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

[Mike Solli]

Very good. Thanks, BB.

[PaxMondo]

On extended range you have little fuel to engage in combat. Drop tanks give you more to work with, but if you fly out too far on the DT, you will also end up with no fuel to do combat with.

Edit to add: Don't forget, the further out you go, the bigger the sky you have to cover. Sweeps are OK because you select a single hex, but a CAP patrol would be badly diluted.

Yeah, everything BB said above ... if you are going to CAP or Sweep beyond about 50% of normal range, then adding drop tanks will help your performance, more loiter time at target or better to say that you take fuel out of the equation, it's just how much ammo you have. Just remember it doubles your supply usage. I'm very cautious with both long range sweeps and CAP UNLESS they are over my troops.

[Mike Solli]

On extended range you have little fuel to engage in combat. Drop tanks give you more to work with, but if you fly out too far on the DT, you will also end up with no fuel to do combat with.

Edit to add: Don't forget, the further out you go, the bigger the sky you have to cover. Sweeps are OK because you select a single hex, but a CAP patrol would be badly diluted.

Yeah, everything BB said above ... if you are going to CAP or Sweep beyond about 50% of normal range, then adding drop tanks will help your performance, more loiter time at target or better to say that you take fuel out of the equation, it's just how much ammo you have. Just remember it doubles your supply usage. I'm very cautious with both long range sweeps and CAP UNLESS they are over my troops.

Thanks for the advice. I only do sweeps when the odds are in my favor. Well, usually...

[Mike Solli]

4 Dec 42

Sub War

Nothing to report.

5 Fleet

Nothing to report.

4 Fleet

Nothing to report.

SE Fleet

Four enemy YMS showed up at Tulagi today clearing the 48 mines that were there slowly decaying. I suspect the invasion is coming soon. I sent KB2 south from Truk. They'll be in position in 2 days. I would love to catch an amphibious TF loaded with troops.

At the very edge of my Emily search, I see 2 ships in heavy rain at Luganville and they're labeled as CVEs. I see no planes so it really could be anything. Keeping an eye on them to try to get more intel.

I see 2 TFs totaling 7 ships at Rennell Island and 2 TFs of 7 ships a hex to the SE. Most are escorts but I also see an APD. *Shrug* If things work out, I might be able to trash them all. We'll see...

Thirty-one 4E bombers hit Tulagi again with 11x 2E bombers and 23 P-39Ds hitting SE PNG.

Another 17 P-39Ds went after Gasmata, surprisingly. I have 9 Zeros stationed there and they managed to shoot down 3 Airacobras. I'll take it!

SRA

I sent 18 Oscars to sweep 8 Wildcats over Darwin. What a disaster. Three Oscars were shot down with another 4 op losses (1 KIA, 1 WIA, 2 MIA) to on Wildcat shot down and another probable op loss.

Burma

Nothing to report.

China

A couple of sentai of Sallies bombed Lanchow's airfield, primarily to ensure there were no forts built. I needn't have worried. The shock attack got 3:1 odds with no forts. Banzai! The remnants retreated along the road to the south. Two hexes south of Lanchow is a base with nothing in it. I suspect the remnants will march there and take it, but they'll just starve in a base. No matter. Anyway, the infrastructure was in pretty good shape:

Manpower: 1(1)
Resources: 50(10)
Oil: 75(15)
Refinery: 75(15)
LI: 50(10)

The only thing I will allow to repair is the oil, and I'm not trying to repair them. If they get enough supply there to repair, great. If not, I don't care.

My increases are as follows per day:

Oil: Net 0
Fuel: 675
Supply: 125 Nice!
Resources: 500

That's an extra 3750 supply a month. I'll take it!

The four divisions involved in the operation are already headed to the northern railhead for use in Chungking. There are several tank regiments that are resting in Lanchow, along with its garrison. I'll let them recover there. They'll go clean up the remnants after Chungking and Chengtu fall.

Speaking of Chengtu, the shock attack there went in. I got 2:1 odds with fort level 2, but the attack reduced the fort level to 0! I have some bombers hitting the airfield there. They'll continue to do so until my army replenishes its supply so I can attack again. That one should do the trick!

