The march of progress - Lokasenna (J) vs. HexHead (A), no HH please

[Lokasenna]

I'm taking over the Japanese side of an abandoned Scenario 1 game. The date is January 23, 1942. Tojo choked on a piece of fish and keeled over (or some similar scene). I'm taking his place.

The usual settings - PDU On, Realistic R&D On, USN Torps Off, Allied DC On. The only thing I'd change if I could is Advanced Weather to Off.

Before I can dig into any planning, issue any orders, or have a beer, there is a combat replay to be had. It's a light day.

January 22, 1942
A heavy IJN presence remains around Hawaii, focused on attacking USN assets at Lihue. The I-7's skipper sneaks into the harbor and puts a fish into TK Eidsvold, setting her on fire. The smoke is a beacon for Kido-Butai's aircraft. 84 Zeroes, 57 Kates, and 57 Vals meet 30 Wildcats, 51 P-40s, and 16 Buffalos in the sky over the harbor. The escort does a great job of suppressing the CAP and the entire strike package makes it through, but the results are somewhat underwhelming:

CA Louisville, Bomb hits 2, on fire
AVD Ballard
xAKL Absaroka, Bomb hits 4, heavy fires, heavy damage
xAP President Coolidge, Torpedo hits 4, and is sunk
TK Eidsvold, Bomb hits 4, and is sunk
AMc Condor
AG Regulus, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires, heavy damage
AS Pelias, Bomb hits 1, on fire
xAKL Honomu, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires, heavy damage
xAKL Mexican, Bomb hits 5, and is sunk
AMc Crossbill, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk
xAKL Vincent, Bomb hits 3, and is sunk
CA Pensacola, Bomb hits 1

The damage to Louisville should be enough to put her in the yards for a month or so, while Pensacola got off lightly. Sinking the large xAP and the TK was the highlight of this raid. Lots of torpedoes simply missed. On the way out, KB loses 13 Vals and 8 Kates. This, plus the 1 destroyed Zero from earlier, are my losses vs. 1 A2A +1 Ops Warhawk and 1 F4F-3.

Elsewhere:
Singapore, SRA:
Sweeps against Batavia yield no combats, and bombing raids against southern Malaya are unopposed.
An Allied Shock Attack just north of Johore Bahru is completely dismantled:

Ground combat at 50,82 (near Johore Bahru)

Allied Shock attack

Attacking force 5020 troops, 32 guns, 7 vehicles, Assault Value = 159

Defending force 10109 troops, 90 guns, 197 vehicles, Assault Value = 381

Allied adjusted assault: 1

Japanese adjusted defense: 1007

Allied assault odds: 1 to 1007

Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+)
Attacker: shock(+), supply(-)

Japanese ground losses:
93 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 9 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled


Allied ground losses:
2365 casualties reported
Squads: 101 destroyed, 23 disabled
Non Combat: 37 destroyed, 48 disabled
Engineers: 11 destroyed, 13 disabled
Guns lost 14 (5 destroyed, 9 disabled)
Vehicles lost 1 (1 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Units destroyed 1

The PI:
Bombing raids against Luzon are likewise unopposed.

The IJA presence in Manila is pushed out with an Allied Shock Attack that does more damage to the defending PA forces than the IJA, but it's a small setback:

Ground combat at Manila (79,77)

Allied Shock attack

Attacking force 13461 troops, 281 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 581

Defending force 12846 troops, 117 guns, 42 vehicles, Assault Value = 402

Allied adjusted assault: 1529

Japanese adjusted defense: 671

Allied assault odds: 2 to 1

Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), preparation(-)
Attacker: shock(+)

Japanese ground losses:
2895 casualties reported
Squads: 76 destroyed, 56 disabled
Non Combat: 69 destroyed, 39 disabled
Engineers: 13 destroyed, 13 disabled
Guns lost 19 (10 destroyed, 9 disabled)
Vehicles lost 10 (5 destroyed, 5 disabled)
Units retreated 6


Allied ground losses:
3078 casualties reported
Squads: 194 destroyed, 113 disabled
Non Combat: 16 destroyed, 63 disabled
Engineers: 1 destroyed, 1 disabled
Guns lost 54 (28 destroyed, 26 disabled)


Defeated Japanese Units Retreating!

