Need Opinions, *No rroberson*

[Xargun]

ORIGINAL: TommyBoy84

Niceguy2005, your post begs a story....do tell

As far as what's going on now, I have an invasion force on their way to Suva, backed by a bombardment TF and air cover from Mini-KB.  I figure I can get a good jump on things if I can seriously impede the sea lanes to Oz, and with my new Emilys, there will hardly be a place in the central and south pacific the allies can go without being seen.

I have played RRob several times but only into mid '42 before our games ended. Now I am rusty - haven't played WitP in several years, but I usually split KB into 2 TF - each with 3 CVs. I would definately send one to cover the mini-KB in your grab for Suva. it would not surprise me at all if Rob has his CVs down there just to protect against such a thing. TBH, I would send both TFs down that way. Suva is a nice base if you can grab and hold it. And he will definately need to take it back before any offensive can be mounted from OZ due to supply / fuel shortages.

I'm about to make a large (did I say large?  I meant LARGE) landing of forces at Mersing, then just walk them down to Singapore and avoid Singapore's mines and coastal guns.  I have minesweepers with air cover on their way to clear out Singapore so I can have my BB's in the area help melt away the ground troops.  I have plenty of fighters providing LRCAP in the area, and Singapore's runways have been bombed to smithereens, so air counterstrikes aren't much of a threat.

Just use Zeros on LRCAP from nearby bases to cover your invasion. By now if you have been whittling down the planes in Singapore he won't have a whole lot left. Also, I wouldn't take any ships into Singapore - the coastal guns (artillery units) will maul your Mine Sweepers before they sweep any mines. As for using BBs to bombard - its not worth the risk of having one of them laid up in drydock for 6 months this early.

Will KB be of much use with an invasion of Singapore, or is it better used stoftening up somewhere else?

Using KB to hammer Singapore won't do anything except let him know that KB is a week away from the SW pacific and if he wants to hit Truk / Kwaj and run he can freely.

After my days (I usually spend 1 or 2 additional days) of hitting Pearl are over I usually use the KB to cover invasions in the SW pacific - you don't need the cover but should his CVs appear you will lose the whole invasion force - something you need to avoid.

Xargun

[TommyBoy84]

Thanks everybody for your insights.

What's happening now:

As far as Suva goes, my bombardment TF was attacked by a lone allied CV. SBD's put 5 1000lb'ers on a BB, but all it did was give me 3 SYS damage. I shot down 4 SBD's and damaged 11 more. He must have been aiming for a quick in and out strike, because I haven't seen that CV in about 3 days since. Mini-KB is still 7 hexes away from Suva providing LRCAP from the few bombers that are still at Suva, and incase that CV pops up again. I've increased my CAP over Mini-KB though incase he's been able to deduce where I've been hiding it. I've been moving Mini-KB a hex or two every turn, keeping within range of Suva, to try and keep from being detected. My first of three guard forces have landed, and the 2nd will land on our next turn. I had to send a 3rd one in after I saw there were more troops at Suva than I thought, but they're still a few days out. I figure if I keep up the bombardment I can whittle away the allied ground troops some before I start attacking with troops. Taiyo is on her way down from Takao with 21 zeroes and 9 kates to join Mini-KB (currently has Ryujo, Zuiho, and Hosho).

Big KB is a few days out of Palau right now. I'm stashing KB there until I figure out where I want to deploy it. Through recon with Nells, I've found that much of the Asiatic and ABDA fleets ran to Darwin. Recon shows 69 ships there, mixed warships and merchant. I'm trying to find a route where I can sneak KB down in striking range of Darwin without being constantly tracked, but I don't think there is a way.

Just a side note....was I an idiot for landing at Mersing? I can't tell if there's a road from Mersing to Singapore, and if there's not, I'm worried my troops will be fatigued to hell after a two-week walk to Singapore.

This post felt like an AAR....

