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Hudsons Hit Again...

 
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Hudsons Hit Again... - 7/7/2006 12:36:35 AM   
ADavidB


Posts: 2464
Joined: 9/17/2001
From: Toronto, Canada
Status: offline 		March 17, 1942 -

This was yet another fairly quiet turn. Heavy rains covered much of the map and once again affected Treespider's attempts to wage large-scale air campaigns. Some Japanese bombers did get off to attack Samarinda and Manila, but not the usual numbers. However, we were both able to continue with our smaller scale "tit-for-tat" air attacks on each other's troops in the field in China. Neither of us is bringing in our better air units, so the results remain fairly historical in effect.

It appears that Treespider is about to finally invade Dili. A Japanese TF was caught just offshore by Hudsons from Northern Australia and one Japanese AP was hit hard by several bombs. Once again, Treespider paid the price of not putting some of his fighters on LR CAP over his invasion TFs. My forces have now sunk 48 Japanese ships, of which around half are APs that have been caught in similar circumstances.

I'm hoping to catch "bigger game" off of Funafuti next turn. A Nell came in to recon the base this turn, and my naval search patrols spotted a Japanese TF to the northwest that looks suspiciously like a cruiser-lead fast transport TF. The US CV TF that has been puttering around the region is now set to race to the vicinity of Funafuti in the hopes of catching something "interesting". I've also sent the APD and the Catalinas from Funafuti back a bit so that I don't give away any "freebies". If I lose Funafuti it is an irritation, similar to losing Baker Island, but it isn't critical, and if I can catch some Japanese ships with my Naval Air the price will be well worth it.

The odd thing about the whole situation is that my Catalinas reported that the sighting wasn't moving. Was the TF getting prepared for a dash in, was it getting ready to run because one of the Dauntlesses from the TF spotted a Japanese sub south of Canton Island, or is it part of a trap? We'll have to wait and see what happens.

In the ground war, Manila received an artillery bombardment as usual, which caused little damage. At this rate my troops may well last out the war in Manila. Treespider has stopped his artillery attacks in China. I suspect that he is trying to figure out how to apply the knowledge that he gained from the land-combat tests that he reported in his thread on Supply Effects. He is still moving troops around China and appears to be massing forces for a thrust at Homan.

Treespider is also moving lots of troops around in Burma and French Indo-China. I'm not sure why, but I'm quite happy to see them there rather than at ports where they can board ships and cause mischief elsewhere. Supposedly the weather won't be so bad in the region this turn so for a change I'm trying to send out some Brit bombers to hit the forward Japanese bases.

Dave Baranyi

(in reply to ADavidB)
Post #: 241
INTEL Failures... - 7/8/2006 12:13:39 AM   
ADavidB


Posts: 2464
Joined: 9/17/2001
From: Toronto, Canada
Status: offline 		March 18, 1942 -

My Allied INTEL services must be making really good quality "Jungle Juice" because they sure seem to be sloshed all the time with their reports. Once again, whatever initiated that report of a Japanese cruiser force in the South Pacific was long gone by the time the Navy got there. So I'm sending the Catalinas and APDs back to position, although I'm going to let the CV TF hang around a bit, and I'm also stationing a few PT Boats nearby.

Brit INTEL isn't much better. A Japanese sub snuck undetected into Colombo Harbor and mined it, as an incoming Brit DD found out the "hard way". And despite the lack of an "air symbol" over Mandalay, the Brit bombers and Buffalo escorts found out, again the "hard way", that Treespider had put some good Zeros on LR CAP over the base. Overall, the Brit air attacks on Burma did poorly, with only one of the other three unopposed air attacks even getting any hits on their targets. Now that the rain is back I've once again sat down most of the planes other than for Naval Search.

Treespider's mop-up operations continue. Troops continued to land at Dili, this time unopposed by Australian air attacks, possibly due to weather but also possibly due to LR CAP. More Japanese troops also started to land at Bankha to support the paratroops that were sent there a few days ago. And INTEL reports that an NLF unit is heading to Ormac.

The general fighting continued to be at a relatively low level in most places. Tit-for-tat bombing continued in China, but with Treespider upping the ante a little. I may well send a few Brit air units into China just to keep him honest. And Manila withstood another Japanese deliberate attack, despite the absence of Allied supply. Treespider will likely need to pull his troops back and let them rest for a few weeks before coming back to finish off the defenders.

In other news, I finally pulled the Field Artillery unit out of Canton Island. It's been sitting there since Day One and it really doesn't serve any purpose on an atoll. I'm sending it South, and will either eventually place it in New Zealand or Australia, where it can be of some potential future use.

The Hawaiian Islands continue to be strengthened as another fighter group just arrived. It takes a couple of weeks for a fighter or bomber group to get back to full operational strength after being shipped by sea, so I like to have them in position well in advance of any potential attack, or a need elsewhere. I've moved a 2E squadron to each of Midway, Johnston and Palmyra Islands to join the Catalinas in Naval Search as well as to be on Naval Attack alert. In the Hawaiian Islands, in addition to Pearl Harbor, I have a level 4 airfield in one base, a level 3 airfield in another, and level 2 airfields in the other three bases, and all continue to be build up. In addition to the various 2E bomber squadrons and groups in the Islands, I also have the Marine Dive Bombers and Fighters. So I'm feeling fairly good about the Hawaiian Islands at this stage.

Dave Baranyi

(in reply to ADavidB)
Post #: 242
Japanese Land in Luganville... - 7/8/2006 12:14:30 AM   
ADavidB


Posts: 2464
Joined: 9/17/2001
From: Toronto, Canada
Status: offline 		March 19, 1942 -

A Japanese Fast Transport TF came out of the dark early this turn to land some troops at Luganville. So Treespider's expansion is continuing. By daylight the TF was far to the north on its way back to the Solomons. Treespider can have that "malarial paradise"; I'll just keep an eye out to see when he tries to bring a base force in to the base.

