Here we go again! tc464 (A) vs. Mike (J) - No tc464

[Kitakami]

Mike,

Great AAR! I had put AE on hold until Patch 2 (and then the hotfix) appeared. I must say I have learned a LOT from reading how you have done things. I am in the process of setting up turn 1 for an AI Da Babes game wirh PDU on, as preparation for a PBEM game. Will post my thoughts on the boards when I am done with turn 1 (which, as you know, takes a LONG time to do right).

Thanks again for the AAR!

[Mike Solli]

Thanks Kitakami! I'd love to try Da Babes Mod. There's no way I could do two games of AE though. I've very curious about it so please post your thoughts. I can live it vicariously through you. [:D]

Rabaul

You can see the Rabaul invasion force about 1.5 days out. The cover force is shown and will arrive tomorrow to clear out any unsuspecting Allied ships. KB is fully replenished at Truk and will be within striking distance tomorrow. Sleepy Rabaul is in for a rude shock! [:D]

The 90 Infantry Regiment, which will augment the Rabaul Invasion force for the Pt. Moresby invasion, is still 3 days sail from Truk. There it will disembark and re-embark as an amphibious TF and head south. By the time it reaches Rabaul, I expect the Rabaul invasion force to have completed their mission and be rested and reloaded for Pt. Moresby. The IJN will have swept the seas of any Allied shipping and isolated Pt. Moresby from any form of resupply.

[Mike Solli]

For those of you who may not know, I kind of like messing with Japanese production. [:'(] Here's a bit of info after 10 days of war...

-Supply has risen by 145k! [X(] I suspect it's because all of those TFs that start the war loaded have finally unloaded their supply. Note that Michaelm said that all oil, fuel, resources and supply on ships is not counted on the industry screen.

-Fuel has decreased by 150k, or 15k a day. Not surprising....

-HI has increased by 18k. That'll just about cover the 20k bite I'll take at the end of the month for the pilots. I'm pleased with this so far.

-I've increased my refinery capacity by 150 (Miri).

-My resources have decreased by 1.7 million. Subtract the 900k sitting on ships, makes an 800k loss. While it's substantial, it shouldn't matter. Thanks guys, for the hotfix. I have no idea who actually did it (and how you do it), but I really appreciate what you've done. [:)]

-I've gained 154 oil centers (Miri) and have decreased the oil by 100k, about 10k per day. Initial useage should be about 8k per day. I attribute the rest to what's on ships and probably a small amount of loss prior to the hotfix.

-Armaments are up by 6200. I haven't used any yet.

-Vehicle points are up by only 77. I have replacements turned on for a tank regiment that was in transit to the Philippines on 2 ships. One ship was sunk and the other damaged and returned to Formosa. The regiment was down to 40% strength and replacement were turned on. It's currently up to 60% and still building.

-IJN Pilot pool is down by 131. These pilots all went to on map training units.

-IJA Pilot pool is down by 117. Same deal.

-IJA TRACOM - 1 pilot. I plan on slowly pulling available pilots from units to bring this to 10 pilots.

-IJN TRACOM - 3 pilots. Same deal.

-MIA/WIA/KIA is 24/14/60 - Not sure if this is good or bad.

-There was talk about pilots in the training queue taking losses in training. So far, there have been none. Maybe it only happens at the end of the month. We'll see...

[Frandoxxx]

Mike as a new player trying to fanthom the Empire of Japan, i have really appreciated your very detailed AAR.

A couple of things you have not mentioned, i would like for you to comment on:

First is minelaying and mine sweeping. Do you do this and what criteria do you use to decide where you do this?

Second, what about ASW TF's? What guidelines do you use in creating and deploying those, or do you use them at all?

I love this game and thanks to all for the time and effort in keeping this game getting better. That applies to both the development team and people like you and Q-Ball and many, many others who share their ideas and tactics! [:)]

[Mike Solli]

ORIGINAL: Frandoxx

Mike as a new player trying to fanthom the Empire of Japan, i have really appreciated your very detailed AAR.

A couple of things you have not mentioned, i would like for you to comment on:

First is minelaying and mine sweeping. Do you do this and what criteria do you use to decide where you do this?

Second, what about ASW TF's? What guidelines do you use in creating and deploying those, or do you use them at all?

I love this game and thanks to all for the time and effort in keeping this game getting better. That applies to both the development team and people like you and Q-Ball and many, many others who share their ideas and tactics! [:)]

Well, I didn't say much because I didn't do much with minelayers yet. Actually, the only things I've done were to drop off the mines on the I-121 - 124 and drop off 150 mines at Kushiro (along with an ACM). Before the game started, I looked at the starting locations of the ACMs and minefields and prioritized the minefields. That allowed me to quickly figure out where the ACMs should go. I'm eventually going to build more ACMs and place them in locations I want to put minefields. These locations will include Shikuka, Rabaul, Pt. Moresby, Miri, Tarakan, Balkipapan, Palembang, Soerabaja, etc. You get the picture. I'm just not sure how many ACMs I'm going to build. In the rear area, they'll survive, but the minefields will only defend against subs. In the front line, the ACMs are expendable. Eventually, they'll be sunk and the minefield will begin to deteroriate. Not sure what I'm going to do there.

