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If you lose China, he can bring some 5000 assault value to other theatres. Big deal.

[center]17-18 JANUARY 1942
TURN 42-43[/center]

I.NOPAC

Everything is calm over here.


II.CENPAC

Nothing new.


III.SOPAC

IJN TFs remained one hex S-W of Noumea, probably due to a refuel.

They have been attacked multiple times by my subs but no torpedo exploded. I have a dozen subs around them, one of them HAS to be lucky sooner or later...

La Foa, dot NORTH-WEST of Noumea, falls to over 350AV. Nothing I can do to save the poor defenders still in Noumea.


IV.DEI

Surprisingly, a calm turn. IJA marches into Batavia and gets ready to kill everyone there, while KB sails SOUTH of Java and sinks three xAKLs which have left Java a little bit too late.

I have tried another CAP trap like a couple of turns ago but Omar doesn't make his bombers fly in dangerous areas. Those 8 Betties killed had been encouraging but he's now decided to fly them only if heavy escorts are available.

Near Manila, I plant a couple of bombs in a DD with the few remaining fighters available.


V.CBI

Burma is calm.

India is somehow safe.

China is sheer madness as usual.

On the 17th my Chinese airforce is heavily engaged by large groups of A6M2s brougth to the theater to deal with my efforts in the air and I lose something like 20 fighters for a couple of Zekes. Not a good result.

In the meanwhile, on the 18th I manage to cross the river NORTH-EAST of Sian and I find mysefl in an awfully bloody battle, which ends in a draw:
Ground combat at 84,40 (near Sian)
Allied Shock attack

Attacking force 64778 troops, 292 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 2368
Defending force 32050 troops, 237 guns, 775 vehicles, Assault Value = 1258

Allied adjusted assault: 799
Japanese adjusted defense: 767
Allied assault odds: 1 to 1

Combat modifiers
Defender:
Attacker: shock(+)

Japanese ground losses:
3223 casualties reported
Squads: 12 destroyed, 245 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 39 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 14 disabled
Guns lost 26 (2 destroyed, 24 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
3605 casualties reported
Squads: 134 destroyed, 157 disabled
Non Combat: 61 destroyed, 48 disabled
Engineers: 11 destroyed, 20 disabled

Assaulting units:
5th New Chinese Corps
9th Chinese Corps
41st Chinese Corps
90th Chinese Corps
38th Chinese Corps
80th Chinese Corps
92nd Chinese Corps
93rd Chinese Corps
40th Chinese Corps
8th New Chinese Corps
5th War Area
31st Group Army
Red Chinese Army
22nd Group Army
15th Group Army
34th Group Army

Defending units:
36th Division
8th Recon Regiment
23rd Tank Regiment
26th Division
10th Tank Regiment
5th Tank Regiment
11th Tank Regiment
1st Army

Honestly, I don't know how to interpret this battle, which has however damaged the main IJA column EAST of Sian.


This is the map of the area:

[center]19-20 JANUARY 1942
TURN 44-45[/center]


I.NOPAC

Nothing happens and bad wheather prevents my NavS/Recon missions. I definitely need to solve the "Midway-gap" so that I can have a decent NavS between Aleutinians and Hawaii.

I highly doubt I can launch any offensive in the NOPAC any time soon.


II.CENPAC

A large convoy from Australia to SF reports a very concerning message: "TF 205 sights Japanese Fighter Bomber at 207,94 near San Francisco".
DL 9/9, hence I suspect it's a light carrier in some kind of anti-shipping missions. I still hope the DL is due to the FP embarked in the two IJN ACMs which are in the SOPAC at 7th DEC and which I've not spotted so far.

A carrier is 30hex from the convoy, after a nice refuel in PH; I will try to have a look: full speed next turn and then I roam around. If it's a CVL, I should be able to sink it with my USN CV.


III.SOPAC

IJA troops reach Noumea from La Foa and tomorrow the base will fall. No signs of enemy CVs and I have the awkward feeling they headed SOUTH-EAST, somehow avoiding my NavS chain. Few ships in Raoul Island area haven't been spotted or attacked, however.

Honestly, I hope the two Shokaku-Class have gone back NORTH after the landing in New Caledonia, so that I can resume naval traffic in the area.
Two very large convoys of TKs (with well over 250,000ton of FUEL) are SOUTH of NZ and I no longer fear for them. Various Australian reinforcements have been disembarked in NZ: they were meant for Noumea but Omar landed just few days before their arrival and I redirected the convoys in NZ. My intention is to use these small units to give garrison to various islands in Fiji area, where I need to get some more defences.

In a couple of days, a catalina base in Raoul Island will be set. Norfolk Island will follow shortly after. So far, I still have a couple of AVPs in Salomon Islands and around Luganville, therefore my NavS shouldn't be that bad. Not that I can do much even if I spot the enemy coming, but it's good to have the opportunity to strike in case he commits a mistake.
So far, his southernmost landing a part from Noumea is Tulagi. He hasn't touched the Ellice Islands either after he captured Canton Island.
Apparently, he has ENG in Tabiteuea, which I believe he will develop in the major forward base for the area together with Noumea.


III.DEI

Kido Butai heads toward Ambon, a clear sign he's planning to escort with heavy assets the invasion force assembled there. I bet on Darwin, since I don't see the need of such a heavy escort for Timor, but we'll see.

In Java things are going poorly and he has more than the 4 infantry divisions initially spotted. Not much the Dutch forces can do against such a display of strength.


Funnily enough, I have completed the evacuation of NZ/Australian/British airforce from Malaya and now they're safely in Australia, boosting the poor fighter defence of the sector.

Also two groups of Banshees and three of Vildebeasts have been brought back. Remarkably, the fragments of the two Indian Divisions which begin the game in Malaya have landed yesterday in Geraldton and are headed toward Sydney, where they will have a good R&R period. They have 4AV in two divisions, so they won't be useful for a very long time.
However, I am somehow receiving a good amount of IndInfantry Squads and I believe I can make a couple of brigades out of those divisions. In terms of other devices, I am not faring bad with the Brits (surprisingly!) and my aim is to have those two division well-equipped in terms of ART and act together with Australian divisions, which, in case, would put the blood.


In Mindanao the front is static, but I believe Omar will land tomorrow in Zamboanga or how it is called. Not a big deal for me. In Luzon, instead, I somehow managed to delay for another day the landing of the 5th Infantry Division SOUTH of Manila using a bunch of PT boats. I suspect he will land tomorrow and khalas.
Manila&co are doomed, but I need them to hold for a little bit longer and to inflict the maximum amount of casualties to IJA infantry divisions, so to slow down their re-deployment after the fall of Philippines.

