Matrix Games Forums

Total air losses

Strategic map

Well, this mod is so different from vanilla it is hard to give meaningful advice.... If you could give a brief overview of the changes I think that might help, even if its just a copy past from the creators of the original mod that you tailored. I saw your changes to the mod but i am interested in what you built the mod upon. Best wishes.

ORIGINAL: soulsilver

Well, this mod is so different from vanilla it is hard to give meaningful advice.... If you could give a brief overview of the changes I think that might help, even if its just a copy past from the creators of the original mod that you tailored. I saw your changes to the mod but i am interested in what you built the mod upon. Best wishes.

This is Andy Mac's Ironman its basically a challenge mod against AI , it has Tier 1-2-3 where it gets more and more difficult as numbers go up. What i know about AI's OOB ; Everything has super high Exp , Q-Ships everywhere and they have Zeros and Kates , A lot more divisions in AI control and some of them have 1000 AV , super beefed up industry for Japan and a lot more of everything you can imagine.

With Soviet active from start i am starting to get confident that i can prevent an Auto Victory. Victory points:

We had reports of enemy Battleship patrolling south of Java so US Navy carriers were dispatched from Perth hoping for a quick victory , it turned into 3 day chase with US Navy divebombers annoying it all the way to Makassar. Time for US CV's to retreat as there is 3 IJN Carrier groups in Java sea

Morning Air attack on TF, near Denpasar at 55,114

Weather in hex: Heavy rain

Raid detected at 77 NM, estimated altitude 21,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 30 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2s Zero x 12

Allied aircraft
F2A-2 Buffalo x 19
F2A-3 Buffalo x 15
F4F-3A Wildcat x 15
F4F-3 Wildcat x 51
SBD-2 Dauntless x 13
SBD-3 Dauntless x 65
TBD-1 Devastator x 15

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2s Zero: 3 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
F2A-3 Buffalo: 1 destroyed
F4F-3 Wildcat: 2 destroyed
SBD-3 Dauntless: 19 damaged
SBD-3 Dauntless: 1 destroyed by flak
TBD-1 Devastator: 2 damaged

Japanese Ships
BB Fuso, Bomb hits 9, on fire
BB Kaimon, Bomb hits 5, on fire
DD Asagumo
CA Kumano, Bomb hits 3, on fire
CL Nishiki, Bomb hits 1, on fire

---------------------------------------------

Morning Air attack on TF, near Waingapoe at 62,115

Weather in hex: Heavy rain

Raid detected at 76 NM, estimated altitude 20,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 30 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2s Zero x 5

Allied aircraft
F2A-2 Buffalo x 18
F2A-3 Buffalo x 14
F4F-3A Wildcat x 13
F4F-3 Wildcat x 47
SBD-2 Dauntless x 13
SBD-3 Dauntless x 63
TBD-1 Devastator x 15

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2s Zero: 1 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
F4F-3 Wildcat: 1 destroyed
SBD-3 Dauntless: 16 damaged
TBD-1 Devastator: 2 damaged

Japanese Ships
BB Fuso, Bomb hits 13, on fire
BB Kaimon, Bomb hits 4, on fire
DD Kyukaze
CA Kumano, Bomb hits 4, on fire, heavy damage
DD Hakaze
DD Myojinkaze
CL Nishiki, Bomb hits 2, on fire

---------------------------------------------
Useless devastators miss


Morning Air attack on TF, near Waingapoe at 62,115

Weather in hex: Heavy rain

Raid spotted at 45 NM, estimated altitude 18,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 23 minutes

Allied aircraft
TBD-1 Devastator x 12

Allied aircraft losses
TBD-1 Devastator: 7 damaged
TBD-1 Devastator: 1 destroyed by flak

Japanese Ships
BB Fuso, heavy fires

Aircraft Attacking:
12 x TBD-1 Devastator launching torpedoes at 200 feet
Naval Attack: 1 x 22in Mk 13 Torpedo

---------------------------------------------

Morning Air attack on TF, near Salajar at 65,108

Weather in hex: Clear sky

Raid detected at 76 NM, estimated altitude 20,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 30 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2s Zero x 2

