RE: A nicer milestone...

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: A nicer milestone...

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

Logged in as: Guest

Users viewing this topic: none

Printable Version

All Forums >> [Current Games From Matrix.] >> [World War II] >> War In The Pacific - Struggle Against Japan 1941 - 1945 >> After Action Reports >> RE: A nicer milestone...

Page: << < prev 5 6 [7] 8 9 next > >>

Message

<< Older Topic Newer Topic >>

RE: A nicer milestone... - 3/25/2005 7:07:27 PM

Moquia

Posts: 174
Joined: 7/12/2004
Status: offline

If you don't find it gamey, use your subs to evacuate small parts of your best units. They can then rebuild in Australia for use when you retake India

.

_____________________________

(in reply to asdicus)

Post #: 181

RE: A nicer milestone... - 3/25/2005 7:20:02 PM

String

Posts: 2661
Joined: 10/7/2003
From: Estonia
Status: offline

Imo it wouldn't be gamey, units were rebuilt all the time.. only thing that is wrong with it that they have the exp of the parent unit..

But given the unique situation at Karachi and the way map edge ****s up the defence of india it can be ignored safely

(in reply to Moquia)

Post #: 182

RE: A nicer milestone... - 3/25/2005 7:31:34 PM

ADavidB

Posts: 2464
Joined: 9/17/2001
From: Toronto, Canada
Status: offline

quote:

ORIGINAL: Moquia

If you don't find it gamey, use your subs to evacuate small parts of your best units. They can then rebuild in Australia for use when you retake India .

Thanks for your suggestions, but I don't really have a lot of units in India that I care to "resurrect". One of the problems I have in Northern Australia is that it is full of mediocre Brit and Dutch leftovers. If the Indian troops in India can't stop the Japanese armies, they won't be any better in Australia.

It will be a shame to lose those Brit ships, but what I may do is one last LR CAP-covered "kamikaze" run against Bombay, just to cause casulties amongst PzB's surface forces there. It will be better than letting the KB hunt them down at sea.

What concerns me more is the good US and Auzzie combat units in Java. If I could safely pull them out I would in a flash. But the moment I send any transports there PzB will plaster the place with LBA and the portion of the KB that he hasn't sent to the Indian ocean. Fortunately, I was able to pull out my better ships and a number of air fragments on a one-by-one basis. I don't mind rebuilding air fragments in Australia, although I've got to believe that the data base is going to "suffer" from all the strange odds and ends that have accumulated. (For example, land-based carrier fighter squads with 70+ aircraft and pilots!)

Thanks -

Dave

(in reply to Moquia)

Post #: 183

End Game in India - 3/25/2005 9:49:14 PM

ADavidB

Posts: 2464
Joined: 9/17/2001
From: Toronto, Canada
Status: offline

PzB has decided to go all out for a quick win in Northwestern India as of August 26:

Ground combat at Malir

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 116932 troops, 971 guns, 9 vehicles

Defending force 30339 troops, 203 guns, 15 vehicles

Japanese engineers reduce fortifications to 4

Japanese assault odds: 1 to 1 (fort level 4)

Japanese Assault reduces fortifications to 4

Japanese ground losses:
792 casualties reported
Guns lost 18
Vehicles lost 2

Allied ground losses:
1104 casualties reported
Guns lost 40
Vehicles lost 4

And he has more troops on the way. I've already pulled most of my planes out of Malir and had them attack the airfields at Lahore, Ahmadabad and Bombay, just to make certain to close them for the next little while. But I don't intend to lose more than I need to at Karachi/Malir, so I've flown out my B-24s to Mandalay and my other longer-range bombers to Colombo. They will give PzB an unpleasant wake-up next turn. I intend to fly my B-24s out of Burma to Java and then Australia and safety. I'll fly my bombers in Colombo to Mandalay, and if they can't make Java I'll fly them to China.

BTW - remember Wobbly's lost Chinese armies on that mountain top? Well, I now have most of them off of the mountain and on the way to cities and supplies. I'm also leaving a lot of Chinese troops out in the countryside, not only to slow down any Japanese advances, but also because my troops get supplies in the countryside that they don't get in the cities. (I guess that is to simulate the troops raping and pillaging the local villages as they go through.

)

I also have some Chinese forces playing guerilla war in various parts of China. PzB can't leave his bases ungarrisoned or else I'll sneak in and retake them. (I can understand why PzB doesn't want my troops to escape and do the same thing in India.)

