RE: Wake Island Liberated!

Matrix Games Forums

Forums Register Login Photo Gallery Member List Search Calendars FAQ

My Profile Inbox Address Book My Subscription My Forums Log Out

RE: Wake Island Liberated!

View related threads: (in this forum | in all forums)

Logged in as: Guest

Users viewing this topic: none

Printable Version

All Forums >> [New Releases from Matrix Games] >> War in the Pacific: Admiral's Edition >> After Action Reports >> RE: Wake Island Liberated!

Page: << < prev 30 31 [32] 33 34 next > >>

Message

<< Older Topic Newer Topic >>

RE: Wake Island Liberated! - 4/12/2013 8:09:33 PM

JocMeister

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

4th May -44

Kind of a mixed bag. Mostly bad. Bah!

New Guinea

Very bad day in NG. The planned naval bombardment goes bonkers. By 3BB TF run into another very strange TF (6CLs 2DDs) expending all ammo and RTB. Not a single Jap ship is sunk or in danger of sinking. In the morning the previous safe water turns dangerous as Erik has jumped in some planes to Hollandia. They hit the Alabama with two torps. No danger of sinking but she will have to go the WC for 6-8 months. Crap.

The deliberate attack on Biak not only fails but does so miserably.

quote:

Ground combat at Biak (87,110)

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 13863 troops, 241 guns, 339 vehicles, Assault Value = 612

Defending force 14454 troops, 83 guns, 98 vehicles, Assault Value = 392

Allied adjusted assault: 460

Japanese adjusted defense: 599

Allied assault odds: 1 to 2 (fort level 4)

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

Japanese ground losses:
668 casualties reported
Squads: 4 destroyed, 66 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 4 disabled
Engineers: 2 destroyed, 2 disabled
Vehicles lost 8 (1 destroyed, 7 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
1376 casualties reported
Squads: 12 destroyed, 88 disabled
Non Combat: 2 destroyed, 23 disabled
Engineers: 9 destroyed, 33 disabled
Guns lost 32 (7 destroyed, 25 disabled)
Vehicles lost 36 (1 destroyed, 35 disabled)

My engineer RGT and the RCT is COMPLETELY disabled. All squads in both units are 100% disabled. Never seen that before. The Tank BTL is completely untouched though. It will take months before they will be combat worthy again. Second half of the invasion will begin loading soon. I have a nice NZ armor unit with Sherman Vs coming in. Hopefully they will help.

I hope Noemfoor will be easier or I risk being bogged down.

Burma
Here is some good news. Erik decides to stay at Rangoon with his airforce. 200 planes are torched on the ground including almost 100 Franks. Not bad. That is a week worth of Franks in just two days! Halleluja! Oh wait...

Just as indicated Erik moves a small tank unit in behind my lines. I have no idea what he hopes to achieve with this? They will be obliterated next turn when 500 2Es will hit them. I have a division and some armor moving in that should arrive in 2-3 days.

Erik has started moving around in the North. My units are making good progress East. If I can defeat his two units blocking the road to Lashio I can merge my two stacks bringing the total AV up to 2500. That can threaten Lashio itself...I will bring down the aerial hammer on those two units after a day of rest.

Strategic Bombing
My first strategic bombing mission is flown! The LI at Rangoon are toast! I�ll rest down fatigue and then try a daylight raid somewhere. Erik has 30-50 Fighters protecting all important bases. Normally this would mean 30-50 lost bombers. I hope the B29s doesn�t suffer this fate...

Air war
I destroy 240 enemy planes for only 10 of my own today. Japanese losses are 400 for the last two days. While sounding much and looking like a good result that is actually only about 5 days worth of production. So essentially I set him back 3 days with that result! Splendid!

No screen today as there are only depressing things to show!

(in reply to Bullwinkle58)

Post #: 931

RE: Wake Island Liberated! - 4/12/2013 9:47:12 PM

Bullwinkle58

Posts: 11302
Joined: 2/24/2009
Status: offline

quote:

ORIGINAL: JocMeister

[Air war
I destroy 240 enemy planes for only 10 of my own today. Japanese losses are 400 for the last two days. While sounding much and looking like a good result that is actually only about 5 days worth of production. So essentially I set him back 3 days with that result! Splendid!

Don't think of it that way. Think of it as HI used. HI used is fuel used. Add up the HI for the planes, then add the engines, and subtract that from HI available to build arms and veh points or pay pilot taxes.

The more LI you burn down the more he has to depend on HI to throw off supply. The circle tightens.

_____________________________

The Moose

(in reply to JocMeister)

Post #: 932

RE: Wake Island Liberated! - 4/13/2013 6:09:43 AM

JocMeister

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

quote:

ORIGINAL: Bullwinkle58

Don't think of it that way. Think of it as HI used. HI used is fuel used. Add up the HI for the planes, then add the engines, and subtract that from HI available to build arms and veh points or pay pilot taxes.

