RE: Perfection, of a kind, spence (A) vs fcharton (J)

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RE: Perfection, of a kind, spence (A) vs fcharton (J) - 9/20/2012 11:57:05 PM

fcharton

Posts: 1112
Joined: 10/4/2010
From: France
Status: offline

May 5th, 1942

Port Blair

After two days of battle, enemy fighters were nowhere to be seen, but Nells from Georgetown found two light cargoes in the port.

xAKL Honolulan, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk
xAKL Kalgan, Torpedo hits 2, and is sunk

Over Magwe, another night bombing run was met by CAP. I did not shoot any of them, but they did not do much damage either. I believe this is how night combat should be.

Remnants

In Paotow, the 41st Chinese corps was destroyed. Nach Taiyuan!
In Sibolga, the last Dutch unit on Sumatra surrendered today. I think this concludes the capture of the DEI. I am satisfied with the tempo.

South of Chungking, the former garrison of Kweiyang was defeated once again. Chungking now sports 77 units, but a lot of them, like those twelve, are empty shells.

Ground combat at 76,46 (near Chungking)
Japanese Deliberate attack
Attacking force 25123 troops, 265 guns, 135 vehicles, Assault Value = 1162
Defending force 6577 troops, 64 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 45
Japanese assault odds: 11 to 1

Japanese ground losses:
130 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 8 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled

Allied ground losses:
2051 casualties reported
Squads: 102 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 193 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 2 destroyed, 3 disabled
Guns lost 21 (17 destroyed, 4 disabled)
Units retreated 12

Units retreated from Chengtu were defeated as well.

The next phase, and questions for you, dear reader

We are in May 1942. The DEI has fallen, without too much damage to the oilfields, and the war in China is going well. In the Pacific, save perhaps Port Moresby and southern New Guinea, I don�t intend to expand. I might land in Northern Australia, in Luganville, in Cooktown even, but those would be spoiling operations, meant to delay enemy reconquest. From now on, China and India are my prime targets.

So far, I have not seriously garrisoned my empire. Most of my possessions in the Pacific are lightly defended, partly because most units were committed to Sumatra, or Java, partly because I lacked an overall plan for defense.

I realize I need to send units to the front lines, and organize my bases in the Pacific and the Indies. I will try to make a list of available units over the week end, assign them to various area, and then to specific bases.

So here�s the question... Most of my combat units come in five sizes. I have divisions, about 450 AV at full strength, then regiments, about 150 AV, then again battalions/SNLF units, around 60, base forces around 30, and independent companies around 15. I understand independent companies are only useful are recon asset, to make sure the enemy cannot move unnoticed, or occupy a base without bringing combat troops, and that a division makes a base very difficult to capture.

But what about the three others? When do you use regiments, battalions and base forces/30 AV units?

What I am trying to figure out is: what should I leave (behind forts) in Tarawa, or Tulagi, or Lae, if I want to just delay the enemy, or force him to bring large units, or turn those bases into potential meat grinders?

(in reply to obvert)

Post #: 211

RE: Perfection, of a kind, spence (A) vs fcharton (J) - 9/21/2012 1:31:11 AM

PaxMondo

Posts: 9750
Joined: 6/6/2008
Status: offline

A brigade behind lvl 6 forts on a small atoll requires the allies to launch a full assault to take ... think Iwo. 3 x SNLF's are about the same. The more full assaults you force the allies to have to execute, the better for you.

_____________________________

Pax

(in reply to fcharton)

Post #: 212

RE: Perfection, of a kind, spence (A) vs fcharton (J) - 9/21/2012 1:31:52 AM

PaxMondo

Posts: 9750
Joined: 6/6/2008
Status: offline

Pax

(in reply to fcharton)

Post #: 213

RE: Perfection, of a kind, spence (A) vs fcharton (J) - 9/21/2012 10:35:03 PM

fcharton

Posts: 1112
Joined: 10/4/2010
From: France
Status: offline

May 6th 1942

The boat with a weird name

A few weeks ago, I sent submarines mine coastal hexes near enemy bases. North of Brisbane, the enemy cleared the minefield, but damaged a sweeper in the process. Cool things, those mines�

Allied Ships
AM Wollongong, Mine hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
AM Lithgow
AM Echuca
AM Kalgoorlie

Misfortunes at sea

A week ago, a large enemy task force, headed towards the Samoa, was detected as it moved from the west coast to Hawaii. Submarines were sent on their path.

Today, my path calculations were proven right, but the sub captain missed his target, a nice troop transport.

ASW attack near Jarvis Island at 169,146

Japanese Ships
SS I-20

Allied Ships
DMS Zane
AP Thomas Jefferson
DD Blue
DD Morris

SS I-20 launches 4 torpedoes at DMS Zane
I-20 diving deep ....

I will try to chase the transport, but it is probably too late (those AP sail fast).

Clearing the plains

The Sichuan basin is almost all Japanese. Today, the last unit on the road from Chungking ot Kienko was pushed back into Chungking, and Neikiang fell to a deliberate attack.

Ground combat at Neikiang (75,44)
Japanese Deliberate attack
Attacking force 14712 troops, 118 guns, 316 vehicles, Assault Value = 619
Defending force 7862 troops, 44 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 175
Japanese assault odds: 34 to 1 (fort level 0)
Japanese forces CAPTURE Neikiang !!!

Japanese ground losses:
67 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 5 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled

Allied ground losses:
1220 casualties reported
Squads: 132 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 76 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 25 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 21 (18 destroyed, 3 disabled)
Units retreated 1

This unit is now northwest (mapwise) of Chungking. One or two more are due east of the city, but the rest of the basin is ours.

May 7th 1942

Silent service

Lots of enemy submarines patrol around Truk, probably in the hope of catching KB which I badly need to rebase� But so far, all those subs had little luck. Today SS Gar was attacked by one of my many ASW task forces in the area, unconclusively. Around Sumatra, where DD Inazuma damaged SS KXVIII near Sibolga. Off Medan, we had less success, and DD Isonami was sunk by SS O-19, which she was chasing.

Finally, it seems that we found the coastal routes along Australia. Today, a light cargo was torpedoed near Horn Island, and a cargo was sunk off Rockhampton.

My submarines are not as effective as I�d wish, but they are getting better.

Reinforcements

The more I look at the map, the more I realize how weak my current position is. My front lines are not garrisoned, but, worse still, I don�t have units in second line bases, ready to intervene, with transports, supplies, and escorts.

I don�t believe in rushing naval guards to all my forward bases right now. If the enemy attacks, I will lose those bases anyway, for lack of support. I want to set up my rear area depots first.

Where should those be? I already have Singapore, acting as a hub for Malaysia, Sumatra, and northern Java. Macassar used to be my depot in the Celebes, but I think I will use Surabaya from now on.

In the Pacific, I will most certainly use the Marianas as my rear area depot. They are central enough. So all the naval guards, AA units, and some of my navy is being transferred there as we speak. Once the Marianas are reinforced, supply and fuel stocks established, I will set up two forward depots, in the Marshalls and around Rabaul (I already have air HQ in both places).

I am late, though, and if my opponent decides to strike now, I will be in trouble.

(in reply to PaxMondo)

Post #: 214

RE: Perfection, of a kind, spence (A) vs fcharton (J) - 9/21/2012 11:00:35 PM

SqzMyLemon

Posts: 4239
Joined: 10/30/2009
From: Alberta, Canada
Status: offline

quote:

ORIGINAL: fcharton

I am late, though, and if my opponent decides to strike now, I will be in trouble.

That sounds familiar.

