Darwin Out of Supply

[kaleun]

Great points AW1Steve.

[Cap Mandrake]

Steinitz said "A pawn is worth a little trouble"

Same deal with Darwin. Great spot to launch Allied attacks on the Lesser Sundas, Sulawese and Mindanao when it is your "turn" to do so. It is worth saving if you can. You don't even to take back Port Moresby to use it as you can build up Normantown and send supply that way.

[Chijohnaok2]

To echo what JeffK and Capt. Mandrake said you could try the small xAKLs.

In a human vs human game I had the smaller sized xAKLs (I think cargo loads of 1,000 to around 2,500), each convoy being just one ship, set to CS shuttle from Columbo, Madras and Calcutta into Rangoon well into March 1942 (when my opponent finally captured Rangoon though an overland March).
This shuttling system wasn't going to support any offensives but there were enough supplies so that it kept the troops in supply, several fighter squadrons for CAP, and there were still enough supplies to flow from Rangoon, up the rail line and into China. I tried to time the convoys so that there were never more than a couple ships at a time in Rangoon unloading (so as not to draw attention). And they were all set on amphibious rather than the regular cargo supply setting in order to allow the quickest offloads.

After Rangoon finally fell I asked my opponent if he ever spotted these supply convoys. For around the first month or so he said that he didn't even have planes doing searches of this area, and once he did start them he said that he would occasionally catch a glimpse of one. He would get reports that the SEARCH planes had bombed a ship, but I think the Japanese crews were drunk on saki because in reality not once was there ever a bomb hit. His bombers set on Naval attack never once launched an attack on these single ship convoys.

[crsutton]

And as the Allies, you will be amazed how little importance Darwin holds as far as eventually winning the campaign. If your opponent takes it and holds it in strength-let him do so. You don't need it much and sooner or later he will have to bail out.

[ETF]

ORIGINAL: chijohnaok

To echo what JeffK and Capt. Mandrake said you could try the small xAKLs.

In a human vs human game I had the smaller sized xAKLs (I think cargo loads of 1,000 to around 2,500), each convoy being just one ship, set to CS shuttle from Columbo, Madras and Calcutta into Rangoon well into March 1942 (when my opponent finally captured Rangoon though an overland March).
This shuttling system wasn't going to support any offensives but there were enough supplies so that it kept the troops in supply, several fighter squadrons for CAP, and there were still enough supplies to flow from Rangoon, up the rail line and into China. I tried to time the convoys so that there were never more than a couple ships at a time in Rangoon unloading (so as not to draw attention). And they were all set on amphibious rather than the regular cargo supply setting in order to allow the quickest offloads.

After Rangoon finally fell I asked my opponent if he ever spotted these supply convoys. For around the first month or so he said that he didn't even have planes doing searches of this area, and once he did start them he said that he would occasionally catch a glimpse of one. He would get reports that the SEARCH planes had bombed a ship, but I think the Japanese crews were drunk on saki because in reality not once was there ever a bomb hit. His bombers set on Naval attack never once launched an attack on these single ship convoys.

Nice strategy......curious what is the level at ragoon for a port? Wouldn't a transport mission offload faster than Amphibious? I'm assuming Rangoon is what a level 4++ port.

[Alfred]

ORIGINAL: ETF

ORIGINAL: chijohnaok

To echo what JeffK and Capt. Mandrake said you could try the small xAKLs.

In a human vs human game I had the smaller sized xAKLs (I think cargo loads of 1,000 to around 2,500), each convoy being just one ship, set to CS shuttle from Columbo, Madras and Calcutta into Rangoon well into March 1942 (when my opponent finally captured Rangoon though an overland March).
This shuttling system wasn't going to support any offensives but there were enough supplies so that it kept the troops in supply, several fighter squadrons for CAP, and there were still enough supplies to flow from Rangoon, up the rail line and into China. I tried to time the convoys so that there were never more than a couple ships at a time in Rangoon unloading (so as not to draw attention). And they were all set on amphibious rather than the regular cargo supply setting in order to allow the quickest offloads.

After Rangoon finally fell I asked my opponent if he ever spotted these supply convoys. For around the first month or so he said that he didn't even have planes doing searches of this area, and once he did start them he said that he would occasionally catch a glimpse of one. He would get reports that the SEARCH planes had bombed a ship, but I think the Japanese crews were drunk on saki because in reality not once was there ever a bomb hit. His bombers set on Naval attack never once launched an attack on these single ship convoys.

Nice strategy......curious what is the level at ragoon for a port? Wouldn't a transport mission offload faster than Amphibious? I'm assuming Rangoon is what a level 4++ port.

Correct. A regular transport or cargo TF would have unloaded supply more quickly at the level 4 (undamaged) Rangoon port.

Alfred