But the "phantom" TF is still hanging around the Funafuti area - my CV TF was spotted by a Jake this turn, although my patrols didn't spot the Japanese TF in return. So I've left the CV TF loitering around the area and sent a PT TF to Funafuti. This is risky, of course, because right now Treespider could be sending a couple of Japanese CVs into the region to try to catch my ships, but I'm determined to try to catch some of the Japanese ships myself.

Elsewhere, things remained low keyed. More Japanese troops landed at Bankha, but they didn't attack this turn. Japanese troops also started to land at Tawi Tawi. And the SNLF unit that landed at Dili attempted an artillery attack but without any success.

Japanese planes were once again in the air in large numbers over Manila and Samarinda thanks to an improvement in the weather in that region. Manila also received an artillery bombardment.

I'm sending the Brits into the air again next turn to let them get more practice against the (apparently) undefended Burmese air bases. Surprisingly, Japanese LBA has not yet gone after the small transport TF that I have unloading supplies at Akyab. I presume that it is a combination of locally bad weather and also the "CAP rule" that is keeping the torpedo bombers away.

Dave Baranyi

(in reply to ADavidB)
Post #: 243
RE: Japanese Land in Luganville... - 7/8/2006 1:56:56 AM   
KDonovan


Posts: 1157
Joined: 9/25/2005
From: New Jersey
Status: offline 		hows your South Pacific buildup doing?? Particulary the Palymra, Canton, Pago Pago, Suva, Noumea line? Got anything at Efate? IMO Canton and Noumea are the most important base's to build up first as there position allows you to interdict the shipping lanes should the japanese take any of the other base's.

(in reply to ADavidB)
Post #: 244
RE: Japanese Land in Luganville... - 7/8/2006 5:06:32 AM   
ADavidB


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

ORIGINAL: KDonovan

hows your South Pacific buildup doing?? Particulary the Palymra, Canton, Pago Pago, Suva, Noumea line? Got anything at Efate? IMO Canton and Noumea are the most important base's to build up first as there position allows you to interdict the shipping lanes should the japanese take any of the other base's.


I've deliberately decided not to seriously contest the South Pacific before I've been able to build up the Hawaiian Islands to "Killer" strength, so I haven't added any forces to the existing South Pacific bases beyond what was there at the beginning of the game. I did move CD units into Canton, Palmyra and Christmas to "discourage" nuisance invasions. I am also attempting to discourage too much Japanese adventuring by keeping US CVs in the region.

I'm not used to playing non-historic starts, so I am still a bit dazed by the speed with which Tree is moving forward. So to an extent, I haven't moved as much in the way of land forces into the region as I might have otherwise (and I am doing against Yank). But I know how easily the Japanese player can move overwhelming forces into any region at this stage of the game, and I don't want to fall into the trap of losing lots of good units early in lost causes. I've got plenty of time, and the more bases that Tree has to eventually garrison, the weaker he will be overall. At least, that's my theory at this point.

BTW - I am leaning more and more towards letting Tree spread out as much as he likes in the South and West, and then when he has troops spread all over the place, start a serious Northern Campaign in late-1943. I'm imagining dozens of divisions, 10 or more CVs, a 1000 bombers escorted by a 1000 fighters, and hundreds of subs all landing at all of the undefended bases in Northern Japan... (I know, Dream On... )

Thanks for the comments -

Dave Baranyi

(in reply to KDonovan)
Post #: 245
Luganville captured... - 7/8/2006 6:24:10 AM   
ADavidB


Posts: 2464
Joined: 9/17/2001
From: Toronto, Canada
Status: offline 		March 20, 1942 -

The Japanese Search & Patrol forces are certainly doing a lot better than their Allied counterparts because once again, whatever Japanese naval forces were in the South Pacific around Funafuti got clean away from my AC TF without ever being spotted. But I'm guessing that Treespider will attempt to move a base force into Luganville, so I've sending a couple of TFs up that way to see if I can surprise anything.

Speaking of Luganville, the Japanese raiding force captured the base this turn. Other Japanese forces captured Morotai and Bankha this turn too. This explains why Treespider has 259 TFs on the waves at one time; he's captured almost that many bases and he needs all those TFs to keep them supplied!

The Bad Weather cleared up in the Philippines and DEI and allowed the Japanese air attacks to resume at full strength against Manila and Samarinda. Bad Weather returned to the top third of the map and cancelled 3/4s of my planned air attacks in Burma and China. Since there are thunderstorms forecast everywhere I'm standing down most of my bombers again. I've been able to keep air operational losses to a minimum, but Treespider has been playing equally well with his air units and I haven't been able to make up much ground in the Air Loss "sweepstakes" against him recently.

Manila received an artillery attack again as Treespider continues with his new strategy for capturing fortified City hexes. His NLF forces tried a bombardment at Dili again, but with only six small field guns, the results were "NFG" for the Japanese. China continues to be fairly quiet, except for the road to the south of Homan where Treespider continues to build up combat units.

Another Marine Fighter unit arrived in the Hawaiian Islands today, so I am going to send the CENPAC P-36 squadron back to the West Coast. Another B-25 group will arrive in a couple of days, which will just about fill out my Hawaiian air bases for now.

Dave Baranyi

(in reply to ADavidB)
Post #: 246
More Mopping Up... - 7/8/2006 4:06:20 PM   
ADavidB


Posts: 2464
Joined: 9/17/2001
From: Toronto, Canada
Status: offline 		March 21, 1942 -

Spring arrived in the Northern Hemisphere and Fall arrived in the Southern Hemisphere, but the rain remained most everywhere. The top third of the map was covered with heavy rains while the bottom third of the map was covered with just "plain old" rain. The middle third of the map was only "cloudy" so Treespider's planes were able to take off and bomb Manila, Samarinda and the remaining Allied stragglers in the Philippines and DEI. The heavy rains in the northern third of the map meant that even my usually dependable Chinese bombers didn't take off.

