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My top five…

1) Logistics, Logistics, Logistics. Collect your transport ships (also those usable as transport ships), sort them out and organize a convoy system. Properly done Australia and New Zealand will resemble southern England before D-Day by mid 1943.

2) Choose your ground. Not only where you’ll be making a stand, but also the jumping off bases from which you launch the Allied offensive later. Big ports and airfields in the right bases “of choice” accelerate the process in #1 above.

3) Something to try during your futile Allied defense of Luzon, Java and Malaya (maybe several other places)… Increase required supply points in the bases (to the maximum) where you’re creating a stronghold (i.e. Singapore, Bataan, Soerabaja, etc), draw supply from all surrounding bases into these locations. It’s a form of “scorched earth” – not only do you maximize your own available supply points for the defenders, you starve the Japanese LCU advancing on you. Make your Japanese opponent supply his own supply. It will slow the Japanese advance as much as anything else you can do.

4) Intelligence… Know everything you can and keep track of it.

5) Conceal your own movements, even if it takes a little extra time to complete said movements. Create your own FOW in addition to what AE already provides.

In Georgia we just say it like it is.

Mess with mama, and you'll wish you stirred up some hornets instead!

Keep that wife happy...

Question - Is the Mersing Gambit in play?

ORIGINAL: topeverest

Question - Is the Mersing Gambit in play?

Yes it is. What is the advisability of running force Z to Mersing first turn with retreat towards DEI? This would be allowed in our HR's.

ORIGINAL: DaveConn

Early on you will be desperate for every little political point you can scrounge up. Eventually you'll have plenty. When you are called upon to withdraw squadrons, oftentimes you will be awarded pol pts. Actually it will offer you those pts. Later on when you don't need them so badly, refuse them - that way the pilots and planes will go to the pools instead of you losing them to the ETO. So when it says get xx pol pts for withdrawing the squadron, click NO, it will then ask if you wish to send the pilots and planes to the pools - click YES.

Actually, I am almost positive that you get the planes/pilots AND the political points, if you withdraw those groups early. That is, whether the planes and pilots in a given squadron stay or go is coded into the data; it does not depend on whether you click "yes" or "no" in response to the withdrawal question.

Actually, I am positive you are wrong. Each squadron has a different fate, some you withdraw, get no points and they come back after a while. Others, you can't withdraw them but must disband and you lose everything then and get no points (so put the pilots in the reserve pools before you do it). Then there are the ones where you are offered the opportunity to collect points if you let them go to the ETO forever. In those cases, at least replace your trained crews with rookies (or just send them to the reserves and don't bother replacing them) before you withdraw them.

ORIGINAL: AU Tiger

ORIGINAL: topeverest

Question - Is the Mersing Gambit in play?

Yes it is. What is the advisability of running force Z to Mersing first turn with retreat towards DEI? This would be allowed in our HR's.

Get them the heck out of there and in my opinion, send them to Aukland. Some will certainly object to this but I use them to cover the US carriers because of their speed. It'll be quite some time before you have American BBs that have even 28kts.

And, I might say, the US does far more to help the Brits generally than the Brits do to help the US. So can it.

ORIGINAL: Bullwinkle58


Re-reading this after a bourbon, I think my tone was harsh. I stand by my points, but I sounded like a jerk. Sorry.

Clearly you were having a bad day til you got that bourbon. I'm pretty sure I have 3 bad days for every one you have, so there. But because neither of us can let the other have the last word, to paraphrase you the Moose, I pray that the Allied player leaves prey at Columbo for me to sink. There is little protection and what there is isn't well trained. Mines are not an issue. If I want to invade Ceylon, I can do it at a number of places, and the Brits won't be able to keep me from sweeping if I care to do so. You said something about harbors aren't just for mines anymore, carriers can stand off like 6 hexes, how many mines do you have and mine layers and how will you maintain these fields? Go ahead and blah blah blah to get the last word.

I think you were ticked off because I got too big for my britches with this training primer, which would be a fair point of view, mostly. We all have to start somewhere.

Oh, if you absolutely must have the last word, let it be the brand of bourbon that mellowed you out so well. Many of us could benefit.

ORIGINAL: AU Tiger

ORIGINAL: topeverest

Question - Is the Mersing Gambit in play?

Yes it is. What is the advisability of running force Z to Mersing first turn with retreat towards DEI? This would be allowed in our HR's.