Manus is a good base too. It's a little close to Northeast Australia, but it draws less attention than Rabaul. Depending on how thorough your opponent will search, this might be an ideal location for basing counterinvasion forces specifically for the Solomons. If you plan on defending them. And LRCAP from the surrounding bases can provide adequate air cover.

_____________________________

Luck is the residue of design - John Milton

Don't mistake lack of talent for genius - Peter Steele (Type O Negative)

(in reply to fcharton)

Post #: 215

RE: Perfection, of a kind, spence (A) vs fcharton (J) - 9/21/2012 11:18:50 PM

SqzMyLemon

Posts: 4239
Joined: 10/30/2009
From: Alberta, Canada
Status: offline

quote:

ORIGINAL: fcharton

What I am trying to figure out is: what should I leave (behind forts) in Tarawa, or Tulagi, or Lae, if I want to just delay the enemy, or force him to bring large units, or turn those bases into potential meat grinders?

I had two Naval Guard or SNLF equivalent sized units on Lunga behind level four forts. In total roughly 130 AV. The Allies landed a full division, a Tank Bn. and a BF and my troops were blown away on the first deliberate attack. Mind you this wasn't an atoll, but I expected a little more resistance.

I think if you plan a counterinvasion strategy, you need to keep division sized units in your reserve and rely on forts and Bde. sized units to buy you the time needed to deploy. My personal opinion is, if it can be bypassed don't garrison with divisions as they may become stranded. Must have key bases, I'd make sure I have AT units to offset enemy armour and enough support to sustain effective combat operations. Supply is key too, but I'd be leary of having too much as bases that could fall easily.

I'd definitely grab Darwin, it is important to deny that base, or any of the other bases along the coast of Northern Australia, to prevent early 4E intervention. I tried keeping Darwin closed by air attack and that failed. If the Allies bring enough engineers and a few bad weather days occur, the base can be up and running again in no time.

I think planning the defence of Japan's perimeter is one of the hardest things to do in this game. You simply can't defend everywhere in strength and it's impossible to know exactly where the Allies will hit. I think a counterinvasion type strategy is the best early, when you can still go toe to toe, after mid 1943 I think you dig in and grind it out once the Combined Fleet has lost it's teeth. So I'd concentrate building up bastions in your second and third lines of defence, don't waste much forward as it's easily bypassed.

Just my thoughts.

_____________________________

Luck is the residue of design - John Milton

Don't mistake lack of talent for genius - Peter Steele (Type O Negative)

(in reply to fcharton)

Post #: 216

RE: Perfection, of a kind, spence (A) vs fcharton (J) - 9/22/2012 4:32:48 AM

PaxMondo

Posts: 9750
Joined: 6/6/2008
Status: offline

quote:

ORIGINAL: SqzMyLemon

quote:

ORIGINAL: fcharton

What I am trying to figure out is: what should I leave (behind forts) in Tarawa, or Tulagi, or Lae, if I want to just delay the enemy, or force him to bring large units, or turn those bases into potential meat grinders?

I had two Naval Guard or SNLF equivalent sized units on Lunga behind level four forts. In total roughly 130 AV. The Allies landed a full division, a Tank Bn. and a BF and my troops were blown away on the first deliberate attack. Mind you this wasn't an atoll, but I expected a little more resistance.

I think if you plan a counterinvasion strategy, you need to keep division sized units in your reserve and rely on forts and Bde. sized units to buy you the time needed to deploy. My personal opinion is, if it can be bypassed don't garrison with divisions as they may become stranded. Must have key bases, I'd make sure I have AT units to offset enemy armour and enough support to sustain effective combat operations. Supply is key too, but I'd be leary of having too much as bases that could fall easily.

I'd definitely grab Darwin, it is important to deny that base, or any of the other bases along the coast of Northern Australia, to prevent early 4E intervention. I tried keeping Darwin closed by air attack and that failed. If the Allies bring enough engineers and a few bad weather days occur, the base can be up and running again in no time.

I think planning the defence of Japan's perimeter is one of the hardest things to do in this game. You simply can't defend everywhere in strength and it's impossible to know exactly where the Allies will hit. I think a counterinvasion type strategy is the best early, when you can still go toe to toe, after mid 1943 I think you dig in and grind it out once the Combined Fleet has lost it's teeth. So I'd concentrate building up bastions in your second and third lines of defence, don't waste much forward as it's easily bypassed.

Just my thoughts.

Francois,

I certainly agree with SML that the island defense is quite difficult. OTOH, don't overlook your goal in this: delay. The allies are good for about 6 full amphib assaults per year. My goal is to get them to burn as many of them on non-critical targets as I can. Non-critical is anything outside of the PI -> Guam area ... meaning I want to delay B-29 range on the HI. Sure, the allies can bypass bases, but if they do, I want them to be ones that I can punish them if they do.

So enough stopping power to allow my mobile forces to get into the area to punish the allies, and maybe even counter attack. As SML notes, 2x SNLF with Lvl4 forts will not stop a reinforced div ... at that is pretty standard allied landing force. A BDE with lvl6 will stop a div most of the time for a few turns. A reinforced div will require a bde with a garrison or SNLF unit at least. Always remember that if the allies can prep with more than a day or two of bombardment, it can swing the odds to their favor rapidly.

Anyway you need a stopping force and then a large reaction force. I like about 400 fighters, 400 2E bombers, and 200 1E strike ac along with 3 - 5 ID's as my reaction force. This is in addition to whatever I have left of the KB. The 2E's are going to do night bombings until I have air superiority for them to switch to day. I could augment those numbers depending upon how things are going.

Read Pzb's AAR for the ultimate "how to" for reaction forces. He was able to mass huge forces within a few turns ... I've never been able to be that good yet ... but he did it several times so it is possible to do ... somehow.

Still working out how he did it!

_____________________________

Pax

(in reply to SqzMyLemon)

Post #: 217

RE: Perfection, of a kind, spence (A) vs fcharton (J) - 9/22/2012 9:37:18 PM

fcharton

Posts: 1112
Joined: 10/4/2010
From: France
Status: offline

May 8th 1942

Doolittle aborted

Today, a troop transport convoying an air support unit from Japan to the Marshalls, was sunk off Chichi-Jima, by Wildcats!

Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Chichi-jima at 115,81
Weather in hex: Light rain

Allied aircraft
F4F-4 Wildcat x 24
SBD-3 Dauntless x 15

Japanese Ships
xAP Huzi Maru, Bomb hits 7, heavy fires, heavy damage
DD Kasumi

Intelligence reveals at least two Allied carriers and assorted cruisers and destroyers. All bombers in Japan have been put on alert, and several squadrons transferred to the Marianas and Bonin. If the enemy task force proceeds towards Japan, or just remains in the area, and interesting battle might occur.

But it is very likely that my opponent, after being detected, will choose not to push forward. KB was dispatched towards Wake, and submarines cruising around Hawaii were sent on an intercept course from Pearl to Chichi Jima. It is a small chance but worth running anyway.

What was KB doing in this area? I am pretty sure my opponent intended to raid Japan. I don�t think this would have worked so nicely. Many squadrons based around Tokyo were training, but some were on alert, and I have quite a bit of flak in those cities. But damage would have been done, for sure, and one xAP is a very low price tag for such an aborted raid.

More importantly, the fact that enemy carriers, with their squadrons on naval attack, could pass undetected through a good number of garrisoned islands, reveals the failure of my naval search network.

Yet another thing I need to correct, and fast!

Preparing for Chungking

Two divisions and several artillery units have arrived in Chungking. I am bombarding tomorrow, to assess enemy strength. I have about 3500 AV within shouting distance of the city, and the artillery from Changsha is now west of Changteh, and should be here by the end of the month.

Having troops in the city means resources cease being produced. I doubt the supply situation is good, as the enemy has more than 75 units in town, which should eat a lot every day. The base will fall, how long it takes is anyone�s guess.