Treespider continues with his mop-up operations. Japanese troops landed at Tacloban and Maumere, and Tawi Tawi was captured. The capture of Tawi Tawi got rid of the third-to-last fragment of the Asiatic Fleet HQ unit. Once Treespider finally captures Samarinda the second-to-last fragment will surrender and the "parent" unit will finally be able to rebuild. I had tried to take the Asiatic Fleet HQ out of Manila via the AKs and one AP that were there at the beginning of the game, but Treespider was able to ambush all of my ships, sink most and damage the rest. The damaged ships "ran aground" at a half dozen isolated bases in the Philippines and DEI, leaving little fragments of the HQ all over the place. I was able to ship one fragment back to Oz, but the rest have been stuck in place awaiting destruction. I like to save the Asiatic Fleet HQ and move it to Sydney so that it can aid in repairing ships in port. (The Allies have too few Naval HQs to waste any of them.)

Treespider is still active in Timor. He landed more troops at Dili this turn, but he still just did an artillery attack. The results of the attack show that the Japanese have an "AV" of 200 compared to an "AV" of 3 for the Dutch stragglers at Dili, so Treespider probably should just go ahead and attack. But I guess he is a little psyched-out by the results of his land-combat tests and his problems at Manila. Treespider also sent a Zero sweep against Wyndham. Only three Wirraways came up to fight and all three were shot down as expected, but they did damage one Zero, which is a "moral victory" of sorts.

In other news, a number of Japanese fleets are moving towards the remaining Allied bases in "northern" Sumatra. I've got subs in the region and I'll see if they can intercept any of those TFs, but for some reason my subs have become very "quiet" recently; even the usually aggressive Dutch subs.

Dave Baranyi

(in reply to ADavidB)
Post #: 247
Sub 1, ML 0 - 7/8/2006 8:45:20 PM   
ADavidB


Posts: 2464
Joined: 9/17/2001
From: Toronto, Canada
Status: offline 		March 22, 1942 -

Weather continued to be lousy over most of the game-map, with the exception of the Central Pacific. This once again affected a lot of air operations on both sides, with the Japanese getting off relatively more attacks because their units are concentrated more towards the center of the "map" than along the edges which get the most frequent stretches of continuously bad weather.

And similar to the relentless fall of rain in most locals, Japanese troops continued to land in a number of places - additional troops landing at Dili and Maumere while new landings occurred at Medan and Ormoc. The only base captured this turn was Tacloban; I think that Treespider is actually forgetting about some of the smaller bases where he has already landed troops.

The only serious action this turn was a successful attack by O16 on a Japanese ML off of Bankha. One torpedo and the ship sank.

Dave Baranyi

(in reply to ADavidB)
Post #: 248
Court-Martial Time... - 7/9/2006 11:44:49 AM   
ADavidB


Posts: 2464
Joined: 9/17/2001
From: Toronto, Canada
Status: offline 		March 23, 1942 -

It's just about time to start some Court-martials going. Treespider once again made a monkey out of my patrols, pickets and intelligence as a CS TF showed up to the EAST of the Line Islands and even sent some Jakes out to attack a transport TF on its way to deliver a base force to Christmas Island! I have all sorts of patrol and search planes in that region, including Catalinas and various 2E bombers, but nothing caught this TF nor gave me the slightest hint that it was in the area. The only way my men are going to "get off" is by relying on a weather defense; that region has been hit with nearly continuous bad weather recently.

The attacks by Jakes on that transport TF were the icing on the cake. Fortunately, they missed, but I wasn't happy that my B-25s in Palmyra missed in their two chances at CS Nisshin too. What this says is that Treespider could likely sail his CV TFs right through my defensive perimeter too without me being able to see them. And there is likely another spy TF in the South Pacific too, as an Alf spotting suggests. All I can do is shake my head, grit my teeth and pray for a couple of days of Clear Weather.

Nothing much else worked out well this turn for the Allies. A Nate Daitai from Mandalay swept Akyab, and the Hurricanes on station there held their own quite nicely. But right afterwards a Zero Daitai from Rangoon flew in and wiped half of the Hurricanes from the sky. And of course, those Nates are long gone from Mandalay this turn.

In the land war, Japanese troops started to land at Padang and captured Dili, Maumere and Ormoc. A deliberate attack on Manila failed but achieved 1:1 results and reduced the fortifications down to 4, so Treespider's new strategy for sieges is improving things for him already.

So I replaced that decimated Hurricane squadron at Akyab with a fresh squadron. Fortunately, I have plenty of Hurricanes in reserve. I also split up that transport TF that the Jakes attacked into individual ship TFs, but I left the transports all on a course to Christmas Island. Then I pulled the DDs out of all of the transport TFs in the region, formed them into surface combat TFs, and sent them out in the hopes of possibly intercepting the CS TF. Finally, I belatedly brought my P-40Bs back to Palmyra to join the B-25s. I only moved those fighters away from Palmyra a couple of turns ago; if I had left them in place I could have flown them to Christmas Island to provide LR CAP to that transport TF.

