Once Again into the Breach - Mike (J) vs. tc464 (A)

[Lowpe]

Tough call on the Sam J as Sam is a must have plane, perhaps the most important plane in Japan's arsenal. I would be tempted to steal r&d from some other non-fighter, non night fighter r&d line, other than the Grace first to go after Sam. Even other fighters depending on which model and where they are at.

Tojo IIc build for the rest of the war. You need fighters, and it is still an agile low altitude dog fighter(bait) and a pretty decent escort too. It just lacks punch to down fighters. Heck, it is so easy to lose 1000 planes in a day late war. Always a use for these guys, even kamikazes.

Check your George models, one of them might go SR2. Ideally you want to progress down the chain of models, as they do get better (faster) etc, but you will need a lot of Georges and Franks. A lot. I guess IF I had to chose, I would prefer to get Sam and if that means forgoing the George 2 and 3 so be it...I played a whole game thru 44 with pretty much only George 1 in numbers, and it was effective the whole time. I am sure the George 2 & 3 would have been more effective...but I never got Sam and that is would have really helped.

So, imho, Sam is more important than George 2 or 3.

[Mike Solli]

21 May 43

Sub War

An Allied sub had been hanging out in the deep water hex just to the NE of Pescadores. I finally sent an ASW TF that can reach that low and hit her once with a DC.

I have noticed that many of my sucky ASW TFs (that use only the Type 95 DC) are patrolling deep water hexes and many of my better ASW TFs are in shallow water. What was I thinking? I suspect it was that when I set that up, that was all that was available. Now, I'm beginning to rectify that. It'll take a while though.

5 Fleet

Almost all of the 71 Division has disembarked at Adak now with no interference from the Allies. My AV is now up to 818 with the Allied forces there slowly dropping (now at 513). I continue my daily bombardment with all the artillery on the island and a sentai of Sallys. The 19 Division and a final medium artillery regiment are still enroute. The BB bombardment TF is a couple days out and should go a long way to battering their AV, as well as destroying their supply. Once the 19 Division lands, I'll attack when the combined AV of the two divisions is 3x the Allied AV. I don't think I want to attack with the garrison unit. I may change my mind though. It's going to be withdrawn in about 6 months so it shouldn't matter in the grand scheme of things. A tank regiment is also there, and I'm considering using it. I expect to destroy all the Allied supply before attacking so I "think" the Japanese armor should be safe attacking.

I learned something interesting. The Sally sentai is broken down into its 3 chutai. I added aircraft to each of them today to get them back up to full strength. Then I started adding reserve aircraft. Normally, you can add 4 reserve aircraft to a unit. When it is broken down, you can continue to add reserve aircraft until one of them hits 4 reserve aircraft. That means you can add up to 10 reserve aircraft to a sentai by breaking it down, adding 3 to each then adding a 4th to one. Interesting...

MKB is heading south to refuel.

Adak is up to >21k supply and the fort is up to 5.14.

4 Fleet

Nothing to report.

SE Fleet

Gasmata was the major focus of the Allied Air Force today. It started with an 18 Wildcat sweep against 16 A6M5s and 14 Tojo IIa. Seven Wildcats were shot down for no Japanese loss. But, several planes were damaged. Next came 38x 4E bombers causing light airfield damage and the loss of a Zero (WIA). Finally, another sweep of 15 Allied planes vs. 11 Japanese planes where we each lost one with a few more Japanese OP losses. Current damage to Gasmata is 0-28-23. The airfield is still operational.

Rabaul had only 1 Tojo (IIa) flying CAP against two attacks (9x B25Cs then 10x B26s). The result was light damage and 2 Oscars destroyed on the ground. Rabaul's current damage is 0-87-27 (down from 0-87-50 yesterday).

I had upgraded a Tojo sentai to the IIc model and the planes finally completed repairs. I moved them from Truk to Rabaul. I pondered a bit whether to go to Gasmata or Rabaul and opted for Rabaul because Ted has been sending unescorted bombers there, and only 2E bombers today. I'm hoping for more 2E bombers tomorrow so I can massacre them so he leaves that base alone for a while to allow it to repair some more. That could backfire though and he may send 4E bombers. Not sure what the IIc will do against 4E bombers. At any rate, I want to see what the IIc will do.

