[Clever Title Here] Texas_D (J) vs Marbakka (A)

[marbakka]

ORIGINAL: HansBolter

Most of the units that arrive at the East Coast aren't restricted. I agree with princep that it probably needs to be in strat mode. I can't say for sure as I have never tried to transfer an LCU from off map base to of map base without putting them in strat mode and it works for me every time.

I don't have the turn right now, but I'm pretty sure the unit is NOT restricted as the whole reason I thought to send it was because it was on my list of unrestricted units.

I also agree with not sending American LCUs to the Brits. He is dead on about Pago Pago and Canton. From PP slowly start garrisoning further west to Suva, then Noumea, then Louganville, then Nedeni. Poise yourself for an assault on the Solomons.

Get SWPac units to Oz and decide if you are going to fight to hold Port Morseby. If he is slow to come after it build it up to the hilt. If you can get SWPac base forces and the II Fighter Command into it along with the two Pursuit Groups belonging to SWPac and then get thier B26s and the A24s from ABDA there you can pummel his efforts to build up the Lae/Salamaua/Buna area. I also put SWPacs and the PIs B17s in Townsville and Charter Towers to hit the Lae/Salamaua airfields. If he wants to overcome that kind of concentration he has to committ a major concentration of Zeroes that will hinder his abilities elsewhere. Heck I even transfer the Aussie Vildebeasts there. And the SWPac P39s are incredible ship busters when set on Nav attack at 100 feet.

My thinking on sending the tanks to CT went like this: Tanks are useful because of their mobility and ability to quickly move to needed places. That requires relatively open terrain. Therefore, those tanks will be most useful in either India or Australia and I should position them such that they can be deployed to whichever needs them. Am I off in my thinking?

Most troops assigned to SWPAC or SOPAC are getting ready to move to Pago Pago, but if I recall correctly it is mostly ENGs who will help build up the port there.

I've considered moving the Tenth USAAF to Pago Pago, but those units are being used for training at the moment and are low on aircraft.

In CenPac keep an eye on Tabiteuea. If he ignores it, once you have suffcient force, run a SeaBee there with a fast tranport. Follow up with a Marine Def Bn and a base force and perhaps a regiment or two of the 3rd Marine Div. Use your carriers to cover the unloading of the follow up forces as long as you do so when you know his carriers are elsewhere and deliver fighters as soon as the base is built up. The tough thing about taking and building up a dot base in range of his LBA is getting supply in. The beauty of Tabby is that it has it's own ready made stockpile of supply! See Denishe's awesome AAR for some pointers on Tabby. It is an easy stepping stone for both the Gilberts and Marshalls.

I haven't spent a lot of time thinking about CENPAC except to begin thinking about how to reinforce the ports near PH (and Midway). I'll have to look into it. Still not sure where I'm going to get all the troops to do all this.

[HansBolter]

ORIGINAL: marbakka

ORIGINAL: HansBolter

Most of the units that arrive at the East Coast aren't restricted. I agree with princep that it probably needs to be in strat mode. I can't say for sure as I have never tried to transfer an LCU from off map base to of map base without putting them in strat mode and it works for me every time.

I don't have the turn right now, but I'm pretty sure the unit is NOT restricted as the whole reason I thought to send it was because it was on my list of unrestricted units.

Likely they need to be in strat mode then.

I also agree with not sending American LCUs to the Brits. He is dead on about Pago Pago and Canton. From PP slowly start garrisoning further west to Suva, then Noumea, then Louganville, then Nedeni. Poise yourself for an assault on the Solomons.

Get SWPac units to Oz and decide if you are going to fight to hold Port Morseby. If he is slow to come after it build it up to the hilt. If you can get SWPac base forces and the II Fighter Command into it along with the two Pursuit Groups belonging to SWPac and then get thier B26s and the A24s from ABDA there you can pummel his efforts to build up the Lae/Salamaua/Buna area. I also put SWPacs and the PIs B17s in Townsville and Charter Towers to hit the Lae/Salamaua airfields. If he wants to overcome that kind of concentration he has to committ a major concentration of Zeroes that will hinder his abilities elsewhere. Heck I even transfer the Aussie Vildebeasts there. And the SWPac P39s are incredible ship busters when set on Nav attack at 100 feet.

My thinking on sending the tanks to CT went like this: Tanks are useful because of their mobility and ability to quickly move to needed places. That requires relatively open terrain. Therefore, those tanks will be most useful in either India or Australia and I should position them such that they can be deployed to whichever needs them. Am I off in my thinking?

No, but tanks also add a very high concentration of AV for very little stacking value so they are good for beefing up defense of limited stacking locales like Canton and Midway. If he isn't coming after Australia or SouthPac or even pushing hard in New Guinea and you feel hard pressed in Burma or India then perhaps it is a good choice to send some American units there, but I personally would let the Brits look to their own defense and use the oppurtunity to be agressive in the locales he isn't pushing in.

Most troops assigned to SWPAC or SOPAC are getting ready to move to Pago Pago, but if I recall correctly it is mostly ENGs who will help build up the port there.

Yes, you need engineers to build them up, but you need units with AV to hold them.

I've considered moving the Tenth USAAF to Pago Pago, but those units are being used for training at the moment and are low on aircraft.

