Once Again into the Breach - Mike (J) vs. tc464 (A)

[Mike Solli]

26 Feb 42

Sub War

No significant activity to report. I did find an island in the SE Pacific that have air units and ships in port. Unfortunately, I am not at home and can’t tell you which one it is. It may start with an R possibly. At any rate, I’m sending a couple of midget subs to stake the place out. It’ll be awhile before they get there though. I am also sending some subs to see if they can locate a SLOC.

5 Fleet

The second Naval Guard landed safely at Dutch Harbor. I’m going to try a shock attack tomorrow.

4 Fleet

Nothing new to report.

SE Fleet

31 Zeros met 5x P-40Es and 18 F4F-3s over Pt. Moresby in a swirling dogfight. For the loss of 1x Zero (and its pilot MIA), 1x P-40 and 6 F4Fs were shot down (along with 1 and 2 op losses respectively). Keep that nice exchange rate up guys! Another new Allied squadron will be burned out in a day or two.

China

Still more maneuvering.

Burma

No aerial combat here today.

I moved a 9 plane daitai of Zeros from Pt. Blair to Tongoo today. Hopefully, this will cause Ted a few headaches in the near future. Unfortunately, no more are available right now.

There are 70+ Allied fighters at Akyab. I am going to form a CA TF to bombard Akyab and hopefully cause some damage. That’s about all I can do at this point. All of my airfields in Burma (except Rangoon) are still level one. I can only perform CAP. That will change soon, but it’s a slow process with lots of support units still enroute to the front.

Malaya

The 5x divisions at Singapore are at disruption levels in the 20s and fatigue in the 50s. They’ll get there. In the meantime, I’ll continue to bombard by ground and air.

Java

The 16 Army HQ is one hex away from Soerabaja. I’ll try an attack tomorrow. I have in the hex the following:

8th Tank Regiment
20th Engineer Regiment
7th Tank Regiment
1st Ind. Engineer Regiment
2nd Tank Regiment
4th Tank Regiment
Yokosuka 1st SNLF
17th Medium Field Artillery Regiment

Here’s a list of defenders:

Marinier Battalion
2nd KNIL Landstorm Battalion
Artilleriecommando Coastal Gun Battalion
3rd KNIL Landstorm Battalion
6th KNIL Regiment
Commandement Marine
3rd KNIL AA Battalion
2 ML-KNIL Aviation
MLD
Soerabaja Base Force
Bandoeng Base Force
South Java Base Force
Malang Base Force

I don’t have a lot of infantry, but we’ll see what it does. More infantry is on the way, but if I can take Soerabaja in a coup, that would be great!

SRA

I have a small TK TF (5x 1250 TKs & escort) idling at Oosthaven waiting for Palembang to be liberated so I can start hauling fuel to Java. Two Dutch Catalinas attacked it today. Eight Tojos base at Merak provided cover and shot down both Cats!

Other Stuff

Reinforcements:

CS Nisshin – She arrived at Nagasaki, which is perfect. Some Tonan Whalers will arrive at Nagasaki in a couple days to drop their load of oil and resources. The Nisshin will be attached to that TF to provide ASW coverage. I’m going to upgrade the Nisshin air units to Jakes and outfit them with the best ASW pilots I have available.

I-29 – This Glen carrying sub will head to the 5 Fleet area to provide much needed Glen coverage in the Aleutians. Tomorrow, I receive her sister sub, the I-30. She’ll also head to the 5 Fleet area.

These two ships free up 71 Naval Shipbuilding points. That allows me to accelerate a 4th CV and 6th DD.

Seeing F4F-3s is a significant event. He has only what he starts with for this aircraft type +24 replacements. Also, these are naval aviators vs. USAAF pilots seen to date. I guess it could mean several things, but I don't have a problem with any of them. Maybe he’s running out of decent USAAF pilots. I don’t have a clue really. Maybe he wants to get some of his naval aviators some experience? Possible. I like this because it’s more losses for those pilots meaning the trained pool will shrink and that pool is really needed for the carrier pilots. I think the most likely reason is that he’s running out of USAAF airframes. That’s a great thing! When he decides to use his bombers, they’ll have little or no fighter cover with inferior pilots. That also means more kills for me meaning increased Japanese fighter pilot quality.