BTW - my "long march" in India is taking shape and my troops keep on marching further east, filling in all the hexes along the way. ("Hexagonal closest packing, I guess...

- okay, that's a poor old chemist's joke, but I'm an old chemist.

)

Otherwise, things are going along as usual.

Dave Baranyi

BTW - thanks to everyone for 6000 hits!!!

< Message edited by ADavidB -- 3/25/2005 10:17:29 PM >

(in reply to ADavidB)

Post #: 184

RE: End Game in India - 3/25/2005 10:29:22 PM

Arstavidios

Posts: 780
Joined: 11/19/2004
Status: offline

What forces do you have to defend Karachi?
Do you think you can put up a srong defense against what Pzb is throwing at you?

(in reply to ADavidB)

Post #: 185

RE: End Game in India - 3/25/2005 11:12:25 PM

ADavidB

Posts: 2464
Joined: 9/17/2001
From: Toronto, Canada
Status: offline

quote:

ORIGINAL: Arstavidios

What forces do you have to defend Karachi?
Do you think you can put up a srong defense against what Pzb is throwing at you?

I've got the British 25th Division which is fresh and fairly strong. All of the rest of the troops have already been "kicked" from place-to-place across India. Fortunately, they've had a month to rest, recover strength and get replacements. What hasn't improved is their morale.

The "listed" combat strength is around 1650. There are a number of infantry units, three armored units, a handful of artillary units, a bunch of base forces and some headquarters. I've moved out all the non-combat units to give me some retreat room in the rear. I'm hoping that I will also be able to disengage units as they become worn out, but I'm not betting on it.

If PzB doesn't immediately follow me into Karachi once he captures Malir I'll try to move the survivors of Malir out too. Fortunately, at the moment PzB doesn't have troops that can reach Kararchi around mine, but he will be able to do that soon - I can't move troops into position to block all of his approaches to Karachi.

Dave Baranyi

(in reply to Arstavidios)

Post #: 186

RE: End Game in India - 3/25/2005 11:46:07 PM

LittleJoe

Posts: 610
Joined: 8/4/2004
Status: offline

quote:

ORIGINAL: ADavidB

What hasn't improved is their morale.

Can you blame them, they've got there backs to the sea, they've seen there best mates die in savage hand to hand combat against a invincible enemy.

There only route of escape the Royal Navy, has been crushed at its own game against the Japanese. They know the end is near, and the jewel of the empire is about to be stolen.

God save the King!

_____________________________

(in reply to ADavidB)

Post #: 187

Wild-eyed Ideas... - 3/26/2005 5:17:47 AM

ADavidB

Posts: 2464
Joined: 9/17/2001
From: Toronto, Canada
Status: offline

When I sent PzB the August 27 turn, I mentioned to him that I had come up with some "wild-eyed ideas" to try out on him. And luck was with me so he found out the results of those "ideas" very quickly. First off, I figured that he would try to put another fast transport into Luatem around now, so I sent the "Welcome Wagon" to greet him:

Night Time Surface Combat, near Lautem at 33,78

Japanese Ships
DD Hagikaze, Shell hits 15, and is sunk
DD Tanikaze, Shell hits 8, on fire, heavy damage
DD Hatsushima, Shell hits 1
DD Kamikaze
DD Sawakaze, Shell hits 1, on fire
DD Sagi, Shell hits 7, on fire, heavy damage

Allied Ships
BB Colorado, Shell hits 1
BB Idaho, Shell hits 6, Torpedo hits 1, on fire
DD Arunta, Shell hits 2, heavy damage
DD Electra, Shell hits 6, on fire

Japanese ground losses:
313 casualties reported

What is nice about this is that the Idaho's torpedo bulkhead worked and she has little damage. Even the two DDs ought to make it back to port. In the meanwhile the survivors will have to evade LBA, carrier air and another SC TF that I've sent back, just in case PzB feels particularly persistant.

