ADavidB -> Mid-August Assessment (11/27/2005 8:03:11 PM)
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So we're at a lull as of mid-August 1942. Tophat is consolidating his "historical" gains and I am building my infrastructure. This is a good point to give an update on the state of the Allied forces in the Game. My strategy of avoiding unnecessary losses has been paying off nicely and I've got about as good a selection of forces available to me as I could hope to have at this point in the Game. First and foremost, the Victory Points ratio is still at a very manageable level: 13463 Japanese VPs vs. 5475 Allied VPs That's a 2.46:1 ratio. Unless Tophat does something incredibly clever or I do something incredibly stupid I don't believe that I will have to worry about Tophat approaching the "magical" 4:1 VP ratio. And Tophat is not currently threatening to capture any significant quantities of additional victory points. Given that I'm in good shape as far as VPs are concerned, the next thing that bears examination is the forces that are available to me. First, let's look at major naval units. I have the following combat units available to me, with 99% of them in full combat shape: Battleships - 17 CVs & CLs - 9 CAs - 21 CLs - 27 CLAAs - 9 DDs - 140 Subs - 94 I also have hundreds of APs and AKs available, as well as plenty of support ships and auxiliaries. So I can stand up to the Combined Fleet most anywhere as long as I don't allow local Japanese Air superiority. As far as Air Units go, I have the following, which include Soviet air units: Land-based Air - 6084 Naval Air - 786 Even excluding the Soviet units there are still a lot of useful units there. Now, probably only a quarter of the totals are true first rate Front Line air units, but as long as I am careful to bring my air units to bear where they can meet the enemy at one-to-one or better ratios I can maintain control of the air over my territory and forces. The next big step will be to establish a viable long range fighter capability, which I will start to do in the Fall of 1942. BTW - I have also continued to build up a significant reserve of combat aircraft. Here are the quantities of active land-based combat air units along with the reserve numbers for those Allied aircraft that are currently in action both at the Front and in the Rear, not including Soviet air units: Fighters and Fighter bombers: Brewster 339D: 5x16, 3x8, R66 CW-21B: 1x16, 1x8, R90 F4F-4: 7x24, R522 Hawk 75A: 2x16, 1x8, R110 Hurricane II: 19x16, 1x12, 1x8, R271 I-153c: 2x11, R1 I-16c: 3x11, R0 Kittyhawk I: 9x16, R277 Mohawk I: 5x16, R52 P-36A: 3x72, R85 P-39D: 3x72, 3x24, R266 P-40B: 3x72, R93 P-40E: 3x72, 6x24, R71 Spitfire Vb: 7x16, R27 Bombers: A-20B: 2x64, 1x16, R514 B-17E: 3x48, 4x16, R173 B-24D: 5x16, R226 B-25C: 2x64, 3x16, 4x12, 1x8, R423 B-26B: 3x64, R218 Beaufort I: 1x16, R128 Beaufort V-IX: 9x16, 2x12, 6x8, R268 Blenheim IV: 1x16, 2x12, R291 Hudson I: 7x16, 1x12, 1x8, R169 IL-4c: 1x16, R13 SB-2c: 4x16, R21 Wellington III: 4x16, 5x12, R57 SBD Dauntless: 3x24, R1000 Swordfish: 1x12, R81 T IVa: 3x16, R24 So, if needs be, I can sustain an intense air battle for quite some time. But I want to avoid doing so unless I have a good strategic reason or a good opportunity to inflict greater damage on my opponent's forces than he can inflict on my forces. As far as Land units go, I have the following number of units in the game at the moment: INF: 227 ENG: 205 HQ: 77 CD: 50 ART: 34 AA: 26 ARM: 12 Only a handful of units out of that total are isolated and subject to loss, and none of those are important units. As far as Bases go, my buildup has resulted in the following availability of useful bases for the Allies: Ports: L10: 7, L9: 10, L8: 3, L7: 2, L6: 3, L5: 7, L4: 17, L3: 15, L2: 7, L1: 30 Note that I have 17 bases that are big enough to replenish any type of naval vessel, and 47 other bases that can replenish vessels given the right support vessel. Airfields: L10: 6, L9: 7, L8: 6, L7: 5, L6: 15, L5: 19, L4: 35, L3: 21, L2: 15, L1: 23 Note that I have 97 bases from which I can fly level bombers, and an additional 36 bases from which I can fly naval bombers. Dave Baranyi [image]local://upfiles/4267/9405BDE8EB944BCCA674CA86CC123CF5.jpg[/image]
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