Talking of which, I think I have found the wine I will drink when the city falls. A very strong Spanish wine (15.5% alcohol, whereas most reds are around 13.5), from a small region near Castille, known as Toro. The vintage is called Campo Elyseo, which means Champs Elys�es, the perfect name for the fall of China (and it is pretty old, too). If the victory isn�t that clear, a bit pyrrhic, I will switch to something less flashy. I have a Alcorta Rioja, yet another Spanish wine, more typical.

Garrisons, maneuver mass, and delays

Pax and Lemon, thanks a lot for the comments. Regarding garrison levels, I understand that a division (400+AV, with guns and devices, and engineers, and forts, and lots of support) is quite a formidable opponent. A brigade (half that), will hold against an invasion of less than a division, and will resist a reinforced division, but fall eventually.

Below, a regiment (say 120 AV, less guns and devices) or a battalion (60 AV, very few guns) are only useful insofar they force the Allies to commit a large number of troops. But they can be deadly against small forces, or if the invasion force is attacked before it lands or finished unloading.

Very small forces, companies, isolated base forces, and the like, just prevent Japanese possessions from becoming free lunches.

I am in the process of reading PzB�s AAR, and understand that atolls, defensive terrain, and low stacking areas work as natural defenses. This means it could be interesting to prefer them for infrastructure (airfields notably). A 6000 men atoll with decent facilities (like Kwajalein or Roi Namur) with a garrison close to stacking limits, is difficult to invade.

Your point on delaying is well taken, Pax. If China falls this summer, I can probably force the Allies to commit more troops to India, and free a lot of units to reinforce my inner perimeter (Kuriles, Marianas, Philippines and the �inner Indies�. But this will only work if I can keep the enemy in the Solomons and New Guinea for most of 1943.

(in reply to PaxMondo)

Post #: 218

RE: Perfection, of a kind, spence (A) vs fcharton (J) - 9/22/2012 9:53:39 PM

SqzMyLemon

Posts: 4239
Joined: 10/30/2009
From: Alberta, Canada
Status: offline

quote:

ORIGINAL: PaxMondo

I certainly agree with SML that the island defense is quite difficult. OTOH, don't overlook your goal in this: delay.

I just wanted to clarify that my suggestion to not put much forward was in regards to a garrison, not defending overall. Rather than trying to guess on Allied targets and maintain large garrisons, I'd maintain small garrisons to delay, but use my strategic reserve to counterinvade. It's a forward defence, but one based on mobility rather than static island garrisons. I hope this makes sense.

The best example I can give is what I did when Lunga was invaded by the Allies in my other AAR. I counterinvaded with five divisions and wiped out the entire Allied force, but my initial garrison was less than 140 AV. If I had my airbases organized and expanded beforehand the initial Allied landings would not have gone well, so don't forget to have the infrastructure for a strong LBA response. Against an aggressive Allied player, you won't have the time to build up bases after the fact.

_____________________________

Luck is the residue of design - John Milton

Don't mistake lack of talent for genius - Peter Steele (Type O Negative)

(in reply to PaxMondo)

Post #: 219

RE: Perfection, of a kind, spence (A) vs fcharton (J) - 9/22/2012 11:09:56 PM

fcharton

Posts: 1112
Joined: 10/4/2010
From: France
Status: offline

Hi Joseph,
You make perfect sense, and I believe I am reaching the same conclusions: almost all your island garrisons will not resist a serious offensive, but they will force your opponent to mount that offensive, which means delays, risks, losses�

I am still a bit uncertain on how to conduct counteroffensives. I feel very incompetent in naval matters, but I can hope to learn and progress.

May 9th 1942

Empty Bonins, fun in Timor, bad day in Bataan

Enemy CV were nowhere to be seen. I have left my bombers on alert, but chances are that the carriers are gone for good. Here�s hoping for a chance encounter with my subs, or the KB.

On Timor, Lautem was reinforced yesterday. The SNLF arrived quite disrupted (that�s May for you, gaijin), but the unloading transport attracted Hudson III from Darwin, which flew in unescorted (I suspect most of the Australian chasse is in Port Moresby). I had Zeroes on long range patrol from Ambon, and eleven Hudsons were shot down. No hits were scored on the transports�

Two divisions are on their way to Bataan, but I thought it might be a good idea to attack again today�

Ground combat at Bataan (78,77)
Japanese Deliberate attack
Attacking force 32217 troops, 470 guns, 239 vehicles, Assault Value = 824
Defending force 36776 troops, 518 guns, 462 vehicles, Assault Value = 749
Japanese assault odds: 1 to 1 (fort level 1)
Japanese Assault reduces fortifications to 0

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

Japanese ground losses:
1099 casualties reported
Squads: 69 destroyed, 99 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 36 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 28 disabled
Guns lost 56 (7 destroyed, 49 disabled)
Vehicles lost 33 (3 destroyed, 30 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
1107 casualties reported
Squads: 14 destroyed, 133 disabled
Non Combat: 9 destroyed, 52 disabled
Engineers: 3 destroyed, 4 disabled
Guns lost 21 (3 destroyed, 18 disabled)
Units destroyed 1

We�re getting there, but it is a bit expensive.

So? Chungking?

So we bombarded Chungking, and found 76 units, and 2570 AV. Enemy losses were very low, which suggests good forts (or bad recon, or both). Overall, this is a pretty good piece of news, as I have more than 3000 AV around Chungking.

Chinese supply situation in Chungking seems worse than I expected. Bombers hardly get shot at, even when they fly low, and today, Allied VP went down by more than 300 points. The only way this can happen is when a large base gets unsupplied, and Chungking is the most likely suspect.

My hunch is that the 76 units were barely supported by local production and stocks, but the counter-bombardment disrupted the balance. 300 point out of 800 lost is a lot : it suggests the city has about a third of its needs.

Now, now, where have I put that corkscrew?

(in reply to SqzMyLemon)

Post #: 220

RE: Perfection, of a kind, spence (A) vs fcharton (J) - 9/23/2012 3:36:18 AM

PaxMondo

Posts: 9750
Joined: 6/6/2008
Status: offline

quote:

ORIGINAL: fcharton

I am still a bit uncertain on how to conduct counteroffensives. I feel very incompetent in naval matters, but I can hope to learn and progress.

Joseph did a magnificent counter invasion in his last AAR ... I couldn't have done it. So, I would definitely read that ... 3 - 4 pages. Then just read up on Pzb's. He did it so many times in so many theatres ... amazing ...

_____________________________

Pax

(in reply to fcharton)

Post #: 221

RE: Perfection, of a kind, spence (A) vs fcharton (J) - 9/26/2012 10:42:37 PM

fcharton

Posts: 1112
Joined: 10/4/2010
From: France
Status: offline

May 10th 1942

More Doolittle

Enemy carriers reappeared today, a few hexes east of their previous position, and sank a cargo on its way to Marcus Island. They seem to be sailing back towards San Francisco, at a relatively low speed, did they refuel on the way?

Kido Butai is east of Wake, if the carriers turn south towards Hawaii, we will catch them. If their oilers are trailing behind, we will get the oilers instead. Several submarines are also on their path, should they continue towards Frisco, or make for Midway and Pearl. It is a gamble, but gambles work, some times.

Guns of Chungking

We had another day of bombardment, and very little damage done. The forts must be quite strong. We now have 1900 AV, against 2600 enemies. I was slightly worried to see enemy AV go up by a dozen, since yesterday. Could my opponent be supplied? Or is he just setting resting units back to defense mode?

