UV Strategy & Tactics FAQ
V 1.11 – 03/15/02

I FAQ
1° I am getting massacred by US subs in my ports
2°  How to use the US ASW assets in May/June 42 ?
3° How to run the Tokyo Express ?
4° Why Do Docked TF's Use Endurance?
5° Aircraft Carrier damaged and Squadron transfer impossible
6° My Air Combat TF moved towards an opposing TF even when I have them set to “Not to React”.
7° Can a TF’s ammunition be replenished at sea like fuel can?
8° Aircraft altitude setting
9° How do you make use of seaplane tenders?
10° It seems to me that the Allies should be getting ULTRA info about Japanese fleet movements
11° Pilots database
12° It would be nice to see weather on the map! It's too generic!
13° TF breakdown screen what does Ops represent ?

II Strategies
1° Steps to successful invasions by Mogami
2° IJN Salomon Strategy by Mogami
3° Japanese Port Moresby Strategy – by Mogami
4° Keys to Carrier combat for US players
5° Quick Beginner to-do and not to-do list
6° Some tips for a Japanese player
7° Port Moresby (To take or ignore)
8° Opening Moves for US
9° How to use your carriers ?

III Quick Precisions on some UV terms
1° Airplanes Ranges
2° PT / Barges
3° Base Expansion

IV A few tips
1° Replenishment TF
2° PBY's make great Troop transports
3° Intelligence gathering using "commandos"

The last version of the UV Strategy & Tactics FAQ is available at that Spooky’s Uncommon Valor Fansite : http://uncommon-valor.chez.tiscali.fr/

I FAQ 
1° I am getting massacred by US subs in my ports
Try creating entirely DD and APD TFs, perhaps with a CL, no more than that necessary. Should be around five or six ships total. Pick the DDs with 4 or more depth charges, then send them shuttling between the areas with subs. 

Use the CS/AV ships and put them in a TF with DDs. Put all the float planes on ASW and set them to 100% / 1000 feet. If you have the option, put a CV TF or two on ASW. Use your Minelayers (MLs) to shuttle down from Truk and re-mine the harbours that are in danger. Put enough mines there and his subs will start hitting them. 

Put other planes, Vals and your patrol planes particularly, on ASW 100%. Anytime they spot what might be a US sub in shallow water (use F2 to see shallow water hexes on the map), send a DD TF to it rather than waiting for it to come to you. Set them to Patrol and React in the sub's hex until they sink it. 

So: 

- Increase Air ASW coverage 
- Form DD-based ASW TFs 
- Use CS/AVs and CV TFs to create temporary high lethality areas for enemy subs 
- Send DD ASW TFs out to kill subs when spotted 

The US did not historically do so well, but they historically were not used nearly as aggressively as your opponent is using them. As with other parts of the game, you need to learn how to use ASW as well as your opponent knows how to use subs. You can make his strategy backfire with very heavy sub losses that will get his subs off your back for most of the campaign if you play your cards right. 

The above suggestions have worked well for me. Note that if the main offenders are US S-Boats, they are particularly vulnerable in shallow water. While their torpedoes are more reliable, they are definitely going to pay the price for operating in harbor areas if you employ the above techniques. Remember also that the fog of war is particularly heavy with respect to subs. You may have damaged or sunk more than you realize - check the sunk ships list over the course of the upcoming weeks to make sure.  (Erik Rutins’ Tip)

2°  How to use the US ASW assets in May/June 42 ?
While the 1.2 patch does not have a magic wand that will sink subs, it does enhance ASW capabilities for the Allies. I had no trouble in testing sinking quite a few Japanese submarines for relatively little loss. 

Don't send SCs/PGs after them until those ships have been on shakedown cruises for a month or two. Get their experience up, then they'll be much more useful. The experience boost they received should shorten the time necessary to train them up. 

Use only DDs early on in the campaign and make sure you start with v1.2 if you want to received the full OOB updates that the Allied DDs received. If you are going to form an ASW TF, use only the DDs with at least two different depth charge mounts (for example a Mk 6 x 4 and a Mk 7 x2 or what have you) as they will have an even better chance at bagging a sub once it attacks. 

Set air squadrons with good range and low cruise speed on ASW 100% at 1000 feet and start hunting the subs they spot with TFs of ASW-oriented DDs. If you keep to these tactics, I guarantee you'll get better results. (Erik Rutins’ Tip)

3° How to run the Tokyo Express ?
In order for "Tokyo Express" type runs to work consistently, you need to make sure the following conditions are met: 

- All ships > 25 knots speed 
- All ships with close to full fuel status and fuel indicator shows green 
- All ships fully replenished as far as ammo 
- A commander who is aggressive or very aggressive 

I think that about covers it. For the Japanese, it's ideal to focus on using the fast cruisers and BBs for such runs. (Erik Rutins’ Tip)

4° Why Do Docked TF's Use Endurance?
The manual is in error - docked TFs need to use some endurance to keep their engines going so that they are ready to move quickly and go into action if attacked. Ships in port (disbanded) don't use endurance but are considered "cold" and therefore can't get underway and make for easier targets. (Erik Rutins’ Tip)

