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RE: Salutations and solicitations.... 1EyedJacks (J) vs Nemo (A)

 
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RE: Salutations and solicitations.... 1EyedJacks (J) vs... - 12/31/2009 12:41:01 PM   
Nemo121


Posts: 5821
Joined: 2/6/2004
Status: offline 		Hartwig,
Of course... And I used this to full effect in my game vs Damian when I consciously fed false info into the AAR as regards my strategic thoughts. Right now though, in reading the AARs here which are dual-sided I've noticed far, far too much innocuous askng of questions or unveiling of brilliant strategic insights/worries by readers which just happen to mirror what the opponent is discussing in his AAR.

OPERATIONAL REPORT FOR Dec 08, 41


SS Triton detects possible enemy submarine at 134, 98 but is unable to close within attack range
CM Rigel lays defensive minefield at Oosthaven - 48 , 96 and sets course for Batavia
CM Willem v d Zaan lays defensive minefield at Palembang - 48 , 91 and sets course for Singapore
CM Prins van Oranje lays defensive minefield at Tarakan - 67 , 91 and sets course for Balikpapan
CMc Pro Patria lays defensive minefield at Palembang - 48 , 91 and sets course for Singapore

As you can see my minelaying is already beginning. Willem van der Zaan didn't make it back to Singapore but at least its primary mission is accomplished. I only mined Tarakan because it was "on the way" and something Mike is bound to invade. My main mining effort will be focussed exclusively on Oosthaven and Palembang.

Buffalo I from No.21 Sqn RAAF is damaged on landing
Buffalo I from No.21 Sqn RAAF is written off
Blenheim IF from No.27 Sqn RAF is written off
Blenheim IF from No.27 Sqn RAF is written off
Damaged Buffalo I from No.488 Sqn RAF does not return
P-40E Warhawk from 24th PG/3rd PS is written off
P-40E Warhawk from 24th PG/3rd PS is written off
P-40E Warhawk from 24th PG/3rd PS is written off
Damaged P-40E Warhawk from 24th PG/3rd PS shot down on way home
Damaged P-40E Warhawk from 24th PG/17th PS is missing, pilot reported killed
P-40E Warhawk from 24th PG/17th PS is written off
Damaged P-40E Warhawk from 24th PG/17th PS is missing
P-40B Warhawk from 24th PG/20th PS is damaged on landing
Damaged P-40B Warhawk from 24th PG/20th PS is missing
P-40B Warhawk from 24th PG/20th PS is written off
P-40B Warhawk from 24th PG/20th PS is written off
P-40E Warhawk from 35th PG/21st PS is written off
Damaged P-40E Warhawk from 35th PG/21st PS is missing, pilot reported killed

Nice. A lot of the additional level of detail in AW really adds to the game. KB did a number on the defenders of Singapore but the USAAF did well over the Phillipines. So far the enemy has lost some 20 confirmed Zeroes with quite a few more damaged and facing long trips home.

2LT Posten, J.H. of 24th PG/17th PS is credited with kill number 2
1LT Hanson, R.T. of 24th PG/3rd PS is credited with kill number 2



SIG INT REPORT FOR Dec 08, 41

2/3rd Ind. Engineer Regiment is loaded on a Japanese xAK moving to Aparri.
2/114th Infantry Regiment is planning for an attack on Kota Bharu.
Heavy Volume of Radio transmissions detected at 90,91.
7/Kanno Detachment is planning for an attack on Vigan.
Tsushima Fortress is located at Tsushima(103,56).
16th Engineer Regiment is loaded on a Japanese xAK moving to Legaspi.
II./4th Infantry Battalion is planning for an attack on Miri.
18th Mountain Gun Regiment is planning for an attack on Kota Bharu.
21st Mortar Battalion is located at Canton(77,59).
Kimura Det is loaded on a Japanese CL moving to Naga.
5th Engineer Regiment is located at Singora(51,72).
55th Mountain Gun Regiment is located at Battambang(58,65).
7/I./124th Infantry Battalion is planning for an attack on Miri.
4/144th Infantry Regiment is loaded on a Yusen N Cargo class xAK moving to Guam.
107th JAAF AF Bn is located at Kumamoto(102,59).
II./4th Infantry Battalion is loaded on a Japanese AMC moving to Kuching.
Radio transmissions detected at Kweisui (92,35).
2nd Ind.Mixed Brigade is located at Kalgan(95,37).
41st JAAF AF Bn is located at Kompong Trach(57,70).
Radio transmissions detected at Patani (51,73).

Well, well, well. Very useful intel. IJA landings are planned for Legaspi and Vigan ( at least ) and Kuching and Miri are both for the chopping block in the coming days. With KB in the area I just don't have the freedom of operation to take advantage of this knowledge regarding northern Borneo BUT I have sufficient light combatants in the Phillipines to do something about this. I amn't actually holding out much hope of holding the Phillipines for long and have even begun to consolidate around Clark and Manilla proper but I certainly would like to disrupt any southern landings as much as possible to buy time to gather supplies into Manilla etc.

Sub attack near Singora at 51,72

Japanese Ships
AV Sagara Maru, Torpedo hits 1
PB Eiko Maru

Allied Ships
SS KXVII, hits 4

SS KXVII launches 2 torpedoes at AV Sagara Maru
KXVII bottoming out ....
PB Eiko Maru fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Eiko Maru fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Eiko Maru fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Eiko Maru attacking submerged sub ....
PB Eiko Maru fails to find sub, continues to search...
Escort abandons search for sub

Two of these are direct hits. It seems Eiko Maru is one hell of a sub-hunter.

Morning Air attack on Singapore , at 50,84

Weather in hex: Partial cloud

Raid detected at 47 NM, estimated altitude 17,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 15 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 14

The first of many attacks by KB today. He's really investing in destroying Singapore.



Allied aircraft
Blenheim IF x 7
Buffalo I x 30


No Japanese losses

Allied aircraft losses
Blenheim IF: 1 destroyed
Buffalo I: 3 destroyed

Morning Air attack on Singapore , at 50,84

Weather in hex: Partial cloud

Raid detected at 39 NM, estimated altitude 17,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 12 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 12



Allied aircraft
Blenheim IF x 3
Buffalo I x 18


Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 1 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
Blenheim IF: 1 destroyed
Buffalo I: 4 destroyed


Aircraft Attacking:
8 x A6M2 Zero sweeping at 12000 feet

I lost 5 planes but managed to damage 4 of the Zeroes, didn't down any of them though. Hopefully at least a couple will be operational losses.



Morning Air attack on Clark Field , at 79,76

The first real test of my plan to mass fighters at high altitude and take the Zero sweeps on the chin in prolonged defensive combat. My analysis shows this should be effective against all but KB.

Weather in hex: Thunderstorms

Raid detected at 160 NM, estimated altitude 15,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 53 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 37


Allied aircraft
P-35A x 20
P-40B Warhawk x 21
P-40E Warhawk x 56


Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 3 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
P-35A: 5 destroyed
P-40B Warhawk: 1 destroyed
P-40E Warhawk: 5 destroyed

I massed 97 fighters vs the enemy's 37, got 3 confirmed kills in return for 11 Allied planes destroyed but managed to turn back the raid damaging the majority of the remaining 34 Zeroes, several of whom were seen to fall away in flames or spin out of control or have unresponsive controls following damage. Certainly the majority of these 34 will make it home but even an additional 3 or 4 going down on the long journey back to Formosa will make this a favourable exchange rate at this point in the war.

Morning Air attack on Clark Field , at 79,76

Weather in hex: Thunderstorms

Raid detected at 120 NM, estimated altitude 12,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 42 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 36
G3M2 Nell x 39
G4M1 Betty x 45



Allied aircraft
P-35A x 7
P-40B Warhawk x 8
P-40E Warhawk x 30


Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 3 destroyed
G3M2 Nell: 1 destroyed, 1 damaged
G4M1 Betty: 1 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
P-40E Warhawk: 5 destroyed

Airbase hits 8
Airbase supply hits 1
Runway hits 22

Bear in mind that this CAP over Clarke was sucked there from Manilla. I've abandoned Clarke as a base for anything other than B-17s. In this raid 4 Japanese planes were downed in return for 5 P-40s. It should be remembered though that only 3 of the Zeroes survived the combat unscathed with most of the rest turning back with either battle damage or mechanical failures.

Morning Air attack on Singapore , at 50,84

Weather in hex: Partial cloud

Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 14,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 15 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 27
D3A1 Val x 122



Allied aircraft
Buffalo I x 1


Japanese aircraft losses
D3A1 Val: 5 destroyed, 31 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
Buffalo I: 1 damaged
Buffalo I: 3 destroyed on ground
Vildebeest III: 1 destroyed on ground
Blenheim IV: 2 destroyed on ground
Swordfish I: 1 destroyed on ground
S.19 Singapore III: 1 destroyed on ground
Hudson I: 1 destroyed on ground
Blenheim IF: 1 destroyed on ground

Airbase hits 7
Airbase supply hits 6
Runway hits 63

He hit Singapore hard but OUCH that must have hurt... 5 Vals confirmed down and another 31 damaged to some extent.

I'm coming to the conclusion that I'm going to find I've downed at least as many planes through operational losses AFTER the fight as I down during the fight. This is highly realistic but still very nice to see in-game and a major change from WiTP.


Morning Air attack on TF, near Hong Kong at 77,61

Weather in hex: Clear sky

Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 9,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 12 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-48-Ib Lily x 6

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-48-Ib Lily: 2 damaged

Allied Ships
xAK Hinsang, Bomb hits 2, on fire
xAKL Soochow


Allied ground losses:
10 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 1 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

I'm trying to save 2 Bns of troops from Hong Kong which are unrestricted by loading them onto cargo ships and slipping south towards Borneo. It might work and if it does I'll put them to better use than dying statically in Hong Kong. If it doesn't.... well, they'd be dead anyway.

Aircraft Attacking:
6 x Ki-48-Ib Lily bombing from 6000 feet
Naval Attack: 4 x 100 kg SAP Bomb

Hinsang caught transferring cargo ...
Soochow caught transferring cargo ...


Morning Air attack on TF, near Singkep at 49,86

Weather in hex: Light cloud

Raid spotted at 35 NM, estimated altitude 7,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 11 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 8
B5N2 Kate x 27



Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 1 damaged

Allied Ships
CM Willem v d Zaan, Shell hits 3, Bomb hits 5, Torpedo hits 3, and is sunk

Sunk on the way back from mining Palembang. I took a chance that a single ship TF might be missed but learnt better. To be fair though large numbers of ships from Singapore have already made their escape and Force Z is lurking in Java waiting for a troop convoy to be spotted in an uncovered position. I dash in to attack and then I'll run it back to India. Even knowing I have kept it around a while will slow his operational tempo as he can never be sure I won't commit it again.... and if he were to land at Oosthaven I definitely would commit Force Z to a sacrificial surface battle.

Aircraft Attacking:
27 x B5N2 Kate launching torpedoes at 200 feet
Naval Attack: 1 x 18in Type 91 Torpedo
8 x A6M2 Zero attacking from 100 feet
Naval Attack: 2 x 60 kg GP Bomb

That's a lot of torpedoes from a limited stockpile wasted right there.



Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Manila at 79,77

Weather in hex: Overcast

Raid spotted at 28 NM, estimated altitude 12,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 9 minutes

Japanese aircraft
G4M1 Betty x 10


Allied aircraft
P-35A x 3
P-40B Warhawk x 9
P-40E Warhawk x 15

Japanese aircraft losses
G4M1 Betty: 4 destroyed

Unescorted as they were 6 of the Bettys turned back. 4 elected to die for the Emperor. My pilots fulfilled their wishes to the letter.


Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Davao at 79,91

Weather in hex: Heavy cloud

Raid spotted at 40 NM, estimated altitude 9,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 17 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A5M4 Claude x 6
B5N1 Kate x 5



Japanese aircraft losses
B5N1 Kate: 5 damaged

Allied Ships
CL Boise, Torpedo hits 1

Boise found mini-KB in the worst way possible. This damage will, I think, seal her fate and combined with the news of the forthcoming landings at Legaspi leads me to plan a little trip there to try to disrupt that.


There were a few other small fights here and there but nothing significant. Overall it is clear that Mike wants to hit and keep hitting Singapore in an attempt to capture it quickly. Nells, Bettys, Vals, Kates and KB's Zeroes are all heavily committed to this area now. It is his schwerpunkt.

My fighters can't stand up to KB's pilots but elsewhere they are doing rather well with 18 confirmed Zero kills and many more being damaged and facing long, lonely journeys home. My losses have been heavier but this level of loss for the Zeroes is unsustainable and gives me hope for the success (in terms of losses inflicted, not friendly survival ) of operation "Bleed the SOBs dry" aka the defence of Southern Sumatra.

< Message edited by Nemo121 -- 12/31/2009 1:02:41 PM >

(in reply to modrow)
Post #: 31
RE: Salutations and solicitations.... 1EyedJacks (J) vs... - 12/31/2009 1:15:04 PM   
Andy Mac

 

Posts: 15222
Joined: 5/12/2004
From: Alexandria, Scotland
Status: offline 		Battalions are not really worth saving Nemo unless you are going to use them for replacements

Also you can use the Chinese transport sqn to pull them out into China.

