Once Again into the Breach - Mike (J) vs. tc464 (A)

[jrcar]

It is a challenge, fill up the units at the start, even with poor pilots, they live and learn... or not. Get the pilot training in shape and in a couple of months you will have enough, then a small surplus. We go for 70 in the main skill and 60 defensive. Hope for experiance around 45-53.

ORIGINAL: Mike Solli

ORIGINAL: jrcar

I suggest syu will need about 120 Zero. 150-200 Oscar and around 200 Tojo plus the research factories working on the next model. Otherwise your airforce will be unable to grid the Allies down and if you don't they will be on the attack in late 1942.

cheers

Rob

Geez, that many?! How the hell do you ever train enough pilots?

[Chickenboy]

ORIGINAL: Mike Solli

ORIGINAL: PaxMondo

That's 18 R&D factories, so what are you going to do with the other 60? [:D] Pinochle? [&o][&o][&o]

Give me a break. [:D] I'm the conservative one who never played with PDU on before. I'll get there. Do you guys really increase all your R&D factories to 30 immediately? [X(]

No. Some of us bork our research irreparably in the first two months of the war and then figure it out when it's way too late...

[ny59giants]

If you are playing with one of the relatively newer beta patches, you can switch your R&D to "NO" for Upgrade so it never goes into production and can be used for R&D only. I messed this up with my Tojo, so I'm having to spend extra supply to fix it. I'm glad I'm playing Scenario 2 as Japanese newbie so it not so painful when I make production errors.

Engine - while looking at what airframes to produce, you have engines to look at more closely.

Aichi Ha-60 has three factories and since these are for the Judy airframes, the two smaller ones can be converted to....

Kawasaki Ha-60 has one factory for the Tony airframes. Besides the Tony not being a significant upgrade over the Tojo and/or Frank, I think I would not produce the Tony and use the factory for....

Nakajima Ha-5 is for Sally and Topsy I, so that single factory could be used for ....

[Mike Solli]

ORIGINAL: Chickenboy

ORIGINAL: Mike Solli

ORIGINAL: PaxMondo

That's 18 R&D factories, so what are you going to do with the other 60? [:D] Pinochle? [&o][&o][&o]

Give me a break. [:D] I'm the conservative one who never played with PDU on before. I'll get there. Do you guys really increase all your R&D factories to 30 immediately? [X(]

No. Some of us bork our research irreparably in the first two months of the war and then figure it out when it's way too late...

[:D] I think I'll take it easy with the R&D factories....

[PaxMondo]

ORIGINAL: Mike Solli

ORIGINAL: Chickenboy

ORIGINAL: Mike Solli




Give me a break. [:D] I'm the conservative one who never played with PDU on before. I'll get there. Do you guys really increase all your R&D factories to 30 immediately? [X(]

No. Some of us bork our research irreparably in the first two months of the war and then figure it out when it's way too late...

[:D] I think I'll take it easy with the R&D factories....

Understood, but I was hoping to watch you navigate this. I have a plan ... and it has me tight on supply throughout '42. As you noted, 70 x 30 => 2.1M supply commitment to get ALL of the R&D factories at optimal. I have NO idea if I can pull this off yet. Vagaries of war etc etc etc.

Still, gonna watch this with great interest.

[Mike Solli]

Michael, the Ha-5 factory is already something else. I've been eyeing the Ha-60 factories. I plan on updating my plane/engine spreadsheet to see where the needs are. I'll do the engine factory conversions probably later this weekend.

Thanks.

[Mike Solli]

ORIGINAL: PaxMondo

Understood, but I was hoping to watch you navigate this. I have a plan ... and it has me tight on supply throughout '42. As you noted, 70 x 30 => 2.1M supply commitment to get ALL of the R&D factories at optimal. I have NO idea if I can pull this off yet. Vagaries of war etc etc etc.

Still, gonna watch this with great interest.