Today's bombardment of Chungking killed 15 squads. Unfortunately, something came back because the Chinese AV jumped by about 300. The raw AV is 3020 Japanese to 5296 Chinese.

Other Stuff

The N1K1-J George R&D factories now have 10 (of18) fully repaired, increasing R&D to 20% per day. If no more factories are fully repaired, the George will become operational in 14 days. At that time I'll let 5x30 factories become operational and the remaining 13 will stay in R&D for the George 2 and 5.

The George 2 will become operational 3/43 and the George 5 (using the Ha-43 engine) will become operational 9/43. At that point, the George 5 will use all 18x30 engines operationally, for 540 a month. I'm not sure I'll need that many but I'll let it ride and see what I need. At a minimum, I'll build up a nice reserve.

So, I'll produce ~450 George 1 over 3 months then ~900 George 2 over 6 months then the George 5 at 540 a month. That seems kind of excessive, but we'll see...

[PaxMondo]

4 Dec 42
Another 17 P-39Ds went after Gasmata, surprisingly. I have 9 Zeros stationed there and they managed to shoot down 3 Airacobras. I'll take it!

You are having way better success against these than I do. Either he has lousy pilots, or you have a secret that you need to share!

I sent 18 Oscars to sweep 8 Wildcats over Darwin. What a disaster. Three Oscars were shot down with another 4 op losses (1 KIA, 1 WIA, 2 MIA) to on Wildcat shot down and another probable op loss.

Yeah, I would have the same results ... I HATE Oscars ....

Manpower: 1(1)
Resources: 50(10)
Oil: 75(15)
Refinery: 75(15)
LI: 50(10)

Yep, nice pickup there.

Speaking of Chengtu, the shock attack there went in. I got 2:1 odds with fort level 2, but the attack reduced the fort level to 0! I have some bombers hitting the airfield there. They'll continue to do so until my army replenishes its supply so I can attack again. That one should do the trick!

Wow!! Great result!!!!

The N1K1-J George R&D factories now have 10 (of18) fully repaired, increasing R&D to 20% per day. If no more factories are fully repaired, the George will become operational in 14 days. At that time I'll let 5x30 factories become operational and the remaining 13 will stay in R&D for the George 2 and 5.

The George 2 will become operational 3/43 and the George 5 (using the Ha-43 engine) will become operational 9/43. At that point, the George 5 will use all 18x30 engines operationally, for 540 a month. I'm not sure I'll need that many but I'll let it ride and see what I need. At a minimum, I'll build up a nice reserve.

So, I'll produce ~450 George 1 over 3 months then ~900 George 2 over 6 months then the George 5 at 540 a month. That seems kind of excessive, but we'll see...

George is good for the rest of the war. It will struggle late war against the top US fighters (Bolt/Stang/F4U), but the firepower will keep it good for bombers. It is one of the toughest IJ fighters with the most firepower ... rarity in your inventory until J7W ...

So, I don't think 540/mo is a ridiculous number at all. Will you produce that rate non-stop? No, but you will definitely produce them continuously and the ability to burst 540/mo will come in handy.

5x30 to start means 3 36 plane groups converted/month (with spares and losses) ... prolly about right given how few IJN fighter groups you have right now excluding the KB. If you start using the KB groups, and swapping aircraft, then you might be short aircraft ...

[Mike Solli]

My land-based Zero pilots are VERY good. The problem I'm having is that I train IJN fighters until they reach 70/70 and then save them for KB replacements. I need to pull some out around 66-69 exp range for land based use and draw KB replacements from the land-based units. I also have far too many elite pilots in all of my IJN fighter units (KB and land-based), for the reasons discussed just above.

I'm sure I'll build the George the way you describe. On and off as needed. Right now the only place I used land-based IJN fighters is in SE Fleet AO and the total is 98. Everything else being used for training.

[Mike Solli]

5 Dec 42

Sub War

A midget sub entered Tulagi and torpedoed a YMS before being blown apart by a depth charge. It was fun to do but not worth the point differential.

