BR 1.7
Recommended Lineup: A5M4 or Ki-27, Ki-43-I,
Ki-43-II, D3A1, B5N2 (3 fighters, 2 bombers)
Things look slightly better with the earlier Ki-43
Hayabusas becoming available at Tier II. The Ki-43-I
start off with the same horrible pair of 7.7mm Type
89 guns you have been so used to by now, but you
eventually gain the option to swap them out for the
12.7mm Ho-103 HMG, which fires a shorter cartridge
and consequently much lower muzzle velocity and killing
power compared to other guns of the same caliber
(although to their credit, they do have a faster firing rate).
However, the Ki-43 is nimble enough to get on the tails of
other monoplanes most of the time in a turn fight, so try
to close in to around 300 m or so (with the convergence
set to be that as well) before opening up with a short
burst. Ki-43-II spares you the trouble of dealing with
If you’re staying at BR 1.7, you’ll hardly have a need for
the horrifying 7.7 mm guns and gives you 2x 250kg
the 800 kg bomb unless the ground units are neatly
bombs, useful for taking out clusters of ground targets.
clustered together; the 6 x 60kg or 2 x 250kg bomb loads
might be more useful. Torpedoes are seldom worth
The D3A1 and the B5N2 are relatively standard
taking as 250kg bombs can destroy most ships, as well as
bombers; the D3A1 dive bomber has a pair of 7.7
ground targets. These planes are fairly huge, defenceless,
mm forward firing guns for tearing up softer targets
not the most durable and present themselves as
while carrying a decent bomb load (250kg, 2x60kg),
easy targets, so be conservative when using them.
while the B5N2 torpedo bomber forgoes the forward
firing machine guns and instead has a more useful
Suggested Research: Ki-43-I → Ki-