I'm curious to see if the 19 factories will actually have a noticeable impact on the supply. Some of them are for airframes that are still pretty far out. They won't repair very quickly. Fortunately, all of my operational plane factories are finished expanding. There actually is very little that is expanding right now. I'll give it a few days and see what the numbers look like.

[PaxMondo]

ORIGINAL: Mike Solli

ORIGINAL: PaxMondo

Understood, but I was hoping to watch you navigate this. I have a plan ... and it has me tight on supply throughout '42. As you noted, 70 x 30 => 2.1M supply commitment to get ALL of the R&D factories at optimal. I have NO idea if I can pull this off yet. Vagaries of war etc etc etc.

Still, gonna watch this with great interest.

I'm curious to see if the 19 factories will actually have a noticeable impact on the supply. Some of them are for airframes that are still pretty far out. They won't repair very quickly. Fortunately, all of my operational plane factories are finished expanding. There actually is very little that is expanding right now. I'll give it a few days and see what the numbers look like.

I suspect you will only be repairing 3 - 5 /day. Little to no impact on your supply as you make over 20K/day so you will gain good supply each day.

[Mike Solli]

15 Jan 42

Sub War

Another of my subs missed a US DD off Sydney and the DD wasted some DCs on her.

5 Fleet

Nothing new to report.

4 Fleet

Nothing new to report.

SE Fleet

Ted believes I already moved the Soryu out of Rabaul harbor. Her sys damage will be completely repaired in 3 days. Then I'll move her to Truk and then to the Home Islands.

Another A-24 was shot down by Zeros over Buna. I'll take Buna tomorrow.

Rabaul's port reached level 4. Now I'll work on the airfield to get it to level 7.

Philippines

Nothing new to report.

China

I tried a SA against Tsiaotso, and it was unsuccessful. I just don't have enough force there. The 1:2 attack cost me 1701(11) to 345(2) Chinese. Ouch. I really don't need to take the town right away. Chengchow and Loyang are almost surrounded. Just one more hex.

The AVG met more Nates and Zeros over Hankow. For the loss of 1 Nate and 1 Zero (both pilots killed unfortunately) they shot down 3x H81-A3s. That squadron is slowly being whittled away.

Burma

I took Tongoo in a 3:1 DA for no losses to 57(7) losses to the AVG AS unit.

The 33 Division finally reached Moulmein. It's heading toward Rangoon. There is a string of units behind it that should be arriving over the next few days. Finally we can get this going.

Malaya

Nothing new to report.

[Mike Solli]

ORIGINAL: PaxMondo

ORIGINAL: Mike Solli

ORIGINAL: PaxMondo

Understood, but I was hoping to watch you navigate this. I have a plan ... and it has me tight on supply throughout '42. As you noted, 70 x 30 => 2.1M supply commitment to get ALL of the R&D factories at optimal. I have NO idea if I can pull this off yet. Vagaries of war etc etc etc.

Still, gonna watch this with great interest.

I'm curious to see if the 19 factories will actually have a noticeable impact on the supply. Some of them are for airframes that are still pretty far out. They won't repair very quickly. Fortunately, all of my operational plane factories are finished expanding. There actually is very little that is expanding right now. I'll give it a few days and see what the numbers look like.

I suspect you will only be repairing 3 - 5 /day. Little to no impact on your supply as you make over 20K/day so you will gain good supply each day.

If that's the case, I'll do another 15-20 factories in a few days. That would be nice. I really want to start the Franks and add 3 more factories to the Tojos.

[awaw]

Little to no impact on your supply as you make over 20K/day so you will gain good supply each day.

How much surplus supply do you guys generate in Honshu over a month? I am working on a surplus 250k supply/mth and straight to 42/6, all my supply is tied up with not much spare for research aircraft

[Mike Solli]

ORIGINAL: awaw

Little to no impact on your supply as you make over 20K/day so you will gain good supply each day.