5 Fleet

Three BB and 2 CL bombarded Adak killing 8 squads and getting a supply hit. 56 Division is 7 days out and 9 Division is 9 days out. I hope to wrap this up this month.

I landed at Cold Bay and will take it tomorrow. That's the farthest east I'm going in the Aleutians. I'm not sure if Cold Bay is part of the Aleutians proper.

4 Fleet

Nothing to report.

SE Fleet

In the morning, 5 Nells based in Buin attempted to intercept the enemy shipping at Tulagi, but ran into a 6 Wildcat CAP, most likely from Rennell Island. All five were shot down but, interestingly, there were only 3 crews wounded.

Later in the day, another 6 Nells, this time escorted by 9 Zeros arrived from Buin and ran into those 6 Wildcats. The Zeros protected the bombers losing one of their number (WIA again) but the bombers made runs on 2 DEs, missing both.

Ten P-39Ds showed up at Gasmata again. This time, my 9 Zeros shot down 4. I added another 9 Zeros for tomorrow in case they come back.

The total enemy sorties were 40x 4E against Tulagi and 11x 2E and an even 100 P-39Ds against SE PNG.

If KB2 actually cruises at its mission speed (which seems to be doubtful), it'll be just in range of Tulagi with its Kates. We'll see if they actually launch. Between Rennell Island and Tulagi, I see 5 small TFs. I think they're trying to clear my subs before the invasion goes in. I hope KB2 doesn't get in range. I'd like to hold off another day or two to get a shot at some of those juicy bigger ships. I'm not interested in the small fry that's floating around there. To be honest, I forgot to check on KB2. I forgot to put it in my "to check" notes.

SRA

Nothing to report.

Burma

Nothing to report.

China

Chungking's bombing killed another 23 squads.

I sent 74 Sallies against Chengtu's airfield and they plastered it. I don't need to worry about forts for a long time. The army received more supply and will shock attack tomorrow. In addition, I have about 115 Sallies scheduled to bomb the troops to help out. Fingers crossed!

Other Stuff

I'm starting to get excited. I'm starting to get my mid-war fighters for both the IJA and IJN. The Tojo IIc starts producing 7 a day in a week. I'll be able to convert a sentai a week after that. The first one goes to Burma. Numbers 2 and 3 go to SE Fleet AO. Then, probably more to Burma.

The George will arrive this month as well. The latest it will start producing will be 17 Dec 42, and that's only if no more R&D factories complete repairs. That's unlikely, so the production start date will likely be earlier. Then, I'll get 5 a day, and they will all go to SE Fleet AO. I will probably outfit all of the Zero units there with the George. I have 2x 31 and 4x 9 plane units totaling 98 aircraft. So, I'll be able to outfit one daitai a week and a chutai every 2 days. Twenty days to get them all upgraded. The only down side is the service rating of 3.

[sfatula]

Those high experience IJN land based pilots in the Zeroes right now will be even better in the Georges and you'll save some pilots too! You are already killing the P39s, even better with the Georges. They can complement the IJA Nicks and are even better against the bombers. Just suffer a little with SR3 until you can get the next model. Likely too late for the impending invasion.

If you replace those land based zeroes, you'll have a surplus of them for a while.

Yes, the Oscars suck. Always have.

[PaxMondo]

5 Dec 42

I'm starting to get excited. I'm starting to get my mid-war fighters for both the IJA and IJN. The Tojo IIc starts producing 7 a day in a week. I'll be able to convert a sentai a week after that. The first one goes to Burma. Numbers 2 and 3 go to SE Fleet AO. Then, probably more to Burma.

The George will arrive this month as well. The latest it will start producing will be 17 Dec 42, and that's only if no more R&D factories complete repairs. That's unlikely, so the production start date will likely be earlier. Then, I'll get 5 a day, and they will all go to SE Fleet AO. I will probably outfit all of the Zero units there with the George. I have 2x 31 and 4x 9 plane units totaling 98 aircraft. So, I'll be able to outfit one daitai a week and a chutai every 2 days. Twenty days to get them all upgraded. The only down side is the service rating of 3.

