RE: The Hive - Cruft Scen 2 PBEM (Japan) (Full Version)

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Captain Cruft -> RE: The Hive - Cruft Scen 2 PBEM (Japan) (2/26/2013 1:14:39 AM)

Jet Fighters

I have changed my mind on the Ki-201. Given that Germany could have produced the Me-262 a lot earlier than they actually did it seems reasonable to suppose that Japan could have had it's second rate cloned version in the air by 1946 had history only taken a very slightly altered course.

The initial plan is to produce 30 a month, and given that I am only starting R&D now it won't get accelerated much if at all. If things get desperate later on I may expand this.




Captain Cruft -> RE: The Hive - Cruft Scen 2 PBEM (Japan) (2/28/2013 1:05:14 AM)

29 Aug 1943

Major air battles over Burma.

I had moved my two best IJA fighter groups into Moulmein, one flying the Ki-61b Tony the other the Ki-44-IIb Tojo. As I expected this caused him to Sweep the base with his massed P-47s and P-38s, which is generally the way he starts out attacking an airbase.

Well, I think we actually won this battle :-) Having a radar really seems to help the CAP against Sweep, as does having very good pilots.

32 P-47 + 19 P-38 = 51
27 Ki-44 + 14 Ki-61 = 41

All the Oscars, Nells, P-40s and Hurricanes were lost elsewhere.

[image]local://upfiles/11369/7730D59DA04249CEAF8310D02ABD17F2.jpg[/image]




obvert -> RE: The Hive - Cruft Scen 2 PBEM (Japan) (2/28/2013 8:23:20 AM)

That is a very good result. How good are those pilots? What were the details of where you set the CAP?




koniu -> RE: The Hive - Cruft Scen 2 PBEM (Japan) (2/28/2013 9:44:58 AM)

Very good. 1,25:1 ratio against P-47 and P-38 sweep above own base.
He lost (KIA) probably 30-40 good pilots You how many 20? with many of them WIA so they still will back to You.

I would also appreciate if You give us pre battle details (grup settings , pilots XP, etc)





Captain Cruft -> RE: The Hive - Cruft Scen 2 PBEM (Japan) (2/28/2013 6:47:44 PM)

1st Sentai with Ki-61b was on 30% CAP at 17k with 70+ exp pilots.
24th Sentai with Ki-44-IIb was on 30% CAP at 25k with 80+ exp pilots.

Morale was 99 and fatigue < 5.

My opponent did comment that he accidentally sent the Jugs in too low.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Moulmein , at 55,55

Weather in hex: Partial cloud

Raid spotted at 10 NM, estimated altitude 29,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 1 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-44-IIb Tojo x 42
Ki-61-Ib Tony x 35

Allied aircraft
P-38H Lightning x 25

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-44-IIb Tojo: 3 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
P-38H Lightning: 4 destroyed

CAP engaged:
1st Sentai with Ki-61-Ib Tony (0 airborne, 8 on standby, 24 scrambling)
3 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 17000 , scrambling fighters to 17000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 25 minutes
64th Sentai with Ki-44-IIb Tojo (0 airborne, 9 on standby, 29 scrambling)
4 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 25000 , scrambling fighters to 25000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 29 minutes

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Moulmein , at 55,55

Weather in hex: Partial cloud

Raid detected at 36 NM, estimated altitude 23,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 10 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-44-IIb Tojo x 34
Ki-61-Ib Tony x 33

Allied aircraft
P-47D2 Thunderbolt x 25

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-44-IIb Tojo: 1 destroyed
Ki-61-Ib Tony: 1 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
P-47D2 Thunderbolt: 4 destroyed

CAP engaged:
1st Sentai with Ki-61-Ib Tony (0 airborne, 4 on standby, 0 scrambling)
25 plane(s) not yet engaged, 4 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 17000 , scrambling fighters between 17000 and 33000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 31 minutes
64th Sentai with Ki-44-IIb Tojo (0 airborne, 4 on standby, 0 scrambling)
26 plane(s) not yet engaged, 4 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 25000 , scrambling fighters between 25000 and 34000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 44 minutes

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Moulmein , at 55,55

Weather in hex: Partial cloud

Raid detected at 41 NM, estimated altitude 23,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 12 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-44-IIb Tojo x 31
Ki-61-Ib Tony x 26

Allied aircraft
P-47D2 Thunderbolt x 23

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-44-IIb Tojo: 2 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
P-47D2 Thunderbolt: 7 destroyed

CAP engaged:
1st Sentai with Ki-61-Ib Tony (5 airborne, 4 on standby, 7 scrambling)
5 plane(s) intercepting now.
10 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 17000 , scrambling fighters between 17000 and 28000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 36 minutes
64th Sentai with Ki-44-IIb Tojo (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
24 plane(s) not yet engaged, 4 being recalled, 3 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 25000 , scrambling fighters between 19000 and 32000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 46 minutes