In CenPac keep an eye on Tabiteuea. If he ignores it, once you have suffcient force, run a SeaBee there with a fast tranport. Follow up with a Marine Def Bn and a base force and perhaps a regiment or two of the 3rd Marine Div. Use your carriers to cover the unloading of the follow up forces as long as you do so when you know his carriers are elsewhere and deliver fighters as soon as the base is built up. The tough thing about taking and building up a dot base in range of his LBA is getting supply in. The beauty of Tabby is that it has it's own ready made stockpile of supply! See Denishe's awesome AAR for some pointers on Tabby. It is an easy stepping stone for both the Gilberts and Marshalls.

I haven't spent a lot of time thinking about CENPAC except to begin thinking about how to reinforce the ports near PH (and Midway). I'll have to look into it. Still not sure where I'm going to get all the troops to do all this.

Time, my friend, time. I'm giving you advice for what to look toward in the coming months. You will get more ground units for CenPac. Some will have to be released from restricted commands over time though. Historically the US didn't get moving forward in CenPac until mid '43, but in game, if an opportunity presents itself, you can start as early as mid to late '42. You certainly won't have the carrier force to go toe to toe until mid '43, but there is a lot that can be accomplished in game earlier on a shoestring.

And the advice about Port Morseby is predicated on having some division sized units available to serve as the main defense force for all those base forces, HQs and air units. If you divert the two Aussie Divs coming in at Aden from the Middle East to India/Burma and you don't have the PPs to free up other Aussie Divs or the American Divs that historically went to SWPac then defending PM is pretty much moot.

Oh, and as for your plans for the raid by Enterprise, I thought you would have learned by now to avoid high speed runs unless absolutely necessary. [;)]

[marbakka]

ORIGINAL: HansBolter
And the advice about Prt Morseby is predicated on having some division sized units available to serve as the main defense force for all those base forces, HQs and air units. If you divert the two Aussie Divs coming in at Aden from the Middle East to India/Burma and you don't have the PPs to free up other Aussie Divs or the American Divs that historically went to SWPac then defending PM is pretty much moot.

Honestly, I don't think hes going to give me the time to bring a full division to the defense of PM unless I can sneak the units out of Singapore (at the cost of 700 PP...which I can pay as of last turn). The rest of 7 AUS doesn't show up for another 40 days and even then it'll take forever to get it to PM.

He has something like 20000 troops stationed in Rabaul already.

[HansBolter]

ORIGINAL: marbakka

ORIGINAL: HansBolter
And the advice about Prt Morseby is predicated on having some division sized units available to serve as the main defense force for all those base forces, HQs and air units. If you divert the two Aussie Divs coming in at Aden from the Middle East to India/Burma and you don't have the PPs to free up other Aussie Divs or the American Divs that historically went to SWPac then defending PM is pretty much moot.

Honestly, I don't think hes going to give me the time to bring a full division to the defense of PM unless I can sneak the units out of Singapore (at the cost of 700 PP...which I can pay as of last turn). The rest of 7 AUS doesn't show up for another 40 days and even then it'll take forever to get it to PM.

He has something like 20000 troops stationed in Rabaul already.

PM is toast. Don't bother. Protect the Aussie coast and start buidling defenses in SoPac.

[marbakka]

December 25, 1941 Report

- Lots of recon going on over Palembang. He sees that I'm building it up but has no real reason to be concerned about it. I won't be able to get it to anything sustainable, and it is mostly just an exercise in futility to get the troops there...but the alternative is to have them fight in Batavia or Soerabaja, neither of which would bring about a different result
- Lost a lot of aircraft on the ground in Singapore. For some dumb reason, I thought to give my fighters a break from flying CAP. I'd hoped that his bombings would be directed at the ground units or port (and some were). These fighter squadrons desperately need some love, but his bombing campaign has been relentless out of northern Malaya, Singkawang, and Billiton
- Japan captures Kuala Lumpur, Togian-eilanden, and Morotai (none of which was contested at all)
- Bad luck in CENPAC. I'd sent an AVP and AV to Wake to help support my 3 patrol squadrons located there. They were to shift to midway when/if Wake is invaded. A Japanese sub caught them a mere day's travel away from Wake and put a torpedo into AV Tangier. Her damage is 32/65/23/28, so it is unlikely that she will survive. I might theoretically get her to Midway, but I don't think I could get one of my ARs up that way fast enough. Should have given them an escort, but I was too busy trying to hunt down and exterminate the subs near PH to spare the DDs. Lesson learned.
- SS Triton did some mine clearing of Truk the old fashioned way. It seems unlikely she'll make it back to Pearl with 65 FLT damage, but we'll see.
- Guam should fall in the next turn or two

SigInt: For some reason, tracker did not load the intel for this turn, so no screenshot. The only thing I saw of any significance was that the 24th Infantry Regiment is loaded on a Shanghai Maru class xAP bound for Wake Island. I wonder if he hoped to invade Wake without bother with carrier air cover (thus the SAGs that were at Eniwetok and his delay after those ships were attacked by Lexington). If that was his intent, I flatter myself to think that both the presence of US carriers and the Vindicators at the island itself cause some hesitation. Of course, if that is the case, it means that he now has Carriers headed for Wake...and Enterprise isn't back to safety just yet.

