Sqz stands down. The AAR is now concluded. Sqz (A) vs. obvert (J)

[Lowpe]

One of Japan's biggest weaknesses is their high SR on most of their good fighters. SR 3 for Jack, George, Frank. I think your decision to do these one off attacks allows Japan time to recover more than you.

In our game, Tiemanj was simply merciless in follow up attacks and that was often when he achieved 5-1 win ratio, plus the number of my planes destroyed on the ground was truly staggering unless there was a rail line.

[SqzMyLemon]

ORIGINAL: Lowpe

One of Japan's biggest weaknesses is their high SR on most of their good fighters. SR 3 for Jack, George, Frank. I think your decision to do these one off attacks allows Japan time to recover more than you.

In our game, Tiemanj was simply merciless in follow up attacks and that was often when he achieved 5-1 win ratio, plus the number of my planes destroyed on the ground was truly staggering unless there was a rail line.

Lowpe, Erik does something to remove his damaged airframes from a base to prevent them being destroyed. Recon of Hollandia at turn end showed 139 fighters at the base, down from 242...but auxiliary aircraft was 0...which indicates no damaged aircraft at the base. Unless I am misinterpreting the recon? I believe Erik withdraws his Sentai's and loads up xAKLs with the damaged aircraft so they can't be destroyed on the ground.

They are one off attacks because I have to use so many units and recover fatigue from flying so high. When I lower my sweeps, perhaps I'll be in a much better position to do follow up attacks.

[Lowpe]

I thought aux aircraft were floatplanes, transports and recon?

Is he using the port still? I would send in a destroyer squadron and see what is up. In and out fast with some LRCAP. PT boats can do the job too, if you are close enough.

I would also recon bases in his rear, where he has staged his transports and think about bombing them.

What are you doing with your B29s and where are they?

[Lokasenna]

ORIGINAL: Lowpe

I thought aux aircraft were floatplanes, transports and recon?

Is he using the port still? I would send in a destroyer squadron and see what is up. In and out fast with some LRCAP. PT boats can do the job too, if you are close enough.

I would also recon bases in his rear, where he has staged his transports and think about bombing them.

What are you doing with your B29s and where are they?

Aux = all of those things, plus damaged aircraft.

[SqzMyLemon]

ORIGINAL: Lokasenna

Aux = all of those things, plus damaged aircraft.

This is my understanding as well, aux includes damaged airframes. Considering I never see any listed at airbases after air combat has occurred, Erik is definitely doing something to remove those airframes.

[SqzMyLemon]

ORIGINAL: Lowpe

Is he using the port still? I would send in a destroyer squadron and see what is up. In and out fast with some LRCAP. PT boats can do the job too, if you are close enough.

I would also recon bases in his rear, where he has staged his transports and think about bombing them.

What are you doing with your B29s and where are they?

There are 53 ships in port at Hollandia, mostly MTBs and xAKLs. Night bombing has not been effective. My bombers get fragmented and I'm lucky to get a couple of hits for the loss of however many bombers FLAK takes out. Not worth the effort.

My B-29s are at Tulagi...replacing the pilots with more experienced ones and training. I won't risk them in daylight raids right now and there are no strategic targets within range. And as I said, night bombing results have been pathetic, especially if there is FLAK at the target.

All deep targets have fighter coverage now. I'd be throwing away bombers.

[MakeeLearn]

ORIGINAL: SqzMyLemon

ORIGINAL: Lowpe

Is he using the port still? I would send in a destroyer squadron and see what is up. In and out fast with some LRCAP. PT boats can do the job too, if you are close enough.

I would also recon bases in his rear, where he has staged his transports and think about bombing them.

What are you doing with your B29s and where are they?

There are 53 ships in port at Hollandia, mostly MTBs and xAKLs. Night bombing has not been effective. My bombers get fragmented and I'm lucky to get a couple of hits for the loss of however many bombers FLAK takes out. Not worth the effort.

My B-29s are at Tulagi...replacing the pilots with more experienced ones and training. I won't risk them in daylight raids right now and there are no strategic targets within range. And as I said, night bombing results have been pathetic, especially if there is FLAK at the target.

All deep targets have fighter coverage now. I'd be throwing away bombers.

I didn't see if you stated, at what altitude are your night attacks? Try what they did in RL, night attack with several groups at multi-altitudes and multi-targets on the same hex. With one being ground attack to maybe hit the AA. Low to mid altitude. B17s at 1-2000ft. were very accurate and devastating.

Don't know how this will play in game. I had to restart my campaign due to computer problems, so Ive just started my second game. And will be trying this out.