My air war also took some "interesting" turns for PzB:

First off, I forgot a Wellington group in Karachi which kept up it's old orders:

Day Air attack on Lahore , at 28,6

Allied aircraft
Wellington III x 6

Allied aircraft losses
Wellington III: 1 damaged

Japanese ground losses:
32 casualties reported
Guns lost 1

Airbase hits 1
Airbase supply hits 1
Runway hits 3

That's not too bad because it will discourage PzB from putting air units into Lahore for another turn, and I've now moved the Wellingtons to Colombo to join their colleagues:

Day Air attack on Trimcomalee , at 15,25

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 3
Ki-43-Ib Oscar x 12

Allied aircraft
Blenheim IV x 6
Wellington III x 22
Hudson I x 10

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 1 destroyed, 2 damaged
Ki-48 Lily: 2 destroyed, 5 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
Blenheim IV: 2 destroyed, 3 damaged
Wellington III: 3 destroyed, 11 damaged

Airbase hits 1
Airbase supply hits 1
Runway hits 8

I think I particularly surprised PzB with this attack:

Day Air attack on Rangoon , at 29,34

Japanese aircraft
Ki-27 Nate x 4

Allied aircraft
B-24D Liberator x 23

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-27 Nate: 3 destroyed
Ki-59 Theresa: 1 destroyed
Ki-57-II Topsy: 2 destroyed, 6 damaged
Ki-54 Hickory: 1 destroyed, 1 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
B-24D Liberator: 1 damaged

Japanese ground losses:
17 casualties reported
Guns lost 1

Airbase hits 2
Runway hits 8

Aircraft Attacking:
20 x B-24D Liberator bombing at 6000 feet
3 x B-24D Liberator bombing at 6000 feet

I've already moved the bulk of the B-24s out and set them to surprise another target. In the meanwhile I've put a couple of rested-up Chinese figher squadrons into Mandalay to say "Hi" to PzB's inevitable response.

And back at Karachi I finally got an air attack on PzB's ground units:

Day Air attack on Imperial Guards Division, at 22,4

Allied aircraft
Wirraway x 5
Hurricane II x 30
Spitfire Vb x 8
Beaufort I x 17
Beaufort V-IX x 32

Allied aircraft losses
Wirraway: 1 damaged
Hurricane II: 2 damaged
Beaufort V-IX: 1 damaged

Japanese ground losses:
115 casualties reported
Guns lost 2

Not that it made a lot of difference:

Ground combat at Malir

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 169703 troops, 1171 guns, 13 vehicles

Defending force 28849 troops, 152 guns, 12 vehicles

Japanese engineers reduce fortifications to 4

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

Japanese Assault reduces fortifications to 4

Japanese ground losses:
572 casualties reported
Guns lost 27
Vehicles lost 1

Allied ground losses:
1042 casualties reported
Guns lost 17

I expect to lose Malir next turn. PzB had 28 units there on the 27th and another 6 or 8 were a day's travel away. Oh well, at least I've removed the bulk of the planes.

I had other less significant air attacks go on elsewhere, as did PzB who continues to bomb "lost" Chinese units with what looks like more planes than I have on the entire map.

So I have more potential "surprises" for PzB planned for the next turn. It will be interesting to see which of them come to fruition.

Dave Baranyi

(in reply to LittleJoe)

Post #: 188

RE: Wild-eyed Ideas... - 3/26/2005 5:40:30 AM

Spectra

Posts: 19
Joined: 9/20/2002
From: Ottawa
Status: offline

Hi there,
First post here, but a long time reader of both this and its predecessor.. I'd just like to say how neat it is that your starting to climb inside PzB head and mess with it.. It just hit me how your starting to #$%#^ with his OODA cycle..

Observe - Orientate - Decide - Act

The famous concept by Colonel John Boyd.. I'm starting to see the pattern of hitting PzB, and then immediately countering his counter (thereby hitting him again..). This is the first time I've seen this in action, with the reasoning behind it.. Many thank!

For those readers not familiar with Boyd, its worth checking out..
Boyd and Military Strategy

While originally applied to air-to-air combat (Body never lost a bet that he would start with an opponent pilot on his tail, and within 10 sec. would be on his), its still a neat way to look at higher level strategic thinking...

Attachment (1)

_____________________________

I see crazy people!
And they don't even know they're crazy...

(in reply to ADavidB)

Post #: 189

RE: Wild-eyed Ideas... - 3/26/2005 6:21:44 AM

ADavidB

Posts: 2464
Joined: 9/17/2001
From: Toronto, Canada
Status: offline

quote:

First post here, but a long time reader of both this and its predecessor.. I'd just like to say how neat it is that your starting to climb inside PzB head and mess with it.. It just hit me how your starting to #$%#^ with his OODA cycle..