Allied aircraft
F2A-2 Buffalo x 18
F2A-3 Buffalo x 15
F4F-3A Wildcat x 13
F4F-3 Wildcat x 29
SBD-3 Dauntless x 48

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2s Zero: 1 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
SBD-3 Dauntless: 11 damaged
SBD-3 Dauntless: 1 destroyed by flak

Japanese Ships
BB Fuso, Bomb hits 11, heavy fires, heavy damage
CL Nishiki
CA Kumano, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires, heavy damage
BB Kaimon, Bomb hits 2
DD Myojinkaze

---------------------------------------------

orning Air attack on TF, near Salajar at 65,108

Weather in hex: Clear sky

Raid detected at 15 NM, estimated altitude 18,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 6 minutes

Allied aircraft
SBD-2 Dauntless x 13

Allied aircraft losses
SBD-2 Dauntless: 2 damaged

Japanese Ships
BB Fuso, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires, heavy damage
DD Myojinkaze
CA Kumano, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires, heavy damage

At this point hoping Fuso will sink after 35x1000lb bomb hits , Kumano i am certain will sink

Jan 28 1942
I got greedy and went after the task force unloading at Timor , managed to bag BB Fuso as well

Morning Air attack on TF, near Boeton at 68,108

Weather in hex: Severe storms

Raid spotted at 31 NM, estimated altitude 18,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 12 minutes

Allied aircraft
F2A-2 Buffalo x 10
SBD-2 Dauntless x 13
SBD-3 Dauntless x 11

Allied aircraft losses
SBD-3 Dauntless: 1 damaged

Japanese Ships
BB Fuso, Bomb hits 8(brings total to 43 bomb hits), on fire, heavy damage
DD Kyukaze

-------------------------------------------

Morning Air attack on TF, near Boeton at 68,108

Weather in hex: Severe storms

Raid spotted at 37 NM, estimated altitude 20,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 19 minutes

Allied aircraft
TBD-1 Devastator x 9

Allied aircraft losses
TBD-1 Devastator: 3 damaged

Japanese Ships
BB Fuso, Torpedo hits 2, heavy fires, heavy damage


---------------------------------------------

Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Boeton at 68,108

Weather in hex: Heavy rain

Raid detected at 7 NM, estimated altitude 16,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 2 minutes

Japanese aircraft
no flights

Allied aircraft
F2A-2 Buffalo x 18
SB2U-3 Vindicator x 12
SBD-3 Dauntless x 10
TBD-1 Devastator x 9

No Japanese losses

Allied aircraft losses
SB2U-3 Vindicator: 4 damaged
SBD-3 Dauntless: 4 damaged
TBD-1 Devastator: 3 damaged

Japanese Ships
DD Myojinkaze
BB Fuso, and is sunk
DD Kyukaze, Bomb hits 1, and is sunk

Magazine explodes on DD Kyukaze


--------------------------------------------

Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Boeton at 68,107

Weather in hex: Clear sky

Raid spotted at 17 NM, estimated altitude 18,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 7 minutes

Allied aircraft
SBD-2 Dauntless x 13

Allied aircraft losses
SBD-2 Dauntless: 2 damaged

Japanese Ships
xAK Bitchu Maru [:D], Bomb hits 6, and is sunk

--------------------------------------------

Morning Air attack on TF, near Dili at 71,115

Weather in hex: Light rain

Raid spotted at 20 NM, estimated altitude 18,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 7 minutes

Allied aircraft
F2A-2 Buffalo x 9
F4F-3 Wildcat x 32
SB2U-3 Vindicator x 13
SBD-3 Dauntless x 36

Allied aircraft losses
SB2U-3 Vindicator: 3 damaged
SBD-3 Dauntless: 3 damaged

Japanese Ships
xAKL Nissyo Maru, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires
AMC Asaka Maru, Bomb hits 5, heavy fires, heavy damage
DD Natsugumo, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires
xAK Fusemi Maru, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires, heavy damage
xAK Kyokuzan Maru, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires
xAK Ayatosan Maru, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires, heavy damage
xAK Hakkaisan Maru, Bomb hits 5, heavy fires, heavy damage
xAK Nissen Maru
LST Fuji Maru #3, Bomb hits 2, and is sunk
xAK Nichiyu Maru, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires, heavy damage

