I know the How but don't know the Why - re: Scenario

[macroman247]

The Thousand Mile War scenario (updated) as Allies. v26b

So I'm given some fighters, medium/heavy LBs, float patrols etc. Some additional ships and LCUs arrive later.

Ideally, I would want to bomb Attu/Kiska airfields, troops, etc. I've played around with lots of ways of doing this and sustain absolutely enormous losses. Morale is high and training is in the 50s...the scenario is short so it's not like I can do much about what I'm given here. I've escorted the fighters and set the altitudes all the same...nothing ever arrives together, even when they do, the IJA just shoots down absolutely everything in sight regardless.

So, no air support or am I missing something here?

Then, we have the actual amphibious invasion. I'm not given many ships here. I can combat load a regiment or two and they take almost a week to fully disembark...taking many losses in the process. If this is how it is to be, so be it...I just don't know if that is the expected result or, again, if I'm missing something.

Finally, the enemy subs are everywhere and I'm spotting them all over the place but ASW missions don't really seem to care about them. I even tried making some ASW TFs and sending them to where I know they are but very little gets done. The only time I seem to make an attack on the enemy subs are when they fire off torps on my TFs and then we engage them.

What's the standard flow of how this scenario goes?

[Bo Rearguard]

Finally, the enemy subs are everywhere and I'm spotting them all over the place but ASW missions don't really seem to care about them. I even tried making some ASW TFs and sending them to where I know they are but very little gets done. The only time I seem to make an attack on the enemy subs are when they fire off torps on my TFs and then we engage them.

That's an accurate portrayal of how ASW does tend to go in this game. You can flood an area with ASW task forces, but in deep water the sub almost always has the advantage of plugging the plug and deciding not to fight. You can keep their heads down and be aware of their locations but can't always get an engagement right away. However, an engagement with pure ASW forces usually goes better than a task force escorted by ASW ships does.

[macroman247]

Cool, thanks. It is hard to tell what is an expected outcome versus not doing something correctly. That is ultimately the same issue I have with the invasion and the bombers. Is it supposed to take a week to unload those troops over shore/under fire or was I doing something wrong? Are the losses I took with the bombers a way of saying "You shouldn't be trying that" or is it, again, doing something wrong?

[Bo Rearguard]

When conducting an amphibious invasion, you want to be sure that the bulk of your combat troops and their artillery and devices are loaded on APAs, AKAs and LSTs. These are the specialized amphibious assault ships that unload the fastest. xAPs, AKs and xAKs are the slow unloaders and best for cargo or stuff that doesn't need to be on the beach right away. Of course, this is something of a shoestring op scenario where what you are given isn't quite ideal.

[BBfanboy]

First step in any campaign in this game is to establish air superiority. You get your fighters on CAP and entice him to send bombers escorted by fighters. CAP fighters have advantage over fighters that must stick close to the bombers they are escorting. The enemy could send fighters on sweep missions but he will have the same coordination issues you do. The big thing is that most of your pilots will survive because they are over their base when they bail out, but his will not. Once his fighter strength is whittled down, send your heavy bombers, especially B-17s because they can take a lot of punishment. Order fighter sweeps first - they may or may not fly - but study the Air Coordination guide to find out how to use multiple bases and HQs to do this. Get the bombers to fly in the afternoon phase by setting a mission like naval strike in the morning, alternate Airfield Attack and if there are no ships with enough DL to attack, they will attack the airfield in the PM phase (weather permitting). Even after you close the airfield, beware of carriers in the area!

ASW works much better if you detect the sub first. Use Naval Search to find the subs initially, Air ASW to localize the contact and surface vessels to attack it. The higher the DL, the more likely the attack and the more persistent the attack will be. Don't forget to use those FPs on ships.

To unload faster in an amphib landing, use MORE ships than required for the troops. Each ship will unload a set amount of troops and equipment so more ships equals more unloaded in each phase. Order of unloading from each ships is: Combat squads, support squads and light equipment, heavy equipment and then supply.
Have a couple of separate ships Amphib loaded with supply only and then merge them with the main amphib TF. Otherwise, supply is the last thing unloaded from the ships and your troops will not have enough to fight with.

[macroman247]

First step in any campaign in this game is to establish air superiority. You get your fighters on CAP and entice him to send bombers escorted by fighters. CAP fighters have advantage over fighters that must stick close to the bombers they are escorting. The enemy could send fighters on sweep missions but he will have the same coordination issues you do. The big thing is that most of your pilots will survive because they are over their base when they bail out, but his will not. Once his fighter strength is whittled down, send your heavy bombers, especially B-17s because they can take a lot of punishment. Order fighter sweeps first - they may or may not fly - but study the Air Coordination guide to find out how to use multiple bases and HQs to do this. Get the bombers to fly in the afternoon phase by setting a mission like naval strike in the morning, alternate Airfield Attack and if there are no ships with enough DL to attack, they will attack the airfield in the PM phase (weather permitting). Even after you close the airfield, beware of carriers in the area!

