Not something I'd ever really thought needed, but I can put it on my bucket list. Most of my units are searchable on Wikipedia, but there are a few prewar designs that are more obscure.
These are the French aircraft I currently have on my "scratch list"...
Amiot 351 Bomber-P FRA Bomb 5 354/355 variants Br.482 Bomber-P FRA Bomb 9 LDA Bloch MB.175T Bomber-P FRA Recon Torpedoes Late 299 Bomber-T FRA Carrier version of Late 298
These are the French aircraft I currently have on my "scratch list"...
Amiot 351 Bomber-P FRA Bomb 5 354/355 variants Br.482 Bomber-P FRA Bomb 9 LDA Bloch MB.175T Bomber-P FRA Recon Torpedoes Late 299 Bomber-T FRA Carrier version of Late 298
Gents, what little info I can find on the Late299 indicate it was land based, not carrier based (there was a version of the Late 298 fitted with folding wings for shipboard operations, but I can't find anything like that on the 299). Further, while it was ~60 Km/Hr faster than the Late 298, its was still a bit slower than either the Stuka, Dauntless or Val. That said, with a 900kg Bomb Load, its roughly equal to the Dauntless in that category - a big bomb score could probably be justified, but I think it would be hard to call it a 5/8, particularly considering the Late 298 is a 3/6.
I'll admit my sources on this are limited. Anybody got a website with better data?
I wish to have no connection with any ship that does not sail fast; for I intend to go in harm's way. - Captain John Paul Jones
Vindicator is 4/6 I believe...dont have cards in front of me though. I do think if we have to give it 4 armor, we give it some sort of staying power. Maybe 5/7 but that might be stretching it a bit...
Vindicators are 4/6 with a Bomb load of 8. I think the Late 299 would have a higher Bomb value, but I haven't seen a compelling case to make it a 5/8 dive bomber so far (other than it would simply be "nice to have" for the French). And again, what little I've been able to find on the plane is it wasn't carrier based. That said, we've already done at least one early war carrier based dive bomber in the LN.401 which is a bit more survivable than the Vindicator:
Bloch 175T would do something like the one (see below) we've done a while ago with Sir Valentine, but at the time we used land bomber SA which seems not to be used by the team.
MB.175 (1940) MB.175.01 - The original MB.175 prototype, powered by Gnome-Rhône 14N-48 engines. MB.175B.3 - Second production version. 23 built, plus 56 unarmed aircraft for the Luftwaffe, powered by Gnome-Rhône 14N-48 engines. (20 units delivered before june 1940) MB.175T Post-war torpedo bomber version for the Aeronavale. 80 built.
Historical Data from Dassault Aviation
The MB 175 was designed at the same time as the MB 174. However, whereas the latter was a long-range reconnaissance aircraft, the MB 175 was intended as a light bomber. The prototype flew on 3rd December 1939, with Daniel Rastel in the cockpit, and the first production aircraft, MB 175 B3 No. 101, was delivered in April 1940.
The GR II/52 was the first unit to equip with the light bomber which was used for reconnaissance purposes, as their Potez 63 and 63/11 were incapable of standing up to the Messerschmitt Me-109 E and Me-110. After equipping with the MB 175, the losses incurred by the GR II/52 were very few, thus confirming the remarkable qualities of this aircraft, which unfortunately arrived too late. After being transferred to North Africa, the GR II/52 was entirely re-equipped with MB 175 aircraft, which it kept until 8th November1942 when they were almost all lost during an attack by allied forces on the Oran-la-Sénia air base. The GR I/55 which was the last unit to receive the aircraft, received the first MB 176 aircraft available at the same time as it was equipping with the MB 175, before deploying to North Africa. The Germans were very interested in the aircraft and used several tens of them for training purposes.
In 1945, as the French Navy had ordered a hundred of the “torpedo bomber” version of the MB 175, production of the 175 T was launched at Châteauroux-Déols. As the aircraft became available, they were assigned to the 6 F squadron at Agadir. A few aircraft were used by 10 S squadron at Saint-Raphaël for various tests. The last MB 175 aircraft ended their flying careers at the Rochefort training school where the naval section retained their last aircraft until 1960.
General characteristics for MB 175.B3
Crew: Three Length: 12.25 m Wingspan: 17.92 m (58 ft 91⁄2 in) Height: 3.55 m (11 ft 73⁄4 in) Wing area: 42 m² Empty weight: 5612 kg (12,346 lb) Loaded weight: 8025 kg (15,784 lb) Powerplant: 2 × Gnome-Rhône 14 N 48/49
Performance
Maximum speed: 540 km/h at 5,200 m (17,060 ft) Range: 1,600 kms at full charge Max ceiling: 10900 m
Armament
Guns: 2 × fixed, forward-firing 7.5 mm (.295 in) MAC 1934 machine guns in the wings 2 × 7.5 mm (.295 in) MAC 1934s in the dorsal position 3 × 7.5 mm (.295 in) MAC 1934s on aft-firing mounts Bombs: 600kgs + 132kgs underwings
600 kg of bombs (from 50 to 200 kgs bomb types)
6x22 kg bombs or flares underwing (As an alternative, 175 illumination bombs carried internally plus 6 22 kg bombs or flares underwing for nighttime photographic missions)
for MB175T variant only Bombs as above or one Torpedo or equivalent DC
Brigs, not sure what I'd change on the Mb.157T card above. I get the use of Land Bomber (Land Based would let this use carrier SAs while basing from Forward Airstrips). You could use Land Based, but I think that would push the cost up to 9. This could have arguably been called a Patrol Bomber, which cleans up the SAs, but that has some forward airstrip consequences. On the flip side, it would be better at night if classed as a Patrol Bomber instead of a Torpedo Bomber.
You could do variations on this theme to tweak the plane, but I think the above card is pretty solid. Based on Heavy's post, the 1942 date is probably a bit notional, as it looks like the "T" model didn't get produced until 1945, but this doesn't feel like an overpowering plane in 1942.
Based on Heavy's post, the 1942 date is probably a bit notional, as it looks like the "T" model didn't get produced until 1945, but this doesn't feel like an overpowering plane in 1942.
I conccur about the notional part, as full product run of 175T was post war due to armistice, but the prototype concepts date back from 1942.
Otherwise we could do the april 1940 land based dive bomber version MB 175.B3, but IMO it is less interesting than 175T, albeit earlier than it