IV.CCBI

In China is a massacre. I launched a second deliberate NORTH of Sian and I got repulsed with heavy casualties (more or less equal to IJA however). On the 20th, Omar launched an armoured assault to the troops NORTH-EAST of Sian and he inflicted heavy casualties; I have 18 2pdr arriving from Sian, however.

In the skies, he's brought many (MANY) bombers and a group of A6M2, which is still completely out of reach for my fighters. I try to do what I can to spread his forces and sting him here and there, but more than few ambushes on some random unescorted 1Es is not happening.

The offensive from Patung toward the hexes SOUTH of Chungking is composed apparently of three and not two divisions as initially thought. There is an infantry division in the MTN hex EAST of Patung. He has brought forward a division, while another is guarding its back. I have few AVs trying to contest his move and roughly 1,000AV threatening to cut his divisions off from the SOUTH. I'll see how it develops in the very next few turns.


India is doing fairly well and I'm reinforcing it enough to consider it "challenging" to attack. I completed yesterday the airlift of the second Chinese Corps and I'll start soon the airlifting of the third. It's not a big deal, but over time these troops will be very useful.
I don't have enough troops to stop a bold IJA move in the sector, but I have more than enough to slow him down allowing reinforcements to come from all over the free world.

Burma is doing well. I don't grasp why he's waiting to launch a systematic offensive on Rangoon: he went super big on Java and could have easily spared enough troops to crush both Java and Rangoon easily at the same time. Two AA LCUs and two ARM LCUs are reaching China soon, but the ARM units are fairly weak and will need to upgrade to the stuarts (IIRC) once they reach Chungking.


V.OTHER

I think his move on Java with massive quantities of matériel is indicative of a subsequent offensive in the WESTERN part of the map.

There are fundamentally two possibilities: either he goes for Celyon/India or he goes for Perth. I tend to suspect the latter, even if the fact he is delaying any move against Rangoon makes me think.
Perth itself is impossible to be held, especially if he brings the big hammer (KB + 5 IJA Divisions and all the fancy supports).

At the beginning of the game, I made some kind of gamble and sent basically every ship available in India&co to Australia, with the idea of delivering what I could ship from Cape Town and India and then move toward US to join the US-Australia convoys. If he captures Perth, at least, I should have most of my shipping in the right position.

My issue is if he finds a way to cut Australia from the EASTERN side. At that point, it's a big problem. Hence, I definitely need to hold Fiji Islands so that I can threat his EASTERN flank in case he moves on NZ.



Is there something I am missing regarding the US-Australia route or is my plan to hold Fiji area (including Pago Pago) sufficiently sound?
Considering that I'm 100% a Japanese player, I am not that sure on how to treat the sector from the allied perspective. I just know that any IJN offensive in the area is an extreme logistical burden for IJN, especially if the allies don't panic and keep an alive threat in the area, obliging the IJN to be always present in forces, thus consuming billions of tons of FUEL.

Probably, I should defend more the Line Islands as well in this logic, but I deem the Fiji+PagoPago area as decisive.

On top of that, I definitely need to create a credible defensive position in Brisbane-Towoomba area, so that I can avoid most of IJAAF/IJNAF strategic bombing should he land in Australia above the reinforcement line. It's urgent, but I don't have the troops to defend the area properly; they'll be available in roughly a month ([&:] [:(][8|])

ORIGINAL: castor troy

If you lose China, he can bring some 5000 assault value to other theatres. Big deal.

That depends significantly on the context. Continental campaign in India or Oz? That's a big deal. A strictly naval affair in the Pacific? Significantly less of a problem. Japan just doesn't have the sealift capacity to capitalise on the extra troops fully after the amphib bonus ends.

ORIGINAL: ITAKLinus



We allow to buy out units through the 20th Army command, which makes them 25% of the original "price".


This, makes buying out a division per week quite feasible. Not to speak about the plethora of Type-C division which will arrive over the course of 1942.

The comfort for you is that there's a fairly small number of areas where those divisions can be properly deployed, and the vast majority of those are west of Truk.

All those divisions are a nightmare to supply outside of Japan - combined with fort/airbase construction, the supply cost kicks up in a big way.

The Type C's are good news for Japan, but don't get too downhearted by them. All it means is that you're not likely to be able to get away with regimental sized landings going forward. Everything has to be done in full divisional level. That's manageable, but it needs the kitchen sink in terms of carrier and air support.

ORIGINAL: mind_messing

ORIGINAL: castor troy

If you lose China, he can bring some 5000 assault value to other theatres. Big deal.

That depends significantly on the context. Continental campaign in India or Oz? That's a big deal. A strictly naval affair in the Pacific? Significantly less of a problem. Japan just doesn't have the sealift capacity to capitalise on the extra troops fully after the amphib bonus ends.

ORIGINAL: ITAKLinus



We allow to buy out units through the 20th Army command, which makes them 25% of the original "price".


This, makes buying out a division per week quite feasible. Not to speak about the plethora of Type-C division which will arrive over the course of 1942.

The comfort for you is that there's a fairly small number of areas where those divisions can be properly deployed, and the vast majority of those are west of Truk.

All those divisions are a nightmare to supply outside of Japan - combined with fort/airbase construction, the supply cost kicks up in a big way.

The Type C's are good news for Japan, but don't get too downhearted by them. All it means is that you're not likely to be able to get away with regimental sized landings going forward. Everything has to be done in full divisional level. That's manageable, but it needs the kitchen sink in terms of carrier and air support.

My fear is a continental campaign in Australia; hence, the need to keep those troops blocked in China as long as possible so that I can "fix" Australia.


Type-C are very good divisions for Japan because of their aviotransportability, if that's a word in English. They melt against Allied divisions, but, as you said, I'd have to forget regimental landings for quite a long time.

In any case, it's fine as long as I hold India-NZ-Australia. I am afraid of IJA campaign in one of these three, since it would put at stake a Japanese autovictory at the end of '42.

[center]21 JANUARY 1942
TURN 46[/center]

I.NOPAC

I send a small ENG unit to Kodiak: they'll help building the infrastructures there for a while and then move to some dot nearby.


II.CENPAC

The fear for my convoys SOUTH of SF fails to materialize. I will escort them to the proximity of SF with a carrier in any case: we're talking about 200 ships, most of them of high quality.

Christmas Island finally has completely received the regiment from PH and now boasts roughly 150AV. Not so much, I know, but it's all I can do right now.


III.SOPAC

Here is the great news.

Noumea falls at the first assault and that's quite understandable.

