An Idiots Guide To Losing Your CV's Before 1942: WiTP:AE KyzBP vs UCG

[airboy]

Greatly enjoyed this AAR (both of them).

Suggestion: How specifically can Geek win in 1942 -1943?  What strategy do you have to stop Geek from winning?  When 1943-1944 when the US production of carriers, subs, and everything else hits, you will have massive power to project.  But how can you avoid losing in 1942-1943?

Strategy drives tactics, not vice-versa.

[FarAway Sooner]

I'd second all the praise on this thread.  Fascinating stuff.

Question for Kyz:  Why are you using your 4-engine bombers to bomb his land troops, instead of whatever air fields he's using to attack you?  Is the CAP over those airfields too murderous?  Otherwise, it seems to me like one of the primary lessons to arise from WW II is that the easiest place to destroy a plane is on the ground.

In real life, the Aussies and Americans had great success with the B-25 by putting something like a dozen forward-firing .50 caliber machine guns on them and flying over Japanese air bases at tree top level.  The tree-top level meant Japanese AA couldn't start firing until the planes were already there, and by the time that the planes got there, they were hosing the whole base down with .50 cal fire.  The kill zone off those B-25s was horrific.

Combine that with the fact that the Japanese did a piss-poor job of building revetments or any other sort of protection for their craft, and the B-25s were a dominant air superiority craft, if not quite in the way envisioned when they were first built.

[JasonPratt]

I'm pretty sure the "Mosquito" B-25s (I don't recall the real nickname for that gunship variant) were considerably later in the war than where Kyz currently is. He's barely into Spring 42, and to some extent he has to use what little he has available already.

[Silent Disapproval Robot]

Skip bombing started in July 1942 and the commerce destroyer B-25s with all the extra machineguns in the nose were put into operations in Feb, 1943.

The second book in the Rabaul series goes into fairly good detail on these developments as well as experiments with para-frag bombing.  General Kenney was certainly an interesting character.

[KyzBP]

Greatly enjoyed this AAR (both of them).

Suggestion: How specifically can Geek win in 1942 -1943?  What strategy do you have to stop Geek from winning?  When 1943-1944 when the US production of carriers, subs, and everything else hits, you will have massive power to project.  But how can you avoid losing in 1942-1943?

Strategy drives tactics, not vice-versa.

Man, Airboy, I wish I had a strategy to stop him.  Usually the Allied player pulls back and turtles up until 43 and then starts his(/her?) march towards Tokyo.  I wanted to make this a different (and hopefully more fun) game by trying to fight him early and aggressively.  That hasn't always been the case but I have tried. 
Right now Intel is reporting a lot of troops making plans to attack Rangoon.  I've got a sizable force there and if he comes by land then he'll have to deal with Pegu as well.  I hope that stops him from heading into India.  Intel shows a bunch of troops loading up and heading to Rockhampton so I've made plans to attempt to intercept him before he gets there. 
Even though he's pushing me around in China I'm pretty sure that'll eventually stop.  There's a couple of fortresses that are only getting stronger.  Those should stop him before he works his way into India from the East.

As far as specifically goes, well, I'm not sure.  I know there's a score that he can reach that triggers an auto victory but I don't know what it is.  I think he's close though.

Yes.  Pick up the pace and go give him a bloody nose. 

I'm trying Jomni.  Two things are slowing me down though, Transports(APs) and Political Points(PP).  I need more PP to change the HQ's of certain units.  This will allow those units to be moved freely around the map.  Without the change then they are restricted to a certain area like the West Coast for example.

Question for Kyz:  Why are you using your 4-engine bombers to bomb his land troops, instead of whatever air fields he's using to attack you?  Is the CAP over those airfields too murderous?  Otherwise, it seems to me like one of the primary lessons to arise from WW II is that the easiest place to destroy a plane is on the ground.

I simply haven't had much luck when bombing the airfields.  More important to me right now, I think, is keeping his force at Marysville disrupted.  It looks like he's going to try and take Bundaberg by leaving Marysville.  I have a mess of units headed up to Marysville in case he does sortie out towards Bundeburg.  If I keep pounding him he won't be as effective once he reaches Bundeberg or heads back to Mary.  I hope that makes sense.

[KyzBP]

March 31st, 1942

We open the day with the now familiar Bombarding Palmyra

What's interesting here is there's a DD in port.  It may be a damaged leftover from the first months of the war.  I'd be
very surprised if he was able to sneak some ships in here.  I guess I'll just keep bombarding and find out.

Geek's CV's strike again.

