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

 
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RE: Perfection, of a kind, spence (A) vs fcharton (J) - 12/20/2012 1:59:04 PM   
fcharton

 

Posts: 1112
Joined: 10/4/2010
From: France
Status: offline 		July 11th 1942

Port Blair

Enemy cargoes are unloading. My bombers didn’t go in today, as I expected the CAP to fly low. Three submarines were sent in, but failed to attack. One of them hit a mine.

A large surface task force is on its way, and should come bombarding tomorrow or the day after. I am not too afraid about the minefield, which should not be too large (it just began being laid, apparently).

In Bangkok, my fighters are ready and rested. Weather forecast is on “thunderstorms”, which is synonymous for “abominable” in these parts. I am waiting for “overcast”, which is the best I can hope to get at this time of the year, to send them in.

The bad news is that my opponent still manages to resupply the base, the good one is that he is using a lot of resources for this. I’d rather have his fighters defending the Andamans than escorting bombers over Burma (where flak from China is arriving… we shot four Blenheims over Magwe today).

Solomons

In Luganville, my submarines found no ship in port. Everyone seems to have left. On the other hand, a large task force was spotted sailing north. Nine ships, CA and APD, were detected between Luganville and Ndeni.

Despite the APD, I very much doubt this is an invasion force for Lunga (or there would be more ships, more planes, more everything). It could be an invasion force for Ndeni, where I have an SNLF company, or it could be a bombardment force for Lunga.

I am betting on Lunga. A battleship squadron is waiting in Tulagi, ready to jump at the enemy if they linger here (or attack unloading ships in Ndeni). KB has been ordered south, just in case, and I have a screen of submarines south of the Solomons, which might catch the enemy on his way in or out.

Liuchow

We bombarded Liuchow today, and found 1150 enemy AV (I have about 800). The enemy tried to shock attack at once. This worked a couple of weeks ago in Kweilin, when a brigade had advanced alone. This time, I was more careful.

Ground combat at Liuchow (74,55)
Allied Shock attack
Attacking force 5453 troops, 51 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 1141
Defending force 23601 troops, 154 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 797

Allied adjusted assault: 73
Japanese adjusted defense: 479
Allied assault odds: 1 to 6

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

Japanese ground losses:
390 casualties reported
Squads: 2 destroyed, 31 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled

Allied ground losses:
394 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 56 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 6 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 5 disabled

Enemy losses are low, but disruption must be ugly after a shock attack at 1:6 odds. I am trying a counterattack tomorrow, hoping that disruption, fatigue, and supplies will compensate for my lower AV.

In Chungking, the bombardment today reported about 5350 AV. I have 4550, and will attack tomorrow.

Centres of interest

Hi Joseph,
A victory in Chungking would certainly be a great boost to imperial morale. I am sort of dreading it, though, because it will mean I need to address the next phase, and the unit movements, and the mop up operations in China, and the offensive in Burma, and… I’m not sure my current lack of interest is related to the game situation. Things are happening, in Port Blair, in the Solomons, in New Guinea, and the game moves fast enough to maintain some form of narrative (even in this AAR, I hope).

In my opinion, the issue lies more with the “time budget” I am able to devote to the game. As we all know, a turn can use anything between 30 minutes and a day, depending on how seriously you process it. I want to keep the 5-6 turns/week pace we have been maintaining so far, because I believe lower turn around would probably reduce our motivation. Taking into account those days when I can’t play, this means the time to replay, play the turn, and update the AAR is my “time budget” for the game.

This means a balance has to be found between playing too fast (there is no point botching turns in a game that lasts several years), and letting AE become my only hobby, because this wouldn’t be sustainable, and I’d end up hating the game.

At the beginning of this game, I was probably spending about four hours a day, on average, on the game. This includes replays, turns and AAR. I don’t think you can avoid this during the early months of the war, but I cannot commit so much time for too long, or work, family, and other hobbies will suffer.

Right now, I am trying to go down to two hours a day, and one four hour turn a week. I am not there yet, but I think that would be my ideal long term “AE time budget”.


< Message edited by fcharton -- 12/20/2012 2:00:34 PM >

(in reply to SqzMyLemon)
Post #: 391
RE: Perfection, of a kind, spence (A) vs fcharton (J) - 12/20/2012 4:11:52 PM   
SqzMyLemon


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

I totally understand where you are coming from now. The biggest hit to me since playing WitPAE has been the complete lack of time to work on models. I used to stay up quite late so time wasn't really an issue, but things have changed. Losing those extra few hours means there isn't time for both hobbies and something has to give. I'm devoting more time to the models of late, but the trick is finding the balance to make sure WitPAE is not all that I'm doing with my free time. Of course, playing two games doesn't help either.

_____________________________

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 #: 392
RE: Perfection, of a kind, spence (A) vs fcharton (J) - 12/21/2012 2:07:14 AM   
PaxMondo


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

ORIGINAL: fcharton

In my opinion, the issue lies more with the “time budget” I am able to devote to the game. As we all know, a turn can use anything between 30 minutes and a day, depending on how seriously you process it. I want to keep the 5-6 turns/week pace we have been maintaining so far, because I believe lower turn around would probably reduce our motivation. Taking into account those days when I can’t play, this means the time to replay, play the turn, and update the AAR is my “time budget” for the game.


Francois,

Exactly why I am unable to start a PBEM game. RL doesn't allow me a consistent commitment of time. Currently, I am lucky to get 30 min /day available for this game, including reading the AAR's. My AI game really suffers. Right now I am at 12/29/41 in a game that I started 11/11/12, so roughly a turn every other day. When my next class starts, that will dwindle to one turn/week if I am lucky.

_____________________________

Pax

(in reply to fcharton)
Post #: 393
RE: Perfection, of a kind, spence (A) vs fcharton (J) - 12/21/2012 6:30:11 AM   
GreyJoy


Posts: 6750
Joined: 3/18/2011
Status: offline 		Hornblower??? I LOVED those books Francois!!! They are amazing! Read them all 2 times and i'm willing to start back again!
Also the BBC TV series, produced some 10 years ago, is very very good! But you gotta to love the sea to really appreciate them imho

(in reply to PaxMondo)
Post #: 394
RE: Perfection, of a kind, spence (A) vs fcharton (J) - 12/22/2012 9:53:12 PM   
fcharton

 

Posts: 1112
Joined: 10/4/2010
From: France
Status: offline 		I’m still playing fast. Right now, I am trying to focus on one theater every turn, and limit the rest to “regular maintenance”. This means the economy doesn’t get much interest. I will certainly regret this in a couple of months, when some units are still in the Home Islands and when my industrial output gets all wrong, but it does make for a nice game, hic et nunc.

July 12th 1942

China was the focus, today…

Liuchow

After the failed Allied shock attack, yesterday, our counterattack worked. We are outnumbered, but managed to achieve lucky 1:1 odds, reduce the forts, and destroy a handful of enemy squads.

Ground combat at Liuchow (74,55)
Japanese Deliberate attack
Attacking force 23395 troops, 154 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 777
Defending force 37234 troops, 244 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 1083
Japanese adjusted assault: 463
Allied adjusted defense: 459
Japanese assault odds: 1 to 1 (fort level 3)
Japanese Assault reduces fortifications to 2

Japanese ground losses:
801 casualties reported
Squads: 2 destroyed, 67 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 4 (1 destroyed, 3 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
1836 casualties reported
Squads: 20 destroyed, 132 disabled
Non Combat: 5 destroyed, 70 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 11 disabled

My troops need some rest, but the prospects are good. I can probably take the base in a week or so.

Chungking

Today was our fifth deliberate attack against Chungking. Odds were not as nice as I hoped (1:4 only), but we did reduce the forts by one level, and damaged a good number of enemy squads.

Ground combat at Chungking (76,45)
Japanese Deliberate attack
Attacking force 183598 troops, 2706 guns, 1462 vehicles, Assault Value = 4839
Defending force 195568 troops, 954 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 5305
Japanese engineers reduce fortifications to 2
Japanese adjusted assault: 1409
Allied adjusted defense: 5955
Japanese assault odds: 1 to 4 (fort level 2)

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

Japanese ground losses:
18316 casualties reported
Squads: 237 destroyed, 1131 disabled
Non Combat: 9 destroyed, 236 disabled
Engineers: 16 destroyed, 135 disabled
Guns lost 149 (4 destroyed, 145 disabled)
Vehicles lost 41 (2 destroyed, 39 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
8850 casualties reported
Squads: 106 destroyed, 717 disabled
Non Combat: 41 destroyed, 342 disabled
Engineers: 9 destroyed, 16 disabled
Guns lost 77 (13 destroyed, 64 disabled)

Next day bombardments put enemy AV at 4700 and mine at 3500. The AV gap is closing. I have lots of support in the city (five HQ, including Kwantung). I want to see whether this can speed AV recovery, and allow me to attack again in a week or two.

(in reply to GreyJoy)
Post #: 395
RE: Perfection, of a kind, spence (A) vs fcharton (J) - 12/22/2012 11:01:26 PM   
fcharton

 

Posts: 1112
Joined: 10/4/2010
From: France
Status: offline 		July 13th 1942, CAP traps

We had a very good day in the air.

Yesterday, swordfishes from Port Blair had attacked cargoes unloading in Trinkat. Today, I sent Zeroes and Oscars from Victoria point and Sabang protect them.

In the morning, we had a swordfish raid over Trinkat

Morning Air attack on TF, near Trinkat at 44,64
Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 6
Ki-43-Ic Oscar x 5
Allied aircraft
Swordfish I x 3

No Japanese losses

Allied aircraft losses
Swordfish I: 2 destroyed

And then Dauntlesses

Morning Air attack on TF, near Trinkat at 44,64
Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 6
Ki-43-Ic Oscar x 5
Allied aircraft
SBD-3 Dauntless x 7
No Japanese losses
Allied aircraft losses
SBD-3 Dauntless: 4 destroyed

And then again Beaufort, with Hurricanes as escorts

Morning Air attack on TF, near Trinkat at 44,64
Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 4
Ki-43-Ic Oscar x 5
Allied aircraft
Beaufort I x 6
Hurricane IIc Trop x 9
No Japanese losses
Allied aircraft losses
Beaufort I: 1 destroyed, 2 damaged

At the end of the day, nine Dauntlesses, four Swordfishes and two Beauforts are reported shot down, a pretty good result in my opinion.