But Omar sends his 2 Shokaku-Class carriers through the Torres Strait and they send a random naval strike on a small xAKL unloading at PM.
The xAKL had almost finished to unload few days ago and I had sent her back to Townsville with 120 supplies still on board. Yesterday, however, I had the idea of sending her randomly to PM in order to ambush the Betty/Nell group from Rabaul, hoping Omar wouldn't expect such a move.
Instead, those IJN bombers I was seeking don't fly... The embarked groups of the two Shokaku-Class do.
I have rougly 75 P40Es with awful pilots and their mission was meant to be some kind of live training against unescorted fragile IJN bombers. They fight very bravely, helped by sheer numbers and at the end of the day I lose 15 P40e against 40 enemy planes circa. Most importantly, many Kates (17 apparently!) and Vals are killed. A6M2s are always painful and the escort fought back viciously.

In any case, that's good. I found again the IJN CVs after a turn of panic and I killed many of their pilots.


III.DEI

The two Shokaku-Class will probably join their fellas in Ambon and do some kind of operation in the DEI. I see a great chunk of enemy TFs moving all around and I do suspect Omar is gathering his regiments scattered around for a major assault on some allied target.

Against all the might of the IJN I can oppose 2xCL+2xDD in Darwin and 3xCL in Perth. Not that bad [:D][:D][:D]


The situation in Sian and in Luzon has drawn Omar's attention and I decided for a sneaky attack on Palembang. I failed. I found indeed no A6M2 in CAP and just a modest bunch of Oscars but most of my bombers don't fly and when they do they don't hit anything. Very sad. The idea was good, however, I might try to propose it again soon.
At Soerabaja, a mega sweep of A6M2 Zeroes destroyed what I pretended to be some form of CAP and I lose 7 Dutch fighters for no japanese plane.

In the Philippines, Omar makes a small landing in Zamboanga as forecasted and lands the 5th Infantry Division in Luzon. Not much I can do.


IV.CBI

I think I will be able to bring 2xAA+2xARM in China from Burma quite soon and that's positive.

A random bunch of bombers moved to the besieged Rangoon and made a nice strike on Bangkok, where I sunk 4 ACMs. Not a big deal, but I hope he will feel compelled to put some CAP there.

India receives more reinforcements.

China is a pain. Near Sian, IJA launches a second deliberate with its troops and I suffer once again heavy losses. SOUTH of the city, I probably have enough AVs to block him in bad terrain (362AV for the IJA and 241AV for me in WR terrain; he has two depleted IndMixedBrigades).

SOUTH of Chungking, he launches a probatory bombardament on my troops.

Massive bombardaments NORTH-EAST of Sian. A6M2s massed for sweeping and I can't contest.


V.OTHER

It seems fairly obvious that he wants to close Java and Luzon campaigns very quickly and probably run a bunch of secondary operations in the meanwhile.

DEI area is busy of ships moving everywhere and the logical conclusion is that he is embarking the troops which did minor landings in the last month.

I won't contest his moves, mostly because I don't have assets to bring into the battle right now. I believe the two most probable moves, as stated many times, are either Perth or Celyon.
In both cases, I won't move against the complete KB, but rather against his weak spots somewhere else.

Remarkably, it looks like the route to Australia is safe for the time being and my fear of a raid from his Shokaku-Class carriers was just a fear. That's extremely important, since I should be able to bring a very large set of reinforcements to Australia in the next month.
Already now, the first troops are arriving and together with them FUEL and SUPPLIES in good quantities. My aim is to have enough stuff to survive until I do reopen the route.

Fiji Islands are being reinforced and same for Norfolk Island and Raoul Island, SOUTH of Noumea: these two islands will give early warning in case he randomly sends raiders.


Burma won't be reinforced, even if I have given more than a thought to the idea. Currently, the focus is on putting my troops in India into fighting condition. I have many AVs of relatively poor troops, but they'll be soon boosted by USArmy fellas coming to Cape Town.

In this spirit, I will probably reinforce Celyon soon. I think I can create a decent defense over there. Addu&co should be reinforced as well, now I have to look who is available, but my intention is to put there a couple of Ghurkas LCUs which are now in Calcutta. 39AV won't do much, but I can't spare much more right now.

[center]22-23 JANUARY 1942
TURN 47-48[/center]



I.NOPAC

Nothing new.


II.CENPAC

IJN subs are still around PH but I managed to move in a very large convoy plenty of troops. They will be embarked on other ships and re-routed to their final destinations.


III.SOPAC

While the 2 Shokaku-Class carriers leave through Torres Strait in direction of the DEI, my DDs and CLs retake the initiative in the SOPAC. Omar has a couple of TFs in Noumea and I would like to smash them, even if currently I do lack the naval strength to do so.

More reinforcements land in Suva, which is now decently defended.


IV.DEI

The usual massacre. Batavia hold two days in a row to overwhelming IJA forces but I think the defenders won't see the day after tomorrow.

IJA losses not very high, also.

A base SOUTH of Medan falls after a FastTransportTF has landed some IJA troops.

Manila is too much pressured and I will have to leave for Clark Field. I let him make his moves SOUTH of Manila and then, once he reaches the city, I move to Clark Field.

Kido Butai moving "west" and currently SOUTH of Kendari.

Many ships moving everywhere in bases around Borneo.


V.CBI

On the 23rd of January Omar launches a deliberate in Rangoon. Forts lowered to level 2 and he has 1,700 casualties, mostly disablements. My casualties are far less.

In India business as usual.

In China, he launches two attacks in two days on my stack NORTH-EAST of Sian and I lose a grand total of roughly 6,000 men. Plus all the ones killed by constant and huge airstrikes.
NORTH of Ankang, however, I manage to block the 27th Division; 35th Division and 32nd/A Division inflicting them heavy casualties. Over 4,000 IJA casualties against 1,000 chinese. He has mostly disablements but it's nevertheless a Chinese victory:
Japanese ground losses:
4007 casualties reported
Squads: 14 destroyed, 491 disabled
Non Combat: 2 destroyed, 38 disabled
Engineers: 2 destroyed, 62 disabled
Guns lost 40 (1 destroyed, 39 disabled)
Allied ground losses:
1195 casualties reported
Squads: 6 destroyed, 119 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 11 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Guns lost 25 (2 destroyed, 23 disabled)


What's important, however, is that I managed to bring heavy reinforcements to Chungking and to block the road coming from Patung. I will probably employ there my only Cavarly Corps which has upgraded his TOE and has the 105mm Howitzers. Also a couple of 82mm Mortars batteries will probably go there and be ready to reinforce Chungking should Omar launch an offensive straight into the city.

Changsha sector is calm.

