a little help

[Kommandant]

what would a japanese fleet look like?

i haven't started playing this game, and will most likely wont for a month
or so(maybe next week, if i can find any here in pensacola)

i'm thinking about a carrier fleet

how you would build a carrier fleet for Japan?

[Deano]

I think any carrier fleet would be up to you> I know at Midway Yamoto made three Fleets one Carrier one Battleships and on carrying troops etc.

[madwill]

for 100pt basic games the fleet will be small as your best carrier, the akagi, costs 27 points alone. plus about 25-30 for planes leaves just enough for destroyers and subs and maybe one cruiser. i have played the japanese and they are hard pressed in small point games to field enough ships to go after more than one objective without spreading your fleet too thin.

[kaz]

being a big player with the IJN il give you your advise lol in a 100 point game i would,nt take a carrier to easy to kill in a small game insted go with a BB if your playing a 200 point game or more by all means go with the carriers id go fore Shokaku times 2, 2 zekes, 4 Vals and to tones the rest of the points you can fill out your self and play around with it

[Rhianedd]

being a big player with the IJN il give you your advise lol in a 100 point game i would,nt take a carrier to easy to kill in a small game insted go with a BB if your playing a 200 point game or more by all means go with the carriers id go fore Shokaku times 2, 2 zekes, 4 Vals and to tones the rest of the points you can fill out your self and play around with it

i'd go one shokaku one akagi. i'd at least buy one squadron of torpedo bombers. nothing get's past armor like a torp. and with the additional torp die they become quite effective.

[DeathsHead420]

i'd go one shokaku one akagi. i'd at least buy one squadron of torpedo bombers. nothing get's past armor like a torp. and with the additional torp die they become quite effective.

They get 2 extra die when a Tone, and Akagi is there also.

[Scharnhorst]

The Tone's SA doesn't grant an extra die to torpedo bombers, just to gunnery and bomb attacks.

[Kommandant]

if i have the Tone and the Shokaku, do my Val's get a +3 for bomb attacks?

and abilities do not stack, right?(as long as they are the same ability)

[Scharnhorst]

if i have the Tone and the Shokaku, do my Val's get a +3 for bomb attacks?

and abilities do not stack, right?(as long as they are the same ability)

You are correct. The Tone spotting ability would allow you an extra die for bomb attacks, and the Shokaku would let one bomber add 2 extra dice to its attack, so you could have one Val attack with 11 dice, it almost feels like using a Dauntless.

Just don't forget to use the Tone's SA! I played a 200 pt. Japanese fleet earlier today against my friend and kept forgetting to use the Tone's SA. It would have helped too, as the Yamato took on the Iowa! (Fortunately a Kate put a hit on the Iowa in the first turn and I was able to win initiative enough that I controlled the 'bout, but at least twice he was one hit away from vitaling the Yamato, that extra die from the Tone sure would have helped as I also came within one hit at least twice!)

Oh, and seeing your sig, I just remembered, I put a Betty in my fleet instead of a sub-chaser (made my fleet 200 pts instead of 198) and it did well enough that it could get a permanent spot in my fleet! It's small torpedo attack was just enough to sink the Iowa in the last turn of our game!

[Kommandant]

ok more questions :D

in order to sink a ship, shoot down a plane, one must damage it
equal to the number to hull points, right?

for example:
the Tone, it has 4 armor and 3 hull points,
does that mean it has to be damaged 3 times before being sunk
this is if it isn't vitally hit

another would be the aircraft, i don't get anything, the placement, reloading,
etc. i just don't get it

Scharnhorst,
i'll most likely use them, just because they are my favorite bomber :D

[Scharnhorst]

Yes, to sink the Tone without a vital hit you would have to score four hits from three separate attacks.

Planes are a little bit different. If you get hits equal to the planes armor rating the plane is "aborted." Basically it is scared away and can do nothing else that turn (we often put ours in another sea sector flying back to either the carrier or the land base to symbolize this). If you get enough hits to score a vital hit on a plane it is shot down and destroyed (which will happen often if you use Swordfish)

Ok, before gunnery phase there are the "air mission, air defense, and air attack phase." Air Mission Phase: Starting with the 1st player both players alternate placing their air units anywhere on the map, one at a time. After both players have placed all their air units, you go to the Air Defense phase. Anything with anti-air in a square with enemy air units gets a chance to defend itself. After both players have done this you enter the Air Attack phase. First you use the Tone's SA (I say that now because I always forget). then you resolve your air attacks.

