Once Again into the Breach - Mike (J) vs. tc464 (A)

[Mike Solli]

Ok, I did some research on which bombers and fighters can reach Truk from Manus. It's a 16 hex range, so the fighter cover is minimal. Right now, only the P-38G can escort, and that's at the maximum extended range with drop tanks. And there aren't many of that model. At least I won't have to worry about many escorts. But, he'll have plenty of bombers that can reach:

No 2E bombers can reach.
B17E - he has about a dozen left.
B24D - They are out of production and I typically see about a dozen a day.
B24D1 - They just ended production at the end of August. This is his primary bomber. I estimate about 90-100, but this number will drop in favor of the next model.
B24J - This model just began production on 1 Sep and will remain in production for the remainder of the war, at a rate of 65 a month. He'll never run out of these.

So, right now there are about 120 a day available for missions against Truk. Yep, they'll get through. But I can probably do a number on them with my newest fighters. And they basically won't have any fighter escort until the P38J arrives in 12/43, at a rate of 50 a month. If Truk is still viable by then, I'll count that as a victory.

The other thing I'll be able to do is to mess with Merauke. It's hanging out there on the front line. I'll be able to send in surface bombardment missions to keep damaging the airfield and damage/destroy bombers on the ground. His attempt at Truk can be pretty expensive in bombers and pilots lost for him.

Finally, the more sorties he spends at Truk means that many sorties that aren't being spent on important targets, like my oil fields. [;)]

[Mike Solli]

Ok, so how do I defend against those bombers? I have the following models to choose from:

IJA:
Ki-84a Frank
Ki-44-IIc Tojo
Ki-43-IIIa Oscar
Ki-45 KAIa Nick FB
Ki-100-II Tony

IJN:
A6M5 Zero
A6M5c Zero
N1K2-J George

What do you think and what kind of numbers? I have only 1 sentai of Nick and the George just started production this month (6 a day) but everything else is pretty much as much as I want. I also have as many air units as I want, so have at it guys! [:D]

[Lokasenna]

In my experience the Oscar, Tony, and Zero (even the armored versions) all die in droves to B-24's.

The Tojo does a bit better (not sure why, compared to the Tony), but your real planes are the Frank, Jack, and George. The Nick will do.

[MrKane]

ORIGINAL: Mike Solli

Ok, so how do I defend against those bombers? I have the following models to choose from:

IJA:
Ki-84a Frank
Ki-44-IIc Tojo
Ki-43-IIIa Oscar
Ki-45 KAIa Nick FB
Ki-100-II Tony

IJN:
A6M5 Zero
A6M5c Zero
N1K2-J George

What do you think and what kind of numbers? I have only 1 sentai of Nick and the George just started production this month (6 a day) but everything else is pretty much as much as I want. I also have as many air units as I want, so have at it guys! [:D]

A6M5c - armor, firepower, service rating 1
Ki-100 - armor, firepower, service rating 1

I personally would choose one Kukotai of Zeke at 5K and 2 Sentai of Tony at 8K and 12K

IJA:
Ki-84a Frank - best for offensive actions
Ki-44-IIc Tojo - great defender when your to defend against Allied is fighters sweeps.
Ki-43-IIIa Oscar - general purpose, useless against 4E
Ki-45 KAIa Nick FB - actually I am using it as early war offensive fighter, later as night fighter or bomber in China.
Ki-100-II Tony - great war fighter, It works form me well still in late 1945.

IJN:
A6M5 Zero - good, but lack of armor is issue
A6M5c Zero - excellent bomber killer
N1K2-J George - best of the best

To defend airfield the most important is detection by radar, and climb ratio of fighters. Good values will allow you achieve numbers superiority fast during combat and not miss any bombers. For engaging 4E you need firepower armor and durability. When you know that AF will be bombed anyway you need low SR to keep planes return to line as fast as possible.

