quick question

[dave sindel]

I should also add that this was my first atoll invasion. As BBFanboy mentioned a few posts back, planning invasions is complicated - and the learning curve can be steep.

[BBfanboy]

1. I could not find anything in the manual covering the meaning of the second number, but I think the two number mean the base has 4372 fuel and it needs a minimum of 2000 per day based on latest usage rates. It is in red because the base tries to keep at least 3X the calculated minimum. Fuelling ships or loading fuel in a tanker are things that would drive up the usage rate.

2. The Japanese probably got troops to Tassafaronga via the "Tokyo Express" , a Fast Transport mission of DDs and APDs from Rabaul. They could also have been flown in by Mavis patrol aircraft. This is one of the reasons I hinted you should march overland to Tassafaronga. There is no problem landing the marines there when it is unoccupied and still in Allied hands, but when the enemy take the hex you need to have high preparation of the marine unit to make an amphibious landing.

If you have any cruisers and DDs that can patrol Tassafaronga at night to intercept the Tokyo Express you could try that, but be warned that the Japanese are skilled night fighters with good leaders on their ships while the Allies need to get some experience and change some captains. Make sure your SCTF gets under friendly CAP after a night of patrol at Tassafaronga. The Japanese have lots of torpedo bombers that can easily reach Guadalcanal.

3. Resources are mostly important in large land masses with a lot of industry. Those industries fall silent without a constant flow of resources, so part of the game is to capture the bases with resources and the railroads and main roads needed to ship them to industrial cities. The Chinese always need resources because you can never get enough supply there to meet demand. The Japanese need resources and industries on the Asian continent so that they do not have to devote so many ships to hauling supply to Asia and so that they can use the supply on the home islands to make weapons. India needs supply and resources for about the first year of the war until it is getting lots of supply from Cape Town. Australia needs some resources moved from the isolated north to the industrial south.

4. Replenish TF "At Sea" takes fuel from other ships. If there is a Tanker or AO available the fuel will come from their tanks. If there is no Tanker or AO but there are other TFs in the hex, the TF will steal fuel from their bunkers (up to the point where the donating ships only have enough fuel to get back to their home base). Be very careful with this one - normally only small ships should guzzle from bigger ones. In exceptional circumstances you can send a TF of non-critical ships like xAKs out to provide emergency fuel to an very important ship like a CV to ensure it can get to port. Note that, away from a port when you refuel from a TK at sea, it takes fuel from the TK's bunkers, not the cargo tanks.

Replenish from port takes fuel from the port stocks, but monitor to see that there was enough fuel to sustain your TF on the next mission. It is not uncommon to run a base dry.

[vj531]

I try so hard to solve many these questions before I post on here. Its getting that the quickest way is now on here.

I'm struggling with the sheer volume of rules to learn in the game.
I will try and digest your latest excellent instalment in the next few days while still play the scenario.

I think my Mrs will be looking to start divorce proceedings soon!

[chemkid]

.

[Yaab]

- What are you trying to tell me? That I can dodge bullets?
- You don't have to. You have Oscars for that.

[rustysi]

A troop convoy needs at least one AP type to be able to load any troops.

Um, that's not true. To load troops all a vessel needs is a troop capacity.

can use the supply on the home islands to make weapons.

Sorry, also wrong. Supply doesn't 'make' weapons, Japan needs HI (heavy industry) points to build weapons. Supply has nothing to do with it, HI's inputs are fuel and resources.

[rustysi]

ORIGINAL: sharper

I try so hard to solve many these questions before I post on here. Its getting that the quickest way is now on here.

I'm struggling with the sheer volume of rules to learn in the game.
I will try and digest your latest excellent instalment in the next few days while still play the scenario.

I think my Mrs will be looking to start divorce proceedings soon!

This game is certainly not for the faint of heart. The 'learning curve' is most often referred to as a 'learning cliff'.

I'm not trying to scare you off, but one must realize it'll take time to learn the aspects of this monster. My advice is simple, just take your time and it'll all come into focus eventually. You don't/can't do it all at once.

Nor do you have to learn it all, just learn enough to have fun. That is after all what its all about. For a PBEM you may need a better understanding, but against the AI you can get by with less.

As for divorce proceedings I can't speak to that as I waited to start learning this game after I was already divorced.[:D] IMHO I believe that is the way to go.[:'(]

[BBfanboy]

ORIGINAL: rustysi

A troop convoy needs at least one AP type to be able to load any troops.

Um, that's not true. To load troops all a vessel needs is a troop capacity.

can use the supply on the home islands to make weapons.

Sorry, also wrong. Supply doesn't 'make' weapons, Japan needs HI (heavy industry) points to build weapons. Supply has nothing to do with it, HI's inputs are fuel and resources.

I beg to differ on the first point - sharper is playing the allies and the Allies do not get people carrying xAKs in official stock scenarios. All troop carrying types are APA/AP/xAP/APD/ and (ok, an exception) some AMCs. He doesn't get AGCs in this scenario so I didn't bring it up - got enough on the learning curve already! [:D]

On the second point, I thought in addition to HI points the AirCraft/Engine/Armament/Vehicle industries used supply to do their magic. I guess I supposed this because the JFBs are always emphasizing how Japan has to hoard supply for late game. I'll have to get brave enough to play the Japanese side sometime!

