Once Again into the Breach - Mike (J) vs. tc464 (A)

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Mike Solli
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RE: Once Again into the Breech - Mike (J) vs. tc464 (A)

Post by Mike Solli »

Since I didn’t get a turn last night, I didn’t have anything to babble about at lunch today, so had to do something to kill the time. Today I looked at my air production/R&D and decided to make a couple of changes.

Really minor change that leads to some major decisions: IJA transports – I currently produce the Ki-57-II Topsy, 12 a month. It is the only plane that uses the Ha-31 engine. I have a single size 65 Ha-31 factory that I turn on and off as needed. In 5/43 the Ki-49 KAI Helen transport becomes operational. (I don’t have the plane stats here so all of this is dependent on whether or not the Helen is at least as good as the Topsy.) I can convert the Topsy factory to the Helen and increase it to size 15. If you don’t recall, I recently converted a size 30 Helen bomber factory to a size 30 Tojo factory, effectively freeing up 30 Ha-34 engines a month. By converting the Topsy to the Helen transport (size 15) I’ll use up the excess engines giving me:

Ha-34: 420/month production

Tojo: 120/month using 120 engines/month
Helen bomber: 90/month using 180 engines/month
Helen transport: 15/month using 30 engines/month
Tojo R&D: 3x30 factories using 90 engines/month

That maximizes my use of the Ha-34 engine (I have 500+ in the pool for R&D purposes) and frees up the Ha-31 engine. I’ll leave the Ha-31 factory shut off until I need to convert to another factory type later in the war.

Also note that the Tojo IIc becomes operational in mid-April 43. That’ll free up a total of 90 Ha-34 R&D factories. This gives me several options. I can shut them off (almost a certainty initially), increase operational Tojo production (unlikely), increase operational Helen production (unlikely), increase Helen transport production (ain’t gonna happen) or convert the Ha-34 factories at some point down the road (most likely down the road).

The Tojo is currently my best IJAAF fighter and will be for just a little bit longer. I expect to get the Ki-100-II in mid-July 43 and the Frank later in the year. I don’t want to spend supply to produce more of something that is going to wane not too long after the best Tojo model becomes operational.

Ha-35 issues: Here’s my current Ha-35 situation:

Ha-35 engine production: 450/month

Zero: 120/month using 120 engines/month
Kate: Production off for good.
Oscar: 120/month using 120 engines/month
Nick: 15/month using 30 engines/month
Zero R&D: 6x30 factories using 180 engines/month
Oscar R&D: 4x30 factories using 120 engines/month

You can see that my engine need is 120 greater than production. I will not increase my engine factories by 120 just to accommodate my current need. I estimate my late war Ha-35 need to drop a great deal (probably ~150). That’s 120k supply I won’t spend. So, there are 2 alternatives. I can live with not getting total R&D bonus (which is what I’ve been doing) or decreasing plane production. I have opted with decreasing my production and will modify it as needed based on my pools. Currently, my Zero pools has 80+ in it while my Oscar pool usually as 0-20. That makes it easy. I’m shutting off all of my Zero factories for the time being. That will allow me to use the R&D bonus to the maximum. I will keep a close watch on my Zero pool. Keep in mind that I still use the A6M3a (and a few units with the A6M2) in or near my front line (and have a small pool of the M3a and about 80 or so M2s in the pool). They both are still effective. I really like the A6M3a range.

My IJAAF fighter of choice in the front line is the Tojo (right now), but the Oscar will always be there in small numbers (probably 2x sentai each in SE Fleet and Burm). As my new Tojo factory completes its repairs, my Tojo numbers are increasing so I can slowly replace some Oscar units, reducing the need for Oscars. Eventually, I expect to be able to decrease Oscar production in favor of some Zero production, keeping within my engine production limits and keeping R&D going full speed.

N1K1-J George: Currently, I have 6x30 factories repaired to the following: 30, 30, 27, 26, 22 & 22. It becomes operational in 9/43 but will advance to 8/43 in 2 days. I expect to get them ~6/43 or so. My issue is that I want to leave the factories in R&D for future models of the George, so I need to re-allocate current operational factories to the George when it becomes available. My eye keeps going to the two A6M2 factories, which upgrade to the Sen Baku, a model I don’t plan on using. I can convert them (30 & 60) to get 90 a month, eventually. It’ll take 1 and 2 months respectively to get them fully repaired.

