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Well, there are worse ways for a final sortie to go - good show!

Yes, very solid death ride, taking several CVEs down! It's a shame you're out of fuel, by the looks of the survivors you would have another sortie in you

Can you use depleted BBs as CAP traps?

ORIGINAL: Jorge_Stanbury

Can you use depleted BBs as CAP traps?

Due to the lack of supplies, drop tanks are not available - those cripples were just too far away for normal range LRCAP. Also had most planes on Kamikaze / naval strike / escort duty in case the Allies wanted to chase cripples a bit too close to Japan. Got some revenge damage on some innocent LSTs.

Here are the losses on the following turn - subs had a field day against slow-moving unescorted cripples and skip-bombing did hurt as well. Dive-bombing even with 1000-pounders not so much, at least not on the BBs. Haruna was sunk by a 1000-pounder after taking four sub torpedos which caused a magazine explosion - tough old gal.



Some cripples still around, some may even make it. One fast BB and five DDs still operational - plus KB which is short of planes anyway.

All this did not delay the fall of Amami Oshima for a single day.

US losses according to Sunk ship list, so with FOW :

8 CVE
2 CA
1 CL
2 CLAA
5 DD
6 DE
4 SS
7 LST
15 LCI(G)
18 PT
1 YMS

Own losses so far:

2 BB
7 CA
4 CL
22 DD

AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR Nov 22, 44
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Submarine attack near Tokunoshima at 97,65

Japanese Ships
BB Ise, Torpedo hits 1, heavy damage

Allied Ships
SS Shakespeare

BB Ise is sighted by SS Shakespeare
SS Shakespeare launches 6 torpedoes

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Sub attack near Tokara Retto at 98,62

Japanese Ships
BB Hyuga, Torpedo hits 1

Allied Ships
SS Apogon

SS Apogon launches 6 torpedoes at BB Hyuga
Apogon diving deep ....
Sub escapes detection

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Sub attack near Koshiki-jima Retto at 100,60

Japanese Ships
BB Haruna, Torpedo hits 4, on fire, heavy damage

Allied Ships
SS Perch

Magazine explodes on BB Haruna
SS Perch launches 6 torpedoes at BB Haruna
Sub escapes detection

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Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Okinoerabushima at 96,65

Weather in hex: Light rain

Raid detected at 38 NM, estimated altitude 2,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 10 minutes

Allied aircraft
B-25D1 Mitchell x 8

Allied aircraft losses
B-25D1 Mitchell: 6 damaged
B-25D1 Mitchell: 1 destroyed by flak

Japanese Ships
CL Kiso, Bomb hits 8, heavy fires
DD Tamanami, Bomb hits 3, heavy fires, heavy damage

Aircraft Attacking:
8 x B-25D1 Mitchell bombing and strafing from low level
Naval Attack: 6 x 500 lb SAP Bomb

Kiso dead in the water ...
Tamanami dead in the water ...


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Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Okinoerabushima at 96,65

Weather in hex: Light rain

Raid detected at 39 NM, estimated altitude 2,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 11 minutes

Allied aircraft
B-25J11 Mitchell x 3

Allied aircraft losses
B-25J11 Mitchell: 1 damaged

Japanese Ships
DD Onami, Bomb hits 3, heavy fires, heavy damage
DD Fujinami
DD Akigumo, Shell hits 4

Aircraft Attacking:
3 x B-25J11 Mitchell bombing and strafing from low level
Naval Attack: 6 x 500 lb SAP Bomb

Onami dead in the water ...


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Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Tokara Retto at 100,62

Weather in hex: Moderate rain

Raid detected at 79 NM, estimated altitude 14,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 29 minutes

Allied aircraft
Hellcat I x 18
F4U-1A Corsair x 5
F6F-5 Hellcat x 18
SBD-5 Dauntless x 27

Allied aircraft losses
SBD-5 Dauntless: 9 damaged
SBD-5 Dauntless: 2 destroyed by flak

Japanese Ships
CL Oyodo
CA Mikuma, Bomb hits 1, on fire
CA Mogami, Bomb hits 2, on fire