Edit: Forgot to mention the unsuccessful enemy submarine attack against an empty xAP headed to San Francisco. The culprit, according to initial reports, was SS I-19. I call this little guy the Red Devil. He was spotted just west of PH and reportedly sunk by an ASW group in the opening days of the war. He was then pursued west from PH almost halfway to Wake - daily attempts to sink him without success. I thought for sure that I'd at least damaged him enough that I wouldn't be seeing him for a while...and now he shows up off the WC. Thankfully, most of my shipping has passed north of him.

[BBfanboy]

ORIGINAL: marbakka

I haven't spent a lot of time thinking about CENPAC except to begin thinking about how to reinforce the ports near PH (and Midway). I'll have to look into it. Still not sure where I'm going to get all the troops to do all this.

Midway cannot take a decent number of troops anyway. As an atoll it is limited to 6000 [unless you want to waste supplies and have inefficient ops]. Usually I put construction units on it to build it to the max, then withdraw them while installing as many fighting troops as limits allow. A base force with aviation support is a given. Seaplanes and float planes can be supported by AV/AVP/AVD ships without adding to stacking on the airfield or the troop limit.
And as Hans Bolter said, you can use tanks to help maximize the assault value. Even after all that, if he comes with a big enough landing force there is no way to hold it unless you can fight off his ships. The bright side is, if he takes it then he has all the headaches about limits on atolls. [:)]

Not sure if anyone mentioned it but Japan has a "landing bonus" for the first few months that allows them to land on places they have done no prep for and not suffer too many casualties. This expires in spring 1942 [not sure which month] and after that, he would be foolish to try a snap landing without prep. So the window of time when he could do a surprise landing in the Hawaiian Islands area is elapsing and by the time you scrape up a robust defence for all those islands, it will have passed. As long as PH is impregnable and you have heavy bombers to suppress any airfields he starts nearby, he can temporarily occupy any of those islands without hurting you too much. That's my opinion and I'm sticking too it until painful experience tells me differently![:'(]

[HansBolter]

Pretty sure the landing bonus, which also allows him to unload at an incredible rate landing whole divisions in one day, ends at the beginning of April.

Pretty much the only reason I keep any air in Singapore is to cover the evacuation of troops. If you aren't pulling troops out by sea, there is no reason to keep an airforce there. Flak alone will make him pay a small cost for his bombing your supplies into oblivion and you need the air everywhere else.

[marbakka]

Orders Summary - December 26, 1941

China
- I'm concerned about his push near Changsha. He has something like 50000 soldiers marching around in the woods and pushed my buffer back into the city. He appears to be marching back to the east, but I may be in trouble if he moves to the city. I only have about 2000 AV there right now. Just in case, I have ordered about 550 AV to march from Changteh to the hex beside Changsha. I also have a 200 AV cavalry unit a couple of hexes west that can be brought in if needed. That's not much, though!
- I'm debating the possible merits of upgrading the AVG squadron in China to the P40E Warhawks. Looking at the comparison, it appears as though the Warhawk has better armor and firepower at the cost of maneuverability and climb rate. I don't know enough about the game to know whether this would be a huge mistake, so I've held off for now. Thoughts?

Burma
- He has troops 1 hex east of Pegu which appear to be moving to the hex north of Pegu. Is he trying to cut off supply to the north? If so, should I challenge him in that hex? His main force took Moulmein last night and I expect will be marching northward soon

India
- Assigned some newly arrived DDs to the Air Combat group forming at Trincomalee. NEWB QUESTION: What are the limitations when operating multiple carriers in the same TF and in the same hex? My plan right now is to sail Hermes alongside Indominable and have her serve as an ASW/Search platform.

DEI
- He continues to slowly make his way through the Celebes and New Guinea bases. Force Z is in position to interpose itself should any move be made on Kendari or Ambon, but I'll feel a lot more confident when my two cruiser SAGs get in from Australia (3+ days)
- I'm beginning to ask "What's next?" I'm thinking that once Kendari/Ambon fall, it will be time to start preparing for a last stand. I envision a general movement "inward" toward Palembang. For instance, in Java, troops would more or less abandon Soerabaja and move to Batavia to make their stand (with the lucky ones getting airlifted to Palembang instead).

Australia
- More newb questions! Where should I focus my fortification efforts? I started building up the Perth area on day 1, but I have since shifted some of that effort to building up a couple ports over there. Alice Springs is starting to look like more of a proper Air Force Base. Darwin is building, but I don't see any way I could resist an attack up there anyway thanks to the rail line ending at Alice Springs. Any attack on the Sydney/Brisbane/Melbourne area will prompt me to get real active in CENPAC to cut off his supply lines, and I think he knows how hard it would be to supply such a sustained effort. I've been focusing on making those bases more useful as ports and airfields

SOPAC
- Pago Pago has 60 AV and 4 units of Artillery as well. We're still hunting for that pesky submarine, but with no luck (You try telling the captain of DD Le Triomphant that general military practice is to attack TOWARD the enemy!)
- Now that I have a better handle on how some of these units can be useful even in limited terrain (islands), I'll be a bit more active about sending SOPAC troops toward Australia via Pago Pago.

CENPAC
- Licking my wounds a bit and starting to look to the fortification of Midway. I've put too much focus on Wake. Lesson learned.