There is another possibility though. My Tojo R&D factories will advance the IIc to 5/43 around 3/27/43. When that happens, I can convert these 3 factories to the George R&D. They should repair rather quickly, because the George will have advanced to ~6/43 by then. This will give the George 9x30 R&D factories. I can let 3 of them become operational giving me instant production of 90/month and leaving 6 for future models. That still leaves the two A6M2 operational factories for future needs.

Looking at my complete list of R&D factories, I still will have 2 factories (E15K1 Norm) that will complete their R&D and be available for other R&D needs in mid-43. I’m willing to reduce my R&D factories by 3 in order to get the George operational pipeline flowing as soon as possible. I want to get the Zero out of frontline use as much as possible this year. It’s still a good plane, but has no armor (yet) and causes more IJNAF pilot losses than I would like. I think the George will help reduce pilot losses.

These are the kinds of things that go through my mind during the day.
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RE: Once Again into the Breech - Mike (J) vs. tc464 (A)

Post by Lokasenna »

Keep in mind that when converting factories to other plane types, such as the A6M2 to N1K1, you won't keep the full size of the factory. Your Size 30 and 60 A6M2 factories would probably end up somewhere around Size 20-22 N1K1 factories (I feel like I saw a reference to how this difference was calculated, but forget where). Granted, it's only 100 supply per point beyond what you say above (since you planned to repair 90 total anyway) in terms of cost to get them to size 30 and 60, but you would need to (re-)expand those factories.

I do/did the same thing with my Ha-35 production. It just doesn't make sense to spend 2 tons of supply on it when late war you'll only need 1 ton's worth of expansion. I've been very frugal with my pools - as long as there were enough in the pool to replace, say half of KB's aircraft, then I shut them off. This allowed for replacing a normal rate of losses and upgrading a unit periodically. And of course now that I have the A6M5c, I am finally getting around to upgrading even some Claude units straight to A6M5, of which I produced many compared to the A6M2 (which I knew I wasn't going to keep around). If that makes sense.
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RE: Once Again into the Breech - Mike (J) vs. tc464 (A)

Post by Mike Solli »

Lokasenna, I'm aware of the reduction when you convert to a plane that's not the next one in the upgrade path. I believe you lose ~a third of the size. That's why I'm very cautious with converting factories.

I have a minimum and maximum number for each plane pool. I produce until I reach the maximum and then shut off the factory until the pool drops to the minimum. That maximum decreases as I get closer to the next model's arrival.

For example, My min/max for the H8K1 is usually 10/20 but I have it off at 8 and won't turn it back on because I get the H8K2 in a month or so. My goal is to run out of the plane in the pool when its replacement arrives. Then I slowly upgrade, using the planes from the upgraded unit as replacements for the other units still using the older model.

There are exceptions though. If I have a plane that will make a nice Kamikaze, I don't mind having a pool left over. They will get used eventually. [;)]
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RE: Once Again into the Breech - Mike (J) vs. tc464 (A)

Post by GreyJoy »

ORIGINAL: Mike Solli

I want to get the Zero out of frontline use as much as possible this year. It’s still a good plane, but has no armor (yet) and causes more IJNAF pilot losses than I would like. I think the George will help reduce pilot losses.

These are the kinds of things that go through my mind during the day.

Just a small note from one who is "forced" to fight with PDU OFF:
Zeros are clearly inferior to the N1K line. Even the A6M8 cannot compete with the N1K1 (don't even thin about the N1K2). But, especially in the pacific (Solomons, Mariannas etc) consider keeping some of them operative cause the George is a bear to get repaired once damaged.
SR=1 vs SR=3 makes all the difference in invironement where you have no RR, little aviation support and smallish bases (also considering malaria which fatigues the aviation support squads thus making their job longer)


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RE: Once Again into the Breech - Mike (J) vs. tc464 (A)

Post by Mike Solli »

Morning everyone, afternoon you Brits across the puddle.

GreyJoy, thanks for popping in. I appreciate it. I don't expect to ever have enough Georges to totally replace the Zero. Thanks for the heads up. My plan is to build the N1K1 and N1K5, skipping the K2. I'll accelerate it enough so when I start accelerating the K5, they'll arrive at the same time so I can upgrade twice.

On another note, we're starting to use the beta on the 22 Feb turn, which Ted has now. Any quick pointers I should have since I've never used it before? I'm trying to wade through the huge list of changes to find the important stuff.
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RE: Once Again into the Breech - Mike (J) vs. tc464 (A)

Post by Mike Solli »

20 Feb 43

Sub War

Today was a rough day in the Submarine Service.

It started with the I-1 being caught by a DD south of Ndeni and being hit by a couple of depth charges. She didn’t make it.