The more LI you burn down the more he has to depend on HI to throw off supply. The circle tightens.

Well, that is one way to look at it. But its not as full of self pity as my way?

(in reply to Bullwinkle58)

Post #: 933

RE: Wake Island Liberated! - 4/13/2013 8:48:53 AM

JocMeister

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

Another crucial turn away. I hate these. I have the potential of wrecking a complete invasion TF at Noemfoor (including APA/AKAs). I don�t like going in spotted with the nearest AF is 7 hexes away. Knowing Erik he will throw everything he has at the TF.

Erik is in Paris so I might not get this back until tomorrow. I hate PBEM!

(in reply to JocMeister)

Post #: 934

RE: Wake Island Liberated! - 4/13/2013 1:35:23 PM

JocMeister

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

Here is the situation that has me on edge right now. No lifesigns from Erik. Worst case I won�t recieve any news until tomorrow.

Attachment (1)

(in reply to JocMeister)

Post #: 935

RE: Wake Island Liberated! - 4/13/2013 2:46:58 PM

ny59giants

Posts: 9869
Joined: 1/10/2005
Status: offline

Almost looks like a naval scene from the book/movie, "A Bridge Too Far" as you try to force your way down just one highway with the Japanese on both sides of the road vs the Germans. Don't know how many and how well trained Erik has some of his bombers for LowN to come in fast at 1000' to hit your shipping.

_____________________________

(in reply to JocMeister)

Post #: 936

RE: Wake Island Liberated! - 4/13/2013 3:39:05 PM

JocMeister

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

quote:

ORIGINAL: ny59giants

Almost looks like a naval scene from the book/movie, "A Bridge Too Far" as you try to force your way down just one highway with the Japanese on both sides of the road vs the Germans. Don't know how many and how well trained Erik has some of his bombers for LowN to come in fast at 1000' to hit your shipping.

I know, I know.

I normally doesn�t do risky stuff like this. But grabbing Biak and/or Noemfoor is absolutely crucial for the future advance. I can�t allow myself to get bottled up at this bottleneck. I�m willing to pay a heavy price as long as I get either one of the two.

At some point I have to start taking risks. This is worth the risk imo.

(in reply to ny59giants)

Post #: 937

RE: Wake Island Liberated! - 4/13/2013 5:15:33 PM

Bullwinkle58

Posts: 11302
Joined: 2/24/2009
Status: offline

quote:

ORIGINAL: JocMeister

quote:

ORIGINAL: Bullwinkle58

Don't think of it that way. Think of it as HI used. HI used is fuel used. Add up the HI for the planes, then add the engines, and subtract that from HI available to build arms and veh points or pay pilot taxes.

The more LI you burn down the more he has to depend on HI to throw off supply. The circle tightens.

Well, that is one way to look at it. But its not as full of self pity as my way?

True dat.

_____________________________

The Moose

(in reply to JocMeister)

Post #: 938

RE: Wake Island Liberated! - 4/14/2013 8:31:33 AM

JocMeister

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

6th May -44

A very interesting day that involved a lot of pacing back and forth. Erik managed to get me the turn but I was too tired to do an update.

Lets start with the first major event!

New Guinea

Troops land on Noemfoor under heavy fire! During the day masses of bombers take off. While many make it through the meagre LRCAP I escape relatively unharmed. I will lose an AKA and probable a Fletcher. Now the big problem will be getting the hell out of Dodge. Erik sortied what I can only assume is the KB. See screenshot for details.

Instead of focusing everything on the landing Erik jumped a crapload of bombers to Aitape. No clue why. They jumped a convoy carrying some troops for Sarmi sinking an LST and damaging two others.

During the massive bombings Erik lost some 150 planes for 20 Allied. Giving away some interesting intel Erik wrote this in the email:

quote:

I am hemoraging planes and pilots lately. I got some hits but the costs are getting quite high for this kind of thing. Soon I'l be having the kind of pilot quality the Japanese had for real.

At least I hit some decent ships this time. I most likely won't do another today, but will have time tomorrow.

So pilots are finally becoming a problem for him. And he didn�t hit anything important..yet! But I won�t tell him that!

Ship losses are in the screen.

Now I need to get the hell out. I switched all squadrons set on LRCAP for fresh ones. It won�t stop the KB if Erik decides to try but it can certainly bleed him again. Especially escorting fighters will suffer. The damaged AKA and DD are left behind so they don�t slow the main TF down. With no LRCAP set for the two ships they are certainly doomed. I�m still in big danger of losing the assault ships. But I will be a lot closer to my LRCAP this time. If I were Erik I would not risk more KB pilots to hit empty ships. But knowing Erik he probably will try anyway. So I�m hoping for a carnage on his strike planes if he tries.