Thanks for the compliment, but I'm not certain that it is deserved as of yet. PzB is very sharp and tries various ways to get info as well as to try to get inside of my head. It appears that he tried that a lot with Wobbly too.

What I have been trying to do is present PzB with many simultaneous decision points. I want to see if he misses opportunites in the overall "noise", if he reacts instead of sticking to plan, and if he overreacts or underreacts. I'm also trying to avoid letting him see too much of my style of play. There are certain things that I want him to see, and others that I prefer to have stay hidden.

I need PzB to make a number of serious mistakes, and I need those mistakes to occur while I am still at serious risk. He can still crush me locally almost anywhere that he chooses, if he chooses to do so. But instead he has chosen to focus on finishing off India with the intent of coming after me once things are done there. I need to make him feel that "time is running out", so I make jokes about hearing the "high-pitched sound of twin engines coming ever so closer, and so very fast" in order to make him react to the thought of P-38s arriving. The more PzB tries to rush, the better the chance that I have to catch some of his forces at a disadvantage.

That's what I have spent the past 7 game-weeks doing - setting my forces up to be able to get local advantages when opportunity arises while maintaining an ability to back off from unfavorable encounters. I am also still hoping that I can find some advantage in the game mechanics to allow me to delay PzB in India for a while longer so that he feels even more rushed. We'll see how it goes.

Thanks again for the comments -

Dave Baranyi

(in reply to Spectra)

Post #: 190

Malir Falls... - 3/26/2005 7:22:25 AM

ADavidB

Posts: 2464
Joined: 9/17/2001
From: Toronto, Canada
Status: offline

Well, as I predicted, Malir fell on August 28th:

Ground combat at Malir

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 195579 troops, 1300 guns, 13 vehicles

Defending force 27466 troops, 119 guns, 12 vehicles

Japanese engineers reduce fortifications to 3

Japanese assault odds: 5 to 1 (fort level 3)

Japanese forces CAPTURE Malir base !!!

Allied aircraft
no flights

Allied aircraft losses
Beaufort V-IX: 1 destroyed
Beaufort I: 5 destroyed

Japanese ground losses:
238 casualties reported
Guns lost 5
Vehicles lost 1

Allied ground losses:
1133 casualties reported
Guns lost 28
Vehicles lost 1

Since PzB didn't use a "shock" attack he didn't get to automatically follow into Karachi. I've ordered the troops that retreated from Malir to move up the road to the north of Karachi. It will be interesting to see if they do since they all have high disruption. This turn there were a number of air attacks on the troops besieging Malir, but obviously they didn't do much good. For the next turn I'll have the bombers hit the air base in Malir, both to destroy some of the engineering troops there, as well as to discourage PzB from getting any ideas about putting some planes in place.

I was right about PzB being "persistant" - he did send more fast transports into Lautem:

Night Time Surface Combat, near Lautem at 33,78

Japanese Ships
DD Hatsushima
DD Kamikaze
DD Sawakaze, Shell hits 9, and is sunk

Allied Ships
DD Grayson, Shell hits 1, on fire
DD Monssen, Shell hits 1
DD Sims
DD O'Brien

Japanese ground losses:
142 casualties reported

and:

Night Time Surface Combat, near Lautem at 33,78

Japanese Ships
DD Sagi, Shell hits 9, and is sunk

Allied Ships
DD Grayson, on fire
DD Monssen
DD Sims
DD O'Brien

Japanese ground losses:
176 casualties reported

Despite this he still got a few more troops on land. None of my ships were badly damaged and I'm sending in yet another small SC TF just in case. Unfortunately, Lautem was covered with rain and none of my LBA or other air found any targets during the day time.

Others of my air forces did find targets:

Day Air attack on Hong Kong , at 43,42

Japanese aircraft
Ki-27 Nate x 15
Ki-43-Ib Oscar x 8

Allied aircraft
IL-4c x 6

No Japanese losses

Allied aircraft losses
IL-4c: 2 destroyed, 5 damaged

Japanese Ships
CA Mikuma, Bomb hits 3
MSW W.20, Bomb hits 1, on fire, heavy damage

Aircraft Attacking:
2 x IL-4c bombing at 6000 feet
3 x IL-4c bombing at 6000 feet

Hong Kong is such a productive place to hit that I should do it more often. (And maybe I will.

