JFB Poll: Musashi, Yes or No....

[ndworl]

The Yamato and Mushahi are different questions, given the sunk cost of HI already invested in Yamato. I would build her but I doubt I'll be building the Mushashi. It's not just the HI, its the extra cost of constructing more naval yards to build the things that I would prefer to have. I would rather accelerate CVs than have an extra BB (albeit a very big one), so if I didn't want to build more naval yards, the BB would have to go.

That leads to the next question. Is it worth building the Taiho? Very expensive and doesn't arrive that much earlier than the Unryo if you accelerate her, from the moment the first (accelerated) CVL clears the naval yards.

[1EyedJacks]

build them and train them up b4 you take the Y & M a hunting Yankee Battleships. Give 'em good leaders. Make sure your FP are flying some combo of day/night missions. Have plenty of screening elements. you want a strong detection level, especially later in the war when them Yanks got radar...

my 2 cents.

[Q-Ball]

ORIGINAL: ndworl

That leads to the next question. Is it worth building the Taiho? Very expensive and doesn't arrive that much earlier than the Unryo if you accelerate her, from the moment the first (accelerated) CVL clears the naval yards.

I think the answer is absolutely, yes, build TAIHO. She is expensive, and accelerated consumes more than Musashi, but she's a better unit than MUSASHI.

I would not, however, accelerate anything newer than TAIHO, including SHOHO, HIYO, JUNYO, and RYUHO. Maybe RYUHO depending on losses, but I don't think it's worth the extra expense on those. But definitely do not halt them!

[KenchiSulla]

If you don't build the Taiho then you are denying yourself a ship similar to the Shokaku class... Whats HI better spend then a purpose build carrier?

[zuluhour]

AFB: No and No

[Mike Solli]

ORIGINAL: zuluhour

AFB: No and No

[:D]

[ndworl]

ORIGINAL: Cannonfodder

If you don't build the Taiho then you are denying yourself a ship similar to the Shokaku class... Whats HI better spend then a purpose build carrier?

It's a matter of priorities. When you don't have enough naval yards to build everything, you either build - and pay for - more naval yards and then pay for the HI required to use those naval yards, or you pick things you are not going to build. You can get the Unryo slightly later than the Taiho at half the price. Yes, you might want to build (accelerate) both, but that requires other choices.

[KenchiSulla]

You can accelerate Taiho (Arrival date January 1943), together with the first three Unryu classes while still building Yamato.. I understand the concept of choices but not building a carrier that can nearly match a Yorktown class carrier in midwar... Is that really an option? Better cut down your submarine budget a bit..

[Mike Solli]

Wow, cutting down on subs is tough for me. They can go places and spy where nothing else can reach.

[PaxMondo]

ORIGINAL: Mike Solli

Wow, cutting down on subs is tough for me. They can go places and spy where nothing else can reach.

Glen subs, yes. Other subs though, after the allies get their hard coded ASW upgrades, are just VP's to be harvested.

I use the glen subs a lot for recon ... try never to put them in harm's way ... they are too vulnerable to mid-game allied ASW.

[Lokasenna]

ORIGINAL: PaxMondo

ORIGINAL: Mike Solli

Wow, cutting down on subs is tough for me. They can go places and spy where nothing else can reach.

Glen subs, yes. Other subs though, after the allies get their hard coded ASW upgrades, are just VP's to be harvested.

I use the glen subs a lot for recon ... try never to put them in harm's way ... they are too vulnerable to mid-game allied ASW.

Depends on where. "Deep" missions, away from short-legged Allied ASW, can be good. They're good for sniffing out Allied SLOC to Australia, or India, for example. Or between CONUS and Hawaii, to a lesser extent. And they still have torpedoes.

In terms of "killiness", I think I like the IJN sub that's capable of an 8-fish spread. Doesn't have long legs, but that's a lot of torpedoes.

[PaxMondo]

ORIGINAL: Lokasenna

ORIGINAL: PaxMondo

ORIGINAL: Mike Solli

Wow, cutting down on subs is tough for me. They can go places and spy where nothing else can reach.

Glen subs, yes. Other subs though, after the allies get their hard coded ASW upgrades, are just VP's to be harvested.

I use the glen subs a lot for recon ... try never to put them in harm's way ... they are too vulnerable to mid-game allied ASW.

Depends on where. "Deep" missions, away from short-legged Allied ASW, can be good. They're good for sniffing out Allied SLOC to Australia, or India, for example. Or between CONUS and Hawaii, to a lesser extent. And they still have torpedoes.

In terms of "killiness", I think I like the IJN sub that's capable of an 8-fish spread. Doesn't have long legs, but that's a lot of torpedoes.

Sure, the KD classes are nice. But with only ~200 ft of dive, they just don't last long after mid '43. The allies can kill them fast. Even the Glen subs only go to ~300 feet ... nothing compared to the allied subs. And then the IJ ASW gear doesn't get the allied upgrade in '43 ...

So, first the allied get deadlier when their torps start working 1/43, then the ASW forces get deadlier when they get updated sonar gear. Plus they have ASW weapons that will go below max depth of any IJN sub. The allied subs, most of the most populous classes, can dive deeper than the best IJN depth charge .... all this shows up in late '43 IJN sub losses, they tend to skyrocket. At any rate, that's my exp. YMMV.

BUT glen subs are great 'eyes'. You can recon ports that need watching. you know where allies have to embark troops to hit certain objectives. all these things that the allies get for 'free', glens can get you a lot of it if you are careful.