Force composition
As mentioned previously I had $734 at my disposal and 20/15 Naval/Air CPs where to spend them on. As per the briefing "instructions" and after studying the map a combined air and surface force is required, the auxiliary air group doesn't feel sufficient and there are campaign requirements that have to be met.
I will take a page from the playbook of Soren Tjerry, a Youtuber who devotes himself to Panzer Corps I playthroughs and has introduced in his latest run of the Grand Campaign an explicit mention of his understanding of what those requirements are.
Where it pertains to my playthrough of the U.S. Pacific campaign those campaign requirements are:
a) win each individual scenario/mission, that much is pretty obvious;
b) build up a cohesive core force, with minimal deadweight (single or otherwise very limited use units);
c) accumulate experience in my units, as evenly distributed as possible.
What that means for this mission is that I will buy my very first Aircraft Carrier and its air group: CV5 Yorktown ($288, 5 Naval CP), VF3 and VF4 (F4F4 Wildcat fighter, $85, 3 AirCP each), and VB2 (SBD3 Dauntless dive-bomber, $120, 3 AirCP).
I will activate from my imported core CA34 Astoria ($108, 4 NavalCP), DD424 Niblack and DD429 Livermore ($49, 3 NavalCP each), and upgrade DD430 Eberle (from the Pearl Harbor mission) to the Gleaves '41 version ($4, 3 NavalCP).
Also activated from my imported core will be VO1 and VO2, OS2U Kingfisher reconnaissance floatplane ($20 and 1 AirCP each).
VO2 and VF4 will be delayed until Turns 2 and 6 respectively, for lack of funds. All combat aircraft in this mission are new purchases as I will be able to deploy increasing numbers over the next two missions, which will also be more demanding than this one.
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| Figure 1 - Core deployment |
All core units are deployed on the Forward Deployment Zone as per Figure 1. Commanders Joseph Wright (bonus vs. large ships) and Admiral P. Clark (anti-air bonus) are assigned to CA36 Minneapolis and CA34 Astoria respectively.
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| Figure 2 - Tutorial messages |
I am thus spending $723 in the Deployment Phase, $11, 2 Naval CP and 8 (ultimately 4) AirCP remaining. Purchasing my very first Aircraft Carrier triggers a Tutorial Message and spending almost all my funds triggers another (Figure 2). We already knew Tutorial Messages aren't confined to the Tutorial Campaign.
Fuel Depot locations
At this point I'd like to take my reader(s) on a little detour. I was aware that Edmon's Fuel Depot locations weren't the same as mine in my "Normal" difficulty run. With only those two data points (three with this "Maximum" difficulty run) I couldn't advance a robust explanation. So I did a little experimenting. I keep save files at various points of each mission, namely at the start and at the end of the Deployment Phase, just before pressing the last "End Turn" and more recently I started saving at the Campaign screen before purchasing specialisations. So I loaded the Campaign screen save file twenty different times, started the mission twenty different times and made a record of the three Fuel Depot locations for each of those twenty different times. At some point I started also taking screenshots of the locations. The result of this little endeavor is Figure 3.
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| Figure 3 - Fuel Depot locations are random |
Kwajalein appears to be a fixture, which makes sense as it requires the player to cross the width of the map. The Kwajalein/Maloelap pair is by far the most frequent one but there's a twist: the Fuel Depot may be placed at at least two different tiles at Maloelap and I didn't think to record that variation. Mili Atoll is the third most frequent location, quite helpful as it is the closest to the Forward Deployment Zone. Butaritari shows up about a third of the time and might trick the player into either splitting the surface force or going on a time consuming wild goose chase (it is quite feasible to deal with Butaritari with air units alone). Wotje and Jabor are more or less on a natural path towards Kwajalein and thus don't create troubling delays.
Strategic Map and units' paths
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| Figure 4 - Unit paths |
Figure 4 is what I wanted to provide for "Fleet Command" and didn't have the skill to produce (or the clarity of unit movement). It isn't perfect or even complete (combat aircraft paths aren't included).
