The Good The Bad & The Indifferent

[Bullwinkle58]

ORIGINAL: Lokasenna

ORIGINAL: Bullwinkle58

ORIGINAL: Lokasenna

2K feet is best for damage.

Bad for balloons.

Firebombing I usually do 8, 9, 10, or 11k. Accuracy not as important.

I disagree.

More hits = more better.

Of course more hits is more better. Except when measured against more flak hits or more balloon hits. Doubling hits while losing the entire strike force is not better. Or, maybe, it's better once.

Firebombing is area bombing. It's not hitting a factory. Going above the balloons and flak is a high ROI. Fighters are the issue, but B-29s are uber-fast, and the early models have higher gun ratings than B-24s. Overall, ops losses kill more B-29s than A-to-A losses. Reducing balloon and flak damage and thus ops losses is a key objective to using B-29s. The SR is also an issue with damage. They're thoroughbreds, not plow horses. They have to be taken care of.

[Canoerebel]

10/15/44

Raid on Osaka: The Superfort raid of the 14th continues to pay dividends on the 15th, as fires do significant additional damage.

Note: Osaka detection has been at 9 for weeks, but is now dropping due to the Liberator recon squadron needing repairs. I'll attend to that.

[Canoerebel]

10/15/44

Raid on Maebashi: Most B-29s rested today, but a small raid against Manpower at this base just west of Tokyo scored some hits.

[Canoerebel]

10/15/44

Fancy Pants: The invasion of Pescadores is off to a good start. More importantly, the delivery of supply is underway and I'm beginning to drop off and pick up the units to take part in the invasion of Ningpo and the ground campaign from there and/or from the Foochow/Amoy region.

I've long said that the Allied strategy was frontloaded - incurring heavy casualties early in order to achieve an advantageous position late. I think that's what's about to happen: I have a huge navy that can quickly replenish at Formosa; I have huge stockpile of supply and aviation support that's coming ashore at Formosa to allow a goodly part of the Allied air force to move here as of today; and the Allied army is in position to move into China (and possibly then into Korea).

If I'm right, the dividends will start coming in. In fact, I think they've started over the past few days, with the naval clash and the successful bombing runs.

[Bullwinkle58]

When you've got coastal China bases AND all of Formosa, it's whack-a-mole time for him even if he can bombard. And you aren't going to allow that.

The HI damage you did at Osaka was significant. The pilot tax really bites in the last year, and the more you can make him hit his HI bank the better. Once you can pull B-24s onto Formosa in numbers it's going to get ugly for him real fast. B-24s ARE plow horses. Bomb trucks.

I don't think Lowpe was critical up-thread. He has a lot of experience with strat bombing, and made me think about some points I had not. A big key is not to be predictable.

[Canoerebel]

10/15/44

DEI: All shipping is properly in place to handle greatly increased supply delivery to the DEI (and eventually to Luzon). This enhanced LOC will suffice through the end of the war.

KB South and East: Continuing to tend to enemy merchant shipping.

Victory Points: The Allies have a 10k lead now - something like 76k to 66k. I commenced the strategic bombing campaign around Sept. 15, so it's been going on a month now. I've gotten 3,400 points, perhaps a third of that over the past two days. With air ops from Formosa about to increase significantly, I expect strategic bombing VPs to increase markedly in the next month. But the biggest boost will come if I take Ningpo and build its airfield large. (John's engineers are at work there and recently increased the level to two.)

[BBfanboy]

Only one of those KB segments has a decent amount of escort against SCTFs. If you ever confront with DS you could overwhelm them with SCTFs prior to the air engagement. More possibilities ... but first you have strategic bombing bases to secure!

[Lokasenna]

ORIGINAL: Bullwinkle58

Reducing balloon and flak damage and thus ops losses is a key objective to using B-29s. The SR is also an issue with damage. They're thoroughbreds, not plow horses. They have to be taken care of.

I did mismanage my first B-29s, so acknowledge I'm no expert on them in particular. I was speaking mostly to night bombing in general. If my planes can take the anticipated damage, I would rather fly in at 2K than 7K. Model-specific concerns would factor into that if-statement.

As to this:

ORIGINAL: Bullwinkle58

Overall, ops losses kill more B-29s than A-to-A losses

That depends on the planes being used in the defense, of course. Zeroes and Tonys don't do a whole lot. Franks do. I've had a few days where I lost double digit B-29s to A2A.

[Lokasenna]

Make a note of those Frank-b factory sizes. Wait until you think he might not have that hex very protected, and then nail them. Making a note of the factory sizes allows you to hit them even if your recon drops off and they begin showing as "Aircraft Factory" again instead of Frank-b.