This time an AK was sunk and an AP was hit.  I lost troops as well.  There's no doubt that I have to abandon any hope of
getting troops in here to reinforce these guys.

Bombing Mary.



I hope I really am disrupting something here.  I'm not killing a lot of troops but maybe they're still being disrupted.  The
worst part, as you know, is the amount of aircraft I'm going through.

My CV's hit some Ak's.

I need to get a little closer to the Home Island to find any real targets but that may be a bit dangerous.  I may risk it
just to shake things up.

Geek's raiders in action.

These guys are cruising and pillaging with impunity.  Pulling my Brit CV's back may have been a bad idea.  Although, with his
CV's out and about it's probably better I'm in hiding.  I really want to hit these pretentious bullies.

Here's something interesting.

No sooner did I make mention of Wenchow when suddenly it was the focal point of 5 bombing raids.  I guess I
jinxed this base.  So far the few planes that are present haven't been hit but Geek's going to carpet bomb everything here
into dust.

Another Sub vs AK surface battle.

I put the Trigger in the path of all Geek's troops headed from Manila to Singapore.  I was hoping for a little better result.
The ships he's sending are packed to the gills with troops and so far I haven't hit a one of them.

April is on the horizon.  Let's hope the war starts to turn in the right direction.

[KyzBP]

GEEK SURRENDERS!  LAST ENTRY!!!

April 1st, 1942

Actually there was next to no activity today.

Geek's SC TF rolled into the port at Bundeberg.

He caught the AK Iron Master unloading supplies and sunk her. Maybe the AK Iron Chef would of had a better chance.

Unescorted bombers over Brisbane.


Those are my favorite kind of bombers.  I started moving a couple more squadrons towards Sydney, and ultimately Brisbane.
It'll take a week for the first one to get there and about 10 days for the other.  I'm hoping Brisbane still has an airfield then.

Geek's carrier planes go a huntin'.

Same old story, I know.  What I'm trying to figure out is why is he launching so few planes?  Is he loaded with fighters?  Recon
shows him to have nearly 200 bombers so I don't think that's it.  I'm going to have to keep an eye on this and see if it's
something I can exploit.

Wenchow is the new Padang or Manila.  It got hit by no less than 5 more air attacks.  For some reason my 4 planes based there have
survived again.  Now that he's focusing on Wenchow some of the other Chinese cities are getting a break.  The Chinese fighters have
almost no range so transferring any help here is out of the question.  All the fighters in Burma are needed there to protect Rangoon so
I can't relocate any of those.  Wenchow will continue to be a bomb sponge for the time being.

[Sir Slash]

Looks like you've stopped Geekamato at Brisbane cold. Maybe the tide has turned in Australia.

[KyzBP]

Looks like you've stopped Geekamato at Brisbane cold. Maybe the tide has turned in Australia.

That's what I'm hoping, Slash.  I think he's going to try to take Bundeberg so his main troop concentration isn't trapped at Marysville.  Intel continues to report transports headed to Rockhampton though so I expect another thrust within the month unless I can hit a few of those transports while they're inbound.

[Sir Slash]

Either way, you've done an excellent job of holding him up and probably confounding the hell out of him. If I was playing as Japan right now I would be worried shit-less about trying to be everywhere at once and strong enough nowhere.

[KyzBP]

Either way, you've done an excellent job of holding him up and probably confounding the hell out of him. If I was playing as Japan right now I would be worried shit-less about trying to be everywhere at once and strong enough nowhere.

Thanks, Slash!  My medium term goals right now are:

1. Expand AM.  I want to start hitting stuff, by air and port raid, on the Home Island.  Disruption now helps me later in the war.
2. Status Quo in Burma, India, and China. I don't want to lose anymore ground here.
3. Regain Marysville, protect Darwin, and hold the line. No more gains for Geek in Oz.  Help continues to trickle in.  We should be able to start countering by the end of the year.
4. Island grab.  While his attention is elsewhere I'd like to grab a few of the islands the islands that aren't normally taken until late 43/44.

I'd be happy if I could pull these off.

[KyzBP]

April 2nd, 1942

AP hit near Perth.

The same 2 or 3 subs have been hanging out here since the beginning of the war and have, for the most part, been minding
their own business.  Then they had to go and blow up an AP that was loaded with infantry.  Luckily most of the infantry was
rescued but the status quo has been broken.  It's game on now my little submersible friends.

Random port raid near AM.

The bombers didn't even bother to wait for escorts.  They simply went after a target of opportunity.  I don't know if there
was any cargo or personnel present on these ships but they'll no longer be contributing to the war effort.  I was actually going
to head around the North side of Hokkaido to see if I could find any targets in that area.  I think I'll change direction and show
up on the South side next.

