General Patton vs. larryfulkerson Focus Pacific #75

[ny59giants]

How to -
1) I fly off all the current air groups from the CV/CVL/CVE. In this example, we will use CVE Taiyo (capacity 27) at Yokoyama.
2) Form CVE as Air Combat TF.
3) Fly air group onto CVE. You may have to use PP to change command.
4) Those that CAN be resized will have in yellow (up left hand corner) "No Resize Allowed." If there is a number and date here, then this air group cannot be resized.
5) Click on "No Resize Allowed" two times (or until a small window appears). It will furnish you with the max size you can resize to. Here, we will enter "27."
6) Exit air group window and disband AC TF. This action does the actual resizing.
7) Open up the CVE and you will see the air group now has a 27 for size, but will be short both planes and pilots. I leave the planes alone (don't add any), but fill out my pilots now.
8) Since you just flew this air group onto CVE, you will have to wait to next turn before you can transfer it to base. I go with current base, Yokohama.
9) Rinse, Repeat for next air group. [:D]

See my screen shot to see which groups that have 36 pilots in them now can probably be resized in your mod. Any air group with less than 36 pilots cannot be resized due to already having a future date set to resize.

Float Planes (FPs) - Do the same thing with them on your AVs as many will allow you to go up to 9. You will have to wait until later in game to use a CS to go up to 24 unless they are at the same base as the CS. Many of your CA and BB have two FP groups on them. I take one off and the one left on board is resized to fit CA/BB and the other is eventually maxed out to 24. One reason I have my Jake factory expanded to size 30. On my CA/BB, I upgrade FPs to Jakes and Alf. This process with FP will be a long, but steady process.

FP training - BB/CAs go with NavS first and then Recon skill. CLs go with NavS and ASW skills. Your CS has one group going with NavS and other with ASW. I will NOT convert my CS to CVL as I want that extra NavS capability.

Norm FP - I build these guys to be used to supplement Japan's limited number of Patrol Groups. Despite SR 3, their range 12/15 is used to fill in lots of gaps. You will need a factory size 30 for R&D now and allow it to convert over to production. My two CS based groups get them to give KB even greater search range in '43 and beyond. Many of those resized FP groups get them.

This ends our mornings lesson. [;)]

[larryfulkerson]

ORIGINAL: ny59giants
How to -
1) I fly off all the current air groups from the CV/CVL/CVE. In this example, we will use CVE Taiyo (capacity 27) at Yokoyama.
2) Form CVE as Air Combat TF.
3) Fly air group onto CVE. You may have to use PP to change command.
4) Those that CAN be resized will have in yellow (up left hand corner) "No Resize Allowed." If there is a number and date here, then this air group cannot be resized.
5) Click on "No Resize Allowed" two times (or until a small window appears). It will furnish you with the max size you can resize to. Here, we will enter "27."
6) Exit air group window and disband AC TF. This action does the actual resizing.
7) Open up the CVE and you will see the air group now has a 27 for size, but will be short both planes and pilots. I leave the planes alone (don't add any), but fill out my pilots now.
8) Since you just flew this air group onto CVE, you will have to wait to next turn before you can transfer it to base. I go with current base, Yokohama.
9) Rinse, Repeat for next air group. [:D]

See my screen shot to see which groups that have 36 pilots in them now can probably be resized in your mod. Any air group with less than 36 pilots cannot be resized due to already having a future date set to resize.

Float Planes (FPs) - Do the same thing with them on your AVs as many will allow you to go up to 9. You will have to wait until later in game to use a CS to go up to 24 unless they are at the same base as the CS. Many of your CA and BB have two FP groups on them. I take one off and the one left on board is resized to fit CA/BB and the other is eventually maxed out to 24. One reason I have my Jake factory expanded to size 30. On my CA/BB, I upgrade FPs to Jakes and Alf. This process with FP will be a long, but steady process.

