Slitherine

quote:

ORIGINAL: Xargun

Another slow day in the war. The night-time air war is ongoing, with nightly bombings of Singapore and Clark Field by IJA and IJN bombers. Not much affect at Singapore yet, but at Clark it has worn the defending fighter force down. I am now cautiously conducting escorted daylight raids on Clark Field - for once she actually shows damage to the airfield so I am slowly surpassing the abilities of the engineers there to repair it. I will slowly convert over completely to daylight raids there as long as my fighter fatigue stays good.

Sweeps over Clark Field are killing more allied fighters than I am losing now.

I spotted an allied TF east of Kwajalein Island two days ago - as before - and vectored in some subs. They arrived and put 2 torpedoes into AMC Prince Henry who was sitting there by herself - not sure why other than perhaps testing my reactions? Another sub ran into AMC Prince Robert 20 or so hexes East of the Home Islands and put 2 torpedoes into her as well. Both were reported sunk.

I just noticed a gaping problem at Palembang and it may be too late to stop it before it strikes. Apparently over the last couple turns (I went back to my saves and looked) Mr Kane has snuck a group of combat units into Palembang from the north. Two of them are now in Palembang and my 'big guns' are 2 hexes away - 4 days minimum travel time. I do have an armored unit at Palembang along with some AA units, but if those enemy units have any strength in them I will lose Palembang before the division can return Not sure how I missed the units when they approached - but I look and there is another one just 1 hex north and it blends in with the name Palembang making it hard to notice without directly looking. Not making excuses, just mad at myself for missing it. I have no one to blame but myself.

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ORIGINAL: Aurorus

quote:

ORIGINAL: Xargun

Another slow day in the war. The night-time air war is ongoing, with nightly bombings of Singapore and Clark Field by IJA and IJN bombers. Not much affect at Singapore yet, but at Clark it has worn the defending fighter force down. I am now cautiously conducting escorted daylight raids on Clark Field - for once she actually shows damage to the airfield so I am slowly surpassing the abilities of the engineers there to repair it. I will slowly convert over completely to daylight raids there as long as my fighter fatigue stays good.

Sweeps over Clark Field are killing more allied fighters than I am losing now.

I spotted an allied TF east of Kwajalein Island two days ago - as before - and vectored in some subs. They arrived and put 2 torpedoes into AMC Prince Henry who was sitting there by herself - not sure why other than perhaps testing my reactions? Another sub ran into AMC Prince Robert 20 or so hexes East of the Home Islands and put 2 torpedoes into her as well. Both were reported sunk.

I just noticed a gaping problem at Palembang and it may be too late to stop it before it strikes. Apparently over the last couple turns (I went back to my saves and looked) Mr Kane has snuck a group of combat units into Palembang from the north. Two of them are now in Palembang and my 'big guns' are 2 hexes away - 4 days minimum travel time. I do have an armored unit at Palembang along with some AA units, but if those enemy units have any strength in them I will lose Palembang before the division can return Not sure how I missed the units when they approached - but I look and there is another one just 1 hex north and it blends in with the name Palembang making it hard to notice without directly looking. Not making excuses, just mad at myself for missing it. I have no one to blame but myself.

Palembang is a x3 defensive hex. If you have a good armor unit there, i.e. a 50 or 70 point AV unit. It should be hard to dislodge with only infantry and support weapons. If he brought down a British or Australian armor unit... well, that is trouble. Disrupt the attackers with airstrikes and hold on.

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ORIGINAL: Xargun

For late war (44 and beyond) what sort of numbers should I be looking at producing each month ? Mostly concerned with Fighters (regular and night) as well as bombers (including Dive and Torpedo). What is a 'usual' month expenditure of these assets including Kamikaze ?

quote:

ORIGINAL: Xargun

For late war (44 and beyond) what sort of numbers should I be looking at producing each month ? Mostly concerned with Fighters (regular and night) as well as bombers (including Dive and Torpedo). What is a 'usual' month expenditure of these assets including Kamikaze ?

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ORIGINAL: PaxMondo

quote:

ORIGINAL: Xargun

For late war (44 and beyond) what sort of numbers should I be looking at producing each month ? Mostly concerned with Fighters (regular and night) as well as bombers (including Dive and Torpedo). What is a 'usual' month expenditure of these assets including Kamikaze ?

I'll take the opposite side and state that planning now is critical, and you decision now influence that to a large degree.

The answer, obviously, is that you want to build as many as you can. How many is going to depend upon you economy size. Seriously. Now, the size of your economy is based essentially upon how much oil you are able to take control of and for how long you control it. Total oil => Total HI => Total Aircraft to be built.

The second thing that drives determination is HOW MUCH do you spend prior to '44? What I mean is that if you build 25,000 Tojo's, that is 25,000 fewer A7M / Ki-84 that you will be able to build.

These are REALLY simplified, but it is still the heart of the analysis.

Now, what do you take? Where is your expansion and how long do you plan to hold it? Yes, you do the plan and then adjust by exactly what you actually accomplish. If you are able to take and hold Calcutta, for example, that can add a lot of oil to your economy as it generally means that Magwe is secure and producing for you. 300/day is a BIG deal. holding it one year is 100,000 oil. That doesn't even count all the resources ....

The last thing that drives your aircraft build is that you must have SUPPLY to actually operate them. Again, spending supply on needless things in 42/43 will cripple you in 44/45 when you need it.

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ORIGINAL: Lowpe

Well done.

What was the moonlight, perchance?

PS: I have put 6-7 sub torpedoes into a CV before she went down. Assume she is still afloat!