Erik is flying in troops to both Biak and Noemfoor. I hate this aspect of the game as I can�t stop him as LRCAP has little to no effect on transports. I had hoped for a quick capture of Noemfoor but that probably won�t happen as he had more there then anticipated. Anyone knows if his engineer regiments are combat engineers or just regular ones?

quote:

Ground combat at Noemfoor (86,110)

Japanese Bombardment attack

Attacking force 2608 troops, 39 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 171

Defending force 8235 troops, 151 guns, 264 vehicles, Assault Value = 327

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

Assaulting units:
32nd Nav Gsn Unit
91st Infantry Regiment
47th Engineer Regiment
9th Tank Rgt /3
62nd Construction Battalion
28th JNAF AF Unit

Defending units:
627th TD Bn /3
102nd(Sep) Infantry Regiment
3rd Motor Brigade
158th(Sep) Infantry Rgt /3

So it looks like my worst fears are coming true. Erik is flying in about 1000 troops to Biak daily and I�m powerless to stop him. I have a tank unit and another division on its way but I don�t think its enough to tip the balance. At least not by judging the last attack I did at Biak. Anyone with ideas?

CENTPAC
CVs have arrived at PH. Should depart again in about 7-10 days. Eniwetok here we come!

OZ
Darwin AF reaches 8.42. Supply is now 55k and more unloading.

Burma
Very interesting things here as well. I�ll explain more in a separate post.

Here is a screen of the Biak situation:

Attachment (1)

(in reply to Bullwinkle58)

Post #: 939

RE: Wake Island Liberated! - 4/14/2013 8:50:43 AM

JocMeister

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

Burma

Finally, finally! My push for Lashio is a success as Erik sees the danger too late. I�m able to move fast enough out of Mandalay that Erik doesn�t have time to react. The RTA division and a 1/3rd of the 39th ID are mauled.

quote:

Ground combat at 61,46 (near Lashio)

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 34839 troops, 321 guns, 7 vehicles, Assault Value = 1485

Defending force 5790 troops, 48 guns, 13 vehicles, Assault Value = 233

Allied adjusted assault: 772

Japanese adjusted defense: 316

Allied assault odds: 2 to 1

Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), experience(-), supply(-) <-- Starting to have supply problems eh?
Attacker:

Japanese ground losses:
3112 casualties reported
Squads: 74 destroyed, 103 disabled
Non Combat: 59 destroyed, 26 disabled
Engineers: 7 destroyed, 4 disabled
Guns lost 28 (12 destroyed, 16 disabled)
Vehicles lost 2 (1 destroyed, 1 disabled)
Units retreated 2
Units destroyed 1

Allied ground losses:
602 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 87 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 10 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 7 disabled
Guns lost 4 (1 destroyed, 3 disabled)

Defeated Japanese Units Retreating!

Assaulting units:
39th Indian Division
1st New Chinese Corps
77th Chindit Brigade
111th Chindit Brigade
8th New Chinese Corps
50th Indian Para Bde /1
NCAC
25th Indian Mountain Gun Regiment
23rd Indian Mountain Gun Regiment
24th Indian Mountain Gun Regiment
24th Indian Engineer Battalion

Defending units:
7th RTA/A Division
39th/B Division

The 39th Indian ID takes all the losses and will stay behind as a road guard. We will advance as soon as possible linking up with the stack SW. With the added AV we should be able to dislodge Eriks troops there. I can then isolate Lashio and approach Taung Gyi from two sides. This development has to make Erik very nervous.

Further south the feinting and stalemate continues. Eriks little adventure with a tank RGT only got them mauled for no reason. I don�t know yet if Erik is indeed abandoning Prome and Bessain or only feinting. I will continue to move for my target.

Perhaps Burma just got interesting again!

Attachment (1)

(in reply to JocMeister)

Post #: 940

RE: Wake Island Liberated! - 4/14/2013 12:22:04 PM

JocMeister

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

Got the next turn! Unexpected events...but all happy news. Invasion TF is safe and sound and Erik has at least 1 CA less. Possible 3 if Oden is willing!

But today AE will stand back for some quality time with the family! Its 15 degrees outside and the sun is shining. So we are heading out for a picnic in the nature reserve just a short walk away! Spring has arrived!!!

(in reply to JocMeister)

Post #: 941

RE: Wake Island Liberated! - 4/14/2013 2:49:21 PM

BBfanboy

Posts: 18046
Joined: 8/4/2010
From: Winnipeg, MB
Status: offline

quote:

ORIGINAL: JocMeister

Got the next turn! Unexpected events...but all happy news. Invasion TF is safe and sound and Erik has at least 1 CA less. Possible 3 if Oden is willing!

But today AE will stand back for some quality time with the family! Its 15 degrees outside and the sun is shining. So we are heading out for a picnic in the nature reserve just a short walk away! Spring has arrived!!!

Spring arrival is an excellent reason to suspend operations! I am still waiting for the first really warm day here - the temp. finally got up to about +5�C yesterday and for the first time this morning I can see a small patch of open water on the river ice below my apartment. It's a late spring for us!