FP training - BB/CAs go with NavS first and then Recon skill. CLs go with NavS and ASW skills. Your CS has one group going with NavS and other with ASW. I will NOT convert my CS to CVL as I want that extra NavS capability.

Norm FP - I build these guys to be used to supplement Japan's limited number of Patrol Groups. Despite SR 3, their range 12/15 is used to fill in lots of gaps. You will need a factory size 30 for R&D now and allow it to convert over to production. My two CS based groups get them to give KB even greater search range in '43 and beyond. Many of those resized FP groups get them.

This ends our mornings lesson. [;)]

Thanks a lot for this exposition. I had no idea. I've never done this so of course I'll have to try it out. Put it to good use.

[larryfulkerson]

I'm tinkering with my moves and I've come to a quandry: What kind of benefit does the Jap player get from releasing pilots from the
reserve? Where do the pilots go when they are "released"? Why would you want to release a pilot?

[larryfulkerson]

When it comes to shipbuilding I've turned off the building of MGB's and MTB's and ML's but I'm keeping the SC's. I'm going to use the
SC's for ASW and minesweeping but I can't imagine a use for the MGB's and MTB's. Am I missing something?

[larryfulkerson]

Hey you guys........I'm turning off the building of the Ha- subs because the endurance of the sub looks too short to me to be of much
use unless the sub base is danger close to the "front lines" and I'm wondering if anybody else has had a different experience with
them. I'm all ears.

[Andav]

I built MGBs and MLs and converted them all to use torpedoes. I have used them to harass invasions and bases. I am pretty sure one actually hit something. Mostly they are just VPs for the allies.

I am pretty sure I turned off build of the HA subs as well. By that time, 3k endurance is all they need since the likelihood of them actually returning to bases is very small. Only two torpedo tubes limits the odds of a hit as well. Allied ASW in 1945 is nothing short of amazing. Most sub patrols are 1 way.

I know Lowpe really likes the SA (I think) subs. They are dedicated transport subs which are built later in the war. He found them useful for moving supplies. If fuel is not a problem, I can see why he likes them when used in numbers. I did not build these either but I now can see their value if you have the fuel to run them.

Related to this, I turned off pretty much all of the merchant ships being built after about June 1944. You do not need the extra shipping at that point. I continued to build the one or two TKs in the queue. You can also turn off Merchant Shipbuilding (or whatever) once you have a pretty sizable pool. I do not know the threshold but there is no need to produce more then you need.

Wa

[larryfulkerson]

ORIGINAL: Andav
I built MGBs and MLs and converted them all to use torpedoes. I have used them to harass invasions and bases. I am pretty sure one actually hit something. Mostly they are just VPs for the allies.

I am pretty sure I turned off build of the HA subs as well. By that time, 3k endurance is all they need since the likelihood of them actually returning to bases is very small. Only two torpedo tubes limits the odds of a hit as well. Allied ASW in 1945 is nothing short of amazing. Most sub patrols are 1 way.

I know Lowpe really likes the SA (I think) subs. They are dedicated transport subs which are built later in the war. He found them useful for moving supplies. If fuel is not a problem, I can see why he likes them when used in numbers. I did not build these either but I now can see their value if you have the fuel to run them.

Related to this, I turned off pretty much all of the merchant ships being built after about June 1944. You do not need the extra
shipping at that point. I continued to build the one or two TKs in the queue. You can also turn off Merchant Shipbuilding (or
whatever) once you have a pretty sizable pool. I do not know the threshold but there is no need to produce more then you need.

Wa

Thanks ever so much for this post. Lots of good advice and the stuff in bold above is something I hadn't thought of but it makes
sense and I'll do it too. I decided to built the SST subs just to see what utility I can get out of them to move supplies to those bases
that are cut off by the Allies and are dangerous to resupply. I've got enough Merch shipyard factories now that I can afford to maybe
accelerate some ships. Or on the other hand I can just turn production down like you suggested. I opted to try to accelerate some
ships. The Naval shipbuilding is in much the same condition now. We're on turn 12 and most of the bases I bumped up Nav
shipbuilding have reached their goals and Nav points aren't a problem now. I'm putting out about 1.6K excess HI every day and
I was wondering what to use it for.

