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[Erkki]

Ok more questions for you then!

For sub ops and surface combat fleets.

1) Does react work with the patrol zones? (i use a triangle shaped patrol zone to intercept enemy shipping coming around the south side of hawaii, does react jump out of this patrol zone?

2) For surface combat, how do i get my fleet to intercept enemy fleets at night? still havent found this option, and i assume its just a early movement phase type thing.

3) Have you found much use for the CS boats, (cruiser seaplane tenders?) I am currently putting them with my surface combat fleets but once again i dont know if its useful.

I think the reason you have so many views is because this is a very complex game with a horrible UI just like dwarf fortress ^_^

React does work with the patrol zones, I have 2 and 3 ship ASW TFs patrolling, about 10 of them, the most aggressive captains I could find, reaction 6 allowed. My Navy and Army Air Force ASW Schools fly 10% operational sorties, they spot stuff and the ships try to catch them. Last of the subs was pulled out 2 weeks ago(they're now in a picket line further away) so I suppose it worked. 

Night interception is possible, easiest against invasions fleets unloading, between islands/in straits etc. Depends on captains, ships, known info and distance in the end of the turn. Managed to night intercept Indomitable at the open sea 6 hex from where it was in the end of the turn... Didnt work out quite as I had planned but the Allies were batshit lucky too. 

Those CSes are nice, they provide very good naval search coverage, 20 planes is much better than 1/cruiser. Those F1Ms can if needed fly CAP too (they have one machine gun), they wont stop any kind of attack but they might shoot down enemy search planes and harass small numbers of attackers. You can later use A6M2-N and the N1K1 float plane fighters. They suck fighter vs. fighter, the floats slow them down, but they shoot down bombers just as well, and they're both cannon armed.  That naval search the CSes provide helps achieving those interceptions, also they give your carrier and land based units target data, you need to search with them too but the further they fly the less likely they are to detect anything: some of the "Netties" can bring torpedo 21 hex but only find targets up to 10 , thats why the CSes are nasty!

[Erkki]

March 11th

Something wrong with Midway... Yeah. at target: do not unload. DOH. At least the Vindicators didnt fly, the Allies probably flew them out to save the men and aircraft..

Standard action everywhere, Burma air war today goes 5:2 to Japanese, very quiet elsewhere. A US sub hits a tanker from Palembang off Singapore, but she should make it. 11 SCs in 4 TFs formed to patrol around Singapore and Singapore-Palembang route to clear it for the tankers. The Home Islands' industry needs the oil and fuel!

The super aggressive captain of SS I-1 attacks an xAK near Seattle, shooting all his torpedoes(missing all 8 ), and emptying deck gun ammunition, scoring 12 hits. That ship would better sink.

No sight of the Brits near Andamans. They pulled out, now we can land more troops and get Port Blair.

[Erkki]

March 12th, March 13th

Complete farce at Midway. Battleships suppress the defenders, killing also lots of guns and men, nuking the double island... Only thing mounting losses to to the landing troops is the surf. Then the assault. The island seems to have around 8000 men (serious overstacking, they must be heavily disrupted and burning loads of supplies), heavily fortified, and mined. 5200 losses one afternoon... We're pulling out. So far 8 transports lost to bombers, but at least the destroyers killed one submarine and the battleships worked with the bombers. They even strafe with Buffaloes.

Port Blair falls to the Japanese, all 5000 defenders give up and surrender. Here too escort destroyers force a British submarine to surface, and kill it.

Sub Chasers force some US subs away from Singapore, and a Japanese submarine returning to refit finds a US submarine, attacks, scores a torpedo hit and sinks it. Nice!

Heavy air war over Burma but now the British are the receiving side to about 3:1. A Japanese ace is killed today, he crashes at landing, not due to enemy fire. Lol.



The end of the month will see our next amphibious operations, invasions of Ambon, Balikbapan (South Borneo) and Java.

Carrier Fleet of course supports these operations, as do the battleships. As the enemy now has no carrier fleet, I am dividing the Kido Butai into 3 sub divisions:


Carrier Division I, Rear Admiral Yamon Tamaguchi
#CV Akagi
CV Hiryu
CV Zuikaku
CV Shokaku
CV Soryu
BB Kirishima
BB Hiei

Main force, big, fast(slowest 31 knots) carriers.

