EA Damian(J) V Nemo(A) "Renaissance"

[BJStone]

Hi n01487477,

What upgrades to the Ki-219 Uhu? Any of the LB or FB?

Is there a way in WiTP Tracker to see what the upgrade paths are for aircraft?



Regards,

BJ

[n01487477]

Nothing upgrades to the ki-219 irc ...

In the air Production screen there is a click box at the top that says "Factory upgrades" iirc (not the tab - which looks at group upgrades), this gives the upgrade information, I've improved the information provided for the next release, and I'm also working on a graphical representation ...

I'm not at home right now, so I can't screen shot it ... but it is there after the simplistic click box.

--Damian--

[BJStone]

Thanks, I'll give it a try. This Tracker software is pretty neat btw. Thanks for working and supporting it. It's fast becoming my favorite tool in my game with William.


Regards,

BJ

[n01487477]

24 Dec '42

Christmas Eve 1942, was not as I expected, but once again I've stalemated Nemo by making him withdraw from the Sulu Sea. However there was an airdrop on Roxas (af 1)and so another base to suppress lest the fighter hordes sweep and destroy my ambitions of keeping the Philippines intact in the meantime. Particularly satisfying was that my SCTF got to Jolo without Pe-2 attacks. My LRCAP seemed to work, although the area was rainy yesterday, but cloudy today. The threat still exists, we'll see what happens in the next few days.

Also of note is that I only have 7 days remaining before Japan is open to strategic bombing, fighter groups will need to be organised and targets prioritised, opening up a new avenue for the Allies to exploit my weakened state.

Other worries:
[*] Kiungshan is captured, giving the Allies a level 7 airport 4 hexes from Canton. Here comes the nightmare.
[*] Allied CV's are lost near Tarawa, I still expect an invasion anytime though.
[*] Supplies and fuel are being shipped and used at a much greater rate to the front than at anytime in recent months.

[ny59giants]

Any base that has an AF of 0(1) or better is at risk with Nemo. The Allies just have too many transport and patrol planes for you to garrison every base that meets this criteria. In the Philippines, there are just too many bases so close together that you will be cut off and left to die on the vine as Nemo moves on to new conquest.

[n01487477]

Christmas '42

Been a few days since an update and so I have 3 days of action to comment on ... picture updates mostly as I'm a bit busy, but the most recent turn I'll make a fist of.

[n01487477]

26 Dec '42

[n01487477]

27 Dec '42 - The skies above Canton.

Sorry once again for the combat txt, but without the time to collate this stuff, I thought I'd just be lazy...

So the air action is intense, the airfield is not knocked out, but has some damage, mostly to service damage facilities, and the question is do I continue, or withdraw? I'd rather be having this LB over Canton than Japan in a few days, but I can't hold out for more than a day or two of this. Nemo gave me plenty of warning about this, I was stubborn, but I'm glad that we had this battle, if not just to annoy him, and to kill a load of Allied planes and pilots, even if they are out of date.

Ki-43 III Tojo's did a supreme job, they are superior to anything the Allies have for the next 5 days at least

I'm planning a bit of payback, cause all those bases can't have cap, right ?

Day Air attack on Canton [S China] , at 43,41

Japanese aircraft
Ki-44III Tojo x 114
Ki-43-II Oscar x 61
Ki-109E Mike x 63

Allied aircraft
P-51B Mustang XP x 21
P-38G Lightning x 17
P-40E Warhawk x 23
Spitfire VB x 61

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-44III Tojo: 7 destroyed
Ki-43-II Oscar: 12 destroyed
Ki-109E Mike: 19 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
P-51B Mustang XP: 18 destroyed
P-38G Lightning: 17 destroyed
P-40E Warhawk: 23 destroyed
Spitfire VB: 61 destroyed

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Canton [S China] , at 43,41

Japanese aircraft
Ki-44III Tojo x 78
Ki-43-II Oscar x 36
Ki-109E Mike x 27

Allied aircraft
Martlet IV x 2
B-26A Marauder x 26
P-39D Airacobra x 3
P-40E Warhawk x 30
Beaufort VII x 51
Blenheim IV x 59
Kittyhawk I x 2
Lancer x 34
Spitfire VB x 3
MiG-3 x 31
R-12 x 1
TBM-1 Avenger x 95

