Mini subs

[Lowpe]

Mini subs get maligned pretty regularly by JFB. They offer quite a lot of victory points for the Allies, and seem to die very often although in my experience they usually have pretty decent commanders.

Anybody have any tricks or tips on using these guys?

Also, there are several models available..a fast one and a slow one. When you buy them with supplies, often the minisubs are mixed up with both fast and slow ones in each task force. I will post some pictures later...

It seems to me the fast ones might be good for base defense, and the slow ones launched into an enemy port to hit docked ships.

I always segregate them by speed.

I always send them back to the pools when their detection levels get high. Almost always.[;)]

They can move a couple of hexes, so having them move from one base to an invasion base seems to make sense...like in the Marshalls.

Anyhow, here is a post in from the past about minisubs...the only one I could find.

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[Lowpe]

A typical freshly created minisub squadron. See, it mixes the speed![&:]

[Lowpe]

Here is the fast minisub...

[Lowpe]

Here is the slow minsub. Good endurance.

[Lowpe]

Jan 44 model.

[Lowpe]

Last version of a minsub.

[wdolson]

They are largely chrome. Like the blind pig, they occasionally get a truffle, but they are of limited use on offense. They can give the Allies some headaches on defense. An invasion TF with poor ASW support might get some damage.

Bill

[Yaab]

Never understood while midgets are worth 4 Victory Points. I would rate them 0.4 VP at most. Are they really worth 2 x B-29s (each destroyed 4E bomber is worth 2 VP)?

[Lowpe]

A success, few and far, far between.

[Lowpe]

Usual outcome:



Partial list only. Note the operational casualty was an exploding battery pack!

Not sure why most are 3 vp.[&:]

[Yaab]

Easiest VPs for Allies in the whole war. Most of them suicided themselves on obstruction.

[Lowpe]

ORIGINAL: Yaab

Easiest VPs for Allies in the whole war. Most of them suicided themselves on obstruction.

Full disclosure,and for me to save what little reputation I have; anything lost before 8/1/42 wasn't under my leadership![;)]

[mind_messing]

As wdolson says, they're a shot in the dark. Nine times out of ten they'll do nothing but die. My attitude is that you need to make invasions as dangerous as possible. Mini-subs may be even less use than mines, but at the very least it forces the Allies to pay attention to ASW.

[castor troy]

midgets are pretty much the most useless toy you get to play with as the Japanese. But they were put into the game as we campaigned for years to get them! [:D] Wasn't it Mogami who was the midget fanboy?

[Jorge_Stanbury]

they are as useless as they were in real life

That said, VP are totally wrong. Should be "zero" or maybe "one" if it is not possible to put a value of 0

[Lokasenna]

More VPs than an LST!

[Coach Zuck]

I think besides hitting a Battleship @ Pearl Harbor I may have sank a Tanker and lost a dozen midget subs by May 1942.

QUESTION?
Can a TF with multiple midgets make more then one attack in a specific hex (i.e. using midgets to help defend a base)?

[wdolson]

It was Brady who was the rabid midget fanboy. He was over the moon when he found them in AE.

In a mod, the VPs for a midget can always be tweaked downward if the modder desires.

Bill

[Alfred]

Midget subs are best used in 2 situations.
 
1.  On defence, they can be put in a midget sub TF (which is a subset of a normal sub patrol TF) to provide point defence of a Japanese base.  Their lack of range is not an issue when used as such.
 
2.  On offence, they can be put in a midget sub carrier TF.  These TFs comprise exactly of 1xmidget sub + 1xcarrier sub (the Japanese have 5 of those only).  They are best used in a port deep behind Allied lines, either catching an unprepared Allied player with no local naval ASW or forcing the deployment of Allied naval ASW far from the frontlines.  The SSX is much more expendable than the mother ship which is why the SSX is sent in to penetrate the harbour whilst the mother ship waits outside of the harbour in relative safety to recover the SSX.
 
Used properly, SSX impose a significant opportunity cost which is not reflected on the sunk ships list.  SSX also have the benefit of not being produced by the production system.  They cost supply, not Heavy Industry points.
 
Alfred

[Lowpe]

ORIGINAL: Coach Zuck


QUESTION?
Can a TF with multiple midgets make more then one attack in a specific hex (i.e. using midgets to help defend a base)?

Great question Coach.[:)] I have no idea, they always spawn in groups...I have used them as single ship task forces, and I think that is where I had my one hit with.