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ORIGINAL: Aurorus

Congrats. Looks good. If you saw the Yorktown´s planes on the aviation losses, she is probably sunk. These are rarely in error. If you heard sinking sounds at some point after the sub attack, that is also a good indication. That initial attack set off some fuel, and it looks like the fires increased on the second attack. Even the allies are not going to put out ¨heavy fires¨ immediately outside of port. If she is not sunk, she is in very serious trouble.

Make sure you have good leaders for your divisions at Singapore.

What is the date?

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ORIGINAL: Lowpe

Well done.

What was the moonlight, perchance?

PS: I have put 6-7 sub torpedoes into a CV before she went down. Assume she is still afloat!

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ORIGINAL: Xargun

quote:

ORIGINAL: Aurorus

Congrats. Looks good. If you saw the Yorktown´s planes on the aviation losses, she is probably sunk. These are rarely in error. If you heard sinking sounds at some point after the sub attack, that is also a good indication. That initial attack set off some fuel, and it looks like the fires increased on the second attack. Even the allies are not going to put out ¨heavy fires¨ immediately outside of port. If she is not sunk, she is in very serious trouble.

Make sure you have good leaders for your divisions at Singapore.

What is the date?

Yes - got the sinking noise right after the second sub attack and approximate amount of AC appeared on the 'Destroyed on ground' column in the scoreboard.

Date is early March (3/4/42) and I'm behind schedule - as usual. Not sure what my issue is, but it seems I can never attain the same expansion rate that other players and historical Japan did as well. That is probably my biggest issue - my inability to expand quickly in the beginning.

quote:

ORIGINAL: Xargun


Date is early March (3/4/42) and I'm behind schedule - as usual. Not sure what my issue is, but it seems I can never attain the same expansion rate that other players and historical Japan did as well. That is probably my biggest issue - my inability to expand quickly in the beginning.

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ORIGINAL: Aurorus

quote:

ORIGINAL: Xargun


Date is early March (3/4/42) and I'm behind schedule - as usual. Not sure what my issue is, but it seems I can never attain the same expansion rate that other players and historical Japan did as well. That is probably my biggest issue - my inability to expand quickly in the beginning.

Fast expansion is not an abolute essential for Japanese success. If I had to choose between a fast expansion and one that preserves forces, I would choose the latter every time. The trick to a fast expansion is spending a lot of time on your turns and thinking ahead. You expansion is basically limited by how you use your ports for the first 2 months. Where do I want these APs and AKs... do I need to move troops or equipment and from which port.

Keep all you important ports busy every turn and the docks full: Takao, Samah, Camh Ran Bay, Babeldaob, and eventually Truk, et al. Be sure the docks are filled everyday with ships loading and ships arriving or waiting to load for the next day. If you have no troops to load that day, load up some cargo ships with supplies for the next time escorts are available to move those supplies forward. Also, always think about the size of the port at your destination. Can the ships fit into the port. TFs that are too large for the destination port, break them down when they get there and dock them one at a time. Place the escorts in their own ASW TF and sit them on the port to guard the ships at dock.

Also, get shipping engineers to all your major debarkation points immediately, especially any small port (such as Singora) where you want to unload vehicles and artillery. Also, get shipping engineers to the small ports that will serve as extraction points to pull your forces out of one area and move them forward, such as Butaan or Davao in Mindanao. Troops, and equipment, load very slowly at small ports, such as Davao, without shipping engineers.

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ORIGINAL: Xargun

So my R&D Factories on the Rufe are filling out and converting over to A6M5 Zero. Now I can walk the R&D Factories right up to the A6M5c or the A6M8 and R&D the hell out of it. I have 5 size 30 factories for the Zero line (4 on Z6M5 and 1 still repairing on the Rufe). With current engine production (bonus) I can have the A6M5c Zero in 6 months game time - so Oct 42. Or should I really ramp up engine production on Mitsubishi Ha-33 and go for the A6M8 Zero - which I could prob get around Feb 43 (I have to build up my Ha-33 stockpile to get the engine bonus). I can pound one of these two really early. Original plan was the A6M5c but everyone says the 18mph increase on the A6M8 is much better so should I go hell for broke on A6M8 and have it in early 43? and the Sam a year later ?

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ORIGINAL: Aurorus

quote:

ORIGINAL: Xargun

So my R&D Factories on the Rufe are filling out and converting over to A6M5 Zero. Now I can walk the R&D Factories right up to the A6M5c or the A6M8 and R&D the hell out of it. I have 5 size 30 factories for the Zero line (4 on Z6M5 and 1 still repairing on the Rufe). With current engine production (bonus) I can have the A6M5c Zero in 6 months game time - so Oct 42. Or should I really ramp up engine production on Mitsubishi Ha-33 and go for the A6M8 Zero - which I could prob get around Feb 43 (I have to build up my Ha-33 stockpile to get the engine bonus). I can pound one of these two really early. Original plan was the A6M5c but everyone says the 18mph increase on the A6M8 is much better so should I go hell for broke on A6M8 and have it in early 43? and the Sam a year later ?

I say yes, because it will be a long time before you get Sam, no matter how much you research it. The A6M8 will keep your zeros competitive through much of 43. In 44, you have to be very cagey with your CVs, because they are badly outnumbered and the zekes are not a match for allied naval air fighters. You can switch your 4 Zeke factories over to Sam after you get the A6M8 and you will not lose much R&D on Sam.

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ORIGINAL: PaxMondo

Where are you with the LB IJN fighter RnD? George or Jack? When?

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ORIGINAL: Lowpe

The 5c comes earlier, and is a great 1943 bomber killer. But if you have adequate supply of Georges, and Jacks you might not need it in that role.

The SR1 makes it generally speaking my island antibomber plane until the m8 comes. The 2nd Jack has a SR2 would be my next choice in island defense along with the Ki100-I.

You have to assess your game state and think if you need the 5c for other roles than CV operations.