Making Gorn great again. Nobody named Steve allowed

[BillBrown]

oops, you already know that.

[geofflambert]

That's what I meant by ordering them to return to base. One click solution.

[geofflambert]

There's something which weighs heavily on my strategy. There is a thread by someone asking about games like Fighting Steel. I rebought it a year or so ago but couldn't get it to work. That's neither here nor there. When I had it working in the good old days I must have run Denmark Straits a hundred times. I always did the same thing and it always worked every single time. I simply had PoW turn in 5 or 10 degrees to close with Bismarck while Hood hung back. Once or perhaps twice in those hundred battles Eugene escaped. Eugene was a very fine ship in her own right, just short on range (a lot). Bismarck was sunk every single time and neither PoW nor Hood was sunk or even badly damaged. PoW was very well armoured and had no reason to fear Bismarck much, still she was undergunned, something Churchill was very unhappy about. Nonetheless 14" taters are nothing to sneeze at. Hood stood back lobbing 15" taters and that was just devastating to Bismarck.

I hate and fear PoW and Repulse because of that and because of their speed. They are perfect to send to the Yanks to form a screening force for their CVs. As I've said before the best place to sink a ship is at sea, not in harbor. In the same way the best place to destroy aircraft is in the air, not on the ground. I'm headed for Singapore baby. I think Force Z will escape but I'm going to try anyway. I once thought the asterisk TFs could teleport to anywhere but as the manual states they simply go twenty times as far as they otherwise would. I tested trying to get Ryujo to materialize West of Batavia or North of the Malacca straits and she just can't make it that far. If she goes in South of Borneo she always runs into that Allied cruiser force which surely slows her down. If you try going around Borneo on the North she doesn't get anywhere useful. So, I'm not sending her at all.

Hiryu, Soryu, Zuikaku and Shokaku will arrive near Singapore, attack the port with Vals and attack anything afloat with Kates. They will attain air superiority in the area of Singapore and increase the odds of success for my amphibious invasions. In most playtests they sink those obsolete CLs at Palembang, which is vital to the success of amphib invasions there and capturing Palembang early is a real coup in my view.

[BillBrown]

Then you should make another magic move TF with Kaga and Ryujo and move it Southwest of Davao and see if you can sink Boise and Houston.

[Rio Bravo]

ORIGINAL: geofflambert

Let me take a little time here to discuss what the other side should be doing. I don't think this is controversial for experienced players. The Brits are short on all sorts of stuff. Engineers first and foremost. They need any kind of construction engineers they can get. Airfield engineers and naval engineers. I'd say about two each of those last plus 1 each of air HQs and naval HQs, sent to the Indian Ocean theatre. I'd be reluctant about sending any combat engineers and flat out wouldn't send any armour. The Brits have all sorts of armoured stuff and a lot of it is pretty good and certainly equal to anything the (squeak, squeak, squeak) Japanese have. I would send a few infantry divisions, but just Army. Keep all the Marines for the Pacific. I would send some Army air, P-40s and P-39s say, maybe P-38s. You need to blunt the Japanese attempts to establish air superiority, and the Brits simply cannot absorb the casualties to do that. Take all the British aircraft off of their carriers and use them as trainers. Once they have carriers that will not have to be withdrawn put US squadrons on them, Wildcats, Avengers and Dauntlesses, Navy preferably. Do all of these things at the first viable opportunities.

Most of the US troops in the way of engineers and infantry will just be sitting on their hands given the nature of the island hopping campaign. Commit some to the IO (Burma actually). Be careful what you send in the way of air units but definitely send some and be thinking about air superiority (that means fighters first and foremost). I don't mean send your best, but the US resources are almost bottomless and the UK cannot replace significant losses. Anything you send will be a blessing.

geoff-

I agree with everything you recommended above with the exception of armor.

The British believed that armor wouldn't be effective due to the wide expanses of jungle terrain. They learned that armor was quite effective for the Japanese. Accordingly, I did and I would recommend sending armor to assist the Australians and British in India and in Burma.

As you sagely pointed out that the Japanese own the sky in Burma, I did and recommend sending American AA Regiments to India and Burma.

