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

[JocMeister]

ORIGINAL: BBfanboy

Taking Marcus and then the Bonins gives you a good penetration into the Emperors perimeter, but you could suffer a lot of grief from LBA [Netties] striking from both the HI and the Marianas [and maybe the Philippines]. You may eventually be able to load strong fighter cover on the Bonins but raids will always be an issue until you can close some of his airfields in range. Problem is, they are beyond your fighter range so your HB are on their own.

And then what? The airfields on the Bonins won't support much in the way of B-29s for strategic bombing. The Bonins give a nice naval location for your subs, but any AS in port could be hit in a raid. Same goes for any surface naval forces and supply convoys. I am not that confident that your fighters can always protect the bases and ships in the area.

Again, a matter of personal style but I think the NG - Palau - Philippines - Okinawa route offers more potential for short hops that do not rely on CV support for extended periods. The CVs can remain ghosts, appearing and striking suddenly and vanishing before he can react.

Good points! I´m actually not that worried about Nettie strikes. Erik has proven so far to be very risk averse and so far my CAP has performed very well even against his most concentrated attacks. That being said, good things never last for long!

The NG - Philippines route will remain to be my main thrust! I have 12 divisions working on that route. This is just for ...fun! [:)]

ORIGINAL: Bullwinkle58
Well, Nimitz was looking at the same map you are.

Nimitz probably wasn´t feeling the stress of having played a terrible 42 and 43 and trying to find shortcuts wherever he could. [:D]

My reasoning is simply just to gain some time. I´m thinking it takes just as long to prep for Eniwetok as its takes to prep for something in the Bonins. If I can skip the Marshalls completely I gain 100 days of prep.

So I´m thinking along the lines of doing Wake - Bonins - Marianas instead of Wake - Marshalls - Marianas - Bonins.
I´m just not sure its doable!? [:)]

[JocMeister]

Allied CVs move in!

This could be a trap. But I decided to take a chance anyway. My CVs have been unspotted for the last 3 turns so there is a chance Erik thinks I have withdrawn and taken the opportunity to bring in reinforcements.

Next turn we will know...

[Bullwinkle58]

ORIGINAL: JocMeister


[Good points! I´m actually not that worried about Nettie strikes. Erik has proven so far to be very risk averse and so far my CAP has performed very well even against his most concentrated attacks. That being said, good things never last for long!

The Bonins activate kamis, and you willl worry about Nettie strikes then. I believe at least one of the Bonins is 13 hexes from a big AF near Yokahama. (From memory.)

ORIGINAL: Bullwinkle58
Well, Nimitz was looking at the same map you are.

Nimitz probably wasn´t feeling the stress of having played a terrible 42 and 43 and trying to find shortcuts wherever he could. [:D]

Don't obsess too much on the carriers. As you've said the CVEs can do for many ops in a pinch, and once you have Corsairs ashore you have air control. It's a hard psychological transform to go from tip-toeing around in 1942, when every DD is precious, to having the hammer you do in the second half of 1944. Then it's about speed of advance, not being subtle. You can dump a quarter-million supply pretty much anywhere in ten days. You have hundreds of dedicated amhib ships. You have AA castles. You just need to pick a path that gets you to strategic range of the HI. It's not about sparring and knocking down his planes. Now it's about getting close and burning him out. Most of the USN and USMC casualties took place in the last year of the war. The op tempo gets fierce, you lose a lot of ships and men, but you get the job done if you have a plan and don't waffle.

My reasoning is simply just to gain some time.

You can't gain time. You can only use time. There's as much as there is. He's playing for time; you have to play to win. 1944-45 is when the game design really comes into play. Totally asymmetric OOBs, opposite game goals. You play to win, he plays to not lose.

I´m thinking it takes just as long to prep for Eniwetok as its takes to prep for something in the Bonins. If I can skip the Marshalls completely I gain 100 days of prep.

It's almost a certainty that Eniwetok is not Forts 6. Iwo very well could be. Eniwetok does not activate kamis. It's far enough from Truk to give you sortie warning; otherwise I would recco Ponape. Marcus has pros and cons, but it's a 6000 stack too (in stock Scen 2 at least.) I would be comfortable landing on Eniwetok in force with 30-50 prep if there was good bombardment and enough LCUs to withstand the disruption. Iwo? 100, and then it may not be enough.