Near Timor, a similar situation occurred over Saumlaki, where an amphibious task force is unloading an SNLF unit. Sixteen Banshees from Darwin were reportedly shot down by the CAP, flying from Dili and Ambon.

Finally, Zeroes from Lae and Madang had a good day over Terapo, and shot twice their losses of Warhawks and Airacobras. Overall, the enemy lost 35 planes for 9 ours. This will not compensate the heavy losses of last month, but it is nice anyway.

This seems to confirm that CAP, even at long range, seems to work very well against unescorted, or lightly escorted, bomber strikes. I fell victim to this CAP effectiveness a few days ago (in Darwin and then against the British CV), and it turned again my opponent today. I still believe CAP is way too efficient. Over Saumlaki, four Nicks and two Zeroes, flying CAP at long range, managed to destroy 16 Banshees, more than were reported flying… Over Trinkat, seven Dauntlesses were seen arriving, yet nine were shot.

But such results are encouraging: as the war unfolds, Japan will often be CAPping bases, which the Allies try to bomb, and efficient CAPs will go my way.

(in reply to fcharton)
Post #: 396
RE: Perfection, of a kind, spence (A) vs fcharton (J) - 12/25/2012 12:18:37 AM   
fcharton

 

Posts: 1112
Joined: 10/4/2010
From: France
Status: offline 		Bastille day falls on Christmas eve… Merry Bastille day to you, dear reader. Many happy returns, food beverage and all that.

July 14th 1942

Port Blair

After Java fell, I sent a lot of ships to Singapore for repairs, and they happen to be back online at the same time. Since Singapore is close to the Andamans, Port Blair was chosen as the target of their shakedown cruise. We found planes, there…

Night Naval bombardment of Port Blair at 46,58 - Coastal Guns Fire Back!
Allied aircraft
no flights
Allied aircraft losses
Hurricane IIc Trop: 5 damaged
Hurricane IIb Trop: 13 damaged
Hurricane IIb Trop: 1 destroyed on ground
P-40E Warhawk: 4 damaged
P-40E Warhawk: 1 destroyed on ground
Catalina I: 3 damaged
P-38E Lightning: 1 damaged
Beaufort I: 1 destroyed on ground
Allied ground losses:
33 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 2 destroyed, 2 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Airbase hits 4
Airbase supply hits 3
Runway hits 35
Port hits 11

I will sweep tomorrow, see if we can take advantage of the damage done today.

China

I have brought several headquarters to Chungking, and this seems to be paying dividends. The odds, today, were 3800:4700. I repaired 300 AV, while the KMT lost 50.

In Liuchow, a second attack failed to reduce the forts (still level two), or achieve 1:1 odds, but did destroy 50 enemy squads (for only one on our side).

We’re getting there.

TRACOM

Since the beginning of the war, I have sent almost all my 80+ pilots to TRACOM, and now have 100 IJN and 50 IJA pilots there. It must be a good thing, but I realize I am not sure how TRACOM works. Here is what I’ve figured so far.

Without TRACOM, IJA and IJN pilots need a year to be trained to their “start level”. Every month a number of pilots equal to the replacement level (about 300 right now) enter training at zero experience. Every month, they gain experience, and graduate once they reach some fixed level (between 30 and 40, I think), or after 12 months, or sometimes less, if squadrons require more pilots than there are graduates (but then, pilot experience will be lower).

My hunch is that without TRACOM, pilots get 3XP/month on average, which would bring them around 36 when they graduate. TRACOM increases experience gain, which means pilots graduate earlier, or are pulled into depleted squadrons with better experience. This means TRACOM should reduce the number of pilots in training (from 12 x replacement rate to lower values), and therefore the HI cost for pilots.

In practice, this should mean that average experience for month 1-3, or 4-6 should go up, and the number of pilots for 10-12 should go down (as most of them would have reached graduation levels already).

But I don’t see this in Tracker. Over the course of the game, the number of pilots in training went down, but lost about 12% in all classes. 1-3 and 4-6 experience went up, but later classes went down. Meanwhile, replacement rates went down. I believe some form of feedback is at work here, and Tracker doesn’t quite reflect reality (ie the “training months” there aren’t quite months.

My impression is that TRACOM causes trainees to learn faster, and this materializes in some pilots “skipping” a month. Every month end, most pilots jump to the next month, but some skip a class, and a month. This might explain why average experience for 7-9 month recruits went down: those are people who should be in the 4-6 group.

Also, shorter training periods cause pilot replacement rate to go down. My IJN rate went down from 320 to 290, a solid 10%. IJA, with less TRACOM pilots went from 320 to 310. This would probably be the most important factor. Many JFB have noticed that the cost of pilot training became huge in scenario 2. Maybe this makes TRACOM mandatory, as a way to curb the expense.

I might, of course, be totally wrong on this…

Christmas, food and wine

Since little is happening in the game, I might as well write about food… Christmas eve was definitely “naval” here. We had salmon (marinated in house), scallops, and snails (not quite seafood, but slimy enough, with butter and garlic, and my youngest daughter, five year old Madeleine, just loves snails, so we will have snails).

The wine was a sweet Loire Valley white, a Pouilly Fumé. It is a Sauvignon white, not very different from some “sugary dry” wines you get in California or New Zealand). It wasn’t that good with the salmon: marinated salmon is a bit sweet already, and you’d need a drier white on it, but it matched the snails, and the garlic, very well. Now, Sauvignon and garlic are by no means obvious, but they do work very well together. Scallops were fine with the Pouilly, but scallops are easy matches.

The other highlight of the dinner was the cheese. We tend to eat local, and since we live in the Brie area (south east of Paris), we eat Brie. There are several varieties of Brie. The Meaux is the one everybody knows, the largest “wheels” (about 70 cm diameter), the mildest taste too. The other extreme is the Melun Brie, smaller, and much stronger. If you like strong cheese (and if you don’t live in a “pasteurized only” part of the world), Melun brie is a must try. In between, you have Nangis, Montereau and Provins, produced in very small quantities (I don’t think I ever saw them in shops in Paris, just 75 km away). Brie works pretty well with white wines.


Tomorrow is Christmas lunch, with the extended family. Foie gras with a mellow white, and roasted beef with a Bordeaux (not sure which…) I love Christmas!

Merry Christmas to you all.

(in reply to fcharton)
Post #: 397
RE: Perfection, of a kind, spence (A) vs fcharton (J) - 12/25/2012 1:30:04 AM   
SqzMyLemon


Posts: 4239
Joined: 10/30/2009
From: Alberta, Canada
Status: offline 		Merry Christmas Francois. Best wishes over the holidays for you and your family.

Joseph

_____________________________

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 #: 398
RE: Perfection, of a kind, spence (A) vs fcharton (J) - 12/25/2012 1:55:39 PM   
PaxMondo


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

ORIGINAL: fcharton

TRACOM

Since the beginning of the war, I have sent almost all my 80+ pilots to TRACOM, and now have 100 IJN and 50 IJA pilots there. It must be a good thing, but I realize I am not sure how TRACOM works. Here is what I’ve figured so far.

Without TRACOM, IJA and IJN pilots need a year to be trained to their “start level”. Every month a number of pilots equal to the replacement level (about 300 right now) enter training at zero experience. Every month, they gain experience, and graduate once they reach some fixed level (between 30 and 40, I think), or after 12 months, or sometimes less, if squadrons require more pilots than there are graduates (but then, pilot experience will be lower).

My hunch is that without TRACOM, pilots get 3XP/month on average, which would bring them around 36 when they graduate. TRACOM increases experience gain, which means pilots graduate earlier, or are pulled into depleted squadrons with better experience. This means TRACOM should reduce the number of pilots in training (from 12 x replacement rate to lower values), and therefore the HI cost for pilots.

In practice, this should mean that average experience for month 1-3, or 4-6 should go up, and the number of pilots for 10-12 should go down (as most of them would have reached graduation levels already).

But I don’t see this in Tracker. Over the course of the game, the number of pilots in training went down, but lost about 12% in all classes. 1-3 and 4-6 experience went up, but later classes went down. Meanwhile, replacement rates went down. I believe some form of feedback is at work here, and Tracker doesn’t quite reflect reality (ie the “training months” there aren’t quite months.

My impression is that TRACOM causes trainees to learn faster, and this materializes in some pilots “skipping” a month. Every month end, most pilots jump to the next month, but some skip a class, and a month. This might explain why average experience for 7-9 month recruits went down: those are people who should be in the 4-6 group.

Also, shorter training periods cause pilot replacement rate to go down. My IJN rate went down from 320 to 290, a solid 10%. IJA, with less TRACOM pilots went from 320 to 310. This would probably be the most important factor. Many JFB have noticed that the cost of pilot training became huge in scenario 2. Maybe this makes TRACOM mandatory, as a way to curb the expense.

I might, of course, be totally wrong on this…

Not totally wrong at all. I think you have it mostly correct. I have only a couple of caveats:
1. You can't take pilots from your training school until you get you training air groups. The first one arrives for IJ in late '44 I beleive.
2. Your rate stays steady. I beleive what happens is that the rate displayed in the number that will start the next month. However, if some of your pilot trainees graduate a month early due to TRACOM, additional pilots will be started to maintain the total number in school.
3. Because of (2) above, you can't actually save HI*, but you do get more pilots in your pool ready for service.

I'm not positive on all of this. Michael, or one of the other dev's would have to comment for us to be sure.

*Until you get your training air groups. Then you can pull pilots out of the school early and definitely save a LOT of HI. Of course, these pilots are 15-20 EXP and do require training before they can even be trusted to taxi an aircraft on the ground.

_____________________________

Pax

(in reply to fcharton)
Post #: 399
RE: Perfection, of a kind, spence (A) vs fcharton (J) - 12/25/2012 2:18:39 PM   
PaxMondo


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

ORIGINAL: fcharton

Christmas, food and wine

Since little is happening in the game, I might as well write about food… Christmas eve was definitely “naval” here. We had salmon (marinated in house), scallops, and snails (not quite seafood, but slimy enough, with butter and garlic, and my youngest daughter, five year old Madeleine, just loves snails, so we will have snails).

