To Young to Die, To Old to Rock and Roll

[zuluhour]

ORIGINAL: BBfanboy

Re: forts vs bombardment - they do help but how much depends on the size of the guns or bombs bombarding, plus terrain, plus D/L, plus weather.

I'm glad there is some measure of protection, praying for foul weather right now.

The Jintsu and DDs would put up a weak bombardment that level 2 forts would help reduce the effects and level 3 would nearly negate. Add CAs to the equation and you need level 4 forts to negate most of the effects. But nothing (at least below level 8) really is proof against BBs - compared to the 250 - 300 lb. shell of a CA, a 14" gun fires a shell of ~ 1500 lbs. The 18.1" guns on the Yamatos deliver shells over 3000 lbs.[X(]

I do not see any heavy surface forces with KB, but as you know you can only see so much. As he has not detached anything I can see, I hope bombardment is not on the menu today.
For aerial bombardment, level 3 forts would help a lot against the 100 kg bombs of fighters or Vals at extended range. Level 4 is needed to do much against 250 kg bombs. Against the 800 kg bombs from Kates/Jills you need good terrain and good karma!

Just wondering if your Lighthouse location is of any use if he knows where it is? Do you intend to have a full fledged air base and garrison?

I do not think he knows I'm on Lighthouse One. No airfield built etc..Possibly. At Lighthouse Two (actually unoccupied as convoys had to come about)
The seaplane base operating off tenders I assume is still invisible to him, both north of Arorae and south of Lighthouse One. I want to build both areas with LBA and some naval attack a/c to retreat under when more ambitious operations aimed at the Gilberts, Solomons, and Ocean Islands are undertaken.

EDIT: My notes on forts above are for effects on troops and maybe supply dumps- I don't think they apply to aircraft. You should need a higher level base (with revetments) to reduce the effects of bombardment on aircraft.

I believe this to be true as well.

[zuluhour]

wait there's more.

[zuluhour]

The 4th is quiet.....KB vanishes......more search added.......Enterprise takes on Hellcats.

*A note on the post above, I generally search out to 12 hexes with Cats. If I want try and see deeper I set the search arcs smaller. As a rule
I do this on the Burma coast and parts of the Pacific coast. I will also narrow the bands for night searches. No idea if this wise or not.

[zuluhour]

April 5

**No damage noted to Paoshan's industry, fires (small) still burn.

[zuluhour]

Lots of turns today...

[zuluhour]

The Japanese rampage continues.

[zuluhour]

..

[zuluhour]

The supply and Seabee equipment is sighted before dark 80nm from Lighthouse One. I send them in but cut
the escorting destroyers out. KB is 400nm due west and steaming east. We are completely unloaded when
the sky becomes full of meatballs. *&^%!!
Morning Air attack on TF, near Nanumea at 136,141

Weather in hex: Heavy cloud

Raid detected at 119 NM, estimated altitude 16,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 30 minutes

Japanese aircraft
     A6M2 Zero x 14
     A6M5 Zero x 22
     B6N1 Jill x 37
     B6N2 Jill x 11
     D4Y1 Judy x 69

Japanese aircraft losses
     B6N1 Jill: 2 damaged
     D4Y1 Judy: 3 damaged
     D4Y1 Judy: 1 destroyed by flak

Allied Ships
     LST-446, Bomb hits 3, and is sunk
     LST-19, Bomb hits 3,  heavy fires,  heavy damage
     LST-16, Bomb hits 2, Torpedo hits 2, and is sunk
     LCI-22, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk
     LCI-63, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk
     LST-17, Bomb hits 4, and is sunk
     LCI-24, Bomb hits 1, and is sunk
     LST-18, Bomb hits 3, and is sunk
     LCI-23, Bomb hits 1, and is sunk
     LCI-62, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk
     AM Skylark, Bomb hits 2, and is sunk
     AM Requisite, Bomb hits 1,  heavy fires
     LST-20, Bomb hits 3, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk
     LCI-21, Bomb hits 1, and is sunk

**actually I think we got 30% of the supllies off but all the TO&E.

[zuluhour]

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[zuluhour]

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**there might be radar but it seems the intercepts were less than desirable for Lars given the
huge umbrella he had up.

