ORIGINAL: HansBolter
No withdrawals has a HUGE impact on British participation in the Pacific.
Withdrawals means the Brits can not really build up a viable carrier force capable of independent action.
It also means they cannot build up a really viable BB force.
Withdrawals off means they can accomplish both of those things.
I won't play another game with withdrawals turned off.
Well, Hans, I disagree a bit. In my latest outing (Andy Mac's recent Ironman Nasty 3) I decided not to challenge the large KB unit gallivanting around the Bay of Bengal with the Royal Navy. The RN would have been slaughtered. Even with four decks, you still only have no more than 140 aircraft, plus a few slow BBs, vs. a KB that shows over 400 planes. This and your RN TB replacements have been depleted due to ill-advised naval attacks from Colombo.
After a few months of keeping everything back at Bombay, I finally decided to send most of the RN BBs, CAs and CVs to SoPac by way of the Cape to bolster the USN in that area, which needed a lot of help to counter the big KB unit causing mischief in that theater. A couple of USMC squadrons helped to fill space on those RN decks due to a dearth of Stringbags and Albacores.
It's now July 1944 and my Burma campaign is a pure ground and air slugfest, while most capital units of the RN are ably assisting the drive north of New Guinea toward the PI and the drive into the DEI. IJN still has quite a few CVs and CVLs, although from experience I expect they won't come out and play unless I do a Marianas invasion. I may do one just for grins.
Cheers,
CB
Beer, because barley makes lousy bread.