)

Day Air attack on Batavia , at 19,59

Japanese aircraft
A6M3 Zero x 5

Allied aircraft
Beaufort V-IX x 15
P-40B Tomahawk x 9
A-20B Boston x 12
B-24D Liberator x 21

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M3 Zero: 1 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
Beaufort V-IX: 2 destroyed
B-24D Liberator: 1 damaged

Japanese ground losses:
28 casualties reported
Guns lost 1

Airbase hits 4

I've now moved those B-24s to Darwin. They will add to the "fun" that I can deliver from there.

Day Air attack on Amboina , at 39,73

Japanese aircraft
no flights

Allied aircraft
F-5A Lightning x 4
B-17E Fortress x 43

Japanese aircraft losses
G4M1 Betty: 11 destroyed, 18 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
F-5A Lightning: 1 damaged
B-17E Fortress: 2 destroyed, 1 damaged

Japanese ground losses:
38 casualties reported
Guns lost 2

Airbase hits 3
Runway hits 29
Port hits 1
Port supply hits 3

I whacked Ambonia for a change because an "air" symbol appeared there. I'll go back after Kendari in a turn or so.

The Wellingtons in Colombo got to mess with PzB's transports in the area:

Day Air attack on TF at 13,22

Allied aircraft
Wellington III x 12

No Allied losses

Japanese Ships
PC Fumi Maru #3
AP Akashisan Maru, Bomb hits 2

and:

Day Air attack on TF at 13,22

Allied aircraft
Blenheim IV x 3
Wellington III x 4

No Allied losses

Japanese Ships
AP Akashisan Maru, Bomb hits 3, on fire, heavy damage

as well as hitting Trimcomalee:

Day Air attack on Trimcomalee , at 15,25

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 6
Ki-43-Ib Oscar x 13

Allied aircraft
Blenheim IV x 3
Wellington III x 21
Hudson I x 11

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 1 destroyed, 2 damaged
Ki-43-Ib Oscar: 2 destroyed, 1 damaged
Ki-48 Lily: 6 destroyed, 10 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
Wellington III: 4 destroyed, 6 damaged
Hudson I: 2 destroyed, 5 damaged

Japanese ground losses:
12 casualties reported

Airbase hits 5
Airbase supply hits 2
Runway hits 16

And as I had predicted, PzB send bombers into Mandalay, but it looks as if he assumed that there wouldn't be any CAP:

Day Air attack on Mandalay , at 33,30

Japanese aircraft
Ki-48 Lily x 25

Allied aircraft
I-16c x 37

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-48 Lily: 52 destroyed, 7 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
I-16c: 1 damaged

I've left those Chinese flyboys there for another day - they might give PzB's fighters some problems too.

There was a lot of other action including my daily pounding of Koepang, one part of which got the added bonus of sinking a ship in port too:

Day Air attack on Koepang , at 28,77

Allied aircraft
Martin 139 x 7
Hudson I x 41

No Allied losses

Japanese Ships
PG Kamitsu Maru, Bomb hits 1, on fire, heavy damage

Japanese ground losses:
40 casualties reported
Guns lost 1

Port hits 2
Port supply hits 2

It will be interesting now to see what PzB's approach will be to Karachi. Will he just march in and try to take it by brute force, or will he try something more subtle. Stay tuned...

Dave Baranyi

(in reply to ADavidB)

Post #: 191

RE: Malir Falls... - 3/26/2005 5:27:09 PM

Tom Hunter

Posts: 2194
Joined: 12/14/2004
Status: offline

Spectra:

quote:

Hi there,
First post here, but a long time reader of both this and its predecessor.. I'd just like to say how neat it is that your starting to climb inside PzB head and mess with it.. It just hit me how your starting to #$%#^ with his OODA cycle..

Observe - Orientate - Decide - Act

Spectra,

You can find this in some of the other AARs if you read between the lines. Look for ambushes that is a key sign. Some people are not good at writing about thier thinking process, others have both players viewing the AAR so they can't and for some English is thier second language so they don't post much.

For example I think Zeta16 is often trying to do this to Freeboy. Ron and Mogami are trying it so often that it seldom works. Personally I can't write about it in my AAR because my opponent reads it too but I am trying as well.

