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[No B. Fagan please]

Though I've been following various AAR's, I haven't gotten a good glimpse or understanding of "where you should be" as a Japanese economy and war machine by 1943. So I'm wondering-- what are your goals for Japanese production and economic numbers by 1943? 1944? What should your HI be? Your total aircraft production? There are numerous threads on understanding the Japanese economy, but what are the most realistic goals for the economy? Scenario 1 by the way...

And, are the numbers you see below way off in some way? The screenshot below is almost like an exam I am putting to the forum for a grade and most importantly, constructive criticism as Japanese War Machine student

and the overall Intel report

like some help? if you send me your turn & password ill give you some real feed back...advice both ways. scen 2 I guess?
imagesbyvon@hotmail.com

Tigercub

as soon as have 500 Engines in the pool RD gives a boost to research to all Air frames taking that engine...I am trying to do this myself to all the important ones!
Nakajima ha -35 has 12 Air frames that can get this bonus alone, happy to show my campaign
vehicles to about 140 -150

Tigercub

I am no real expert and I am sure real experts will give you exact numbers, but to me your engine pools seem bit shallow.

To have more than 500 engines in pool boosts your R&D on planetypes using that engine. Pools will also allow you to move from one plane type to new one more easily, since you can move engine factories to new type and under-produce older engine types for a while without any drop in plane production numbers and if you got any extra engines left in pool in 1944, they can esily be converted to kamikaze planes, with 1/2 the HI cost of building them from scratch.

Personally I would build pools with at least Ha-33, Ha-35 and Ha-45 (when it becomes available) as these cover most of the important plane models of endgame.

Vehicle numbers are bit low too. Perhaps expanding some vehicle factories? Not so sure about HI either, but I leave that to expert. I would spend those Naval Shipyard points though. No point leaving them in pool until the end.

Your total Oil and Fuel numbers concern me somewhat. How many days of Oil do you have left at full capacity? How long can you keep the HI churning out points? Screenshots of the Tracker WITP Chart, and the Oil & Res/Supply & Fuel tabs would be nice. Your Fuel total is probably low because of your extended operations around Noumea.

I agree that your engine production seems low, but if you are tight on HI (from being tight on oil/fuel) I'm not sure you should do anything about it at this point. Maybe, so you can ensure having engines once you start getting strat bombed?

Your supply level looks fine, but I want to see the trend in the Global tab of Tracker's information.

Your NavSY has a lot of points in the pool. What's your ship production look like? Do you really need 10k points?

Ok thanks, so so far: oil low, fuel low. Engines and vehicles way low. NavSY probably high, gonna check against needed production and adjust the surplus into engine production.

I am almost done getting Tracker working, I have a question posted on the tracker forum about which version of Java 6 is needed (mine says the registry is 1.7 and off from 1.6 etc).

What are some numbers for total aircraft/engine production you think are good? What is the target HI? I have not expanded.

The extended operations around Noumea definitely depleted my fuel significantly. I now have convoys rushing as much oil and fuel back to Japan as possible, while a few convoys are bringing fuel to Truk to gas up the fleet. There will be no more extended operations though-- from now on I am going to operate on "interior lines" and try to keep the fleet ready to strike, as opposed to sailing around constantly.

Tigercub- thank you. Just sent you the turn, and would love to see a successful Japanese economic turn if possible.

By the end of 42 my goals are these:

HI 1,000,000
Resources 10,000,000 (in the Home Islands)
Naval Shipyard points 0
Merchant Shipyard points 0
Vehicles 25k
Armaments 100k

Fuel is hard to gage, in my opinion is it depends where it is. You have been using it for Fleet operations which burns through it pretty quickly. Your oil does seem low, but that's a never ending spiral in my experience. Many damaged production facilities early?

I'd turn off your naval yards and use up that surplus. I also try to stockpile engines as others have suggested for the research bonus. You may find you run into trouble in late 43 being able to replace losses. Then again, if you've been conservative with your early aircraft and planning on ramping up once you are producing better fighters I get that. I believe in expanding early though so that my supply goes to fighting and repairing factories when I need it most in the later years, not trying to expand factories and build up pools when I'm fighting at the same time.

