SoPac: John commits a capital ship (CB Ikoma) to a bombardment run at Luganville. She hangs up there and undergoes repeated attacks by LBA and a small CVE TF...but ends up taking modest damage (seven 1,000-pound bombs).
This was an extravagant use of this asset. Even had the bombardment accomplished everything possible, this remote area means nothing at this point in the game.
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"Rats set fire to Mr. Cooper’s store in Fort Valley. No damage done." Columbus (Ga) Enquirer-Sun, October 2, 1880.
DEI: John employed a nice hammer and anvil attack at Miri. The plan called for a CL/DD TF to "flush" Allied shipping into range of Mini KB, posted just offshore. The plan nearly backfired on John badly.
The surface engagements were a draw: I lost a DD an John probably will too. But Mini KB drew a Helldiver strike from Balabac Island. The escorts (good P-47s and P-51s) were nearly equal in number to the CAP of Sams and Zero 8s. But the escorts simplty got eaten alive (the P-47 squadron was nearly wiped out!). Two Helldivers dropped on carriers but missed.
This was a noisy conflict without much actual damage....but now Mini KB is out of position, I think. She's at least two days from Formosa, where she probably needs to be.
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"Rats set fire to Mr. Cooper’s store in Fort Valley. No damage done." Columbus (Ga) Enquirer-Sun, October 2, 1880.
All of that noise and light in other theaters are but side shows. The heart of the matter is Fun House and Peep Show.
Fun House: Allied forces are advancing in good order in Luzon. I think (but I'm still testing the theory) that Manila is open to Allied shipping, even with Bataan in enemy hands. The only other item of real consequence now is the taking of Aparri. This base has a level seven airfield that will be critical in the Formosa campaign. 93rd Div. is probably four or five days out, and should be sufficient to wrest the base from an enemy brigade.
Peep Show: Death Star is taking part in a little op to take some small enemy islands while perhaps misleading John into thinking this is a real threat. I'd like to draw a full scale enemy air attack now, while I don't have valuable troops and transports at risk, as sort of a test case. Death Star does draw a strike by about 110 Jills that get chewed alive. This gives John a very good look at my CAP. He can now make his own deductions as to whether he can put together an attack...and whether things are desperate enough to chance it.
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"Rats set fire to Mr. Cooper’s store in Fort Valley. No damage done." Columbus (Ga) Enquirer-Sun, October 2, 1880.
Curiouser & curiouser....John is still committing serious resources to areas of the map which are now almost entirely irrelevant to the defense of the Home Islands.
Never Underestimate the Power of a Small Tactical Nuclear Weapon...
The N1K1 Rex shown on the aircraft loss screen. I didn't catch any combat with that plane and don't know what it is. Fighter? Bomber? Recon? Is it to be respected? Feared? Worshiped? Dismissed?
"Rats set fire to Mr. Cooper’s store in Fort Valley. No damage done." Columbus (Ga) Enquirer-Sun, October 2, 1880.
The N1K1 Rex shown on the aircraft loss screen. I didn't catch any combat with that plane and don't know what it is. Fighter? Bomber? Recon? Is it to be respected? Feared? Worshiped? Dismissed?
Amazing plane loss screen...there is obviously a lot more going on than I thought. Is there night bombing going on? Did I miss that?
Tough attack on the Mini KB...I don't know what you where thinking in using Jugs that way though.[:-] If I were an AFB, using Jugs to escort would only be with high altitude approaches with torpedo bombers.[;)]
Rex: It is the George with Floats. To me it is a great plane, and a step up from the Rufe. I believe Japan is fairly limited to the number of squadrons that can fly it...but it is a good little fighter - very flexible. You can stuff them on the CS and provide a healthy amount of low CAP. You can fly them into dot bases and catch recon/transports. you can use them as deep port protection. It is a niche plane, and really nothing to be feared too much if at all.
I haven't used night bombing and don't plan to until I give John plenty of notice. There's a chance I won't use it, though if things get really tight in the air war over the Home Islands, then I probably will.
The attack on Mini KB was a cobbled together plan using the best planes I could, on the off-chance that John's carriers might move in such a way to allow one. I had room on Balabac for two fighter squadrons and a big Hellcat squadrons, so I used very good land-based fighters as escort. I knew that Hellcats get destroyed in escort missions, but I'd never tried these models in the escort role before.
Bear in mind, this is my first game past early 1943 since about 2009. Not to mention all the mod and upgrade impacts. I'm confident in how I'm handling the Big Picture, but I'm sure I'm making all kinds of mistakes Little Picture.
