Never Thought I'd Start Another One - tc464 (A) vs. Mike (J)

[PaxMondo]

While I have not converted those two CS myself yet, the other advantage of doing so is having more carrier fighters to help protect the fleet instead of floatplanes.

True, but by the time that those extra 30 A6M's each matters, you need 1000 more fighters, not 60.

The point is, the ships have value in '43. in '44, they are only VP's to be harvested by the DeathStar. My preference is to get use out of them in '43 instead of having them in a dock. Remember they essentially have NO armor. These ships cannot last in a hostile environment.

HOWEVER, it is a thin choice. The counter arguments have been around for 10 years, and a lot of good players do convert them. I'm offering some thoughts counter to the conventional wisdom. Use as you see fit.

I should add, that in most of the AAR's that I have read, more CV's are lost to SS in '43 than any other cause. I postulate in '43 you need those ASW FP's badly.

[sfatula]

I was not disagreeing, I was merely pointing out an additional argument for converting them. Missing through almost all of '43 is definitely hard to swallow.

[Mike Solli]

Hi Guys. Been MIA for a while. My wife and I took the 2, 5 year old grandsons on a trip from Thursday through Saturday. Man, they wore me out. Unlimited energy. Anyway, I'm back and just sent the turn off to Ted. Lots to contemplate from your discussions while I was gone. As of 28 Nov, my supply stands at 2,878,361 and is increasing. I was hoping to hit 2.9 million by the end of November, but I don't think that will happen. We'll see.

At this point, I'm going to still try for Chungking. It's surrounded and there is no AAA against my bombers there. There are 288k troops there and that is decreasing daily. That's a LOT of troops to burn through, but I think I can do it. I won't attack until I have 20 divisions there, at a minimum. There are currently 11 in the hex with another 5 nearby and headed there. There are others further away. I have 11 arty units there with another 9, 6-7 turns out.

Concerning the Chitose and Chiyoda, I'm still planning on converting them, but that won't happen for another couple of weeks so I can still change my mind.

Like I said, lots to consider.

[PaxMondo]

As of 28 Nov, my supply stands at 2,878,361 and is increasing. I was hoping to hit 2.9 million by the end of November, but I don't think that will happen. We'll see.

Amazing. With HI only producing 1 supply instead of 2 ... that's like over 30% of your normal supply production. You Da' MAN!!!

[sfatula]

If it's 1 suppler/HI, the amount is indeed amazing! What would you have if you were getting 2 per HI? I am not familiar with this scenario, but is the supply made up for elsewhere perhaps? I know in some mods, they increase some of the LI or use LI for supply.

[PaxMondo]

If it's 1 suppler/HI, the amount is indeed amazing! What would you have if you were getting 2 per HI? I am not familiar with this scenario, but is the supply made up for elsewhere perhaps? I know in some mods, they increase some of the LI or use LI for supply.

I don't think so. The devs of this mod wanted to decrease the supply for IJ, and they clearly did.

[PaxMondo]

Mike,

Pretty sure that you use Tracker. Can you post a screenshot of this page?

Screenshot 2026-07-13 170821.jpg (20.01 KiB) Viewed 316 times

Dataset: Summary; Scenario tab.


Thanks. Just want to make sure that there aren't any other economic changes going on that we missed here ....

[zebrazwo]

Mike is still recuperating from his grand kids

[Mike Solli]

Yep, I am. Darn grandkids! They gave me something. Sneezing a lot, but not much in the way of debilitating symptoms. Still doing turns too.

Pax, no, I don't use Tracker. I keep a spreadsheet. I got in the habit of tracking stats manually from way back in 2004 when WitP first came out. I was at the mob station getting ready to head overseas when the game came out. I downloaded it by phone line(!) over night in my office there. I played the game in isolation for a year because the Army thinks it's not a good thing for soldiers to access game sites while deployed. Our personal computers had no way to access the internet back then. I created a bunch of spreadsheets to track everything and this one I still use. I tried Tracker once years ago and I think I had issues with it that I never could figure out. I eventually gave up.

Let me download it and try one more time.

Once I catch up on the game....

