SUBSIM Radio Room Forums - View Single Post - War in the Pacific AAR Thread

Molon Labe · 03-29-22, 10:25 AM

No problem!

Here's a quick look at the strategic map, and I've added the intel I have about the unrestricted divisions that Japan has. You can see just how heavy he is into Burma relative to everything else.

I don't think Wake is important, it's more that it's someplace I can just take at no cost while at the same time decreasing the amount of ocean the KB might be hiding in when I don't have a track on it. The Marshalls seem to be the one place in the Central Pacific he cares about, and I haven't even seen that much activity there since the KB moved to the Java Sea. But the Marshalls do seem to be his "staging ground" for the KB, they're centrally located and in theory would allow him to send it out to respond to my activities. So attacking the Marshalls is a bit lower of a priority for me as that would require more of a commitment, and I really don't think I'll get that much out of it. Midway and Wake--possibly Marcus and the Marianas next--were/should be relatively easy.

My main strategic focus right now is trying to take advantage of all those troops being far, far away in Burma. So the Marines are opening a corridor through the Central Pacific towards the Philippines, while the Army is looking for an opportunity to get into Java or Sumatra. Taking Babar was part of that operation, and that threatened him enough to have the KB do something about it.

The KB still owns the sky wherever it goes, so he has the ability to stall either one of these prongs, but I'll advance along whichever one he's not countering. Losing the Lex and Saratoga badly complicated this, though, because I'm no longer sure I can deter him from splitting his carriers to deal with both. But, he's not sure he got both ships, and he still has doubts he even took down Hornet.

Next, let's look at US reinforcements. Below are the US Army and US Navy fighter production schedules, and the arrival dates for major warships and carriers specifically:

I've highlighted what I think is especially important:

1. Current P-40K production is rather high, combined with P-39 production its allowed me to re-activate some squadrons that were effectively eliminated at Pearl early in the war while still maintaining my frontline units.
2. July 1943 is going to be huge. P-40 production is going to jump from 65/month to 125/month, and I'm going to get Thunderbolts at 56/month. On top of that, July is when I get 2x CV and 2x CVL.
3. Corsair production begins now, but this is not a carrier capable version and it's being produced at a low rate of just 30/month. So the Wildcat is still going to be our mainstay for awhile, while I'll be trying to get the Corsairs to key frontline land bases--perhaps the Shortlands soon enough.
4. Hellcats arrive in 4/1943 and at a whopping 130/month. The carrier fighter squadrons are going to convert very quickly.

EDIT: Not shown on these charts but also noteworthy:
5. My SBD production rate is currently a pitiful 21 per month, not nearly enough to maintain force levels if the squadrons are seeing combat, and further taxed by several new USMC squadrons arriving plus destroyed USN squadrons being reorganized. The recent losses around Babar nearly wiped out my replacement pool. In April 1943, production increases to 67 SBDs/month plus 45 SB2C/month.
6. B-24 production is currently at 15/month, will go to 33/month in February.
7. Avenger production isn't increasing until November, but we currently have over 100 replacement aircraft available and producing 30/month, so there's no issue there.

03-29-22, 10:25 AM	#539
Molon Labe Silent Hunter Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Along the Watchtower Posts: 3,810 Downloads: 27 Uploads: 5	No problem! Here's a quick look at the strategic map, and I've added the intel I have about the unrestricted divisions that Japan has. You can see just how heavy he is into Burma relative to everything else. I don't think Wake is important, it's more that it's someplace I can just take at no cost while at the same time decreasing the amount of ocean the KB might be hiding in when I don't have a track on it. The Marshalls seem to be the one place in the Central Pacific he cares about, and I haven't even seen that much activity there since the KB moved to the Java Sea. But the Marshalls do seem to be his "staging ground" for the KB, they're centrally located and in theory would allow him to send it out to respond to my activities. So attacking the Marshalls is a bit lower of a priority for me as that would require more of a commitment, and I really don't think I'll get that much out of it. Midway and Wake--possibly Marcus and the Marianas next--were/should be relatively easy. My main strategic focus right now is trying to take advantage of all those troops being far, far away in Burma. So the Marines are opening a corridor through the Central Pacific towards the Philippines, while the Army is looking for an opportunity to get into Java or Sumatra. Taking Babar was part of that operation, and that threatened him enough to have the KB do something about it. The KB still owns the sky wherever it goes, so he has the ability to stall either one of these prongs, but I'll advance along whichever one he's not countering. Losing the Lex and Saratoga badly complicated this, though, because I'm no longer sure I can deter him from splitting his carriers to deal with both. But, he's not sure he got both ships, and he still has doubts he even took down Hornet. Next, let's look at US reinforcements. Below are the US Army and US Navy fighter production schedules, and the arrival dates for major warships and carriers specifically: I've highlighted what I think is especially important: 1. Current P-40K production is rather high, combined with P-39 production its allowed me to re-activate some squadrons that were effectively eliminated at Pearl early in the war while still maintaining my frontline units. 2. July 1943 is going to be huge. P-40 production is going to jump from 65/month to 125/month, and I'm going to get Thunderbolts at 56/month. On top of that, July is when I get 2x CV and 2x CVL. 3. Corsair production begins now, but this is not a carrier capable version and it's being produced at a low rate of just 30/month. So the Wildcat is still going to be our mainstay for awhile, while I'll be trying to get the Corsairs to key frontline land bases--perhaps the Shortlands soon enough. 4. Hellcats arrive in 4/1943 and at a whopping 130/month. The carrier fighter squadrons are going to convert very quickly. EDIT: Not shown on these charts but also noteworthy: 5. My SBD production rate is currently a pitiful 21 per month, not nearly enough to maintain force levels if the squadrons are seeing combat, and further taxed by several new USMC squadrons arriving plus destroyed USN squadrons being reorganized. The recent losses around Babar nearly wiped out my replacement pool. In April 1943, production increases to 67 SBDs/month plus 45 SB2C/month. 6. B-24 production is currently at 15/month, will go to 33/month in February. 7. Avenger production isn't increasing until November, but we currently have over 100 replacement aircraft available and producing 30/month, so there's no issue there. __________________ Last edited by Molon Labe; 03-29-22 at 11:25 AM.