Aircraft Attacking:
2 x SBD-5 Dauntless releasing from 2000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 1000 lb SAP Bomb
10 x SBD-5 Dauntless releasing from 3000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 1000 lb SAP Bomb
15 x SBD-5 Dauntless releasing from 4000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 1000 lb SAP Bomb

Heavy smoke from fires obscuring CA Mikuma


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Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Saishu To at 98,56

Weather in hex: Light cloud

Raid detected at 53 NM, estimated altitude 13,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 22 minutes

Allied aircraft
Corsair II x 17
F4U-1A Corsair x 12
F6F-3 Hellcat x 19
SB2C-3 Helldiver x 24

Allied aircraft losses
SB2C-3 Helldiver: 12 damaged
SB2C-3 Helldiver: 1 destroyed by flak

Japanese Ships
BB Nagato, Bomb hits 19, heavy fires

Aircraft Attacking:
9 x SB2C-3 Helldiver releasing from 4000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 1000 lb SAP Bomb, 2 x 250 lb SAP Bomb
6 x SB2C-3 Helldiver releasing from 2000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 1000 lb SAP Bomb, 2 x 250 lb SAP Bomb
8 x SB2C-3 Helldiver releasing from 3000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 1000 lb SAP Bomb, 2 x 250 lb SAP Bomb

Heavy smoke from fires obscuring BB Nagato


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Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Fukue-jima at 99,58

Weather in hex: Heavy rain

Raid spotted at 9 NM, estimated altitude 13,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 3 minutes

Allied aircraft
F4U-1A Corsair x 14
SB2C-3 Helldiver x 24

Allied aircraft losses
SB2C-3 Helldiver: 5 damaged
SB2C-3 Helldiver: 1 destroyed by flak

Japanese Ships
BB Kongo, Bomb hits 6

Aircraft Attacking:
7 x SB2C-3 Helldiver releasing from 2000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 1000 lb SAP Bomb
12 x SB2C-3 Helldiver releasing from 3000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 1000 lb SAP Bomb
4 x SB2C-3 Helldiver releasing from 4000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 1000 lb SAP Bomb



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Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Amami Oshima at 99,66

Weather in hex: Heavy cloud

Raid detected at 80 NM, estimated altitude 13,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 37 minutes

Allied aircraft
F4U-1A Corsair x 9
F6F-5 Hellcat x 17
TBM-3 Avenger x 18

Allied aircraft losses
TBM-3 Avenger: 1 damaged

Japanese Ships
BB Ise, Bomb hits 10, heavy damage

Aircraft Attacking:
18 x TBM-3 Avenger bombing from 11000 feet
Naval Attack: 2 x 500 lb SAP Bomb



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Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Kuroshima at 100,61

Weather in hex: Heavy rain

Raid detected at 54 NM, estimated altitude 15,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 23 minutes

Allied aircraft
F6F-5 Hellcat x 17
SB2C-3 Helldiver x 28

Allied aircraft losses
SB2C-3 Helldiver: 1 damaged

Japanese Ships
AO Nippon Maru, Bomb hits 3, heavy fires, heavy damage
E Mikura
AO Tsurumi, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires
E Fuyo
E Oki, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires, heavy damage

Aircraft Attacking:
10 x SB2C-3 Helldiver releasing from 4000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 1000 lb SAP Bomb
15 x SB2C-3 Helldiver releasing from 3000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 1000 lb SAP Bomb
3 x SB2C-3 Helldiver releasing from 2000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 1000 lb SAP Bomb

Heavy smoke from fires obscuring AO Tsurumi
Fuyo dead in the water ...
Heavy smoke from fires obscuring E Oki


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Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Tanegashima at 102,62

Weather in hex: Severe storms

Raid detected at 79 NM, estimated altitude 11,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 35 minutes

Allied aircraft
F6F-3 Hellcat x 17
TBM-1C Avenger x 18

No Allied losses

Japanese Ships
DD Hayanami
DD Naganami

Aircraft Attacking:
18 x TBM-1C Avenger bombing from 11000 feet
Naval Attack: 2 x 500 lb SAP Bomb

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Submarine attack near Amami Oshima at 99,65