After the next two phases (gunnery, torpedo) you have the air return phase. Your air units have to return somewhere to refuel and refit. If they land on a carrier they can be launched next turn. However, if they land on the Land Airbase they have to spend a turn rearming. You place a "rearming counter" on the unit. Air units with rearming counters can't launch during the next air mission phase.

At the end of the next turn, any land based air units that have a rearming counter have them removed and can launch again the following turn. Basically land-based air units can sortie every other turn, whereas carrier based units can fly out every turn. It symbolizes the Land Airbase being farther away from the battlefield, as opposed to the carrier which is right there.

I hope that helps!

[Kommandant]

Yes, to sink the Tone without a vital hit you would have to score four hits from three separate attacks.

Planes are a little bit different. If you get hits equal to the planes armor rating the plane is "aborted." Basically it is scared away and can do nothing else that turn (we often put ours in another sea sector flying back to either the carrier or the land base to symbolize this). If you get enough hits to score a vital hit on a plane it is shot down and destroyed (which will happen often if you use Swordfish)

Ok, before gunnery phase there are the "air mission, air defense, and air attack phase." Air Mission Phase: Starting with the 1st player both players alternate placing their air units anywhere on the map, one at a time. After both players have placed all their air units, you go to the Air Defense phase. Anything with anti-air in a square with enemy air units gets a chance to defend itself. After both players have done this you enter the Air Attack phase. First you use the Tone's SA (I say that now because I always forget). then you resolve your air attacks.

After the next two phases (gunnery, torpedo) you have the air return phase. Your air units have to return somewhere to refuel and refit. If they land on a carrier they can be launched next turn. However, if they land on the Land Airbase they have to spend a turn rearming. You place a "rearming counter" on the unit. Air units with rearming counters can't launch during the next air mission phase.

At the end of the next turn, any land based air units that have a rearming counter have them removed and can launch again the following turn. Basically land-based air units can sortie every other turn, whereas carrier based units can fly out every turn. It symbolizes the Land Airbase being farther away from the battlefield, as opposed to the carrier which is right there.

I hope that helps!

so basically its like aam rules for aircraft, they just appear(in a sense)?
how do you make your opponent know which aircraft belongs to each carrier?
and which ones belong to land bases? just tell him/her?

i like the fact that aircraft are much harder to kill :D(i know they represent
a squadron)

ok more questions, i forgot to ask this one earlier
if a ship has a main gun and a secondary gun, can it shoot both? i'm
supposing yes, but i just want to make sure i understand it properly
and do they have to be against the same ship? or can one gun aim at one
ship and the sec. gun aim at another?

i'm liking this game more and more everytime :D

[Scharnhorst]

on the corners of the map are little "airfields" that symbolize the land airbases. The ones you want on the land base you put right there, and the planes you want on carriers you can put right on top of the carriers.

The secondary and tertiary guns are separate attacks, and you can shoot them all in the same gunnery phase. We play you can shoot at different targets with them, never been sure if that's right or not actually. (Due to the "Bristling with Guns" SA we figured you could)

[Cinnibar]

The secondary and tertiary guns are separate attacks, and you can shoot them all in the same gunnery phase. We play you can shoot at different targets with them, never been sure if that's right or not actually. (Due to the "Bristling with Guns" SA we figured you could)

Yes, you can fire them, in any order, at any target that's in range. In fact, you can fire all of your valid attacks in any order... meaning that you can fire your secondaries from Ship #1, then your primaries from Ship #2, and then your primaries from Ship #1. You are not restricted to firing different weapons at the same target from the same ship.

[Kommandant]

ok i just thought of something that i did not like,
wouldn't this mean that carriers are extremely vulnerable no matter what?
since aircraft can just appear near them?

[Cinnibar]

ok i just thought of something that i did not like,
wouldn't this mean that carriers are extremely vulnerable no matter what?
since aircraft can just appear near them?