ASW works much better if you detect the sub first. Use Naval Search to find the subs initially, Air ASW to localize the contact and surface vessels to attack it. The higher the DL, the more likely the attack and the more persistent the attack will be. Don't forget to use those FPs on ships.

To unload faster in an amphib landing, use MORE ships than required for the troops. Each ship will unload a set amount of troops and equipment so more ships equals more unloaded in each phase. Order of unloading from each ships is: Combat squads, support squads and light equipment, heavy equipment and then supply.
Have a couple of separate ships Amphib loaded with supply only and then merge them with the main amphib TF. Otherwise, supply is the last thing unloaded from the ships and your troops will not have enough to fight with.

These are some excellent tips to address the issues in the Grand Campaign (and I will refer to them when I get to that point)...but unfortunately it isn't applicable for the scenario. The enemy does not send their bombers so I can't fly CAP to shoot them down and weaken their fighter defense when I go on the offensive. The scenario also limits how many transport ships I get so spreading the load out doesn't go very far. Perhaps it all just means the issues I am running into are intended for the scenario.

[Bo Rearguard]

You can always order the US heavy and light cruisers based at Dutch Harbor to do some night bombardments of the small airfield on Kiska Island. That'll keep the CAP down and might even put the airfield out of operation for a time.

[RangerJoe]

First step in any campaign in this game is to establish air superiority. You get your fighters on CAP and entice him to send bombers escorted by fighters. CAP fighters have advantage over fighters that must stick close to the bombers they are escorting. The enemy could send fighters on sweep missions but he will have the same coordination issues you do. The big thing is that most of your pilots will survive because they are over their base when they bail out, but his will not. Once his fighter strength is whittled down, send your heavy bombers, especially B-17s because they can take a lot of punishment. Order fighter sweeps first - they may or may not fly - but study the Air Coordination guide to find out how to use multiple bases and HQs to do this. Get the bombers to fly in the afternoon phase by setting a mission like naval strike in the morning, alternate Airfield Attack and if there are no ships with enough DL to attack, they will attack the airfield in the PM phase (weather permitting). Even after you close the airfield, beware of carriers in the area!

ASW works much better if you detect the sub first. Use Naval Search to find the subs initially, Air ASW to localize the contact and surface vessels to attack it. The higher the DL, the more likely the attack and the more persistent the attack will be. Don't forget to use those FPs on ships.

To unload faster in an amphib landing, use MORE ships than required for the troops. Each ship will unload a set amount of troops and equipment so more ships equals more unloaded in each phase. Order of unloading from each ships is: Combat squads, support squads and light equipment, heavy equipment and then supply.
Have a couple of separate ships Amphib loaded with supply only and then merge them with the main amphib TF. Otherwise, supply is the last thing unloaded from the ships and your troops will not have enough to fight with.

Set the range for the naval strike to "0" if you can while also giving the bombers a specific airfield strike target. To help save your pilots and other aircrew from having their livers eaten, have submarines in the target hex to fix them out of the water.

Look up the loading and unloading rates for the ships that you have in your invasion task forces, try to have your initial invasion force loaded so it will unload in one day. Have extra ships loaded with supplies and have the ships with the invasion forces loaded with extra supplies just in case you decide to have them spend more than one day at the invasion hex. If you have enough LSTs, try to have them loaded with any armored forces, then choose artillery units. Those are equipment heavy units and the LSTs can and will unload them in a day. Have some supplies loaded on LSTs as well.

[Chris21wen]

These are some excellent tips to address the issues in the Grand Campaign (and I will refer to them when I get to that point)...but unfortunately it isn't applicable for the scenario. The enemy does not send their bombers so I can't fly CAP to shoot them down and weaken their fighter defense when I go on the offensive. The scenario also limits how many transport ships I get so spreading the load out doesn't go very far. Perhaps it all just means the issues I am running into are intended for the scenario.

I'm confused. What has enemy bombers got to with you bombing Attu or Kiska? Intitially they don't have any. Other than LCU and subs they are very light for the first month on ac.

If you fly you fighters at the same altitude as your bombers things will work OK.

For apmhib ops use whatever you can and stick to the coast to avoid most subs.

[duettoalfa]

I think freezing weather plays an important role in this scenario