PaxMondo wrote: Sun Apr 26, 2026 1:28 pm
Mike Solli wrote: Thu Apr 23, 2026 5:32 pm
sfatula wrote: Thu Apr 23, 2026 5:00 pm
The only good news about B17s is their service rating is much worse than the Nicks. But he has a lot too, so, can afford to have a bunch not ready at any given time. It's going to be hard to get over that hump.
The problem with being on defense is that you need to CAP critical bases every day. As the attacker, he has all the chips. He can rest whenever he wants to rest. I pull out units to rest by flying them to Truk.
The power of having the initiative cannot be overstated. Having it and wielding it effectively are key elements of the game.
Ted has wrested a portion of the initiative from you with respect to his 4E's and the airwar. Far too early for him to be allowed to do so. I think you need to shake things up a bit and get control again. He knows that you are a conservative planner with respect to your airforce and economy, I think he is using that against you (effectively).
Ideas:
- You may wish to consider spending a few 100,000 supply and ramp up either Nick or George so that you have ~300 of them within the next 60 days.
- Deep raid on his 4E air bases with the KB + BB's, kill them on the ground.
- Use a string of DD's shuttling against his 4E air bases and use the KB as an air shield / hammer if he responds with an SCTF against them.
I think you gotta do something not ordinarily Mike to shake him up. He's outplaying you, not the game, right now.
Yes, initiative is most definitely true and I have been reacting. I'm over 3 weeks behind on this AAR, just so you know. A LOT has happened. First, let me discuss your ideas.
The George is still in R&D. Of the 18 factories, one reached 30 just 2 days ago and the next day, the Ha-45 pool exceeded 500 (currently at 515 and increasing ~15 a day). The remaining 17 factories average 19.2 with a the top 4 at 29, 28 and 26x2 and the remainder at 23, 21, 20, 19x3, 18, 17, 16x3, 15 and 8. The N1K1-J is still showing 7/43 to become operational. No idea what the final date will be, but the engines will accelerate it a LOT. The Ha-45 engine factories are currently at 490(80). One is finished at 120, one is at 82(8) and the last 4 are at 72(18). When finished in 18 days, they'll pump out 19 engines a day. That should be plenty to cover the George 1 & 2 R&D along with the Frank and Grace.
Raiding his 4E bases: I did some research on where his bombers were coming from and was able to determine whether they were coming at normal or extended range. It turns out his 4E bombers are most likely coming from Pt. Moresby. There could be some stationed at Milne Bay as well. I know that both of those bases have mines, so I'm reluctant to send in ships to bombard. I'll have to think about that.
I need to think about how to go about hitting the bombers on the ground. He has well over 100 fighters in that area. I keep whittling them down but he seems to have an endless supply of planes.
I just spent some time looking at US Army 4E, 2E and fighter replacement aircraft. (I'm not considering all the aircraft that arrive as reinforcements.)
Fighters:
P40E (35/month) phases out at the end of 10/42, so 35 more replacements. I see a few in Burma and a few in PNG. As of 28 Sep 42, 462 have been lost from all causes. So far, he's gotten 350 replacements plus 353 reinforcements for a total of 703-462=241 +35 in October for 276 available. Still a lot of them. I wonder if he's using some for training because I don't see many of them. The P40K is just coming online to replace them.
P40K (65/month) (just saw them for the first time ~27 Sep) until 7/43. They're not much better than the P40E but there are a lot of them. He'll get 725 over the course of 11 months. Interestingly, he gets no reinforcement squadrons with them, so that 725 is a hard number.
P38 series - He gets a smattering of 3 different varieties totaling 104 through 9/42 with an additional 160 between 10/42 and 5/43. I find that they don't really do that well. They do extend fighter coverage to the bombers though. There never seem to be large enough numbers to really make a difference. So far 24 have been lost leaving 80 available right now.
2E Bombers:
B25C (20/month), 8/42-1/43 + 49 reinforcements. 89 through 9/42 with 30 losses leaving 59 aircraft with 80 replacements over the next 4 months.
B26 series (15/month), B26 delivers 3/42-5/42 and the B26B delivers 5/42-6/42 for a total of 75 and 6 replacement aircraft with 51 losses so far. That leaves 30 remaining aircraft. They're almost gone.
The 2E bombers just can't survive without serious fighter cover. I catch them over and over and chew them up. I'm not worried about them.
4E Bombers:
B17E (15/month), delivered 1/42-6/42 with 90 replacement aircraft, 77 reinforcement aircraft and 45 starting the game for a total of 212. With 62 destroyed to date, there are 150 remaining.
B17F (24/month), delivered 8/42-9/42 for a total of 48 bombers. Only 2 have been destroyed so far, but they haven't com across much resistance where they are (Luganville or its environs).
B24D (15/month), delivered 7/42-1/43 with a total of 45 delivered so far and 40 reinforcement aircraft for a total of 85. Seven have been destroyed leaving 78 remaining.
So all that blather tells me some important info. There are some 275 4E bombers remaining (a lot!) but the replacements for the next few months is only 15 per month. And that's assuming all are in operational unit and none in training units.
Things look better with the 2E bombers. There are about 90 remaining with 80 reinforcements through 1/43.
So, if I can kill over 15 heavies and 20 mediums, I'll cut into that force. I'm going to keep track starting next month.
They managed to shoot down 2 escorting Wildcats, and didn't lose any of their number. They probably damaged a lot of bombers but none were shot down. Gasmata's airfield is out of business for a while. 
