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ORIGINAL: Kitakami

A question... what is the best way to CAP a base two hexes away from the originating airfield?

- CAP at 2 hexes.
- CAP at 0 hexes, with the target set as the airfield I want to protect.
- LRCAP at two hexes.
- LRCAP at 0 hexes, with the target set as the airfield I want to protect.
- Any other?

In general, what I need to do is to protect a number of airfields close to each other the best I can, as any (or several) of them could be hit by air.

Thanks tons!

LRCAP at two if it's for a puntual duty. If it has to be employed for days, CAP at 2 hexes.

Thankfully, there was no need for it... because I forgot to set that CAP. But I got the combat replay, and it was not a problem.
The Thundering Herds (TM), though, were a massacre. Japanese subs scored no less than half a dozen kills. Several fuel carriers were lost, and at least two troop transports and a sub tender. Surface IJN units had a field day!

Zeros sweeped Pearl Harbour. B-17s attacked Kido Butai. I lost a few fighters on defense (around 5), and a couple of Fortresses. The B-17s downed a couple of Zeros on CAP. What is more important, though, is that PH's airfield and the damaged planes on it got time to get repaired, so if there is another attack next turn, I should be in better shape than I was on turn 2.

I will post more when I get the turn.

Ok... I have had the turn since yesterday, but this week is being rather heavy with work-related stuff. Here are a few thoughts to get the discussion going:

1. At the beginning of turn three, the following bases are short (of double monthly requirements) on supply:
--- Seattle, Short 5378
--- Tacoma, Short 3018
--- Victoria, Short 8462
--- Alameda,Short 2558
--- Chengchow, Short 1006
--- Nanyang, Short 1107
--- Sining, Short 981
--- Tsiaotso, Short 2982
--- Yenan, Short 950
--- Chuhsien, Short 38
--- Ankang, Short 148

2. At the beginning of turn three, the following industries lack raw materials:
--- Komsomolsk, Short 800 oil
--- Hong Kong, Short 4375 resources
--- Calcutta, Short 12602 resources
--- Madras, Short 2529 resources
--- Melbourne, Short 12132 resources
--- Sydney, Short 16362 resources
--- Vancouver, Short 1788 resources
--- San Francisco, Short 828 resources
--- Naga, Short 240 resources
--- Hong Kong, Short 4375 resources
--- Bombay, Short 7346 resources
--- Calcutta, Short 12602 resources
--- Delhi, Short 185 resources
--- Hyderabad, Short 294 resources
--- Lahore, Short 200 resources
--- Madras, Short 2529 resources
--- Melbourne, Short 12132 resources
--- Sydney, Short 16362 resources
--- Vancouver, Short 1788 resources
--- Winnipeg, Short 2598 resources
--- Chungking, Short 5506 resources
--- Kunming, Short 1876 resources
--- Tjilatjap, Short 375 resources
--- Balikpapan, Short 375 resources
--- Kwangchowan, Short 128 resources
--- Soviet Union, Short 13359 resources

3. I lost Itbayat Island and Kuantan last turn. Kuantan worries me, a LOT, because Kota Bharu has not been invaded.

4. The following ships were lost last turn:
--- AS Holland, AS Janssens
--- TK Djirak
--- AO Pecos
--- xAP Hong Siang, xAP Kedah, xAP Kelantan, xAP Poelau Laut
--- xAK Chilka, xAK Wing Sang, xAK Capillo
--- xAKL Chaksang, xAKL Lematang, xAKL Escalante, xAKL Sarangami, xAKL Compagnia Filipinas, xAKL Fortuna

5. According to Tracker, these were the plane losses for the turn:
--- G4M1 Betty 12
--- A6M2 Zero 9
--- Hudson I 8
--- P-40E Warhawk 8
--- P-40B Warhawk 7
--- P-36A Mohawk 6
--- B-17E Fortress 4
--- Blenheim I 3
--- B-17D Fortress 3
--- E13A1 Jake 2
--- Ki-27b Nate 2
--- Ki-43-Ib Oscar 2
--- Beaufort V (PR) 1
--- F4F-3 Wildcat 1
--- B5N2-C Kate 1
--- C5M2 Babs 1
--- H6K4 Mavis 1
--- Ki-21-IIa Sally 1
Total losses for the turn are reported as 31 Japanese for 41 Allied.

6. Turn 1 saw a net loss of 153 VP. Turn 2 saw a net loss of 173 VP.


These are the things that worry me:

A. KB is still 7 hexes SE of Pearl. There is a number of USN subs in the area, but I have no hope of them hitting a barn. I also have B-17s on naval attack, but it would be a major miracle if they hit anything too. I am afraid PH will be attacked again, either this turn or next, and there is nothing I can do about it.

