Aboard the Red Castle - Erkki(J) vs. Smeulders(A) - no lookin'!

[obvert]

Do you plan to use any reaction on your CVs when you do go into battle? Or try to stay at 8 hex range?

[Erkki]

My bad, sorry. [:(] Took time to remove it as the forums somehow really slow to me today. Every other time I click something it loads over a minute and gives 404 error. Fixed now.

[obvert]

Ahh, thanks.

I think the key for all of this will be how well you can search to see what's coming and know if it is a fight you can enter happily.

[Erkki]

ORIGINAL: obvert

Ahh, thanks.

I think the key for all of this will be how well you can search to see what's coming and know if it is a fight you can enter happily.

Yorktown is down so even with half the KB(5 big ones on their way to Truk where Shoho awaits) its an even fight when it comes to aircraft numbers. Although the Allied CVs are most likely being upgraded atm at Pearl. The Indian Ocean raid should be a fairly low risk one but we might catch some TKs or an xAK convoy at least. I have no intentions of risking my CVs other than 2 CVEs against Dutch LBA quite yet.

[obvert]

Will you set max distance and try to get a one sided strike, or will you go in with reaction and try to get max bomb loads and hope to get first strike?

[Erkki]

ORIGINAL: obvert

Will you set max distance and try to get a one sided strike, or will you go in with reaction and try to get max bomb loads and hope to get first strike?

When the time will come, I haven't decided. Will probably depend on the situation, but if there isnt too much enemy LBA and/or surface units around I might want to get close to make sure all units launch and go in. At least as long as I know I have the upper hand: numbers, better torpedoes and probably better pilots. The way Smeulders has played this campaign so far makes me think hes not going to attack any soon but in the meanwhile, if I can help reinforcing the mental image of Erkki's KB being divided and taking its chances around the map, I'll take it. [8D]

[Erkki]

I'd have a question... I unloaded some fuel (18k) at Rabaul week ago. I refueled the TFs and set all to "do not refuel". Their home port is Rabaul and they dont patrol or anything.

Yet every turn they lose some fuel.... And actually same happens with Shoho TF at Truk!! AFAIK and hopefully no other TF on the map. This turn I disbanded and reformed all those TFs hoping to stop that. Its like if the base hex was treated as open water hex and they required fuel to stay there. TFs at Bedeloab and other islands seem to work normally...

EDIT: OK, situation is this at Truk:

4 TFs present. All set to NO REFUEL, Home Port: TRUK. No patrol zones, no waypoints, retirement allowed.

CVL Shoho TF: loses fuel every turn. Docked!
CL Katori TF: loses fuel every turn... docked!
xAK TF - undocked, doesnt lose fuel
ASW TF of 4 x PB - doesnt lose fuel

This is getting very annoying. At Rabaul, I dumbed 15k fuel and after a week theres only 8000 left!!!

[Erkki]

April 4th


East Indies:

Bandoeng deliberate assault achieves 1:1 odds and over 100 Dutch squads are destroyed with 150+ disabled. We will attack and force the Dutch to surrender as soon as we have their retreat route blocked.

Japanese Ki-43s tangle with Brewsters and Hurricanes over Soerebaja. Despite of the 4:1 superiority in numbers and better pilots we lose 3 Ki-43s and 3 pilots, 2 KIA 1 MIA. 22 Ki-21s fail to hit a single plane on the ground.

South Pacific: An xAK carrying elements of a JNAF AF Bn sunk by an American submarine. At Kavieng, the AO hit 3 days ago burns to waterline: yesterday fires were only 8 but today they were 89 and system damage had gone from 40 to 87 and flotation from 74 to 85. Scuttled. Bah.

Hawaii: Another 5-ship tanker+AMC convoy slips past the submarine screen unattacked, although this one only sailed past 2 subs.

[koniu]

ORIGINAL: Erkki

I'd have a question... I unloaded some fuel (18k) at Rabaul week ago. I refueled the TFs and set all to "do not refuel". Their home port is Rabaul and they dont patrol or anything.

Yet every turn they lose some fuel.... And actually same happens with Shoho TF at Truk!! AFAIK and hopefully no other TF on the map. This turn I disbanded and reformed all those TFs hoping to stop that. Its like if the base hex was treated as open water hex and they required fuel to stay there. TFs at Bedeloab and other islands seem to work normally...

EDIT: OK, situation is this at Truk:

4 TFs present. All set to NO REFUEL, Home Port: TRUK. No patrol zones, no waypoints, retirement allowed.

CVL Shoho TF: loses fuel every turn. Docked!
CL Katori TF: loses fuel every turn... docked!
xAK TF - undocked, doesnt lose fuel
ASW TF of 4 x PB - doesnt lose fuel

This is getting very annoying. At Rabaul, I dumbed 15k fuel and after a week theres only 8000 left!!!

Try on tech forum. Fuel should be used only by HI and moving ships but It can be WAD or glitch i game code.

[Erkki]

ORIGINAL: koniu

ORIGINAL: Erkki

I'd have a question... I unloaded some fuel (18k) at Rabaul week ago. I refueled the TFs and set all to "do not refuel". Their home port is Rabaul and they dont patrol or anything.

Yet every turn they lose some fuel.... And actually same happens with Shoho TF at Truk!! AFAIK and hopefully no other TF on the map. This turn I disbanded and reformed all those TFs hoping to stop that. Its like if the base hex was treated as open water hex and they required fuel to stay there. TFs at Bedeloab and other islands seem to work normally...