[Lowpe]

You are so defensive Sqz, lighten up and have some fun![:D]

You do know, that Jocke absolutely destroyed Obvert's economy with night bombing don't you? And he started off almost exactly where you are now.

You are very close to Rangoon over in Burma, right? Pick a target that has some small amount of light industry (say Liuchow) and hit the LI there. Or maybe hit the port at Haiphong. Even if there is no industry present, if you expect a fair amount of supplies to be at the base bomb the port or the runway.

Or pick some of those really long legged British bombers and strike deep.

Send your B29s deep into enemy territory bombing ports and runways and industry. You need to build up their experience with milk runs...so start trying to pick some.

You eat an elephant one bite at a time. You have so many darn toys available to you, and you seem intent on attacking Japan where they are strongest or waiting for the big decisive attack or invasion. I know that isn't fair, because tons of things are going on in your game that you don't report on, but that is how it seems to me.[;)]

I play Japan with the mindset that everyday I want to hurt the Allies. Sometimes it works, but most times it doesn't. But it gives me a reason to open the turn each day and see what happened and some days, you really land that left hook!

[Lowpe]

ORIGINAL: MakeeLearn

ORIGINAL: SqzMyLemon

ORIGINAL: Lowpe

Is he using the port still? I would send in a destroyer squadron and see what is up. In and out fast with some LRCAP. PT boats can do the job too, if you are close enough.

I would also recon bases in his rear, where he has staged his transports and think about bombing them.

What are you doing with your B29s and where are they?

There are 53 ships in port at Hollandia, mostly MTBs and xAKLs. Night bombing has not been effective. My bombers get fragmented and I'm lucky to get a couple of hits for the loss of however many bombers FLAK takes out. Not worth the effort.

My B-29s are at Tulagi...replacing the pilots with more experienced ones and training. I won't risk them in daylight raids right now and there are no strategic targets within range. And as I said, night bombing results have been pathetic, especially if there is FLAK at the target.

All deep targets have fighter coverage now. I'd be throwing away bombers.

I didn't see if you stated, at what altitude are your night attacks? Try what they did in RL, night attack with several groups at multi-altitudes and multi-targets on the same hex. With one being ground attack to maybe hit the AA. Low to mid altitude. B17s at 1-2000ft. were very accurate and devastating.

Don't know how this will play in game. I had to restart my campaign due to computer problems, so Ive just started my second game. And will be trying this out.

Makee, that helps because there is a chance the DL is increased with each attack. Night bombing is all about DL, weather, moonlight, flak present, altitude, experience etc. If you don't take a holistic approach, your results will be not as great as they could be.

[SqzMyLemon]

ORIGINAL: Lowpe

You are so defensive Sqz, lighten up and have some fun![:D]

You know, I went back through my AAR to see what happened to the 'fun' factor. I was amazed at how optimistic I was after suffering the first eight hex strike. Things were fine until the second eight hex strike. Since then, the game, my AAR and my attitude have gotten worse. I've never recovered from it and it continues to influence everything I've done since then. That one turn caused me to completely derail and my entire psyche has been out of whack since. What would have been an exciting 1944 died that day.

Until I start having some success on a regular basis, I see no 'fun' in my future. I'm wrapped too tight for this game and my play seems to worsen the longer I play it. I can't seem to let certain things go anymore. Too many setbacks, not enough success to feel good about things I guess. Everything game related just seems a struggle.

On the other hand...I don't feel that way in my other PBEM. Strange.

[Lowpe]

Obvert is the master of the 8 hex strike, heck ask Jocke.

Playing as Japan it is something we all try to do. I know Tiemanj got in 11 hex strikes flying sweeps with his fighters against me, so I suspect Obvert will get in an eight hex strike as the Allies against me.[:D]

I laughed and laughed watching my turn against him today...as I got in a piddly Jake strike against one of his cargo ships. He loves that tactic, and it felt so good to use it against him planting 4 30KG bombs![:D]

[SqzMyLemon]

I did get a chance to read over all of tiemanj's old posts when he was still following. I'm hoping I can convince myself to start employing his tactics and crawl my way out of the hole I've dug for myself. It seems like a long time ago and I have forgotten much of what was suggested before.

[SqzMyLemon]

ORIGINAL: Lowpe

Obvert is the master of the 8 hex strike, heck ask Jocke.

Not sure I'd say expert. Erik admitted to me that both strikes were fluke, I just happened to end up within that range. Perhaps that is what makes it worse.