My PPs are starting to build up again (500+). I don’t have any planned purchases out of Manchuoko until June 42, when I buy the units comprising the 1 and 2 Tank Divisions for Burma. Until then, I plan on upgrading key leaders (primarily air, but some ground as well). I’m open to suggestions for other ways to spend my scarce PPs. I am considering some infantry for 5 Fleet. I may need some better/additional infantry to take Dutch Harbor. Gotta ponder that and look at potential candidates. I will wait until tomorrow to see how the Dutch Harbor SA fares. As always, planning for the worst and hoping for the best.

[ny59giants]

Another air fur ball over Pt. Moresby. This time, 27 Zeros met 10 P-40Es. Eight of the P-40s were shot down for no Japanese losses. Banzai!

Ted had mentioned that he has half a dozen squadrons each of bombers and fighters to throw into the fray. He has admitted that his war of attrition isn’t working as planned. My fighter strength doesn’t seem to be diminishing. Heh, heh…..

In Australia in mid-January, you get 5 or 6 groups of P-40s (about 20 planes each out of max of 25) that are attached to ABDA for two months before they are withdrawn. The good news is that those planes and pilots go into the pool when they are withdrawn. The bad news is the pilot quality is poor and it takes about two months to train up their Air skill and some of their Defend skill, if they don't see extensive combat. If Ted is throwing them into the air war over Pt Moresby, you are winning on multiple levels.

[Mike Solli]

I'm not sure if he's used them or not. For the most part, he's getting slaughtered. It might be my pilot quality superiority. Not sure.

[Teikoku Kaigun]

Sorry to be a pain but about those auxliary conversions.[:D]

Im really having tough time deciding the numbers im going to need, like 4th fleet will need a ton of them.
For exsample how many AGPs do you have?

[PaxMondo]

ORIGINAL: Teikoku Kaigun

Sorry to be a pain but about those auxliary conversions.[:D]

Im really having tough time deciding the numbers im going to need, like 4th fleet will need a ton of them.
For exsample how many AGPs do you have?

A lot of this is playing style.

EX: I like to use a lot of float planes for patrol and trip wires. That said, I have to convert a lot of AV's. Others prefer to use PB's in this role, in which case you need to convert more PB's. AGP's are primarily to service PT type craft as they can load torps. But you would only build these if you plan to use PT's forward. If PT's are defensive, you won't need as many.

So even when Mike shares with you his numbers, it won't help you that much UNLESS your playing style is like his.

[Teikoku Kaigun]

ORIGINAL: PaxMondo

ORIGINAL: Teikoku Kaigun

Sorry to be a pain but about those auxliary conversions.[:D]

Im really having tough time deciding the numbers im going to need, like 4th fleet will need a ton of them.
For exsample how many AGPs do you have?

A lot of this is playing style.

EX: I like to use a lot of float planes for patrol and trip wires. That said, I have to convert a lot of AV's. Others prefer to use PB's in this role, in which case you need to convert more PB's. AGP's are primarily to service PT type craft as they can load torps. But you would only build these if you plan to use PT's forward. If PT's are defensive, you won't need as many.

So even when Mike shares with you his numbers, it won't help you that much UNLESS your playing style is like his.

I understand, i think i will start easy and convert more when i seet what i need.
So how many Jakes are you producing for those AVs?[:D]

[PaxMondo]

I typically run Jakes at about 60 - 90 /month.  I want to replace all the Pete and Daves that are on ships along with populating all the other FP units.  Takes several months even at that rate.  Once I have them, I will only produce ~20/month to cover losses the rest of the war.  I do that by toggling the factory on/off to hold a minimum pool of 20.

