The Good The Bad & The Indifferent

[Canoerebel]

She did. [Some people know way to much about the engine that drives every aspect of this game, drat them!]

[Canoerebel]

5/23/44

Fun House: The Roxas (Panay) invasion TF departs Talaud tonight to join Death Star and the Herd. I'll hold my breath a bit because the journey north holds the prospect of enemy subs (it's where John struck the last time DS moved this way). And there's a chance he might spring KB. I don't think he will, but there's a chance.

Burma: The Allies take Moulmein and will advance in strength east.

John is reinforcing Hainan Island heavily - 2nd Div. plus a mixed brigade bound for Kiungshan. I would've taken Hainan if I could've gotten it on the cheap...but I might also target it later simply to go after vulnerable enemy units. Hainan is too "bite-sized" for John to effectively defend. He may regret defending it in strength, but for now every unit he sends there is a unit not present for a Peep Show target.

John is giving a lot of attention to the Bay of Bengal and Indochina now. He can see how close his position is to collapse and how close the Allies are to joining forces, east and west. He's right about this...but I'd like him to remain focused just so for the time being.

[Canoerebel]

5/24/44

Fun House: Puerto Princesa fell to 6th Australian Div. today. That's a pretty big deal since it "closes the deal" on a botched invasion (I used the wrong unit). That unit will extinguish the remnant IJA units and soon, when ships and Death Star are available, invade Miri.

Death Star will be back in the Legaspi vicinity in two days. D-Day at Roxas in three turns.

Burma: Allied stack advancing east from Moulmein, chasing retreating IJA stack. Enemy combat TF is still out here. Mini KB may or may not be.

[obvert]

Can you bomb those tanks at Vinh with some 4E from Rangoon or Mandalay? Looks like it's in P-38 range and the B-24s could get there.

[Canoerebel]

I have minimal supply at my snazzy new forward bases Rangoon, Moulmein, Pegu, Toungoo, etc. - not enough to support 4EB attacks. I did set one long-range RAF Liberator squadron to hit the tanks from Akyab. We'll see if they fly.

[obvert]

ORIGINAL: Canoerebel

I have minimal supply at my snazzy new forward bases Rangoon, Moulmein, Pegu, Toungoo, etc. - not enough to support 4EB attacks. I did set one long-range RAF Liberator squadron to hit the tanks from Akyab. We'll see if they fly.

I love those LR Coastal Command Libs. In my Allied game they were great for harassment well behind the lines.

Your other option could be a surprise Fletcher incursion here. It's deep but Sqz just sent some well into Indian country in my game and in spite of DBs on strike, the Allied flak was so good none were even scratched.

Also, Coronados were flown as bombers on serval missions in the war. One notable night raid took place on Wake with Tang on lifeguard duty and Dick O'Kane watching proceedings. He writes a great description of the 4E beast flying boats roaring out of the night and setting what looked like the whole island on fire.

[Canoerebel]

A recent Fletcher raid sank a bunch of tankers at Tarakan over two days and triggered enemy dive bombers. As with your experience, flank was heavy and none of the Japanese strike aircraft scored a hit.

Ultimately I have little say in whether I hold Vinh. It's too far out with too little supply to draw from (my Dakotas are flying from new bases that have little supply). So John will retake the base unless he's woefully negligent.

I'm okay with that because he'll then have to turn his attention to a Chinese occupied hex on the Vietnam border that interdicts the road. He'll also have to deal with the Chindits at Luangprabang, which control another fuel line. This gives him useful things to occupy his units and attention for awhile, which is the secret behind-the-scenes objective.

[Lokasenna]

ORIGINAL: Canoerebel

A recent Fletcher raid sank a bunch of tankers at Tarakan over two days and triggered enemy dive bombers. As with your experience, flank was heavy and none of the Japanese strike aircraft scored a hit.

Ultimately I have little say in whether I hold Vinh. It's too far out with too little supply to draw from (my Dakotas are flying from new bases that have little supply). So John will retake the base unless he's woefully negligent.

I'm okay with that because he'll then have to turn his attention to a Chinese occupied hex on the Vietnam border that interdicts the road. He'll also have to deal with the Chindits at Luangprabang, which control another fuel line. This gives him useful things to occupy his units and attention for awhile, which is the secret behind-the-scenes objective.

And he won't have any forts built up [;)].

[Canoerebel]

5/25/44

Busy day in Burma and the Philippines AAO. See map for details.

[MakeeLearn]

On average does DS and the Herd run a high DL?

[Canoerebel]

More days than not, DS TFs show no detection. This has been going on for a year - John got cold feet due to heavy search plane losses to DS CAP. He turns on search once in awhile and probably makes sensible guesses and deductions. That bit him badly, though, leading up to the big carrier battle in September '43.