If I was saving any unit out of HK it would probably be the Kowloon Bde simple as its a bde.

The Canadian Bns are really only good for fulfiilling garrison duty in India to free up better units (a valuable use) but not critical.

I think the Palmebang strategy is interesting it certainly will slow him down

(in reply to Nemo121)
Post #: 32
RE: Salutations and solicitations.... 1EyedJacks (J) vs... - 12/31/2009 1:27:12 PM   
Smeulders

 

Posts: 1879
Joined: 8/9/2009
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: Andy Mac

Battalions are not really worth saving Nemo unless you are going to use them for replacements

Also you can use the Chinese transport sqn to pull them out into China.

If I was saving any unit out of HK it would probably be the Kowloon Bde simple as its a bde.

The Canadian Bns are really only good for fulfiilling garrison duty in India to free up better units (a valuable use) but not critical.

I think the Palmebang strategy is interesting it certainly will slow him down



I found you can garrison India nearly completely with small non-withdrawing units already present in Burma, though you do have to use most of the Indian BF. You'll also need one or two brigades, but those can come from the restricted Indian divisions.

As for saving battalions, I'm thinking about taking some of the Malayan battalions to let them rebuild to the division. Replacements could come from disbanding some of the restricted Indian divisions. This would effectively change in the restricted divisions for unrestricted. I wonder if this is feasible, could take a couple of months to rebuild the divisions even if there are enough replacements available.

(in reply to Andy Mac)
Post #: 33
RE: Salutations and solicitations.... 1EyedJacks (J) vs... - 12/31/2009 1:41:23 PM   
Andy Mac

 

Posts: 15222
Joined: 5/12/2004
From: Alexandria, Scotland
Status: offline 		You could do it BUT for that 3 or 4 months of rebuilding the xp of the unit will be in the toilet and it will be combat inneffecteive

(in reply to Smeulders)
Post #: 34
RE: Salutations and solicitations.... 1EyedJacks (J) vs... - 12/31/2009 1:52:33 PM   
Smeulders

 

Posts: 1879
Joined: 8/9/2009
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: Andy Mac

You could do it BUT for that 3 or 4 months of rebuilding the xp of the unit will be in the toilet and it will be combat inneffecteive


Didn't know that replacements lowered the exp of a unit, that's a minus of course.

(in reply to Andy Mac)
Post #: 35
RE: Salutations and solicitations.... 1EyedJacks (J) vs... - 12/31/2009 1:56:27 PM   
Nemo121


Posts: 5821
Joined: 2/6/2004
Status: offline 		Andy,

I can't use that Chinese unit as it is currently on its way to Sumatra to fly the Dutch into Sumatra from Java. I figure I only have the ability to commit to one significant fight in the DEI and so I'm committing what I have to Sumatra. I'll even pull the RAF and USAAF from Malaysia and the Phillipines in order to give SUmatra as good a chance as possible. I also have the possibility of picking one significant fight in the Pacific and I think I've found a nice target.


My major question re: the Pacific is just how effective CD guns are... I have a choice between a weakly defended target with weak CD defences OR a more heavily defended ( but still doable target ) which has strong CD defences ( large calibre guns ).... I do, however, have 8 BBs, 3 CVs and a large number of CAs. I would be more than happy to bring all the BBs and CAs along for shore bombardment/amphibious screening duties nd port attack the CD unit with my CV airgroups. BUT just how effective are those CD guns likely to be? Would I be looking at a trashed landing and multiple sinking BBs or am I likely to be able to suppress significant CD defences?

(in reply to Andy Mac)
Post #: 36
RE: Salutations and solicitations.... 1EyedJacks (J) vs... - 12/31/2009 2:06:01 PM   
Andy Mac

 

Posts: 15222
Joined: 5/12/2004
From: Alexandria, Scotland
Status: offline 		Depends how significant is significant 6 or 8" guns doable wouldnt risk higher without ability to take major losses

(in reply to Nemo121)
Post #: 37
RE: Salutations and solicitations.... 1EyedJacks (J) vs... - 12/31/2009 2:09:45 PM   
modrow

 

Posts: 1100
Joined: 8/27/2006
Status: offline 		Nemo,

quote:

ORIGINAL: Nemo121
Of course... And I used this to full effect in my game vs Damian when I consciously fed false info into the AAR as regards my strategic thoughts.


I remember scrolling back from time to time after reading about recent events in that AAR because something just felt... not matching.

In any case, even your false strategic info is usually based on sound strategic approaches (otherwise it would stick out) is worth reading, so feel free to provide lots of it .

Back to your game: I am not sure the results you obtained by your massive fighter vs. fighter approach are really as favourable as you think they are for three reasons:

a) I think you assign to the messages displayed during air combat more weight than they deserve. Can you provide the op loss numbers for the other side ? AFAIK, at least the tracker will give you the correct numbers (Damian should know, unless he chooses to feed you with wrong info).

My impression is that all these messages about unresponsive controls and the like are just there to entertain you and give you a nice impression of pilot's stories when returning from combat. You are probably in a much better position than I am to give a qualified statement relating to the reliability of reports obtained from people who just emerge from an exceptional situation such as a dogfight. Another nice touch for the game engine, if you ask me, I like watching it.

b) Mid-term sustainability of the approach. Maybe this is just my impression from my game, in which it took a while to get support services at a number of places back into working shape, but I ended up quickly with having large numbers of AC in damaged state or undergoing maintenance (i.e. maybe even worse than damaged). Problem with that is IMHO
i) that under such circumstances the successful intervention against bombers gets more unlikely, because you cannot get the necessary number of planes into the air to stay in game until the fight against the escorts is over and
ii) that this interferes with a quick rebasing of your squadrons. In general, this has become more difficult than in WitP, my feeling is that more often than not once you have used a squadron heavily on one day, it will take two or three days before a significant part of it can be moved to a new base. Keeping the squadrons in shape is more work and takes more time than in WitP. I think the times of quickly massing 1000 AC, striking and redispersing are gone in AE, not just due to stacking limits.

c) Long-term sustainability of the approach. Restricted fighters cannot be used elsewhere anyway, so this may be a different thing, but in general allied fighter replacement rates are really low (at least in scen. 1), in some other thread I think someone did the numbers and came up with numbers in the order of 120 per month even in early 43. I am not sure that atrition works your way right now, at least until your pilot quality has improved.

As always, just my 2cts. Glad to be taught the way how to do it right.

Hartwig

(in reply to Nemo121)
Post #: 38
RE: Salutations and solicitations.... 1EyedJacks (J) vs... - 1/1/2010 7:25:57 PM   
Nemo121


Posts: 5821
Joined: 2/6/2004
Status: offline 		Hartwig,
Yes, hopping in and out will now result in more casualties as planes are left behind. This is good though as that's more realistic.

In other news, the 3rd turn has been sent... In looking at the results from the 2nd day it appears that, in total, 23 Zeroes ( confirmed ) were shot down that day, 22 over the Phillipines and 1 over Singers. Overall some 30 Zeroes (confirmed by chatting with Mike ) have been downed with about 9 coming from KB and 21 from the 107 Zeroes which begin the game on Formosa.

I'm pretty happy with that as that's a lot of top-notch pilots dead... In other news the plan for the Pacific has been decided. Over 100 ships are on their way for PH ( the staging post ) and then they'll split to tackle their component targets.

(in reply to modrow)
Post #: 39
RE: Salutations and solicitations.... 1EyedJacks (J) vs... - 1/2/2010 2:46:11 AM   
Nemo121


Posts: 5821
Joined: 2/6/2004
Status: offline 		AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR Dec 09, 41

A bad day for Allied PTs... As Mike said, the word for the day is "Obliterated" as in " A 12cm shell from IJN DDx has obliterated PT-X"


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Night Time Surface Combat, near Laoag at 81,72, Range 10,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
CL Natori
DD Satsuki
DD Minazuki
DD Fumizuki
DD Nagatsuki
DD Harukaze
DD Hatakaze

Allied Ships
PT-31
PT-32, Shell hits 1, and is sunk
PT-33
PT-34, Shell hits 1, and is sunk
PT-35
PT-41, Shell hits 2, and is sunk
PT Q-111
PT Q-112


Maximum visibility in Partly Cloudy Conditions and 67% moonlight: 11,000 yards
Range closes to 10,000 yards...
CONTACT: Japanese lookouts spot Allied task force at 10,000 yards
Japanese open fire on surprised Allied ships at 10,000 yards
DD Hatakaze fires at PT Q-111 at 10,000 yards
PT-41 sunk by DD Hatakaze at 10,000 yards
DD Hatakaze fires at PT-35 at 10,000 yards
Range closes to 5,000 yards
DD Hatakaze engages PT-35 at 5,000 yards
DD Harukaze engages PT-32 at 5,000 yards
DD Nagatsuki engages PT Q-111 at 5,000 yards
DD Nagatsuki engages PT-33 at 5,000 yards
DD Harukaze engages PT-32 at 5,000 yards
DD Hatakaze engages PT-31 at 5,000 yards
DD Hatakaze engages PT-33 at 5,000 yards
DD Harukaze engages PT-35 at 5,000 yards
DD Nagatsuki engages PT-34 at 5,000 yards
DD Fumizuki engages PT Q-111 at 5,000 yards
DD Minazuki engages PT-32 at 5,000 yards
DD Nagatsuki engages PT-31 at 5,000 yards
Range closes to 4,000 yards
PT-34 sunk by DD Hatakaze at 4,000 yards
DD Nagatsuki engages PT-32 at 4,000 yards
Range increases to 6,000 yards
DD Hatakaze engages PT-32 at 6,000 yards
DD Harukaze engages PT-35 at 6,000 yards
DD Nagatsuki engages PT-35 at 6,000 yards
DD Minazuki engages PT-32 at 6,000 yards
DD Minazuki engages PT-31 at 6,000 yards
DD Satsuki engages PT-33 at 6,000 yards
Range increases to 9,000 yards
DD Hatakaze engages PT Q-111 at 9,000 yards
DD Satsuki engages PT-35 at 9,000 yards
DD Nagatsuki engages PT-35 at 9,000 yards
PT-32 sunk by DD Minazuki at 9,000 yards
DD Nagatsuki engages PT-31 at 9,000 yards
Range increases to 10,000 yards
DD Hatakaze engages PT Q-111 at 10,000 yards
DD Harukaze engages PT-33 at 10,000 yards
DD Nagatsuki engages PT-33 at 10,000 yards
DD Hatakaze engages PT-31 at 10,000 yards
DD Minazuki engages PT-35 at 10,000 yards
DD Satsuki engages PT Q-111 at 10,000 yards
Task forces break off...

The PTs attacked at night, in coastal waters and closed the distance to torpedo range. Unfortunately sometimes things go against you even in the best of circumstances.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ASW attack near Laoag at 81,71

Japanese Ships
DD Inazuma

Allied Ships
SS Swordfish


SS Swordfish launches 4 torpedoes at DD Inazuma
DD Inazuma fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Inazuma fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Inazuma fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Inazuma fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Inazuma fails to find sub, continues to search...
Escort abandons search for sub

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Night Time Surface Combat, near Laoag at 80,71, Range 8,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
DD Sazanami
DD Ushio

Allied Ships
PT-31, Shell hits 1, and is sunk
PT-33, Shell hits 1, and is sunk
PT-35, Shell hits 1, and is sunk
PT Q-111, Shell hits 2, and is sunk
PT Q-112, Shell hits 1, and is sunk

*chuckle* Well, looks like a washout.



Maximum visibility in Partly Cloudy Conditions and 67% moonlight: 11,000 yards
Range closes to 8,000 yards...
CONTACT: Japanese lookouts spot Allied task force at 8,000 yards
CONTACT: Allied lookouts spot Japanese task force at 8,000 yards
DD Sazanami engages PT Q-112 at 8,000 yards
DD Sazanami engages PT-33 at 8,000 yards
DD Ushio engages PT-31 at 8,000 yards
Range increases to 9,000 yards
DD Ushio engages PT Q-112 at 9,000 yards
PT-33 sunk by DD Sazanami at 9,000 yards
Range closes to 7,000 yards
DD Sazanami engages PT Q-112 at 7,000 yards
PT-31 sunk by DD Sazanami at 7,000 yards
Range closes to 3,000 yards
PT Q-112 sunk by DD Ushio at 3,000 yards
PT-35 sunk by DD Ushio at 3,000 yards
Range increases to 4,000 yards
DD Sazanami engages PT Q-111 at 4,000 yards
Range increases to 5,000 yards
DD Ushio engages PT Q-111 at 5,000 yards
Range increases to 6,000 yards
Range closes to 5,000 yards
Range increases to 6,000 yards
PT Q-111 sunk by DD Ushio at 6,000 yards
Combat ends with last Allied ship sunk...

Again they closed in to launch torpedoes but against DDs they were very unlikely to hit anything.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ASW attack near Laoag at 81,71

Japanese Ships
DD Inazuma

Allied Ships
SS Snapper

I decided to deploy my non-S boats in wolfpacks. Today the 2 subs in the wolfpack in 81,71 both made contact with DD Inazuma. That's a nice game dynamic right there.