5° Aircraft Carrier damaged and Squadron transfer impossible
You won't be able to transfer by air since aircraft will not be able to fly off a carrier with combined system & flotation damage greater than 50% (reported by Mark W. Carver)

6° My Air Combat TF moved towards an opposing TF even when I have them set to “Not to React”.
Air combat TF’s that have not aborted their mission and with at least 20 aircraft, may automatically move towards an enemy air combat TF after each air search phase. Allied air combat TF between 5 and 9 hexes while a Japanese air combat TF between either 8 or 9 hexes from the enemy will automatically move. (reported by Mark W. Carver)

7° Can a TF’s ammunition be replenished at sea like fuel can?
Fuel can be attained from a tanker or oiler. To replenish task force ammunition at sea, you need an ammunition replenishment ship. There are none in Uncommon Valor. War in the Pacific has some, though. (reported by Mark W. Carver)

8° Aircraft altitude setting
If the altitude is set to 100 feet, the aircraft will strafe the target at all times. Other than that, the following applies:

Dive-bombers and torpedo bombers attack at a specific, hard coded altitude. The altitude you enter is the altitude at they fly to and from the target. Dive bombers start at around 8,000 feet and dive to about 3,500 feet. If you set the altitude at any value other than 8,000 feet they will fly to the target at that altitude and then climb to 8,000 feet before they make the dive. Torpedo bombers attack at about 150 feet to 350 feet, depending on model. The same principal applies to these. So, setting the altitude to 5,000 will cause them to fly at that altitude until they get to the target, at which time they will glide down to attack altitude. 

Fighter-bombers will tend to behave like dive-bombers. 

Fighter aircraft on sweep missions will dive to 100 feet and strafe. 

Level bombers will bomb from the level assigned. 

Fighter aircraft assigned to escort missions will fly at assigned altitude until enemy aircraft are spotted and then close to about the same altitude that the bombers are flying. 

Combat air-patrol will climb or dive to the altitude of the enemy bombers. (reported by Mark W. Carver)
9° How do you make use of seaplane tenders?
Send the tender to the desired location (like those level 0 bases). Generally use a transport TF, but it doesn't really matter. Throw some supplies in. Then select the floatplane unit (from the tender or any other floatplanes) and transfer it to the base the tender is at. You don't need base units because the tender provides it. If you look at the base display, the air support will say something like 0+9, meaning the tender is providing the support. You can also dock them in friendly ports to support seaplanes (floatplanes & patrol). Thus having seaplanes from relying on the base aviation support, thus freeing up the extra regular support for more land-based planes. Make sure you dock the Tender so it doesn't run out of fuel. And be sure to return your planes before you leave, otherwise any damaged planes get left behind. 

You don't need to restrict yourself to the Tender's planes (if any); you can support PBY's or grab the floatplanes off a cruiser or battleship. (reported by Mark W. Carver)

10° It seems to me that the Allies should be getting ULTRA info about Japanese fleet movements
After Midway, the Allies had a lot of problems getting good info because of changes to the Japanese codes. While these were eventually broken again, they played much less of a role overall during the period portrayed by UV. Signal traffic analysis and such was more important in that respect, but could also be misleading and often hindered as much as it helped due to the guesswork involved. 

A design decision was made not to include these sources of intelligence due to their minor overall effect on this particular theatre at this time. These will be implemented in War in the Pacific, which covers the entire time period and half the planet.  (reported by Mark W. Carver)

11° Pilots database 
With regards to the Black Sheep Squadron, squadron commanders were transferred around a lot, so Rich chose to use the historical commanders effective May 1, 1942. There are over 1500 historical pilots already in the database; of these, there are approximately 470 historical aces with appropriately set experience levels. I have tried to locate the pilots in the proper units at the appropriate time, but sometimes this detail is sketchy, particularly dates of service. It is inevitable that I have missed some pilots. I already have a list of almost every ace that served during WWII, including kills and units they served in. Needless to say, the historical pilot list will be significantly larger in WITP. If you have detail on what periods each ace served in each unit, this info would be useful. (reported by Mark W. Carver)

12° It would be nice to see weather on the map! It's too generic! 
This comes up pretty often - first at the operation scale, it's not your decision on how to react to local weather. Your TF commanders will use it as they deem best. Lacking satellite imagery and with less developed meteorological knowledge than we know possess, it was very difficult to accurately predict local weather in this area. 

My understanding is that the local weather in the South Pacific changed very frequently, both from location to location and from hour to hour. The general forecast gives you a sense of what to expect for operational planning, but it's guidance rather than any guarantee. You may be seeing Thunderstorms that will prevent raids on your re-supply convoy approaching Port Moresby, but a similar convoy at Rabaul may be without such available cloud cover. Also, my understanding is that Typhoons were not as common in this part of the theatre. 