Yeah, Tojo and George starting '43 is a good feeling. Now you need to get the Frank ... Tojo's will really struggle against both the early F4U and P47's, fortunately the allies don't get too many, but Ted is demonstrating that he is focused on getting his best aircraft into meaningful service right away ... so you will see them soon. They only thing I have found is to use numbers against them, 3:1 at least, 4:1 better.

[PaxMondo]

I am happy to say that news of Ranger Joe's demise are greatly exaggerated. He is fine and should be posting back in the forums shortly. I will allow him to dream up what pathetic excuse he can for his absence!

Welcome back RJ!!!!!

[Mike Solli]

I am happy to say that news of Ranger Joe's demise are greatly exaggerated. He is fine and should be posting back in the forums shortly. I will allow him to dream up what pathetic excuse he can for his absence!

Welcome back RJ!!!!!

That's great news!

[Mike Solli]

6 Dec 42

Sub War

Nothing to report.

5 Fleet

Nothing to report.

4 Fleet

Nothing to report.

SE Fleet

Thirty-eight 4E bombers hit Tulagi's port causing a couple of points of damage. They needn't have bothered. It's going to take a LONG time to repair the damage to the port and airfield. Glad I already have level 3 forts. The enemy ships pulled back from Tulagi and KB2 didn't come within strike range anyhow, so I have KB2 sitting outside of strike range waiting for some juicy target to appear. I have eyeballs all the way to Luganville (I love those Emilies!) so I don't think there will be any sneaking up on me there.

SRA

Nothing to report.

Burma

Nothing to report.

China

I pulled the Zeros out of China. They are now finishing up training on pilots that are close to 70/70. There are no more active CAF aircraft.

I had an even 100 Sallies bomb the troops at Chengtu in preparation for the main event there. They killed a few squads, disabled a lot, but most importantly, they increased the disruption on the enemy troops.

The main event was (obviously) the shock attack on Chengtu:

Ground combat at Chengtu (75,41)

Japanese Shock attack

Attacking force 10141 troops, 143 guns, 490 vehicles, Assault Value = 387

Defending force 12264 troops, 70 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 191

Japanese adjusted assault: 1223

Allied adjusted defense: 117

Japanese assault odds: 10 to 1 (fort level 0)

Japanese forces CAPTURE Chengtu !!!

Allied aircraft
no flights

Allied aircraft losses
I-15-III: 4 destroyed
SB-III: 4 destroyed

Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), disruption(-), preparation(-), morale(-)
experience(-)
Attacker: shock(+)

Japanese ground losses:
168 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 19 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 11 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Vehicles lost 28 (2 destroyed, 26 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
4243 casualties reported
Squads: 127 destroyed, 29 disabled
Non Combat: 160 destroyed, 20 disabled
Engineers: 21 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 17 (10 destroyed, 7 disabled)
Units retreated 3

Assaulting units:
13th Tank Regiment
17th Tank Regiment
1st Tank Division
4th Ind.Mixed Regiment
23rd Army

Defending units:
24th Chinese Corps
71st Chinese Corps
3rd Chinese Base Force

The trashed Chinese retreated into the forest hex to the NE. There they will starve until Chungking is taken. This attack was perfect because no Chinese units died but they took pretty bad losses.

The infrastructure took a hit, but I'll take what I can get:

Manpower: 2(1)
Resources: 71(109)
HI: 31(48)
LI: 71(109)

That nets me 102 supply a day and 62 HI a day, almost 2 extra fighters built a day, which I will use. I am not repairing any of that.

Chungking's bombardment caused 21 squad losses. Raw AV:

Japan: 3365 (+12 from yesterday)
China: 5282 (-30 from yesterday)

The Sallies that bombed Chengtu will now hit Chungking, in addition to 38 Lilies and 31 Marys. The number of Sallies will increase by about 50 shortly.

Other Stuff

Reinforcement
AMc Kevin Maru #2, will convert to a PB.