Remember the sub I had at Akyab to ambush Ted’s bombardment fleet? Well, the sub got ambushed instead. The RO-34 was attacked by a MGB of all things. A rowboat with depth charges! She ended up taking a little damage but had her torpedo tubes damaged. She’s headed to Singapore for repairs.

Then, when that stinking rowboat was headed back to Cox’s Bazaar, she ran over the RO-33 and hit her with a depth charge. Really? She’s headed back to Singapore too. Next time I consider putting a sub in shallow water, smack me.

Then, south of Hawaii, a KV found the I-21, one of the line of pickets to guard against an incursion into the central Pacific, and hit her 3 times with DCs, forcing her to the surface. In a final act of defiance, the I-21 hit the KV with a 14cm shell before slipping below the waves.

No, it wasn’t over yet. The Tarpon, in the straights to the NE of Pescadores, put a torpedo into the Shimushu class E Hachijo sinking her. I like those ships because of the 8000 endurance. Oh well, she was part of an escort for the 11x 11.6k TKs hauling 127k fuel to the Home Islands. Better her than one of the TKs.

To add insult to injury, the Seadragon put a torpedo into the Minekaze class DD Hokaze a few hexes south of Kobe. She survived (so far) and is limping back to port for repairs.

The only good thing that happened was the Umikaze hitting Grunion with a depth charge just north of Truk. That should send her home. I can still see 3 other subs around hanging out near Truk. My large number of ASW planes claim 6-8 sub hits each day. If only half were really hitting subs, Ted would be out of them by now. Eventually, one will really hit.

5 Fleet

Adak continues to build forts and take troop replacements.

I’ve decided to use the SE Fleet Command HQ to send up here to coax the 7 Base Force into upgrading.

4 Fleet

Nothing to report.

SE Fleet

Nothing to report.

SRA

MKB and the 3 small surface TFs did not locate the remnants of the 9 Aussie Division TF. I suspect the 3 damaged ships may have gone down because that TF moved pretty quickly and is now out of Emily range of Cocos Island. Too bad. At any rate, that division is trashed for a long time. I don’t know how many Aussie troop and equipment replacements Ted gets, but that division will take most or all of them for a long time. My ships are now returning to Soerabaja to replenish.

Burma

Nice day in the air here. Six Allied fighters in exchange for 1 Oscar. Things are still stalemated here. I like it. I have the bits and pieces of 30 and 31 Divisions headed here or already here (or will head here when they arrive as reinforcements). That’ll make 8 or 9 (can’t remember for sure right now) Infantry Divisions and 2 Tank Divisions in Burma to stymie the Commonwealth. A big army is nice, but it sure takes a lot of supply. I am keeping Burma supplied two ways: 1. I have a CS convoy hauling 8-9k a pop from Palembang and 2. Every time a reinforcement comes from Japan/China/Manchuoko, it brings a lot of supply with it. I am determined to not have the really bad supply issues I had last monsoon season.

China

Nothing to report.

Other Stuff

Reinforcement:

TK Arita Maru – Type-1 TM (8150 capacity)

The Ha-45 R&D engine advanced to 5/43. I want them operational as soon as possible. Right now I have 3 factories totaling 240 engines per month. My eventual goal for them is 360 for use for the following:

N1K1-J George (90) – available mid-1943
Ki-84 Frank (90) – available late 1943
B7A2 Grace (30) – available late 1943
P1Y1 Francis (30 planes, 60 engines) – available late 1943, later models use the Ha-32 engine.
Ki-67 Peggy (30 planes, 60 engines) – available mid-1944
C6N1-S Myrt (90) – available late 1944

Right now, only 2x George factories are at the magic 30. Once the Ha-45 becomes operational, I will increase the factory size to 360 total, which will take 30 days for 2 of the factories and 60 days for the third. The reason I won’t do it now is because if the factory is repairing, it isn’t adding to the engine R&D %. I want the factories operational as soon as possible. The Ha-45 will advance to 4/43 in late March. That is when I’ll begin the increase to 360 total. I’ll have 500 in the pool by mid to late May 43 to accelerate R&D. I expect to get the George about May-June 43 so the excess engines will stock for use with the other R&D models.
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RE: Once Again into the Breech - Mike (J) vs. tc464 (A)

Post by ny59giants »

Subs and ASW - Even as Allies, I very rarely have them patrolling coastal/shallow ocean hexes unless there is a good reason to (warships). Once the big 10/42 upgrade, the Allied ASW devices get better and better. Anytime you have a sub get spotted, your OCD needs to kick in and move it to get the DL to decrease or go away.
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RE: Once Again into the Breech - Mike (J) vs. tc464 (A)

Post by Mike Solli »

Michael, I do the same. I did have a good reason to risk those 2 subs - a capital ship heavy bombardment fleet. Fortunately, both of those subs survived. The two that didn't survive got caught in their patrol lanes by enemy ASW in deep water hexes.
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RE: Once Again into the Breech - Mike (J) vs. tc464 (A)

Post by Mike Solli »

21 Feb 43

Sub War

After a horrible day yesterday, today was very quiet. No action at all, other than the normal missed shots (torp & DC) by both sides.

