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All Forums >> [Current Games From Matrix.] >> [World War II] >> War In The Pacific - Struggle Against Japan 1941 - 1945 >> After Action Reports >> Still in limbo...

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Still in limbo... - 12/23/2005 4:01:43 AM

ADavidB

Posts: 2464
Joined: 9/17/2001
From: Toronto, Canada
Status: offline

I haven't heard from Tophat for over a week now...

I think that just for making me wait so long, I'll send a couple thousand 4E bombers on attack if he does show up ...

Dave Baranyi

(Waiting for the official release of 1.8 before starting a new game...)

(in reply to ADavidB)

Post #: 481

RE: Still waiting... - 12/26/2005 8:31:06 PM

ADavidB

Posts: 2464
Joined: 9/17/2001
From: Toronto, Canada
Status: offline

Tophat finally got at his pc long enough to let me know that he is suffering a Xmas Relative invasion that is not only using up all his "supplies" but has also commandeered his command post (computer room).

By now I've forgotten any strategy that I thought that I had...

So with any luck, I might even get a turn this week. (As luck would have it, for the first time in years I am not only off for the entire Christmas to New Years week, but I am also at Home instead of visiting Family somewhere...)

Dave Baranyi

(in reply to ADavidB)

Post #: 482

Anyone want a look at my last turn? - 12/27/2005 8:55:45 PM

ADavidB

Posts: 2464
Joined: 9/17/2001
From: Toronto, Canada
Status: offline

I'm bored, Tophat is busy, and I still don't want to start another game without v1.80.

Therefore, does anyone want to take a look at my current save file? I sent an earlier version off to one of our "esteemed elders" (in the experience and ability sense, not in age) and I'm willing to let other folks take a look and comment too.

The save is in v1.602, but that shouldn't make a difference since you'll only be looking at it.

Let me know here, along with your email, and I'll send the last "unlocked" save and the p/w.

Cheers -

Dave Baranyi

(in reply to ADavidB)

Post #: 483

RE: Anyone want a look at my last turn? - 12/27/2005 10:53:51 PM

Sneer

Posts: 2654
Joined: 10/29/2003
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I'll look at it

zbigniew.budzinski@skarbiec-emerytura.pl

_____________________________

(in reply to ADavidB)

Post #: 484

RE: Anyone want a look at my last turn? - 12/28/2005 3:14:43 AM

ADavidB

Posts: 2464
Joined: 9/17/2001
From: Toronto, Canada
Status: offline

quote:

ORIGINAL: Sneer

I'll look at it
zbigniew.budzinski@skarbiec-emerytura.pl

Okay, great! It's on its way.

Let me know what you think.

Thanks -

Dave Baranyi

(in reply to Sneer)

Post #: 485

RE: Anyone want a look at my last turn? - 12/28/2005 3:55:13 AM

Tom Hunter

Posts: 2194
Joined: 12/14/2004
Status: offline

I'd offer, but our war fighting philosophy is so different that I doubt I could add much of value.

I do find this game interesting because your strategy is so different from the one I am using against Mogami. As time passes the comparison will be fascinating.

I really do wonder if your advance will be faster because you have saved up so much strength or if mine will be faster because I have done so much damage to Japan.

Maybe you should post an intel screen and a strategic map on the Lunacy comparisons thread.

(in reply to ADavidB)

Post #: 486

RE: Anyone want a look at my last turn? - 12/28/2005 4:13:37 AM

ADavidB

Posts: 2464
Joined: 9/17/2001
From: Toronto, Canada
Status: offline

quote:

ORIGINAL: Tom Hunter

I'd offer, but our war fighting philosophy is so different that I doubt I could add much of value.

I do find this game interesting because your strategy is so different from the one I am using against Mogami. As time passes the comparison will be fascinating.

I really do wonder if your advance will be faster because you have saved up so much strength or if mine will be faster because I have done so much damage to Japan.

Maybe you should post an intel screen and a strategic map on the Lunacy comparisons thread.

Thanks for the invite. Once you get closer to September (where Tophat and I am), I'll post both as a comparison.

Dave Baranyi

(in reply to Tom Hunter)

Post #: 487

At Long Last - A TURN! - 12/30/2005 7:55:03 AM

ADavidB

Posts: 2464
Joined: 9/17/2001
From: Toronto, Canada
Status: offline

September 6, 1942 -

My gawd, we're finally back at it. It took so long for this turn to show up that I almost forgot what I was doing. There were also a number of things that I found while going through my forces that made me really wonder if I knew what I was doing then anyway.

Tophat has obviously spent some of the time away from the game re-thinking what he is doing; when he sent this turn he wrote to me, "�total Japanese strategic sea change!" I wonder if he really means that, or does he really mean a tactical change? In any event, although my intelligence and search forces spotted nothing out of the ordinary this turn, I decided to reroute some of my TFs and re-set some of my forces, just in case Tophat decides to start to do something differently.

As far as the turn went, it was as if no time had passed at all. Most of the map was covered with rain or clouds and only a couple of minor Japanese air attacks on Sian occurred. No Allied air attacks flew, although a few Allied recon flights got off the ground.

The ground war was pretty much the same too. Tophat did bombardment attacks against Sian, Hengchow and Kungchang, while my troops did a counter bombardment at Kungchang.

I set the RAF Indian Bomber squadrons to attack the airfields at Mandalay again this coming turn. Tophat still doesn't have any aircraft there, so I want to make certain that he doesn't get "tempted" to try to do so. I am also setting in motion a small, subtle move that may shift the balance of power in Burma in a couple of months.

There is only one more week until I get two more fast battleships, and in three more weeks my ships will get the October upgrades, so I am looking forward to some rapid exchanges of turns again.

Dave Baranyi

(in reply to ADavidB)

Post #: 488

RE: Anyone want a look at my last turn? - 12/30/2005 2:55:58 PM

Milman

Posts: 269
Joined: 9/14/2004
From: Serbia
Status: offline

quote:

ORIGINAL: ADavidB

I'm bored, Tophat is busy, and I still don't want to start another game without v1.80.

