Turnaround? Lowpe (J) vs Tiemanj (A) Stock

[DanSez]

It is those danged midget submarines. Can't trust'em.

[Lowpe]

ORIGINAL: DanSez

It is those danged midget submarines. Can't trust'em.

My jaw act actually dropped when the message came up for penetrating the harbor, and then I had a big evil Empire take over the world laugh when the xap showed up, and then silence when the torpedo failure was announced. I have moved onto grief.

Round the world in 2 seconds.[:D]

[Lowpe]

Nov 22, 1943

No night bombing.

Allies are at the end of the Tuang Gyi road, cutting off Chiang Mai.[:(] Not unexpected, and the defenders north of Uttardit are strong now with over 1000 AV including ART, and the 1st Tank.

Chungking will be deliberately attacked on the morrow, 6000 AV of IJA will throw themselves against the fort.

Normal heavy Allied bombing, except in the Marianas, makes me wonder if he is short supplies and he underestimated how hungry for supplies airforce and troops can be.

The first Ki202 factory reaches the halfway point of 15 repaired.

[Lowpe]

Slight change in some of my retreat paths, more troops are going to stop at Badelboab and Yap too. If those bases go, then the Allies can really hinder my retreat plans.

I am setting up my latest strategies...sub attacks...primarily, but trying to get destroyers to a point were they can do something in the upcoming dark of the moon. 21percent now.

I also have a handful of MTB, I will wait for them to get to 0 percent moonlight and have them putter into Tinian at a stately 21 knots.[:D] Or perhaps I will save them for closer to the HI.

Keep on keeping on, full retreat from PM, Solomons, New Guinea...

Starting to air evacuate Chiang Mai...and Trinkat...

Plane pools of fighters doing well...just need better ones someday.

BTW, I am seriously out of IJN pilots, but I keep filling up my training squadrons anyhow, the engine seems to pull them forward and it seems there is no HI cost for doing this. A fair amount of LowN training going on right now...

[Alfred]

Don't completely evacuate Chiang Mai.  That base becoming Allied will considerably shorten the logistical tail for the Allied PanzerArmee when it arrives at the holding line north of Uttradit.  That line will not hold if the Allied logistical tail is short but it might hold  for a reasonable length of time if it is long as your own will be short.  Same applies to holding Moulmein.
 
Alfred

[Lowpe]

ORIGINAL: Alfred

Don't completely evacuate Chiang Mai.  That base becoming Allied will considerably shorten the logistical tail for the Allied PanzerArmee when it arrives at the holding line north of Uttradit.  That line will not hold if the Allied logistical tail is short but it might hold  for a reasonable length of time if it is long as your own will be short.  Same applies to holding Moulmein.

Alfred

Thanks Alfred. [&o] I had thought to leave troops at both, force the Allies to move in attack as to delay them longer. Chiang Mai if it can get enough supplies has the potential to hold out the longest since it will take the Allies a long time to march there.

I am also sending a unit of infantry cross country to cut the Allied supply line to the Panzer Army. Seems like they are making 9km a day in the tough terrain.

I hope to slow him down some north of Uttaradit, and I am heavily fortifying Raheng and Uttaradit. Once they fall, it will be helter skelter back to Vinh or the long retreat to Singers. If I can hold long enough here, and with a little luck take Chungking, I will be in much better shape.

[Lowpe]

I am debating about starting a Thalia factory...little longer legs for an Army transport.

I would love to use my Emilies offensively, so many opportunities to hit the Allies by surprise with them, but they are so busy moving troops. In a few days I get another Sentai of them. I think I might rest the Emilies for a day or two and then use them offensively before sending them back to the troop transport role.

A sharp attack against of a concentration of AOs with no fighter support...yum, too good to pass up. Hopefully they are full, and will burn, and slow the tempo of the Allies down a little. Any little bit would help.

[Lowpe]

Once again I am stealing help and advice from the best scenario 1 game I know of -- Obvert's.[&o]

Here is the pool/production shot from game end. You can see Obvert at some point switched from the Armored Helen back to Thalia, has to be for the longer legs or possible engine? Not sure which.

Tabby is a huge beast, but my goodness did he make a lot of transports over all. I am not nearly that ramped up. I suspect as the perimeter shrinks they get increasingly vulnerable to enemy bombers and work harder.

I am now 99 percent sure I will start some Thalia production...and will examine the Tabby versus the Emily L more closely.





Anybody have a use for the Ka-1? Struggling with that one.[:D]

[Lowpe]

Little more look at transports:

IJN: 9 total squadrons with only 2 currently active (one of which is a size 6 Emily L squadron). A lot of the Tabby or Betty L reinforcement squadrons can't upgrade to Emily L according to Tracker. I have a squadron of 27 Tina's pulling troops out of Kusaie -- got to love the range.

So I think I need both Tabby and Betty L for the Navy. The Betty L has great range and defensive guns if they do anything, while the Tabby has 9K payload. Emily L for float usage flexibility plus long legs and largest capacity.