All in all, it's impossible to give much more accurate estimates without being somewhat a historical. (reported by Mark W. Carver)

13° TF breakdown screen what does Ops represent ?
Ops stand for Operation Points. Operation points reflect the time spent on refueling, replenishing ammo, load and unloading cargo. These actions reduce the movement of a TF during resolution phase. A TF has 1000 Operation Points in each 12 hour resolution phase. If a TF with a ship refuels and that ship shows it has used 300 Operation Points, 30% of the 12 hours (300/1000) has been expended. This means that the TF movement will be reduced by 30% for the 12 hour resolution phase. A TF will always be allowed to move 1 hex. (reported by Mark W. Carver)

II Strategies
1° Steps to successful invasions by Mogami

In order to conduct a successful invasion 

A. Conduct recon of target base assess land strength there 
B. locate enemy CV 
C. locate enemy surface groups, from prior contact/spotting try to assess current number of possible enemy ships 
C. Provide CV TF of size required to defeat enemy CV 
D. Provide LRCAP for all transport Surface TF 
E. Knock out enemy airfields at target base and all within supporting range 
F. Cordon access to target from enemy side (sub patrol mine fields) 
G. Clear mines along route/at target 

Basic starting point of plan is not "What will enemy do" but rather "what can enemy do" 

Transports must not enter battle zone unless enemy forces have been located and defeated. airfields closed and escort available.

2° IJN Salomon Strategy by Mogami

In PBEM - you need Kaveing. It serves several purposes. 

A. Provides LRCAP for TF moving past (PM bombers reach out that far) 
B. Good place for damaged ships to repair flotation damage before making long trek to Truk (Rabaul not safe B-17's pound port at night sinking damaged ships (and damaging others) Kaveing can also be bombed but it is a little further. 
C. ASW groups stationed here to escort passing TF's (assign follow mission. 
D. Mineclearing TF's (subs mine the channel) 
E. Stockpile supply and fuel (closer to Truk so barges can move forward from here and all eggs not in one basket for enemy bombers) 

Also bases at Buin, Buka, Munda, etc in a chain of level one airbases to provide LRCAP and a emergency landing area for CV pilots that might lose their CV (and whole group be lost with no place close to land) Fuel at these little bases can help keep surface TF's on station and cut down travel distance for subs, and minesweepers.

How to Defend :
The Japanese land strength is in the 2nd and 38th Div (and later arrivals) there are 3-4 Bdes also. Use a Construction Bn to build these little bases and then move it to next one. Place a Nav Gar unit to protect from a little raid destroying it (won't protect if serious but will force enemy to be serious.) The land units will not hold anywhere if fleet does not protect. The bases are to make the fleet more effective by having fuel/repair nearby. (when enemy CV close one base by proximity you use another. 

Lose the ships you lose the bases. lose the bases and enemy air will come closer and closer. Japan must keep the enemy CV at bay (and in equal number at least) This allows her strong surface units to remain on station protecting advanced bases. 
Minesweepers and ASW units need the chain of bases to operate. to protect the transports and combat ships. Keep at least one Inf Div (keep as much as possible) back at Truk or Rabaul and use it to respond quickly to threatened points. (enemy lands a Bde you respond with a Div, He lands a Div you respond with 2)

3° Japanese Port Moresby Strategy – by Mogami
The major problem with trying to build Lunga AND capture PM is the troops garrisoning Lunga will be needed in the assualt on PM. If you allow the Allies to move the 3 Bde of the 7th Aus Div to PM you then need both the 38th and 2nd IJA divisions to achieve the needed combat odds. Supply is also a major concern. You need 100k plus fuel and supply at Rabaul to support all the ship movement and air combat.
 
I have found mid July to be the earliest period I am able to mount sustained operations against PM. Hopefully by then you will have accounted for Lexington and Yorktown and still have 4-6 CV on hand to cover the transports and surface forces acting against PM. The CV also provide the added fighter escort for the early LBA raids against PM's airfield. Try to have a replenishment TF between Shortland and PM to refuel bombardment TF's operating against PM. (refuel the day before they begin the run in)

Use your 3k transports to move troops and supply from Truk to Rabaul. Use fast transport TF's (DD and CL not APD) to capture Gili. Make troop carrying TF based on speed and load (don't mix the 2k and 1k ships) Don't include HQ or other non combat formations in first waves. Station fighters at Lae to fly LRCAP over transports unloading at PM.

Of course the whole plan of operations depends on Tokyo releasing the needed CV/BB by mid July. However as long as operations are completed before 1 Sept the campaign is proceeding well. 

Like PM the battle for Lunga and points east of there depends on the outcome of the CV battles and early surface engagements. 

Use one or two of the semi independent Bdes to hold PM after capture (freeing the 2 infantry div for use in Solomons. 2 fighter groups and 2 bomber groups should keep PM secure from anything but a full blown attempt to recapture. (But now the allied player will also have to contend with Japanese operations in the Solomons directed at bases that will require his LCU to defend. Santa Cruz is a good target (at least for a feint) while you build a new base on Santa Cristabol to keep enemy aircrafts (excepting heavy bombers) out of range.

4° Keys to Carrier combat for US players

a)	Q-Ball tips

1.	Do not ever take your CV's within Betty/Nell/Zero range of Rabaul. That is a line running PM/GiliGili/Lunga. You are asking for trouble.