Yes and no. All surface ships are vunerable to air attack, but some fighters (the Hurricane and the Wildcat) actually get a bonus die when defending a sector which contains a carrier, or can even re-deploy from a carrier's sector (Wildcat, Zeke) if they are initially placed there during the Air Mission phase and no enemy is present.

[Joisey]

On your original question, check out my Tactica Nipponica in my sig. :D

[Scharnhorst]

ok i just thought of something that i did not like,
wouldn't this mean that carriers are extremely vulnerable no matter what?
since aircraft can just appear near them?

Yes Kommandant, carriers are vulnerable. To discuss ways of dealing with that would reveal too much of my own strategy, so forgive me for not discussing it further. :P

[Kommandant]

Yes Kommandant, carriers are vulnerable. To discuss ways of dealing with that would reveal too much of my own strategy, so forgive me for not discussing it further. :P

don't worry :D
something like this makes it even better
coming up with your own strategies and tactics are what
these types of games are about ;)

[Joisey]

Let's just say that American Carrier Groups fare better than the Japanese ones. :)

[Kommandant]

Let's just say that American Carrier Groups fare better than the Japanese ones. :)

oh well, it just means that i will have to learn to make my carriers live ;) :D

i'm liking this game more and more, and i havent even found a place to buy them
at

joisey,

in your style of play, what would be the recommended ratio between
fighters and bombers?
at the moment i'm thinking, 1 fighter per 2 bombers
for example: 1x Zero, 2x Val

[Joisey]

That is the ratio I use.

[Scharnhorst]

Don't listen to them Kommandant! The IJN Carriers are truly a force to be reckoned with.

Then again, I haven't played my *** Carrier force against my "Taffy 7" fleet yet, perhaps its time to settle it once and for all.

[Grandviceroy]

we typically put 1 fighter, 1 dive bomber, 1 torpedo bomber on each of the carriers that can carry 3 planes...us or japanese.

for the cve and cvls, we tend to go with mostly fighters....this gives a little more combat air patrol. sometimes we will put in an attack plane into the jeep carrier mix.

for the british carriers, if there is no enemy air, then making them all swordfish is good. if there is enemy air, one fighter and two swordfish is a good combo. a single swordfish as a strike is just about worthless. as carriers rarely operate alone, however, a second british carrier gives you more options ... you can then do 3 fighters, 3 swordfish.

[Kommandant]

.
for the cve and cvls,



what do those stand for :confused:

anyway

what would be a better battle, USN vs. IJN or IJN vs. RN

i'm thinking about collecting mainly IJN and the RN

[Lynx7725]

CVE: Carrier, Escort. Smaller, less airplanes, used mainly for aircraft ferrying or escorting convoys.

CVL: Carrier, Light. Bigger than CVE and smaller than Fleet Carriers, it's used in conjunction with CVs for big battles or on its own in areas that didn't really warrant big flattops.

Depends on your preference. USN vs. IJN is more historical, but probably not so well balanced. IJN vs. RN is less historical (as they didn't clash that often, especially late war), but probably more balanced.

[Kommandant]

i think it would be fun pitting the Ark Royal with some Swordfish and Hurricanes
against the Mighty :D Shokaku, Zero and Vals ;)

[Jesse_James]

i think it would be fun pitting the Ark Royal with some Swordfish and Spitfires
against the Mighty :D Shokaku, Zero and Vals ;)

What Ever floats your boat as they say. I once played a game taking on 3 Bismarcks and 3 Yamatos. Show me a history book that has that battle fleet. :D

Play for Fun, Play Historically. What ever floats your boat is the Answer. :D

[Grandviceroy]

CVE - combustible, vulnerable, expendable

(seriously, that is what the crews called the little escort carriers)


the us and ijn are actually quite well balanced against each other. when you match up type to type, the us tends to have more gunpower (yamato excepted) and more armor, the japanese have their torpedoes.

the IJN vs RN is a tough match for the British. British air craft are very poor; Japanese air craft are very good. In a surface battle it is not so bad, although the japanese have the torpedoes. the one area the british have an advantage is in ASW...Japanese ASW is pitiful.

British and Germans, British and Italians, british vs germans and italians are good matches....and the French can fill in on either side...