AAR from a Taken game

[Hard Sarge]

I got some saves from a game that I helped replace some units that went missing due to some of the early bugs in the game that we had found and fixed in some of JC's OOB's

the settings and time in the game looked interesting, as it was being played in a different style then I play, so I have asked if I could play it and report on what I am doing

got the go ahead, so will try and do so

some background as far as I can tell

it is oct 15th 1944
the score is 2-20-12
the LW and the GE industry have not been broken
(which since I had to go inside of the game to find and replace the missing units, I know a little more of what is going on, then I normally should, but will say, shutting down the Aircraft factoritys is not going to be of help, until a lot later, the GE has a major stockpile, so my normal attiction tactics are not going to do much)

over all, I think this is pretty much a verison 1 game (don't know if any of the patches were added to it (my game is patched, so playing the saves on my game, should mean the game is patched now?) but none of the changes from any of the OOB's are in the game, so that is interesting, targets and AF's I am used to, are not there

the NGJ are nasty, mean and nasty and tons of them !!!!, I will really have to go back and rethink, relearn my night tactic's

Flak, Flak is every where and very heavy, even if I out think, out smart the AI, I am going to take a pounding on anything I fly by, plus the LW is in full strength, and has a lot of advanced aircraft

the good news, I am at full strength also, am in the middle of trying to reogarnize my forces

the ground war has been very kind to me, got a close battle front, most of the major oilfields are under Russian control

early tactics are to find the LW, see where and how it wants to fight, and then try and out fight him

the LW holds about a 2 and 1/2 to 1 kill ratio over the Allies, that will need to change

{just to make things clear, there are things I am going to be doing, saying, that need to be done, because of the fixes I did to the game, not because of the person who was playing the game before me, so read about some of my changes with a grain of salt}

[Hard Sarge]

night time, the news has come in, Hap Arnold has been "promoted" and moved upstairs

someone new is coming in to take over the Airwar, all the old stand byes have been looked at and found wanting, so the high command has gone to the Pacific and pulled out a tuff old bird to take over

bad enough, all the different nations have to serve under one commander, normally a Yank or a Limy, now they wake up to find out that got to follow the Commands of a U.S. Marine

the Airwar has never been fun, or pretty, but now, it is going to get nasty

[Hard Sarge]

the first few days, it will be the same old, same old, as the System works itself out and new orders filter down, but the word is out

Kill the LW, in the air, on the ground, in the factory, no longer are they to enjoy there dinners after a day of fighting, it is time for them to morn and fear the coming day

easy words, it is time to put the words to action

Oct 16th

most of the IXth gets orders to move to new bases, too many fancy, shinning planes in the IXth, I want some Bolts, big, nasty, dirty Bolts, 4 FG's give up there Stangs and return to the Bolt

2nd Tac, still has a lot of fighters in the beachhead area, those will need to be closer to the front

half of the fighters from the XVth are back from there little vaction and now are ready for action, 2 Squadrons of Spits trade in there lovely birds for shiny new Stands

the XIIth makes some moves, to get better coverage of the battle front

the morning starts out with the IXth in full swing, Power plants on the front line take a pounding, the VIIIth heads out from some of the Chem and BB plants, nothing overly deep, front line and just beyond, if the LW wants to fight, they will have to come and find us

shorts raids in the MED, more to find the enemy bases then to do damage

day time, not bad, I lose 21 and the GE lose 54, good damage on some targets, night is a slaughter, Flak is a bear, and lots of crashes on the way home or at home, the day ends with 66 Allied planes going down, for 66 LW, Kassel and Hamburg were hit good, Bemenshaven is glowning bright red also, 2 of my Intruders have a good night, but that is about all

2000 missions flown by the NGJ !, that will have to stop, one way or another
gain a point of AS and 2 of SD

[Hard Sarge]

Oct 17th
bad weather sets in, this will be the major hassle, the Spainish front is really going to be bad, as that flows over Italy, so when they show good, the clouds from Spain will ruin most of the day