I've bumped up the plane building and I'm going to need to turn back on all the ARM building. I've been watching the vehicles points
and I think maybe it's okay. A lot is happening and I think most of it's good.

[larryfulkerson]

New moves from Brian: I watched the combat replay and there were several strikes on an Allied TF near Tarawa and there were strikes
flown back and forth and my CAP rejected his strike and my strike got several hits. I'll post something about it. This image is to explain
the circumstances. Brian had just attacked some of my transports at Tarawa and sank most of them and I thought maybe I should reply
in kind and drove my carriers that way from Truk so there's plenty of ships that have minor damage in my TF and the fuel level isn't high
anymore. I don't have enough fuel to chase him very far but I've got an AO group headed that way and it's due to arrive tomorrow or
the day after. Tarawa doesn't have an airfield yet so I'm having to use the strip at Jaluit, which doesn't have a whole lot of space for
planes. I'm encouraged by the encounter because at least I know here some of his carriers are now.

[larryfulkerson]

I drove a smallish carrier group from Rabaul to the Buna area and discovered some Allied transports near Port Moresby and lsunched
a strike and got some good hits. And then I noticed an Allied TF south of the transports that looks to have CV's in it. So I think maybe
I should venture further south and investigate. I'm optimistic.

[Andav]

I really like the pictures you include in the AARs. It really helps explain things. I know it takes extra time to put them together. Know that is it appreciated.

What is the TF at Port Moresby?

Wa

[larryfulkerson]

Hong Kong finally fell. I noticed that there's lots of damage to the facilities in the hex. Probably partly a product of the bombing and
the fighting on the ground. HK is out of supplies but has lots of fuel and some resources. I'm planning on using HK as a hub and so
I'm going to repair all the damaged things including whatever damage has been done to the airfield and port and get her up and working
asap.

Cam Ranh Bay is in good shape and has really come in handy as a hub in my logistics chain. I needed a high capacity port with an air-
field somewhere near Samah and CRB fits that bill especially well. I would use Saigon as the hub but my BB's can't navigate up the
river to the port. I'm moving fuel and oil from Miri to CRB to pick up some more ships to form a proper TF with escorts and everything.
And I've been carrying that oil to Pescedores and then to Kagoshima. Loading and unloading at each place. It's clumsy but it's working.

[larryfulkerson]

ORIGINAL: Andav
I really like the pictures you include in the AARs. It really helps explain things. I know it takes extra time to put them together. Know that is it appreciated.

What is the TF at Port Moresby?

Wa

I like the pictures too. I'm putting these together for me but I don't mind sharing them with you guys. I've got more than one game
going on and I'm the Japs in my other game and the details from both games are starting to blend together so I put together notes
to refer to later. To refresh my memory. So I get utility out of them too.

The TF at Port Moresby is there to prevent the reinforcement of the location and I'm planning on assaulting PM sometime in the near
future. I haven't decided just when or what units to use because the project isn't that far along yet. There are other ports to grab as
part of the set up. I don't have any working airfields in the area yet and they are essential, for example. Also, I'd like to turn Rabaul
into a sort of hub / port for the ships to return to, to refuel and minor refit. I need a couple of AKE's and an AD at Rabaul yet. They
are on their way from Yokohoma to arrive in about a week and a half.

[larryfulkerson]

Here's what's happening in the Celebes Sea. I'm prepairing the battlefield by grabbing some nearby ports and airfields because I have
plans to invade Trarkan and Balikpapan sometime soon. I've bit off more than I can chew at Davao. I need more troops there yet to
have possession of the hex. I seem to do that in every game I play as the Japs. D'oh. You'd think I would learn after a while. I'm having
to dodge Allied planes from Ambon and points south and I need to extend the perimeter in the south direction too. I want to cut off all
Allied traffic to and from Australia and that means the smaller islands just north of Darwin. That's my goal.