Minesweepers..... Interesting issue. Are the AMc types worth it? So far, I have left them in port. I haven't looked at them.

Here's a quick count of the To'su, Kiso and Ansyu classes, how they start and (I think) how I want to convert them over time. I'll talk about why in a second:

[Monter_Trismegistos]

And to add to Frandoxx - how much of your airforce are you using for ASW?

And what is TRACOM? Pilot-instructors?

[Mike Solli]

My goals for the little cargos are are shown above. I like the To'sus over the Kisos for PB work simply because of their 12 vs. 11 kt speed. The Kisos will slow down all of the 12kt convoys. To me, convoy speed is extremely important, even 1 kt.

AMc and ACM: Since I want all of my To'sus to be PBs, something else must be these two types. Why did I split them up as I did? I just pulled the numbers out of my butt. [:D] It's all based on need and I'm sure it'll change. One thing to note though. At first I didn't think they were very useful. The AM is much more useful because they sweep the hex they are in as well as the 6 surrounding hexes. The AMc only sweeps the hex it's in. Do we even have any AMs in the Japanese arsenal? Gotta check that tonight. If we don't, then the AMc is critical. We do have 20x DMS and they are fast, but there aren't that many and they'll most likely be used for ASW, at least early in the war. I expect the AMc to be scattered around the map at critical ports to keep them free of Allied mines.

Right now, I use very little of my air force for ASW. They all have better uses. But, I am training up some IJAAF light bombers for ASW for later (after the SRA is secured). I have some ASW TFs scattered around guarding critical ports (Shikuka, Kushiro, a couple in the Home Islands, Cam Ranh Bay, Saigon, Formosa come to mind). I love the CHa class because they carry 8 DC. We start with 24 and get a bunch more throughout the war. I put them in groups of 4 (max ASW TF size) at the above locations. I use the short ranged SCs as well. They don't have the range for convoy ops. Things still are in flux, but here's my goal after the SRA is secured:

I'll use LB and ASW TFs to guard the SLOCs that I establish. I find that after mid to late 42, the IJAAF bombers don't have much to do. They tend to die quickly at the front line. I'll train them up for ASW ops and set them loose.

TRACOM is where you put experienced pilots to help your a few pf your masses graduate a little bit earlier. It's been said a couple of times that they work best in groups of 10. My initial goal is to start with 10 each for the IJA and IJN. I currently have 2 and 3 respectively in TRACOM. I pull them out of line units slowly as the line unit pilots gain experience. If an air unit gets 3-4 eligible pilots, I'll eventually pull one out. I don't want to strip them out too early because I want to kill as many Allied pilots as I can early in the game. I did find one in an IJNAF floatplane or flying boat (can't remember which) unit and pulled him out early on.

[Mike Solli]

17 Dec 41
 
This is the first turn with the hotfix.  A mid-ocean intercept ~250 miles west of Babeldaob occurred between an Allied AM and 2 CA + 5 DD.  Guess who won? [:D]
 
Over the Philippines, there was little air action (3x P-40E and 6x B-17D showed up for the fun) and losses were 1 each Warhawk, Fortress and Zero.
 
I landed at Brunei and will attack tomorrow.
 
The Rabaul invasion force is 1/2 day's sail out along with a SAG and KB for support.  I have a handful of Ro class subs to the south and they haven't seen anything.  He hasn't spotted me either. 
 
I've been accumulating PPs.  I've decided to spend some on troops/aircraft to use to guard the Northern flank.  It's pretty empty looking up there, especially with all those resource/oil convoys moving out of Shikuka, Toyohara and Kushiro.  Early warning is necessary.  The troops will come from Kwantung and I'm not yet sure where the planes will come from (Kwantung or Japan).

[Mike Solli]

18 Dec 41

Well, next stupid mistake just occurred.  I had sent the I-122 to Batavia to lay a mine field.  Guess what happened?  She ate a mine.  Now she's limping to Saigon at 30-90(54)-19(18)-0.  [8|]

The Malayan and Philipine air forces have pretty much vanished off the map.  I'm not sure if they're dead or Ted withdrew them.  Probably a combination but more of the former.  A few B-17Ds still fly but are ineffective.  A small raid of 3 Swordfish and 2 S.19 Singapores flew against Kuantan, but were driven off for a loss of 2 and 1 aircraft respectively.  (What the heck is a Singapore anyway?)

In the Philippines, I landed at Mauban (on the east coast across from Manila) and will take it tomorrow. 

