Rise of the Axis (A DOCUP Mod) no allied DOCUPs allowed :-)

[durnedwolf]

First I wish to attache the intro to this mod. It's a little rough around the edges but you'll get the driving force for this mod through the alternate history provided. I'll start this AAR out showing off some screenies of the map, and lay out my initial plan of action. Comments and thoughts are welcome. [:'(]

And now, please find below, the alternative history as supplied by DOCUP.

Dutch government convince the British to release the ACEH from its protectorate in the 1860's, after several border clashes. Netherlands attacked the rogue state. The sultan of Aceh asked multiple nations for help, but no one came to their aid.  After ACEH defeated the first Dutch attack.  Italy sent weapons and advisors to help them. With the aid of the Italians the second wave was ultimately defeated.  Britain, fearing an escalation in the war, brokered a peace between all parties.   ACEH became a semi-independent country. Italy and ACEH signed several military and trade treaties after the war. 
 
The 1870s saw several revolts in Cuba. Those revolts were put down harshly by the Spanish military, this caused the American people to start to support the revolutionaries in Cuba.  The USS Main exploded in Havana harbor on February 15,1898. This was the catalyst that started the Spanish/American war in 1898. The war lasted a little less than 4 months and ended with an American victory. 
 
The Americans received Cuba, Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines from the Spanish government. The Platt amendment of 1901 covered the independence of both Cuba and the Philippines.  A plan was put forth for the Philippines to become independent by 1925.
 
1898 saw a civil war in Samoa also. Three foreign powers where involved in this civil war.  At the end of the war, the tripartite convention was convened. Germany acquired western Samoa and in exchange it gave the British some of its colonial holdings. US received the western part of the Samoan islands. 

The boxer rebellion began in 1898 in China.   The Boxers ran rampant through the Beijing legations court. They killed all the westerners present along with some Christian missionaries in other locations. Eight nations formed an alliance, that tried to reach and rescue those trapped in the legations quarter and other spots in china. Several nations became enraged after hearing of the massacre. Germany took the Shandong peninsula while Italy took the area around Shoahing for itself. Japan took some area around Tientsin. While Britain and France gained larger zones of influence around Hong Kong and Haiphong respectively. The other nations either had no need or desire to carve out parts of China. America tried to stop the others from taking land from China. They did succeed in having an open-door policy in China.
 
After the Plat Amendment was announced the island of Mindanao revolted in 1904, wanting to form its own independent state. The US and Philippine sent in military forces to help quell the rebellion. After years of fighting order was restored. 
 
The Taft board came out in 1905 for fortifications. It recommended that some possessions that had been acquired from the Spanish-American war be fortified. The Philippines, Guam, and Cuba are the ones to receive money for defensive fortifications. 
 
Guam was selected to be the main base for the Asiatic fleet. It was to become the Gibraltar of the pacific.  The US would keep a few military bases in the Philippines.  
 
During the early 1900s. Japan entered into alliances with both Britain and Germany.  IJN was more receptive to Great Britain, while IJA and the politicians sided with Germany. 
 
On 24th of July 1914 The Great War started in Europe.  Schlieffen Plan caused Britain to join the war. Great Britain asked Japan to enter the war and help with the German Far East squadron. Japan decided to remain neutral. Later Italy came into the war on the allied side. After a while the war stalemated into trench warfare. By late 1916, both sides had lost millions of men, and dollars. 
 
Russia was starting to fall into a civil war against the Bolshevik's. Austria-hungry was teetering on a civil war also. Germany released Lenin, to help speed up the Russian demise. January of 1917 the Central Powers, and Russians sign the Treaty of Brest Litovsk. 
 
As 1917 dawned, war weariness had taken hold in all the nations involved. Shortages and rationing of food, coal and other supplies had become more evident at the home front.  Social unrest was plaguing all the nations. Governments was afraid of communist uprisings. A new strain of the flu was sweeping through the trenches of both sides. 
 
