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BBfanboy -> RE: Balade of the Newbie: The grand Campaign (Allies vs IJ AI) (4/26/2014 11:36:39 PM)
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quote:
ORIGINAL: BlitzX
Thanks again for all these advise. It is now time to start out world tour (or more half world tour) of all the stuffs i do before the Infamy.
December 7th, 1941
H-5 Before Pearl Harbor Assault
Continental US
Naval :
First thing i do is recalling all the ships on route for PH, and get them back to SF. The only exceptions are the Prince Robert (AMc),Be sure to distinguish between an AMC (Armed Merchant Cruiser) and an AMc (Auxiliary, Mine, Coastal).
AMCs are armed with extra guns and manned by naval crews, and some of them can carry troops/cargo while others like Prince Robert cannot. They are too big and slow to fight it out with a warship, so best use for them appears to be additional protection
for a convoy or amphibious TF. AMcs are the ones you want to do daily minesweeping at important ports. IJN subs can all lay mines. the Cynthia Olson (xAK) and the McFarland (AVD), all 3 set to carry on to PH. The Mauna Ala (xAKL) is also redirected from Vancouver to SF.
Don't put all your eggs in one basket (SFO). Make use of Seattle, Portland, LA and San Diego too. Send all Canadian BFs except Vancouver via rail to Prince Rupert and develop the port immediately to support your ops in the North. Note the repair shipyard there.
In SF, A convoy composed of 2*TK, 8 short range xAK and 4 short range DDs is created and sent to Panama. It will be then sent to EC, where it will be used to feed CT. You do not need DDs to escort ships off-map. DDs are precious so once your convoy
is at the map edge, send them back to SFO/LA/SD to escort other important convoys or warships. Expect to have to use your minor warships like AMs and SCs to escort convoys because there will not be enough DDs to go around. Priority for DDs is Carriers/troop convoys/Cruisers/AOs/BBs, in that order.
Still in SF, a large convoy of 9 * Transports, 5*DD and 1*TK is created and set to load supplies. This convoy will be joined by 2*TK and 1*CL from San Diego , and then set to PH.
The 2*BB in Seattle are set to Pierside repairs. Note that the US BB there (Idaho?) has a Jan 1942 upgrade which will coincide with the end of current repairs. Your choice whether to say YES or NO to the upgrade. I would do it because the radar and AA is worth the wait.
Finally, all SS are gathered in 2 TFs and set to PH, with auto Disband there and no refuel. Subs do not use much fuel and should NOT be left in port to be sunk in the first air raid after Dec. 7th. Even if their torps are unreliable, the crews need to gain experience and they
are good for spotting enemy TFs to warn you or a raid or invasion. Send some of the short-range S-boats to Midway, Australia and Dutch Harbour. Send an AS support vessel to each location where you base subs that is not a level 7 port. Make sure you set them to "Do Not Unload" their stock of supplies as
they cannot support subs if they have no supplies aboard. The longer range fleet boats can operate from PH for now, or you can send a few to other locations that have support. Consider Columbo too - the British have very few subs. Dutch subs and their AS support should move to Oz when Soerabaja is no longer safe.
Air Force :
The very first action I do is to send Major Lynch to TRACOM. With his 81 EXP, I think he¡¦ll be more ussefull here than sitting in asquadron in the Eastern Coast.
All Permanently restricted squadron receive new pilotes from Reinforcment pool. Squadron where you only have 1 or 2 planes are not filled at full scale; no need to have 18 pilotes just on 2 planes. Pilotes with more than 50 exp are sent to Reserve pools and replaced with rookies.
They are also all used as training planes with the following parameters:
- P38 / P39/ P40/P43: Training 100% Escort, 1000 ft , 0 hexes
- B17/B18A/B25B/ : Training 100% Naval Search , 6000ft, 0Hexes
- O47/O49 : Training 100% Recon , 6000ft, 0Hexes
I perform the same actions with the Restricted and Unrestricted planes, but reduce to only 50 % training to prevent a too important attrition on these planes which will soon join the front line.
All Non restricted planes from EC are set to SF. No training for them until they arrive to destination.
Search planes in most major coast ports set to 50% ASW at 6000 feet. ASW by aircraft is very ineffective at first because none of the squadrons has much ASW training and because ASW only works after the sub has been spotted by some means (radio intel, attack made by the sub, or
naval search}. Use the aircraft for Naval Search until you can get some pilots cross-trained in ASW. You could set 20% of a squadron to ASW training while the rest search. Naval Search aircraft will sometimes attack a sub, but usually it dives first. This is good because it limits the sub's
own search for ships and it provides warning to TFs that there is a sub in the area. The TFs are then less likely to be surprised by the sub.
Finally, planes from the Saratoga are rebased to Los Angeles and start their training: (60 % Escort, 1000ft) for FT, (60 % Naval Attack, 6000ft) for NB and TB.
At 6000 feet, Dive Bombers and Torpedo Bombers will make a level-bombing attack which does not offer the best chance of a hit. DBs need to be between 10,000 feet and 15,000 feet to make a steep dive-bombing attack which offers best chance of a hit.
Torpedo bombers must be set to low level and using torpedoes to train in NavT attacks. NavB can be achieved by setting them to use bombs at 5000 feet or higher. I prefer to set them below 5000 feet to develop LowNav bombing skill.
You can read up on a lot of this stuff in the "War Room" section with the FAQ for Newbies; http://www.matrixgames.com/forums/tm.asp?m=2260137
Ground :
All units are set to rest, apart the ENG kept to Combat status, and the 2 Units for PH + 1 Unit to Pago Pago changed to Strategic.
Most coast bases are set to Expand Port and Air Field.
That¡¦s all for Continental US ƒº Many other things to do in the rest of the world:
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