Oct 18th
more reorgainizeing, base changes, more hunting
the Allies lose 16 the LW loses 39
looks like the MED is going to be my killing ground
pick up another point of SD
most of the BB at SF have been hit, but the big one don't want to go down

Oct 19th
time for the MED to show off and see what the defences in the East are like, target for today, Vienna, every fighter squadron is going to be in action, half the bomb force, a 700 + raid is set for action, the XIIth and Med AF are sent as decoy, bait to draw up the close range defences

up north, more power sites and Chem and Rubber are the targets

65 squadron flying with the IXth had a great pass, claiming 7 109 K's in one pass !!!

the defence in the East looks pretty good !, 190 D's, 109 K's, 262's and lots of 190 F's
today will be known in the LW as Black 19th as long as they can remember, 58 190 F's are shot down, they still get there licks in, one good size gruppen even got close enough to let off a good rocket attack, but for the most part, they died, they died by themselfs and in groups, ground attack planes can not stand up to fighters

the 262's did well, claiming more then they lost, but they still lost planes and pilots

this looks to be the main target, the LW will come out to fight and is in range of my fighters, this will become the blood pit

the Allies lose 58 planes, many to Flak, more to landing and crashes, the LW loses 101, the sweeps have not started yet, so all is air to air, that will change once I lock him into place

a good day, a good day to die, I plan many more good days for the LW

I gain another point of SD, so 3-24-12
Rubber has hit the Crit level, need to shut down Chem and Alum, debateing on if the main target should be power or Oil

major shake up in the XVth, all the 38's have been pulled, 20 were lost in combat today, that is 20 too many, all have been replaced with 51 D's, which means, 2nd Tac is going back to Spitfires, FC loses there Stangs also

I have lost 140 planes in 4 days, the LW has lost 306, not good enough, I am not even breaking even
weather is going to be a killer

[Hard Sarge]

Oct 19th
bad weather all over

ahhh this gonna be a pain

Oct 20th
clear over England and France, Germany is covered, It is a mess, plot raids and hope for holes in the clouds

ahhh, half the decoy raids are cancelled due to bad weather, LOL 8% clouds and nobody can take off, what a joke

Sweeps begin today, target 3 AF's, catch 109 K's on 2 of them, 18 kills and 28 damaged, 93 Bolts damged by Flak !

3rd AF is the charm though, catch some 262's 8 kills and 16 damaged, but Flak was stronger, lose 5 to Flak and another 71 damaged (hmmm notes look wrong)

Sweeps worked out good, but the return trip was a mess, the units wouldn't fly back along there paths, just took off on there own, right across all the Flak zones

Major battle over Holland, the VIIIth puts a pounding on the defenders, but the return trip gets a little bloody

2nd Tac has changed there bombers from Mossies to B-17's, I am going to need 2nd Tac's fighters

pretty much a blood bath, 65 Allied go down for 85 LW, and night is yet to come

I do well with one of the bugs in the game, get a lot of NGJ to crash because my jammers were out, going to be HARD to use, I need the Jammers to get my bombers in, but the Jammers also cause crashes, oh well, they shouldn't fly at night if they don't want to gain Alt

targets are hit all night long, every hour another raid takes off (should of waiting another hour before I sent out the 2nd raid)

over all
I gain a point of AS back, gain a point of SD and Terror, so 3-25-13
102 Allied planes go down, and 144 LW go down also

I really need to break the LW

[Hard Sarge]

Oct 21st
Weather is not great, but should be good enough to take off, finding the targets may be ruffer, so not a major raid day

time for some new tricks in the Med
a raid to Bugerest, with a follow on raid, a cross over raid flying out early and then two more flying late, to try and catch anything chasing the main raids

plot a major raid with the 26s of the IXth, 400 bombers with 700 fighters head off to a Jet AF

it never takes off !, all my decoy raids are grounded, the VIII targets 3 AF's in Holland