I notice you are producing only 180 Ha-34's yet need 272 per/month with your current airframe totals. It doesn't show your Ha-43 production, but I'd say your Ha-45 is way too low. You'll have a hard time upgrading units quickly to newer airframes with only 30/month. I'd get the Ha-43 and Ha-45 numbers up as quickly as possible. If you want to keep your 30(0) Ha-45 factory at R&D I'd switch over some other factories. For example I have 3x2 factories R&D'ing each engine. It really depends on your strategy though so you have to base the numbers of engines and aircraft on your play style. Play conservative and less aggressive, less aircraft and engines needed, plan on lots of heavy fighting, get those numbers up. [8D]

I've never reached beyond May 1943 so can't help you further unfortunately.

ORIGINAL: SqzMyLemon
I notice you are producing only 180 Ha-34's yet need 202 per/month with your current airframe totals. It doesn't show your Ha-43 production, but I'd say your Ha-45 is way too low. You'll have a hard time upgrading units quickly to newer airframes with only 30/month. I'd get the Ha-43 and Ha-45 numbers up as quickly as possible. If you want to keep your 30(0) Ha-45 factory at R&D I'd switch over some other factories. For example I have 3x2 factories R&D'ing each engine. It really depends on your strategy though so you have to base the numbers of engines and aircraft on your play style. Play conservative and less aggressive, less aircraft and engines needed, plan on lots of heavy fighting, get those numbers up. [8D]

I concur with the comments listed above. You've some work to do to rationalize your production. Greater emphasis on engines used / demand, maximize engine research, etc.

As an example of your engine:airframe mismatch, the Ha-34 production is instructive. SqzMyLemon is close to the mark, but you're producing 180 Ha-34s with demand for 272 (the Helens use two per airframe-when repaired, 57x2=114 plus your Tojos).

Your production of Betties and Topsy-IIs seems inordinately high. I can't judge your research efforts because of the limited screen grab, but they seem 'light' in mid-war research commitments too.

I don't use tracker, but instead rely on a variety of stock screens for my economics. Seems to work with the exception of knowing how much oil/fuel/resources per se are on the home islands, number of turns remaining for available supplies and trend lines. That would be helpful, but it's not mandatory. If you're interested in reviewing how I manage, PM me and maybe we can Skype through it or something.

ETA: As for a grade? I'll give you an "I" for incomplete. Too many questions and blanks to give you a final grade.

Hi,

I'm at the end of 1942 too, but scenario 2 (and PDU off), so I can't judge on supplies, oil and fuel, but here's my take on the industry. (by the way could you show figures from Tracker? The industry totals you posted do not differenciate between factories stopped and producing).

I would say you're a bit low on HI. I'm over 2 millions, but you need more HI in scen 2, because of the pilot training costs, and you have more oil and fuel to pay for it. I believe 1 million is a minimum in scenario 1.

On the other hand, your plane and engine production is very low (I'm about twice as many as yours). This shows in your pools (notably engine) which are a bit low. I would invest a bit more on research too.

You apparently have kept the default armament and vehicle settings. As a result, you have too much armament, and not enough vehicles. You can stop all armament factories for a while (150k points is a lot). In the long run, you probably need about 200 armament factories producing. On the other hand, you need more vehicles, 200 to 300 factories, depending on how much you use your tanks in China. HI wise, this should be neutral.

Your low HI stocks probably result from ship building (that's the prime use for HI in the game). The 10K naval points you have in stock prove that you have too many naval shipyards producing, you can stop a few. If you are playing stock, you can also halt a lot of merchant programs. You may need the tankers (all or some, depending on your current losses), and some tenders, but most of cargoes (and even some transports) are not useful, and most late war programs are just VP for your opponent (you won't have fuel to move them anyway), and a waste of HI. This is the key to saving HI.

The same can be said about naval programs. By the VP figures, lots of ships seem to have been sunk on both sides, so you might not want to halt everything, but again, 1943 is the time when quite a few late war programs (subs and the like) begin being built, and you might want to have a look, and decide those you want to keep, and those you can halt. This means you can probably close a lot of shipyards.

Hope this helps
Francois

ORIGINAL: Chickenboy

SqzMyLemon is close to the mark, but you're producing 180 Ha-34s with demand for 272 (the Helens use two per airframe-when repaired, 57x2=114 plus your Tojos).

Oopsie, a little manual math miscalculation there, good catch poultrylad . shows how calculator dependent I've become. [8|]

My .02:

First off, you have 10,000+ points of unspent Naval Production. Start accelerating your carriers and DDs. And if you have spares, at LEAST your I-400 class subs if not more.

You have nearly half a million HI. Start expanding your industry. First off, you vehicles are too low. Expand them by at least 28, and frankly, I would set them up by 78.

While I cant see all your engine requirements, I can say that your Ha45 production is WAY to low. These engines are used for Franks.

