Insanity. Obscenity. Indecency. ITAKLinus (A) vs DesertWolf101 (J)

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Insanity. Obscenity. Indecency. ITAKLinus (A) vs Desert... - 7/24/2021 5:23:11 PM

ITAKLinus

Posts: 630
Joined: 2/22/2018
From: Italy
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Here we are again.

This time I'll be the commander of the evil side against the gallant DesertWolf101, well known forumite and who's gonna lead the co-prosperity fellas.

07-DECEMBER-1941

The Allied Supreme Command is astonished at the news of widespread Japanese attacks on our positions in the Pacific Ocean.

In Washington, the USN is put in charge of leading the war since they are the only ones who have a clear idea on the strategy to win the war.

The USN Strategic Plan presented:

Attachment (1)

_____________________________

Francesco

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RE: Insanity. Obscenity. Indecency. ITAKLinus (A) vs De... - 7/24/2021 5:49:07 PM

ITAKLinus

Posts: 630
Joined: 2/22/2018
From: Italy
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Here a recap of various AARs I've done over the course of time (not exhaustive list - GoogleTranslate is your friend):

1) "A la guerre comme � la guerre" : started as Jap until April 1944 (with AV on 01/01/1944) and then restarted as allied with another opponent from 01/01/1944. Currently paused for personal reasons at Jul-1944.
http://www.netwargamingitalia.net/forum/threads/aar-%C3%80-la-guerre-comme-%C3%A0-la-guerre-linus-j-vs-ste_peterpan-a.30732/
2) "Pacific Bunga Bunga" : a collection of various matches put together in a single AAR since I'm a messy person
http://www.netwargamingitalia.net/forum/threads/aar-pacific-bunga-bunga.30917/
3) "Pacific Rim(job)" : a match I'm currently doing as Japanese but which will end soon
http://www.netwargamingitalia.net/forum/threads/pacific-rim-job-aar-itak_linus-asia-unita-vs-kaiser85-alleati.31991/
4) "WITP : Logistician's Edition" : match as Japanese posted on this forum and ended prematurely.
https://www.matrixgames.com/forums/tm.asp?m=4966141

Let's see how this AAR will go.

Wanted initially to call it "Hiroito's Evil Twin" and make up a story with this fictional character helped by John Wayne, Humphrey Bogart and various others but I decided it was too much of a story to set up.

On the flip side, I'll have occasional moments, fuelled by alcohol, in which various interesting characters will intervene leading allied troops. I already foresee some, but I need more gin to have a clearer picture. Or blurrier. Or whatever.

Anyway, let's go back to serious things like some poor japanese pilots being killed by FLAK over PH, something I'm sorry for.

I've received the combat of the 7th Dec but not yet the turn. Omar has been so kind to give me a dummy turn so that I could check stuff around.

There have been moments of panic when I couldn't open the file due to a password problem. I was extremely sure of having typed the password correctly but still it didn't read it.
I have always used names of ex-girlfriends who happened to bear names of IJ bombers, but I ran out of names (who the hell has ever got a girlfriend called Lorna?!) and therefore it was the first time I changed my habits. As it turns out, I messed up putting a space before the PSW but everything worked out just fine after I realized that. In the meanwhile, I had communicated it to Omar so now I'll have to change it.

A part from this, everything went well.

No, I'm joking. He has blown up every single ship he could blow up all around the map. A massacre.

A recap.

KB strikes PH and blows up all the BBs. Three are sunk immediately but I don't see very well the guys in the California, which has a nice 98 floating damage, of which 79 major...
I think he'll try a second day inthe place. I also think he knows I have this perception and he will therefore go in an unusual place: I'm going to sortie my surface forces mostly EAST of PH and hope for the best. Someone of those poor fellas is gonna survive, maybe. Maybe.

Manila is roasted as well.

Singapore, Georgetown and other places aren't doing better.

DesertWolf's landings are however way more interesting. He landed in:
- Kuching
- Guam
- Manado
- Rabaul
- Wake
- Midway

I do see Guam as nothing relevant, but the other ones merit some analysis.

Midway PLUS Wake PLUS Rabaul all point to an effort from his side in the Pacific. This, coupled with the PH strike from the KB, is worrying.

In Rabaul he brought a good amount of AV (over 300) plus ENG and an AirHQ. It's clear he wants to develop the base ASAP.
Wake is usual.
Midway is interesting since I deem it a very weak position for the Japanese to be held. I guess it implies an effort from his side in the NoPac early on, reducing my possible intervention directions.
Fair enough.

Now the question is whether he's doing these moves to close the SoPac early on and then forget about it or he wants instead to strike deep south and therefore he's gonna hammer the area for long.

I cannot tell at the present moment, but I have a bad feeling.

Manado is a super old classic. He apparently landed 12.000 troops, which are a little bit too many for my 60AV in the place. In any case, I have ordered the Manado Garrison (43AV) and the Manado Base Force (15AV) to hold the position at all costs. They are going to be among the first martyrs of the Dutch army in the DEI.