Carrier Division II, Vice Admiral Chuichi Nagumo
#CV Kaga
CVL Zuiho
CVL Shoho
(CVL Ryujo)

Slower and lighter carriers(slowest ones 28 knots), but crack air units, reserve/raiders from Truk.

Carrier Division III, Captain Shizue Ishii of Junyo
#CV Junyo
((CV Hiyo))
(CVE Hosho)

Slowest carriers(all 25 knot), Singapore, Indian Ocean operations.

Reserve:
CVE Taiyo at Takao, Formosa.

[Zrk2]

DAMN YOU MIDWAY!

Could you just park your fleet in front of it and wait until they burn their supplies and have to surrender? Like a siege?

[Erkki]

DAMN YOU MIDWAY!

Could you just park your fleet in front of it and wait until they burn their supplies and have to surrender? Like a siege?

Yeah, but no resources to use carriers and ships(that will burn fuel a month) against one pathetic island. Good thing is all the actual war ships are intact, and the survivors are now loaded up and heading home.

[yamo]

Did the bombarding force need to arrive several days before the transports?

[Erkki]

Did the bombarding force need to arrive several days before the transports?

Same time to maximize disruption and fatigue effects, as well as preventing defenders from fixing stuff...

[yamo]

So was it lack of air cover that did in the invasion?...Given the Japanese' superior Fighting Spirit...

[Erkki]

So was it lack of air cover that did in the invasion?...Given the Japanese' superior Fighting Spirit...

Allies overstacking the island... about twice as many defenders as was expected, at the cost of 8x or so supply consumption and disruption, fatigue and coordination penaties. Air cover I doubt would have saved much, a couple of transports less sunk, maybe.

[Journier]

sorry, i must have missed it, how many people did you send to invade the island? So far in my own game, wake island and all the small atoll's have been horrible meat grinders for the attacker unless you have like 3-4x the attacking troops.

In my most recent game I started, ive had to send a regiment to take wake :/ with cruisers shelling that little hell hole all week long. all my assaults with 1,000 men or 1500 men, have all died horribly in 2-4 days

Every single game i do with wake island becomes a meat grinder, even once when i dropped an entire division onto the island (holy crap so many people died unloading from the boats!)

I think I read that Atoll's? or small islands are always horrible casualty causing no matter what, true i assume?

[Zrk2]

Well, they were IRL, so it's probably accurate.

[Sheb]

Wow, I didn't realize you were so close to rangoon. Do you plan on invading it anytime soon? Maybe landing troops on the other side (once you have Port Blair) to cut supplies off?

[Erkki]

Wow, I didn't realize you were so close to rangoon. Do you plan on invading it anytime soon? Maybe landing troops on the other side (once you have Port Blair) to cut supplies off?

Port Blair is now Japanese... Its airfield needs about a week of preparing before I can move the fighters in, another week, at least, before its extended for bombers. Its in a perfect position to monitor all of the Bay of Bengal.

I don't think I'll try Wake or Midway any more, but have 2 Marine battalions preparing for Ocean and Nauru islands. Not big places but potential seaplane bases and anchorages, make good Southern cover for the Marshalls.

[Erkki]

A quick look on important naval assets sunk so far. Allied list is under FOW, Japan's accurate.

Code: [Select]

Side:  Japan  /  Allies, certain+probables+possibles
  CV:    0    /  2+1+1
  BB:    1    /  2+2+3
  CA:    1    /  6+3+1
  CL:    2    /  8+1+2

As Hosho is back in action in 9 days only and Ryujo within a month things look very good. Few more important steps ahead before The Perimeter is formed, but the Allies dont have much to fight back in the seas any more for a while at least. They could try using the battleships(they should have at least 3 more British + 2 or 3 American that are not sunk, eaten a torpedo recently  or in need of extensive repairs) and getting interception in the Java Sea should be easy, but they're a one shot weapon as they cant survive against hundreds of torpedo bombers combined with Japanese surface fleet and submarines.

[Sheb]

Seems like you really need to use you few month of sea hegemony to do as much damage as possible. Doing at least one important raid (On australia, pearl harbor or california) and trying to go for Rangoon.