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-44III Tojo: 10 destroyed, 14 damaged
Ki-43-II Oscar: 13 destroyed, 3 damaged
Ki-109E Mike: 9 destroyed, 5 damaged
Ki-15II Babs: 1 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
Martlet IV: 2 destroyed
B-26A Marauder: 7 destroyed, 6 damaged
P-40E Warhawk: 30 destroyed
Beaufort VII: 27 destroyed
Blenheim IV: 28 destroyed, 3 damaged
Kittyhawk I: 2 destroyed
Lancer: 33 destroyed
Spitfire VB: 3 destroyed
MiG-3: 28 destroyed
TBM-1 Avenger: 46 destroyed, 3 damaged

Airbase hits 7
Airbase supply hits 3
Runway hits 34

Aircraft Attacking: mostly at 6K
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Canton [S China] , at 43,41

Japanese aircraft
Ki-44III Tojo x 47
Ki-43-II Oscar x 17
Ki-109E Mike x 18

Allied aircraft
B-26A Marauder x 50
Lancer x 58

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-44III Tojo: 8 destroyed, 1 damaged
Ki-43-II Oscar: 6 destroyed, 1 damaged
Ki-109E Mike: 7 destroyed, 3 damaged
Ki-15II Babs: 1 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
B-26A Marauder: 10 destroyed, 8 damaged
Lancer: 39 destroyed

Airbase hits 2
Runway hits 30

Aircraft Attacking: 6K
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Canton [S China] , at 43,41

Japanese aircraft
Ki-44III Tojo x 43
Ki-43-II Oscar x 13
Ki-109E Mike x 17

Allied aircraft
A-20B Boston x 93
B-17E Fortress x 15
B-26A Marauder x 12
Blenheim IV x 24
IL-4C x 19
SB-2M x 9

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-44III Tojo: 5 destroyed, 13 damaged
Ki-43-II Oscar: 1 destroyed, 1 damaged
Ki-109E Mike: 1 destroyed, 1 damaged
Ki-15II Babs: 2 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
A-20B Boston: 26 destroyed, 8 damaged
B-17E Fortress: 2 destroyed, 5 damaged
B-26A Marauder: 2 destroyed, 1 damaged
Blenheim IV: 5 destroyed, 3 damaged
IL-4C: 4 destroyed
SB-2M: 2 destroyed, 2 damaged

Japanese ground losses:
17 casualties reported

Airbase hits 4
Airbase supply hits 6
Runway hits 27

Aircraft Attacking:3K
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Canton [S China] , at 43,41

Japanese aircraft
Ki-44III Tojo x 42
Ki-43-II Oscar x 13
Ki-109E Mike x 17

Allied aircraft
A-20B Boston x 5
B-25D Mitchell x 13
B-19A x 12
Blenheim IV x 11
IL-4C x 13

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-44III Tojo: 2 destroyed, 1 damaged
Ki-43-II Oscar: 1 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
A-20B Boston: 2 destroyed
B-25D Mitchell: 2 damaged
B-19A: 1 destroyed
Blenheim IV: 2 destroyed, 4 damaged
IL-4C: 2 destroyed, 2 damaged

Airbase hits 2
Runway hits 11

Aircraft Attacking:3K
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Canton [S China] , at 43,41

Japanese aircraft
Ki-44III Tojo x 41
Ki-43-II Oscar x 13
Ki-109E Mike x 17

Allied aircraft
B-17E Fortress x 45
B-25D Mitchell x 66
Beaufort VII x 20
Hudson IV x 15

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-44III Tojo: 6 destroyed, 3 damaged
Ki-43-II Oscar: 3 destroyed, 2 damaged
Ki-109E Mike: 2 destroyed, 1 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
B-17E Fortress: 6 destroyed, 4 damaged
B-25D Mitchell: 10 destroyed, 1 damaged
Beaufort VII: 6 destroyed, 1 damaged
Hudson IV: 1 damaged