Japanese ground losses:
72 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 2 destroyed, 8 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

---------------------------------------------

Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Dili at 71,115

Weather in hex: Severe storms

Raid spotted at 20 NM, estimated altitude 18,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 7 minutes

Allied aircraft
F4F-3 Wildcat x 33
SBD-3 Dauntless x 49

Allied aircraft losses
SBD-3 Dauntless: 7 damaged

Japanese Ships
APD -104, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires
xAK Ayatosan Maru, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires, heavy damage
DD Natsugumo, Bomb hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
xAK Kyokuzan Maru, Bomb hits 3, and is sunk
xAK Hitachi Maru, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires
xAKL Kaisyo Maru, Bomb hits 3, and is sunk
xAKL Nissyo Maru, Bomb hits 2, and is sunk

Japanese ground losses:
140 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 18 destroyed, 19 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

Congrats on sinking Fuso and maybe 2 DDs! Do the FP losses indicate that Kumano went down as well?

Now that he knows where your carriers are and you have used up some torps, time to vamoose!

ORIGINAL: BBfanboy

Congrats on sinking Fuso and maybe 2 DDs! Do the FP losses indicate that Kumano went down as well?

Now that he knows where your carriers are and you have used up some torps, time to vamoose!

Today 30 floatplane Zero's were destroyed on the ground , i know Russian subs also sank an AMC which also carried those but i dont know how many , so answer is she likely went down [:D]

ORIGINAL: Evoken

Now we settled the Ghost Battleship Mutsu issue [:D] back to AAR

Q-Ships are a massive pain in the ass , they are like a very long range CVL that can also protect itself from surface attacks and they are everywhere [X(] . So how do i deal with this problem ?

My best guess is ; Choose 1 route and shift all convoys over there , have Cruisers in a seperate task force infront of the convoy and patrol the route with carriers

I have played the tier 3 ironman twice, although with my own extended scenario that runs to 1948 with extra stuff, as opposed to early additions. Therefore, I know what is coming, and need to be a bit generalised.

First thing, is you need to prioritise recovering Xmas island. You can then get that convoy route sorted and get plenty of PBYs, etc to cover the route, along with some VMSBs scattered along it. They air zones will scare away surface raiders, and may even sink some. Put cruisers in the TFs - Omahas, etc. You only have to run those raiders out of ammo and they need to head back to Truk or elsewhere to reload. You will lose cruisers, but you get lots later. Better still, sail your old BBs around with the convoys, certainly those with ground troops.

Coal Harbour is a PITA because if the IJ gets it working he can score strategic VPs by bombing your industries up there. I will tell you how I dealt with that a bit later.

ORIGINAL: Evoken

Chinese front
snip image

Its all quiet in the Chinese front , IJA is very passive giving us time to dig-in.

Without being too precise - do what you would do in response to a worst case scenario. The time will come for China to take advantage of the AI's proclivities, but not yet. You are playing Andymac, in effect, so proceed accordingly.

Coal Harbour.

At start there is not much of an airfield there, and I noted the air combat TF left the scene and seems to have gone down to Indonesian waters.

Step one is to run bombardment TFs up from Victoria (or Seattle or Vancouver for bigger ships) and damage the facilities to stop the IJ units there from building up a strike capable airbase, and keep the runways closed so no CAP can fly. This is a long term project, so have small groups and run something in every night, even if it is a couple of 4 pipers.

Step 2 - you need airfields in range for your restricted US bomber units in the west coast. So get some engineers up to Oak Harbor pronto. Unrestricted can go to Vancouver or Victoria. Note that these would be training, training, and then training some more in the ordinary course, but what better training than milk runs to an unsupplied target base with no functional CAP? Bomb the living daylights out of the units there.

Step 3 - get a division sized unit that can go over to Victoria (or the equivalent in US/Canadian brigades-regiments) after setting its objective to Coal Harbour and march it there, slowly. It can head up the road at first, and then across.

By the time it gets there the IJ units should be so dazed and confused that they collapse like a cheap deck chair.

ORIGINAL: Ian R

Coal Harbour.

At start there is not much of an airfield there, and I noted the air combat TF left the scene and seems to have gone down to Indonesian waters.