Bataan closing

Bombardment of Bataan is slowly reducing the defenders. They are below 650 AV now. Two battle hardened divisions, the 18th and the 38th, will land in Batangas in a few days. We should finish Luzon by the end of May. This will free four divisions for use in the South Pacific and around Timor.

Whither now?

With Timor almost captured, Java and Sumatra cleared of enemy presence, and Chungking under siege, a second phase in the war is about to begin, and it is a good time to review my options.

China is under control. A dozen bases are still held by the enemy. Chungking and Changsha are under siege, we are closing on Kunming, and have begun clearing enemy pockets in the north. The only area controlled by the KMT is a crescent that ranges from Tuyun to Kukong. I have no idea of how long I need to finish China, but I hope to be able to start transferring troops to Burma in July.

Burma is strongly held. I have three divisions there (5th and 6th Guards, and Imperial Guard division), several infantry regiments, and a tank brigade. The guard tank division is on its way, while a regiment from Singapore is marching on Tavoy. I intend to deploy those troops in the plains. The goal is to hold the place until Chinese troops relieve us, this summer hopefully. Then, the guard divisions will march on Singapore, to be used as a reserve in the East Indies, while the Chinese divisions begin pressing on India.

Sumatra and Java are garrisoned, with about division equivalent on each island. Smaller units should now move in and help build the defenses, and patrol areas. In the Andamans, the air battle over Port Blair is pretty much won, and the enemy hardly bothers to CAP the base now. I am beginning to bomb the airfield, and will do it more as Sallies from China transfer to Bangkok. The general idea is to make the British units there as miserable as I can. Whether I will then invade with a division or two from Burma, or just let the Brits rot on their island, is unclear.

In the southern indies, Timor is about to fall. Koepang is ours, and Lautem is being reinforced. Recon shows Northern Australia is almost empty, and Horn Island is not much defended. I want to develop Koepang and the neighbouring bases, with probably an air HQ, to make the northern coast of Australia a very dangerous place for the Allies. This, in my opinion, is the best way to prevent an early move against Timor or Ambon.

Finally, Bataan is still under siege, but this should end soon. This will free four divisions and a few smaller units for redeployment in late June.

The Pacific is our weaker suit. Port Moresby is strongly held, Buna is under fire, and Lae and Finschafen are not captured yet. We do have strong bases in Rabaul (an infantry division, and air HQ, and quite a few squadrons), and Manus. Hansa bay is being developed too. We hold the Solomons, Marshalls and Gilberts, but lack the troops to efficiently garrison those places. I am now transferring several regiments from Java to Madang and Tulagi. I will need more troops in Kwajalein and Tarawa.

Until July, when troops for Luzon have moved in, and Burma is relieved, we are living in dangerous times: if my opponent tries to land in the Solomons, or Gilberts, there is little I can do about it. I don�t believe in rushing troops forward. The first order of business, right now, is to build a second line, in the Marshalls, around Rabaul, and in the Marianas. I can afford to lose the Solomons and Gilberts, but if the enemy tries to push forward, I need to punish him.

Around New Guinea, I already have a division in Rabaul. Two regiments from Java are on their way to Madang, and a fast transport force will land in Lae very soon. This should settle the problem in New Britain. The Marianas and Marshalls will most probably be reinforced with troops bought from Japan. I just need to gather enough transports.

As for Port Moresby, I believe the best solution would be to isolate it by invading north eastern Australia. I can probably commit about two division equivalents (one full strength division, two infantry regiments, and several tanks regiments from Java), land them in Darwin and Normanton, send small units in Port Hedland, Exmouth and Derby, to serve as alerts, and try to march south towards Cooktown, Townsville and Rockhampton. If such a move was successful, another division could join after the fall of Bataan, maybe another more from China, and one from Burma. Basically, I could have about 5 divisions in Australia in September.

I realize June is a late starting date for such an invasion. On the other hand, forcing the Allies to fight in Autralia, while troops freed from China press in India, is a good way to prevent early Allied attempts at reconquest (and my overall strategy revolves around the idea that if the Allies can be kept busy until early 1943, I can probably build quite a few bastions in the South Pacific and East Indies).

I am toying with the idea, now. What do you think?

< Message edited by fcharton -- 9/27/2012 9:35:26 AM >

(in reply to PaxMondo)

Post #: 222

RE: Perfection, of a kind, spence (A) vs fcharton (J) - 9/28/2012 3:20:53 AM

PaxMondo

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If he has prepped Darwin (moving a couple of CD units there overland, which he can), it can be very costly to go after Darwin this late. But he may have sent them to Perth instead .... you need recon of both locations ... and Horn Island. Gonna cost you a bunch of Glens to get it. If he has no CD's there, then you should be able to take it as you can prep with lots of bombardment. Just remember without your landing bonus, your disruption on landing is going to be large.

Or do you use the units to go after deeper strikes into India. There is a lot of HI to go after in India and I have found a LOT of fuel .... all that fuel from Abadan gets sent to Karachi and then spread around ...

Can't remember if you have taken Adak yet ... sealing your northern border is a good idea ....

How about Midway? or Christmas island? Yes, they are far from your supply lines but they both make great forward sub bases and the allies can't afford to bypass them, so when they start moving they have to take them first. IE, either location is great trip wire ... yes you will lose a brigade, a couple of eng units, and likely an AS. But not that much to know when the allies start the offensive, neh?

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(in reply to fcharton)

Post #: 223

RE: Perfection, of a kind, spence (A) vs fcharton (J) - 9/28/2012 10:40:56 PM

fcharton

Posts: 1112
Joined: 10/4/2010
From: France
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May 11th 1942

Ugly Buna

My boys in Buna have been eating lizards, roaches and other unsavory jungle products for quite a while now. I am supplying them by air, but never seem to get enough. Today, I tried to snatch a small AG to the base. It seemed to work, until it started to unload, and Vindicators from Port Moresby paid a visit�

Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Buna at 99,129
Weather in hex: Heavy rain
Japanese aircraft
A6M2-N Rufe x 5
Allied aircraft
Kittyhawk IA x 10
SB2U-3 Vindicator x 16
Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2-N Rufe: 1 destroyed
Allied aircraft losses
Kittyhawk IA: 1 destroyed
Japanese Ships
AG Tamaki Maru, Bomb hits 4, and is sunk

Right, I will supply by air, then�

More in Chungking

Chinese AV went up today, to almost 3200. My opponent has troops resting here. I now have 2300. Allied VP went down 75 points, again. The supply situation must be very bad.

Elsewhere in China, the 4th Guard division is arriving in Mengtze tomorrow. In Tsuyung, another attack reduced the defenders, who now have less than 140 AV. The 104th division is around 420.

Finally, on the road to Ankang, we are attacking a large stack, the former Loyang defenders. As often in rough terrain, we failed to achieve 1:1 odds, and will need to rest tomorrow, but the damage done is very nice.

Ground combat at 83,44 (near Ankang)
Japanese Deliberate attack
Attacking force 12637 troops, 124 guns, 42 vehicles, Assault Value = 374
Defending force 16545 troops, 91 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 186
Japanese assault odds: 1 to 2

Japanese ground losses:
168 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 13 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

Allied ground losses:
450 casualties reported
Squads: 30 destroyed, 18 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 22 disabled
Engineers: 2 destroyed, 2 disabled
Guns lost 16 (4 destroyed, 12 disabled)

Expansion, and base building

Thanks a lot, Pax, for all the suggestions. In Australia, recon suggests Darwin is almost empty. I can probably invade with a regiment from Koepang, use paras on Katherine to cut them off, and then land tanks on to march on Daly Waters. I would then land token garrisons in Exmouth and Port Hedland, to act as warnings.