2.	Wait a month for all the F4F's. Train your guys by bombing remote IJA bases for practice, like Buna or Lunga. Get their experience up before tackling IJN CV's. 

3.	Wait for an opportunity to catch IJN CV's when their aircrews are weakened. The AI will often waste valuable first line aircrews attacking bases, after awhile there are fewer Zero's left on the carriers. That's a good time to pounce, before they return to port to replace the losses. Unfortunately, that doesn't work as well against a good human player, who will likely save the front-line aircrews to get your CV's.

4.	If all else fails, you will start to get new CV's in 1/43, so being more aggressive in late '42, you can afford to start losing CV's as long as you are taking some IJN ones down.

5.	Later on, you also get much better flak escorts, including CLAA's, St. Louis class CL's, fast BB's, Fletcher DD's. The IJN, on the other hand, has pretty lousy AA escorts. Use escorts that carry 40mm Bofors, a superior AA weapon. This also evens the odds over time, as more of these escorts come on-line. (advice by Q-Ball)

b)	Denisoh tips

1.	Do not seek a carrier battle early outside of friendly LBA range (that means the IJN has to b within LBA range). He has to worry about two threats, not just one, and any attack the LBA makes on his carriers rack up fatigue for his pilots, in addition to possibly damaging ships (although not likely).

2.	Of course, no "react to Enemy" for your carriers and stay out of LBA range from Rabaul. 

3.	Always put a quality, aggressive commander such as Spruance or Sherman in charge of the US Carrier TF (I think Sherman is the default).

4.	Put the initial surface TF following the carrier group, as it gives the IJN pilots more targets that happen to not be carriers.

5.	Avoid a "carrier duel" if you fighters are excessively fatigued (40+), as it lessens the effectiveness of your CAP. (like right after provided LRCAP for a number of turns).

5° Quick Beginner to-do and not to-do list
The patrol/retire settings are very important and differ depending on the type of TF it is. At the very least print out the section that describes the various effects of these settings from the PDF (for instance, mine laying/sweeping).

I have found that having carrier groups set to do not retire, do not react is the least frustrating way to have them. They still will move one hex towards an enemy carrier group but they won't move all over the place like they will with react to enemy.

Change the home base of ships depending on the mission you are sending them on. For instance, shore bombardments when set to retire (or is it the react setting? check the manual) will bombard at night and then immediately head back to home base. If you forgot to set it to your nearest stocked port the TF may have just gone way off course in the direction of Brisbane or something.

Don't take a base unless you can supply it. 

Move aviation support units to your forward bases as soon as they have a run way. Get planes there as soon as you can. Moving as many planes into the theatre (ie, out of Truk/Australia) is key. 

Learn where the good potential air fields are. The more air fields the better. Don't be satisfied with 1 or 2 really good airfields.

Remember that you can build 3 pts past the max size of port and airstrip (just takes longer and more resources). This means bases with a max 1 airstrip can still be built up to 4. Which will launch level bombers just fine. 

Don't delay securing bases until you need them. Get them a bit before you need them and let the airstrips be built up. 

Watch your pilots fatigue! I found that ever turn I go thru my forward bases checking on each of my air groups status. I keep my fatigue below 50 even during key operations, and below 30 the rest of the time.

Don't discount using transport planes to move troops and supplies around. Long distances create amazingly high fatigue within 1 day, so you'll want to rotate this around. This is great for when you are in a pinch. But realize that your big guns won't fit in transport planes, and you might find a these big guns sitting back in Australia. You'll need transports to move them.

Paratroops are cool but don't try to land them in an area that has a decent CAP. Ouch, learned that the hard way. 

If you manually run your subs (which I like to do) keep an eye on their torpedo count. They are pretty useless without those! (again this is part of my normal turn routine).

Learn how to use automated transports for supplies in your secure areas. I haven't been good at this and hence struggle with supplies.

Air power rules the game.

By Makaer

6° Some tips for a Japanese player 
As the Jap commander you could use CVL´s either in a normal or in the special way. Special would mean - transfer its original AGs to land and order a LBA (27 fighters) aboard (I always use F1 and F2 6th Daitai for that.... that ain to unhistorical - CV training for those crack pilots would not take that long). They can then provide extra CAP for the Fleet CVs it accompanies. One might say: I loose 12 Kates that way! 

The Japanese generally have enough offensive striking power, because of the quality of their pilots. You lack fighters – that is a solution! In other situations you can then order your Fighter group on land again and take over a D3A group and do some ASW operations with the Carrier. These CVL´s allow you quite flexible operation - use it. (would not do the same with CVs)

Moreover cramp your CV Tfs with effective gun platforms. Especially the early Japanese DDs (Mutsukis, Kamikazes) are useful for this - they have DP main guns. The later Special/fleet DDs do not have DPs (except Akitsukis - which all should be used for CV escort!). So make up a big CV TF of at least on DD Div of modern and one DD Div of Mutsuki/Kamikaze DDs. That extra Flak of 25mm and 4.7" IS effective! Also use one CS in these TFs - they can free attack planes from search duty as the float planes from the CS take over. In other occasions they can provide ASW for the TF! Useful! Same for AVs and invasion TFs. They can provide ASW, search and aviation support for A6M2-Ns at the captured/supplied base.

