SteveMartin wrote:
Well Killer1, Yes Allied aircraft pretty consistently had greater endurance than their German counterparts. Coupled with other factors, such as prevailing wind advantage, more economical cruising, shorter ranges to target and overall greater abundance of fuel supplies, meant that the German pilots often had to break off the combat before the Allied fliers simply to avoid being turned into armed gliders.
To put it in simple terms, the DR I could stay in the air for about an hour and a half, while the Snipe could stay up for three hours. That would equate to 74 fuel points for the Snipe to be true to historical accuracy.
If you want to give German aircraft the same fuel loads as Allied aircraft, then you are giving them an advantage that they NEVER had and will destroy the game as it was designed. Actually, your response makes less sense than Killer1's post did. You suggest, as do the Blue Max rules, that the fuel usage of an aircraft over two to three minutes of tactical combat is based solely upon its maximum flight endurance (the number of boxes an aircraft type has is a direct function of its endurance). Yes, Allied aircraft generally had greater flight endurance than did Central Powers' aircraft. However, that is an issue only if one is playing an operational or strategic level game, not a game which represents at most 3.3% of the maximum flight time of the aircraft with the least endurance.
In your final sentence you effectively state that no German aircraft entered combat with greater fuel reserves than an Allied aircraft. This is absurdly and blatantly false.
Did German aircraft ever have to run or disengage from a battle due to fuel? Yes. Did the exact same thing happen to Allied aircraft? Yes. Is any of this logical grounds for a permanent fuel penalty on certain aircraft? No. I continue to be appalled (and this is not directed just at SteveMartin) at the unwillingness of some players on this site to allow possible improvements in the game, especially when it does not appear that they will be forced to play by the modified rules. |