Matrix Games Forums

Score - July 31, 1944
3 weeks since the last update.

Allied VPs: +2867
Japan VPs: +1078
Ratio: 1.037:1 against, change of +.034

Aside from Rangoon, we haven't really taken any major VP bases yet. Also apparently not a great month for my planes, even though it doesn't feel that bad. I guess it's the loss of the 2Es swinging things his direction a little bit here.

Allied a/c: 679 points lost
Japan a/c: 589 points lost

He did lose 830 army points, though. The bulk of this is in Burma/Thailand, but maybe 100-200 in the Marshalls and his starving units on New Guinea.

Whistle while you work... err, sneak? Yes, that's it. Whistle while you sneak. Got a few stragglers not captured here, and a few out in front.

Operations are underway, and it looks pretty but won't post it until landings have begun. Got a question, though.

Here's some Beaufighter units at Ledo, and I wanted them to bomb Chengtu's airfield. Check out the unit settings, and then look at what they actually did during the turn. I've got 3 units and their strikes splintered/arrived separately, but they were all like this:

Morning Air attack on Chengtu , at 75,41

Weather in hex: Thunderstorms

Raid detected at 19 NM, estimated altitude 13,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 5 minutes

Allied aircraft
Beaufighter TF.X x 17

No Allied losses

Aircraft Attacking:
17 x Beaufighter TF.X sweeping at 9000 feet *

Anyone know what gives? Or are Beaufighters with DTs just busted? I don't think this is the first time I've had funny behavior with them. Here's what I thought would happen:

- "Using Torpedoes" is red, as there are none available, so they'll fly with bombs.

- Regardless of that setting, they're flying beyond normal range, so no torpedoes anyway. They'll carry bombs.

- 2x 250 lb bombs are listed in addition to the drop tank under reduced load, so they should carry the bombs as well as the DT...


Obviously at this stage, Ledo is AF 9.

It looks like your guys took off with the default load that included zero bombs rather than the reduced load that would have included the 2 x 250lb bombs. I think you need to switch from using torpedoes to using bombs to get the reduced load. The using torpedoes in red indicates an attempt to load torpedoes instead of specific instructions to use bombs.

Ok. Very curious to see where all of those amphibs are heading!!

About the Beaufighters, not sure. I have had issues with various planes in this way when DT and bombs are supposed to be used. You may as well try switching to load bombs and see, then post in tech if that doesn't work.

ORIGINAL: poodlebrain

It looks like your guys took off with the default load that included zero bombs rather than the reduced load that would have included the 2 x 250lb bombs. I think you need to switch from using torpedoes to using bombs to get the reduced load. The using torpedoes in red indicates an attempt to load torpedoes instead of specific instructions to use bombs.

Except that they were flying at extended range, meaning no normal load! I think you're probably right, but if so that's an error in the code. It shouldn't even be attempting to fly with torpedoes because:

1) Extended range, which uses reduced load, which is bombs
2) Airfield attack mission, which switches them to bombs. Torpedoes are always red for airfield attack, aren't they?

ORIGINAL: obvert

Ok. Very curious to see where all of those amphibs are heading!!

About the Beaufighters, not sure. I have had issues with various planes in this way when DT and bombs are supposed to be used. You may as well try switching to load bombs and see, then post in tech if that doesn't work.

It's not a big deal, really. I forgot to change for this upcoming turn. Got distracted/pulled away a lot.

About the amphibs... it turns out that a certain TF of mine that I wasn't sure was going to be in time just might be there for D-day or maybe D+1 and at latest D+2. Depends on fuel.

I think the cat may be out of the bag, or at least there might be enemy awareness that there even could be a bag in the target theater. I have loaded Tracker, and per email comments, I know he saw something. DL 1/0 on a smaller TF due to Japanese SIGINT. 12 hexes from the target beach. Otherwise he sees nothing.