President Wilson asked all the nations what it would take for peace in December of 1916. Initially he was rebuffed by all participants. With the help of the Pope, and the threats of Wilson cutting off aid, and home front issues. All the participants of the Great War called for a truce to begin in April. The negotiations broke off after a month. The fighting started back almost immediately. Soldiers from France refused to commence offensive operations. Strikes on the docks and other places called for the governments to resume peace talks.  The US threatened to stop shipping supplies and providing loans to Britain and France. This threat brought everyone to the table. On July 22, 1917, the war to end all wars came to an end.  Marshall Fouche was quoted "This is not a peace. It is an armistice for twenty years". Many of the wars participants were upset with the treaty for various reasons. 
 
Germany knew if Great Britain agreed to the treaty it would force France and the others to sign or fight the war without the English. Germany offered several concessions, that they knew Britain wanted. Some of the agreed upon points were. Germany would reduce its army to 350k that counts for Air Force and ground forces. The navy would be reduced to 35% of the RN.  They would also recognize Belgian as a country. All the German territories/colonies captured during the war would come under specific mandate countries control. Germany would keep what territories/colonies that had not been completely captured by the allies. German East Africa and Kaiser-Wilhelm land would be returned to Germany. Germany gave up some territory gained through the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk.   Alsace-Lorraine was the hardest part of the talks. Germany was in control of it and other French territories.  Germany kept A-L but returned the rest of the captured French territories. 
 
Several countries were upset with the treaty even after it was signed. Italy gained next to nothing. France was forced to accept terms it didn't want because Britain was willing to sign the treaty.  The people of Germany were also upset, they were lead to believe that Germany was winning the war, they and the soldiers felt that the government had betrayed them.
 
With the end of the Great War the Austria-Hungarian empire barely staved off a complete breakup.  With the help of Germany and changes to the government A-H slowly recovered. A-H stayed closely aligned with Germany.
 
In the immediate years after the war. Germany started to sell off some of its surplus war equipment at rock bottom prices.  Several smaller countries bought pre-dreadnoughts and smaller vessels along with airplanes and guns.  Other nations were began to sell equipment also, but not as cheap as Germany. 
 
Netherlands quickly bought up 3 of the Mackensen class battlecruiser hulls.  These ships where finished in Dutch shipyards by Dutch workers with help from German ship builders and engineers. This experience helped in the building and modernization of later Dutch warships.  
 
In 1916, US got word that England was building a new cruiser with 9.2 and 6 in guns that was fast at 31kn for foreign service. Being short on long range scout cruisers they designed the last armored class cruiser. This fast cruiser is called the Guam class and sports eight 10 inch guns until the 1920s when they are replaced with 8 inch guns. Four of this class were laid down with the 1916 fleet order.  The first two hulls are laid down with the first Omaha class light cruiser. 
 
USA, fearing a naval arms race, calls for a naval treaty.   Members from USA, Britain, France, Japan, Italy, and Germany attend the conference Washington DC.   In late 1922 the treaty is signed by all six countries.   Some of the points were a 10-year building holiday for battleships. Battleships had a 35k ton max limit and up to 16-inch guns. Capital ship tonnage was limits were set at 10 for US and Great Britain, 7 for Japan, 4 for Germany, France, and Italy. Cruiser max tonnage was set at 10k with no guns larger than 8 inches. All nations could sell off pre-dreadnoughts and build one capital ship at a time for none signatory country, within treaty limits. (If not mentioned it is same as original time line)
 
Many countries got to keep some older battleships/battlecruisers. Japan was allowed to build the Mutsu, 2 Tosa class battleship, and 2 Amagi class battlecruiser. The US finishes the 4th Colorado class battleships, 2 South Dakota (1920) class battleships, and 2 Lexington class battlecruisers. Germany kept the Bayern class, Kaiser, and Kong class battleship. They also retained the Derfflinger class battlecruiser.
 
During the 1910s the US was preparing the Pilipino military to take over protecting the Philippines. Part of the Platt amendment stated that the Pilipino gov had to buy most of its arms from US companies. Subic Bay was kept as a US naval base.
 
Also, during the same time, the US gov was fortifying Guam. Making it the main US base in the Far East. A large coastal defense fortress was finished in 1921. Air fields were built along with a larger port facility, including a repair yard. Japan started to fortify Saipan at same time the US was building up Guam. They enlarged the air fields and port facilities.
 
