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

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

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Captain Cruft -> RE: The Hive - Cruft Scen 2 PBEM (Japan) (3/20/2012 3:00:52 PM)
Well I have definitely decided not to produce the George. The rest I need to think about more. I just don't like the idea of Japan trying to compete with the US or Brits on a technological level in the air. This was a complete impossibility in real life and just because the game allows you to do it doesn't mean that you have to. This is my current musing ... IJA:- Tony NO Frank MAYBE Ki-83 YES Ki-94 NO Ki-93 NO Ki-201 NO Me163 thingy NO IJN:- George NO Jack MAYBE Sam MAYBE. Perhaps just for CV units or something. Shinden should be NO, but they are cool :-) Perhaps just a few dedicated to Festung defence. Me163 thingy NO One thing to be aware of with all this is that I have precisely no expectation of ever being able to stop 4E bombers from doing their stuff. It seems to me a lot of players waste an awful lot of time and effort trying to solve this when it's essentially an insoluble problem.

FDRLincoln -> RE: The Hive - Cruft Scen 2 PBEM (Japan) (3/20/2012 3:27:22 PM)
I agree with not producing the rockets and jets. You can't build them in sufficient numbers or quickly enough to make much of a difference. I have cancelled them in my own game as I see them as a waste of resources. However, I think you have to produce the Frank. There will be missions that you need extra firepower for...intercepting 4E bombers, etc.. Even beehives and ant colonies have workers with different skill sets. Some Frank units with elite pilots would prove very useful to the hive at some point.

Captain Cruft -> RE: The Hive - Cruft Scen 2 PBEM (Japan) (3/20/2012 5:28:09 PM)
Yes I think we must do the Frank. I won't accelerate it though.

Captain Cruft -> RE: The Hive - Cruft Scen 2 PBEM (Japan) (3/21/2012 2:27:25 AM)
I've played today's turn now. Not much happening except Oscars and Nicks beating up the British and Chinese air forces quite successfully via Sweep. The Brit LCU stack definitely looks to be heading towards Magwe. Now to the revised air plans ... Fighters IJA:- Oscar YES Tojo YES Tony NO Frank YES Nick YES Ki-83 YES Ki-94 NO Ki-93 NO Ki-201 NO Me163 thingy NO IJN:- Zero YES George NO Jack NO Sam YES Shinden YES Me163 thingy NO The IJN will attempt to standardise on the Sam, and to this end I have allocated lots of R&D to it. A small number of Shindens will also be produced, but these will only be used in the Home Islands to protect important targets. In the meantime, whatever is the current model of the Zero will take the burden. The IJA will in simple terms use Oscars for bombing, Tojos for air defence and Franks for offensive Sweeps. Though there will inevitably be some overlap. The Ki-83 will also be produced in smaller numbers, but what exactly I will use it for is as yet undecided. Possibly as per the Shinden, but then it does have a good range ... Night Fighters For the IJA I will just produce whatever is available in moderate numbers until such time as the Ki-102c Randy becomes available. This plane is on paper far and away the best night fighter in the arsenal, but it and its radar don't arrive until 1945. For the IJN the Denko is superficially attractive but it has a service rating of 4 and doesn't arrive by default until 1946. So I won't bother with it. Instead I will produce a reasonable number of the Zero night fighter variant, which might prove useful deployed on the carriers, if I have any.

FDRLincoln -> RE: The Hive - Cruft Scen 2 PBEM (Japan) (3/21/2012 3:54:09 AM)
Just wondering, but why the Sam over the George? Is it because of the CV deployment issue?

Captain Cruft -> RE: The Hive - Cruft Scen 2 PBEM (Japan) (3/21/2012 8:23:17 PM)
No logical reason. I just don't like the George. I don't play this game to optimise every single little thing.

btbw -> RE: The Hive - Cruft Scen 2 PBEM (Japan) (3/21/2012 9:36:32 PM)
Rethink.

obvert -> RE: The Hive - Cruft Scen 2 PBEM (Japan) (3/21/2012 9:40:45 PM)
quote: ORIGINAL: Captain Cruft No logical reason. I just don't like the George. I don't play this game to optimise every single little thing. So you'll go with inferior aircraft for two years between the time the George/Jack are available and when the Sam shows up? Any other reasons? Just curious. Is this to be more 'historically accurate,' or do you just feel as you stated above that Japan shouldn't be able to compete with the Allies? If that's true why not play PDU off?

