Tip - PBY's make great Troop transports!

[Possum]

Hello All
A tactic I just Discovered
Use Your PBY's to Ferry in Engineers and Supplies to Remote locations, to start construction work on an airfield.
Once the airfield is size 1, you can then use C-47's to ferry in more troops and supplies, and B-17's to ferry in supplies too!
Also, want to keep Gili gili from the start of a long campaign?
then send every PBY squadron to Cairns, and have them ferry in the 7th Brigade to Gili gili.
You should have about 1/3 of the Brigade in place in time to oppose the initial invasion.
Also, using C-47's, you can move the brigade in Cooktown to Buna, and the spare Base force in Townsville to Port Moresby. (that asumes that you march the Base force in Chartes Towers to Townsville.)
By doing this you can easilly operate 200 assorted combat aircraft out of Port Moresby, and trash any invasion fleet.
I did this tactic in a new game last night, and succeeded in sinking the Shoho and Shokaku, plus rendering the Zhukaku Hors de combat, in the first 5 days of the Campaign!
All with just the Aircraft Based in Port Moresby.
I had in Port Moresby 1 x P-400, 2 x P-39, 2 x P-40, 1 x A-24, 1 x A-20, 1 x Hudson (100% search) and 3 x B-26. Plus I Got to Keep Buna and Gili gili!
I'm now builing the Guadalcanal airstrip, by ferrying the 57th engineers, and supplies, from Numea, using the PBY's. and it's only Day 10!

[1089]

Originally posted by Possum
Hello All
A tactic I just Discovered
Use Your PBY's to Ferry in Engineers and Supplies to Remote locations, to start construction work on an airfield.
Once the airfield is size 1, you can then use C-47's to ferry in more troops and supplies, and B-17's to ferry in supplies too!
Also, want to keep Gili gili from the start of a long campaign?
then send every PBY squadron to Cairns, and have them ferry in the 7th Brigade to Gili gili.
You should have about 1/3 of the Brigade in place in time to oppose the initial invasion.
Also, using C-47's, you can move the brigade in Cooktown to Buna, and the spare Base force in Townsville to Port Moresby. (that asumes that you march the Base force in Chartes Towers to Townsville.)
By doing this you can easilly operate 200 assorted combat aircraft out of Port Moresby, and trash any invasion fleet.
I did this tactic in a new game last night, and succeeded in sinking the Shoho and Shokaku, plus rendering the Zhukaku Hors de combat, in the first 5 days of the Campaign!
All with just the Aircraft Based in Port Moresby.
I had in Port Moresby 1 x P-400, 2 x P-39, 2 x P-40, 1 x A-24, 1 x A-20, 1 x Hudson (100% search) and 3 x B-26. Plus I Got to Keep Buna and Gili gili!
I'm now builing the Guadalcanal airstrip, by ferrying the 57th engineers, and supplies, from Numea, using the PBY's. and it's only Day 10!

Against a human, you won't have the bases at Tulagi or Lunga on Day 10. Your PBYs will be shot down over Gili-Gili and your transports over Buna, and you will quickly learn that going on the offense at that stage of the game for the Allies is like giving the Japanese player a headstart toward victory.

kp

[doomonyou]

Against the AI it does work, and against ANYONE i always move via road the base force from cooktown to townsville and empty cooktown completely, immediately c-47ing the townsville baseforce up to PM. I also immediately send ships up to take the 808th engineers and that other engie group out of Cairns (?hte northern most aussie town) and snap them right to PM to get the building going hot and fast.

Typically I will also move the two early carriers into PM to create super cap to protect it.

[Raverdave]

Im tried to reinforce PM in the first few days with c-47s against a human player, he simply sent a bombard TF into PM, and shut down the strip in two days, then stationed Zero's over PM as LRCAP, cut my C-47's to ribbons:mad:

What works very well against the AI, does not go so well against a human. A hard lesson learnt:(

[doomonyou]

I also rush every (all of them) submarine to PM to defend the harbor and its environs. With the carriers arrival nearby , I strip the planes off and put them safely in rockhampton or townsville.

they still send in the bombards but you hurt them real bad usually..

[v.Manstein]

Not to offend anybody but I think Matrix should disable transport capabilities for some aircraft. Why having transport planes in the first place then??
The thing with the PBY is a "legal cheat". I know it is there to use it, but I think this shouldn`t be allowed.
This is nothing personal, just an opinion!

[fvianello]

Originally posted by Raverdave
Im tried to reinforce PM in the first few days with c-47s against a human player, he simply sent a bombard TF into PM, and shut down the strip in two days, then stationed Zero's over PM as LRCAP, cut my C-47's to ribbons:mad:

What works very well against the AI, does not go so well against a human. A hard lesson learnt:(

I don't know the game too well yet, but I think that if his zeroes are at LR CAP in PM, they're not protecting his bases and ships.

What about placing your carriers near PM, with air sweep orders over PM, and bomb the new guinea Jap bases with level bombers starting from cooktown ?

[Raverdave]

Originally posted by HanBarca


I don't know the game too well yet, but I think that if his zeroes are at LR CAP in PM, they're not protecting his bases and ships.

What about placing your carriers near PM, with air sweep orders over PM, and bomb the new guinea Jap bases with level bombers starting from cooktown ?