NOPAC
- A combat engineer unit has mostly unloaded at Adak. For some reason it did not complete the unloading. Not sure why, but it had better hurry up because I've got another ENG unit about 2 days out.
- I've been slowly slogging my way through Canoerebel's "Tokyo Rose was a Hussy!" AAR (I'm on page 20ish), and I'm interested in his NOPAC tactics. I'm not sure how effective they may be against Texas_D, but I'm keeping an eye on the possibility of making some trouble in the north. I don't think Japan will make any real effort up here unless he plans to take Hawaii. Saratoga will remain on station in the Bering Sea for a few more days and then leave to join the party elsewhere

WC
- I need to start building up Tenth USAAF if I'm going to send them to Pago/Australia, but I'm too ignorant of how the replacement/upgrade stuff works. I'm reading up on it, but its a lot to swallow and I'm a bit paralyzed by my not knowing if I should bother replacing airframes in Singapore and Palembang

NEWB QUESTION OF THE DAY (I know...its like the third or fourth): Talk to me about replacements for LCUs. The game started with all units defaulted to no replacements. I've turned replacements on here and there for units that I wish were a bit bigger, but that's just what it is - wishing. I don't really understand how it all works and where/when I should turn on replacements. Should I have all frontline troops set to replacements ON?

[HansBolter]

ORIGINAL: marbakka

Orders Summary - December 26, 1941

China
- I'm concerned about his push near Changsha. He has something like 50000 soldiers marching around in the woods and pushed my buffer back into the city. He appears to be marching back to the east, but I may be in trouble if he moves to the city. I only have about 2000 AV there right now. Just in case, I have ordered about 550 AV to march from Changteh to the hex beside Changsha. I also have a 200 AV cavalry unit a couple of hexes west that can be brought in if needed. That's not much, though!
- I'm debating the possible merits of upgrading the AVG squadron in China to the P40E Warhawks. Looking at the comparison, it appears as though the Warhawk has better armor and firepower at the cost of maneuverability and climb rate. I don't know enough about the game to know whether this would be a huge mistake, so I've held off for now. Thoughts? Depends a lot on how agressive you intend to be with the AVG. If you're going to commit them to front line combat then you simply won't have the pool depth in H81A3s to sustain any duration. In the past I have upgraded one squadron to P40Es, one to P40Bs (after creating P40B pool depth by upgrading some back line P40B squads to P39s which takes time) and keeping one as H81A3s. This gives enough pool depth for each type to sustain some combat. They do however withdraw like in July I believe, so comitting your P40s to that group means you will eventually lose them. The up side of upgrading them is that the left over H81A3s eventually end up in the Chinese pool.
Burma
- He has troops 1 hex east of Pegu which appear to be moving to the hex north of Pegu. Is he trying to cut off supply to the north? If so, should I challenge him in that hex? His main force took Moulmein last night and I expect will be marching northward soon. The only way I have found to put up a fight in southern Burma is to transfer the entire III Indian Corps from Singapore. This takes time, time you don't have since he is coming early. Anything you leave in the Pegu/Rangoon area will likely be savaged and the remnants can only retreat toward Akyab. Better to pull back to Mandalay and wait for him to come to you and then pull back in as orderly a manner as you can to the Imphal area.
India
- Assigned some newly arrived DDs to the Air Combat group forming at Trincomalee. NEWB QUESTION: What are the limitations when operating multiple carriers in the same TF and in the same hex? My plan right now is to sail Hermes alongside Indominable and have her serve as an ASW/Search platform. Can't remember excatly but it's something like more than 100 or 150 air causes a detriment and it upgrades incrementaly in time increments. I thinks it's in the manual somewhere. The Brit carriers have smaller air contingents than the Americans so they can combine multiple carriers in a single TF without hitting the trhreshold as quickly. Best to keep the Americans in single carrier TFs until the level increases.
DEI
- He continues to slowly make his way through the Celebes and New Guinea bases. Force Z is in position to interpose itself should any move be made on Kendari or Ambon, but I'll feel a lot more confident when my two cruiser SAGs get in from Australia (3+ days)
- I'm beginning to ask "What's next?" I'm thinking that once Kendari/Ambon fall, it will be time to start preparing for a last stand. I envision a general movement "inward" toward Palembang. For instance, in Java, troops would more or less abandon Soerabaja and move to Batavia to make their stand (with the lucky ones getting airlifted to Palembang instead).

Australia
- More newb questions! Where should I focus my fortification efforts? I started building up the Perth area on day 1, but I have since shifted some of that effort to building up a couple ports over there. Alice Springs is starting to look like more of a proper Air Force Base. Darwin is building, but I don't see any way I could resist an attack up there anyway thanks to the rail line ending at Alice Springs. Any attack on the Sydney/Brisbane/Melbourne area will prompt me to get real active in CENPAC to cut off his supply lines, and I think he knows how hard it would be to supply such a sustained effort. I've been focusing on making those bases more useful as ports and airfields. Basically you want to fortify the main bases/cities as much as possible until you see where he is planning to go after the DEI.SOPAC
- Pago Pago has 60 AV and 4 units of Artillery as well. We're still hunting for that pesky submarine, but with no luck (You try telling the captain of DD Le Triomphant that general military practice is to attack TOWARD the enemy!)
- Now that I have a better handle on how some of these units can be useful even in limited terrain (islands), I'll be a bit more active about sending SOPAC troops toward Australia via Pago Pago.