Talk about unlucky as all get out. Without that stupid SIGINT, he'd have no warning from 12 hexes... meaning I was going to move to somewhere between 6 and 8 hexes next turn. 8 hexes is single turn unloading distance for the bigger faster ships, and 6 hexes is LST full speed move. I was probably going to go for it and move the LSTs at full for 2 days. So he gets an entire extra day of warning, whereas before he would've had just a single day and I would've had a chance to bombard one of his two airfields in decent range of the beach before any planes could even take off.

Blah. I feel like Sqz right now.

Honshu?[X(] Honshu now, with everything Japan has far forward. Marcus and Wake after to protect the supply line.

ORIGINAL: Lowpe

Honshu?[X(] Honshu now, with everything Japan has far forward. Marcus and Wake after to protect the supply line.

I'm not going to lie... I really, really thought about it about 6 months ago when I started moving assets. I think I could've done it, but the margin for error was just too small. I think I could've invaded the Sendai area with about 8 divisions on day 1... but I don't think I could've sustained it. Too many huge air groups presumed to be in the home islands. On the other hand, y'all saw how close in my Fletchers got a couple of months ago...

Also have to admit that thoughts of Honshu were driven by the "Eff this, I'm just going to throw all my pieces at the walls and when they die I'mma quit" that bubbled up from combinations of flaws in the game engine (stratosphere-to-wavetop teleporting torpedo attacks, kamikazes active during a New Guinea campaign, etc.), poor play on my part at times, and honestly really crappy luck on a few occasions.



With the move that's coming, a Home Islands invasion is not off the table for this game, but we'll see. I wouldn't want to attempt that until sometime in 1945 for various reasons: need for more shipping to get as much ashore as possible, need for more CVs because there are just too many air cover jobs to do when playing against 3x the historical size of the Japanese air force, and need for deeper aircraft pools. I'm really looking to take advantage of the AGC/HQm bonus with the TFs I pictured a few posts ago - only 2 of those TFs with divisions on them have APAs/LSIs. The rest are on a handful of APs/AKs, a couple of AKAs, about 4 dozen LSTs, and then about 100 xAPs. If the AGC/HQm bonus makes the xAPs unload at even the rate of APs (600 instead of 250 per day), then I should be golden.

ORIGINAL: Lokasenna

I think the cat may be out of the bag, or at least there might be enemy awareness that there even could be a bag in the target theater. I have loaded Tracker, and per email comments, I know he saw something. DL 1/0 on a smaller TF due to Japanese SIGINT. 12 hexes from the target beach. Otherwise he sees nothing.

Talk about unlucky as all get out. Without that stupid SIGINT, he'd have no warning from 12 hexes... meaning I was going to move to somewhere between 6 and 8 hexes next turn. 8 hexes is single turn unloading distance for the bigger faster ships, and 6 hexes is LST full speed move. I was probably going to go for it and move the LSTs at full for 2 days. So he gets an entire extra day of warning, whereas before he would've had just a single day and I would've had a chance to bombard one of his two airfields in decent range of the beach before any planes could even take off.

Blah. I feel like Sqz right now.

Well, maybe. He has to use that info, and he may just think it's a sub and not do anything. This close to wherever just make sure you cover your ass and don't worry about what he's doing until you know he knows something is up.

ORIGINAL: Lokasenna

ORIGINAL: Lowpe

Honshu?[X(] Honshu now, with everything Japan has far forward. Marcus and Wake after to protect the supply line.

I'm not going to lie... I really, really thought about it about 6 months ago when I started moving assets. I think I could've done it, but the margin for error was just too small. I think I could've invaded the Sendai area with about 8 divisions on day 1... but I don't think I could've sustained it. Too many huge air groups presumed to be in the home islands. On the other hand, y'all saw how close in my Fletchers got a couple of months ago...

Also have to admit that thoughts of Honshu were driven by the "Eff this, I'm just going to throw all my pieces at the walls and when they die I'mma quit" that bubbled up from combinations of flaws in the game engine (stratosphere-to-wavetop teleporting torpedo attacks, kamikazes active during a New Guinea campaign, etc.), poor play on my part at times, and honestly really crappy luck on a few occasions.