[Lokasenna]

ORIGINAL: SqzMyLemon

ORIGINAL: Lowpe

Obvert is the master of the 8 hex strike, heck ask Jocke.

Not sure I'd say expert. Erik admitted to me that both strikes were fluke, I just happened to end up within that range. Perhaps that is what makes it worse.

They are often a fluke. Unless you're positioning so that you can't be closer than 8 hexes due to land, it's almost always a fluke.


RE: low level bombing... don't set to 1000 feet unless it's an attack bomber. Your ordinance is halved if you do so. Better to stay at 2000 feet and get full payload.

[SqzMyLemon]

Aug. 5/44:

Maloelap is hit by carrier air for the second day in a row. Results were good with squad and gun losses reported. Troops will land tomorrow followed by a third day of air attacks. There is only the Maloelap CD unit defending the base so I'm counting on the disruption to silence the guns.

Landings at Kusaie Island should also occur tomorrow.

The air force needs another day to recover fatigue, then I'll try new tactics and targets.

I encounter my first Japanese night fighters over Truk. Two squadrons of B-24D1 encounter Irvings. I lose four bombers to Japan's five fighters. Looks like 1:1 is my lot in life these days. I wonder if I can assign NF escorts?

I'm reorganizing Burma right now...I need to take some AV away from my main army to secure my flank around Taung Gyi. I'd also like to split off around 2000 AV to make a flanking move against Chang Mai from the east. This may result in drawing even more Japanese troops towards Burma.

I'm going to mount some bomber raids in Burma to try and draw out Erik's fighters at a disadvantage. I will try a concerted air offensive against Prome. If I can trash the airbase, Erik will have to use CAP from Rangoon and Toungoo to cover his troops. I will be trying low sweeps and high bombing as suggested. A few days of sweeps first to see if Erik responds, then I'll add in bombers. The goal here is to refine my tactics to get sweeps first, followed by the bombers. Prome will be at least level 6 forts, but is in clear terrain. All the Japanese armour is concentrated forward between Prome and Toungoo.

Still working on the next turn. I'm taking my time with this one to look for new targets.

[SqzMyLemon]

Aug. 6/44:

Maloelap falls easily and there are no Allied casualties during the shock attack following the landing. The airstrikes from the carriers and the pre-amphibious bombardment knocked out what resistance there was.

The amphibious landing at Kusaie Island does not require a shock attack and the defence consists of elements of the Japanese 5th SNLF. I've only landed a Marine Def. Art. Bn., but the carriers will deploy to provide airstrike support.

Small potatoes, but I'm gaining valuable experience conducting atoll invasions. Now I just have to apply what I'm learning to more heavily defended targets.

The air units have recovered fatigue, so now I'll start to implement new tactics with fewer aircraft to string together multiple days of sweeps and bombings. I'll be using the navy more in a bombardment role and try to position my air units in such a way as to provide CAP and catch Japanese aircraft outside their range 0 havens.

I'll start using B-29's against undefended targets to increase experience and disrupt Japanese positions.

I've got the LCU's sorted out in Burma and will begin to push forward. I'll be splitting up forces to allow me more flexibility and use maneuver to create an opening...somewhere. The plan is to threaten flanking moves to possibly cause some Japanese withdrawals from forward areas and cause Erik to have to reinforce Burma further in rear areas.

The British Fleet is in position, so operations to liberate western Australia will begin immediately. First up is Esperance. Australian 8th and U.S. 5th Divisions are tasked with these operations. I'm sure Erik has withdrawn almost all his troops already, but that's fine...the loss of temporary base control VP's from Japan's total will be a morale boost.

Lots going on, but time to try the new tactics and hopefully turn things around and see things in a more positive light.

[SqzMyLemon]

Aug. 7-10/44:

Aug. 7/44:

P-38s sweep Boela on the 7th and find no CAP. The B-29s will target the oil tomorrow.

Aug. 8/44:

Following the fall of Maloelap, Japanese bombers target damaged Allied shipping in port. Expecting that Allied carriers had withdrawn and no base force had landed initially there would be no CAP, the bombers were unescorted. However, Allied aviation support was air transported in and VMF-321/A with six Corsairs was waiting. Reported losses were 17 Frances bombers. AAR follows:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Maloelap , at 136,117

Weather in hex: Clear sky

Raid spotted at 13 NM, estimated altitude 14,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 3 minutes

Japanese aircraft
P1Y2 Frances x 30

Allied aircraft
F4U-1 Corsair x 6

Japanese aircraft losses
P1Y2 Frances: 7 destroyed, 1 damaged

No Allied losses

Port hits 2

Aircraft Attacking:
17 x P1Y2 Frances bombing from 10000 feet
Port Attack: 2 x 250 kg SAP Bomb, 4 x 60 kg GP Bomb

CAP engaged:
VMF-321 /A with F4U-1 Corsair (1 airborne, 2 on standby, 3 scrambling)
1 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 10000
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 28 minutes

At Boela three P-38 sweeps precede the first B-29 attacks of the war and encounter no CAP during the raid against the oil facilities. Four oil hits from 17 B-29s leave the oil facilities at Boela at 2(24) damage.