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Moulmein , at 55,55

Weather in hex: Partial cloud

Raid detected at 46 NM, estimated altitude 29,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 9 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-44-IIb Tojo x 27
Ki-61-Ib Tony x 18

Allied aircraft
P-38H Lightning x 23

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-61-Ib Tony: 2 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
P-38H Lightning: 3 destroyed

CAP engaged:
1st Sentai with Ki-61-Ib Tony (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 4 scrambling)
9 plane(s) not yet engaged, 4 being recalled, 1 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 17000 , scrambling fighters between 20000 and 27000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 50 minutes
64th Sentai with Ki-44-IIb Tojo (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
21 plane(s) not yet engaged, 6 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 25000 , scrambling fighters between 19000 and 26170.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 54 minutes

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Moulmein , at 55,55

Weather in hex: Partial cloud

Raid detected at 50 NM, estimated altitude 41,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 14 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-44-IIb Tojo x 26
Ki-61-Ib Tony x 10

Allied aircraft
P-47D2 Thunderbolt x 25

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-44-IIb Tojo: 9 destroyed
Ki-61-Ib Tony: 1 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
P-47D2 Thunderbolt: 1 destroyed

Aircraft Attacking:
2 x P-47D2 Thunderbolt sweeping at 35000 feet

CAP engaged:
1st Sentai with Ki-61-Ib Tony (1 airborne, 0 on standby, 5 scrambling)
1 plane(s) intercepting now.
4 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 17000 , scrambling fighters between 21000 and 35000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 18 minutes
64th Sentai with Ki-44-IIb Tojo (3 airborne, 0 on standby, 13 scrambling)
3 plane(s) intercepting now.
10 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 25000 , scrambling fighters between 21000 and 36740.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 51 minutes




jeffk3510 -> RE: The Hive - Cruft Scen 2 PBEM (Japan) (2/28/2013 8:05:37 PM)

I-16 has been a busy little boat for you.

You can't feel too bad about that.




obvert -> RE: The Hive - Cruft Scen 2 PBEM (Japan) (2/28/2013 9:04:45 PM)

The last sweep is telling. The height is the deciding factor. Great result, but my opponent always comes in at over 31k, so always gets this kind of massively favorable kill ratio.




Captain Cruft -> RE: The Hive - Cruft Scen 2 PBEM (Japan) (2/28/2013 11:10:12 PM)

If I can trade 2 for 1 from this point on I'll be very happy.

Sweep vs. CAP is something I'm testing out at the moment in a sandbox. This is showing quite surprising results and it's still in progress, but one thing is very clear - the Ki-44 IIc is significantly better than its predecessors. This plane arrives in March 1944. The Ki-43 IIIa is also vastly better than the Ki-43 IIb, and will arrive later this year, can't remember exactly when.




Captain Cruft -> RE: The Hive - Cruft Scen 2 PBEM (Japan) (3/4/2013 1:13:19 AM)

House Rule change

We have decided to change our altitude house rule as follows:-

Nothing can fly above 27,000ft except for ...

Recon types.
4E bombers.
Designated "high-altitude fighters" i.e. those which do not exhibit a maneuver rating drop-off until the "32k+" band. These can go up to 35,000ft.

This will probably benefit him more than me but I just think it's silly to impose artificial per-plane restrictions.




Captain Cruft -> RE: The Hive - Cruft Scen 2 PBEM (Japan) (3/4/2013 1:36:15 AM)

Air to Air testing

Given this new rule, I have done some Sweep vs. CAP testing to see which of my potential fighter aircraft are the least useless.

Mostly I was seeing which army planes could stand up to the P-47N on a Sweep at 35,000ft, and the answer is not much, except for the Ki-201.

However, there were a couple of surprising results:-

1) The Ki-44 IIc is only slightly worse than the Ki-84a Frank, and with a SR of 1 compared to 3 it is a no-brainer as to which to prioritise.
2) The Ki-84r Frank is better than the Ki-83. So, although they both have a SR of 3, one engine compared to two makes for another easy choice, at least for defensive purposes. The Ki-84r can almost go 1 to 1 with the Jug, all else being equal. It is about 3-5 times better than the Ki-84a variant (under these rules).

I also tested the Ki-94 II, and it is basically identical to the Ki-84r.




Captain Cruft -> RE: The Hive - Cruft Scen 2 PBEM (Japan) (3/4/2013 1:44:35 AM)

Ki-201

This will eat the P-47N at a rate of at least 3 to 1, and probably about 5 to 1 on average. However, against the P-80A, which is the only Allied jet fighter in this scenario, it consistently loses at a ratio of between 2 or 3 to 1.