With the move that's coming, a Home Islands invasion is not off the table for this game, but we'll see. I wouldn't want to attempt that until sometime in 1945 for various reasons: need for more shipping to get as much ashore as possible, need for more CVs because there are just too many air cover jobs to do when playing against 3x the historical size of the Japanese air force, and need for deeper aircraft pools. I'm really looking to take advantage of the AGC/HQm bonus with the TFs I pictured a few posts ago - only 2 of those TFs with divisions on them have APAs/LSIs. The rest are on a handful of APs/AKs, a couple of AKAs, about 4 dozen LSTs, and then about 100 xAPs. If the AGC/HQm bonus makes the xAPs unload at even the rate of APs (600 instead of 250 per day), then I should be golden.

I thought you might have been thinking that, for about those reasons.

There is a downside to having a huge air force for Japan.

ORIGINAL: obvert

ORIGINAL: Lokasenna

I think the cat may be out of the bag, or at least there might be enemy awareness that there even could be a bag in the target theater. I have loaded Tracker, and per email comments, I know he saw something. DL 1/0 on a smaller TF due to Japanese SIGINT. 12 hexes from the target beach. Otherwise he sees nothing.

Talk about unlucky as all get out. Without that stupid SIGINT, he'd have no warning from 12 hexes... meaning I was going to move to somewhere between 6 and 8 hexes next turn. 8 hexes is single turn unloading distance for the bigger faster ships, and 6 hexes is LST full speed move. I was probably going to go for it and move the LSTs at full for 2 days. So he gets an entire extra day of warning, whereas before he would've had just a single day and I would've had a chance to bombard one of his two airfields in decent range of the beach before any planes could even take off.

Blah. I feel like Sqz right now.

Well, maybe. He has to use that info, and he may just think it's a sub and not do anything. This close to wherever just make sure you cover your ass and don't worry about what he's doing until you know he knows something is up.

In my experience, seeing a TF via radio really gives you some kind of ship indication on type (or else nothing), and to my knowledge if a sub TF is detected at all it shows up as a sub. So he at least knows it's a surface ship.

It occurs to me that it's possible that he got radio signals in China, where I'm sneaking around, but that's impossible for me to know since the game doesn't give you DL on ground units. I know he sees this TF, so either he got 2 amazing SIGINT hits in one turn or he's referring to this one.


I've decided I have to go in anyway. His reaction will be his reaction. There are a few things I can do to try to mitigate the early detection (such as trying to damage search planes on the ground, before they can fly) though they may not work. Forgot to load the in-progress turn to my flash drive so won't be able to continue until I get home.

ORIGINAL: Lowpe

There is a downside to having a huge air force for Japan.

There is, although it's quite a bit less if drawing planes from an air HQ's base instead of the unit's own base doesn't actually use supplies. I still haven't checked that out. I should probably do so at some point, although it's probably too late for any bugfix for that to really affect this game.

PS - took out 75 or so points of Oil in this last turn.

Off Biak - July 31, 1944

Fletchers do their job stiff-arming the IJN away from the transports unloading supplies at Biak/Noemfoor/Manokwari, although normally we don't lose a couple like this. Various PTs engage and eventually DD Kazegumo has heavy fires. In the very first PT action of the day, the first torpedo launched hit one of the BBs but was a dud. Kazegumo is later sunk by another Fletcher TF, and 5 PTs are lost in total.

Down at Kaimana (which I always typo as Kaiaman somehow) on the south side of the big island, some torpedo planes are getting through and damaging my transports unloading the engineer unit fragments that didn't make it on the barges. Some little stings in the VP department but nothing major. Any impact is felt more in the sense that nearly all of my AP-type ships are nowhere near here right now - every little xAP lost between Darwin, Biak, and Rabaul means I consolidate my positions that much slower because more ships are not heading to this theater at the moment. Between the 2 Fletchers, 5 PTs, and 2 xAPs 38 ship VPs are lost. We did shoot down 15ish Frances, 30ish Judy, and 20ish Tony, though.

Outside Pisanuloke - July 31, 1944

Look at all the tanks!