Captain Cruft -> RE: The Hive - Cruft Scen 2 PBEM (Japan) (3/21/2012 10:35:34 PM)
I can't abide PDU Off. It would be OK if the game engine simulated a lot more real industrial and logistical constrictions to go with it but it doesn't. It's simple. The George is ugly and nose-heavy therefore I don't want it. Historically accurate is not that important to me, however I do feel a need to introduce some impediments to my god-like control. Otherwise you just get stuck into relentless game engine optimisation, which to me would be boring not to mention too stressful.

Captain Cruft -> RE: The Hive - Cruft Scen 2 PBEM (Japan) (3/21/2012 10:37:36 PM)
quote: ORIGINAL: btbw And IJN navy AG can be expanded from default numbers to cap of CV. Nothing on this earth would get me to do that. It's a game exploit of the first magnitude.

SqzMyLemon -> RE: The Hive - Cruft Scen 2 PBEM (Japan) (3/21/2012 10:49:46 PM)
quote: ORIGINAL: Captain Cruft No logical reason. I just don't like the George. I don't play this game to optimise every single little thing. I laughed at this. I don't like the George either, but from a model building perspective. Didn't really know what they looked like and saw a kit of one for a good price in my local hobby store. I will buy most anything, but drew the line with the George. For no other reason than it's just ugly. [:D]

btbw -> RE: The Hive - Cruft Scen 2 PBEM (Japan) (3/21/2012 10:54:59 PM)
quote: ORIGINAL: Captain Cruft quote: ORIGINAL: btbw And IJN navy AG can be expanded from default numbers to cap of CV. Nothing on this earth would get me to do that. It's a game exploit of the first magnitude. Same as RD)

btbw -> RE: The Hive - Cruft Scen 2 PBEM (Japan) (3/21/2012 10:55:57 PM)
quote: ORIGINAL: Captain Cruft I can't abide PDU Off. It would be OK if the game engine simulated a lot more real industrial and logistical constrictions to go with it but it doesn't. It's simple. The George is ugly and nose-heavy therefore I don't want it. Historically accurate is not that important to me, however I do feel a need to introduce some impediments to my god-like control. Otherwise you just get stuck into relentless game engine optimisation, which to me would be boring not to mention too stressful. Simple - i just historical funboy and like to lose. Nothing can be added to this.

Captain Cruft -> RE: The Hive - Cruft Scen 2 PBEM (Japan) (3/21/2012 11:41:44 PM)
Green button ... Some people just have no idea.

obvert -> RE: The Hive - Cruft Scen 2 PBEM (Japan) (3/21/2012 11:51:26 PM)
quote: ORIGINAL: Captain Cruft I can't abide PDU Off. It would be OK if the game engine simulated a lot more real industrial and logistical constrictions to go with it but it doesn't. It's simple. The George is ugly and nose-heavy therefore I don't want it. Historically accurate is not that important to me, however I do feel a need to introduce some impediments to my god-like control. Otherwise you just get stuck into relentless game engine optimisation, which to me would be boring not to mention too stressful. Ha! I love your brash attitude about why you play the game and what you want to do with it. Cheers! [sm=00000436.gif] It is fun to play, and if doing things a particular way makes it more fun for you then that's the way it should be in your game. Being an art teacher and photographer I can understand the aesthetic part. One of the reasons I am going to build the Tony. I just like the look of it!

Captain Cruft -> RE: The Hive - Cruft Scen 2 PBEM (Japan) (3/21/2012 11:56:10 PM)
Thanks :-) I am quite confident that my fighter choices will do what I want from them. Most people let the air war get stuck into static duel mode. Strength against Strength. That is not my plan.

FDRLincoln -> RE: The Hive - Cruft Scen 2 PBEM (Japan) (3/22/2012 2:24:33 AM)
I applaud your attempt to develop new tactics.

Captain Cruft -> RE: The Hive - Cruft Scen 2 PBEM (Japan) (3/22/2012 2:57:48 AM)
Thank you :-) It's not just tactics though. The problem is, the game's over-stated Japanese industrial and logistics capabilities lure you into thinking that you can compete with the West at its own game (technology + logistics), but you can't, unless you have an incompetent opponent and/or use game engine exploits. Therefore, I prefer to play as the "poor man" right from the start. That is to say "poor" but with far more options than in reality. It's not strictly historical, but it feels better to me than the usual unrealistic "Japan invades half the planet" followed by the game ending in 1943 type of scenario.

