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Mike & Mike - USS America (A) vs. Mike (J) - 3/1/2019 12:39:56 PM

Mike Solli

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Hi guys. I've been itching to start another game for quite a while now. I want to fix some of the mistakes I made in Ted's game and make some new ones.

Mike graciously took me up on my offer. I'm really pleased with that. We've been friends a long time, since way back in the WitP days. We have some house rules that I'll post in a bit.

I'm not sure how I'll do this AAR. It'll probably end up being similar to the other one. We'll see.

Looking forward to this.

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RE: Mike & Mike - USS America (A) vs. Mike (J) - 3/1/2019 1:03:02 PM

Mike Solli

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Here are the house rules & settings:

Realism Options:
FoW On
Advanced Weather On
Allied Damage Control On
PDU On
Historical First Turn - completely up to you as this seems like one of the fun parts to play with as Japan
Dec 7 Surprise On
Reliable USN Torps Off
Realistic R&D On
No Unit Withdrawals Off
Reinforcements - both Fixed

Game Options:
Combat Reports On
Auto Sub Ops Off
TF Move Radius On
Plane Move Radius On
Set All Facilities to Expand Off
Auto Upgrade Off
Accept Air and Ground Replacements Off
Turn Cycle 2 Day Turns - suggest using 1 day for the first turn if you want a Historical First Turn, then changing to 2 day. Otherwise we can start with 2 day.

Preferences:
Combat Animations On
Combat Summaries On
These are the only two that I'm not sure the Allied player can change at will.

Proposed House Rules:

Generally, if it's gamey, don't do it. :)

Blackhorse�s house rules to enforce "Original Intent" for PP�s to transfer LCU�s:
a. Restricted LCUs may transfer to any on-map Corps, Army or Command HQs (only).
b. HQs may not be reassigned from an unrestricted Command HQ chain-of-command to a restricted Command HQ chain-of-command.
c. Engineer-type units, including base forces, can be assigned to any on-map HQs
d.Thai forces can leave Thailand for any purposes to max 4 hexes from the Thai border. Same for Indian troops within 4 hexes of Indian border.

Removed house rule preventing strategic bombing of China/Manchuoko - basically, anyone can bomb industry anywhere.
Removed house rule limiting sweep altitudes.

< Message edited by Mike Solli -- 3/1/2019 2:31:54 PM >

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RE: Mike & Mike - USS America (A) vs. Mike (J) - 3/1/2019 1:28:24 PM

USSAmerica

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Intruder Alert!

Just wanted to wish you a small amount of mediocre luck in our game, Mike!

I'm really looking forward to it and the years of fun we will be having.

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"Good times will set you free" - Jimmy Buffett

"They need more rum punch" - Me

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RE: Mike & Mike - USS America (A) vs. Mike (J) - 3/1/2019 1:32:01 PM

Lecivius

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From: Denver
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Attachment (1)

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If it ain't broke, don't fix it!

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RE: Mike & Mike - USS America (A) vs. Mike (J) - 3/1/2019 2:13:00 PM

Mike Solli

Posts: 15792
Joined: 10/18/2000
From: the flight deck of the Zuikaku
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quote:

ORIGINAL: Lecivius

.

lol, close, but I'm near sighted so those are the wrong glasses, and I don't wear them at the computer. I'm a lot thinner than that guy. My hair is practically white (ain't genetics wonderful!) and I have a full beard.

Edit: I wear jeans and a t-shirt/flannel shirt at work.

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RE: Mike & Mike - USS America (A) vs. Mike (J) - 3/1/2019 2:15:38 PM

Mike Solli

Posts: 15792
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From: the flight deck of the Zuikaku
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Because of some discussion in Mike's AAR about 2nd maneuver band and not bombing industry in China, we most likely are going to scrap both of those rules. I'm ok either way. I guess I really am easy, as my wife tells me constantly.

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RE: Mike & Mike - USS America (A) vs. Mike (J) - 3/1/2019 2:22:26 PM

Lecivius

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From: Denver
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That's not what my wife calls me

I think....I really only listen a few minutes a year.

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RE: Mike & Mike - USS America (A) vs. Mike (J) - 3/1/2019 2:25:06 PM

RangerJoe

Posts: 13450
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quote:

FoW On

Fog of Whiskey, so you are going to be imbibing while you play?

I am now going to seriously try Japan for the first time. I will avidly read this AAR.

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I'm not a complete idiot, some parts are missing!

