STONEAGE(IJ) VS SPRUANCE(A) 'Why The Allies capitulated'

[StoneAge]

Thank to all who have taken the time to write a note. I have enjoyed the game even when I was trying to do things on a shoe string. next time I may be more aggressive at the start

[StoneAge]

Naval Gun Fire at this message relates to a CD on an island without a base and is static near nagasaki. Problem is it is totally out of supply even though near by bases are overflowing with supply.

COMBAT EVENTS FOR 11/29/44

Naval Gun Fire at
Naval Gun Fire at
Allied Ships Bombarding Fukuoka
Task Force 88 encounters enemy Task Force at 106 , 61
DD Kaede sinks....
Surface Combat TF 88 withdrawing to Yokohama/Yokosuka after combat
Naval Gun Fire at
Low garrison leads to damage and 1 VP loss from partisan attack at Wusih (91, 53)!
DD Sakura arrives at Kobe
28th RF Gun Battalion arrives at Shanghai
Naval Gun Fire at
Naval Gun Fire at
Naval Gun Fire at
Naval Gun Fire at
Low garrison leads to damage and 1 VP loss from partisan attack at Soochow (92, 54)!
Low garrison leads to damage and 1 VP loss from partisan attack at Swatow (81, 62)!
E No.47 arrives at Tokyo
Saeki Ku T-1 arrives at Tokyo
Tateyama Ku T-1 arrives at Tokyo
Yokosuka Ku K-1 arrives at Tokyo
954 Ku T-1 arrives at Tokyo
K-702 Hikotai arrives at Tokyo
T-4 Hikotai arrives at Tokyo
15th Sentai arrives at Tokyo
17th Sentai arrives at Tokyo
21st Sentai arrives at Tokyo
28th Sentai arrives at Tokyo
71st Sentai arrives at Tokyo
75th Sentai arrives at Tokyo
244th Sentai arrives at Tokyo
68th Ind. AA Battalion arrives at Asahikawa

[StoneAge]

1 Month left woohoo at the moment my turns consist of open game what allied bombing save game send back. 20 mins playback 1 min turn = 21 min in total. I have stood down all planes in the hope of one last attack the day before the game finishes.

COMBAT EVENTS FOR 12/01/44

Task Force 76 encounters enemy Task Force at 106 , 61
Surface Combat TF 76 withdrawing to Osaka/Kyoto after combat
Japanese Ships Bombarding Miyake-jima
Allied Ships Bombarding Fukuoka
Allied Ships Bombarding Fukuoka
Allied Ships Bombarding Fukuoka
xAK Otsuyama Maru sinks....
Naval Gun Fire at
Naval Gun Fire at
Naval Gun Fire at
DD Nara arrives at Maizuru
39th Army arrives at Tokyo
Low garrison leads to damage and 1 VP loss from partisan attack at Foochow (86, 60)!
xAKL Hsin Yang Maru arrives at Nagoya
55th Air Division arrives at Tokyo

[StoneAge]

Most new Japanese Destoyers last about 2 days from launch the E's last longer as the allied planes seem to leave them alone and when they do attack them they just don't seem to get hit

COMBAT EVENTS FOR 12/03/44

Task Force 61 encounters enemy Task Force at 106 , 61
Surface Combat TF 61 withdrawing to Kobe after combat
Task Force 76 encounters enemy Task Force at 106 , 61
ML G-407 sinks....
Task Force 88 encounters enemy Task Force at 102 , 62
Surface Combat TF 88 withdrawing to Yokohama/Yokosuka after combat
Task Force 83 encounters enemy Task Force at 102 , 62
DD Sakura sinks....
CDR Hanaya, A. has been KILLED
Task Force 86 encounters enemy Task Force at 106 , 61
ML G-405 sinks....
LT Okura T. has been KILLED
Task Force 88 encounters enemy Task Force at 103 , 65
Surface Combat TF 88 withdrawing to Yokohama/Yokosuka after combat
DD Kiyoshimo sinks....
CPT Yamada, Yuji has been KILLED
Low garrison leads to damage and 1 VP loss from partisan attack at Swatow (81, 62)!
E Inagi arrives at Tokyo
45th Ind. AA Battalion arrives at Osaka/Kyoto
ML G-408 sinks....
LT Matsuyama W. has been KILLED
Search E7K2 Alf destroyed by CAP
Low garrison leads to damage and 1 VP loss from partisan attack at Wenchow (89, 58)!
E No.81 arrives at Tokyo
120th Division arrives at Heijo

[StoneAge]

COMBAT EVENTS FOR 12/05/44

Low garrison leads to damage and 1 VP loss from partisan attack at Soochow (92, 54)!
16th I.F.Chutai Det arrives at Ominato
92nd Field AA Battalion arrives at Changchun
27th Ind. AA Battalion arrives at Tokyo
67th Ind. AA Battalion arrives at Asahikawa
Low garrison leads to damage and 1 VP loss from partisan attack at Foochow (86, 60)!