CENPAC
- Licking my wounds a bit and starting to look to the fortification of Midway. I've put too much focus on Wake. Lesson learned.

NOPAC
- A combat engineer unit has mostly unloaded at Adak. For some reason it did not complete the unloading. Not sure why, but it had better hurry up because I've got another ENG unit about 2 days out.
- I've been slowly slogging my way through Canoerebel's "Tokyo Rose was a Hussy!" AAR (I'm on page 20ish), and I'm interested in his NOPAC tactics. I'm not sure how effective they may be against Texas_D, but I'm keeping an eye on the possibility of making some trouble in the north. I don't think Japan will make any real effort up here unless he plans to take Hawaii. Saratoga will remain on station in the Bering Sea for a few more days and then leave to join the party elsewhere

WC
- I need to start building up Tenth USAAF if I'm going to send them to Pago/Australia, but I'm too ignorant of how the replacement/upgrade stuff works. I'm reading up on it, but its a lot to swallow and I'm a bit paralyzed by my not knowing if I should bother replacing airframes in Singapore and Palembang

NEWB QUESTION OF THE DAY (I know...its like the third or fourth): Talk to me about replacements for LCUs. The game started with all units defaulted to no replacements. I've turned replacements on here and there for units that I wish were a bit bigger, but that's just what it is - wishing. I don't really understand how it all works and where/when I should turn on replacements. Should I have all frontline troops set to replacements ON?

No, be judicious with replacements. Never give replacements to units in restricted commands unless they become front line like if he invades Australia. The PP cost to release a unit is dependent on it's size and the cost will go up if you fill them out with replecements before releasing them. Devices will have a "+" after them if there are extra devices in the pool that can fill the unit's shortage so this is a good heads up. Devices have a "=" after them if there are deivces in the pool to upgrade that device type. Take a loke at your device pools, they are listed and have entry dates for new devices just like the air replacement listings. Be careful also not to upgrade devices in one sub unit and not another because different device types will keep them from recombining.

There are a bajillion things to learn in mastering this game and I'm still working at it myself.[X(]

Heres a little advice on air pools I posted in another thread:

Putting up a fight in the air with the Allies in '42 is all about pool depth. You can only sustain the fight with sufficient pool depth for replacements and that is the true challenge for the Allies in '42. With PDU on and judicious use of upgrades you can create pool depth where none exists. Upgrade a few P40B squadrons that are near full strength to P39s and you have created pool depth for the use of a couple of P40B squadrons in front line combat. Hold off upgrading your carrier SBD2s to 3s and you can utilize your pool depth of the 2s while building up the depth of the 3s. Upgrade a few of the P38s that are restricted to the west coast to P39s and you can flesh out the P38 squadron that starts in the 51st Pursuit Group and have a little depth for replacements, long before P38 production kicks in. These are all tricks of the Allied trade that one picks up over the course of many games played

and a bit more from the other thread:

The simple answer as to why some squadrons will upgrade with only one plane in the pool and others will not is withdrawal. Squadrons that have a withdrawal date will not upgrade until the pool has sufficient numbers to equal the squadron's maximum size. Squadrons with no withdrawal date will upgrade with a single plane in the pool.

While PDU on does give the player greater flexibility than PDU off, it is not cart blanche to upgrade any squadron to any type. Squadrons do still have limited upgrade paths. One of my biggest frustrations are the many Marine dive bomber squadrons that start as SDB1s and cannot upgrade to SBD2s, but skip over that plane type to SBD3s or SBD5s. If you upgrade all your carrier DB squadrons that start as 2s you have a nice pool of available SBD2s that you can never use. I have learned to keep a few carrier squadrons as 2s until the pool of SBD3s increases way beyond what I need for the upgrades so that I will have sufficient pool depth in 3s to sustain losses. This allows me pool depth in the 2s to sustain losses as well. Yes, it's a drawback to operate carriers with DB squadrons with different ranges (the 2s have one less hex range than the 3s) but it's better than rushing the upgrades to 3s and having insufficient pool depth in 3s to sustain losses and a huge pool of unuseable 2s.

Also when eaxmining the plane type production that will become available in future months the list tells you how many of that type you will get each month, with some minor variability from a random factor, but what it fails to tell you is how long the production run lasts. To see that you have to click on the name of the plane and bring up the plane stat screen. In the bottom left corner of that screen you can see how long the production run lasts. Multiply that by the number per month and you have an assessment of how many of that type you will have to work with. Some that have low production rates like PBY5s and PBY5As run for the entire duration of the war. Some like the B26 and A24 have only one month duration production run.

p.s. Sorry, my memory failed me for a moment there. B26s get a 3 month production run from 3/42 thru 5/42.