In an effort to help my submarines out in the Pacific, the airbase at Woleai is being suppressed to prevent air ASW patrols. P-38s and B24s target the base whenever weather allows.

Aug. 9/44:

Bathurst Island is targeted by Allied air almost daily. Japanese 3rd South Seas Garrison and 27th Special Base Force are defending. I've been committing A-20G Havocs, Mitchell IIs and Boomerang C-12s. Air units are gaining good experience against this target.

Aug. 10/44:

Since we are playing stock and Erik has shown no desire to upgrade the data base, I face the Super Es in this game. Frankly as a result of Japanese air ASW and these Super Es I don't employ my submarines offensively whatsoever. This aspect of the game is being completely ruined and unfortunately is a part of the game that I enjoy the most. I've had large numbers of submarines operating along the New Guinea coast, but they will be withdrawn now that Erik has committed Super Es to the theatre. Here's why. AARs follow:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Submarine attack near Sarmi at 91,113

Japanese Ships
E No.30
E No.25

Allied Ships
SS Pargo, hits 17, and is sunk

SS Pargo is sighted by escort
Pargo diving deep ....
E No.30 attacking submerged sub ....
SS Pargo forced to surface!
E No.30 firing on surfaced sub ....
E No.25 firing on surfaced sub ....
E No.30 firing on surfaced sub ....
E No.25 firing on surfaced sub ....
E No.30 firing on surfaced sub ....
E No.25 firing on surfaced sub ....
Sub slips beneath the waves

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sub attack near Sarmi at 91,113

Japanese Ships
E No.25
E No.30

Allied Ships
SS Trout, hits 6

SS Trout launches 6 torpedoes at E No.25
Trout diving deep ....
E No.30 fails to find sub, continues to search...
E No.30 fails to find sub, continues to search...
E No.30 fails to find sub, continues to search...
E No.30 attacking submerged sub ....
E No.30 fails to find sub, continues to search...
Escort abandons search for sub

Ridiculous. These boats as mentioned previously drop 12 DCs at a time and my submarines get hammered. How in good conscience Erik doesn't do the right thing and update the database to remove this obvious advantage I don't know. Essentially, in stock the ASW assets of Japan are so overpowered that it's suicide to deploy my submarines forward. If I set deep patrols, they are severely damaged by air or sunk outright by Super Es almost immediately. Oh well, the pleasure of sinking your opponent's submarines overrides the fact it is totally unfair and updating the database would restore these ships capabilities as intended by the developers.

The previous two turns, I actually tried two full speed runs by three DDs to intercept the Japanese ASW task forces now patrolling off the coast of New Guinea. I did not get any interceptions. So I am trying to counter the Super Es as best I can, but it's just one more thing that gives Japan an unfair advantage in this game.

[Lowpe]

Change the threat tolerance of your subs to Low; then they will try and avoid the E boats rather than attack them. Also dependent upon the skippers aggression level too.

Most players pick super high aggression, and that simply leads to wasted torpedo shots and sunk subs.

[SqzMyLemon]

ORIGINAL: Lowpe

Change the threat tolerance of your subs to Low; then they will try and avoid the E boats rather than attack them. Also dependent upon the skippers aggression level too.

Most players pick super high aggression, and that simply leads to wasted torpedo shots and sunk subs.

I'll try. Right now most of my skippers are high naval and aggression, but those are pre-assigned, especially the newer boats. I get having to change tactics and jump through the hoops to minimize the Super Es, but in all honesty, Erik should upgrade the database. I shouldn't be facing these Super Es in the first place.

[Canoerebel]

The U.S. Navy new that aerial torpedoes wouldn't work at Pearl Harbor. Oops, they did. They had to adjust.

You're facing something you didn't expect to face. Can you adjust? If not, you ought to be removed from command.

We "kick against the goads" when we encounter things that "shouldn't be," but in some ways that's part of the fun of the game. It isn't entirely predictable and players do have to adjust.

Most Allied players have been through what you're going through. For instance, Bullwinkle made adjustments. You might want to sniff out some of his thoughts.