Japanese Ships
BB Ise, Torpedo hits 1, heavy damage

Allied Ships
SS Burrfish

BB Ise is sighted by SS Burrfish
SS Burrfish launches 6 torpedoes at BB Ise

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Sub attack near Okinoerabushima at 96,65

Japanese Ships
CA Aoba, Torpedo hits 2, heavy fires, heavy damage
DD Fujinami
DD Akigumo

Allied Ships
SS Queenfish

SS Queenfish launches 4 torpedoes at CA Aoba
Queenfish bottoming out ....
DD Akigumo fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Akigumo fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Akigumo fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Akigumo fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Akigumo fails to find sub, continues to search...
Escort abandons search for sub

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on TF, near Amami Oshima at 98,64

Weather in hex: Clear sky

Raid spotted at 39 NM, estimated altitude 9,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 20 minutes

Japanese aircraft
F1M2 Pete x 21
N1K2-J George x 27

Allied aircraft
P-47D2 Thunderbolt x 3
F4U-1D Corsair x 7

Japanese aircraft losses
F1M2 Pete: 2 destroyed, 5 damaged
F1M2 Pete: 2 destroyed by flak
N1K2-J George: 2 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
P-47D2 Thunderbolt: 1 destroyed
F4U-1D Corsair: 1 destroyed

Allied Ships
YP-143, Bomb hits 4, heavy fires, heavy damage
LST-172, Bomb hits 3, heavy fires, heavy damage
LST-166, Bomb hits 9, heavy fires, heavy damage
LST-454, Bomb hits 4, heavy fires, heavy damage

Aircraft Attacking:
20 x F1M2 Pete bombing from 100 feet
Naval Attack: 2 x 30 kg GP Bomb
23 x N1K2-J George sweeping at 1000 feet

CAP engaged:
VMF-218 with F4U-1D Corsair (7 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
7 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 15000 , scrambling fighters between 0 and 15000.
Raid is overhead
58th FG/311th FS with P-47D2 Thunderbolt (3 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
3 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 26000 , scrambling fighters between 0 and 26000.
Raid is overhead

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Morning Air attack on TF, near Amami Oshima at 98,64

Weather in hex: Clear sky

Raid spotted at 37 NM, estimated altitude 9,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 19 minutes

Japanese aircraft
F1M2 Pete x 22
N1K2-J George x 54

Allied aircraft
P-47D2 Thunderbolt x 1
F4U-1D Corsair x 3

Japanese aircraft losses
F1M2 Pete: 3 damaged
F1M2 Pete: 2 destroyed by flak

Allied aircraft losses
F4U-1D Corsair: 1 destroyed

Allied Ships
YP-143, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires, heavy damage
LST-172, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires, heavy damage
LST-460, Bomb hits 1, on fire
LST-475, Bomb hits 11, heavy fires
LST-40, Bomb hits 5, heavy fires, heavy damage

Aircraft Attacking:
20 x F1M2 Pete bombing from 100 feet
Naval Attack: 2 x 30 kg GP Bomb
6 x N1K2-J George sweeping at 1000 feet
3 x N1K2-J George sweeping at 1000 feet

CAP engaged:
VMF-218 with F4U-1D Corsair (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
3 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 15000 , scrambling fighters to 5000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 71 minutes
58th FG/311th FS with P-47D2 Thunderbolt (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
1 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 26000 , scrambling fighters to 5000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 22 minutes

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Morning Air attack on TF, near Amami Oshima at 98,64

Weather in hex: Clear sky

Raid spotted at 40 NM, estimated altitude 3,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 12 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M5c Zero x 56
A6M8 Zero x 22
D3A1 Val x 27

Allied aircraft
P-47D2 Thunderbolt x 1

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M5c Zero: 9 destroyed
A6M8 Zero: 1 destroyed
D3A1 Val: 10 destroyed

No Allied losses

Allied Ships
LST-460, Kamikaze hits 6, and is sunk
LST-172, Kamikaze hits 4, and is sunk
LST-40, Kamikaze hits 4, and is sunk
YP-143, Kamikaze hits 2, and is sunk
LST-475, Kamikaze hits 3, and is sunk
LST-166, Kamikaze hits 2, and is sunk
LST-454, Kamikaze hits 2, and is sunk

