Coral Sea Newbie Noobness

[yeknod]

I'm feeling my way into AE playing the Coral Sea scenario - v. enjoyable

One wee little hurdle to cross, well several perhaps..

How am I able to get the Mitchells and Havocs into the game, especially when the IJN sit off E. Australia pummelling my CVs within thier range. If I try to target the IJN I get "LRCAP" warning. OK, I'd probably not hit much if anything but it'd be interesting to try.

I find that after smiting the IJN PM invasion TF the IJN CVs come looking for a fight.. any tips of presevering my CVs other than running away... good to trade blows - probably because I'm not searching too well or not organising TFs properly?

Any tips gratefully recieved!

Yeknod

[spence]

Getting your Mitchells/Havocs into the action is pretty much irrelevant...they almost certainly won't hit any ships even if you bring them down low.

Your ship killers are your SBDs on your carriers. Unfortunately they have to double as search planes too. You can augment their searches with PBYs but not replace their searches with PBYs. A certain amount of supposition is needed to organize your searches properly though. The IJN Invasion Force is coming from Rabaul. Use your PM PBYs to watch them setting them on 80% Naval Search on the bearings of 000-140 or so. Meanwhile set your PBYs at Noumea to 80% Naval Search but on bearings from 330 to 030...if you move the USS Tangier to Luganville though you should stage your Noumea PBYs to there but rotate your searches somewhat to the West: from 270 to 010 or so. You've got one more squadron that sorta makes a reserve: in any case make a guess and restrict its searches to an arc that covers likely places for the IJN carriers to go: from NE to SE off the Australian coast for instance. Bring all the PBYs down lower than 6000 ft (I like 1-3000). Depending on how you are manuevering your CVs you should fly searches with your SBD squadrons on the most likely threat axes for the enemy carriers. Four squadrons on 20% Naval Search can cover a 30 degree sector each totalling a nice 120 degree sector to a range of 8. The remainder of the squadrons and all TBDs should be on Naval Attack with no secondary mission.

[herwin]

ORIGINAL: spence

Getting your Mitchells/Havocs into the action is pretty much irrelevant...they almost certainly won't hit any ships even if you bring them down low.

Your ship killers are your SBDs on your carriers. Unfortunately they have to double as search planes too. You can augment their searches with PBYs but not replace their searches with PBYs. A certain amount of supposition is needed to organize your searches properly though. The IJN Invasion Force is coming from Rabaul. Use your PM PBYs to watch them setting them on 80% Naval Search on the bearings of 000-140 or so. Meanwhile set your PBYs at Noumea to 80% Naval Search but on bearings from 330 to 030...if you move the USS Tangier to Luganville though you should stage your Noumea PBYs to there but rotate your searches somewhat to the West: from 270 to 010 or so. You've got one more squadron that sorta makes a reserve: in any case make a guess and restrict its searches to an arc that covers likely places for the IJN carriers to go: from NE to SE off the Australian coast for instance. Bring all the PBYs down lower than 6000 ft (I like 1-3000). Depending on how you are manuevering your CVs you should fly searches with your SBD squadrons on the most likely threat axes for the enemy carriers. Four squadrons on 20% Naval Search can cover a 30 degree sector each totalling a nice 120 degree sector to a range of 8. The remainder of the squadrons and all TBDs should be on Naval Attack with no secondary mission.

My experience is that you win as the Allies if you nail the invasion convoys, whether or not your carriers get sunk. To preserve the carriers, I do everything I can to spot the heavy IJN CVTF before it spots me. That includes PBYs and LBA on naval search and full submarine coverage of the Coral Sea. If the IJN CVTF closes me, trying to maintain its distance advantage, I charge it--if I can get close enough, I release my gunships to go carrier hunting.

[yeknod]

Thanks for the replies, I'll try out the suggestions.

...nearly fell off my chair when the Wirraways went off on an airport bombing run accompanied by P40s from PM.

Anyway to use the B-25 and A-20s? Naval search again?

[stevemk1a]

I transported the air HQ in NW Australia to Port Moresby to get more air support points (I forget what town it starts out in) then I flew a bunch of extra bombers in to PM and transferred out the next-to-useless Wirraways. As mentioned before, those bombers do have a lot of trouble actually hitting a ship.

[Chickenboy]

I recommend moving the Noumea-based PBYs to Charter Towers or Townsville. They are simply too far out of the picture down in Noumea to do you any good. Bring 'em up to the action.

I'd echo others in getting the Whiraways out of PM. Replace them with one of your fighter squadrons and provide CAP. You can use the B-25s or other short-legged LBs as ASW platforms. You need some help identifying and prosecuting the subs near Townsville.

I'd say that you could really crank down your search cone flown by the PBYs. Realistically, you KNOW that the invasion fleet has to come around the tip of Papua/New Guinea. Working with this in mind, you can narrow down the search cone to 90-120 degrees total (from 30-130 degrees relative bearing ensure that multiple TF sightings ensue.

[yeknod]

Hee, hee, this is fun, swamping the islands south of PM with subs (might station one or two at PM to see what happens), even managed to score a hit on a transport, hit and run tactics with the CVs and then timing Australia, Hobart & Whipple to be in PM when the IJN invasion starts... oops... but then over-confidence and both CVs get too close to land-based aircraft.. and too close to their Romulan-cloaked CVs... bother

Still not able to get the ASW planes to work v IJN subs.. I know they're out there somewhere

Anyway, seems that darting in with CVs, striking, then retiring seems to work best. Toe-to-tow just invites disaster.. though I'm wondering if whether sticking out a few DDs or CLs a hex or two ahead of the CVs as a tempting distraction might encourage something naughty... hmmmmm

[Fallschirmjager]

DO NOT use your SBDs on naval search. These are your better planes and the planes that are going to do damage to the enemy. Instead use your Devastators in naval search. They are nearly worthless making torpedo runs so I put them to carrying bombs and 20% naval search.
Do not waste a single SBD doing anything other than naval attack. To waste even one doing anything else is foolish.