So I´m thinking along the lines of doing Wake - Bonins - Marianas instead of Wake - Marshalls - Marianas - Bonins.
I´m just not sure its doable!? [:)]

Not sure why you would do the Marianas AFTER the Bonins. Maybe Formosa, but if you survive the Bonins make of them what you can and start strat bombing.

Why would you waste men on Wake at this point? Pride?

[JocMeister]

ORIGINAL: Bullwinkle58

As usual you say a lot of things that makes sense. I did not even think of the Kamikazes. I havn´t faced any in any of my games but I understand by your post its something major to take into consideration.

I have learned the hard way what happens when I don´t listen to the more experienced players. Troops will continue to prep for Eniwetok. But perhaps 3 divisions are a bit on the heavy side. I will go through the map and find an additional atoll to take somewhere close to Eniwetok.

Wake is simply because I think it would make a good staging point. I can use it as a forward sub base and put an AKE there to rearm BB when I go for Eniwetok. I have only a tank BTL and a (sep) RGT prepped. So it would require a lot of pounding before landing but won´t cost much in terms of forces. Not worth it?

[HansBolter]

A quick note on rearming BBs. In my current game I isolated Rabaul and set up milk run bombardments on it frrom Shortlands with a 4 BB TF. I had only a single AKE in Shortlands and found that it took several days to rearm all 4 BBs. It was also running the single AKE dry on supplies very quickly.

I moved an additional 2 AKEs in and the TF rearms in one day. I also have to remember to go into the base interface and hit the "reload tenders" button after every 2nd or 3rd bombardment run.

I haven't assessed it scientifically, but I guess it comes down to one AKE uses up so many ops points rearming a single BB that it runs out of ops points somwhere in the middle of rearming the second BB.

The point is that it is beneficial to group AKEs to support a major BB TF and sustain bombardment runs over time.

[JocMeister]

ORIGINAL: HansBolter

A quick note on rearming BBs. In my current game I isolated Rabaul and set up milk run bombardments on it frrom Shortlands with a 4 BB TF. I had only a single AKE in Shortlands and found that it took several days to rearm all 4 BBs. It was also running the single AKE dry on supplies very quickly.

I moved an additional 2 AKEs in and the TF rearms in one day. I also have to remember to go into the base interface and hit the "reload tenders" button after every 2nd or 3rd bombardment run.

I haven't assessed it scientifically, but I guess it comes down to one AKE uses up so many ops points rearming a single BB that it runs out of ops points somwhere in the middle of rearming the second BB.

The point is that it is beneficial to group AKEs to support a major BB TF and sustain bombardment runs over time.

Good info! I found this out myself not too long ago when I started using a 4 Fast BB TF for bombardment in SOPAC. Using several AKEs I could rearm them over a turn but a single one it would take ages!

[JocMeister]

25th February -44

No turn file from Erik yet. But he did upload the replay file. We seldom do that but I asked him to if something went boom!

CV strike went in perfectly and unopposed!

Morning Air attack on TF, near Abemama at 136,130

Weather in hex: Light cloud

Raid detected at 54 NM, estimated altitude 17,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 20 minutes


Allied aircraft
F6F-3 Hellcat x 155
SB2C-1C Helldiver x 31
SBD-5 Dauntless x 62
TBF-1 Avenger x 30


Allied aircraft losses
SBD-5 Dauntless: 3 damaged

Japanese Ships
AK Tokai Maru, Bomb hits 9, and is sunk
AK Kansai Maru, Bomb hits 4, heavy fires, heavy damage
AK Aobasan Maru, Bomb hits 3, heavy fires, heavy damage
AK Nankai Maru, Bomb hits 6, heavy fires, heavy damage
AK Atutasan Maru, Bomb hits 3, heavy fires
xAP Teia Maru, Bomb hits 2, Torpedo hits 2, and is sunk
AK Tacoma Maru, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires, heavy damage
DD Shikinami
DD Hatsuharu
xAK Hokkai Maru, Bomb hits 5, Torpedo hits 2, and is sunk
DD Wakaba, Bomb hits 1, on fire
AK Hawaii Maru, Bomb hits 4, Torpedo hits 3, and is sunk