Therefore, does anyone want to take a look at my current save file? I sent an earlier version off to one of our "esteemed elders" (in the experience and ability sense, not in age) and I'm willing to let other folks take a look and comment too.

The save is in v1.602, but that shouldn't make a difference since you'll only be looking at it.

Let me know here, along with your email, and I'll send the last "unlocked" save and the p/w.

Cheers -

Dave Baranyi

milman021@yahoo.com

(in reply to ADavidB)

Post #: 489

RE: Anyone want a look at my last turn? - 12/30/2005 3:31:25 PM

ADavidB

Posts: 2464
Joined: 9/17/2001
From: Toronto, Canada
Status: offline

quote:

ORIGINAL: Milman

quote:

ORIGINAL: ADavidB

I'm bored, Tophat is busy, and I still don't want to start another game without v1.80.

Therefore, does anyone want to take a look at my current save file? I sent an earlier version off to one of our "esteemed elders" (in the experience and ability sense, not in age) and I'm willing to let other folks take a look and comment too.

The save is in v1.602, but that shouldn't make a difference since you'll only be looking at it.

Let me know here, along with your email, and I'll send the last "unlocked" save and the p/w.

Cheers -

Dave Baranyi

milman021@yahoo.com

Okay, it's on its way. Thanks for the interest. If you have any comments feel free to post them here.

Dave Baranyi

(in reply to Milman)

Post #: 490

Getting back into the groove... - 12/30/2005 7:08:51 PM

ADavidB

Posts: 2464
Joined: 9/17/2001
From: Toronto, Canada
Status: offline

September 7 -

Things are settling back into our old routine in the game. I am still working to remember all of the little things that I need to do, such as making certain that none of my air units have "lost" pilots along the way. So, for example, this turn the Brit Hurricanes at Lanchow flew and attacked the Japanese troops at Kungchang, but the Chinese SB-2cs didn't. When I checked afterwards, sure enough, the SB-2c squadron was short a pilot. This turn I checked all the air units much more carefully�

That Hurricane strike was the only Allied air attack to launch this turn. The RAF bombers in India and the American bombers in Australia stayed home and watched the rain fall. Tophat's air units in China did get to fly. He first sent a strong Tojo fighter sweep against Sian, which did nothing because I'm not wasting CAP there, and then he sent a stronger bombing run flew against Sian. The damage wasn't bad and the AA worked well, so I'm satisfied with the results.

Sian is slowly getting stronger and stronger. My strategy of pulling back weakened units from Homan before they were "kicked out" has paid off. I have good, rested units in Sian now while my tired units are resting up and rebuilding in Chungking. I am hoping that Tophat's new strategy includes some level of disengagement in China - I'm getting bored with the trench warfare there and it sounds from his email comments that Tophat is getting frustrated with it too.

Tophat did get off one more air attack this turn; some Sonias attacked Wuchow. Therefore, I moved some Brit Hurricanes into Wuchow just in case Tophat decides to let the Sonias go back again the next turn. Tophat has been sending recon flights over my Southwestern Chinese bases quite regularly so I am slowly putting air cover back over them, just in case he gets the idea to bomb them or even try out some of his paratroops.

One thing that coming back to the game after a long respite has done is to cause me to check over my forces more carefully. Sure enough, I found a couple of 4-stack DDs in the South Pacific that have upgrades due in October 1942. I had assumed that all of the 4-stack DDs were getting upgrades in 1943. So I put both ships into a little ASW TF and sent them off to Pearl. They will get there in time to repair any system damage that they many acquire on way, and if they happen to stumble upon a Japanese sub along the way - well, so much the better.

Just to refresh everyone's memory, I am posting the September 7 Intel screen below. I am slowly creeping back near the 1:2 point ratio thanks in great part to the 550 more plane losses that the Japanese have than the Allies have. BTW - speaking of air losses, this turn my recon planes informed me that Tophat has now moved Tonys into Timor. Cool - I hope that he continues to build up his forces there. Malaria is "good for them"�

I�m pulling my bombers back from Northern Oz because I suspect that Tophat will try a naval bombardment attack in the near future.

Dave Baranyi

Attachment (1)

(in reply to ADavidB)

Post #: 491

RE: Getting back into the groove... - 12/30/2005 7:22:09 PM

Milman

Posts: 269
Joined: 9/14/2004
From: Serbia
Status: offline

When I saw strategic map and score this is what is my impresions : Hes main target is China . Secundary he will attack South Pacific and maybe North Australia . You don't need that much troops on CP and WC while your SP and North Australia are open . If you lose south Pacific you will wait till 1944. to take it back . If you play on points than New Hebrides + New Caledonia = 2000 pts + China pts you will lost game . Start to recon hes bases . You will than know where is what and he will allways think "Why he recon here , maybe he plan something here"

North Pacific : Too much recon planes . 2 airgroup is good for this front . Send all non NP HQ planes on other fronts . Recon Paramushiro Jima and see what is there . Maybe you can hit Mitsubishi Engine Factories in Toyohara .

West Coast : Only 2 BB's damaged that is good job . Why those subs don't do nothing ? At least send them on mine quest and force him to send hes escorts (which he need for other jobs) to clean hes bases . As I said in first sentences he will not attack west coast so send those non WC HQ troops and planes to the front lines .

Central Pacific : Good job here . But I don't think he will attack CP . Send more infantry units on Midway , Johnston and Palmyra becouse he can attack only those islands . Lay mines in Wake and Baker with subs . Other non CP HQ troops and planes send in SP and SWP .

South Pacific :Send AV to Nanomea Atoll and recon Gilberts islands from there . You must know what he have there . Hit airfield on Baker and destroy hes supplies there . Send troops to New Hebrides and New Caledonia , if you lose them you will be in big trouble till 1944 , you can use troops from WC and NZ ( if you lose Noumea he can take NZ if he wants) for this job . You must recon from there south Solomon islands to see what he doing there and maybe you will hit hes ships there with all those bombers which are now on vacation in PH and WC .

New Guinea : Send with planes ENG units to PM and Gili Gili and use those bases to recon Bismarck islands and north Solomon islands . Put hes bases there under presure . Many JPN players put all reserves of troops in Rabaul . If you recon him every day you can see what he is doing .