5 Fleet

Same old thing up here.

4 Fleet

Nothing to report.

SE Fleet

Nothing exciting to report, just Ted wasting his heavy bomber sorties on Lae.

SRA

I spotted a convoy between Cocos and Australia? Is it the remnants of the Aussie convoy? I’m turning around MKB to try to intercept and get another shot at them.

Burma

My night flying Nells sent 17 bombers after the bombardment TF and went after BBs Resolution and Ramilies, missing both unfortunately. Too bad.

The bombardment TF hit my main army that is holding Ted’s main army on the road between Cox’s Bazaar and Akyab. There is no rule against bombarding non-base hexes, but this seemed a bit gamey. The way the lines would be set up, my army would be on the inland part of the hex, probably 20+ miles inland. Losses were light, about a dozen disabled squads. No permanent damage. We talked about it afterward. We didn’t set up a rule against it, but I don’t think Ted will do that again, at least here.

China

I hit the former Kuikang garrison (1 HQ, 1 Cps, 2 BF) 2 hexes south of Chungking, trashing them. I didn’t kill any (I don’t want to), but caused 1193(138) casualties for no Japanese losses.

Other Stuff

The N1K1-J R&D advanced to 8/43.

Three Wakatakes began upgrades, as did my last W class DMS.
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RE: Once Again into the Breech - Mike (J) vs. tc464 (A)

Post by Mike Solli »

22 Feb 43

Sub War

Nothing to report.

5 Fleet

Nothing to report.

4 Fleet

Nothing to report.

SE Fleet

More heavy bombing of Lae. In addition, the 32 US Division shock attacked and took the place from my remnants there. That division was the victor of Buna and, when it got sufficient supply, moved up the coast to take Lae. I didn’t have nearly enough troops to hold the place. Inevitable, unfortunately.

SRA

Well, MKB found the Allied TF and trashed it. Unfortunately it wasn’t the Aussies. Ted later told me that it had hauled the 18 Brit Division to India and was headed back to Perth. Anyhoo, it was caught at 7 hex range, so the Vals were at long range, carrying 60kg bombs. Better than nothing. There were 3 attacks. The first was of 18 Kates, then 27 Vals, then an afternoon attack with 20 Kates. Remember, MKB has 21 Kates and 27 Vals. Only 1 xAK sank, but there were multiple sinking sounds throughout the day. I estimate I sank an additional xAK and 2-3 xAPs. Not bad, even if they were empty. This estimate came from the damage they incurred and the fact that I will hit the TF again in a future turn and several of the ships I hit today won’t be seen then.

Burma

One Oscar was lost in exchange for 2x Kittyhawk IIIs.

China

I had a cavalry brigade chasing the remnants of a Chinese base force in the north and they finally destroyed them. Now I have in Urumchi a tank brigade with a tank division, infantry division and cavalry brigade closing in on that base to take it. Soon.

Other Stuff

The Ki-44-IIc R&D advanced to 7/43.

Reinforcement:

xAK Amagi Maru #2 – Std-A – will convert to a TK.
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RE: Once Again into the Breech - Mike (J) vs. tc464 (A)

Post by Mike Solli »

23 Feb 43

This is the first turn we are using the beta.

Sub War

Nothing to report.

5 Fleet

Nothing to report.

4 Fleet

Nothing to report.

SE Fleet

Ted sent 29x 4E sorties against Rabaul in 3 waves. Flak got 2x B-17s and I lost a Zero shot down (no pilot losses). The bombers did no damage.

He also sent 18x B-24Ds against Tulagi. He may have spotted the TF there, which dropped 48 AS. The TF had already unloaded the troops and most of the supply when the bombers arrived. They did a couple of points of port damaged which was promptly repaired. This turn I deployed a 9 plane Zero chutai there to keep him honest. We’ll see how well they do.

SRA

The Allied TF was out of range of MKB. Too bad. Fuel is getting low but I’ll try for an intercept tomorrow.

