Empire Mod PBEM ( From 1 Jan 43) Game finished Sept 45 as a draw.

[Cavalry Corp]

more - many more ships lost in further turns on both sides, but J seems to have come off worse esp. DD loss for Japan.

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[JanSako]

That has got to have made a dent in his 4E pools!
Is it just me or are the Japanese 4E bombers significantly worse at 'self-escorting' than the Allied heavies?

[Cavalry Corp]

Good question.

I reduced the power of the allied MG and cannon used in turrets and waist guns ( on bombers) - but left ones fixed aimed by pilots ( F and CL) the same. You will see the Sweep flying 4E no longer works.... its power is much reduced, and the results, I feel, are more realistic. There is another mod which did this to but I think they were turned down too much. My allied 4E fire causes some loss (even on tougher J late war fighters) but a lot of driving off and damage.

Note that in this mod, quite a few planes have higher durability ( including May 4E), but TBH, it does not seem to make much difference ( I think Durability matters more about distance flown than in combat, TBH) . However, I am pleased with the hierarchy it creates.

For J, I did not mod the bomber guns down at all as J guns are worse (in general), and Allied planes are much tougher. Plus, I feel there are things in the hard code that alter things a bit further; I think there is something about the number of guns firing as well as individual power factored in, which makes allied 4E so deadly in stock. I found the J 4E ( say Rita ) has had some potential to take out a few Allied fighters, and they have in my game, but un escorted, they will suffer. I found the results so far feel about right. Liz ( 41-43) is too fragile by mid-war, even by mid-42. If it meets fighters with reasonable guns, it will come off badly. But the Liz used where there are no fighters, and no big flak is useful.

If you play on it and suggest to me you find otherwise, it can be tweaked. I value all feedback.

I am about to let out V3,0b. I think everything in it, bar one change, will work in all games ongoing. If you have any suggestions for that I am listening

Cav

[JanSako]

Durability is absolutely important in combat, it is the amount of damage the plane can take before going down. I can see how Allied fighters with many more .50 cal MG's inflict more 'points of damage' per pass than early/mid war Japanese fighters. Pair it with less 'hitpoints' (which is what essentially Durability is) for Japanese 4E's and I can see how they would be more vulnerable.

No comments yet as far as requesting changes, I am just working on T6 so it is quite early to tell. So far so good though.

A question:
How come only IJN get 4E bombers? All of them, including the late German transfers are labelled as IJN planes. There is one IJ Army unit -16th Sentai (1021) that files Ki-200 (Fw200) and their follow-up models, but they are the only ones I found so far.

[Cavalry Corp]

Jan,
Ok noted. I was pointing out that I think the gun is more important then the durability - but get your point.

Could you give the IJA a version of the Liz /Rita, say? That is easy, and I will add it in—just to give some more options. I never built that many TBH.

Yes there is only one unit flying the Ki 200. It would not be expected in this mod that J would attempt to field many 4E LB aircraft, esp at the start. You can divide the unitas well but you would have to build some more planes and they are pretty weak. Just as the FW200 was.

So, what is your ship-building plan??

Cav

[JanSako]

Re-planes:
Generally speaking in my experience IJN has a harder time with pilots so having another 'branch' placing demands on fielding squadrons (which means less pilot training) would mean tradeoffs. I do not want to go into details of how I want to use the 4E's, that is for my opponent to find out

As far as shipbuilding:

- as much DD's & escort vessels out as possible ASAP
- as much deckspace as possible out ASAP - quantity over quality, convert those large xAP's as soon as I can
- any leftovers go to CL/CA/subs

Not intending to accelerate building unless I have any surplus points left.

And a little bug - my opponent said this arrived on T6
We do have the variable reinforcement dates, but that would be a bit too variable.

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[RangerJoe]

Re-planes:
Generally speaking in my experience IJN has a harder time with pilots so having another 'branch' placing demands on fielding squadrons (which means less pilot training) would mean tradeoffs. I do not want to go into details of how I want to use the 4E's, that is for my opponent to find out

As far as shipbuilding:

- as much DD's & escort vessels out as possible ASAP
- as much deckspace as possible out ASAP - quantity over quality, convert those large xAP's as soon as I can
- any leftovers go to CL/CA/subs

Not intending to accelerate building unless I have any surplus points left.

And a little bug - my opponent said this arrived on T6
We do have the variable reinforcement dates, but that would be a bit too variable.
2024-08-10_1-19-19.png

If he used the original beta information, that unit has already been reported as a bug in that beta.

