Lambs to the slaughter (Lowpe (J) vs Jocke; BillBrown (A)) Finished

[Lowpe]

India

[GetAssista]

ORIGINAL: Lowpe
Not sure how long I can keep shipping the oil out of Ledo, but it is nice to capture. Pity more troops didn't surrender.

I take it that you forgot to shut the door close for them? =) India road net is good and notorious for having supply routes going everywhere unless you block all paths with LCUs

ORIGINAL: Lowpe
Here you can notice an Oscar IIb strafing. My take on the effectiveness of pilot training: Strafing is the ability to suppress AA and or target AA and knock some out with guns/cannons. Low Ground is how accurate you are with the 250kg gp bombs.

I like to train IJA pilots in secondary Ground instead of Strafe because of those Oscars. In game them are actually comparable to bombers in punch per engine, even if in reality they lacked bombsight etc. Also fewer losses from AA this way.

[Alfred]

ORIGINAL: Lowpe

Not sure how long I can keep shipping the oil out of Ledo, but it is nice to capture. Pity more troops didn't surrender...

Pursue them at least one hex out of Ledo. Although the CR did not show a supply malus, nonetheless the very high percentage of destroyed as opposed to disabled devices, indicates those defeated units are currently in very poor shape and a couple of quick battles, before they have a chance to recover, could destroy many units.

Pursue them with little regard to the state of your own units. Time is of the essence here.

Alfred

[Lowpe]

Thanks Alfred, I am pursuing and bombing immediately. [&o] I think only a Chinese Corp has any combat value left from watching the replay.

[Lowpe]

ORIGINAL: GetAssista

ORIGINAL: Lowpe
Not sure how long I can keep shipping the oil out of Ledo, but it is nice to capture. Pity more troops didn't surrender.

I take it that you forgot to shut the door close for them? =) India road net is good and notorious for having supply routes going everywhere unless you block all paths with LCUs

Yep, left the backdoor open. My bad.[:-] I had plenty of time to close it.

[Lowpe]

Tail end of August, 1942

First attack at Sian. CR read weird, cutting AV in 1/2 for both sides with defender malus only for preparation. I don't think there is much supply here, I can strafe without any flak and there is 23 units here.

I read the report wrong, it was a 1-2, but it still looks really good to take the city in 2-3 weeks.

Another solid attack on the Kweiyang road, Chinese reinforced the other day so I need to wear down those troops before advancing on Kweiyang proper. Still, not long.

Sank a two point Dutch minelayer, capacity 75 mines, outside of Noumea by Iboat.[:)]

[Walker84]

Great coup at Ledo - makes my own efforts at attacking into India seem rather paltry. I agree with Alfred that it makes sense to pursue the retreating units and inflict more losses given that their replacement rates are so low.

[Lowpe]

Decision time shortly.[:)]

What to do with the last Oscar Ic squadron? Obviously, upgrading it to a size 30 Frank A squadron is hard to resist, but leaving them as a Oscar Ic squadron has almost no benefit that I can see. The Oscar Ic in the pool are simply a lost cost, I think.

I can use the Ic in China flying escort and LRCAP to use up the frames.

I can use it as a trainer until kamikazes are activated and use it as an extremely poor kamikaze.[:D]

I bite the bullet and upgrade it to the IIb and start bombing Chinese troops with it.

I can use it to fly very low CAP, as sacrificial lambs, to pull down the Lightnings (and Jugs and Corsairs eventually).

What would you do and why?

[Walker84]

It depends on what your other pools look like IMHO. I would probably use the Ic for a combo of training and 2nd line point defence but upgrade to the IIb when the pools have filled out enough. I can't remember if you are playing PDU off but in my game I am still backfilling the IIb sqns as there are so many that upgrade to that model before the Franks arrive.

[Lowpe]

PDU off. so if I upgrade then pretty much bye bye 170 planes. I am leaning toward very low CAP as bait for the Lightnings I think.