Around the time of the WNT, Thailand bought an old German pre-dreadnought. Philippines bought two pre-dreadnoughts off the USN. ACEH purchased an armored cruiser from Italy.
 
During the great war submarines played a big role in attacking convoys and warship. They were also seen as ways to get around blockades. Germany developed submarine merchant cruisers and submarine cruisers. Several of the navy’s around the world experimented with these new types of ships. Britain experimented with putting an airplane on a submarine. They also tried putting a 12 inch gun on an M class sub. These submarines would be scrapped in the 1930s. The French built 2 submarines with 8 inch guns. US navy built several submarines of the V class of boats. Three of these boats were turned into SST’s, 3 boats built to deliver mines, and 3 submarine cruisers with 8 inch guns. Germany built several big gun submarines with 5 inch guns and upgraded the Deutschland class submarine from WW1.
 
Germany was one of countries that was under the treaty tonnage limit and was allowed to build capital ships. They built several different class of ships in the 20’s. One was the Ersatz Yorck class, they followed that up with Moltke class battlecruiser in 1929. Italy started building the Livorno class battlecruiser in 1929. Britain had finished up the Nelson class battleship and the G3 class battlecruiser.
 
In the late 1920s the US realizes that there was a speed gap between its capital ships and the rest of the worlds. They put in a plan to modernize and lengthen the Colorado and South Dakota class battleships.
 
Oct. 1929 sees a recession start. It starts to get worse over time as it spreads around the world. With money already allotted Japan starts to build its new class of battleship to replace some overage ships. This new class is an upgraded design of the Kii class.
 
In 1933 Civilian works projects are started in the US. A change is seen in the economy. The US congress starts to appropriate money for the upgrades to the Colorado class battleship. Money was later spent to upgrade South Dakota class battleship. The upgrades included increasing the speed to 28 knots, adding armor, torpedo protection and better secondaries.
 
Along with the upgrades to the battleships. America sought to exploit a loophole in the WNT and the LNT. Laid down the hulls of two flight deck cruisers in 1931. Japan followed suit with their own CAV’s. Both would build another pair of flight deck cruisers before the end of the decade. Germany was quick to jump on this idea for raiding purposes, with the assistance of Japan in carrier ops, they built 5 CAVs of the Wesser class. The Dutch not having a large budget converted the old Java class cruisers to seaplane carriers in the mid-30s.
 
The London naval conference took place with in 1930. Italy walks out on the conference they are followed by France and Germany. That same year Germany came out with new class of ships they called it a Pocket battleship.
 
The first pocket battleship hits the waves and scares many navies around the world. Italy quickly designs its own pocket battleship. ACEH likes the design and orders one, after seeing it in trials Italy orders some for their selves. Thailand asks Japan to design and build them two. Japan had some extra tonnage left over and decided to build two, calling it the Chichibu class. Germany then came out with the second-generation pocket battleship with the P class. These ships were intended to be commerce raiders and Washington cruiser killers.
 
The United States, Japan, German, and Netherlands decided to build new battlecruisers to combat the pocket battleships. The US built 4 of the new Alaska class BC with twelve 12-inch guns. Japan answered the US builds with its 14-inch up gunned B-65 class. Germany built its Scharnhost class BC. The Dutch bought the rights to build 3 of the German BCs.
 
UK lays the hulls for several Drake class CBs with twelve 9.2-inch guns. Japan builds to twelve 8-inch gun CBs. US follows suit and builds the Wichita class CB with twelve 8-inch guns in the late 30’s.
 
During the 30’s several treaties were established between Japan, Germany, Italy, ACEH, and Thailand.
The most important treaty was the Tripartite Pact. Then Japanese starts its Greater East Asia Co Prosperity Sphere with support of Germany and Italy.
 