[Teikoku Kaigun]

ORIGINAL: PaxMondo

I typically run Jakes at about 60 - 90 /month.  I want to replace all the Pete and Daves that are on ships along with populating all the other FP units.  Takes several months even at that rate.  Once I have them, I will only produce ~20/month to cover losses the rest of the war.  I do that by toggling the factory on/off to hold a minimum pool of 20.

How many units have you managed to get by rezising and dividing? Im also a big fan of Jakes.

[PaxMondo]

ORIGINAL: Teikoku Kaigun


How many units have you managed to get by rezising and dividing? Im also a big fan of Jakes.

Depends upon my game and my HR's. I only rarely divide, and I size based upon what the Husimi AV can support. Since I have these forward, my losses tend to be quite high. But I find them more mobile and provide better coverage than PB pickets. That's just me though. YMMV.

[Jorge_Stanbury]

Question related to Float Planes

It will take me some time to put Jakes in all my FP squadrons, even at high levels of production. So for the time being, has someone experimented with Pete as a 3rd rate AV/ CAP plane? obviosuly for forward base areas with low threat risks meaning no enemy fighters expected.

Maybe a mix of 70% Jakes for naval search and 30% Pete for AV protection.
If this won't work, then it might be better to replace all Petes with Alf until I have enough Jakes

EDIT: Important to highlight this idea against the AI; against a human opponent this will not work

[Mike Solli]

You can put a Pete on CAP. I have never tried it. I try to use every plane I have. They all have a use. For me, the Pete is the trainer for FP units. I replace them as soon as possible. If I have to use them (mainly early war), they are on ASW. Their short range makes them useless for pretty much anything else. They are marginal at best for ASW too. Don't know about CAP.

[obvert]

As CAP they won't knock much down but can distract bombers if unescorted and nothing else is available. They were used as CAP in the war on a limited basis.

Just build a lot of Jakes and change the rest out.

[Mike Solli]

27 Feb 42

Sub War

Nothing to speak of. About 3-4 different attacks by both sides with no damage done on either side.

5 Fleet

I made a mistake here and paid for it. The second Naval Guard landed at Dutch Harbor without incident yesterday. “Without incident” means the US CD guns didn’t hit anything. I then gave orders for the Amph TF to head back to Adak. Unfortunately, I forgot to cancel the supply unload. Well, the enemy CD guns didn’t miss today. Down went an AMC and the other AMC took some sys damage but is burning pretty well. If the fire goes out tomorrow, she’ll be ok. If not, well, I’ll probably lose a second one. Dumb mistake.

Anyway, I’m attacking again tomorrow. We’ll see if 2x Naval Guards can take Dutch Harbor.

4 Fleet

The first wave of Naval Guard units have arrived on the fringe. Another bunch of Naval Guard reinforcements arrive in a week or 2 for the 4 Fleet. Naval Guard units aren’t wonderful, but they require the enemy to send a couple of regiments if they really want to take the place.

SE Fleet

Not much to discuss here. No air combat occurred today. I own the skies over Pt. Moresby, at least temporarily. A supply convoy is headed to Rabaul. I’ve discovered that I need some moderately sized xAKs to move supply from Truk to Rabaul. All I currently have here are large ones which I don’t want to risk against enemy subs or xAKLs, which don’t allow enough supply to be sent in one TF.

Kavieng finally made a level 1 airfield. I need a bit of AS there and I’ll be able to shift Claudes from Truk to Rabaul (via Kavieng) for upgrade.

Philippines

The 16 Division will land at Cebu tomorrow, the last enemy occupied island between Luzon and Mindanao. I expect this to be a brief battle. After the conclusion of this battle, the 16 Division will go to Bataan and we’ll try a DA or two.

Davao is working nicely as a hub (instead of Babeldaob). It port should reach level 4 in a day or two, with an ultimate goal of 6.

China

Nothing new to report.

Burma

Well, Ted threw in his bombers for the first time, and it worked out pretty well for him. My drawback is that all of my airfields in Burma (with the exception of Rangoon) are still at level one. I don’t have the flexibility I need to counter Ted’s air force by concentrating my fighters. Level 2 will happen soon at some of the airfields, but it’ll probably be too late for Magwe.