Japanese ground losses:
4 casualties reported

Airbase hits 11
Airbase supply hits 3
Runway hits 74

Aircraft Attacking:6K
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Canton [S China] , at 43,41

Japanese aircraft
Ki-44III Tojo x 40
Ki-43-II Oscar x 13
Ki-109E Mike x 16

Allied aircraft
A-20B Boston x 9
Hudson IV x 6

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-44III Tojo: 2 destroyed, 1 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
A-20B Boston: 3 destroyed
Hudson IV: 3 destroyed

Airbase hits 1
Runway hits 1

Aircraft Attacking:3K

[ny59giants]

Great news in the A2A front over Canton. [:)][&o]
 
However, what are your egress plans for your troops there?? Knowing Nemo, he will take the bases on the coast and leave all those at Canton and Hong Kong as POWs.  

[n01487477]

ny59giants:- extraction is no longer a possibility, and I doubt it ever was, if I send transports, they'll get pummeled by Pe's and I'm really running low on AP/AK's these days. They are casualties of war, fragments will be extracted, but I doubt they will be rebuilt sufficiently.

If I gave up Canton a month ago, all of Formosa would be now awash with Allied LB bombing my forces into oblivion, it was a hard choice, Nemo made a strong case, to talk me around to evacuating, in the end I've stayed stubborn although I know he is correct that he will take it, but this is a holding action, no fallback planned. My end summation is that, Oscars II's are no match for Pe-2 with escort, cause they don't just engage the Pe's they engage everything. Also in testing and some very small engagements in the game, OscarII's have been not the miracle weapon I hoped for.

Hence, if Canton was now Allied, Pe's would hit my bases almost with impunity, Tojo III's can't reach them, and my Oscars wouldn't dent them enough. I'd be pulling back to Japan or Okinawa/Naha. He now has forces (many many units) that are circling Canton & will arrive at Swatow sometime, and I've just extracted a Div out of there.

In the end when Swatow is taken, he'll be able to do the same, but the additional time to achieve this gives me some time to send in a few troops and make some more planes. The troop issue is not to my liking, but without air supremacy, Nemo has taught me that ground forces can be beaten and destroyed fairly effectively. And I know all my shipping including CV's are at risk.

28 Dec '42
Never do a turn when you have the flu!
[*]Nikolaevsk na Amur - 35 TojoIII's sweep against 130 Cap, 24 losses, 29 Allied losses, could have been much worse!
[*]60 Angels and 27 Helens follow up the sweep and get hurt, 11 Angels and 8 Helens destroyed, 19 Allied planes destroyed, 10 Runway hits. Once again, could have been so much worse!
[*]Jolo combat troops are hit by successive attacks, a fast transport glides from Jesselton, unloads and captures the base all in 24 hrs... crap! A few ships in the TF are hit, but a woeful attempt to keep the base(lvl 3 af), which will open a new can of worms. I really should have measured its importance more, but some of it is inevitable anyway.
[*]DD Minekaze is hit by one torpedo and is almost ripped in two, especially after an unsuccessful ASW attempt on the same SS.

Next phase approaching fast, evac from Tarakan and final evac from Balikpapan. Also lost sight of Allied CV's around Kwajalein, heading back North for a look.

--Damian--

[n01487477]

29 Dec '42 - one more quick write up before bed!
Set up an attack on Jesselton, which should have gone in the day before, 'cept I wanted to wait for my CV force to be in place.

Nemo was waiting with V.Large cap...
[*] 52 Lilly II destroyed in one raid.
[*] Total losses for the day 109(J) V 81
[*] CV air groups get some good hits on MSW's, DD's, AK/AP's. 1 DD, 2 MSW, 2 AP and 1 AK sunk battling some cap at Jesselton and another TF coming back from Jolo.

Hong Kong and HI bombing ...
[*] Two large LB attacks, destroy all (100) of my HI here... now I've heard that the % of hits gets harder as the number of repairing factories increases, maybe that is true, but if you kill them all in one raid then it doesn't matter does it[;)] DON"T GET ME STARTED ON THIS !!!
[*] Minekaze sank after the 1 torpedo yesterday docked at Manado.

[n01487477]

Tracker update, with almost end of month data ...