SS Snapper is sighted by escort
Snapper diving deep ....
DD Inazuma fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Inazuma attacking submerged sub ....
DD Inazuma fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Inazuma fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Inazuma fails to find sub, continues to search...
Escort abandons search for sub


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Night Air attack on Singapore , at 50,84

Weather in hex: Partial cloud

Japanese aircraft
G3M2 Nell x 30


Japanese aircraft losses
G3M2 Nell: 8 damaged

Allied Ships
DD Encounter, Bomb hits 1, and is sunk
DD Jupiter, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires, heavy damage
xAK Wulin, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires, heavy damage
xAKL Marudu, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires

Right now these attacks on Singapore are of the "making rubble bounce" type. That's fine by me.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Amphibious Assault at Aparri

TF 87 troops unloading over beach at Aparri, 82,73

Japanese ground losses:
45 casualties reported
Squads: 2 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 2 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled


19 troops of a IJA Infantry Squad lost overboard during unload of Tanaka Det
8 Engineers accidentally lost during unload of 40th JAAF AF Bn /3
19 troops of a IJA Infantry Squad lost from landing craft during unload of Tanaka Det /2
8 Aviation Support troops lost from landing craft during unload of 28th JAAF AF Bn /3

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Time Surface Combat, near Aparri at 82,73, Range 16,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
CA Maya
CA Ashigara
CL Kuma
DD Asakaze
DD Matsukaze

Allied Ships
MTB 7, Shell hits 1, and is sunk
MTB 8, Shell hits 3, and is sunk
MTB 9, Shell hits 2, and is sunk
MTB 10, Shell hits 1, and is sunk
MTB 11, Shell hits 1, and is sunk
MTB 12, Shell hits 1, and is sunk
MTB 26, Shell hits 1, and is sunk
MTB 27, Shell hits 1, and is sunk



Maximum visibility in Partly Cloudy Conditions: 28,000 yards
Range closes to 16,000 yards...
CONTACT: Japanese lookouts spot Allied task force at 16,000 yards
CONTACT: Allied lookouts spot Japanese task force at 16,000 yards
Fitzgibbon D. gains tactical advantage
MTB 27 sunk by CA Maya at 16,000 yards
CL Kuma engages MTB 12 at 16,000 yards
DD Matsukaze engages MTB 11 at 16,000 yards
CA Maya engages MTB 8 at 16,000 yards
orders Allied TF to disengage
Range closes to 11,000 yards
CA Ashigara engages MTB 12 at 11,000 yards
CL Kuma engages MTB 11 at 11,000 yards
DD Asakaze engages MTB 7 at 11,000 yards
CA Maya engages MTB 8 at 11,000 yards
Range closes to 10,000 yards
CA Maya engages MTB 10 at 10,000 yards
CL Kuma engages MTB 10 at 10,000 yards
DD Matsukaze engages MTB 10 at 10,000 yards
DD Asakaze engages MTB 7 at 10,000 yards
CA Maya engages MTB 8 at 10,000 yards
Range closes to 8,000 yards
DD Matsukaze engages MTB 7 at 8,000 yards
CA Ashigara engages MTB 9 at 8,000 yards
Range increases to 11,000 yards
MTB 7 sunk by DD Matsukaze at 11,000 yards
Range increases to 14,000 yards
CA Ashigara engages MTB 12 at 14,000 yards
CA Maya engages MTB 12 at 14,000 yards
MTB 11 sunk by CA Ashigara at 14,000 yards
MTB 10 sunk by CA Ashigara at 14,000 yards
CA Maya engages MTB 8 at 14,000 yards
orders Allied TF to disengage
Range increases to 16,000 yards
CA Maya engages MTB 12 at 16,000 yards
CA Ashigara engages MTB 8 at 16,000 yards
DD Asakaze engages MTB 12 at 16,000 yards
Range closes to 15,000 yards
DD Matsukaze engages MTB 12 at 15,000 yards
CA Ashigara engages MTB 9 at 15,000 yards
MTB 8 sunk by CA Ashigara at 15,000 yards
Range increases to 16,000 yards
CA Maya engages MTB 26 at 16,000 yards
CA Ashigara engages MTB 9 at 16,000 yards
DD Matsukaze engages MTB 9 at 16,000 yards
DD Asakaze engages MTB 9 at 16,000 yards
orders Allied TF to disengage
Range increases to 18,000 yards
Range increases to 19,000 yards
MTB 26 sunk by CA Ashigara at 19,000 yards
CA Ashigara engages MTB 12 at 19,000 yards
CA Maya engages MTB 12 at 19,000 yards
Range increases to 20,000 yards
CA Ashigara engages MTB 12 at 20,000 yards
CA Ashigara engages MTB 9 at 20,000 yards
Range closes to 19,000 yards
CA Maya engages MTB 12 at 19,000 yards
Range closes to 18,000 yards
Range closes to 17,000 yards
DD Matsukaze engages MTB 9 at 17,000 yards
DD Asakaze engages MTB 12 at 17,000 yards
Range closes to 16,000 yards
MTB 9 sunk by DD Asakaze at 16,000 yards
Range closes to 15,000 yards
MTB 12 sunk by CA Maya at 15,000 yards
Combat ends with last Allied ship sunk...

LOL! An enemy CA fires on my PTs at a range of 20,000 yards. Overkill alert !!!

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ASW attack near Batan Island at 85,70

Japanese Ships
DMS W-14
TB Chidori
xAK Sydney Maru #2
DD Tachikaze
DD Yamagumo
PB Nanpo Maru
PB Kiso Maru

Allied Ships
SS S-36, hits 9

Several of these were pretty much direct hits. That's a second Allied sub out of action. IJN ASW efforts have been damned successful so far in this war.

SS S-36 launches 4 torpedoes at DMS W-14
S-36 bottoming out ....
DD Tachikaze attacking submerged sub ....
DD Yamagumo attacking submerged sub ....
PB Nanpo Maru fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Kiso Maru fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Tachikaze fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Yamagumo attacking submerged sub ....
DD Yamagumo cannot establish contact with SS S-36
SS S-36 eludes ASW attack from DD Yamagumo
PB Nanpo Maru fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Kiso Maru fails to find sub and abandons search
DD Tachikaze fails to find sub and abandons search
DD Yamagumo fails to find sub and abandons search
PB Nanpo Maru fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Nanpo Maru fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Nanpo Maru fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Nanpo Maru fails to find sub, continues to search...
Escort abandons search for sub


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Clark Field , at 79,76

Weather in hex: Overcast

Raid spotted at 12 NM, estimated altitude 16,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 3 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 29

No Japanese losses

LOTS of Zero sweeps over Clark... I had, meanwhile, pulled back into Manilla and managed to dodge most of these sweeps. Hopefully tomorrow, once I've repaired some of my fighters, we can meet A2A again.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Singapore , at 50,84

Weather in hex: Overcast

Raid detected at 18 NM, estimated altitude 17,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 5 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 14

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Singapore , at 50,84

Weather in hex: Overcast

Raid detected at 35 NM, estimated altitude 17,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 11 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 9

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on 8th Indian Brigade, at 51,75 (Kota Bharu)

Weather in hex: Moderate rain

Raid spotted at 29 NM, estimated altitude 15,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 9 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 13

Allied aircraft
Buffalo I x 2


No Japanese losses

Allied aircraft losses
Buffalo I: 1 destroyed

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Clark Field , at 79,76

Weather in hex: Overcast

Raid spotted at 49 NM, estimated altitude 18,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 16 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 9

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on TF, near Sabang at 44,71

Weather in hex: Overcast

Raid spotted at 12 NM, estimated altitude 9,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 3 minutes

Japanese aircraft
G4M1 Betty x 4

Japanese aircraft losses
G4M1 Betty: 1 damaged

Allied Ships
TK Pleiodon, Bomb hits 2, on fire

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Clark Field , at 79,76

Weather in hex: Overcast

Raid spotted at 40 NM, estimated altitude 16,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 13 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 7

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on TF, near Hong Kong at 77,61

Weather in hex: Light rain

Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 9,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 14 minutes

Japanese aircraft
G4M1 Betty x 12


No Japanese losses

Allied Ships
xAK Hinsang, Torpedo hits 2, and is sunk
xAK Hai Lee

Well, my attempt to load a couple of inf Bns from HK and escape is pretty much a bust. I hadn't realised that they would take several days to pack before even beginning loading. Lesson learnt.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Singapore , at 50,84

Weather in hex: Overcast

Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 13,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 15 minutes

Japanese aircraft
G3M2 Nell x 14
G4M1 Betty x 12


Japanese aircraft losses
G3M2 Nell: 4 damaged
G4M1 Betty: 2 damaged

Allied Ships
DD Isis, Bomb hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
DD Jupiter, Bomb hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
TK Pinna, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires, heavy damage
DD Vendetta, Bomb hits 2, and is sunk
xAKL Lyemun, Bomb hits 1, and is sunk
xAKL Ipoh, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires
xAKL Bust, Bomb hits 1, and is sunk
xAKL Tatung, Bomb hits 1, and is sunk
AMC Manoora, Bomb hits 1, and is sunk
xAK Tai Sang, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires, heavy damage

More rubble a'bouncin'

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Singapore , at 50,84

Weather in hex: Overcast

Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 15,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 13 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 26

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on 8th Indian Brigade, at 51,75 (Kota Bharu)

Weather in hex: Moderate rain

Raid spotted at 32 NM, estimated altitude 10,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 9 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-21-IIa Sally x 24
Ki-43-Ib Oscar x 6
Ki-48-Ib Lily x 23

No Japanese losses

Allied ground losses:
18 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on 3rd War Area , at 87,56

Weather in hex: Clear sky

Raid spotted at 21 NM, estimated altitude 17,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 6 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-30 Ann x 9

Allied ground losses:
6 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on FMSV Brigade, at 51,75 (Kota Bharu)

Weather in hex: Moderate rain

Raid spotted at 38 NM, estimated altitude 11,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 10 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-21-IIa Sally x 19
Ki-48-Ib Lily x 28



Allied aircraft
Buffalo I x 3


Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-21-IIa Sally: 1 destroyed
Ki-48-Ib Lily: 1 damaged



Allied ground losses:
16 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 3 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Alor Star , at 49,73

Weather in hex: Light rain

Raid spotted at 41 NM, estimated altitude 14,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 11 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-21-IIa Sally x 21
Ki-43-Ia Oscar x 16



Allied aircraft
Buffalo I x 3


No Japanese losses

Allied aircraft losses
H81-A3: 1 destroyed on ground

This is the AVG moving down towards Sumatra. I ordered them to sweep Khota Bahru but for some reason they just sat on the ground taking losses instead of sweeping a few Oscars and getting some easy kills.


Allied ground losses:
5 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled


Airbase hits 1
Airbase supply hits 2
Runway hits 13

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Kota Bharu , at 51,75

Weather in hex: Moderate rain

Raid spotted at 37 NM, estimated altitude 11,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 10 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-21-IIa Sally x 24

Allied aircraft
Buffalo I x 1


No Japanese losses

No Allied losses

Airbase hits 4
Airbase supply hits 2
Runway hits 15

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on 89th Chinese Corps, at 90,49

Weather in hex: Clear sky

Raid spotted at 31 NM, estimated altitude 14,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 8 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-30 Ann x 17



No Japanese losses


Allied ground losses:
28 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled


Aircraft Attacking:
17 x Ki-30 Ann bombing from 10000 feet
Ground Attack: 1 x 250 kg GP Bomb



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on TF, near Kota Bharu at 51,75

Weather in hex: Moderate rain

Raid spotted at 14 NM, estimated altitude 8,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 4 minutes


Allied aircraft
DB-3M x 5
Buffalo I x 7


Allied aircraft losses
DB-3M: 5 damaged

Japanese Ships
BB Kongo

LOL! The Chinese air force makes its first foray against the IJN. Bet that has Mike very worried... maybe not.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on TF, near Kota Bharu at 51,75

Weather in hex: Moderate rain

Raid spotted at 37 NM, estimated altitude 8,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 24 minutes

Allied aircraft
Vildebeest III x 4


Allied aircraft losses
Vildebeest III: 2 damaged

Japanese Ships
xAK Ayatosan Maru, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires

Heavy smoke from fires obscuring xAK Ayatosan Maru

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on TF, near Aparri at 82,73

Weather in hex: Overcast

Raid spotted at 42 NM, estimated altitude 5,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 11 minutes

Allied aircraft
B-17D Fortress x 8

Allied aircraft losses
B-17D Fortress: 1 damaged

Japanese Ships
xAK Anzan Maru #2
xAK Ohio Maru

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on TF, near Aparri at 82,73

Weather in hex: Overcast

Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 7,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 11 minutes

Allied aircraft
B-17D Fortress x 8

Allied aircraft losses
B-17D Fortress: 3 damaged

Japanese Ships
CA Ashigara
CL Kuma

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Clark Field , at 79,76

Weather in hex: Overcast

Raid spotted at 29 NM, estimated altitude 17,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 9 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 31

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Singapore , at 50,84

Weather in hex: Overcast

Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 15,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 14 minutes

Japanese aircraft
G4M1 Betty x 8



Japanese aircraft losses
G4M1 Betty: 1 destroyed, 6 damaged

Allied Ships
DD Jupiter, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires, heavy damage
TK Pinna, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires, heavy damage
xAK Zannis Cambanis, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires, heavy damage
xAK Tai Sang, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires, heavy damage