HARD and heavy fighting in Holland, my bombs catch a number of planes on the ground, all 3 fields seem packed, would be a clear win, but lots of crashes on the way back and in landing

the main action is in the Med

try another trick, send out 4 GB 38 squadrons on sweeps to follow my raids, hopeing to catch the GE in the landing patterns,but timeing is going to be very HARD, target AF's are over 700 miles away

to be honest, did pretty good, 3 of the 4 sweeps found there targets, only 1 was deflected, of course, that was the one going to the MAIN field

this area is right now, a Prime killing zone, not many fields, so each is loaded, the trick is getting to them

I lose 85 during the day, the LW loses 110, if my guys ever learn how to land, I will be a very happy commander

Night is a slaughter, Elints and Jammers, with NF flying between them, swarm the north, then a raid to the outskirts of Hamburg, over 250 or so bombers, giving the rest the night off, to rest and regroup

heavyist NI missions of the war for me so far, not impressed, still not getting the right bases

end of night I show the Allies lost 97 to the LW losing 201, end of day, looks like the SAS has snuck in, another 24 planes are down, so a good day, 97 losses for me, 225 for the LW

that is more like it, the Jammer bug is making a mess out of the night raids

score stays the same

[Hard Sarge]

Oct 22

the Sun God smiles upon us today the sun is out, everywhere, it is time to unleash the Horde,of course a number of my units are on stand down, due to plane changes or recovering the strength or from moving, oh well, I got enough others to cover there slack off time

Heavy Losses to Flak, Heavy losses to flying into the ground, losses to the LW, in the end, very Heavy losses for the Allies, 150 planes go down, even worse, more then half of them are fighters !

new orders are sent out from the command on high, all Excourt groups are to dump the P-38,the 38 can not compete with the 109 K/190 D, when it attacks, it gets shot down, when it is attacked, it gets shot down, so, it is a sweeper now

of course, that means a number of units are going to be upset, they lose there Stangs, almost every Stang that can be spared is headed to the VIII and XVth FC

Bloody day, but blood flows both ways, 191 LW birds go down as well, 41 on the ground

but while it was costly, it hurt the Germen, maybe not were it shows, but it hurt

score is now 3-30-13

[Hard Sarge]

23th Oct
a day of rest and refit, both sides need it

just small raids, lots of Tiffies, so close to the front, Power stations are easy targets, as long as you don't over stay your welcome

Score
3-32-13

24th Oct
more Power Stations and will again try to finish off the Rubber targets

I lose 82, while the LW loses 151, the SAS kicks in to help the total

score
3-32-13

25th Oct
another day to rest, poor tiffies, never get to rest, half of the squadrons are down to 10 planes, but the pressure must be kept on

I lose 1, the LW loses 5 SAS again helps (no air to air combat)

score
3-34-13

26th Oct
decent weather
time to return to the blood pit, but, with a twist, two thirds of the way there, the first raid turns and heads north, with hit the AFAC at Wernier, while the 2nd raid heads to Tokai AF, along with a few units of 38's on Sweeps, all the fields in the area will be hit

the Tempests from FC have been moved over to 2nd Tac, the Tiffies need some help, Power and Ports, the VIIIth will again try to hit some Alum (seems every attack on Alum, the target has been cloud covered !)

the Blood pit lives up to it's name and heavy losses are scored here, only most of them belong to the enemy, I may be starting to break the LW's back, he may be starting to run out of the good pilots, or I just get lucky and run into the poor planes (60 + 190 F's go down)

the Allies lose 78 planes, while the LW loses 177 (44 on the ground with 112 more damaged, the SAS is going to have a ball shortly)

score stays the same
3-34-13

so far, in 12 days of fighting, I have lost 651 planes (168 claimed as Flak losses, but total is much higher), the LW has lost 1101 (133 on the ground)

I have been able to up the score by 16 points, but most of that is the easy targets, the big targets, I don't think I can really pull many more 3-4 point gains in a day from now on
(Berlin maybe, but to be honest, the Big B scares me, that is just one mother of a Flak Trap)

the Polish Squadrons have joined VIIIth FC

[Hard Sarge]

the target list when I started and as of now

odd, how the area numbers have changed ? maybe I have seen more ?