Aircraft Attacking:
28 x A6M5c Zero flying as kamikaze
Kamikaze: 2 x 60 kg GP Bomb
27 x D3A1 Val flying as kamikaze *
Kamikaze: 2 x 60 kg GP Bomb
28 x A6M5c Zero flying as kamikaze
Kamikaze: 2 x 60 kg GP Bomb

CAP engaged:
58th FG/311th FS with P-47D2 Thunderbolt (1 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
1 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 26000 , scrambling fighters to 2000.
Raid is overhead

Heavy smoke from fires obscuring LST-460
Heavy smoke from fires obscuring LST-172
Heavy smoke from fires obscuring YP-143
Heavy smoke from fires obscuring LST-475
Heavy smoke from fires obscuring LST-454
Heavy smoke from fires obscuring LST-40

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Morning Air attack on TF, near Tanegashima at 102,62

Weather in hex: Light rain

Raid detected at 66 NM, estimated altitude 14,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 24 minutes

Allied aircraft
F4U-1A Corsair x 17
F6F-3 Hellcat x 18
SBD-5 Dauntless x 21

Allied aircraft losses
SBD-5 Dauntless: 3 damaged
SBD-5 Dauntless: 1 destroyed by flak

Japanese Ships
DD Hayanami, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires
DD Naganami, Bomb hits 3, heavy fires, heavy damage

Aircraft Attacking:
10 x SBD-5 Dauntless releasing from 3000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 1000 lb SAP Bomb
5 x SBD-5 Dauntless releasing from 4000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 1000 lb SAP Bomb
6 x SBD-5 Dauntless releasing from 2000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 1000 lb SAP Bomb

Heavy smoke from fires obscuring a Minekaze class DD


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Morning Air attack on TF, near Okinoerabushima at 96,65

Weather in hex: Thunderstorms

Raid detected at 58 NM, estimated altitude 14,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 25 minutes

Allied aircraft
F6F-5 Hellcat x 35
SB2C-3 Helldiver x 24

Allied aircraft losses
SB2C-3 Helldiver: 6 damaged
SB2C-3 Helldiver: 1 destroyed by flak

Japanese Ships
DD Fujinami
DD Akigumo, Bomb hits 3, on fire, heavy damage

Aircraft Attacking:
10 x SB2C-3 Helldiver releasing from 4000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 1000 lb SAP Bomb, 2 x 250 lb SAP Bomb
6 x SB2C-3 Helldiver releasing from 2000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 1000 lb SAP Bomb, 2 x 250 lb SAP Bomb
8 x SB2C-3 Helldiver releasing from 3000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 1000 lb SAP Bomb, 2 x 250 lb SAP Bomb

Fujinami dead in the water ...
Akigumo dead in the water ...
Heavy smoke from fires obscuring a Japanese CA

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Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Okinoerabushima at 96,65

Weather in hex: Light rain

Raid detected at 19 NM, estimated altitude 3,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 5 minutes

Allied aircraft
B-25D1 Mitchell x 8

Allied aircraft losses
B-25D1 Mitchell: 2 damaged

Japanese Ships
DD Fujinami, Bomb hits 4, heavy fires, heavy damage
DD Akigumo, Shell hits 15, Bomb hits 4, heavy fires, heavy damage

Aircraft Attacking:
8 x B-25D1 Mitchell bombing and strafing from low level
Naval Attack: 6 x 500 lb SAP Bomb

Fujinami dead in the water ...
Akigumo dead in the water ...
Massive explosion on DD Fujinami

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Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Okinoerabushima at 96,65

Weather in hex: Light rain

Raid detected at 22 NM, estimated altitude 4,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 6 minutes

Allied aircraft
B-25J11 Mitchell x 7

No Allied losses

Japanese Ships
DD Fujinami, Bomb hits 6, and is sunk
DD Akigumo, Shell hits 9, and is sunk

Aircraft Attacking:
7 x B-25J11 Mitchell bombing and strafing from low level
Naval Attack: 6 x 500 lb SAP Bomb

Fujinami dead in the water ...