Unit locations are indicated by squares with large size squares for each 5th turn. The Carriers merge their paths on Turn 4 and henceforth a single square represents both Carriers and the Support Ship; somewhen between Turn 10 and Turn 15 they stay put at the same location and from Turn 17 onwards they go into a "holding pattern" represented by the lozenge.
Lines generally approximate the path taken except for destroyers (green) and submarines (blue). For these the lines connect contemporary locations i.e. in the same turn. All units tend to be further West than in the previous turn so I don't think it will be too difficult to deduce which turn is represented. Destroyers can also be connected by blue or yellow lines (Turns 4, 17 and 18) when at least one DD is at the same location another occupied in the previous turn. Numbering each turn would help but I haven't yet mastered how to efficiently add text. Which also somewhat explains the submarines' paths mess. What is shown is the first draft and I couldn't find the energy to edit it into a more polished version. You may also note the lack of lines connecting the cruisers (CA) between Turns 10 and 15: they move back and forth while dealing with the JP in and around Mili Atoll and that area quickly becomes an uninteligible spider's web.
Mission plan
Having already played this mission means that a lot of thought has been had and some (most) of it is a bit fuzzy in my mind.
The protection of deployed Carrier(s) is the primary concern for this mission. To me that means that no enemy unit should ever be in a position to attack it/them. Which enemies could do so?
Submarines are one vector but prior knowledge assures none are present; a blind player doesn't have that luxury but it might make the educated guess that this is a raid "behind enemy lines" and submarines should be operating elsewhere and that having a Support Ship to conduct repairs might be enough in case of having guessed wrong.
Surface ships are another vector. The combination of radar range, cautious maneuvering and covering surface and air assets should be able to deal with that.
Strike aircraft (torpedo and/or dive bombers) are the final vector. Time to react is shorter but the concept that works against surface ships also works against air. Fighter aircraft become the primary counter rather than cruisers and destroyers.
The first secondary objective in the list is the destruction of JP aircraft. The briefing doesn't tell the player where to find them but the five airfields on the map are a clue. The auxiliary carrier's air group includes two fighters and I read that as another clue. Finding the enemy aircraft landed inside hangars is a nice bonus as that allows ships to swiftly dispose of them but that's a twist that comes as a surprise. Thematic but a surprise. The most obvious asset to deploy to achieve this goal are fighter aircraft.
The second optional objective in the list is the destruction of JP ships. Again as this is (was) a surprise raid behind enemy lines a prepared defensive battle line of powerful combatants would be a dirty trick. I don't have the imagination to predict sight-unseen what we do get: a dispersed collection of gunboats, under-strength destroyers, supply and support ships and enemy troops aboard transports. Finding them could have been harder but they mostly oblige by being at or near the ports or even starting right in radar range at the Deployment Phase. The most obvious asset to deploy to achieve this goal are cruisers and destroyers and we are already given one each.
The last secondary objective is the destruction of Fuel Depots. These should be squishy targets to be dealt with either ship's guns or aircraft bombs.
This is the reasoning behind my choice of units to deploy. I will need more fighters than the two auxiliaries. I will also need more dive bomber(s) to deal with Butaritari Is. That means more carriers but I can only afford one. That in turn means I can only have three more combat aircraft. Of those two should be fighters because JP over-strength aircraft are tough. It would have been possible to deploy five more destroyers rather than just three plus a cruiser but a cruiser packs a slightly heavier punch than two destroyers. Deploying two reconnaissance planes allows me to scout ahead (because ships will be delayed dealing with JP units) and eventually keep tabs on JP positions.
Planning units' exact movement and timing is beyond me, there's too much randomness. The path of dealing with Mili first then moving towards Maloelap (with a possible detour to Jabor), Wotje and ending at Kwajalein just feels natural. How much firepower is needed to deal with each prospective target was a slight concern because I don't have the number-crunching data to predict it. As it turns out my two-cruiser, four-destroyer force is able to deal with one ship or depot each per turn (roughly).