Burma

The Allied bombardment force hit Akyab again today causing very light troop losses and very heavy infrastructure damage to the base. Also, the Aussie division from his main body moved into the hex to take Akyab back. All I have there is an infantry regiment that is leaving. Unfortunately, I won’t get them out before the Aussies attack.

This creates a dilemma for me. One hex to the north is where his main army (minus the Aussies) and my main army are sitting. Until he moved his Aussie division out, the AV was ~1424 Allied to 2334 Japanese. With the Aussies gone, it is now ~950 to 2334. I want to attack him but my troops are low on supply. I hope the Aussies stay in Akyab long enough for me to get some supply to my troops so I can DA them. That should cause more damage to him than to me, further slowing down his comeback in Burma. Keeping fingers crossed that the program will move supply there soon.

China

To the south of Changsha, there are ~28 Chinese units isolated and without supply in 4 separate hexes that I am herding to one base he controls. I don’t want to kill them. I just want to push them into the hex, then seal it off and let them starve. I attacked a corps just south of Changsha, pushing it south and causing 1649(203) Chinese losses to 885(2) Japanese.

Other Stuff

The A6M5b R&D advanced to 4/43. I upgraded the 6x30 R&D factories to the A6M5c. That’s the model I want for now.

The DD Naganami returned to service after being hit by a sub torpedo a while ago.

The DD Hokaze made port after being hit by a sub torpedo a couple days ago off the south coast of Japan. It’ll take 19 days to repair her.

Pt. Blair’s forts reached level 6!
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RE: Once Again into the Breech - Mike (J) vs. tc464 (A)

Post by Mike Solli »

24 Feb 43

Sub War

Nothing to report.

5 Fleet

Only 1 ground unit at Adak is at less than 100% strength, with that unit missing only some support squads.

The SE Fleet HQ will reach this area in a few day. It’ll offload, the 7 Base Force will upgrade, and it’ll reload for its next destination (Marcus Island).

4 Fleet

Nothing to report.

SE Fleet

The midget sub Ha-34 had been sitting at Goodenough Island looking for an opportunity. That didn’t materialize. A couple of US DDs did her in.

SRA

MKB hit the TF again, sinking 2 xAPs and damaging 5 other ships. They’ll stick around 1 more day hoping for another intercept then will have to head for Soerabaja to refuel and rearm.

Burma

Nine Nells went after the bombardment at Chittagong. Flak got one of them and the rest missed again! Eventually!

My army still doesn’t have the supply to attack.

China

Nothing to report.

Other Stuff

Reinforcement:

63 Sentai – 36 Nates – 51 Air Division – training
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RE: Once Again into the Breech - Mike (J) vs. tc464 (A)

Post by mind_messing »

The SE Fleet HQ will reach this area in a few day. It’ll offload, the 7 Base Force will upgrade, and it’ll reload for its next destination (Marcus Island).

Why Marcus?

It's airbase and port are far too small to merit all that aviation and naval support. Plus, neither the 12cm and 8cm pea-shooter DP guns, nor the thirty odd SNLF squads will make much difference if it comes to an Allied invasion.

You'd be served just as well by a AF Bn and a pair of Naval Guards - and probably still be under the stacking limits enough to fit another few units in.

The IJN don't get many base force units, so you really need to save them for your big ports/airbases, where the naval and aviation support can be put to good use.

If you really want some CD guns on Marcus, find out when the Kure 7th SNLF or the Combined 8th SNLF arrive. Both are SNLF units with some CD guns, and the Combined 8th gets some nice 14cm guns. You get 60 AV as garrison and some CD guns.
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RE: Once Again into the Breech - Mike (J) vs. tc464 (A)

Post by obvert »

ORIGINAL: mind_messing
The SE Fleet HQ will reach this area in a few day. It’ll offload, the 7 Base Force will upgrade, and it’ll reload for its next destination (Marcus Island).

Why Marcus?

It's airbase and port are far too small to merit all that aviation and naval support. Plus, neither the 12cm and 8cm pea-shooter DP guns, nor the thirty odd SNLF squads will make much difference if it comes to an Allied invasion.

You'd be served just as well by a AF Bn and a pair of Naval Guards - and probably still be under the stacking limits enough to fit another few units in.

The IJN don't get many base force units, so you really need to save them for your big ports/airbases, where the naval and aviation support can be put to good use.

If you really want some CD guns on Marcus, find out when the Kure 7th SNLF or the Combined 8th SNLF arrive. Both are SNLF units with some CD guns, and the Combined 8th gets some nice 14cm guns. You get 60 AV as garrison and some CD guns.