The wine was a sweet Loire Valley white, a Pouilly Fumé. It is a Sauvignon white, not very different from some “sugary dry” wines you get in California or New Zealand). It wasn’t that good with the salmon: marinated salmon is a bit sweet already, and you’d need a drier white on it, but it matched the snails, and the garlic, very well. Now, Sauvignon and garlic are by no means obvious, but they do work very well together. Scallops were fine with the Pouilly, but scallops are easy matches.

The other highlight of the dinner was the cheese. We tend to eat local, and since we live in the Brie area (south east of Paris), we eat Brie. There are several varieties of Brie. The Meaux is the one everybody knows, the largest “wheels” (about 70 cm diameter), the mildest taste too. The other extreme is the Melun Brie, smaller, and much stronger. If you like strong cheese (and if you don’t live in a “pasteurized only” part of the world), Melun brie is a must try. In between, you have Nangis, Montereau and Provins, produced in very small quantities (I don’t think I ever saw them in shops in Paris, just 75 km away). Brie works pretty well with white wines.


Tomorrow is Christmas lunch, with the extended family. Foie gras with a mellow white, and roasted beef with a Bordeaux (not sure which…) I love Christmas!

Merry Christmas to you all.


Ach, I miss France. Still we try here.

Our original menu was Christmas goose with traditional bread pudding, but I didn't plan for it well enough in advance (goose is hard to find in USA now as so few people really cook), and so we had to change the menu to standing rib roast (beef). But then, I had car trouble yesterday, required a tow, and so delayed me 3 hours ... so no time for roast. MENU CHANGE. Instead we went for a whole salmon, slow roasted @ 105C. This was served with 2 sauces to choose complement it. The first, a slow roasted tomato sauce (one of my favorites, tomatoes are seasoned, then slow roasted for about 3 hours, combined with olives and lemon zest)* and then the second; a brown butter sauce with capers. The 2nd sauce was a new one to try and was a big hit, quite nice. This was had with fresh baked bread, stir fried green beans with garlic, and a very nice butternut squash soup garnished with creme-fraiche and toasted pumpkin seeds. Wine was a sparkling white from CA which as only so-so.** Dessert was Crepe Suzette and Humbolt Fog with warm honey drizzled on top.

*The slow roasted tomatoes were already being done as today we will be making a slow roasted tomato tart for our Christmas brunch.

** Pouilly Fumé would have gone so much better (especially the soup), but alas, because of my delays many stores were already closing and so my wine choices were very limited. I had a great Pinot for the goose, and several good reds for the beef ... but the change to salmon caught me short of a good wine to pair with it.

_____________________________

Pax

(in reply to fcharton)
Post #: 400
RE: Perfection, of a kind, spence (A) vs fcharton (J) - 12/27/2012 8:07:55 AM   
fcharton

 

Posts: 1112
Joined: 10/4/2010
From: France
Status: offline 		Still playing fast, still not in the game…
July 15th 1942

Horn Island and Rabaul

A destroyer squadron from Ambon bombarded Horn Island, damaged the port, and the airfield, and sank a patrol boat.

Over Rabaul, B17-E managed to destroy a couple of planes on the ground. Moonlight was 3%, there were clouds, the buffs bombed from 6 000 feet, but they could spot the hangars. The lack of moonlight did prevent my flak from firing, though. Over Dili, B 25-C, night bombing too, were less lucky. I am becoming curious about night bombing. I don’t use it, but I have seen the allies use it with some success. My experience (and I’m interested in that of others) is that :

- CAP will force the incoming bombers out of formation, but seldom shoot any
- Flak will usually work, especially as night bombers tend to fly low
- Most of the time, you get no result (1 damage to runway or port, and that’s all), but there are days when all night attacks succeed. Today, for instance, three different raids got to the hangars. It is a bit as if one single die roll controlled all the raids
- Moonlight don’t seem to play an important part. Today, for instance, was an almost dark night.

Port Blair

We swept Port Blair today, at a lower altitude (14 000 feet). It went slightly better than the previous time, although it is still not perfect.

As usual, my four waves from Rangoon didn’t coordinate, next time maybe. The first wave suffered the worst (this is typical)

Morning Air attack on Port Blair , at 46,58
Weather in hex: Light cloud
Raid detected at 22 NM, estimated altitude 20,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 7 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-43-Ic Oscar x 42

Allied aircraft
Hurricane IIb Trop x 27
P-40E Warhawk x 7

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-43-Ic Oscar: 6 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
Hurricane IIb Trop: 1 destroyed
P-40E Warhawk: 1 destroyed

Aircraft Attacking:
20 x Ki-43-Ic Oscar sweeping at 14000 feet *

CAP engaged:
No.261 Sqn RAF with Hurricane IIb Trop (2 airborne, 6 on standby, 6 scrambling)
8 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 21000 , scrambling fighters between 12000 and 21000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 10 minutes
No.273 Sqn RAF with Hurricane IIb Trop (0 airborne, 6 on standby, 5 scrambling)
6 plane(s) intercepting now.
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 2 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 36000 , scrambling fighters between 15000 and 20000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 15 minutes
23rd FG/76th FS with P-40E Warhawk (1 airborne, 4 on standby, 2 scrambling)
5 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 14000 , scrambling fighters between 14000 and 19000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 4 minutes

Then we got better odds…

Morning Air attack on Port Blair , at 46,58
Weather in hex: Light cloud
Raid detected at 42 NM, estimated altitude 18,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 14 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-43-Ic Oscar x 36

Allied aircraft
Hurricane IIb Trop x 13
P-40E Warhawk x 3

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-43-Ic Oscar: 1 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
Hurricane IIb Trop: 2 destroyed

Aircraft Attacking:
29 x Ki-43-Ic Oscar sweeping at 14000 feet *

CAP engaged:
No.261 Sqn RAF with Hurricane IIb Trop (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
12 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 21000 , scrambling fighters between 14000 and 19000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 31 minutes
No.273 Sqn RAF with Hurricane IIb Trop (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
1 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 36000 , scrambling fighters to 19000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 33 minutes
23rd FG/76th FS with P-40E Warhawk (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
3 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 14000 , scrambling fighters to 14000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 30 minutes

And then, the two last raids found no enemy CAP over the base. Overall, we lost 17 Oscars for 11 Hurricanes and 2 Warhawks, still not 1:1 odds, but getting better.

I am a bit surprised that two raids were enough to eliminate the CAP. Maybe I should raid with two squadrons a day, over a period of two days, and take advantage of the fatigue of the first day.

It is also unfortunate that my Oscars never seem to coordinate. The weather was probably the best one can hope in this season, I have good leaders in the squadrons and HQ, everybody flies at the same altitude and from the same base, but still…

Chungking

Our AV are back over 4000, having a lot of HQ is definitely helping. Disruption and fatigue are still high, and will take more time to heal. After the next battle, I am considering marching some of my infantry and a HQ to Neikiang, see if they heal better there.

Enemy AV are around 4600, steadily falling. I believe we might achieve raw AV parity very soon.

More food

Hi Pax,

Salmon and capers, now you’re talking! We don’t get much goose here either, I believe it takes too many people, and too large an oven, to prepare. South, around Lyons, they used to eat capons for Christmas, but again, you need quite a big table.

I believe a slightly dry white would go with the salmon and capers. Here, I’d have a Burgundy, Puligny or Corton if I were very rich (those fetch extortionate prices, I have a few bottles I am trying to age, but it takes a while), an Arbois if I feel very daring, a Chablis or Petit Chablis most probably. I believe a Chardonnay white would taste right.

After Christmas eve was the first day of Christmas… That’s the big meal here, and we had some roasted beef fillet with “gratin dauphinois” (potatoe slices cooked in milk and cream, with garlic), and mashed pumpkin (pumpkin was from our garden, that’s one of the three we harvested this year). For starters, there was foie gras, and then more Brie and a “Chrismas log”, the traditional dessert here (that’s a cake shaped as a log, either chestnut or coffee flavoured).

With the foie, and as starter, we had a Pacherenc. This is a small vineyard south of Bordeaux, which produce sweet white wine. Sauternes and Monbazillac have become too expensive, here. Pacherenc is less sweet, and it worked fine with the foie, and as a dessert wine (some cheaper "liquoreux" are just too sweet in my opinion). With the meat, we had a Pomerol, which was fine but not great. I should have kept the Pomerol for a lighter meat, and opened that Spanish wine I’m keeping for the fall of Chungking (I have two bottles of it)…


I had hoped that my liver could rest on boxing day, but no. I had dinner yesterday at work, with a very nice Saint Veran (that, too, would have been fine with the capers), and today is my birthday so I’m afraid I will have to drink some more, and then we’ll have new year’s eve, and new year’s lunch. Ah, life is hard!


< Message edited by fcharton -- 12/27/2012 8:12:14 AM >

(in reply to PaxMondo)
Post #: 401
RE: Perfection, of a kind, spence (A) vs fcharton (J) - 12/27/2012 9:12:02 PM   
fcharton

 

Posts: 1112
Joined: 10/4/2010
From: France
Status: offline 		July 16th 1942

Rabaul and around

The Buffs were back over Rabaul tonight, they did not damage, but we traded two A6M3 for two B-17E. A good fighter, that B-17…

In Terapo, the Australian brigade that landed two weeks ago didn’t attack. I now have more than 100 AV in town, behind level 2 forts, and supplied. Daily bombardments are not doing much to help the allies, on good days they disable a pair of squads, on bad day, they don’t. Disruption and fatigue are at regular levels in malaria zone, the allies probably don’t fare any better.

But my opponent wants Terapo. Yesterday, an Australian unit was detected in the jungle south of the base. It is probably another brigade, walking in. Today, transports were seen off the coast.

I have ordered several raids: Lilies and Nells from Madang, with bombs, from Madang, and then Nells from Rabaul, all at 1000 feet, all escorted. And then again some zeroes from Lae will sweep, just in case. KB, lurking near the Solomons has been ordered back. If the enemy tries to unload more troops, we will catch him.

I have an infantry division in Wau, two hexes away. I might walk her to Terapo, but it will take about a month, so there is a risk she’ll be late. On the other hand, if the base resists, or falls after a good stand, the counter attack might be worth the while… Should I?