[ny59giants]

Mini-KB is still 7 hexes away from Suva providing LRCAP from the few bombers that are still at Suva, and incase that CV pops up again. I've increased my CAP over Mini-KB though incase he's been able to deduce where I've been hiding it. I've been moving Mini-KB a hex or two every turn, keeping within range of Suva, to try and keep from being detected.

Keep a close eye on the number of sorties you have available in your CVEs and CVLs. Some of them only have 90 and you could run into problems if your planes don't fly (ran out of them). CAP doesn't count against your available sorties, but I'm not sure if LRCAP does.

[flaggelant]

ORIGINAL: TommyBoy84


Just a side note....was I an idiot for landing at Mersing? I can't tell if there's a road from Mersing to Singapore, and if there's not, I'm worried my troops will be fatigued to hell after a two-week walk to Singapore.

This post felt like an AAR....

i love landing at mersing, it cuts off retreat from a LOT of units into Singapore, so its worth it either way.
if you want to know what kind of road is displayed; hit "R"

[kfmiller41]

ORIGINAL: John 3rd

ORIGINAL: stuman

ORIGINAL: Nemo121

Do one thing well rather than two things poorly.

It may, at times, be possible to conduct split operations and still succeed but the majority of the time this is just the prelude to disastrous failure.

That pretty well describes all of my games ..... " prelude to a disastrous failure ". Also can substitute phrases like " spectacular " failure , " stupefyingly idiotic " failures and " actually embarrassed to be playing this moron " failures."

THAT made me laugh! Well said Sir.

That is without a doubt the most truthful thing ever said and it mirrors my history as well[:D]

[kfmiller41]

ORIGINAL: TommyBoy84

Thanks everybody for your insights.

What's happening now:

As far as Suva goes, my bombardment TF was attacked by a lone allied CV. SBD's put 5 1000lb'ers on a BB, but all it did was give me 3 SYS damage. I shot down 4 SBD's and damaged 11 more. He must have been aiming for a quick in and out strike, because I haven't seen that CV in about 3 days since. Mini-KB is still 7 hexes away from Suva providing LRCAP from the few bombers that are still at Suva, and incase that CV pops up again. I've increased my CAP over Mini-KB though incase he's been able to deduce where I've been hiding it. I've been moving Mini-KB a hex or two every turn, keeping within range of Suva, to try and keep from being detected. My first of three guard forces have landed, and the 2nd will land on our next turn. I had to send a 3rd one in after I saw there were more troops at Suva than I thought, but they're still a few days out. I figure if I keep up the bombardment I can whittle away the allied ground troops some before I start attacking with troops. Taiyo is on her way down from Takao with 21 zeroes and 9 kates to join Mini-KB (currently has Ryujo, Zuiho, and Hosho).

Big KB is a few days out of Palau right now. I'm stashing KB there until I figure out where I want to deploy it. Through recon with Nells, I've found that much of the Asiatic and ABDA fleets ran to Darwin. Recon shows 69 ships there, mixed warships and merchant. I'm trying to find a route where I can sneak KB down in striking range of Darwin without being constantly tracked, but I don't think there is a way.

Just a side note....was I an idiot for landing at Mersing? I can't tell if there's a road from Mersing to Singapore, and if there's not, I'm worried my troops will be fatigued to hell after a two-week walk to Singapore.

This post felt like an AAR....

Far as the Mersing landing, as the allies I have had Jap players land there and the results depend on how fast he is withdrawing from farther north. If he tried to delay you for any length of time you can cut him off. But the road from mersing to the west coast is a slow slog, so it is a race. Worth the risk as long as you have Singapore's air supressed, don't let him get bombers in there or you could have alot of shot up ships leaving that port. It is always a risk to land there but it depends on your opponent and your preperation as to if it is going to be a bad risk or a good one[:D]

[engineer]

If you can pull off taking Pearl that's a possible route to an autovictory.  Oahu and Noumea are worth 3000 points each in stock.  Taking either puts you in a position to snipe at the US/Oz route. 

[String]

Identify his supply base and raid it. It's usually Suva, Noumea, Canton or whatever in Pac. It usually contains a moderate (but not large enough) amount of fighters and lots of shipping.