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Ground combat at Amami Oshima (98,64)

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 35777 troops, 532 guns, 575 vehicles, Assault Value = 1109

Defending force 12367 troops, 137 guns, 4 vehicles, Assault Value = 215

Allied adjusted assault: 759

Japanese adjusted defense: 64

Allied assault odds: 11 to 1 (fort level 3)

Allied forces CAPTURE Amami Oshima !!!

Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), disruption(-), experience(-), supply(-)
Attacker:

Japanese ground losses:
1698 casualties reported
Squads: 31 destroyed, 138 disabled
Non Combat: 5 destroyed, 11 disabled
Engineers: 30 destroyed, 1 disabled
Guns lost 34 (31 destroyed, 3 disabled)
Vehicles lost 5 (5 destroyed, 0 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
507 casualties reported
Squads: 5 destroyed, 54 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 9 disabled
Engineers: 4 destroyed, 13 disabled
Vehicles lost 15 (1 destroyed, 14 disabled)

Assaulting units:
2nd Regiment
14th NZ Brigade
93rd Infantry Division
710th Tank Battalion
Americal Infantry Division
8th NZ Brigade
33rd Medium Regiment
4th Field Artillery Battalion
24th US Naval Construction Battalion

Defending units:
53rd Ind.Mixed Brigade
21st Ind.Mixed Regiment
Amami Oshima Fortress
Oshima Naval Guard Unit
18th Field Construction Battalion

This 44 supply thing worries me ok this is babes so it has slightly less anyway but shouldn't be this tight in 44

Lost the big oil centers in the SRA early - no fuel, no HI, no HI supply production...

Here is the China situation - notice exclamation marks everywhere for lack of supplies. Best-supplied base in China is Shanghai with a whopping 3k...

This is a babes game with reduced supply production isn't it ??

Could you send me a turn I want to run it and take a look at the industry stats and whats sucking up supply production

a.mcphie@btinternet.com

Thaanks

Andy

I am interested in the supply situation as well, since I am playing the Empire in this same scenario!

I noticed you posted this LST in January 1943:

"However, fuel production seems to lag - or consumption is too high. With Combined Fleet running around, probably the latter. Every few turns I have some HI factories not producing for want of fuel. It's hand-to-mouth, but the situation will probably get better - because Ed will eventually sink the fuel-guzzlers.

Same for supplies, barely ample. But factories expansions, apart from repairing R&D has ended, so it is starting to look a bit better - Tokyo has 100k and Nagoya, my outgoing shipping center, has 80k."


That indicates to me early signs of trouble. I am not an expert by any means, and I don't want to give away too much since your thread is not closed to my opponent, but this is not my experience, and I am in December 1942. I think it's fair to say I've kept the IJN in port alot. Not sure what your A/C production plan was, but 250 Factories for A6M5 seems like alot.......

Overall, what is scary is that I think you played a very good early game, better than me, capturing lots of stuff and doing very well with the IJN.

It could be that PDU-OFF adds alot to your problems; all the different airframes you have to produce are nuts. By 1944, you had 550 A6M factories (a huge number), 240 Oscars, 110 Tony, only 50 Tojo, and lots of other unusual production choices. Overall, you have a ton of A/C factories, I wonder if you were forced to overbuild because of PDU-OFF

PDU-off is a pain in the @ss, however I think he had big big problems since late 1942.


Somewhere he posted his stock levels in late 1942 and I compared it to mine. In my various PBEMs, I have always been at least 200% of his stocks of both supplies and fuel. It's a big jump.

It would be interesting to know how the situation differs between Scen01 and the MOD at 07-dec-1941.


Broadly speaking, I think that someone starts having very serious operational problems once he has less than 1,200,000-1,000,000 supplies. Even at 1,500,000-1,700,000 it's quite complex to manage everything in a timely manner. Very sustainable in the short term, but if it is chronic, you cannot go on.

What I mean is that you can go very low on supplies (and fuel for what it matters), if it is a situation not lasting over the match (such as investing insane amounts of supplies in early R&D plans). If it becomes something chronic, you're quite screwed. I honestly don't get what LST has mistaken: everything crumbled down quite quickly under the military point of view, but the industry was weak well before that.


Anyway, I go back to my usual silence enjoying this wonderful AAR. [8D][8D]

I surely used much supply in the early part of the war due to industry expansion and unwise production choices / mistakes.