How much surplus supply do you guys generate in Honshu over a month? I am working on a surplus 250k supply/mth and straight to 42/6, all my supply is tied up with not much spare for research aircraft

Honshu grosses 567k supply a month. No clue how much is consumed internally. I'd say 250-300k is a good figure to work with. You have to keep an accurate count of supply. I do it daily.

[PaxMondo]

You should generate just over 20K/day supply in the HI. So, with no factory expansion, that's +600K/mo. If you are at 250K/mo, you're expanding 35 factories of some type (NSY, VEH, HI, ...) or shipping out 350K supply to your armies. The trick is to get all this done and NOT starve your army during its time of conquest. [;)]

EDIT: my number includes the major islands as they are connected (except Hokkaido) and the supply/resources flow freely.

[Grfin Zeppelin]

Geez I daily look at Tokio, if it rises its good if it drops its bad. I also tend hoard them in a few cities just in case. I also dont use tracker and thelike, to much numbers. I have however a good hand in logistics and building so it works.

[PaxMondo]

Mike, thumb in the wind estimate of factory repair: % to repair = 1/(number of months to factory converts to production).

So if you are one month away, you will convert one factory point per day until your factory is fully repaired. If it is two months out, you will repair roughly point every other day. etc. As the date gets farther out, I'm not sure this holds up so well. But it is something to plan supply usage against.

So you have 19 factories set up for R&D. Most of them are for ac that will come on line in 4 - 6 months. So, you will repair something like 3 factories per day ... maybe a bit better. The Helen's faster as they are closer, the Zero's not quite as fast ...

[ny59giants]

Ted believes I already moved the Soryu out of Rabaul harbor. Her sys damage will be completely repaired in 3 days. Then I'll move her to Truk and then to the Home Islands.

Place her in an Escort TF with 4 to 6 DDs with Cruise speed. Then, another TF that has loaded a Naval HQ and an AR in the TF and order it to follow her to Japan at a distance of two hexes. In case you have to pull into a port in the Marianas or somewhere due to rapid increase in flooding, you have what you need with you. It may be overkill, but better safe than sorry.

[PaxMondo]

ORIGINAL: ny59giants

Ted believes I already moved the Soryu out of Rabaul harbor. Her sys damage will be completely repaired in 3 days. Then I'll move her to Truk and then to the Home Islands.

Place her in an Escort TF with 4 to 6 DDs with Cruise speed. Then, another TF that has loaded a Naval HQ and an AR in the TF and order it to follow her to Japan at a distance of two hexes. In case you have to pull into a port in the Marianas or somewhere due to rapid increase in flooding, you have what you need with you. It may be overkill, but better safe than sorry.

Good idea. I usually use the AR. Never thought to add a source of NavSupport.

[Mike Solli]

16 Jan 42

Sub War

The I-169 down off Sydney was the target today, twice. First an AM dropped a bunch of DCs. Then she wasted 2 more torpedoes on a US 4 stacker who then dropped a bunch of DCs on her. Fortunately, no damage. She's moving east 5 or 6 hexes to patrol out there.

5 Fleet

Nothing new to report.

4 Fleet

Nothing new to report.

SE Fleet

I took Buna. I also identified an IJA BF that will head to Lae. It loaded yesterday. That'll eventually give me some radar down there. I noticed that Ted stationed a squadron of fighters at Pt. Moresby. I beefed up the fighter contingent at Lae to 3 chutai of Zeros. I suspect they'll get a chance for glory shortly.

The Wakaba is 2 hexes from Truk nad had a jump in her flotation damage to 78. She's down to 1 hex a turn. Hope she makes it after all that she's been through.

Philippines

Nothing new to report.

China

I smacked a Chinese Corps 1 hex west of Hangchow. My losses were 645(3) to his 1077(89).

Malaya

Nothing new to report.

Burma

More forces are finally arriving at Moulmein, including 2x tank regiments. Finally, the invasion is really about to begin.