Heres a sample of mine in Jun 42:




Send me your game/password to gamemdd@gmail.com and I would be happy to take a look and give you my recommendations.

ORIGINAL: MDDgames

My .02:

First off, you have 10,000+ points of unspent Naval Production. Start accelerating your carriers and DDs. And if you have spares, at LEAST your I-400 class subs if not more.

You have nearly half a million HI. Start expanding your industry. First off, you vehicles are too low. Expand them by at least 28, and frankly, I would set them up by 78.

While I cant see all your engine requirements, I can say that your Ha45 production is WAY to low. These engines are used for Franks.

Heres a sample of mine in Jun 42:




Send me your game/password to gamemdd@gmail.com and I would be happy to take a look and give you my recommendations.

Likewise.

Keep in mind the fact that your HI is going to go to zero on the first of every month, so dont think that you are going to build up a surplus. To that end, you really only need enough HI for the factories that you have running, anything more than that is a waste. Supply is a non-factor as far as heavy industry is concerned. You have enough HI to expand your air production by A LOT.

ORIGINAL: MDDgames

Keep in mind the fact that your HI is going to go to zero on the first of every month, so dont think that you are going to build up a surplus. To that end, you really only need enough HI for the factories that you have running, anything more than that is a waste. Supply is a non-factor as far as heavy industry is concerned. You have enough HI to expand your air production by A LOT.

HI stores do not drop to zero at the beginning of every month. There are some monthly costs (particularly for pilots), but HI does not go to zero-or at least it shouldn't. Producing surplus HI for 'banking' is an important aspect of maintaining the war economy deep into the war. Adding to the HI surplus is like putting money in the bank, and is not a waste IMO.

Awesome gentlemen, this is extremely helpful. The sample screenshot is great too.

I feel like I have a decent chance in this game, and I really don't want to have my inexperience managing the economy to be what hurts the Empire, after I sunk enough US carriers to hold naval superiority till at least late 1943 and have built up a decent defense ring around the inner Empire. Thus your advice is greatly appreciated and will hopefully keep the war machine running properly

ORIGINAL: leehunt27@bloomberg.net

Ok thanks, so so far: oil low, fuel low. Engines and vehicles way low. NavSY probably high, gonna check against needed production and adjust the surplus into engine production.

I am almost done getting Tracker working, I have a question posted on the tracker forum about which version of Java 6 is needed (mine says the registry is 1.7 and off from 1.6 etc).

Posted in Tracker Forum for you ...

ORIGINAL: MDDgames

My .02:

First off, you have 10,000+ points of unspent Naval Production. Start accelerating your carriers and DDs. And if you have spares, at LEAST your I-400 class subs if not more.

I know this is bit OT for this thread, but why I-400s?

Keep in mind production management is linked to your short and long term strategic plans - especially your defensive perimeter plan.
 
Below is the historic perimeter plan.  If you expand further into Darwin/Northern/Western Australia, south of the Solomons and/or into Ceylon, you will expend far more resources early than the average bear in an effort to slow down the pace of the inevitable allied wave.
 
In my current game (DaBabes Scen 2 PDU on) I am in Dec. 42.  I scored early victories against Allied carriers so I expanded my perimeter and have build up a significant victory point lead.  This comes, however, at a cost of stockpiling HI, oil, and fuel that can help assure you don't crash the economy in 44.
 
In sum, your strategic plan and how well you have done up to this point in executing your plan massively impacts your stockpiling, production, and loss stats.  Be careful about comparing your numbers to someone who has a very different strategic plan. Even if different, however, comparisons can be very helpful and there are some great players who will take the time to give insights and share experiences.
 
The bottom line, however, is what do the victory points look like on the last day and did you do better job of fighting ww2 than Japan (your goal cannot be "defeating" the allies in terms of taking and holding a lot of territory - that is impossible).
 
Managing the Jap economy is one of several games within the game (another one is China) and it is a ton of fun!
 

They cost the same to build (33) as the other IJ subs and the Rule of Cool. The I-400s carry 3 float planes and come equipped with radars. They also have 8 tubes in the front, but that's less important than their 31000 Endurance. Yes, 31000. They can stay out forever. They also use less fuel for this Endurance (Tracker says 900 Fuel full load, compared to your other Glen subs that carry 827 Fuel to go 14000 Endurance - pretty much double the fuel efficiency).

I would argue that the other float plane boats are worth building as well, at least some of them, as you're bound to lose them throughout the war. And their recon/search abilities are very useful.