A Japanese Debacle - Sqz (J) vs. fcharton (A)

[PaxMondo]

I build almost all of them, but I only research 2 (one IJA, one IJN). I've never looked at the dbb aircraft data, and I know that JWE re-calc'd speeds, so can't tell you for sure what I would build. In Scen 1 I like the Myrt and the Randy. Randy is obvious and it is a solo build, nothing upgrades to it. Myrt because none of the IJN get armor and they are all slow, but the Myrt is 1E so half the cost to replace and it is (just barely) faster than the b29.

[Lokasenna]

J1N1 is your first night fighter by far, and I'd actually argue for researching it with 1 factory or so...

The A6M5-S might be worth it also.

And you probably want to R&D the Ki-45 NF model, as it's your first IJAAF NF. After that... I'd choose 1 for each service and stay there, at least with PDU On. Probably the Randy and the J1N1-Sa, with some A6M5-S sprinkled in. I'll be making several models, but so far there hasn't been a lot of night bombing in my game.

[Chickenboy]

ORIGINAL: SqzMyLemon

I have a question. Which night fighters are worth pursuing?

I have initially focused on three:

A6M5-S Zero
Ki-46III KAI Dinah
Ki-102c Randy (Does the 102c follow the upgrade path for the Ki-102 or is it a stand alone NF?)

I recall Pax mentioning that fast night fighters were needed to intercept the B-29. Both Army NF's fit the bill, but arrive quite late. The Zero can't catch the B-29, but should be able to handle B-17's and B-24's, plus it arrives in 44.

The other choices for NF's just seem too slow and under armed to be more than a stop gap measure. Any thoughts?

Remind me / us again about your guys' approach to / HRs (if pertinent) for night bombing? That may color the airframes recommended.

[Chickenboy]

ORIGINAL: Lokasenna

J1N1 is your first night fighter by far, and I'd actually argue for researching it with 1 factory or so...

The A6M5-S might be worth it also.

Kind of my approach too.

[PaxMondo]

ORIGINAL: Lokasenna

J1N1 is your first night fighter by far, and I'd actually argue for researching it with 1 factory or so...

1 factory as RnD doesn't really count as RnD to me if you are going to build something, and this is a plane I would build.

1 factory can't hurt, ... once repaired 1%/day, but still no supply wasted so no reason not to start it early. (as long as you have the supply to repair the factory)

[SqzMyLemon]

Finally, the next turn is away! What a monster of a turn to complete.

Thanks for the discussion on the night fighters. I'm in the process of tweaking things and finalizing research decisions.

Andre, not sure yet on our house rules for night bombing. We've discussed it is a potential problem, but we've kind of decided to put off dealing with it until it happens. I expect it will have to be an important part of my defence. Francois likes to bomb and wreck things with 4E's. [:D]

[Lokasenna]

ORIGINAL: Lowpe

ORIGINAL: Lokasenna

ORIGINAL: Lowpe

Good work in Oz, getting the paratroopers in. I can't tell you how much I am enjoying your invasion.[&o]

Really, well done.

Was there no enemy fighter CAP over Sydney, and what does that tell you?

I guess in this mod, there is no supply generation from refineries so fortress Palembang isn't overpowered. However, given a choice of getting Palembang or Balikpapen I would prioritize Palembang first since it is easier for the Allies to reinforce it. In fact, I worry greatly about it right now. But I don't know what you have up there to provide air support to take it.

Is there enough supply that Miri is repairing the oil fields?

Fortress PB is never overpowering. You should want your opponent to send 1000 AV there to die at good VP ratios per device for you.

Egads, man![X(] I worry about the total destruction of the oil! Don't you?[&:]

Sure, but that doesn't really depend on the number of troops your enemy has there. Bullwinkle put a ton of troops there, I killed them, captured it intact. There were fewer troops at Singapore, I got it on the first attack, totally trashed. 100% destroyed. I think it's entirely random.

[Bullwinkle58]

ORIGINAL: Lokasenna

Sure, but that doesn't really depend on the number of troops your enemy has there. Bullwinkle put a ton of troops there, I killed them, captured it intact. There were fewer troops at Singapore, I got it on the first attack, totally trashed. 100% destroyed. I think it's entirely random.

I think Magwe had two guys and a dog and I believe you got that about 95% destroyed too?