Japan started its aggressive policies in 1931 with the invasion of Manchuria and the second Sino-Japanese war in 1937. During the 30’s they built many new ships and fielded an impressive army and air force. The developed assault divisions to take island and do over the beach operations. They developed plans to build mobile coastal defense units, to protect isolated islands. The first armored division is ready to be assembled and shipped to the front in December of 1941. The second armored division will be ready to be formed by mid-1942. With the fear of the B-19 the Ki Nick was rushed into development to defend key bases. They buy the rights to build the He 100 fighters.
 
During the 20’s and 30’s Germany started to industrialize its pacific possessions. Light and heavy industrial complexes sprung up around Tsingtao. It was decided to build a military complex to support its Pacific holdings. Including aircraft, engine, armament, and vehicle factories in Tsingtao. With the increase in commercial facilities a strong military presence was needed. Two colonial inf divisions were formed along with one division of marines. Several fighter and bomber squadrons were formed for the pacific and stationed there. A strong East Asian squadron was formed around a CAV, BC, and DDs. In 1939 the ships of the East Asian squadron were due to redeploy back to Germany and its replacements got caught in the pacific with out the outbreak of WW2.
 
German and Japanese cooperation grew after WW1. They started to trade more than just resources. In the 30’s they started to help and sell military tech. Japan helped Germany with its carrier aviation. Both countries cooperated with heavy bombers. The Japanese developed the G5N Liz, Germany started the Ural and then the America bomber programs. Japan bought the plans for the HE 100 fighters off of Germany. German engineers helped Japan with its medium tank program in the 40’s.
 
Italy garrisoned its china concession with a regiment of marines and one regiment of local Chinese troops. They placed a small air force to protect the fleet. The fleet consisted of 2 heavy cruisers and destroyers. Italy’s main interest was ACEH. Italy placed an infantry division at Medan for the fear that the Netherlands would attack across the border during one of the many border clashes.
ACEH bought all of its arms from Italy. They bought several squadrons worth of Piat 50 fighters and SM. 79 bombers. They also bought an old armored cruiser from Italy after WW1. They later purchased a pocket battleship in the 30s from the Italians. ACEH and Italy developed a close relationship with Thailand.
 
Thailand started to industrialize with the help of German and Japanese governments. They bought arms from both countries. A bloodless coup happened in 1932. The new leader wanted to restore national pride. He had a goal of retaking back the land taken by French and Britain. Siam bought the rights off of Japan for the Oscar. They started to form an armored division after the Franco-Thai war.
 
The Franco-Thai war started in 1940. It happened when the Thai gov thought the French was to week to respond to an attack. In the beginning of the war the Thai troops captured a lot of ground from the stunned French. Once the French recovered from the shock of the attack, they halted the Thai forces. Japan supported the attack by sending arms and supply initially. They started to support Ho Chi Minh and supply him with arms. When the native troops started to leave their units and join Ho Chi Minh and his forces. A truce was called. The French agreed to withdraw all of forces from Indo-China. With help from Britain units were pulled back to Malaya and slowly shipped down to New Caledonia.
 
The French colonial gov moved to New Caledonia after their defeat in Indo-China. It was agreed upon by the British and French gov’s that some French ground and air units would be stationed in Malaya until relived by other British military units. Several units had already been redeployed to Noumea. All units had been reequipped with new weapons and colonial replacements. It was decided that the armament factories that had been built in Savannah Ga would supply the Pacific forces with tanks, arms and air craft. A strong fleet had been dispatched to help protect Indo-China, after the defeat they stayed to escort the troops to its new locations.
 
British were able to supply some tanks and more advance planes to the pacific and Indian units, due to the French gov moving to Algeria’s and fighting in exile. With the aggressive nature of Thailand and Japan. Britain sent the carrier Furious to join force Z.
 
With the constant border clashes with the ACEH, the KNIL start to rearm in the mid 30s. They purchased tanks from anyone that would sell them. Some tanks came from Vickers, then America from 2 different companies (Marmon Herrington, and from Rock Island Arsenal). KNIL started looking for a new battle rifle and found it in the Johnson rifle. The first units had started to be issued its new rifle just before Dec 7th. The army was reorganized into mechanized bde’s. The marine bn was enlarged to a regiment size to help fight the border clashes. They bought planes from Fokker (G-1), America, and Britain. Netherlands started to rearm its military in 1938. The navy started to build its new warships in 1935. Two light cruisers were laid down along with 3 battlecruisers and several destroyers. As the new ships came online older gun boats and such where disarmed. Their guns turned into coastal defense guns are the DEI’s and the Netherlands.
 
