Matrix Games Forums

ORIGINAL: Lowpe

ORIGINAL: Canoerebel

This information hit me hard.

Tell me it's not as bad as it looks. Please.

Cry me a river![:D]

You only get like 3 months of D25 Jugs production. [:D] That is why I chastised you for using them on escort duty. Would that I be so lucky!

You do get 30-40 British Jugs however a month and then that is augmented by another 40 or so Jugs II; you also get wonderful Spitfires (which you can turn into beasts if you try). There are some decent New Zealand Corsairs.

Corsairs are super tough and you should have and get lots plus their delivery vehicle make them very formidable.

You really don't have much to complain about, considering the air losses over the last week.[:)]

I think I recall your Jugs losses are pretty modest, you may simply have too many squadrons of them flying?

With P-51Bs as necessary. And Corsairs. And Hellcats. And Brits - lots of Brits.

And the P-51D when it comes online.

The F4U1-D comes online in September, two months from now. It's production is +80 over the -1A, which helps a lot. Beyond that, filling the void left by the P-47D25's discontinuation will require a lot of much smaller contributions from good models (like the Brit and Aussie Spits and Jugs and Corsairs) until the P-51D comes available in November.

I'm currently using several big Hellcat squadrons as LBA, so in September those will begin converting Corsairs.

Shore bombardments of airfields and unescorted 4EB raids will also play a role in suppressing enemy fighters.

The Jugs will carry a heavy load, but I'll adjust their use to lengthen availability in decent numbers, ensuring there's a core available for key work and really hard jobs.

If you look closely, the -1a does not end production until the -4 arrives. At least that is how it works in my BTS game and stock scenario 2 game.

7/10/44

Indochina: The Allies take Tavoy. That particular army is worn out, as is the opposition. My guys will follow the retreating enemy towards Mergui, but I think this vector is finished until the Allied army gets a lot of rest.

The main show is in Thailand, where the bigger Allied army is advancing in good order. It looks like there will be a cross-river assault in a week or two.

The real question is how John allocates his forces. Does he concentrate to defend one vector or divide between Malaya, Indochina and China? Events in a few weeks may help swing the vote.

Did Japan lose another 120 aircraft to your 20 this day?

7/10/44

Fun House and Peep Show: Details on map. A lot going on. Always.

ORIGINAL: Lowpe
Did Japan lose another 120 aircraft to your 20 this day?

Not today. John lost a few Sams and Franceses while trying to hit shipping at Ternate, but not enough to warm the heart. It was a fairly quiet day in the air.

ORIGINAL: Canoerebel

The F4U1-D comes online in September, two months from now. It's production is +80 over the -1A, which helps a lot. Beyond that, filling the void left by the P-47D25's discontinuation will require a lot of much smaller contributions from good models (like the Brit and Aussie Spits and Jugs and Corsairs) until the P-51D comes available in November.

I'm currently using several big Hellcat squadrons as LBA, so in September those will begin converting Corsairs.

Shore bombardments of airfields and unescorted 4EB raids will also play a role in suppressing enemy fighters.

The Jugs will carry a heavy load, but I'll adjust their use to lengthen availability in decent numbers, ensuring there's a core available for key work and really hard jobs.

You really just have to plan in advance and use the jugs like they are arriving at 50 planes per month rather than 175. You do get 40 British jugs that start production about the same time. That and the new corsairs make up for it. However, note that they nerfed that corsair. It now does not surpass 400 MPH in speed. Good but not as good as it was in stock. Actually since I pretty much stop using British squadrons equipped with the Hurricane II by mid 1943 there are a ton of well trained British pilots waiting in the wings. spits, jugs and corsairs mean about 90 British planes per month. Just have to put them to work. Not to mention that New Zealand starts to get a healthy supply of corsairs around this time. Never could understand how New Zealand qualified for such a big bite of corsairs at such an early date in the war, but not complaining.

Why send your SCTFs all the way back to Legaspi? Fuel should have flowed to Aparri by now? Or is the port trashed?

Aparri is a level one port with no fuel.