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on TF, near Iba at 77,70

Weather in hex: Overcast

Raid spotted at 30 NM, estimated altitude 7,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 10 minutes

Japanese aircraft
G4M1 Betty x 6

No Japanese losses

Allied Ships
xAK Bennevis, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
xAK Fatshan, Torpedo hits 4, and is sunk

A few of the last escapees from Singers don't quite make it.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Clark Field , at 79,76

Weather in hex: Overcast

Raid detected at 15 NM, estimated altitude 16,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 4 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 23


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Sabang at 44,71

Weather in hex: Light cloud

Raid spotted at 24 NM, estimated altitude 8,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 8 minutes

Japanese aircraft
G4M1 Betty x 4

Japanese aircraft losses
G4M1 Betty: 1 damaged

Allied Ships
TK Pleiodon, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Manila at 79,77

Weather in hex: Thunderstorms

Raid detected at 80 NM, estimated altitude 9,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 23 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-21-IIa Sally x 8

Allied aircraft
P-26A x 10
P-35A x 8
P-40B Warhawk x 13
P-40E Warhawk x 22


Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-21-IIa Sally: 5 destroyed

Nice, an unescorted raid.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Hong Kong at 77,61

Weather in hex: Moderate rain

Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 7,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 13 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-27b Nate x 7
Ki-51 Sonia x 9



No Japanese losses

Allied Ships
xAK Hai Lee, Bomb hits 4, heavy fires


Allied ground losses:
79 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 8 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 5 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Vehicles lost 2 (0 destroyed, 2 disabled)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Aparri at 82,73

Weather in hex: Overcast

Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 5,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 29 minutes


Allied aircraft
Walrus II x 5
Vildebeest III x 2


Allied aircraft losses
Walrus II: 1 damaged
Vildebeest III: 1 destroyed

Japanese Ships
xAK Maya Maru
CA Maya
xAK Keisho Maru

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Aparri at 82,73

Weather in hex: Overcast

Raid spotted at 30 NM, estimated altitude 8,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 8 minutes


Allied aircraft
B-17D Fortress x 3


No Allied losses

Japanese Ships
xAK Tatukami Maru

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Kota Bharu at 51,75

Weather in hex: Partial cloud

Raid spotted at 44 NM, estimated altitude 3,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 15 minutes


Allied aircraft
DB-3M x 4
Buffalo I x 4


Allied aircraft losses
DB-3M: 4 damaged

Japanese Ships
BB Haruna

The CHinese decide to pit 100Kg bombs against battleship armour again. Brave but not smart.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Aparri at 82,73

Weather in hex: Overcast

Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 4,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 20 minutes


Allied aircraft
SOC-1 Seagull x 7

No Allied losses

Japanese Ships
xAK Akiura Maru, Bomb hits 2, on fire
xAK Kosei Maru

They're only dinky little 100lb bombs but I'll take whatever I can get these days.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Kota Bharu at 51,75

Weather in hex: Partial cloud

Raid spotted at 26 NM, estimated altitude 10,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 16 minutes


Allied aircraft
Vildebeest III x 3


No Allied losses

Japanese Ships
AK Sasako Maru

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Laoag at 81,72

Weather in hex: Light rain

Raid spotted at 32 NM, estimated altitude 8,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 8 minutes

Allied aircraft
B-17D Fortress x 3

Allied aircraft losses
B-17D Fortress: 1 damaged

Japanese Ships
CL Natori

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Dadjangas at 77,94

Weather in hex: Moderate rain

Raid spotted at 45 NM, estimated altitude 5,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 12 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A5M4 Claude x 7
A6M2 Zero x 2

Allied aircraft
B-17D Fortress x 1


No Japanese losses

Allied aircraft losses
B-17D Fortress: 1 destroyed

Japanese Ships
CVL Ryujo



Aircraft Attacking:
1 x B-17D Fortress bombing from 3000 feet *
Naval Attack: 4 x 500 lb SAP Bomb

Now THAT was interesting. A VERY weak CAP for mini-KB. I could actually blow through that CAP if the escorting bombers would hit something.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Manila at 79,77

Weather in hex: Thunderstorms

Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 11,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 15 minutes

Japanese aircraft
G3M2 Nell x 18

Allied aircraft
P-26A x 8
P-35A x 6
P-40B Warhawk x 12
P-40E Warhawk x 21

Japanese aircraft losses
G3M2 Nell: 8 destroyed

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Afternoon Air attack on Singapore , at 50,84

Weather in hex: Clear sky

Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 14,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 15 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 13
B5N2 Kate x 135
D3A1 Val x 106

KB again. So far it looks like KB has lost 10 Zeroes and 28 strike planes. That's easily enough replaced at this stage but every bit helps.


Japanese aircraft losses
B5N2 Kate: 7 damaged
D3A1 Val: 1 destroyed, 14 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
Hudson I: 2 destroyed on ground
Buffalo I: 2 destroyed on ground
Blenheim IF: 1 destroyed on ground


Allied ground losses:
6 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 1 (0 destroyed, 1 disabled)


Airbase hits 24
Airbase supply hits 6
Runway hits 254

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Zamboanga at 75,88

Weather in hex: Clear sky

Raid spotted at 34 NM, estimated altitude 11,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 14 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 5
B5N1 Kate x 9



No Japanese losses

Allied Ships
xAKL Sarangami, Torpedo hits 3, and is sunk
xAKL Dos Hermanos, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk
xAKL Elcano, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk

5 torpedo hits from 9 Kates. OUCH! On the other hand, that's fewer torpedoes left and right now I just want mini-KB to run out of torpedoes before I start sending the Dutch CLs +/- Force Z into action in southern Borneo/Phillipines.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Afternoon Air attack on TF, near San Fernando at 79,73

Weather in hex: Heavy cloud

Raid spotted at 33 NM, estimated altitude 4,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 23 minutes


Allied aircraft
Walrus II x 2


Allied aircraft losses
Walrus II: 1 damaged

Japanese Ships
DD Sazanami

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Afternoon Air attack on Guam , at 106,95

Weather in hex: Light rain

Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 19,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 14 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 8
G4M1 Betty x 9

No Japanese losses

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Hong Kong at 76,66

Weather in hex: Partial cloud

Raid spotted at 15 NM, estimated altitude 11,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 5 minutes

Japanese aircraft
G3M2 Nell x 9

No Japanese losses

Allied Ships
xAKL Soochow, Torpedo hits 3, and is sunk
xAKL Chengtu, Torpedo hits 5, and is sunk


Allied ground losses:
132 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 13 disabled
Non Combat: 2 destroyed, 5 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Vehicles lost 4 (2 destroyed, 2 disabled)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ASW attack near Kota Bharu at 51,75

Japanese Ships
DD Asashio
BB Kongo
DD Hibiki
DD Akatsuki
DD Arashio

Allied Ships
SS O20, hits 3



SS O20 launches 2 torpedoes at DD Asashio
DD Hibiki fails to find sub and abandons search
DD Akatsuki attacking submerged sub ....
DD Arashio fails to find sub and abandons search
Escort abandons search for sub


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Pre-Invasion action off Ocean Island

Japanese Ships
CL Yubari
CL Tatsuta
CL Tenryu
DD Mochizuki
DD Mutsuki
PB Kaiun Maru
PB Kaikei Maru
PB Ikunta Maru
PB Hakkaisan Maru
PB Fukui Maru


Allied ground losses:
22 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 4 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Guns lost 2 (0 destroyed, 2 disabled)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Amphibious Assault at Ocean Island

TF 16 troops unloading over beach at Ocean Island, 130,130

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Amphibious Assault at Nauru Island

TF 116 troops unloading over beach at Nauru Island, 127,128

Japanese ground losses:
20 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled


17 troops of a SNLF Squad lost overboard during unload of 53rd Nav Gd

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Amphibious Assault at Aparri

TF 118 troops unloading over beach at Aparri, 82,73

Japanese ground losses:
Vehicles lost 6 (6 destroyed, 0 disabled)

8 Engineers lost in surf during unload of 21st Ind. Engr Rgt
8 Engineers accidentally lost during unload of 3rd Ind. Engr Rgt
8 Engineers lost in surf during unload of 3rd Ind. Engr Rgt
8 Engineers accidentally lost during unload of 3rd Engineer Const Bn
8 Engineers lost from landing craft during unload of 3rd Ind. Engr Rgt /2
10 Support troops lost overboard during unload of 21st Ind. Engr Rgt /2
10 Support troops lost from landing craft during unload of 14th Army
Motorized Support accidentally lost during unload of 14th Army
Motorized Support lost from landing craft during unload of 14th Army
Motorized Support lost from landing craft during unload of 14th Army /2
Motorized Support lost from landing craft during unload of 14th Army /2
Motorized Support lost from landing craft during unload of 14th Army /3
8 Engineers accidentally lost during unload of 3rd Engineer Const Bn /2

LOTS of engineers. Looks like he wants to build up Aparri to support his invasion.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ground combat at Kota Bharu (51,75)

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 5038 troops, 41 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 174

Defending force 3767 troops, 40 guns, 3 vehicles, Assault Value = 134

Japanese engineers reduce fortifications to 1

Japanese adjusted assault: 154

Allied adjusted defense: 14

Japanese assault odds: 11 to 1 (fort level 1)

Japanese forces CAPTURE Kota Bharu !!!

Combat modifiers
Defender: leaders(-), disruption(-), preparation(-), fatigue(-)
morale(-), experience(-)
Attacker:

Japanese ground losses:
32 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled


Allied ground losses:
1823 casualties reported
Squads: 83 destroyed, 3 disabled
Non Combat: 110 destroyed, 2 disabled
Engineers: 31 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 26 (26 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Vehicles lost 4 (4 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Units retreated 3


Defeated Allied Units Retreating!

Assaulting units:
56th Infantry Regiment
12th Engineer Regiment
5th JAAF AF Coy

Defending units:
FMSV Brigade
8th Indian Brigade
3rd ISF Base Force


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ground combat at Nauru Island (127,128)

Japanese Shock attack

Attacking force 1423 troops, 12 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 58

Defending force 82 troops, 2 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 1

Japanese adjusted assault: 26

Allied adjusted defense: 1

Japanese assault odds: 26 to 1 (fort level 0)

Japanese forces CAPTURE Nauru Island !!!

Interesting... I think these forces are going to be met by some SC TFs and possibly even some airpower.... He's advancing deep without any real cover. Strange since he is covering his invasions in the DEI and Phillipines so well.

Combat modifiers
Defender: experience(-)
Attacker: shock(+), leaders(-)

Japanese ground losses:
6 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 1 (0 destroyed, 1 disabled)


Allied ground losses:
109 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 8 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 2 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 2 (2 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Units destroyed 1


Assaulting units:
53rd Nav Gd /4

Defending units:
Wren Det.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ground combat at Ocean Island (130,130)

Japanese Shock attack

Attacking force 1538 troops, 19 guns, 2 vehicles, Assault Value = 63

Defending force 63 troops, 2 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 1

Japanese adjusted assault: 26

Allied adjusted defense: 1

Japanese assault odds: 26 to 1 (fort level 0)

Japanese forces CAPTURE Ocean Island !!!

Combat modifiers
Defender: disruption(-), preparation(-), experience(-)
Attacker: shock(+), leaders(-)


Allied ground losses:
93 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 6 destroyed, 1 disabled
Engineers: 2 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 2 (2 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Units destroyed 1


Assaulting units:
Maizuru 2nd SNLF /1

Defending units:
Heron Det.


All in all a good day. It looks like I destroyed more Japanese planes than I lost and managed to get a few licks in. In addition he has uncovered some forces in the Pacific which I should be able to interdict.

KB's still a problem though as it just so overmatches the British aerial forces in Malaysia as to render any resistance relatively pointless.

(in reply to Nemo121)
Post #: 40
RE: Salutations and solicitations.... 1EyedJacks (J) vs... - 1/2/2010 3:22:25 AM   
ny59giants


Posts: 9869
Joined: 1/10/2005
Status: offline 		Subs - have a good chance to survive in deep ocean hexes, not so good in shallow ocean and/or base hexes. I think they made some minor adjustments with sub/ASW last patch. I try to set them to have a reaction range of only one or two hexes. If set too high, they may react into a base that has mines in it. 

PT Boats - they have changed it so they will attack almost exclusively at night, which is what it should be.

CAP - some are now trying to set it from 40 to 60% with another 20 to 40% on rest.

Dutch O19 & O20 - What are you mining with these two subs??

Port size is now of extreme importance. Some of those nice big, fat Allied xAPs and APs sure can hold some troops and cargo. However, it is a b!tch to unload them at a port in which they cannot dock at since they are too big. In WITP, you looked at AF potential first, in AE you look at Port potential first. Another adjustment.

(in reply to Nemo121)
Post #: 41
RE: Salutations and solicitations.... 1EyedJacks (J) vs... - 1/2/2010 9:50:30 AM   
Smeulders

 

Posts: 1879
Joined: 8/9/2009
Status: offline 		A bit late for the HK escape, but you could have loaded them in amphibious mode, less efficient use of space, but at least you don't have to wait a couple of days for them to pack up.