Kuching is interesting instead. It's an AF lvl3 and he has brought ENG and a AirHQ in the place. I suppose he wants to develop the area to level 4 and then start using his nasty Betty/Nell in naval interdiction.
The position of the base is somewhat good since it's complex to bomb it from the sea.

Troops have landed also in Kota Bharu, which makes for another AF lvl4 in the area.

Kuching+Kota Bharu landings tell me that he has not planned to get Singapore very quickly and he wants to get bases all around it in order to have the possibility of mantaining a mid-term bombing campaign over the british base.

In general, I do foresee a very heavy early involvement in the Pacific from his side, something that I cannot stop for notorious reasons. I hope he's not going for the throat, since I doubt I can afford any kind of campaign there early on.

Manado landing (with all those troops) is worrying but there is literally nothing I can do about that. Myself, I always land in Sidate and use it as a base for Mavis so that I can control the Banda and Ceram Seas.

Broadly speaking, I have no idea of his future moves. I think he's going to be cautious in Singapore, preferring a conventional siege to my usual Mersing gambit, and he's going heavy in the SoPac. This pojnts toward an early engagement of either (both?!?!?) NZ or Australia.
The combo Manado-Kuching, also, should help a little bit in a push against Eastern Java coming from the Moluccas. I guess he's going to assault the area very very soon.

Personally, I don't have ANY strategy for the match developed yet. I think my main goal is going to be as opportunistic as I can during the Jap landing bonus and then develop a coherent, long-term grand strategy.

In the first months, I mostly aim at the usual things: slowing him down, setting up a proper logistics and sending forward a good amount of troops.

PH results (funny eh?):

Attachment (1)

< Message edited by ITAKLinus -- 7/24/2021 5:58:39 PM >

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Francesco

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RE: Insanity. Obscenity. Indecency. ITAKLinus (A) vs De... - 7/24/2021 6:17:28 PM

ITAKLinus

Posts: 630
Joined: 2/22/2018
From: Italy
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Now I have already a question for those who play usually the evil side.

There are two stuart groups in Luzon. They have in the TOE the 81mm M1 Mortar. A good device. 0 in the unit but I can fix somehow given the build rate of 20.

Question is: if I do buy out these two units, can I then air transport the M1 device with Catalinas to a proper location in China given their load cost=4?

Having those two units filled up with their 118 M5 Stuarts would give quite a good amount of ARM to my poor chinese fellas.

I suppose this has been done for years by AFBs but, as mentioned, I have modest experience as Allied player.

Moreover, and that's another funny question, the tank brigades which start in India are good to be sent in China or not? These doubts are tearing me apart. I think they're good units and they switch the Improved AFVs for the Vickers Tankettes, which then take the wonderful Valentine III from Mar-42. Is it worth to bring the brigades or should I look for other units to be sent in China from India?

Last, but not least?, except from landing them in Rangoon, what's the quickest route? I suppose the coastal one or even unloading them in Ramree Island but I'm not 300% sure...

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Francesco

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RE: Insanity. Obscenity. Indecency. ITAKLinus (A) vs De... - 7/25/2021 12:43:13 AM

RangerJoe

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For your answers to your questions about China, read here:

https://www.matrixgames.com/forums/tm.asp?m=4881147

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Seek peace but keep your gun handy.

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�Illegitemus non carborundum est (�Don�t let the bastards grind you down�).�
― Julia Child

(in reply to ITAKLinus)

Post #: 4

RE: Insanity. Obscenity. Indecency. ITAKLinus (A) vs De... - 7/25/2021 9:11:30 AM

witpqs

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China has multiple problems for the Allies. One of the greatest is scarcity of supply. For that reason I think sending the tank units to China is almost certain to result in their loss. So the question is: what do you think you can achieve by doing so, and is it worth the price (points) and consequences (effects on defense of India and effects on subsequent Allied offensives)?

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RE: Insanity. Obscenity. Indecency. ITAKLinus (A) vs De... - 7/25/2021 11:49:35 AM

ITAKLinus

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Joined: 2/22/2018
From: Italy
Status: offline

quote:

ORIGINAL: witpqs

China has multiple problems for the Allies. One of the greatest is scarcity of supply. For that reason I think sending the tank units to China is almost certain to result in their loss. So the question is: what do you think you can achieve by doing so, and is it worth the price (points) and consequences (effects on defense of India and effects on subsequent Allied offensives)?

My perspective is that I need some AT assets in China and tanks are farily good in that. The paucity of available AT guns in India or US is a problem as well: I need to send some AT asset ASAP, before the time window in Burma gets closed and it's too late.

Currently, he has landed in very few locations but I have the impression he is going to hammer very much in East Java and SoPac. Plus possibly NoPac or Hawaii (?!?!).