[center]24 JANUARY 1942
TURN 49[/center]


I.NOPAC

Nothing happens.


II.CENPAC

The very important convoy plenty of goodies arrives in PH and unloads everything. I will send basically all the AAs from PH to Australia in order to have some kind of insurance against Omar's passion for strategic bombing on poor Australian households.

I have also the big decision on how to spend my PPs. I think I will buy the third regiment of the Americal Division and send the entire division in the SOPAC. It's both strategically sound and historically appropriate. Queen Elizabeth and other fast APs can take care of a smooth run from SF to SOPAC.


III.SOPAC

I launch a massive naval offensive in the SOPAC. Well, "massive" is a very big word... I simply flooded the entire area between Rabaul and Noumea with small TFs of DDs, in order to slow down IJN landings in the Solomon Island chain.
So far, I engaged the APD Shimakaze only and I have not even been able to sink it (2 shell hits and heavy fires, 120 japanese dead).

I have however avoided the invasion of the precious Ontong Java, which was a Catalina secret base; this, allowed me to save those catalinas. I will set up another base further SOUTH, since Ontong Java is no longer safe.

There are two large TFs coming from Noumea and they are the ships which carried the invasion force over there. There is one TF of mostly xAK/xAPs covered by a CA TF.

My plan is to intercept it and engage it multiple times with small TFs before trying a daylight engagement with a couple of CAs. Hopefully, he will have finished the ammo by the time I do engage him. Let's see how it turns out. Apparently, there are fast xAKs and I want them sunk.

See image below to get an idea of the opportunities arising in the SOPAC

IV.DEI

Batavia falls at the third day of IJA assaults. I lost track of the KB, which was SOUTH of Kendari precisely yesterday. A random AVP engages the Shokaku-Class CVs TF in the Torres Strait but nothing happens.
Yesterday, I had bad luck when a USN sub launched 4 torpedoes at the Soryu and missed her. However, I flooded the area with SS and some of them will be lucky sooner or later.

Soerabaja is doomed and will fall in a week time.

Timor is still in my hands and through it I evacuated most of the airforce from DEI.

In Luzon, Manila and Clark Field get bombed daily and I cannot stop it. I pulled out a good chunk of decent pilots from the fighter groups in the Philippines. Actually, my leading ace with 8 kills is a P40E pilot from Clark Field.


V.CBI

Near Sian is a massacre. I managed to bring two dozens 2pdr AT guns N-E of Sian but they seem to have zero effects on IJA tanks.

After the setback NORTH of Ankang, Omar is withdrawing his units, recognizing the difficulty of dislodging my 650AV on the mountains.

SOUTH of Chungking, thousands of AVs are moving toward the city to participate in its defense. I am quite positive on the resistance of my units which are blocking the road of IJA divisions coming from Patung also. We'll see how it develops.

Near Wenchow, he withdrew his men from the contested hex. Now they're back into the city and I suspect they will try to make some kind of move around my defensive positions. It's a delaying battle for me and I'm content with keeping there 3 IJA divisions.
Same in Canton area, where there are a couple of IJA divisions and various minor units.

In India, I took the grave decision of reinforcing Addu and Diego Garcia with 100AV circa each. I am convinced it's important to keep those two bases in my hands and they're in a nice spot in case Omar assaults Celyon.
Celyon won't be reinforced soon: I lack the men to do so if I buy the Americal Division and send it to SOPAC. Should I send it to India, I'd be able to reinforce Celyon with some of the british troops on the subcontinent, but I don't want to risk.

Burma is stable.

Carriers have a malus in COASTAL BASE hexes, right? Not in the coastal hexes without a base/dot, as far as I do remember/understand.
And CVE are excluded.

That's all I know but I'd like to be sure.

F.ex. I've found various threads on the matter and here it seems to state that the "any coastal hex" had been changed from UV/WITP to WITPAE:
https://www.matrixgames.com/forums/tm.a ... x&#2712081


He has the the 4 CVs of KB in Koepang and I need to be 300% sure.

As far as I know, coastal hexes do not provide any malus while base hexes do and this is only for CV/CVL but not for CVE. Friendly or enemy base/dot doesn't count and they're both providing a malus.

Especially the "coastal non-base hex" part is important for me to be certain about.


Thanks guys!

A partially related question: if I have a LCU with an air transportable device which is at (0), can I transfer it?
It is my understanding that I can.

Basically, I'd like to use the catalinas to transport a fragment of the below unit to China and then replenish it there. Is it feasible? The mortars should be transportable with their load cost of 4.

ORIGINAL: ITAKLinus

Carriers have a malus in COASTAL BASE hexes, right? Not in the coastal hexes without a base/dot, as far as I do remember/understand.
And CVE are excluded.

That's all I know but I'd like to be sure.

F.ex. I've found various threads on the matter and here it seems to state that the "any coastal hex" had been changed from UV/WITP to WITPAE:
https://www.matrixgames.com/forums/tm.a ... stal%2Chex?


He has the the 4 CVs of KB in Koepang and I need to be 300% sure.

As far as I know, coastal hexes do not provide any malus while base hexes do and this is only for CV/CVL but not for CVE. Friendly or enemy base/dot doesn't count and they're both providing a malus.

Especially the "coastal non-base hex" part is important for me to be certain about.


Thanks guys!

Add this thread to the one you retrieved above.

https://www.matrixgames.com/forums/tm.a ... 1&key=base

Sardauker is one of those posters whose AE comments can generally be accepted at face value as being correct. In fact he shares a common trait with many of the other reliable AE posters, viz, a long term professional career as a military officer above the rank of a Second Lieutenant.

Alfred

ORIGINAL: ITAKLinus

A partially related question: if I have a LCU with an air transportable device which is at (0), can I transfer it?
It is my understanding that I can.

Basically, I'd like to use the catalinas to transport a fragment of the below unit to China and then replenish it there. Is it feasible? The mortars should be transportable with their load cost of 4.

No.

You can only transport something which exists, not a figment of one's imagination. Currently you have no mortars to transport.

A secondary consideration is that the air transport rules are more restrictive when using patrol aircraft. Whether it is an amphibian or float model, whether it is a developed airfield or a dot base, what is being moved, all these are relevant factors which can restrict the operation compared to using a true transport aircraft.

Alfred

ORIGINAL: Alfred

ORIGINAL: ITAKLinus

Carriers have a malus in COASTAL BASE hexes, right? Not in the coastal hexes without a base/dot, as far as I do remember/understand.
And CVE are excluded.

That's all I know but I'd like to be sure.

F.ex. I've found various threads on the matter and here it seems to state that the "any coastal hex" had been changed from UV/WITP to WITPAE:
https://www.matrixgames.com/forums/tm.a ... stal%2Chex?


