Getting Bottlenecked: SierraJuliet (J) vs Mundy (A)

[BBfanboy]

I think the VS squadrons withdraw at the same date so there should be room to up the VB squadron to 36 from 18.

[Bif1961]

Do they auto-withdrawal or do you have to send them to a base and manually withdrawal them?

[WingCmdr]

Actually the withdrawal is a manual exercise. What does "manually withdrawal" mean?





“lose lips sink ships.”

bif1961

[Mundy]

I've already withdrawn the VS squadrons, so space isn't an issue. I've tried clicking on the size field and it only has to option to turn it on or off. I can't resize it like I normally can.

My USAAF bomber units all grew without issue. My carriers are disbanded in port. Plenty of planes (over 100) are in the pool.

[LargeSlowTarget]

Strange, IIRC I did not touch the CAGs. Me think it is the supply situation at PH.

[Bif1961]

I am at the same point in the game as you are and I flew off my VS squadrons and withdrew them. That freed up enough space on each of the carriers to have their VB squadrons to go from 18 to 36, once in port. So look at the number of aircraft remaining on each of those carriers that are due a VB size increase and make sure you have enough space for the increase.

[HansBolter]

Saw the post further up regarding a supply shortage at Pearl. Are you not assigning Continuous Supply TFs for your major bases?

I'm m in December of '45 in my game and Pearl has a stockpile of 10 million supply and 4.5 million fuel.

[Mundy]

Hi Hans,

I think most of my problem is that I'm seriously overstocked with troops on Pearl. The supply appetite there is enormous there right now. I've several 100k+ convoys enroute and have sent several more from Pearl's ship supply to San Francisco to help. Once I kick my invasions off, that should help things, but that's some months out yet. There'll be a mass exodus across once I take Luzon.

I've never liked using the autopilot feature for shipping and usually stay on top of that fairly well.

31 March 1943

I've been quiet awhile. Frustration. My attempt to take Woodlark went completely awry. It seems anytime I make any serious shipping move around Australia/DEI, the entire IJN suddenly shows up. I landed some base troops there before many of my ships got sunk by surface and Japanese carriers. Afterwards, he invaded the island himself and took it over, leaving me with nothing.

Fine... I'll be taking my shots further north. I should have 9 carriers plus CVLs to support the Marianas -- all with Hellcats. Despite being the end of march, my VB squadrons on the carriers haven't expanded to 36 yet. I'm assuming the supply situation at Pearl is behind this. Hopefully in two weeks, I've eased this.

Elsewhere, I've got stuff trying to unload at Colombo and Trincomalee, but it's taking literally weeks for the ships to unload. Don't know why that is, unless the lack of naval support at those bases is doing this.

Troops are slowly massing at Akyab, where I'll eventually push off into Burma.

[Mundy]

07 April 1943

Fairly slow going. Still trying to get supply into Pearl. Got them past 80k now, with more on the way.

Saratoga's fighters just converted to F6Fs, with 26/36 filled. Still no movement on the VB upsizing.

Lots of troops are accumulating at Akyab, exceeding that base's limit. I'm about to push them into Burma, once everyone arrives. I have one unit of Indian paras, and lots of transports there, so I can jump on something with these.

[Mundy]

14 April 1943

Two of my carriers arrived at San Francisco. One of them has upgraded its SBDs to 36. I'm guessing the other will in a day or two.

Steve seems to have figured out my new sub base at Kwajalein. Last turn a small surface group came to bombard. This turn, carriers showed up, centered on Zuikaku. My 4 engined bombers there, of course did little to them. I don't think this is full KB -- probably two or three CVs. All mine are busy finishing up their upgrades or upgrading their air groups. As soon as I am able, I'll have to get them forward to cover my base. I don't need to curb my sub activities. four subs are now canvassing where his ships are. It would be nice if I got lucky.

[RangerJoe]

Use paratroopers to surprise him. Air transport some engineers to build, use subs to lay defensive minefields. Do this where he ain't powerful.