I believe Ted is making a mistake with his air power by hitting too many bases. I think he should focus on 2 at most a day. He hit 3 others today as well:

Hollandia: 9x P70s met 9x A6M5s losing 5 of the P70s for no Japanese loss. Another elite pilot in this chutai!

Tulagi: 14x B24s met 6x A6M5s with one of each shot down (WIA) and no damage to the base.

Lunga: 6x B25Cs escorted by 6 Wildcats met 5 A6M5s with 4 Wildcats shot down for no Japanese loss and no damage to the base.

I'll take those little attacks attacks all day long.

I heard sinking sounds during the replay, and it turned out that the AV Kiyokawa Maru went down from sub torpedo hits the day before. I had pulled the pilots out of the 2 FP chutai on her and rebuilt them today.

KB is withdrawing back to Truk.

I think Ted is going after Shortland Island next because he has been hitting it with SBDs pretty often, unescorted. Tomorrow, I may move some fighters there to smack them around a bit. He's going after troops there, so the airfield is in pretty good shape. I have 1 damaged flying boat there so he probably sees the airfield symbol. I might be able to move the fighters there without him noticing. Heh, heh, heh...

SRA

Nothing to report.

Burma

A final sweep over Akyab shot down 1 of 3 Hurricanes for no Japanese loss. I'm going to stop the sweeps for a few days to rest the pilots and save some supply.

China

Nothing to report.

Other Stuff

Reinforcement: TK Bokuei Maru, Type-1 TL (11.6k capacity), being converted to an AO (18kt, 10.4 capacity)

[Lowpe]

ORIGINAL: Mike Solli

21 May 43

Sub War

An Allied sub had been hanging out in the deep water hex just to the NE of Pescadores. I finally sent an ASW TF that can reach that low and hit her once with a DC.

I have noticed that many of my sucky ASW TFs (that use only the Type 95 DC) are patrolling deep water hexes and many of my better ASW TFs are in shallow water. What was I thinking? I suspect it was that when I set that up, that was all that was available. Now, I'm beginning to rectify that. It'll take a while though.

5 Fleet

Almost all of the 71 Division has disembarked at Adak now with no interference from the Allies. My AV is now up to 818 with the Allied forces there slowly dropping (now at 513). I continue my daily bombardment with all the artillery on the island and a sentai of Sallys. The 19 Division and a final medium artillery regiment are still enroute. The BB bombardment TF is a couple days out and should go a long way to battering their AV, as well as destroying their supply. Once the 19 Division lands, I'll attack when the combined AV of the two divisions is 3x the Allied AV. I don't think I want to attack with the garrison unit. I may change my mind though. It's going to be withdrawn in about 6 months so it shouldn't matter in the grand scheme of things. A tank regiment is also there, and I'm considering using it. I expect to destroy all the Allied supply before attacking so I "think" the Japanese armor should be safe attacking.

I learned something interesting. The Sally sentai is broken down into its 3 chutai. I added aircraft to each of them today to get them back up to full strength. Then I started adding reserve aircraft. Normally, you can add 4 reserve aircraft to a unit. When it is broken down, you can continue to add reserve aircraft until one of them hits 4 reserve aircraft. That means you can add up to 10 reserve aircraft to a sentai by breaking it down, adding 3 to each then adding a 4th to one. Interesting...

MKB is heading south to refuel.

Adak is up to >21k supply and the fort is up to 5.14.

4 Fleet

Nothing to report.

SE Fleet

Gasmata was the major focus of the Allied Air Force today. It started with an 18 Wildcat sweep against 16 A6M5s and 14 Tojo IIa. Seven Wildcats were shot down for no Japanese loss. But, several planes were damaged. Next came 38x 4E bombers causing light airfield damage and the loss of a Zero (WIA). Finally, another sweep of 15 Allied planes vs. 11 Japanese planes where we each lost one with a few more Japanese OP losses. Current damage to Gasmata is 0-28-23. The airfield is still operational.

Rabaul had only 1 Tojo (IIa) flying CAP against two attacks (9x B25Cs then 10x B26s). The result was light damage and 2 Oscars destroyed on the ground. Rabaul's current damage is 0-87-27 (down from 0-87-50 yesterday).