Japanese ground losses:
4057 casualties reported
Squads: 116 destroyed, 90 disabled
Non Combat: 136 destroyed, 144 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 60 (55 destroyed, 5 disabled)
Vehicles lost 6 (6 destroyed, 0 disabled)


Heavy smoke from fires obscuring AK Tokai Maru
Heavy smoke from fires obscuring AK Atutasan Maru
Heavy smoke from fires obscuring AK Tacoma Maru
Heavy smoke from fires obscuring xAK Hokkai Maru
Heavy smoke from fires obscuring AK Kansai Maru
Heavy smoke from fires obscuring AK Nankai Maru
Heavy smoke from fires obscuring AK Aobasan Maru


Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Abemama at 136,130

Weather in hex: Thunderstorms

Raid detected at 51 NM, estimated altitude 20,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 18 minutes


Allied aircraft
F6F-3 Hellcat x 60
SBD-5 Dauntless x 31
TBF-1 Avenger x 15


No Allied losses

Japanese Ships
AK Aobasan Maru, Bomb hits 5, and is sunk
DD Shikinami
DD Wakaba, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk
DD Hatsuharu

Japanese ground losses:
1239 casualties reported
Squads: 56 destroyed, 110 disabled
Non Combat: 34 destroyed, 80 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 15 (9 destroyed, 6 disabled)

Its a good catch and I´m pleased with myself right now! [:D] I think Erik will miss the ships more then the troops. Not sure what he was doing. The more I think of it the less I´m so sure he was reinforcing. I think its more likely he was actually withdrawing?

Burma

Some worrying news as Erik makes a bombardment attack and discover I have been trying to sneak units out from my main stack.

Ground combat at 56,49 (near Toungoo)

Japanese Bombardment attack

Attacking force 5045 troops, 380 guns, 331 vehicles, Assault Value = 2819

Defending force 97609 troops, 1688 guns, 1924 vehicles, Assault Value = 2799

Japanese ground losses:
Vehicles lost 6 (1 destroyed, 5 disabled)


Allied ground losses:
306 casualties reported
Squads: 4 destroyed, 14 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 3 disabled
Engineers: 3 destroyed, 11 disabled
Guns lost 10 (5 destroyed, 5 disabled)
Vehicles lost 6 (1 destroyed, 5 disabled)

Ouch...

So now he knows I pulled troops out. Question is what he will do now? Probably reinforce south with some. I´m going to start shuffling a lot of troops around and try to confuse him a bit. Shouldn´t be too hard as I have no clue what I´m doing myself...[8|] This is China all over and I HATE China.

[Bullwinkle58]

ORIGINAL: JocMeister

ORIGINAL: Bullwinkle58

As usual you say a lot of things that makes sense. I did not even think of the Kamikazes. I havn´t faced any in any of my games but I understand by your post its something major to take into consideration.

I have learned the hard way what happens when I don´t listen to the more experienced players. Troops will continue to prep for Eniwetok. But perhaps 3 divisions are a bit on the heavy side. I will go through the map and find an additional atoll to take somewhere close to Eniwetok.

Wake is simply because I think it would make a good staging point. I can use it as a forward sub base and put an AKE there to rearm BB when I go for Eniwetok. I have only a tank BTL and a (sep) RGT prepped. So it would require a lot of pounding before landing but won´t cost much in terms of forces. Not worth it?

Kamis completely change the game if Japan uses them correctly.

You would need to recon Eniwetok and figure out a safety margin. As the game progresses for the Alies the support units like engineers and USMC CD defense units get pretty strong OOBs. You don't always need as much pure infantry as you do at the beginning. Also, landed Shermans or flame tanks can substitute for a lot of infantry in oomph as well as ability to stand on the beach on the first day and withstand the shock attack. Arty can shorten island battles by half or more. In 1944 you ought to dig into your device lists as look at anti-soft and anti-armor ratings. You might be surprised. And a lot of base forces have dozens of Marine squads internally too. This is a lot of the reason I think you can smash and grab in late 1944 where you need full prep in 1942. Bomb the snot out of the target, take the supply down or out, and smash what's left. Have an HQ along as well as an amphibious landing ship. Dump in a lot of supply, R&R for two weeks, and go somewhere else you need to go. But don't be afraid to bypass either. Only fight where you need to in order to check off a step on the strat plan.