Here is a sitrep from August 1942:

On the plane production side, it is not looking good. I have made a noob mistake concerning the Zero upgrade path. I have upgraded all A6M2 factories to the A6M3, not realizing that only a few LBA groups upgrade to the M3 model. I wanted to use the M2 airframes "liberated" by the LBA upgrades to feed the carriers until the M3a becomes available. I should have paid more attention the upgrade paths - costly "PDU off" lesson. I had to reconvert a M3 factory back to M2 - which must now repair from 0 back to useful numbers to feed the carrier and the LBA squadrons not converting to the M3 model. In short, I have a severe shortage of M2 airframes at the moment, especially after having resized the carrier air groups to be fighter-heavy (Sho / Zui for example 36F/18DB/18TB), so I must curtail operations. Only the two M3 groups are available for offensive use. And my M3a R&D factories are repairing oh-so-slowly - another noob mistake, should have set them to M3 first to repair faster and let them auto-upgrade. Well, reading the forum is one thing, keeping in mind the information available another. I have always been a proponent of the time-honored methods of "learning by doing" and "trial-and-error"...

Regarding R&D, I am concentrating on fighters. I have three 30x R&D factories researching the Tojo line and four 30x for the Oscar (others are still repairing). Also still repairing are 2x Jack, 2x Sam, 4x George, 4x Frank, 3x Jill and 3x Judy. I also research the night-fighter versions of the Nick, Randy and Irving. I'm not pushing R&D on 2E bombers, recon, patrol and transport types, but some R&D factories set to Oscar will convert to production and are earmarked to switch to other models when becoming available at historic dates for limited production for upgrade purposes.

On the oil&ressources side, I am quite content. Stockpiles in the HI are rising. Losses to Allied subs are still low with torpedoes not working most of the time. I am training lots of LBA and float planes in ASW. I also use coastal routing and I try to run few but huge convoys with escorts. There is more stuff available (esp. on Hokkaido) than I can ship home with the DBB-C reduced capacity. But I manage to keep Palembang pretty dry with 13 medium-TK go back and forth to Singers and the big TKs (one convoy with the huge Tonans and another with the 10+k tonners, both with escort carrier protection) and the Yusen N hauling oil and ressources to the Home Islands. The small TKs (or what is left after the Miri debacle early in the war) are shuttling betzween Miri and Manila and Medan and Singers. THe AOs are busy shipping fuel to Rabaul and Koepang, my bases for operating Combined Fleet. I have converted all xAK that can become tankers, the snaller ones are just arriving at Borneo ports, Boela and Babo to help shipping oil to Manila, the bigger ones will ship from Java and Manila to the HI. ASW protection is minimum 4 escorts, with older DDs and TBs reserved for the big tankers. My ressource convoys must make do with just one or two escorts.

The one big problem is fuel and supplies production. Although I do not export fuel from the Home Islands and try not to refuel convoys coming / going to the SRA in the Home Islands, I am running out of fuel! I have almost a million oil points stored at Tokyo, but only 4000 fuel. Last turn, the four largest heavy industry locations did not produce. I guess I will need to curtail Combined Fleet ops to save fuel and curtail ressource hauling in order to start shipping fuel in xAKs to the Home Islands. Supplies are lower than I like, although industry expansion is almost finished except R&D repairing (mostly not) and the A6M2 factory, I need need to "ration" the supplies exports to the different fronts. Not frontlines bases starving yet, but that is only a question of time. Maybe one day I should invest the time to learn how to use Tracker (and not to overexpand industries) - but playing time being in even shorter supply than fuel, and I want to enjoy playing a wargame, not crunching numbers...

Dec 7th, 1942 industry screenshots here: fb.asp?m=4051877

I have resized a lot of floatplanes groups and upped Jake and Pete production to fill them out for ASW and pilot training. I'm quite content with my ASW efforts and convoy protection and in Nov 1944 I still have a pool of IJN fighter pilot replacements trained to 70 air skill, 50+ exp and 50+ def skill. But there was a price in supplies spent for factory expansion, production and training missions.

The siege battles in China were costly in suplies and I also pumped a lot of supplies into Burma in the vain attempt to halt the early Allied counter-offensive.