Dave Baranyi

(in reply to ADavidB)
Post #: 249
General "Magoo" in Charge... - 7/9/2006 1:17:04 PM   
ADavidB


Posts: 2464
Joined: 9/17/2001
From: Toronto, Canada
Status: offline 		March 24, 1942 -

General Magoo, head of Joint Services Air Patrol, insists that there is nothing wrong with his men or their vision. Never-the-less, CS Nisshin and its escorts totally disappeared from view again this turn. My transport ships arrived at Christmas Island safely and started to unload, so I moved the P-40Bs, a squadron of A-20Bs, and a Catalina squadron into the base to keep watch on things along with the air forces that are already at Palmyra. I also still have naval forces combing the waters around the Line Islands, so maybe the old saying that, "Even a blind squirrel occasionally finds a nut" will hold true for a change.

But the generally map-wide bad weather hindered air operations everywhere this turn again. The only missions that contain to fly pretty much regularly are the Japanese air attacks on Manila. Weather is also preventing my forces from spotting other Japanese movements, such as the sudden appearance of Japanese transports at Padang last turn. More troops landed this turn and eventually captured the base. Belitung Island was also occupied this turn, so the number of Japanese-controlled bases continues to climb.

In other news, the Japanese troops at Manila reverted to artillery attacks this turn. I guess that Treespider will wait another week or so before his next serious assault. And some long-range Japanese patrol planes flew recon missions over Noumea again, so it appears that Treespider is getting more serious about making a grab for it. I've now got two CV TFs in the area, so maybe one of them will find an incoming Japanese invasion TF.

Dave Baranyi

(in reply to ADavidB)
Post #: 250
Japanese Subs are Back... - 7/9/2006 8:10:32 PM   
ADavidB


Posts: 2464
Joined: 9/17/2001
From: Toronto, Canada
Status: offline 		March 25, 1942 -

Japanese subs made their reappearance in numbers this turn as at least a half dozen subs popped up simultaneously near different South Seas Islands and off of Australia. Treespider is probably spying, may be laying mines, and is likely planning for his next wave of invasions. This might also be a distraction for a more serious thrust into the New Caledonia area. In any event, as long as the subs are there and not bothering me elsewhere I don't really care because I'm not shipping much of anything through the region anyway.

BTW - Noumea was reconned again today, but this time the Emily was chased by some Wildcats. (Has anyone ever shot down a recon plane? I certainly haven't.) So Treespider found out more than he was likely expecting. But now that my ships have refueled, that TF is headed out again to look for opportunities to cause mischief.

In the "mop-up war", Catbalogan was occupied automatically and Japanese troops landed at Raba. For whatever reason, Treespider landed paratroops via ship at Medan, but they may as well have fallen from the sky without their guns because they had a lousy initial attack:

Ground combat at Medan

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 2078 troops, 17 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 55

Defending force 2876 troops, 14 guns, 2 vehicles, Assault Value = 54

Japanese max assault: 53 - adjusted assault: 11

Allied max defense: 45 - adjusted defense: 121

Japanese assault odds: 0 to 1 (fort level 3)

Japanese ground losses:
500 casualties reported
Guns lost 9

Allied ground losses:
1 casualty reported
Guns lost 1

It's nice to see those paras bogged down again.

In other news, Samarinda and Manila received their usual aerial bombardments and Manila also received an artillery bombardment. In China, it appears that Treespider is massing troops for another go at Hengchow. I've continued to build the fortifications during the respite that he has given to me, so I'm almost pleased that he will be coming back. (But I will continue to keep my retreat pathways open.)

Dave Baranyi

(in reply to ADavidB)
Post #: 251
RE: Japanese Subs are Back... - 7/9/2006 10:47:55 PM   
Wellard


Posts: 57
Joined: 6/6/2006
From: Inverness,Scotland
Status: offline 		This is a great AAR

Have to say however that the more AARs I read the more I become convinced that the land combat and movement models are seriously flawed(ie Japanese troops seem to be the supernatural warriors the allied troops thought they were)

Guess it's because this was originally a game focused on the Air/Naval War(and yes I did own a copy of the original back in the days of Steam driven hard drives)

< Message edited by Wellard -- 7/9/2006 10:50:19 PM >

(in reply to ADavidB)
Post #: 252
RE: Japanese Subs are Back... - 7/10/2006 12:22:36 AM   
ADavidB


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

ORIGINAL: Wellard

This is a great AAR

Have to say however that the more AARs I read the more I become convinced that the land combat and movement models are seriously flawed(ie Japanese troops seem to be the supernatural warriors the allied troops thought they were)

Guess it's because this was originally a game focused on the Air/Naval War(and yes I did own a copy of the original back in the days of Steam driven hard drives)


Thanks for the comments!

I believe that the movement issues could be cleared up pretty easily:

1 - Don't let a side get a rail system bonus until all of the rail line between two points, including the bases at both ends, is under the control of that side. So there would be no rail bonus for "contested" rail lines - such as when one side holds a base at one end and the other side holds the base at the other end

2 - Don't allow small fragments to hold large land units in place. There should be a threshold that much be passed before a unit can "freeze" an enemy unit in place.

3 - Allow retreat into uncontrolled hexes, regardless of supply level (just cause much higher disruption and morale loss if supply is below a given threshold).

Combat issues are a different thing all together. I believe that there should be two different combat systems - one for atoll combat and the other for "continental" combat. (And maybe a third for amphibious invasions.) Just what those systems should be, and how different they should be from each other is something that I haven't worked out in my mind yet. (And something that I wouldn't know how to program anyway. )

Thanks again -

Dave Baranyi

(in reply to Wellard)
Post #: 253
Gutsy Japanese Play! ... - 7/10/2006 4:27:27 AM   
ADavidB


Posts: 2464
Joined: 9/17/2001
From: Toronto, Canada
Status: offline 		March 26, 1942 -

Treespider is certainly playing with lots of guts. Despite the heavy rains CS Nisshin turned up again - this time nearly halfway between Palmyra and the Hawaiian Islands! Yes, right in the middle of the most heavily defended and traversed area of the Allied perimeter! My B-25s at Palmyra took off several times but were unable to hit their target. But, to add "insult to injury", A US CV TF ended up only 5 hexes away and didn't find nor react to the Japanese spy TF.