(in reply to ADavidB)

Post #: 192

Why I don't like to do "Ground" attacks... - 3/26/2005 8:52:14 PM

ADavidB

Posts: 2464
Joined: 9/17/2001
From: Toronto, Canada
Status: offline

The following results is why I prefer to use my air units for other things rahter than to do "ground attacks" in WitP (or other GG games). Remember how I was mentioning that my planes were almost never doing ground attacks? Well, on August 29 I set my tac bombers at Karachi to do an airfield attack on Malir, while I left my fighter bombers set to "ground attack". The fighter bombers never took off, but look at what my tac bombers did:

Day Air attack on Malir , at 22,4

Allied aircraft
Beaufort I x 20
Beaufort V-IX x 30

No Allied losses

Japanese ground losses:
1671 casualties reported
Guns lost 15

Airbase hits 5
Airbase supply hits 7
Runway hits 27

PzB is pretty ticked off on that, but hey, we're both playing the same game, and what is "good for the goose is good for the gander".

PzB also hasn't moved his troops in to Karachi yet. He currently has 32 units at Malir with another on the way. One of the nice things about "airfield" attacks is that the engineering troops tend to be hit by the "falling iron". And if PzB's engineers are diabled than he will have a tougher time cracking Karachi.

This result may have also precipitated some naval action from PzB - he has finally sent the combat TF out to sea that has been sitting in Bombay for the last game-month. He has it due west, which make me suspect that he will try to move outside of my air attack range and come in for a bombardment. So I've changed the settings for my tac bombers to "naval attack/airfield attack" and set all my fighter bombers to "airfield attack". I'm also repositioning my subs to give me some notice. Finally, I've created one more small combat TF out of the damaged warships that I've had repairing in Karachi for the past 7 weeks. I want PzB to waste as much ammo as possible on weaker targets before he runs into my good TFs. Once I'm pretty certain that he is coming in I'll also set up a dozen or so "fire ship" TFs out of the transports. That ought to cause him to waste lots of ammo.

PzB has also sent a sub one hex north of Karachi. I suspect that he is trying to land a few troops to cut my escape off. I presume that he doesn't know that I already have troops there, with more on the way. (All the recouperating troops from Malir.) This ought to be a nice hot welcome for any sub-based landing party.

Elsewhere, PzB is working hard to try to "catch" my long-range bombers at Columbo and Tjilitjap. (For some reason he didn't want to test the Chinese pilots at Mandalay again.

) It's too too little, too late, and since he isn't able to close my airfields I still get to move the bombers where I want. I've started to move the Wellingtons and Blenheims to China. This is because I've become so "encouraged" by the "fun" that those pitiful few Chinese bombers have had there. I also have the B-24s in Darwin, so I'll have them attack Kendari and the B-17s continue to pound those Bettys that are on the field at Ambonia. In the meanwhile my tac bombers in the other northern Australian cities continue to pound Koepang and keep it closed.

PzB also did me a nice little "favor" in Lautem:

Ground combat at Lautem

Japanese Shock attack

Attacking force 828 troops, 1 guns, 0 vehicles

Defending force 530 troops, 10 guns, 0 vehicles

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

Japanese Assault reduces fortifications to 0

Japanese ground losses:
29 casualties reported

That failed "shock" attack will keep his troops "honest" for a while.

The only other newsworthy activity is that PzB has three TFs cruising in the Truk/Rabaul/PNG region. That's cool - I don't care which malaria-infested jungle port he lands troops at as long as he doesn't come to Buna or Lae. But that's why I have a well-trained and sizable anti-shipping air force sitting at PM with lots of supply.

The next couple of turns will not only be interesting, but could change things quite a lot. But there won't be another report until tomorrow, because PzB is going out carousing tonight. I'm trying to convince him that since he is young he can have plenty of sake and still send me a turn, but he doesn't seem to "trust" me.

Dave Baranyi

(in reply to Tom Hunter)

Post #: 193

RE: Why I don't like to do "Ground" attacks... - 3/26/2005 8:58:02 PM

EUBanana

Posts: 4552
Joined: 9/30/2003
From: Little England
Status: offline

Wow, nuclear Beauforts!

I think the casualties are always a percentage of the total number of troops, so if he has a lot of base forces or something concentrated in one place and you do a solid airfield attack you can get a lot of kills.

Though I could be wrong, when it comes to WitP I just muddle through...