EDIT: OK, situation is this at Truk:

4 TFs present. All set to NO REFUEL, Home Port: TRUK. No patrol zones, no waypoints, retirement allowed.

CVL Shoho TF: loses fuel every turn. Docked!
CL Katori TF: loses fuel every turn... docked!
xAK TF - undocked, doesnt lose fuel
ASW TF of 4 x PB - doesnt lose fuel

This is getting very annoying. At Rabaul, I dumbed 15k fuel and after a week theres only 8000 left!!!

Try on tech forum. Fuel should be used only by HI and moving ships but It can be WAD or glitch i game code.

I think I'll do that after this turn. I checked this with Tracker and Rabaul loses 1500 fuel a day - and its most definitely not flowing to other bases but its eaten by the docked TFs. Lol.

[PaxMondo]

I beleive that ships use fuel if they are in a TF. Only if they are out of a TF do they not use fuel. Fuel usage is reduced while the TF is in port, but they still use it. The concept is that while in a TF, they have all boilers lit and are ready to respond to a threat in the port hex. In contrast, ships in port are assumed to be at anchor with only standby boilers.

At least, this is what I recall ...

[Erkki]

ORIGINAL: PaxMondo

I beleive that ships use fuel if they are in a TF. Only if they are out of a TF do they not use fuel. Fuel usage is reduced while the TF is in port, but they still use it. The concept is that while in a TF, they have all boilers lit and are ready to respond to a threat in the port hex. In contrast, ships in port are assumed to be at anchor with only standby boilers.

At least, this is what I recall ...

Why dont those ASW TFs use fuel? Why dont the xAKs? Why didnt they use fuel before I brought there some? Why dont any of my any other TFs at any other base, for example those xAKs that can unload for a week at places like Tassafaronga, use fuel? [&:] As far as I can tell, its just those 4 TFs.

I thought maybe its because one of them was an air combat TF but it certainly did not happen when Shoho was parked at Namatanai for some time. I really am clueless... I made a topic in tech support section.

[Erkki]

PB Hirotama Maru is in a 1-ship ASW TF at Saipan, Marianas. Its home port is Saipan. It is not docked. The ship has "do not refuel" and has sat at its current location since the beginning of the campaign. Tracker shows me that Saipan's fuel levels havent dropped a single unit, and Hirotama Maru is still 100% fuel.

[PaxMondo]

I may be wrong ... be interesting to see what Michael says to your post in Tech support. You should post a save game for him to look at if you haven't already. PM him your password.

[Erkki]

ORIGINAL: PaxMondo

I may be wrong ... be interesting to see what Michael says to your post in Tech support. You should post a save game for him to look at if you haven't already. PM him your password.

I'll first see if he has something else to comment...


April 5th

We lose another xAK near Rabaul to a Wolfpack of 3 subs. Near Hawaii, one more all-xAK TF slips bast the sub screen. [:@] They often get sighted by E14Ys before they penetrate the screen but that doesnt seem to help any. Subs are 12+ hex from Pearl, no Catalina sighting reports for 2 months, and the subs havent engaged anything for at least 1½ months.

[Erkki]

April 6th

East Indies: CVs advance undetected. Koepang invasion D-day minus 6. Surface action units ready in 2 days, CV raiders at station in 3, Perth - Cape Town raiders at station in 4.

South Pacific: Submarine problems again. A Dutch subm boldly attacks Port Moresby directly and sinks a small, empty xAK. ASW TF of 4 escort PBs fails to engage. Wau falls to the Japanese, whats left of 2 the defending Australian rifle companies after 4 battles retreat towards the Owen Stanleys.

IJN Submarines: The West Coast lurker I-26 sights and attacks a convoy with big troop transports but is chased away by 2 escorting destroyers. Progress!

Fuel issues at Rabaul and Truk continue but this turn we only lose 500-ish. Moved Tanaka Sqdn and Mutsu TF to Namatanai and looks like they only used fuel to sail there, 3 hex, and no more. Lol. On the other hand now the ASW TF at Rabaul used fuel to no movement...

[koniu]

Timor invasion should be rather easy. do yo suspect big resistance?

[Erkki]

ORIGINAL: koniu

Timor invasion should be rather easy. do yo suspect big resistance?

I have all the DEI bases still in Allied hands reconed at least once in 2 turns: theres nothing. Koepang has 3 land units and 4 bombers. Denpasar has 4 bombers. Java has 10 fighters and 10 broken bombers. Ambon is empty, Ternate has search planes, Manado is empty.

If they have something left its at Darwin and will react with some delay... Which is why the CVs are there.

[obvert]

Thanks for working on this fuel issue and making it known. I'll have to start being aware of usage as I start bringing fuel to outlying bases.

[Erkki]

ORIGINAL: obvert

Thanks for working on this fuel issue and making it known. I'll have to start being aware of usage as I start bringing fuel to outlying bases.

Yeah well, it could be WAD with the minefields and tenders and other TFs having to burn fuel to avoid getting hit by mines or something... However its not listed in the manual and I havent seen a single forum thread about it.

Even with all Burma and DEI in Jap hands, after heavy industry and fuel required to run the convoys the surplus fuel is very small, probably no more than 1,000/day or less, so potentially losing half of that amount every day just for friendly TFs avoiding minefields and ACMs tending those minefields is very important thing to know. Allies may be swimming in fuel and supplies but for Japanese every ton hurts... [:-]