SW Australia : Good job here but if you don't want to defend PM than send division and CD unit to Cairns .

NE Australia : Reinforce Derby and Darwin with infantry . Use your recon planes and recon Kendari , Timor and all bases in North New Guinea . That will give impresion to him that you plan something here and he will send some planes from other fronts here . Use your subs to mine hes bases and to transport those dutch units on Sumatra and Flores . Also you can save those PA divisions they will be good help .

Burma & India : With CP your best fronts right now . Bomb resources in hes bases in Burma , use andaman islands for recon ops , maybe you can start planing attack on mandalay when you destroy resources in other bases . If he send planes to defend resources it is good he will weak other fronts .

China : This is bad . Bomb hes troops and slow him . Recon ! Start to think about retreat from Kungchang to Sian . If he defeat you there your army will retreat to north .

I am not expert for english but i hope you will understand .

(in reply to ADavidB)

Post #: 492

RE: Getting back into the groove... - 12/30/2005 8:39:56 PM

ADavidB

Posts: 2464
Joined: 9/17/2001
From: Toronto, Canada
Status: offline

>When I saw strategic map and score this is what my impressions were: His main target is China. Secondary he will attack South Pacific and maybe North Australia. You don't need that much troops on CP and WC while your SP and North Australia are open. If you lose south Pacific you will wait till 1944 to take it back. If you play on points than New Hebrides + New Caledonia = 2000 pts + China pts you will lose game. Start to recon his bases. You will than know where is what and he will always think "Why he recon here, maybe he plan something here" <

Tophat has spread himself too thinly in China, with three bases under attack, to capture the important central parts of the country before I start to receive overwhelming reinforcements in India in 1943. So I am happy to delay him there. I have deliberately left most of Northern Australia "open" because all of the bases except for Darwin are malarial in our game. Thus, if he lands I lose little and he has to protect even more malarial bases which costs him a lot of troops and supplies. The South Pacific has been my big gamble. I have counted upon Tophat being worried that he does not know where my carriers and surface ships are hidden. Remember, I haven't lost any Allied combat ships since Pearl Harbor, nor have I given Tophat any ideas of where my ships might be located.

>North Pacific: Too much recon planes. 2 air groups are good for this front. Send all non NP HQ planes on other fronts. Recon Paramushiro Jima and see what is there. Maybe you can hit Mitsubishi Engine Factories in Toyohara. <

Tophat gave me a lot of trouble right in the beginning of the game by sneaking the KB into the Northeastern Pacific and threatening my task forces. Therefore I have increased the search planes there. I have also strengthened the North Pacific for two reasons:

1 - To be able to bog Tophat down if he tries an offensive
2 - To prepare for my own offensive in the summer of 1943

>West Coast: Only 2 BB's damaged that is good job. Why those subs don't do anything? At least send them on mine quest and force him to send his escorts (which he need for other jobs) to clean his bases. As I said in first sentences he will not attack west coast so send those non WC HQ troops and planes to the front lines. <

I have left the West Coast troops and planes in place as a reserve. I don't need them right now and they can get all the supplies and reinforcements that they need in the West Coast bases without using up transports and supplies out towards the Front. All of my submarines that are due for the October 1942 upgrades are in ports that will allow them to upgrade. I want all of my ships to be upgraded as much as possible. Doing nuisance raids at this time isn't as valuable.

>Central Pacific: Good job here. But I don't think he will attack CP. Send more infantry units on Midway, Johnston and Palmyra because he can attack only those islands. Lay mines in Wake and Baker with subs. Other non CP HQ troops and planes send in SP and SWP. <

I don't like sending troops to island/atoll bases while the Japanese still have the KB and the Combined Fleet battleships in good shape. It is too easy for a Japanese player to overwhelm a defensive force and destroy a couple of divisions. Thus I have enough troops in place to prevent "nuisance" invasions by SNLF forces, but not so much that if Tophat invades with 5 or 6 crack division I will lose a lot of good troops.

The Hawaiian Islands are my main bases for future expansion. I want to attack the Central Pacific Islands starting in 1943, so my troops are best positioned there.

>South Pacific: Send AV to Nanomea Atoll and recon the Gilbert Islands from there. You must know what he has there. Hit airfield on Baker and destroy his supplies there. Send troops to New Hebrides and New Caledonia , if you lose them you will be in big trouble till 1944 , you can use troops from WC and NZ ( if you lose Noumea he can take NZ if he wants) for this job . You must recon from there south Solomon Islands to see what he doing there and maybe you will hit his ships there with all those bombers which are now on vacation in PH and WC. <

Tophat has Bettys in the Gilberts and they have attacked my AVDs in that region in the past. Part of the KB is also only a couple of days sailing away, so I don't want to waste any ships at this time. I am no longer intending to attack the Gilberts in late 1942, so I have no need to recon the Japanese positions. I don't want to give away my intentions. I recon Baker Island regularly so that I keep Tophat on edge.

>New Guinea: Send with planes ENG units to PM and Gili Gili and use those bases to recon Bismarck islands and north Solomon islands. Put his bases there under pressure. Many JPN players put all reserves of troops in Rabaul. If you recon him every day you can see what he is doing. <

I'm not interested in waging a malarial war in New Guinea. Too many Allied players lose too many ships, planes and troops there - and I've done it enough times myself too.

I'm happy to see Japanese forces sitting there rotting away.

>SW Australia: Good job here but if you don't want to defend PM than send division and CD unit to Cairns. <

I'm leaving all of my forces in Australia in non-malarial bases except for the two base forces up north. If Tophat invades the malarial bases in Northeastern Australia I will happily bomb him day and night. They are deathtraps for him because I don�t care about fighting for New Guinea.

