rustysi
Posts: 7472
Joined: 2/21/2012
From: LI, NY
Status: offline
|
quote:
Pax and I are both minimalists. Speaking for myself, I try to produce only what I need, with a small buffer. I HATE having huge numbers of early war aircraft sitting around doing nothing. Think about it. What do you do with a 500 Ki-43-Ic aircraft sitting in the pool when you're using the Ki-43-IIIa? Yeah, some can be used as trainers, but that is primarily a Nate function. I'm currently using all my Nates as trainers and a small number of the Ic, but if I had 500 sitting in the pool, I'd be smacking myself silly.
Late war aircraft are potentially different, but I'll build up numbers of aircraft I intend to use either in normal operations or as Kamikazes. I still try to produce what I need with a buffer.
Here's my method for planning. Let's use the A6M2 as an example. (I'm a logistician for DoD and manage equipment repair parts, and this is one method we use to manage them.) I use a minimum and maximum stock on hand method (minSOH, max SOH). My goal was to have enough airframes on hand so that if KB's fighters got mauled, I could replace them. (Unlikely that would happen and I'd still have all the decks, but that's another discussion.) So, I set the min/max levels to 80/100. If I had at least 100 in the pool, my factories would be off. Once the pool dropped to 80, the factories came back on, until they reached 100. I rarely hit 100, however. There was another important draw on that pool, namely upgrading the front-line Claude units (carrier and land-based) that needed to be upgraded to the Zero. So, the pool was usually low, which was fine with me. (I believe I had 90 factories producing the A6M2.) When the next model was a couple of months from becoming operational (A6M3a), I stopped production on the M2 to draw the pool to as close to 0 as I could. As the A6M3a was built and assigned to KB/MKB, those A6M2s replenished the pool for all the units still using that model. So, in the end, there were probably a couple hundred A6M2 left, but that's inevitable. I just didn't want 500 or 1000 sitting there.
Yeah, using more than 10k a day might be possible, but once the economy starts spiraling downward, it's very difficult and takes a long time to fix. So, I stick with 10k for as long as I must.
Think about it. What do you REALLY need at the start of the war? Oscars and Zeros and some Vals and Kates for KB/MKB. Certain engines that you need more of now. That's about it. Do it in stages. List everything you need/want then prioritize it and do a little at a time. Take our A6M2 again, currently producing 56. I want 90, but increase it by 4 to 60. That uses 1k supply a day for 4 days. And so on.
I also try to make use of engines that already exist. Example: The B5N1 is not very different from the B5N2, especially early war. The N1 uses the Nakajima Hikari engine, which has 99 in the pool. The only other planes that use that engine are the Jean and Susie, neither of which will ever be produced. So, I convert a small factory, say the size 10 Nate factory, to the N1. I'll build out all 99 N1s, saving 1782 HI (99*18). Half price planes! MKB gets the N1 and KB gets the N2 supplemented by the N1 if needed. That will use 1k supply for ~6-7 days.
That's how I do it. The hard part is prioritizing, with so many needs for now and the future. I'll leave the Val as is for now. 24 in the pool with 12 production is sufficient. I want to get the Oscar Ic up to ~90 eventually, in stages, but it is pretty high along with the Zero.
And then there's engines. The Ha-35 needs to have >500 in the pool as soon as possible to accelerate the Zero and Oscar R&D lines. That turns out to be a lot of extra engines needed. At the start of the war, the surplus is 20 engines per month, and that starts dwindling on Day 1. So, that is a very high priority too. The Ha-35 factory is one of the few that I will keep increasing constantly, using 1k supply every day until it is where I want it.
It's a big juggling act. I love it!
One last comment. This is my main reason to take the SRA as soon as possible. As I capture HI/LI and refineries, that increases my supply production. That allows me to increase the speed of my infrastructure growth more quickly.
My motto: "We are not here to battle the Allies. We are here to loot South East Asia!"
Nice discussion Mike. All nubbies to the 'Dark Side' should see this.
_____________________________
It is seldom that liberty of any kind is lost all at once. Hume
In every party there is one member who by his all-too-devout pronouncement of the party principles provokes the others to apostasy. Nietzsche
Cave ab homine unius libri. Ltn Prvb
|
Printable Version
RE: Once Again into the Breach - Mike (J) vs. tc464 (A) - 
yep 20 million - 76 months worth. I think it's time to ignore resources. 
) 
New Messages
No New Messages
Hot Topic w/ New Messages
Hot Topic w/o New Messages
Locked w/ New Messages
Locked w/o New Messages
Post New Thread