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Fifth Carrier Division opens up the war with an aerial attack on Pearl Harbor...

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Singapore Front,critical for Japan achieving early war goals...

Task Force Z eludes 2 Carrier Divisions, but the landings go off succesfully.

Britain surges several destroyer squadrons north of Singapore...nasty buggers packing lots of 40mm Bofors.

And then there is the unexpected Thunder Child![:D] The British we fear have violated our naval treaties![:D]

The Imperial Japanese Navy is starting to have second thoughts about starting this war...can it end well when the British are so much more powerful and technologically advanced than our spies led us to believe?

Northern Luzon will be taken, hopefully, and provide air bases for search and sweeps. Minimal commitment here as troops are tasked with taking Singers as the highest priority.

IJNAF will lower their sweeping SOPs, based on the analysis of Allied patrol heights.

Morning Air attack on Clark Field , at 79,76

Weather in hex: Clear sky

Raid detected at 18 NM, estimated altitude 22,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 5 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 44

Allied aircraft
P-26A x 7
P-35A x 5
P-40B Warhawk x 1
P-40E Warhawk x 10

No Japanese losses

Allied aircraft losses
P-26A: 4 destroyed
P-35A: 1 destroyed
P-40B Warhawk: 1 destroyed
P-40E Warhawk: 3 destroyed

Aircraft Attacking:
36 x A6M2 Zero sweeping at 20000 feet

CAP engaged:
24th PG/17th PS with P-40E Warhawk (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(5 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 2 being recalled, 3 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 10000 , scrambling fighters between 0 and 10000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 44 minutes
35th PG/21st PS with P-40E Warhawk (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(5 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 5 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 10000 , scrambling fighters between 0 and 10000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 2 minutes
6th PS PAAC with P-26A (5 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(7 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
5 plane(s) intercepting now.
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 2 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 10000 , scrambling fighters between 0 and 10000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 30 minutes
35th PG/34th PS with P-35A (0 airborne, 4 on standby, 0 scrambling)
3 plane(s) intercepting now.
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 1 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 10000 , scrambling fighters between 10000 and 23000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 62 minutes
24th PG/Hq Sqn with P-40B Warhawk (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 1 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 10000 , scrambling fighters between 0 and 10000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 2 minutes

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ORIGINAL: Lowpe
The Imperial Japanese Navy is starting to have second thoughts about starting this war...can it end well when the British are so much more powerful and technologically advanced than our spies led us to believe?

You might get https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JDS_Mirai though, who knows [:D]

Good start! You're on VH to balance it out, right?

ORIGINAL: PaxMondo

Good start! You're on VH to balance it out, right?

I started a thread in the war room to get ideas for playing a very friendly AI game, i.e. not exploiting it, keep the game interesting for as long as possible.

I was planning on rotating difficulty during the perimeter expansion phase (for sieges), but I am currently on vh. I might lower it for a siege to establish the perimeter and slow down China's growing strength. Not sure here. I am hazy on all the benefits the AI gets, I know the common advantages, but there are others which combined with 1945 equipment which might simply prove overwhelming.

So no resizing of air squadrons, no shipping fuel in xak, no baiting the air force, no AI breaking invasions, no more than 2 CV in a task force, keep armor and artillery and planes in Manchuko, very limited base building in conquered bases (almost none in the Pacific for the first year), no destruction of China.

If you don't concentrate your carriers, all of a sudden that size 2 runway on an island becomes really important.

I toyed with a Mersing Option, but decided not to do it. The name of the game here is cautious, covered advances to get the SRA established.

Betties and Nells are searching, Sallies are pretty much training, until I can achieve regional air superiority. Carrier Divisions are supporting invasions, trying to stay out of strike range of nasty Allied bases.

Finally, I have never played Tier 3 before...so a lot of this is absolutely new to me.[:)]

Plane R&D

Number of size 30 factories. 5 are on Rufe, 1 starts on A6m3...other than that limited to 5 per line. No late late game r&d.

Oscar 3
Tojo 4
Frank 5
Tony 5
Nick A 5
Randy B 4

Zero 6
Sam 5
George 3
Jack 2

Frances 3
Peggy 6
Peggy T 2

Judy 5
Jill 5
Grace 2

Very interesting. I haven't played the Japanese side against the AI since Pacific War. I pulled the plug after taking Oz. I take it you'll be going for a more historical expansion?

Cheers,
CB

ORIGINAL: CaptBeefheart

Very interesting. I haven't played the Japanese side against the AI since Pacific War. I pulled the plug after taking Oz. I take it you'll be going for a more historical expansion?

Cheers,
CB

Less than historical expansion I hope.

ORIGINAL: Lowpe

ORIGINAL: PaxMondo

Good start! You're on VH to balance it out, right?

I started a thread in the war room to get ideas for playing a very friendly AI game, i.e. not exploiting it, keep the game interesting for as long as possible.

I was planning on rotating difficulty during the perimeter expansion phase (for sieges), but I am currently on vh. I might lower it for a siege to establish the perimeter and slow down China's growing strength. Not sure here. I am hazy on all the benefits the AI gets, I know the common advantages, but there are others which combined with 1945 equipment which might simply prove overwhelming.

So no resizing of air squadrons, no shipping fuel in xak, no baiting the air force, no AI breaking invasions, no more than 2 CV in a task force, keep armor and artillery and planes in Manchuko, very limited base building in conquered bases (almost none in the Pacific for the first year), no destruction of China.

If you don't concentrate your carriers, all of a sudden that size 2 runway on an island becomes really important.

I toyed with a Mersing Option, but decided not to do it. The name of the game here is cautious, covered advances to get the SRA established.

Betties and Nells are searching, Sallies are pretty much training, until I can achieve regional air superiority. Carrier Divisions are supporting invasions, trying to stay out of strike range of nasty Allied bases.

Finally, I have never played Tier 3 before...so a lot of this is absolutely new to me.[:)]

Just remember that the Fighting advantage at VH just cover having HQ's in range and good commanders and unit prep. It isn't overkill. So, as a good PBEM player, you should be at VH all the time.

That's really what the attack bonus deals with as there just wasn't enough time to get HQ's really into the AI scripts nor anyway at all to handle prep other than initial prep in the scenario file.

So, the devs had to add in an attack bonus to even things out. So at normal or hard settings, a player has huge advantages in combat. VH, the AI closes that gap, but if you are prepped with HQ's you still dominate easily even on VH.

Dec 8th, 1942

Midnight, off Laoag, northern Luzon...to the call the Surcouf and I am guessing here, her sister ship?, submarines is to do them injustice. They carry twin 203mm/50 Modele Guns..., but they are outgunned by the 20cm/50 3YT-II Guns on the Maya and instead attack while submerged.

No sooner than the Zeroes arrive, to protect both the paratroopers and the stricken Maya at Laoag, than the roar of approaching planes is heard by all...the American's sortie in force in a dawn air raid...

I posted in your war room thread a few items you may wish to peruse.

With dawn comes light rain, a dozen Zeroes flying long range CAP, but a lot of Banshees that are yet another nasty surprise.

Situation map...

The decision is to delay the invasion fleet for another day, improve our ASW, get some night time naval search up, and hopefully inflict some damage on the American air forces present...plus find out what exactly is that SAG north of Laoag.

Meanwhile the Maya will stand down and try to pump out the counter flooding while the Ashigara will work on emergency repairs.





An airborne Jake from the Ashigara also landed at Batan Island...