(in reply to ny59giants)
Post #: 42
RE: Salutations and solicitations.... 1EyedJacks (J) vs... - 1/6/2010 1:37:18 AM   
Nemo121


Posts: 5821
Joined: 2/6/2004
Status: offline 		Smeulders,
Good tip. I'm going to use that a lot from now on when I'm transporting ships from CONUSA - excess capacity and they don't have to move when they reach an atoll.


I'll update the next turn tomorrow but while I'm waiting on the orders file from Mike I have a bit of a problem... I want to fly a couple of fighter squadrons out of the Phillipines but for some reason while the PBY squadrons and the float plane squadrons can be flown out the HQ allocation of the fighter groups is greyed out... I have 69 PPs so it may be that I'm still short of PPs for these fighter squadrons --- which is the only thing I can think of being the reason. I thought I'd ask here though as if I'm wrong then I'll need to change my allocation of fighter squadrons from the West Coast as I may never get enough PP to save these squadrons...


Mostly though the next update will show a daytime naval combat between a couple of DDs and a USN CA-led TF at the Phillipines in which I sink one of his DDs and then a second combat in which two IJN CAs clobber my CA and sink it. I managed to interrupt the landings in the northern Phillipines with my naval forays but IJA forces are now landing in Naga in the south of Luzon. FOrtunately for me I anticipated this and have some 500+ AV on the way down there to see if I can surprise the IJA landings and rock them back on their heels a bit.

In the Pacific the IJN continues to evade my surface action groups while my CVs spot enemy TFs within 180 miles and don't launch strikes---- for two days solid now... I am hoping it is just a run of bad luck but we'll have to see. Elsewhere the forces in Sumatra are increasing nicely with about 800 or so troops being flown into Sumatra from Java daily now and the first of the British and Indian forces due to begin unloading at Oosthaven in 4 days. Currently I have allocated 2 Indian Bdes and the 18th UK Division to Sumatra. I have just freed 254th Armoured Brigade and will be loading that for Sumatra also. Between that and one of the Dutch armoured units I am hoping to have quite a nice 200 AV or so armoured punch ready to counter-attack either landing site. I am trusting that that will come as quite a shock to Mike when he invades.

In other news apart from infantry I am mostly concentrating on flying in the troops of my far-flung base forces and slowly but surely am building up a decent level of aviation support. I'm even flying in the Dutch Air HQ in order to make sure the forces in Sumatra will have as many torpedoes as they can use ( important as I've been reading of the long-range torpedo success of PBYs and Do-24s and having 60 or so of them in Sumatra ought to provide me with quite a punch if Mike makes an ill-advised push into Sumatra without cover from KB.


The more I look at the situation the more I see the possibility of tieing KB down in this area into January 1942, giving my forces in the Pacific a greater freedom of action. Mini-KB just won't be enough and his land-based Zero units have taken serious losses ( about 40 to 50 of the initial 107 land-based Zeroes have been destroyed already and it is only 11th December).


The last thing I am toying with is trying to disband all those P38 squadrons so I can withdraw a USAAF squadron from the Phillipines and rebuild it with P-38s. I amn't certain of how to do that without disbanding those squadrons though and I'm trying to avoid that as I don't want to hit the training system that hard. Is there any other way around it without upgrading each P38 squadron with dozens of P40s etc I just don't have?


O19 and O20 are mining Palembang. Basically I'm throwing everything in there to see if I can't make it a bit of a bastion which buys time for Burma.... which buys time for India and so on and so forth while the USN takes advantage to pinprick the enemy to death in the Pacific.

< Message edited by Nemo121 -- 1/6/2010 1:42:08 AM >

(in reply to Smeulders)
Post #: 43
RE: Salutations and solicitations.... 1EyedJacks (J) vs... - 1/6/2010 9:31:35 AM   
modrow

 

Posts: 1100
Joined: 8/27/2006
Status: offline 		Nemo,

a few more comments from an adequate and timid commander... (that's what you get when shopping for the wisdom of crowds )

quote:

ORIGINAL: Nemo121
I'll update the next turn tomorrow but while I'm waiting on the orders file from Mike I have a bit of a problem... I want to fly a couple of fighter squadrons out of the Phillipines but for some reason while the PBY squadrons and the float plane squadrons can be flown out the HQ allocation of the fighter groups is greyed out... I have 69 PPs so it may be that I'm still short of PPs for these fighter squadrons --- which is the only thing I can think of being the reason. I thought I'd ask here though as if I'm wrong then I'll need to change my allocation of fighter squadrons from the West Coast as I may never get enough PP to save these squadrons...


AFAIK, those fighters are in the PI to die. They cannot be moved, and you can just choose how they die. That's what I was trying to allude to in my post #38 when talking about a different situation for restricted squadrons under c) - admittedly I should have used the term "permanently restricted squadrons". If the "attached to" field is not yellow, you won't be able to reassign the unit and move it. A number of units in the US are also permanently restricted...

quote:


managed to interrupt the landings in the northern Phillipines with my naval forays but IJA forces are now landing in Naga in the south of Luzon. FOrtunately for me I anticipated this and have some 500+ AV on the way down there to see if I can surprise the IJA landings and rock them back on their heels a bit.


In that case, watch for a landing in Atimonan, which could split your forces. It takes a while to get back from Naga, specifically in case you need to march in combat mode.

quote:


Bdes and the 18th UK Division to Sumatra. I have just freed 254th Armoured Brigade and will be loading that for Sumatra also. Between that and one of the Dutch armoured units I am hoping to have quite a nice 200 AV or so armoured punch ready to counter-attack either landing site. I am trusting that that will come as quite a shock to Mike when he invades.


Re. "punch": Watch for the AV adjustments that may hit you... Allied AV at the beginning of the game is an entity to be looked at in a different way than WitP. The lousy exp values and the not-so-good stats of the devices/squads do seem to have an effect (not sure how they are factored in exactly). E.g., 254th armored is a exp25 unit If the Indian brigades you talk about are from the 44th-46th batch, they are exp 20.

I assume you disbanded (or will disband) one or more of the other tank units in India at Delhi in order to get the TOC of 254th armored filled, if you chose to operate that way. If not, you may consider it.

Also, don't be disappointed by what those "tanks" will achieve. You will have more experience than me regarding the relevance of vehicle stats, but those improvised AFVs really don't have impressive stats.

quote:

The last thing I am toying with is trying to disband all those P38 squadrons so I can withdraw a USAAF squadron from the Phillipines and rebuild it with P-38s. I amn't certain of how to do that without disbanding those squadrons though and I'm trying to avoid that as I don't want to hit the training system that hard. Is there any other way around it without upgrading each P38 squadron with dozens of P40s etc I just don't have?


Well, the bad new is that I think it is not going to happen with a squadron from the Phillipines without disbanding/withdrawing.

The good news is that I think there is a way... I *think* it is mentioned in Andy Mac's AAR vs PzB .

Hartwig

(in reply to Nemo121)
Post #: 44
RE: Salutations and solicitations.... 1EyedJacks (J) vs... - 1/9/2010 1:23:03 AM   
Nemo121


Posts: 5821
Joined: 2/6/2004
Status: offline 		Hartwig,

Interesting indeed. It looks like i might be having to send a couple of USAAF squadrons from CONUSA to India/DEI. Thanks for the input.

As far as the Indian Bdes and 254th go. Well I am banking on preparation points combined with terrain and the combat which always occurs while unloading to see them through the first assault. Once the survive the first assault then bombardment and survival should see them rapidly gain experience and improve. My hope is that preparation points combined with a few rounds of easy bombardment etc while the enemy unloads should see their Experience boosted into the 50s. Don't forget also that Palembang is a swamp, and is already well on its way to Level 2 fortifications. I expect significant defensive bonuses to help my troops there. It certainly won't hold the Japanese but in the final calculation the goal of this committment is not to survive and hold southern Sumatra, although that would be a bonus, the goal of this committment is to put enough troops and engineers into Palembang that ground combat will utterly destroy the Oilfields before the Japanese take them. Palembang is not being defended because of purely military considerations, it is being defended and defended in this way because that's the best way I have to destroy its economic strength. Logistics, logistics, logistics.... one other reason for defending it is that it, Oosterhaven and Benkoenen have a huge surplus of supplies ( Palembang produces about 1,000 tons of supply per day ) and that means my force in Southern Sumatra will be self-supporting in terms of supplies, an important consideration in terms of maximising the effectiveness of my sealift capabilities - already I am running AKLs into Rangoon with a view to building up the supplies in Burma and amd prepping my defensive line in-country. With a little luck I might be able to hold the Burma Road open, that's the goal in any case.

As re: 254th I'm busy sending units to Delhi for disbandment. No point having a paper formation in-theatre and Palembang easily has the supplies to allow rapid rebuilding of trashed units.

In other news I have had a look at the IJN situation around the Phillipines and am going to commit Boise and the few remaining USN DDs from the Phillipines to disrupt the landings at Naga... My goal is to disrupt the landings, then bear down on him with overwhelming land forces ( 600+ AV ) which will force him to return to the landing zones ( after sinking Boise and the USN DDs ) at which point I'm going to hammer him with Force Z and some of the Dutch surface combat groups. With just a little luck I am hopeful of getting Force Z into Manilla to get refuelled and then sprint it back to Soerabaja via southern Borneo. The Dutch SC TFs will be left to die in place while RN reinforcements arrive into the DEI area of operations from India. Ozzie DDs are tasked with bolstering the naval forces guarding Port Moresby.

I intend that all of this surface action will keep KB and mini-KB focussed on the DEI and give me the fortnight I need to enact my Pacific plans.

On the frustrating side of things my USN CVs continue to spot shipping in the area in between Canton and Kwajalein but refuse to launch on this shipping. Something's not right here but I can't figure it out, the ships have sorties left, the ships have ops points left etc.

< Message edited by Nemo121 -- 1/9/2010 1:29:16 AM >

(in reply to modrow)
Post #: 45
RE: Salutations and solicitations.... 1EyedJacks (J) vs... - 1/9/2010 5:48:15 PM   
Andy Mac

 

Posts: 15222
Joined: 5/12/2004
From: Alexandria, Scotland
Status: offline 		Just be really carefull with those armoured units they basically have trucks with MG's on tops instead of tanks -to allow the units to train up - they are good for maybe 1 fight

The A Team makes better AFV's than these guys have having said that when 7th Armoured Bde arrives it has a full complement of Stuarts

44th 45th and 46th Indian Bdes are units to be wary of they are Bdes NOT Bde Groups they have very limited supporting equipment

You really dont get the equipment to be filling them up early on.

India is really really short of deployable equipment at start.

The reality is you have 2 Divs in Malaya - weak
1 Div in Burma and the roundout Bdes for 17th Indian Div

you then get basically 6 deployable Indpt units before reinforcements arrive

44th 45th and 46th Inf Bde
98th 99th and 100th Bde Groups

the three Bdes Gps on ceylon are actually reasonable when compared to other forces available but stripping them from Ceylon is risky


quote:

ORIGINAL: Nemo121

Smeulders,
Good tip. I'm going to use that a lot from now on when I'm transporting ships from CONUSA - excess capacity and they don't have to move when they reach an atoll.


I'll update the next turn tomorrow but while I'm waiting on the orders file from Mike I have a bit of a problem... I want to fly a couple of fighter squadrons out of the Phillipines but for some reason while the PBY squadrons and the float plane squadrons can be flown out the HQ allocation of the fighter groups is greyed out... I have 69 PPs so it may be that I'm still short of PPs for these fighter squadrons --- which is the only thing I can think of being the reason. I thought I'd ask here though as if I'm wrong then I'll need to change my allocation of fighter squadrons from the West Coast as I may never get enough PP to save these squadrons...


Mostly though the next update will show a daytime naval combat between a couple of DDs and a USN CA-led TF at the Phillipines in which I sink one of his DDs and then a second combat in which two IJN CAs clobber my CA and sink it. I managed to interrupt the landings in the northern Phillipines with my naval forays but IJA forces are now landing in Naga in the south of Luzon. FOrtunately for me I anticipated this and have some 500+ AV on the way down there to see if I can surprise the IJA landings and rock them back on their heels a bit.

In the Pacific the IJN continues to evade my surface action groups while my CVs spot enemy TFs within 180 miles and don't launch strikes---- for two days solid now... I am hoping it is just a run of bad luck but we'll have to see. Elsewhere the forces in Sumatra are increasing nicely with about 800 or so troops being flown into Sumatra from Java daily now and the first of the British and Indian forces due to begin unloading at Oosthaven in 4 days. Currently I have allocated 2 Indian Bdes and the 18th UK Division to Sumatra. I have just freed 254th Armoured Brigade and will be loading that for Sumatra also. Between that and one of the Dutch armoured units I am hoping to have quite a nice 200 AV or so armoured punch ready to counter-attack either landing site. I am trusting that that will come as quite a shock to Mike when he invades.

In other news apart from infantry I am mostly concentrating on flying in the troops of my far-flung base forces and slowly but surely am building up a decent level of aviation support. I'm even flying in the Dutch Air HQ in order to make sure the forces in Sumatra will have as many torpedoes as they can use ( important as I've been reading of the long-range torpedo success of PBYs and Do-24s and having 60 or so of them in Sumatra ought to provide me with quite a punch if Mike makes an ill-advised push into Sumatra without cover from KB.


