The Good The Bad & The Indifferent

[HansBolter]

All those turns defaulting to heavily restricted ranges on your carrier planes to avoid CAP traps comes back to bight you in the rear.

Its amazing how we can set things up and leave them that way for extended periods forgetting about them.

Its easy to dispel the myth that training air skills tops out at 70 as a result of this.
Sometimes I go for 3-4 months without checking on the training progress of squadrons in the US.
Often when I do get around to it, I find skills above 70, in orange color no less, for many pilots.

One of the many pitfalls of not having a staff to manage this gargantuan monster.

[witpqs]

ORIGINAL: Lowpe

Will consuming 1000 ops points tonight on a carrier prevent air operations the following morning or afternoon? Not in and of itself.

Well, you will move 1 hex most likely in the first phase. 4-5 hexes in the second depending upon speed, and you might even react closer too depending upon settings. Your deathstar might be scattered over two hexes.

I hope you swept Naha from Formosa. Even bombing the runways there.

Did you run in any small destroyer squadrons? Bombard Nago? In fact with the deathstar attracting all the attention, it would be a great time to let you destroyers run wild visiting all the islands around that have shipping, or bombarding.

Any ops points you consume during the orders phase are deducted from the first naval movement phase. That's why you are limited to consuming 1,000 points during orders: there are 1,000 ops points per ship per phase.

[Canoerebel]

ORIGINAL: HansBolter

All those turns defaulting to heavily restricted ranges on your carrier planes to avoid CAP traps comes back to bight you in the rear.

Its amazing how we can set things up and leave them that way for extended periods forgetting about them.

Its easy to dispel the myth that training air skills tops out at 70 as a result of this.
Sometimes I go for 3-4 months without checking on the training progress of squadrons in the US.
Often when I do get around to it, I find skills above 70, in orange color no less, for many pilots.

One of the many pitfalls of not having a staff to manage this gargantuan monster.

Well, that's not what was going on at all.

Aircraft ranges were properly set at six, as was the plan (I spent more than an hour last night issuing new orders for the squadrons, increasing many from range 0 to range 6). It wasn't the aircraft settings that gave me the problem it was the need to refuel that limited my TFs to traveling four hexes rather than the planned for six hexes.

[HansBolter]

Aren't your carrier fighters capable of escorting to range 7?
Why the limit?

[Canoerebel]

On the theory that risk increases with distance (blundering into mischief like a CAP trap or whatever), I configured the raid to take place at five hexes. Then I allowed an extra hex of range on aircraft squadron settings just in case. Why chose that number instead of seven or four or 10? Just a gut feeling.

[paullus99]

Well, damn.

He'll pack his airfields now, so the opportunity to probably gone.

Damn, damn, damn.

[BBfanboy]

I don't like to go beyond range six for a tough target either - the ops losses from damaged planes not returning get too high. You can afford the planes but great pilots take a year to develop! Also, I don't think the Avengers can carry a torp to range 7, but I could be wrong about that.

[Canoerebel]

11/20/44

Fancy Pants: While the carrier raid fizzled, the ground war in China progressed. See map for details (and I'll post a follow-up map with hexside details turned on).

We're now entering another window where John can gang up on Allied forces. Ningpo is an outpost on the frontier. it's protected by an RN BB TF, a USN CA TF, and about five DD TFs. 275 fighters provide air cover. John can overwhelm the defenses but it'll probably take him awhile to figure out the right combination. The window should be open roughly 10-14 days.

In the DEI, a small CVE TF is at Horn Island and moving into the Gulf tonight. That's the last TF that will join the great move north.

I think these TFs carry in excess of 1 million supply. I think it carriers 400k fuel. But fuel is a bit tight.

Miri has 250k fuel but it's tough to extract it - small port. But it's my emergency fueling station.

[Canoerebel]

11/20/44

An IJA Division's Banzai Charge: See diagram.

[Canoerebel]

11/20/44

Hexside Control in China:

[Canoerebel]

Supply in China is an interesting phenomena. Despite heavy land and air combat by units on the Coastal Front, supply looks flush. I've dropped a decent amount at Foochow but it never seems to diminish. I suspect that supply is filtering through from Interior China (and ultimately from the Burma Road). I will monitor this carefully, because if true that means most of the supply inbound from the DEI can be used for strategic bombing from Formosa - which means, in turn, I have enough supply in theater now to last the rest of the game. We'll see.