[Walker84]

OK, agree with that. PDU off certainly makes the decision tree more interesting and I've been pretty cautious in my first game as there's no going back if you do a reflexive upgrade[&:].

[Lokasenna]

Use it as second-tier training - after the 100% training in Escort in Japan (or wherever), shift the pilots into this unit and use them strafing the Chinese to increase their Defense skill, etc.

[Encircled]

Trainer. I'd have probably left more than one squadron to train to be honest.

You do get so many sqds that upgrade to the IIb

[Lowpe]

Allies sweep the star for the third straight day, and finally bomb it. They lose 1 bomber, flying at about 10K, and inflict 200 losses. Another AA unit joined there today so perhaps they will do better on the morrow.

You can see the Allies really flexing their muscles...the Allies have broken off one unit east of Dacca. I have something there, but cannot click on the troop to see what. Phantom? Anyhow, that unit is 8-9 hexes from the Magwe/Mandalay bombing runways and so can be heavily targeted.

I am thinking on trying to naval bombard Calcutta. Hit Diamond Harbor with battleships and by the air, and run some cruisers past to shell Calcutta? You think that would work. Would be a two day mission or more.

[Lowpe]

The 12th Division Amphibious Fleet.

When the unit rounds Ominato, it will be augmented by a few more PBs. I could have easily shipped these guys by transport, but I want to get a feel for how many xak-t I will need. The Invasion groups will have probably 50% more xak-t as you see here to speed unloading. Plus I will be doling out my AK-t, one for each invading division.

I also want to see the amount of disruption they incur on their ship transport.

Some troops are going to Pearl Harbor area, others to Alaska.

[Encircled]

Probably worth a go, but beware op points being used up.

If you can put a heavy LRCAP over the crusiers and use slightly more expendable ones (if such a thing exists, an expendable IJA Heavy Crusier!)

My experience of bombarding Calcutta that you need to be holding Diamond Harbour then you can bombard it every day. That really does make a difference.

[Lowpe]

ORIGINAL: Lokasenna

Use it as second-tier training - after the 100% training in Escort in Japan (or wherever), shift the pilots into this unit and use them strafing the Chinese to increase their Defense skill, etc.

Seems wasteful in supply ... but I will give it a go.[;)] We will see what 15kg gp bombs can do to Chinese troops in the open. We will see how fast they train up.

Inflicted almost 1000 losses on troop in Sian this turn due to bombing. On one hand, it is some of the most effective bombing I have done, on the other hand I rue the supply drain. I have 100 Oscar IIb strafing, 42 Oscar IIa bombing from 2000 feet plus Sonia, Sallies, Lilly and Ann.

Sonia's are decent planes in China against either moving troops, troops in the open, or airfields....In some respects I like them more than Ann (except for the range).

I converted all my Oscar IIa squadrons to IIb that can, but the large 1st Sentai will stay IIa for quite a while (till Frank A I recall), so they will bomb the Chinese till then at 2000 feet.

I upgraded and got my first armored Helen unit in Hankow a few days back. Will be sending them to Mandalay for action against the Commonwealth.

[fulcrum28]

Lowpe, how do you highlight the contour (borders) of the hexes (in green, or red) that contain ground units? is it done manually with paint?

[Lowpe]

ORIGINAL: Encircled

Probably worth a go, but beware op points being used up.

If you can put a heavy LRCAP over the crusiers and use slightly more expendable ones (if such a thing exists, an expendable IJA Heavy Crusier!)

My experience of bombarding Calcutta that you need to be holding Diamond Harbour then you can bombard it every day. That really does make a difference.

Thanks. I am going to prep a division for Diamond Harbor...and I think I am going to prep troops for Ceylon and see if I can get Jocke to divert some troops.

Here is hoping that Japanese bombers can inflict some damage today. [;)]

[Lowpe]

ORIGINAL: fulcrum28

Lowpe, how do you highlight the contour (borders) of the hexes (in green, or red) that contain ground units? is it done manually with paint?

"W" key. Very useful, and Michael will chide at me if I don't use it on my maps.[:D][:D]