The more I look at the situation the more I see the possibility of tieing KB down in this area into January 1942, giving my forces in the Pacific a greater freedom of action. Mini-KB just won't be enough and his land-based Zero units have taken serious losses ( about 40 to 50 of the initial 107 land-based Zeroes have been destroyed already and it is only 11th December).


The last thing I am toying with is trying to disband all those P38 squadrons so I can withdraw a USAAF squadron from the Phillipines and rebuild it with P-38s. I amn't certain of how to do that without disbanding those squadrons though and I'm trying to avoid that as I don't want to hit the training system that hard. Is there any other way around it without upgrading each P38 squadron with dozens of P40s etc I just don't have?


O19 and O20 are mining Palembang. Basically I'm throwing everything in there to see if I can't make it a bit of a bastion which buys time for Burma.... which buys time for India and so on and so forth while the USN takes advantage to pinprick the enemy to death in the Pacific.


(in reply to Nemo121)
Post #: 46
RE: Salutations and solicitations.... 1EyedJacks (J) vs... - 1/9/2010 6:51:27 PM   
modrow

 

Posts: 1100
Joined: 8/27/2006
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: Andy Mac
The A Team makes better AFV's than these guys


I was lucky I was not drinking anything when reading this, or my laptop would have been at risk. EXCELLENT way to make that point.

Hartwig

(in reply to Andy Mac)
Post #: 47
RE: Salutations and solicitations.... 1EyedJacks (J) vs... - 1/9/2010 7:31:13 PM   
Nemo121


Posts: 5821
Joined: 2/6/2004
Status: offline 		AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR Dec 14, 41

1 week in and a bad day for the Allies. I miscalculated where Mike would risk KB... it appears he was very much willing to swan around close inshore to Borneo and so he managed to attack a refuelling SC TF in a port in southern Borneo.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Submarine attack near Bandjermasin at 62,102

Japanese Ships
SS I-156

Allied Ships
xAK Governor Wright, Torpedo hits 3, on fire, heavy damage


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Night Time Surface Combat, near Catanduanes at 82,81, Range 6,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
CL Nagara, Shell hits 1
DD Yukikaze
DD Tokitsukaze
DD Yamakaze
DD Kawakaze
DD Umikaze
DD Suzukaze
DD Shiokaze

Allied Ships
DD Peary
DD Pillsbury, Shell hits 1, on fire
DD Pope

Some very desultory combat. It should use their ammo up though and tomorrow a TF of damaged USN ships centred on Boise will hit this landing zone.


Sub attack near Cam Ranh Bay at 65,74

Japanese Ships
xAK Kinkasan Maru, Torpedo hits 1, on fire
TB Kasasagi
xAKL Anbo Maru
xAKL Kembu Maru
APD Aoi

Allied Ships
SS Salmon

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Submarine attack near Tawau at 69,91

Japanese Ships
SS I-154

Allied Ships
xAKL Halldor, Shell hits 7, heavy fires, heavy damage


Allied ground losses:
7 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 3 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 4 (0 destroyed, 4 disabled)
Vehicles lost 3 (0 destroyed, 3 disabled)


xAKL Halldor is sighted by SS I-154
SS I-154 attacking on the surface
SS I-154 low on gun ammo, Kawasaki R. breaks off surface engagement and submerges

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on TF, near Naga at 81,81

Weather in hex: Overcast

Raid spotted at 48 NM, estimated altitude 11,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 34 minutes


Allied aircraft
Walrus II x 5


Allied aircraft losses
Walrus II: 2 damaged

Japanese Ships
CL Nagara
DD Yamakaze



Aircraft Attacking:
5 x Walrus II bombing from 6000 feet
Naval Attack: 2 x 250 lb GP Bomb



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on TF, near Naga at 81,81

Weather in hex: Overcast

Raid spotted at 35 NM, estimated altitude 9,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 18 minutes


Allied aircraft
SOC-1 Seagull x 7


Allied aircraft losses
SOC-1 Seagull: 1 damaged

Japanese Ships
CL Nagara
xAK Shozan Maru, Bomb hits 1, on fire



Aircraft Attacking:
3 x SOC-1 Seagull bombing from 6000 feet
Naval Attack: 2 x 250 lb GP Bomb
4 x SOC-1 Seagull bombing from 6000 feet
Naval Attack: 2 x 250 lb SAP Bomb



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on TF, near Naga at 81,81

Weather in hex: Overcast

Raid spotted at 29 NM, estimated altitude 11,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 14 minutes


Allied aircraft
SOC-1 Seagull x 5


Allied aircraft losses
SOC-1 Seagull: 2 damaged

Japanese Ships
xAK Minryo Maru, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires, heavy damage



Aircraft Attacking:
5 x SOC-1 Seagull bombing from 6000 feet
Naval Attack: 2 x 250 lb GP Bomb

Heavy smoke from fires obscuring xAK Minryo Maru


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on TF, near Naga at 81,81

Weather in hex: Overcast

Raid spotted at 30 NM, estimated altitude 10,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 8 minutes


Allied aircraft
B-17D Fortress x 6


Allied aircraft losses
B-17D Fortress: 3 damaged

Japanese Ships
CL Nagara
DD Kawakaze

I love the floatplanes. When there aren't any CAP around they get hits and they are largely immune to enemy airfield attacks. They make a great "stay behind" component.

Morning Air attack on TF, near Tarakan at 67,91

Weather in hex: Light rain

Raid detected at 80 NM, estimated altitude 10,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 30 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 25
B5N2 Kate x 78
D3A1 Val x 42



Japanese aircraft losses
B5N2 Kate: 1 destroyed, 4 damaged
D3A1 Val: 4 damaged

Allied Ships
DD Witte de With
CL Java, Bomb hits 3, on fire, heavy damage
DD Banckert
CL De Ruyter, Bomb hits 1, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk
DD Piet Hein
CL Tromp, Bomb hits 4, heavy fires, heavy damage
CL Durban, Torpedo hits 1
DD Van Ghent
DD Kortenaer
DD Van Nes

OUCH, KB is massive overkill for the DEI region. I think that once my Force Z intervention is done I may withdraw my naval forces from the area until things quieten down a bit. KB can just smash through anything I can put out there too easily.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ground combat at Hong Kong (77,61)

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 21228 troops, 321 guns, 218 vehicles, Assault Value = 628

Defending force 4222 troops, 115 guns, 48 vehicles, Assault Value = 107

Japanese engineers reduce fortifications to 1

Japanese adjusted assault: 215

Allied adjusted defense: 129

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

Japanese Assault reduces fortifications to 1

Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), leaders(-), morale(-), experience(-)
Attacker:

Japanese ground losses:
163 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 6 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 16 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Vehicles lost 2 (0 destroyed, 2 disabled)


Allied ground losses:
487 casualties reported
Squads: 13 destroyed, 3 disabled
Non Combat: 24 destroyed, 34 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Vehicles lost 2 (0 destroyed, 2 disabled)


Assaulting units:
66th Infantry Regiment
19th Ind. Engineer Regiment
38th Division
20th Ind. Engineer Regiment
10th Ind. Mountain Gun Regiment
3rd Ind.Hvy.Art. Battalion
2nd Mortar Battalion
2nd RF Gun Battalion
2nd Ind.Hvy.Art. Battalion
5th RF Gun Battalion
1st Hvy.Artillery Regiment
20th Ind. Mtn Gun Battalion

Defending units:
Rifles of Canada Battalion
Hong Kong Fortress
Kowloon Brigade
102nd RN Base Force

Hong Kong should fall tomorrow.

In other news aerial losses today again showed more Zeroes shot down over Manilla than P40s. So far in-game I've managed to down more Zeroes in A2A combat with P40Bs and Es than I've lost P40Es and Bs. I'm actually beginning to wonder just what everyone else is doing that they find the Zeroes so tough... I set the altitude for the least manoeuvre differential and then rely on a lot of diving attacks on Zeroes to even up the odds. In the current day's raids I would say that over half of the A2A attacks commenced with my fighters diving down on a Zero from above. Only about a third of those attacks ended in a kill or damage but even a little damage can result in a crash on the long journey back to Formosa from Manilla. For the last 3 days I've shot down more Zeroes than I lost and, overall, shot down more planes in A2A combat than I lost in A2A combat. I'm sure there's a little FOW here but with over 70 Zeroes downed in just 7 days the FOW isn't the main factor here.

Minimise the manoeuvre differential and maximise your bounce potential, rely on the late-arriving planes to be your "low-flying meat flight" and watch the bounces roll in. Sure it means passing up some passes in a bomber intercept but far better to pass up some passes and have 20 planes in the air to attack the bombers than maximise your number of passes but only have 5 airworthy planes cause the Zeroes shot the others down.

Fortifications are coming along nicely. Singers is Level 1 and Mersing is now a Level 2 fort. I plan to hold him at Mersing for as long as possible whilst flying and shipping troops out of Singers as my PP allow me to buy them out.


Andy,
Aye, I agree with you those extempore armoured designs are almost worthless. With that said quantity has a quality all of its own and with a few easy fights to begin with while hunkered down behind significant fortications I think their experience could grow sufficiently to actually become competent combat units.

I know a lot of this is bucking the conventional wisdom but the conventional wisdom is usually just a good way to play in roughly the same manner as everyone else and fall into the same pitfalls as they did as everyone's too busy playing follow the leader to examine the ground ahead. In any case, if it fails it'll be interesting and create an even more strategically interesting situation in which India will appear wide open.... This will have the effect of having Mike be drawn more towards the invasion of India ( as many of its defenders are committed to Sumatra and thus the defences in India are weakened even further below what they usually are ) and away from the invasion of Australia. So, really, even the failure of the defence is calculated to psychologically draw him towards the greater strategic choice I want him to make --- invade Burma and then invade India ---- as opposed to diverting troops into Oz and the Pacific.

< Message edited by Nemo121 -- 1/9/2010 7:36:21 PM >

(in reply to modrow)
Post #: 48
RE: Salutations and solicitations.... 1EyedJacks (J) vs... - 1/9/2010 9:08:01 PM   
modrow

 

Posts: 1100
Joined: 8/27/2006
Status: offline 		Nemo,

quote:

ORIGINAL: Nemo121
1 week in and a bad day for the Allies. I miscalculated where Mike would risk KB... it appears he was very much willing to swan around close inshore to Borneo and so he managed to attack a refuelling SC TF in a port in southern Borneo.


Perhaps you miscalculated because your estimate of the risk involved was too high. To me, the "risk" of putting KB to where you describe seems to be much less risky in AE than it used to be in WitP, where even Martins scored a hit every now and then and the dutch planes that were classified as torpedo bombers there were deadly - at least as long as you don't run into some imaginative tactical approach (like a concentrated and well escorted combined Vildebeest and PBY Catilina attack using torpedos, not sure whether one could orchestrate something like that).

quote:


Fortifications are coming along nicely. Singers is Level 1 and Mersing is now a Level 2 fort. I plan to hold him at Mersing for as long as possible whilst flying and shipping troops out of Singers as my PP allow me to buy them out.


Just don't extrapolate using too small an increase in effort needed to get from Lvl n to lvl n+1 with growing n. When I started building forts, my initial thougth was "Hey, that is fast !" My impression is that level 1 is reached quicker than in WitP, level 2 also probably quicker than it used to. But to get from 3 to 4, e.g., takes quite some time now, even with a decent number of engineers + engineering vehicles.

quote:


I know a lot of this is bucking the conventional wisdom but the conventional wisdom is usually just a good way to play in roughly the same manner as everyone else and fall into the same pitfalls as they did as everyone's too busy playing follow the leader to examine the ground ahead.


Aye, one of the reasons why this AAR is a must-read. It's always good to probe into what is off the main stream. I guess I'll still continue to offer advice along conventional lines, because perhaps you are using conventional knowledge from WitP to devise your strategy.

Perhaps this is your main weakness in this game as opposed to one you pick up without knowing its predecessor. Some examples for my assumption:

You relate to "risking KB" - but air to surface threat seems significantly reduced. You mention long sieges, allowing to build exp - so far, I have the impression that the even the classical long sieges from WitP, like Singapore and Manila, just don't happen any more.

You discussed stuffing the possible ports of entry with CD guns - there's a thread about a PH invasion which may indicate that these will not always work as you would wish them to.

You stress the success that you shot down more planes A2A than you lost, which for WitP standards would be an incredibly good result, but even without being able to field superior numbers of P40 at any point of time in the PI (outcome of historical start with surprise on) and refined gameplay re. a2a, you can get about 1.5:1 against you in AE - much better rates than WitP. Even if you atrite his Zeros now, you atrite your P40ies as well, and your replacement rates are much lower than what he can build quite soon.

quote:


This will have the effect of having Mike be drawn more towards the invasion of India ( as many of its defenders are committed to Sumatra and thus the defences in India are weakened even further below what they usually are ) and away from the invasion of Australia. So, really, even the failure of the defence is calculated to psychologically draw him towards the greater strategic choice I want him to make --- invade Burma and then invade India ---- as opposed to diverting troops into Oz and the Pacific.