Try this with a human player and your carriers will get slapped, all the IJN player has to do is park his carrier TF just north of PNG, reach down and dish out the pain.....more so in the first few months. "Oh the pain, the pain!";)

The IJN carriers are very leathel (S?) in the first few months.

[Possum]

Originally posted by v.Manstein
Not to offend anybody but I think Matrix should disable transport capabilities for some aircraft. Why having transport planes in the first place then??
The thing with the PBY is a "legal cheat". I know it is there to use it, but I think this shouldn`t be allowed.
This is nothing personal, just an opinion!

V.Manstein, In real life, the PBY, The Hudson, The B-24 and The B-17 were used extensivly in the pacific as transport aircraft. QUANTAS, an australian airline, alone, opperated about 12 PBY's in the transport role in the South Pacific. So using PBY's to Ferry troops around is not a "Legal Cheat", especially if it is easy to counter by using LR CAP to shoot them down.

PS, Matrix, where is the large fleet of QUANTAS flying boats anyway?
I'd expected to see an extra couple of squadrons of QUANTAS PBY's and Empire C's in Brisbane to ferry supplies and troops around with.

PPS, also where are the Inshore Patrol Squadrons?
There should be several of them around too, flying ASW missions around Brisbane, Numea, and Townsville, using Seagull III's, Kingfishers, and Walrus floatplanes.
Oh and the Walrus's based on the Australian cruisers are missing too. They were not removed untill early '44.

[byron13]

Originally posted by v.Manstein
The thing with the PBY is a "legal cheat". I know it is there to use it, but I think this shouldn`t be allowed.

I have to agree. Quantas may have used it as a transport, but I don't see them loading heavy engineering equipment into a PBY. Bodies, yes; equipment, no. For that matter, how do you move base forces with C-47s? A base force has to represent a lot of heavy machinery to build up and maintain an airbase, doesn't it?

[1089]

Originally posted by byron13


I have to agree. Quantas may have used it as a transport, but I don't see them loading heavy engineering equipment into a PBY. Bodies, yes; equipment, no. For that matter, how do you move base forces with C-47s? A base force has to represent a lot of heavy machinery to build up and maintain an airbase, doesn't it?

No. That would be the Seabees or an Engineer unit. The base forces are the people who maintain the aircraft, pack the little peanuts into the foil bags for the in-flight service, and run the baggage carts.

The problem is that Matrix represents them with an Engineer symbol instead of a wrench (or spanner for our friends in Oz), which is the proper sysmbol for such units. So there's some confusion...

kp

[Drongo]

The problem is that Matrix represents them with an Engineer symbol instead of a wrench (or spanner for our friends in Oz), which is the proper sysmbol for such units. So there's some confusion...

Important point of clarification, Aussies use left handed spanners while Kiwi's use right handed ones. Give a bloke down here the wrong type and there'll be hell to pay.

[Sonny]

Originally posted by Drongo


Important point of clarification, Aussies use left handed spanners while Kiwi's use right handed ones. Give a bloke down here the wrong type and there'll be hell to pay.

You guys are great. Maybe I'll go into business making combination right handed and left handed spanners - what a market!

You ought to do like we did when merging with the metric system..... oh no that is a bad example.

[Drongo]

You guys are great. Maybe I'll go into business making combination right handed and left handed spanners - what a market!

Don't forget my %.

[1089]

Originally posted by Drongo


Important point of clarification, Aussies use left handed spanners while Kiwi's use right handed ones. Give a bloke down here the wrong type and there'll be hell to pay.

I have always had trouble keeping that straight. Even harder is when I have to work on electronics from Europe. It's very difficult to obtain a metric ohmmeter here in the U.S.

Nevertheless, the base forces repair jobs were often just keeping the planes from falling apart by tying one section to another, and keeping them clean, so instead of wrenches, they had much more use for gallons of prop wash, and miles of flight line...

kp

[byron13]

Originally posted by 1089

so instead of wrenches, they had much more use for gallons of prop wash, and miles of flight line...

kp

Uh huh. Don't forget the cans of static guard for the radios, the boxes containing thirty pounds of torque.

[Sonny]

Originally posted by Drongo


Don't forget my %.

Hey, it was my idea!!! You can be the distributor for the product.

[pasternakski]

Okay, all you comedians. Back to the subject at hand (after I get done giggling at yer wit, ye roos, ye).

I have no problem with UV's modeling of air transport. For example, you can move the personnel from a base force or construction engineer unit by C-47, but your radar and C-5s are going to sit right where they are until you can bring up boats to load 'em on and transport into the teeth of Betty, Nellie, and whatever else the IJN can muster.

I can see the few dozen Ozzies with their rifles and grenades hopping off PBYs at Gili-Gili, but that's all they get. Anything bigger than a MMG or light mortar ain't coming in that way.

I recently played a PBEM game against a poor soul who thought this was the way to forestall my amphibious assaults at Milne Bay and Buna. He sat there with his popguns trying to hold off my (carrier and land-based air supported with a timely bombardment group to boot) assault troops fully equipped with light artillery and their other usual support weapons. Woo-hoo-hoo. I hope every Yankee dog I play against tries that. The true destiny of the Yamato people to conquer and rule the world will be fulfilled.

-------------------------

I will now proceed to entangle the entire area