My poor Chinese. These 2 were actually pretty decent units when they got here. Now they'll have to rebuild during the long slog across SE Asia. On the plus side, they've got plenty of support. You can also see that I'm not actually having trouble supplying the units down here (well, after they got smushed by the tanks), even though the bases are in the red.

27th Group Army was left behind in the retreat. Oops.

Every day I'm shuffling...

I remind myself in my notes every day to do "SY shuffles", and at which shipyards. Here's an example of what I mean.

-- New Jersey is at 97% towards a point of damage being repaired, so I'm going to drop her into the shipyard on this day.
-- Unfortunately, the yard is only size 80 and doesn't have space for her and Maryland, so I'll have to bring Maryland out.
-- On the plus side, having Maryland at Pier Side keeps her at 95% repair points because none of her damage can be repaired at the pier, so I know I'll get a point of damage repaired on Maryland tomorrow.
-- Unlike with California, which if I put into the shipyard probably wouldn't repair a point since she's only at 63%.
-- Since New Jersey only needs 20-some points to get the damage repaired, I can leave Fanshaw Bay in the shipyard as well.

Doing this can cut months off of the repair time for capital ships with just a few more minutes spent each turn. Typically, for the same level of damage, repairing at pier side is faster than in a shipyard for ships with really high repair densities. I'll post an example of the ideal for these sorts of repair shuffles in just a moment. Given that this shipyard was working on so much stuff, I wasn't able to get down to the magical 5/5 major float/engine damage that Port 7+ can fix at the pier before the system damage on Maryland/California was completely fixed, but it still cut a lot of time.

Shipyard shuffles, continued

A couple of things about this case. Since the yard is size 100 (not pictured in the screenshots) and only working on one other ship, the advantages of doing this are not immediately apparently in the repair estimates for BC Repulse herself. However, the advantages for total repairs are shown here, since White Plains remains in the shipyard the whole time.

When I load the July 31 turn, Repulse is at 99% repair points at pier side. This would result in 1 point of Sys being repaired, but I put her in the shipyard. Voila - a point of engine damage is repaired (since engine damage is at 2* float). On August 1, she's at 36% so she goes back to the pier. Since the port isn't working on much, she actually repairs almost a full point of damage and is at 13% the next day, so she stays at the pier. But then on August 3, she's up to 88% - high enough to get repaired in the shipyard no matter how much it's working on, and the major float goes down to 5 the next day.

Since the shipyard isn't working on much besides Repulse, the Shipyard-only repair estimates over time for Repulse are not actually decreasing faster than the days are passing, but look at what happens to the estimate for White Plains: it jumps up when Repulse is in the yard. Also, in about 18 more days at the most, Repulse will be down to the magical 5/5 float/engine damage threshold and be able to repair completely at the pier, so if the difference between pier and shipyard is still 30-something days, that's a savings of about 2 weeks.

This will actually become more difficult shortly, as some of the shuffled repairs will be "wasted" on repairing a point of major float instead of engine due to repair bands. Basically, I will need to do this 8 or 9 more times, not 6 as stated in the screenshot, because I will need to repair major float down to 3 (or perhaps even 2) in order to get the engine repaired down to 5.

This works best at large ports with a moderate to large amount of naval support, and it doesn't really matter the size of the shipyard. My instinct says the smaller the better (so long as it can fit the ship) because otherwise you risk the shipyard adding on too many repair points - taking you from 97% to 40%, for example, and then you put her on the pier and she stays there for more than a couple of days at numbers like 32%, 25%, 17%, 10%, 3%, then finally a 90-something... Instead of the ideal, which is 90-something percent at pier, put it in the shipyard and get a point knocked off and around 30-40% repair points, put it back to the pier and get up to 85-99% repair points, and so on. Apologies for the tall screenshot.

Big turn sent. 'Ere we go, 'ere we go, 'ere we go, 'ere we go...

Good luck.

I've got the replay and text file back. Nothing major occurring this turn. Tomorrow there might be fireworks. I may need to find some additional sacrificial lambs, as all of the ones this turn either hit mines or took a couple bombs. I did run into the mines on purpose.

I'd like to get caught up on the intervening 10-12 days first...