I had upgraded a Tojo sentai to the IIc model and the planes finally completed repairs. I moved them from Truk to Rabaul. I pondered a bit whether to go to Gasmata or Rabaul and opted for Rabaul because Ted has been sending unescorted bombers there, and only 2E bombers today. I'm hoping for more 2E bombers tomorrow so I can massacre them so he leaves that base alone for a while to allow it to repair some more. That could backfire though and he may send 4E bombers. Not sure what the IIc will do against 4E bombers. At any rate, I want to see what the IIc will do.

I believe Ted is making a mistake with his air power by hitting too many bases. I think he should focus on 2 at most a day. He hit 3 others today as well:

Hollandia: 9x P70s met 9x A6M5s losing 5 of the P70s for no Japanese loss. Another elite pilot in this chutai!

Tulagi: 14x B24s met 6x A6M5s with one of each shot down (WIA) and no damage to the base.

Lunga: 6x B25Cs escorted by 6 Wildcats met 5 A6M5s with 4 Wildcats shot down for no Japanese loss and no damage to the base.

I'll take those little attacks attacks all day long.

I heard sinking sounds during the replay, and it turned out that the AV Kiyokawa Maru went down from sub torpedo hits the day before. I had pulled the pilots out of the 2 FP chutai on her and rebuilt them today.

KB is withdrawing back to Truk.

I think Ted is going after Shortland Island next because he has been hitting it with SBDs pretty often, unescorted. Tomorrow, I may move some fighters there to smack them around a bit. He's going after troops there, so the airfield is in pretty good shape. I have 1 damaged flying boat there so he probably sees the airfield symbol. I might be able to move the fighters there without him noticing. Heh, heh, heh...

SRA

Nothing to report.

Burma

A final sweep over Akyab shot down 1 of 3 Hurricanes for no Japanese loss. I'm going to stop the sweeps for a few days to rest the pilots and save some supply.

China

Nothing to report.

Other Stuff

Reinforcement: TK Bokuei Maru, Type-1 TL (11.6k capacity), being converted to an AO (18kt, 10.4 capacity)

Pretty sure that reserve plane exploiot is fixed in the beta patch.

[PaxMondo]

ORIGINAL: Mike Solli

I finally got some peace and quiet here so got the turn off to Ted. Before I post it, I have a few questions that I'd been pondering while at work Wednesday:

I'm currently doing R&D on the A7M3-J. The factories are currently repaired to 11, 8, 7, 7, 7. Should I just keep going as I had currently planned or bite the bullet and change those factories to the A7M2? They would all reset but the A7M2 becomes operational September 1945 vs. January 1946 for the M3.

The N1K1 George is currently operational with the K2 becoming operational in September and the K5 operational around December. Should I build any K2s or just keep the K1 until the K5 comes out?

How long should I expect to keep the Tojo IIc (currently operational)?

Is it better to increase 1 factory by 30 or say, 5 factories by 6 each? The former takes longer but the latter completes in only 20% of the time. I know that statistically it's the same, but I was just curious what others thought. Typically, I increase 1 by 30.

Mike, I'm gonna echo a lot of Lowpe's thoughts. A7M2 is really important.

Given how you have spread out your RnD across so many models, I think you need to go the 1x30 route to free up more factories for RnD.
I don't have your entire build plan, but I know that you do a lot of 3x30 RnD's. I would convert some of those non-fighters from production back into RnD on the A7M2. Jill/Judy/Helen/ something like that that. Or convert some excess A6M or Oscar factories that should be getting idle.
Yes, it is wasting some supply, but there isn't a choice here. You simply need more A7M2 RnD factories. As many as you can get. Really.

Think of it this way; once the A7M2 comes on line you will only build this fighter, along with a few N1K for the rest of the war for the IJN. That means you will want to build at LEAST 300/month A7M2. So, if you put 10x30 RnD, they convert to the minimum you want to produce.

[PaxMondo]

Just some background thoughts about the A7M:

on Dec 7, 1941 the A7M design was almost complete by Horikoshi ... according to his notes. They could have flown a prototype by fall '42, production in late '43. This is based upon pre-war planning, given the war, all of this could have been sped up considerably.