_____________________________

No matter how bad a situation is, you can always make it worse. - Chris Hadfield : An Astronaut's Guide To Life On Earth

(in reply to JocMeister)

Post #: 942

RE: Wake Island Liberated! - 4/15/2013 8:32:59 AM

JocMeister

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

7th-8th May -44

Some interesting two days for sure! Again I get lucky.

New Guinea
The reported KB TF seen in the screen in post #939 turns out to be the Yamatos + friends.

The Catalina squadron commander is sacked and sent to Alaska. Luckily Erik goes for Biak and misses my Assault TF. They are now safe and soundly away. The damaged AKA sinks on the 8th while the Fletcher DD is on its way to Sydney for repairs.

Biak
I�m now in the exact situation I feared I would be. I�m stopped dead in the water. I have another ID, 2 Arty units and a tank unit prepped for Biak. This will not be enough to move him out. Noemfoor is the same thing. So what to do now? He is airlifting in troops every day and even with a 120 Hellcat LRCAP over the base not a single one is shot down and troops increased with 400 troops.

I would love to start grinding he troops down at Biak but I�m still recovering from the last attack and another one as disastrous might leave me open for counter attack. C-R-A-P.

Anyone have any ideas?

Darwin

Apparently the battle for Darwin is not over! Eriks sends in a powerful CA force to interrupt unloading and sink ships. I�m glad to say it backfires badly for him!

He first tangles with the Fletcher force exchanging a few hits. Then begins a running battle with the numerous PTs protecting the harbour. This is inconclusive until...

quote:

Night Time Surface Combat, near Darwin at 76,124, Range 8,000 Yards

Japanese aircraft
no flights

Japanese aircraft losses
E13A1 Jake: 1 destroyed

Japanese Ships
CA Chikuma
CA Maya
CA Furutaka, Torpedo hits 3, and is sunk <-- BOOM!
CL Noshiro
DD Ikazuchi
DD Amagiri
DD Oboro
DD Akebono

Allied Ships
PT-452, Shell hits 1
PT-453
PT-454, Shell hits 1, on fire
PT-455
PT-456, Shell hits 1, and is sunk
PT-457, Shell hits 4, and is sunk
PT-458
PT-459, Shell hits 1, and is sunk
PT-461
PT-496
PT-497, Shell hits 1, and is sunk

The many battles with the PTs leave his TF hanging inside bomber range in the morning!

quote:

Morning Air attack on TF, near Darwin at 75,124

Weather in hex: Partial cloud

Raid detected at 73 NM, estimated altitude 9,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 27 minutes

Japanese aircraft
J2M3 Jack x 17
Ki-44-IIc Tojo x 27

Allied aircraft
Spitfire Vc Trop x 11
SBD-5 Dauntless x 16

Japanese aircraft losses
J2M3 Jack: 1 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
Spitfire Vc Trop: 5 destroyed
SBD-5 Dauntless: 10 destroyed
SBD-5 Dauntless: 1 destroyed by flak

Japanese Ships
CA Chikuma, Bomb hits 3, heavy fires, heavy damage
CL Noshiro, Bomb hits 1, on fire

quote:

Morning Air attack on TF, near Darwin at 75,124

Weather in hex: Partial cloud

Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 5,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 12 minutes

Japanese aircraft
J2M3 Jack x 10
Ki-44-IIc Tojo x 26

Allied aircraft
Spitfire Vc Trop x 11
B-25G Mitchell x 32
SBD-5 Dauntless x 2

No Japanese losses

Allied aircraft losses
Spitfire Vc Trop: 1 destroyed
B-25G Mitchell: 12 destroyed, 13 damaged
B-25G Mitchell: 1 destroyed by flak
SBD-5 Dauntless: 1 destroyed

Japanese Ships
CA Maya, Bomb hits 1, on fire
CA Chikuma, heavy fires, heavy damage
CL Noshiro, on fire
DD Ikazuchi

The following night the PTs again connect and plants a Torpedo in CA Maya.

quote:

Night Time Surface Combat, near Darwin at 75,124, Range 9,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
CA Maya, Torpedo hits 1
DD Ikazuchi
DD Amagiri

Allied Ships
PT-464
PT-465
PT-466
PT-467
PT-468, Shell hits 2, and is sunk
PT-469
PT-470
PT-471
PT-472
PT-473, Shell hits 1

But, it doesn�t end there!

quote:

Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Truscott at 71,121

Weather in hex: Thunderstorms

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

Japanese aircraft
Ki-44-IIc Tojo x 9

Allied aircraft
F6F-3 Hellcat x 21
SB2C-1C Helldiver x 30

No Japanese losses

Allied aircraft losses
F6F-3 Hellcat: 5 destroyed
SB2C-1C Helldiver: 6 damaged

Japanese Ships
CA Chikuma, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires, heavy damage
CL Noshiro, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires, heavy damage
DD Akebono, Bomb hits 2, on fire, heavy damage

So this little adventure cost Erik 2 CAs, 1 CL, 1DD and CA Maya will have to go to the yard. Not too bad! Thats 12 Sunk CAs in total!

