The Good The Bad & The Indifferent

[BillBrown]

ORIGINAL: bradfordkay

Do VR squadrons act as normal squadrons when not in a Replenishment TF?

The name doesn't mean anything, it is just a string. To be a real VR squadron
the box has to be checked in the editor and you will see it listed as below.
So the unit that CR showed is not a VR unit, just one with a name of VRF-17F

[Lokasenna]

ORIGINAL: Canoerebel

We all know that CVs fly half CAP in a base hex but that CVEs fly full CAP. Questions:

1) Do CVEs have to be in a CVE Escort TF to fly full CAP in a base hex?
2) Or can CVEs in a Carrier TF (that only has CVEs, no CVs) fly full CAP?
3) Or, if CVEs are embedded with CVs in a Carrier TF, will the CVEs still fly full CAP?

I think 1) is "no," 3) is "no," and I think, but I'm not sure, that 2) is "yes."

It's not just CAP, right? It's strikes, too? My answers:

1) no
2) I think yes
3) I think yes

Because I think it depends on ship type, not TF type.


Oh, and I use my CVEs in "Air Combat TFs", not "CV Escort TFs", and they fly full CAP.

[Canoerebel]

3/15/44

Burma: The Allies continue to move forward while the air force bludgeons enemy ground troops.

Carousel: A good day here, only because John to this point hasn't pressed hard. I need time. I lost a bit of flexibility today (see map for details about carrier upgrades), but I still think time is going to work out.

Fun House: A tremendous amount of work clicking to align units, prepare for loading, begin advance loading for some troops, etc. The March 20 departure date draweth night, and things remain on schedule.

Fun House will include 9+ infantry divisions and a heckuva lot of other units. Some will be combat loaded for immediate assault, others strategic loaded for efficiency, just as with Big Tent.

The fleet will eventually consist of more than 1,000 ships. Some of these have been involved in Big Tent/Third Ring/Carousel and others start in Hawaii. As I mentioned awhile back, the biggest decision I've had to make in more than a year is how to combine the two without undue risk of defeat in detail. The decision was made six or seven weeks ago. The method is, I think, a good one; one that I've grown increasingly pleased with as time has passed.

Fun House won't achieve the level of surprise of Big Tent, mainly because John's empire is considerably smaller now. There isn't as much room involved and he's no doubt going to have some bases garrisoned. But the Allied forces are powerful and early indications are that things look good.

As important as the ground campaign will be, defeating the IJ navy remains the highest priority. John's had time to marshal his navy. I think he'll attack. I think he'll look for a chance to combine with LBA. I'm not going to mess around with time-wasting feints, but in the very nature of the operation, I think he'll have some trouble figuring out what's going on and when to pounce.

It's going to be a massive undertaking. I think we're about three weeks (or less) from the first D-Day. It'll be fun.

[Canoerebel]

ORIGINAL: Lokasenna

ORIGINAL: Canoerebel

We all know that CVs fly half CAP in a base hex but that CVEs fly full CAP. Questions:

1) Do CVEs have to be in a CVE Escort TF to fly full CAP in a base hex?
2) Or can CVEs in a Carrier TF (that only has CVEs, no CVs) fly full CAP?
3) Or, if CVEs are embedded with CVs in a Carrier TF, will the CVEs still fly full CAP?

I think 1) is "no," 3) is "no," and I think, but I'm not sure, that 2) is "yes."

It's not just CAP, right? It's strikes, too? My answers:

1) no
2) I think yes
3) I think yes

Because I think it depends on ship type, not TF type.


Oh, and I use my CVEs in "Air Combat TFs", not "CV Escort TFs", and they fly full CAP.

Thanks, Loka. I, too, use my CVEs in dedicated "Air Combat" TFs. But over the past week I've had two TFs with mixed CV/CVE. I didn't notice anything unnatural about their operations, but I began to wonder, especially when the TFs entered base hexes.

[Canoerebel]

The fuel situation in Oz is largely fixed. Three big TK TFs arrive and, on the same turn, Sydney released a bucketful to key bases being used to replenish ships and fill some of the AOs and TKs that will move forward with the carriers in 10 days.

[crsutton]

ORIGINAL: Lokasenna

ORIGINAL: Canoerebel

We all know that CVs fly half CAP in a base hex but that CVEs fly full CAP. Questions:

1) Do CVEs have to be in a CVE Escort TF to fly full CAP in a base hex?
2) Or can CVEs in a Carrier TF (that only has CVEs, no CVs) fly full CAP?
3) Or, if CVEs are embedded with CVs in a Carrier TF, will the CVEs still fly full CAP?