Netherlands neighbor, the Philippines decided that they did not want to get into any war with Japan. They declared neutrality and asked the US to remove all offensive military equipment from their territories. The US navy pulled out the last warships on Dec 5. The Philippines had bought a number of military equipment from the US. P-36d Hawk fighters, Nor N-3PD’s, and Douglas A-33 bombers. The army was using old surplus US army equipment. The navy was sailing 2 old pre-dreadnoughts and 4 Wickies DDs. In 1940, the Pilipino gov bought two of the old Guam class cruisers to replace the pre-dreadnoughts.
 
Since the Philippines was independent the main base for the far east was moved to Guam. With no major air fields close to Japan. The USAAF had Douglas develop and produce the B-19 long range bomber. The theories of the bomber will always get through spurred on the B-17 and B-19 developments. Development of twin engine heavy fighters continued. The marine corp requested the navy to purchase some twin engine heavy fighters to help with its growing responsibilities. The marines started to fill out and enlarge the marine defense battalions. A marine regiment was stationed on Guam and one was stationed in China. Marines were responsible with the protection of Guam until the Japanese was seen as a major threat. In 1940 Guams defenses was seen as to week. The coastal fortress was to be modernized, army troops and army air force was sent in to bolster the islands defenses.
 
Australia decided to bolster its defenses with some CD guns at key locations. They also started building their own torpedo bomber the Woomera. The first Australian armored division has been formed and is filling out its TO and E. Several brigades and smaller units have switched from the CMF to AIF squads.
 
The 200th division in china has been reestablished as an armored unit. They have ordered light tanks from the US. Several corps had quickly recovered disable squads and equipment.
 
Civilian airlines are located across the map along with their planes and bases.

[durnedwolf]

And a few screenies as promised.

Germans at Rabaul:


Italian troops in Sumatra:


Thai Royal Navy:

[durnedwolf]

The DOCUP Mod

The mod starts out interesting enough, with different starting points for Japan at the onset of war and the addition of Axis allies (Germany and Italy).
Production will take a bit of sorting out as there are additions of air frames for Italy and Germany along with changes in the production of Japanese air frames. It looks like supplies and resources have been bumped up by DOCUP. It'll be interesting to see if the slog is too easy from a resources perspective. And I need to take a better look at the allied bases for resources and oil to see if anything has been altered there.

The Axis navies starts out pretty strong - 6 CV, 6CVL, and 9 CVE. Add in 15 BB, 10 BC, and 11 CB that start out on the map and there's a reason to feel a little feisty at the start of battle in December of 41. Initially I'll try to keep ships in TFs based on their country of origin. There is another influx of Italian and German war ships that arrive Deep in the southwestern Indian Ocean in 1943, consisting of 2CV, 2BC, 2CB, and 7 DD.

A last tidbit of interest (picture in preceding post) is that Thailand starts out with their own navy. Ain't that a kicker?


Stage I:

Burma:
I'll drive up from Thailand into Burma with units of the Thai Army, the 15th Army, and a few units from the Southern Army.

In Malaya, Sumatra, and Borneo:
The Italians are already in Sumatra, so I plan to drive straight down to Palembang while in Malaya, I'll be driving down from Thailand with most of the 25th Army elements plus a few amphibious invasions with support troops coming in from along the east coast. With the northern mouth of the Strait of Malacca in Axis hands, I'll be pushing heavy sub and air support to try and control the strait and the waters further south around Singapore and Balikpapan.
In Borneo I'm grabbing the bases along the northern coast and then pushing along the eastern coast line towards Balikpapan and control of the Makassar Strait.

In China:
In China I'll drive down three fronts - one from Chengting to Sian, another into Changsha and then north, and the third from Hangchow to clear the southern coast before driving up from Canton to Kweiyang.