Assaulting units:
91st PA Infantry Division
41st PA Infantry Division
3rd/12th PA Inf Battalion
51st PA Infantry Division
71st PA Infantry Division
21st PA Infantry Division
1st PA Infantry Division
USAFFE
Manila USAAF Base Force
II Philippine Corps

Defending units:
20th Infantry Regiment
16th Recon Regiment
9th Infantry Regiment
16th Engineer Regiment
Yokosuka 3rd SNLF
31st Special Base Force

All in all, not a bad day to assume the throne.

[Lokasenna]

Wall of text incoming.
January 23, 1942 - Current situation report:

Global: Industry & Captured Territory
--1055 PPs in the bank. Not too shabby. I plan to use these to buy out the 53rd Division ASAP.
--Wake Island, Port Moresby, Rabaul, Balikpapan, and the northern coast of Borneo are all in IJ hands.
--Vehicle factories are at only 72, and the LCU production curve is below trend needs. I will bump up production to about 110-115 over the next couple of weeks and see where that gets me.
--Lots of naval reserves at Hiroshima, including 4 BBs, 5 CAs, 5 CLs, 40 DDs, and 8 submarines. 10 TKs and 40 xAKs. Also, 16 subs plus midgets at Kwajalein. Lots of unallocated assets here.
--20 R&D factories already working for the Ki-84: wow!
--Unfortunately, not much else looks changed with aircraft R&D other than a small focus on the B6N1 and D4Y1, which are both good things, but nothing has been put towards the Tojo or Zero models yet.

China
We'll start with the theater closest to home.

The southern coast from Hong Kong to Wenchow, inclusive, is IJA. IJA forces are besieging Kukong and Changsha. Unfortunately, I do not think the Changsha siege is enough: 2096 AV, comprised of 4 92%+ strength IDs, 2 brigades, a naval guard, one armor unit, and several supporting artillery units as well as 1 HQ that is 47% prepped for Changsha; this is against 21 enemy units with 228k troops at a 9/15 DL. I will try probing bombardment attacks in both places to discover what I'm up against.

There is a strong pocket of Chinese resistance outside of Hangchow. Looking at the disruption and stats on my large Hangchow stack, it appears that they were repulsed while making a move on Shanghai. My best guess is that this is the full collection of units which start the game in the Chuhsien area. I have 4 IDs here, 2 of which are at 75-80% TOE, plus smaller supporting units. I will leave the single regiment behind with a beat up naval guard unit to fulfill the garrison requirements at Hangchow and cross the river towards Chuhsien on the assumption that the Chinese stack (12 units, 56k troops) in the hex was beaten back over the river prior to the death of Tojo (Shaohing, to the SE, has no current garrison and those 2 divisions have suffered casualties recently but nowhere near enough to have been forced to retreat TO Hangchow...).

The 38th and 4th ID are currently committed at Kukong and Hangchow respectively. I want to free up these units ASAP if I can't find needed AV elsewhere for the final conquest of the SRA (as will be noted in the Malaya and Luzon sitreps, there is nowhere near enough AV in these places to conquer the resistance).

Lastly, there are large stacks of Chinese at Chengchow and Loyang. This is another problem that needs solving. I will sit across the river for now as I mop up some Chinese NE of Tsiaotso. There are Chinese facing off with IJA on the rail line between Chengchow and Sinyang, which I hope to be able to deal with using the forces currently in place, plus air power. In general, my plan for China is to move on Nanyang and Sian in an attempt to encircle the troops at Loyang/Chengchow. I then hope to push on to Lanchow and eventually enter the central valley from both north and south. This is ambitious; I will undoubtedly have to revisit and tweak this plan many times. For the south of China, I am to open up the Magic Coast Road by taking Nanning, Liuchow, and Kweilin after I take Kukong. From there, I may try to sneak some units up the dirt road from Naning towards Kunming's/Kweiyang's back door. Overall, this theater needs a lot more supply. Convoys will be organized shortly.

Burma
I'm almost clueless here. I view this as the riskiest theater of the war for me and my inexperience. Thankfully, Tojo got a good start. Moulmein is already Japanese, and the Imperial Guards Div, 15th Army, and 14th Tank Rgt are 2 hexes south of Toungoo and 2/3 of the way across the river. There is not enough AV present here to take Rangoon, but I think it's enough that my opponent can't push me out without bringing in reinforcements - only 5 units and less than 10k troops are sighted at Rangoon, moving east towards Pegu. 2 units are sighted at Prome, moving north, the size of which leads me to believe they could be engineer units and he has already written off southern Burma. Which doesn't mean I'm not going to have to work for it.

Port Blair has not yet been taken. I will have to find my paratroopers and TR planes to get it (currently at Kagoshima). I will then fly in an AF Coy or three to support some Nav Search. I may risk one of my AVs going the long way around Sumatra (or even up the Strait, since Singapore's airpower appears demolished) to help out.

Borneo/Celebes/Moluccas
Only Tarakan and the swampy SW side of the island remain in Allied hands. Balikpapan's refinery is at 298(2), while the Oil is at 300(0). Samarinda is at 81(19). Miri is at 122(178) for both Oil and Refinery.

Manado is under IJA control, as are Kendari, Ternate, Sorong, and most importantly Ambon. Some forces at Ambon are prepping for Darwin, but I do not think I am going to move on Australia in this game.

Makassar invasion is loading up at Tokyo and should arrive at target within a week.

New Guinea/New Britain
Wewak, Buna, Port Moresby, Manus, Kavieng, and Rabaul are Japanese. Shortlands also. There is light resistance at Buna (4 units). I plan to make this a MLR. The close network of supporting bases are very attractive. Tentatively, I plan to have a major hub at Rabaul with spokes at Kavieng, Wewak, Hollandia, Port Moresby, and possibly Manus. Minor-to-medium bases may be built at Shortlands, Milne Bay (still Allied), and Tulagi. Depending on how the naval war goes, I may push farther down the Solomons chain to Ndeni and Luganville (where I will probably only maintain a symbolic token resistance).

Malaya
Other than the 300 AV outside of Johore Bahru, Malaya has no strong IJA presence. 350 AV is on its way through the jungle to Kuala Lumpur and about 200-250 AV is scattered along the eastern coast. The 33rd Division is at Bangkok. I do not know whether to send it to Rangoon (for which it is fully prepped) or Singapore.

Philippines
10 DMSes were lost at Bataan on January 21 to CD fire. 2 more were lost en route to sub torpedoes. What was Tojo thinking?! That could crimp the clearing of some of the SRA, not to mention having a nice non-AMc minesweeping force to deal with any surprise minefields laid by my opponent later on.

Only 780 AV is present at Clark. Not enough - the story of this game so far. There are no forces of note elsewhere on the island and none en route. I am hoping that I can just lock away the PA resistance in Clark/Bataan for a while, while I deal with Malaya and Sumatra - maybe even Java. I don't need Manila until later. So long as I keep supply out, I should be OK. I think I will need another 150-200 AV to ensure Manila falls soon, and then I'll stop pushing. The central PI will be dealt with during this time.

Jolo is in IJA hands. Davao and Batangas on Mindanao are also Japanese. I think more AV is probably needed here to complete the conquest of Mindanao, as only a couple hundred is present.

CentPac
This area is a bit of a mystery to me. A preset invasion of Midway can land tomorrow - an IJA regiment and a Naval Guard, undetected and 2 hexes away. I don't know the composition of the island's defense, but an AMC was lost to a 5" CD Gun here one week ago. This invasion force has no combat ships - I may delay it until some of KBs escorts can be broken off to suppress CD fire. This would delay the invasion 2 days at least, probably 3.

Other ideas (if any) about the Marshalls and Gilberts to come later. I'm of the general opinion that the Marshalls aren't worth much, other than as a small buffer to help delay Allied acquisition of the precious Marianas. Nauru and Ocean Island are Japanese.

NorPac
I want to take Attu, Amchitka, and Adak, but have no idea how I'm going to do that yet. I'm looking at my LCU reinforcement queue. The handful of Nav Gd units I get in a few days is probably not enough, and definitely not enough long term.


Also to come: production plans and questions about priorities.

[House Stark]

It looks like you have some challenges ahead of you, although it could be a lot worse.

What's the sunk ships list look like?

[PaxMondo]

Since you're picking up from Tojo, and you have no idea of his ability ....
1. Check your resource balance to the HI. By end of JAN you need to be well on your way to being balanced. Get those convoys setup/confirmed.
2. Check your overall supply situation. Someone who has 20 R&D on the Frank may not have watched supply too carefully. Be sure you have enough moving to you offensive prep points and for oil center repair. Miri alone needs 150K supply minimum.
3. Check you engines. Tojo might have gone on a building spree of aircraft, but forgot to balance his engine production ....

good luck!!

[Lokasenna]

There isn't much on there yet, but what is on there favors me by a decent enough amount.

4 BBs sunk at PH, with the 4th sunk on 12/15.
Boise sunk near Port Moresby on New Year's Day.
CAs Portland and Indianapolis showing up as sunk also.
6 real TKs and a tiny Dutch TK sunk.
AG Vega, AG Arctic
AP Henderson
AK Bellatrix
Several xAKs, some xAPs, and CLs Marblehead, De Ruyter, Tromp


IJN:
3 AMCs ([:(])
Standard, maybe even lighter than usual, xAK and xAP losses.
12 DMS ([:(])
1 APD
1 ACM to a Type 4 mine at Truk*
1 ACM to a Type 4 mine at Yokohama*
1 DD

*Seriously? I've heard of this happening, but twice? And to mine tenders? Jeez.

[Lokasenna]

ORIGINAL: PaxMondo

Since you're picking up from Tojo, and you have no idea of his ability ....
1. Check your resource balance to the HI. By end of JAN you need to be well on your way to being balanced. Get those convoys setup/confirmed.
2. Check your overall supply situation. Someone who has 20 R&D on the Frank may not have watched supply too carefully. Be sure you have enough moving to you offensive prep points and for oil center repair. Miri alone needs 150K supply minimum.
3. Check you engines. Tojo might have gone on a building spree of aircraft, but forgot to balance his engine production ....

good luck!!

Thanks Pax.

1. Only 18 days of resources in the HI. This is very, very different from Scen 2 in that regard. I thought it was on fuel, but fuel has 189 days remaining. Oil has 310 days. Hokkaido can provide 43% of the deficit for the rest of the HI, but I'm going to have to pull in the rest from elsewhere. So I have about 36 days of resources - I've already set up CS convoys for the Sakhalins, Hokkaido (there was a mere one for Hokkaido already) and sent ships off to Fusan to pull some from there. That should get me down to a deficit of about 10,000 resources per day once I get the convoys pulling in from Formosa, Sakhalins, Hokkaido, and Fusan (pulling from Korea and Manchukuo). Which, by the time the convoys get set up, will have me running at 120 days without accounting for any convoy losses. In addition, Hokkaido has just over 2 million Resources stashed - if I pull them out, I can build up a nice buffer in the short term.

2. The supply situation isn't bad. He didn't expand much. Only the factory at Maebashi is at 4 (51) - did it start at this?! - while the rest are at 0 (1) for the most part. Global supplies are at 3.8 million, with 1.5 million in the HI (that isn't bad, right? It doesn't seem bad when compared to turn 90 or so of my AI game). There are almost 6400 NavSY points in the pool: I've accelerated all of the Unryus for now, turned off one sub that doesn't carry a FP, and halted Musashi for now. This should put me at -50 or so per day. Once Junyo and Hiyo are out, I may turn Musashi back on. Shinano was halted when I loaded the game. There are also 16000 MerSY points - there appear to be many, many fewer merchant ships in Scen 1 than in Scen 2. I'll post screenies of the industry tomorrow night, when I get to trying to answer some of my remaining industry/production questions/dilemmas - mostly about aircraft.

What do you recommend for Miri? I'm of the opinion that I shouldn't repair the refinery, only the oil, and that I should repair the oil at Samarinda as well. I can refine it elsewhere, and with Java/Balikpapan I shouldn't need the fuel locally in the SRA.

3. He didn't change all that much for Engines. Production almost meets demand at the moment, but of course it will have to increase if (when) I increase airframe production. He turned off useless airframes (Nate, Sally) and they still have pools. I'll keep an eye on them, but am looking to switch those factories to something useful in the future. What he didn't do that flummoxes me is build the B5N1. Thankfully he left a B5N2 factory at 0 (0), so I switched it back to B5N1 and got a "free" (?) point out of it. It changed to 0 (1) and I'll build it up to 20 or so probably so that I can use up the 100 unique engines that are in the pool, then upgrade it to B5N2 (for a total production of 45/mo...for now). I don't plan to upgrade from B5N2 until I get the B6N2, as I don't want to produce the Ha-44 just for the B6N1 - seems a waste of supplies.

[PaxMondo]

Refineries: There is not universal agreement on this, but I rarely repair refineries. Oil centers always are repaired as fast as possible to max as long as I can keep them out of 4E range. Once they are in 4E range, I no longer repair them.

Sally: I don't consider useless. It is the best IJA bomber until Helen II arrives. I would build them.

Resources: I thought it might be a fiasco. Focus on that until you get it turned around. 18 days is REALLY tight. I would watch carefully each turn. You need to expand Hakodate port to be able to ship enough, and Ominato expand to be able to offload enough. Ditto Sakalhin.

[Lokasenna]

ORIGINAL: PaxMondo

Refineries: There is not universal agreement on this, but I rarely repair refineries. Oil centers always are repaired as fast as possible to max as long as I can keep them out of 4E range. Once they are in 4E range, I no longer repair them.

Sally: I don't consider useless. It is the best IJA bomber until Helen II arrives. I would build them.

Resources: I thought it might be a fiasco. Focus on that until you get it turned around. 18 days is REALLY tight. I would watch carefully each turn. You need to expand Hakodate port to be able to ship enough, and Ominato expand to be able to offload enough. Ditto Sakalhin.

Thankfully xAKs were already present in Hokkaido ports. I should be OK, but it will be a scramble for sure. I can ship 21k per day out of Toyohara in a 24k ton TF - good for xAKLs and some PBs. Sakhalin overall has a surplus of 9800 per day and a stockpile of 595k, so it would take me almost 2 months of shipping 21k per day to empty the region. Short term I'll drain the stockpiles here and in Hokkaido, but long term I'll pull in from the SRA and PI to balance out the need and build as much of a surplus as I can (though I expect Oil and then Fuel to be the constraint, obviously).

The Sally...it does carry the same bomb load. I have about 30 in the pool right now and the raid orders I inherited didn't result in m/any losses (only 6 lost all war so far...but I will need them to cycle out Lilies). I'll turn them on/off as necessary, but I'd really like to not overbuild them. I think a reserve of 50 will be OK - only 98 days til the Helen starts building so about 115-120 days until I start upgrading units. I plan to build the Helen-Ia throughout the war due to it carrying a MAD, but I'll have to do something different with my ASW than in my AI games: I didn't seem to have army units spare to run ASW duty in tandem with FPs on search.

Pretty tired tonight, but still going to try to hash out some initial numbers for production so that I can get the turn-ball rolling.

[PaxMondo]

First Helen is 1 hex shorter range than the Sally. MAD add only 5% to sub detection, I've never been able to prove if that is noticeable or not. It seems that pilot skill and random chance drown this out. Again, no concensus on this. Me?, I don't build the Helen Ia, I R&D until the Helen IIa with armor and I will build the Sally until then. Ergo, for my entire expansion phase the Sally is my IJA bomber.

On your resources, be sure that you can meet the daily requirement ... I generally have to expand a few ports to meet the daily resource flow.

[Lokasenna]

ORIGINAL: PaxMondo

First Helen is 1 hex shorter range than the Sally. MAD add only 5% to sub detection, I've never been able to prove if that is noticeable or not. It seems that pilot skill and random chance drown this out. Again, no concensus on this. Me?, I don't build the Helen Ia, I R&D until the Helen IIa with armor and I will build the Sally until then. Ergo, for my entire expansion phase the Sally is my IJA bomber.

On your resources, be sure that you can meet the daily requirement ... I generally have to expand a few ports to meet the daily resource flow.

Expanding ports goes without saying . In my AI games, I liked Ominato, Fukuoka, and Nagasaki or Kagoshima for SWestern convoys.


Thanks for the thoughts on the Helen. I did notice the range difference, but haven't found the 10 vs. 9 hex range to be a problem, at least in China. My plan for ASW is to have at least some of the less useful units (Anns, Marys, Lilys) do some duty/training and the 5% from the MAD should make some difference. From what I can tell, no IJA aircraft carries a radar. I feel that after a certain point, the naval bombing units are better used in actual combat rather than in ASW but will still produce some G3M3s for the radar and use a unit or two... (or should I use G4M2a's? M3 has 21 vs. 17 normal range but is slower and carries less load, as well as using an engine that is less in demand)

[PaxMondo]

For me Netties are all about range. They can be effective 2E patrols which are badly needed as IJ intel is so bad and you don't get enough Mavis/EMily groups to cover the map satisfactory for me. You can only defeat what you can see in time to react to.

[Lokasenna]

That's my gut feeling also. I'm always hurting for Mavis and Emily units, so I'll use Netties to search and almost 25% greater range is huge.

[Lokasenna]

I'm getting anxious to send the turn back to John, and aside from production changes I don't think I have any combat orders to change other than what I've already done - mostly it's pieces moving about the board.

I do have yet to decide on whether to delay the Midway invasion until I get some surface assets in the amphib TF. I'm leaning towards wait on that matter. He won't be able to get any more reinforcements into Midway in the next 2-3 days. I don't plan to use the base other than for some forward recon, but using it as a "second Wake" might be nice. If the invasion weren't already set up I wouldn't do it at all.

Current production
A6M2 - 95 (5)
B5N1 - 0 (2)
B5N2 - 25 (0)
D3A1 - 30 (0)
E13A1 - 40 (0)
E13A1 - 0 (2) this is the F1M2 factory that I changed to Jakes in anticipation of needing many, many Jakes for resized groups via Chitose/Chiyoda.
E14 Glen - 9 (0) with 19 in the pool I will leave this for now
G3M2 - 30 (0) will leave for now. Upgrade to G3M3 later.
G4M1 - 30 (0) will also leave for now, but might need to increase later?
Mavis - 6 (0) this will definitely not meet my flying boat needs. 9 in pool currently, but I have used these extensively for troop and supply transport at forward places before.
Ki-Babs - 16 (0) this seems a bit high.
Sally - 25 (0) will leave on for now, thanks Pax.
Nate - 10 (0) currently off, will remain so until I get Tojo online.
Oscar Ic - 24 (0) Currently on. With 29 in pool and Tojo still some months away, will remain.
Oscar Ic - 46 (0)
Sonia - 30 (0)
Thalia - 2 (0) off when I took over game. Undecided on this one.
Topsy - 6 (0) on, will remain so. Maybe expand in short term.

The underlined factories I feel should be changed, either now or when a newer model comes online (at least one Oscar will probably switch to Tojo). My targets are:

IJN
CV Fighter - A6M5, M5c at least. May try for Sam.
CV Bomber - D4Y4. Will replace Vals as soon as Y1 is online. Unfortunately the Y1 and Y2 are the only planes that use the Aichi-60 engine, but I want to replace the Vals ASAP.
CV TB - B6N, beginning with B6N2. I do not want to produce the B6N1 because of engines
LBA escort - A6M3a
LBA CAP - George. Should I go for the N1K5 or stop at N1K2? N1K2 uses the same engine as N1K1 and is SR2, but is 11 mph slower as well as 6 gun value less.

LBA search/ASW - G3M3
LBA attack - G4M1->G4M2->G4M2a->skip G4M2e because no Okha->G4M3a. No need to research because G4M2a uses Ha-6 radar, not available until 6/44 anyway.

Debating producing the late version of the Oscar for kamikazes later on. I'm pretty clueless when it comes to kamikazes.


IJA
Escort - Oscar for far-flung bases, otherwise Tojo with drop tanks
Interceptor (CAP) - Tojo (stopping at IIb?), then Frank. Maybe the turbojet fighter later.
Sweeper - Tojo
LBA Bomber - Sally, then Helen
ASW - Lily/Ann, then Sally, then Helen-Ia if there are extra (should be)


Will also produce Nicks for the units that can take them. I hope to have 3-4 Sentai of Nicks. I only plan to produce the first model due to the inaccuracy of the cannons on the 2nd/3rd models.

For Recon, I don't think I'll bother with the Dinah-III until I'm out of Ha-31 in the pools. When 1/43 nears, I'll look again. The -III uses the Ha-33, which I need in numbers for Jakes, Judys, Nells, and Mavises. For the IJN Recon, I'll produce the Irving when it's ready and the am undecided on the Myrt (it has radar...)


I'm tempted to not worry about things like the Mavis production levels, to simulate taking over things from a predecessor. Besides that, I will get Emilys in 5 months and I'd rather have more of them than Mavises.

Just have some minor adjustments for orders, really...sending some engineers to build up Fusan, probing bombardments in China, and beginning to prep for Oosthaven.

Would like to send the turn to John tomorrow night. Just have to decide what, if anything, to do with the aircraft factories this turn.

[obvert]

Interceptor (CAP) - Tojo (stopping at IIb?), then Frank. Maybe the turbojet fighter later.

The IIb is only marginally effective. It does okay but the canons are virtually useless. I built a few and hurried on to the IIc which is a great plane for the mid-war.

Escort - Oscar for far-flung bases, otherwise Tojo with drop tanks

It's often best to stick with one escort as then you don't waste your best pilots in this kind of mission. My Oscar pilots start out as the worst of the trained pilots at between 45-50 exp and 55-65 air skill. If they make it through a few missions they might be lucky enough to be transferred out at around 60 exp to a Tojo group, and if they get a few kills there they could be moved to the elite Franks.

For Recon, I don't think I'll bother with the Dinah-III until I'm out of Ha-31 in the pools. When 1/43 nears, I'll look again. The -III uses the Ha-33, which I need in numbers for Jakes, Judys, Nells, and Mavises. For the IJN Recon, I'll produce the Irving when it's ready and the am undecided on the Myrt (it has radar...)

1. BOTHER with the Dinah III. It's the best recon plane you'll get until the Myrt. So much better with the range than the II model. You'll need the Ha-33 right up to th send of the war so just build more of them.
2. Don't produce the Irving, as the Judy-C gives you essentially the same thing at half of the cost and comes around the same time.

Start training ASW now if y're serious about it both for IJN TB/FP and for IJAAF 2E, which you won't need as much after China is beaten down.

As for Midway, if you don't care about it, I'd say don't do it. It's probably going to end up as free target practice for training Allied bombers and a nice easy atoll invasion test close to home. If you want it it should be part of the entire strategic plan or else it's too far out to support and wastes your fuel and resources. Also, it's not likely to roll over easily, even this early without reinforcement. It s an atoll and has one of those nasty Marine defense units.

[Lokasenna]

Thanks obvert. By "bother", I meant switching engine production up as the Ha-31 will only be used for the Dinah II at that point. The III is clearly a far superior plane. I just want to avoid needing to build up the Ha-31 to support using the early Dinahs in addition to the other airframes, and then drastically reduce the need for Ha-31s while not eliminating it (I'm at work, but IIRC the Jake uses it). I'm not sure I'll have 2 factories for the Ha-31, but I suppose at worst I can cycle the factory on/off later if I'm overbuilding the engines. I do plan to begin training ASW for TB/FP and IJAAF 2E units immediately, and I want to get started on resizing extra float plane units as soon as possible.

"Doh!" moment on the Irving. It has 2 engines. The Judy-C has 1. I was thinking on the drive home the other day that the HI cost of my air production has been somewhat invisible to me in my AI games, but that it is definitely not insubstantial. Saves a couple hundred more HI per month to do the Judy.

I hadn't taken the "put low XP pilots in escort units" line of thought to its logical conclusion, which is basically your process. I like it. Do you produce the Oscar in numbers throughout the war?


I would like to have more of a traditional focus in this game than I have in my AI runs (where I pushed hard into China, and hard on Australia, rather than doing anything in CentPac), at least partially because I will need to pay attention in the north against a human. Midway would substantially reduce sub patrol cycle times but, as you say, it would be free target and amphibious practice. Since I'm taking this over and 1.5 months of turns have already been played, figuring out my long term plan is somewhat of a different experience than I'm used to (but a welcome one, it's fun).

Thanks for all the comments. I have no doubt that, being my first campaign game against a human, it will be full of things I wish I'd done differently. Advice from people who've either made the mistakes I'm about to make or avoided them is always helpful. Gotta do it to learn, though [;)].

[Chickenboy]

Hi Lokasenna,

I'm subscribing to this AAR now. I hope to be able to help as I can. Looks like Obvert already beat me to the low hanging fruit though! [:@][;)]

Glad to see you taking over a very short-lived game. Welcome to the insanity of PBEM, mate!

[Chickenboy]

ORIGINAL: PaxMondo

Refineries: There is not universal agreement on this, but I rarely repair refineries. Oil centers always are repaired as fast as possible to max as long as I can keep them out of 4E range. Once they are in 4E range, I no longer repair them.

I repair refineries that as necessary to rationalize a balanced oil/fuel cargo from producing hexes. This is mitigated by the rationale about where those refineries are located. I'll not repair refineries that are unlikely to stay away from 4EB, but I will for those more centrally located (e.g., Miri). The supply produced and the handiness of the fuel (instead of slow-loading oil) can be very beneficial. I'll typically repair refineries on Palembang and Java too. Refineries in Burma, China and the rest of the DEI (e.g., Balikpapan) are more arguable.

Agree with Pax about oil centers. With the exception of Magwe, these are repaired ASAP.

[Lokasenna]

ORIGINAL: Chickenboy

ORIGINAL: PaxMondo

Refineries: There is not universal agreement on this, but I rarely repair refineries. Oil centers always are repaired as fast as possible to max as long as I can keep them out of 4E range. Once they are in 4E range, I no longer repair them.

I repair refineries that as necessary to rationalize a balanced oil/fuel cargo from producing hexes. This is mitigated by the rationale about where those refineries are located. I'll not repair refineries that are unlikely to stay away from 4EB, but I will for those more centrally located (e.g., Miri). The supply produced and the handiness of the fuel (instead of slow-loading oil) can be very beneficial. I'll typically repair refineries on Palembang and Java too. Refineries in Burma, China and the rest of the DEI (e.g., Balikpapan) are more arguable.

Agree with Pax about oil centers. With the exception of Magwe, these are repaired ASAP.

Oil is the scarcest thing, for sure. I had not thought about the difference having Miri produce more supplies might make. Something to think about, and I've got some time before the supply convoy to begin the Oil repairs arrives and I need to decide.

I'll definitely be repairing Palembang once it's out of bombing range. Going to try to balance the industry on/near Java as well so that I don't have to ship as much out of it (HI produced there is as good as anywhere else), and repairing any damaged refineries will be important for that.

Thankfully Balikpapan is only damaged by 2 points, so I'll be repairing it.

[leehunt27@bloomberg.net]

Interesting to pick up a game part way through. Can even be more fun to take some risks and try new things because you have inherited a situation you might not have created yourself :

[obvert]

ORIGINAL: Lokasenna

Thanks obvert. By "bother", I meant switching engine production up as the Ha-31 will only be used for the Dinah II at that point. The III is clearly a far superior plane. I just want to avoid needing to build up the Ha-31 to support using the early Dinahs in addition to the other airframes, and then drastically reduce the need for Ha-31s while not eliminating it (I'm at work, but IIRC the Jake uses it). I'm not sure I'll have 2 factories for the Ha-31, but I suppose at worst I can cycle the factory on/off later if I'm overbuilding the engines. I do plan to begin training ASW for TB/FP and IJAAF 2E units immediately, and I want to get started on resizing extra float plane units as soon as possible.

The Ha-31 doesn't do much else, or not much else that you want to build, unless you have a fondness for short ranged float bi-planes. [;)] The Ki-46 KAId Nick is the only mid-war plane you might want that uses it. You don't get the actual groups for IJAAF NF though until quite late. Sucks. So yes, rely on mostly the Babs yo have at start and a few Dinah-II you build, and get the Dinah-III ASAP.

I hadn't taken the "put low XP pilots in escort units" line of thought to its logical conclusion, which is basically your process. I like it. Do you produce the Oscar in numbers throughout the war?

Yes. They are usually the low band in layered CAP so diving planes have to chase them around at their best maneuver ratings while my better fighters can then dive in return. (Works for a while, then the P-47s break up the party). They also are one of your best low naval/kami planes for the late war, so anything after the armored Oscar IIb with it's 2 x 250kg bombs will work well. The later Oscars aren't such bad planes except for the fact the Allied planes get SO MUCH better. The centerline guns help, and on the final Oscar IV they are 20mm canons. Dual purpose as a back line interceptor when not escorting.

I've got nearly a 1,000 Oscar variants post IIb in the pools ready and waiting now, and building more. [8D]

I would like to have more of a traditional focus in this game than I have in my AI runs (where I pushed hard into China, and hard on Australia, rather than doing anything in CentPac), at least partially because I will need to pay attention in the north against a human. Midway would substantially reduce sub patrol cycle times but, as you say, it would be free target and amphibious practice. Since I'm taking this over and 1.5 months of turns have already been played, figuring out my long term plan is somewhat of a different experience than I'm used to (but a welcome one, it's fun).

Thanks for all the comments. I have no doubt that, being my first campaign game against a human, it will be full of things I wish I'd done differently. Advice from people who've either made the mistakes I'm about to make or avoided them is always helpful. Gotta do it to learn, though [;)].

You might consider staying on with the push in China. Close to home, big restricted army to use, lots of good training for your LBA without much opposition, pus some nice oil/fuel/HI centers for the taking.

Cent Pac as far out as the Marshalls/Gilberts can drain fuel/supply if you get caught fighting out there much. I went too far into So Pac too often. Now I see the results. Consider where your subs will be most effective. Play with different areas, but depending on the opponent, West Coast, So Pac and deep IO might be a waste of tools and fuel. He can go off-map if he's smart or just heavily escort, and you lose.