Empire of the Sun - DesertWolf101 (J) vs Andy Mac (A)

[DesertWolf101]

ORIGINAL: RangerJoe

Very nice! [&o]

Thanks!

[DesertWolf101]

What will Andy do?

With Siberian Winter about to be launched in a matter of weeks, what will Andy do in the rest of the map? He knows the bulk of my forces, especially land forces, will be occupied in the Soviet Union and India. If I was Andy I would take this opportunity to strike even if his carrier fleet is much diminished (I got intel confirmation that the Saratoga also went down in the Tahiti carrier battle). If he does choose to strike, he would have to carefully select an area where he can act in while minimizing the threat to his invasion forces. My gut feeling, supported to a degree by the direction of radio traffic, is that he will try to land forces in the Java/Sumatra area. Very excited to see what comes next in the following months.

[DesertWolf101]

Battle of Surat - September 11, 1942

I finally found my Indian battle at Surat. Confident behind high forts and his growing strength in the subcontinent, Andy did not retreat his forces once he detected my army approaching but instead reinforced his defense. I chose the point of advance carefully however, with the coastal hex allowing me full use of my naval superiority. Battleship and heavy cruiser tasks forces tore huge chunks off his line with their heavy shells, allowing my elite troops the opportunity to take the base in only two attacks.

[PaxMondo]

Ouch! That really ripped up those allied forces ....

[DesertWolf101]

ORIGINAL: PaxMondo

Ouch! That really ripped up those allied forces ....

It did, and I am certainly pleased with the result. I will attempt to maintain the pressure in India but there really is not much territory left before I reach the emergency reinforcement line (which I don't want to cross) so I have to be careful here.

[DesertWolf101]

Operation Siberian Winter - The Air Plan

There are only some two weeks left before the invasion kicks off and the organized chaos that is the preparation is finally starting to come to fruition. Forces across the front are reaching their positions and it won't be long before the march across the border begins. I will try to synchronize those orders to have all the troops cross the border at the same time but will probably bungle one or two up. In any case, I wanted to outline a brief summary of my plan for the air war.

My bomber force is entirely composed of armored Helen variants and Sally types. No light bombers will be used on this front given their fragility and the danger involved. The IJNAF bomber force will also not be involved. 150 Helen bombers and 200 Sally bombers are available with a combined replacement rate of 100 bombers per month to make up for the losses. I believe Andy will have a significantly larger starting bomber force but few replacements, so the total bomber strength should gradually shift to my side over time.

In terms of fighters, I have had to curtail my fighter training program to put units on Home Defense duties in the Home Islands and in Manchuria in order to supplement my AA guns in protecting my industry and air bases from his bomber units. Hopefully they will learn a bit on the job and I can transition the units back exclusively to training as the threat diminishes. For these duties, I lean heavily on Nates in Manchuria and Claudes in Japan but with a healthy mix of Oscar and Zero fighters to defend the more critical sites. Practically all the Nates/Claudes will be beyond the range of his fighters - I don't want to give him easy kills.

In terms of the frontline fighters, I have 120 A6M3a, 120 Oscars, 160 Tojos, and 90 Nick fighter bombers. That is about 500 fighter types for offensive duties and if you count the fighters on defense oriented duties outlined above that brings the combined total to about more than a 1,000 with replacements readily available.

I am also not skimping on ASW duty. Hundreds of light bombers and medium bombers of all types are stationed in strategic locations around the home islands and in Sakhalin, supported by Jake search planes, with the sole purpose to reduce the Soviet sub threat. We shall see if that works.

My overall priorities in the air (from most to least crucial) are as follows:
- Protect the Japanese economy by effectively defending against his bombers and submarines.
- Provide effective air support to the advancing Japanese armies.
- Neutralize his air force through sweeps and the targeting of his air bases.
- As the balance in the air improves in my favor, target his industry and supply depots.

[DesertWolf101]

The Score Before Winter

[Runnersan]

How many squadrons do you use to train naval fighter pilots? I always had problem with replacement for killed pilots. Lots of planes ready, but without pilots.

[DesertWolf101]

ORIGINAL: runnersan

How many squadrons do you use to train naval fighter pilots? I always had problem with replacement for killed pilots. Lots of planes ready, but without pilots.

Before the last month when everything had to be re-organized to get ready for the USSR invasion, I had about half a dozen navy fighter squadrons on training and these were supplemented by another half a dozen float plane units for fighter training once I got enough good ASW and search pilots from them.

[Runnersan]

ORIGINAL: DesertWolf101

ORIGINAL: runnersan

How many squadrons do you use to train naval fighter pilots? I always had problem with replacement for killed pilots. Lots of planes ready, but without pilots.