What happened? Well it is what didn't happen: multi-stage induction. The IJ simply could not get it to work. The two major teams; Nakajima and Mitsubishi didn't cooperate and they were both straining the limited prototyping resources that IJ possessed. Anyway, all of the power plants for the 2nd/3rd gen aircraft were delayed by 3 years. Thus, forcing the designers to re-engineer many of the 2nd gen designs to work with 1st gen engines with reduced performance at a later arrival date and/or attempt to upgrade 1st gen designs.

[Mike Solli]

That question about increasing multiple factories by a bit vs. 1x30 was just an academic question. I was thinking operational, not R&D. Just a thought. Anyway, it's not something I was going to consider unless you guys did it and thought it was a good idea.

Ok, tomorrow, I'll change the 5 A7M3-J R&D factories to the A7M2. I'm curious if I'll lose the repaired parts of the factory in the downgrade. I suspect so, but we'll see. Also, in just over a month, the Ki-100-II becomes operational. 3 of the 6 R&D factories will become operational and the 3 remaining R&D factories will change to the A7M2. That's 8. I usually have at least 1 each Zero and Oscar operational factory off. I'll convert them back to A7M2 R&D. To be honest, I had no idea you could convert an operational factory back to an R&D factory. [X(] I'll hunt around and see what else I can convert.

So you think I shouldn't even bother with the A7M3-J?

[Mike Solli]

I just tested downgrading the A7M3-J to the A7M2 and the factory resets to all damaged.

How do you convert an operational factory to an R&D factory? Or did I misunderstand you guys?

[ny59giants]

Do you have any Nicks in SoPac to take on his unescorted bombers?

[Mike Solli]

ORIGINAL: ny59giants

Do you have any Nicks in SoPac to take on his unescorted bombers?

Yep, 27 of them. Right now 9 are damaged at Rabaul. [:(] The rest are at Truk. I filled the unit up at Truk and will fly them back soon. Morale is 40.

[Lowpe]

ORIGINAL: Mike Solli

I just tested downgrading the A7M3-J to the A7M2 and the factory resets to all damaged.

How do you convert an operational factory to an R&D factory? Or did I misunderstand you guys?

realistic r&d off

[Mike Solli]

Ahh, it's on. Guess that ain't happening. [:D]

[PaxMondo]

ORIGINAL: Mike Solli

Ahh, it's on. Guess that ain't happening. [:D]

Ouch. That does complicate a few things ...

[Lokasenna]

ORIGINAL: Lowpe

ORIGINAL: Mike Solli

I just tested downgrading the A7M3-J to the A7M2 and the factory resets to all damaged.

How do you convert an operational factory to an R&D factory? Or did I misunderstand you guys?

realistic r&d off

A7M3-J to A7M2: realistic R&D would make zero difference here.

[PaxMondo]

ORIGINAL: Lokasenna

ORIGINAL: Lowpe

ORIGINAL: Mike Solli

I just tested downgrading the A7M3-J to the A7M2 and the factory resets to all damaged.

How do you convert an operational factory to an R&D factory? Or did I misunderstand you guys?

realistic r&d off

A7M3-J to A7M2: realistic R&D would make zero difference here.

True, as you can't preserve factories going backwards on RnD ladder. But RnD ON means he now has far fewer options with respect to how to get more RnD on the A7M2.
For me, RnD ON means that you cannot change (much) your RnD strategy in the war once you decide it on Dec 7th. I won't argue about the realism aspect, but I will say that it limits the IJ player ability to adapt to game changes. As such, it is a fairly large handicap on the IJ player with no impact on the allied player. Of the same sort of option as the allied torpedo effect; single sided. choose with care.

[Mike Solli]

Now I remember why I was always reluctant to allow R&D factories to become operational. [:D]. So, right now I can get 8 R&D factories to the A7M2. I can increase by at least 3 more by the end of 43.

