Miller (J) vs Mr Kane (A)

[Canoerebel]

I've known Miller something like 12 years. That's the funniest thing he's ever posted.

[Miller]

Elsewhere

He tries a couple of deliberate attacks at Singora in northern Malaya (his 5k AV to my 3k) but each one costs him almost 1k in disabled troops although he does knock the forts down each time, however this is a mere sideshow now.

He launches large daytime B29 raids on two home island bases that I had carelessly left undefended that trash 3 a/c factories, luckily 2 out 3 were obsolete types so no big loss, however they net him another 500 or so VPs. So since we restarted the game, the BB debacle, his killing of my troops in China and the strat bombing have netted him nearly 2500 VPs. Nasty[8|]

[Miller]

ORIGINAL: GetAssista

Why are you not moving anything north from the southern China shores? Cut those roads, make him spend time clearing them. Also you can supply Hankow/Wuchang by ships so it is a better place for battle compared to Changsha.

The units in the southern coastal bases are small and weak, they would hold him up a day at most. As you can see, he already has units inbound to finish them off anyway. I agree with your second point and I'm going to try and do a structured withdrawal to Hankow.

[Miller]

21st-31st March 45

China: A couple of small victories during this period. Firstly the 6 divs being pounded to dust south east of Canton are attacked and retreat to a coastal hex. One is totally destroyed but I manage to lift the remnants of the other 5 by fast transport pick up back to Formosa. They will take months to rebuild but at least they keep their high exp ratings which they would have lost if they have been destroyed.

The second bit of good news is he decides to do deliberate attacks on my troops at Changhsa and Changteh only days before they were due to march out and retreat to Hankow, his mainly Chinese units take a battering and fail to reduce the 6 forts at each base:

Ground combat at Changsha (82,52)

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 210229 troops, 1057 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 8756

Defending force 110571 troops, 1017 guns, 895 vehicles, Assault Value = 3112

Allied adjusted assault: 2682

Japanese adjusted defense: 11375

Allied assault odds: 1 to 4 (fort level 6)

Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), forts(+), experience(-)
Attacker: disruption(-)

Japanese ground losses:
6785 casualties reported
Squads: 62 destroyed, 332 disabled
Non Combat: 9 destroyed, 179 disabled
Engineers: 1 destroyed, 56 disabled
Guns lost 164 (22 destroyed, 142 disabled)
Vehicles lost 92 (5 destroyed, 87 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
25821 casualties reported
Squads: 600 destroyed, 1951 disabled
Non Combat: 11 destroyed, 230 disabled
Engineers: 1 destroyed, 79 disabled
Guns lost 126 (4 destroyed, 122 disabled)



Ground combat at Changteh (81,50)

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 134427 troops, 971 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 4242

Defending force 42350 troops, 385 guns, 156 vehicles, Assault Value = 1407

Allied adjusted assault: 4025

Japanese adjusted defense: 4833

Allied assault odds: 1 to 2 (fort level 6)

Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), forts(+), experience(-)
Attacker:

Japanese ground losses:
1020 casualties reported
Squads: 7 destroyed, 147 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 32 disabled
Engineers: 1 destroyed, 18 disabled
Guns lost 44 (2 destroyed, 42 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
12422 casualties reported
Squads: 124 destroyed, 1005 disabled
Non Combat: 2 destroyed, 89 disabled
Engineers: 10 destroyed, 86 disabled
Guns lost 73 (3 destroyed, 70 disabled)


So seeing these results I've decided to delay any retreat back to Hankow for the time being. Meanwhile his mega 40 unit 7k AV stack in the south east reaches Hangchow and takes it after I retreat everything there to Shanghai. I now have 2.5k AV there and another 1.5k AV at Nanking, both with 6 forts so he will have a hard time taking them anytime soon. He is sweeping Shanghai with his best P47 and P51 sqds and my fighters are contesting them in order to keep my supply convoys dropping off there covered. I'm losing 4:1 in numbers but I need to keep the airfield operational as long as possible. He is sweeping lots of other bases all over the map but I try to avoid combat if I can.

[Miller]

In other news there is still no sign of his next big push with his CVs yet. Recon of Guam is showing 800 ships in port and 500 fighters there, so I guess that's where they are for the moment. He has a lot of subs to the south east of Formosa in the Okinawa area, he usually floods an area he is looking to attack with them beforehand, so the chain of islands there could well be his next target. He outnumbers me at least 4:1 in carrier borne a/c by now so I'm not sure if I could effectively cause any decent damage to his fleet considering my LBA would flying at extreme range to attack in that area.

