The Good The Bad & The Indifferent

[Canoerebel]

Allied carriers are three hexes from Nagasaki while Allied singe-engine bombers hit industrial targets there and while 4EB strike there and at Kobe....and the Japanese carriers are in the DEI.

This makes sense from a gaming standpoint....but that's a pretty massive disconnect between what you'd have expected to see in the real war.

[JohnDillworth]

Allied carriers are three hexes from Nagasaki while Allied singe-engine bombers hit industrial targets there and while 4EB strike there and at Kobe....and the Japanese carriers are in the DEI.

This makes sense from a gaming standpoint....but that's a pretty massive disconnect between what you'd have expected to see in the real war.

since you have carrier aircraft any thoughts to hitting the airfield?

[Canoerebel]

That's just a tough question. Hitting industry is a direct way of scoring points. Hitting airfields is indirect. It can help the cause if sufficient fighters are on the ground and damaged by the raid. In this case, John has plenty of nearby airfields from which to base LRCAP so it seems possible that a raid won't mean that much. So I've chosen directness, to this point. Partly that's because the Allied fighters seem to be handling things well. My B-24Js took some lumps that one day, but I adjusted accordingly and otherwise the raids seem to be going well. I think I'll continue the direct way until a change of doctrine seems necessary or likely to catch John in a disadvantageous position.

[Bullwinkle58]

ORIGINAL: Canoerebel

Allied carriers are three hexes from Nagasaki while Allied singe-engine bombers hit industrial targets there and while 4EB strike there and at Kobe....and the Japanese carriers are in the DEI.

This makes sense from a gaming standpoint....but that's a pretty massive disconnect between what you'd have expected to see in the real war.

It actually doesn't make a lot of sense from a gaming standpoint either.

[witpqs]

ORIGINAL: Bullwinkle58

ORIGINAL: Canoerebel

Allied carriers are three hexes from Nagasaki while Allied singe-engine bombers hit industrial targets there and while 4EB strike there and at Kobe....and the Japanese carriers are in the DEI.

This makes sense from a gaming standpoint....but that's a pretty massive disconnect between what you'd have expected to see in the real war.

It actually doesn't make a lot of sense from a gaming standpoint either.

+1

[Mike McCreery]

MrKane has been able to pierce my 1300 plane CAP with 300 planes on a number of occasions. He shouldnt be the only person able to do that.

The Allies should not be able to be that close to the mainland of Japan.

[Flicker]

I'm with Mr. Winkle, it doesn't make a lot of sense.

I am revising my late game thoughts based on your experiences; strategic bombing is a winner. Any thoughts on basing? IIRC you're looking for a fighter base. Which bases look good for bombers?

Good game; glad to see the Red and Pearl campaigns and the planned MLR.

Also enjoy the book recommendations - just in time for Christmas.

[JohnDillworth]

The Allies should not be able to be that close to the mainland of Japan.

They can and did in 1945. TF 58 pretty much ranged up and down the coast at will

[JeffroK]

ORIGINAL: JohnDillworth

The Allies should not be able to be that close to the mainland of Japan.

They can and did in 1945. TF 58 pretty much ranged up and down the coast at will

And US & British Battleships bombarded installations on Honshu!

[Lokasenna]

ORIGINAL: Flicker

I'm with Mr. Winkle, it doesn't make a lot of sense.

I am revising my late game thoughts based on your experiences; strategic bombing is a winner. Any thoughts on basing? IIRC you're looking for a fighter base. Which bases look good for bombers?

Good game; glad to see the Red and Pearl campaigns and the planned MLR.

Also enjoy the book recommendations - just in time for Christmas.

Anything that can be built very large and can't be easily bombarded. Level 9 AF is best, but level 8 will do for the 2x AV bit. You need level 7 at least for B-29s anyway.

[Canoerebel]

12/13/44

John's Email: "Goodness. I can do this for days and days." He's referring to Nagasaki.

Air Raid Nagasaki: Very tough fighting over Nagasaki today, where the Allies lose 95 Corsairs and 11 Hellcats. The Japanese lose 180 good fighters.

The sweeps come in dispersed this time, which probably accounts for the higher losses. But the fighters did a magnificent job of clearing out opposition. The Avengers and B-29s didn't encounter any CAP and scored a lot of hits.

Here are the air battle losses for the day, along with the Intel Screen, which gives info regarding total Strat points scored.