Understand that there is only ONE naval movement phase in turn one. So you can send them to Mersing, but they will be there for the Netties to sink during the day. They will not move away from Mersing.

ORIGINAL: Cpt Sherwood

ORIGINAL: AU Tiger

ORIGINAL: topeverest

Question - Is the Mersing Gambit in play?

Yes it is. What is the advisability of running force Z to Mersing first turn with retreat towards DEI? This would be allowed in our HR's.

Understand that there is only ONE naval movement phase in turn one. So you can send them to Mersing, but they will be there for the Netties to sink during the day. They will not move away from Mersing.

So that is a big fat hairy "No". Thanks for the tip.

geofflambert

....send them to Aukland.

I believe I will be putting them to work sooner than that. I am trying to summon my inner N. B. Forrest for this game. Very soon recruiting offices all over the free world will have posters that say: "We wish none but those who desire to be actively engaged. COME ON BOYS, IF YOU WANT A HEAP OF FUN AND TO KILL SOME JAPS!”


UPDATE: Skyros is trying to get the turn to me tomorrow. He is unfamiliar with the Japanese OOB, so no worries. It will get here when it gets here.

I was wondering what happened to Winnie the poop with his tommy gun, but that's Stonewall, not Forrest. Either one will do though.

ORIGINAL: geofflambert

I was wondering what happened to Winnie the poop with his tommy gun, but that's Stonewall, not Forrest. Either one will do though.

Yes, I know. I ALMOST put Forrest up there, but Skillet (I think) already has him, and I didn't want to give Mr. Skyros an inkling of what I have in mind.

EDIT: I changed it again. I like this one better.

[:D]

Well, I for one will never change my avatar and pretend not to actually be a gorn.

Tactical question:

I understand that combining units into their parent unit is preferable overall, but lets say I had the three AVG subunits in a hex flying CAP. Which would be better:
1) Keeping them split up and CAP'ed at differing altitudes or,
2) Combining the unit and all CAP'ed at the same altitude?

Consider two scenarios for this:
A) No other CAP in the hex
B) Other units flying CAP at differing altitudes from the AVG unit(s)

Another CAP question:

Everyone knows P-39's are dogs at high altitude, but has this been gamed?:
In a CAP stack putting the P-39's at high altitude, how do they perform? I imagine experience would count, but P-39's have that big assed cannon and would be deadly in a diving slashing attack. Their top speed is impressive, and a supercharger isn't needed in a dive.

Any thoughts? If this hasn't been explored, please do not mention it outside of this AAR, I would like to try it.

P 39s are meat at High Alt. I like the plane, but I like them low with good pilots. I was going to post some tips but I see a bunch of guys have beat me to the punch.

You are going to lose most air battles early on if you try to go toe to toe with the Zero. You need to set fighter traps to have anything like parity. Do not defend most bases, and then mass your fighters at one likely target. Then move around those fighters so that in turn two, when the empire comes back in strength, you arent there. If you decide to do this, you need to upgrade your fighter squadron commanders. Think of this like counterpulse for the air.

as far as 39's. check the plane altitude maneuverability, accessed through the lower left corner of the main screen. generally speaking they are no good above about 15K. But remember that pilot skill and combat odds are large determinates in air combat.

As far as POW and R,I prefer to leave them deep in the DEI, and use them in counterpulses with the rest of the fleet. You will devastate unprotected forces. I typically go so far as to push most of the british fleet as it arrives into DEI, even though I don't typically do fortress palembang . Watch out for the early upgrade to these ships. keep those off, or you will be F'd.

As far as saving ground units, IMHO I don't see the need to waste time doing that just to save them. Rebuild them after they are gone. Remember, you are the superior force, and time is your ally. Dont worry about early attritional losses that deliver enemy damage. Your only true no-no is stumbling on the KB with your CV's.

CAP alts. depend on what your goal is. If you're not worried about incoming bombers and want to keep the attrition rate lower, but also want to kill some enemy fighters, CAP at the highest alt your home rules allow and you may pick some off. I wouldn't split fighter units, especially if you've picked a good commander. They do best when they're in numbers. When I have multiple squadrons in a hex I often do set them at different altitudes. If we're talking about your carriers I keep my fighters at 10k to 12k mostly. You must stop the bombers at all costs and if you fly too high they may slip by under you, especially the torpedo bombers which can come in very low.

I just use P-39's as trainers. If you get opportunities to use them for ground attack, that's ok.