On Mindanao he has taken every base apart from Zamboanga on the west coast. I'm pulling out a couple of rgts and base forces there by air to Luzon where I can make better use of them rather than have them steamrollered to death where they are.

Aircraft wise the Sam and Frank-r fighters have just started production, I hope they can have some impact in the final year of the air war.....

[erstad]

They will take months to rebuild but at least they keep their high exp ratings which they would have lost if they have been destroyed.

I thought replacement squads came in at the national average?

[Miller]

ORIGINAL: erstad

They will take months to rebuild but at least they keep their high exp ratings which they would have lost if they have been destroyed.

I thought replacement squads came in at the national average?

I'm referring to the combat exp level of the actual division. The ones I have evacuated have exp levels between 60-80 despite having only around 10% of their TOE left. I know destroyed divs that are rebuild in the HI usually come in at 25-35 exp. Are you not thinking of pilot replacements?

[witpqs]

I am pretty sure there was a change way, way back where the experience of the unit gradually declines as the experience level of the replacements is averaged in.

[Miller]

ORIGINAL: witpqs

I am pretty sure there was a change way, way back where the experience of the unit gradually declines as the experience level of the replacements is averaged in.

Really? Been playing this game almost 10 years and still so much I don't know!

[obvert]

ORIGINAL: Miller

ORIGINAL: witpqs

I am pretty sure there was a change way, way back where the experience of the unit gradually declines as the experience level of the replacements is averaged in.

Really? Been playing this game almost 10 years and still so much I don't know!

Yep. So that if you have to fly out a pice of it, you get some of the original exp level, but it declines as the unit fills out.

[RangerJoe]

Ships can also lose experience if they lose crew as in severe casualties and/or damage control parties lost.

Pilots can lose experience if their planes are damaged or they have an ops lost.

[tarkalak]

From memory, the manual states that each replacement has a die roll to lower the XP down to the national level.

[PaxMondo]

ORIGINAL: tarkalak

From memory, the manual states that each replacement has a die roll to lower the XP down to the national level.

Replacements enter at the national level and then there is some random element as to how much they actually impact the unit itself. I don't think more has ever been shared on this.

From experience I can tell you that high EXP units can take huge EXP losses if they need to take too many replacements. So when a high EXP units has disablements, you really want to consider moving it out of battle before those disablements convert to losses.

[Miller]

1st-15th April 45

Very little to report. In China he is bombing all my remaining strongholds mercilessly, Changsha, Hankow, Shanghai and Nanking see hundreds of bombers every turn and are completely closed to any aircraft operations. His large ground stack of troops in the south east ignores any attempt to take Shanghai and is now at Nanking. Despite the 4x terrain and 6 forts I doubt it will hold very long as most of the 1.5k AV there is the RGC army although I do have one tank div there also. He continues his sweeping campaign all over the map and I continue to lose 4:1 on average. He is a master at using his fighter groups wisely, he rotates them and they never fly more than one day in a row to keep the fatigue down and morale high. Still no sign of his CVs moving anywhere either.

[PaxMondo]

ORIGINAL: Miller

.. and I continue to lose 4:1 on average. He is a master at using his fighter groups wisely, he rotates them and they never fly more than one day in a row to keep the fatigue down and morale high. .

Yikes!!!
[X(][X(][X(]

[obvert]

ORIGINAL: Miller

1st-15th April 45

Very little to report. In China he is bombing all my remaining strongholds mercilessly, Changsha, Hankow, Shanghai and Nanking see hundreds of bombers every turn and are completely closed to any aircraft operations. His large ground stack of troops in the south east ignores any attempt to take Shanghai and is now at Nanking. Despite the 4x terrain and 6 forts I doubt it will hold very long as most of the 1.5k AV there is the RGC army although I do have one tank div there also. He continues his sweeping campaign all over the map and I continue to lose 4:1 on average. He is a master at using his fighter groups wisely, he rotates them and they never fly more than one day in a row to keep the fatigue down and morale high. Still no sign of his CVs moving anywhere either.

I'm getting 1:1 agains the P-47N and P-51D defensively.

I know I'd advocated this before but try a simple setup of your best pilots in this way at a known sweeping target, and make sure there is some good radar in the base.