India is not safe at all, but my bet is that he's going slow on Singers, thus giving me more time. Moreover, it's highly unlikely that he goes slow on Singapore and he's at the same time able to lanch a full assault on India. He can do that passing through Sunda Strait, but why should he do such an inefficient move?

My understanding is that he's going to smash Luzon and use those troops to finish Java (in case it's not already gone) and for the Phase-2 of his strategic offensive.

Is India bulletproof safe? Not at all.
My plan is to send the initial reinforcements loaded on ships to Australia (!) and prioritize the airlift of Chinese to India. In the meanwhile, I try to send some AA and AT in China, where they're always welcome.

Basically, I plan to use Chinese troops to defend India together with all the already present troops and the unrestricted anglo-indian reinforcements go quickly to Australia.
Rationale being that it's easier to ship those troops from Australia to India than vice-versa in case of need. It's not to be discounted the fact that having a bigger punch in China helps India: it's relatively feasible to get the whole Australia with the unrestricted Japanese troops, but for India there is the need of additional folks and they most likely have to be taken in China. Basically, I see AT units in China as a strategic force multiplier, well beyond the immediate impact on single fights.

India is a relatively long campaign, especially in a Scen01. And, I guess, especially if the opponent has played the campaign successfully a couple of times. Australia on the other hand is much easier to smash and, for sure, quicker. In case it gets invested, I'd have a much harder time over there. Moreover, Indian emergency reinforcements arrive close to India itself, while Australian/NZ not.

To recap: yes, I need those AT assets in China.

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Francesco

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RE: Insanity. Obscenity. Indecency. ITAKLinus (A) vs De... - 7/25/2021 12:07:30 PM

Sardaukar

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Early landing in Rabaul will cause grief to you if you want to keep Port Moresby.

If he gets (he will) Betties/Nells there, naval movement around Southern Papua-New Guinea and around Solomons will be painful.

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RE: Insanity. Obscenity. Indecency. ITAKLinus (A) vs De... - 7/25/2021 12:15:20 PM

ITAKLinus

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Joined: 2/22/2018
From: Italy
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quote:

ORIGINAL: Sardaukar

Early landing in Rabaul will cause grief to you if you want to keep Port Moresby.

If he gets (he will) Betties/Nells there, naval movement around Southern Papua-New Guinea and around Solomons will be painful.

Hi, thanks for the feedback. I have literally no intention of defending PM. I generally find it strategically overestimated.

My current issues are mostly regarding:
A) possible invasion of Australia
B) possible invasion of India

With the bizarre day-1 lading at Midway which can mean one of these three:
I) push in NoPac denying my an interesting NavS asset and gaining it for the empire
II) push in Hawaii (not to be discounted but it sounds quite too much)
III) random decision from my opponent (he's too attentive to grab stuff just for the sake of grabbing them)

Personally, I see the entire Salomon Sea area as lost without any hope of even contesting it. He's got Rabaul and plenty of ENG, so he will develop the place very quickly and gain air superiority without many issues. I'll understand better his intentions in the next turns, though. If he keeps the ENG at Rabaul it probably means he's not really committed to an invasion of Australia and he's instead just willing to secure the SoPac area without troubles.
If instead he keeps pushing with ENG brought forward to develop bases, it means he's willing to use the Salomon Sea area (plus Luganville I suppose and New Caledonia/Figi) as a shield for an Australian adventure. There is, finally, the possibility of he going down south and invading NZ. Can't do much for the poor fellas over there.

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RE: Insanity. Obscenity. Indecency. ITAKLinus (A) vs De... - 7/25/2021 1:23:09 PM

BBfanboy

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Several IJ players have attacked and taken the Hawaiian Islands, mainly after fake offensives in other areas caused the Allied player to redeploy his assets far away. So if you keep enough aircraft and troops in the Hawaiian Islands and he tries to take them, it can be a "Guadalcanal" situation that bleeds the IJN heavily.

The North Pacific strategy is not just a NavS benefit for the IJ player. A lot of bases up there have a very good VP multiplier for the Japanese.

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RE: Insanity. Obscenity. Indecency. ITAKLinus (A) vs De... - 7/25/2021 2:22:49 PM

RangerJoe

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The North Pacific area is also a way to attack the Home Islands early as well.

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RE: Insanity. Obscenity. Indecency. ITAKLinus (A) vs De... - 7/25/2021 6:08:18 PM

ITAKLinus

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Joined: 2/22/2018
From: Italy
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08 DECEMBER 1941
TURN 2

Omar astonished me with his moves. KB goes a little bit N-E and just sweeps (I sortied to intercept him in case he tried a 2nd day EAST of PH).

What's worrying is that he landed in forces in the Aleutinian Archipelago. Image below. I have literally nothing and it's a territory I'm quite inexperienced with.

We'll see how it goes.

For the rest, nothing special. He lands in Tarawa, Ocean Island and Nauru and finishes off Guam and Rabaul.