"Rats set fire to Mr. Cooper’s store in Fort Valley. No damage done." Columbus (Ga) Enquirer-Sun, October 2, 1880.
I know that you are a bit set on not using night bombing. But be aware that in March 1945 you will start getting the B-29B which only has two tail guns. It was intended to be a night bomber.
Bill, thanks for the tip. That makes a big difference. I'll probably go ahead and send John a note to this effect: "The B-29B comes online in March 1945 and was configured for night bombing. I'll probably use it in its historic role. I may begin night bombing in some capacity in the not-too-distant future. If we discover that it is unbalanced - that even good defenses aren't effective against it, such that it has an unrealistic impact on the game, we'll discuss it. My intent is to have a realistic night bombing aspect to the game, not something that is out of proportion to its actual impact."
Or something to that effect.
"Rats set fire to Mr. Cooper’s store in Fort Valley. No damage done." Columbus (Ga) Enquirer-Sun, October 2, 1880.
The attack on Mini KB was a cobbled together plan using the best planes I could, on the off-chance that John's carriers might move in such a way to allow one. Picture.
I didn't think you did that...everything seems so well orchestrated!
Had no idea you have no late game experience...it doesn't show at all.
I know, but this is a special case. During the Sumatra campaign, I squawked when John started night bombing Sabang. My concern was the many forum reports that night bombing was nerfed (this was in 2013). I told John that I'd be glad to forego night bombing until deep in the game if he reciprocated or that I'd use it immediately if he did. He elected to abstain, so there's been no night bombing by either side since then.
So it's a special case that I have to handle accordingly.
I'm not sure night bombing is or was nerfed, but that was the scuttlebutt back in the day.
*Edited to add: I also said I'd want to use it historically in the late game, putting it in such a way that I think it's necessary to give him a head's up.
"Rats set fire to Mr. Cooper’s store in Fort Valley. No damage done." Columbus (Ga) Enquirer-Sun, October 2, 1880.
Night bombing is a wonderful game within a game aspect of WITPAE.
I would recommend you broach the subject immediately.
Why?
Japan has 21 squadrons eligible for night fighter duty. Less, if they don't pursue some of the strange upgrade paths.
If Japan has neglected preparing for night bombing because of the earlier discussion...well then it would take months and months to prepare if it was possible to prepare at all.[:(]
Night bombing, and it's opposite, Night CAP have definite learning curves.
Bill, thanks for the tip. That makes a big difference. I'll probably go ahead and send John a note to this effect: "The B-29B comes online in March 1945 and was configured for night bombing. I'll probably use it in its historic role. I may begin night bombing in some capacity in the not-too-distant future. If we discover that it is unbalanced - that even good defenses aren't effective against it, such that it has an unrealistic impact on the game, we'll discuss it. My intent is to have a realistic night bombing aspect to the game, not something that is out of proportion to its actual impact."
Or something to that effect.
Well, the problem is that the Allies went to night bombing after having given up on pinpoint strategic daylight bombing due to its lack of effectiveness. They went with low level saturation fire bombing instead. If you are bombing industry and factories at night then there is really little historical basis for it and it may be out of line with the simulation. Fire bombing is another story. We pretty much have banned major night bombing in my game as it just has too many issues. That late model B29 has no defensive armament and I thought it would be an issue. But by that time air superiority was so complete that it did not matter. Plus they carry a massive bomb load as compensation. In your position now, it will be easy enough to have fighters in escort range soon enough. A good Allied player is going to pound Japan with or without night bombing.
John got called into work, so only had time to send the combat movie (I won't run that til later) and Combat Report. I have reviewed the latter. It includes an unexpected carrier clash in SoPac, which is worth discussing in detail. This was a one-sided battle, with the Japanese carrier force overwhelming the Allied force (the small strike by the latter didn't get through). Here are the excerpts from the Combat Report:
Morning Air attack on TF, near Efate at 119,154
Weather in hex: Clear sky
Raid detected at 79 NM, estimated altitude 13,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 20 minutes
Japanese aircraft
A6M8 Zero x 18
A7M2 Sam x 51
B6N2 Jill x 44
D4Y1 Judy x 11
D4Y2 Judy x 15
D4Y3 Judy x 23
Allied aircraft
FM-1 Wildcat x 19
FM-2 Wildcat x 10
Japanese aircraft losses
B6N2 Jill: 6 damaged
B6N2 Jill: 1 destroyed by flak
D4Y1 Judy: 1 damaged
D4Y1 Judy: 1 destroyed by flak
D4Y2 Judy: 3 damaged