>NE Australia: Reinforce Derby and Darwin with infantry. Use your recon planes and recon Kendari, Timor and all bases in North New Guinea. That will give impression to him that you plan something here and he will send some planes from other fronts here. Use your subs to mine his bases and to transport those Dutch units on Sumatra and Flores. Also you can save those PA divisions they will be good help. <

I've already pulled a lot of troops out of Darwin and have left just enough to force Tophat to send a lot of troops if he really wants to invade. I won't reinforce malarial Australia. I have been sending out recon flights on a regular basis and Tophat continues to reinforce Timor very heavily. That is what I want because Timor is malarial and the forces that he sits there won't be defending elsewhere. I intend to bypass all of Tophat's strongholds once I start my offensive, so the more troops trapped in a malarial location, the better.

>Burma & India: With CP your best fronts right now. Bomb resources in his bases in Burma; use Andaman Islands for recon ops, maybe you can start planning attack on Mandalay when you destroy resources in other bases. If he sends planes to defend resources it is good he will weaken other fronts. <

My bombing campaign in Burma has been frustrated by my inability to launch air strikes regularly. The weather grounds my planes 90% of the time. Tophat has a lot of naval bombers in Malaya so I don't want to try to move into the Andaman Islands at this time. Once I have better fighters and more carriers I will start to move out of India, but that is another 1943 activity.

>China: This is bad. Bomb his troops and slow him. Recon! Start to think about retreat from Kungchang to Sian. If he defeats you there your army will retreat to north. <

Tophat has air superiority over China. He has three crack Daitais with pilots in the 80s to 90s experience. I have to play "hide and seek" to not have my air forces wiped out by them. The only good thing is that the crack Daitais aren't fighting my planes elsewhere.

If I am to retreat from Eastern China it will be from Sian to Chungking, not from Kungchang. Tophat has already split his forces too much in China. Kungchang gets supplies from Lanchow and can stand for a long time. Tophat's supply lines are also getting longer and longer. Even if he captures Sian he can't do much without exposing himself to counterattack, and I am reinforcing Sian in a big way.

>I am not expert for English but I hope you will understand. <

Your English was fine, and I am very grateful for your interest and comments.

Thanks -

Dave Baranyi

(in reply to Milman)

Post #: 493

RE: Getting back into the groove... - 12/31/2005 3:31:44 AM

Milman

Posts: 269
Joined: 9/14/2004
From: Serbia
Status: offline

quote:

ORIGINAL: ADavidB

I'm not interested in waging a malarial war in New Guinea. Too many Allied players lose too many ships, planes and troops there - and I've done it enough times myself too. I'm happy to see Japanese forces sitting there rotting away.
I'm leaving all of my forces in Australia in non-malarial bases except for the two base forces up north. If Tophat invades the malarial bases in Northeastern Australia I will happily bomb him day and night. They are deathtraps for him because I don’t care about fighting for New Guinea.

Malaria isn't that powerfull weapon . If it is than JPN will lost half of army becouse of that .

quote:

I've already pulled a lot of troops out of Darwin and have left just enough to force Tophat to send a lot of troops if he really wants to invade. I won't reinforce malarial Australia. I have been sending out recon flights on a regular basis and Tophat continues to reinforce Timor very heavily. That is what I want because Timor is malarial and the forces that he sits there won't be defending elsewhere. I intend to bypass all of Tophat's strongholds once I start my offensive, so the more troops trapped in a malarial location, the better.

On lautern there is only 2 LCU and that means he don't have there a lot of troops .

quote:

Tophat has air superiority over China. He has three crack Daitais with pilots in the 80s to 90s experience. I have to play "hide and seek" to not have my air forces wiped out by them. The only good thing is that the crack Daitais aren't fighting my planes elsewhere.

He have air superiority becouse you are pasive on other fronts . Bomb his bases on other fronts and he will spread his zero's and that will give you more space to operate with your planes .

Do you play on points or this is war till 1945. ? This is very important for me to comment your pbem which is excelent . I see from your answer that you don't use recon ops . In my first pbem i find one base with 120 aux planes , next turn I bombed that base and destroyed 40 (40 easy points) , also reconing tells you what he is doing and put presure on him to think "Why he reconing here ? ". Use those bombers which are on WC and CP . Is he training hes planes in Philipines ?

(in reply to ADavidB)

Post #: 494

RE: Getting back into the groove... - 12/31/2005 4:27:34 AM

ADavidB

Posts: 2464
Joined: 9/17/2001
From: Toronto, Canada
Status: offline

>>quote:

ORIGINAL: ADavidB

I'm not interested in waging a malarial war in New Guinea. Too many Allied players lose too many ships, planes and troops there - and I've done it enough times myself too. I'm happy to see Japanese forces sitting there rotting away. I'm leaving all of my forces in Australia in non-malarial bases except for the two base forces up north. If Tophat invades the malarial bases in Northeastern Australia I will happily bomb him day and night. They are deathtraps for him because I don�t care about fighting for New Guinea. <<

>Malaria isn't that powerful weapon. If it is then JPN will lost half of army because of that. <

Malaria weakens LCUs significantly and wastes supplies. My LCUs sitting in non-malarial bases are at full strength, have good morale and have low fatigue. That means when I decide to use them they are better able to conquer what I want. It is a small advantage, but I use every advantage that I have available to me.

>>quote:

I've already pulled a lot of troops out of Darwin and have left just enough to force Tophat to send a lot of troops if he really wants to invade. I won't reinforce malarial Australia. I have been sending out recon flights on a regular basis and Tophat continues to reinforce Timor very heavily. That is what I want because Timor is malarial and the forces that he sits there won't be defending elsewhere. I intend to bypass all of Tophat's strongholds once I start my offensive, so the more troops trapped in a malarial location, the better. <<

>On Lautern there is only 2 LCU and that means he don't have there a lot of troops. <

He has put a lot of troops in all three bases in Timor. I haven't been bothering to recon them so they aren't visible to you, but I've seen them previously when I've reconned and bombed the bases.

>>quote:

Tophat has air superiority over China. He has three crack Daitais with pilots in the 80s to 90s experience. I have to play "hide and seek" to not have my air forces wiped out by them. The only good thing is that the crack Daitais aren't fighting my planes elsewhere. <<

>He has air superiority because you are passive on other fronts. Bomb his bases on other fronts and he will spread his zero's and that will give you more space to operate with your planes. <

That was a good strategy prior to version 1.50 of the game. But now that Japanese fighters have been given better weapons and can shoot down bombers more easily I don't want to waste my bombers until I have escorts that can fly along with them.