Burma
Erik has indeed abandoned Bessain and Prome. Probably withdrawing and setting up a perimeter in the jungle. This will make it considerably harder for me to divide his forces. It also means I will have to divide my own forces to garrison both if I want them.

In the North things are looking much better! I unleash the 2Es and 4Es and they cause around 1000 over two day on the stack SW of Prome. Erik is trying to slow me down bombing my stack. They are still moving at 8 hexes per day. So I should arrive before he can reinforce.

Strategic bombing
My first and last daylight strategic bombing in this war is conducted. From now on my B29s will be just be a sideshow doing night bombings. While I suspected this its still sad to see how nerfed the allied 4E bombers have become. Looks like the B29s are even more fragile than the B24.

quote:

Morning Air attack on Medan , at 46,76

Weather in hex: Partial cloud

Raid detected at 63 NM, estimated altitude 10,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 19 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M5c Zero x 18

Allied aircraft
B-29-1 Superfort x 101

No Japanese losses

Allied aircraft losses
B-29-1 Superfort: 2 destroyed, 30 damaged

Oil hits 139

Doesn�t look too bad eh? Wrong! This raid cost me 21! B29s after OPS losses are counted.

So 18 Zeroes shoot down 21 B29s. Right... I wonder how it would have looked if it was Georges? 40-50 lost B29s?

Screens are coming up a little later!

(in reply to BBfanboy)

Post #: 943

RE: Wake Island Liberated! - 4/15/2013 9:40:56 AM

Speedysteve

Posts: 15998
Joined: 9/11/2001
From: Reading, England
Status: offline

Hi JocMeister,

That's really odd on your B29 losses. I've never had losses that bad. A recent example of my B29 attacks:

Afternoon Air attack on Bangkok , at 56,62

Weather in hex: Thunderstorms

Raid detected at 62 NM, estimated altitude 13,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 19 minutes

Japanese aircraft
     A6M5b Zero x 15
     Ki-43-IIa Oscar x 32
     Ki-44-IIc Tojo x 11
     Ki-84a Frank x 3

Allied aircraft
     B-29-1 Superfort x 66

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

Allied aircraft losses
     B-29-1 Superfort: 14 damaged

I lost 2 x B29 on this one for example.

_____________________________

WitE 2 Tester
WitE Tester
BTR/BoB Tester

(in reply to JocMeister)

Post #: 944

RE: Wake Island Liberated! - 4/15/2013 1:44:41 PM

Bullwinkle58

Posts: 11302
Joined: 2/24/2009
Status: offline

Re the B-29s, look at their pilots. A lot of B-29 units come with rookies.

Also, 139 Oil hits! That's very likely 139,000 supply and 139 days to get back to where he was. That's what strat bombing is all about, Charlie Brown.

Look at the pilots. Also try to strat bomb with the B-29s at night and see what you get. Play with altitude too.

_____________________________

The Moose

(in reply to JocMeister)

Post #: 945

RE: Wake Island Liberated! - 4/15/2013 2:28:59 PM

JocMeister

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

Speedy,
2 losses I could live with. But losing 21 B29s to 18 is just completely out of whack. I don�t know why my 4Es have suffered so badly throughout the game. My rule of thumb is:
-1 lost 4E for each airborne enemy fighter.

Don�t think I have missed the mark many times. It just kills strategic bombing. Whats the point of having long range bombers if they suffer unsustainable losses. If I had faced Georges with 4 Cannons instead of Zeroes I have no doubt I would have lost at least twice as many B29s.

I wonder if your B29s were sheltered by the bad weather? Do you have any other examples in better weather? Have you ever suffered as heavy losses as I just did?

Bull,
They came with pretty decent pilots. All had 70 in LOW NAV!

I of course changed them out for the very best pilots I had available. Some with over 80 in defensive skill and Ground bombing. Of course I lost 16 of them in this small raid...

I�ll have to try night bombings from now on. I only get 18 B29s per month so pool is completely empty now.

Whine/Rant

Some times this game infuriates me far beyond what is reasonable. Its just silly how much have been given to the Jap side. Three things brought the Japanese war machine to its knees (generalizing here ofc).

-Submarines
-Strategic bombings
-Pilot quality

All three things are just...removed in AE. If this was true for Scenario 2 I would have no complaints. But Scenario 1 is to be the "historical" scenario and its still just a fantasy.

I was really looking forward to trying to mount a strategic campaign in the game. My experience with night bombings are limited to trying to take out AFs but I doubt it will be possible to run a credible strategic campaign based on night bombings alone. At least until numbers really pick up in late 45/46. I know I shouldn�t draw to many conclusions based on one event alone. But this actually matches my experience with the game perfectly. Durabilty wise the B29 is just 9 higher then the B24J (61/70). Armament is just about the same with an added cannon in the rear of the B29. So why should it be much different then from my experience with the 4Es so far.