Lucky Dili

It was yet another dark night, tonight, but this didn’t seem to bother enemy Mitchells over Dili…

Night Air attack on Dili , at 71,115
Weather in hex: Partial cloud
Raid spotted at 39 NM, estimated altitude 5,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 11 minutes

Allied aircraft
B-25C Mitchell x 4

No Allied losses

Japanese Ships
xAK Azuchisan Maru, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires
xAK Amakusa Maru, Bomb hits 1, on fire, heavy damage

The situation isn’t as bad as the report suggests, but still, finding two ships in port, with four bombers, on a moonless night… I will have Nicks on night CAP tomorrow, see if they can help.

(in reply to fcharton)
Post #: 402
RE: Perfection, of a kind, spence (A) vs fcharton (J) - 12/28/2012 9:27:39 PM   
fcharton

 

Posts: 1112
Joined: 10/4/2010
From: France
Status: offline 		Music today is Rachmaninov 2nd concerto, played by Lev Oborin, an interesting change from the recording by the composer.
July 17th, 1942

Terapo at all costs

The ships detected off Terapo yesterday turned out to be a second wave of landings. Two task forces were detected, but there must be more.

Cover, sweepers and sub chasers
DE Lawrence
DE Litchfield
DMS Long
DMS Zane
AM Bobolink
AM Vireo
APD Colhoun

US landing ships
DD Witte de With
DD Allen
AP Thomas Jefferson
DD Evertsen

As usual, the landings caused a large number of disablements, but we had this piece of information.
13 troops of a USA Rifle Squad lost overboard during unload of 32nd Infantry Div /2
A US Division, eh?

As expected, my airforce performed poorly. Lilies flew unescorted, 15 out of 27 were shot down. And my Zeroes in Madang and Lae didn’t sweep. I will try LRCAP tomorrow. Fortunately, enemy bombardments were just as inefficient.

At the end of the day, one of my units decided to bombard (why bombard? Why just one unit?) and now we both know who has what in town. I love it when the AI decides to spoil a surprise…

Ground combat at Terapo (96,127)
Japanese Bombardment attack
Attacking force 1488 troops, 19 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 103
Defending force 6579 troops, 119 guns, 132 vehicles, Assault Value = 270

Japanese ground losses:
51 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 7 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

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

Assaulting units:
1st Raiding Regiment
Sasebo 8th SNLF
5th JNAF Coy

Defending units:
16th Australian Brigade
632nd TD Bn /2
32nd Infantry Div /10
2/11th Field Rgt /3

So, we’re having an Australian brigade, a US division, tanks and guns… Terapo is lost, but we can probably make the enemy pay for it. Tomorrow, I have fighters on long range CAP and bombers from Rabaul on naval attack. KB is three or four days away: if the enemy lingers here, he will pay. Also, a small surface force (8 DD) is on its way (should be there in three days). It seems that my opponent hasn’t sent enough cover. If he stays, I might catch his ships… or get sunk because there was more cover than I thought. A Dieu vat!

Stepping back

We are seven months into the war, at a time when the Allies begin contemplating reconquest, and it is probably a good time to step back and look at the situation. The Imperial strategic plan was to conquer a relatively small perimeter in the Pacific, save fuel and resources, and take China out of the war.

The China part is going just fine. As we speak, the KMT hold four bases, three of which are under siege. The main battle, in Chungking, is slowly turning in our favour. Forts are down to level two, supplies are gone, most of the respawn is over, and we will soon fight at a raw AV advantage. Organized resistance will probably end at the end of the month, and I will then need some time to finish the units there (for some reason big Chinese stacks take a lot of time to surrender). Chungking seems doable by September, and the cleaning of China by the end of the year.

In the Pacific, the Allies are on the move in New Guinea. Buna is theirs, and Terapo will probably fall in a couple of days. I have troops around Lae (two divisions, artillery, and assorted support), so I believe I can stop their progression. This is a bit early to have the Allies active in the region, but the battles around Terapo apparently slowed Allied plans for Guadalcanal, and made the South pacific their main objective. I don’t think they could sustain another offensive right now, around Timor, in the Gilberts, or in North Pacific (where my recon submarines show garrisons but no buildup). Somehow, I am happy about this. It is a long way from Port Moresby to the Philippines.

My opponent is very prudent with his navy. He seems to prefer to use his planes, which suggests he might feel more comfortable in New Guinea, where he has Port Moresby, than in the Solomons where airfields are scarce (and I’m not building any…). His carriers are nowhere to be seen. So far, they were mostly used as transports, and CAP traps recently. This suggests he might go for a slow advance, building airbases as he moves forward. This means Terapo would be built, and used as the next air support base, for an offensive toward Lae or Madang. I am fine with this, as it means a pretty slow rate of advance, and I need all the time I can have to finish China and reinforce the Pacific.

In Burma, most of the action is focused on Port Blair, which was reinforced for the second time, and is being swept by my Oscars. Another big raid is scheduled for tomorrow, we shall see. But, again, the battles over the Andamans delay any Allied offensive in the region.

Finally, the industry part seems to be working. Supplies are stable at start level (a little over five million tons), and we are exporting enough to keep everybody fighting, even in China. Fuel is around 7 million tons (8.15 if we add ship bunkers) , going up. Oil reserves are stable, and we’re swimming in resources, since we hold most of China. HI reserves will reach 1.3 million by the end of the month. The strategy, predicated on cutting all merchant programs, and not accelerating naval construction, seems to be working. The small perimeter cuts on fuel costs, too. I still need to worry about fuel movement. Some is trickling from Singapore to Port Arthur, but most fuel and oil remains in Malaya. I suspect I need to finish south China before this can change.

Overall, I need to keep my opponent busy, and focused on his current wars (New Guinea and the Andamans), while I finish China, and can reinforce Burma and the Pacific. This probably means raiding, and losing planes, and subs, to keep the war going. I have the impression that a lull would give the Allies the possibility to change their plans, and I think I like their current one.

Air R&D

The A6M3a advanced today, and will be available in September. Research factories have move to the A6M5, which should be ready in November. This means the A6M5b around June 43, the 5c at the end of the year, and the A6M8 in mid-44.

The Oscar IIa will be available in August, and I expect the IIb in October or November, and the IIIa in summer 43.

Finally, the Tojo IIb should be available in November.

(in reply to fcharton)
Post #: 403
RE: Perfection, of a kind, spence (A) vs fcharton (J) - 12/31/2012 11:27:26 PM   
fcharton

 

Posts: 1112
Joined: 10/4/2010
From: France
Status: offline 		July 18th 1942

Back over Port Blair

We swept once again today, with four squadrons of Oscars, and the results were slightly better.
As usual, the first wave got the worst, but then 12:7 is not such a bad rate.

Morning Air attack on Port Blair , at 46,58
Weather in hex: Heavy rain

Japanese aircraft
Ki-43-Ic Oscar x 42

Allied aircraft
Hurricane IIb Trop x 21
Hurricane IIc Trop x 9
P-38E Lightning x 8
P-40E Warhawk x 25

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-43-Ic Oscar: 12 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
Hurricane IIb Trop: 1 destroyed
Hurricane IIc Trop: 1 destroyed
P-38E Lightning: 1 destroyed
P-40E Warhawk: 4 destroyed

The second wave was bloody as well, but note the drop in the number of defenders.

Morning Air attack on Port Blair , at 46,58
Weather in hex: Heavy rain

Japanese aircraft
Ki-43-Ic Oscar x 39

Allied aircraft
Hurricane IIb Trop x 11
Hurricane IIc Trop x 5
P-38E Lightning x 6
P-40E Warhawk x 9

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-43-Ic Oscar: 6 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
Hurricane IIb Trop: 1 destroyed
Hurricane IIc Trop: 1 destroyed
P-38E Lightning: 1 destroyed
P-40E Warhawk: 1 destroyed

And then we had

Morning Air attack on Port Blair , at 46,58
Weather in hex: Heavy rain

Japanese aircraft
Ki-43-Ic Oscar x 35

Allied aircraft
Hurricane IIb Trop x 2
Hurricane IIc Trop x 2
P-38E Lightning x 3
P-40E Warhawk x 3

No Japanese losses
Allied aircraft losses
Hurricane IIc Trop: 1 destroyed
P-40E Warhawk: 1 destroyed

and

Morning Air attack on Port Blair , at 46,58
Weather in hex: Heavy rain

Japanese aircraft
Ki-43-Ic Oscar x 30

Allied aircraft
Hurricane IIc Trop x 1
P-38E Lightning x 2

No Japanese losses
Allied aircraft losses
Hurricane IIc Trop: 1 destroyed

At the end of the day, I have lost 28 Oscars, for 17 Warhawks, 12 Hurricanes and two P-39E. My two last squadrons flew against little opposition, and are not fatigued. I will try again tomorrow: if my opponent is in the air, we might have a very good day.

Terapo, the second day

The Allied landing goes on. A first deliberate attack failed to take the base, but our 100 AV strong garrison is now down to 30, and Terapo will fall tomorrow.

Netties flew from Rabaul, our escorting zeroes suffered badly, but we did shoot down some bandits, and put a torpedo into an Australian transport

Morning Air attack on TF, near Terapo at 96,127
Weather in hex: Partial cloud

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 52
G3M2 Nell x 26
G4M1 Betty x 13

Allied aircraft
Hurricane IIb Trop x 7
Kittyhawk IA x 7
P-39D Airacobra x 10
P-40E Warhawk x 6

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 10 destroyed, 1 damaged
G3M2 Nell: 1 destroyed, 1 damaged
G3M2 Nell: 1 destroyed by flak
G4M1 Betty: 1 destroyed, 1 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
Hurricane IIb Trop: 1 destroyed
Kittyhawk IA: 2 destroyed
P-39D Airacobra: 2 destroyed
P-40E Warhawk: 1 destroyed

Allied Ships
xAP Idomeneus, Torpedo hits 1
DE Lawrence
AP American Legion
xAK Rodman Coleman
xAP Montoro
xAP Murada
DD Evertsen
APD Colhoun
xAP Koolinda
DMS Zane

Allied ground losses:
Vehicles lost 2 (2 destroyed, 0 disabled)

We will be back tomorrow, KB is two or three days away, and my surface force should arrive tomorrow. If enemy cover is just a few DD, we might have a nice day.