Manado falls and same destiny for Kuching.

Still no landings in Luzon: probably he's going to skip it altogether.

My Catalinas from Luzon sink 3 xAKs/xAKLs and a nice sweep of Buffalos is met by Nates and we down some of them (intellingence is overly optimistic and says 12...) for no losses on our own.

Kota Bharu is miserably lost but I had no hopes for it.

To my immense surprise, he lands in both Miri and Brunei. I have my B17 force intact and hiding in San Jose (AF=1 but some AirSupp). I will probably start a massive raid on Miri once it falls. Dutch pebble from bases in the Borneo and B17s from Singers.

In our HRs we have banned port/AF night bombing but strat bombing is free, so I will probably go for a massive day raid and then keep harrassing with night raids on the following days. He'll probably put a very serious CAP as soon as Miri falls, but what can I do? I hope to smash through it with B17s, with the help of Dutch buffalos in sweep.

Soon, I'll start putting the reports together in a more organised way.

I got a fake turn to review my stuff, more news when I'll actually play the turn.

"Aleutinian problem":

Attachment (1)

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RE: Insanity. Obscenity. Indecency. ITAKLinus (A) vs De... - 7/25/2021 9:07:43 PM

Evoken

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In Wolfs first game as Japan i took over as allies for about 2 weeks when his opponent gave up before realizing how hopeless that game was , some warnings about his playstyle;

1)He likes deep raids, in that first game he sank USN Carriers near Tahiti with KB vs his first opponent, i have also seen deep surface force raids into SW and SE map entrances.

2)He likes having his fingers in all pies; While invading India he was also invading South Pacific and Alaska islands , it wouldnt surprise me if he goes for full invasion of India again in a few months or he might try something new like Hawaii invasion.

3)In China vs his first opponent he broke through Changteh - Chihkikiang axis and captured Chungking super early , i would recommend getting a few recon units to China asap or even decent range bombers would do , seeing amount of units would help you determine direction he will take in there.

4)He likes battleship bombardements uses it at every oppurtunity , this could be a weakness you could exploit with mines or a well timed surface ambush.

My overall suggestions would be;
-If you dont see KB , be paranoid. Establishing an overlapping naval search web without arcs will be your best saviour , when i took over first thing i did was that and couple turns later PBY's spotted KB at max range coming towards Pearl Harbor from NE Direction , if i had naval search arcs that probably wouldn get spotted.
-Keep USN Carriers alive in the first few months and train the pilots. Even if you get a bad start they will allow you make a comeback later.
-Either convoys protected by a seperate surface task force or surface ships scattered around convoy routes as Quick reaction force would be a decent counter to deep raids

Both of you are really good players , good luck!

(in reply to ITAKLinus)

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RE: Insanity. Obscenity. Indecency. ITAKLinus (A) vs De... - 7/27/2021 1:59:28 AM

Timotheus

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I will be following both AAR's, both good players, should be fascinating.

No opsec breaks from me, I will just maybe comment with an occasional funny (...to some.... ok, me) & witty (err) comment.

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RE: Insanity. Obscenity. Indecency. ITAKLinus (A) vs De... - 7/27/2021 8:39:20 AM

ITAKLinus

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From: Italy
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09 DECEMBER 1941
TURN 03

NoPac

Omar presses the advantage on and captures the various bases in which he had landed. Nothing I can do about that.

I'm still sending [R] troops and planes in Prince Rupert and other locations around. I need to garrison heavily the sector in case DesertWolf tries a coup de main.

CenPac

Kido Butai stands 7 hexes away from PH. He doesn't strike. I don't either. Funny situation. Tomorrow he'll jump in and finish my damaged BBs; probably he wanted to do so today but bad weather prevented both sides to strike. Can't do much about that either, but I'll try once again a surface engagement with the surviving DDs still in PH. They are going to find glory in their martyrdom.

SoPac

Nothing new over here.

I send 2 CAs in full speed against Tarawa and Ocean Island, where he landed yesterday but his amphTFs are already gone back NORTH. He had seen one of my CAs yesterday and he foresaw my very obvious move. Fair enough.

I'm in the process of evacuating all xAKs and TKs from Australia. They'll go to US and from there start doing convoy duty. I'll properly fix the convoy system over the course of the next months: for the time being, we do with what we have available and that's it.
Only xAKLs and few small xAPs will remain in Australia.

2 NZ CLs are hunting his AMCs but I don't seem to be able to find them.

I don't have great plans in the area. Currently I am assembling my Australian troops in Sydney so that I can quickly fix disablements and get into the units what I have in pool (not much...).

Every hope for NZ is lost and I won't reinforce it. Instead, I'll probably even buy out something soon. Suva and Noumea are craving for reinforcements but there is none to be sent there.

DEI

I launch a sweep over Bangkok and find nobody, then my Catalians from Rangoon sink 2 xAKs, 1 xAP and 1 APD. Nothing serious, sadly.