Horn Island is not very strongly held, either, but the enemy has lots of troops in Port Moresby, and this could be the same kind of trap as Buna: difficult to resupply, easy to bomb, hard to CAP. Horn could probably be isolated first, by landing in Normanton.

I haven�t looked at all into the Aleutians. So far, I only garrisoned and built the Kuriles. But it is tempting to establish some presence in the Aleutians, as a �tripwire�.

As of today, we hold 611 bases, compared with 521 two months ago. 316 bases have forts (+68). 6 level five or six, 25 have level four (+8), 122 (+56) have level three. Overall, half my bases have forts, and a quarter have level three or more fortifications.

367 bases have airfields (+54), we have 29 airfields with level seven or more (+9), and 85 (+15) with level 4 to 6. Finally, 349 bases have ports. We have 18 (+2) level seven or more, and 41 (+3) level 4 to 6.

(in reply to PaxMondo)

Post #: 224

RE: Perfection, of a kind, spence (A) vs fcharton (J) - 9/29/2012 8:10:08 AM

MAurelius

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could you post a map of China or something? - would be great - at least for me it's easier to visualize things.... thx :D

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(in reply to fcharton)

Post #: 225

RE: Perfection, of a kind, spence (A) vs fcharton (J) - 9/29/2012 10:30:19 AM

fcharton

Posts: 1112
Joined: 10/4/2010
From: France
Status: offline

May 12th 1942

Funny Lae

Our fast transports landed an engineer company in Lae today. Enemy Vindicators flew unescorted from Port Moresby, missed the transports, but got punished by the CAP. A dozen Vindicators are reported shot down, together with a few B-26.

Lae is empty and will fall tomorrow. I intend to march on the dot base to the north, which should open the supply flow to Hansa bay. Then, we will march on the neighbouring bases. With a little luck, we can open a corridor to help supply flow to Buna. At worst, we will have something to hold to if then enemy decides to go for Buna.

There is a lot of activity around Port Moresby. I suspect my opponent is reinforcing the place, and wants to take Buna. I will evacuate Buna before this happens. As it is now, the place is indefensible, and the Kokoda trail will provide me with enough advance warning, to make an orderly retreat possible.

Buna and PM will be a thorn in my side, but they also mean a large number of enemies in malaria zone, under range of my bombers in Rabaul.

Activity means target for my Betties. Today, CL Tromp caught a torpedo. She might survive, but will need some yard time. Unfortunately, that afternoon, my Betties, elated by their morning victory, chose to attack Port Moresby, and were slaughtered by enemy fighters. I don�t understand why the AI does that. That a few bombers can sometimes follow the wrong cloud, and end over an enemy base, makes some sense. That bombers will systematically target a known enemy base in range, even though they should know CAP will be present and have no escort, is a bit strange�

Timor done

Lautem fell today on first try. We are now chasing defeated units around the island. This should be easier once Dili falls. Over Darwin, a bomber attack found Airacobras, but the place seems lightly garrisoned.

Reconnaissance over Horn Island also show a token force there.

Horror in Chungking

I am reinforcing Chungking. Now have 2600 AV in the base, against 3200 chinese. Units on the road south of the city were ordered to cross the river to the northwest, into a neighboring hex I controlled. Alas, for some reason, two of them crossed straight into Chungking. I am heavily suspecting the ugly �follow bug�, here.

Anyway, the shock attack happened, and trashed two divisions, which are now at half strength. Most of the damage done is disablement, but there are a lot of those.

Ground combat at Chungking (76,45)
Japanese Shock attack
Attacking force 64654 troops, 763 guns, 185 vehicles, Assault Value = 2675
Defending force 113917 troops, 761 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 3203
Japanese assault odds: 1 to 239 (fort level 6)

Japanese ground losses:
6933 casualties reported
Squads: 16 destroyed, 597 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 63 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 68 disabled
Guns lost 86 (3 destroyed, 83 disabled)
Vehicles lost 17 (2 destroyed, 15 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
414 casualties reported
Squads: 2 destroyed, 35 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 16 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled

We will survive, and take Chungking anyway, but we probably have lost two weeks over this attack. On the bright side, we now know the fort levels (yuk!) and Allied VP went down by another 150 today, due to lack of supplies. Overall, enemy base VP went down 594 points over the last four days, whereas very few bases were captured. Chungking being worth 800 points and a base with no supply being �quartered�, this suggests the KMT has very little left there. Chungking still produces some supply (400 tons a day, plus the industry), but the KMT has about 80 units there, and I doubt the stocks can go up.

I will have over 4000 AV in Chungking in about five days. My artillery, marching from Changsha, is now near Chihkiang. They should arrive in about two weeks. There is no point rushing, time is on our side.

In other news, the Guards division that marched across the jungle from Lao Cai arrived in Mengtze today. The base is empty and will fall tomorrow. Another division, marching from Kweiyang, is one hex east of Kunming, and in Tsuyung, the battle is slowly shifting in our favor (our division is still at full strength, the enemy have lost more than half their AV). Kunming will probably be ours by the beginning of June, and this areas is now guarded enough to prevent a general retreat to Burma.

Finally, we are clearing small units on the road to Patung (which has been recaptured by the KMT a few days ago).

Here is a map of the area. Sorry about the lack of them, lately, I am getting a bit lazy. The yellow circles are bases under siege (or about to�), the read areas, my paths of advance, and the yellow area at the bottom is enemy held territory, left alone for now (save perhaps Kukong).

Attachment (1)

< Message edited by fcharton -- 9/29/2012 10:31:02 AM >

(in reply to MAurelius)

Post #: 226

RE: Perfection, of a kind, spence (A) vs fcharton (J) - 9/29/2012 11:51:21 AM

GreyJoy

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I suggest you to go for Liuchow and Wochow anyway...those bases are in clear terrain and you shouldn't have much problem to get those bases even if outnumbered. Simply send some bombers to target troops for a couple of weeks and the chinese won't hold...not in a clear hex!

Bien jou� en Chine!

(in reply to fcharton)

Post #: 227

RE: Perfection, of a kind, spence (A) vs fcharton (J) - 9/30/2012 9:18:59 PM

fcharton

Posts: 1112
Joined: 10/4/2010
From: France
Status: offline

Hi Greyjoy
I am bombing the troops in Wuchow and Liuchow, but unfortunately, I have precious little troops in the area (once Canton garrison requirements are satisfied). I have two brigades in Kanhsien, though, which are now moving against Kukong, but I might march them south to Canton and Wuchow if the place holds.

May 13th 1942

Grrrrrr

ASW attack near Isle of Pines at 118,165

Japanese Ships
SS RO-63, hits 4, on fire

Allied Ships
AO Bishopdale
TK British Motorist
TK Gulfcoast
TK Mobilstation
TK Mobilfuel
TK Montebello
AM Warrnambool

RO-63 is on her way to base, but her captain might actually wish she�d sink on the way�

Mengtze

� was captured today by the Fourth Guard Division. On to Kunming, where another IJA division just arrived. In Tsuyung, the 104th attacked again, reduced the forts again, got disrupted again, and will need to rest. It is a long battle, but we are winning it: the enemy sported over 300 AV a few weeks ago, and is now around 100. We are still at full strength.

I am now rushing in southwestern China. It is too late now to reopen the Burma road, or to try to evacuate KMT units towards India.

(in reply to GreyJoy)

Post #: 228

RE: Perfection, of a kind, spence (A) vs fcharton (J) - 9/30/2012 11:12:16 PM

fcharton

Posts: 1112
Joined: 10/4/2010
From: France
Status: offline

May 14th 1942

A bad day

We had a very bad day in the air today. We lost almost 100 planes, to only 20 enemies in two series of attacks.