APDs are also very useful ships on the Japanese side - they are good DEs because of their massive amount of DC throwers. Just make sure they get some experience. 

Minekaze DDs are not useless, despite the fact they are short ranged and do not have DCs. They can be used as Flak support for Transport TFs (like the PGs), as Fast Transport (my favoured usage) and as anti - PT fighters. They are difficult to hit for torpedoes fired from PTs - these tiny Minekaze DDs are quite manoeuvrable, still their 4.7" DP guns are far superior in firing power to the PTs. Do not use these DDs in the usual surface battles. 

For ASW: When you have time, say the Allied player must stay down for some weeks, because of losses always make ASW, not only with your LBA, also with your ships. -----------> Create a CV Tf with (my prefered selection following) a Junyo class CV (with its general loadout) , a CVL (prefer Zuiho/Ryuho class) and equip it with a bomber group only (27 planes - experience very important for successful ASW attacks). Add one or two CS to that TF (the 40 float planes add massive to the ASW). Then add some 10 to 15 of your finest DDs to that task force (in regards of experience, DC type ...type 95 DC prefered of course, and DC throwers.... DDs with rails and throwers are better than those with rails only).

Then move them in a "sub - hotspot". Depending on your opponents options (some Subs on auto??) they come to get slaughtered. Do not get frustrated if it is not working instantly - take your time. With these Jap Hunter-Killer groups I get sometimes 3-5 subs in a operation (3 or 4 weeks). The success highly depends on the density of subs in the area and the experience of your crews/AGs.

So if you got plenty of sub reports, say, south of Rabaul, you now know what you can do to counter it. But in God´s name stay out of enemy CV, LBA with this ASW group or you will see your units slaughtered. Junyo´s CAP is the only Air defence of them.
By Reddon 45

7° Port Moresby (To take or ignore)
a)	To ignore – by RUPD3658
Many players are obsessed with taking Port Moresby as the Japanese. Some say that they want to succeed where the Japanese failed, other say that it allows for raiding of Australia, as still others say that they have wanted to do it since they couldn't do it in "Flat Top".

Think about this though. In any of the long campaigns you can probably take PM if you put all (and I do mean all) of you resources into it. Whether you go overland or right in you will take very high losses, usually in excess of what the Allies lose. But then the real problem begins. There is an old Russian saying "Be careful what you wish for...you may get it". Now that you have PM you have to hold it. The Allies won't try a landing for a long time but every LBM from Brisbane to Cooktown is going to come calling on a daily basis. You also have to supply the base through the gauntlet of Allied air power so the attrition losses will continue. The garrison and the CAP needed to keep the base on the map take a lot of supplies. You will not be able to raid Australia due to the fighter cover and range and forget about an Australian invasion (You won't have enough Marus after the losses in taking PM and the subsequent amount needed for the supply runs) So in the end you have a base that takes all of your resources to take and continues to tap them to exist making it hard to do much else. (Sounds like being married!) 

Before you send nasty replies saying "Then why play as the Japanese?" I am going to offer a better use of resources. Go after Espirito Santo and Noumea instead. A faint towards PM by taking Gili Gili and Buna (Both undefended) should draw most of the allied resources to PM. Let them sit there with nothing to do (Much like the Jap land units did in Manchuria). By taking the southern islands you can take 2-5 bases (Luganville, Efate Port Villa, Noumea and the two others Fiji) Your air power can be built to the point that any ship going in or out of Noumea will get pounded. Also as you have about 6 months before the allies build up you have plenty of time to take these bases and put a strangle hold on Noumea, even if you don't take it. Mining Noumea and the approach hexes (under LR CAP of course) can also give the Allies fits. Mining your own bases should make any Allied attempts to retake these bases costly.

Remember, the Allies lose on Jan 2, 1943 if you have a size 5+ airbase with 2x supplies at any of these locations so they have to try to retake them quickly. You should be able to inflict sufficient casualties that even if they take them they will not be able to get to Rabaul by the end of '43 leaving the Japanese with a standard win due to points from base possession. Also by the time they start up the slot your bases there should be built up enough to cause even more losses. You aren't out to take the whole Pacific (that will be the goal in War in the Pacific, the Struggle against Japan) only to take and hold enough to win. You have the initiative and the Allies have to catch up. 

b)	To take – an answer by Pasternaki
Many players are obsessed with taking Port Moresby as the Japanese. 

This player thinks that taking Port Moresby is a necessity. Control of New Guinea eases the Japanese player's task in the later phases of the campaign game (sc17 or sc19) when the burden of attack is on the Allies.

Think about this though. In any of the long campaigns you can probably take PM if you put all (and I do mean all) of you resources into it. Whether you go overland or right in you will take very high losses, usually in excess of what the Allies lose. 