Have updated the Production Screens with splitPanes, so you can show as much or as little as you want .. all Production screens have been implemented and just finishing of some small stuff.

[n01487477]

Airgroup ratings ... note the exp of my fighter units

[n01487477]

30 Dec '42

Had a long chat with Nemo last night via Skype, was very good putting a voice to the name, and Nemo was very forthcoming with tactics and mod/game specifics. Unfortunately I have a bit of the flu, but still, it was very interesting and I hope we have more of these chats in the future. If you get the chance I fully recommend doing this with your opponent, cause they might turn out to be, as in this case, really interesting and cool people. I'll talk more about some of what we chatted about in future entries, for now I'm killing time between uni exams and want to write this up.

[*]Taihoku - Nemo launches a large 200+ LB raid, having seen my paulty fighter numbers here, & my HI is left in tatters. Something needs to be done about this (supply-repair model) as it is really a game killer.
[*]Taytay,Cagayan, Jolo, Ponape & Pucheng are hit again by my forces, but I'm getting annoyed with the lack of hits even with recon. Another Angel strike sits waiting the weather to clear and finally the pilots go back to their barracks to wait another day.
[*]Sovetskaya Gavan - Pe-2's hit CL Naka with 5 bombs, she might survive, might depending on how well whe gets to a dry dock in the next few days.
[*]This is why I can't evac from Canton, or Swatow by sea anymore ... Tojo's make no difference

Day Air attack on TF, near Swatow [South China] at 45,42

Japanese aircraft
Ki-44III Tojo x 11
Ki-44IIa Tojo x 29

Allied aircraft
Pe-2 x 94

No Japanese losses

No Allied losses

Japanese Ships
AP Nihonkai Maru, Bomb hits 10, on fire, heavy damage
AP Kiyoshima Maru, Bomb hits 14, on fire, heavy damage
AP Tamatsu Maru, Bomb hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
AP Heiwa Maru, Bomb hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
AP Sakido Maru, Bomb hits 12, on fire, heavy damage

later
--Damian--

[ny59giants]

What is "Skype?"

[n01487477]

Michael,
FREE internet telephone for internet to internet connections, you can also use it to call land lines/cell phones, but that costs money (heavily discounted, like an international phone card).

http://www.skype.com

Works very well, I've used it a bit over time, and there is basically no difference to a normal international call, but you both need better than 56k modem connections.

I also use msn, for voice calls, but Skype is better less cutout, I guess you haven't heard of it cause it is a British thing irc.[&:]

[floydg]

I think Skype was started in the US (could be wrong) and it is now owned by eBay.

[n01487477]

31 Dec '42

[*]Kaifeng gets 8 resource hits from the Allies.
[*]Wuchow - PE's have been operating there for a while (they hit the AP's yesterday)

I emailed: My Angels had been routed to go in yesterday but didn't fly, today they did with a sweep and you predictably had me ... I wonder if it had gone off yesterday, would there have been the same result? "What a difference a day makes ... "

-- Aretha sings the best blues!

Nemo: I sent all my fighters in after the Pe-2s hit yesterday as I figured you might try to close the airfield today. If you'd hit me yesterdayI'd have had no defending fighters. Utter luck of the draw.

[*]Considering the amount of Allied cap, I feel happy with the results ..

Day Air attack on Wuchow [C China] , at 42,39

Japanese aircraft
Ki-44III Tojo x 17

Allied aircraft
Martlet IV x 8
P-39D Airacobra x 12
P-40E Warhawk x 12
Kittyhawk I x 7
LaGG-3 x 14
MiG-3 x 8

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-44III Tojo: 9 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
Martlet IV: 2 destroyed
P-39D Airacobra: 3 destroyed
P-40E Warhawk: 3 destroyed
Kittyhawk I: 2 destroyed
LaGG-3: 2 destroyed

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Wuchow [C China] , at 42,39

Japanese aircraft
Ki-264 Angel x 19

Allied aircraft
Martlet IV x 6
P-39D Airacobra x 9
P-40E Warhawk x 9
Kittyhawk I x 5
LaGG-3 x 12
MiG-3 x 8

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-264 Angel: 4 destroyed, 2 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
Martlet IV: 2 damaged
P-39D Airacobra: 2 destroyed, 2 damaged
P-40E Warhawk: 2 damaged
LaGG-3: 1 damaged
MiG-3: 1 destroyed, 2 damaged

Airbase hits 2
Airbase supply hits 1
Runway hits 2

[*]Legaspi/Sorosgon is hit by 2 flights of 200 + planes, large damage to airfield, quite a few Betty's & L2D2's lost.
[*]I hit Taytay again, better recon and results this time, as the field should be closed again.