IJA: 19 Squadrons all on the map..I will add Thalia to 3-4 squadrons to get some longer legs, but stick with KAI Helen for most use.

Patrols: I want to move all these from the patrol or transport use to long range bombing or night naval strike. I have used them in both those roles already and most times get valuable information (hitting a BB in Madras for example). I can use other planes for long range recon (I still have Nells in the pools) Judy C with drop tanks is solid and even some Dinah IIIs. It is the transporting troops where I will miss them, but that is life as Japan...choices. Plus more IJN navy transport squadrons are coming online (1 each month for the next 3 months).

[Yaab]

ORIGINAL: Lowpe

Slight change in some of my retreat paths, more troops are going to stop at Badelboab and Yap too. If those bases go, then the Allies can really hinder my retreat plans.

I am setting up my latest strategies...sub attacks...primarily, but trying to get destroyers to a point were they can do something in the upcoming dark of the moon. 21percent now.

I also have a handful of MTB, I will wait for them to get to 0 percent moonlight and have them putter into Tinian at a stately 21 knots.[:D] Or perhaps I will save them for closer to the HI.

Keep on keeping on, full retreat from PM, Solomons, New Guinea...

Starting to air evacuate Chiang Mai...and Trinkat...

Plane pools of fighters doing well...just need better ones someday.

BTW, I am seriously out of IJN pilots, but I keep filling up my training squadrons anyhow, the engine seems to pull them forward and it seems there is no HI cost for doing this. A fair amount of LowN training going on right now...

Interesting.

I know the Japanese MTBs have torps with the range of 2,000 feet, so low moonlight is a given for successful attacks. However, moonlight is not the sole variable. I have saved some weather reports from my USN PT skirmishes off Luzon and was pleasantly surprised with low visibility in high moonlight.


Improved night sighting under 100% moonlight
Maximum visibility in Overcast Conditions and 100% moonlight: 6,000 yards


Reduced sighting due to 53% moonlight
Maximum visibility in Overcast Conditions and 53% moonlight: 1,000 yards

Maximum visibility in Overcast Conditions and 64% moonlight: 1,000 yards

Reduced sighting due to 64% moonlight
Maximum visibility in Overcast Conditions and 64% moonlight: 3,000 yards

As you can see, you should OK in Overcast weather and 50-60% moonlight.

[Lowpe]

ORIGINAL: Yaab
I know the Japanese MTBs have torps with the range of 2,000 feet, so low moonlight is a given for successful attacks.

Has anyone had a successful attack with MTBs? Their slow speed and short range are simply to hard to overcome, but I will try.

I suspect their use would have been better timed to go in with other surface ships and aerial attacks the following day. They would die, but perhaps they would eat up AA ammo or and op points so something else could get thru or disrupt landings, cause collisions, etc. This is one reason I may not use them, and save them for when he comes calling closer the HI.

That is really nice info on sighting distances. Thanks for sharing.[&o]

I am really turning into the combined ops person...try to time everything into a perfect storm.

[Yaab]

If you still hold Umboi Island you could try massing MTBs there. With its small port and about 200 Naval Support you should be able to reload the torps there. Attack with MTBs and reload, look for Overcast weather. The Allies can crawl along New Guinea's coast N of Umboi, while you hold the island and harass their shipping.

[Lokasenna]

ORIGINAL: Lowpe

Little more look at transports:

IJN: 9 total squadrons with only 2 currently active (one of which is a size 6 Emily L squadron). A lot of the Tabby or Betty L reinforcement squadrons can't upgrade to Emily L according to Tracker. I have a squadron of 27 Tina's pulling troops out of Kusaie -- got to love the range.

So I think I need both Tabby and Betty L for the Navy. The Betty L has great range and defensive guns if they do anything, while the Tabby has 9K payload. Emily L for float usage flexibility plus long legs and largest capacity.

IJA: 19 Squadrons all on the map..I will add Thalia to 3-4 squadrons to get some longer legs, but stick with KAI Helen for most use.

Patrols: I want to move all these from the patrol or transport use to long range bombing or night naval strike. I have used them in both those roles already and most times get valuable information (hitting a BB in Madras for example). I can use other planes for long range recon (I still have Nells in the pools) Judy C with drop tanks is solid and even some Dinah IIIs. It is the transporting troops where I will miss them, but that is life as Japan...choices. Plus more IJN navy transport squadrons are coming online (1 each month for the next 3 months).

I think you need Tabby and Emily transports. The Betty version is nice and all, but remember - you aren't going to use THAT many transports. Why waste resources repairing more factories than you need? You only have 9 squadrons in total...

Then again, maybe the Tabby is just too similar to the Thalia/Topsy (I like the Topsy-II because it carries TWO points of supplies [:D]). I also produce some KAI Helens because of its higher lift, allowing me to transport more men/guns and at a similar range to the Topsy. Also, it uses an uncommon engine that you will already be producing anyway, which eases production headaches just a little bit as you can keep producing the Ha-34 once you transition to making the Peggy instead of the Helen bomber.