He has the the 4 CVs of KB in Koepang and I need to be 300% sure.

As far as I know, coastal hexes do not provide any malus while base hexes do and this is only for CV/CVL but not for CVE. Friendly or enemy base/dot doesn't count and they're both providing a malus.

Especially the "coastal non-base hex" part is important for me to be certain about.


Thanks guys!

Add this thread to the one you retrieved above.

https://www.matrixgames.com/forums/tm.a ... 1&key=base

Sardauker is one of those posters whose AE comments can generally be accepted at face value as being correct. In fact he shares a common trait with many of the other reliable AE posters, viz, a long term professional career as a military officer above the rank of a Second Lieutenant.

Alfred

Thanks Alfred, I did not find the thread you posted in my research yesterday and it helped very much.

ORIGINAL: Alfred

ORIGINAL: ITAKLinus

A partially related question: if I have a LCU with an air transportable device which is at (0), can I transfer it?
It is my understanding that I can.

Basically, I'd like to use the catalinas to transport a fragment of the below unit to China and then replenish it there. Is it feasible? The mortars should be transportable with their load cost of 4.

No.

You can only transport something which exists, not a figment of one's imagination. Currently you have no mortars to transport.

A secondary consideration is that the air transport rules are more restrictive when using patrol aircraft. Whether it is an amphibian or float model, whether it is a developed airfield or a dot base, what is being moved, all these are relevant factors which can restrict the operation compared to using a true transport aircraft.

Alfred

Thanks. I was living under the impression I could have transported the "0" for some reason. I won't bother in buying out the unit then.


[:)]

[center]25-26 JANUARY 1942
TURN 50-51[/center]


I.NOPAC

Guess what? Nothing happens.


II.SOPAC

On the 25th I launch various incursions over the enemy TF coming from Noumea and I discover it has more CAs than my NavS told me. 4 IJN CAs are quite a heavy escort.
A USN DD sinks near Rabaul and another one is blown up by the CA TF using their nasty long lance. It's fine: the more they use on my small ships and the better for when I'll engage them with my own heavy cruisers.
A IJN APD is sunk in Rabaul's harbor, also.
Then, two Allied CLs engage again the enemy TF and the good CL Honolulu, Brooklyn-Class, places some well-aimed shots on the CA Maya which has "heavy fires" and is detached from the TF at the end of the turn. The NZ CL Leander gets hit few times and doesn't score any hit on the enemy. Then, the Honolulu gets plastered by 203mm hits and sinks badly.

On the 26th, I miss the chance to engage enemy TFs with my own heavy cruiser TF assembled the day before and they're now almost in Tulagi.

However, what makes me think is that there are 2 Pete and 1 Jake as ground losses and I suspect the enemy cruiser went down. It would somehow explain the total amount of ships my NavS tells me are around.
We'll see. Omar is very silent on the matter.

If I've sunk it, I'm running a nice 2-1 in CA sunk-lost, which ain't that bad for the Allies in January 1942.


III.CENPAC

Nothing relevant to point out. I wonder whether it makes sense to send some small reinforcements to Baker Island and the Ellice Islands in order to encircle the forward position of Canton Island, which I aim to retake soon.
I would go straight for it, but I have no unrestricted and prepped troops. Soon, I'll buy out the Marines from the West Coast, but they are meant to go to Midway. I suppose, I'll leave everything as it is for the time being and organize a landing in a month or so.


IV.DEI

While the Kido Butai (minus the two Shokaku-Class) covers the landings in Timor, a Kongo-Class BB and a IJN DD hit mines in Ambon. It seems like the DD is badly damaged.

On the 26th, I reveal my move and make a carrier strike on Singapore. I have been approaching the coast of Sumatra for a while, always unspotted. I figured out he's using his Nells for NavS, recon and bombing, clearly reducing their effectiveness.
I go in full speed and place myself just 5 hexes away from the intended target, carefully avoiding range settings which would put me in striking range to the heavily covered Palembang.

My initial sweep of Wildcats kills the enemy CAP of Nates and then my bombers get in. And they fail.
Morning Air attack on TF, near Singapore at 50,84
Weather in hex: Moderate rain
Raid spotted at 40 NM, estimated altitude 18,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 21 minutes

Allied aircraft
Fulmar II x 15
F2A-3 Buffalo x 21
SBC-4 Helldiver x 12
SBD-2 Dauntless x 16
SBD-3 Dauntless x 46
TBD-1 Devastator x 32
Allied aircraft losses
SBD-2 Dauntless: 1 damaged
SBD-3 Dauntless: 5 damaged
SBD-3 Dauntless: 1 destroyed by flak

Japanese Ships
xAK Nissyu Maru
xAK Tamahoko Maru, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires, heavy damage
BB Fuso
BB Hyuga, Bomb hits 1
BB Ise, Bomb hits 1
DD Asagumo
CL Kiso
xAK Ryuzan Maru, Bomb hits 1, on fire
xAK Seizan Maru, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires, heavy damage
BB Yamashiro, Bomb hits 3, on fire
CL Oi, Bomb hits 3, heavy fires
xAKL Kasui Maru, Bomb hits 2, and is sunk
CL Abukuma
xAK Mogamigawa Maru, Bomb hits 3, heavy fires, heavy damage
xAK Yahiko Maru
DD Ariake

I lose one DB and sink maybe a couple of small cargoes. My bombers focused mostly on the BBs, which have bounced the bombs as if they were confetti.

My strategic aim was to strike at the large naval forces assemblying in Singapore for what's obviously another leap forward. I failed.
In my wildest dreams, I would have found his CVE/CVLs in the harbor since they are bizzarrely placed in Singkawang and they've been doing back and forth in the area for quite a while. I couldn't delay my strike any further and I had to go and hope for his fingers to order a "return to Singapore" to his AirCombatTF. They werent' there, obviously.

On the positive side, my embarked airgroups have gathered a very decent amount of exp and Omar is probably shaken by the view of a carrier strike on his rear-base Singapore.

Now, we'll go back. No point in staying there any longer and he will cover his ships.

In Timor itself, I think he's landed insufficient forces to get Koepang, which is defended by 51AV.

In Luzon he smashes my units SOUTH of Manila and I am now consolidating my remaining 1,700AV in Clark Field, which boasts lvl3 forts and some supplies.


V.CBI

In Burma, everything is so far quiet. I expect an acceleration from his side very soon.