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RE: Mike & Mike - USS America (A) vs. Mike (J) - 3/1/2019 4:15:42 PM

Lowpe

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Good luck!

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RE: Mike & Mike - USS America (A) vs. Mike (J) - 3/1/2019 4:40:39 PM

DanSez

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Yes, good luck and will be watching closely.

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RE: Mike & Mike - USS America (A) vs. Mike (J) - 3/1/2019 5:21:50 PM

Mike Solli

Posts: 15792
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Thanks guys!

So, what am I going to do differently? Lots of stuff. While Mike has the turn, I'll start mentioning things in no particular order.

Air R&D

Big changes here. Mainly, I'm working on my early, mid and late war fighter plan, which will be somewhat different. It's not set in stone yet, but there are some things I've already initiated.

Overall, there are 77 R&D air factories and 19 operational air factories on 7 Dec.

There are 11 R&D engine factories and 9 operational engine factories on 7 Dec.

It seems to me that the R&D engine factories are critical to the overall success. I screwed it up in my other game, having only 4 R&D factories remaining at the end of 43.

I won't make that mistake again.

The 77 R&D air factories will be split up into 12 groups of 6 and the 5 leftovers. I have set some to 0(30) for what I want to build and will work on others over time as the supply in the Home Islands gets distributed to the important bases. I'll give a detailed list a little later. There were some easy decisions for the early and mid war fighters:

I love the Tojo IIc. That plane easily is relevant well into 43, and even early 44. I'm accelerating that.
I'll keep the Oscar for its range. I don't seem to have much luck with it though. I'll accelerate it somewhat, not sure how many factories though.
I'm skipping the Ki-100 II this time around. They're ok, but not at all what I had hoped.
My goal is to get to the A6M5c as soon as possible for its armor. With drop tanks, it can escort the Jill. I'm accelerating the Rufe to get there the quickest.

The George and Frank are given. I like both and will accelerate both, probably with 12 factories each.

Not sure what else for early/mid war. I need to think about it a little more.

For late war, 12 factories for the Sam, several of which I set up already. I think I'm going to go with the Ki-83 this time.

I need to map out the R&D factories to figure out when to start each type of airframe. Should be interesting.

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RE: Mike & Mike - USS America (A) vs. Mike (J) - 3/1/2019 8:49:29 PM

ny59giants

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R&D factories:

Are you going with Ki-83 or Ki-94 for late war Army fighter?

What about late war IJN? Shinden?

Build you most important fighters in bases that you plan on heavily defending. Might need to spend extra in beginning to get them where you want rather than historical bases.

CW troops:
Focus on mauling and/or destroying the Aussie, Indian, British, Canadian, NZ troops due to their limited support troops for brigades/divisions. There is never enough to go around and this will weaken their overall effectiveness from '43 and beyond.

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RE: Mike & Mike - USS America (A) vs. Mike (J) - 3/1/2019 9:29:57 PM

rustysi

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Joined: 2/21/2012
From: LI, NY
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quote:

I'm accelerating the Rufe to get there the quickest.

I too intend to use this route in my next game.

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RE: Mike & Mike - USS America (A) vs. Mike (J) - 3/1/2019 9:33:28 PM

rustysi

Posts: 7472
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From: LI, NY
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While I'm here...

All I can say is, wow, two games and AAR's to boot. I still can only just manage one silly little AI game.

One other thing though. I don't think I'd like two day turns.

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RE: Mike & Mike - USS America (A) vs. Mike (J) - 3/1/2019 9:37:16 PM

rustysi

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From: LI, NY
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quote:

I love the Tojo IIc. That plane easily is relevant well into 43, and even early 44. I'm accelerating that.

I kept saying this all along. Seemed no one would listen.

quote:

I'm skipping the Ki-100 II this time around.

Don't need 'em if you have the Tojo.

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RE: Mike & Mike - USS America (A) vs. Mike (J) - 3/1/2019 9:38:53 PM

Mike Solli

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I'm thinking the Ki-83 and the Shinden. Both use the Ha-43 engine. You can't beat the range of the Ki-83 even though it uses 2 engines. The thing that turns me off of the Ki-94 is the Ha-44 engine. The only other plane that uses it is the B6N1, which I don't need to build. That saves an engine factory. There aren't many of them to go around. I am going to allocate 6 R&D factories to each of them this month (with more later). I'm already looking at where to place factories. I want to spread the factories out.