Tophat has also played very carefully and intelligently. He has rarely advanced beyond his air cover and he has tried to stay away from my long range bombers. That is why he hasn't gone after the bases in South Eastern New Guinea.

The main problem in China is the shortage of supplies. It is difficult to maintain a consistent air offensive there because the supply issue. I don't want to wear out my bombers by having them carry little bits of supplies to China. I am saving my bombers until I have long range escorts, and then I can attack more effectively.

>Do you play on points or this is war till 1945. ? This is very important for me to comment your PBEM which is excellent. I see from your answer that you don't use recon ops. In my first PBEM I find one base with 120 aux planes , next turn I bombed that base and destroyed 40 (40 easy points), also reconing tells you what he is doing and put presure on him to think "Why he reconing here ?". Use those bombers which are on WC and CP. Is he training his planes in Philippines? <

My strategy is to play so that I lose as few points as possible, which will allow me to eventually win on points. Remember, I have to get 3:1 odds in 1944 to win. The fewer points my opponent has, the easier it will be for me to achieve my goal.

I do use recon ops fairly often, but not all the time. Since I am not planning offensive operations right now they aren't of much use other than, as you mentioned, to sew some possible confusion.

I also like to do surprise invasions, so I tend to rely more on the SIGINT reports that I track in a spreadsheet. I can immediately tell if Tophat has units in any base and I often know exactly which units are there.

Tophat has been training his planes in the Philippines. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to remove the last of the remaining troops by submarine because pieces of equipment are stuck on the bases. My only hope is that eventually those pieces of equipment will be destroyed by his bombing too. The only good side to this is that Tophat has been suffering from the same continuous bad weather in the Philippines that we are seeing everywhere else, so his planes don't get to fly that often.

So my strategy continues to be one of "patience". I am building up my strength and positioning myself so that I can respond in a very strong manner to any Japanese attack on any location that I consider critical. If Tophat tries to attack any of my important strong points I will stand and fight. But if he continues to pick away at the remaining "no man's lands" then I will just see if there are opportunities to capitalize upon any mistakes that he may make.

Once I have a large supply of P-38s, along with a good reserve of them, I will start more aggressive bombing campaigns in several locations. Once I have a large supply of Corsairs, again along with a good reserve of them, I will start an advance in the Central Pacific. I intend to isolate strong Japanese bases and bomb them into uselessness. With the numbers and abilities of US engineering units I can capture small bases and build them into big bases quickly. I am building "stepping stone" bases throughout the Eastern and Southern Pacific to allow me to bring LBA where I want it.

Tophat will have some hard decisions ahead of him in 1943. If he focuses his strength in a few "super bases" I'll just isolate and go around them. If he spreads his forces to as many bases as he can he will be too weak to stop a serious offense at any one point. If he puts all the KB in one place I will simply attack elsewhere. And if he splits the KB I will be able to bring more carriers to bear at one point than he can. Remember, I haven't lost any Allied carriers yet.

Thanks again for your comments and ideas. It is very helpful for me to discuss my ideas with you and to see your ideas too.

Dave Baranyi

(in reply to Milman)

Post #: 495

Blissful Ignorance... - 12/31/2005 6:06:06 AM

ADavidB

Posts: 2464
Joined: 9/17/2001
From: Toronto, Canada
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September 8 -

It looks as if Tophat's new strategy may have an Australian flavor to it. SIGINT reported:

56th Division is planning for an attack on Darwin

The 56th Division was last reported in Kendari at the end of August. I figured that Tophat was putting so much effort into Lautem for more than just defensive reasons. He must be hoping to build the base up enough to mount a serious air campaign against Darwin to support the invasion. He has also been reconning the other Northern Australian bases pretty regularly.

I have some good naval forces in Australia and the surroundings, but I'm not going to move them until after the October upgrades. Until then I'll just do some more mining and wait to see what happens. But, come to think of it, maybe I'll try a Port bombardment of Kendari, just in case I catch some APs sitting there�

That's assuming, of course, that any of my bombers fly. None flew this turn despite the lack of visible clouds over any of my bases. Tophat's bombers did fly, with varying results. First there was an attack on Hengchow that didn't do a lot. Then there was a moderately successful attack on Sian, followed by another Tojo fighter sweep against no opposition. Finally around 30 Sallys flew unescorted against Yunan and ran into two Chinese fighter squadrons. The Chinese fighters caused a number of casualties among the Sallys, but enough Sallys still got through to do some damage to the air field. For my part, I guessed wrong with my Brit Hurricanes and no Japanese planes went after Wuchow.

SIGINT also reported that the 8th Tank Regiment is preparing for an attack on Kweilin. The 8th Tank Regiment was reported to still be in Kagoshima as of August 15th, so I guess that they will eventually be shipped to China. Tophat is certainly putting a lot of troops into China. I wonder if he will try to open up yet another front on top of the three sieges that he is already running? It's a long haul through the jungle to Kweilin.

Otherwise, there were the normal artillery attacks at Sian, Hengchow and Kungchang. At Kungchang my troops did a very effective artillery attack of their own in return. I'm still marching troops all around China. It would be nice to be able to let everyone just sit in "blissful ignorance", but as long as Tophat continues to apply pressure in China I'll just have to respond.

Dave Baranyi

(in reply to ADavidB)

Post #: 496

Watching the rain and bombs fall... - 12/31/2005 2:14:40 PM

ADavidB

Posts: 2464
Joined: 9/17/2001
From: Toronto, Canada
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September 9 -

This was another of those turns where things just didn't turn out as well as I would like. Much of the reason for this was weather-related. Once again, none of my aircraft in India flew. It's one thing to say that you need to fly a lot of recon flights to get your bombers to fly; but if your recon flights don't fly either you are really SOL.