[marbakka]

December 26, 1941 Report

- I believe I may have mentioned before that I'm an idiot. I was so busy typing to you guys about how dumb I was for not having those fighters on CAP in Singapore, that I forgot to put the fighters back on CAP over Singapore. Lost a bunch more.
- He also started some half-hearted bombing of Batavia and I think maybe Palembang
- Brunei, Saidor, and Rambutyo fell (all uncontested I believe)
- A cutoff "leftover" army in eastern China was shock attacked by Japanese troops in a wooded region. It killed 7 squads and damaged 102, but the Japanese had it worse with 393 disabled squads and 1 destroyed (3559 casualties)
- My picket sub at Celebes continues to make me cheer every turn! This time he put a torpedo into an xAK. I think I'm going to send every nearby sub to that little bottleneck. Fun times! He also reports several large transport convoys passing through including one with APDs.
- AV Tangier will sink at sunset. Fire is at 96.
- An enemy TF has been spotted en route to Wake. I'm very tempted to turn Enterprise around, but I can't imagine he would be heading up there without support - possibly even KB support. The conservative move would be to just let it happen. "This will only hurt for a second"
- Coastwatchers report that a group of slow moving ships is headed SE toward the Lae area. If it weren't for the fact that I'm fairly certain that Rabaul will have LBA by now, I might send my cruisers up that way.

SigInt: Note the sub headed for Kwejalein. Would he be using that as a sub base? It is under LBA, but it'd make a tempting target later on.

[princep01]

Marbakka, that is good advice flowing from BBFanboy abnd HansBolter.

A couple of observations regarding things Hans pointed out.

1. There is a significant amphibious unload bonus given to the Japanese early on. This bonus disappears on 4/6/42 (four months...p. 127 last sentence). Delaying Japanese landings until this bonus disappears is one of the real strategic objectives I try to achieve in the game as an Allied player. Beyond that point, IJN amphibious landings are glacerally slowl by comparison.

As an aside, I think the game (in the AE form) eloquently captures the fact that the Japanese had to withdraw considerable shipping from the Navy and reincorporate it in the civilian economy to avoid collapse of the latter. Thus ends the bonus.

2. Operating CV TFs. I choose to operate the US CVs in 2 CV TFs in 1942. There might be 4 in the hex, but it would be in two separate TFs. There is a point where attack coordination is penalized. It depends on both the number of A/C in the TF and the maximum distance they fly on the mission. The formula and a description are found on pp 166-167 of the manual. You can see that the coordination penalty is not likely to affect 2 CV US TFs in 1942, unless they are fighting at extended range (something you don't want to do anyway). One of the disadvantages of running around in single CV TFs is the number of escorts you have to deploy to function that way. Get close if you want to fight.

And finally, you will see that the CVs tend to do something bothersome in the reaction movement. This is automatic with CVs and, if led by an aggressive comander, they will even override a react setting of 0. Read and understand p. 129, Special CV Movement. This little "hidden" gem of a rule has led to some very unpleasant surprises for both side (although the US commander is often the victim).

Hope this helps.

[marbakka]

Orders Summary - December 27, 1941

- Scanned all training AGs for pilots over 50 xp. Overstaffed most of those and set them up to 100% training.
- Upgraded 1 P40 AG to P39...testing it to make sure I did it right then I'll look to do more as per the suggestion
- Optimized Force Z's position in case he goes for Ambon instead
- Decided against diverting cruisers to interfere with possible Lae landing (Aus troops finally get done with their march through the jungle tomorrow anyway). Recon mission sent to Rabaul.
- Enterprise is still within striking distance of Wake. I've focused the search planes to see what is going on with this invasion force headed up there. If it continues to approach and appears to be unescorted, I have the option of a) using the 4 PC force that had been escorting a supply shipment, or b) turning Enterprise back for a hit and run. I'll look at what the next day's search reveals and make a decision then. If it IS escorted, I'm evacuating everyone I can and leaving it to be captured. Until I find out more, my carrier is pausing on her return to PH.
- Loading has begun of about 6 LCUs assigned to the Pacific Fleet. They will sail to Pago Pago where some will stay to help out and others will be moved to nearby Fiji, Noumea, and CENPAC islands to get a better grip on these Pacific Islands. This should have been done a while ago, but I'm learning. Some mediocre escort has already been arranged, but I'll be pulling some more from a certain carrier group soon enough.
- Ordered a unit to try to cut off the enemy unit moving to the hex north of Pegu. I'd rather my rail not get cut off right away.
- Lots of transports finished moving units to Palembang, so I reassigned them to the next units. I'm loving the SkyTrain squadron.
- I have some patrol boats that just arrived and disbanded at the port 1 hex west of Billiton. The PTs that were already there are out of fuel and damaged. I'm trying a high speed dash to get some fuel up there, but I have no idea why he would allow me to unload it. If all else fails, I have enough fuel in the PTs that just arrived to launch a nighttime raid against Billiton, but I'm not expecting much success here. What I really wish I had were some more Dutch mines! [:'(]
- In NOPAC, troops have finally finished unloading. Supplies, Fuel, and more engineers are all going to arrive within a day or two. No sign of Japanese activity up here yet.

Here is a snapshot of what China looks like at the moment. It's a mess. The red line represents where I plan on putting up a fight, but I'm open to suggestions. I didn't even draw anything in the south and west because I have no idea where to fight there - particularly near Canton where I know he has at least a full division or two (see Hong Kong). The numbers are the AV for those stacks. Stacks that I didn't give a number for are mostly too small to factor in just yet.