[Hard Sarge]

Oct 27
bad weather

Oct 28

the sun God again smiles

time to start wearing him out, all day long the raids are going to come

I finally find some Me-163 !, bombed there airfield and blasted them on the runway

the VIIIth hits a number of AF's in Holland, the IXth hits some AF's in the middle of Germany, while the 12th and Med hit AF's in Italy, the XVth heads to the blood pit and hits a AFAC

(funny, how it is the 12th, but it is the VIIIth and IXth and XVth AirForce)

Major battles in Holland, before one raid even leaves the area, the next battle begins, the blood pit is another slaughter

BC is busy all night, the major raid does not start until after midnight, but the NJG's are kept budy all night long, 1400 bombers head to Hamburg

I lose 114 planes (10 daybombers, 60 fighters ????) the LW loses his shirt, 355 planes go down (the SAS is being a big help)

I gain a point of AS and SD, so
score
4-35-12

[Hard Sarge]

29 Oct

bad weather in the Med, so battle will be in the north today

massive Raids by Tiffies and Tempies, the IXth is sent out to hit a AF in the middle of Germany, hopefully to draw in as many fighters as they can

the VIIIth is sent back to the AF's in Holland, and to hit a Rubber site, hopeing to draw fighters away from a sweep

too much moon light and moon setting to late, so BC gets to sit this one out again

oh oh, early raids only pull out 30 some fighters, the IXth pulls another 60, where are the Jerries ?

the raid into Holland only draws out 70 fighters ?

oh my, the raid in the middle draws 920 fighters !, all the full Gruppens are in the air, Gruppens I have not seen yet are even in the air !, the Me-163's even take off

at least, most of the Gruppen are from far away, and either run out of gas before they reach the raid or just as they get there, which, means my fighters don't get all the action they could of, but they still get enough, must say, it is scary watching 4 full Gruppen of 262's closing in, waiting for the hammer to fall, only to see them break off and turn away

the sweep, never got close to there target, but they did get into the back flow of the retiring Jerries, so they were able to pick off a few

46 Allied planes are lost (the middle raid could of been a slaughter, but got away with one) the LW loses 193 planes (very little sweeping damage this day)

score stays the same
4-35-13

really needed the Med battle this time around, it could of been the straw that broke the Jerries back, oh well

[Andy Mac]

How does the SAS help is that in the Med and Italy raiding German AF's ?

[Hard Sarge]

there is a bug, planes that are overly damaged while on the ground, end up being killed later, while the program does a clean up routine, so that they get reported as lost about 2 turns later (they should show up as killed when they go over the damage limit, but game does not do so)

before we found out what was happening (or think we found out) it was suggested that it was the result of SAS raids

(you would have a day with no raids sent out, but end up getting 10-20 planes showing up as being killed, the SAS must of got them)

[The Dude]

Sounds like that game is a blast[:)]

[Hard Sarge]

Oct 30th
bad weather, and I need a rest, big time I need some rest

Oct 31th
good weather across the map

snap raids with the tiffies, a trap raid with the IXth, the AI does not bite !, oh well

return to the blood pit

ahhh, this is a prefect area, the AI has to defend it, and it has to stack up it's fighters here, and since there are not many airfields, it is stuck

BEST LAID PLANS

the main idea
the Med's from MED and the Tiffies will try and take out the two ports in the Balkins, which should draw off some of the early fighters, then the Main raid will take off, heading to Bukrest (?) 30 minutes later 3 sweeps will take off, which should put them on the AF's about 10-15 minutes before the bombers hit the target, 30 minutes later 3 more sweeps take off, which will put them pretty close to hitting the fields just as the bombers are hitting the target, 30 minutes later the last 3 sweeps will take off, which means they should hit the fields as the bombers are leaving the area

maybe a decent chance to catch some cripples and get into the landing pattern

how the plan worked out

raid is delayed, raid is delayed, over and over again, in fact, the main raid ends up taking off before the decoy does, even worse, by the time the main raid takes off, all 9 sweeps take off at the same time !