Omar doesn't capture Miri/Brunei and leaves his fellas over there. I guess he realized I would have heavily bombed both?

The big scandal is that his naval landings in northern Malaya were some kind of a feint. He re-loaded many troops and now there are various ships heading toward Mersing. Nothing I can do: my surface forces are too far away and would be terribly inferior to his ones. I don't fully grasp the reason behind the feint, though: he could have just landed everything in Mersing on day-2 and get the place immediately. Probably I'm missing something from the big picture.

On the flip side, I have saved most of the troops in Malay and they're now in Singapore (or heading there this turn). The guys in Alor Star, though, are blocked and will be slaughtered. More martyrs! Banzai!

In the meanwhile, he has landed in Gorontalo (?!), to my surprise. I quite often use it specifically that base for Mavis but he already has Manado. Don't grasp the move, but I haven't checked the distances from Gorontalo to key bases compared to Manado.

A force of IJN CAs is moving down in the Balikpapan area. As usual, nothing I can do about them: I just ignore those ships and that's it.

USS Huston meets various CAs in the middle of Philippine Sea and lands a single 203mm shell on the Kako without taking any damage in return. Boise is cruising close as well.

No Luzon invasion yet and it's quite unlikely any will ever happen.

Now the big question is how to attempt to resupply Luzon with both Midway and Wake in Japanese hands. I think there isn't much I can do for those poor fellas, but I would like to try something.

CBI

I mess up and lose over 5.000 chinese in Nanachang, which I thought was being evacuated. I really messed up over here and 250 chinese InfSquads are gone for good. Very bad move from my side.

First convoys of troops and supplies will arrive in Rangoon in a couple of days.

I'm emptying Celyon: it's currently impossible to defend against a convinced Japanese effort and if goes there, he doesn't go light for sure.

Most of the Indian LCUs are moving in Calcutta, where they will receive replacements, repair disabled devices/squads and then be redistributed all around.
First part of the Chinese 5th Corps is completely airlifted to Ledo: approx. 160AV once filled up.
In Ledo I have 2 DC-2s and the Chinese TR squadron. A group of Lodestar from DEI will arrive soon. For the time being I have no other assets to devote to the airlift from China. Moreover, Chinese units which can be bought out are still far from the place and I elected not to airlift them from central China to Paoshan and from there to Ledo: they'll walk.

I'm also in the process of sending reinforcements from US to Cape Town. They will arrive in a reasonable amount of time and be available for the eventual Battle for India. AAs are instead being sent either to China or to Australia. I obviously need them in India as well, but I deem more feasible to send them to China and Australia and, in case of need, bring them back. It's indeed very difficult to ship stuff to Australia, should he decided to go for it, while I should be able to bring those units to India in case he attacks it.
Moreover: industrial targets in Australia give VPs and Indian ones don't.
China is instead quite straightforward: I need AA assets there. The cost in having them shooting in the air is less than the cost of masses of dead chinese troops and lost industrial targets. I don't foresee the need for heavy AA here and so Bofors&co are prioritized for the place.
In Australia, instead, I try to send heavy AA since I foresee strategic bombing from higher altitudes.

Last, but not least, a quick question: Kuching is AF lvl2 and he has an AirHQ in the place. He can get torpedoes on his Betty/Nell right? I keep forgetting this.

< Message edited by ITAKLinus -- 7/27/2021 8:40:21 AM >

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RE: Insanity. Obscenity. Indecency. ITAKLinus (A) vs De... - 7/27/2021 11:09:55 AM

ny59giants

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Get the two Vindicator groups to Australia and beyond. One is on the two CVs. They can operate on those AF2 you have everywhere and do well against merchants, not warships.

With Midway and Dutch Harbor gone, fly PBY-5s directly from San Fran to Pearl. Get them spread out over Pacific for early warning. You have those AVDs at Pearl to go out in pairs. Midway may be stepping stone or a potential sub base to patrol the west coast.

American CVs - I would place those 18 plane Marine fighter groups on each one at least until mid-42 until the USN fighter groups expand to 36 planes. Survivability is the name. I take off the TB groups for intense training for all of '42.

Save those Dutch small xAKLs as many can convert to small xAPs that are very useful. I send the Dutch subs to India eventually. Before it falls, the Dutch air groups are disbanded and reformed in 60 days. With Batavia and Soerabaja capture, they will come back at Aden.

The two American PBY in Luzon fly over to India as you have very limited naval search in those few small Catalina groups (6 planes). I send one or two of the US fighters on Luzon north to China and not south.

China - I steadily leapfrog the BFs from way up north to get those short legged fighters to where they can be trained and used. Getting those AA into China can be done. Move them to Ledo. Have them move slowly into the mountains so they come out into western China that you should hopefully still control. Ensure they do not get within two hexes of any enemy bases. I've done this multiple times in multiple games.