This may be another example of conventional WitP wisdom as basis for your evaluation: a) it takes some time and a serious number of troops before Burma is conquered (which may no longer be correct) and b) it's India or Oz - I believe that a quick early strike against North Australia (Darwin) and Burma (both of which is possible with quite limited assets now) may allow you to do both.

So by all means, explore new strategies and approaches, buck the conventional wisdom. But do take a look at the stats, numbers and the performance statistics the AARs offer as basis for devising your new approaches rather than base them on WitP experience. It's a very different game, and if was intended to put brakes on Japanese expansion, I am not sure whether that has been achieved.

As always, just my thougths - I'll be glad if I'm wrong.

Hartwig

(in reply to Nemo121)
Post #: 49
RE: Salutations and solicitations.... 1EyedJacks (J) vs... - 1/9/2010 9:41:18 PM   
Nemo121


Posts: 5821
Joined: 2/6/2004
Status: offline
quote:

because perhaps you are using conventional knowledge from WitP to devise your strategy


Please keep offering the advice but I think you misappreciate the situation. In WiTP I mostly did what I would have done in RL with a few nods to code issues in-game. In AE I will do what I would order in RL also. I know this mightn't be the conventional view of my play but I would argue that people don't see things as those things are but as those people would like them to be.... and that means people bring their pre-conceptions of that person to bear on even the most minor of analysis of another person's actions. Many make the mistake of thinking that I don't like HRs to mean that I'm gaming the system whereas I would argue that in Real Life many operations which were conventionally crazy were carried out when people found previously unappreciated technical characteristics gave them previously unexpected tactical opportunities. In Soviet doctrinal parlance which differentiates between extraordinary and ordinary operations/tactics/capabilities etc I would argue that many things are extraordinary only until someone has done them a few times, achieved success and then gets copied by all around. In that fashion the extraordinary becomes the ordinary ( in a doctrinal sense ). Paratroops and the whole area of air-mobility are excellent examples of this.


As re: "risking KB"... I only referred to it in the sense of risking torpedo attack by subs... I don't think KB is really at any risk from my air farce.

Long sieges... It only takes 2 or 3 attacks for a unit to go from 20 to 50 Exp from what I've seen... Given that troops will be unloading and being attacked by surface combat task forces I anticipate there being little difficulty in having 1 to 2 deliberate attacks plus significant bombardment attacks before the IJA is fully unloaded. That's the timeframe I'm thinking of, not more than a week, probably only 4 days ( added to the effects of preparation of course )... So, I meant by having the opportunity to gain experience was very different than "a long siege".

CD guns.... Aye, it definitely seems that CD guns can be beaten by a horde of PBs. This is, of course, extremely gamey and in an ordinary game would be extremely bad sportsmanship. In this game however two things apply:
1. I'll do what I would have done in RL without reference to the engine ( strategically - operationally this is less so ) and
2. I fully expect and hope Mike will take advantage of these gamey opportunities.

Why? I will observe the game and determine what is simply unexpected and beyond the expectations of the developers and what is a gamey exploitation of a poor combat model. What is beyond their expectation is good play and won't be something I will work towards elimination in my mod. What is gamey exploitation of poor code will be eliminated. Already I am running tests on amphibious invasions which don't face multiple 6 inch guns but, instead, face much larger numbers of 4 and 5 inch guns such that far more of the tiny escorts and AKs etc are hit. Obviously the best solution would be for the coders to stratify CD guns such that below 6 inches they would hit PBs etc etc etc, above 5 inches to 9 inches they would aim at DDs, CLs etc while 9 inches and above would hit CAs and BBs whilst ignoring most everything else.Only if no targets in that tonnage range were in view would the guns "downgrade" to lesser targets.

That would nicely solve the problem especially if one allowed for "opting out" of the vs-military vessels code so that from time to time a particular gun could just target merchies - e.g. If no BBs then the 16 inch guns which would normally downgrade to hitting CAs or CLs might just decide to hit the merchies and cause an absolute bloodbath. That's nice and unpredictable, believable and would work better than the current system. We'll see if the NIHS allows such a solution to be considered.


Attrition of P40s... Well those P40s CANNOT be transferred out of the PHillipines... another example of the developers constraining the way in which players can play the game. "If you have PP you can buy any unit and move it to any other location... except for a couple of dozen units we have decided we won't allow you to move because they didn't move in real life... but other units which also didn't move in real life CAN move." A horribly inconsistent thought process which leads to that most destructive of in-game situations of internally inconsistent in-game behaviour... which studies have shown destroys immersion. In any case the basic point is that if I COULD fly those P40s out I would have and wouldn't be fighting here.... You don't see my Buffaloes dogfighting the Zeroes any more do you? Unfortunately due to the developers deciding to constrain me so I can only use those fighters in the Phillipines in the way THEY want me to use them I don't have the option of transferring them out. As such my only option in the Phillipines is whether I let them die on the ground or in the air. Since they can kill more Zeroes in the air than on the ground I commit them to the aerial fight. If I had freedom of action I would withdraw them to Sumatra BUT I DON'T. Something I obviously find annoying and a sign of a disappointing inconsistency in development decision-making as well as a reminder that there's still quite an element of "We've made this wonderfully open game system which allows you to try a multitude of different things but because most of the development team play the game in such and such a way we're going to put things in the code to prevent you taking advantage of the open game system and, instead, force you to hew to our less imaginative, creative and interesting style of play."

Do I think 1:1 over the Phillipines is a good deal? NO, but the design team hasn't given me any other option. I have to stand and die so I'm dying in the most costly fashion possible even though strategically doing so is utter idiocy. Unfortunately the design team haven't given me any option OTHER than idiocy at this stage. It is most frustrating, but will be fixed in an AE variant. I can see many opportunities to open up the game system where the design team has intentionally chosen to close it down and limit its possibilities.


Burma? Who mentioned Burma? He should be able to stroll through Burma and, to be honest, he'd be an idiot to land there. Why land in Burma and waste time and troops and effort when you can just amphibiously invade India proper? All of this emphasis on invading Burma in other AARs puzzles me. It is, largely, wasted effort, a diversion of resources from the pursuit of the enemy centre of gravity and a subsidiary theatre which will, inevitably fall once the south-eastern Indian territories are taken. Why waste time and effort on fighting for something only to then invade South-eastern India when bypassing it and invading south-eastern India will hand Burma to you on a plate when the enemy's supplies run out? It is non-sensical, but something everyone is doing. They should bypass it. That realisation was one reason I abandoned the Burma defence and, instead, am investing in Sumatra.

< Message edited by Nemo121 -- 1/9/2010 9:44:31 PM >

(in reply to modrow)
Post #: 50
RE: Salutations and solicitations.... 1EyedJacks (J) vs... - 1/10/2010 12:41:59 AM   
timtom


Posts: 2358
Joined: 1/29/2003
From: Aarhus, Denmark
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: Nemo121

Attrition of P40s... Well those P40s CANNOT be transferred out of the PHillipines... another example of the developers constraining the way in which players can play the game. "If you have PP you can buy any unit and move it to any other location... except for a couple of dozen units we have decided we won't allow you to move because they didn't move in real life... but other units which also didn't move in real life CAN move." A horribly inconsistent thought process which leads to that most destructive of in-game situations of internally inconsistent in-game behaviour... which studies have shown destroys immersion. In any case the basic point is that if I COULD fly those P40s out I would have and wouldn't be fighting here.... You don't see my Buffaloes dogfighting the Zeroes any more do you? Unfortunately due to the developers deciding to constrain me so I can only use those fighters in the Phillipines in the way THEY want me to use them I don't have the option of transferring them out. As such my only option in the Phillipines is whether I let them die on the ground or in the air. Since they can kill more Zeroes in the air than on the ground I commit them to the aerial fight. If I had freedom of action I would withdraw them to Sumatra BUT I DON'T. Something I obviously find annoying and a sign of a disappointing inconsistency in development decision-making as well as a reminder that there's still quite an element of "We've made this wonderfully open game system which allows you to try a multitude of different things but because most of the development team play the game in such and such a way we're going to put things in the code to prevent you taking advantage of the open game system and, instead, force you to hew to our less imaginative, creative and interesting style of play."

Do I think 1:1 over the Phillipines is a good deal? NO, but the design team hasn't given me any other option. I have to stand and die so I'm dying in the most costly fashion possible even though strategically doing so is utter idiocy. Unfortunately the design team haven't given me any option OTHER than idiocy at this stage. It is most frustrating, but will be fixed in an AE variant. I can see many opportunities to open up the game system where the design team has intentionally chosen to close it down and limit its possibilities.



The reasoning behind this setup is linked to the five provisional PS' and their relationship to the PS' in the PI's. Briefly put they were formed from evacuee pilots from the PI PS' and pilots and a/c fresh from the US with the intention of reinforcing the PI's in similar fashion to the way pilots of the planeless 27th BG were flown to Oz with the intent of ferrying A-24's back to the PI's. IMO it's a reasonable assumption that had the PI PS' been pulled out, the provos wouldn't have been formed. Hence the player receives the provos in return for PI PS' being perm restricted. Besides a historical OOB being thought of as an end in itself, the provos are useful in that it is a tool towards bumping up P-40E replacement numbers in early '42 as was the case historically. Think of it as an not entirely happy quid pro quo compromise. Anyone is obviously at liberty to disagree with this line of thinking, but, IMO, it isn't entirely one of "idiocy".

_____________________________

Where's the Any key?


(in reply to Nemo121)
Post #: 51
RE: Salutations and solicitations.... 1EyedJacks (J) vs... - 1/10/2010 1:57:00 AM   
Nemo121


Posts: 5821
Joined: 2/6/2004
Status: offline 		timtom,

Firstly, thanks for the reply.

Secondly, aye you caught me at a moment of particularly high frustration with some of the design decisions in-game which are preventing me from doing the quite obvious and reasonable strategically prudent things. I apologise for the use of the word idiocy. I do think still that its a sub-optimal choice though.

Thirdly, surely the better option would have been to scrap the provisional squadron since those are based on history having turned out a certain way ( which it won't since the game never follows historical patterns ) and, instead, made the original squadrons unrestricted. That way the player wouldn't be locked into playing the Phillipines aerial battle out in such a highly restricted manner. Another sub-type of the P40E only available on a time-limited basis could take care of the need to bump P40E numbers during January etc 1942.

I personally think that would have given you the P40 numbers whilst allowing the player the freedom of decision and would have bolstered the "open" nature of the game.


Idiocy was, I admit, a poor choice of term although I wish to be clear that it wasn't aimed at any particular team member, merely at the design decision which has led me into a situation of not being able to redeploy my squadrons as the strategic situation dictates. OTOH I do still feel that limiting the player's freedom in this way wasn't necessary as limiting historical units in order to allow the creation of provisional units which arose only because of the historical timeline ( which won't be followed in any PBEM ) is the sub-optimal choice.

I am, however, interested in other situations where this occurred and what the design reasons behind this might have been as I'm sure other situations might be much less clearcut than the Phillipine situation and I'm interested in learning when these permanent restrictions were used so that I can utilise them appropriately in my mod - which I'm hoping to knock out beginning the end of the month.

< Message edited by Nemo121 -- 1/10/2010 11:32:44 AM >

(in reply to timtom)
Post #: 52
RE: Salutations and solicitations.... 1EyedJacks (J) vs... - 1/10/2010 11:34:37 AM   
modrow

 

Posts: 1100
Joined: 8/27/2006
Status: offline 		Nemo,

quote:


Please keep offering the advice but I think you misappreciate the situation.


I will, no encouraging needed. Also, it may well be I misappreciate the situation, always a good chance for that . Further, it may occur that I point to what you are aware of but decide not to disclose.

quote:


In WiTP I mostly did what I would have done in RL with a few nods to code issues in-game. In AE I will do what I would order in RL also. I know this mightn't be the conventional view of my play but I would argue that people don't see things as those things are but as those people would like them to be.... and that means people bring their pre-conceptions of that person to bear on even the most minor of analysis of another person's actions.


Agreed. Some of your previous statements just looked to me like you are interpreting things as you would like them to be, possibly based on pre-conceptions inherited from WitP. If that is not the case, all the better.

quote:


Burma? Who mentioned Burma?


No idea...

post 16
quote:

1. Palembang - He must take it, he must try to take it without damaging it and both of these things mean this will form a focus of his attention whilst being safe from resource bombing. In short it'll delay his offensive further north into Burma and India


post 43
quote:

Basically I'm throwing everything in there to see if I can't make it a bit of a bastion which buys time for Burma.... which buys time for India and so on and so forth while the USN takes advantage to pinprick the enemy to death in the Pacific.


post 45
quote:

already I am running AKLs into Rangoon with a view to building up the supplies in Burma and amd prepping my defensive line in-country. With a little luck I might be able to hold the Burma Road open, that's the goal in any case


now:

quote:

They should bypass it. That realisation was one reason I abandoned the Burma defence and, instead, am investing in Sumatra.


The main message I intended to send is that a) if Japan wants Burma, they can walk there starting on day 1 with limited assets and take it without the need to severely restrict the remaining ops (relating to the statement of post 16 - it does not necessarily buy time) and b) that there is no need for a sequence of operations Sumatra-Burma-India. Your most recent post indicates you are aware of that possibility, so I can stop harping on it.