[witpqs]

How big is PM airfield?

[Itdepends]

Looks like your opponent is using carriers to resize units then used for ground based fighter support. Makes it a lot easier to get large raids coordinated. Are you going to return the favour down the track?

[zuluhour]

PM is a L3, Buna L6, Finch., Lae, and sala. are 3-4, Gasmata L6

Not sure what the groups will do just yet, I am currently working E's. She will carry some 60 Hellcats, 36 SBDs. for now.

Today is quiet, Tenth AF and Fifth AF heavies need maintenance.

[zuluhour]

.

[zuluhour]

message from the emperor, comments? I am unfamiliar with many details of OOB for Japan; I'm still reading about the capitol ships.

I got a remark from Paxmondo on the use of floatplanes on subs. That only Glens should be used. I have fitted all my subs out with Jakes, but I can start roll that back if it an issue.

As I wrote before we started I am very open for input on something you might find pulling the fun out of the game,  please feel free to bring anything up

One other thing that I feel I need mention, it is something you for sure already have noticed over PM during the battle animations. Here you find some resized CV fighter groups flying the Gerorgs.
If you feel these tactics are pulling the game fun down , please let  me know and I will roll such things back,.

**I also need to post a screen shot, I have at least one CVE with Avengers that cannot use torpedoes (red out). Ship shows sorties
remaining etc..Any issue I maybe missing?

[zuluhour]

..

[witpqs]

ORIGINAL: zuluhour

message from the emperor, comments? I am unfamiliar with many details of OOB for Japan; I'm still reading about the capitol ships.

I got a remark from Paxmondo on the use of floatplanes on subs. That only Glens should be used. I have fitted all my subs out with Jakes, but I can start roll that back if it an issue.
If I remember the issue well, those subs could only handle the Glen due to (I think) size, and changing to other floats gives them a huge increase in area of naval search. Whether you like it or hate it is, of course, entirely between opponents. I have the sense that most people don't do it even without a house rule.

As I wrote before we started I am very open for input on something you might find pulling the fun out of the game,  please feel free to bring anything up

One other thing that I feel I need mention, it is something you for sure already have noticed over PM during the battle animations. Here you find some resized CV fighter groups flying the Gerorgs.
If you feel these tactics are pulling the game fun down , please let  me know and I will roll such things back,.

**I also need to post a screen shot, I have at least one CVE with Avengers that cannot use torpedoes (red out). Ship shows sorties
remaining etc..Any issue I maybe missing?
I think that happens when the group is larger than the torpedo magazine capacity of the carrier. AFAIK the game will equip as many as it can with torpedoes and the rest with bombs (and separate them when they fly). Bear in mind that the same situation can come up during a turn when the torpedo magazine is partially depleted and there are not enough torps left for the whole of the group when it next sorties, so they must have programmed in a solution from the beginning.

[BBfanboy]

+1 on the subs being restricted to Glens on subs, until the I-400s arrive late in the game (I forget the name of the aircraft they take). The Glen's search range is 4, the Jake's is 10. Just because the programmers did not have time to work in the restriction in the code does not mean the player should take advantage of the loophole. Just too much of an advantage for the Japanese and in my opinion, gamey. It's not like the Japanese subs need any help anyway! [:D]

The only argument for the Jakes on subs is that Allied sigint can detect Japanese TFs all over the map so the Japanese need help in the recon category.

[zuluhour]

Thank you, One day I'll pay closer attention to detail. It clearly says 24 sorties. If they divide and fly I would be ok
with that. I always like to have some sort of torpedo equipped attack wave in either the TAFFY's (although I have
not used them often in a pure offensive role.) or the fleet carriers and I even let them ride in low apart from the main effort as it were.
I have seen some good results from this.

Again bonehead of me not to have checked out the Jakes in the OOB; I've seen them for awhile now show up in the animations. Lars
has voluntarily placed them at max 4 hex range for now. It may explain why have not been able to open a sea lane in any secrecy
for so long. As you well know I can't escort everything without draining the navy to impotency.

[zuluhour]

..The battle in SwPac will only get hotter