PI and Mindanao:
I'll use the 14th Army along with support troops from the SA to campaign in the Philippines, with hopes of a quick victory or at least bottling up the allies in Bataan so I can drive along the chain into Mindanao.

In the Pacific:
Around the Solomon Sea and the Coral Sea I'll shoot for Port Moresby and all of Papau along with the Solomon Islands and Guadalcanal.
Further east I'll gather in the Gilbert Islands. Add in Wake and Midway to this initial drive.
And in the north I'll drive into the Aleutian Islands with Stage I ending at Atka Island.

And for eye candy:

[LargeSlowTarget]

I may have missed something in this alternate history, but if Japan remained neutral in WWI, how did they obtain Saipan in order to fortify it during the same time period the US fortified Guam (1921)?

[durnedwolf]

ORIGINAL: LargeSlowTarget

I may have missed something in this alternate history, but if Japan remained neutral in WWI, how did they obtain Saipan in order to fortify it during the same time period the US fortified Guam (1921)?

Good question. I'll ask DOCUP; this is his mod so I won't try to hazard a guess. [;)]

[durnedwolf]

So I'm almost ready to send T1 off to DOCUP. I keep finding things that I didn't expect... My guess is that that'll continue for a while, but that's kind cool. I was really looking at the mods that John and Michael came up with but this mod looks kind of cool too - at least so far at turn 1. [:D][:D]

[BBfanboy]

ORIGINAL: durnedwolf

So I'm almost ready to send T1 off to DOCUP. I keep finding things that I didn't expect... My guess is that that'll continue for a while, but that's kind cool. I was really looking at the mods that John and Michael came up with but this mod looks kind of cool too - at least so far at turn 1. [:D][:D]

Hope your game starts OK. DOCUP has posted in the Tech Forum about being unable to get his game working.[:(]

[FlyByKnight]

Is a DL link for that mod available? The one on his thread is broken.

[Anachro]

It's a shame you can't mod in additional country flags, etc. into the IJN side. Seems a bit tough on the eyes trying to distinguish German, Italian, and Japanese ships/units/bases when everything is using Japanese flags/colors.

[durnedwolf]

ORIGINAL: CharlieVane

Is a DL link for that mod available? The one on his thread is broken.

I forwarded your question to DOCUP. You could PM him...

[durnedwolf]

ORIGINAL: Anachro

It's a shame you can't mod in additional country flags, etc. into the IJN side. Seems a bit tough on the eyes trying to distinguish German, Italian, and Japanese ships/units/bases when everything is using Japanese flags/colors.

Yup. I think DOCUP is still working on some of the visual effects. If we find any mistakes he can add the fixes to any future updates to the mod. [:)]

[durnedwolf]

ORIGINAL: LargeSlowTarget

I may have missed something in this alternate history, but if Japan remained neutral in WWI, how did they obtain Saipan in order to fortify it during the same time period the US fortified Guam (1921)?

So here's what I received from DOCUP:

Secret deal to keep Japan out of the war. Saipan and other islands were sold on the cheap.

With a Germany colony the two are closer than OTL.

[durnedwolf]

Hey - does anyone have a few good threads they'd like to share in regards to setting up a pilot training program? I'm looking for tricks that speed up the training process.

In my training squadrons, I'd keep a leader that was around 80 EXP and then fly training missions at 100 percent and then once I had experience up to 50ish I'd deploy the pilots to front line air units.

Eventually Japan's aircraft won't be able to stand up toe-to-toe VS the allied AC. My guess is that German AC might stay in shouting range through 1944 and that the Italian aircraft will not do much better than Japan. So I'll need better pilots to get the most out of what I can field in the air.

Game-wise, I've sent the turn off to DOCUP. It sounds like he has resolved his challenge of creating a copy of AE. We had an initial hiccup of versions but I copied\installed the latest patch and then re-saved my T1 and resent it to Joe. The ball is now in his court. [:)]

Between Joe and I this looks to be a pretty laid-back game of 2-5 turns per week based on our schedules. Hopefully that gives me more time to keep this AAR up to date. Beyond the strategy and fun of discussing the game, I'll document any problems\concerns we come up with. It looks like Joe really put a lot of time in to this mod so if we can help locate any oopsies, I think that'd be grand.