The first attack was over Meiktila. 14 planes of the AVG met 3 Oscars and 5 Zeros. The result was 2x H81-A3s shot down for the loss of 1 Zero (and it’s pilot) and one additional op loss.

Next was the first bombing attack of the Magwe oil fields. 56 bombers of various flavors escorted by 19x P-40Es met 8 Oscars and 7 Zeros. The P-40s did their job but paid the price. They prevented my fighters from reaching the bombers but lost 7 of their number (and an op loss) at the cost of 3 Oscars and 1 Zero (but no pilots).

Finally, 16 Blenheim IVs came in unescorted against 4 Zeros and an Oscar defending the Magwe oil fields again. One Blenheim was shot down and a second crashed on the way home, but they successfully bombed the oil fields.

The oil fields lost 70 of 300. Ouch. It’s inevitable, but it still sucks. The oil has all migrated to Rangoon. I hope it moves out of there soon.

Malaya

The 5 divisions at Singapore are still in need of rest before attacking again. Their disruption is down to the 20s but their fatigue is still around 50. Three of the 5 divisions are completely repaired.

Other Stuff

Reinforcement: I-30 – She’s headed to the Aleutians.

Saigon’s port reached its goal of level 7.

I culled the training units. Here’s what I got:

IJN
F: 4
NavB: 4
NavS: 13

IJA
F: 23
ASW: 2
NavS: 16
GrdB: 12
Rcn: 3

There seems to be a high number of IJA NavS. It happened for a reason. One recon chutai that was training NavS actually is supposed to upgrade to a fighter unit. I had pulled out 5 pilots that had reached the magic 50+/70+ goal and tried to replace them with 35 exp rookies. I ended up getting experienced fighter pilots instead. I tried this three times and the same thing happened every time. I gave up and yanked out the rest of the pilots (NavS stats ~65-68, good enough) and converted the unit to Nates. I added 35 exp rookies and it took them out of the pool. Strange.

I had expected the naval shipbuilding pool to jump by 71 today. It only went up by 33. Does a CS use naval or merchant points? I thought it was naval points. Either way, the increase wasn’t what I had hoped, for whatever reason. I had hoped to accelerate a CV and DD. Ah well, maybe tomorrow. The sub I got today is worth 33 points. That’ll allow me to accelerate an additional CV tomorrow. Current accelerations are 3x CVs and 5x DDs.

MKB is still in port at Davao. No mission yet but I’m considering sending it to the Aleutians to support an offensive I am tentatively planning in case Dutch Harbor gambit doesn’t succeed. MKB will provide air support (obviously) and surface support will be provided by the 5 Fleet (3 CL & 12 DD). I’m going to have to find some infantry out of Kwantung Army to use. The 5 Fleet gets an SNLF and 3 independent infantry battalions on 1 May 42, but that’s too late. I guess I know how I’m spending my PPs.

KB is still sitting at Truk. No mission for them yet either. The Allied half of the Pacific has been very quiet. I refuse to use them just to use them. Ted has no clue where they are. I like it that way. When I use them, I want them appearing out of the fog, doing their dirty work, and vanishing back into the fog. That’s safer for them and usually more disastrous for Ted.

[Mike Solli]

TK, I agree with Pax, it all depends on how you play the game. To use Pax’s example of the AV, I use them too, but not to the extent he does and I don’t convert Husimis either. They have a different mission in my game. I’m going to show you what I do with each class. Here goes:

Yusen S: It’s an AK and it remains an AK.

Lima: I convert some to AKEs for a total of 8. If I remember correctly, I converted 6. I use the AKEs in pairs scattered around the map. Currently they are in Balikpapan, Rabaul, Singkawang and Davao. I will also convert either 3 or 6 (probably 3) to AKVs. Why groups of 3? Good question. If I want to move a sentai/daitai, I’ll break it down and put a chutai in each ship. That way, the whole unit doesn’t die if that ship is sunk. The rest of the Limas will haul resources from Pt. Arthur/Shanghai to the Home Islands (HI).

