Slitherine

quote:

ORIGINAL: Canoerebel

Yeah, this is a strategy that might be looking at late 1944.  There may be many good reasons you don't want or need to opt for that strategy - you may be making satisfactory progress in a more methodical way in the meantime, for instance.  But just keep this in the back of your mind.  There may be circumstances under which this strategy becomes more desirable.

Thanks for the clarification, Cribtop.

quote:

ORIGINAL: Mistmatz

What's the AF size for Russel Isl.? These bombardment runs seem to be very effective in terms of damaged planes, which would indicate serious overstacking.

The question is can you keep them up, maybe with bomber raids to nail those frames?

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ORIGINAL: Andy Mac

Look at how high he is having to bomb Karachi - I guess thats the impact of massed flak

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ORIGINAL: crsutton

We use our fighters different and our altitude caps are different (29,000 feet) so that might have an effect on how we see out fighters. But I would have to rate them in this order from best to worst. P47, Corsair, Hellcat, P38, Spit VII, Spit V, P40, Hurricane II, and the lowly P39. But, the P47 is by far the king. Of the next four they are vitrually all the same. One is as good as the other except range is a factor in how I use them.

I almost never use fighter sweeps. With scen #2 and the obscene number of Japanese fighters a poorly coordinated sweep can end up a disaster and I cannot afford to waste planes and pilots. And, I really do not use fighters on normal escort. They just seem to die vs a good CAP. However, what works really well for me is to place fighters on Long Range CAP over the base that my bombers attack. They do much better in dogfights and are there for most all of the multiple bomber attack.

quote:

ORIGINAL: GreyJoy

quote:

ORIGINAL: crsutton

We use our fighters different and our altitude caps are different (29,000 feet) so that might have an effect on how we see out fighters. But I would have to rate them in this order from best to worst. P47, Corsair, Hellcat, P38, Spit VII, Spit V, P40, Hurricane II, and the lowly P39. But, the P47 is by far the king. Of the next four they are vitrually all the same. One is as good as the other except range is a factor in how I use them.

I almost never use fighter sweeps. With scen #2 and the obscene number of Japanese fighters a poorly coordinated sweep can end up a disaster and I cannot afford to waste planes and pilots. And, I really do not use fighters on normal escort. They just seem to die vs a good CAP. However, what works really well for me is to place fighters on Long Range CAP over the base that my bombers attack. They do much better in dogfights and are there for most all of the multiple bomber attack.

Thx CrSutton! Very interesting!
Why 29k ft? What rapresents this number?

Very strange you put the spitVIII behind the corsair and the Hellcat!! in my limited experience they rule the skies with no opposition and once they are flown by experienced pilots, become,more or less, unvulnerable!

Agree with sweeps and escort..... even the best pilots exterminate themselfs once sent to sweep a base or to escort.
Interesting the LRCAP thing! Will try that!!

quote:

ORIGINAL: crsutton

quote:

ORIGINAL: GreyJoy

quote:

ORIGINAL: crsutton

We use our fighters different and our altitude caps are different (29,000 feet) so that might have an effect on how we see out fighters. But I would have to rate them in this order from best to worst. P47, Corsair, Hellcat, P38, Spit VII, Spit V, P40, Hurricane II, and the lowly P39. But, the P47 is by far the king. Of the next four they are vitrually all the same. One is as good as the other except range is a factor in how I use them.

I almost never use fighter sweeps. With scen #2 and the obscene number of Japanese fighters a poorly coordinated sweep can end up a disaster and I cannot afford to waste planes and pilots. And, I really do not use fighters on normal escort. They just seem to die vs a good CAP. However, what works really well for me is to place fighters on Long Range CAP over the base that my bombers attack. They do much better in dogfights and are there for most all of the multiple bomber attack.

Thx CrSutton! Very interesting!
Why 29k ft? What rapresents this number?

Very strange you put the spitVIII behind the corsair and the Hellcat!! in my limited experience they rule the skies with no opposition and once they are flown by experienced pilots, become,more or less, unvulnerable!

Agree with sweeps and escort..... even the best pilots exterminate themselfs once sent to sweep a base or to escort.
Interesting the LRCAP thing! Will try that!!

29k was the max altitude of the P40 so that was the most sensible choice. Viperpol was good enough to agree to it as his Tojos were eating me up.

As for the Spit VIII it really is as good as any other (except) the P47. Remember, you got it at a time when it outclassed any Japanese fighter in the sky and were able to build up some great pilots. You will start to see a lot of George fighters and at the end of 1943 the Frank fighter. Both are good vs the spit. In the normal game with PDU on for Japan the Spit VIII does not appear until about the same time as the Frank for Japan which might explain our different experiences. I do like the spit. The biggest handicap to the Brits is the 16 plane squadrons. The Austrailian squadrons expand to 24 in 1/44 and they are pretty good. Also, I really am referring to the second generation Corsair which has a service rating of 2 and excellent long range with the addition of drop tanks. It really is my most useful fighters because you get 75 per month vs. 50 P47s of which there are never enough.

Until the Frank arrives, the Hellcat is a great fighter and because you get so many you will use it everywhere. The Frank will beat it but it is still useful.

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ORIGINAL: Canoerebel

Yes, they will be enough.  It seems like rader is backing off a bit in the Solomons, and isn't pressing forward in India.  You may have finally broken his will to commit low-quality pilots against ace Allied pilots.  If so, you may have to probe to find some pressure points that persuade him (or force him) to commit assets (ships and aircraft) he'd rather not commit.  As crsutton previously noted, the Solomons give you a great place to do just that.  You should be able to orchestrate a slow, methodical, but irresistable advance under cover of massed LBA all the way to Rabaul.  Since he's already fought so hard there, and with so many IJA divisions isolated, he won't like it one bit.

quote:

ORIGINAL: Canoerebel

If you can grab just one airfield on the India coast, you would be in a position to create havoc.  For instance, if you could somehow take Surat or Goa or Cochin and either land or airlift a bunch of parachute units there, you could then transfer in some transport aircraft and, the next turn, begin a very quick campaign of seizing bases across the interior.  This would threaten rader's LOC.  Of course, he might be wise to this, so he might have garrisons at every base.  Still, it's worth thinking about.  Heck, it doesn't even have to begin on the India coast.  You could try it from North Male Island or Addu Atoll (as long as each has an airfield of adequate size - you might need a level two to support paradrop missions).

I'm not advocating any of the strategies I'm mentioning.   Rather, it's just one way of showing that the mind of the Allied player should be mulling over all kinds of possibilities ranging from a slow and safe methodical advance to tricksy and clever moves that entail manageable risk and high rewards.

quote:

ORIGINAL: crsutton

Yep you might bide your time for a while in India and just aim to hit his airforce where you can. The problem with a direct overland campaign is that it is probably what he wants. A slow grinding delaying fight in India. The option is to try and use your armor and flank him and possibly cut off big chunks of Japanese infantry. Or look for a big flanking invasion attack later on. If you are going to wait and flank then I think you will need to move a lot of armor out of the Karachi area for that purpose. You will really need it elsewhere. But he will of course be aware of it. You could move the armor to Ambion or Aden for a while. Keep him guessing. The problem is that you will need a good port on the map to store ships and troops where he can't snoop. And most of the bases in the Indian Ocean have troops limits.

Of course, there is also the "big solution" Keep enough force in India to keep him busy and then invade Java. If you hold Sabang and points south, you effectively cut off the sea lane to India and Burma and threaten his oil supply. But it would take a massive effort as you will not have Colombo to use as a support base.