so what happens ?

the Ground controllers are watching the main raid as it gets closer and closer to the target, all the fields are alerted, the planes are moved to the ready line, waiting for the word to go, when 2 FG's and 7 Squadrons of fighters dive out of the skies

the Blood pit lives up to it's name

73 planes are destroyed on the ground with another 95 damaged, the sweepers pay a price, but most of it is as they head off to Dover, but even then, they battle and take down more enemy planes, besides the fact that they also draw off most of the front line fighters, so when the raid gets with in range, it is 190 F's and 190 A8's which comprise most of the attacking force, the Stangs of XVth FC have a field day

(another black day, 78 190 F's are lost !)

over all, the Allies lose 66 planes, the LW loses 172

but, I lose a point of AS, but the VIIIth and IXth FC are ready for the next clear day

3-35-13

the Allies begin an Attack on the Saerland (?)

[Hard Sarge]

Well now, looks like I been slack in reporting, too many posts on research I guess

hassle now is I don't remember all the details or the targets, so will be briff (yea right, that will be the day)

Nov 1st
Bad weather shuts down both fronts

1 GE plane is lost

Nov 2nd
more bad weather, funny, Nov/Dec can be very good or very bad for rading

lose a point of SD but the GE lose another 11 planes

Nov 3rd
come out hot and heavy, standard plans, Tiffies as decoys, and small target hitters, some sweeps, and some heavy raids
the Allies lose 139 planes, 38 to Flak, the GE lose 471, 37 to ground attack, I gain a point of AS and SD

Terror is going to hurt me, I can't build it up too fast, and it is way down

score is 4-35-13

Nov 4th
bad weather
the bad part is I either need a week of bad weather or a week of good weather, these little breaks do me no good, I may be bleeding the LW dry, but I am weaking my forces too

Nov 5th
bad weather in the MED

Tiffies and Heavies, I don't like AF Sweeps up here, too many flak traps, so if the AF is to be hit, it needs to be done with bombers, but if the weather is good enough to bomb, there are better targets to hit then AF's

Chem is hurting, BB are hurting, Fuel is hurting, Steel is hurting, power is going to be close to hurting

I gain 2 points of SD, the Allies lose 81 planes, 29 to flak, the LW loses 311, 2 on the ground

so, 4-37-13

Nov 6h
all fronts attack, but the Blood pit is clouded over

I have hit the Big B the last two nights, 1400 and 1200 Heavies, did 18% and added about another 7 on the 2nd day, Murder, BC needs a rest

Score is 4-37-13, the Allies lose 120 planes, 45 to Flak, the LW loses 161

Nov 7th
bad weather in the MED

Chem is crippled, Rubber is crippled, according to the list, Fuel and Oil is crippled along with Arm, we will see

Power is almost crippled, but it is going to take major strikes to finish it off, nothing close to the front is working

BB looks like all I need is Erker, to finish that off, but I am not heading to the Big B during the day, anytime soon, unless fuel really is knocked out

the Allies lose 40 planes today, the LW loses 59

score is now 4-40-13

I sure hope the LW back is broken, most of the Allies forces sure look to be, my Tiffies are all but crushed, my Tempies are even worse, my B-26's from IXth are ruined

only people healthy and raring to go are 2 Bomb Group and the MED force, the B-24's from the VIIIth are still game, but the Fighters need a break

ahhh, it is time to change over the IXth to a HEAVY Bomb unit, I need those fighters, plus the time delay in refroming will force me to hold off on using them, so there morale will gain

got 4 units of Tiffies still in FC, those will need to transfer to 2nd Tac

ahhh, didn't want to, but looks like XIIth will be going Heavy too, I need the fighters

ahhh the joys, a couple days of decent weather and the war could be over, but my forces can't take the strain, a couple days of bad weather, and my forces will be able to go on, but will have to start all over again

so close and yet so far