So I've moved a B-26 group to Johnston Island to join the A-20s that are already there, and I've ordered the CV TF to try to intercept the CS TF as it tries to work its way back to the Japanese lines. I've even spun off a couple of DDs from the CV TF to try to do a mid-ocean intercept. I don't care if they are creamed by the CS TF; I just want them to locate it and potentially slow it down a bit. And for a last bit of luck, I've redirected some of the submarines in the area to see if they can find that TF.

Things were a lot more "normal" elsewhere. Tagbalarin was occupied automatically and Japanese troops captured Raba. Manila received its usual artillery bombardment, and Samarinda received one too, albeit from a few small and relatively weak Japanese LCUs. And Japanese troops started to land at Benkolen.

Things are heating up in China again. Seven Japanese units moved in against Hengchow again. I'm going to try a "deliberate" attack just in case I can throw them back before they get too "comfortable". This probably won't work, but it's worth a try. Treespider has also weakened his forces to the north of Changsha, so I'll probably move some troops back there again, just in case I can distract him.

The Allied air units at the Indian/Burmese border flew this turn for a change, and actually did reasonably well. Granted, these weren't the sort of "aerial deathstar" attacks that so many people get worked up about, but they did cause some damage and let Treespider know that I'm not "asleep" in that region. Treespider is moving his forces around in Burma and it looks as if he intends to set up a rear defensive line from which he can try to stop any Allied counterattacks in Central Burma. For example, there are now 4 Japanese units in Taung Gyi and 6 in Luang Prabang.

BTW - while the flurry of Japanese subs in the South Pacific has disappeared as quickly as it appeared, it turns out that Treespider has mined yet another base in India - this time Mannargudi. Fortunately, it was a Brit MSW on minesweeping patrol that ran into those mines by accident (and without incident). So it's likely that the other Indian bases may well be mined too.

Dave Baranyi

(in reply to ADavidB)
Post #: 254
RE: Gutsy Japanese Play! ... - 7/10/2006 5:53:43 AM   
Grotius


Posts: 5798
Joined: 10/18/2002
From: The Imperial Palace.
Status: offline 		Hmm, that enemy CS is simply on a spy/recon mission? Seems like a dangerous way to spy if you ask me. :)

I agree with your comments on fixing movement, though I'd also like to see some limits on rolling stock even with RRs that one side completely "owns."

(in reply to ADavidB)
Post #: 255
RE: Gutsy Japanese Play! ... - 7/10/2006 1:21:24 PM   
ADavidB


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

ORIGINAL: Grotius

Hmm, that enemy CS is simply on a spy/recon mission? Seems like a dangerous way to spy if you ask me. :)

I agree with your comments on fixing movement, though I'd also like to see some limits on rolling stock even with RRs that one side completely "owns."


Tree has been doing this quite consistantly and very successfully for quite some time now. I originally thought that he was sending out CV TFs on "fishing trips", then I figured SC TFs on bombardment missions, and now it looks like he has "psyched" me out well ( )and he is actually using Nisshin just to spy on my perimeter bases. Of course, the thing that keeps me "honest" is that the next time, it actually could be a couple of Japanese fleet CVs.... So my hat's off to Tree for coming up with an effective and useful strategy.

One thing that has always seemed "wrong" with the rail movement system is that it is much more effective for moving troops a very short distance than it is for moving them a very long distance. Essentially, there is no "time" for loading and unloading of troops. No matter how far you are going, under the "best" of conditions you get to go 120 miles per day. And on longer distance trips you go much more slowly because Fatigue factors in. Yet this doesn't happen for Aircraft transport.

I would like to see a "March or Train" option, and when you chose "Train", it takes a certain number of days to load the train, and a similar number of days to unload. (Analogous to loading and unloading ships.) And once the troops are "on the train", they travel at Train Speed, not an enhanced marching speed.

Thanks -

Dave Baranyi

(in reply to Grotius)
Post #: 256
Luckiest Ship in the IJN!... - 7/10/2006 8:49:15 PM   
ADavidB


Posts: 2464
Joined: 9/17/2001
From: Toronto, Canada
Status: offline 		March 27, 1942 -

His Imperial Japanese Majesty's Ship CS-Nisshin has to be the luckiest ship in the IJN. This turn the Nisshin slipped cleanly by several subs and a US CV TF without being detected. The Nisshin then ducked a number of air attacks by several dozen US Army Air Corp 2E bombers flying in from different directions. And it appears that the Nisshin, which is now slightly west of the line between Johnston and Palmyra Islands, will get away with it's "adventuring" because a new Japanese TF, currently located at 95,82, is racing towards the East at 33 knots. My patrol planes only identified CL Tenryu in the TF, but I'm pretty certain that several CVs are with it.

So I've moved fighters into Johnston and Palmyra to back up the bombers, and I've sent the US CV TF back to Kona for fuel and a chance to assess the situation. I've also put all other forces in the region on Full Alert, and have formed up all ships in the Hawaiian Islands into either Combat TFs that are moving to station, or transport TFs that are moving out of the way. Fortunately, I don't have any transport TFs in the Hawaii/Johnston/Palmyra triangle at this time.

There are actually two unfortunate messages that are coming out of this operation. One, of course, is that my Naval Search/Patrol/Picket Line system is of no use to "man nor beast". The second message is that my LBA can't hit relatively slow ships even in the absence of enemy CAP. So if Treespider is feeling "lucky" he may well try some Naval Air raiding of the Hawaiian Island bases, or even an invasion of one of the outlying bases. It's a very good thing that many Japanese forces are still tied up in the Philippines, China and Burma.