[DanSez]

I think a few test have been done to test skills of training commanders.
From my lurking it seems Admin and Leadership are more important.

As to speeding up the skills levels, a recommendation I try to follow is:
You need to level out the group as much as possible, meaning if you have a half of the training group in the mid 60's and a third in the lower 40's, the lower skilled will not advance as quickly as if you had them all in the same mid to low 40's level. Try to keep them all in a 10-15 pt range. It is not a quick or easy process to maximize training.

That means I wind up with 2 types of training groups.
The raw recruit trainers boosting the levels toward mid-50s, and then a set of units used as a 'finishing school'.
Some Home Island defense units and those in China are your best option for 'finishing school' units. Rotation and rear defense units also need to participate in training.

Yes it takes more clicking, but I wind up with a deep pool of IJA fighter pilots. IJA 2E pilots (bomber and FB) require training with units closer to or even deployed to the front during quiet times.

IJN is more problematic. Lack of units for training are an issue.
You have to inflate some float plane and carrier squadrons to facilitate their training. Keep them at home and in older model air frames for easy identification. Who else but a training squadron would be flying Daves or Claudes in 1943?

For me at least, Nettie and 4E Patrol Planes are a constant struggle to keep up good trained pilots. I am always looking for good tips for their training.

The need to address ASW training requires either special schools, or you switch skills on each monthly review. Switching skills has its benefits, but it greatly increases time before well trained front line pilots are ready. Both IJN and IJA units need to participate. At least 1 IJA 1E unit should be set up for ASW training from Day One. I usually have a couple of ASW specific raw units which dump into finishing schools which then 'buff up' other skills as well as increase the ASW ability.

There is a need to cross train on multiple skills. Example: TB pilots need the obvious Torpedo skill, but also benefit from Nav Bomb, Low Nav, Nav Search and Def skills. Cross training also 'buffs up' the important overall Experience Skill. It is a monthly chore to go thru all your units and monitor their progress. It ain't easy. The better you organize in the beginning, the more of a 'system' you can develop, the quicker and more efficient you can get to the fun part of the game.

I make a list at the beginning of the game identifying the Raw Recruit units. Sometimes the 'finishing school' units are forced into mid to front line work faster than I would like, but I keep a list of them as well to make sure I am reviewing their progress.

Another tactic is to build up a 'finishing school' and then deploy it to the front while pulling back a depleted unit and fill it with training candidates and rebuild its morale and skills instead of the grind of clicking to move each pilot between units.

Your training program should account for your R&D plans.
Example: How big of a FB force are you planning on for the IJA? You will need to convert at least 1 Raw Recruit Unit to FBs if you are depending on them for Nick and later Randy units. Will Nicks/Dinahs make up a significant part of your NF force? Every point of experience counts and losing points converting from 1E to 2E should be considered. It might not be so important if FBs are not a big part of your defensive plan, but if they are, then invest in the training of them.

[durnedwolf]

ORIGINAL: DanSez


I think a few test have been done to test skills of training commanders.
From my lurking it seems Admin and Leadership are more important.

As to speeding up the skills levels, a recommendation I try to follow is:
You need to level out the group as much as possible, meaning if you have a half of the training group in the mid 60's and a third in the lower 40's, the lower skilled will not advance as quickly as if you had them all in the same mid to low 40's level. Try to keep them all in a 10-15 pt range. It is not a quick or easy process to maximize training.

That means I wind up with 2 types of training groups.
The raw recruit trainers boosting the levels toward mid-50s, and then a set of units used as a 'finishing school'.
Some Home Island defense units and those in China are your best option for 'finishing school' units. Rotation and rear defense units also need to participate in training.

Yes it takes more clicking, but I wind up with a deep pool of IJA fighter pilots. IJA 2E pilots (bomber and FB) require training with units closer to or even deployed to the front during quiet times.