There is nothing wrong with committing your resources to capturing what you believe is a necessary objective. Any major offensive entails the risk of high losses. Here, your ground losses are mitigated by your ability to interdict reinforcement by sea of Port Moresby's defenders. In May and June of 1942, you have the upper hand (if skill-fully wielded - but note that you are not overpoweringly strong) of naval air strength. Use your advantages wisely but aggressively, remembering that time is not on your side.

Now that you have PM you have to hold it.

Okay... And there is any disadvantage from Rabaul now being out of range of Allied LBA attacks (not to mention Lae)? And now I can launch LBA attacks against Allied TFs that threaten my hegemony over eastern New Guinea?

The Allies won't try a landing for a long time but every LBM from Brisbane to Cooktown is going to come calling on a daily basis. 

This is a major base. You're saying I can't defend it? How many escorted Allied LBA bombers can attack from Australia before P-38s show up in effective numbers? Moreover, how can the Allies sustain their offensive against the CAP I can mount from a size-9 base, particularly when that base is launching airstrikes to suppress their air offensive? Don't forget that I own Gili-Gili, as well, and, by this time, LBA can strike from there, too.

You also have to supply the base through the gauntlet of Allied air power so the attrition losses will continue. The garrison and the CAP needed to keep the base on the map take a lot of supplies. 

I say I can, and that, with LR CAP from PM, attrition will be acceptable, especially as this battle absorbs Allied resources from the one I will now be waging at Lougainville and, if I am successful, Noumea. I have ample APs. Truk is a bottomless source of supply. I can keep Port Moresby supplied. 

You will not be able to raid Australia due to the fighter cover and range and forget about an Australian invasion (You won't have enough Marus after the losses in taking PM and the subsequent amount needed for the supply runs) So in the end you have a base that takes all of your resources to take and continues to tap them to exist making it hard to do much else. (Sounds like being married!) 

Baloney (except the part about being married). I will come and get you in Australia if I have the advantage after the early game and you are not capable of mounting a counter-threat from the New Hebrides area. This is where I have the most fun against inexperienced PBEM players when my IJN carriers are intact after the first couple of months and I have taken PM. They don't know where I might hit them along the Australian coast and I play the "hit 'em where they ain't" game to the max.
8° Opening Moves for US

a)	By Sabre 21
I tend to be a little more aggressive as the US player...even at the start. 

Some of my starting moves include moving all my Dakotas up to the northern base is Australia and airlift the Aussie brigade and supplies into Buna... This will keep the Japanese from just waltzing in and taking it.

I also ship one of the 7th Aussie divisions brigades and an engineer unit to Gili. The key here is to keep them supplied. 

Switch out your planes in PM...providing more fighters and the B25's...having the Lightning recon unit there helps too. 

At Lunga ... I ship a brigade of the Americal up there with an engineer unit...don't forget supplies! 

I strip all but a few DD's from my carrier TF and form a surface action group and place them up south of Guadalcanal...have them ready to move into Lunga or Tulagi to counter any invasion force.

My CV group I place to the south east of Gili Gili to attack any transport force moving that way. What few surface ships I have in Brisbane form another surface group and are used up near Gili to help ward off attackers.

The key to success is finding the Jap CV's. If they come down towards Lunga...expect an invasion of Tulagi and move your surface force in at night to the harbour.

If they come down to Gili... Make sure you do not have react on for your CV group ... or they will die. I have had about a 50-50 exchange rate in the latter case...where I lose a CV and one damaged but usable while the Japanese lost 1 light and 2 heavy damage or 1 large sunk with one heavy usable. Either way ... the Japanese head home and you have deterred their advance south.

Now you must concentrate on keeping the bases supplied ... That is the real challenge. Don't move more troops up there until you can build up a good base of supply.

If everything goes as planned...you won't be seeing the Jap carriers for several weeks giving you time to consolidate your position. And if you think you have enough supplies at a base...send more anyways.

One last thing...do not go north of Gili Gili with your CV's or the Betty/Nells out of Rabaul will make you sorry. Not until you have a good strike force or have whittled down their LBA's do I venture up there.

b)	by Oleg Mastruko

Time is definitely on your side, play defensive, and be patient for the first 6 months or so, and then you will own the map.

1. Preserve your CVs. Keep them out of trouble and don't risk their asses for nothing that is not absolutely necessary (like - invasion of Noumea don't worry AI most probably wont even try this) 

2. Use Americal Div. to defend New Hebrides: one regiment into Efate, Luganville, and of course Noumea itself (although the AI wont go after Noumea anyway)

3. Transport Australian Infantry to PM (those that don't belong to Northern Command - thy cannot be transfered to NG) 

4. Harass the Japanese with medium bombers from PM. 

That's about it for the first 3 or 4 months By then you'll be getting the Marines, more CVs and generally more toys to play with.

9° How to use your carriers ?

Carrier battles should not be accidents. You should only move carriers where you expect a battle and if your aircrews become tired you should move the CV out of reach to rest them. Carriers providing air cover for transports should only have to remain in area 1-2 days. (If it takes longer then this to unload in enemy air range you are setting up your transport TF's incorrectly.)