Enemy fighters, Hurricanes IIb and P-38E, reappeared over Port Blair, and had a field day with my bombers. I need to rotate fighters back, and sweep again� Over Darwin, we traded losses with enemy Airacobras.

But most of the damage was done in the South Pacific.

The problem with Buna

Yesterday, several task forces, including transports, were detected in Port Moresby, and Betties from Rabaul were ordered to attack, under heavy escort. The first run put two torpedoes into a transport and a cargo, but apparently failed to sink them.

Morning Air attack on TF, near Port Moresby at 98,130
Weather in hex: Heavy cloud
Raid detected at 79 NM, estimated altitude 9,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 27 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 52
G4M1 Betty x 27

Allied aircraft
P-39D Airacobra x 9
P-40E Warhawk x 21

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 13 destroyed
G4M1 Betty: 4 damaged
G4M1 Betty: 1 destroyed by flak

Allied aircraft losses
P-40E Warhawk: 2 destroyed

Allied Ships
CL Dragon
AM Whyalla
xAP Malaita, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
AK Procyon, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
CL Phoenix

Allied ground losses:
Vehicles lost 4 (1 destroyed, 3 disabled)

In the afternoon, a second raid spotted enemy battleships, but failed to damage any, and the cost was quite high.

Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Port Moresby at 98,130
Weather in hex: Clear sky
Raid detected at 80 NM, estimated altitude 8,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 28 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 24
G4M1 Betty x 19

Allied aircraft
P-39D Airacobra x 8
P-40E Warhawk x 10

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 9 destroyed
G4M1 Betty: 1 destroyed, 5 damaged
G4M1 Betty: 1 destroyed by flak

Allied aircraft losses
P-39D Airacobra: 1 destroyed

Allied Ships
DD Dunlap
BB Idaho
CL Phoenix
CL Dragon
BB Colorado
DD Isis

I had thought I could add Mavises to my Betties. Wrong move! They flew alone and got slaughtered. A bad day, as I said�

Intelligence reports a dozen units in Port Moresby, with lots of guns and tanks. My opponent seems to have a lot of planes there, and the appearance of heavy surface ships is worrying. I believe a US division, reinforced with armor, is in Port Moresby, and will march on the Kokoda trail to Buna.

I don�t think Buna can be saved. The enemy has air superiority, and can prevent me from reinforcing it, or even supplying the troops there. I am planning to evacuate my units there, and form a defensive line between Wau and Lae. Meanwhile, all my bombers in Rabaul have been ordered to patrol and defend the Solomon sea, and submarines are on their way to try to interdict the area between Port Moresby and Cooktown.

KB is on its way to Truk, and will then take position around Ontong Java, ready to strike if the enemy tries something around Shortlands, or New Britain. Several regiments from Java are on their way, and will reinforce Lae, and Shortlands. Then, I might send a division to Lae, to prevent an attempt to march north of Buna, through the jungle, to Salamaua and Wau.

The impending loss of Buna is worrying. May 1942 is a very early date to have the Allies advancing in New Guinea. On the other hand, with the DEI captured, Bataan about to fall, and China on the chopping block. I don�t think my opponent can afford to be too bold.

The bright side is that, now, New Guinea and the Solomons are probably too tempting targets for my opponent to consider another route to reconquest. I know where he is going, and somehow, it suits me fine, as the South Pacific route is a long and slow one. Of course, I would have preferred this to happen six months later, but we play the game we have.

What now, again?

If an advance on Buna is confirmed, several measures need to be taken.

First, I need to reinforce Lae and the Solomons, to limit enemy advance to Southern New Guinea.
Then, I need to make his situation in Buna difficult. We are in malaria zone, the base has no airfield, can be mined, bombarded or attacked from Rabaul. Let us see how his fighters like LRCAP.

Also, I want to make supplying Port Moresby a difficult thing. This is not the case now, but I think I can raid his supply lines in the Coral sea. This also suggests invading northern Australia. Darwin seems empty at present. A fast transport from Koepang could bring a regiment there in a few weeks.

Overall, my goal is to keep the war in New Guinea, while I get ready for the offensive in India. I will have several divisions from Luzon available in a short while. I can probably get more troops from Java in Koepang and northern Australia. I am more and more interested in a quick move of Northern Oz. I might use several regiments, infantry and tanks, perhaps a division worth, that would land in Darwin, Broome and Windham. Those troops would be considered expendable.

This could be done by the end of the month. Then, I might then land a second wave in Normanton, somewhere in June, and use those troops to threaten Townsville. This would much complicate supporting the offensive from Port Moresby.

Can my opponent prevent this? Sure, but I am hoping to keep him focused on New Guinea and the Solomons. Perhaps, launch an attack on the New Hebrides, and send ships in the Coral Sea.

(in reply to fcharton)

Post #: 229

RE: Perfection, of a kind, spence (A) vs fcharton (J) - 10/1/2012 5:02:37 AM

PaxMondo

Posts: 9750
Joined: 6/6/2008
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How is he acheiving air superiority in may 42? Pretty early for that to happen. He doesn't get that many fighters/month ...

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(in reply to fcharton)

Post #: 230

RE: Perfection, of a kind, spence (A) vs fcharton (J) - 10/2/2012 10:35:07 PM

fcharton

Posts: 1112
Joined: 10/4/2010
From: France
Status: offline

May 15th, 1942

Wimps in the Pacific

Thanks for the comment, Pax. I realize that in New Guinea, just like in the Andamans a few weeks ago, I tend to give up too easily. Yesterday�s raid was silly: I need to sweep first, and shoot down those Kittyhawks and Airacobras in Port Moresby, and Hurricanes in Port Blair.

Due to the recent battles, my fighter pools are very low, but I am producing over 250 fighters a month (half Zeroes half Oscars), and I believe I can increase fighter production a bit. I have almost a million HI in the bank now, and will reduce ship building again soon, so I can afford more planes and engines.

I have quite a few idle squadrons all over the map. I don�t really need fighters in China anymore, and the air war over Burma never really began, since my opponent is fighting in the Andamans. So it is all about rotating squadrons to Rabaul and Bangkok, and wear his fighters away.

The evacuation of Buna has begun. I am reinforcing Lae and neighbouring bases overland, from Hansa Bay, and several submarines patrol the Coral Sea between Port Moresby, Horn Island and Townsville, which look like the enemy staging area. KB is on its way to try and catch enemy shipping in this area.

Meanwhile, I am preparing a coup de main on Darwin. Surface ships from Singapore are on their way to Koepang, where an infantry regiment is preparing. The second wave will include another regiment and tanks. I also intend to use light units (companies or battalions) to take the small bases on the northern coast.

What can the enemy do?

He could reinforce Darwin from Port Moresby. I have planes on patrol over the Gulf of Carpentaria, and am dispatching cruisers in this area, just in case. He could also send carriers from the west. I don�t think something is to be feared from the US carriers. Most of them were spotted near Marcus island a few days ago. But the Royal Navy might try something. So far, my search planes in the Cocos or on Java didn�t spot anything, but I most definitely need pickets in the Indian Ocean.

The end of Bataan

The 18th and 38Th infantry divisions are now between Manila and Clark Field. They should arrive in Bataan in about a week. The Allied garrison is bombarded every day, and their AV is dropping fast. I believe everything will be over by the 25th of May.

The fall of Bataan will free three infantry divisions in pretty good shape (18, 38, 48), and one (1st) that needs R&R. I intend to send at least two divisions to New Guinea and the Solomons, the last one might be dispatched to Koepang, to reinforce our operations in Australia.

I am relatively happy with the campaign in Luzon. I might have used a little too many troops there, I had three division equivalents on the island, two might have been enough, but it was not a very costly campaign.