[zebrazwo]

If anything, the new tracker looks really good and will surely be more user friendly to get started with - when floyd gets around to releasing it

[Mike Solli]

I downloaded the current version and it scrambled my brain trying to figure out how to install it. I am NOT a computer geek. I'm a Mac person. I use Parallels to run Windows 11 on my Mac to play the game. It's the only reason I have it. I'll try and figure out how to install it later.

[PaxMondo]

Yep, I am. Darn grandkids! They gave me something. Sneezing a lot, but not much in the way of debilitating symptoms. Still doing turns too.

Darn kids!! I know well because I had my youngest at a grandpa age. Yikes, my wide and I had to go through all of the baby illnesses AGAIN!!!

Pax, no, I don't use Tracker. I keep a spreadsheet. I got in the habit of tracking stats manually from way back in 2004 when WitP first came out. I was at the mob station getting ready to head overseas when the game came out. I downloaded it by phone line(!) over night in my office there. I played the game in isolation for a year because the Army thinks it's not a good thing for soldiers to access game sites while deployed. Our personal computers had no way to access the internet back then. I created a bunch of spreadsheets to track everything and this one I still use. I tried Tracker once years ago and I think I had issues with it that I never could figure out. I eventually gave up.

I know the installation is a bit awkward, but Floyd/Damien will help if YOU ask.

Let me download it and try one more time.

Do. You will NEVER play without it again. I use it to create all of the csv's that I then turn into spreadsheets. Floyd/Damien are licensed to access the save files, so they extract data that you CANNOT easily (and in a few cases period) get otherwise. Very, very useful data.

Like this one: Pilot exp by aircraft type:

>70 Exp Pilots by Type

Screenshot 2026-07-14 083338.jpg (54.42 KiB) Viewed 260 times

This is from an old game, but I had easy access to the files. Note that by March 42 I had about 650 fighter pilots with over 70 exp and growing nicely .... LB pilots were kinda flat, because in this game I was still night bombing some crucial targets to prevent forts. As you know, for night bombing to be effective you need high exp pilots and no matter what you will lose some due to flak/operational losses. I was losing about the same as I developed, so I pressed forward. Shortly after this my numbers started to climb ... (Palembang finally fell).

[Mike Solli]

I think I already ran into a problem. I keep all of my daily save files. They're in slot 11 (1st of the month) through the end of the month (38 through 41), so I don't have a specific save file to add to Tracker. I can get around that by trying to remember to save the turn in a specific slot so Tracker can see the data. Sigh...

[Mike Solli]

Has anyone heard from RangerJoe lately? He hasn't posted in 2.5 months. Hope he's ok.

[PaxMondo]

I think I already ran into a problem. I keep all of my daily save files. They're in slot 11 (1st of the month) through the end of the month (38 through 41), so I don't have a specific save file to add to Tracker. I can get around that by trying to remember to save the turn in a specific slot so Tracker can see the data. Sigh...

It doesn't care, you can re-use file numbers as often as you like, just NOT in the SAME UPLOAD. Make sense? It looks at game date, not file number ...

[PaxMondo]

Has anyone heard from RangerJoe lately? He hasn't posted in 2.5 months. Hope he's ok.

"saw" him end of June in another group ... but not since. Sent him a message ... hopefully he responds ...

[Mike Solli]

26 Nov 42

Sub War

Nothing to report.

5 Fleet

Nothing to report.

4 Fleet

Nothing to report.

SE Fleet

Some enemy YMS cleared some of the mines I dropped there. Ted did make a comment thanking me for the mines. I'm pretty sure the sub that hit one sank.

Twenty-seven enemy 4E bombers hit Tulagi's airfield today. I saw no others anywhere, but there were a slew of P-39Ds strafing PNG.

SRA

Nothing to report.

Burma

Four CA and 4 CL bombarded Chittagong again destroying 4 fighters and damaging a bunch more. I see 33% airfield damage and only 27 fighters operational. He still isn't moving those fighters inland. I'll take it. It's definitely easier (and safer) to destroy them on the ground.

MTB-12, which has harassed my bombardment TFs at Chittagong for a long time finally was hit and obliterated by the bombardment TF. Finally!

China

The Zeros sweeping Chengtu shot down all four fighters that rose against them, and took no losses. Banzai!

Only a dozen enemy squads were destroyed at Chungking by bombing and barrage today. Still waiting for reinforcing artillery and infantry. It's going to be a while. On a positive side, there is no AAA coming from Chungking (or Lanchow). That tells me there are supply issues. What do you expect with 285k troops at Chungking!