Now, at sea, things are different.  There are no subs in the Malayan area, but they're popping up all over the Philippines now.  An S-boat put 3 torpedoes into an xAK and down she went.  The S-boat got clean away.

US West Coast

The I-26 put a torpedo into an xAKL.  Hopefully, she'll go down.

Borneo

I took Brunei today.  The oil facility was captured at 10(10), which is how the facility started the war.  I'll repair the oilfield to 20.

Some Do-24K-1s dropped by and put a 300 kg bomb into an xAKL and down she went.  I have a few Nates in Miri flying CAP.  I may need to swap out the chutai with some Zeros, if I can spare any.

SE Fleet

The long awaited invasion of Rabaul happened today, with the support of 4 BBs and KB.  The only 1 Hudson showed up to contest the invasion and it was promptly shot down by a Zero from KB.  I'll attack tomorrow.

4 Fleet

I took Nauru Island.  The resources are at 98(2). 

China

I withdrew from Ichang in the face of a huge Chinese army (over 100k).  I'm not sure if Ted even noticed it.  He's not all that excited about China (nor am I, for that matter).  Elsewhere in China, I need mass some more before attacking.  I keep thinking I'm going to hit those small Chinese "Corps" and end up hitting big ones.  I attacked one "Corps" 2 hexes N of Chingting and lost 223 troops to 72 Chinese.  I do get lucky on occasion.  At Hwaiyin, I ousted some Chinese, killing 228 for no loss.

[Mike Solli]

I just looked up the Singapore. [X(]

[KenchiSulla]

Hey Mike, sound to me like you need to use a little bit more recon in China? You have plenty of those!

[ny59giants]

Subs - I would not send into a major Allied port in the beginning as most start with defensive minefields. Avoid any patrol zones that place them in coastal or shallow hexes. If your going to mine somewhere, the multiple egresses on the southern tip of Java are logical choke points. I would have a fleet sub one hex away so if he sends out some minesweepers, they have to get by this sub. [;)]

[Mike Solli]

Yeah, I just haven't been paying any attention to China.  I spend a couple of hours with everything else and just give China a cursory glance.  Not smart.  I need to check all my garrison cities and do round 2 of moves and get things rolling there.

[Mike Solli]

ORIGINAL: ny59giants

Subs - I would not send into a major Allied port in the beginning as most start with defensive minefields. Avoid any patrol zones that place them in coastal or shallow hexes. If your going to mine somewhere, the multiple egresses on the southern tip of Java are logical choke points. I would have a fleet sub one hex away so if he sends out some minesweepers, they have to get by this sub. [;)]

Good idea. I should have learned my lesson after the I-123 fiasco. Fortunately, she'll most likely survive, but the I-122 isn't looking too good.

[Smeulders]

How many troops do you think you'll have available for offensive operations in China with the patch II garrison requirements ?

[Chickenboy]

ORIGINAL: Mike Solli

ORIGINAL: ny59giants

Subs - I would not send into a major Allied port in the beginning as most start with defensive minefields. Avoid any patrol zones that place them in coastal or shallow hexes. If your going to mine somewhere, the multiple egresses on the southern tip of Java are logical choke points. I would have a fleet sub one hex away so if he sends out some minesweepers, they have to get by this sub. [;)]

Good idea. I should have learned my lesson after the I-123 fiasco. Fortunately, she'll most likely survive, but the I-122 isn't looking too good.

NO USSHENRICO OR CRIMGUY...
.
.
.
.
.






Mike,

I would add to check your submarine's reaction setting for anything operating near known mined enemy ports. I lost 2 I-boats early in a PBEM by I-boats reacting to ships in enemy harbors and striking mines on the way in.

For any of my submarines operating near mined enemy harbors, I operate them 2 hexes off the base with a reaction setting of 1 or 0.

[Mike Solli]

Smeulders, the patch 2 garrison requirements didn't happen.  You needed to start a new game after patching to get that part to work.  As it is, the garrison requirement is 4950 AV.  Not sure what's left after that.
 
Chickenboy, that's good advice.  There's a lot of little things that need to be checked in order to prevent disasters from happening.  I keep finding out the hard way. [:D]

[Smeulders]

Ah, thought you had started the game after patch 2, my mistake.

[Monter_Trismegistos]

ORIGINAL: Mike Solli
We do have 20x DMS and they are fast, but there aren't that many and they'll most likely be used for ASW, at least early in the war.

Does your DMS (W-1 etc.) have any DC's at all? In CHS they hadn't.

Are you using convoys at full speed? I never did that in WitP because of possible damage and fuel usage. But then, I am only beginner in WitP, so was I wrong?

[Mike Solli]

The W class all have 2 DC racks.
 
I use mission speed >95% of the time.  On rare occasions I use full speed, usually for 1 turn and for a specific purpose.  I use cruise speed primarily for damaged ships I'm worried about.