Bombers over Mary.

The Mitchell's take this bombing stuff serious.  They've been noticeably more effective than the other bombers in the theater
so far.  I'll have to make sure they have escort at all times.

More bombers at Mary.

Not quite as good as the B-25's.

Bombers over Brisbane.

Those incoming squadrons can't get here fast enough.  I may try a run at the airfield at Rockhampton.  I don't know if I can
get escorts that far, and frankly don't know if I even have any escorts. :(

Wenchow is still being flattened.  I don't see any troops headed this way yet, maybe by ship(?), so I'll still keep this base in mind
as a potential entry point into China.

[FarAway Sooner]

Nice hit by the Dauntlesses near AM.  2 questions for you:

• Do you know if the pilots' Experience scores for those planes are going up quickly?  Those pilots were less green than other US pilots at the start of the war, but I've got to think that the target practice they're getting now is good for 'em!
• With the benefit of hindsight, are you now wishing that you'd kept the airplane mix more traditional on your different CVs, as opposed to shifting a bunch of fighters onto the AM fleet?

[KyzBP]

Nice hit by the Dauntlesses near AM.  2 questions for you:

• Do you know if the pilots' Experience scores for those planes are going up quickly?  Those pilots were less green than other US pilots at the start of the war, but I've got to think that the target practice they're getting now is good for 'em!
• With the benefit of hindsight, are you now wishing that you'd kept the airplane mix more traditional on your different CVs, as opposed to shifting a bunch of fighters onto the AM fleet?

To answer the first question; I think they have gone up faster.  Maybe not the bombers so much, although they have gone up, but the fighters for sure.  I'll post some screens of the fighter squadrons around AM a little later today.

As for Question 2; I think I had to do it that way.  If I would've went with a more traditional mix then more of his bombers would've gotten through and possibly hit a CV.  That would've been the end of AM and my air superiority there.  Without air superiority there's little chance I'd have solid control of 3 islands and a very steady supply chain.  Taking for granted that the AM CV's survive, I'll be able to disperse these high experience fighter squadrons among the newer CV's so that every CV has at least 1 high experience fighter squadron.  The bomber squadrons will be easier to "level up" by just bombing some of Geek's unguarded islands/bases.

Thanks for the questions, Sooner. O0

[KyzBP]

April 3rd, 1942

Another relatively quiet day.

Geek's planes visit Brisbane.

My fighters performed a bit better.  The American fighters are starting to hold their own but because the Aussies had such low
experience early in the battle, I gave Geek's pilots some easy experience that the American pilot's now have to deal with.  My best
land based squadron is on the way but it may take a little time still.  If you haven't guessed who they are, I'll let you know when they
get here. ;)  The minor damage Geek does to the airfield at Brisbane is usually fixed the same day.

A couple of bombing raids over Geek's troops at Marysborough.


I just realized I've been calling Marysborough "Marysville" (which is a town not far from home).  I'll just refer to it as "Mary" from
now on.  Once again the B-25's out perform the other bombers.  I need more of these guys.  They seem to be my most effective
and versatile bomber.  I wish the Allied side had the ability to control production because I'd build a poop load of these.

Sinyang captured.

Move along, people.  Nothing to see here.  The fall of China continues.  The good news is it will eventually stop.  I look at this theater
as China=Russia, Japan=Germany.  I'll keep losing ground but getting stronger as I collapse and consolidate.  Geek's troops should
get weaker as his supply lines get stretched and he has to garrison the bases he takes.  Sometime around the end of this year Geek
will experience the Chinese Stalingrad and the tide will turn.  Somewhere in China, right now, there is a force that can go toe to toe
with Geek's Main Army.  Again, a fair fight shows poor planning so I'm going to wait for Geek to come to me.  By then this force will
have absorbed many of the Chinese remnant troops AND have built up it's fortifications to a level unmatched by any other fortification
in the game.

Remnant units trapped behind the line will turn into partisans and attempt to take lightly guarded bases.  Lack of airpower is my only
real concern in China.  Hopefully Burma/India goes my way and I can start transferring planes to China.

Geek's CV's doing laps?

His CV TF just did a lap around Sumatra.  I'm guessing they were hunting for my Brit carriers.  If not, then they were probably looking
for targets of opportunity.  Either way, my planes around the area can stand down for a bit.  Now that a lot of his transports are near/in
Singapore, I imagine the offensive will be starting soon.  My big question is: Where will he start?