Yes do not stumble into Kido Butai with your CVs. Let them stumble into you. In the early period while he's still playing aggressively if you've put all your Army bombers on search and have good overlapping patterns, you will see him long before he sees you. Ambush him. I've sunk the KB three times in three PBEMs against quality opponents without losing a carrier yet. You better believe some of that was luck (weather advantages for example) but you can do it. Twice I did it with a four CV force and the battles occured in April '42 and once in May with 5 carriers. Caution will lead to opportunities. Preserve your force til you have 4 carriers combined and you may do very well.

[font=calibri]About handling your carriers:[/font]

[font=calibri]Besides staying behind your land based search screen, form your CVs into Task Groups.  Form a TF around each CV.  I like to include one or two CAs, one or two CLs, a CLAA if you have any and six to eight DDs.  Choose one of the TFs to be the lead and put in command of it your preferred admiral (Halsey or Spruance, say).  Your CV commanders should each be captains or admirals with both high Navy skills and high air skills.  Your TF commander will default to the CV commander unless you choose another for that.  Have each TF follow the lead TF by zero hexes.  If you have any fast BBs (28kts or better) put them in a surface action TF and have them follow by zero hexes.  It will attempt to screen off any surface squadrons attempting to reach your carriers.  The commander  should have high navy skills and be moderately aggressive (in the 60s).  The composition might be something like BB BB CA CL DD DD DD DD.  The cruisers are better at dealing with other cruisers and keeping his DDs away from your BBs.  [/font]

[font=calibri]The reason for forming as a Task Group of TFs is that the Japanese attacker may only spot one or two of the TFs and attack them leaving you with two or three CVs able to mount a second strike.  Your first strike will have left before the incoming attack arrives (assuming your search planes have spotted his carriers too), but the Japanese usually strike first.  When you start receiving CVLs, you may want to pair them up with a CV in your carrier TF.  Later in the war you will have so many carriers you will have to go to two CVs and a CVL or something like that.[/font]

[font=calibri]If you have any DDs left, form one or more ASW TFs and have them follow the lead by zero hexes.  Two DDs per is sufficient.   If your air ASW spots any subs, these will drive them under.  You need to have a replenishment TF with AOs and AEs if available following by six to eight hexes so that you can reload if need be and return to the fight.  If you have a CVE or the Hermes available, attach it to the replenishment TF.  Have some fighters on it set for CAP at range zero, also have some bombers doing ASW patrol.  When I say keep this TF six to eight hexes back, I mean give it a destination order with “remain on station” somewhere relatively safe but close enough to do some good.[/font]

[font=calibri]At the beginning of the war US doctrine was to have about one third of the planes on a carrier be fighters.  You need to up that to one half.[/font]

Of course, make sure your AOs are loaded with fuel and your AEs loaded with supplies before they leave port.

One more thing. Do not organize your Task Group like this: TF C following TF B following TF A. That's a good way to have it come apart and for confusion to reign.

AU Tiger:

The PM that would not send:

"The 1/3 rule was subject to some backing and filing early in the patch process. It refers to attacks made across rivers.

" 50. Gameplay Change: Change to river assault – reversion to original rule - when crossing a river into a hex all units entering should shock attack in the turn they cross, unless 1/3 of the unmodified AV of the defenders has already crossed from that hex side in a previous turn."

IOW if you the attacker don't already have 1/3 of the unadjusted AV of the defender in the conflict hex, anything you send across the river will auto-shock attack until you do. Turn after turn if you don't plan. Also note it's by hex SIDE, so if you come in from multiple directions the calculation is re-started.

This can really mess you up if you do it badly. OTOH, it provides a very important defense in bases on rivers. You know the enemy has to come in force across the river or not at all in most cases. He can't do a "free" probe attack and get a true intel read on the defenders. If he tries his probe will get the info, but at the cost of huge losses. This rule is highly important in China and Burma.

This and many other sometimes important changes to the manual are in the Read Me file included with every patch and beta. It installs in the root level folder for AE. I read the .rtf version. "readme.rtf" in Word. It has all of the performance switches, plus every change made, including all of the OOB data changes made in the data patches. There are also Addendums which speak to pilot training and some of the map graphic additions, such as the colored exclamation points. It's worth a skim read. Sometimes the change is cryptic (sometimes on purpose), but you can still make sense of most of them. Especially the early patches had some big gameplay alterations."