Step one is to run bombardment TFs up from Victoria (or Seattle or Vancouver for bigger ships) and damage the facilities to stop the IJ units there from building up a strike capable airbase, and keep the runways closed so no CAP can fly. This is a long term project, so have small groups and run something in every night, even if it is a couple of 4 pipers.

Step 2 - you need airfields in range for your restricted US bomber units in the west coast. So get some engineers up to Oak Harbor pronto. Unrestricted can go to Vancouver or Victoria. Note that these would be training, training, and then training some more in the ordinary course, but what better training than milk runs to an unsupplied target base with no functional CAP? Bomb the living daylights out of the units there.

Step 3 - get a division sized unit that can go over to Victoria (or the equivalent in US/Canadian brigades-regiments) after setting its objective to Coal Harbour and march it there, slowly. It can head up the road at first, and then across.

By the time it gets there the IJ units should be so dazed and confused that they collapse like a cheap deck chair.

Don't forget to send lots of supply to Victoria. It can provide just enough to feed its starting units but when you add reinforcements and air/sea operations it will need a lot more. Fuel too, if you are operating bombardment TFs from there.

ORIGINAL: BBfanboy

ORIGINAL: Ian R

Coal Harbour.

At start there is not much of an airfield there, and I noted the air combat TF left the scene and seems to have gone down to Indonesian waters.

Step one is to run bombardment TFs up from Victoria (or Seattle or Vancouver for bigger ships) and damage the facilities to stop the IJ units there from building up a strike capable airbase, and keep the runways closed so no CAP can fly. This is a long term project, so have small groups and run something in every night, even if it is a couple of 4 pipers.

Step 2 - you need airfields in range for your restricted US bomber units in the west coast. So get some engineers up to Oak Harbor pronto. Unrestricted can go to Vancouver or Victoria. Note that these would be training, training, and then training some more in the ordinary course, but what better training than milk runs to an unsupplied target base with no functional CAP? Bomb the living daylights out of the units there.

Step 3 - get a division sized unit that can go over to Victoria (or the equivalent in US/Canadian brigades-regiments) after setting its objective to Coal Harbour and march it there, slowly. It can head up the road at first, and then across.

By the time it gets there the IJ units should be so dazed and confused that they collapse like a cheap deck chair.

Don't forget to send lots of supply to Victoria. It can provide just enough to feed its starting units but when you add reinforcements and air/sea operations it will need a lot more. Fuel too, if you are operating bombardment TFs from there.

Thanks for the advice , surprisingly AI is passive from Coal Harbour so far. Bombers from Seattle can reach Coal Harbour without issues and i got Vancouver as a fighter base to sweep it , 3 Standarts on the way to bombard it daily and i am sending AKE and AE's to Bella Bella to supply BB's

ORIGINAL: Ian R

ORIGINAL: Evoken

Now we settled the Ghost Battleship Mutsu issue [:D] back to AAR

Q-Ships are a massive pain in the ass , they are like a very long range CVL that can also protect itself from surface attacks and they are everywhere [X(] . So how do i deal with this problem ?

My best guess is ; Choose 1 route and shift all convoys over there , have Cruisers in a seperate task force infront of the convoy and patrol the route with carriers

I have played the tier 3 ironman twice, although with my own extended scenario that runs to 1948 with extra stuff, as opposed to early additions. Therefore, I know what is coming, and need to be a bit generalised.

First thing, is you need to prioritise recovering Xmas island. You can then get that convoy route sorted and get plenty of PBYs, etc to cover the route, along with some VMSBs scattered along it. They air zones will scare away surface raiders, and may even sink some. Put cruisers in the TFs - Omahas, etc. You only have to run those raiders out of ammo and they need to head back to Truk or elsewhere to reload. You will lose cruisers, but you get lots later. Better still, sail your old BBs around with the convoys, certainly those with ground troops.