In China, I lose massive quantitites of troops on the 25th near Sian:
Ground combat at 84,40 (near Sian)
Japanese Shock attack
Attacking force 31349 troops, 272 guns, 702 vehicles, Assault Value = 984
Defending force 54657 troops, 303 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 934
Japanese adjusted assault: 655
Allied adjusted defense: 189
Japanese assault odds: 3 to 1

Combat modifiers
Defender: leaders(+), disruption(-), experience(-)
Attacker: shock(+), disruption(-)

Japanese ground losses:
1141 casualties reported
Squads: 3 destroyed, 91 disabled
Non Combat: 2 destroyed, 39 disabled
Engineers: 1 destroyed, 14 disabled
Vehicles lost 51 (21 destroyed, 30 disabled)
Allied ground losses:
24550 casualties reported
Squads: 846 destroyed, 24 disabled
Non Combat: 1111 destroyed, 23 disabled
Engineers: 45 destroyed, 30 disabled
Guns lost 89 (45 destroyed, 44 disabled)
Units retreated 16
Defeated Allied Units Retreating!

What's interesting is the fact that I somehow managed to block his thrust toward Chungking from Patung and I'm currently in the process of understanding what is he doing with the troops coming from Ankang.


In India everything goes fairly well and I decided to reinforce Diego Garcia and Addu. Hopefully, they'll be covered within a week. Hope to have enough time.

Calcutta and Madras are heavily defended. Within a month I should get the 7th Australian Division ready, while the 6th is already around. UK and Indian divisions are still very weak, but we do with what we have.


VI.OTHER

Soon, a convoy of M3 Lee tanks will arrive in Cape Town and they should help.

Vickers Tankettes are useless but they'll upgrade to the Valentine III tank and I decided time ago to send them in China. A couple of units will reach Chungking soon and that's a very positive news. The first bunch of Valentine IIIs will arrive in few months and I suspect I'll be able to upgrade the tankettes in June '42, which is awfully far from now but also a relatively reachable date.

There are various 3,7" mountain guns around and I think I'll airlift a couple of units in China. Their value of 25 a/arm is horrible, but they can somehow help the Chinese troops, always lacking of artillery.
At this regard, I screwd up with the Chinese 105mm Howitzers. I decided to upgrade a Cavalry Corps from the 75mm to the 105mm and two parts of it did so. However, instead of drawing ONE 105mm each as per-TOE, they drew TWO. Bottom line: I have A and B parts of the unit with 2x105mm each and the third one with none. Considering the production rate of 4 tubes per-month, it's gonna be a long journey, I guess.
Still, I need to make these Cavalry Corps fight more for various reasons: they have decent amounts of AT guns in their TOEs and the Cavalry Squads are much better than the normal Chinese infantry (5 a/arm + 14 a/soft vs 1 a/arm + 11 a/soft); moreover, I have 66 of those in pool, while 0 rifle squads.

I don't really know how, but I've been able to use 600 Chinese Inf Squads in little bit more than 50 turns. For sure the two Corps in India are getting many replacements, but it seems quite high nevertheless.
Also, I permanently have 0 Support in pool. I have used almost 2,000 Support devices so far in 50 turns. I guess it's how it is meant to be for the Allies right now?


Finally, the Australians. I have 60 CMF Inf Section in pool and I wonder what should I do. In Feb'42 I get rid of all the random Australian squads and start producing the relatively valid AIF Inf Section 42.
I am quite lost with the Australian infantry pools. Supposedly, my target is to upgrade my LCUs between now and late summer '42 but I am quite puzzled by the process. I guess I'll figure it out sooner or later.



Here the situation around Singapore:

Read this thread:
 
https://www.matrixgames.com/forums/tm.asp?m=3604034&mpage=1&key=upgrade&#3605051
 
for information on Allied device upgrades.  It is quite different from that which applies to Japan.
 
Alfred

I don't really know how, but I've been able to use 600 Chinese Inf Squads in little bit more than 50 turns. For sure the two Corps in India are getting many replacements, but it seems quite high nevertheless.
Also, I permanently have 0 Support in pool. I have used almost 2,000 Support devices so far in 50 turns. I guess it's how it is meant to be for the Allies right now?

To a large extent, yes. The vast majority of the units on the map are understrength and will eat up support squads in bringing themselves up to strength.

Finally, the Australians. I have 60 CMF Inf Section in pool and I wonder what should I do. In Feb'42 I get rid of all the random Australian squads and start producing the relatively valid AIF Inf Section 42.
I am quite lost with the Australian infantry pools. Supposedly, my target is to upgrade my LCUs between now and late summer '42 but I am quite puzzled by the process. I guess I'll figure it out sooner or later.

Overall, you need to have an iron grip on squads and devices (as well as aircraft) pools as the Allies, as they're a substantial bottleneck for your combat capability.

With the Australians, the general approach I have adopted is to:

1. look to make the CMF Inf the mainline infantry for Aus combat units.
2. build up a stockpile of approx. 120 AIF '42 squads at the earliest day possible.
3. Make sequential upgrades of Australian units from CMF to AIF.

Dividing the divisional units to A/B/C components helps make this process move a bit quicker, and it is worth considering disbanding some of the on-map units to help facilitate this process.

As a general approach, I'd take the time to get broadly familiar with the TOE's and squad types of the different Allied nations. The Indian Army in particular goes through something of a metamorphosis and tends to shed it's British squads in exchange for more Indian squads (which is a boon for the Allies as British squads are quite scarce.)

ORIGINAL: Alfred

Read this thread:

https://www.matrixgames.com/forums/tm.asp?m=3604034&mpage=1&key=upgrade�

for information on Allied device upgrades.  It is quite different from that which applies to Japan.

Alfred

Alfred, thanks for the link to relevant resources.

You probably remember that I've met problems in understanding the basics of allied replacement system already here: https://www.matrixgames.com/forums/tm.a ... ey=�

You had already given me the relevant info but apparently I fail to grasp some of them. Including the fact that my monthly production of many devices is much much higher than it should be (see screenshot below).

ORIGINAL: mind_messing
quote:

I don't really know how, but I've been able to use 600 Chinese Inf Squads in little bit more than 50 turns. For sure the two Corps in India are getting many replacements, but it seems quite high nevertheless.
Also, I permanently have 0 Support in pool. I have used almost 2,000 Support devices so far in 50 turns. I guess it's how it is meant to be for the Allies right now?


To a large extent, yes. The vast majority of the units on the map are understrength and will eat up support squads in bringing themselves up to strength.

quote:

Finally, the Australians. I have 60 CMF Inf Section in pool and I wonder what should I do. In Feb'42 I get rid of all the random Australian squads and start producing the relatively valid AIF Inf Section 42.
I am quite lost with the Australian infantry pools. Supposedly, my target is to upgrade my LCUs between now and late summer '42 but I am quite puzzled by the process. I guess I'll figure it out sooner or later.