Lots of Pacific L and Dominion M Class xAKs convert to xAPs, but take 24 days. Get those that start in India/Burma to the safety of Cape Town to do this before sending most to USA. They are my early war workhorses for the Americans to unload on the small to non-port bases. Canadian KVs are great stop gap escorts for transport until the American war industry kicks up in '43.

(in reply to ITAKLinus)

Post #: 15

RE: Insanity. Obscenity. Indecency. ITAKLinus (A) vs De... - 7/27/2021 11:41:07 AM

RangerJoe

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Move the base forces in Burma and the Burmese AAA unit into China. Those base forces also have some AAA plus they are useful in the mountain bases with their engineers.

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(in reply to ny59giants)

Post #: 16

RE: Insanity. Obscenity. Indecency. ITAKLinus (A) vs De... - 7/28/2021 8:01:03 AM

Timotheus

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Is it possible for China to be defended and not totally conquered? Especially in scenario 1.

Question to all I guess reading AAR.

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(in reply to RangerJoe)

Post #: 17

RE: Insanity. Obscenity. Indecency. ITAKLinus (A) vs De... - 7/28/2021 12:27:47 PM

BBfanboy

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

ORIGINAL: Timotheus

Is it possible for China to be defended and not totally conquered? Especially in scenario 1.

Question to all I guess reading AAR.

Alfred had some advice on this:

https://www.matrixgames.com/forums/tm.asp?m=4378420&mpage=44�

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(in reply to Timotheus)

Post #: 18

RE: Insanity. Obscenity. Indecency. ITAKLinus (A) vs De... - 7/28/2021 12:51:10 PM

ITAKLinus

Posts: 630
Joined: 2/22/2018
From: Italy
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quote:

ORIGINAL: ny59giants

Get the two Vindicator groups to Australia and beyond. One is on the two CVs. They can operate on those AF2 you have everywhere and do well against merchants, not warships.

With Midway and Dutch Harbor gone, fly PBY-5s directly from San Fran to Pearl. Get them spread out over Pacific for early warning. You have those AVDs at Pearl to go out in pairs. Midway may be stepping stone or a potential sub base to patrol the west coast.

American CVs - I would place those 18 plane Marine fighter groups on each one at least until mid-42 until the USN fighter groups expand to 36 planes. Survivability is the name. I take off the TB groups for intense training for all of '42.

Save those Dutch small xAKLs as many can convert to small xAPs that are very useful. I send the Dutch subs to India eventually. Before it falls, the Dutch air groups are disbanded and reformed in 60 days. With Batavia and Soerabaja capture, they will come back at Aden.

The two American PBY in Luzon fly over to India as you have very limited naval search in those few small Catalina groups (6 planes). I send one or two of the US fighters on Luzon north to China and not south.

China - I steadily leapfrog the BFs from way up north to get those short legged fighters to where they can be trained and used. Getting those AA into China can be done. Move them to Ledo. Have them move slowly into the mountains so they come out into western China that you should hopefully still control. Ensure they do not get within two hexes of any enemy bases. I've done this multiple times in multiple games.

Lots of Pacific L and Dominion M Class xAKs convert to xAPs, but take 24 days. Get those that start in India/Burma to the safety of Cape Town to do this before sending most to USA. They are my early war workhorses for the Americans to unload on the small to non-port bases. Canadian KVs are great stop gap escorts for transport until the American war industry kicks up in '43.

Thanks, your input is invaluable.

I am already addressing most of your suggestions. I think I won't convert those xAKs to xAPs: doesn't look like I'm in need of them in the near future since I am converting the Clemson-Class to APDs.

Other than the canadian KVs, which are the other relevant ASW/escort assets available in the beginning?

quote:

ORIGINAL: RangerJoe

Move the base forces in Burma and the Burmese AAA unit into China. Those base forces also have some AAA plus they are useful in the mountain bases with their engineers.

I am trying to fill them up in Burma: do you think it's advisable to send them in China immediately?

quote:

ORIGINAL: Timotheus
Is it possible for China to be defended and not totally conquered? Especially in scenario 1.

Question to all I guess reading AAR.

I think it's super feasible and it's a crucial campaign for the Allied player, very much often underrated.

Clearly, with a great effort from the Japanese it's possible to lose it no matter how, but I think the key here is the "great effort": the aim should be to oblige the Japanese to invest as many resources as possible in the theater even if you have staggering losses.

My personal understanding is that China should be used as a magnet for IJA troops and planes, otherwise free to smash other sectors around the map.

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(in reply to RangerJoe)

Post #: 19

RE: Insanity. Obscenity. Indecency. ITAKLinus (A) vs De... - 7/28/2021 12:51:14 PM

Runnersan

Posts: 136
Joined: 6/11/2008
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quote:

ORIGINAL: BBfanboy

quote:

ORIGINAL: Timotheus

Is it possible for China to be defended and not totally conquered? Especially in scenario 1.

Question to all I guess reading AAR.