[ny59giants]

OK, lets go off to another area of economic. My economics, minister, Pax, gets the turn for the 1st of the month. He asked about my HI stockpiling and my shipbuilding (both) being too much. What are you building or not for your merchant ships?? I'm halting the little xAKLs and small std-d and std-e Class xAKs, but building the std-a and std-b Class xAKs. I'm playing a DBB based mod (BTS Lite), so some ships are different. I haven't lost many TKs, so those will be slowed down. What say you?!?

[obvert]

ORIGINAL: ny59giants

OK, lets go off to another area of economic. My economics, minister, Pax, gets the turn for the 1st of the month. He asked about my HI stockpiling and my shipbuilding (both) being too much. What are you building or not for your merchant ships?? I'm halting the little xAKLs and small std-d and std-e Class xAKs, but building the std-a and std-b Class xAKs. I'm playing a DBB based mod (BTS Lite), so some ships are different. I haven't lost many TKs, so those will be slowed down. What say you?!?

I know Mike will get to this, but just a quick thought abut builds.

My strategy is to halt anything that cannot be turned into a very efficient tanker if needed. So the Standard-A are fine, the Standard-B okay, but after that I usually stop everything. There are so many good Adens and Limas that it's not really necessary to build the 44-45 xAKs unless you need more tankers and want to convert them.

[Zorch]

ORIGINAL: obvert

ORIGINAL: ny59giants

OK, lets go off to another area of economic. My economics, minister, Pax, gets the turn for the 1st of the month. He asked about my HI stockpiling and my shipbuilding (both) being too much. What are you building or not for your merchant ships?? I'm halting the little xAKLs and small std-d and std-e Class xAKs, but building the std-a and std-b Class xAKs. I'm playing a DBB based mod (BTS Lite), so some ships are different. I haven't lost many TKs, so those will be slowed down. What say you?!?

I know Mike will get to this, but just a quick thought abut builds.

My strategy is to halt anything that cannot be turned into a very efficient tanker if needed. So the Standard-A are fine, the Standard-B okay, but after that I usually stop everything. There are so many good Adens and Limas that it's not really necessary to build the 44-45 xAKs unless you need more tankers and want to convert them.

How much oil/fuel could the Shinano carry, if converted? [;)]

[Mike Solli]

Lets see, xAKLs are all off.

xAK: I keep the Std-A, B & C and convert them to TKs. The other large ones I keep going to completion for the most part. Many I'll keep going until I get within 30 days of completion and then stop them. Just in case...

TK: I keep pretty much everything going except the STD-D & E. I accelerated 4x Type-1 TL (11.6k) early on to help get the glut out of the SRA quicker. I wanted to get the most fuel and oil out of there that I could before the US torpedoes were fixed. Now I have 4 of the Type-1 TLs almost converted to AOs and just started a 5th this past turn. I've only lost 1 CV to date and I want to have fuel available when I do sortie my fleet.

I believe I still have all my auxiliaries building.

Many people shut off a LOT of stuff because they believe it's nothing more than Allied VPs in the late game. That may be true but I don't really care about VPs. I want to make sure to have what I need available when I need it. It's slow enough moving it halfway across the ocean. If I have to wait a couple months for it to be built first, well then you may as well forget about it.

[Mike Solli]

Ok, I actually looked up the numbers. I vaguely recall shutting a lot of stuff off. Turns out it was a couple game months ago (2+ years ago). Anyhoo, I shut off more than I recall. I shut off all xAKs and TKs after Dec 43 (now Feb 44).

TK: 97 stopped, 47 building, STD-C and smaller off.
xAK: 5x STD-B on, everything else off. I'll probably turn on some STD-A. My merchant points are currently increasing by 24 a day with 386 in the pool.
xAP: 2 remaining and being built.
AO: 5 remaining and being built.
Aux: 1 AG left and being built.
Mine: 4 AM and 5 AMc remaining and being built.

After I watch the Browns lose this afternoon, I think I'm going to take a look at what I have available by type. Then I'll update my production plan.

Concerning combat ships, I have 6x CVs that I'm building, in groups of 3. Three are due in mid-44 and the other 3 are currently due ~1 Dec 43. I accelerate the earlier 3 about half the time. Soon that'll be 2 days in 3 because I have some subs nearing completion. I would like to accelerate some DDs but my DD losses have been low so I am not accelerating any currently.