I think that you would have had an easier time with PDU ON. Also, shipping out from Haiphong can help. Just go from Singapore to Saigon or Cam Rahn Bay with the fuel and resources.

Refineries producing supplies would also help since the aircraft and motor vehicle fuel and lubricants (POL) are considered supplies. A fully repaired Palembang would produce 900 supplies. Yes, you can't eat POL but you can use it for weapons. But rice does not work in aircraft engines.

Hauling more per ship would help since it would cost less fuel per unit of resources.

So I think that it is the scenario and the selections that are causing you the most difficulties.

Also, playing against a human vs the AI is a big difference since the human knows to target the oil.

Good stuff LST, helps that you documented! I still can't figure out how you would run low on Fuel in the Home Islands in August 1942, if you are not exporting any. That doesn't make sense to me.

Looking at the stats for 1942 the only explanation is that you spent way too much on fleet ops. WAY too much. Just curious, did you:
--Use large convoys of merchants to ship Resources from DEI?
--Sail Combined Fleet continuously?
--Were all the refineries in the SRA turned ON?

I can't figure it out otherwise, because you had an OK number of Oil centers

I played the exact same mod against wargamr, started it in 2017 or 2018.

Anyhow, I never had a problem with fuel...

Game ended with Japan having 5.7 million fuel and 5.1 million supplies on Jan 17, 1943 with a Japanese AV - I was super lucky.

ORIGINAL: Q-BallJust curious, did you:
--Use large convoys of merchants to ship Resources from DEI?
--Sail Combined Fleet continuously?
--Were all the refineries in the SRA turned ON?

Yes to all three. I have shipped as much as possible from the SRA to the Home Islands to have a stockpile for the end game when imports are cut-off. Combined Fleet operations could / should have been curtailed, with hindsight the fights, ship losses and fuel expenditure for Carnavon and Babar were unnecessary. And of course all refineries are on all the time - shouldn't they?

ORIGINAL: LargeSlowTarget

ORIGINAL: Q-BallJust curious, did you:
--Use large convoys of merchants to ship Resources from DEI?
--Sail Combined Fleet continuously?
--Were all the refineries in the SRA turned ON?

Yes to all three. I have shipped as much as possible from the SRA to the Home Islands to have a stockpile for the end game when imports are cut-off. Combined Fleet operations could / should have been curtailed, with hindsight the fights, ship losses and fuel expenditure for Carnavon and Babar were unnecessary. And of course all refineries are on all the time - shouldn't they?

I wonder if shipping resources in bulk from SRA is big part of the problem. IIRC, you have a mountain of resources in the Home Islands, more than you need. But that costs fuel; an Aden-class xAK burns something like 230 fuel on a roundtrip to Singapore from the Home Islands.

In hindsight, maybe you would be much better off if you had left the Resources in SRA, and just shipped them from Hokkaido, Sakhalin,Korea, Formosa

unless it is a return trip... if you are sending supply to the SRA; those freighters would need to return regardless, better if they come back with resources

ORIGINAL: Jorge_Stanbury

unless it is a return trip... if you are sending supply to the SRA; those freighters would need to return regardless, better if they come back with resources

Yes, that's always true. That's the only time, IMO, you should be loading resources in a place like Nauru....when you are sending a ship back to Japan anyway

Load the ships in the SRA, send them to Singapore. If the magic highway is not working, send resources and fuel from Singapore to southern IndoChina. Load resources and fuel at Haiphong for the next leg or load at Hong Kong for the next leg.

But load as much fuel and as many resources as you can from Korea and/or Port Arthur then send it to Japan. The magic highway if open will pull the needed resources and fuel from the South to refill the stockpiles.

Thx RangerJoe but I like the keep my game within the realms of realism without exploiting game engine weaknesses - and the "magic highway" is definetly NOT realistic and IMO pretty gamey.

I have collected oil, fuel and resources from Korea/Manchukuo/China as well as the core SRA (DEI, Malaysia, Indochina, PI) with return convoys bringing supplies and reinforcements, but also with convoys going out in ballast to fetch more of the goddies. However, I did not send empty pick-up convoys to far-away places like Nauru.