I think that once you have the G3M3 and all those Judy-C and Dinah-III groups, you can totally use the Patrol planes as..... transports, not bombers. You've already got Nells that poke out 23 hexes on strike. You risk flying straight into a CAP, even if it's just FM-1's, and your Patrol planes cost twice as much to produce. Just use the Nells.

That's my 2 pieces of northern plunder.

[Lowpe]

ORIGINAL: Lokasenna

ORIGINAL: Lowpe

Little more look at transports:

IJN: 9 total squadrons with only 2 currently active (one of which is a size 6 Emily L squadron). A lot of the Tabby or Betty L reinforcement squadrons can't upgrade to Emily L according to Tracker. I have a squadron of 27 Tina's pulling troops out of Kusaie -- got to love the range.

So I think I need both Tabby and Betty L for the Navy. The Betty L has great range and defensive guns if they do anything, while the Tabby has 9K payload. Emily L for float usage flexibility plus long legs and largest capacity.

IJA: 19 Squadrons all on the map..I will add Thalia to 3-4 squadrons to get some longer legs, but stick with KAI Helen for most use.

Patrols: I want to move all these from the patrol or transport use to long range bombing or night naval strike. I have used them in both those roles already and most times get valuable information (hitting a BB in Madras for example). I can use other planes for long range recon (I still have Nells in the pools) Judy C with drop tanks is solid and even some Dinah IIIs. It is the transporting troops where I will miss them, but that is life as Japan...choices. Plus more IJN navy transport squadrons are coming online (1 each month for the next 3 months).

I think you need Tabby and Emily transports. The Betty version is nice and all, but remember - you aren't going to use THAT many transports. Why waste resources repairing more factories than you need? You only have 9 squadrons in total...

Then again, maybe the Tabby is just too similar to the Thalia/Topsy (I like the Topsy-II because it carries TWO points of supplies [:D]). I also produce some KAI Helens because of its higher lift, allowing me to transport more men/guns and at a similar range to the Topsy. Also, it uses an uncommon engine that you will already be producing anyway, which eases production headaches just a little bit as you can keep producing the Ha-34 once you transition to making the Peggy instead of the Helen bomber.

I think that once you have the G3M3 and all those Judy-C and Dinah-III groups, you can totally use the Patrol planes as..... transports, not bombers. You've already got Nells that poke out 23 hexes on strike. You risk flying straight into a CAP, even if it's just FM-1's, and your Patrol planes cost twice as much to produce. Just use the Nells.

That's my 2 pieces of northern plunder.

Northern plunder...

Have to pretty much make Tabbys or go back to Tina's I think and Tabby carries more than 4 times what a Tina does.

Nells need level 4 air bases, whereas the Emily only needs supply right? A little easier to stage behind the lines strikes with.

Just thinking out loud here, I also like Norms in that role too -- their bombs are good enough for transports.

I have a mothballed size 9 Glen factory that might go to Betties, however, I have 5 months to decide, heck by then I will fighting in the HI anyhow.[:D]

[Spidery]

All the IJN transport groups I have received so far have the option to upgrade to the Emily L (PDU on).

Apart from the cost, the downside is that with SR 4 they can build up a lot of plane fatigue that takes a long time to fix. Big benefit is that they can fly troops into a base where the airfield has been destroyed which land based transports don't seem to.

I standardised on the Ki-49-II KAI and H8K2-L with the other models just being used up or for training. Wish I had kept a few more H6K4-L around to use their even longer range.

[Lowpe]

Nov 23, 1943

No night bombing, Guam bombarded by Allies.

Pretty quiet day, normal Allied bombing at Moulmein, but that is about it.

The IJA launches a deliberate attack at Chungking, knocks forts down to 4, and the Divisions there take a beating, but will do it all over again in another week. I have several divisions outside that can rotate in, need this win...as long as I keep knocking the forts down I am happy.

[Lowpe]

Allies clear the Tuang Gyi road, my defenders retreat to Chiang Mai as expected. If supply can get there, it will be a little festung. The hex north of Uttaradit is up to a strong 1300AV and forts 2 with the 1st Tank Division there.

800 more AV at Uttaradit, 800 at Bangkok resting...I think the Allies really lost a great opportunity to make great strides here and over at Moulmein.

I wonder if the Allies will turn and focus on Chiang Mai or head south to Uttaradit?

[Lowpe]

ORIGINAL: Spidery

All the IJN transport groups I have received so far have the option to upgrade to the Emily L (PDU on).

Good to know[&o]

I have run into this problem before, where the upgrade path isn't 100% correct with reinforcement groups. Don't know why, perhaps something to do with my tracker settings.

[Lowpe]

Not too much going on: setting up another bombardment run at Great and Cap Nicobar. The Allies keep flying in more and more units and troops. If I can keep them damaged, so as to keep the airfield below size 4 I will be pretty happy. Great Nicobar is size 1, while Cap Nicobar is size 3 (getting scary).

Just frantically moving troops and supplies.

[Malagant]

If supply can get there, it will be a little festung.

How is supply going to get there? You flying it in?