B. I expect an invasion at Mersing either this turn or next. I have 2x Aus Inf Bdes there, but if 2 or more IJA divisions land there, I am toast. This leads me to...

C. The 1st Raiding Rgt (para) starts at Kompong Trach. It has not been dropped anywhere (common 1st-turn drop, Victoria Point). In my other game, my esteemed opponent Falken just dropped the 1st Para Assault Div on a lightly defended airfield in Java. I fear John wants to do the same with this unit. The question is where, and how ccan I best defend against it?

Any and all opinions welcome!

Ah, yes, I forgot. BB Mississippi will sink of its own accord, I am sure. With 94 flotation damage and fires at 54, I do not see her making it.

ORIGINAL: Kitakami

Ah, yes, I forgot. BB Mississippi will sink of its own accord, I am sure. With 94 flotation damage and fires at 54, I do not see her making it.

At PH, Mississippi can most definitely make it. Disband her, giver her a captain with the highest Naval Skill you can find, and remove as many other damaged ships from the port as possible. Not a certainty to save her, but I have saved ships with similar Flotation Damage and higher System Damage.

ORIGINAL: BBfanboy
At PH, Mississippi can most definitely make it. Disband her, giver her a captain with the highest Naval Skill you can find, and remove as many other damaged ships from the port as possible. Not a certainty to save her, but I have saved ships with similar Flotation Damage and higher System Damage.

Done! Hopefully, she will not be sunk by the attack I am expecting will come.

As with many others, I am following this thread, but don't post much. Mostly because I get my AE fix via AARs now. Your's is well written and I tend to be an AFB. Good Luck! T Rav

another AFB logged in.....John will make every month interesting for you if the past is any
indication. I have no idea how any of the mods OOB works so I can only watch.

* PDU on/off? I did not see anything in regard to.

**edited to reflect what I really meant, DOH!

"KB is still 7 hexes SE of Pearl. There is a number of USN subs in the area, but I have no hope of them hitting a barn."

All it takes is one lucky die roll, and one of his CV's won't come back....

Ok three or four lucky die rolls, but what a better chance can you have than to send all the subs after him.

In my last match, that ended in January '42, my opponent stuck around PH for the second day. I launched everything I had at it. Planes. Subs. All my relatively undamaged CA's and DD's.

As luck would have it, 2 of my CA's were able to land a couple of 8 inchers on a CV and damaged it... but the return strike cost me something like a CA, CL, and a couple of DD's. I decided to play very aggressively in this match. It ended in mid Jan '42 with I sprang a "three separate theater ambush" and sank 4 Japanes CA's, 3 CVL/CVE's, a few DD's around the map, at no cost to me, and I never heard back from the opponent and haven't seen him online since. Sigh.

I can guess at your opponent. There are a couple of people here
that start games and run. I've played one. sigh..............

ORIGINAL: T Rav
As with many others, I am following this thread, but don't post much. Mostly because I get my AE fix via AARs now. Your's is well written and I tend to be an AFB. Good Luck! T Rav

Thanks! I try to not just copy walls of text, yet be informative. I wish I had more time for maps, comments, etc. :/

ORIGINAL: zuluhour
another AFB logged in.....John will make every month interesting for you if the past is any
indication. I have no idea how any of the mods OOB works so I can only watch.

* PDU on/off? I did not see anything in regard to.

**edited to reflect what I really meant, DOH!

PDU ON. With the changes in Japanese airframe production, the Modders would have had to redo the upgrade paths unit by unit... it would have been a major undertaking.

And yes, John is quite unorthodox in how he looks at things, which keeps me on my toes!

ORIGINAL: AcePylut

"KB is still 7 hexes SE of Pearl. There is a number of USN subs in the area, but I have no hope of them hitting a barn."

All it takes is one lucky die roll, and one of his CV's won't come back....

Ok three or four lucky die rolls, but what a better chance can you have than to send all the subs after him.

In my last match, that ended in January '42, my opponent stuck around PH for the second day. I launched everything I had at it. Planes. Subs. All my relatively undamaged CA's and DD's.

As luck would have it, 2 of my CA's were able to land a couple of 8 inchers on a CV and damaged it... but the return strike cost me something like a CA, CL, and a couple of DD's. I decided to play very aggressively in this match. It ended in mid Jan '42 with I sprang a "three separate theater ambush" and sank 4 Japanes CA's, 3 CVL/CVE's, a few DD's around the map, at no cost to me, and I never heard back from the opponent and haven't seen him online since. Sigh.