I also would agree these big base forces are best used on your larger bases. Marcus has too low a SL to really take much, so it will just fall by the time the Allies get there. It's too isolated. I would keep the CD guns for Iwo and Chichi-Jima and for the Marianas. He'll know where they are through SIGINT, so make sure they're in a spot he HAS to take.
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RE: Once Again into the Breech - Mike (J) vs. tc464 (A)

Post by rustysi »

On another note, we're starting to use the beta on the 22 Feb turn, which Ted has now. Any quick pointers I should have since I've never used it before? I'm trying to wade through the huge list of changes to find the important stuff.

OK, so one of the things the most recent beta changed (Aug. 2014) is the way ACM's use fuel to maintain base minefields. It was discovered that when mines were dropped multiple times at a base the code took it as different minefields and the ACM used fuel for 'each minefield'. This was something I kinda notice myself, that a lot of fuel was being used at some bases with minefields. Well this could be a rather large fuel expense. So Michaelm changed the 'cost' to come out of the ACM's fuel which would be less. The thing is (and I haven't checked this because I don't use the beta) it looks like you're now gonna have to watch the fuel levels in your ACM's since if they run out of fuel your minefields will begin to deteriorate. Not 100% sure but I'd watch this.
Ted sent 29x 4E sorties against Rabaul in 3 waves. Flak got 2x B-17s

I like that your Flak got a couple of planes. How many guns did you have there? I'm not looking to take down all of my opponents heavy boombers, but some losses (even op losses) each trip would be nice. Especially early on when he doesn't have that many. I'm like you in at least one respect... delay, delay, delay.
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RE: Once Again into the Breech - Mike (J) vs. tc464 (A)

Post by Zorch »

I sense an interruption of Real Life...
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RE: Once Again into the Breech - Mike (J) vs. tc464 (A)

Post by Mike Solli »

Morning everyone. Zorch, yes, Real Life definitely interrupted. My family and I are all fine, with the exception of Sam, our oldest cat. Just real life intervening and getting out of the WitP habit. We've been playing on and off and I've been keeping up on the AAR notes. Here's something I wrote a few weeks ago, then on to the turns:

It’s been a busy month or so in the real world. My wife’s family came to our house for Christmas. That’s always great fun. My brother-in-law, son and I love games and we played a record number of games while they were here. I don’t think I turned on the computer once during that time.

While they were here, we noticed our oldest cat, Sam, was not himself. Nothing specific, but he definitely wasn’t himself.

Sammy was a Maine Coon. Weighing in at 16-17 lbs, he was a huge cat, and all muscle. He was a very kind soul, loving every living thing in our house, be it cat, human, turtle or bird. Yeah, he loved our bird too. He was often found sitting on our turtle tank with one paw in the tank playing with our turtle. He particularly loved my wife, Tracy, and daughter, Gina. If either one picked him up, he would wrap his front legs around her neck and hug her. Sammy was a long hair, so he needed to be brushed regularly. He didn’t particularly like it so someone (usually me, but often Gina or our son, Dominic) would hold him down while Tracy brushed him. One of my favorite memories is of Sam dragging Gina (5’5” and 120 lbs) along the rug to get away from Tracy’s brush. That was a regular event in the house.

Anyway, Sam started losing some hair on his neck. We took him to the vet, who had his blood and thyroid tested. Everything was normal. The next test was for ringworm, which takes a month. In the meantime, he continued to lose hair and weight. He succumbed to whatever it was on 20 Jan in my arms. It may have been pancreatic cancer.

Since we were married, we’ve lost 8 cats to various ailments. They all hurt, but none hurt as much as Sam. He was a special cat and will be missed.

Gina summed it up best: We miss you Sam! You were the greatest cat ever! We will never forget how fluffy you were, or how you gave the best hugs. You waited at the door for us to come home, and you played fetch. You were giant, you drooled when you were happy, and you converted almost every cat-hater you met. You will live in our hearts forever. We love ya Buddy! Leave your hair all over my room in heaven for when I get there, cause it wouldn't be home without it.
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RE: Once Again into the Breech - Mike (J) vs. tc464 (A)

Post by Mike Solli »

25 Feb 43

Sub War

The Guardfish sank a Daigen class xAKL north of Okinawa hauling resources.

5 Fleet

Nothing new to report.

4 Fleet

Nothing new to report.

SE Fleet

Ted has stationed some Corsairs at Lae. I don’t think he has enough supply to do anything with them yet, but that’ll change.