Hartwig

< Message edited by hartwig.modrow -- 1/10/2010 11:35:24 AM >

(in reply to Nemo121)
Post #: 53
RE: Salutations and solicitations.... 1EyedJacks (J) vs... - 1/10/2010 11:40:36 AM   
Nemo121


Posts: 5821
Joined: 2/6/2004
Status: offline 		News of the day for 16th December...

The AVG manages better than 1:! over Singapore while the P40s manage about 1:1 over Manilla. I spotted IJN BBs 120 miles west of Manilla yesterday and moved Force Z ( Yes, PoW and Repulse ) into that hex overnight in order to trigger naval combat today. Unfortunately while Force Z lurked at sea all day ( and was apparently unspotted ) I have been unable to bring any enemy SC TFs into action. I will decide whether to refuel and retreat tomorrow or send Force Z into the waters south of Formosa tomorrow... I will probably pull back, make sure I'm spotted and cause Mike to begin bolstering his rear area security.

In the meantime I'm continuing to pull more Base Forces from the outlying Dutch bases to support the flying boats I have moved into Sumatra as:
a) transport to fly the Dutch troops from Java into Sumatra.
b) extempore torpedo bombers when the invasion TFs finally do close.

Once I have enough aviation support I can begin flying combat Bns and Regiments in. At present I am flying in about 350 men per day into Sumatra but once all of the disabled flying boats and transports are repaired I would hope to increase that to 500 men per day. In one month I should be able to evacuate most of what is needed from Java.

(in reply to Nemo121)
Post #: 54
RE: Salutations and solicitations.... 1EyedJacks (J) vs... - 1/10/2010 11:48:28 AM   
Nemo121


Posts: 5821
Joined: 2/6/2004
Status: offline 		*chuckle* Burma, ok, I guess I did then didn't I .... Aye, Burma figured in my early thinking but then as I looked at it I realised that it really wasn't something I wanted to defend in its entirety. I am investing a few Indian troops and quite a few Chinese troops into fortifying two key bases in the Burmese interior and protecting the China Road but, really, I've decided to ignore Burma for the main part. If he wants it he can ( and will ) have it.

Why the Chinese troops? Well, supplying them in Burma removes their supply drain from China and actually improves the combat effectiveness within China itself whilst cheaply increasing the amount of combat power in Burma. I will be posting them in the jungle in a base, with the potential to increase their combat potential by 900% due to forts and terrain. In the meantime the Burmese, British and Commonwealth will hold a base in a clear area behind a river which cannot easily be bypassed.

Initially I thought Burma could focus as a stopping point on the way to India but the more I looked at it the more I realised that Burma was utterly unnecessary for the invasion of India and, as such, I changed my thinking of its importance. If it could provide me with a point to stop Mike in his tracks short of India it was important. I decided it didn't offer the opportunity to stop him in its tracks and combined with its lack of trails into India it meant I could really leave it to its own devices.

I AM running AKLs into Rangoon but that's mostly to help ensure the defenders have supplies and also to suck supplies from Burma into China. In addition the AKLs aren't doing anything else so doing something useful is good and by running supplies into Rangoon I might make Mike think he needs to invade Burma as I am ferrying loads of troops in etc... It mightn't work but it is better than nothing.

< Message edited by Nemo121 -- 1/10/2010 11:57:34 AM >

(in reply to Nemo121)
Post #: 55
RE: Salutations and solicitations.... 1EyedJacks (J) vs... - 1/10/2010 12:02:59 PM   
Andy Mac

 

Posts: 15222
Joined: 5/12/2004
From: Alexandria, Scotland
Status: offline 		Don't underestimate the new re arming consequences

Landing in India without Rangoon to rearm and resortie you carriers and SAG's is a major PITA.

Without NGS you cannot guarantee getting that vital early port.

Its the logistics of hitting India without Rangoon at least that would worry me - having to funnel every ship back to Singapore to rearm and refuel would be tough especially as I would instantly mine the Malacca strait and send every sub I have there if I was your opponent.

I put a lot of effort into protectign Chittagong, DH and Madras for that reason they are the ports you would need almost immediately for that strategy to work

(in reply to Nemo121)
Post #: 56
RE: Salutations and solicitations.... 1EyedJacks (J) vs... - 1/10/2010 12:12:03 PM   
Nemo121


Posts: 5821
Joined: 2/6/2004
Status: offline 		Andy, What about Ceylon?

I think if I were Japanese I'd be looking at Ceylon and seeing:

1. An excellent port.
2. The ability to disrupt the Royal Navy from its main base in the area.
3. The opportunity of using the bulk of the island to screen my landings ( in the east ) from enemy SC TFs ( they'd have to go around which means only the lighter, faster ones could make it in one day - indirectly this would preclude BBs from hitting my invasion beaches )
4. An unsinkable aircraft carrier.
5. A nice, large jumping off point with lots of opportunity for landing supplies, troops etc.


Why? Well because I wouldn't be looking to land in south-eastern India. If I were going for India I'd try to land somewhere south of Karachi, perhaps near Bombay. I know it would trigger reinforcements of multiple divisions but those divisions are in Aden and with IJN CVs in the area and Betties basing out of Ceylon and Bombay I would be confident I could prevent the landing of those reinforcements.

India's a case where you have to gamble big to win big because gambling small to win small ( taking south-eastern India ) just creates a situation where the British will grind you down endlessly throughout 1942 and 43 and when the Americans hit you in 43 you'll find yourself with a ground down air force and weak LCUs as you are having to send lots of devices to replace the continual drip of losses in south-eastern India.

That's my take anyways... Of course Mike is unlikely to want to gamble as big but I'm sure Ceylon could meet those needs - unless I'm missing something ( which is entirely possible, I'm in a big learning curve here ).

(in reply to Andy Mac)
Post #: 57
RE: Salutations and solicitations.... 1EyedJacks (J) vs... - 1/10/2010 12:38:25 PM   
Andy Mac

 

Posts: 15222
Joined: 5/12/2004
From: Alexandria, Scotland
Status: offline 		Ceylon is a good target but its also a hard one if you dont get Colombo quickly

The three Indian Bdes on Ceylon are decent and typically its heavily reinforced assuming you do a Mersing end run and take Singapore by latest early jan its a race if the allies get a second or third Div there I suspect its to hard

The biggest issue I have with an India strategy is the speed of movement in stock you could blitzrieg India along the rail lines - its a LOT harder to do it in AE there are so many roads and railways so while you might be able to keep India isolated for a while I suspect its almost impossible to over run especially as the garrison requirements for the japanese can suck up whole Divisons so you are steadily getting weaker as you go the more you conquer the more you need to hold

(in reply to Nemo121)
Post #: 58
RE: Salutations and solicitations.... 1EyedJacks (J) vs... - 1/13/2010 1:05:27 AM   
Nemo121


Posts: 5821
Joined: 2/6/2004
Status: offline 		Well, I ran Force Z up to a hex 120 miles west of Manilla but despite there being IJN BBs in the area the day before I didn't get any surface combat. I combined this with a little AK run into Singapore in order to pull out some Air HQs.

This was a nice test to see which way Mike would move. KB was around Kuching and could move east to engage Force Z or west to kill the AKs. He chose to kill the AKs--- although I did manage to pull the Air HQ I wanted out of Singapore ). This is an interesting learning point about Mike. He is cautious, slow in his movements, doesn't extend out from under his air umbrella - I think that his inability to extend his air umbrella in the Pacific is one reason I am seeing such laggardly progress there- and doesn't seem to be willing to engage in parallel operations with thin margins of error. Instead he engages in massive operations which utterly outmass the enemy. The corollary to this is that he's willing to engage in split operations - landing in three places in Malaysia and in three separate landing sites in the Phillipines. If he invades Sumatra I can expect him to land at Oosthaven and Palembang simultaneously.


In other news the first Brigades are landing in Sumatra and combined with my airlift I now have about 600 AV in Sumatra, due to rise rapidly with the arrival of another division+ of British troops. Digging in is going well with Level 2 forts at Oosthaven and Palembang and a few Australian units are also arriving ( Gull Bn etc ) which have high experience and should prove useful.

Unfortunately I also spent 200+ PP buying at a CD unit with 16 x 6 inch guns. This should utterly devastate any mid-sized landing in Sumatra but I hear the CD gun code is flawed so I'm trying to find out a suitable HR to overcome this.

Force Z is moving south back to Soerabaja to refuel while additional CLs, CAs and DDs arrive in the area. Rabaul has its own SC TF assigned and the USN CVs are recombining at PH. I've finished reinforcing Wake which now has engineers and additional ground combat troops. With a little luck I may get time to build Wake up into a significant roadblock while the main effort goes into preserving Midway in the longer term.

If I can keep Mike so utterly focussed on northern Borneo - keeping KB there etc - then within a week's time I will commit the USN proper ( CVs and BBs ) to action in a, hopefully, surprising and rather disruptive manner. I'm still deciding how deep to go but I think that the more he shows an utter focus on the northern Borneo region the more likely it is I'll decide to make a rather deep raid as I needn't fear his CVs.


(in reply to Andy Mac)
Post #: 59
RE: Salutations and solicitations.... 1EyedJacks (J) vs... - 1/13/2010 3:23:48 PM   
timtom


Posts: 2358
Joined: 1/29/2003
From: Aarhus, Denmark
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: Nemo121

timtom,

Firstly, thanks for the reply.



You're welcome.

quote:

ORIGINAL: Nemo121

Secondly, aye you caught me at a moment of particularly high frustration with some of the design decisions in-game which are preventing me from doing the quite obvious and reasonable strategically prudent things. I apologise for the use of the word idiocy. I do think still that its a sub-optimal choice though.



No offense taken. You're in good company - AndyMac's been bugging me about this one too lately :)

quote:

ORIGINAL: Nemo121

Thirdly, surely the better option would have been to scrap the provisional squadron since those are based on history having turned out a certain way ( which it won't since the game never follows historical patterns ) and, instead, made the original squadrons unrestricted. That way the player wouldn't be locked into playing the Phillipines aerial battle out in such a highly restricted manner. Another sub-type of the P40E only available on a time-limited basis could take care of the need to bump P40E numbers during January etc 1942.

I personally think that would have given you the P40 numbers whilst allowing the player the freedom of decision and would have bolstered the "open" nature of the game.

Idiocy was, I admit, a poor choice of term although I wish to be clear that it wasn't aimed at any particular team member, merely at the design decision which has led me into a situation of not being able to redeploy my squadrons as the strategic situation dictates. OTOH I do still feel that limiting the player's freedom in this way wasn't necessary as limiting historical units in order to allow the creation of provisional units which arose only because of the historical timeline ( which won't be followed in any PBEM ) is the sub-optimal choice.



In fact many if not most of the early arrivals were P-40E-1's (the US designation for the Kittyhawk IA), built under British contract. For our purposes the 'E-1 is identical to the vanilla 'E. You could further tie the upgrade path into 75, 76, and 77 Sqn RAAF in place of the IA - 5th AF and the RAAF initially pooled their P-40's, although this apparently in practise meant that the Ozzies would be get the US hand-me-downs.

Patch 2 offers an alternative approach in that a/c can be included in the convoy reinforcement system. This is relatively new to me and a ground team function to boot, so in truth I'm not sure about the finer details. The potential is obvious however, though i honesty just the thought of redoing the RR's makes me feel fatigued.

quote:

ORIGINAL: Nemo121

I am, however, interested in other situations where this occurred and what the design reasons behind this might have been as I'm sure other situations might be much less clearcut than the Phillipine situation and I'm interested in learning when these permanent restrictions were used so that I can utilise them appropriately in my mod - which I'm hoping to knock out beginning the end of the month.


Well, the origin brief was to pace the game in general and debloodify A2A in particular. on the OOB side of things one way of attacking this is by looking at force levels. The implementation of forced withdrawal helps alleviate the ballooning force levels vs history we have in WitP. Another way is to tie down certain units through permanent restrictions as a sort of ad hoc garrison requirement. Most of the perm res units fall under this category. Basically this applies to units which never left their home country. Fx the Yokusuka Kokutai functioned as an aircraft- and tactics trial unit while doubling as imperial bodyguard until being transferred to regular combat duty summer of '44, nonwithstanding that it had deployed a detachment of its G4M Hikotai to Palau briefly during early '44 (IIRC). Other than that and a foray to Iwo Jima it never deployed outside Japan AFAIK. IMO having it perm res'd allows us to have it present from the beginning while simultaniously respecting its rather special role up until '44. Etc.

The Dutch are a bit different. Now it seems unlikely to me that they'd have Sir Robin'd the DEI and IMO we shouldn't make a virtue of the fact that we don't really do politics in AE, but the reason is really that the two Dutch services are meant to be one-shot forces - however I can't currently do this the right way round by cutting off the supply of pilots. Hence the ham-fist approach. The other major exception is the US Air Transport Command units deployed to India to a very specific job (supply China) complement of POTUS, although restricting these probably will have little practical impact since the HQ isn't restricted.

But if you want a scn more pleasing to Lord Khorne, by all means do away with the restrictions ;)

_____________________________

Where's the Any key?


(in reply to Nemo121)
Post #: 60
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