Wake is OK. A lot of islands are OK if you have enough naval support and dump in Seabees to build at least a Port 3 as fast as you can. It all depends on what he's done in what places in your specific game. If Wake is a push-over take it and use it. If it's not, look at Marcus, or Roi Namur, or even Ponape if you think you can handle Truk. There's no recipe, just guidelines.

[bigred]

ORIGINAL: HansBolter

A quick note on rearming BBs. In my current game I isolated Rabaul and set up milk run bombardments on it frrom Shortlands with a 4 BB TF. I had only a single AKE in Shortlands and found that it took several days to rearm all 4 BBs. It was also running the single AKE dry on supplies very quickly.

I moved an additional 2 AKEs in and the TF rearms in one day. I also have to remember to go into the base interface and hit the "reload tenders" button after every 2nd or 3rd bombardment run.

I haven't assessed it scientifically, but I guess it comes down to one AKE uses up so many ops points rearming a single BB that it runs out of ops points somwhere in the middle of rearming the second BB.

The point is that it is beneficial to group AKEs to support a major BB TF and sustain bombardment runs over time.

Question for Hans, how do u deal w/ a heavy minefield at Rabaul and shell it also?

[Crackaces]

Wake is OK. A lot of islands are OK

I like Wake as a part of a bigger strategy of Ponape, Ewiwetok, Wake line of interconnected patrol zones. This creates a pretty close buffer zone around the Marianas as far as the IJN being able to maneuver -- especally toward Truk. . Can they sprint and raid teh Marshals .. yes .. but it is a lot harder not to get warning ... once Wolel and Yap are taking the shield is completed .. then all my energy tend to move toward Peleliu and Davao .. eventually securing any traffic from making it to the DEI alive

Joe's game is getting into the late stages to force the IJ on VP's ..

[JocMeister]

Just did the turn. Next push in NG is ordered. Erik continues to dole out forces on all the bases. But still to few everywhere to change anything. I don´t understand what he is trying to do here? [&:] He is putting up garrison, SNLF and Nav Guard units against divisions. Perhaps he has failed to realize the true strength of allied forces here?

I´ll keep my fingers crossed this is his first truly major mistake in the game. If the next landing goes well Manus is next. He has only 12.000 troops here against 3 allied divisions. Rabaul will be dealt in the coming week. Need to close the AF before going for Manus. Without Rabaul Erik has nowhere to put his 500 fighters but will have to dissipate on the small AFs on NG.

Wake

I think I will try for it. It will give my a good base to recon from, place subs and use as staging for the Eniwetok landing. As long as I can stay away from KB this should be pretty risk free. I´ll send a few YMS to watch the approaches. I´ll just call it "sub hunting" and it should be fine... [8|]

Big Red,
Minefields seems to have almost no effect at all. I have had Japanese ships go straight through 500 mine minefields without pausing. I´ve stopped using them defensively as they seem to be ineffectual.

[koniu]

ORIGINAL: JocMeister
Big Red,
Minefields seems to have almost no effect at all. I have had Japanese ships go straight through 500 mine minefields without pausing. I´ve stopped using them defensively as they seem to be ineffectual.

It looks that if mine field is once detected it stop be any risk to enemy. Only undetected minefield work from time to time.

[DOCUP]

I do have to say that I am disappointed in the way minefields work out.  They should scare you away or atleast be very cautious around them.  Dosen't seem to be that way.  I personally like Wake Island.  I guess me and Aces went to the same school of thought

[witpqs]

I don't know if there is a change, but in my present 1x1 I have had two enemy bombardments where one of his ships hit a mine. Prior to that I have never seen a bombarding ship hit in one of my own games.

[JocMeister]

26th-27th February -44

New Guinea

The Hansa Bay landings go in without a hitch. Thanks to the weather it was unspotted while approaching. Two APAs where hit by a single bomb each but can still make full speed. I don´t think Erik can catch the transports as they move back as fast as possible. I put up a massive PT boat screen in case Erik tries to intercept them. The Japanese forces are in a bad shape after the aerial assault.