[Lowpe]

There are some planes that are good for keeping track of the DS without suffering too badly: the Dinah III most notably. Jakes, Nells, Betties, Emily all fly too low and are too slow.

The Irving C and the Judy C aren't that bad either.

[Canoerebel]

5/26/44

Fun House: Roxas (Panay) invasion force on site. Landings commence tomorrow. Important merchant TF including a big AE arrived at Legaspi today. Allied army will commence moving up the peninsula tomorrow.

Burma: Mini KB and two BB TFs are in the Andaman Sea, the latter two bombarding Moulmein today to modest effect. I don't think John is going to commit KB to a fight with this much of his firepower way out on the margins.

Pacific: Ocean Island falls today.

Coral Sea: Two ships overdue for withdrawal are just off Townsville and will commence flank speed run to Sydney tomorrow.

[Canoerebel]

5/27/44

Fun House: D-Day at Roxas goes well. It's apparent that 11th E. African Div. is sufficient to handle that campaign and will not require reinforcements.

That, in turn, frees me up to focus on Luzon. The Allied army has commenced the march up the peninsula. The bombers worked over Manila's airfield again. Soon, the air force will concentrate on ground missions. I optimistic (but not sure, of course), that John's army can't stand in any open hexes. I would be surprised if he's able to stop my army shy of Manila. If needed, the navy will support the operation by imposing an embargo on ships trying to bring in supply or reinforcements.

So we're entering a new phase of Fun House now. Since D-Day at Talaud-eilanden nearly two months ago, Fun House has involved three stages requiring heavy naval/carrier participation: (1) the initial landings followed by base building; (2) bringing in 7th Aus. Div. to help with taking bases in the central PI, Sulu Sea region and northern Borneo; and (3) bringing in the African division to attend to Panay.

Now the heavy naval phase will end or stand down for awhile. For the next few weeks, this will be a ground and air battle for Luzon.

Eventually, more reinforcements will arrive. They will reinforce the Luzon operation if needed. If not, they will either trigger Peep Show or, if KB is still a concern, form the nucleus of the Mindanao campaign.

The Allies are ahead of schedule on what I had hoped to accomplish with Fun House. If the Luzon campaign goes well, Peep Show should commence well ahead of the original "September '44" target.

[Xargun]

Does your AE have supplies loaded ?

[Canoerebel]

Yes. It's been in port for two days, fully loaded.

The "replenish TF from port" button is grayed out. I haven't tried "replenish TF at sea" because I don't think that works for this purpose and because I don't want to siphon away fuel from other ships.

[MakeeLearn]

ORIGINAL: Canoerebel

Yes. It's been in port for two days, fully loaded.

The "replenish TF from port" button is grayed out. I haven't tried "replenish TF at sea" because I don't think that works for this purpose and because I don't want to siphon away fuel from other ships.

43.Replenish from port with 'no refuel option' will attempt to replenish ammo only

is it the same for replenish TF at sea?
Disband AE TF?

Note: If you want to rearm from an AE in port, disband (i.e., anchor) an AE in port with supply cargo and then select “Replenish at Sea” on the TF you want to rearm [forum Don Bowen 11/18/2009].
Note: If an AE with supply cargo is disbanded in a port and a rearming TF selects “Replenish from Port”, the rearming TF will only draw on the AE’s supplies if the port does not have sufficient supplies to complete the rearming [forum Don Bowen 11/18/2009].
Note: AEs cannot rearm mines or 46cm/45 T94, and can only rearm weapons with a Weapon Rearm Cost less than or equal to the AE’s cargo capacity [20.1.2.2]. For example, the US AE Pyro Class ships have a cargo capacity of 3600 and therefore cannot arm weapons larger than 14in/45 Mk VII [20.1.2.2].
Note: AEs cannot enhance or augment a port’s capability to rearm weapons [forum Don Bowen 4/28/2010].
Note: AEs can rearm at a base and do not require a port (e.g., a friendly colored dot base with a port size of 0) [forum Don Bowen 9/6/2009].
Note: AEs can rearm carrier sorties, including carrier torpedo sorties [20.1.2.2].

[HansBolter]

Canoe,

I've found that a single ammunition ship isn't enough to sustain multiple combat TFs, especially if they contain multiple BBs.

I try to deploy at least 2 AEs and 4 AKEs to any port I deem to be my replenishment station.

I'm not saying that is the reason you didn't get a replenishment last turn, just an observation that only one ship is a weak commitment.

[Grfin Zeppelin]

Disband the ship you want to rearm into port (the whole TF). If its OPs raises it has rearmed.

[Canoerebel]

I think the problem is that the port expended all its ops points unloading ships carrying supply and fuel. I'll know more tomorrow. (If I'm still having trouble, I can move the AE and my combat ships to Naga, which is a level 5 port working towards level 6.)