Matrix Games Forums

ORIGINAL: Historiker

This game is sooo far off reality!!!111oneoneone

ok, just kidding. [;)]

In several test runs in preparation of my starting PBEM, I never managed to sink a single BB in PH and my bombers from Formosa didn't hit more than two or three ships in Manila.

Knowing the game, I guess that I do something wrong. What are the best settings for the strike on PH?
Which units and which settings are preferable for a first day strike on the harbour of Manila?

ORIGINAL: LoBaron

In our PBEM Mike attacked Manila on dec7.
With hindsight I think I will trade the couple of S boats for patrol planes and intact
battlewagons to cover large resupply/amphib ops any time. Neccesarily thats if a PH raid succeeds
in killing some, but without that assumption an attack wouldn´t make sense anyway.

I ran a couple of PH strike tests some months ago (I think 5 attacks total).
The two worst attacks did not sink anything larger than an AVD, the best attack killed
2 BB instantly and a left two others in critical/sinking condition. Not enough testruns to
make statistics with, but I think it covered pretty much the whole spectrum.

ORIGINAL: Walloc
Lobaron, did u do those tests from the non historic first turn?
If so u might be interrested in post 1901-1905ish in following thread.
tm.asp?m=1637444&mpage=64&key=

One obviously does the non historic first turn for a reason that disqualifies ones interest in doing non historical vs historical first turn.
Non the less if one is intend on doing PH its some to consider. Disclaimer is that its been over a year ago i / others made those tests and stuff could have changed but i dont think so.

Kind regards,

Rasmus

ORIGINAL: LoBaron

Do I understand this correctly? If you set historical first turn "on" the losses are higher than
using the exactly same settings and historic "off", both with 7th dec surprise?
Weird. Has there been a conclusive explanation for this?

First thing that come to mind is weather/DL/pilot fatigue which might deviate with different settings.

ORIGINAL: TheLoneGunman

I've found a few things out playing around with PH strikes.

To maximize the number of dive bombers and torpedo bombers that participate in your first day strike, you need to do a few things:

1. Take any Zeroes that are set to airfield attack or port attack and set them to escort or sweep. When they fly in a bombing role you won't get a full strike package of other bombers for one reason or another. If you insist on having a portion of your Zeroes participate in attacking aircraft on the ground and shipping, you can set them to sweep at 100 feet. They won't be carrying bombs, but they'll use their cannons on enemy aircraft on the ground as well as some smaller ships in the port (they will also be much more vulnerable to AA fire in this role).

Edit: I meant to also say that having the Zeroes sweep at 100 feet will not reduce the number of other bombers in the sortie, unlike having them on airfield attack or port attack.

2. Reduce Naval Search of all your dive bombers and torpedo bombers to 0%. You don't need naval search on Day 1, you need bombers with bombs to take advantage of the element of surprise (you won't get that Day 1 bonus ever again) and besides, the Kido Butai has plenty of float planes to make up the difference. (Also higher than normal CAP at Pearl can cause many Naval Search aircraft to be shot down over Pearl, I prefer to limit the range of all naval search to within a hex of Pearl to prevent these first day losses.)

3. Set all of your torpedo bombers to port attack. Those Kates will do far more damage to the Pacific Fleet with their larger bombs and torps than your Vals will, so you want as many as you can hitting the fleet.

4. Optional: Set your dive bombers to airfield attack. The argument is that the 250kg bombs carried by the Vals will be absorbed by the armor of the American Battlewagons, so they're put to better use cratering the airfield and destroying Allied planes on the ground. An alternative option is to set all of your Vals to Port Attack as well to try and maximize the amount of damage you plan on inflicting to the fleet on Day 1. I'd only consider the latter option if you plan no second day follow-up attack, since you'll have left Pearl's air power virtually untouched.

For your Dec. 7th attack, I've noticed that your Zeroes will come in with your bombers regardless of being set to Escort or Sweep (including sweeping at 100 feet).

Hope this helps.

ORIGINAL: Icedawg

Thanks for the recommendation regarding Zeroes. In the past I've used some on airfield attack missions and always wondered why it seemed as though there weren't many Kates attacking the BBs. From now on, only sweep and escort missions.

Quick question on the Kates - what altitude setting is optimal for their port attack mission. I usually use 9k, but was wondering if it is worth it to drop their altitude down a bit to get some more 800 kg bomb hits. Any ideas here?