[Mundy]

26 April 1943

My carriers are all back at Pearl. Most of the VB squadrons have upped to 36. An exception was Wasp, which I couldn't seem to flip. I flipped the others by converting to SBD-4s or -3s. Looking closer, Wasp was near her airplane limit anyway, so that's probably why she's not increasing. If I landed her VT squadron, she might do it then, but I'll keep them on board. All the VFs are within 5 planes of their full complements of F6Fs. I'm leaving Wasp with Wildcats, as the pool isn't big enough to flip them yet.

Once everyone's up, I'll send them to patrol awhile near Kwajalein, to catch any more surprises. With Hellcats aboard, I may be able to stop a KB strike. My fighter pilots are averaging in the mid 70s for skill right now.

I've beat up a couple subs between Pearl and the US, which have been laying there. ASW seems to improve over time. I also smacked a couple IJN PBs with my subs last turn. I'd rather they hit the cargo/fuel ships. The Japanese PBs seem to be crap ASW platforms. None have ever landed a hit on me yet.

[RangerJoe]

Japanese PB have low crew experience and lousy captains.

You might want to keep the Wasp as F4F for CAP purposes so you don't run too low on Hellcats. Use the bomber air groups for searching and ASW so they won't go out unescorted.

[Mundy]

Yeah, I never purge the pool with an upgrade.

Usually I set the VS squadron to 50% search, but as they're gone, I'll put every VB squadron at 20% search.

I've gotten fairly competent with carrier ops over the years. [:)]

Can't wait until 1945, where any carrier group will simply shrug off any KB sized strike.

[Mundy]

29 April 1943

My 4 USN carriers have departed Pearl, headed for the Kwajalein area. Maybe I can catch one of his sneak raids he's been doing.

Most of my ASs and ARs there have been replaced with new ones, so the bases are running again.

Pearl's supply is now over 500k and all the exclamation points are gone. I still need to keep it coming fast.

If, by some chance I catch his carriers out west. I'll kick off the Marianas early. 3 of the 4 CVs have Hellcats

[Mundy]

06 May 1943

Fairly quiet.

An IJN TF is moving SE from Truk. My carriers are at Kwajalein. They're moving to intercept. We'll see...

[Bif1961]

Good luck and good hunting.

[RangerJoe]

Use long range Nells for night torpedo attack . . . [;)]

[BBfanboy]

ORIGINAL: RangerJoe

Use long range Nells for night torpedo attack . . . [;)]

Now if the Allies can just capture some Nells with torpedoes already mounted, Mundy may be able to follow your advice.

[Mundy]

[:D]

10 May 1943

The enemy TF vanished, so nothing to hunt. My carriers are just east of Kwaj, refueling. An IJN sub is sitting right next to them, so I'll move them north a bit. He tends to spot me the moment I go west of Kwajalein. Figures, now that I have ships there, he won't make any moves. Tempted to strike Truk, but I don't want to give my numbers away. I noticed on one of my carriers, I forgot to convert from TBDs. Oops...

In the States, my first P-47 unit arrives, fully stocked. They're rushing to Pearl and will likely move forward when I take the Marianas. Doesn't look like I can use external tanks on them yet, but maybe they don't show in Eastern US.

Looking at my recon, he has about 200 fighters split between Milne and Rabaul. Another 25 at Truk. Tempted to bomb Truk with B-24s but he has no shipping there. He's not stocking lots of ships there like historically.

Unless I get some lucky battle with his carriers, by Marianas invasion won't happen for another three months yet. (game-wise and real life) Once I take them and have those bases established, I'm going to immediately land at Luzon, with Mauban as my landing point. Even with all the troops tasked for the Marianas, I have lots of units already prepping for the Philippines. Plenty for the job. Fighter coverage is probably light moving that ways, with as much as he has invested in the SW Pacific theatre. He never did take Lae...