I think 1) is "no," 3) is "no," and I think, but I'm not sure, that 2) is "yes."

It's not just CAP, right? It's strikes, too? My answers:

1) no
2) I think yes
3) I think yes

Because I think it depends on ship type, not TF type.


Oh, and I use my CVEs in "Air Combat TFs", not "CV Escort TFs", and they fly full CAP.

Me thinks so too. But never combine CVEs with fast carriers. The TF speed is the speed of the slowest ship and this can affect many combat situations. And, as an added bonus, you then won't have to ponder these questions in the future. [;)]

I have gone the serpent route with my extra carriers this game. Rattlesnake, Copperhead, Diamondback and so on. Ran out of American poisonous snakes so the last one is Wolverine. The CAs I just go with city names. My home town, Silver Spring, is one of them.

[crsutton]

ORIGINAL: bradfordkay

Do VR squadrons act as normal squadrons when not in a Replenishment TF?

The answer is a yes, but with a qualification. If you base the VR squadron on a carrier or a CVE not in a replenishment TF, the squadron will not send replacements to other carriers. However, if you base the VR squadron on land and it is in normal range of your carriers, then the squadron will send planes to your carriers. This can be a nuisance but also very useful if done in the right situation.

[Canoerebel]

Handling fuel in the DEI and Australia has been challenging. Big Tent brought 400k fuel in TKs, AOs and xAKs. In addition, for two or three months prior to the operation, fuel deliveries were made to Australia, New Zealand, and some island bases. None of these places has come close to running dry, though occasionally I haven't been able to draw fuel to forward bases as quickly as I felt was needed. But the fuel deliveries were sufficient to handle Big Tent, Third Ring, and Carousel with plenty left over. But Normanton, as important a role as it has played, has sometime not been able to keep up with demand. This, in part, prompted me to send Death Star from Normanton to Tonwsville.

I left 80k fuel in the DEI as a reserve to handle future operations. Once Fun House gets underway, the DEI will serve as the reserve and re-fueling point. I'll be sending more, but that may take awhile.

Every Fun House ship will depart port fully fueled. That and the reserve fuel in the DEI should allow operation in the Fun House AOO for at least a month, maybe two, before refueling is needed.

[Lecivius]

I have been blessed with the ability to always know where I am. I need to use a map for new areas, but even in new territory as long as I have looked over topo maps, or road maps (depending on the situation), I always know where I am. I drove my boy scouts crazy that way [;)][:D]

[Lokasenna]

ORIGINAL: crsutton

ORIGINAL: Lokasenna

ORIGINAL: Canoerebel

We all know that CVs fly half CAP in a base hex but that CVEs fly full CAP. Questions:

1) Do CVEs have to be in a CVE Escort TF to fly full CAP in a base hex?
2) Or can CVEs in a Carrier TF (that only has CVEs, no CVs) fly full CAP?
3) Or, if CVEs are embedded with CVs in a Carrier TF, will the CVEs still fly full CAP?

I think 1) is "no," 3) is "no," and I think, but I'm not sure, that 2) is "yes."

It's not just CAP, right? It's strikes, too? My answers:

1) no
2) I think yes
3) I think yes

Because I think it depends on ship type, not TF type.


Oh, and I use my CVEs in "Air Combat TFs", not "CV Escort TFs", and they fly full CAP.

Me thinks so too. But never combine CVEs with fast carriers. The TF speed is the speed of the slowest ship and this can affect many combat situations. And, as an added bonus, you then won't have to ponder these questions in the future. [;)]

I have gone the serpent route with my extra carriers this game. Rattlesnake, Copperhead, Diamondback and so on. Ran out of American poisonous snakes so the last one is Wolverine. The CAs I just go with city names. My home town, Silver Spring, is one of them.

But... are you actually from Silver Spring, or the enormous amorphous blob that is "Silver Spring" on the map?


I try to name my ships something that my opponent would appreciate (against a Finnish opponent I named one CV Vainamoinen), or some dirty underhanded trick like naming them all the same thing and putting them in different TFs for my opponent to spot at different times and locations to sow confusion. This is less useful once one of them is sunk or out of action.