I've always wondered if the destruction odds are the same all the way down the capture list, or if there are flags set to stop the destruct rolls or maybe the random seed is made easier for Japan after one or two wipe-outs.

[Lowpe]

My short take on night fighters.

For the Navy, the Frances is the plane to get -- but first you need to get the Irving. The Irving SA does perform much better than the first Irving.

Remember, you can be bombed at night prior to the arrival of the B29 and the Irving is very capable against these guys.

You need the Nick D.

You need the Dinah only to unlock the squadrons to NF. The Dinah is very poor, and I much prefer the Nick over the Dinah.

They Myrt is much better than it looks. The Judy, Zero are junk. Not enough experience with the Peggy -- it might be better than the Nick.

None of the great Randy devices activate early. The Denko has too high an SR.

Numbers count...there are 21 or so NF squadrons. Find them all and get them all active. Radars count, as does Flak. Flak might not kill them, but it will slow the air war down.

In a pinch use Petes/Glens.

[SqzMyLemon]

Ugh. Despite taking more time with the turn, I still forgot to adjust the approach of my relief force heading to Rockhampton. If the American DB's are based at Brisbane...well...it could get ugly. I was trying to figure out what to do about Rockhampton, looked closely at Sydney and area again, then completely forgot to go back and change my approach to Rockhampton. It happens, but in this game you tend to pay for every mistake.

[Lokasenna]

ORIGINAL: Bullwinkle58

ORIGINAL: Lokasenna

Sure, but that doesn't really depend on the number of troops your enemy has there. Bullwinkle put a ton of troops there, I killed them, captured it intact. There were fewer troops at Singapore, I got it on the first attack, totally trashed. 100% destroyed. I think it's entirely random.

I think Magwe had two guys and a dog and I believe you got that about 95% destroyed too?

I've always wondered if the destruction odds are the same all the way down the capture list, or if there are flags set to stop the destruct rolls or maybe the random seed is made easier for Japan after one or two wipe-outs.

100% at Magwe.

I think it's just straight-up random, and if so there's the potential for a 1M supply wipeout at Palembang, not to mention all the lost Oil (and therefore supply) as it repairs.

[PaxMondo]

ORIGINAL: Lokasenna

ORIGINAL: Lokasenna

Sure, but that doesn't really depend on the number of troops your enemy has there. Bullwinkle put a ton of troops there, I killed them, captured it intact. There were fewer troops at Singapore, I got it on the first attack, totally trashed. 100% destroyed. I think it's entirely random.

I think Magwe had two guys and a dog and I believe you got that about 95% destroyed too?

I've always wondered if the destruction odds are the same all the way down the capture list, or if there are flags set to stop the destruct rolls or maybe the random seed is made easier for Japan after one or two wipe-outs.

100% at Magwe.

I think it's just straight-up random, and if so there's the potential for a 1M supply wipeout at Palembang, not to mention all the lost Oil (and therefore supply) as it repairs.
[/quote]
The devs commented on that at least once ... trying to remember all they said. Gary has a random component on everything, so of course this, but there are some things that impact it. Engr on the defender side, Engr on the attacking side,

[Chickenboy]

ORIGINAL: SqzMyLemon
Francois likes to bomb and wreck things with 4E's. [:D]

There's a lot of that going around, from what I understand. [:D]

[Chickenboy]

Miri seems hard-coded to 50% damage or a reasonably close proximity thereof. It's been like that in all my games and a handful of others I've hear of. Anyone here with a different experience?

[Simonsez]

Doesn't Miri start the game at 50% damage before a turn has even been played?

[Lokasenna]

ORIGINAL: Simonsez

Doesn't Miri start the game at 50% damage before a turn has even been played?

Sure does.

[Lokasenna]

ORIGINAL: PaxMondo

ORIGINAL: Lokasenna

ORIGINAL: Lokasenna

Sure, but that doesn't really depend on the number of troops your enemy has there. Bullwinkle put a ton of troops there, I killed them, captured it intact. There were fewer troops at Singapore, I got it on the first attack, totally trashed. 100% destroyed. I think it's entirely random.

I think Magwe had two guys and a dog and I believe you got that about 95% destroyed too?