In other news, I-122 showed up off of Colombo, so I'm sending some DDs out to try to hunt it down. Argo had a shot at a Japanese ML after laying some mines at Kwajalein, but missed. There were the usual big air attacks on Manila, followed by another deliberate attack that failed, but the fortifications were reduced to 3 and the combat gave 1:1 results, meaning that time is getting short for the troops in Manila.

In China, Treespider moved too many good troops against Hengchow too quickly, so my Chinese counterattack was a fiasco. I may have to revive my pull-back plan for the South of China.

At Benkolen the Japanese troops tried a deliberate attack this time that failed, but reduced the fortifications to 2, so that base ought to fall soon too. There are few Allied bases left in the Philippines or DEI for the Japanese to mop-up any more.

Dave Baranyi

(in reply to ADavidB)
Post #: 257
A Vanished Threat... - 7/12/2006 12:03:02 AM   
ADavidB


Posts: 2464
Joined: 9/17/2001
From: Toronto, Canada
Status: offline 		March 28, 1942 -

The Johnston Island/Palmyra/Hawaiian Islands triangle was oddly quiet this turn. No Japanese forces appeared. There were no TFs, no planes, no subs. I left my air units on full alert but ordered my naval units to return to what they were originally doing. It was all very odd and rather anticlimactic.

Elsewhere, Treespider was fairly busy, despite running into the Fast Transport bug. We actually re-planned the turn and re-ran it after Treespider noticed that his troops had disappeared. So maybe that TF with the Tenryu was the FT; on the other hand maybe that unlucky FT was somewhere else.

Treespider's more ordinary invasions worked out much better. Japanese troops easily captured Benkolen and Samarinda. Treespider is also getting very busy in Southeastern China again. He now has around a dozen units at Hengchow and tried a deliberate attack this turn. The attack failed, but it did reduce the fortifications by one and achieved a 1:1 result. Therefore I am putting my "bug out" plan into action for Southeastern China. Treespider will find things harder to do once his troops are off of the rail system.

The only effective offensive action for the Allies this turn was the depth charging of RO-64 off of Rockhampton. And it was unlikely that RO-64 was damaged very greatly, in contract to Pickerel which was hit by a bomb from airborne ASW at Manila that caused massive damage to the sub.

Dave Baranyi


< Message edited by ADavidB -- 7/12/2006 7:45:30 PM >

(in reply to ADavidB)
Post #: 258
The Flypaper Bug Strikes Again!!! - 7/12/2006 5:19:33 AM   
ADavidB


Posts: 2464
Joined: 9/17/2001
From: Toronto, Canada
Status: offline 		March 29, 1942 -

The @#$%^ "Flypaper" bug has hit me again in China. I can't retreat my troops from Hengchow despite having 4 clear, unobstructed routes out. What I figure is happening is the @#$%^ AI wants to take the rail line, which is blocked 2 hexes to the southwest by Japanese troops. And the @#$%^ AI is too stupid to take any of several uncontested inland routes. I've asked Treespider to check with his "sources" to see if they know of a fix. Otherwise Treespider and I will need to come up with an acceptable workaround. This is the same bug that, along with losing leaders left, right and center, caused me to quit my v1.6 game against Tophat. So far I haven't lost any leaders in this game, but I have still gotten the occasional Japanese Air Ace as a DD commander.

Otherwise, not a lot happened. Treespider sent a number of attacks against Hengchow and Manila, and captured Sabang. The Eastern Pacific stayed quiet. The Lexington refuses to reduce its system damage below 7 - it has been stuck there the entire month of March.

Dave Baranyi


< Message edited by ADavidB -- 7/12/2006 7:45:46 PM >

(in reply to ADavidB)
Post #: 259
Negotiations under way - 7/12/2006 7:32:46 AM   
ADavidB


Posts: 2464
Joined: 9/17/2001
From: Toronto, Canada
Status: offline 		Treespider and I are negotiating a ceasefire in China to allow me to withdraw my troops away from the rail line. Once they are back they ought to obey normal marching orders again, since (hopefully) the AI won't consider the rail line anymore for movement.

I've been praying for a change to the movement rules/calculations to be implemented for two years with this game - maybe someday, in some version, we will no longer be faced with such a situation.

Dave Baranyi

(in reply to ADavidB)
Post #: 260
Chinese ceasefire... - 7/12/2006 1:32:23 PM   
ADavidB


Posts: 2464
Joined: 9/17/2001
From: Toronto, Canada
Status: offline 		Treespider has agreed to my proposal for a ceasefire to allow me to perform a strategic withdrawal of my troops from the southern Chinese bases. He claims a disinterest in going for Chungking, so I'll maintain a ceasefire in all of China as long as he does the same.

I realize that this frees up Japanese troops to fight elsewhere, but I'll take my chances, because otherwise I'll lose tons of Chinese troops for no gain and those Japanese troops will still eventually fight elsewhere anyway.

In any event, I've been complaining all along that I didn't want to fight "War in China", so here's my chance to "put up or shut up".

Dave Baranyi

(in reply to ADavidB)
Post #: 261
RE: Chinese ceasefire... - 7/12/2006 1:43:32 PM   
veji1

 

Posts: 1019
Joined: 7/9/2005
Status: offline 		well if you direct your LCUS to an empty hex two hexes away from the city in the right direction, it should work I guess....

(in reply to ADavidB)
Post #: 262
RE: Chinese ceasefire... - 7/12/2006 2:19:25 PM   
ADavidB


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

ORIGINAL: veji1

well if you direct your LCUS to an empty hex two hexes away from the city in the right direction, it should work I guess....


Unfortunately, no, that doesn't work with the current movement and zone-of-control rules. Once enemy troops come in contact with your troops, you cannot move out of contact except by setting an uncontested friendly base as your objective, no matter how many uncontested and empty hexes are nearby. The AI always calculates the "quickest route". When the unit that you want to move is on a rail line, the AI always considers the rail line as the "only" route because it is always "quicker".