Spring cleaning in China

We are now clearing all enemy pockets in northern China. Between Kungchang and Tienshui, the remnants of the red Army are being destroyed. North of Taiyuan, two Chinese corps that never really managed to fight are being attacked by two regiments.

In the Northwest, we are moving on Kashgar, and marching on enemy units that retreated north of Hami. All those troops are out of supply, and should surrender fast.

In Sichuan, the last enemy units out of Chungking surrendered today. There might be a few more in the woods near Patung, but Chungking is pretty much pocketed now. My artillery should arrive in Kweiyang in a few days, and be in Chungking by the end of the month.

In Western China, a division from Kweiyang arrived in Kunming. The enemy has about 400 AV there. I will bombard, and wait for the guards from Mengtze.

The pace is slower, as many units are now moving into position, but China is doomed. 30 000 combat squads have been destroyed there since the beginning of the war which means the enemy has very little left, and the evacuation to India will not happen.

I am hoping to take Chungking in late June, and spend part of July and August finishing South China and Changsha, while some of my troops from Chungking march on Burma. This means we could be on the offensive in Burma this autumn.

(in reply to PaxMondo)

Post #: 231

RE: Perfection, of a kind, spence (A) vs fcharton (J) - 10/2/2012 11:16:03 PM

obvert

Posts: 14050
Joined: 1/17/2011
From: PDX (and now) London, UK
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quote:

ORIGINAL: fcharton

Due to the recent battles, my fighter pools are very low, but I am producing over 250 fighters a month (half Zeroes half Oscars), and I believe I can increase fighter production a bit. I have almost a million HI in the bank now, and will reduce ship building again soon, so I can afford more planes and engines.

You have almost a million HI banked in May 42?!!!? Seriously? I didn't get there until November 42!

Yes. Make more planes. Many more planes. Never let him have the air if you don't need to give it away. If the thing holding you back near Port Moresby is the air battle, get 120 Oscars in there and a bunch of pilots trained to 50/60 and sweep away. His production in 42 is so low that yo u can overwhelm even the mighty P-38 with sheer numbers.

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(in reply to fcharton)

Post #: 232

RE: Perfection, of a kind, spence (A) vs fcharton (J) - 10/2/2012 11:25:54 PM

SqzMyLemon

Posts: 4239
Joined: 10/30/2009
From: Alberta, Canada
Status: offline

quote:

ORIGINAL: obvert

quote:

ORIGINAL: fcharton

Due to the recent battles, my fighter pools are very low, but I am producing over 250 fighters a month (half Zeroes half Oscars), and I believe I can increase fighter production a bit. I have almost a million HI in the bank now, and will reduce ship building again soon, so I can afford more planes and engines.

You have almost a million HI banked in May 42?!!!? Seriously? I didn't get there until November 42!

I'm glad to see I'm almost on pace with you Francois. I'm currently banking over 6k HI daily and that should put me around 900k by the end of May. This figure already accounts for the monthly HI expenditure for pilot training.

Erik, banking HI is much easier when not heavily engaged as you have been in the air war. A million by 1942 is still pretty impressive. In my other AAR, I didn't reach that figure until March of 1943, but I wasted so much at start correcting mistakes and concentrating on getting production numbers up quickly.

I think the pace of combat really drives how much HI can be pooled.

_____________________________

Luck is the residue of design - John Milton

Don't mistake lack of talent for genius - Peter Steele (Type O Negative)

(in reply to obvert)

Post #: 233

RE: Perfection, of a kind, spence (A) vs fcharton (J) - 10/3/2012 12:04:17 AM

fcharton

Posts: 1112
Joined: 10/4/2010
From: France
Status: offline

Hi Erik and Joseph,

I have 950 000 HI as of the 17th of May, and saving 6 835 every day. With 36 000 due for pilot training, I should be just over a million at the end of May. I don't think it is due to the pace of the air war. We had an active air war here, with over 2000 planes lost on each side, and I have doubled airframe and engine production (to 660 frames, and 870 engines). The land war is active too, I have lost 650 LCU VP, the Allies 11200.

The trick, I think, is ship production. In scenario 2, you begin the war with 1380 naval, and over 800 merchant shipyards. At 3 HI per yard, those cost amost 6 500 HI per day. Now, you don't really need the merchies (apart a few CVE, CS, AS, ...). I have been running under 150 since day one. Right now, I am at 140 and would only need 100. This saves about 2000 HI per day, or 350 000 over six months. As for the navy, I was less brutal. I didn't accelerate anything and cancelled the two battleships (I might regret that). On the other hand, I kept pretty much all the rest, esp all the submarine programs. Right now, I am running about 1000 shipyard, but I believe you can do better than that. This saves 200 000 more over six months. Finally, I halved the armaments and tripled the vehicles. 300 of each seems to be a little high. This means between 100 and 150 factories can be closed, for 600 to 900 HI per day (or 120 000 in six months).

In exchange, I have almost doubled my air production to about 660 airframes, and 870 engines. I will probably double them again before the end of the year. My objective is to run at about 1500 frames/month. I will probably fund this by reducing armaments and shipyards.

I am not as frugal as I thought. Right now, I use 8000 HI every day, and save 6500, or about 5400 after pilot training. This means I am saving two days worth of HI every three days. I believe you need to do this, in scenario 2 at least, because the pilot cost becomes crazy late in the war. Read the end of PzB's AAR on the subject... I don't know how it is in scen 1 or DaBabes.

Of course, I might live to regret all those decisions, but as the japanese, you die and learn!

Francois

< Message edited by fcharton -- 10/3/2012 12:10:26 AM >

(in reply to SqzMyLemon)

Post #: 234

RE: Perfection, of a kind, spence (A) vs fcharton (J) - 10/3/2012 12:44:49 AM

SqzMyLemon

Posts: 4239
Joined: 10/30/2009
From: Alberta, Canada
Status: offline

Completely agree, merchant and naval shipyards followed by armament factories are the biggest HI savings if cut back.

I guess my reasoning about aircraft production using up HI is a bit warped, since I had sitzkrieg in the air for almost a year. I wasn't producing many aircraft at all, but hammering on accelerating ship production. So everytime I increased aircraft production, I was like, whoa this is eating up a lot of HI

. I should look over my economy in that AAR again. I was banking 5-6k HI daily in March 1943 while still accelerating a lot of ships and slowly increasing aircraft production. I think you can do both to be honest. I had also built up huge pools of naval and merchant points, so at one point I could reduce actual HI usage and live off the pools. I think I had 3 months of merchant points available at one point. This explains my obvious delay reaching the million mark in hindsight.

Sometimes I should think before posting. I rattle off some stuff and when you provide actual numbers and such, I realize it probably seems like I'm talking out my ass more often than not.

Anyway, I learn alot from your posts and realize there's much I need to know about crunching the numbers, before I can claim/offer any expertise on running the Japanese economy.

_____________________________

Luck is the residue of design - John Milton

Don't mistake lack of talent for genius - Peter Steele (Type O Negative)

(in reply to fcharton)

Post #: 235

RE: Perfection, of a kind, spence (A) vs fcharton (J) - 10/3/2012 1:56:15 AM

fcharton

Posts: 1112
Joined: 10/4/2010
From: France
Status: offline

Hi Joseph,

Don't even think I am a competent JFB. I will most certainly suffer a humiliating defeat very soon. And please go on posting, I have learned a lot from your AAR.

As for air production, I was just as surprised a you when I realised that planes were so cheap in the game. In short, a plane costs 36 HI per engine (18 for the frame, 18 for the engine). If you consider that your "average plane" has 1.5 engine (bombers tend to have two engines, fighters one, and you build two fighters for one bomber, I'm making this simple), one plane costs 50 HI.