[Cavalry Corp]

Oct 44 17th

Heat is building again as allies bypass Manilla and move north. We are about to counterattack - again.
If they gain PI northern bases, our oil will be cut for sure.

Allied submarines are not really seen - he has not used them well TBH.

Iwo Jima still holds out with help from LBA from Tokyo - all to play for.

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[Cavalry Corp]

Re-planes:
Generally speaking in my experience IJN has a harder time with pilots so having another 'branch' placing demands on fielding squadrons (which means less pilot training) would mean tradeoffs. I do not want to go into details of how I want to use the 4E's, that is for my opponent to find out

As far as shipbuilding:

- as much DD's & escort vessels out as possible ASAP
- as much deckspace as possible out ASAP - quantity over quality, convert those large xAP's as soon as I can
- any leftovers go to CL/CA/subs

Not intending to accelerate building unless I have any surplus points left.

And a little bug - my opponent said this arrived on T6
We do have the variable reinforcement dates, but that would be a bit too variable.
2024-08-10_1-19-19.png

I will try and fix that for next patch sorry not to have seen it.

[Cavalry Corp]

Interesting. I changed it some while ago, but it still came on.
I tried fixing it for the next patch - the alternative is to downgrade the plane type if it still comes on.

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[JanSako]

Now it is on the map so it is what it is. We decided to use them as a training squadron, or he can downgrade it to a more timeline-appropriate airframe & use it that way.

[Cavalry Corp]

Jan - that's fine some times these things happen the strange thing is I changed the date and it still came on the map it should be in November 44. I have no idea why it would come on turn 6!!

If it is not fixed in the big patch, I will change it to an early frame—that will do.

cav

[Cavalry Corp]

Oct 20th 1944

Attacks go in, but the big BB targets elude me. I damaged one of them with an unexpected Kamikaze, a 1 x 800 kilo GP bomb and a TT. But we bagged a CA 2 x CVE and numerous transport ships, but the PI is looking shaky. LBA attacked the wrong base and got shredded big battles and ambushes over Rangoon. We expect retribution next turn.

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[Cavalry Corp]

MORE

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[Cavalry Corp]

Another J sub gets lucky and escapes.

Manilla will fall soon as supply is I think well under 20k now and Iwo Jima will also fall soon.

Battle for Rangoon is on the cards, and we are getting ready ASAP... They are coming but shall not pass!

One reason they have not fallen sooner is that a player failed to isolate them. He surprised me with deep thrusts to weaker points but then failed to patrol his gains. I am able to bring in a lot of stuff and a lot of supplies. Allied player also does not move his subs virtually at all and has, therefore, had high attrition - In this mod, J ASW is worse 41-43 but better than stock 44+.

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[Cavalry Corp]

NOV 3RD 1944 Update

Allied bombers trash my bomber base at Saigon, and we lose lots of valuable stuff, including most of my Ritas.
My subs are active, and one U-boat really gets lucky.
Allies paras land in Vietnam but its far too a long punch - we will sort them.
We lose two subs, including I-400, though in exchange for 2 AKs and a hit on a BC this turn.
It looks like he is about to try and re-take Wake.
Allies advance toward Rangoon, and just now, I cannot stop them, but it is well defended.

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[Cavalry Corp]

5-7 Nov 44

Allied advances continue

Not we have no found the right kind of balance for Rockets - they are doing considerable damage when on attack bombers
- this turn and the next on my raiding DD trying to bombard Rangoon.

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[Cavalry Corp]

9-11November

deep counterstrike against his shipping lanes - that will make him think again about letting so many TF get detected. Allis lost about 12-15 Attack ships (nice) , a couple of escort ships, and 2 CVEs.

I lost about 4 DD, though trying to bombard Rangoon - mainly trashed by attack bombers (including several hits from 5-inch rockets). Which are a bit more dangerous in this mod - as they were. One CL and CA Maya also badly damaged.

Manila Narrowly escapes, falling now down to Fort Level 1 with not enough supply to risk bringing it up.

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[RangerJoe]

Do those 40mm AA guns on the Japanese ship really help? If so, do you substitute 2 of the 40mm guns for 3 25mm guns?

[Cavalry Corp]

Well spotted!

In this mode, J has a wide deployment of the 3.9-inch gun as a secondary gun replacement that starts from mid-1942. By mid 44 J has developed a new 40mm gun that is similar ( copy) but not quite as good as the allied one (not the old J 40mm) . They also have a 20mm rapid-fire gun usually deployed in x 6 mounts, This is starting to replace the 25mm units.

I have not noticed much difference, TBH, as Allied planes are much tougher than the J planes. But maybe the allies are getting a lot more damaged planes.

Cav