In this case, Treespider has units two hexes away on the rail line to the south west. It doesn't matter that there are two unoccupied non-rail routes stretching uncontested to the northwest towards the objective base - the AI "sees" the Japanese troops that are two hexes away and freezes movement for my LCUs at 59 miles. Therefore, I cannot do a withdrawal despite having multiple open routes out of the hex - my troops will never move.

Apparently, it's not an easy job to fix this problem.

Thanks -

Dave Baranyi

(in reply to veji1)
Post #: 263
RE: Chinese ceasefire... - 7/12/2006 6:30:46 PM   
Jim D Burns


Posts: 4013
Joined: 2/25/2002
From: Salida, CA.
Status: offline 		If it's any consolation my opponent and I have undergone many cease fire agreements in China to work around issues like these. It’s the only way to make the China game remotely playable.

In fact I doubt I’d be willing to play an opponent who wasn’t amenable to brief pauses now and again to work through the headaches that develop in China on an almost constant basis due to game engine mechanics.

Most recently in my game I was evacuating the Southern rail line due to Japanese gains and as my large armies passed through Wuchow and the other southern base (can’t remember name) on their way northwest, huge amounts of supply were sucked in to the bases on the same turn they moved out of the bases. My opponent gracefully pulled back his pursuing units long enough for the supply to get sucked back into the northern bases.

Although I lost about 4k supplies just to attrition for the move in and then out of those bases, I doubt there'd be much of a game left (only about 30k supplies left in all of China at this point) had my opponent simply grabbed the bases and all those supplies the stupid engine threw in there due to a two turn pass-through move by my armies.

Jim


_____________________________


(in reply to ADavidB)
Post #: 264
RE: Chinese ceasefire... - 7/12/2006 7:47:40 PM   
ADavidB


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

If it's any consolation my opponent and I have undergone many cease fire agreements in China to work around issues like these. It’s the only way to make the China game remotely playable.


It's really unfortunate, but it is the only way to go. I can well understand all the reasons why Japanese players want to attack in China, but the current land movement problems make it impossible to give sensible commands. Oh well, maybe someday it will be fixed.

Thanks -

Dave Baranyi

(in reply to Jim D Burns)
Post #: 265
Ceasefire orders given... - 7/12/2006 7:49:24 PM   
ADavidB


Posts: 2464
Joined: 9/17/2001
From: Toronto, Canada
Status: offline 		March 30, 1942 -

So we agreed to a cease fire in China. In a somewhat realistic manner, since Treespider had already set his orders for the turn before receiving and accepting my final proposal, there were still some attacks in China from both sides, including another deliberate attack on Hengchow that failed again. But now that we've agreed I started my withdrawal from Kweilin and Wuchow this turn to accompany my stalled withdrawal from Hengchow. All of my troops at Hengchow are stuck at 59 miles, so hopefully once the Japanese troops pull back my troops will finally move.

I've also pulled back all my air units from the front and stopped all air raids, and I'm not moving any troops towards the Front, although I am pulling a few "blocker" units back now that they aren't needed for the Southern cities. I'm hoping that Treespider will consider a complete cessation to "hostilities" in China until and if the Devs ever fix the movement problem in some later revision. It's no fun for me playing in China with the "as is" condition because Treespider may as well be playing head-to-head against himself if I can't give orders to my own troops.

In other news, there was another deliberate attack on Manila that reduced the fortifications some more and further weakened the defenders. I expect Manila to fall to the next attack. Otherwise, things were pretty quiet most everywhere.

My major concern right now is to bolster the defenses of Eastern and Southeastern Australia. Things are coming along fairly well, but I really need more air support in the region. I'm hoping to be able to send a big air support unit out that way, but it will take quite some time to get it there safely.

I'd also like to start to shore up the defenses in the South Pacific, but I need several more weeks to receive and move more troops, and I'm not likely to get the time. So once the April naval upgrades are in place I'll have to move more naval forces into the region and be prepared to try to stop advances that threaten the bases that I would like to protect.

The big question will be - If Treespider does observe an extended ceasefire in China, where will his "excess" units go? The defense of China is coming along fairly well, but I'm nowhere near being in a position to stop a serious multi-division amphibious attack and won't be for a couple of months. I'm beginning to think that I should strip the Indo-Burmese border of its remaining infantry units, pull them back to Asansol for rebuilding, and spread them out to the key inland bases where they can block rail line blitzkriegs.

Dave Baranyi

(in reply to ADavidB)
Post #: 266
RE: Ceasefire orders given... - 7/12/2006 8:26:11 PM   
niceguy2005


Posts: 12523
Joined: 7/4/2005
From: Super secret hidden base
Status: offline 		Hi AdavidB, great AAR.

Any news on what's going on around Johnston/Palmyra? Are you expecting an attack?

I have found patrol aircraft to be unreliable spotters by themselves. As I am also in the early stages of the war in my game, I did find that subs make great pickets. If you are thinking an attack is immenent I would put at least 10 subs out to picket the area. YOu can tell a lot by what type of aircraft spot them and they are better if they actually encounter a TF at telling you what ships are there.

_____________________________


Artwork graciously provided by Dixie

(in reply to ADavidB)
Post #: 267
RE: Ceasefire orders given... - 7/12/2006 9:16:05 PM   
ADavidB


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

ORIGINAL: niceguy2005

Hi AdavidB, great AAR.

Any news on what's going on around Johnston/Palmyra? Are you expecting an attack?