[BBfanboy]

When you take Kiukiang, if you try to march from there up to Wuchang you can get messed up by the roads. The good road goes up to the hex east of Wuchang before turning west, but if you set your units at Kiukiang to march up to Wuchang they will march 2 hexes and then try to go through the woods to get to Wuchang. Obviously, not the fastest route. So route the troops at Kiukiang to the hex east of Wuchang and then give them the orders to march west to the city.

Just one of those annoying things that could slow down your movement if you don't know about it.

[Lowpe]

ORIGINAL: paullus99

Well, damn.

He'll pack his airfields now, so the opportunity to probably gone.

Damn, damn, damn.

Why? It is not evident from the screen picture that the Allies were going to attack.

Japan has consistently exposed their shipping for destruction...but I wouldn't get too distressed, as I suppose there wasn't much there to begin with and the opportunity will surely present itself again.

I have no clue what is there, but really....carriers without planes. How in the world does that sound like John?

[Lowpe]

ORIGINAL: Canoerebel

11/20/44

An IJA Division's Banzai Charge: See diagram.

Ok, that is a Kwantung Army restricted unit in most games. I have no clue what your HR rules are concerning restricted troops moving into China, or if this mod changes the headquarters, etc. It starts the game I believe with 25 experience and morale with horrible leader that costs an arm and leg of PP to change out.

But, if there is no restriction for moving troops from Manchuko to China, how in the world did you save China? I guess just no interest.

The 4th is a garrison division with a handful of 81mm mortars and 75 mm pop guns. No way in the world should it be shock attacking tanks on its own. At best it might cause a retreat and some disablements but at a pretty stiff cost in losses to themselves.

[Panther Bait]

If a Kwangtung Army division suicides, can it be bought back in the home islands or back in Manchukuo?

[JohnDillworth]

ORIGINAL: Canoerebel

Supply in China is an interesting phenomena. Despite heavy land and air combat by units on the Coastal Front, supply looks flush. I've dropped a decent amount at Foochow but it never seems to diminish. I suspect that supply is filtering through from Interior China (and ultimately from the Burma Road). I will monitor this carefully, because if true that means most of the supply inbound from the DEI can be used for strategic bombing from Formosa - which means, in turn, I have enough supply in theater now to last the rest of the game. We'll see.

Yup, Burma road supply is like a long term investment. Takes a long time to flow, more time to fill out the Chinese Army, but now you can live on the interest in your investment. Keep pumping supply through Rangoon and maybe push a couple of good base forces and engineers into interior China. A good airfield or two will make big trouble. Living large now CR.

[GetAssista]

ORIGINAL: Panther Bait
If a Kwangtung Army division suicides, can it be bought back in the home islands or back in Manchukuo?

Revived Japanese LCUs arrive only in Tokyo (and Osaka if Tokyo is captured). But permanently restricted LCUs usually cannot be revived at all

[Lowpe]

ORIGINAL: GetAssista

ORIGINAL: Panther Bait
If a Kwangtung Army division suicides, can it be bought back in the home islands or back in Manchukuo?

Revived Japanese LCUs arrive only in Tokyo (and Osaka if Tokyo is captured). But permanently restricted LCUs usually cannot be revived at all

Why would you want to? Supplies are better spent somewhere, anywhere else.

That unit is for a fixed defensive position with level 5 forts, supporting units and 100 prep, or broken down into 1/3rds for garrison duty.

[Lecivius]

ORIGINAL: Lowpe

That unit is for a fixed defensive position with level 5 forts, supporting units and 100 prep, or broken down into 1/3rds for garrison duty.

Well, it was. It's now a school crossing guard unit [:D]

[Canoerebel]

Is that unit permanent restricted to Manchuria? We do have the usual restrictions about paying PP to buy out restricted units moving across national border. You may recall my oversights when I had restricted Chinese units move into northern Indochina (I then moved them back out) and restricted Indian units moving deeply into Burma (had to move them back to Shwebo per our specific rule.