Yusen N: Remain as is to haul resources/oil from Singapore to the HI.

Yusen A: Convert to AK.

Kyushu: Remain as is to haul resources/oil from Singapore to the HI.

Aden: Remain as is.

Husimi: I like this as a nice, medium sized xAK for hauling troops/equipment near/at the front. I may convert a few to AVs, but not more than a few. I use the AV the same way as Pax, but it sounds like I’m not as aggressive with them. I’ll move them forward but behind the front line and use them to support the Mavis/Emily. Unfortunately, this class is not destined to survive the war. It’s used too close to the front to survive. When available, I’ll convert 6 to ARs. They take a long time to convert unfortunately.

Akasi: Remain as is to haul resources from Hakodate to Ominato (primarily). I converted ~3 to the AD.

Ehime: I converted ~12 to the AG. I scattered around the AGs in various resource/oil producing ports to assist in repairing the small craft they excel in repairing.

Toho: I converted these to the –t conversion. These are the primary people haulers from hubs to at or near the front line. They’re relatively quick (14 kts) and not too big.

Std-C (and all the other Std- models): These will be converted to TKs. You can’t get enough TKs. They are small, which is a blessing. They can be used in smaller ports, which many of the oil/resource/fuel producing bases have.

Ansyu-C: I converted every one of these to PBs. They are sturdy and long ranged (for a PB). You can’t have enough PBs early war. It’ll be your primary escort. I have over 200 PBs currently.

Gozan, Miyati, Kasu-D, Daigen: These are small and slow, at 10 kts. I consider the best of them to be the Kasu-D, which is 12 kts. They are destined to be at the front line, moving troops and supplies to outposts and doing invasions. I’ll be surprised if 10% of them survive the war.

Kiso-E and To’su: I convert all of these to either ACM s or PBs. For me, it’s about 40% & 60% but it is all based on your needs.

So, to sum up, here’s my list of conversions:

AKE: 6
AKV: 3 or 6
AG: 12
AS: 0 - may add a couple if necessary but I doubt it.
AV: 0 - may add a couple if necessary.
AR: 6 when available.
PB: ~200
ACM: ~40? Not sure exactly.

Remember, you can always convert your conversion. It just takes time. Occasionally, I’ll convert something temporarily then change it to something else I need

[Zorch]

There should be an award for the best AAR for each game, each year (call it an AARGY).

I nominate you Mike, for Best Performance by a JFB in a campaign game.
There is so much great info here.

[Mike Solli]

Thanks, I appreciate that, but I wouldn't say I have played well. I lost the Hiryu in Jan 42 and am embarrassed to say that 3 Allied DDs sailed into Saigon harbor and sank 3 AOs. [:D]

[Teikoku Kaigun]

ORIGINAL: Zorch

There should be an award for the best AAR for each game, each year (call it an AARGY).

I nominate you Mike, for Best Performance by a JFB in a campaign game.
There is so much great info here.

x1

Thank you for your reply, as usual clear and full of good tips im sure to use myself in some form. [:)]

[Hanzberger]

ORIGINAL: Mike Solli

25 Feb 42

I forgot to mention that yesterday, Meiktila spontaneously changed allegiance from Brit to Japanese. All of the infrastructure is intact so now I have an additional 300 oil factories pumping out oil. I shut off the 100 refineries as well as the 200 refineries in Rangoon. The oil (~35-40k) is pooling at Meiktila and Rangoon. Hopefully, it’ll start to flow south soon.

I thought the objective was fuel more then oil. Why not produce fuel and have it flow South? What am I missing here?
And I agree with CB and SQMYLemon above.

[Teikoku Kaigun]

I think fuel has spoilage on the way but oil will move without loss. [:)]

[PaxMondo]

Fuel is subject to spoilage, Oil isn't.  Like Mike, I tend to ship a lot of oil to the HI.