Other Stuff

Nothing to report.

[Mike Solli]

27 Nov 42 - Quiet day today.

Sub War

The RO-65 was damaged by enemy ASW forces south of Rennell Island. She'll head back to port for repairs but is in on danger of sinking.

5 Fleet

Nothing to report.

4 Fleet

Nothing to report.

SE Fleet

The last of my mines were cleared from Rennell Island. Eighty mines for an enemy sub. I'll take it.

I stationed a sentai of Nicks at Buin to LRCAP Tulagi to try and whittle down some enemy 4E bombers. Thirty Nicks found 22 enemy bombers and were able to down only a couple for no loss to themselves.

SRA

Nothing to report.

Burma

Nothing to report.

China

Over Chengtu, my Zeros shot down 2 of 3 enemy fighters for no loss. This unit is there to gain experience. They're gaining a lot for little danger to themselves.

Other Stuff

The B6N2 Jill R&D advanced to 8/43 and is expected to become operational 1/43.
The Ki-44-IIc Tojo R(D advanced to 2/43 and is expected to become operational mid December 42.

Reinforcement
SS I-35, Glen sub, will be stationed at Kwajalein for use in the central Pacific.

[Mike Solli]

28 Nov 42

Sub War

There are usually about 3 enemy subs sitting at Adak. Today, one was damaged. Will she go home? No idea.

5 Fleet

Today, 3 BB and 2 CL bombarded Adak, killing about 17 squads and adding to the port and airfield damage.

4 Fleet

Nothing to report.

SE Fleet

Eighteen 4E bombers at Tulagi were encountered by 19 Nicks. There were no losses on either side, but most of the planes on both sides took damage.

SRA

Nothing to report.

Burma

Nothing to report.

China

There was a Chinese Corps a hex to the SE of Chungking that I attacked today. The attack was perfect. The unit (already battered) was heavily damaged but not destroyed and retreated to the east. It did not reinforce the Chungking garrison. It'll starve out there. The division that attacked it will now head to Chungking, blocking that hex and totally isolating Chungking from the rest of China.

Other Stuff

The Ha-43 engine R&D advanced to 3/44 and is expected to become operational 7/43.
The A6M5b Zero R&D advanced to 11/43 and is expected to become operational 3/43.

[Mike Solli]

29 Nov 42

Sub War

The I-24 torpedoed a full TK NE of Pearl Harbor. Later in the day, I heard sinking sounds. I suspect it was the TK.

5 Fleet

Nothing to report.

4 Fleet

Nothing to report.

SE Fleet

Eighteen 4E bombers plastered Tulagi's airfield today. I withdrew the Nicks to rest and repair their damaged planes.

SRA

Nothing to report.

Burma

Nothing to report.

China

No enemy fighters rose to meet my Zeros over Chengtu today. Guess they had enough punishment?

I attacked Lanchow today getting 1:1 odds (1.76:1 actually) with 0 forts. So close. I had briefly considered a shock attack. That would have done it. The troops need supply. As soon as that arrive, a shock attack will go in. Once Lanchow is cleared, 4 divisions will be freed up to add to the Chungking siege. Also, the potential for 90 oil, 90 refinery, 60 LI and 60 resource centers is there. I would love to capture that intact. That is an extra 150 supply and 810 fuel a day.

Today's bombardment/barrage of Chungking killed 21 squads. Intel estimates 285k troops there. Wouldn't that be a nice harvest! Chungking contains 360 HI, 180 LI and 180 resources. That would be nice to capture intact too!

The other major city I want is Chengtu. There is 160 HI, 180 LI and 180 resources there.

Let's not forget that once Chungking and Chengtu are liberated, the dead Chinese infantry stays dead!

Other Stuff

Reinforcements
60 JNAF AF Unit, Southern Army, destination undecided.
The following units all arrived at Peiping and will combine with 2 tank regiments (both at Chengtu) to for 3 Tank Division:
3 Recon Battalion
3 Mobile Infantry Regiment
3 Mobile FA Regiment
3 Mobile AA Battalion
3 Mobile Engineer Regiment
The five units arrived at 75-79% TOE strength. I'm leaving them at Peiping while they fill out their TOE.