Use recon/Search always keep track of the location of enemy CV.
If one or more disappear consider them to be in the worse possible location for you. Never move into an area without knowing where the enemy is at. And what LBA can reach you (by Mogami).

III Quick Precisions on some UV terms
1° Airplanes Ranges
Aircraft Radiuses/Ranges  
------------ 
Normal Radius/Range           = 0.25 Maximum Radius/Range 
Extended Combat Radius/Range  = 0.33 Maximum Radius/Range 
Transport Radius/Range        = 0.50 Maximum Radius/Range 

Map Circles: 
------------ 
Normal Radius/Range (Black Circle) 
Extended Combat Radius/Range (Red Circle) 

Attack/Recon/Transfer: 
---------------------- 
Normal Radius/Range (All attacks except Naval Attack) 
Extended Radius/Range (Naval Recon and Naval Attack) 
Transport Radius/Range (Transport) 
Maximum Radius/Range (Transfer) 
by Leonardo Rogic

2° PT / Barges 
PT and Barges are created from supply points by Transport TF created at Truk/Brisbane/Noumea. 

The Transport TF can create PT/Barges at any point using "Activate" option  only if those types of ships are available by that time (check the ship availability) - by Leonardo Rogic)

3° Base Expansion
First a DISCLAIMER. Like everything else associated with UV, base expansion appears to be affected by very complex factors. The tests were lengthy, completely isolating individual factors was impossible, my patience limited, and my brain began to overheat so the results should be considered far from “definitive”. However, I have found them to be useful guidelines in the scenario I am now playing.

Engineer squads can expand bases (ports, airfields, and fortifications). The more squads engaged in the expansion, the faster it will go. At full strength, allied Base Forces contain 30 engineering squads. ANZAC Eng Bn’s contain 30 squads plus 10 vehicles. Since an engineering vehicle is worth 5 squads, the ANZAC units contain the equivalent of 80 engineering squads. Seabee Bn’s and EAB’s contain 30 squads and 20 vehicles for an equivalent of 130 engineering squads. Combat Eng units carry a small number of engineering squads.

Expansion efforts at a base are shared equally. If a base is simultaneously expanding its port, airfield, and fortifications then engineering resources will be shared 1/3, 1/3, 1/3. If 2 types of expansions are going on, then the ratio will be ½, ½. If only 1 type of expansion is going on, it will receive 100% of the engineering resources.

The larger the current size, the longer it will take to reach the next size. For example, the Koumac base will take considerably longer to go from airfield size 8 to 9 then it took to go from size 1 to 2. 

When an expansion reaches a new size, the “excess” engineering effort is automatically applied to the next size. For example, if you are playing a scenario with 1 day turns and it requires less than 1 day of effort to reach size 7 then the remaining time will automatically be applied towards reaching size 8. 

When you stop an expansion before it fully reaches a new size any partial work will be permanently lost. The moment you hit the “Stop Expansion” button all partial work for a size will be lost even if you immediately restart the expansion.

Port or airfield damage will be worked on first. Any excess engineering resources will then be applied towards base expansion. 

Each base has a Standard Potential Size (SPS) for its port and airfield. Generally ports and airfields can expand 3 sizes beyond their SPS up to a maximum of size 9. However, additional engineering resources are required to go beyond an SPS. It takes 2 times longer than normal to go 1 size beyond an SPS, 4 times longer to go the 2nd size beyond, and 4 times longer to go the 3rd size beyond. 

An airfield with an SPS of 0 is a special case. It takes 20 times longer to go to size 1 than if the SPS was > 0. (The manual says “10 times longer than normal” but I believe they are already considering the 2x penalty of going 1 step beyond the SPS as “normal”.) For an airfield with SPS = 0, it takes 40 times longer to go to size 2 and 40 times longer to go to size 3. 

Landlocked hexes with a port SPS of 0 cannot expand. Non-landlocked hexes with a port SPS of 0 can expand up to size 3 with the usual (2x, 4x, 4x) time penalties.

The larger the base (airfield SPS + port SPS) the longer it will take to expand. For example, a base size of 18 (airfield SPS = 9 and port SPS = 9) will take considerably longer to go to fortification level 1 than a base with a size of 0 (airfield SPS = 0 and port SPS = 0). 

Obviously engineering units in a fully-supplied, fully-supported, non-disrupted, and non-fatigued base will be more effective than those in an under-supplied, under-supported, disrupted, and fatigued base. The exact nature of the difference is complex but a rule of thumb that appears to reasonably estimate the “penalty” is as follows: the penalty = % disruption x the % disabled engineer squads. For example, if a base force unit with 30 engineering squads had 5% disruption and 3 of 30 engineering squads disabled or destroyed, the penalty would be approximately 1.05 x (1 + 3/30) = 1.155. In other words, it would take 1.155 times longer than under “ideal” conditions. Watch out for disabled squads because they can increase quickly, particularly at the smaller bases.

The test did not look into other factors such as leadership, inspiration, morale, or experience. 

