Rise of the Sheep! JocMeister(A) vs. Obvert(J)

[JocMeister]

Going by memory I think the Spit VII is 414MPH? So faster then anything he has! I was thinking throwing the escorts in in case the sweeps from Ramree gets rained in or something.

[witpqs]

ORIGINAL: JocMeister

Going by memory I think the Spit VII is 414MPH? So faster then anything he has! I was thinking throwing the escorts in in case the sweeps from Ramree gets rained in or something.

The Spit sounds good.

The escorts would be even worse off in that case. Are your 4EB really getting blasted? If so, I suppose sacrifice some escorts. If not, those escorts are needed for the 2EB & 1EB.

[ny59giants]

The P-40s at this stage are like the Japanese Oscar, best use for escort duty and to sacrifice themselves so the bombers get through. Use the Spit, P-38s, and P-47s for sweep mission. The first two sweeps may get hurt (depends on numbers), but the rest will do well.

[JocMeister]

ORIGINAL: witpqs

The escorts would be even worse off in that case. Are your 4EB really getting blasted? If so, I suppose sacrifice some escorts. If not, those escorts are needed for the 2EB & 1EB.

If the 4Es goes up against Georges you will loose about one for each George airborne. Sucks as one raid alone can cost a month supply of 4Es. [:(] So I use the P40 as Michael suggest. I stuff them with fresh pilots 50/70/50 and send them in as escorts! I have an unlimited supply of both while especially bomber pilots are precious!

[JocMeister]

I sent the sweep in. 278 planes in total. This one will be bloody I´m sure. I really hope the Corsairs or P47s go in first and not the 16 Plane Brits. That could be nasty! Hopefully he only has a small CAP up after loosing all those planes yesterday.

Good thing his Franks really took a beating last turn. Good chance they are resting with low morale. He still has good pile of Tojos though. Georges only worries me if the bombers go in before the sweep.

Ah, I hate to wait for the results.

[witpqs]

ORIGINAL: JocMeister

ORIGINAL: witpqs

The escorts would be even worse off in that case. Are your 4EB really getting blasted? If so, I suppose sacrifice some escorts. If not, those escorts are needed for the 2EB & 1EB.

If the 4Es goes up against Georges you will loose about one for each George airborne. Sucks as one raid alone can cost a month supply of 4Es. [:(] So I use the P40 as Michael suggest. I stuff them with fresh pilots 50/70/50 and send them in as escorts! I have an unlimited supply of both while especially bomber pilots are precious!

[X(]

[JocMeister]

I should add that 1-1 is after ops losses are counted! But it still sucks. I guess the Japs should have given the Germans blueprints for the George and the Mighty 8th would have ceased to exist in a few weeks! [8|]

[JocMeister]

Waiting

Of course for the first time ever Erik didn´t have time to finish the turn last night so no usual "Friday morning turn". He will upload it during the day so the wait continues. I´m really worried about the Brits. I have very few Spit VII in the pool. Worst case I have some 300 Hurris and will have to downgrade some squadrons.

But so far the two Navy squadrons almost exclusively goes in first. I´m thinking this is because they are "independent". If they went in first as usual things should look good. Got to love the Corsair! [:)]

I did some house keeping last turn sorting stuff out I havn´t had time to finish.

Slower pace

I told Erik earlier this week that I have to slow down on weekdays. We have been doing 2-3. A pace I can no longer keep up. I havn´t played well lately doing just the important stuff leaving a lot of preparation and logistics for the next turn. But I never find the time to do them and things are starting to suffer in game. I only have a 2-3 hour window of opportunity to see Ida on weekdays before she goes to sleep for the night and it doesn´t feel right doing a 1,5-2,5 hour turn instead of spending time with her. The allied turn is brutal in 44! Just managing convoys are a massive undertaking. I just did a quick check and I´m right at this moment moving 1.2 million supply and 720.000 fuel! [X(] I probably have about the same amount moving back empty. That is ALOT of transport capacity!

So from now on we will settle for one turn Monday to Thursday. This will give me a lot more time to spend with the turn without stress after Ida is sleeping.

[BBfanboy]

You have your priorities right Jocke! Spending time with your family is far more important than running a fast game.
But for your turns, take notes during the replay of things you need to do/fix. If you have days between finishing turns you will forget a lot of it.

[JocMeister]

BB, Yes I have started doing just that. Just found a 280.000k fuel convoy "stranded" at Suva. I have no clue how long its been there. Can´t continue to play like this! I´ve started going through each sector one by one checking every base/TF/squadron. Doing one sector per turn. Did OZ and India yesterday. Hopefully I can do the rest of them during the weekend to catch up!

[JocMeister]

Rangoon Sweep!

I just got the replay but not the file! Looks like a stunning success! [:)] The elite Corsair unit went in first and just wrecked his CAP:

N1K1-J George x 71
Ki-43-IIIa Oscar x 83
Ki-44-IIc Tojo x 176
Ki-45 KAIa Nick x 66
Ki-61-Id Tony x 12
Ki-84a Frank x 56

After the sweeps he still had over 150 planes in the air but the P40s did there job and died protecting the 4Es.