Chungking
Air bombardment disabled 62 combat squads today, and my artillery destroyed 13 and disabled 48. My infantry has fatigue in the low 20s, and disablement around 15. A few more days, and we’ll attack.

(in reply to fcharton)
Post #: 404
RE: Perfection, of a kind, spence (A) vs fcharton (J) - 12/31/2012 11:50:44 PM   
fcharton

 

Posts: 1112
Joined: 10/4/2010
From: France
Status: offline 		July 19th 1942

Terapo, take three

Our destroyers arrived during the night. First they fought the cover, a very light one, as expected, and an inconclusive fight:

Night Time Surface Combat, near Terapo at 96,127, Range 3,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
DD Tanikaze
DD Arashio
DD Yudachi
DD Samidare, Shell hits 1
DD Mikazuki, Shell hits 1, on fire
DD Tachikaze
DD Yugao
DD Tadeshiwa

Allied Ships
DD Allen, Shell hits 2
DD Witte de With
DD Evertsen, Shell hits 1

And then, they got through the big guys

Night Time Surface Combat, near Terapo at 96,127, Range 3,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
DD Tanikaze
DD Arashio, Shell hits 1
DD Yudachi
DD Samidare
DD Mikazuki, on fire
DD Tachikaze
DD Yugao
DD Tadeshiwa

Allied Ships
DE Alden
DE Litchfield, Shell hits 1
APD Colhoun, Shell hits 3, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk
DE Lawrence
DMS Zane, Shell hits 2, on fire
DMS Long, Shell hits 20, and is sunk
AM Vireo, Shell hits 3, on fire
AM Bobolink, Shell hits 3, on fire
AP Hunter Liggett
AP American Legion
AP Thomas Jefferson, Shell hits 2
xAK Rodman Coleman, Torpedo hits 2, and is sunk
xAP Idomeneus, Shell hits 1, Torpedo hits 3, and is sunk
xAP Lycaon
xAP Koolama
xAP Koolinda
xAP Mildura, Shell hits 1
xAP Mungana, Shell hits 2
xAP Murada
xAP Montoro

Allied ground losses:
771 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 1 disabled
Non Combat: 90 destroyed, 19 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 6 (4 destroyed, 2 disabled)
Vehicles lost 111 (100 destroyed, 11 disabled)

Unfortunately, our bombers didn’t fly. Tomorrow, maybe…
As expected, the base was captured.

The empty Andamans

My Oscars swept Port Blair, but no one came to the party. Enemy fighters are gone. We will bombard tomorrow.


< Message edited by fcharton -- 12/31/2012 11:52:49 PM >

(in reply to fcharton)
Post #: 405
RE: Perfection, of a kind, spence (A) vs fcharton (J) - 1/1/2013 4:59:40 PM   
fcharton

 

Posts: 1112
Joined: 10/4/2010
From: France
Status: offline 		This was the last turn of 2012. Happy new year, gaijins!
July 20th 1942

To Devonshire with love

Ships damaged during the conquest of the Indies are getting back online these days. A few days ago, my Port Blair Bombardment force, built around BB Haruna, was reinforced with several cruisers out of the shipyards in Singapore. Alongside Haruna, we had two cruisers, Atago and Myoko, and four light cruisers, Natori, Yura, Tama and Tenryu, and half a dozen tincans for submarine protection.

Why such a large group just to bombard Port Blair? My opponent tried on several occasions to ambush me. So far, the battles turned slightly in our favor: we lost a destroyer and the Kitakami, to two light cruisers (Newcastle and Marblehead), and sank a good number of light cargoes in the process, but there was little doubt that the Royal Navy would come to the party with a bigger club.

Well, that happened today. When our bombardment force, all patched, repaired, and shiny, arrived in Port Blair, they found a cruiser squadron from the Royal Navy. Devonshire, Exeter, Hobart and a handful of destroyers.

We apparently surprised them (bad weather, night, radar malfunction, whatever), managed to cross their T, and down went the Devonshire.

Night Time Surface Combat, near Port Blair at 46,58, Range 11,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
BB Haruna
CA Atago, Shell hits 1
CA Myoko, Shell hits 1, on fire
CL Natori, Shell hits 2
CL Yura, Shell hits 3, on fire
CL Tama
CL Tenryu
DD Makigumo, Shell hits 1, on fire
DD Yukikaze
DD Tokitsukaze, Shell hits 1
DD Harusame
DD Ikazuchi

Allied Ships
CA Devonshire, Shell hits 14, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk
CA Exeter, Shell hits 5, on fire
CL Hobart, Shell hits 1
DD Isaac Sweers
DD Electra
DD Foxhound, Shell hits 2, on fire
DD Inconstant

The Exeter will probably make it back to Ceylon, but she will need some yard time. On my side, the Myoko, Natori and Yura need repairs (Yura hit a mine later that day), but damage is light, and I have a few more cruisers in Singapore to replace them. The Devonshire is my fifth cruiser (after the Houston, the Canberra, the Pensacola and the New Orleans).

After the battle, we bombarded Port Blair, damaged the installations, and confirmed the absence of enemy fighters. Chickens!

My ships are heading to Singapore, to repair the damaged cruisers, replace them with new ones, and get ready to sink more Brits.

Terapo, aftermath, and a happy new year

There are days when everything goes right, like Terapo, today.

I had ordered Zeroes in Lae and Madang to sweep enemy LRCAP, and prepare the ground for bombers. They went in first, in the morning (they were the closest to the target, too), suffered, but obviously fatigued the enemy.

Morning Air attack on Terapo , at 96,127
Weather in hex: Extreme overcast

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 7

Allied aircraft
Kittyhawk IA x 1
P-39D Airacobra x 11
P-40E Warhawk x 4

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 3 destroyed
No Allied losses

In the afternoon, the weather cleared, and our regular bombardment group from Rabaul went in (yesterday, they hadn’t). The escort suffered, but the bombers went through, and sank two unloading transports.

Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Terapo at 96,127
Weather in hex: Partial cloud

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 35
G3M2 Nell x 25
G4M1 Betty x 13
Allied aircraft
Kittyhawk IA x 4
P-39D Airacobra x 10
P-400 Airacobra x 10
P-40E Warhawk x 3

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 11 destroyed
G3M2 Nell: 3 damaged
G4M1 Betty: 3 damaged
G4M1 Betty: 1 destroyed by flak

Allied aircraft losses
P-39D Airacobra: 1 destroyed

Allied Ships
xAP Lycaon
DE Lawrence
CL Concord
AP American Legion, Torpedo hits 1
AP Hunter Liggett
DD Henley
xAP Mildura, Torpedo hits 1
xAP Murada, Torpedo hits 2, and is sunk
xAP Montoro, Torpedo hits 2, and is sunk

Allied ground losses:
857 casualties reported
Squads: 6 destroyed, 1 disabled
Non Combat: 93 destroyed, 47 disabled
Engineers: 11 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 45 (43 destroyed, 2 disabled)
Vehicles lost 74 (66 destroyed, 8 disabled)

And then, KB arrived and launched at long range, a day before I expected. By that time, there was very little CAP left, and my bombers had a field day.

Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Terapo at 96,127
Weather in hex: Partial cloud

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 44
B5N2 Kate x 27
D3A1 Val x 55
Allied aircraft
Kittyhawk IA x 3
P-39D Airacobra x 6
P-400 Airacobra x 6
P-40E Warhawk x 3

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 1 destroyed
B5N2 Kate: 1 destroyed, 1 damaged
D3A1 Val: 1 destroyed, 4 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
Kittyhawk IA: 1 destroyed
P-39D Airacobra: 1 destroyed
P-400 Airacobra: 1 destroyed
P-40E Warhawk: 1 destroyed

Allied Ships
AP Thomas Jefferson, Bomb hits 2, on fire
DE Lawrence, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires, heavy damage
xAP Mildura, Bomb hits 3, heavy fires, heavy damage
xAP Mungana, Bomb hits 3, heavy fires
DE Alden, Bomb hits 5, and is sunk
xAP Lycaon, Bomb hits 7, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk
xAP Koolama, Bomb hits 4, heavy fires, heavy damage
AP American Legion, Bomb hits 3, heavy fires
xAP Koolinda, Bomb hits 2, on fire
AP Hunter Liggett, Bomb hits 4, heavy fires, heavy damage

Allied ground losses:
947 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 71 destroyed, 100 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 4 (3 destroyed, 1 disabled)
Vehicles lost 58 (33 destroyed, 25 disabled)

Lycaon, Murada, Montoro, American Legion and Alden are reported sunk. Four more ships have heavy fires and heavy damage. Several are probably goners.

I was pretty lucky that the raids happened in the correct order. Sweeps first, then the escorted Netties, and finally the KB. I am not pushing my luck tomorrow: KB is detected and will retire to Truk, I will try another raid from Rabaul, just in case.

Overall, the capture of Terapo took a month (the first landings happened on the 23rd of June) and was a costly affair. In June, the allies lost three light cruisers (Dragon, Sumatra and Phoenix), a pair of tincans (Monssen and Humphreys), and a kiwi transport (Taroona). This time, they lost three destroyers (DE Alden, DMS Long, APD Colhoun) and six transports (including AP American Legion), and the equivalent of a tank regiment, maybe more (I counted 200 vehicle, 50 guns and 250 support squads lost over two days).

This won’t break the Allies, of course, but I believe it might make them prudent, and force them to move in very small steps. This looks like a good plan.

Whither now? Today, Buna was built into a level on airfield, and troops in Terapo were see marching through the Jungle, towards Wau. This suggests a move overland on Lae, and then invasions in the Bismarck Sea are on the menu. I am also expecting moves towards Guadalcanal at some point. Merauke could be another option, threatening Ambon, and I certainly need to reinforce the place, but I feel that my opponent is targeting Rabaul.

KB doctrine

The recent battles over Terapo seem to prove a point that has been made on several occasion by military theorists. In war, the heaviest losses do not happen during battles, but after them, during pursuit or exploitation. This was the case here: I had precious little to prevent both invasions of Terapo, but I could make the enemy suffer twice by striking after the landings.

