Unit Card:
Set - Number
Angels 20 - 20/31
History:
Vergilius
The Curtiss P40 Warhawk was an all-metal single seat fighter that first flew in 1938. Twenty-eight different nations used the P40 Warhawk during WWII, and it was the third most-produced US fighter. The lack of a two-stage supercharger limited its performance at high altitude. Its most significant roles occurred in North Africa, China, and the Southwest Pacific, where performance at high altitude combat was less frequent and not necessary. Its war reputation during the war was mediocre, but more recent evaluations of its performance suggest that although it sometimes suffered severe losses, it also inflicted considerable losses on the enemy. The P40 had the reputation of possessing more maneuverability at high speed rather than low speeds, and at higher speeds had excellent turning ability, among the highest in the war. Early variants were not very fast and climbing performance was poor to mediocre.
Reviews:
Vergilius
The P40 has a base speed of 2-4, but its high speed is limited to 5. While it won’t escape an enemy with its speed, the basic speed range is comparable to most of the better craft in the game. The gunnery score is among the most lethal in the game, with a 7-5-3. Opponents must always be careful when your P40s are on the map. It also receives the splendid 4-7-3 defensive. It will never be easy to bring a P40 down, since the opponent must bring pilot and/or diving bonuses with a decent gunnery score at a good angle just to damage the target. The basic maneuvering line is 4-5-3-6. The P40 cannot climb very well at all, so you should avoid playing a vertical game, although you can always set climbing status if you’re sure that no one can touch your P40 on this turn, and you can always climb if you don’t have any other difficult maneuver worth doing. The P40 also rolls very well, which again helps it swing around quickly with a Split-S maneuver. Turning is a respectable four, so you can at least try it when necessary. The P40 receives a 6 in diving, though since it doesn’t climb very well, I’d think of the dive more as a defensive maneuver against an enemy on your six. The Fast Dive SA helps you pull away from the enemy without forcing you to go to high speed. An extra first turn movement followed by a speed four move might very well break a tailing enemy and allow you to reposition for a later turn in the fight. The Tomahawk adds the Redline ability. Once per game, you have the chance to reroll a maneuver check, but if you fail, you take a -2 on all maneuver checks for the rest of the game. This is probably best with a Roll, or a Climb on which you’ve set Climbing status. It is an exceptionally bad idea on a high speed maneuver check unless you’re on the last turn of the game and must make that maneuver check or lose.
Flight Builds and Tactics: The Lend-Lease Tomahawk can fit into a number of Soviet builds, providing a very sturdy fighter that can move early in your move sequence, draw fire with its sturdy four armor, only to switch rolls on a subsequent turn when it can swing around onto an enemy’s tail and deliver its deadly seven dice attack. In larger point Soviet builds, a mix of Tomahawks and Guards Yak-1 make effective use of the points without creating an inordinately large number of planes on the map. At 110 points, you can fly a pair of Tomahawks and a Guards Yak-1, while at 150 points, two Tomahawks and two Guards Yak-1 are fairly effective. The Tomahawk has the option to trade off movement order with the other planes depending upon the situation on the map, though four armor makes it an easier choice to move first on the first turn of the game.
Plastic Figure Notes:
