Wild Sheep Chase - obvert (J) vs JocMeister (A)

[Dora09]

Interesting looking at your Ki61d results. As I have mentioned before, I have always felt that the Ki61 feels a little too weak in this game. Not that it should be great but it just seems a little off to me. I had initially planned to not build it in my game but I ended up building quite a few Ki61 Ic and now am making Ki61 II KAI. The Ki61 II KAI has not really been tested yet so I am not sure how it will do. Ki61 Ic has been okay but not spectacular. The bulk of my IJAAF fighters are Ki84 and Ki44 IIc. I had also planned to build only Ki84 once it came on line but I ended up building Ki44 IIc and I have to tell you I am very glad I did. In my game the Ki44 IIc has been hands down my best fighter. Even better than Ki84 Ia, definitely better than Ki61 I series. I have found that the Ki44 IIc is great against fighters and bombers alike. What is surprising is that I have a better kill ratio with Ki44 IIc than Ki84 Ia. Did not expect that. I still produce a majority Ki84 because the stats are so much better (and it is a great plane) but I would have to say that Ki44 IIc has exceeded expectations while the Ki61 continues to be largely a disappointment.

[obvert]

ORIGINAL: Dora09

Interesting looking at your Ki61d results. As I have mentioned before, I have always felt that the Ki61 feels a little too weak in this game. Not that it should be great but it just seems a little off to me. I had initially planned to not build it in my game but I ended up building quite a few Ki61 Ic and now am making Ki61 II KAI. The Ki61 II KAI has not really been tested yet so I am not sure how it will do. Ki61 Ic has been okay but not spectacular. The bulk of my IJAAF fighters are Ki84 and Ki44 IIc. I had also planned to build only Ki84 once it came on line but I ended up building Ki44 IIc and I have to tell you I am very glad I did. In my game the Ki44 IIc has been hands down my best fighter. Even better than Ki84 Ia, definitely better than Ki61 I series. I have found that the Ki44 IIc is great against fighters and bombers alike. What is surprising is that I have a better kill ratio with Ki44 IIc than Ki84 Ia. Did not expect that. I still produce a majority Ki84 because the stats are so much better (and it is a great plane) but I would have to say that Ki44 IIc has exceeded expectations while the Ki61 continues to be largely a disappointment.

Maybe it's down to how you use the Ki-44 IIc. What kind of CAP do you usually fly and where do you put it? I've tried all kinds of things but can't touch his strato-sweeps. We also have the 2nd best maneuver HR, so none of these can go over 31k and the Tony is restricted to 20k! I think the Ki-100 goes to 31k though.

Very curious about your Tojos amine were great until about early 44 then a massive drop-off in terms of how they performed, mostly due to the new P-47s I think and the proliferation of Corsairs and Spit VIII. Jocke doesn't ever even fly the crap Allied planes, so I only see the best.

Let me know if you have ideas of how to maximize these fighters into 45. I've still not quite got it down I don't think, but maybe it's a combo of his choices, our rules and my CAP settings.

[obvert]

[font="Times New Roman"]9 - 10 August 1944[/font]
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[font="Microsoft Sans Serif"]SUBS: [/font] Another sub crippled but not sunk near Morotai. The Kaga/Akagi/Yamato are now out of danger from the subs around the PI and heading through the straits onto Japan, 4-5 hexes a day.

[font="Microsoft Sans Serif"]STRAT BOMBING:[/font] A particularly nasty encounter happened over Medan on the night of the 9th. The B-29s arrived at their usual 9k and were met by not the usual one but three groups of Irving-S NF. A total of 39 NF were up for the first wave of 25 B-29s. While I would have thought this might lead to some good kill ratios it instead resulted in a total of 17 (!!) NF lost for about 5-6 B-29s on the night in total. That still seems a bit extreme to me. I could see an 8-10% loss ratio for the B-29s in a very long range and highly contested mission with a lot of fighters up, radar detection and flak, but 17 night-fighters? I'll take any losses to B-29s however I can get them, but that is about 75% of my monthly production so the pools are now shot after replacing units in these groups. In reality the Irving would have had a hard time catching the B-29s anyway, so it's probably lucky to get this many downed.

[font="Microsoft Sans Serif"]S/SW PAC:[/font] Jocke tries a big strike on Babeldaob field and port. I'm glad he split it between them or this could have been bad. As it is he disabled a good portion of the transport planes here, but our one George group on CAP took a big chunk out of the 4E groups that came in. Looks like 15-20 downed on the day. I had another group still set on escort. If that had been on CAP as well, ouch. Kicking myself about that one. If he tries for another go it won't be pretty, as the base is open and about 100 Jacks and Georges will be up.

Looks like something more brewing by the number of ships around the Moluccas. I'm not quite ready to contest anything after the last one, but within a week it'll all be as ready as I can get it.

[font="Microsoft Sans Serif"]S DEI: [/font] A bunch of troops seem to have left Darwin, and judging by the ships leaving the area to the SE, I'm thinking he's canceling a move North into the DEI and swinging them around to Cent Pac or toward the PI. Since I'm getting most troops out of SE DEI bases he may be also moving them around toward New Guinea and then up to avoid detection. We'll see.

[font="Microsoft Sans Serif"]BURMA: [/font] Jocke's moving a few units into the area just behind Toungoo on the rails. I've bumped up the supply requirement to the base and prepared to send in a tank division to aid the brigade there now. Don't need any troops cut off while being attacked by 6k AV. Should be fine as he isn't bringing much according to recon, but that's been wrong before, so I'm making sure I've got a back-up plan. Extra supply and another tank division ready to move in.

[font="Microsoft Sans Serif"]CENTRAL PACFIC:[/font] Some needed supply drops heading into the Marianas.

[font="Trebuchet MS"]--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR August 9, 44
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Night Air attack on Medan , at 46,76

Weather in hex: Partial cloud

Raid detected at 75 NM, estimated altitude 14,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 23 minutes

Japanese aircraft
J1N1-S Irving x 39

Allied aircraft
B-29-1 Superfort x 25

Japanese aircraft losses
J1N1-S Irving: 6 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
B-29-1 Superfort: 1 destroyed, 15 damaged

Oil hits 1

Aircraft Attacking:
4 x B-29-1 Superfort bombing from 9000 feet
City Attack: 20 x 500 lb GP Bomb
3 x B-29-1 Superfort bombing from 9000 feet
City Attack: 20 x 500 lb GP Bomb
5 x B-29-1 Superfort bombing from 9000 feet
City Attack: 20 x 500 lb GP Bomb
3 x B-29-1 Superfort bombing from 9000 feet
City Attack: 20 x 500 lb GP Bomb
4 x B-29-1 Superfort bombing from 9000 feet
City Attack: 20 x 500 lb GP Bomb
5 x B-29-1 Superfort bombing from 9000 feet
City Attack: 20 x 500 lb GP Bomb

CAP engaged:
302 Ku S-2 with J1N1-S Irving (0 airborne, 8 on standby, 1 scrambling)
3 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 10000 , scrambling fighters between 7000 and 14000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 42 minutes
S-804 Hikotai with J1N1-S Irving (0 airborne, 10 on standby, 1 scrambling)
3 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 10000 , scrambling fighters between 2000 and 14000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 57 minutes
S-902 Hikotai with J1N1-S Irving (0 airborne, 10 on standby, 0 scrambling)
3 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 10000 , scrambling fighters between 10000 and 12000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 9 minutes

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Night Air attack on Medan , at 46,76

Weather in hex: Partial cloud

Raid detected at 41 NM, estimated altitude 12,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 12 minutes

Japanese aircraft
J1N1-S Irving x 4

Allied aircraft
B-29-1 Superfort x 13

Japanese aircraft losses
J1N1-S Irving: 1 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
B-29-1 Superfort: 1 damaged


Aircraft Attacking:
6 x B-29-1 Superfort bombing from 9000 feet
City Attack: 20 x 500 lb GP Bomb
7 x B-29-1 Superfort bombing from 9000 feet
City Attack: 20 x 500 lb GP Bomb

CAP engaged:
302 Ku S-2 with J1N1-S Irving (3 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
3 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 10000
Raid is overhead
S-902 Hikotai with J1N1-S Irving (1 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
1 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 10000
Raid is overhead

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Morning Air attack on Tinian , at 108,94

Weather in hex: Clear sky

Raid spotted at 35 NM, estimated altitude 12,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 9 minutes

Japanese aircraft
J2M3 Jack x 45
Ki-44-IIc Tojo x 29
Ki-49-IIb Helen x 9
Ki-67-Ia Peggy x 15
Ki-84a Frank x 13

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-49-IIb Helen: 6 damaged
Ki-67-Ia Peggy: 6 damaged

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

Airbase hits 2
Airbase supply hits 1
Runway hits 19

Aircraft Attacking:
15 x Ki-67-Ia Peggy bombing from 10000 feet
Airfield Attack: 3 x 250 kg GP Bomb

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Morning Air attack on Tinian , at 108,94

Weather in hex: Clear sky

Raid spotted at 23 NM, estimated altitude 13,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 7 minutes

Japanese aircraft
J2M3 Jack x 13
Ki-49-IIa Helen x 12
Ki-49-IIb Helen x 7
Ki-84a Frank x 28

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-49-IIa Helen: 2 damaged
Ki-49-IIb Helen: 2 damaged

Runway hits 8

Aircraft Attacking:
7 x Ki-49-IIb Helen bombing from 10000 feet
Airfield Attack: 4 x 250 kg GP Bomb

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Tinian , at 108,94

Weather in hex: Clear sky

Raid spotted at 20 NM, estimated altitude 14,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 6 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-49-IIb Helen x 13

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-49-IIb Helen: 9 damaged

Runway hits 9

Aircraft Attacking:
13 x Ki-49-IIb Helen bombing from 10000 feet
Airfield Attack: 4 x 250 kg GP Bomb



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Tinian , at 108,94

Weather in hex: Clear sky

Raid spotted at 20 NM, estimated altitude 14,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 6 minutes

Japanese aircraft
J2M3 Jack x 21
Ki-49-IIb Helen x 7

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-49-IIb Helen: 4 damaged
Ki-49-IIb Helen: 1 destroyed by flak

Runway hits 4

Aircraft Attacking:
7 x Ki-49-IIb Helen bombing from 10000 feet
Airfield Attack: 4 x 250 kg GP Bomb

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Morning Air attack on Babeldaob , at 90,97

Weather in hex: Light rain

Raid detected at 78 NM, estimated altitude 15,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 26 minutes

Japanese aircraft
N1K2-J George x 27

Allied aircraft
B-24D Liberator x 3
B-24D1 Liberator x 12
B-24J Liberator x 6
PB4Y-1 Liberator x 6

No Japanese losses

Allied aircraft losses
B-24D Liberator: 2 destroyed
B-24D1 Liberator: 4 destroyed, 2 damaged
B-24J Liberator: 2 destroyed, 4 damaged
PB4Y-1 Liberator: 2 destroyed, 2 damaged

Japanese Ships
AKE Irako, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires
AS Rio de Janiero Maru, Bomb hits 1, on fire
AR Kikukawa Maru, Bomb hits 1, on fire

Aircraft Attacking:
2 x PB4Y-1 Liberator bombing from 10000 feet
Port Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb
1 x B-24D1 Liberator bombing from 10000 feet *
Port Attack: 5 x 500 lb GP Bomb
2 x B-24J Liberator bombing from 10000 feet *
Port Attack: 5 x 500 lb GP Bomb
5 x B-24D1 Liberator bombing from 10000 feet *
Port Attack: 5 x 500 lb GP Bomb
1 x B-24J Liberator bombing from 10000 feet *
Port Attack: 5 x 500 lb GP Bomb

CAP engaged:
582 Ku S-1 with N1K2-J George (0 airborne, 8 on standby, 16 scrambling)
3 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 15000 , scrambling fighters between 7000 and 16000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 32 minutes

Massive explosion on AKE Irako

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Morning Air attack on Babeldaob , at 90,97

Weather in hex: Light rain

Raid detected at 50 NM, estimated altitude 11,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 17 minutes

Japanese aircraft
N1K2-J George x 15

Allied aircraft
B-17E Fortress x 5
B-24D Liberator x 8
B-24D1 Liberator x 6
B-24J Liberator x 7

Japanese aircraft losses
N1K2-J George: 1 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
B-17E Fortress: 1 destroyed
B-24D1 Liberator: 3 damaged
B-24J Liberator: 2 damaged

Japanese Ships
AS Rio de Janiero Maru, Bomb hits 1, on fire
SS RO-103, Bomb hits 1, heavy damage
SS I-169, Bomb hits 1, and is sunk

Port hits 1
Port fuel hits 1

Aircraft Attacking:
6 x B-24D1 Liberator bombing from 10000 feet *
Port Attack: 5 x 500 lb GP Bomb
8 x B-24D Liberator bombing from 10000 feet
Port Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb
4 x B-17E Fortress bombing from 10000 feet *
Port Attack: 4 x 500 lb GP Bomb
7 x B-24J Liberator bombing from 10000 feet *
Port Attack: 5 x 500 lb GP Bomb

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Morning Air attack on Babeldaob , at 90,97

Weather in hex: Light rain

Raid detected at 30 NM, estimated altitude 13,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 10 minutes

Japanese aircraft
N1K2-J George x 6

Allied aircraft
B-24D1 Liberator x 7

No Japanese losses

Allied aircraft losses
B-24D1 Liberator: 1 destroyed, 2 damaged

Japanese Ships
xAKL Haruno Maru, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires, heavy damage

Port hits 1
Port fuel hits 1

Aircraft Attacking:
6 x B-24D1 Liberator bombing from 10000 feet *
Port Attack: 5 x 500 lb GP Bomb

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Babeldaob , at 90,97

Weather in hex: Light rain

Raid detected at 75 NM, estimated altitude 14,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 25 minutes

Japanese aircraft
N1K2-J George x 3

Allied aircraft
B-24J Liberator x 6

No Japanese losses

Allied aircraft losses
B-24J Liberator: 4 damaged
B-24J Liberator: 1 destroyed by flak

Japanese Ships
AG Hayasaki, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires, heavy damage

Port hits 1

Aircraft Attacking:
6 x B-24J Liberator bombing from 10000 feet *
Port Attack: 5 x 500 lb GP Bomb

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Afternoon Air attack on Babeldaob , at 90,97

Weather in hex: Heavy cloud

Raid detected at 36 NM, estimated altitude 35,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 8 minutes

Japanese aircraft
N1K2-J George x 10

Allied aircraft
P-38J Lightning x 18

Japanese aircraft losses
N1K2-J George: 1 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
P-38J Lightning: 1 destroyed

Aircraft Attacking:
14 x P-38J Lightning sweeping at 31000 feet

CAP engaged:
582 Ku S-1 with N1K2-J George (0 airborne, 3 on standby, 6 scrambling)
1 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 15000 , scrambling fighters between 27000 and 35300.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 33 minutes

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Afternoon Air attack on Babeldaob , at 90,97

Weather in hex: Heavy cloud

Raid detected at 80 NM, estimated altitude 15,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 27 minutes

Japanese aircraft
N1K2-J George x 5

Allied aircraft
B-24J Liberator x 16

Japanese aircraft losses
N1K2-J George: 1 damaged
H8K2 Emily: 1 destroyed on ground
H8K2-L Emily: 2 destroyed on ground
Ki-49-II KAI Helen: 1 destroyed on ground

Allied aircraft losses
B-24J Liberator: 2 damaged

Airbase hits 7
Runway hits 38

Aircraft Attacking:
7 x B-24J Liberator bombing from 10000 feet
Airfield Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb
9 x B-24J Liberator bombing from 10000 feet
Airfield Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb

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Afternoon Air attack on Babeldaob , at 90,97

Weather in hex: Heavy cloud

Raid detected at 78 NM, estimated altitude 10,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 26 minutes

Japanese aircraft
N1K2-J George x 5

Allied aircraft
B-24J Liberator x 21

Japanese aircraft losses
N1K2-J George: 5 damaged
N1K2-J George: 1 destroyed on ground
H8K2-L Emily: 1 destroyed on ground
P1Y2 Frances: 2 destroyed on ground
H8K2 Emily: 3 destroyed on ground
Ki-49-II KAI Helen: 1 destroyed on ground

Allied aircraft losses
B-24J Liberator: 2 damaged

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

Airbase hits 18
Runway hits 29

Aircraft Attacking:
8 x B-24J Liberator bombing from 10000 feet
Airfield Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb
7 x B-24J Liberator bombing from 10000 feet
Airfield Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb
6 x B-24J Liberator bombing from 10000 feet
Airfield Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb

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Afternoon Air attack on Babeldaob , at 90,97

Weather in hex: Heavy cloud

Raid detected at 54 NM, estimated altitude 13,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 18 minutes

Japanese aircraft
N1K2-J George x 5

Allied aircraft
B-24J Liberator x 12

Japanese aircraft losses
N1K2-J George: 4 damaged
P1Y2 Frances: 1 destroyed on ground
H8K2 Emily: 1 destroyed on ground
H8K2-L Emily: 1 destroyed on ground

Allied aircraft losses
B-24J Liberator: 2 damaged

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

Airbase hits 2
Runway hits 6

Aircraft Attacking:
6 x B-24J Liberator bombing from 10000 feet
Airfield Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb
6 x B-24J Liberator bombing from 10000 feet
Airfield Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb

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Afternoon Air attack on Babeldaob , at 90,97

Weather in hex: Heavy cloud

Raid spotted at 12 NM, estimated altitude 12,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 3 minutes

Japanese aircraft
N1K2-J George x 5

Allied aircraft
B-24J Liberator x 7

Japanese aircraft losses
H8K2-L Emily: 1 destroyed on ground
Ki-49-II KAI Helen: 1 destroyed on ground

Allied aircraft losses
B-24J Liberator: 6 damaged

Airbase hits 3
Runway hits 2

Aircraft Attacking:
7 x B-24J Liberator bombing from 10000 feet
Airfield Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Afternoon Air attack on Babeldaob , at 90,97

Weather in hex: Heavy cloud

Raid detected at 32 NM, estimated altitude 32,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 7 minutes

Japanese aircraft
N1K2-J George x 5

Allied aircraft
P-38J Lightning x 21

Japanese aircraft losses
N1K2-J George: 1 destroyed

No Allied losses

Aircraft Attacking:
19 x P-38J Lightning sweeping at 31000 feet

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Ground combat at Talaud-eilanden (79,97)

Allied Bombardment attack

Attacking force 1125 troops, 92 guns, 85 vehicles, Assault Value = 749

Defending force 11425 troops, 139 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 330

Assaulting units:
24th Infantry Division
I Corps Cmbt Engineer Regiment
754th Tank Battalion
102nd Combat Engineer Regiment
5th USMC Tank Battalion
147th Field Artillery Regiment
1st USMC Field Artillery Battalion
33rd Medium Regiment

Defending units:
49th Infantry Regiment
14th Naval Guard Unit
90th Naval Guard Unit
38th Ind.Mixed Brigade
54th Ind.Mixed Brigade
Maizuru 1st SNLF /3
28th JAAF AF Bn
1st Mobile Bde /3

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AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR August 10, 44
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ASW attack near Morotai at 80,100

Japanese Ships
SS I-16, hits 14, heavy damage

Allied Ships
DE Greenwood
DE Lovelace
DE Loeser

SS I-16 is located by DE Greenwood
DE Lovelace fails to find sub and abandons search
DE Loeser fails to find sub, continues to search...
DE Loeser attacking submerged sub ....
Escort abandons search for sub

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Morning Air attack on Tinian , at 108,94

Weather in hex: Moderate rain

Raid spotted at 40 NM, estimated altitude 12,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 11 minutes

Japanese aircraft
J2M3 Jack x 23
Ki-49-IIb Helen x 4
Ki-67-Ia Peggy x 19
Ki-84a Frank x 51

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-49-IIb Helen: 1 damaged
Ki-67-Ia Peggy: 6 damaged

Runway hits 3

Aircraft Attacking:
19 x Ki-67-Ia Peggy bombing from 10000 feet
Airfield Attack: 3 x 250 kg GP Bomb
4 x Ki-49-IIb Helen bombing from 10000 feet
Airfield Attack: 4 x 250 kg GP Bomb

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Morning Air attack on Tinian , at 108,94

Weather in hex: Moderate rain

Raid spotted at 28 NM, estimated altitude 13,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 8 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-44-IIc Tojo x 29
Ki-49-IIa Helen x 4
Ki-49-IIb Helen x 13

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-49-IIa Helen: 1 destroyed by flak
Ki-49-IIb Helen: 11 damaged
Ki-49-IIb Helen: 1 destroyed by flak

Runway hits 2

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Morning Air attack on Tinian , at 108,94

Weather in hex: Moderate rain

Raid spotted at 26 NM, estimated altitude 14,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 8 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-49-IIa Helen x 10
Ki-49-IIb Helen x 13

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-49-IIa Helen: 6 damaged
Ki-49-IIb Helen: 7 damaged

Runway hits 10

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------[/font]

Reinforcements:

[font="Trebuchet MS"]DD Maki arrives at Nagasaki/Sasebo
SC CHa-87 arrives at Toyama
352 Ku S-1 arrives at Nagasaki/Sasebo
352 Ku S-2 arrives at Nagasaki/Sasebo
352 Ku S-3 arrives at Nagasaki/Sasebo
43rd Recon Regiment arrives at Tokyo
E No.38 arrives at Tokyo
62nd Construction Battalion arrives at Tokyo
28th JNAF AF Unit arrives at Tokyo[/font]

Losses: none.

Ships Sunk:

[font="Trebuchet MS"]SS Balao is reported to have been sunk near Taongi on Feb 26, 1944
HDML 1102 is reported to have been sunk near Diamond Harbour on Jun 24, 1944
Previous report of sinking of SS Tinosa incorrect. Intelligence reports ship is still in service[/font]
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

[font="Trebuchet MS"]Here is a current map of the contested area of the DEI. The white circles are bases I believe are in immediate danger from the Moluccas or OZ. The red squares are around HQa nodes. The red dotted line is the distance of air strikes I may use to contest any landings in the near future. I've placed a white square where I think the KB could be effective hitting landings on Mindanao.

Transports are moving troops along the red arrows in the SE DEI. [/font]
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

[PaxMondo]

ORIGINAL: obvert

ORIGINAL: Dora09

Interesting looking at your Ki61d results. As I have mentioned before, I have always felt that the Ki61 feels a little too weak in this game. Not that it should be great but it just seems a little off to me. I had initially planned to not build it in my game but I ended up building quite a few Ki61 Ic and now am making Ki61 II KAI. The Ki61 II KAI has not really been tested yet so I am not sure how it will do. Ki61 Ic has been okay but not spectacular. The bulk of my IJAAF fighters are Ki84 and Ki44 IIc. I had also planned to build only Ki84 once it came on line but I ended up building Ki44 IIc and I have to tell you I am very glad I did. In my game the Ki44 IIc has been hands down my best fighter. Even better than Ki84 Ia, definitely better than Ki61 I series. I have found that the Ki44 IIc is great against fighters and bombers alike. What is surprising is that I have a better kill ratio with Ki44 IIc than Ki84 Ia. Did not expect that. I still produce a majority Ki84 because the stats are so much better (and it is a great plane) but I would have to say that Ki44 IIc has exceeded expectations while the Ki61 continues to be largely a disappointment.

Maybe it's down to how you use the Ki-44 IIc. What kind of CAP do you usually fly and where do you put it? I've tried all kinds of things but can't touch his strato-sweeps. We also have the 2nd best maneuver HR, so none of these can go over 31k and the Tony is restricted to 20k! I think the Ki-100 goes to 31k though.

Very curious about your Tojos amine were great until about early 44 then a massive drop-off in terms of how they performed, mostly due to the new P-47s I think and the proliferation of Corsairs and Spit VIII. Jocke doesn't ever even fly the crap Allied planes, so I only see the best.

Let me know if you have ideas of how to maximize these fighters into 45. I've still not quite got it down I don't think, but maybe it's a combo of his choices, our rules and my CAP settings.

Obvert,

Your results are very much like mine. Tojo just can't compete against the 3rd Gen allied fighters, so as '44 wears on Tojo for me really drops off. Now, I still have to use Tojo anywhere I need an SR1 fighter as it is the best SR1 fighter you get. But, aside from that you have to upgrade to IJ 3rd gen fighters which have high SR's.

[PaxMondo]

ORIGINAL: obvert

A particularly nasty encounter happened over Medan on the night of the 9th. The B-29s arrived at their usual 9k and were met by not the usual one but three groups of Irving-S NF. A total of 39 NF were up for the first wave of 25 B-29s. While I would have thought this might lead to some good kill ratios it instead resulted in a total of 17 (!!) NF lost for about 5-6 B-29s on the night in total. That still seems a bit extreme to me. I could see an 8-10% loss ratio for the B-29s in a very long range and highly contested mission with a lot of fighters up, radar detection and flak, but 17 night-fighters? I'll take any losses to B-29s however I can get them, but that is about 75% of my monthly production so the pools are now shot after replacing units in these groups. In reality the Irving would have had a hard time catching the B-29s anyway, so it's probably lucky to get this many downed.

Again, this exactly mimics my testing results in Armageddon. I never found a way to stop 4E night bombing. They do not react the same way that 2E's do to fighters on night CAP. 4E pilots all become double and triple aces in my testing, and their bombing runs are massively destructive; not much different than day bombing results. I tested 1:1 NF:4E ratios all the way up to 6:1 ratios with little difference.

[obvert]

ORIGINAL: PaxMondo

ORIGINAL: obvert

A particularly nasty encounter happened over Medan on the night of the 9th. The B-29s arrived at their usual 9k and were met by not the usual one but three groups of Irving-S NF. A total of 39 NF were up for the first wave of 25 B-29s. While I would have thought this might lead to some good kill ratios it instead resulted in a total of 17 (!!) NF lost for about 5-6 B-29s on the night in total. That still seems a bit extreme to me. I could see an 8-10% loss ratio for the B-29s in a very long range and highly contested mission with a lot of fighters up, radar detection and flak, but 17 night-fighters? I'll take any losses to B-29s however I can get them, but that is about 75% of my monthly production so the pools are now shot after replacing units in these groups. In reality the Irving would have had a hard time catching the B-29s anyway, so it's probably lucky to get this many downed.

Again, this exactly mimics my testing results in Armageddon. I never found a way to stop 4E night bombing. They do not react the same way that 2E's do to fighters on night CAP. 4E pilots all become double and triple aces in my testing, and their bombing runs are massively destructive; not much different than day bombing results. I tested 1:1 NF:4E ratios all the way up to 6:1 ratios with little difference.

Yeah, it's not great is it? In my game with Torsten we just made an agreement to limit them to 50 planes per target for night bombing, unless it's against manpower. They are way too accurate both against fighters and against their mission objective.

Against oil Jocke is doing well with these bombings, but it does take him a few runs to wipe out a bigger field like Medan. Losing 5 of those per run must not make him happy with a replace rate as low as it is. So as much as it's not perfect, I can live with this result and keep making more NF to fill in the losses.

[PaxMondo]

Yeah, but once wiped out it is permanent. Any player would willingly trade one month replacement to take out Medan. Ditto, Palembang, Osaka and Tokyo. These last two are the real issue. It only take a week to eliminate Osaka from the game. Sure, the allies lose 30 - 50 4E's and yes that is 2 months production. But in exchange, they just took out 25% of the IJ economy permanently.

I can't say whether this is historic or not. There isn't enough data to really argue it factually. B-29's absolutely did effective night bombing. Why they never carried it to the final conclusion you can in the game isn't known. And then they switched to escorted daylight bombing ... all the people who were involved in these decisions are long gone and the discussions were old school (verbal) without 50,000 email trails. So we are left with various author opinions, some tersely worded reports, but not much fact and absolutely no insight. Anyone who has written an official report understands the differences I am bringing up here. Reports tell what/who/where, sometimes how, but rarely why (particularly in this era).

But from a game play balance issue .... in a PBEM, HR's can address this. I would limit all 4E's except B-29's to a % moonlight value. B-29's I would prolly use your HR ... max number per target or something like that. Again, this isn't a reality balance; this is all about game play balance.

Good Luck. Watching how this all plays out with great interest. You're getting deep into the game ... one of the very few. CONGRATS!!!

[Captain Cruft]

We have a HR which limits night bombing to Manpower. It's yet to be tested though.

[PaxMondo]

IJ secrets have been editted. [;)]

[obvert]

ORIGINAL: PaxMondo

MP strat bombing creates firestorms which destroy everything at a base. It is the single most effective strat bombing to do. I don't do any other except at a place like Medan where there are no MP centers of consequence to start a fire storm.

So, I'm not sure your HR is a limitation ... as you say, still to be tested.

Shhhhhhh. Jocke thinks it's not effective. Loose lips flatten factories.

[PaxMondo]

[:D]

Duly noted.

[&o][&o][&o]

[Dora09]

Hello guys,
I have been surprised that my Tojos have done as well as they have even against p47s. I will say that in my PBEM we are playing with best maneuver band as max alt. I think it is the best way to go. In my opinion the allies still have the advantage later (p47 still sweep at 30k while most of my fighters are capped at 20k) so it is not overpowered but it gets rid of the ridiculous 40k sweeps. The other thing is that in this game I played very conservative. My goal was not to win but to have a nice game that gets into 45, as Japan I just want to see a game go as far as possible. Of course I try to win every engagement, I try to win but it is not my most important goal in the long run. I made a real determined attempt to minimize pilot losses and to maximally train pilots. It is jan 45 and the majority of my front line fighter groups are well over 80 exp. This may be normal for you guys but for me this has been a feat and it has really made a difference. So the results I am getting for Ki44 IIc is with 80+ groups. That being said, my Ki84 groups are also over 80 and the Ki44 seems to just as good in most cases particularly CAP.

[Dora09]

I think the big thing is maintaining very high skilled pilots rather than the airframes themselves.

I still haven't found an answer for night bombing though. By the time you get anything that actually works (J1N1 Sa and P1Y2-s) the allies don't need to night bomb anymore. In my games the night bombing peaks around late 43-early 44.

[obvert]

ORIGINAL: Dora09

Hello guys,
I have been surprised that my Tojos have done as well as they have even against p47s. I will say that in my PBEM we are playing with best maneuver band as max alt. I think it is the best way to go. In my opinion the allies still have the advantage later (p47 still sweep at 30k while most of my fighters are capped at 20k) so it is not overpowered but it gets rid of the ridiculous 40k sweeps. The other thing is that in this game I played very conservative. My goal was not to win but to have a nice game that gets into 45, as Japan I just want to see a game go as far as possible. Of course I try to win every engagement, I try to win but it is not my most important goal in the long run. I made a real determined attempt to minimize pilot losses and to maximally train pilots. It is jan 45 and the majority of my front line fighter groups are well over 80 exp. This may be normal for you guys but for me this has been a feat and it has really made a difference. So the results I am getting for Ki44 IIc is with 80+ groups. That being said, my Ki84 groups are also over 80 and the Ki44 seems to just as good in most cases particularly CAP.

That would be an interesting rule to try out. Much more realistic involving the sweeps, but early it could be an issue for the Allies even more I would imagine. Some planes are severely restricted by that rule. Many Allied airframes like the P-39 and some P-40 versions would be at 10k I think. The Ki-61 would be tough to use as well.

I don't tend to use lots of 80 exp pilots in one unit. Maybe only 2-3 unless it's KB, then about half. The rest are evenly distributed between 50-79 exp pilots most often. I'm sure this means Jocke's good sweeping groups just get better, but I can't risk losing half of my 80 exp pilots in marginal airframes now when the Ki-84r is coming and that can actually get above Corsairs, Spits and all but the P-47 and Hellcat. So in a few months tactics could radically change for me, and those airframes might deserve my best all in a few groups to make a stand somewhere. We'll see.

[obvert]

ORIGINAL: PaxMondo

[:D]

Duly noted.

[&o][&o][&o]

Always fine to say anything here. If someone's carrying info out and elsewhere I can't do anything about it and strategic bombing tactics would probably be a good way don the list of sensitive stuff. But it is interesting that he tried it once at Hong Kong and it worked very well. I think he didn't wait to see long enough as the fires took a few days to knock things down lower.

While he nailed HI in the big spots and LI even in a few places, it's been a bit sporadic as well. Georgetown, well within range, is happily still running its 50 HI untouched while Bangkok is completely wrecked. Fine by me! [:)]

I do notice a massive difference in China now that Hong Kong, Canton, Sian and Lanchow have been bombed. Supply is running low without doing anything, and I've luckily just finished most fort building and turned that off. All HI is struggling to find enough fuel both in Manchuria and the bits left in China.

[PaxMondo]

Yeah, from now on supply is going to be an issue in your game. Production of it firstly, but then security of it as well. Since supply can be bombed, it isn't something that you can stockpile with impunity. I note that I spent considerable time in Armageddon spreading supply around so that it couldn't be targetted. As you know, it tends to pool in certain bases ...

[obvert]

ORIGINAL: PaxMondo

Yeah, from now on supply is going to be an issue in your game. Production of it firstly, but then security of it as well. Since supply can be bombed, it isn't something that you can stockpile with impunity. I note that I spent considerable time in Armageddon spreading supply around so that it couldn't be targetted. As you know, it tends to pool in certain bases ...

I've been very aware of it for the past few months. After the recent crisis with factory changes I think it's solid now for a while. Even Gifu is holding steady, and I've been able to top up Burma, the Marianas and now the PI.

During the rest of 44 I'd like to stay conservative with supply. Only shipping it out when absolutely necessary from the HI. Letting a bit of a surplus build up. I will undoubtedly have more airframe and engine factories to change out, but at least there aren't as many R n D factories left to repair.

Once the oil centers in the DEI are closed and stop producing supply It'll begin to really hurt.

[Dora09]

ORIGINAL: obvert

ORIGINAL: Dora09

Hello guys,
I have been surprised that my Tojos have done as well as they have even against p47s. I will say that in my PBEM we are playing with best maneuver band as max alt. I think it is the best way to go. In my opinion the allies still have the advantage later (p47 still sweep at 30k while most of my fighters are capped at 20k) so it is not overpowered but it gets rid of the ridiculous 40k sweeps. The other thing is that in this game I played very conservative. My goal was not to win but to have a nice game that gets into 45, as Japan I just want to see a game go as far as possible. Of course I try to win every engagement, I try to win but it is not my most important goal in the long run. I made a real determined attempt to minimize pilot losses and to maximally train pilots. It is jan 45 and the majority of my front line fighter groups are well over 80 exp. This may be normal for you guys but for me this has been a feat and it has really made a difference. So the results I am getting for Ki44 IIc is with 80+ groups. That being said, my Ki84 groups are also over 80 and the Ki44 seems to just as good in most cases particularly CAP.

That would be an interesting rule to try out. Much more realistic involving the sweeps, but early it could be an issue for the Allies even more I would imagine. Some planes are severely restricted by that rule. Many Allied airframes like the P-39 and some P-40 versions would be at 10k I think. The Ki-61 would be tough to use as well.

I don't tend to use lots of 80 exp pilots in one unit. Maybe only 2-3 unless it's KB, then about half. The rest are evenly distributed between 50-79 exp pilots most often. I'm sure this means Jocke's good sweeping groups just get better, but I can't risk losing half of my 80 exp pilots in marginal airframes now when the Ki-84r is coming and that can actually get above Corsairs, Spits and all but the P-47 and Hellcat. So in a few months tactics could radically change for me, and those airframes might deserve my best all in a few groups to make a stand somewhere. We'll see.

I think it evens out well. I seem to remember that some early Japanese fighters are actually capped by the rule at 15k and later fighters like the J2M are capped at 15k. I may be wrong but in my experience, the air model doesn't get really wacky until you have fighters at 40k. For example my opponent now has p47 and others that can sweep at 30k as per our rule but my J2Ms still seem to do quite well against them at 15K. Much better than a previous game where I was maxing out my alt to try and deal with 40k sweeps. However, the rule may disadvantage the allies early against a better player than me, I don't know.

In my game I have been able to build up exp by having a pretty deep training program and in how I use my units. Later in the war my best pilots fill out kb and units that are used purely for CAP and the occasional mass sweep, those units are ~80 av exp. These special CAP units also get the best airframes Then I use special escort groups that have all pilots around 50-60 exp. The system has worked incredibly well I think. A good example are my Ki45 groups, even in this very inferior airframe I have three in tact groups (well one has upgraded to Ki102 so far) that are all over 80 exp, that is to say every pilot flying a Ki45 in my game is 75 exp or higher. Even in this plane which is massively inferior by 44 they have been very successful, even downing Corsairs and p47s. This current game has shown me just how powerful pilot skill is. The drawback is that I probably have fewer active air groups in the field. Had I been more ambitious in the first year I may not have enough to cover everything. Even now I can't really cover everything. However, in this game I am very happy in how I managed my air forces. Where I have failed is in other areas, primarily logistical details and I have had some bad luck in naval engagements as well as some early strategic goals left unmet. I still have much to learn before I will be any good at this game.

[obvert]

ORIGINAL: Dora09

ORIGINAL: obvert

ORIGINAL: Dora09

Hello guys,
I have been surprised that my Tojos have done as well as they have even against p47s. I will say that in my PBEM we are playing with best maneuver band as max alt. I think it is the best way to go. In my opinion the allies still have the advantage later (p47 still sweep at 30k while most of my fighters are capped at 20k) so it is not overpowered but it gets rid of the ridiculous 40k sweeps. The other thing is that in this game I played very conservative. My goal was not to win but to have a nice game that gets into 45, as Japan I just want to see a game go as far as possible. Of course I try to win every engagement, I try to win but it is not my most important goal in the long run. I made a real determined attempt to minimize pilot losses and to maximally train pilots. It is jan 45 and the majority of my front line fighter groups are well over 80 exp. This may be normal for you guys but for me this has been a feat and it has really made a difference. So the results I am getting for Ki44 IIc is with 80+ groups. That being said, my Ki84 groups are also over 80 and the Ki44 seems to just as good in most cases particularly CAP.

That would be an interesting rule to try out. Much more realistic involving the sweeps, but early it could be an issue for the Allies even more I would imagine. Some planes are severely restricted by that rule. Many Allied airframes like the P-39 and some P-40 versions would be at 10k I think. The Ki-61 would be tough to use as well.

I don't tend to use lots of 80 exp pilots in one unit. Maybe only 2-3 unless it's KB, then about half. The rest are evenly distributed between 50-79 exp pilots most often. I'm sure this means Jocke's good sweeping groups just get better, but I can't risk losing half of my 80 exp pilots in marginal airframes now when the Ki-84r is coming and that can actually get above Corsairs, Spits and all but the P-47 and Hellcat. So in a few months tactics could radically change for me, and those airframes might deserve my best all in a few groups to make a stand somewhere. We'll see.

I think it evens out well. I seem to remember that some early Japanese fighters are actually capped by the rule at 15k and later fighters like the J2M are capped at 15k. I may be wrong but in my experience, the air model doesn't get really wacky until you have fighters at 40k. For example my opponent now has p47 and others that can sweep at 30k as per our rule but my J2Ms still seem to do quite well against them at 15K. Much better than a previous game where I was maxing out my alt to try and deal with 40k sweeps. However, the rule may disadvantage the allies early against a better player than me, I don't know.

In my game I have been able to build up exp by having a pretty deep training program and in how I use my units. Later in the war my best pilots fill out kb and units that are used purely for CAP and the occasional mass sweep, those units are ~80 av exp. These special CAP units also get the best airframes Then I use special escort groups that have all pilots around 50-60 exp. The system has worked incredibly well I think. A good example are my Ki45 groups, even in this very inferior airframe I have three in tact groups (well one has upgraded to Ki102 so far) that are all over 80 exp, that is to say every pilot flying a Ki45 in my game is 75 exp or higher. Even in this plane which is massively inferior by 44 they have been very successful, even downing Corsairs and p47s. This current game has shown me just how powerful pilot skill is. The drawback is that I probably have fewer active air groups in the field. Had I been more ambitious in the first year I may not have enough to cover everything. Even now I can't really cover everything. However, in this game I am very happy in how I managed my air forces. Where I have failed is in other areas, primarily logistical details and I have had some bad luck in naval engagements as well as some early strategic goals left unmet. I still have much to learn before I will be any good at this game.

You should AAR the endgame. It's a really good process to understand it all better, but also to show others what is going on in 45 for the Japanese. There aren't many around in that era.

Yeah, I think the 35-42k sweeps are the ones that routinely get the 7-10:1 results. I'd love to see the difference changing our HR to a lower altitude band.

[Captain Cruft]

Yes. I find that doing an AAR really helps me with my thought processes. When I'm actually clicking about in the game I do a lot of things intuitively, writing about them helps me realise what my subconscious mind was doing.