ordnance. The role that it is locked into as a result is basically a superfluous one that it doesn't do at all competitively 99% of the time, and 100% of the time against players. The only role it can play is a role that it is poor, very poor at, and that begs the questions: "Why take this plane? Why use this plane? Why even keep it?". If it can only do one role and only do that one role badly, then it has basically destroyed its own case for even being purchased, let alone played. Tech Tree planes at Tier III, on the whole, make much more XP (and usually more credits) than this plane could ever reliably make, which means it is one of the least practical premium planes in the game. In short, this plane is an awful plane, sure, but more than that, it's a tedious, boring, and superfluous awful plane.

 

 

Fun fact: The YP-29 was rejected in real life because of the same issue it has here in game: the performance improvements over the original P-26 Peashooter were too small to be worth using.

 

 

Coming Soon: Tier III: Brewster F2A-1 Buffalo

 

 

 

Coming Soon: Tier V: XFL-1 Airbonita

 

 

 

Edited by legoboy0401, 12 December 2019 - 07:47 PM.

[legoboy0401]

Soviet Aircraft

 

Coming Soon: Tier IV: I-16-29

 

 

 

Coming Soon: Tier V: P-40 M-105

 

 

 

Coming Soon: Tier V: IL-2(modified)

 

 

Edited by legoboy0401, 08 December 2019 - 07:37 PM.

[legoboy0401]

German Aircraft

 

Coming Soon: Tier II: Fw 56 Stosser

 

 

 

Coming Soon: Fi-98

 

 

 

Coming Soon: Tier II: Hs-123

 

 

 

Coming Soon: Tier IV: Bf-110 C-6

 

 

 

Coming Soon: Tier IV: He-111 H-2

 

 

 

Coming Soon: Tier V: Me-209 V4

 

 

Edited by legoboy0401, 28 February 2021 - 08:35 PM.

[legoboy0401]

Japanese Aircraft

 

Coming Soon: Ki-5

 

 

 

Edited by legoboy0401, 28 February 2021 - 08:33 PM.

[legoboy0401]

British Aircraft

 

Coming Soon: Tier III: P.V.3(with Rudolph Hawker)

 

 

 

Coming Soon: Tier III: Blenheim Mk. IV(early)

 

 

 

Coming Soon: Tier V: Vickers Venom

 

 

 

Coming Soon: Tier V: Spitfire Ia(without Charles Donovan)

 

 

 

Coming Soon: Tier V: CAC CA-12 Boomerang

 

 

Edited by legoboy0401, 08 December 2019 - 10:25 PM.

[legoboy0401]

Chinese Aircraft

 

Coming Soon: Tier IV: Ki-43-Ic

 

 

 

Coming Soon: Tier V: Tomahawk IIb

 

[legoboy0401]

European Aircraft

 

Coming Soon: Tier III: P.38 Wilk

 

 

 

Coming Soon: Tier V: SE-100

 Eh, probably not. Wouldn't want to give every secret of my most played plane away, now would I?

 

Edited by legoboy0401, 11 December 2019 - 02:05 AM.

[Reitousair]

Alright, did the thing for the P-39N-1, pretty nice plane though it can be a bit boring to play after a while due to how good and forgiving it is.

[legoboy0401]

YP-29 review should be up some time tomorrow, what an irredeemable piece of trash.

[SkyWolf__WM]

legoboy0401, on 10 December 2019 - 07:07 PM, said:

YP-29 review should be up some time tomorrow, what an irredeemable piece of trash.

 

Hahahaha.... I have it but I don't ever remember flying it. But I have and that's probably why I don't. Looking forward to your thoughts. Maybe I'll fly it today.  

 

Ok. I spent 20 tokens and bought supremacy. Turn fighter build. Absolute little monster. 105,200 silver, 18 planes, 2 assists, 3 AA guns in last battle. Good for the stat padders I would think. 

Edited by SkyWolf__WM, 11 December 2019 - 10:35 PM.

[trikke]

Reitousair, on 10 December 2019 - 06:37 PM, said:

Alright, did the thing for the P-39N-1, pretty nice plane though it can be a bit boring to play after a while due to how good and forgiving it is.

 

thank you, brother!     

 

I knew that the guns fit my needs, and I knew that it turned well, and the skill level is permanently set to Low

 

but I never fly it anymore, prob no more than once in 2019.      I'm a turner at heart, I wonder why I overlook it every session now

[legoboy0401]

Due to unforseen circumstances, my YP-29 review will be delayed until sometime tomorrow morning.

[legoboy0401]

SkyWolf__WM, on 11 December 2019 - 05:44 AM, said:

 

Hahahaha.... I have it but I don't ever remember flying it. But I have and that's probably why I don't. Looking forward to your thoughts. Maybe I'll fly it today.  

 

Ok. I spent 20 tokens and bought supremacy. Turn fighter build. Absolute little monster. 105,200 silver, 18 planes, 2 assists, 3 AA guns in last battle. Good for the stat padders I would think. 

 

It's up. Yes, the review is scathing, but overall the YP-29 does deserve the criticism I level at it. Oh, and the specialist grind in it is ABSURDLY long without using tokens to just brute-force outright purchase access to the specialist status on it, rather than earning it. Maybe I'll tinker with it someday, I don't know, as, even as crap as it is, I'm not going to sell it.

Edited by legoboy0401, 12 December 2019 - 05:10 PM.

[SkyWolf__WM]

legoboy0401, on 12 December 2019 - 12:10 PM, said:

 

It's up. Yes, the review is scathing, but overall the YP-29 does deserve the criticism I level at it. Oh, and the specialist grind in it is ABSURDLY long without using tokens to just brute-force outright purchase access to the specialist status on it, rather than earning it. Maybe I'll tinker with it someday, I don't know, as, even as crap as it is, I'm not going to sell it.

 

I had a decent record in it before I tokened my way to specialist. Not sure why I did it. Where is your review? 

[legoboy0401]

SkyWolf__WM, on 12 December 2019 - 09:21 AM, said:

 

I had a decent record in it before I tokened my way to specialist. Not sure why I did it. Where is your review? 

Same page, post 83, in the Spoiler tab U.S Aircraft, and in its own Spoiler tab with its name on it. I have organized my reviews in exactly the same manner as Reitousair.

[Reitousair]

Just as a heads-up, I have purchased the Triple-Mustang bundle and have gotten a hold of the P-82B and Mustang I, I also used the gold from the extra Mustang IA to buy the La-9RD, so... in due time I have three more planes that will get write-ups on them coming sometime 2020.

[trikke]

can't wait!       fly the twin stang first, please?

[legoboy0401]

I'm running way behind on the F2A-1 Buffalo review, sorry about that everyone. I'm hoping to get it up in the next few days.