IJN is more problematic. Lack of units for training are an issue.
You have to inflate some float plane and carrier squadrons to facilitate their training. Keep them at home and in older model air frames for easy identification. Who else but a training squadron would be flying Daves or Claudes in 1943?

For me at least, Nettie and 4E Patrol Planes are a constant struggle to keep up good trained pilots. I am always looking for good tips for their training.

The need to address ASW training requires either special schools, or you switch skills on each monthly review. Switching skills has its benefits, but it greatly increases time before well trained front line pilots are ready. Both IJN and IJA units need to participate. At least 1 IJA 1E unit should be set up for ASW training from Day One. I usually have a couple of ASW specific raw units which dump into finishing schools which then 'buff up' other skills as well as increase the ASW ability.

There is a need to cross train on multiple skills. Example: TB pilots need the obvious Torpedo skill, but also benefit from Nav Bomb, Low Nav, Nav Search and Def skills. Cross training also 'buffs up' the important overall Experience Skill. It is a monthly chore to go thru all your units and monitor their progress. It ain't easy. The better you organize in the beginning, the more of a 'system' you can develop, the quicker and more efficient you can get to the fun part of the game.

I make a list at the beginning of the game identifying the Raw Recruit units. Sometimes the 'finishing school' units are forced into mid to front line work faster than I would like, but I keep a list of them as well to make sure I am reviewing their progress.

Another tactic is to build up a 'finishing school' and then deploy it to the front while pulling back a depleted unit and fill it with training candidates and rebuild its morale and skills instead of the grind of clicking to move each pilot between units.

Your training program should account for your R&D plans.
Example: How big of a FB force are you planning on for the IJA? You will need to convert at least 1 Raw Recruit Unit to FBs if you are depending on them for Nick and later Randy units. Will Nicks/Dinahs make up a significant part of your NF force? Every point of experience counts and losing points converting from 1E to 2E should be considered. It might not be so important if FBs are not a big part of your defensive plan, but if they are, then invest in the training of them.

So on the multi-skill pilots, how long is the training process? This looks like I could wind up with pilots spending three to four months in training. If I'm running say two training air groups of forty-five-ish I'd see roughly ninety pilots graduate. I'd probably loose that many over a three to four month period. It seems to me I'd never break even like this. I remember a thread about training where the main idea seemed to be that you wanted to try and keep an aircraft for every pilot (I wish I could remember who did that thread as I failed to save it in my AE link folder). I think the person had sand-boxed training units with one or two AC and 30+ pilots VS a unit that had all of the aircraft...

Increasing the size of FP training units make sense. I've never done that but my experience with FP flying recon for naval bombardments has shown me a decided advantage in previous games. I suppose naval search would be just as valuable for my task forces. I think I could slap a few small air groups onto a carrier and bump the size up to twenty-ish.

I wonder if, when selecting an 80-ish level pilot to lead my training units, it makes any difference if they have a high rating in the skill set I'm trying to advance (say Naval Search as an example).

[DanSez]

Other than IJA fighter pilots, I have never had enough trained.

Try this thread:

tm.asp?m=3782543&mpage=1&key=pilot%2Ctraining&#3782650

[durnedwolf]

[8D]

Ahhh - most excellent - specially the reminder of the Pilot Management Addendum! I recall reading it once or twice (and I think Alfred has mentioned it a time or three) but it gives me some additional strategies to deploy in my training process.

It's so cool to find things that I forgot. This game is so loaded with things you can tweak if you know where to find the info and how to deploy it.

Thanks much!

[DanSez]

I haven't tracked individual pilots yet. It takes 2 to 4 cycles in each (raw and finishing) so about 6 months to get a well rounded pilot but as the war grinds down the threshold of 'well rounded' slips lower.

Against an agressive opponent it is difficult to keep trained pilots pools up after 42.
Homefully someone else has better suggestions.

[DanSez]

ORIGINAL: durnedwolf

[8D]

It's so cool to find things that I forgot. This game is so loaded with things you can tweak if you know where to find the info and how to deploy it.

Thanks much!

Very deep game. If you come up with some good tips, I will be reading.
Good luck.

[durnedwolf]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cAtPZqlpF08