Aye, this is a marathon, not a sprint. And some find it difficult to continue. I have been lucky. My esteemed opponent, Falken, is far more resilient than I am, even when he plays the Japanese and things do not go his way.

Back to PH. I threw everything I thought had a chance into the fray. Subs, 4E, Cats flying night Nav missions, as many fighters in the air as I could gather... not that I hope to win the exchange, but I do hope to make it as costly as possible. If PH gets hit again, I expect to lose 2-3 BBs, not less than a score of planes, and only get destroyed IJN planes in return. The question is how many IJN planes I will get. If the number is large, I won't complain.

As for Malaya, I expect a large landing in Mersing, plus a paradrop somewhere. I have never been good at stopping paradrops, but I tried my best. We will see if it worked... or if it was even necessary. Maybe I am seeing ghosts where there are none, and the Raiding Rgt is being held in reserve just to get on my nerves. If that is so, John definitely succeeded.

Allied turn 3 has been finished and will be sent as soon as I post this. We will see how we fare.

Just got the turn back from John. It was a one-sided serving of humble pie for the Allies. Thundering herds hit everywhere, BB Mississippi sank, Mersing invaded by 4th IJA Inf Div, 1st Raiding Regiment dropped in Malacca, IJN subs awesomely effective. I think I never had a turn 3 like that when I played Japan.

On the other hand, 60 Zeros and 100+ Kates attacked Pearl Harbour, and only three bombs hit. My subs and 4E bombers did nothing, of course.

Will work on the turn over the weekend. Will be much more specific then.

EDIT: Tracker reports 54 Kates lost on turn 3!!!! 51 in the air, 3 due to ops. If at least half of that is true (and Tracker reports for the Allies tend to be half decent), I am not that sad anymore...

54 Kates is a LOT of Kates...Some carrier has got empty...

The bad news is while John drives to see his ailing mother this weekend, we will have time to talk about Japanese theaters to conquer.

So I expect an aggressive expansion over the next few months.

ORIGINAL: Kitakami

ORIGINAL: T Rav
As with many others, I am following this thread, but don't post much. Mostly because I get my AE fix via AARs now. Your's is well written and I tend to be an AFB. Good Luck! T Rav

Thanks! I try to not just copy walls of text, yet be informative. I wish I had more time for maps, comments, etc. :/

It's like all of them for me.

There's the guy that quit when I 4CV ambushed his "reduced Mini-KB" invasion of the Aleuts. PS - why does every JFB invade the Aleuts with 3 CVE/CVL's in early '42? It's like a clock that I can set my watch to.... Park my CV's in some odd dot base, run a few avd's and cats up there, wait for the Japanese CVE's to show up. Amnbush and sink them. JFB experiences SLCS and quits.

Then there was a "well respected" forumite that quit. He did a "thunder run" with the Soryu and Hiryu from teh Aleuts to Seattle. I put a few empty, low VP transport fleets "on a path" from LA to Christmas and "led" his CV's there... Then when he tried to "shoot the gap" between PH and Christmas Island, he ran into and over my 4CV's and his entire fleet was sunk. I had the Enterprise damaged at like 50 flotation. Yeah, he quit at that point.

And on and on and on. To the point where I gave up playing.


I'd put up with a "BANZAI" from John 5 times a day, just to get a match into '43.

While an AFB, Don't give up the ship", some of us are gluttons for punishment and will not lay down
like an old dog in the face of adversity.

Dutch Air Force - Before the DEI is overrun, you will want to steadily withdraw their air groups and allow them to reform in 60 days. They will try to come in on Java, but their home base will show up as occupied. They then go back another 30 days and will show up at Aden, but unrestricted and under ABDA Command. These mods allow for extended airframes replacements for the Dutch - P-40s, Hurricanes, PBY-5s, B-25s, plus the old Dutch airframes. You may know this, but some of your readers may not. I just told my opponent, njp72, about this.

ORIGINAL: ny59giants_MatrixForum
Dutch Air Force - Before the DEI is overrun, you will want to steadily withdraw their air groups and allow them to reform in 60 days. They will try to come in on Java, but their home base will show up as occupied. They then go back another 30 days and will show up at Aden, but unrestricted and under ABDA Command. These mods allow for extended airframes replacements for the Dutch - P-40s, Hurricanes, PBY-5s, B-25s, plus the old Dutch airframes. You may know this, but some of your readers may not. I just told my opponent, njp72, about this.

I did NOT know this!!! Domou arigatou gozaimashita, ny59giants-san!!! Err... thank you, old chap!

You just made my life easier in TWO games, not one!