QUESTION FROM TEXAS_D: Does anyone know if the problem with Scenario 2 which "ruined" the endgame for Japan by flooding him with HI sucking pilots has been fixed/altered?

[HansBolter]

You have 3k AV in the woods NW of Hankow. How strong is he in the city? If you can distract him in the Changsha area and lure some strength out of Hankow it is a quick move from those woods down that major road. Hankow is quadrupled defense terrain. 3k AV quadrupled will be almost impossible for him to dislodge without concentrating half his army in China. Think about it.

This could be a very risky proposition though as he could surround you and starve you out. I've actually taken Hankow from the AI several times, but an opponent with a brain will respond far more aggressively than the AI.

[Blackhorse]

Here is a snapshot of what China looks like at the moment. It's a mess. The red line represents where I plan on putting up a fight, but I'm open to suggestions. I didn't even draw anything in the south and west because I have no idea where to fight there - particularly near Canton where I know he has at least a full division or two (see Hong Kong).

In Scenario 2 the IJA can roll over you, if he puts his mind to it. To the southwest, try to keep him off the RR line Liuchow-Changsha for as long as possible, so you can maintain interior lines. Wuchow and Kukong are exposed outposts -- once you collect the scattered corps and HQs from the SE consider railing them to build a main line of resistance in the wooded approached to Kweilen and Liuchow.

A clever IJA will send a unit or two up the minor road above Nanning to either cut the rail line from Tuyun, or threaten the Kweiyang-Kunming road.

Napoleon said something like, "the strategic defensive is a form of deferred suicide." You don't want to be passive along the entire front. As HansBolter suggests, consider a thrust at Hankow -- or somewhere else -- to make him react to you.

[marbakka]

Re Hankow: I positioned those troops there to threaten Hankow, but I've been operating on the chess principle that "A threat has more power than its execution." Sure, I could probably take Hankow if I draw enough troops over to Changsha, but as you point out there is the counter-threat of surrounding a sizable portion of my Chinese army and starving them out (as well as losing Changsha in the bargain). But the threat of taking Hankow seems more powerful to me because without even engaging in battle, it removes troops from the Changsha front and relieves pressure there. That said, when his large force marches out of the hex adjacent to Changsha, I'm going to move INF units back to that square again, and if he replies by marching those 30k soldiers back toward Changsha, I may decide that in this case the execution is just more fun. [:'(]

[HansBolter]

ORIGINAL: marbakka

Re Hankow: I positioned those troops there to threaten Hankow, but I've been operating on the chess principle that "A threat has more power than its execution." Sure, I could probably take Hankow if I draw enough troops over to Changsha, but as you point out there is the counter-threat of surrounding a sizable portion of my Chinese army and starving them out (as well as losing Changsha in the bargain). But the threat of taking Hankow seems more powerful to me because without even engaging in battle, it removes troops from the Changsha front and relieves pressure there. That said, when his large force marches out of the hex adjacent to Changsha, I'm going to move INF units back to that square again, and if he replies by marching those 30k soldiers back toward Changsha, I may decide that in this case the execution is just more fun. [:'(]

Excellent strategy....the fleet in being is better than the war lost in a single afternoon......old reference to WWI and the battle of Jutland....you likely wouldn't be able to take Hankow anyway unless he really denuded it. But you could lodge yourself in it in way that would be difficult to dislodge. And I believe that the owner receives no manpower, resources or industrial production form a contested hex, not positive, but I think so.

He can reinforce Hankow by sea though. In my current Ironman game I took it from the AI and it tried several very weak attempts to invade it from the river.....but I have 5.1k sitting in it.

I also discovered one turn that I had a ship sitting in port there when I noticed a yellow anchor symbol appear. I wondered how I suddenly acquired a Chinese navy and discovered that a damaged US submarine that had been operating off the Korean peninsula took refuge there for repairs. Since that alerted me to the reality that subs can run up river to it I sent an operational one there to patrol the hex to intercept any further invasion attempts. [:D]

[marbakka]

December 28, 1941 Report

- Nighttime bombings in Singapore
- Japanese take Loyang
- Enemy TFs appear to be making their move on Kendari. Force Z is in position, but my first cruiser group is still a couple days
- My fuel tanker arrived west of Billiton and fueled the PTs. They have been ordered to go throw themselves at the massive (but heavily escorted) cargo TFs next door.
- Recon of Hankow shows only 1600 troops but 7 units. Clearly more recon is needed.
- Wake: I don't think he planned for it to happen, but Wake was lightly bombed by carrier aircraft in the afternoon. Search planes spotted what appears to be the KB (the full KB recombined?) to the W/NW of Wake. I have reconfirmed the lightly escorted transport TF moving to Wake