Alfred had some advice on this:

https://www.matrixgames.com/forums/tm.asp?m=4378420&mpage=44�

Link leads to the 1st page of long AAR.

But in my opinion, like at real war, China can be defended, if Japanese player will make more errors than Allied one:)
I only hope that there is no public algorithm for Japanese player :)

(in reply to BBfanboy)

Post #: 20

RE: Insanity. Obscenity. Indecency. ITAKLinus (A) vs De... - 7/28/2021 12:54:24 PM

ITAKLinus

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Joined: 2/22/2018
From: Italy
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My question still stands and I have no access to the manual right now: does an AF lvl2 with airHQ provide torpedoes to Betty/Nell?

I remembered I did in such a small AF but I also remember the min AF was lvl4 so now I'm confused and I won't have the manual at hand until I come back from work (in ages....

)

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Francesco

(in reply to Runnersan)

Post #: 21

RE: Insanity. Obscenity. Indecency. ITAKLinus (A) vs De... - 7/28/2021 1:11:32 PM

Alfred

Posts: 6685
Joined: 9/28/2006
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quote:

ORIGINAL: ITAKLinus

My question still stands and I have no access to the manual right now: does an AF lvl2 with airHQ provide torpedoes to Betty/Nell?

I remembered I did in such a small AF but I also remember the min AF was lvl4 so now I'm confused and I won't have the manual at hand until I come back from work (in ages.... )

Yes, if the higher supply requirements are met.

Alfred

(in reply to ITAKLinus)

Post #: 22

RE: Insanity. Obscenity. Indecency. ITAKLinus (A) vs De... - 7/28/2021 1:26:50 PM

ITAKLinus

Posts: 630
Joined: 2/22/2018
From: Italy
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quote:

ORIGINAL: Alfred

quote:

ORIGINAL: ITAKLinus

My question still stands and I have no access to the manual right now: does an AF lvl2 with airHQ provide torpedoes to Betty/Nell?

I remembered I did in such a small AF but I also remember the min AF was lvl4 so now I'm confused and I won't have the manual at hand until I come back from work (in ages.... )

Yes, if the higher supply requirements are met.

Alfred

Alfred, thank you so much! You saved me the late night digging into the manual!

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(in reply to Alfred)

Post #: 23

RE: Insanity. Obscenity. Indecency. ITAKLinus (A) vs De... - 7/28/2021 1:55:57 PM

Alfred

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quote:

ORIGINAL: ITAKLinus

...Is India bulletproof safe? Not at all.
My plan is to send the initial reinforcements loaded on ships to Australia (!) and prioritize the airlift of Chinese to India. In the meanwhile, I try to send some AA and AT in China, where they're always welcome.

Basically, I plan to use Chinese troops to defend India together with all the already present troops and the unrestricted anglo-indian reinforcements go quickly to Australia.
Rationale being that it's easier to ship those troops from Australia to India than vice-versa in case of need...

You should revisit your rationale.

The north-south Indian Ocean SLOC is very vulnerable to enemy air and naval interdiction from Sumatra and Java. Convoys traversing the north-south route therefore have to be very heavily escorted by Allied heavy assets (= capital ships) to deql with the potential threat. This ties up important Allied naval assets and because the enemy is not so similarly constrained, extends the Japanese initiative time frame.

The much safer Indian Ocean SLOC is east-west. Unless the KB is more or less permanently parked in the Indian Ocean, a development which very much frees up the Allies for early offensive operations elsewhere, the only substantive threat to the east-west traverse comes from IJN subs. The really fast Allied freighters can even be used without ASW escorts as their speed makes it hard for enemy subs to get into position to launch torpedoes.

Of course there is a cost attached to the east-west SLOC; time. From memory it isabout 5 weeks to sail Perth-Cape Town. To which the sailing time from Africa to India has to be added. More specific details were posted by me in DesertWolf101's first AAR. I would be very surprised if you haven't done your homework on your opponent by reading his previous AARs.

The bottom line is send units from India to Australia which you are confident you will never need in India (or vice versa). Relying on them being able to be quickly recalled is extremely dangerous thinking.

Alfred

(in reply to ITAKLinus)

Post #: 24

RE: Insanity. Obscenity. Indecency. ITAKLinus (A) vs De... - 7/28/2021 2:10:36 PM

Alfred

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quote:

ORIGINAL: ITAKLinus

...I'm still sending [R] troops and planes in Prince Rupert and other locations around. I need to garrison heavily the sector in case DesertWolf tries a coup de main...

The main northern coup de main you have to safeguard against is one directed at Portland. Lose Portland and you lose almost all your future arriving USN CVEs (plus pother significant assets too). The triggerring of the emergency American reinforcements will not be an adequate substitute for the loss of all that ship "construction".