Best Regards,

-Terry

[geofflambert]

ORIGINAL: BillBrown

Then you should make another magic move TF with Kaga and Ryujo and move it Southwest of Davao and see if you can sink Boise and Houston.

How do get them in the same task force that makes the magic move?

[BillBrown]

There is a 2 x DD TF in the same hex that is set to bombard Midway, it is a magic move TF. Make it an escort TF, add the CVs and then it will automatically change to a ACTF and then just give it orders to move to where you want.

[geofflambert]

Here's a typical patrol plot for me and for FP subs. Sometimes I make the zone a hex larger on each leg. The triangle can point down instead of up. I make the linger time 1 day but you could make it two. If you leave it at zero you'll run yourself out of fuel fast. Also, whatever type of sub remember to make the reaction range 1 hex. For non FP subs I sometimes know that a particular lateral line of hexes is frequented, say on the way to Sydney. In that case I may have a sub patrol back and forth along that line. Same goes for "NE to SW" lines and "SE to NW" lines.

[geofflambert]

ORIGINAL: BillBrown

There is a 2 x DD TF in the same hex that is set to bombard Midway, it is a magic move TF. Make it an escort TF, add the CVs and then it will automatically change to a ACTF and then just give it orders to move to where you want.

I should have thought of that on my own, but you mean in my case Kaga and Akagi, not Kaga and Ryujo unless the two TFs target the same hex and merge.

Anyways I'll consider it. I'm really concerned about getting a full complement of AC on Akagi and Ryujo. If I recall correctly Kaga is at least nominally full.

[geofflambert]

For your edification a page of my sighting log from a previous game. The down arrows pointed out mean "sunk". Looks like I didn't think to note the headings (when reported) until August. I should have done that from the beginning.

[Aurorus]

ORIGINAL: geofflambert

ORIGINAL: BillBrown

Then you should make another magic move TF with Kaga and Ryujo and move it Southwest of Davao and see if you can sink Boise and Houston.

How do get them in the same task force that makes the magic move?

You can do a lot with the magic move task forces by transferring ships in and out of them. You can even change their mission types. Troop loading also occurs before movement, so you can load additional troops and then magic move them, if you "load troops only." If you load supplies, they will not complete loading before the move phase and lose the magic move. You ability to do this is limited by port size, however. If the ships are not docked, they will not complete the load before the move phase either. Since most of your ports are small, the best use of this is to add in some aviation support to the locations where it is needed.

Finally, other TFs can be created and plotted to merge with existing magic move TFs, allowing you to redeploy much of the fleet that is sitting on its hands at the Home Islands. If you use the 3 magic move DD TFs sitting around the Home islands and have surface combat ships link up with them you can get your fleet better positioned to start the war. If you really want, the entire 4th division can be loaded at Nagasaki and merged to a magic move TF. The range on these is limited, however, as you observe. Really it is only useful if you want the 4th ID in the Phillipines. You also waste a good 21 speed AP, which can be linked up with the other fast APs on the Home islands to move the division at Nagasaki or the division at Shanghai, so it is a tradeoff.

[geofflambert]

Thanks. I was specifically asking how BB meant you could join Kaga in the Kuriles and Ryujo at Babeldaob and have them magic move. I think he made a mistake and meant Kaga and Akagi.

I am curious about what you were referring to in Nagasaki, maybe you know something I don't. There are no TFs at Nagasaki. The special move bonus applies to certain TFs that are a priori designated to have the special movement rate. Are you saying that these special TFs can be repositioned prior to giving the first turn orders?

[Aurorus]

Four other notes on the magic moves. Having task forces meet and merge with the DD TFs on the Home islands can be a little tricky, as they will often miss their rendezvous point. Usually both TFs have to be plotted for coastal movement, which further limits their range and utility. Second, if you plot a magic move TF with waypoints, the magic move will stop at the waypoint, and the TF will make a normal 1-phase move after the waypoint. So you can use waypoints on magic moves, but near the end of the move only. Third, the Ryujo's magic move is more limited than the others, as you have oberved. Fourth, all of the TFs at Etorofu are magic move. The one is not labeled with an asterik.

[BillBrown]

ORIGINAL: geofflambert

Thanks. I was specifically asking how BB meant you could join Kaga in the Kuriles and Ryujo at Babeldaob and have them magic move. I think he made a mistake and meant Kaga and Akagi.