[larryfulkerson]

Now that HK has fallen there's lots of useful arty and the 38th division to move to Lingayen and get them involved in the fight. There's
about 65K defenders at Clark Field and that arty could come in really useful. I've got only about 11K attackers so I'm going to have to
soften up the target pretty well before any progress is likely to be made. My bombers have been nonstop bombing since the beginning
of the game and I don't have any plans on letting up any time soon. I'm optimistic.

[larryfulkerson]

All the indices are good at Tokyo. I've noticed a sharp jump in just about every category from T1 to T2. And a regular change since.
I guess the system got itself worked out pretty fast. It's relatively stable now. A good sign.

I notice that Rabaul is out of gas. Still.

[larryfulkerson]

I've got a SCTF scheduled to do a naval bombardment later tonight and I've got a group of LCU's marching this way so maybe we'll see
some drama soon. Also, I see where there's oil finally arriving at Pescadores. It's from Miri and is evidence that the oil pipeline is filling
up slowly. I hope to have oil arriving at Tokyo withing about a week.

[larryfulkerson]

Here's the economy page. Most notable is the 20 Light Industry points that are failing for lack of RES at Guam still. Obviously
my emergency shipment hasn't arrived yet.

EDIT: I just checked..........TF 49 is still loading RES at Tokyo. Tokyo is a busy place right now. AK's needing repair are arriving
everyturn to be repaired and turned back out hauling something. Like an assembly line. I've shipped about 1/3 of the AK's to
Osaka to be used by the auto-convoy system and I'll have to check that out too. Make sure it's doing what I want it to do.

[larryfulkerson]

Here's the auto-convoy system data. There's only one AK left at Osaka and everybody else is delivering fuel and supplies or going out
for RES, getting it and bringing it back to Osaka. Pretty nifty. It's doing some of the work for me. I've been finding several of the auto-
convoy TF's that have ships with lots of minor damage and I have to cancel the TF and route it to a repair port. Other than that ,, it's
working. I need to route some more ships from Tokyo to Osaka. About half of them.

[larryfulkerson]

Here's what the ship repair situation looks like at Babeldaob. CVE Iki is getting a new coat of paint, the the barnacles are being removed
from the hull, like a regular refit program. It'll be ready by tomorrow morning. And there's lots of transports. They accumulate minor
damage in the long trip from Tokyo and some of them are damaged from the landings at Davo. Those that survived. I think I lost about
half a dozen ships because I failed to provide adequate escorts. I'm learning. Same thing is happening at Singkawang.

[larryfulkerson]

I don't remember posting this before so maybe you're getting it again. Most of the global numbers are good and the rest of them tell the
story about the slowly sinking level of points. I've turned off all the ARM production to bring the pool numbers down a bit. 20K at game
start seemed a bit high to me. I'm aiming for about 5K or so. It looks like we're almost at parity in the Vehicles department. Some turns
there's enough and other turns there isn't. I obviously need to bump up production of Vehicles to give a cushion of about 5K or so.

EDIT: And about the quote: Rick Lacourse is a friend of mine and he lives in Colorado somewhere now but he was in SAC back when
there was a SAC flying missions into Vietnam. They would get credit for a whole year's tour if they stayed at Guam longer than 180
days so it was SAC policy to rotate the squadrons in and out of there in 179 days or so just to deny the crews a year's worth of tour. It
caused a lot of sour grapes. And the higher ups were so insulated from the crews that they said things like that quote in red below.
Rick heard that from his squadron commander. And it's actually a mis-quote. It's actually supposed to say "In an operation of this
magnitude, some losses must be expected." My memory was faulty when I made the picture.

EDIT2: Oh yeah, I wanted to say that I think I have the Nav yards and the Merch yards just about tuned right. Not too comfortable
but still homey. It'll do for a while.