[ITAKLinus]

ORIGINAL: MrKane

ORIGINAL: Mike Solli

Ok, so how do I defend against those bombers? I have the following models to choose from:

IJA:
Ki-84a Frank
Ki-44-IIc Tojo
Ki-43-IIIa Oscar
Ki-45 KAIa Nick FB
Ki-100-II Tony

IJN:
A6M5 Zero
A6M5c Zero
N1K2-J George

What do you think and what kind of numbers? I have only 1 sentai of Nick and the George just started production this month (6 a day) but everything else is pretty much as much as I want. I also have as many air units as I want, so have at it guys! [:D]

A6M5c - armor, firepower, service rating 1
Ki-100 - armor, firepower, service rating 1

I personally would choose one Kukotai of Zeke at 5K and 2 Sentai of Tony at 8K and 12K

IJA:
Ki-84a Frank - best for offensive actions
Ki-44-IIc Tojo - great defender when your to defend against Allied is fighters sweeps.
Ki-43-IIIa Oscar - general purpose, useless against 4E
Ki-45 KAIa Nick FB - actually I am using it as early war offensive fighter, later as night fighter or bomber in China.
Ki-100-II Tony - great war fighter, It works form me well still in late 1945.

IJN:
A6M5 Zero - good, but lack of armor is issue
A6M5c Zero - excellent bomber killer
N1K2-J George - best of the best

To defend airfield the most important is detection by radar, and climb ratio of fighters. Good values will allow you achieve numbers superiority fast during combat and not miss any bombers. For engaging 4E you need firepower armor and durability. When you know that AF will be bombed anyway you need low SR to keep planes return to line as fast as possible.

And what do you think about A6M8? I am rushing it but I start believing I've done a mistake in skipping the A6M5c model...

Against bombers I think we should define whether the target is to kill them or to make the bombardment fail. Stacked planes and AA make bombardment on important target difficult.


Nicks are cool because the have high durability and that's all against bombers: if you look at replays, F are usually repelled by heavy fire from bombers and a plane with higher DUR make them go closer in fight and stay in longer.

Against 2E almost everything works though

[Lokasenna]

The A6M8 is incrementally better than the A6M5c.

Neither do particularly well against 4E, and often do poorly. But sometimes they're all you have.

[ITAKLinus]

Well I was speaking about A6M5c vs A6M8 and the eventual need to have the first before getting the latter. I guess I'll have a6m8 in late autumn 1942, so it's a big deal.


Mike is doing great with IJAAF and he has done several incremental upgrades rather than rushing a couple of models and forgetting the rest. Dunno how that changes the picture

[MrKane]

A6M8 is a lot of better as fighter, however short range make this model useless as escort. It is good to produce
A6M8 as defender and one older version as escort or replace both with A7M2.

[ITAKLinus]

Well I suppose I will use the A6M2 for a long time until better models come online naturally.


A6M8 is supposed to do everything but escort.


I have tried to follow a very different approach with respect to Mike and I've gone wild with few, selected airframes that should arrive much earlier than normal. Having the Tojo IIc and a6m8 in late 42 can be a game changer for a long time.

[Lokasenna]

ORIGINAL: MrKane

A6M8 is a lot of better as fighter, however short range make this model useless as escort. It is good to produce
A6M8 as defender and one older version as escort or replace both with A7M2.

On carriers, it doesn't matter as drop tanks don't seem to actually consume additional sorties.

[MrKane]

ORIGINAL: Lokasenna

ORIGINAL: MrKane

A6M8 is a lot of better as fighter, however short range make this model useless as escort. It is good to produce
A6M8 as defender and one older version as escort or replace both with A7M2.

On carriers, it doesn't matter as drop tanks don't seem to actually consume additional sorties.

In opinion it does. 8 hex strike is extended range for A6M8, this reduce its performance as escort a lot. As result you need get your carriers in 7 hex to target or risk poor performance fighters escort.

[rustysi]

Anyone remember Mickey Mouse boots?

[:D]Part of our winter issue when I was stationed in Korea. They'd keep your feet warm, but kinda like trying to walk on two 'bouncy houses' IIRC. I like modern materials better. My snowmobile boots were rated to -40F. Heavy, felt lined, thick soles, and very functional. Never had cold feet once while riding, and I was out in weather as cold as -25F.