I estimate some 200-300 Jap AC got toasted in the air or on the ground. Only 90 Runway hits though so Rangoon might be operational tomorrow!

Also had a naval battle I semi expected as Erik tried to remove my Fletchers from Finnschafen. He beat my TF that then retreated into Umboi Island which is a Jap controlled base(WHY WHY WHY????!) instead towards Buna and then got annihilated from the air. [8|] The automated behavior in this game is just stupid sometimes and really pisses me off.

"Oh oh, a Jap CA force just showed up and we shot the last ammo!"
"Crap! Better hide at the Jap controlled island to the east away from all our bases and our CAP in the West"

[8|]

Also the 50 PT boats at Finnschafen with extremely agressive commanders decided they are afraid of Jap ships and hid somewhere. [8|]

Bah, At least Rangoon worked out...

[ny59giants]

I save two to four older turns for reference and if I have time to go back and make plans for future operations.

SC TF - I would go back to last turn and see if there was a setting you messed up that got your DDs to retreat in the wrong direction.

[JocMeister]

ORIGINAL: ny59giants

I save two to four older turns for reference and if I have time to go back and make plans for future operations.

SC TF - I would go back to last turn and see if there was a setting you messed up that got your DDs to retreat in the wrong direction.

I have one from 2 turns ago. What should I be looking for?

[ny59giants]

I would look for setting of home port, TF destination, and any waypoints. The TF will then follow "Set TF Routing" - "Routing Control" for ALL warships and most others is "Direct." If you had it set for Normal, Safest, Safer, then the TF will try to avoid moving into a hex which may contain enemy TFs. The Coastal setting is great for having TF follow coastal and shallow ocean hexes. As Japan, many of my transport TF carrying Oil, Fuel, and Resources use this. The final setting is "Threat Tolerance" which has me use "Direct" for most missions, but if you needed your Fletchers to get back to Buna regardless of the cost, then go to "Absolute" which means the TF leader will become Arleigh Burke, "Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead" and will go directly back to home port or TF destination even if the whole Japanese fleet is in the way. [:)] Without looking at the actual turn, I would say the "Set TF Routing" was wrong.

[JocMeister]

28th-31st January -44

Suddenly the map erupts with activity! [X(]

SOPAC

On the 31st Erik decides to try and smack my DD TF sitting at Finnschafen. There are some up and down moments in this. A big CA/CL TF smashes in to my 7DD Fletcher TF that fight back ferociously! Very happy with the battle itself!

Day Time Surface Combat, near Finschhafen at 100,126, Range 24,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
CA Myoko, Shell hits 4, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
CA Haguro, Shell hits 5
CL Agano, Shell hits 2
CL Yahagi, Shell hits 1
DD Hayanami
DD Hamanami, Shell hits 2, on fire
DD Isokaze, Shell hits 5, heavy fires
DD Shiranui, Shell hits 3, on fire
DD Urakaze, Shell hits 8, heavy fires, heavy damage
DD Tanikaze, Shell hits 1

Allied Ships
DD Bush, Shell hits 2
DD Harrison, Shell hits 9, on fire
DD Hutchins, Shell hits 1, on fire
DD Kidd
DD Kimberly
DD Murray, Shell hits 1
DD Pringle, Shell hits 16, and is sunk

Some things I´m not quite happy with is the fact that my TF retreats to Umboi after the battle and I loose 2 DDs to airstrikes. I will probably loose the rest tomorrow. Some automated things in this game really bothers me. This was one of them.

Eriks TF lingers in Finnschafen after probably spending all OPS points and the air force strikes! Not happy with the result...

Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Finschhafen at 100,126

Weather in hex: Heavy cloud

Raid detected at 80 NM, estimated altitude 13,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 34 minutes

Japanese aircraft
no flights


Allied aircraft
Spitfire Vc Trop x 4
P-40K Warhawk x 24
P-47D2 Thunderbolt x 16
F4U-1A Corsair x 5
F6F-3 Hellcat x 101
SB2C-1C Helldiver x 96
SBD-5 Dauntless x 62
TBF-1 Avenger x 68


No Japanese losses

Allied aircraft losses
SB2C-1C Helldiver: 3 damaged

Japanese Ships
CA Haguro, Bomb hits 1
DD Isokaze, Bomb hits 4, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk
CA Myoko, and is sunk
DD Shiranui, Bomb hits 5, and is sunk
CL Agano, Bomb hits 1, on fire
CL Yahagi
DD Hayanami

200 AC getting 11 hits... All pilots are highly trained. I´ll blame the weather on this one.

I´m in a bit of a pickle right now. I have no combat worthy ships in range. I´ve sent a Cleveland TF towards Finnschafen and another 8 Fletcher TF. His ships will no doubt get away. I do have several subs in the area though. Would have been really nice getting Haguro!

Another thing I´m not very happy with is the inactivity of my PT boats. I had almost 50 of them in 4 different TFs all with highly aggressive leaders. Yet they did not engage. Whats up with that? [&:] And need I mention none of the 120 mines hit anything! [8|]

Mixed feelings about the events. At least I can make up the 7 DDs about to be lost in about 3 days as the DDs repairing after the last battle are fixed up and moving back towards the area. Did I win or loose or was this a draw? To be honest I feel Erik got away pretty cheap again. Risking 2CA/2CLs to knock out a few DDs under massive LBA... Very aggressive!