[Canoerebel]

10/15/44

Opportunity Missed:

Morning Air attack on TF, near Wenchow at 89,60

Weather in hex: Thunderstorms

Raid detected at 33 NM, estimated altitude 8,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 14 minutes

Allied aircraft
TBM-1C Avenger x 5

Allied aircraft losses
TBM-1C Avenger: 2 damaged

Japanese Ships
CA Chikuma, heavy damage
CA Tone

As noted previously, I have my carrier aircraft configured heavily towards defense. Range is currently set for two. These naked cruisers would've been easy pickings - no CAP! - but they were three or four hexes away (I musta left a TBM squadron at longer range, by accident).

I'm erring here on the side of staying power. I don't want to lose 300 aircraft to some massive CAP trap over Shanghai or a worthless enemy TF near Wenchow, etc. I'll miss the occasional tidbit but my carriers will stay fresh and able to do what needs to be done. It really would've felt good to nail Chikuma and Tone, but shepherding my resources to allow for the invasion of Ningpo and a offensive in China is far more important.

[Canoerebel]

I know now why I felt like the naval battle went better than the posted combat report excerpt showed: there were several daytime clashes between crippled IJ destroyers and strong Allied TFs. On the day, one enemy DD confirmed sunk and possibly/probably two more. Those in addition to the two CLs sunk and Chikuma crippled. It was a pretty good outcome.

[Bullwinkle58]

It's hard in this game (AE) to swing the whole model away from naval and onto strat bombing. But you win that way. Defense is the way to go. Asset preservation. Protecting the airfields. You can win without sinking another one of his ships. It goes strongly against your inclinations and what you like to do, but it's truth. You have 3000 VPs in next to no time from bombing. That will accelerate. How many ships is 3000 VPs? Let him dink around. It just doesn't matter to the horse when the fly lands on his neck.

[Canoerebel]

That sums it up.

[Bullwinkle58]

Focusing on strat bombing and its needs also vastly reduces clicks and time per turn. Not a nothing issue for the Allies in late 1944.

[JohnDillworth]

Interesting summation on Wikipedia on the bombing of Japan. Links within to more detail. Once the Allies figured out that night fire bombing was the way to go things took off. In March 1945 274 B-29's took out an 8 mile chunk of Osaka. That's a lot of fires https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_raids_on_Japan

[CaptBeefheart]

I just caught up after a two-week hiatus back Stateside. Great stuff, as usual.

It's not for nothing that Nimitz favored a Ningpo invasion for a while. With the limitation on Okinawa airfield size, taking Ningpo is not a bad option in this game. How strongly are Ningpo and the base to the left of it being held at the moment?

EDIT: Interesting game in that your supply line isn't fully secure but that it doesn't matter. Great example of making excellent progress despite minimal supplies at the front.

Cheers,
CC

[Canoerebel]

10/16/44

Pescadores falls, Mitchells tear into vulnerable enemy infantry stacks on the China coast, and most of Japan lit up by recon. It was a busy and fun turn.

[BBfanboy]

I thought Pescadores would fall quickly after all the beatings and starvation. How big is the Repair Shipyard? Anything that will take a heavy cruiser is golden!

[Canoerebel]

10/17/44

Late night as I went to my first Atlanta Braves game at the new stadium. I did this for a friend, as I don't like going to sporting events and hate traffic and the Atlanta area. I was surprised to find that the new stadium is very nice. I enjoyed the game, which the Braves lost 3-2. That was my first professional sporting event in about 19 years. It'll probably be that long before I attend another one.

[Canoerebel]

10/18/44

Yesterday my wife and I celebrated our 30th wedding anniversary. This is a noteworthy achievement in my family, where marriages are usually measured in hours. We celebrated this way: she spent most of the day and all night with her elderly, ailing aunt in a nearby hospital; I went to the Braves game with friends; and we had lunch at a local BBQ restaurant, joined by a 94-year-old poet/writer whose hubby was a pilot in the PI at the start of the war, one brother was on the Tennessee at Pearl Harbor, and another brother was a paratrooper who got injured and transferred to Patton's tanks. It was a busy, boisterous day that was fun.

Peep Show: Enemy garrison on Hengchun should disappear in a few more days. That will bring Peep Show to an end.

Fancy Pants: Two or three more days to load ground troops bound for Ningpo. Mitchells refuse to fly, so no ground support missions near Amoy (darn it). Allied armored battalions to attack enemy stack tomorrow. No enemy harassment of Death Star.

Strategic War: decent raids on Kagoshima, Kobe, Niigata.