[geofflambert]

A rule of thumb I use is figure out how much you need and add more. Make sure ahead of time (you don't need Dr. Who for this) you have more than enough supply for both the expeditions you're sending from a port and the port's needs as well. The more ships you use, the smaller the cost in men and equipment when a ship or ships are lost en route. Once the rest of the unit arrives the losses may be replaced rather quickly. Also, extra supply hurts no one, and you don't want to be having to resupply the troops soon after they land, and you would have had to plan for that anyway. Don't do unnecessary planning. Dump lots extra, they'll get around to using it, maybe sooner than you think.

[vj531]

thanks to geofflambert, chemkid (great maps[:)]), rustysi, Yaab and BBfanboy (da man[&o] )

[vj531]

Im trying to replenish 16' ammo for the BB Nth Carolina at Noumea.
Is this possible or is it off to Sydney?

[BBfanboy]

To replenish BB gun ammo you need a level 7 port, or a lower level port with lots of naval support (see the manual for the table on ammo loading), OR, an AE or AKE ammo ship of appropriate size. I use the 5400 capacity AEs and 4200 capacity AKEs, but occasionally I have used AKEs with about 3900 capacity.

Note that replenishing torpedoes and depth charges takes similar large port or support ship. I think the table in the manual covers it.

[vj531]

Had a look at manual p210 ish - it's quite abstract

There is though a big jump at level 7.

[rustysi]

ORIGINAL: sharper

Im trying to replenish 16' ammo for the BB Nth Carolina at Noumea.
Is this possible or is it off to Sydney?

You see the right hand side where it shows all the max ammo numbers in green. Well this is supposed to tell you the port is capable of reloading that weapon. Now if the vessel is out of op points or the port has reached its limits with other ships it can't complete the load this turn. Try again on another day and see what happens. I've seen a message to the effect 'can't fully reload' before (or something like that).

Edit: Best place to look for ship reloading... 20.1.2.2 p284.

[rustysi]

Allies do not get people carrying xAKs in official stock scenarios.

Fair enough, Japan gets tons of 'em. At a level 6 port I can even convert some cargo space to troop space. On the flip side Japan gets zero APA, AP, AKA's. To add to that she has few AK's too, at least to start. She can convert quite a few in June '42, but most assault type ops should be done for her by then.

On the second point, I thought in addition to HI points the AirCraft/Engine/Armament/Vehicle industries used supply to do their magic.

Not at all. Japan needs to hoard supply because she will first run out of oil. Then fuel. Once that happens Heavy Industries will shut down for lack of fuel input. HI is where Japan gets most of her supply generated. Hence if she doesn't hoard she will have none to supply her troops. The economy for the Japanese player is pretty complex and intertwined. The trick is to balance everything.[;)] OTOH, for me at least, its the only reason to play Japan.

[Anachro]

ORIGINAL: rustysi
The economy for the Japanese player is pretty complex and intertwined. The trick is to balance everything.[;)] OTOH, for me at least, its the only reason to play Japan.

Right you are, Rutysi. I was doing a deep-dive into my industry, airplane production, R&D last night for my PBEM game with AcePylut and really had an epiphany: managing all this, making decisions on which aircraft I want to R&D and why, et. - all of it is extremely interesting and really adds another dynamic to the game. I don't think I'll ever be as good as some of our esteemed members at managing the Japanese economy, but I'll have fun and keep trying to get better at it.

[vj531]

Looking for an dummies guide to 'operation points'.....[&:]

I've read the manual but still confused....is a figure in the 'Ops' column a negative or positive effect to the TF overall operation?
Im sure it all to do with refueling/replenishment....but sadly it still is not 'sinking' in.

I hope the above makes sense.

[BBfanboy]

Just think of each 12 hour phase (day or night) divided into 1000 chunks of time. The operations points just report how much time is used by certain activities.
Refuelling a nearly empty warship typically takes 250 ops points. It also uses 250 ops points from the tanker/AO (if that is what is used).

The amount of ops points used at a port to do refuelling depends on port size, and maybe naval support. Don't worry about it. Just check your ships to see if they got what they needed. Fuel is replenished before ammo, so usually fuel is fully replenished and it is ammo that needs another day of replenishment. And it is usually the providing vessel like a TK/AO or AE/AKE that runs out of ops points before the work is done.

Ops points are also used up by movement of aircraft and ships and can be used by combat.

All in all ops points are just a way to limit the amount of things happening in the game execution phase.

[vj531]

thanks for above

I sent CV TF back to replenish and moved some of it's DB on to Lungi for the intervening period. Is this a good move or?

[BBfanboy]

ORIGINAL: sharper

thanks for above

I sent CV TF back to replenish and moved some of it's DB on to Lungi for the intervening period. Is this a good move or?

It depends ...
Firstly, Lunga airfield must be level 2 to support offensive operations. At level one it can just do CAP, search and recon.
Even at level 2, I am not sure if an SBD can take off with a full 1000 lb. bomb load. It might be limited to a 500 pounder.
At level 3 the SBDs can operate with full load for sure.

Secondly, you need to have enough air support to keep the aircraft in good repair.

Thirdly, you need to be safe enough from enemy bombing and from naval bombardment that the airfield will not be shut down. Fighter cover will take care of the bombers. You need mines/PTs/subs/SCTFs to keep the enemy from bombarding. If your squadron gets smashed there you will have lost some of the finest naval aviators in the world for nothing.

Fourthly - are there targets within range that you can expect them to hit? If you haven't been seeing any the SBD pilots are sitting on their duffs doing nothing for you.

In Real Life - the SBDs from Enterprise were only transferred to Lunga when she suffered so much damage that she would not be able to operate them for a long time (while in repairs). Fighters were already there from a similar transfer.