Miller -> RE: The Hive - Cruft Scen 2 PBEM (Japan) (3/22/2012 12:54:09 PM)
Can I ask why you have chosen the Jack over the George? Almost identical stats but the George has a 2-3 hex range advantage which can be vital. Edit: Oops sorry, just noticed you are not going to build either[:D]

Captain Cruft -> RE: The Hive - Cruft Scen 2 PBEM (Japan) (3/23/2012 2:22:11 AM)
The Jack is ugly too. Now, for some merchant shipping news ... I have decided to stop using escorted convoys for all Resource transportation and Oil/Fuel transportation in safe areas. Three reasons:- 1) It's a pain in the ass organising it all. 2) I have too many Resources, too many xAKs/xAKLs and not enough ASW escorts. 3) It really feels wrong to me that the Allied subs should be as useless as they are. Oil/Fuel/Troops/Supply to/from contested areas will continue to travel in convoy and under escort. Along with this, I will not henceforth be upgrading any DDs or APDs into Es.

PaxMondo -> RE: The Hive - Cruft Scen 2 PBEM (Japan) (3/23/2012 5:02:34 AM)
quote: ORIGINAL: Captain Cruft Green button ... Some people just have no idea. [:D] Yep [:D] Best thing is to read converstations where they are there, but they aren't. [;)]

Saros -> RE: The Hive - Cruft Scen 2 PBEM (Japan) (3/23/2012 6:50:50 PM)
Cruft I am both horrified and intrigued by your approach to this game. Keep up the good work. Although maybe reconsider building one of the Jack/George? They are really essential and I doubt your opponent will base his 4EB's within Oscar/Nick strike range of your bases more than once (That first time is probably going to hurt though.) If you don't try produce a counter to the 4EB raids how are you going to defend anything at all? 80 4E can flatten an airbase of any size per day and once he has 3-4 squads like this operating (late '42 this is easily possible) you will simply be unable to mount any sort of defense on the outer perimeter. The same will unfortunately be true once he hits the hardened inner core. Overfortified/Garrisoned bases will be bombed then bypassed thanks to the massive ability of US engineers (seabees etc) to build up even the crappiest of dot bases. I worry that your opponent will simply flow around your hardpoints and occupy the key shipping lanes before assaulting the hive proper.

Captain Cruft -> RE: The Hive - Cruft Scen 2 PBEM (Japan) (3/23/2012 9:25:25 PM)
My opponent is very risk-averse. He has quite a lot of 4Es in Burma but has seemed reluctant to put them up against my fighters, even though they don't shoot many of them down. That said, of course I will have problems with this approach, but solving problems is what I like doing. There is always more than one way to skin a cat.

Captain Cruft -> RE: The Hive - Cruft Scen 2 PBEM (Japan) (3/24/2012 1:47:46 AM)
Nov 26 1942 4E bombers vs. Zeros ... How timely. This was the day that the long-expected 4E attack from Rabaul finally arrived at Truk. I will let the results speak for themselves [:D] [image]local://upfiles/11369/E2A4987C73FB4BD5ABC02F120282CF31.jpg[/image] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Afternoon Air attack on Truk , at 112,108 Weather in hex: Severe storms Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 13,000 feet. Estimated time to target is 12 minutes Japanese aircraft A6M3 Zero x 72 Allied aircraft B-17E Fortress x 49 B-24D Liberator x 14 Japanese aircraft losses A6M3 Zero: 2 destroyed G3M2 Nell: 1 destroyed on ground F1M2 Pete: 1 destroyed on ground Allied aircraft losses B-17E Fortress: 8 destroyed, 28 damaged B-24D Liberator: 3 destroyed, 9 damaged Airbase hits 3 Runway hits 4 Aircraft Attacking: 7 x B-17E Fortress bombing from 10000 feet * Airfield Attack: 4 x 500 lb GP Bomb 4 x B-17E Fortress bombing from 10000 feet * Airfield Attack: 4 x 500 lb GP Bomb 7 x B-17E Fortress bombing from 10000 feet * Airfield Attack: 4 x 500 lb GP Bomb 6 x B-17E Fortress bombing from 10000 feet * Airfield Attack: 4 x 500 lb GP Bomb 8 x B-24D Liberator bombing from 10000 feet Airfield Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb 4 x B-24D Liberator bombing from 10000 feet Airfield Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb 6 x B-17E Fortress bombing from 10000 feet * Airfield Attack: 4 x 500 lb GP Bomb 8 x B-17E Fortress bombing from 10000 feet * Airfield Attack: 4 x 500 lb GP Bomb CAP engaged: 204 Ku S-1 with A6M3 Zero (4 airborne, 10 on standby, 31 scrambling) 4 plane(s) intercepting now. Group patrol altitude is 20000 , scrambling fighters between 6000 and 20000. Time for all group planes to reach interception is 32 minutes 284 Ku S-1 with A6M3 Zero (2 airborne, 6 on standby, 19 scrambling) 2 plane(s) intercepting now. Group patrol altitude is 15000 , scrambling fighters between 9000 and 15000. Time for all group planes to reach interception is 34 minutes -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Afternoon Air attack on Truk , at 112,108 Weather in hex: Severe storms Raid detected at 25 NM, estimated altitude 12,000 feet. Estimated time to target is 8 minutes Japanese aircraft A6M3 Zero x 25 Allied aircraft B-24D Liberator x 14 No Japanese losses Allied aircraft losses B-24D Liberator: 6 damaged Runway hits 1 Aircraft Attacking: 8 x B-24D Liberator bombing from 10000 feet Airfield Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb CAP engaged: 204 Ku S-1 with A6M3 Zero (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling) 13 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact. Group patrol altitude is 20000 , scrambling fighters to 10000. Time for all group planes to reach interception is 59 minutes 284 Ku S-1 with A6M3 Zero (1 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling) 1 plane(s) intercepting now. 11 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact. Group patrol altitude is 15000 , scrambling fighters to 10000. Time for all group planes to reach interception is 48 minutes -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Afternoon Air attack on Truk , at 112,108 Weather in hex: Severe storms Raid spotted at 34 NM, estimated altitude 14,000 feet. Estimated time to target is 10 minutes Japanese aircraft A6M3 Zero x 17 Allied aircraft B-17E Fortress x 8 No Japanese losses Allied aircraft losses B-17E Fortress: 1 destroyed, 4 damaged B-17E Fortress: 1 destroyed by flak Aircraft Attacking: 8 x B-17E Fortress bombing from 10000 feet * Airfield Attack: 4 x 500 lb GP Bomb CAP engaged: 204 Ku S-1 with A6M3 Zero (1 airborne, 0 on standby, 4 scrambling) 1 plane(s) intercepting now. 4 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact. Group patrol altitude is 20000 , scrambling fighters to 10000. Time for all group planes to reach interception is 33 minutes 284 Ku S-1 with A6M3 Zero (3 airborne, 0 on standby, 5 scrambling) 3 plane(s) intercepting now. Group patrol altitude is 15000 , scrambling fighters to 10000. Time for all group planes to reach interception is 27 minutes