This suggests that the best use of KB might be in second line, to finish off an enemy that has already been damaged (by land based airplanes, here). Thinking about it, I suspect this is how very successful players like PzB handled their carriers. And Terapo proves that this approach can succeed in slowing the enemy. The first landings were disrupted enough to prevent an attack on the base, and it took my opponent another month to organize a second one, which cost him ships and troops.

The Pacific seems suited to such a strategy. Unless my opponent wants to conquer all New Guinea on foot (and then, good luck to him), almost all invasions must feature ships and amphibious landings. My goal, then, would be to let him land, but catch him as he unloads. This means two things: I need large air bases not too far from the front (far enough to exploit the short legs of Allied planes, though). In New Guinea, I have Rabaul, and am building Madang, Hansa Bay, Kavieng and Manus. I have an air HQ in Rabaul, and could probably do with a second one in Hansa Bay (the point with Hansa Bay is that it is out of range from Rabaul, and can target Lae, Terapo or Merauke, thus protecting all Allies paths of advance).

I should also expect my opponent to react to such strategies. My destroyers were very lucky yesterday, catching an invasion with not enough cover. The next invasion will feature ships of the line, I’m sure. Also, KB intervened twice in the same fashion. I must expect subs in this area, and bombers on alert. Next time KB should be preceded by a CAP trap.

(in reply to fcharton)
Post #: 406
RE: Perfection, of a kind, spence (A) vs fcharton (J) - 1/4/2013 8:53:36 PM   
fcharton

 

Posts: 1112
Joined: 10/4/2010
From: France
Status: offline 		July 21st 1942

Minefields

There something fun with sub-laid minefields. Most of the time, you just forget they are here, no news, no messages… And then while looking at a combat report, you get :

TF 74 encounters mine field at Luganville (120,150)
Allied Ships
DD Fanning
DD Gridley
DD Blue
DD Russell
BB Mississippi, Mine hits 1

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
TF 141 encounters mine field at Darwin (76,124)
Allied Ships
xAKL Prominent, Mine hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
xAKL Duijmar van Twist, Mine hits 1, heavy damage

I’m sure the mine but scratched the paint on the Mississippi, but it is nice nevertheless, and send a nice warning about enemy intent. I suppose it is time for KB to sail south…

Last tango in Terapo

Our bombers flew another mission over Terapo today, and turns out the American Legion wasn’t sunk. This might be corrected now: ground unit victory point went up by 40 points, which suggests something pretty big sank.

Morning Air attack on TF, near Terapo at 96,127
Weather in hex: Partial cloud
Raid spotted at 20 NM, estimated altitude 5,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 7 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 44
G3M2 Nell x 21
G4M1 Betty x 22

Allied aircraft
Kittyhawk IA x 1
P-39D Airacobra x 10
P-400 Airacobra x 6
P-40E Warhawk x 5

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 9 destroyed
G3M2 Nell: 1 destroyed
G4M1 Betty: 2 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
P-400 Airacobra: 1 destroyed

Allied Ships
xAP Mungana, Bomb hits 8, heavy fires, heavy damage
AP American Legion, Bomb hits 9, heavy fires, heavy damage
xAP Koolinda, Bomb hits 4, heavy fires, heavy damage
DE Lawrence, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires, heavy damage

Allied ground losses:
160 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 14 destroyed, 23 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 5 (4 destroyed, 1 disabled)
Vehicles lost 8 (1 destroyed, 7 disabled)

I am resting my air force, now. A large surface task force is now cruising between Cooktown and Port Moresby. With a little luck, she’ll catch the cripples. If she doesn’t, we’ll have another bombardment round before transferring to Singapore for refits.

In other news, raw AV ratio in Chungking is now over 1:1, in my favor. We are attacking tomorrow, and will try to get another fort level.

Work and hobbies

I have been spending way too much time at work, lately. I don’t mind heavy schedules, but the depressed atmosphere we have here because of the economic crisis, the tax frenzy of our current rulers, which makes the extra mile less and less tempting, and probably me getting old (forty eight last week), and caring less about my revenues, sends my interest down. Maybe I should start looking for new things to do (if anyone has projects for an aging maths/stats fanboy with a good experience in software programming, I’m all ears …).

I probably need more hobbies, and activities. I have been toying with the idea of starting another game, as the Allies since I don’t want to plan another Japanese conquest now, but I believe this would make AE a bit too important. For those of you who have an experience of handling two campaigns at the same time, how involving is it?


(in reply to fcharton)
Post #: 407
RE: Perfection, of a kind, spence (A) vs fcharton (J) - 1/5/2013 7:05:31 PM   
fcharton

 

Posts: 1112
Joined: 10/4/2010
From: France
Status: offline 		July 22nd 1942

Notes on Chungking

We had another deliberate attack in Chungking today, which reduced the forts, down to level one. We failed to achieve 1:1 odds, despite slightly favorable raw AV odds, and so the disruption is very high. But then, we mostly got disablements, which will heal fast with all the support now in the city, and the enemy lost over 700 squads (a third of them destroyed) which won’t repair.

Ground combat at Chungking (76,45)
Japanese Deliberate attack
Attacking force 188095 troops, 2744 guns, 1462 vehicles, Assault Value = 5018
Defending force 189819 troops, 878 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 4639
Japanese engineers reduce fortifications to 1
Japanese adjusted assault: 1539
Allied adjusted defense: 2597
Japanese assault odds: 1 to 2 (fort level 1)

Japanese ground losses:
16671 casualties reported
Squads: 71 destroyed, 1131 disabled
Non Combat: 3 destroyed, 161 disabled
Engineers: 5 destroyed, 184 disabled
Guns lost 165 (5 destroyed, 160 disabled)
Vehicles lost 52 (1 destroyed, 51 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
10331 casualties reported
Squads: 241 destroyed, 487 disabled
Non Combat: 84 destroyed, 439 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 44 disabled
Guns lost 126 (25 destroyed, 101 disabled)
Units destroyed 1

Next day bombardment revealed 4100 AV for the KMT, vs 3800 on our side. We are winning the war in China.

Our first bombardment attack on Chungking took place on the ninth of May, two and a half month ago. Back then, my opponent had 2570 AV in town, and we had about 1900. Our first deliberate attack, which reduced the forts down to five, happened on the 27th of May, and achieved 1:9 odds (yuck!). Thanks to respawn, enemy AV reached a high point at 6400, about a month ago, Japanese AV never exceeded 5000, and were most of the time around 4000.

Next attack in ten days, with a little luck, we might manage 1:1 odds, less disruption, and more frequent attacks. I have good hopes of finishing Chungking in August, and this might mean getting all KMT units off the map by the end of the year.

(in reply to fcharton)
Post #: 408
RE: Perfection, of a kind, spence (A) vs fcharton (J) - 1/6/2013 4:06:23 AM   
PaxMondo


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

ORIGINAL: fcharton
...I have good hopes of finishing Chungking in August, and this might mean getting all KMT units off the map by the end of the year.


WOW!!



_____________________________

Pax

(in reply to fcharton)
Post #: 409
RE: Perfection, of a kind, spence (A) vs fcharton (J) - 1/6/2013 11:57:22 AM   
fcharton

 

Posts: 1112
Joined: 10/4/2010
From: France
Status: offline 		July 23rd 1942

The iron planes

Wellingtons and Blenheims have been bombing Magwe and Rangoon for quite a while now. They usually come at night, sometimes during the day, always unescorted, at 6000 feet. I always have Zeroes and Oscars on patrol, apparently at the right altitude, and have flak on both sites.

In Magwe, I have an air defense regiment, with radar, and 16 88mm AA guns, and two machinecannon companies, with 36 75mm AA guns. I have two squadons of Zeroes and two of Oscars, all with experience in the 70s, overall 60 planes, split evenly between night and day shift. In Rangoon I have a dozen 75 mm AA guns, and about 25 fighters, Oscars and Zeroes, with pilots in their 70s.

I would expect both places, but especially Magwe, would be a little dangerous for unescorted enemy bombers, flying relatively low. All the more as Wellingtons are not known for their speed and maneuverability…

But is doesn’t seem so. Here’s a night attack on Rangoon

Night Air attack on Rangoon , at 54,53
Weather in hex: Heavy rain
Raid spotted at 18 NM, estimated altitude 11,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 6 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 2
Ki-43-Ic Oscar x 5

Allied aircraft
Wellington Ic x 6

No Japanese losses
Allied aircraft losses
Wellington Ic: 2 damaged

Aircraft Attacking:
6 x Wellington Ic bombing from 6000 feet
City Attack: 8 x 500 lb GP Bomb

CAP engaged:
64th Sentai Det with Ki-43-Ic Oscar (1 airborne, 3 on standby, 1 scrambling)
1 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 7000 , scrambling fighters to 7000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 30 minutes
12th Ku S-1 Det B with A6M2 Zero (2 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
2 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 6000
Raid is overhead

Here’s Magwe at night a few days later

Night Air attack on Magwe , at 57,47
Weather in hex: Moderate rain
Raid spotted at 12 NM, estimated altitude 9,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 3 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 5
Ki-43-Ia Oscar x 8
Allied aircraft
Blenheim IV x 7

No Japanese losses
No Allied losses

Aircraft Attacking:
7 x Blenheim IV bombing from 6000 feet
Airfield Attack: 4 x 250 lb GP Bomb
CAP engaged:
Chitose Ku S-1 Det with A6M2 Zero (1 airborne, 2 on standby, 2 scrambling)
1 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 6000 , scrambling fighters to 6000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 54 minutes
59th Sentai with Ki-43-Ia Oscar (2 airborne, 6 on standby, 0 scrambling)
2 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 8000 , scrambling fighters to 8000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 7 minutes


Here is the same against Wellingtons, see how they can damage Oscars and hit their targets (while being outnumbered)…

Night Air attack on Magwe , at 57,47
Weather in hex: Moderate rain
Raid detected at 11 NM, estimated altitude 10,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 4 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 5
Ki-43-Ia Oscar x 8
Allied aircraft
Wellington Ic x 5

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-43-Ia Oscar: 4 damaged
Allied aircraft losses
Wellington Ic: 2 damaged

Airbase supply hits 1

Aircraft Attacking:
5 x Wellington Ic bombing from 6000 feet
Airfield Attack: 8 x 500 lb GP Bomb
CAP engaged:
Chitose Ku S-1 Det with A6M2 Zero (3 airborne, 0 on standby, 2 scrambling)
3 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 6000 , scrambling fighters to 8000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 25 minutes
59th Sentai with Ki-43-Ia Oscar (8 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
8 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 8000
Raid is overhead

And now Wellingtons during the day, against a larger CAP of Oscars and Zeroes, note the two damaged Zeroes, and the fact they seem to have hit all targets.