(in reply to ADavidB)

Post #: 194

RE: Why I don't like to do "Ground" attacks... - 3/26/2005 8:58:31 PM

LittleJoe

Posts: 610
Joined: 8/4/2004
Status: offline

quote:

ORIGINAL: ADavidB

Day Air attack on Malir , at 22,4

Allied aircraft
Beaufort I x 20
Beaufort V-IX x 30

No Allied losses

Japanese ground losses:
1671 casualties reported
Guns lost 15

Airbase hits 5
Airbase supply hits 7
Runway hits 27

Jeez, i struggle to get Ground casulaties in 3 figures, what where the Japanese doing on the ground?

_____________________________

(in reply to ADavidB)

Post #: 195

RE: Why I don't like to do "Ground" attacks... - 3/26/2005 9:24:08 PM

ADavidB

Posts: 2464
Joined: 9/17/2001
From: Toronto, Canada
Status: offline

quote:

ORIGINAL: EUBanana

Wow, nuclear Beauforts!

I think the casualties are always a percentage of the total number of troops, so if he has a lot of base forces or something concentrated in one place and you do a solid airfield attack you can get a lot of kills.

Though I could be wrong, when it comes to WitP I just muddle through...

I think that you are right on the money with this one.

As far as "muddling through" - I think that this describes most of us...

Thanks for the comments -

Dave

(in reply to EUBanana)

Post #: 196

RE: Why I don't like to do "Ground" attacks... - 3/26/2005 9:25:44 PM

ADavidB

Posts: 2464
Joined: 9/17/2001
From: Toronto, Canada
Status: offline

quote:

ORIGINAL: LittleJoe

quote:

ORIGINAL: ADavidB

Day Air attack on Malir , at 22,4

Allied aircraft
Beaufort I x 20
Beaufort V-IX x 30

No Allied losses

Japanese ground losses:
1671 casualties reported
Guns lost 15

Airbase hits 5
Airbase supply hits 7
Runway hits 27

Jeez, i struggle to get Ground casulaties in 3 figures, what where the Japanese doing on the ground?

That's my point - this wasn't a ground attack, it was an air field attack. I have never seen a "Ground" attack get anything at all like this. That's why I usually don't do ground attacks.

Dave

(in reply to LittleJoe)

Post #: 197

RE: Why I don't like to do "Ground" attacks... - 3/26/2005 9:59:44 PM

Moquia

Posts: 174
Joined: 7/12/2004
Status: offline

quote:

ORIGINAL: ADavidB

That's my point - this wasn't a ground attack, it was an air field attack. I have never seen a "Ground" attack get anything at all like this. That's why I usually don't do ground attacks.

Dave

Remember that ground attack also causes disruption. A LCU will lose most of its assaultcapability if attacked.

_____________________________

(in reply to ADavidB)

Post #: 198

RE: Why I don't like to do "Ground" attacks... - 3/26/2005 11:59:36 PM

ADavidB

Posts: 2464
Joined: 9/17/2001
From: Toronto, Canada
Status: offline

quote:

Remember that ground attack also causes disruption. A LCU will lose most of its assaultcapability if attacked.

What I find always very strange is firstly that planes will rarely take off on a "ground attack" mission but will almost always attack on other missions. Secondly, non-ground attack missions always cause more casualties than ground attack missions.

BTW - remember that only one LCU will get attacked during a "ground attack" phase. So, if the attacker has 30 units in an attack, even if one unit gets the s*h*i*t kicked out of it, there are 29 other units left to overwhelm the defenders. That's another reason why "ground attacks" are pretty much useless in the continental land campaigns against the Japanese Army "Gods".

I'm actually afraid to say much about the "ground attack" versus the "non-ground attack" issue, because if it happens to attract the attention of the developers they might emasculate air attacks even more, which will make it even more impossible to do anything against the Japanese "God-warriors".

Dave Baranyi

(in reply to Moquia)

Post #: 199

RE: Why I don't like to do "Ground" attacks... - 3/28/2005 9:48:01 PM

toraq

Posts: 405
Joined: 10/24/2004
Status: offline

quote:

What concerns me more is the good US and Auzzie combat units in Java. If I could safely pull them out I would in a flash. But the moment I send any transports there PzB will plaster the place with LBA and the portion of the KB that he hasn't sent to the Indian ocean

Congratulations about your little successes. Sure PzB is quite surprised by your air attacks. BUT, I still want you to solve the problem at Java. Situation in India was impossible to save but Java is another thing. You can avoid it and I will blame you if it ends in japanese hands!