[StoneAge]

COMBAT EVENTS FOR 12/07/44

Task Force 21 encounters enemy Task Force at 106 , 61
Surface Combat TF 21 withdrawing to Kobe after combat
Task Force 35 encounters enemy Task Force at 106 , 61
Surface Combat TF 35 withdrawing to Kobe after combat
Task Force 87 encounters enemy Task Force at 106 , 61
Surface Combat TF 87 withdrawing to Kobe after combat
Search E7K2 Alf destroyed by CAP
Search E7K2 Alf destroyed by CAP
Low garrison leads to damage and 1 VP loss from partisan attack at Swatow (81, 62)!
951 Ku T-4 arrives at Nagasaki/Sasebo
xAK Hofuku Maru sinks....
CPT Sada, Y. has been KILLED
Iloilo expands airfield to size 3
Balikpapan expands fortifications to size 6
26th Sentai Det B arrives at Tokyo
65th Sentai arrives at Tokyo
5th Medium Mortar Battalion arrives at Tokyo

[StoneAge]

Here is Japans tail of woe:

Navy: down to basic non combatants: CL bait
Airforce: out of planes - skill level still OK - Tokyo airgroup is what all cities look like

Points total way up there

[StoneAge]

I have come up with a new plan



In my next game I will pull as many pilots out of the replacement pool as I can. I don't see the value of lossing 78645 of HI every month to this impossed penalty.

To me it looks like if you don't have the full amount of HI avaliable you get no skill gain but still pay the penalty. (5 HI per pilot at the start of every month) Where if you pull them into a unit they will gain exp without the cost and save a packet of HI at the same time

so overstack those sentai with every pilot you can get your hands on.

[StoneAge]

First off, my commendations for sticking through your AAR. Great courage. Like to hope I would as well, but what a test.

Referring to your last post about the pilot pools, what monthly replacement rate do you think IJN/IJA need in '44? How about '45?

Appreciate your inisghts on this. Thanks!

Pax

For all of 44 I lost about 1 pilot for every 2 to 3 planes sent into the fight in fighter sentai. This was mainly due to being on the defence (CAP) and a lot of pilots crash landing on their home base. 1 thing that was destroying many of my fighters was the ultra high sweep combined with the ground radar not working bug, caused many fighter planes to be shot down trying to come up to meet sweeps. I lost some of my most exp pilots this way.

The biggest problem will be with your search/recon pilots they seem to die at an alarming rate. I was loseing as many as 10 a day, even with pilot skills in the 80's

Japanese Bombers are a joke and if you try to protect them expect to loss 50% of your escorts as well. Escorting bombers does not stop plane losses just moves them from your bombers to fighters.

As to how many pilots you will need depends on your strategie. You can sit back and build a massive bomber force 1000+ Planes, But this is a one off gamble and you need to make sure you use it correctly. (it is very hard to get trough a 400 plane cap) Once he has carrier's coming out the wazoo you are in real trouble. (death and destruction where ever he goes)

The other choice go for fighters very early and build like mad and try and hold him off. (mass fighters do hurt bombers, don't expect to shot them down but high ops is a kill just the same) In 44 I was loseing 25 to 50 planes a 2 day turn and that was without him going after the airfields. once the patch fixed the radar this was closer to 20.

So working on 20 a 2 day turn x 15 turns 300 planes a month devide this by 3 for the number of planes lost per pilot = 100 new fighter pilots a month. even if I went to 1 for 1 that is still only 300 pilots a month (training them up to a good level quickly is the key to their survival)

With the current replacement rate I would have 500 pilots extra a month.

[PaxMondo]

Thanks for the insight ... appreciate your numbers here.  So ideally, you would want to start tapering off pilot replacements in '44 (takes a full year to go through the training) and then in '45 cut it almost to zero.  Coming into '44 for Scen #1, IJ would have almost 13000 pilots (1095 * 12) in training (not counting pool).  Based upon your experience, that is already more that you will need for the balance of the war.
 
As you say, a huge HI burden ....