Two newbie questions

[Fallschirmjager]

I havnt played this game a whole lot (im more of a landlover [;)])

Two questions

1. How the hell do I get a cargo task force to keep cargo on board?
Here is what I did: I let the AI build a cargo TF
I then selected a location (which is to resupply Port Morsbey) to move the TF
I then selected "load cargo"
Now...next turn I see that my TF is filled with 9000 cargo Good this is normal
But I look up as the destination and it had gone back to Brisbane and then the next turn cargo is back to 0 and the TF is still sitting in the Brisbane hex [&:]
What am I not doing correctly?

2. My opponent is inderdicting supply convoys with subs and fast DD's as well as bombarding Port Morsbey and then slinking away.
My bomb laden bombers arnt that effective. I do howver have 32 B-25's newly arrived with good EXP. They so far have sucked at bombing.
I have read that historicaly these planes were good at flying low and strafing the hell out of anything up to DD class. How do I make my planed attack with guns and rockets? Is it even a worthwhile tactic?

Thanks for any help

[CMDRMCTOAST]

Your supply task force is probably running away from carriers
Create supply task force, load supplies , pick destination and
change retirement allowed to patrol do not retire.
Be careful if he has carriers about as they will decimate your
transports.

Set your fighters in PM to escort with 30% - 50% cap levels
and they will protect your ships somewhat and keep fatigue
levels down.
add SC'S and DD to your supply convoys to counter the subs.

[CMDRMCTOAST]

Also If your playing scen# 17 or #19 you will not be able to hold
PM for long against an experienced IJN player.

Build up your defence of townsville and try to sink as many
IJN transports as possible.
Use your subs as minelayers in the paths of IJN transports
and sit your s# - subs to ambush his transports.

[pasternakski]

Let me take a stab at being helpful (it ain't my forte):

1. "Let the AI build a cargo TF" sounds like the heart of the problem here. Build your own transport TFs. Decide how much of what you need to move where, then click on the base, then click on "form new TF." Specify it in the next screen as "transport," then assign ships to it. Close out of the base screen. Click on the TF's icon in the row of TFs present at the base at the bottom of the screen. From here, you can assign a TF commander (which is a very important consideration). Set the TF to "retirement allowed" and "do not react to enemy." Click on the "destination" button, and then click on where you want it to go. Now, you are ready to load your cargo. If all you want to do is move supply, click on "load supply." If you want to move troops and cargo, click on "load troops and supply" (you will then have to select the troops you want to load from the menu presented). If you want to move troops only, click on "load only troops" (again, you will have to select which ones).

The bottom line is not to let the AI do anything. It screws up everything it touches.

2. B-25s are just about my favorite planes in the game. For anti-shipping purposes, put them at 1,000 feet, naval attack mission. They accumulate fatigue and operational damage quickly, but they are dynamite at interdicting enemy merchant shipping. When the pilots get close to or above 70 experience, you can drop them down to 100 feet, and they will start strafing and skip bombing (when the B-25Js arrive, look out, Hirohito). You will lose more planes to AA and attrition, but these boys are bad news. Just a note: the few Beauforts you have are terrific, too, because they launch torpedoes and do all kinds of nasty damage. Set them at 5,000 feet (they will automatically descend to 200 in order to attack). Again, attrition is high, but results are fantastic with experienced pilots. They can even beat up Clamato and Mo'Slushy, because they are sticking torpedoes in them.

[CMDRMCTOAST]

Pasternaski

When setting bombing missions and you set a percentage to
navigate, will that percentage of planes do a bomb run also or are they just
guiding the others into the target.
and are there favorable nav settings for, port, airfield, asw, and ground runs.


Thx in advance

[pasternakski]

I'm sorry, but I don't understand your question. "Set a percentage to navigate" doesn't make any sense to me, because there is no such setting.

If you are talking about setting a percentage to "naval search," land-based bomber squadrons don't need to do this. You want to have at least one squadron that specializes in naval search assigned to each base where you have land-based bombers that you want to conduct naval attacks (planes like the PBY, Mavis, PB4Y, Jake, and so on).

Naval search has no effect on attacks against ports and airfields.

Please clarify, and I will try to be more helpful.

[Fallschirmjager]

Scen 17
Just 3 days into the game
No carriers around

My opponent claims to have no played much, so im going to reinforce PM to keep a foothold in New Guinea.

Are there such things as rocket attacks in the game?

[CMDRMCTOAST]

Check out the circled area.

[bradfordkay]

What the "Nav Search" setting means (as shown in your screenshot) is that 20% of the a/c in that squadron are actively looking for enemy shipping and are not participating in the port attack.

[CMDRMCTOAST]

Oh I was thinking that that setting also allowed for more accurate bombing
strikes, Like navigatigating and leading the other planes to target.

[pasternakski]

ORIGINAL: CMDRMCTOAST

Oh I was thinking that that setting also allowed for more accurate bombing
strikes, Like navigatigating and leading the other planes to target.

That is roughly the purpose of "recon" missions.

[Shadow of the Condor]

Fallschirmjager, don't forget about P-39Ds in the anti-ship role at 100 ft. - as long as your targets are destroyers, transports, etc. (although I did get extremely lucky once and dropped a 250lb bomb down the stack of a cruiser - but don't count on that). The Warhawks - if you can resist the temptation of using them as fighters - are lethal against transports...and can ruin a destroyer's day as well. And pasternakski (the helpful one - don't let him kid ya) is correct - the J model of the B-25, with 8 .50cal machine guns facing forward and a bay full of bombs is worth waiting for, although personally, I love what they can do to a runway full of planes [:D]

(Looking at the screenshot provided by CMDRMCTOAST, I would also recommend using the B-17Es that you start the game with on nothing but Naval Search. They are excellent at it, and it's a good way to get some experience with very low risk)

Have fun [:)]

[Fallschirmjager]

Do you ever get the B-25 with the 75mm cannon in the nose?

[mbatch729]

Negative. Long discussion on this previously in the forum, may have disappeared in the "Great Attack." Basically boiled down to the 75mm version wasn't used enough to justifiy including it, I think.