Overall, the Allied lead is up to 33k. The pace has picked up considerably since Death Star returned to theater.

[Canoerebel]

12/13/44

Nagasaki: The fighters cleared out the opposition for the Avengers, which scored well with modest losses.

Then the Superforts came in - daylight raid at 10k - and scored many hits against Manpower, totaling about 50k on the day (reduced on the screenie as the fires are put out during the course of the day).

Overall, the air attack today went pretty well. Corsair losses were high but bomber losses were low, and a lot of hits scored.

Tomorrow I'm going to switch things around. LBA fighters from Ningpo are going to hit Nagasaki, preceded by nighttime B-24J raids against the airfield and B-29 raids against Manpower.

The main carrier sweeps and Avenger attacks will target Fukuoka. I think fighter op there is about half what I'm seeing at Nagasaki.

After Fukuoka, I'll probably retire the carriers to Foochow or Taichu to replace fighter frames, rest everybody for a few days, and think about Phase II. That might include using the Corsairs as LBA from Ningpo.

This is a high pace of operations. I can't indefinitely continue losing 90 Corsairs a day, as I did today, or 33 B-24Js, as I did three days back. But Japanese fighter losses are high and Allied points scored are high.

The Allied lead is increasing now at between 500 and 1,000 points per day - two to four times what we had seen previously. The pace will fluctuate as the carriers pull back or come forward. But John's going to have to do something if he wants the game to last more than about three more months.






]

[Canoerebel]

12/13/44

Fancy Pants: Cam Ranh Bay falls. Nothing left in Indochina but mop-up duty. In China, important attack tomorrow to the WNW of Hangchow. John has ideas on the Canton/Kukong fronts; I thin I can stymie him, but the situation is early and still developing.

[paullus99]

It depends on which one of you can replenish & prevent the other from doing so...if you've burned out the city of all of its strategic value, then the only reason to continue would be to attrit John's Air Force.

Have you thought about using your carrier air to draw him to a target, then switch your bombers to other targets - suck his fighters away from the main action?

[Canoerebel]

If I understand your question, paullus, that's what I did for next turn. LBA will hit Nagasaki while carrier air switches to Fukuoka. Here's how I put it a few posts above:

"Tomorrow I'm going to switch things around. LBA fighters from Ningpo are going to hit Nagasaki, preceded by nighttime B-24J raids against the airfield and B-29 raids against Manpower.

"The main carrier sweeps and Avenger attacks will target Fukuoka. I think fighter op there is about half what I'm seeing at Nagasaki."

[paullus99]

Ah, that's exactly right.

Thank you for the clarification.

[Canoerebel]

12/14/44

Weather prevented the main Allied carrier missions against Fukuoka. John had stood down his fighters at Nagasaki. He thought I had stood down my main raiding force too. That led him to write: "Looks like you and had similar ideas this turn."

Raid On Nagasaki: The B-29s came in on a low-level night mission and scored a decent number of Manpower hits with modest ops losses. The B-24Js at Ningpo, set to hit the airfield, failed to fly due to weather.

Most of the aircraft losses on the day were over China. I note that the P-51D isn't performing well against good IJ fighters...or perhaps its me not using them right.

I read this into John's actions at Nagasaki: The industry is in bad shape and there was little to lose by him standing down his fighters...and yet, it's interesting that he felt it advisable to stand them down. He's probably winded a bit.

I'm going to try again tomorrow. Nagasaki: Night B-24J raids against airfield; daytime P-51D, P-47, and P-38 sweeps from Ningpo.

Fukuoka: Massed carrier fighter sweeps and Avenger raids on industry.

Shimonseki: Nightime low-altitude B-29 raid vs. Manpower.

[Canoerebel]

12/14/44

Fancy Pants: Hangchow campaign beginning to take shape. I think the garrison is having some trouble handling daily bombings and bombardments. If John doesn't reinforce, I'll try a probing deliberate attack in a few more days.

I'm most interested in figuring out what's going on in the Kukong and Canton areas. John has more than 100k men here. But forces have not yet coalesced in such a way that a battle seems imminent.

[Flicker]

Curious about (the lack of) kamikazes. IIRC they are available.

[Canoerebel]

John has used kamikazes infrequently and in small numbers. The most recent appearance was near Aparri, Luzon, about ten days back. About 20 Judys damaged two LSI(L) and one or two smaller ships.

John's waiting for the right and overwhelming chance. I thought parking Death Star near Nagasaki might be it.