Main issue with Q-Ships isnt the surface combat , each of them carry a sizeable wing of Zeros and Kates , they even got through layered CAP of 3 CV's and hit a Battleship with torpedos when i engaged them earlier. All my Q-Ship casualties so far were to the aircraft.
Currently i am running a CV Patrol in Indian Ocean to clear them out and i will move my convoys to East Coast > Capetown > Indian Ocean to keep them safe

Out of nowhere BB Mutsu shows up south of Ocean Island IO and gets annoyed by US Navy divebombers , its a shame we are out of torpedos

Morning Air attack on TF, near Christmas Island IO at 45,108

Weather in hex: Clear sky

Raid spotted at 20 NM, estimated altitude 19,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 7 minutes

Allied aircraft
F2A-2 Buffalo x 18
F4F-3 Wildcat x 34
SBD-3 Dauntless x 49

Allied aircraft losses
SBD-3 Dauntless: 13 damaged

Japanese Ships
BB Mutsu, Bomb hits 20, heavy fires
DD Shikinami, Bomb hits 1, on fire, heavy damage

---------------------------------------------

Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Christmas Island IO at 45,108

Weather in hex: Thunderstorms

Raid spotted at 20 NM, estimated altitude 17,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 7 minutes

Allied aircraft
F2A-2 Buffalo x 18
F4F-3 Wildcat x 34
SBD-3 Dauntless x 33

Allied aircraft losses
SBD-3 Dauntless: 5 damaged

Japanese Ships
BB Mutsu, Bomb hits 6, heavy fires, heavy damage
DD Shikinami, Bomb hits 1, and is sunk
DD Sanae

Monthly Save as promised earlier
Turn 61

Victory points;

Total Air losses

Coal Harbour is completely shut down , daily naval bombardements and around 80 bombers bomb it daily

ORIGINAL: Evoken

Out of nowhere BB Mutsu shows up south of Ocean Island IO and gets annoyed by US Navy divebombers , its a shame we are out of torpedos

Morning Air attack on TF, near Christmas Island IO at 45,108

Weather in hex: Clear sky

Raid spotted at 20 NM, estimated altitude 19,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 7 minutes

Allied aircraft
F2A-2 Buffalo x 18
F4F-3 Wildcat x 34
SBD-3 Dauntless x 49

Allied aircraft losses
SBD-3 Dauntless: 13 damaged

Japanese Ships
BB Mutsu, Bomb hits 20, heavy fires
DD Shikinami, Bomb hits 1, on fire, heavy damage

---------------------------------------------

Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Christmas Island IO at 45,108

Weather in hex: Thunderstorms

Raid spotted at 20 NM, estimated altitude 17,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 7 minutes

Allied aircraft
F2A-2 Buffalo x 18
F4F-3 Wildcat x 34
SBD-3 Dauntless x 33

Allied aircraft losses
SBD-3 Dauntless: 5 damaged

Japanese Ships
BB Mutsu, Bomb hits 6, heavy fires, heavy damage
DD Shikinami, Bomb hits 1, and is sunk
DD Sanae

26 X 1000 lb bombs will cause significant Ops damage and Fires - the bane of Japanese ships. I have seen their BBs burn up with that number of bomb hits. It has a long way to go to find a good port to help it out. Fingers crossed!

EDIT: Oh, and remember my post about 20+ bomb hits on Mutsu on the other page? It seems I am prescient about other people's luck but not my own!

Agreed , seeing Heavy fires and Heavy Damage makes me hopefull that she will go down with flames. Thats second Japanese BB taken down by US Navy Carriers

Feb 6 1942
Heavy German raiders were stumbled upon by patrolling British CL's near Colombo[X(]


Day Time Surface Combat, near Koggala at 25,54, Range 6,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
CA Prinz Eugen, Shell hits 10, on fire, heavy damage
CV Peter Strasser She got screened from combat by escorts
TB Z-51, Shell hits 1
TB Z-52, Shell hits 1
DD Pisano, Shell hits 1
DD Borghese, Shell hits 5, on fire

Allied Ships
CL Enterprise, Shell hits 2
CL Emerald, Shell hits 9, on fire
CL Caledon, Shell hits 2
CL Colombo, Shell hits 4, on fire
DD Napier, Shell hits 1
DD Nestor, Shell hits 1
DD Nizam, Shell hits 4, heavy fires

Luckily no strikes from German Carrier

-------------------------
Japanese bombardement gets a spanking from Soviet artillery , i think this is the current record in artillery casualties in this game