Overall, you need to have an iron grip on squads and devices (as well as aircraft) pools as the Allies, as they're a substantial bottleneck for your combat capability.

With the Australians, the general approach I have adopted is to:

1. look to make the CMF Inf the mainline infantry for Aus combat units.
2. build up a stockpile of approx. 120 AIF '42 squads at the earliest day possible.
3. Make sequential upgrades of Australian units from CMF to AIF.

Dividing the divisional units to A/B/C components helps make this process move a bit quicker, and it is worth considering disbanding some of the on-map units to help facilitate this process.

As a general approach, I'd take the time to get broadly familiar with the TOE's and squad types of the different Allied nations. The Indian Army in particular goes through something of a metamorphosis and tends to shed it's British squads in exchange for more Indian squads (which is a boon for the Allies as British squads are quite scarce.)

If I understand correctly what you do mean, together with the info provided by Alfred [&o][&o][&o], I think my best bet is to stockpile the Australian squads as much as possible and then:
A) once the relevant amount of CMF Inf Squad is reached, upgrade a LCU which uses the CMF Militia Squad so that those CMF Militia Squad go to the pool and magically become CMF Inf Squad;
B) once ALL the LCUs have gone from CMF Militia Squad to CMF Inf Squad, starting the upgrades to AIF Inf Squad ;
C) keep some units I don't want to get upgraded squads carefully out of the process so that they don't "consume" any of the above mentioned squads.

Now, I am approaching the topic with the idea of upgrading small LCUs first (such as some brigades) and then go for whole divisions.

The rationale should be that the small brigades can be upgraded right now with relatively short delay, while for the divisions I'd have to wait a while until the pools of CMF Inf Squad reach certain levels.

My doubt is whether the unit will try to fill up its TOE during the upgrade if replacements are set on "off". In other words, if a division which has currently 210 CMF Militia Squads and should have 324, can be split in A/B/C and upgrade 70 CMF Militia Squads to 70 CMF Inf Squads or whether it does upgrade to its TOE of 108.
This is a relevant distinction, since I would risk to get stuck with a part of the division with the new infantry squads and the rest without.

I think I simply don't grasp the Australian infantry upgrade after all. The rest, seems more or less clear right now.



On top of that, I don't understand how does it work for LCUs with TOEs over 100%.
I made the example of my Chinese Cavarly Corps, which has messed up my entire 105mm Howitzer pool by upgrading its 75mm to 105mm in the wrong quantities.

Basically, I had 4 105mm Howitzers in the pool. Stockpiled with as much love as I could.
Then, I have this Cavalry Corps, which can upgrade its 75mm to 105mm Howitzers. It was split already in A/B/C and I decided to let A and B upgrade their 75mm.
They should have taken 1 each for a grand total of two.
Instead, the damn Chinese cavalrymen decided to loot the damn warehouse and took 2 105mm Howitzers each, emptying the pool for the "C" of the corps, which is now stuck without 105mm Howitzers. I find this quite bizarre, since in line of principle they should have simply upgraded to 1x105mm Howitzer each.

It's not such a huge deal since that Cavarly Corps is in non-base hex defending and I routinely keep the LCU split in three to accelerate forts construction. However, I would like to be able to reunite the corps should I like to do so. I guess I'll simply wait for my nice guys in the factories to produce one more 105mm but I really don't understand the process behind this "theft" from the side of /A and /B parts of the corps. The C/ fragment is making vibrant protests with the highest spheres of the Chinese establishment! They want their damn 105mm cannon. It's even only one for god's sake.




Finally, as per the Indian Army. I roughly know its metamorphosis but for the time being I'm stuck with what I do have. In other words, I can't care, not even remotely, about Indian Inf Squads since the TOEs of my divisions are so far from being acceptable that I need every single squad wherever it can go. As soon as I will have new squads in the production pipeline, I guess I'll start caring.
I'm quite paranoid about tanks however. As far as I understand, there is the very high chance of messing up and I read during my researches about upgrades this very funny thread (I love the title so much!): https://www.matrixgames.com/forums/tm.a ... %2Cupgrade

In any case, I suspect my inherent jewish stinginess will make me use until the last damn tank and cannon I have available of any possible kind. I'm already giving very greedy looks to those 10x60pdr in pool and looking everywhere so that the proper units can get enough of that tankette or that other rubbish with cardboard armor.
Probably, I've played Japan too much, where the only plane of which I don't empty the pool in one way or another is the Theresa (I actually have found ways how to use it in a proficient manner, but I do refrain from doing so).






EDIT: since I'm eventually getting old, I forgot to even take the relevant screenshot. Let alone post it...
I have taken the example of Chinese guns and squads, where the production numbers simply don't add up together. Alfred, in your post in the thread I've linked you talked about graphic bugs for devices whose production run has ended more than 6 months ago. However, here we're talking about current stuff! I'm more and more puzzled by these small things, which aren't that important in the big picture but are symptomatic of a broader lack of understanding from my side.

[center]27 JANUARY 1942
TURN 52[/center]

I.NOPAC

Nothing relevant as usual.


II.CENPAC

Various convoys around PH survive the net of IJN subs and head for the open ocean.
Queen Elizabeth leaves at full speed without any escort and doesn't get torpedoed.
Last couple of convoys with the last parts of two infantry regiments are getting loaded in PH for Christmas Island and Palmyra.


III.SOPAC

USN CL Trenton, Omaha-Class, tries to engage the enemy convoy around Tulagi but instead gets entangled in a fight against IJN surviving CAs. Nobody scores a single hit. Same goes for a couple of DDs launched forward. However, and that's the big news, it really looks like the Maya went down since there are no other TFs and she's not in the two I've engaged.

DD Farragut, which had sunk an APD yesterday, gets finally caught by 4 IJN DDs and sinks with all hands 120nmi NORTH-WEST of Rabaul. RIP to the DD Farragut, first of her class.

Nothing too new or relevant otherwise.


IV.DEI

After the horrendous failure of my raid on Singapore, my CVs leave heading NORTH-WEST. I intentionally leave them on a very predictable course in plain sight. My plan is to make Omar believe that I do so as some kind of maskirovka, while I actually intend to leave the carriers in the Indian Ocean for a while.

In the meanwhile, I am letting the Force Z slip WEST of Java headed to Australia. My vision is that it will come handy in the SOPAC, where I have basically no heavy ships and where my current BBs are too slow to operate safely.