Morning Air attack on Magwe , at 57,47
Weather in hex: Clear sky
Raid detected at 24 NM, estimated altitude 11,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 9 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 2
Ki-43-Ic Oscar x 16
Allied aircraft
Wellington Ic x 8
Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 2 damaged
A6M2 Zero: 1 destroyed on ground
Ki-43-Ia Oscar: 1 destroyed on ground
Allied aircraft losses
Wellington Ic: 2 damaged

Japanese ground losses:
6 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Airbase supply hits 2
Runway hits 14

Aircraft Attacking:
8 x Wellington Ic bombing from 6000 feet
Airfield Attack: 8 x 500 lb GP Bomb
CAP engaged:
1st Sentai with Ki-43-Ic Oscar (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 16 scrambling)
Group patrol altitude is 14000 , scrambling fighters between 1000 and 14000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 32 minutes
12th Ku S-1 Det A with A6M2 Zero (0 airborne, 2 on standby, 0 scrambling)
Group patrol altitude is 15000 , scrambling fighters to 10000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 6 minutes

These results are pretty typical. They are not too damaging, but the idea that nothing can be done about such attacks seems strange. I am in the process of moving more flak in, and have transferred more fighters (with experienced pilots), but if it is useless, I might as well save the trouble of walking them from China…

Suggestions are welcome…

One Mississippi

You might remember that BB Mississippi hit a mine in Luganville a few days ago. A submarine was sent to investigate, and found the same task force, and hit the Mississippi with a torpedo.

Sub attack near Luganville at 120,150

Japanese Ships
SS I-160, hits 9, on fire, heavy damage

Allied Ships
BB Mississippi, Torpedo hits 1
CA San Francisco
CL Boise
CL Helena
CL St. Louis
DD Clark
DD Lamson
DD Fanning
DD Dunlap

I-160 didn’t survive the counterstrike, unfortunately, but I suspect the Mississippi won’t be seen in these waters for a while.

Three task forces have been spotted in Luganville, this surface force, and two amphibious. I believe the buildup for Guadalcanal is continuing. KB is on its way: I want to ambush those guys, at sea would be best.

More enemy bombers

When it comes to bombers, and coordination, my opponent is obviously understanding something which escapes me. Look at this attack on the retreating units from Terapo:

Morning Air attack on 5th JNAF Coy , at 97,127 , near Salamaua
Weather in hex: Heavy rain
Raid spotted at 20 NM, estimated altitude 7,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 5 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 10

Allied aircraft
B-25C Mitchell x 11
Hudson III (LR) x 6
Kittyhawk IA x 5
Kittyhawk IA x 7
B-26 Marauder x 9
P-39D Airacobra x 10
P-400 Airacobra x 10
P-40E Warhawk x 12

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 2 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
B-25C Mitchell: 1 damaged
Kittyhawk IA: 1 destroyed
P-40E Warhawk: 1 destroyed

Japanese ground losses:
35 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 5 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

Aircraft Attacking:
11 x B-25C Mitchell bombing from 6000 feet
Ground Attack: 6 x 500 lb GP Bomb
6 x Hudson III (LR) bombing from 1000 feet
Ground Attack: 2 x 250 lb GP Bomb
9 x B-26 Marauder bombing from 6000 feet
Ground Attack: 6 x 500 lb GP Bomb
5 x Kittyhawk IA sweeping at 14000 feet
5 x P-40E Warhawk sweeping at 14000 feet
2 x P-39D Airacobra sweeping at 11000 feet
6 x P-400 Airacobra sweeping at 11000 feet

So it seems you can coordinate sweeping fighters with bombers, at different altitudes. I had the impression that sweeps would ALWAYS be separated from bombing runs, and that split altitudes almost always prevented coordination.

Any idea on how to achieve that?

(in reply to PaxMondo)
Post #: 410
RE: Perfection, of a kind, spence (A) vs fcharton (J) - 1/6/2013 1:52:54 PM   
JocMeister

 

Posts: 8262
Joined: 7/29/2009
From: Sweden
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: fcharton
For those of you who have an experience of handling two campaigns at the same time, how involving is it?


I think timing them are pretty crucial if you don´t want to spend too much time on the game. I wouldn´t want to play two allied games at the same time in 44-46 as that would certainly eat up way too much time!

I have two ongoing games right now as allied. One in 12/43 and one in 4/42. The turns in the 43 game takes over an hour while the early game takes about 15 minutes mostly unless something big is happening. By the time my first game ends I will probably be in mid 43 in my second game. Perfect timing!

I don´t feel less involved in any of the games. They are both fun and fundamentally different due to the difference in time. But keep in mind that playing the allies isn´t that much fun early on. Its more about base building then conducting war!



(in reply to fcharton)
Post #: 411
RE: Perfection, of a kind, spence (A) vs fcharton (J) - 1/6/2013 2:08:56 PM   
PaxMondo


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

ORIGINAL: fcharton

Suggestions are welcome…

... So it seems you can coordinate sweeping fighters with bombers, at different altitudes. I had the impression that sweeps would ALWAYS be separated from bombing runs, and that split altitudes almost always prevented coordination.

Any idea on how to achieve that?


4E - Night Bombing
OK, you seem depressed with your results, but I look at them and think: "Francois has this figured out really well.". Seriously. 3 night raids and only one hit and 4 damaged 4E's. Good chance he lost one. His replacement rates are such he can't afford that too long. Yes, Oscar's are almost useless against 4E's until their final upgrade where they get a cannon and then they are too slow to catch most late war allied bombers. But, they are ok at night CAP.

4E Day Bombing
Zero and Nick is all you have until George arrives. Your Oscars are trying to fight with 2x7.7mm against the 4E 9x50cal. They are quite simply massively outgunned exactly as the designers intended.

Sweep Coordination
First, again, let me complement you on your great rolls, only 10 Zeros against +70 ac and you achieved 3:2 result in your favor. Wow. My guess on his apparent coordination is luck and short range. Range is a big factor in coordination ... and shorter makes it happen a lot easier. <4 hexes seems to be the break point. Below that, many missions will coordinate irregardless of anything. I use that a lot in China where I can build a lot of AF's in a tight area.

< Message edited by PaxMondo -- 1/6/2013 2:10:55 PM >

_____________________________

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(in reply to fcharton)
Post #: 412
RE: Perfection, of a kind, spence (A) vs fcharton (J) - 1/6/2013 2:40:25 PM   
fcharton

 

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

ORIGINAL: JocMeister
I have two ongoing games right now as allied. One in 12/43 and one in 4/42. The turns in the 43 game takes over an hour while the early game takes about 15 minutes mostly unless something big is happening. By the time my first game ends I will probably be in mid 43 in my second game. Perfect timing!


This looks like what I had in mind. I suspect Japan gets a bit less involved as the war goes on, because you have less of a navy to fight with, and defending usually takes less time than planning attacks. Allies seem to be the other way around.

Thanks a lot for the reply. I believe I will wait a while before commiting to the evil side (er. I mean the good guys, of course), but this opens a possibility.

Francois


(in reply to JocMeister)
Post #: 413
RE: Perfection, of a kind, spence (A) vs fcharton (J) - 1/6/2013 3:04:08 PM   
fcharton

 

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

quote:

ORIGINAL: PaxMondo
4E - Night Bombing
OK, you seem depressed with your results, but I look at them and think: "Francois has this figured out really well.". Seriously. 3 night raids and only one hit and 4 damaged 4E's. Good chance he lost one. His replacement rates are such he can't afford that too long. Yes, Oscar's are almost useless against 4E's until their final upgrade where they get a cannon and then they are too slow to catch most late war allied bombers. But, they are ok at night CAP.


I'm cool with the results, but my interest is at a low level of the cycle, right now, and I'm trying to look at small things to spur it back.

One point : we're not talking 4E here. I am fighting B17-E around Rabaul, and the results are much worse, even against cannon-toting A6M3, here's a typical example

Night Air attack on Rabaul , at 106,125
Weather in hex: Light rain
Japanese aircraft
A6M3 Zero x 5
Allied aircraft
B-17E Fortress x 3
Japanese aircraft losses
A6M3 Zero: 2 destroyed
Allied aircraft losses
B-17E Fortress: 1 damaged

But Blenheims and Wellingtons are no buffs. Twin engined, armed with .303 MG, which is pretty much 7.7 mm...
In other words, I'm not outgunned. I might need cannons to get through the armor, though.

Speaking of which, I notice the Rufe has a cannon. Did you ever try it as bomber defense? I'm asking this because it might be worth a shot in Rabaul or Lae.

quote:


Range is a big factor in coordination ... and shorter makes it happen a lot easier. <4 hexes seems to be the break point. Below that, many missions will coordinate irregardless of anything. I use that a lot in China where I can build a lot of AF's in a tight area.


I see. Does it mean that at very short range, I can order sweeps instead of escorts, and expect them to coordinate with my bombers?
This is interesting in New Guinea, where bases are close to each other.

This raises another question: how do you defend against those? I can't sweep the hex, which holds friendly units. I use LRCAP now, but targetting the bombers, while, my opponent sweeps me from higher (which I thought was impossible), so I might need to LRCAP at a higher altitude. Doing so, I'd get the bounce, probably doing damage on his sweep, and forcing them to fly higher, and probably lose their coordination.

What do you think?

Francois

(in reply to PaxMondo)
Post #: 414
RE: Perfection, of a kind, spence (A) vs fcharton (J) - 1/6/2013 3:06:29 PM   
obvert


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

ORIGINAL: fcharton


quote:

ORIGINAL: JocMeister
I have two ongoing games right now as allied. One in 12/43 and one in 4/42. The turns in the 43 game takes over an hour while the early game takes about 15 minutes mostly unless something big is happening. By the time my first game ends I will probably be in mid 43 in my second game. Perfect timing!


This looks like what I had in mind. I suspect Japan gets a bit less involved as the war goes on, because you have less of a navy to fight with, and defending usually takes less time than planning attacks. Allies seem to be the other way around.