I have found patrol aircraft to be unreliable spotters by themselves. As I am also in the early stages of the war in my game, I did find that subs make great pickets. If you are thinking an attack is immenent I would put at least 10 subs out to picket the area. YOu can tell a lot by what type of aircraft spot them and they are better if they actually encounter a TF at telling you what ships are there.


Nothing much is going on in the Johnston/Palmyra area right now. I suspect that Treespider was checking things out just to see if I had "left the door open" a crack. He mustn't have been too happy to see all those 2E bombers swarming over his CS and knows that he might not be so lucky next time.

I agree with you regarding the US patrol planes. I generally get much better search results when I have both patrol planes and bombers on "search". I now have enough 2Es in the region that I've been able to put a squadron on each of Midway, Johnston, Palmyra and Christmas to enhance the search capabilties as well as add some "sting". Transport TFs don't like to move into areas that have anti-shipping bombers in action.

I do have a comprehensive submarine picket line out, but Treespider is avoiding it by crossing "no man's water" with his float planes stood down. And until my subs get radar later this year they won't be that good at detecting enemy TFs unless they are "run over".

Thanks again -

Dave Baranyi

(in reply to niceguy2005)
Post #: 268
Two Big Pieces of News... - 7/13/2006 4:37:18 AM   
ADavidB


Posts: 2464
Joined: 9/17/2001
From: Toronto, Canada
Status: offline 		March 31, 1942 -

Two BIG pieces of news this turn:

1 - Treespider offered, and I accepted, a two-year ground combat truce in China. I will pull back from Homan in addition to Hengchow, Kweilin, and Wuchow and neither of us will conduct any ground offenses for the next two years. I also "challenged him" to "avoid the temptation" to try to use China as a "cheapy" no-risk training ground for thousands of pilots, as some people do. Instead I suggested that he use the "macho" approach and train his pilots against "real" targets. We'll see what he does. In any event, I'm prepared to live with my part of the bargain.

2 - INTEL, that most Unworthy of all Services, has reported that the Japanese 5th Division is on its way to invade Derby. So Treespider isn't wasting any time going against Northern Oz. Oh well, it would have been better if bases like Derby were still malarial, but I'm not going to worry about it. I'm just going to vanish along my supply lines. BTW - I would much rather see Japanese divisions in Northern Oz than in the South Seas.

In other news, Fergusson Island was occupied automatically, saving Treespider the risk of another Fast Transport "misadventure". Japanese troops also landed at Guiuan Island.

Treespider sent Zero sweeps against Wyndham again. He tends to do this as a bit of "misdirection" I believe. Then a huge crowd of Oscars escorted some Sallys that tried to bomb some of the supply ships in Darwin Harbor. For the first time in the game that I remember, my CAP, although only Wirraways, actually shot down some of the escorts and disrupted the attack.

Treespider is trying too many things at once and is forgetting things. So there was still an attack south of Homan, and one Japanese unit tried a deliberate attack at Manila instead of resting like the others. I'm not having that problem in this game because I'm trying so little that it's almost impossible to forget the few things that are going on.

BTW - if you are wondering when I intend to do something about the Japanese advances, right now mid-1943 looks good to me, unless Treespider does something particularly dumb that gives me a big break.

And finally, below is the INTEL screen for April 1. All things considered, it's not looking too bad, particularly in terms of relative air losses and naval losses. They mean that parity is coming closer all the time.

Dave Baranyi







Attachment (1)

(in reply to ADavidB)
Post #: 269
LCU Movement "Fun & Games"... - 7/13/2006 6:44:06 AM   
ADavidB


Posts: 2464
Joined: 9/17/2001
From: Toronto, Canada
Status: offline 		April 1, 1942 -

As I wrote to Treespider, it's a very good thing that we decided on a two-year ceasefire, because it may well take a year or more to get my idiotic troops out of Hengchow. Despite the removal of the Japanese besiegers, my troops in Hengchow are still stuck at 59 miles. All of my other troops are moving quite happily. I've asked Treespider to either move his troops back from Kweilin a couple of hexes, or move his troops off of the road from Changsha to Chungking. This only emphasizes how badly the movement rules are implemented for China. Next game I start I may abandon Hengchow right from the first turn, then let the Japanese get stuck there.

The action is already picking up in Northern Oz. Japanese and Australian LBA traded tit-for-tat naval attacks in Lautem and Darwin. Australian planes hit an AG and an AK in Lautem, and Sallys hit a couple of AKs in Darwin Harbor. Once again I was shaking my head at the performance of the 2E bombers versus CAP. My Hudsons blew by the Zeros at Lautem and scored five bomb hits. Then two small, unescorted groups of Sallys fought past nearly equal numbers of Wirraways to hit an AK in each pass. At one time 2E bombers would break off fairly quickly in the face of CAP, nowadays they fight through it as if they were 4E bombers. I still feel that "Mike the Dev" overshot the mark a bit when he re-jigged the performance of 2E bombers against fighters back in rev 1.50.

My 2E bombers will get more opportunities to show their worth next turn as a TF is heading towards Perth. I'm betting that it is a bombardment TF rather than an invasion TF. I have four subs headed into the incoming path, and I've moved all the planes out of Perth and have them ready in Broom and Wyndham to try to hit the TF afterwards. Now, as long as we don't suddenly get torrential rains across the entire north coast of Oz I ought to do okay.

In other news, Malakula Island was occupied and Guiuan was captured. Manila was bombed from the air and bombarded from the ground. Brit MSWs found yet more mines in the channel between Ceylon and the mainland - Treespider's subs have certainly been busy in that region. And in the equatorial reaches of the South Pacific, a Japanese TF, either an air combat or a CS spy TF, was spotted sailing towards the Solomons.

My April 1 ship upgrades all went well with the exception of Lexington which remains at sysdam 7 and so will not upgrade.

Dave Baranyi

(in reply to ADavidB)
Post #: 270
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