Ground combat at Hansa Bay (97,121)

Japanese Bombardment attack

Attacking force 3295 troops, 41 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 46

Defending force 10396 troops, 211 guns, 207 vehicles, Assault Value = 382

Japanese ground losses:
64 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 5 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled



Assaulting units:
53rd Infantry Brigade
4th South Seas Gsn
1st Indpt SNLF Coy
13th JAAF AF Coy
3rd FF Const Unit
46th Nav Gd /2

Defending units:
6th Infantry Division

Here is a perfect example of where I don´t understand what Erik is doing. The Nav Guard unit was likely flown in over the last two turns. I have no clue what Erik hoped to achieve by that when 4Es are causing some 300-500 casualties per turn! [&:] Not complaining though! Base will be secured next turn I think. I added a screen of the situation.

Merauke will have to wait for a while. I will deal with it shortly while I gather for the destruction of Rabaul AF. I´m in no rush as the forces there started prepping for targets in the Moluccas.

"Found" an elite P39D squadron I had forgotten on CAP over Kalgoorlie. Some have over 80 EXP! Nice. Upgraded them to P47s and sent them towards the battle zone. Also upgraded a squadron to P38Js to get more long range capabilities for the Rabaul battle. The P38s will have to fly from PM due to the 2 engines. Some 400 will be massed there and will be backed up by P47s and Corsairs from AFs closer to Rabaul. But the squadrons will have to rest from LRCAPing the Hansa Bay invasion first.

A Jap subs sink and AKA that struck a reef during the Merauke landing. She was gone anyway with 97 FLT. Still sucks though...

OZ
Darwin "falls". Erik had it completely abandoned. The II Australian Army will arrive in a 8-10 days. Supply convoy left Horn Island for Darwin. Now Erik will have to start setting up a defense here as well.

Burma

Might have found an opening SE of Mandalay. Erik has only 300 AV opposing 900 Chinese AV. The air force will try and tip the balance. I´m maneuvering all over the place with the intent of making a 12k AV allied death star on the south side of the river. Erik has yet to do something from the reopened Rangoon AF.

CENTPAC

After the successful strike at Abemama the fleet withdraws. No need to risk a confrontation now when Erik knows my exact location. This will force him to be more careful though. I will soon be ready to take on the KB again. But not yet.

[JocMeister]

28th of February -44

New Guinea

As predicted Hansa Bay falls into allied hands!

Ground combat at Hansa Bay (97,121)

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 10420 troops, 211 guns, 207 vehicles, Assault Value = 385

Defending force 3470 troops, 41 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 42

Allied adjusted assault: 172

Japanese adjusted defense: 3

Allied assault odds: 57 to 1 (fort level 3)

Allied forces CAPTURE Hansa Bay !!!

Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), forts(+), preparation(-), experience(-)
Attacker: leaders(-)

Japanese ground losses:
1202 casualties reported
Squads: 113 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 80 destroyed, 4 disabled
Engineers: 19 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 15 (15 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Units retreated 5
Units destroyed 1


Allied ground losses:
21 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled

I will start shuffling BFs up the coast once Saidor falls. It has a ready level 2 AF that will allow me to stage LRCAP a little bit closer to Hansa. The 2nd Marine Division should arrive there in 2 turns. Saidor will be worked over with the 4Es for a few turns to make sure it will fall quickly and easily. The 2nd Marine Division is slated for the Manus assault and I need them as intact as possible.

I´m shifting squadrons around preparing for the Rabaul strike. Should commence as fatigue has dropped after the LRCAP. Erik has 400 fighters there but I think around 100 are Oscars.

A 6 BB TF will bombard Merauke in a few turns. This will give away the presence of Iowa and New Jersey but I can´t hide them forever. And it might work as a deterrent if Erik knows I now have 6 fast BBs in the area.

Burma

Erik bombs my stack in the open just south of Prome. It looks bad with 300 casualties but I can´t see any effect on the troops! Hopefully he keeps going! [:D] I have a big chunk of AA units arriving in 5-6 turns. Sadly he now know what I have here. Hopefully he won´t know the full strength.