Japan will tend to approach Portland either by a direct amphibious assault (with the option of disembarking first at Tacoma)
or by landing in Canada which does not trigger the American emergency reinforcements. A Prince Rupert landing indicates a drive to the Canadian prairies to destroy the substantial Canadian raw material production, whereas landing in the vicinity of Vancouver (and its off shore island bases) allows for either an aerial campaign to harvest strategic VPS or an overland drive (which will trigger the emergency reinforcements) on Seattle (to knock out the irreplaceable Allied 4E factories et al) and subsequently on Portland.

Alfred

(in reply to ITAKLinus)

Post #: 25

RE: Insanity. Obscenity. Indecency. ITAKLinus (A) vs De... - 7/28/2021 2:14:44 PM

Alfred

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quote:

ORIGINAL: ITAKLinus

...Omar doesn't capture Miri/Brunei and leaves his fellas over there. I guess he realized I would have heavily bombed both?...

Not if he knows your 4E are hiding at a Filipino level 1 AF. You can't launch offensive operations from a level 1 AF.

Alfred

(in reply to ITAKLinus)

Post #: 26

RE: Insanity. Obscenity. Indecency. ITAKLinus (A) vs De... - 7/28/2021 2:19:53 PM

RangerJoe

Posts: 13450
Joined: 11/16/2015
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quote:

ORIGINAL: ITAKLinus

quote:

ORIGINAL: RangerJoe

Move the base forces in Burma and the Burmese AAA unit into China. Those base forces also have some AAA plus they are useful in the mountain bases with their engineers.

I am trying to fill them up in Burma: do you think it's advisable to send them in China immediately?

Yes, it takes awhile for those units to get there and they will start to fill out right away. Just move the ones that you don't need in Rangoon plus a base farther north.

You can also set them to take the first upgrades to the 3.7 inch AA guns. The engineers will be useful in the mountain bases and you can base Hurricane squadrons there for air defense. These will also be useful in helping to move the Chinese air force fighters out of China in their I-16s to train in India while also showing up on the enemy recon as fighters. When you get enough pilots trained, then they can go into a unit with the Chinese P-40Bs or other fighters.

_____________________________

Seek peace but keep your gun handy.

I'm not a complete idiot, some parts are missing!

�Illegitemus non carborundum est (�Don�t let the bastards grind you down�).�
― Julia Child

(in reply to ITAKLinus)

Post #: 27

RE: Insanity. Obscenity. Indecency. ITAKLinus (A) vs De... - 7/28/2021 2:20:42 PM

Alfred

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quote:

ORIGINAL: ITAKLinus

...The big scandal is that his naval landings in northern Malaya were some kind of a feint. He re-loaded many troops and now there are various ships heading toward Mersing. Nothing I can do: my surface forces are too far away and would be terribly inferior to his ones. I don't fully grasp the reason behind the feint, though: he could have just landed everything in Mersing on day-2 and get the place immediately. Probably I'm missing something from the big picture...

He has avoided the Singapore torpedo bombers. By the time the fleet arrives qt Mersing, it will be covered by Japanese fighters based in northern Malaya. This frees up IJN capital ships for operations elsewhere.

Alfred

(in reply to ITAKLinus)

Post #: 28

RE: Insanity. Obscenity. Indecency. ITAKLinus (A) vs De... - 7/28/2021 2:35:50 PM

Alfred

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quote:

ORIGINAL: ITAKLinus

...Most of the Indian LCUs are moving in Calcutta, where they will receive replacements, repair disabled devices/squads and then be redistributed all around...

This is not necessary. There are several Indian bases, besides Calcutta, where they can do this.

What you prose to do has several con, I won't go into the pro side.

1. Defense of India is ultimately based on trading space for time. For that you need built up interior fortifications with LCUs suitably prepped for their base.

2. To send the majority of LCUs to Calcutta early is guessing that is where the main blow will come. If you guess right, the LCUs will only be of value if they are prepped for defending Calcutta. Sending them off to another base with Calcutta as their planning objective is not good.

3. As the intention is to redistribute them from Calcutta, why lose valuable time by not sending them straightaway to their ultimate destination where they can build up the fortifications and be properly prepped.

India starts off with its dedicated engineer units all broken down into very small detachments. They need to be consolidated into their parent unit in order to have a reasonable number of engineers at work.

Alfred

(in reply to ITAKLinus)

Post #: 29

RE: Insanity. Obscenity. Indecency. ITAKLinus (A) vs De... - 7/29/2021 12:38:06 AM

ny59giants

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You will need those xAK to xAP conversions. The plentiful 12 knot xAKs take 60 days to go round trip from San Fran to Sydney and back. That means just 6 trips a year. You will get more than enough Liberty xAKs throughout the war. I was forming large Cargo TFs at San Fran in 44/45 and loading up 80k in supply every three days.

You need to pull out of service EVERY AP that is able to convert to APA in 3/43. I sent them to Alameda to sit there until then. In '43, you'll need every one of them to keep your counter-offensive rolling.

(in reply to Alfred)

Post #: 30

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