I�m just really disappointed right now.

(in reply to Bullwinkle58)

Post #: 946

RE: Wake Island Liberated! - 4/15/2013 3:02:43 PM

BBfanboy

Posts: 18046
Joined: 8/4/2010
From: Winnipeg, MB
Status: offline

quote:

ORIGINAL: JocMeister

Burma
Erik has indeed abandoned Bessain and Prome. Probably withdrawing and setting up a perimeter in the jungle. This will make it considerably harder for me to divide his forces. It also means I will have to divide my own forces to garrison both if I want them.

In the North things are looking much better! I unleash the 2Es and 4Es and they cause around 1000 over two day on the stack SW of Prome. Erik is trying to slow me down bombing my stack. They are still moving at 8 hexes per day. So I should arrive before he can reinforce.

Wow! Where did you get the Star Wars speeder bikes!

_____________________________

No matter how bad a situation is, you can always make it worse. - Chris Hadfield : An Astronaut's Guide To Life On Earth

(in reply to JocMeister)

Post #: 947

RE: Wake Island Liberated! - 4/15/2013 4:31:32 PM

Speedysteve

Posts: 15998
Joined: 9/11/2001
From: Reading, England
Status: offline

quote:

ORIGINAL: JocMeister

Speedy,
2 losses I could live with. But losing 21 B29s to 18 is just completely out of whack. I don�t know why my 4Es have suffered so badly throughout the game. My rule of thumb is:
-1 lost 4E for each airborne enemy fighter.

Don�t think I have missed the mark many times. It just kills strategic bombing. Whats the point of having long range bombers if they suffer unsustainable losses. If I had faced Georges with 4 Cannons instead of Zeroes I have no doubt I would have lost at least twice as many B29s. I wonder if your B29s were sheltered by the bad weather? Do you have any other examples in better weather? Have you ever suffered as heavy losses as I just did?

Hi JocMeister,

I've never experienced losses like that TBH. Of course I'm unaware of Fabertong's pilot quality of his CAP. It's the only real differentiator here that I can think of. I've attacked over 30 times with these B29's in all types of weather at 8-15K feet and never lost more than 6-7 planes on 1 mission IIRC.

_____________________________

WitE 2 Tester
WitE Tester
BTR/BoB Tester

(in reply to JocMeister)

Post #: 948

RE: Wake Island Liberated! - 4/15/2013 8:36:42 PM

JocMeister

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

Speedy,

Perhaps you are doing a lot better than I am in the air and his pilot quality is as you say a lot lower. I ran a few quick test in a sandbox and while results arn�t as bad as I suffered in the game its still very severe. Normally in the sandbox I would average about 0.65-0.7 B29s per airborne Fighter (Georges). I�ll try to fiddle with it a bit more tomorrow.

I�ll have to settle for night missions for now.

(in reply to Speedysteve)

Post #: 949

RE: Wake Island Liberated! - 4/16/2013 6:16:54 AM

JocMeister

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

9th May -44

Scratching my head here a little...

New Guinea
Now all of the sudden the KB is 100% positively revealed (see screen). Why did he decide to come down now all of the sudden? Its 5 days too late to do anything meaningful. I�m a bit wary he will try to push south and hit the various shipping I have around Dagua. I set all the TFs North of Hansa Bay to scurry in under CAP. If he goes for it its going to cost him badly.

Biak
I�ve pondered this to no end. I don�t have a solution to be honest. I will just have to bring in the remaining forces prepped for it and hope the last try was a catastrophic roll of the dice. Plan B is to try a dash with the Fast CVs between Truk and the Marianas after Eniwetok is captured to support a landing at Sorong. This is a bad plan and one I really don�t want to try.

Darwin
We manages to catch the stricken CL guarded by a wounded DD.

quote:

Night Time Surface Combat, near Truscott at 71,120, Range 11,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
CL Noshiro, Shell hits 20, heavy fires, heavy damage
DD Akebono, Shell hits 20, and is sunk

Allied Ships
DD Black
DD Boyd
DD Clarence Bronson
DD Caperton
DD Dortch
DD Lewis Hancock
DD Hickox
DD Hunt

This should give me some peace and quiet. Darwin should reach level 9AF next turn. While I gather for the next Biak reinforcement I will focus here. DEI is almost empty! I have reconned most of the bases here and as usual there is 2000-8000 men on each base. A lot of them are empty! If I can continue to "pin" the KB around NG a jump here might be doable without CV support!

Burma
I�ll deal with that in a separate post!

Strategic bombing
Sandbox test confirms my worst fears. Using 50 B29s against 20 Georges losses are on average between 12-15 B29s. So daylight bombing will not be possible. I did some quick tests trying to night bomb the Magwe oil from 4 hexes away. In some 10 tries I never even once hit the oil so its not looking good.

In the game I set them to night attack the oil at Lanchow. If they hit even a single point I will be pleasantly surprised.