So, assuming you could build out an airforce mostly composed of Ki-201 units, all you need to do is to keep the Allies more than 11 hexes away from the homeland. This being the maximum range of the P-80A.




Captain Cruft -> RE: The Hive - Cruft Scen 2 PBEM (Japan) (3/5/2013 1:42:12 AM)

1 Sep 1943

Supply: 4.078m
HI: 1.554m (16,000 factories)
Fuel: 6.241m
Aircraft: 4,816 (4,439 ready)
Ship losses: 1 x DD, 10 x E, 7 x APD, 15 x SS

It's September 1943, and the IJN has still only lost a single DD ...

Score: Japan 21k, Allies 19k (draw)

It looks like he will be landing at Kwajalein soon, which I very kindly built into a size 5 port.




Captain Cruft -> RE: The Hive - Cruft Scen 2 PBEM (Japan) (3/6/2013 1:57:33 AM)

2 Sep 1943

A fairly disastrous turn. I decided to try an offensive air operation against Magwe, the home of the P-47s and P-38s. As a result I lost over 200 planes against around 50 Allied. Mostly Oscars, Tojos and Nicks.

This has led me to a possibly drastic decision. I am going to withdraw the entire 1st Air Army (18 fighter Sentais) to Takao until we have the Frank and/or Tojo IIc available. The units will train Air until that time, and any pilots which get up to 50/60/60 will be despatched to the front line. At the same time any frontline pilots who become golden will be withdrawn into TRACOM awaiting such time as the potential 900 planes of the 1st Air Army are deployed again as a CAP "roadblock".

I am bored with Burma now and just wish he would get on with taking it. The odds and sods of the 3rd Air Division will continue to skirmish, but there will be no more Swarm in this area. The Oscar bombing has probably had the desired psychological effect of making him even warier than he is naturally but now is the time to start serious preparations for the more important battles which lie ahead in 1944 and 1945.




Captain Cruft -> RE: The Hive - Cruft Scen 2 PBEM (Japan) (3/6/2013 2:04:06 AM)

Side note

With 18 fighter units, you could layer CAP from 10k to 27k at 1k intervals and still have a unit to spare. Mervellious :-)




Captain Cruft -> RE: The Hive - Cruft Scen 2 PBEM (Japan) (3/7/2013 1:47:21 AM)

3 Sep 1943

Today was a day where absolutely nothing happened ...

----------

Upon closer inspection I can actually muster 20 Sentais for the 1st Air Army. That includes one fighter-bomber unit which can serve as "aim disturbing" night-fighters, flying the Nick initially. In March 1944 this will amount to 980 planes, which ought to work as an effective P-47 and 4E blocker. In the meantime it should enable me to train up around 1,000 Air skill pilots which is very much needed. I have about 400 in the Reserve right now, but they are a bit variable.

Possible initial bases for deployment of this "big defensive stick" are Canton, Takao and Manila. I'm not going to bother trying to defend Indochina much since it's basically impossible, and Singapore and Java are too far away. We will just skirmish in those areas if and when he gets around to attacking them.

One thing I need to do is to agglomerate sufficient subsidiary aviation support, engineering and flak units to accompany the actual Air HQ unit on its potential travels, and also make a transport fleet available at Takao which can move it all quickly. This is a bit contradictory to my previous "massive dispersal" defensive air plan so I will have to think carefully about which units to use ...




Captain Cruft -> RE: The Hive - Cruft Scen 2 PBEM (Japan) (3/9/2013 6:15:27 PM)

6 Sep 1943

An invasion fleet approaches Kwajalein, where it will be opposed by a single midget submarine and a garrison comprising 70 AV behind level 6 forts. For the first time not all of the house LCUs are completely trashed, there are a couple of SNLF Coys in good shape. This however will not make for much of an impediment if he lands an entire division as usual.

I am going to try for some night torpedo delivery by Emilies and Frances's out of Ponape. The (meaningless) weather forecast is Clear and Moonlight is at 57%. There are no fighters present with enough range (14) to do an escorted daytime raid.

[image]local://upfiles/11369/6B3C623AABAF4289B67DEC2E68216990.jpg[/image]




Captain Cruft -> RE: The Hive - Cruft Scen 2 PBEM (Japan) (3/9/2013 9:52:13 PM)

Time for some screenies ...

Here's the scores on the doors.

