Alfred
Posts: 6685
Joined: 9/28/2006 Status: offline
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quote:
ORIGINAL: Chickenboy quote:
ORIGINAL: Alfred (c) position your CVs 1 hex south east of Nadi with fighter range limited to 1 hex Disagree strongly, Alfred. This would put his CVs within striking range of IJN carrier aircraft, SCTF interdiction and possibly Netty activity out of Noumea (depending on retreat pathway). Bad idea for placement, particularly with their weakened air complement. We'll just have to agree to disagree on this one as I think 1 hex south east of Nadi is perfect. The object of the exercise is to cripple Japanese offensive power in the Pacific. In the specific circumstances applicable to this game at this moment in time, that means destroying land maneouvre units and sea lift capacity. Destruction of the enemy carriers only fits into this imperative if all 4 are sunk off Fiji. As that is not possible it is immaterial if the Allies lose all 3 carriers provided the invasion force is destroyed. Reasons follow. 1. The Allied carrier force is inferior to the LYB carrier force. The 30 carrier strike aircraft will not destroy all 4 enemy carriers. Plus there is no meaningful land strike aircraft forthcoming from Suva to improve the weight of the strike package. 2. There is no meaningful Allied fighter strength available on Fiji to provide meaningful LRCAP over any Allied vessels contesting the landing. Thus the Allies are left with only the 69 Wildcats embarked on the 3 Allied carriers. That number is too few to simultaneously provide (a) LRCAP over SAG, (b) CAP over the carriers, and (c) escort the strike package against the LYB carriers. 3. Bettys from either Noumea or Luganville will be flying without Zero escorts and would first have to decide to bypass the Allied SAG contesting the Nadi landing before striking at the Allied carriers. There is therefore a chance they would only strike at the SAG which would have some LRCAP protection to shoot down the unescorted flying lighters. 4. Any damaged Allied carriers/escort ships will make Suva port. If necessary there is no impediment to them retreating due east towards Samoa. 5. One of the Allied carriers is British. IMHO it makes good sense to use them to draw upon themselves the LYB carrier strikes as my recommendation is for all Allied fighters to be on 100% CAP/LRCAP limited to a 1 hex range. 6. By putting the Allied strike package on a 1 hex range they will not strike at the enemy carriers. Even without Allied fighter escorts, this leaves them open to strike at the enemy transports at Nadi because enemy carrier Zeros are probably not tasked to LRCAP the beach. If on the other hand there are zeros so tasked to protect the beach, there will be fewer Zero escorts to accompany the enemy strike package against the Allied carriers. 7. It is a reasonable assumption that the LYBs have brought everything they can to invade Nadi. Hence the benefit of destroying this landing. By themselves the enemy carriers do not constitute a strategic threat. Without owning bases in Fiji and Samoa, in the future they can only raid and be met by Allied LBA. That is not a good return on investment/risk reward. 8. To Cap Mandrake's concern about a LYB landing behind the lines at Suva should he move to the sound of the guns at Nadi, I don't think that is really a valid concern. Fiji is not like New Caledonia. Firstly there are Allied bases closer to Fiji and than there were to New Caledonia, this allows for easier rotation of Allied naval units. Secondly, the enemy has fewer available resources (evidenced by no enemy surface TFs to bombard/accompany the Nadi landing plus no nearby airfields to launch escorted strike aircraft). Yes the Allied carriers would be in some danger but they are quite expendable if the enemy sea lift capacity and land maneouvre units are destroyed. It will be many months before a powerful Allied carrier force can be put together to confront the LYB carriers. That possibility is not really improved by hiding the 3 Allied carriers from the current Fiji invasion. Alfred
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