[rustysi]

ORIGINAL: Mike Solli

Ok, so how do I defend against those bombers? I have the following models to choose from:

IJA:
Ki-84a Frank
Ki-44-IIc Tojo
Ki-43-IIIa Oscar
Ki-45 KAIa Nick FB
Ki-100-II Tony

IJN:
A6M5 Zero
A6M5c Zero
N1K2-J George

What do you think and what kind of numbers? I have only 1 sentai of Nick and the George just started production this month (6 a day) but everything else is pretty much as much as I want. I also have as many air units as I want, so have at it guys! [:D]

Given those options Mike I'd have to go with the Frank, Nick (unfortunately you've only one), and the Tojo. The latter isn't great, but if you have it in numbers its 4 heavy mg's (2CL) should get some results. The George would be the better of the naval fighters, but I'd try the 5c too against unescorted bombers.

Remember its all about making him miss, and the more you engage him the better the chance of that happening. Also damaged planes should have a lot of trouble getting home when the range is 16. Add in AAA and this is not an easy target. Losses may just have him decide to go elsewhere until he can reach with fighters.

One other thing, don't stack the base too heavy, don't want too many destroyed on the ground. I'd say 120, maybe 160, if you can afford that many. As for AAA get in as much as you can WRT keeping the base viable for whatever period you would like, unless of course you're forced to abandon.

[Zorch]

How did the Tojo get its name? Did we run out of male names for fighters?

[Lokasenna]

I mean technically that was a male name at the time.

[Mike Solli]

11 Sep 43

Pretty quiet day other than at Manus.

The two US infantry divisions obliterated the feeble Japanese defenders destroying 88 National Guard, 2 Independent SNLF Company and the 51 Construction Company, taking the base. The only remaining remnants are the 3 JNAF AF Unit and 68 JAAF AF Battalion. They'll be destroyed over the next 2 days.

Actually, there was another "attack". The former Shortlands garrison (85 Naval Guard, 8 Independent SNLF Company, 3 Naval Construction Battalion and a small slice of 5 Air Division were destroyed to the NW of Shortlands at a dot hex by the 24 US ID. They didn't have much left.

I had noticed there are Allied TFs hanging out at Manus. I had moved KB and MKB to 10 and 12 hexes from Manus to see if I can sink something important. Nothing was there and my ships were not spotted, so I'm moving them to 6 and 8 hexes respectively from Manus to see if I can catch something tomorrow. Yeah, it's a risk, but if I can kill something important like an APA, or even some of the remaining carriers, it'll be worth it to slow down the Allied advance.

Other Stuff

The N1K5-J George R&D advanced to 9/45 (will become operational 5/44).

I got confirmation of the sinking of PC-578 at Dutch Harbor on 6/1/43. Whoopie!

[Mike Solli]

12 Sep 43

Sub War

The Grunion ate a DC off Balikpapan.

The Allied subs are finding my coastal convoy routes now. Everywhere is becoming dangerous. I'm going to have to fine tune my routes to get past the known Allied sub concentrations and station some of my better ASW assets (both naval and air) to keep the subs spotted. I have plenty of ASW ships (especially those little CHa-xx fishing boats with the Type 95 DCs. They're still effective (somewhat) in shallow hexes. I'm now changing my air assets around somewhat. The IJNAF floatplanes are just not effective ASW platforms at all. They are still good naval search platforms though. My best ASW aircraft are the IJAAF bombers that carry 250kg bombs. At least they can cause some damage. I have a LOT of them at Truk, but that base is being stood down slowly. There is still a lot of stuff there, but it's slowly being dispersed so it's not a huge POW camp when it eventually gets bypassed. I'm going to move some of those ASW assets to cover some of the critical convoy routes from Singapore to the Home Islands.

More to come.

5 Fleet
4 Fleet

Nothing to report.

SE Fleet

My carriers came up empty at 6 (KB) and 8 (MKB) hexes to the NE of Manus. No Allied shipping there. They weren't spotted either (bad weather). I shifted them 3 hexes west and will try again tomorrow. There's a lot of Allied shipping, but it's all near Lae.

SRA
Burma
China

Nothing exciting to report.

Other Stuff

The Ki-84r Frank R&D advanced to 5/45 (will become operational 2/44).

