US New Georgia (Operation Cartwheel)

[Longasc]

Actually, this scenario is "Operation Toenails" as you can see here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Cartwheel

New Georgia and Rendova are the targets.

I am deploying atm and notice that there are only three primary objectives and a lot of small flags. Basically, you can theoretically give a crap about the rest of the island, but there is at least one non-primary objective airfield there that I think taking wouldn't be a waste of time.

This means I could try landing near the objectives instead of slogging through the jungle across the island.

Who has played this battle and wants to share his experiences with me?

[hellcat23]

Well without wanting to give too much away...

I would say definitely pay attention to the objectives given and suggested.

It's an interesting scenario with very limited naval presence (I think you get 6 points of Naval) so very much an air and army mission.

Despite the generous turn limit of 55 you will still want to 'watch the clock' as resistance certainly stiffens as you get closer to Munda Airfield and the primary objective.

Initially you want that first airfield close to you and then the port a little way to the west of it. I would say getting an early start as possible on the other island and also start heading towards Munda Airfield is also good.

I did go around the right side and the top for the extra flags so it can be done but it may well not be necessary for victory. I also found some logistical management was needed for this scenario.

It's good fun and feels good to beat it. It took me two attempts as I had to go back to the manual to understand some of the logistics and also over extended on my first play through and got really horribly mauled!

[SSLConf_Yolo911]

I've done it twice now and got mauled each time. It took the entire 55 turns to do it. And I am sorry to say that I had to sell war bonds three times to make it. I am playing on Captain difficulty level and when I start the scenario I only have 620 points to buy units and practically all of my units from the previous scenario are dead. So I had to use the cheat code. I tried it the first time and made it but I had to but war bonds once. I used all of my naval command points for a battleship simply so I could have additional "artillery".

That time I tried a landing near the airfield that is a victory hex. I also took the Island with the two units and transport they give you towards the beginning. But Jap air power is overwhelming unless you can afford Corsairs. And I don't know if I am missing something or not but around turn 20 I get a message that reinforcements have arrived but I don't get any units or points.

I can't imagine that anyone can beat this on the toughest difficulty level unless they start out with an enormous amount of units and know some "gamey" way of doing it.

[Longasc]

It could be that the losses in the previous scenario and necessary replair/replacement costs could harm you indeed.

I am making progress, half-way in, some 24-26 turns atm. Seems good going so far, and so far I have only encounted a Betty and a Hayate, so where is the massive Airpower? 2 Dauntlesses and 2 Wildcats are fighting atm, plus a Kingfisher scouting for troops.

[adherbal]

Taking Rendova island early is definitely the way to go. The resulting allied 155mm guns can wreck havoc around the Japanese airfield if you provide reconaissance over the area.

[hellcat23]

I took a carrier with my naval points which was active throughout the game and could fill it out once the nearest airfield was taken.

I sent a force to take Rendova island immediately on turn 1 (3 inf and 1 arty) and upgraded the arty to an additional long tom once the island was taken. Agreed it is best to take Rendova island as soon as possible. After seeing the Long Toms in action I've been totally sold on them! I think I have 5 of them now at Okinawa

As for the primary objective near Munda Airfield the first time I got mauled badly was because of being overextended. The 2nd time I moved more cautiously and always with artillery supporting and AA guns and air power.

You can get away with buying alot of cheap infantry such as marine raiders and seabees which cuts down on some of the costs.

[Jagon]

I used the 2 reinforcement units you get early to land on and take Rendova. I had chosen 2 destroyers for bombardment help and used those to supply the 2 units on Rendova until the taken cities on Rendova did that job. Then the scenario sends 2 long tom artillery to land on Rendova and help bombard the VPs.
I don't know how you could land troops around the VP airfield as the hexes on the coast have surprises there. (Didn't want to give too much away.)

[Longasc]

Okay, there are surprises there.

The Japanese Air Force met 2 Corsairs. That was their surprise.
My Infantry had trouble on land and thanks to the fort firing 9 hexes I didn't run into the mines. Hey yeah, the Fort saved me from driving there! It's still firing, my dive bombers are right now busy elsewhere.

Lost 3 Marines already there.
I am going to win this but resources are down and losses high, 3 unit commanders died with their units. One of my Wildcats got shot down.

P.S. I picked a Cruiser and a Patrol Craft, the PCs are great to shoot down stuff near the coastline.

[Hurinowski]

Hi everybody,

i am an old school player from the first days of ssi panzer general ...

Don't read further on, when you want to try it on your own first.
I took a cruiser and the patrol craft. First one of the np marines were sent to the neutral airfield and the secondary object (silver flag) without supply ship. This unit gets back in supply only few turns after occupying the secondary object.
All other units take the first primary from both sides of the bay with support from the patrol crafts and the cruiser. 2 Fighter units intercept incoming japanese fighters. After taking the first primary np reinforcements are sent to southern Rendova Island. Patrol crafts and cruiser join them for support. The first 2 np infantries are sent to the conquered port to board transports and ship to the northern objects of Rendova island. That way Rendova is quickly taken and you get the big guns. Meanwhile my land forces went through the island avoiding as much jungle hexes as possible. Marines can cross jungle hexes with no matter. Conquering the coastal flags on the way to the airfield provides deployment points for the last reinforcements. In the end i had fielded 2x stuart m5, 3x marines, 3x infantry, 2x engineers, 2x sp aa, 2x m7 priest, 2x the other sp artillery, 2x wildcats, 1x p40 fighter, 1x dauntless and 1 recon plane to provide recon for the big np artillery and oc my own artillery.
The airfield was taken around turn 40 and the other primary object could have taken before turn 45, but i decided to chase down fleeing enemies and to destroy the fort with my artillerie. Key to success is imho artillery superiority through sp artillery, air defense, of course taking the island for the big arty, sinking and damaging japanese transports bringing in 3 star infantry units. Killing enemy artillery asap is always a good choice. I reloaded like 5 times after i had lost units. Therefore you need to save in the beginning of a turn with an own filename. I always have 10 save games cycling. This allows me to go back more than one turn, in the case a plan turns out as really really bad from its beginning.

And btw, i like this game very much, despite i am suffering from the performance issues during ai turns. Best solution for this issue is in my eyes to eliminate enemy units as fast as possible to simplify thinking for the ai

Regards
Hurinowski


edit: difficulty level captain (is it named that way?, its' the one in the middle)