Wow, great info there. Looks like we won't be seeing WitP in time for Christmas - maybe by my birthday? (April)......

It's really good to see all of the time & effort (and the love) that these guys put into their game........

A mk15 torpedo from a destroyer.....since I had 15 of them (destroyers I mean), they managed to put 3 into Nagato's tough hide. She went down right after the last volley.

<t>Actually, it was a head-to-head duel. No surprise, no one crossed the T. They just looked each other right in the eye & proceeded to blow the crap out of each other.<br/>
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Lucky for Norman (and me!) that he got the better of the fight and both sides hung in there for all twelve rounds....it ...

<t>Just had a wonderful encounter with a Japanese bombardment task force at Lunga. They brought 2 BB's (Nagato & Mutsu), and 8 Destroyers - while I had one Heavy Cruiser (the Pensecola), one light cruiser and seventeen destroyers (almost my entire surface fleet at the time).<br/>
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Up to this ...

<t>I think Mogami came up with a listing for the upgrades for Allied Ships.<br/>
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As far as the committment level goes, there is a tonnage formula used by the system to determine how likely you are to get additional ships released. It varies by date, by % committment level set at the beginning ...

<t>1) Hexes are 30 miles wide, leaving quite a bit of room to hide in (think of the total square mileage - its a lot of sea out there).<br/>
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2) There were not many sub on sub engagements during the war - and I don't think they are modeled.<br/>
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3) The loss of fuel is related to all of ...

<t>You should bypass Shortlands entirely & take Bonis (or any of the other bases on that island). You can leap frog from their, build up your medium bomber bases & then use them to hammer Rabaul.<br/>
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If might have to pay a price in damaged & sunk transports (since you might be out of friendly ...

Now that's funny

<t>Actually, the Japanese player with have three to four prongs to worry about:<br/>
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1) SWPAC - Solomons, New Guinea & beyond<br/>
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2) SOPAC - Mid Pacific Offensive<br/>
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3) Indian Ocean, SE Asia & Java - a British Offensive from India through Burma & possibly Air/Sea offensive back ...

Depends on the class - but I usually see about 15 - 20 Sys, 20 - 30 Flt & 15 - 30 Fire (but sometimes none too). For a warship, its usually not enough to make me go away - as I've got plenty of ships (on the US side) to replace it.

<r>With FOW you both won't know for sure - but from both of your perspectives' how badly have each of you been hurt in the capital ship category - we know the American carrier fleet was decimated, & that the Japanese BB force has been hit rather hard....<br/>
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Where do you think you both stand ...

<t>You're going to need a lot more than a couple of divisions to take Rabaul that early. Since you took Shortlands so early, the AI will stack Rabaul with just about every combat unit coming down from Truk. I attempted the same assault (bypassing Bonis & Buka) around the same time with 25,000 men ...

<t>The Yamatos were beautiful ships to look at (not necessarily designed well internally), but had that kind of streamlined aggressiveness that all battleships should have.<br/>
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The Iowas fit into the same category. They look like what battleships should be, big, mean, but still really, really ...

Unless I'm in a desperate supply situation, I almost never pay attention to the fatigue levels of my transport squadrons. I usually have all of them making missions every day, never falling below 12 operational aircraft (out of 16).

The near misses were almost as good as hit on the Yamato - both ships (Y & M) were constructed with too little flexibility in their armor design, meaning that near misses were almost able to shake the ships apart, causing flooding & structural issues during the attacks.

<t>Destroyers were originally called "Torpedo-boat Destroyers" and were designed to screen the larger warships from torpedo boats (and eventually submarines). A submarine will take the best shot it can get - they will attempt to go after the big guys, but if a destroyer gets in the way or attempts ...

<t>In all of my games, the AI seems to have a hard-on for Shortlands, sending any and every ground unit it has there, even as I bomb the hell out of it from Lunga & Vila/Munda. I once landed there and found over 40,000 infantry & 40,000 support/non-combat personnel.<br/>
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I have found it easier ...

<t>Good choice avoiding Shortlands. The AI tends to cram it full of infantry very early on, making it a very tough nut to crack, especially if its supplied & Rabaul's Bettys and Nells still pose a threat.<br/>
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I leave it alone until near the end, when I can spare a few divisions to mop it up ...

<t>Rule of Thumb for sending or keeping ships in theater -<br/>
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1) Carriers - if you need them, keep them until the system damage is in the mid-20's or higher. Over 35 or so, send them back to Pearl or Japan.<br/>
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2) Battleships - they take a licking and keep on ticking. I usually keep ...

<t>As the USN, especially early in the game, it pays to hold on to your carriers unless sys damage goes well above 20 or so. You don't see major carrier reinforcements until early 1943 - and having an extra carrier or two that can be thrown into the fray early (especially once the desperate surfaces ...