Where to concentrate Jap air power?

[pertsajakilu]

Hi!

Allied power seems to awakening and I have to decide where to put my valuable air assets. It´s mid 1943 and it seems to me that allied ´steamaroller´ is getting on the move.


Around Calcutta air activity is growing fast and I pulled out my air units from there because of losses and unit exp losses. I have Dacca, Akyab, Rangoon and Mandalay but my advance is now in halt. Is there any sense to keep air power there?

Bases that produce oil in large quantities are important to Japanese economy. So it is important to protect these these bases from allied bombings. Or is it? I haven´t played this game much and it´s great to discover how complex it is. I do what if strategy which means limiting my advance and building strong defence where allied can bang their heads.
Or I am doomed.

I am going to make serious stand in Guam, Saipan and eh...what was the third island. Truk and Ponape are harassing bases. I have not invaded Rabaul, Lae etc. Is there any point in it. Because they were not attacked by me, they are not US bases. They are still ABDA or something else. I doubt that there will be no US forces in those bases.

Is there any offensives coming from Australia. Again I haven´t taken those little Islands near Australia and they are still owned by ABDA. I am still considering assault to Sorebaja, but is there any point in it?

Basically I have tried to capture rich oil bases and few good bases where you can build good defence and do much harm to allied shippings.

I have succeeded to sink near 300 allied MCS with subs and airplanes. My sub losses have been minimal, but now losses are rising because allied have DE´s now. I have sunk 7 CV´s and few smaller in exchange 2 CV´s, 1 CVL and 3 CVE´s. Also I have catched a few AP´s but not as much as I hoped. Other losses are not so important . Sinking BS is hard ( done few ) but BS is not war winning weapon.


Will there be any Gekko fighter units in game? Production goes up, but no units?

A6M2 seems to be nearly useless against US P38. Lost Hiruy and Soruy because I was careless and land based P38´s shot down my cap ( exp over 83 ) and then came the bombers.......... I was lucky to lost only 2 carriers.
I am afraiding that A6M5 don´t do much difference.


TV.
Arto

[Capt. Harlock]

I think you definitely want to keep a strong air presence in Dacca. For one thing, the British are likely to bombard the tar out of your troops if you don't. But more important, you should be devastating the shipping at Calcutta. Get some torpedo bombers and dive-bombers. (The Ki-32 is very useful because it is flown by Army squadrons instead of your scarce land-based Navy squadrons.) From Dacca, they should be able to sink several DD's, MCS's and TK's per turn. If you find they take massive losses from British CAP, try switching them to Night instead of Day.

Secondly, I can't think why you haven't overrun all of Java by now. Imagine what havoc the Allies can do if they put bombers escorted by Lightnings on those size 4 airfields. It's entirely possible they could isolate the vital Oil at Palembang. Also, the Dutch LCU's collapse very nicely when attacked on the ground. (Remember a 40 experience LCU is worth just as much as a 99 experience LCU in Kill Points.) Finally, if you destroy any Dutch air units, occupying Soerbaja will prevent them from coming back.

By now you're probably asking, why the emphasis on Kill Points? The answer is the Japanese Kill Point multiplier. As of January 1944, the Kill Points that the Japanese have earned are multiplied by 1.5, provided their economy is still reasonably large. And as of January 1945, the Kill Points are doubled! (See the "Data Card" file in the Version 3.1 download for details.)

The A6M5 will help a little, but it won't be a quantum leap. It has immproved firepower and durability. (This last is more important than most people realize, especially against heavy bombers.) But make sure you keep building some of the A6M2's for their range.

Oh, yes--that third island is named Tinian. It was probably the US'
s single most successful amphibious operation, and it became the biggest B-29 base of the war.

[pertsajakilu]

Originally posted by Capt. Harlock
I think you definitely want to keep a strong air presence in Dacca. For one thing, the British are likely to bombard the tar out of your troops if you don't.

Yeah.... I found that out.

But more important, you should be devastating the shipping at Calcutta. Get some torpedo bombers and dive-bombers. (The Ki-32 is very useful because it is flown by Army squadrons instead of your scarce land-based Navy squadrons.)

Thanks for Ki-32 advice. But there are no one in Calcutta. I hardly see any British ships or convoys nowdays. I have destroyed lots of them. Also my patrol aircrafts from Andaman island have been good sub hunters too. It´s a pity that player do not see proper record. What ships and which nationalities the sunken ships were.

I have tried to seek where those transports are but no success.

From Dacca, they should be able to sink several DD's, MCS's and TK's per turn. If you find they take massive losses from British CAP, try switching them to Night instead of Day.

I am not worried my bomber lossess. They are acceptable, but my fighters. There are lots of allied attacks and those cursed P38´s. They are driving me nuts. AI has moved many suqadrons to China and there are also couple Liberator squadrons in China too. They have made strikes to Nagasagi. So my air units in Dacca have to meet attacks from two fronts.

Secondly, I can't think why you haven't overrun all of Java by now. Imagine what havoc the Allies can do if they put bombers escorted by Lightnings on those size 4 airfields. It's entirely possible they could isolate the vital Oil at Palembang. Also, the Dutch LCU's collapse very nicely when attacked on the ground. (Remember a 40 experience LCU is worth just as much as a 99 experience LCU in Kill Points.) Finally, if you destroy any Dutch air units, occupying Soerbaja will prevent them from coming back.

I am on my way now. I decided to take Java. I don´t care about points. I just play the game and enjoy.

But there is nice and quiet when Java is controlled by Dutch.
There are still many islands which are controlled by New Zealand and no enemy activity there.

The A6M5 will help a little, but it won't be a quantum leap. It has immproved firepower and durability. (This last is more important than most people realize, especially against heavy bombers.) But make sure you keep building some of the A6M2's for their range.

That durability is what I need. I still have lot of fragile KI-27´s and KI-43´s. A6M5 production just started but I wonder is there any use of my carrier fleet any more. They carry too few fighters. Pity that I can´t buy Essex class carriers from US.

Most of allied carriers are sunk and I suspect that there are only one operational CV and the CVL´s.

But when 1944 comes..... There may be more allied carriers that I can handle.

Regards

Arto

[Doug Olenick]

Japanese fighter losses are a huge problem. My suggestion is to pick two types, one naval and one army and set all your fighter factories to produce just them and do it early in the game.

This boosts the available pools early on when losses are low. The first planes I choose are the A6M2 and Tojo (Sorry I go by the old designations, I can't stand the use of the model numbers!!) The Tojo comes in pretty early and has decent firepower/protection/range.

I will replace it after a year or so with the Tony or Frank. I switch over to the A6M5 as soon as they are available and will add Jack's in later on. The Jack should be carrier based as I believe that was the designs original purpose, but what can you do. My industrial tactic also gives you a huge supply of A6M2's for use as kamikazes at the end of the war. Their long range and manueverability gives low skill squadrons a good shot.

It's smart, IMHO, to do the same with the bombers.

As far as basing in concerned, enlarge your rear area airfields in the Philipines/Borneo and Malaysia area to their fullest capacity. Then fill them with newly arrived squadrons for training. I then quickly switch out worn down squadrons for these.

[CynicAl]

Though the "Jack" was built for the Japanese Navy, it was never meant as a carrier type. The J2M Raiden was strictly a land-based interceptor.

This is an example of how using the Japanese designations can be beneficial: once you understand the IJN's designation system, you can tell a lot about an aircraft with just a quick glance (I.e., the J2M was a land-based interceptor, the second such ordered by the IJN, and was built by Mitsubishi). IMO, the IJN had possibly the most useful designation system of any of the major air arms of WW2. The only other air service which comes close is the very similar (and somewhat earlier) USN system - I like the streamlined handling of subtypes in the USN system, but I really dislike way it handled the wartime situation where multiple manufacturers were building the same design. The system used by the IJAAF, on the other hand, seems to have been the very least informative of any major combatant - nothing but memorizaton can help you there.

[pertsajakilu]

Originally posted by Doug Olenick
Japanese fighter losses are a huge problem. My suggestion is to pick two types, one naval and one army and set all your fighter factories to produce

I have not changed prodcution yet, but I am considering it now. My KI-43-II supply pool is nearly depleted.

And AI has moved many Liberator squadrons to China and Calcutta area. They are beginning to be quite a nuisance. In other fronts it´s all quiet.

tactic also gives you a huge supply of A6M2's for use as kamikazes at the end of the war. Their long range and manueverability gives low skill squadrons a good shot.

I have about 2000 A6M2´s in store. Is that enough for kamikaze squadrons?

As far as basing in concerned, enlarge your rear area airfields in the Philipines/Borneo and Malaysia area to their fullest capacity. Then fill them with newly arrived squadrons for training. I then quickly switch out worn down squadrons for these.

I have done that. Now I need enough reserve squadrons which to rotatate.

Japanese replacement pilot quality seems to be dropping fast. Even small losses affect squadrons exp negatively.

In Supply phase AI has under 80 MCS and it´s 9th nov. 1943. Is it my war of attrition which is causing this. I have caused massive MCS losses to AI. Over 340 sunken MCS.

Regards

Arto