49 Ki-84r @ 9k 60% CAP 10% rest (0 hex range)
45 N1K5 @ 9k 60% CAP 10% rest (0 hex range)

45 J2M5 or Ki-100 II or A7M2 @ 7k 50% CAP 20% rest (0 hex range)

36 Ki-43 IV or Ki-84a @ 5k 50% CAP 20% rest (0 hex range)

The better airframes with good manoeuvre can also be low, but the key is having the fast heavy hitting on the high setting, something good in the middle, and something with lots of manoeuvre and climb down low with 70+ defensive skill for the pilots. (Actually all of mine have 70+ defensive in the best groups anyway).

That's it. No more fighters. You can support with some from nearby bases on a 1-2 hex bleed at same settings, but don't confuse things with any other settings or groups. That's it. It's enough.

It can get messy if h comes in at all altitudes, but then you occasionally set everything high and jump the low sweeps, demolishing them while suffering a bit to the high fliers. It does work though, and I'm absolutely shocked it's still working against the P-47N which wiped me off the map my last late game.

If it doesn't work post some combat reports and lets have a look under the hood a bit.

[Miller]

Hi Obvert, thanks for your input as usual. I have been following the layered 9/7/5k CAP technique since you originally suggested it earlier in the game. I think the main problem comes down to pilot skill. Kane has mentioned he has plenty of 80+ exp pilots for his best fighters whilst most of mine are high 60s/low 70s, but critically most are low on the defensive skill, the two things combined obviously counts against me. I can compete with the P51D if I have much greater numbers but the best Corsair model and the P47N just eat my fighters for breakfast. The Frank-r and George-5 have just arrived and I'm hoping to see improved results with them, I will handpick the best pilots I have left for them with the highest possible def skill levels and we shall see what happens. I've had the Sam involved in a few combats now but the initial results with them have been disappointing, maybe I've had then at the wrong altitude or something....

[obvert]

ORIGINAL: Miller

Hi Obvert, thanks for your input as usual. I have been following the layered 9/7/5k CAP technique since you originally suggested it earlier in the game. I think the main problem comes down to pilot skill. Kane has mentioned he has plenty of 80+ exp pilots for his best fighters whilst most of mine are high 60s/low 70s, but critically most are low on the defensive skill, the two things combined obviously counts against me. I can compete with the P51D if I have much greater numbers but the best Corsair model and the P47N just eat my fighters for breakfast. The Frank-r and George-5 have just arrived and I'm hoping to see improved results with them, I will handpick the best pilots I have left for them with the highest possible def skill levels and we shall see what happens. I've had the Sam involved in a few combats now but the initial results with them have been disappointing, maybe I've had then at the wrong altitude or something....

Interesting. Defensive skill does matter for the lower tiers especially.

I didn't know you were just getting the Ki-84r and N1K5 now. That would be part of it for sure. Those are the beasts in this model and I think without them mine wouldn't be working either. When he hits the smaller bases with Tojo's, A6M8 and Ki-100 he can wipe out the defenses.

It could also just be Mr Kane being Mr Kane. He is well known to be the best in the air so far. A consistent pilot skill differential is hard to recover from in the ate game.

For the Corsairs, max altitude can work in a pinch as long as you know the P-47N aren't coming at 42k. That is hard to predict though.

You're still doing great though!

[PaxMondo]

ORIGINAL: obvert

A consistent pilot skill differential is hard to recover from in the (l)ate game.

+1

The aggressor, just like IRL, has all the advantages.

[Miller]

16th-30th April 45

Nothing but grim news this period. In China at Nanking he steamrolls the defenders in the space of only 3 deliberate attacks, adding a few hundred more points in troops losses to his score. He has also taken all but one of the bases on the southern coast. In the air I manage to down 100 B24s in a couple of CAP traps but at the loss of twice as many fighters to his sweepers.

The main development however occurs at Legaspi on the southern tip of Luzon where most of his death star fleet shows up to cover a landing there. I load up Manila and the surrounding bases with a/c to attack, limiting their range to only the landing site, but despite this the CAP from his CVs lying one hex to the east decimates all my strikes. I lose 1000 a/c in return for sinking a lone LST. At least I lost "only" 300 pilots in the process. After this debacle I had no choice but to pull out all my shipping and depleted air groups from the area. His armour heavy invasion troops are now currently rolling up the road to Manila as I type. Once it and Clark fall their airfields will pretty much prevent me getting any more fuel back from the SRA.



In other news his night strat bombing of the home islands is starting to hit some of my a/c and engine factories hard but I've probably got enough already in the bank to see me through the rest of the game. I'm getting a large number of training units arriving and they seem to train up pilots pretty fast so at least I won't run out of them anytime soon either.