FDRLincoln -> RE: The Hive - Cruft Scen 2 PBEM (Japan) (3/24/2012 1:53:54 AM)
Nice use of layered CAP. How much flak you got there?

Captain Cruft -> RE: The Hive - Cruft Scen 2 PBEM (Japan) (3/24/2012 1:57:23 AM)
8 x 10cm and 24 x 7.5cm guns plus the DP guns in the Truk Fortress. It was the Zeros that did the damage though. What is even better is that I didn't lose a single pilot, and one has even graduated to TRACOM after getting 3 kills.

FDRLincoln -> RE: The Hive - Cruft Scen 2 PBEM (Japan) (3/24/2012 2:08:43 AM)
I have sometimes wondered if flak has some sort of "breakup bomber formation" effect that doesn't show up overtly in the combat animations but enables defending fighters to perform more effectively.

Captain Cruft -> RE: The Hive - Cruft Scen 2 PBEM (Japan) (3/24/2012 2:43:53 AM)
Mebbe. There are lots of undocumented things in this game. I have far larger stacks of AA in Downfall though, and yet the 4E bombers there have been pretty much untouchable. I think the key factor here may be that high pilot exp and skill allowed the fighters to attack along the most advantageous approach vector. The kills were mostly achieved by attacking from the "Upper Front" ...

Captain Cruft -> RE: The Hive - Cruft Scen 2 PBEM (Japan) (3/24/2012 3:03:38 AM)
Why I like Service Rating 1 ... I lost 11 Zeros at Truk today. Tomorrow I will be able to field only 9 less Zeros than today, in the unlikely event that he decides to commit his bruised 4E stack again. Fatigue and morale remain good. [image]local://upfiles/11369/74F46B45A60C41D085798D9C62A404B1.jpg[/image]

Captain Cruft -> RE: The Hive - Cruft Scen 2 PBEM (Japan) (3/24/2012 3:30:14 AM)
Meanwhile, over in Burma ... The 33rd Division is not in good shape. Bombing has recently intensified, and the negative effects seemed to accelerate once the active devices went below 50% of TOE. The escape plan is that once Meiktila is reached next turn, we shall reclaim the base via a DA (assuming any AV remains) and then entrain for Rangoon. Doubtless many more devices will be disabled in the process but if we can reach the Burmese capital without completely evaporating then I hope that some Rest/Training should restore the unit to some semblance of usefulness. [image]local://upfiles/11369/2289EF0F8748485A9214E9BE11CFF859.jpg[/image]

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