Nemo is happy cause tomorrow he gets some good fighters, my New Year celebrations are not to be denied though, I'm on holidays from tomorrow, and that makes it all good.

--Damian--

[n01487477]

Yearly/Monthly Economic update.

Why, a new dawn? Because Nemo now gets the option to bomb Japan, as our HR (almost our only one), has in effect expired.

Started the war with just over 12K HI capacity, now more than a year later, I'm at 14134 HI, having peaked at 14650HI a few weeks ago. Yes, just a few short weeks ago. Nemo can send 400+ bombers into a base and basically kill all the HI in one day. CAP I hear you say ... 400 bombers ? you've got to be joking, also the Allies get the advantage by seeing fighter numbers. Nemo & I have talked about the foobar economic/repair cycle before and both of us agree it needs a re-write...As you all know by now Nemo, uses max force in focused points ... he says that way he doesn't need to be a good tactician[:D] The only time this hasn't worked is over Canton where I have 200+ fighters.

So I could pull back all my fighters to Japan and leave the rest open, but this seems like a very bad idea to me.

Anyway starting today, I'm sure I'll see some more LB over Japan, and if not he'll use it to keep my fighters over Japan via sporadic attacks. From my perspective and I'll say this again and again if necessary, Nemo seems to now think this war will go into '44. I dispute that, cause IF I were him, I'd go wild on HI bombing in the next few weeks, whatever the LB cost and basically shut me down...and hence the grapes on the vine will wither and die.

If he doesn't do this, which I doubt he will, cause I get the feeling he wants to take this to the end game of invading Japan rather than total economic strangling, then I'm in ok shape. I have enough Oil for 400 days and Res for 200 in Japan right now. I often imagine if I had bought a few more months, had a bit more HI ... happenstance.

I've been turning off ARM/VEH/NAVAL/MER for some time, (well you can never get them all working in this mod without 19K HI), as my CLAA's come off the line I reduce the Naval build, and I have paultry merchants building. I have halted all my CV's except Shinano (no not the stock pink elephant - this one has teeth) and I'll keep the CVE/L's coming. Another large Veh lcu comes in 12 days, and I have enough budgeted for that, as for any future large Inf Div, they are also ok for now. PP's still remain the problem however.

Ship upgrades are all good, but 1/43 sees a large number of DD's to upgrade, and this is a worry given that the Allies will be knocking on my port doors.

Aircraft & engines: Nissan and Mansyu engines are running below needed, having both been bombed by LB, repairs are ongoing, and I will expand Nissans, cause I love the TojoIII, it is the best fighter until late 44/45. The Behemoth is available this month, but I shall only build a few. I'm producing 100 Angels a month, but am now losing more than that.

my email: I guess this is the last turn before you can target Japan
and you get some more firepower, so next turn will take me a little bit to
organise all my fighters at desired locations.I really made a mistake by
spreading out my building, but it is too late now to change that.

Nemo email :Well spreading the building out optimises your buildup. The trade-off is difficulty protecting it later on. Its a trade-off though and not really, IMO, a case of a mistake one way or the other. I tend to concentrate production in Japan cause I always think of '44 and '45 but your industrial ramp up is what is keeping you competitive so its payback now but I wouldn't call it a mistake.

Anyway, better get off to work ... comments ? or anything you guys want me to talk about ?

[ny59giants]

I lost our HR when my old computer died, but Nemo and you may need to revisit the ability to do strategic bombing on a reduces scale. We had talked about a limited amount of it with it slowly ramping up. As it is now he can almost cripple you in a matter of days.
 
Do you recall any post on AE about reducing the effectiveness of strategic bombing??