Maybe, but I just took three hours on a turn figuring out the defense! Probably overkill, and yet it happens when I have the time. I really enjoy being able to dig into a turn, and often more ideas come the longer I spend at it.

I'm sure Jocke's hand will turn into an aching claw during 44 when he has even more to deal with, and by then I may not have the attachment i do now where the game is still in some flux. I may just be picking up the pieces and continually shifting things back, so yes, maybe as it goes on there will be less time commitment. We'll see.


_____________________________

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

(in reply to fcharton)
Post #: 415
RE: Perfection, of a kind, spence (A) vs fcharton (J) - 1/6/2013 5:33:33 PM   
SqzMyLemon


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

ORIGINAL: fcharton

I probably need more hobbies, and activities. I have been toying with the idea of starting another game, as the Allies since I don’t want to plan another Japanese conquest now, but I believe this would make AE a bit too important. For those of you who have an experience of handling two campaigns at the same time, how involving is it?


Hi Francois,

I also have two campaigns going and I find if you play each side it works out nicely. My Japan game take the most time depending on the situation, but usually finish turns within and hour and a half. The Allied game is in November 42 and I can finish a turn in 15 mins if need be, but that's more from having my ass kicked all over the map and not having any options to advance at the moment.

I think one game of each is ideal if you have the time. They compliment each other nicely and Japan will take up the brunt of your time early while the Allied side requires fare less and those committments will swap as each game reaches the midpoint and beyond.

I'll add, it also depends on your priorities. My model building is really suffering now. I devote too much time to WitPAE and at times wish I'd stuck to one game. That's not to say I'm not enjoying both games, but it does mean if I concentrate on them that leaves little time for anything else fun when you factor in normal daily life activities.

< Message edited by SqzMyLemon -- 1/6/2013 5:37:33 PM >

_____________________________

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 #: 416
RE: Perfection, of a kind, spence (A) vs fcharton (J) - 1/6/2013 9:43:59 PM   
PaxMondo


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

ORIGINAL: fcharton

Hi Pax,

quote:


Range is a big factor in coordination ... and shorter makes it happen a lot easier. <4 hexes seems to be the break point. Below that, many missions will coordinate irregardless of anything. I use that a lot in China where I can build a lot of AF's in a tight area.


I see. Does it mean that at very short range, I can order sweeps instead of escorts, and expect them to coordinate with my bombers?
This is interesting in New Guinea, where bases are close to each other.

This raises another question: how do you defend against those? I can't sweep the hex, which holds friendly units. I use LRCAP now, but targetting the bombers, while, my opponent sweeps me from higher (which I thought was impossible), so I might need to LRCAP at a higher altitude. Doing so, I'd get the bounce, probably doing damage on his sweep, and forcing them to fly higher, and probably lose their coordination.

What do you think?

Francois

In China, in places where my bases are close and I'm bombing at short range, my missions get all tumbled all the time. Meaning, I have CAP, LR CAP, Sweeps and Bombing going on and I see fighters from all missions sorta mixed in. This is when my targets are like 2-3 hexes away. Not something I'm trying to do, but I note that it happens a lot. Like from Kaifeng to Loyang or Kaoping.

I would do some sandbox testing to see what, if any, control you get on this. I haven't tested it. Obviously, to defend you would need a lot of CAP ... and then some more of that as well. OR, bomb his bases while he is away.

_____________________________

Pax

(in reply to fcharton)
Post #: 417
RE: Perfection, of a kind, spence (A) vs fcharton (J) - 1/12/2013 4:17:46 PM   
fcharton

 

Posts: 1112
Joined: 10/4/2010
From: France
Status: offline 		Sorry for the lack of updates, I have a lot of work, and the game is taking priority over the AAR.

July 24th 1942

Aleutians in summer

Another bombing run, targeting Adak island this time, was spotted and intercepted by B26 today.

Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Amchitka Island at 158,54
Weather in hex: Severe storms
Raid spotted at 19 NM, estimated altitude 5,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 5 minutes

Allied aircraft
B-26 Marauder x 13
Allied aircraft losses
B-26 Marauder: 4 damaged
Japanese Ships
BB Mutsu
CL Yubari

Four Marauders damaged out of 13, maybe more since the weather is bad and they have a service ratings of two. Flak works. I am two days away from Adak, where those guys must be based, I will press on, see if they can hit us before we bombard their hangars…

A tale of two Kakus

I have eleven carriers (light, escort and fleet) on the map. The two kakus, Zuikaku and Shokaku are in Nagasaki for refits. They will be ready in a week, and joined by CV Hiyo, which just arrived in Kobe. They will then sail to Truk.

The Junyo, Hosho and Unyo are on their way to Truk too. CVL Zuiho, my only light carrier left after the fateful battle which saw the sinking of mini-KB, is in Singapore.

The KB proper (Kaga, Akagi and the two dragons) is sailing towards the New Hebrides. As the area is swarming with enemy submarines, all squadrons have been limited to close range (two hexes) to avoid detection. I am planning to sit between Ndeni and the Solomons, with oilers in range, and be ready to punish any enemy attempt on either base.

I have no idea of where US carriers are. Some of their squadrons were seen operating in Port Moresby and in Darwin, and it is quite likely that my opponent is keeping them for future use.

My short term plan is to concentrate all my carriers in and around Truk. When the kakus are back, they will replace two fleet carriers that will go and upgrade in Japan. With Hilo and Junyo, I will have a main striking force of six fleet carriers, and a mini KB with three escort and light carriers, that can be used in case of emergency. All of them will be used in the Pacific: I don’t think I need carriers in the Indies now, and I can feel my opponent will soon strike the Solomons (and perhaps the Gilberts).

My current doctrine views carriers as defensive weapons, that can be used to intercept amphibious forces on their way to their landing sites, or hit them while they unload, or catch them on their way back. At present, their natural areas of operation are the Solomons, the Gilberts and New Guinea.

(in reply to PaxMondo)
Post #: 418
RE: Perfection, of a kind, spence (A) vs fcharton (J) - 1/12/2013 5:04:02 PM   
fcharton

 

Posts: 1112
Joined: 10/4/2010
From: France
Status: offline 		July 25th 1942

On my way to Adak

BB Yamashiro and Mutsu were attacked again by B-26 from Adak. Reports are quite impressive, and show three bomb hits on each, but actual damage is around 4 sys, and we claim three bombers. Against moving (and firing) targets, those big twin engine bombers seem relatively inefficient.

We should bombard Adak tomorrow morning. Let us see how many Marauders we can catch on the ground.

Luganville

RO-64 visited Luganville today, and found a large surface force. Only one battleship was seen, which suggests the Mississippi is home for repairs. Unfortunately, the ASW ships found her too. She will survive, but she is out of the war for a while.

ASW attack near Luganville at 120,150

Japanese Ships
SS RO-64, hits 13, heavy damage

Allied Ships
DD Gridley
BB Idaho
CA San Francisco
CL Boise
CL Helena
CL St. Louis
DD Ralph Talbot
DD Clark
DD Lamson
DD Fanning
DD Dunlap

KB is near Ontong Java. If those people pay a visit to Lunga, they might be in for a nasty surprise on their way back.

Liuchow and Chungking

In Liuchow, we missed 1:1 odds by a small margin.

Ground combat at Liuchow (74,55)
Japanese Deliberate attack
Attacking force 25186 troops, 230 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 561
Defending force 32069 troops, 201 guns, 17 vehicles, Assault Value = 699
Japanese adjusted assault: 165
Allied adjusted defense: 185
Japanese assault odds: 1 to 2 (fort level 0)

Japanese ground losses:
905 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 91 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 10 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 3 disabled

Allied ground losses:
1773 casualties reported
Squads: 28 destroyed, 98 disabled
Non Combat: 2 destroyed, 61 disabled
Engineers: 1 destroyed, 4 disabled
Guns lost 25 (7 destroyed, 18 disabled)

I need a few days of rest, but the next attack should do the thing. Once Liuchow falls, then enemy will have one “free base”, Tuyun, which has no industry, and two bases under siege, Chungking and Changsha. In other words, the KMT will be out of supplies.

In Chungking, disruption is still in the low 20s and fatigue in the 40s, but AV are 4200 vs 3900 for the Chinese. Bombardment is reducing KMT AV by about 40 every day.

A quick look at VP

After a high value around 3:1 in the second half of May, VP Ratio has been steadily moving down, and is now stabilized around 2.75:1. I am earning, on average, a little more points than my opponent, mostly because of land damage in China, and ships sunk. Right now, I have about 30 250 VP, my opponent almost 11 000. Of those 30 000, about two third are permanent.

Ground losses are 13 000 to 1000. I expect this to increase once Chungking falls.
Air losses are 2900 to 3600, a 1.25:1 ratio in the allies favor. This is not good, and my main goal for the end of the year is to improve this. The transition to defensive posture should help, in this respect.



(in reply to fcharton)
Post #: 419
RE: Perfection, of a kind, spence (A) vs fcharton (J) - 1/12/2013 5:16:23 PM   
obvert


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

A quick look at VP

After a high value around 3:1 in the second half of May, VP Ratio has been steadily moving down, and is now stabilized around 2.75:1. I am earning, on average, a little more points than my opponent, mostly because of land damage in China, and ships sunk. Right now, I have about 30 250 VP, my opponent almost 11 000. Of those 30 000, about two third are permanent.

Ground losses are 13 000 to 1000. I expect this to increase once Chungking falls.
Air losses are 2900 to 3600, a 1.25:1 ratio in the allies favor. This is not good, and my main goal for the end of the year is to improve this. The transition to defensive posture should help, in this respect.


Looks good Francois. That ratio is quite impressive for not having tried India or OZ.

As far as air numbers, even though improving the ratio is always good, I've found that planes are the most easily expendable resource and not being averse to losses can really put pressure on your opponent and at times make the Allies retreat back into periods of relatively low activity. This to me is better than just winning the air battles. It takes time for him to refill pools, but with your focus on the air war in particular, you can take the losses and keep going.

Or maybe this is all a way of justifying my own ineptitude at equalling Allied air quality! Whatever you do, keep up the pressure as you seem to be doing now.

_____________________________

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

(in reply to fcharton)
Post #: 420
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