Ted sent 6x B-17s to hit the troops at Gasmata. Maybe he’s attempting to get some intel. I’d welcome an invasion here. I could bring down KB, which can hit them from the north side of the island, along with 72 Betties from Rabaul and/or Shortland. There are also a couple hundred mines at Gasmata. Lots of subs around too.

Ted sent a dozen B-24Ds to Tulagi. I have a chutai of A6M5s and we traded 1 plane each (pilot WIA). His bombers did no damage. This turn, I sent another chutai of Zeros to reinforce the other chutai. Hopefully, 18 of them can take down some more of his bombers.

SRA

Well, the action between Cocos and Australia (now around 12 hexes west of Geraldton) continued today. MKB was within a couple of hexes of two convoys but never launched. I don’t know why, but I suspect it was due to the weather. I had a surface TF of CA Haguro and DD Natsushio, which caught both TFs. The first was a single ship TF, the xAP Empress Asia, a biggun. They put her down that night. She was 12k+ tons and 20kt speed with a capacity of 4340 troops and 2100 cargo. Too bad she was empty!

During the day, they found a new TF of an xAP and 8x xAKs at long range. They damaged the xAP and an xAK but the enemy got away.

MKB will stick around probably 1 more day. I hope to hit that TF one more time. I have another surface TF of 4 CA and 4 DD that is 1-2 days out from MKB. They’ll merge and replenish MKB’s fuel so they can stick around a little longer, but not much. I don’t want Ted to sneak any carriers there to trash my guys. I have no clue that he may do that, but I’m just being paranoid.

Burma

My main army still doesn’t have supply. Tomorrow a TF arrives at Rangoon with an infantry regiment and (more importantly) ~6k supply. I hope that the extra supply moves north and replenishes the red basses and the army. I’d love to take a shot at his army, since its best division is absent.

China

I attacked Kunming today, getting 1:1 odds and reducing the fort from 1 to 0. I only have 2 divisions and about 8 artillery units there with reinforcements coming. The reinforcements will allow me to take the base. Taking that base will further reduce his supply production.

Other Stuff

I heard 2 more ship sinking sounds today.

So far here is what my little MKB has done:

Composition:
9 Zeros
21 Kates
27 Vals

Confirmed sinkings: (torpedo/250kg/60kg hits)
xAP Thalma (0/8/0)
xAK Cornish City (3/5/0)
xAP Largs Bay (3/0/0)
xAK Martand (3/0/0)
The above ships took with them 11.5k troops & loads of equipment, most of the 9 Aussie Division.
xAK Pasha (0/5/0)
xAP Khedive (0/10/0)
xAP Santhia (0/9/0)

Damaged ships: (torpedo/250kg/60kg hits)
xAP Tairea (0/3/0)
xAK Bhima (0/4/0)
xAP Tilawa (0/3/0)
The above 3 ships were part of the ill-fated 9 Aussie Division TF.
xAK Nicolas van Vonn (0/7/0) – probably sunk
xAK Baron Cawdor (0/1/3)
xAP Doumer (0/1/3)
xAP Indora (0/8/3) – probably sunk
xAP Aorangi (0/0/1)
xAP Rohna (0/7/4) – probably sunk
xAK Varela (0/3/0)
xAK Indira (0/2/0)
xAP Khandalla (0/3/0)
xAP Aorangi (0/3/0)
xAK Alice Moller (0/1/0)
xAP Rajula (0/1/0)

They’ve lost no planes or pilots so far!

In addition, I’ve heard at about half a dozen additional ship sinking sounds over the past week. Not bad for the third string!
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RE: Once Again into the Breech - Mike (J) vs. tc464 (A)

Post by Mike Solli »

26 Feb 43

Sub War

The PB up in the Aleutians that took a torpedo a few days ago finally sank. She made it to port, but fire eventually overtook her.

South of Shanghai, the E W-20 (previously DMS W-20) hit the Tarpon with a depth charge. She didn’t sink, but she’ll definitely have to head for home. See, that’s why I upgrade my DMS to Es; the Type 2 DCs.

The Dutch sub KXV was confirmed sunk near Gasmata from ramming a mine there. That was way back on 15 Jan 43.

5 Fleet

Nothing to report.

4 Fleet

Nothing to report.

SE Fleet

Not a lot, really. My Helen night bombers destroyed a Corsair on the ground at Lae.

At a cost of 2 Zeros (no pilot losses), two B-24Ds were destroyed over Tulagi.

Six Betties went after the DD Nepal at Goodenough Island and lost 1 of their number to flak for their trouble. Sheesh.

SRA

MKB spotted (and missed with all of 3 Kates) 2x xAPs and an xAK. One of the xAPs was heavily damaged from earlier damage. I wonder if that’s all that is left of that convoy?