Orders Summary - December 29, 1941

- PTs ordered to attack Billiton
- Singapore CAP is back up in a big way with about a third of them flying at night.
- AVG sweep east of Changsha. Ordered more recon on Hankow
- B-17Es out of Calcutta finally have something to shoot at. They will be welcoming the Japanese to Burma starting this morning
- Dropped a slow moving AMC that was dragging down the second cruiser group trying to make it to Kendari/Ambon in time for the fight
- Enterprise is order to return to Pearl Harbor with all haste and then proceed toward the WC. A replenishment fleet will meet her halfway
- The small group of PCs that I had on ASW will attempt to disrupt their attack on Wake. Best of luck to them!
- A submarine wolfpack that was traveling to the Japanese coast to disperse into patrol zones is diverted to the south to see if I can get a lucky hit in the KB. They have been split into multiple TFs and given patrol routes for now.
- I didn't mention it yesterday, but Saratoga was ordered from the Bering Sea to the WC. Glad I did as she would be in a heap of trouble without a bit of a head start if this KB makes for Alaska
- Pearl Harbor air defense changed from training to 50% CAP. Getting ready to bring my ASW fleets into port as well. Klaxon alarms everywhere. Bring it.
- Sims class DDs arrived in San Diego from Balboa and 3 were immediately ordered to join the big troop transport that just left San Fran for PaPa

[marbakka]

December 29, 1941 Report

- PT attack at Billiton resulted in nothing but an MTB being sunk at 12000yd. I think I'll move the PT gang to Palembang and just have them harass whatever he eventually sends to take it.
- He landed about 250ish AV worth of troops at Wake in the night. His transport fleet was savaged first by the mines and then by my group of PCs. He managed to moderately damage one PC (who is returning to PH) but the other three came off unscathed. They will chase down the fleeing xAPs and hopefully put them down such that those troops have to be moved from Wake by other means. He'll take Wake, of course, but it'll bleed him a bit. The KB that was NW of the island has disappeared. I'm surprised that there was no attack from the air either from LBA or the carrier aircraft. Did he send it north to the Aleutians? Is it supposed to be a trap to lure the Enterprise out to Wake again?
- Enterprise made it more than halfway to PH during the day. I've turned her speed down to Mission and ordered the Replenishment fleet to refuel her, though she has enough to make it to PH on her own, so I may change my mind and tell that fleet to go meet the Saratoga instead. Saratoga is leaving the Bering Sea and heading SE toward the WC. There is already a refueling fleet set to meet her, but it won't hurt to prepare in case she has to crank up the speed.
- Nighttime bombing of Singapore and Palembang and a daytime, half-hearted sweep of Batavia. I think I may move AVG to Batavia for a turn and slaughter those zeros, leaving my other fighters to cover Palembang
- Japan has SAGs hovering NE of Kendari finishing off islands on the way. CA Chokai is a part of that group.

I've got to run, but I'll post more later.

Oh...and a certain legendary aircraft carrier arrived today [8D]

[BBfanboy]

ORIGINAL: HansBolter

He can reinforce Hankow by sea though. In my current Ironman game I took it from the AI and it tried several very weak attempts to invade it from the river.....but I have 5.1k sitting in it.

I also discovered one turn that I had a ship sitting in port there when I noticed a yellow anchor symbol appear. I wondered how I suddenly acquired a Chinese navy and discovered that a damaged US submarine that had been operating off the Korean peninsula took refuge there for repairs. Since that alerted me to the reality that subs can run up river to it I sent an operational one there to patrol the hex to intercept any further invasion attempts. [:D]

Yet another little twist in this marvellous game! I can't foresee ever getting tired of it!

[marbakka]

Orders Summary - December 30, 1941

- Saratoga will meet with a replenishment fleet tomorrow and continue toward the WC
- Lexington continues to lazily make her way to her assigned repair yard
- Enterprise has slowed to Mission Speed and will rendezvous with a replenishment fleet tomorrow before proceeding to PH
- USS Yorktown is now in theater. She picked up her DD escorts in San Diego and will meet a CA and 2 CLs on the way to meet Saratoga and Enterprise
- "The Grand Old Lady" (BB Warspite) is ordered to Balboa from which she will proceed to Trincomalee via Cape Town to join the RN fleet in the Indian Ocean
- My 3 undamaged PCs at Wake will attempt to take out his remaining transport ships which are attempting to flee back south.
- Tinkered with the Wake search planes in the hopes of spotting the KB again. It vanished.
- I need 2-3 more days to have my cruiser SAGs join up with Force Z at which point I can press into the Banda Sea and attack his protection there. Based on "radio chatter" he thinks Force Z is sitting in port somewhere. My only concerns here are that a) I'm not sure where the mKB is, and b) Force Z keeps having to be replenished while it sits out there waiting.
- Assigned all level bombers in range to attack the airfield at Billiton. My thinking is that I can slow down his AF base build up there
- PT boats that can still float have been ordered to Palembang
- Palembang is now up to 400 AV. C-47 Skytrains are the bomb.
- I'm still thinking about buying the AUS troops out of Singers. I can take my time thinking about it because as of right now, they couldn't get past the massive fleets around Billiton.
- HMS Indomitable should arrive at Trincomalee tonight and will be given her CG assignments tomorrow.
- Didn't change much in China this turn. AVG to sweep one more time before a trip back to the rear again.
- Pago Pago is surrounded by a sea of ships that would love to dock, but the dock is still being built. There is going to be a backlog there for some time, but that's ok at this early stage.

NEWB QUESTION: Is it advisable to divide units in India to leave a garrison behind? I have a number of cities where the garrison is something like 104/30, but the 104 is in 1 unit. If I move it out then I'm short on the garrison requirement. Can I split that unit and send the rest to the front lines, or will that make it useless?