KB
Here is the screen. To be honest I have no clue what he is doing here. Perhaps a show of force to let me know he won�t let me roam around here freely? I guess I will find out soon enough.
I�m pretty pleased he revealed their presence. I now know he has the vast bulk of the IJN in this area. If I was Erik I would be more concerned with the DEI?? But Erik is sneaky so I�m sure he has a purpose with this.

Attachment (1)

(in reply to JocMeister)

Post #: 950

RE: Wake Island Liberated! - 4/16/2013 6:42:22 AM

BBfanboy

Posts: 18046
Joined: 8/4/2010
From: Winnipeg, MB
Status: offline

I think he brought the whole gang along to stop you from reinforcing your landings, and perhaps to bring in the equipment for all those flown-in troops. Then he will try to wipe out your landed forces.

You need to take control of the air and sea around there to save your troops.

_____________________________

No matter how bad a situation is, you can always make it worse. - Chris Hadfield : An Astronaut's Guide To Life On Earth

(in reply to JocMeister)

Post #: 951

RE: Wake Island Liberated! - 4/16/2013 6:45:43 AM

JocMeister

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

Burma

Lots of stuff happening here. Erik has indeed abandoned Prome and Bassein. A sound choice I think. I�ll of course take them both but Bassein will only get a very small garrison. Looking at the map I�m happy with the development in the North. I�ll have 2700 AV against this:

quote:

Defending force 17325 troops, 186 guns, 274 vehicles, Assault Value = 488

There is a possibility he has reinforced but I have bombed the stack heavily the last 3 days and no new units have been present. So I�m quietly optimistic!

In the south I�m pretty much at a loss on what to do. Eriks withdrawal kind of leaves me with only one option now and that is to cross into Prome with my main stack. He can then easily bottle me down again after that. I was contemplating going Bassein and then straight for Rangoon but ruled it out. It will be painfully obvious what I�m trying to do and the river crossing will take such a long time Erik can easily shift forces on the rail in time.

I�m toying with the option of going East out of Prome and then swing south and go for Pegu. This he won�t expect but will leave me very, very exposed. I�m certain there is opportunity here but I�m too inexperienced to see it! Anyone see anything obvious I�m missing?

Air war
Erik has withdrawn out of Rangoon and scattered his AF around the industrial centers. That won�t last long now that he knows he only needs 20 or so fighters at each base for protection. So he will soon be back in force. This time I will fight him when given the opportunity.

My bomber force is currently busy supporting the Northern operation.

Attachment (1)

< Message edited by JocMeister -- 4/16/2013 6:46:06 AM >

(in reply to JocMeister)

Post #: 952

RE: Wake Island Liberated! - 4/16/2013 6:51:45 AM

JocMeister

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

quote:

ORIGINAL: BBfanboy

I think he brought the whole gang along to stop you from reinforcing your landings, and perhaps to bring in the equipment for all those flown-in troops. Then he will try to wipe out your landed forces.
You need to take control of the air and sea around there to save your troops.

I hope you are wrong because I can�t stop him if he tries.

The one thing speaking against this is lack of troops. I�m not sure he has the troops to spare for a counter invasion. If he does he should use them for garrison the almost emtpy DEI instead of counter invading. I have 500 AV at Biak and 300 on Nomefoor. He would need a lot of troops to kill me off. I guess I will find out next turn!

But I do hope you are wrong!

(in reply to BBfanboy)

Post #: 953

RE: Wake Island Liberated! - 4/16/2013 7:01:12 AM

Speedysteve

Posts: 15998
Joined: 9/11/2001
From: Reading, England
Status: offline

Hi JocMeister,

Do you continuously keep Hollandia, Wewak and Atiape etc AF's closed so he can't interdict the area or is Erik not prone to sneak in planes to do this?

Re: Burma. I'm stymied against Faber in my Burma campaign. I'm 2 months ahead of you but I've been stuck in the Jungles around where you are for 4 months and it's been a bloodbath! I hate Jungle.......

_____________________________

WitE 2 Tester
WitE Tester
BTR/BoB Tester

(in reply to JocMeister)

Post #: 954

RE: Wake Island Liberated! - 4/16/2013 1:11:42 PM

JocMeister

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

quote:

ORIGINAL: Speedy

Hi JocMeister,

Do you continuously keep Hollandia, Wewak and Atiape etc AF's closed so he can't interdict the area or is Erik not prone to sneak in planes to do this?

Re: Burma. I'm stymied against Faber in my Burma campaign. I'm 2 months ahead of you but I've been stuck in the Jungles around where you are for 4 months and it's been a bloodbath! I hate Jungle.......

I didn�t at first. But Erik jumped in some Naval bombers just as you say. I got away relatively cheap. I closed them pretty fast after that!

I�ve started hating Burma with a passion too! But a little less after I found out he has all but 2 divisions here. Now I feel a little better about it!