Burma

Nothing to report.

China

I finally took Kunming in a 4:1 shock attack, causing 2759(255) Chinese losses to 564(3) Japanese. The infrastructure was pretty much intact at: Manpower 1(1), Resources 55(5), HI 45(5) and LI 73(7). That’s an extra 163 supply and 90 HI a day for me and a loss of 80 (180 if he had any fuel there, which I doubt) supply a day for the Chinese. I’ll continue to plod along here pushing the Chinese toward Chungking or surrounding them.

Other Stuff

The Ki-43-IIIc R&D advanced to 11/44.

I finally fixed the engine issues for R&D acceleration. The Ha-33, -34 and -35 all are above 500 and will remain there. The Ha-32 is at 426 and rising. They’ll eventually get there, and then I’ll have to take a hard look at my planes that use that engine to make sure it stays above 500 for R&D. Here is a list of the operational planes that use the Ha-32:

Betty – 30/month – 60 engines
Emily – 10/month – currently off (24 in the pool)
Sally – 40/month – 80 engines

Ha-32 factories: 270/month – 140/month used = +130 per month with 426 in the pool. I should hit 500 in mid-March 43.

Ha-32 R&D:

E15K1 Norm: 2x30, 8/43, will become operational 6/43. This’ll use 2/day or 60/month.
G4M2a Betty: 22, 6, 6/44. It’ll be awhile before these factories reach 30.
B6N2 Jill: 2x30, 29, 10/43. This’ll use 3/day or 90/month.

So, this will use 150 engines per month, along with 140 engines per month for the operational planes. That’s without turning the Emily on, and I get the H8K2 in March 43. I would like some of them too. I’m going to take a hard look at my Sally production and see if I can turn it off for a while. The Betty pool is hovering around 80 or so. My upper limit (when I turn that factory off) is 120 in the pool and I lose a few every now and then. The losses are slowly rising though.

Now I throw into the mix that the Norm will hit operational status of 6/43 in mid-April 43. So, when it advances to June, I’ll convert those 2 factories to something else. That’ll reduce the R&D requirement to 90 and the operational requirement to a max of 180 (everything on), which is just enough to keep the pool where it is (above 500). But, the Norm becomes operational in June, so the operational need will increase to a max of 210 and 90 R&D. Now we’re over by 30 per month again. Everyone following?

This shouldn’t be a problem because I have lots of flying boats (24 Emilies and ~56 Mavis) in the pool right now. I really like the H8K2 Emily, but I’ll wait until the other pools are depleted somewhat. I overestimated my flying boat loss estimates.

Welcome to the way my brain works and the things I think about for fun.
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RE: Once Again into the Breech - Mike (J) vs. tc464 (A)

Post by Mike Solli »

27 Feb 43

Sub War
5 Fleet
4 Fleet


Nothing to report.

SE Fleet

Six Betties escorted by 14 Zeros went after some xAKLs at Goodenough Island and ran into a couple of Kittyhawk IIIs, shooting one Kittyhawk down. The Betties missed the ships. Wow, that was exciting.

Can’t they go after something a little more worthwhile? I need to look on the bright side. I didn’t lose any planes.

SRA

In the morning, MKB launched against the 3 remaining ships, a whole 3 Kates. They have 48 bombers aboard! Three! Really?! Well, the 3 Kates hit the xAK Alice Moller 6 times. That’s a 100% accuracy rate! Well done! No report of her sinking, but 6x 250kg bombs will definitely ruin an xAKs day.

In the afternoon, the SAME THREE Kates launched again, this time against the xAP Kandalla (the damaged one) and put 3 bombs into her. She did sink.

So, what were the pilots of the other 45 bombers doing? Playing the Japanese version of pinochle I suppose.

At Soumlaki, I changed the Nell daitai to night naval attack. They flew today! They went after some xAKLs at Merauke and hit 2 of them with a 60kg bomb each. May as well throw rocks at them. Again, looking on the bright side, I didn’t lose any planes.

MKB actually ran into a convoy of 3x damaged Allied cargo ships and both sides fled. Really? MKB had 3 CAs and they didn’t take a single shot? *Sigh*

Burma
China


Nothing to report.

Other Stuff

Reinforcement:
CL Oyodo – heading to Truk. Not sure if she’ll sail with the Combined Fleet or KB. She’s a 10k ton cruiser with some nice AA. Probably KB. Also, this frees up another 41 Naval Shipyard points.

The Ki-100-II R&D advanced to 11/44.
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