Yeah, I read the other post you had on the CW troops. I plan on using paratroopers a lot more aggressively than I have in the other game. I ended up saving them for something special, and that something special rarely happened. I want to use them to cut off enemy troops, primarily in Burma.

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RE: Mike & Mike - USS America (A) vs. Mike (J) - 3/1/2019 9:40:01 PM

Mike Solli

Posts: 15792
Joined: 10/18/2000
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quote:

ORIGINAL: rustysi

While I'm here...

All I can say is, wow, two games and AAR's to boot. I still can only just manage one silly little AI game.

One other thing though. I don't think I'd like two day turns.

We'll see about the 2 day turns. It'll definitely be a different game.

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RE: Mike & Mike - USS America (A) vs. Mike (J) - 3/1/2019 9:46:19 PM

rustysi

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quote:

My goal is to get to the A6M5c as soon as possible for its armor.

Really surprised at your commitment to this airframe, considering you weren't even sure you'd produce it in your game with Ted.

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RE: Mike & Mike - USS America (A) vs. Mike (J) - 3/1/2019 9:49:16 PM

Mike Solli

Posts: 15792
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quote:

ORIGINAL: rustysi

quote:

My goal is to get to the A6M5c as soon as possible for its armor.

Really surprised at your commitment to this airframe, considering you weren't even sure you'd produce it in your game with Ted.

I just wasn't in such a hurry. I've retired just about all the A6M5s there now. Just a couple baby carriers still sport them, until the M5c pool gets built up enough to trade them out.

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RE: Mike & Mike - USS America (A) vs. Mike (J) - 3/1/2019 10:27:17 PM

Lowpe

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Nothing wrong with 2 day turns. It should slow the game progress down a bit, but doesn't really speedup actually running the game if you get my meaning.

Tojo IIc is good all the way thru the game, but think long on hard on how much you want to accelerate to get it. Definitely get the IIa, but then you can have a slower pace getting the IIc since you will have the Frank A very early.

12 factories on George seems excessive.

You will want to build lots of the last generation fighter, something that is very expensive with the Ki83. I suspect you will wish you had a single engine final gen fighter if you make the end game.

Definitely look at dedicated kamikazes, I suspect you will have some great opportunities with them with the 2 day turns.

Look to use paratroopers in China too, especially very early.

Look at anything that gathers intelligence for you: recon, naval search, subs. With two day turns you can really pull of some great ambushes if you get just a bit of forewarning.

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RE: Mike & Mike - USS America (A) vs. Mike (J) - 3/1/2019 11:12:17 PM

PaxMondo

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quote:

ORIGINAL: Lowpe

Definitely look at dedicated kamikazes, I suspect you will have some great opportunities with them with the 2 day turns.

I agree.

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RE: Mike & Mike - USS America (A) vs. Mike (J) - 3/1/2019 11:16:12 PM

PaxMondo

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quote:

ORIGINAL: Lowpe
12 factories on George seems excessive.

12*30 on N1K you should expect to see this plane early '43. You will need a lot of Ha-45's, so plan accordingly.

Getting them this early, I presume you will be pulling KB air groups off and equipping them with N1K's to support early '43 activities. It is an effective tactic as long as the other side doesn't twig to it. 6 - 8 extra IJN fighter groups with N1K's in early '43 can really rip up the allies air force with sweeps. This would also suggest an India adventure?

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RE: Mike & Mike - USS America (A) vs. Mike (J) - 3/1/2019 11:47:45 PM

PaxMondo

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quote:

ORIGINAL: Lowpe
You will want to build lots of the last generation fighter, something that is very expensive with the Ki83. I suspect you will wish you had a single engine final gen fighter if you make the end game.

It is a mark against it. But using the same engine as A7M and J7W does help. And it gives you an escort fighter which you otherwise totally lack. The catch for me is always: what are they going to escort? Such lousy end game IJA bomber choices.
I mean Helen is 4x250, Peggy is 3x250. Yuck!

It does allow you to sweep most B17/B24 bases. And sweeping can really pare down the escorts, so it gives you one more tactic that otherwise you don't have.

Anyway, good luck!

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RE: Mike & Mike - USS America (A) vs. Mike (J) - 3/2/2019 1:36:05 AM

BrucePowers

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Hi Mike. I just wanted to say hi. I will probably not visit your AAR too often if at all. I want to follow the other Mike and I don't want to spill any beans on someone inadvertently if I know too much information.