OZ

Waiting for BFs to arrive at Darwin. AF is only level 4 so I will need some time to get it to level 9. Once that happens Erik will have to devote fighters to defend the oil within range of the B29s that arrive shortly!

CENTPAC
Retiring towards PH. Changing the configurations of the 10 or so CVEs still at PH and WC. They will join the fleet shortly. I had in mind to use them for strike capabilities but changed my mind. I already have 10 CVEs with DBs/TBs. That is 270 strike planes. With the ones on the CVs and CVLs I will have somewhere around 500 TBs/DBs. That should be enough?

I will give a detailed account on the CV force tonight. Erik is away so I have spare time! Will also try and give a more detailed update on Burma and New Guinea.

[JocMeister]

KB vs. Allied CVs

I´ve done some quick calculations. Nothing too exact so numbers are not spot on. Counting the KB without the CVEs and slower CVLs it has about 827 AC on deck. A pretty impressive number and certainly nothing the Allies can take on at this stage without CVE support.

The TOTAL allied CV strength at this time including ALL the CVEs is 1131 AC. I´m not sure this is something I should feel too comfortable with? I´m aware that Hellcats and Corsairs are far superior to the Zero at this stage but my limited experience so far tells me that his strike will penetrate any CAP I put up regardless of numbers and AC type.

Waiting for just two months will add 2 CVs, 2 CVLs and 14(!) CVEs. Thats 630 more planes bringing the total Allied strength up to 1761 planes. That almost a 2:1 advantage. Something I would feel much more comfortable with. I can´t afford to loose the next CV battle.

This means Eniwetok will happen in around May and the Marianas in September-October. Thats 16 more CVEs, 2 Brit CVs and 2 US CVs more for the Marianas.

I will go for Wake soon but I will do so very cautiously and not risk a CV vs CV battle.

[Bullwinkle58]

Remember you can overstock the CVs with fighters if you pull off strike planes. Or vice versa the CVEs.

[JocMeister]

ORIGINAL: Bullwinkle58

Remember you can overstock the CVs with fighters if you pull off strike planes. Or vice versa the CVEs.

I´m using the default setup on the CVs and CVLs. The CVEs I have made either pure Fighters or pure Strike. I´m experimenting a bit with the CVEs but it has worked very well so far. Its far easier to manage them this way!

I thought about overstocking but I decided not to do so. If I would do this I would add fighters. But I don´t want to pull any fighter squadrons from active combat to fill the CVs and then have strike planes on the ground doing nothing. I have an abundance of strike planes in both Burma and SOPAC. I have so many extra because I bought back the air groups from the lost CVs!

[Bullwinkle58]

ORIGINAL: JocMeister

ORIGINAL: Bullwinkle58

Remember you can overstock the CVs with fighters if you pull off strike planes. Or vice versa the CVEs.

I´m using the default setup on the CVs and CVLs. The CVEs I have made either pure Fighters or pure Strike. I´m experimenting a bit with the CVEs but it has worked very well so far. Its far easier to manage them this way!

I thought about overstocking but I decided not to do so. If I would do this I would add fighters. But I don´t want to pull any fighter squadrons from active combat to fill the CVs and then have strike planes on the ground doing nothing. I have an abundance of strike planes in both Burma and SOPAC. I have so many extra because I bought back the air groups from the lost CVs!

I understand there are trade-offs. I only suggest this because in the first days around the Marianas he will saturate your CAP until you knock him down. Then you have a window to get some LBA fighters ashore while he's under the once-every-7-days rule. CVEs will usually sink from one torpedo or two large bombs; they're very fragile, too fragile IMO. You can hold them back as LBA transports, flush their loads ashore when you have (say) Tinian, and send them back to Pearl empty. Up front, you can heavy-load the CVs with top-drawer figthers which attrit the islands. If he overstacks use your BBs to crunch the air fields. TBs going for BBs aren't hitting your carriers. Rock-paper-scissors. Split your TFs into smaller chunks and let the code work for you. You will take losses; no question. But the Marianas have only a couple of keys and taking down his LBA fast and rough is #1.