Burma

Major developments here. Erik try to intercept my bombing run on his troops east of the death star. My sweeper deal a big blow but do suffer some. I attached a screen of the losses. This led me to sweep Rangoon. That went well over expectations! But the airfield is not closed and I have to go in again. The Spit VIIs will have to do the brunt of the work as the Corsairs are exhausted with 30+ fatigue. "Luckily" the P38s didn´t take off last time so they are fresh and will give it another go. Eriks pilots must be really wrecked now with low moral and high fatigue!

Over two days the Japanese Empire loose 383 fighters. I do suffer 38 P47s lost which stings a lot. I do have 90 in the pools and 50 in SOPAC I can change to P38s instead. In about 16 days all the Corsairs I sent from the States should arrive. That will really help relive some pressure on the P47s in Burma.

Should be a critical turn coming in next. If I can´t close Rangoon next turn I only have P40s left to sweep with...Not a prospect I would look forward too! [:(]

[Crackaces]

I told Erik earlier this week that I have to slow down on weekdays. We have been doing 2-3. A pace I can no longer keep up.

I have a game at the same date .. and there is sooooooo much stuff to check that each turn takes 2-3 hours .. I have missed over 3 turns asome 4E's that are fatgued as an example and taking opertional losses .. the game I think becomes instantly complex for the Allies Feb '44 IMHO .. so yes the details and pace has to change or mistakes will pile up ..

[ny59giants]

Gentlemen (Jocke & Crackace),

"Hot Keys" are your friend. Use them!! [:D]
T = TF, S = Ships, N = at sea air groups, and A = Air Groups (land based). I can quickly hit those keys and sort by certain things to see what is going on. This may limit going all over the map. For air groups I can quickly check Morale and Fatigue this way. For ships to see if there are ones with new or high damage. With so many large TF running around, you have a collision at sea and the TF is now a 5 or 6 knot TF vs a 12 or 14 knot TF that has gone unnoticed for days. I separate the damaged transport with one escort and send her someplace for repairs.

[Crackaces]

Ya ... unfortunately .. (at least for me) going through multiple groups and resting one fighter group while setting up another 30% CAP 12K .. another 30% CAP 18K .. new ships in Portland that sail to Astoria to pick up SC's to sail either to SF or LA .. Then there is the planning of getting BF's from SF to PH while moving BF's from PH to my new base in PI ... Then 2 DD's and a AP colided so I have to create an escort TF // no the AP has troops and things .. they will need to find a close base and offload ... Tankers just arrived at multiple bases and need to create TF, load, do not unload cargo, base/destination [a secret [;)] ] where I will break these TF's up and serve multiple ports .. then a check of Intel .. it seems the IJ are moving stuff again where I want to go .. I wonder what I will do .. Oh crap I have to withdraw some obsure ship in some remote corner of the world in 15 days or soon a division worth of PP's will be burned up .. Oh .. where was I thinking again of stationing those B29's sometime in the near future?... what was prepped for that base? ...What!! Why is there a fragement of the 24th Divsion still at Pearl Harbor? I loaded those troops 20 turns ago headed for Truk? oh crap! .. what is that IJN TF off of Maylay detection level 5, 6 ships "DD .. DD .. APD"? Oh Crap My B24's upgraded 4 turns ago and are 100% Training at 24 hexes .. 2 operational losses already ...Hmmm my submarines have just increased detection level around Tokyo .. I wonder what's up? ... and the list goes on ... At least for me .. a couple of hours go by and it is time to send a turn back ...

I agree the Hot keys and list certainly help, but IMHO do not help with the multiple clicks almost every single unit requires to do something and sometimes shortcuts can be disasterious ..... especally ground units .. think you can just "follow"? Hmmmm I have noted a behavior where as units decide to just reset their progress toward a destination if set to follow ... so .. more clicks ... [8|] Then there were the 20 units just ready to cross a river where the IJ decided to rail a bunch of units of unknown type and size thinking they could receive our boys for something more than tea ..[;)] If I did not hover my mouse over teh single now darkened unit .. I would not have noticed the jump in count from 1 unit to 20 units .. I am seeing all sorts of little tiny arrows on multiple IJA units pointing in intersting directions that takes time to put together a story ..

Anyway .. I might play the game in too much detail ... [:'(]

[Bullwinkle58]

I think two betas ago there was a fix for the "Follow" bug.

Do what I do . . . just work your subs and then, if there's time left, everything else. [:)]

[Bullwinkle58]

ORIGINAL: JocMeister
I just did a quick check and I´m right at this moment moving 1.2 million supply and 720.000 fuel! [X(] I probably have about the same amount moving back empty. That is ALOT of transport capacity!

Wait until 1945. When the ETO shuts down and you get all those divisions to haul west. My last AI GC I know I had at least five million-ton convoys running at once. All at 100 ships, almost no escorts.