[image]local://upfiles/11369/5F96E9DB86684F50BDFC5D8B62F79211.jpg[/image]




Captain Cruft -> RE: The Hive - Cruft Scen 2 PBEM (Japan) (3/9/2013 9:54:32 PM)

I have destroyed 335 4E bombers :-)

[image]local://upfiles/11369/22EC71E4859F4C44AE0F3115B850A4E6.jpg[/image]




Captain Cruft -> RE: The Hive - Cruft Scen 2 PBEM (Japan) (3/9/2013 9:56:59 PM)

I have also destroyed 697 P-38s and P-47s :-)

[image]local://upfiles/11369/A8A3944C4341435790FD0D8CF978D604.jpg[/image]




Captain Cruft -> RE: The Hive - Cruft Scen 2 PBEM (Japan) (3/9/2013 9:58:38 PM)

This has cost me a lot of planes though :-(

[image]local://upfiles/11369/81B8047DB76A4941874F271319AC5E1D.jpg[/image]




Captain Cruft -> RE: The Hive - Cruft Scen 2 PBEM (Japan) (3/9/2013 10:05:54 PM)

The 1st Air Army forming up at Takao.

[image]local://upfiles/11369/84BDFC5FAE37417CBEF331A6E95C1FC2.jpg[/image]




Captain Cruft -> RE: The Hive - Cruft Scen 2 PBEM (Japan) (3/9/2013 10:09:48 PM)

TRACOM

I have now removed all IJA golden boys from the map. The IJN is maintaining a few golden units at Ponape but nowhere else.

[image]local://upfiles/11369/B4C86AAED05348EFBE556518DC235492.jpg[/image]




Captain Cruft -> RE: The Hive - Cruft Scen 2 PBEM (Japan) (3/9/2013 10:12:19 PM)

Pilot pools

It will be absolutely ages before the pools will be empty, I will probably only be able to drain them once all the training units arrive in May 1945. One of the downsides of fighting a quiet war I guess.

[image]local://upfiles/11369/1902F008C77343A1BCDF489763BCFB65.jpg[/image]




Captain Cruft -> RE: The Hive - Cruft Scen 2 PBEM (Japan) (3/9/2013 10:20:22 PM)

Another picture of the map's key area.

For some reason I have not seen any subs around these parts for some time now.

[image]local://upfiles/11369/6C74EDD37DD3431CBC17B2BE2358A43E.jpg[/image]




Captain Cruft -> RE: The Hive - Cruft Scen 2 PBEM (Japan) (3/9/2013 11:37:30 PM)

Shipping heavy arty from Hankow to the Marianas (and Bonins). All the main islands will get a unit of 27cm or 32cm guns or mortars. I am hoping that these will have a useful effect when the Marines come landing, and since they are small they may avoid the worst of the aerial bombardment, which really likes to hit CD units.

[image]local://upfiles/11369/2843FE0FD6374331903C86FA7E2540D5.jpg[/image]




Captain Cruft -> RE: The Hive - Cruft Scen 2 PBEM (Japan) (3/9/2013 11:39:13 PM)

Here's one such unit already based at Saipan.

[image]local://upfiles/11369/56E81ACD1752429AB2B8BBDDD64CF4CA.jpg[/image]




Captain Cruft -> RE: The Hive - Cruft Scen 2 PBEM (Japan) (3/10/2013 12:17:26 AM)

There are two CD units which you can create by combining other LCUs. Here is one such, the Combined 8th SNLF, stationed at Guam. The other is the Kure 7th SNLF, which is at Ulithi.

I have an OCD thing about combining units into their parents, and I was very pleased to discover that as a result I acquired some extra CD guns :-)

[image]local://upfiles/11369/4A04BECD173A478BA65ED90A39CA944F.jpg[/image]




Captain Cruft -> RE: The Hive - Cruft Scen 2 PBEM (Japan) (3/10/2013 12:20:48 AM)

Here's the Kure 7th. Ulithi is very slightly over-stacked, but this will end once it reaches its maximum size 6 forts and I can remove some engineers.

[image]local://upfiles/11369/EAEE3DF2F0F04BF29992A5F972C114AB.jpg[/image]




Captain Cruft -> RE: The Hive - Cruft Scen 2 PBEM (Japan) (3/10/2013 12:23:28 AM)

The 31st Special Base Force is another non-obvious powerful CD unit, or at least it will be after its ToE upgrade in about July 1944.

[image]local://upfiles/11369/56C61266B9DA43588B03BCB93A8D818E.jpg[/image]




Captain Cruft -> RE: The Hive - Cruft Scen 2 PBEM (Japan) (3/10/2013 12:28:46 AM)

I do not intend to make things easy for him in the Pacific. Here is an overview picture of everything west of Ponape and Eniwetok.

[image]local://upfiles/11369/22618A83E83C4978B125D89D65F51444.jpg[/image]




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