In Luzon I completed the evacuation of Manila, where I left behind 100 symbolic tons of SUPPLIES. This is relevant. I don't believe in any defense of Clark Field vs Manila, but Omar has brought (as usual) a very big hammer and I'd last two minutes in Manila, where my forts have been sligthly lowered by him to the level of 2.

A IJN xAK is sunk near Makassar by my Dutch bombers and that's it. KB is in Kendari and I'm happy with that. I think he's taking reinforcements for Koepang, where he went too light.

I am instead in the process of evacuating fragments of some Dutch units which should be useful later on. Mostly, the three AA units and a couple of BaseForces. Not a big deal.



V.CBI

In Burma everything is silent.

In China is another field day. Omar has launched his bombers on Chungking yesterday, hoping I'd have fallen in his trap and sent the CAP on to intercept them.
Quite obviously, I smelled the trap and decided to gladly fell into it placing way more fighters than he expected in Chungking.
He, however, has sent more fighters than I expected.
The result is 2x45 A6M2 Zeroes sweeping against a 150+ fighters CAP composed of Hurricane+P39D+P40E+H81-A3.
At the end of the day, I lose 50 fighters (10 KIA + 11 WIA) while he loses 26 A6M2-Zeroes (24 accordingly to the "i" but he told me the grand total) with 9 pilots KIA.

I deem this a success, since my fighters fared quite well and the bulk of my fighters groups in India gained a very good amount of exp, making them relatively combat ready. This is a big deal for me, because it means that India now has a decent bunch of fighter pilots readily available instead of the raw recruits it generally has at this time of the match.

The other strategic implication is that I made clear I am able to defend properly the airspace over my key bases and make him bleed even if he sends in all his élite pilots.

On the ground, I launch a couple of unsuccessful attacks NORTH of Sian, which however inflict casualties on the enemy.

In the screenshot below you can see a general picture with the disposition of the forces in NORTH China.
The two LCUs NORTH-EAST of Chungking are two IJA infantry divisions which I do imagine are going to Chengtu, which is lightly defended. I do have over 2,000AVs battle-ready in Chungking proper and I might decide to engage those two IJA divisions but more probably I'll instead send reinforcements to Chengtu and try to hold it. I suspect I'll need roughly the same amount of AVs in order to defend the city.


In India, I am right now moving LCUs to Diego Garcia and Addu. I decided to defend properly both. The strategic implication is fairly simple: if Omar wants to commit himself to the area, I want him to be heavily committed so that I can commit my own forces in the SOPAC without his nasty carriers around.
Moreover, Addu and Diego Garcia are some kind of "poor-man Celyon" and I want him to invade Celyon proper instead of them. Rationale: Celyon is a more difficult prey and requries multiple divisions. The key element is however the fact that Celyon is very close to continental India and I can set up a nice attrition war in the place from my bases in continental India.

On top of that, I really should reinforce Socotra as well. It's a base that, should everything else go wrong, can help very much allied survival. At least, that has been my impression in my game where I conquered the whole India up to and including Karachi.

Now, I am approaching the topic with the idea of upgrading small LCUs first (such as some brigades) and then go for whole divisions.

My recommendation would be to focus on divisions first, as overall they see the largest improvement in firepower.

Once you have approx. 120 squads of the requisite type in the pool, you can quickly canter through the vast majority of frontline combat strength in short order.

My doubt is whether the unit will try to fill up its TOE during the upgrade if replacements are set on "off". In other words, if a division which has currently 210 CMF Militia Squads and should have 324, can be split in A/B/C and upgrade 70 CMF Militia Squads to 70 CMF Inf Squads or whether it does upgrade to its TOE of 108.
This is a relevant distinction, since I would risk to get stuck with a part of the division with the new infantry squads and the rest without.

Replacements are replacements and upgrades are upgrades.

By that, replacements = replace devices that I currently have in the TOE. Upgrade = upgrade devices that I currently have in the TOE.

IF replacements are set to N and upgrade to Y, those 70 CMF militia will upgrade to 70 CMF Inf.

Finally, as per the Indian Army. I roughly know its metamorphosis but for the time being I'm stuck with what I do have. In other words, I can't care, not even remotely, about Indian Inf Squads since the TOEs of my divisions are so far from being acceptable that I need every single squad wherever it can go. As soon as I will have new squads in the production pipeline, I guess I'll start caring.
I'm quite paranoid about tanks however. As far as I understand, there is the very high chance of messing up and I read during my researches about upgrades this very funny thread (I love the title so much!): https://www.matrixgames.com/forums/tm.a ... %2Cupgrade

Allied AFV pools are one area it pays to spend some time to get a good understanding about, as there's a great deal of nuance in how the TOEs and AFV upgrade paths develop. The US is relatively straightforward as you'll use Stuarts and Sherman's, you'll have more than enough of both, and that's largely it for most of the war.

The Commonwealth pools are where it gets complicated, as you've large numbers of the improvised AFV's in effectively all the Commonwealth armoured units on Dec 7th.

The general theme (from memory) is:

- The Matilda and Stuart (the British model) is the first step to enable the upgrades away from the woeful improvised AFV models.

- The Stuart in particular is a very pressured model as it's used in the vast majority of Commonwealth armoured units.

- In early 1943, most of the British regimental sized armour formations lose all their tanks and become purely support formations. This is a worthwhile change, as it will give you some depth to your AFV pool to keep the large brigade sized formations in action

- Take care what units get upgrades and reinforcements. If it withdraws, it gets nothing. They'll get shipped off to Europe and take the good stuff with them.

- Many Commonwealth AFV's have a low production rate, but relatively large numbers arrive via the convoy system. As tempting as it is to go wild when the convoys arrive, I'd caution some restraint.

- Related to the last point, you can always upgrade AFV's, but never downgrade. With that in mind, it's worth considering the numbers you have in the pool and what production of any model defined as an upgrade is like. It is very easy to be in a situation where older models are gathering dust in the pool and frontline units are understrength due to having to compete for the newest model defined in their TOE.


Finally, the best bit of advice I can give is to consider the context in which Allied AFV's operate. The Churchill may be a more effective tank compared to the M3 Grant, for example, but as far as the anti-armour capability of the typical IJ formation is concerned, both tank models can operate with a large degree of impunity. As far as your IJA infantry division is concerned, they're effectively King Tigers. As tempting as it is to have every unit with a full TOE of Churchill's, it's massive overkill for the vast majority of combat situations, and won't be the most efficient use of AFVs.

The same goes for armour-on-armour engagements to a large extent. Tanks that were significantly out of date in the European and African theatres in 1942 can more than hold their own with the IJA armour line-up (which is rarely going to be able to mass the same sort of numbers as their Allied counterparts).