Now, even if you produce 1500 planes per month (that's a lot), that amounts to 50 planes per day, or 2500 HI per day. This is pretty much a maximum. Right now, I am spending less than half that (and I have already doubled my production). In comparison, I am spending 1700 on vehicles, 1800 on armaments, and 3500 on shipyards.

The more I think of it, the more I believe the correct strategy for the empire is to cut the navy, and push the air force. For the price of a few more CV, and BB, and subs, you can have an obscene number of planes to throw at the enemy...

Francois

(in reply to SqzMyLemon)

Post #: 236

RE: Perfection, of a kind, spence (A) vs fcharton (J) - 10/5/2012 5:35:58 PM

fcharton

Posts: 1112
Joined: 10/4/2010
From: France
Status: offline

May 16th 1942

We landed an independent company in Ndeni. The goal is less to garrison the place than to use it as a tripwire. I find this an intriguing use for the many SNLF companies.

We had another bad day over Port Blair, Oscars against Hurricanes and P38E is not a good match.

More units were eliminated in China, near Tienshui, near Taiyuan, and in the Sichuan basin.

May 17th 1942

Dili fell today. Timor is almost cleared, now. The sweeps over Darwin are claiming a couple of Airacobras every day, and our fast transports to Darwin are on their way.

We suffered some more over Port Blair.

On Luzon, the 18th and 38th divisions are now in Clark field. I am resting my troops now, we will attack on the 21st. The enemy is now under 600 AV, the forts are gone, the supplies very low. This is the end.

May 18th 1942

We sank SS Saury, off Singkawang.

Warhawks appeared over Darwin. I will sweep some more. Also, a transport task force was detected South of Horn Island, sailing north. Surface ships from Koepang were sent to intercept, and all search planes are keeping track of the enemy TF. If my opponent wants to reinforce Darwin, he is in for a surprise.

My SNLF company in Ndeni was sunk by a submarine, as it embarked for its next destination. I like this idea of using submarines to defend one�s own ports.

(in reply to fcharton)

Post #: 237

RE: Perfection, of a kind, spence (A) vs fcharton (J) - 10/6/2012 1:43:14 AM

obvert

Posts: 14050
Joined: 1/17/2011
From: PDX (and now) London, UK
Status: offline

quote:

ORIGINAL: fcharton

Hi Joseph,

Don't even think I am a competent JFB. I will most certainly suffer a humiliating defeat very soon. And please go on posting, I have learned a lot from your AAR.

As for air production, I was just as surprised a you when I realised that planes were so cheap in the game. In short, a plane costs 36 HI per engine (18 for the frame, 18 for the engine). If you consider that your "average plane" has 1.5 engine (bombers tend to have two engines, fighters one, and you build two fighters for one bomber, I'm making this simple), one plane costs 50 HI.

Now, even if you produce 1500 planes per month (that's a lot), that amounts to 50 planes per day, or 2500 HI per day. This is pretty much a maximum. Right now, I am spending less than half that (and I have already doubled my production). In comparison, I am spending 1700 on vehicles, 1800 on armaments, and 3500 on shipyards.

The more I think of it, the more I believe the correct strategy for the empire is to cut the navy, and push the air force. For the price of a few more CV, and BB, and subs, you can have an obscene number of planes to throw at the enemy...

Francois

Really interesting argument. I like how you're thinking. I instead pumped up to 1600 naval shipyards and accelerated all of the CVs I could minus the Shinano and the late CVL. I also decided not to produce the late CVE. I like though having the ships in the mid-war to put off Allied dominance on the oceans and to haul all of that fuel and excess resources so if something happens one day where I can't anymore, I'll have a cushion. But I guess the HI pool is also a nice cushion. Hmm. At least in my game with Jocke this is working out with the slow build of HI pools because I haven't needed to push the air war in 43 as much as I thought I would. I have recently turned off some production of airframes and engines while I await 2nd generation planes.

Interesting to see how these choices will pan out for each of us differently. It will also help you if you get all of China and the HI there.

_____________________________

"Success is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm." - Winston Churchill

(in reply to fcharton)

Post #: 238

RE: Perfection, of a kind, spence (A) vs fcharton (J) - 10/6/2012 6:57:20 AM

SqzMyLemon

Posts: 4239
Joined: 10/30/2009
From: Alberta, Canada
Status: offline

quote:

ORIGINAL: obvert

Interesting to see how these choices will pan out for each of us differently. It will also help you if you get all of China and the HI there.

I think that's what is so cool about playing Japan. You can tailor the war effort to compliment your play style and strategy. There are many different ways to accomplish the same goals. Seeing what other people do to accomplish them is fascinating at times.

_____________________________

Luck is the residue of design - John Milton

Don't mistake lack of talent for genius - Peter Steele (Type O Negative)

(in reply to obvert)

Post #: 239

RE: Perfection, of a kind, spence (A) vs fcharton (J) - 10/6/2012 11:05:46 AM

fcharton

Posts: 1112
Joined: 10/4/2010
From: France
Status: offline

May 19th 1942

The war at sea at last

In the Gulf of Carpentaria, the task force that was just south of Horn Island yesterday was detected today, off Merauke. Eight ships, transports, and a few light escorts. I used to think they were reinforcing Darwin, but their path suggests they might actually go for Taberfane or Babar.

I have a task force, built around two cruisers, on their path to Darwin. If this is where they are going, we will intercept them tomorrow. Else, we will catch them while they unload�

In the Indian ocean, a carrier task force was detected two hexes west of Sinabang. They should be the Royal Navy carriers, probably going for Medan. The weather was bad, and no plane flew today, but there might be some interesting action tomorrow. I have bombers and torpedoes in Georgetown, some more in Singapore, lots of fighters in Medan, together with a few Kates.

Intelligence reports ten ships, two carriers, and over one hundred planes. I have about 60 fighters waiting for them over Medan, plus a dozen Kates, about seventy escorted bombers in Georgetown, and fifty more in Singapore. If those really are the British carriers, if the weather is decent, and if the airfield overstacking penalty is not too hard, I think we stand a good chance.

The long grind

Tsuyung is falling, the last deliberate attack found the defenders at 62 AV (from almost 400). A second division will arrive in Kunming tomorrow. If it doesn�t prove enough, the 104th will be there at the end of the month. South Western China is closing.

Easy Kukong

Much to my surprise, a first deliberate attack in Kukong found the defenders completely out of supply.

Ground combat at Kukong (79,57)
Japanese Deliberate attack
Attacking force 12732 troops, 80 guns, 42 vehicles, Assault Value = 460
Defending force 11030 troops, 51 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 311
Japanese assault odds: 3 to 1 (fort level 2)
Japanese Assault reduces fortifications to 1

Japanese ground losses:
170 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 17 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

Allied ground losses:
672 casualties reported
Squads: 3 destroyed, 70 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 21 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled

I believe we can take the city tomorrow or the day after. This would be a first step towards clearing the pocket in South China.

Air stretch?

Kittyhawks and Warhawks appeared over Darwin. I suspect those are the planes that were commited to Port Moresby. This is good, because sweeps over PM will resume soon.

Strategies

Erik and Joseph,

This is probably the one aspect of this game I like most. We can make long term decisions, and see them unfold. This is also an aspect many discussions on �balance and historical plausibility� fail to understand. In this game, the Japanese player is given the opportunity to change his industrial priorities. This only makes sense if war goals can be changed to adapt to these new orientations.

For instance, if I want to focus on naval building, get my CVs earlier, at the expense of land or air units, I have to be allowed to shoot for a much larger perimeter than the historical one. On the other hand, if I do not strive to compete in naval building, but work on my air force instead, it is logical that I focus on China, and taking her out of the war.

(in reply to SqzMyLemon)

Post #: 240

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