(in reply to Speedysteve)

Post #: 955

RE: Wake Island Liberated! - 4/16/2013 1:28:09 PM

Bullwinkle58

Posts: 11302
Joined: 2/24/2009
Status: offline

quote:

ORIGINAL: JocMeister

Strategic bombing
Sandbox test confirms my worst fears. Using 50 B29s against 20 Georges losses are on average between 12-15 B29s. So daylight bombing will not be possible. I did some quick tests trying to night bomb the Magwe oil from 4 hexes away. In some 10 tries I never even once hit the oil so its not looking good. In the game I set them to night attack the oil at Lanchow. If they hit even a single point I will be pleasantly surprised.

It's early. B-29s in daylight against 3rd gen. fighters need their P-51 buddies. You don't have them yet, so adjust.

You won't get good pinpoint results on industry at night. If you want to do night do Manpower attacks at 9-10k feet and start fires. Read the manual on how large-scale fire attacks affect industry. Without looking I don't recall which Oil/Fuel centers in the west map are co-located with Manpower. Most are I think. Do some map work and find the best night targets you can. Hititng HI at this point is not bad either. Making his pilot taxes hurt is a viable strategy for 1944 B-29s.

_____________________________

The Moose

(in reply to JocMeister)

Post #: 956

RE: Wake Island Liberated! - 4/16/2013 1:45:08 PM

Speedysteve

Posts: 15998
Joined: 9/11/2001
From: Reading, England
Status: offline

quote:

ORIGINAL: JocMeister

quote:

ORIGINAL: Speedy

Hi JocMeister,

Do you continuously keep Hollandia, Wewak and Atiape etc AF's closed so he can't interdict the area or is Erik not prone to sneak in planes to do this?

Re: Burma. I'm stymied against Faber in my Burma campaign. I'm 2 months ahead of you but I've been stuck in the Jungles around where you are for 4 months and it's been a bloodbath! I hate Jungle.......

I didn�t at first. But Erik jumped in some Naval bombers just as you say. I got away relatively cheap. I closed them pretty fast after that!

I�ve started hating Burma with a passion too! But a little less after I found out he has all but 2 divisions here. Now I feel a little better about it!

Only thing I would say on MeatBall LCU's is they get oodles of them into 44......not to burst your bubble or anything as they can be stretched as, obviously, the Allies have more resources just not as a big a gap in AE as compared to RL.

_____________________________

WitE 2 Tester
WitE Tester
BTR/BoB Tester

(in reply to JocMeister)

Post #: 957

RE: Wake Island Liberated! - 4/16/2013 2:48:39 PM

JocMeister

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

quote:

ORIGINAL: Bullwinkle58
It's early. B-29s in daylight against 3rd gen. fighters need their P-51 buddies. You don't have them yet, so adjust.

You won't get good pinpoint results on industry at night. If you want to do night do Manpower attacks at 9-10k feet and start fires. Read the manual on how large-scale fire attacks affect industry. Without looking I don't recall which Oil/Fuel centers in the west map are co-located with Manpower. Most are I think. Do some map work and find the best night targets you can. Hititng HI at this point is not bad either. Making his pilot taxes hurt is a viable strategy for 1944 B-29s.

I just ran a lot of night bombing testing in my sandbox. You are as usual correct. Trying to hit oil during the night seems like a waste of time. I flew perhaps 50 times with 64 B29 causing a whooping 4! oil hits!

I�ll go through the map tonight and see if I can find any Manpower targets in range. I take it by your comment that starting fires can damage industry too? I�ll have to read up on this in general.

My other option is of course to use them for regular 4E duties. Bombing troops and closing Airfields. I guess I�m stuck with this unless there is a good amount of Manpower in range.

(in reply to Bullwinkle58)

Post #: 958

RE: Wake Island Liberated! - 4/16/2013 2:49:36 PM

JocMeister

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

quote:

ORIGINAL: Speedy
Only thing I would say on MeatBall LCU's is they get oodles of them into 44......not to burst your bubble or anything as they can be stretched as, obviously, the Allies have more resources just not as a big a gap in AE as compared to RL.

Ouff, I just checked and you are right. Many are restricted though and almost all (in not all) are really low EXP!

(in reply to Speedysteve)

Post #: 959

RE: Wake Island Liberated! - 4/16/2013 3:13:53 PM

Bullwinkle58

Posts: 11302
Joined: 2/24/2009
Status: offline

quote:

ORIGINAL: JocMeister

quote:

ORIGINAL: Speedy
Only thing I would say on MeatBall LCU's is they get oodles of them into 44......not to burst your bubble or anything as they can be stretched as, obviously, the Allies have more resources just not as a big a gap in AE as compared to RL.

Ouff, I just checked and you are right. Many are restricted though and almost all (in not all) are really low EXP!

I think most of them arrive at part-strength too. A lot of Armament and/or Vehicle points needed to flesh them out. Another good reason to hurt his HI production.

_____________________________

The Moose

(in reply to JocMeister)

Post #: 960