Before the last month when everything had to be re-organized to get ready for the USSR invasion, I had about half a dozen navy fighter squadrons on training and these were supplemented by another half a dozen float plane units for fighter training once I got enough good ASW and search pilots from them.

lf a dozen navy fighter squadrons on training and these were supplemented by another half a dozen float plane units for fighter training once I got enough good ASW and search pilots from them.

Rufe will train fighter pilots, but I always thought that Jake or other FP are training patrol pilots.

[DesertWolf101]

Even non-Rufe float planes like the Jake can train fighter pilots (train them for sweep).

[GetAssista]

ORIGINAL: DesertWolf101
Even non-Rufe float planes like the Jake can train fighter pilots (train them for sweep).

I believe in the intended game setting you would have paid 10 XP for this opportunity. -5 for entering a fighter pilot into a patrol group, and another -5 when exiting into a fighter group after being trained. In the current game version you can circumvent the XP loss by moving pilots in bulk using "release 1/5/10" buttons. It is up to you to decide if this feature is OK to use (there is no correct answer here).

[DesertWolf101]

ORIGINAL: GetAssista

ORIGINAL: DesertWolf101
Even non-Rufe float planes like the Jake can train fighter pilots (train them for sweep).

I believe in the intended game setting you would have paid 10 XP for this opportunity. -5 for entering a fighter pilot into a patrol group, and another -5 when exiting into a fighter group after being trained. In the current game version you can circumvent the XP loss by moving pilots in bulk using "release 1/5/10" buttons. It is up to you to decide if this feature is OK to use (there is no correct answer here).

Interesting, I did not know that. In fact I wasn't even aware that pilots lose XP when moved from their primary role. Good to note, thanks!

[DesertWolf101]

September 18, 1942

The first Imperial troops have been given the order to commence marching. These are the ones in difficult terrain that will take time to cross the border. Other units will be given the order over the next few days depending on their terrain circumstances. Estimated crossing time is in ten days.

[GetAssista]

ORIGINAL: DesertWolf101
In fact I wasn't even aware that pilots lose XP when moved from their primary role. Good to note, thanks!

Kull summed all the possibilities here in post 67 btw: https://www.matrixgames.com/forums/tm.a ... 55&mpage=3

A minor correction, it's not -5 XP set penalty for transferring into a different plane type but a random -xp with average around -5. And I recall that transfers from TRACOM are treated differently than from reserve or other units, don't have a game to check first hand right now.

[RADM.Yamaguchi]

ORIGINAL: GetAssista

ORIGINAL: DesertWolf101
In fact I wasn't even aware that pilots lose XP when moved from their primary role. Good to note, thanks!

Kull summed all the possibilities here in post 67 btw: https://www.matrixgames.com/forums/tm.a ... 55&mpage=3

A minor correction, it's not -5 XP set penalty for transferring into a different plane type but a random -xp with average around -5. And I recall that transfers from TRACOM are treated differently than from reserve or other units, don't have a game to check first hand right now.

I had no idea about this entire issue. I've always used request veteran and then release pilots. I didn't know there was any other way to do it. I'm so confused.

[DesertWolf101]

And We Are Off! - September 24, 1942

What looked to be like a perfectly synchronized arrival of my forces in the USSR was suddenly torn asunder by the accidental unloading of a small paratrooper unit in the middle of nowhere on Kamchatka. Oh well, we live and die by our decisions and the invasion will now happen a full five days before I wanted it to.

Given my advanced preparations, this in itself is not necessarily catastrophic but it could be quite bad in some places. The greatest issue is that it provides Andy with enough days to transport his forces (of which I am sure a number of them where likely already packed up for rail movement) pretty much wherever he pleases along the frontline. So again not necessarily catastrophic, but potentially really dicey for me....

[Evoken]

Good luck!

[GetAssista]

ORIGINAL: DesertWolf101
And We Are Off! - September 24, 1942

[DesertWolf101]

Haha thanks guys - the red and black colors in particular seem quite apt for what lies ahead.

Andy was very generous and offered to redo the turn but I refused. I don't think it's fair to him and I am inherently opposed to mulligans in games. What I might do instead is ask for a two turn grace on not moving Soviet ground troops just to allow enough time for some Japanese forces to cross the border on a rushed basis. None of these troop crossings will be in the critical areas near the rail and this is less than the ideal 5 turns that I was planning on but it's something! We shall see. This promises to be bloody good fun.

In the meantime - it looks like the first day will be very active in the air.