Tophat is not being bothered as much by the weather and his daily air attack on Sian got off. Fortunately, this was one of the smaller attacks and there wasn't a lot of damage. His daily Tojo sweep of Sian also got to fly but as usual there was nothing there to sweep. Tophat also attacked the troops that I have sitting outside of Kweilin, which meant that my Hurricanes in Wuchow didn't get to do anything on CAP again. However, the Hurricanes did a ground attack on the Japanese troops outside of Wuchow, so that is better than nothing.

A couple of my bomber attacks did fly, but with mediocre results. First off, my B-17s in Darwin finally got off the ground and attacked the port at Kendari. Unfortunately, all of the ships there were already in task forces so I had to be satisfied with causing a small amount of port damage. Fortunately, there was no Japanese CAP up so damage to my B-17 squadron was minimal. Half of the SB-2c squadron in Lanchow also got off the ground to hit the Japanese troops in Kungchang. There wasn't a lot of damage, but it always helps to bomb before artillery attacks. Thus the Japanese artillery attack at Kungchang this turn accomplished nothing.

As I mentioned at the beginning, my RAF bombers didn't fly out of India again, so the major air results for the day were by the Japanese. First off, weather didn't interfere with Tophat's planes in Hanoi so he got a strong bomber attack off on Yunan for the second day in a row, this time escorted by a lot of Tojos. My Chinese fighters were still not recovered from their encounter with the unescorted Japanese bombers last turn (the improvement in the ability of 2-E bombers to shoot back that was made in a previous revision of the Game is working quite effectively) therefore the Chinese took a half dozen losses while being unable to stop the attack. So I've decided to "bite the bullet" and I moved the AVG into Yunan to see if I can surprise Tophat if he sends more bombers next turn.

The other successful Japanese attack was on Wyndham where a heavily escorted attack by Bettys destroyed a handful of Allied bombers on the ground. My Australia Hurricane pilots are not experienced enough to stand up to the crack Zero pilots that Tophat has in Timor, so I have the Hurricanes on training and thus the Japanese attack was able to get in unopposed. All I can do is grit my teeth and wait for my first P-38s to show up so that I can send escorted bomber attacks against the air bases on Timor.

Dave Baranyi

(in reply to ADavidB)

Post #: 497

RE: Still in limbo... - 12/31/2005 4:40:39 PM

Tom Hunter

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Joined: 12/14/2004
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I seem to have better luck getting my bombers to fly in India-Burma.

I use multiple bases, HQ units, lots of supply (500k in Chadpur, 200k in Akyab) and have fighters based forward at Akyab and Mandalay.

Just mentioning this in the hope that it helps.

(in reply to ADavidB)

Post #: 498

RE: Still in limbo... - 12/31/2005 7:18:52 PM

ADavidB

Posts: 2464
Joined: 9/17/2001
From: Toronto, Canada
Status: offline

quote:

ORIGINAL: Tom Hunter

I seem to have better luck getting my bombers to fly in India-Burma.

I use multiple bases, HQ units, lots of supply (500k in Chadpur, 200k in Akyab) and have fighters based forward at Akyab and Mandalay.

Just mentioning this in the hope that it helps.

I'm doing the same thing. I have Air HQs in each of the five non-malarial Indian bases in the Northeast, along with several land HQs. I've got similar quantities of supplies. All of the air bases are built up to the max. I've got over 250 air support points in each base. I have less than 100 planes in each base. Fatigue is near zero. Experience is in the 70s-80s. Leaders are selected for agressiveness. I've got plenty of recon planes around. But nothing flies most days of the month.

Things in Australia are similar...

The only thing common is the constant bad weather, day after day, week after week, month after month. I've been getting at most 1 or 2 clear days per month

Something seems wrong here.

Dave Baranyi

(in reply to Tom Hunter)

Post #: 499

RE: Still in limbo... - 12/31/2005 7:26:33 PM

Sneer

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Joined: 10/29/2003
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difficult situation
maybe leave them for a day on naval and then switch back
maybe this will reset obstacles

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Post #: 500

RE: Still in limbo... - 12/31/2005 7:35:27 PM

ADavidB

Posts: 2464
Joined: 9/17/2001
From: Toronto, Canada
Status: offline

quote:

ORIGINAL: Sneer

difficult situation
maybe leave them for a day on naval and then switch back
maybe this will reset obstacles

Good point. Sometimes I've been able to get out of this "no fly" cycle by pulling the planes right out of the Front and standing them down in a backwater base for a while. If they don't fly this time I'll do that.

Thanks -

Dave Baranyi

(in reply to Sneer)

Post #: 501

Finally! - 1/1/2006 5:42:27 AM

ADavidB

Posts: 2464
Joined: 9/17/2001
From: Toronto, Canada
Status: offline

September 10 -

Finally some of my planes got into the air this turn. But I still "zigged" where I should have "zagged" at Wuchow where I pulled my Hurricanes out, only to see Tophat come back in with bombers. However, the flak did its job and the Japanese bombers didn't do theirs, so things worked out okay in the end.

But the big aerial news was at Yunan where Tophat sent his planes in for a third day in a row, only to find a "warm reception" from the AVG:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Yunan, at 38, 32

Japanese aircraft
Ki-44-IIb Tojo x 45
Ki-21 Sally x 24
Ki-15 Babs x 3

Allied aircraft
P-40E Warhawk x 54

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-44-IIb Tojo: 15 destroyed
Ki-21 Sally: 4 destroyed, 2 damaged
Ki-15 Babs: 1 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
P-40E Warhawk: 5 destroyed, 14 damaged
I-16c: 1 destroyed

Allied ground losses:
14 casualties reported

Airbase hits 2
Airbase supply hits 4
Runway hits 15
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Those Sallys are certainly persistent - they still got through and caused damage on the ground. I'm betting that Tophat will try to break the AVG there at Yunan, so I've brought in my experienced Hurricanes and Mohawks that are veterans of the Chinese air wars to add some bite. If he continues to attack I'll bring my other P-40 group in too, since they aren't finding much opposition when they do fly:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Mandalay, at 33, 30

Japanese aircraft
no flights

Allied aircraft
Wellington III x 111
P-40B Tomahawk x 72
F-5A Lightning x 4

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-43-Ib Oscar: 2 destroyed

Japanese ground losses:
104 casualties reported
Guns lost 3

Airbase hits 12
Airbase supply hits 7
Runway hits 163
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Yes, "miracles of miracles", the RAF finally got into the air again for the first time in weeks and weeks. After I rest up the Wellingtons I will move them along to other targets - maybe China again for the first time in a couple of months�

In the meanwhile, my B-17s at Canton Island "said hello" to Tophat's Zeros at Baker Island:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Baker Island, at 94, 92

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 18

Allied aircraft
B-17E Fortress x 12

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 2 destroyed, 3 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
B-17E Fortress: 1 destroyed, 3 damaged
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Once again, this is just to keep Tophat "honest". The situation will really sink in the first time that those B-17s come in accompanied by some P-38s�

Otherwise, things were typically quiet except that my Chinese ground forces had a better-than-usual artillery attack on the Japanese at Kungchang. But I can't keep this up on a daily basis because an artillery attack puts the supply into the "pink" at Kungchang for a couple of days. I'd love to know how Tophat can continue to do daily bombardments at the end of long supply routes�

Dave Baranyi

(in reply to ADavidB)

Post #: 502

Air Stats... - 1/1/2006 7:57:32 PM

ADavidB

Posts: 2464
Joined: 9/17/2001
From: Toronto, Canada
Status: offline

Here are the air stats for the action on September 10 as well as the total losses to-date by aircraft.

Dave Baranyi

Attachment (1)

(in reply to ADavidB)

Post #: 503

RE: Air Stats... - 1/1/2006 8:02:12 PM

ADavidB

Posts: 2464
Joined: 9/17/2001
From: Toronto, Canada
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Here are the total air losses by aircraft

Attachment (1)

(in reply to ADavidB)

Post #: 504

RE: Air Stats... - 1/1/2006 8:23:37 PM

Sneer

Posts: 2654
Joined: 10/29/2003
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very extensive use of oscars - offensive in china or in burma ?
lots of ki 15 babs - they are too slow - i always rearm them to dinah ASAP
mohawk major fighter - preserving p-40 ?

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Post #: 505

RE: Air Stats... - 1/2/2006 12:54:06 AM

ADavidB

Posts: 2464
Joined: 9/17/2001
From: Toronto, Canada
Status: offline

quote:

ORIGINAL: Sneer

very extensive use of oscars - offensive in china or in burma ?
lots of ki 15 babs - they are too slow - i always rearm them to dinah ASAP
mohawk major fighter - preserving p-40 ?

1 - Yes, Tophat has tried to use Oscars in China and Burma to allow him to use his Zeros elsewhere. I kept on popping better Allied planes in and out to force him to commit his better planes there too.

2 - He does a lot of recon and the Babs take the brunt of the work

3 - The Mohawks did quite well against the Oscars. But every so often Tophat would catch me with his Zeros and the Mohawks would be hit hard. I deliberately kept the P-40s out of the fight and so used the Mohawks as a fill-in. But now I have 110 P-40E and 150 P-40B in reserve and full compliments in my air groups, so I can do things like the last turn.

Truthfully though, Japanese "Ops Losses" have been my biggest "friend". Tophat pushes his planes very hard. I gripe about him getting his planes in the air more than I do, but I also sit my planes out a lot in order to make certain that they are rested and repaired. If you go back to my September 7 report and look at the Intel screen you will see that I only have 350 Ops losses compared to 968 for Tophat. That, essentially, is the difference in our air scores. But I'll take it!

Thanks -

Dave Baranyi

(in reply to Sneer)

Post #: 506

Rising Over Sian... - 1/2/2006 4:51:00 AM

ADavidB

Posts: 2464
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From: Toronto, Canada
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September 11 -

One of the things that makes Tophat such a tough player is that he sticks with his plans and general strategy and doesn't react to surprises. He also doesn't repeat mistakes nor does he throw away his forces. This turn was a good example of all of that.

Tophat has a very deliberate strategy in China. He is attacking at three key locations, but only one of those attacks is the main target - in this case Sian. He sends bombers in every turn and also does artillery attacks every turn. The ambush I set over Yunan last turn didn't cause Tophat to pull his better fighters away from their escort rolls over Sian to try to attack the AVG in Yunan. Instead Tophat got off two very strong and well escorted attacks on Sian again. Fortunately for me, my AA is still working fairly well at Sian so Tophat did lose five more planes to Flak and Ops damage. But with all my good fighters in China collected in Yunan, Tophat was also able to get an unmolested air attack off against some Chinese troops that are sitting near Wuchow.

My Chinese SB-2cs did fly again this turn, and only very belatedly did I realize that they have been going after Japanese troops at Sian, not Kungchang! I had switched their target before Tophat's extended absence and forgot that I had made the change. Fortunately, Tophat didn't have any LR CAP over Sian.

Otherwise, the only other action was the usual Japanese artillery bombardments of Hengchow, Sian and Kungchang. Tophat's subs have been very quiet recently - my patrols have spotted only an occasional Japanese sub and there have been no sub attacks on Allied ships for ages. Of course, it helps that I don't have a lot of TFs on the go either.

Dave Baranyi

(in reply to ADavidB)

Post #: 507

Air Futility... - 1/2/2006 4:34:39 PM

ADavidB

Posts: 2464
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From: Toronto, Canada
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September 12 -

Weather grounded all Allied air attacks again this turn, but at least the recon flights got off the ground and brought back some info. The Japanese air attacks in China, on the other hand, were able to get off as usual. There were two big attacks on Sian and one of Tophat's intermittent attacks on Wuchow. He keeps me guessing in that part of China and I haven't caught his planes (or pattern) yet.

Two Japanese air attacks didn't work. First there was an attempted fighter sweep of Yunan by a squadron of Zeros. Tophat is lucky that they didn't find the mark - running into the full AVG along with three skilled British fighter squadron would have given those Zeros problems regardless of their experience. Then one of Tophat's air training missions flew in the Philippines, but it did no damage.

Otherwise, there were the usual three Japanese artillery attacks in China and I had my troops in Kungchang do one of their occasional artillery attacks. I only let my troops bombard when the base supply is in the "black".

I spent a lot of time this turn re-assigning leaders in China. I've been moving my Chinese troops around a lot, so I re-set the leaders in the rear bases to "Rear" leaders and my front line leaders to "Front line", "Combat" and "Assault". I like to try to use every little bit of "edge" I can find.

This turn I also received a number of fresh troops in San Francisco. I'll start to move them out next turn. I don't load troops onto ships the first turn that they arrive because they arrive without supplies. If I try to put them on ships before they get supplies from the base (which takes a turn) the loading routine tries to load the troops along with supplies, leaving me with partial loading and all sorts of other headaches that I don't need. So it's better just to wait a day.

Next turn I receive two more fast battleships, a number of destroyers and a lot of other ships. I'll have to check out the new ships to see if any of them are due for October upgrades; if they are, I'll just leave them in port.

I also get a number of new air units; the most interesting of which is a full group of B-25s in Karachi. That will help to change the balance of air power in the Far East. I'll finally have an additional long range strike force to add flexibility to my Wellingtons.

Dave Baranyi

(in reply to ADavidB)

Post #: 508

Cantonese Chow Mein... - 1/4/2006 12:42:42 AM

ADavidB

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From: Toronto, Canada
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September 13 -

It looks as if it is just about time to rename this Game, "War in China" instead of "War in the Pacific", now that Tophat has started to move troops in against Wuchow. That makes four bases in China that will be under Japanese attack. I've already built up Wuchow well and have a number of good units in it, including the sole Chinese armoured unit, so we'll see how well Tophat likes being bogged down in yet another location. I moved some CAP in this turn and set the troops to start off their own artillery bombardment. Fortunately, I've got plenty of supplies there too.

However, Tophat does have a lot of reserves if he wants to commit more troops to China. This turn SIGINT informed me that Tophat has over 350K troops in Tokyo and around 511K troops in Hiroshima. When I also consider the troops that Tophat still has in the DEI it appears that he isn't keeping a lot of ground forces in the Central Pacific - he is probably counting on the KB to keep me "honest" in that region.

So I can probably take it for granted that India won't be assaulted in the foreseeable future. If he is silly enough to attack India without the KB for support I'll eat his forces for breakfast. And if he is silly enough to commit the KB to India I'll come down on the Japanese Central Pacific with 10 Combat Divisions and the entire US Pacific Fleet, and my forces in India will still cause the Japanese no end of grief.

Since Tophat hasn't been taking any dumb chances so far, I am assuming that he will instead continue his systematic approach to China and that he may well attempt some limited attacks in Northern Australia and the South Pacific. But the longer that he waits to move into the South Pacific, the more it will become like India already has become - a giant trap.

The reinforcements that I received last turn and this are certainly welcome. It turns out that the South Dakota is already upgraded so I am sending it out to the Front. The Washington has an October 1942 upgrade due so I'm leaving it in San Fran for the next few weeks. I received two Marine Wildcat squadrons and a Marine Dauntless squadron which are now on their way to the Front. I also received a P-40E group for Northern Command. That's handy - I'm moving them to Alaska in anticipation of my plans for 1943. And the B-25s arrived in Karachi as expected so I moved them forward. I'll be happily putting them to use very soon. I'm also repositioning some of my Australian land forces just in case Tophat does decide to invade Northern Oz.

In the war itself, Tophat had a good air turn and I had a so-so air turn. Tophat's planes first bombed Hengchow, and then he got two strong raids off on Sian. He is keeping the airfields permanently closed in Sian.

My Hurricanes and SB-2cs in Lanchow flew this turn, but in two groups, resulting in two weak attacks on two different Japanese LCUs at Kungchang. Then my Darwin-based B-17 squadron also got split up on its Port attack on Amboina, with the largest part not finding the target and only three bombers flying in to deal with a good Zero squadron:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Amboina, at 39, 73

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 22

Allied aircraft
PBY Catalina x 2
F-5A Lightning x 2
B-17E Fortress x 3

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 1 destroyed, 4 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
PBY Catalina: 1 damaged
F-5A Lightning: 1 damaged
B-17E Fortress: 2 destroyed

Aircraft Attacking:
1 x B-17E Fortress bombing at 6000 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Amazingly enough, I actually only ended up losing one B-17 to air-to-air combat and the other to flak.

In any event, I received yet another heavy bomber group today, so eventually I'll start some more serious bombing campaigns, but it's not that long until I start to get P-38s, therefore I may as well continue to be patient.

Dave Baranyi

(in reply to ADavidB)

Post #: 509

The Bob McNamara theory... - 1/4/2006 3:02:23 AM

ADavidB

Posts: 2464
Joined: 9/17/2001
From: Toronto, Canada
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I kidded Tophat about "War in China" when I sent him the last turn, and he replied"

"Sorry,but the China fixation is about the only way i can attain enough points to actually contend for a win. Believe me I didn't want to go so heavily into china but your retreating tactic and my initial misrouting 2 divisions snowballed into "DELAY". This along with my conservative playstyle has narrowed my options down. Hence we are at WAR in China......................Law of unintended consequences! ------------> its both our faults!"

So Sneer was right - Tophat is trying to take China. Okay, I'm game for a Stalingrad approach...

I'm fairly confident that Tophat can't get 4:1 in points by January 1, 1943. I've got over 5800 points now and Tophat has less than 14000. And there isn't anything terribly valuable for him to take that isn't a long, hard fight away from him.

Even Noumea doesn't get Tophat a lot. I deliberately didn't build it at all before I abandoned it. So it is at minimum point value right now, and with the non-mechanized engineers available to the Japanese, even if Tophat grabs Noumea during the next three months he will have a hard time building it up. He also doesn't have any bases south of Lunga, so that's a long way to run supplies.

So once my subs get their October upgrades I'll blanket the ocean to the south of the Solomons with subs as well as keep some decent forces within striking range. As far as China goes, Tophat still has to "catch" me...

Dave Baranyi

(in reply to ADavidB)

Post #: 510

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