Other Stuff

Well, only 6 R&D factories repaired today. I loaded quite a bit of supply for transport so the overall supply dropped but I'll keep track for a few more days to see if it stabilizes.

[Mike Solli]

ORIGINAL: ny59giants

Ted believes I already moved the Soryu out of Rabaul harbor. Her sys damage will be completely repaired in 3 days. Then I'll move her to Truk and then to the Home Islands.

Place her in an Escort TF with 4 to 6 DDs with Cruise speed. Then, another TF that has loaded a Naval HQ and an AR in the TF and order it to follow her to Japan at a distance of two hexes. In case you have to pull into a port in the Marianas or somewhere due to rapid increase in flooding, you have what you need with you. It may be overkill, but better safe than sorry.

That's a great idea. Thanks, Michael.

[Mike Solli]

17 Jan 42

Sub War

I think I found the route that Ted's convoys use to leave San Francisco. I'm posting a couple of subs along it. We'll see....

5 Fleet

Engineers still enroute to Adak. I'm going to scrounge an SNLF or NG to start taking the other bases up there.

4 Fleet

Nothing new to report.

SE Fleet

Wakaba made it to Truk with flot damage at 75(67). She'll spend a couple weeks there repairing the damage before she makes the trek to the Home Islands.

The squadron of fighters at PM just sat there. I need to sweep the hex to clear them out (again). [:D]

SRA

I opted to go with Davao for the hub for the Southern SRA, mainly because of the port size. The first fuel has already arrived there and 51k oil will arrive tomorrow.

Makassar is currently home to the 21 Division and the 1 Independent Engineer Regiment, both destined for Bandjermasin before landing in Java. Makassar will receive a base force and the 21 Air Flotilla HQ, which arrived today and will begin unloading tomorrow. The 21 Air Flotilla units will base here beginning tomorrow.

Bandjermasin will receive an AS Bn and house the Yamada Det eventually, along with some recon. That base is 7 hexes from Soerabaja. Currently, Yamada is at Tobali, which is only level 1. I have 3 more construction units headed there. Its building far too slowly for my tastes. Even though it's only level 1, I can fly CAP there. I'm hoping Ted launches an attack on it so I can kill more of the Dutch Air Force.

I've actually cleared out the oil and fuel from the Miri/Brunei complex. I have enough TKs (14x 1250 TK) to keep it clear when the oil at Miri is fully repaired. I'll disband some of the TFs in port until needed.

I'm trying a port attack on Palembang tomorrow. There are some ships in port and no air units defending the base. Easy ship kills. [:D] Probably more HDMLs. [8|]

China

My rapid maneuver to surround Loyang/Chengchow is crawling along. [8|] Actually, they're effectively isolated because the last hex is woods and they can't get out any faster than I can get into that hex. Ted realized what was up and tried to move 5 units out of Chengchow, presumedly to save them. They ran into a clear hex where I had 3 full strength, very good divisions. I attacked him this turn and trashed the five units: 2x Chinese Corps, 2x construction regiments and a base force. Losses were 1165(3) for me and 1968(355) Chinese. Banzai! That should help in the reduction of these cities. The remnants of these units retreated back into Chengchow and future captivity.

Edit: The AVG retreated to Chungking. Only half a dozen or so remain. [:D]

Malaya

The last regiment of the IG Division is in Johore Bharu and will be out of strat mode tomorrow. Then they and the support will begin movement to Singapore.

Burma

The forces are actually beginning to arrive and start to move. Three tank regiments, 33 Division, 56 Division (-) and other support units are arriving. Finally!

Other Stuff

I had an MIA pilot found! Never in all my years of playing this game have I had that happen! [:D]

Looks like the R&D factories aren't really having an impact on supply. The only issue is when they are increased in size. If I do a lot in one turn, then there is an impact on the supply. I'll probably do 1-2 a day and take a break if the supply seems to drop too much.