The following are the approximate number of DAYS it would require a 0% disrupted engineering unit at full strength to expand (starting from 0% completion) a port (within its SPS) or airfield (within its SPS) if 100% of its resources are directed to that expansion. Under actual game conditions it will take more time because over time some engineering squads will become disabled even under the best of conditions.

Ports or Airfields (Days to complete)	
Size	Base Force	Anzac Bn	Seabee/EAB	
0 to 1	6.7	2.5	1.5	
1 to 2	10.0	3.8	2.3	
2 to 3	13.3	5.0	3.1	
3 to 4	16.7	6.3	3.8	
4 to 5	20.0	7.5	4.6	
5 to 6	23.3	8.8	5.4	
6 to 7	26.7	10.0	6.2	
7 to 8	30.0	11.3	6.9	
8 to 9	33.3	12.5	7.7	
Total days	180.0	57.5	41.5	

Notes: 
1) It takes 2 times longer to go 1 size beyond an SPS, 4 times longer to go the 2nd size beyond, and 4 times longer to go the 3rd size beyond.
2) An airfield with an SPS of 0 is a special case. It takes 20 times longer to go to size 1 than an airfield of SPS > 0 and 40 times longer to go to size 2 than an airfield of SPS > 1 and 40 times longer to go to size 3 than an airfield of SPS > 2.
3) Disruption and disabled squads/vehicles will increase the time required proportionately. 

Under the same “ideal” conditions, a Base Force (30 engineering squads) can increase fortification levels in the following number of DAYS. (Anzac Eng Bn’s would take 30/80 as long and Seabee/EAB’s 30/130.)

Fort. Level	Base size	
	0	1	2	3	6	12	18	
0 to 1	1.0	3.3	6.7	10.0	20.0	40.0	60.0	
1 to 2	5.0	8.3	11.7	15.0	25.0	45.0	65.0	
2 to 3	10.0	13.3	16.7	20.0	30.0	50.0	70.0	
3 to 4	15.0	18.3	21.7	25.0	35.0	55.0	75.0	
4 to 5	20.0	23.3	26.7	30.0	40.0	60.0	80.0	
5 to 6	25.0	28.3	31.7	35.0	45.0	65.0	85.0	
6 to 7	30.0	33.3	36.7	40.0	50.0	70.0	90.0	
7 to 8	35.0	38.3	41.7	45.0	55.0	75.0	95.0	
8 to 9	40.0	43.3	46.7	50.0	60.0	80.0	100.0	
Total Days	181.0	210.0	240.0	270.0	360.0	540.0	720.0	

Notes: 
1) Other base sizes can be calculated by extrapolating from the above numbers. For example, for a base size = 15 (1/2 of [12 + 18]), it would take 75.0 (1/2 of [65.0 + 85.0]) days to go from fortification level 5 to 6.

Explanation provided by Mikel

IV A few tips 
1° Replenishment TF 
Replenishment TF's fill with fuel very slowly, which is very inconvenient when you need to scramble TF's to meet an enemy threat.  Because of this, I always keep one fueled-up AO or TK docked in a hex near Noumea (As Allies), ready to sail with fuel at a moment's notice.  Keeping it docked vs. at sea keeps the operational damage down.  This strategy works against the AI, against a human you may have trouble against someone looking for your mobile filling station.  Even so, keeping a couple SC's or PC's there should keep subs honest, particularly in shallow water and within range of ASW patrols out of a major base. (by Bradley Cue)

2° PBY's make great Troop transports
Use Your PBY's to Ferry in Engineers and Supplies to Remote locations, to start construction work on an airfield. Once the airfield is size 1, you can then use C-47's to ferry in more troops and supplies, and B-17's to ferry in supplies too! (by Possum)
3° Intelligence gathering using "commandos"
To establish a presence early on in the Solomons, you can send in a platoon of infantry using a sub transport, for example to Lunga. An allied sub holds about 20 men and a few guns. Make sure you send another sub transport with supplies at the same time.

These 20 men or so have absolutely no chance what so ever to resist an invasion, but they will give you accurate intelligence on when an invasion actually occurs, and they may very well draw resources from the enemy until he has determined the size of the force. Be aware that a single large bombing run can wipe out the entire platoon, and if you don't keep them supplied, their numbers will dwindle.

Once the "commandos" are in place, you can easily send in more troops using PBY’s.

A modified version of this is the commando suicide raid against an enemy base using sub transports at night. This may also give you valuable intelligence, and is useful if you don't have recon aircraft within range of the base.

Also, if you are planning on establishing a base somewhere, sending in the commandos first gives you good intel on the presence or lack of presence of enemy troops. Never try to establish a base without scouting out the location first using "commandos". On the other hand, if you are playing a PBEM opponent (and possibly the AI), don't just send them to a single location - if they are detected by the enemy, he will know where to expect an invasion. Send decoy forces to other locations too.

Without commando presence at valuable bases like Lunga, the opposition might very well establish a base without you knowing about it, making you lose valuable time.

This tactic is more valuable to the allies early in the game before you have any actual airfields available in the Solomons (by Lars Olofsson).