Manila just got 3k fuel today, from LSTs that brought some back from Miri.

It'll take awhile to get everything working in good order in the new Luzon bases.

7/11/44

Fun House: 93rd Div. will cross the river and shock attack west of Aparri tomorrow. 4EB worked over Bataan airfield and supply. Two USA divisions will attack tomorrow (probing, nothing more).

Peep Show: Death Star entered the East China Sea without incident. Two slow BBs will bombard Taihoku tomorrow. This should warm Lowpe's heart.

Have a couple of comments,

I only play solitaire but I do restrict myself with most of the typical HRs I see competitive players using.
I have always interpreted the "Pay full PPs for crossing restricted borders" HR to include paying for moving restricted Indian units across the India/Burma border. Is this not the way you are playing it? You mentioned getting ready to buy out an Indian unit that has been resting in Shwebo.

You mentioned being short on fuel in the DS and needing to return to Legaspi. Are you not maintaining a mobile fueling station by keeping a or several large TF(s) of AOs on station with your DS? Isn't the DS operating with CVE TFs in it? Isn't it already moving slowly enough to accommodate operating with and providing cover for oiler TFs? The Americans have a sufficient number of them to be able to operate a shuttle keeping at least 100k fuel at sea with the DS at most if not all times. Takesa bit of effort to maintain, but worth it.

1. Our borders House Rule allowed restricted units in Assam, eventually defined as up to the line of hexes from Akyab through Shwebo.

2. Death Star was returning to port at Legaspi, escorting a herd in from the DEI, when I diverted her to coast Luzon to interrupt John's Dunkirk operation. DS and all combat TFs had good fuel levels, but I added a couple of other TFs that were low on fuel. I detached all the merchant TFs to Legpasi, including oilers, since the combat ships weren't going far. But new opportunities kept arising, further north, as I discovered islands vacant or weakly occupied, including Orchid way up by Formosa. And then Mini KB's kept sprouting up far, far away from the area, giving more freedom of movement.

Most of the TFs have plenty of fuel, so those can refuel the ones short on fuel. But the constant fuel drain is something I'm monitoring since fuel is a valuable and relatively scarce resource.

A quick fuel census shows that fuel stores in and near theater are adequate for coming ops:

1. 230k - TKs and AOs in the Phillipines
2. 10k - at port in the PI
3. 90k - at port in the eastern DEI.
4. 46k (and producing 2k per day) - at Miri.

7/12/44

Peep Show: West Virginia and Tennessee bombard Taihoku, Formosa, to promising effect. This was mainly to judge the strength of enemy defenses an the effect of shore bombardments.

Fun House: B-29s raid Singers shipping, scoring two more meager hits on damaged BB Nagato while suffering at least 35 losses to enemy CAP and Ops. Making good the losses used up my reserves, so I can't afford any more raids like that one.

B-29s raid Singers shipping, scoring two more meager hits on damaged BB Nagato while suffering at least 35 losses to enemy CAP and Ops. Making good the losses used up my reserves, so I can't afford any more raids like that one.

no, I suppose not. As you noted you are a bit tight on fighters. Once you have bases in range it's time to rack up points by bombing at night. Lets see if nigh-fighters were part of the empires plan

Fun House: B-29s raid Singers shipping, scoring two more meager hits on damaged BB Nagato while suffering at least 35 losses to enemy CAP and Ops

35 of #?
Daylight... escorted ?

Here's the combat report, which notes 10 Superforts downed, but based upon replacements required, the actual total was about 35.

Why would you fly precious B-29s into a base you can not sweep and you know has fighters on CAP?

Bear in mind that this is the first time I've used Superforts since about 2009. I have precious little late-game experience, so what you gents know well I may not know at all.

My experience thus far in the game has been that 4EB (B24s) have been effective in flying missions without escort. In this case, I've been monitoring John's CAP over Singers and noted that he had drawn them down considerably. I thought he might be focusing on Death Star up around Formosa and that the B29s could handle the raid solo. And I knew he had lots of good ships already damaged in port. I did the same thing two weeks ago with very good results.