[Canoerebel]

3/16/44

Burma: 70th IJA Div. lost 126 combat squads in an attack today and has no "abled" squads left. The unit didn't retreat and will undergo a stronger attack tomorrow. This division should be crippled or destroyed soon. There are at least two others in Burma that should suffer a similar fate. Two more are more likely to escape somewhat intact.

DEI: BB Musashi is back - my NavSearch missed the TF entirely, and it whacked Watampone's airfield hard.

Fun House: It's probably a good thing that the two USN carriers are upgrading for eight more days. I'm so anxious to get things going that I'd be tempted to leave behind some big supply TFs inbound to Oz from the Coral Sea. But now they'll be present when Death Star sails. 7th Aussie Div. is now extracted from the Marshalls. It won't participate in Fun House, but it'll go in harm's way in a few months.

[CaptBeefheart]

I think this game attracts people who are good with maps and navigation. I used to have navigation duty for family trips in the 70s and had a huge map collection I tossed out only when moving to Asia (along with my boardgames... sigh).

I'd rather drive my car around Korea toting an atlas written in Korean. I use the GPS for navigation only when trying to find an obscure address. I also have it on to warn me about speed cameras. The missus will occasionally warn me that I'm about to disregard an instruction from Bitching Betty, but I'll tell her to watch as I go the better way.

I could have sworn CAP in a base hex depends on TF type, meaning only CV Escort TFs get full CAP. I'll look up the manual later.

EDIT: On ship names, for CA/CLs I use cities I've lived in and CVs are historical battles such as Gettysburg. I tried friends and family for DDs, but then realized losing any of them wouldn't be cool. I like the Moose's idea of using the names of exes.

Cheers,
CC

[paullus99]

I'm not surprised anymore that John continues to gravitate to "tactical" offensive operations. While I'm sure he finds it fun to kill a few of your troops, I don't see how these attacks help him in the grande scheme of things - he's putting valuable assets at risk for what, in the long run, is little to no return.

His position in Burma is collapsing, he's on the wrong side of the carrier equation, and you've been given huge amounts of time to prepare for the next solid blow.....yet I don't see any indications that he's actually concerned.

I will never understand his playing style....

[Canoerebel]

When I speak of "victory," I'm really talking about two different things at this point in the game: (1) on map, vanquish enemy forces and pierce to his heartland victory, and (2) Victory Points victory.

I'm making very good progress towards (1), but (2) isn't quite as clear yet. John earned 8,000 extra troop points in Sumatra, I sacrificed alot of shipping points to attrition his navy, and there are alot of big points bases out there that are far off my major vectors of attack. So, while the Allies are on schedule and on course to "win the war," the "win the game" aspect isn't quite as clear (but I think that'll work out fine if John's navy continues to diminish).

John probably can't stop me, but he can do three things to slow me down: (1) sink carriers (my current "freedom" to go anywhere I want would be impacted if I lost a carrier battle); (2) sink alot of my best transports (APA, AKA, AP, AK); or (3) rough up major infantry units that I'm counting on going forward (I have plenty, despite Sumatra, but can't afford another Sumatra).

I'm not yet sure how Celebes will work out. If he overwhelms the defenses and wipes out the equivalent of about three divisions, he will earn alot more points. On the otherhand, I think this could turn into Gove on Steroids. Two months ago, he rushed reinforcements to Gove, really a backwater base at that point, but left Celebes wide open. Ultimately, he lost both postiions (though he might regain the latter for awhile). I think there's a decent chance that Fun House will succeed in a way that John will rue the day he used time, ships and men in Celebes instead of solidfying his defenses elsewhere.

Let's see.

[Canoerebel]

Being clever and supple, I wrote a short story about map-reading a year ago.

[Canoerebel]

page 2

[BBfanboy]

Nice article - brings back some similar spiritual experiences I have had hiking alone in the northern Boreal Forests where there were no roads or trails.
Being in the woods in winter at -20ºF where the snow squeaks underfoot as you walk and then when you stop the only sound is a soft sigh of the breeze in the spruce trees, and you can hear your heartbeat and see your breath. Peace to the soul.

[MakeeLearn]

One of my favorite websites :

http://mapper.acme.com/

Maybe further north

[Canoerebel]

ORIGINAL: MakeeLearn

One of my favorite websites :

http://mapper.acme.com/

Maybe further north

If you can post the map including just another inch or two to the south, I'll point out the anomaly.

[MakeeLearn]

south...