I posted that at work and did things by memory, it is Kaga and Akagi you are to use.
I would not try to have two magic move TFs merge, just have them both move to the same hex
and then combine them on turn 2.

[geofflambert]

Did you mean the 4th Division at Osaka, or are you referring to a Mod?

[Aurorus]

ORIGINAL: geofflambert

Did you mean the 4th Division at Osaka, or are you referring to a Mod?

Yes, sorry, the 4th ID at Osaka.

[Aurorus]

ORIGINAL: geofflambert

Thanks. I was specifically asking how BB meant you could join Kaga in the Kuriles and Ryujo at Babeldaob and have them magic move. I think he made a mistake and meant Kaga and Akagi.

I am curious about what you were referring to in Nagasaki, maybe you know something I don't. There are no TFs at Nagasaki. The special move bonus applies to certain TFs that are a priori designated to have the special movement rate. Are you saying that these special TFs can be repositioned prior to giving the first turn orders?

Sorry, I didn't see your question earlier. What I am saying is that you can create a TF, for example a TF at Hiroshima that includes the BBS there, then order this TF via "Task Force Routing" to "meet" and "merge" with a magic move TF. If you do this, in our example, with the BBs at Hiroshima and the 2 DD magic move TF 2 hexes away, the BBs from Hiroshima will then merge with DD TF and get the magic move bonus. If you look at my AAR, I repositioned the entire Japanese surface fleet from the Home islands to the area east of the Philipines using this method. You really cannot go much further than the Phillipines or Truk with the HI surface fleet, however, given the limitations of the magic moves.

[geofflambert]

Interesting, hadn't thought of that before, might do something like that. For now the plan is to have Kaga and Akagi meet and merge with the Ryujo group somewhere near the Home Islands to be in a position to adjust their airgroups to full capacity and get those Claudes off. I then will have them head south but I think I'll delay the Wake invasion. The AO group will be divided so as to service each carrier group.

[geofflambert]

Sorry about taking so long everybody. I think I've been having allergic reactions to tree pollen in the area. There's hundreds of what look like pear trees blooming all around here. I think they're a variety that has BB or pea sized fruits. I'm breathing better today but I'm having lots of problems with my eyes and having to constantly wipe that yellow slime (pus?) out of them or everything is blurry. Having to use a magnifying glass to see the screen text.

[adarbrauner]

ORIGINAL: Aurorus

ORIGINAL: geofflambert

Thanks. I was specifically asking how BB meant you could join Kaga in the Kuriles and Ryujo at Babeldaob and have them magic move. I think he made a mistake and meant Kaga and Akagi.

I am curious about what you were referring to in Nagasaki, maybe you know something I don't. There are no TFs at Nagasaki. The special move bonus applies to certain TFs that are a priori designated to have the special movement rate. Are you saying that these special TFs can be repositioned prior to giving the first turn orders?

Sorry, I didn't see your question earlier. What I am saying is that you can create a TF, for example a TF at Hiroshima that includes the BBS there, then order this TF via "Task Force Routing" to "meet" and "merge" with a magic move TF. If you do this, in our example, with the BBs at Hiroshima and the 2 DD magic move TF 2 hexes away, the BBs from Hiroshima will then merge with DD TF and get the magic move bonus. If you look at my AAR, I repositioned the entire Japanese surface fleet from the Home islands to the area east of the Philipines using this method. You really cannot go much further than the Phillipines or Truk with the HI surface fleet, however, given the limitations of the magic moves.

Isn't it too much "gamey" (or unrealistic)?!
I mean, if Japan did not redeploy all of its fleet, that was also in order to keep secrecy and not to generate unwanted premature alarm.

The task forces with the invasion forces for Malay for example had been spotted by the RAF already at the 3rd or 4th of December on their way from Saigon or Tonkin Island, I think, generating much alarm at GHQ, but then most of them turned north toward Thailand, thus inducing the Commander in Chief (it was an air force Marshal I think?) not to pull the trigger first.
It was at this junction that poor Percival asked for permission to initiate preemptive moves, strikes and penetration in Thailand, but was refused on ground not to provoke the Japanese and precipitate the situation, without getting more evidence that they've already cast the die.