New Mod - Battle for Australia WIP

[JeffroK]

I am doing a mod which starts at 420515.

I have altered the scenario field to show this and all LCU and ships appear to be in the correct place.

However NO SQUADRONS start on map, I havent changed their arrival dates from Scen 1.
they do show as reinforcements with a 2 day delay.

Have I done something silly, apart from the normal?

[michaelm75au]

If groups have a delay date which is before the start of the scenario, it treats them as reinforcements due to some funny way it has to handle date checks due the possible of the group being withdrawn/returning.

If the group needs to start on the map, it should have a delay of 0 to begin with.

[JuanG]

Also, make sure you have a on-map base defined as the 'Home Base' for each side under the 'Scenario' section of the Editor. I made that mistake with a scenario I'm working on and never managed to figure it out until Michael was kind enough to look at it.

[JeffroK]

Thanks michael and Juan.

I suppose it was silly expecteing what worked for LCU & Shipping to work for squadrons.

I'll edit a few and see what happens.

PS  In case someone has ideas to share, I am working on a "Battle for Australia" mod where Coral Sea doesnt workout and the IJA takes Pt Moresby. Midway was a fakeout as japanese intelligence worked out their codes had been compromised and somehow they stripped China, Manchuria, HI etc to get 2 Armies available to invade OZ.

Lots of new units, Tiger Moths, Horse mounted AT Guns, Molotov cocktails and the wharfies providing negative modifiers for unloading the 1st Marine Div  [:'(]

[JeffroK]

Thanks Juan, setting up a home base is vital!!![&o]

Another question[&o]

What is the best way to bring in reinforcements from off map, can I just load a LCU onto a TF and set it on the map edge or is it best to have a map edge base??

[JeffroK]

Background story

By May of 1942 the Allied position in the South Pacific was precarious. Japanese forces had completed the occupation of the Philippines, Malaya, Dutch East Indies and had landed forces at Rabaul, Lae & Pt Moresby in New Guinea.
The Battle for the Coral Sea had ended in a bloody battle between opposing Aircraft carriers, with the US Navy losing Yorktown & Enterprise and the IJN its carriers. The resulting stalemate had been used to advantage by the IJN which landed the Pt Moresby Force which took its objective and either captured its defenders or forced them into the surrounding jungles.
Concerned as to how the USN was in position to attack the Pt Moresby operation, Japanese intelligence feared that their codes had been broken, to test this they proposed a fake invasion of Midway Island at the same time as the real attack on the Aleutians which they hoped would draw the remaining USN carriers north of Pearl harbor rather than into the South West Pacific

With the forces released from the Philippines and being released from China and Japan, the Japanese high command looked at the options it had available before the Allies had time to bring their massive manufacturing capabilities into the area.
Australian land forces had completed their mobilization, though forced to cover a continent similar in size to the USA.Weapons were a mix of modern and old, 25pdr guns were replacing the 18pdr, Brens replacing the Lewis plus 3.7" & 40mm AA guns were coming out of the factories.
In the air the RAAF and USAAF had P40 & P39 fighters, Hudson & B25 medium bombers and small numbers of B17, never in enough numbers.
At sea HMAS Canberra was sunk in the Coral Sea, and while a number of RAN & USN Cruisers and Destroyers were available, no Carriers were within 3000 miles.

[derhexer]

I'd like to see this scenario. The Allies certainly have plenty of space to trade for time in Australia. I'd like to see how the Japanese player could take the resource centers around Brisbane, Sydney, Adelaide and Melbourne.

The Japanese would probably land in Darwin, Perth and around Townsville. The Allies could afford to give up Perth and Darwin. Once the Japanese take these cities they have to advance thousands of miles across inhospitable terrain to the next targets. The Allies fight hard through the jungles and forests of Queensland and flood the Coral Sea with submarines.

IMHO, the Japanese effort would be like feeding their troops into a Cuisinart.

[JeffroK]

Working slowly, I have an IJA force of 4 Divs plus at rabaul and 2 Divs plus at Koepang. I will have to work out the shipping requirements.
Will then flesh out the IJAAF and IJN units, thinking that the Midway KB may have moved south.
 
Aussie CMF units will be at 100% TOE, mobilization was supposedly finished in April 42.
The Local Defence Volunteers (LDV, like Dads Army) will get Bde sized units in major cities and smaller detachments around the smaller cities.
AIF armoured units will each have either 5 Lee/Grants or 15 Stuarts plus their Bren Carriers plus a slow feed of replacements (Thinking about making up the 1st & 2nd Armoured Bdes.)
I have added a lot of 0,0 bases, lots of places to base a defence on.
The RAAF has Bomb/Air Gunnery School(BAGS), Elementary Flying Training School(EFTS), Service Flying Training Scool(SFTS), General Recce School(GRS) units with Anson, Wirraway & Tiger Moths, immobile bases that cant service 100%. Real last ditch effort.
 
The US Army will have 32 Div at Adelaide and 41 Div at Melbourne (Darley camp is about 50 km west) plus support. I have the historical OOB to work with. Some support troops are also set to arrive about 2 mths + down the track, Noumea and Fiji still had to be built up.
 
1st Marine Div will be available about August, in line with the real life availability. maybe 2nd Marine Division as well.
 
The British will release 9th Australian Division (and 3 & 451 RAAF Sqn) early, for a June invasion it would take about 2 mths to get it out of Syria and shipped to OZ. I'm toying with some other British units, maybe a Bde Gp and an Armd Bde. Trying to decide if i should ship them from the map edge or have them arrive at Perth or Melbourne.
 
Problem is not building up the defence too much as I believe the IJA would have struggled to support 6 Divs + that I am using (I'll make sure their experience is good though and give Yamashita a job in charge)
 
I am even contemplating doing an AI script, pretty simple with 2 main thrusts with a few options for each. (Dream on!)

[inqistor]

ORIGINAL: JeffK

What is the best way to bring in reinforcements from off map, can I just load a LCU onto a TF and set it on the map edge or is it best to have a map edge base??

If TF begins on-map it will have random number of cargo (more than 50%, but surely far less than 100%). So, if you want full load for supply/fuel, you should load TFs manually.

Also, if LCU begins off-map it is easier to set its new target. If it is on several ships you should set it for every fragment separately, because weird things can happen when it unloads.