"Fixing" the MiG-15

I am digging this late war scheme used by Soviet pilots

Recently I was doing some research on muzzle velocities, rates of fire, projectile weights, and rounds carried for a few Korean War aircraft. While one does not want to bog down the simplicity of balance of the Check Your 6! Jet Age rules, the historical data is telling an interesting story. Comparative analysis shows some interesting facts about the MiG-15s armament when looked at in the context of other weapons, even its own.

The two versions of the 23mm cannon, the Nudelman-Suranov NS-23 and Nudelman-Rikhter NR-23, have the same projectile weights (6.2 ounces) and similar muzzle velocities (2300 and 2264 feet per second). What is interesting is the muzzle velocity of the 37mm N-37 is nearly the same, yet the 23mm cannons are rated as MC, while the 37mm cannon is rated as LVHC with a low rate of fire. The effective ranges for these guns are all around 600 yards, and with the same muzzle velocities they should all be rated as having a low velocity weapon. How to handle? One could rate the pair of 23mm cannons as LVC since the effective ranges are the same as the 37mm cannon, rated as LVHC in the rules with a six hex range. The penalty at medium range would be appropriate since the guns also had a wide dispersion and a decreased chance to hit at longer ranges. 

The rates of fire for the two type of 23mm Soviet cannon are lower than the .50 caliber and American 20mm cannon, but probably not enough so to make the 23mm a low ROF weapon, or only the earlier NS-23 version. The data comes in at 7.08 rounds per second (RPS) for the 37mm, and 9.17 RPS for the NS and 11.25 RPS for the NR versions of the 23mm. To compare, the .50 caliber is 20 RPS and the 20mmAN/M3 is 12.5 RPS. Okay, now I do think that the NS-23 should have a low rate of fire.

For the MiG-15s, I suggest the following revisions, which do not hinder game play: