Energisteron
Posts: 617
Joined: 6/17/2017 Status: offline
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GAME 2 - The CORAL SEA - Usual caveat about spoilers of course! Ok, I'm going to have another attempt! I will use the same settings as game 1, except reinforcements for the Allies will NOT have +/- 15 day variability. So it'll be against HARD AI again. Right, so what did I learn last time? What mistakes did I make? Can I avoid repeating them? Lessons learnt:- 1. Carrier battles are brutal and deadly. A successful first strike usually kills or incapacitates so that the Carrier is rendered defenceless thereafter. [Last time, Lexington was destroyed as above, but Yorktown did limp away to fight another day because she was at extreme range and attacked in the afternoon, so escaped detection during the night] 2. Concentrate, and concentrate some more! The maximum possible mutually supporting CAP must be maintained by keeping Carriers in the same hex (i.e less than 40 NM apart) or even in the same TF. [[My previous tactic of having 2 Carriers slightly separated so that if one was detected the other might not be, failed spectacularly. However, there was some logic in it. When Yorktown was hit and slunk away, Lexington caused a distraction, as intended, by taking up the offensive. However, on her own she was overwhelmed with ease. This probably means that if I lose one Carrier I have to think seriously about withdrawing the other. So it's the 'Beatty principle', keeping the force in being as a threat is more important than actually using it!] 3. Allied assets, both naval and land-forces, are sparse at best and in any case there are no transports to move them around! So, Port Moresby cannot be reinforced. Consequently, if the Japanese land there they will take the base and almost certainly win. 4. Allied air assets are not so bad, BUT the aircraft are mostly outmoded, land-based, and those bases are poorly fitted out and too far away from the action to offer much support or detailed recon. 5. Hide and seek! Somehow, the Allied player must find the enemy Carriers and strike before they know we are there! Then the enemy Transports can be crippled. [Last time I cheerfully started attacking enemy Transports, not to the greatest effect, gave away my presence and the enemy Carriers hit us while our eyes were looking the other way. All so obvious now!] 6. Tulagi. I have a sneaking suspicion that this place is more important than it looks! Doubtless its float-plane recon can see me coming. So I either keep well away or try to knock them out. But, no runway to destroy so maybe that's not a realistic proposition. In any case, to attack Tulagi would mean revealing my Carriers. Mistakes:- 1. Not concentrating my Carriers quickly enough. (BTW they do start deployed far apart.) 2. Revealing our Carriers' presence by attacking Transports. 3. Not improving northern mainland airbases (not sure that can be done in the time allotted) or at least switching air assets north soon enough. 4. Being lazy and not checking my Recon arcs every day. 5. Doubtless several other things I've not even realized yet! I'll go away and work on a plan. Back soon!
< Message edited by Energisteron -- 9/29/2017 8:19:10 AM >
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