[Mike Solli]

13 Sep 43

Sub War

The Billfish put a torpedo into an empty TK (Std-A or B, can't remember) a hex off Brunei. She made Brunei but the fires will most likely take her. That area is my biggest threat right now. All of my convoys between Singapore and the Home Islands follow that route. I lose a ship there every few days. I have ships and air headed there to blanket the area with naval search and good ASW. Still, I need to micromanage my routes some more to use waypoints to skirt the most dangerous zones.

I have placed a line of RO class subs a couple hexes south of Manus (3 subs so far with more on the way). The RO-109 found an Allied TF headed to Manus and torpedoed and sank LST-447, which was loaded with fuel.

5 Fleet

Nothing to report.

4 Fleet

Ted is staging his big comeback here! [:D] A slice of the 3 Marine Raider Battalion was air dropped on Canton Island. I have the Maizuru 4 SLNF and a construction company there. In addition, there's a midget sub patrolling the hex. The SNLF is one of those small ones with 24 SNLF squads. They have level 3 forts as well. The ensuing shock attack killed a couple Marine squads and disabled probably most of what had landed, to just a couple Japanese disabled squads. That base is doomed but they're still in great shape with plenty of supply and forts that are building toward level 4.

SE Fleet

The last of the Japanese riff raff was cleared out of Manus today. That LST that the RO-109 sank was part of an 10 (now 9) LST TF hauling fuel and supplies to Manus. KB and MKB found them and launched. KB launched 36 Jills and 27 Judies escorted by 61 A6M5 Zeros. They were met by 2 Corsairs and 12 P-47s, all on LRCAP. After shooting down a Corsair and 2 P-47s (for the loss of 2 Zeros), the remaining 6 P-47s took out 4 Judies and a Jill before the bombers broke through. Flak got another Judy and 6 of the LST were sunk leaving 2 damaged and an undamaged LST for MKB.

MKBs attack of 13 Jills escorted by 27 Zeros took out the remaining LSTs for no loss.

I ended up losing 9 planes and 8 pilots (+1 WIA) for the 9 LSTs. I also gained another elite fighter pilot. Was this critical and worth the pilots lost? I say yes, because it tells Ted that I'm going to find a way to fight him in this isolated base and will not give up. He needs to be careful.

I moved KB and MKB back 4 hexes where they will wait for a day. I want to see what Ted does tomorrow. I suspect it'll be nothing. The use of KB/MKB at Manus is drawing to a close though. Once the base is repaired and he gets some AS there, he can station a lot of fighters for CAP. Then, KB/MKB can be used only if he sends TFs north of there, which I doubt he does for a while.

He's already said he wants to bomb Truk. What I can do is visit Manus with BBs and CAs though. That's going to happen soon. I want to delay the stationing of Allied fighters at Manus as long as possible.

I've noticed a handful of small craft at Kavieng. I think it's to prevent me from dropping mines there. I'm sending some DDs there to clear them out. They'll be in position to attack tomorrow so they'll hit on 15 Sep.

SRA
Burma
China

Nothing to report.

Other Stuff

Reinforcements:
27 Air Flotilla, 12 Air Fleet, headed to the Marianas.
101 Machine Cannon AA Bn, Home Islands
102 Machine Cannon AA Bn, Home Islands
1 Independent FA Battalion, Southern Army, not sure where it's going yet.
62 Field AA Battalion, Home Islands

The G4M2a Betty R&D advanced to 4/44 (will become operational around 12/43). There's 1x30 factory and a 17(13) factory repairing.

Two xAKs were confirmed sunk from subs in April and July 1943.

[ny59giants]

ASW efforts - Yes, waypoints are your friend. Since we know you like to micro-manage, you have to do so with your TK/AOs. Maybe place one good DD with radar and Depth Charges (non-type 95) in biggest TF.
If you know where his subs are, but cannot drive them off, try laying mines in that hex even if its ocean and not a base. They may hit and freak him out of where you are placing mines.

[witpqs]

ORIGINAL: ny59giants_MatrixForum

ASW efforts - Yes, waypoints are your friend. Since we know you like to micro-manage, you have to do so with your TK/AOs. Maybe place one good DD with radar and Depth Charges (non-type 95) in biggest TF.
If you know where his subs are, but cannot drive them off, try laying mines in that hex even if its ocean and not a base. They may hit and freak him out of where you are placing mines.

Many people don't realize you can also use waypoints with CS convoys.