I've always wondered if the destruction odds are the same all the way down the capture list, or if there are flags set to stop the destruct rolls or maybe the random seed is made easier for Japan after one or two wipe-outs.

100% at Magwe.

I think it's just straight-up random, and if so there's the potential for a 1M supply wipeout at Palembang, not to mention all the lost Oil (and therefore supply) as it repairs.

The devs commented on that at least once ... trying to remember all they said. Gary has a random component on everything, so of course this, but there are some things that impact it. Engr on the defender side, Engr on the attacking side,
[/quote]

Allegedly...

I think it's random whether those things affect the Destruction Derby or not, too.

[SqzMyLemon]

Jan. 5/42:

A mixed review kind of turn.

Ambon:

Allied cruisers bombard Ambon again today, but casualties are low. I'm treating this more as a nuisance until I bring the hammer to finally deal with Ambon.

More reinforcements are arriving in the DEI, albeit small 60 AV units. This is were the extra troops from Scenario 2 would make my like so much easier, but I'll do the best with what I have.

China:

Allied 4E's target industry at Hong Kong again, but a Sentai of Nate's disrupt the bombers and no hits are received. I have noticed a nasty trend. Allied and Chinese bombers knock my forces out of move mode into combat after every attack. Japanese bombers have not been able to do so to the Chinese, who are actually being able to escape the clear terrain hexes before I can attack them.

Malaya:

Japanese forces mass at Jhore Bharu in preparation of crossing the causeway into Singapore. I sure hope 4 3/4 divisions will be enough to take the base quickly. I worry about the level of forts I'll face, because the weather was so bad it was impossible to keep Singapore damaged.

Australia:

Australian troops are pouring into the Sydney area. An Australian Bde. arrives at Goulburn just as Japanese armour launches a deliberate attack. Odds are only 1:1 and not enough to capture the base. I'll try again tomorrow.

The four Australian units at Katoomba do not attack, buying me another day. Two more enemy units appear to be railing to the base. I plan on dropping the remaining squads of 1st Raiding at Bathurst to force the Australians to do it all over again. I'm running out of time though, as it will be three days until I can launch the first assault against Sydney.

I was able to rout Australian 8th Bde. just outside Sydney with IJA 33rd Division and hoped the enemy would retreat into Sydney. I had IJA 4th Division set to pursuit, but I guess the presence of Japanese units at Sydney prevented the enemy brigade from retreating into the base, they retreated northwest instead. This means I have to reset the movement and it will take two days to get everything into Sydney, providing bombing doesn't slow them down. Time...tick...tick...tick.

KB targets the airbase and port at Sydney, but severe storms limit the damage to joke like proportions. Only two ships are hit in port and airbase damage was negligible. I will now target the defenders at Sydney to cause as mush disruption as I can before the first deliberate attack is launched.

KB still needs to provide CAP over my shipping, but I now have 31 Zero's at Port Kembla to also help out.

I'm starting to get nervous. If I can't prevent Sydney from being reinforced...

Good news near Rockhampton though. My carriers were not attacked despite being only four hexes from Rockhampton. The Allied DB's are actually based at Charters Tower and not Brisbane as feared. Just the 4E's are at Brisbane. I'm going to pull back and wait till KB is on hand to smash Allied forces in the area before sending in the next wave of assault forces.

I need Sydney to fall so KB can act independently. I need troops on Tasmania soon and I'd like to secure the east coast of Australia sooner than later. I just don't have enough troops right now for everything.

One thing I am happy to see is the commitment of Australian forces in driblets rather than one relief force. I've already trashed three brigades and there are two more trying to reach Sydney that I can attack and bomb heavily before they do.

[Chickenboy]

ORIGINAL: Simonsez

Doesn't Miri start the game at 50% damage before a turn has even been played?

OK. Has any Japanese player taken it with >50% damage, or does it just stay at that level? It's always been 50% for me, like I said.

[Lokasenna]

ORIGINAL: Chickenboy

ORIGINAL: Simonsez

Doesn't Miri start the game at 50% damage before a turn has even been played?

OK. Has any Japanese player taken it with >50% damage, or does it just stay at that level? It's always been 50% for me, like I said.

I've always seen just 50%. Not sure it's even been more damaged than that.

That said, it's usually undefended, isn't it? If you get "Miri occupied by the Japanese" then there's no chance for damage.