After My one try at an email game with you guys in the past I really do not want to try another one. I find them too time consuming. I still keep in touch with you, Mike and Bob Trappaso. I had the pleasure of visiting Bob last summer in Virginia and hope to do so this summer.

I wish you well in the game but I will be routing for the other guy

< Message edited by BrucePowers -- 3/2/2019 1:37:10 AM >

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RE: Mike & Mike - USS America (A) vs. Mike (J) - 3/2/2019 2:18:13 PM

Bif1961

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Glad you have found a worthy opponent to practice what we use to call lessons learned. One Brit pilot pointed out at a conference it isn't a lesson learned if you do the same thing again, it is only a lesson observed, and then ignored.

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RE: Mike & Mike - USS America (A) vs. Mike (J) - 3/2/2019 2:33:17 PM

Uncivil Engineer

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Mike - I'm following this AAR because I'll surely learn something. But, I'm totally confused about your engine and airframe plans - would it be possible to post a screen shot once you get them organized?

Airborne ops in China sounds like a good idea, but since you can only drop on bases will there be anywhere to drop? Deep Burma sounds more promising to me.

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RE: Mike & Mike - USS America (A) vs. Mike (J) - 3/2/2019 3:23:42 PM

RangerJoe

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Ankang may be undefended. It is 2 hexes away from Sian. Even if it is occupied, the defenders aren't that good. There are a few bases that don't have much for defense.

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RE: Mike & Mike - USS America (A) vs. Mike (J) - 3/2/2019 8:01:41 PM

rustysi

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quote:

12*30 on N1K you should expect to see this plane early '43. You will need a lot of Ha-45's, so plan accordingly.

I think 12 George factories are too many. I got the plane with six R&D sites in mid Mar '43.

quote:

I'll keep the Oscar for its range. I don't seem to have much luck with it though. I'll accelerate it somewhat, not sure how many factories though.

Its maneuverability is nice too. For what its worth I dedicated two R&D sites to this aircraft. I'm currently flying the IIb in Apr '43. I think the IIIa is up to Apr '44, but would have to check. At any rate with the engine bonus and two factories the aircraft advances to production every 25 days.

quote:

And it gives you an escort fighter which you otherwise totally lack. The catch for me is always: what are they going to escort? Such lousy end game IJA bomber choices.
I mean Helen is 4x250, Peggy is 3x250. Yuck!

Anyone ever develop the torpedo version of the Peggy? I totally neglected it in my game, but lately I've been wondering. I get it that Japan will have a difficult time with offensive strikes late in the game. But wouldn't it be better if any hits were with torps?

Oh, I just had an epiphany. Develop the Peggy(T) from the beginning instead of the PeggyI. Get those up and running. Along with a bunch of Helens at 1K, strike his CV's. I know it'll be slaughter (for my aircraft), but I can fantasize can't I?

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RE: Mike & Mike - USS America (A) vs. Mike (J) - 3/2/2019 8:11:26 PM

rustysi

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quote:

ORIGINAL: Mike Solli

quote:

ORIGINAL: rustysi

quote:

My goal is to get to the A6M5c as soon as possible for its armor.

Really surprised at your commitment to this airframe, considering you weren't even sure you'd produce it in your game with Ted.

I just wasn't in such a hurry. I've retired just about all the A6M5s there now. Just a couple baby carriers still sport them, until the M5c pool gets built up enough to trade them out.

I think I'll still try to use them in tandem with the M5b. I'm not sure how much the difference will be, but it has better maneuverability and a bit more speed. No armor though. Oh well, I'll see.

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RE: Mike & Mike - USS America (A) vs. Mike (J) - 3/2/2019 8:12:08 PM

Mike Solli

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quote:

ORIGINAL: Uncivil Engineer

Mike - I'm following this AAR because I'll surely learn something. But, I'm totally confused about your engine and airframe plans - would it be possible to post a screen shot once you get them organized?

Airborne ops in China sounds like a good idea, but since you can only drop on bases will there be anywhere to drop? Deep Burma sounds more promising to me.

lol, so am I.

I haven't had a lot of time to work it all out. I got the turn yesterday and just sent it back to Mike. I'll post the turn results and should have time tomorrow to work out the air plans. The wife set up to go out with another couple tonight. I have to be social tonight.

I have 3 para units right now. One is headed toward Burma. They'll be used to take Pt. Blair and one is heading to China. The third one is in reserve, for now.

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