(in reply to ADavidB)

Post #: 200

RE: Why I don't like to do "Ground" attacks... - 3/28/2005 10:32:13 PM

Grotius

Posts: 5798
Joined: 10/18/2002
From: The Imperial Palace.
Status: offline

In the most recent patch, the devs said they tweaked the code to make Ground Attack missions fly more often. In my game against Cap_and_Gown, I've flown three Ground Attack missions on successive days in Malaya. I dunno, I've heard that airfield attacks target primarily support personnel, whereas Ground attacks target infantry, so I'm experimenting with it a bit more than usual.

Personally, I think Airfield attacks are a bit over-powered, but that's a different kettle of fish.

(in reply to toraq)

Post #: 201

RE: Why I don't like to do "Ground" attacks... - 3/29/2005 12:39:21 AM

ADavidB

Posts: 2464
Joined: 9/17/2001
From: Toronto, Canada
Status: offline

You'll have to wait a while to see what I'm up to, because PzB has a sudden case of Real Life catching up with Game Life.

Dave Baranyi

(Wondering where his other PBEM opponents have gone to - Norway maybe?

)

(in reply to toraq)

Post #: 202

RE: A nicer milestone... - 3/29/2005 12:22:21 PM

frank1970

Posts: 1678
Joined: 9/1/2000
From: Bayern
Status: offline

quote:

ORIGINAL: ADavidB

quote:

ORIGINAL: Frank

I only read Wobblies and your AARs. I think Wobbly stated PzB caught a very large amount of supplies in Bombay.

Sorry about that. Thanks again for your comments.

Dave

No problem!

_____________________________

If you like what I said love me,if you dislike what I say ignore me!

"Extra Bavaria non est vita! Et sic est vita non est ita!"

(in reply to ADavidB)

Post #: 203

Showdown in Karachi - 3/30/2005 4:16:48 AM

ADavidB

Posts: 2464
Joined: 9/17/2001
From: Toronto, Canada
Status: offline

August 30 brought more air action on the part of my forces but surprisingly little action on PzB's part. My planes in Karachi flew unopposed against Malir again, with lesser results than last time, but still causing sizable casualties. What was particularly interesting was that PzB's combat TF from Bombay was continuing to the northwest. I bet he thinks that I am trying to hide TFs in the corner of the map. What he probably doesn't realize is that the TFs he spotted the last few turns were returning to Karachi, not leaving it.

PzB didn't try to unload any troops either, so I have no idea why his sub went to that hex just above Karachi. That's probably okay - this way he has no idea of what forces I have behind Karachi. And I am still spreading out my non-combat troops to the north and east. The other very interesting thing is that PzB still hasn't actually moved into Karachi proper - his 32 units are still in Malir. That's okay, I'll just keep on bombing them. I wouldn't be surprised, however, to have my troops that are slowly moving eastwards north of the Indus finally meet some Japanese troops who are trying to sneak westwards. (I certainly would try that.)

Elsewhere I am still moving long range bombers around and bombing everything within range of northern Australia. And with B-24s, that's a long way. PzB tried another "shock" attack on my troops in Lautem and lost more of his guys for his trouble. I'm sending a bombardment TF in just for the fun of it - I may disrupt his troops more, and I may even catch another FT trying to sneak in.

The South and Central Pacific Theaters are quiet as I move forces around and rest my bombers. I'll hit PzB's bases at my leisure - right now I'm hoping to "lull" him into moving some TFs into range of my bombers. I'm also still building bases - it's nice to start to get lots of good engineering units.

Dave Baranyi

(in reply to frank1970)

Post #: 204

RE: Showdown in Karachi - 3/31/2005 12:49:10 AM

ADavidB

Posts: 2464
Joined: 9/17/2001
From: Toronto, Canada
Status: offline

PzB won the first "luck of the draw" in August 31 as his invasion TFs to the west of Karachi got cloud coverage and thus exemption from any air attacks. He is coming in with what appear to be a couple of combat TFs and a transport TF. I now have five combat TFs in Karachi and will find out if my "fire ship" strategy helps at all. What I have done is form a couple of dozen small (but not single ship) transport TFs in the Karachi hex. If the game AI does what it often does, it will send PzB's incoming combat TFs against my "soft and slow" transport TFs first, thus wasting the ammo of PzB's combat TFs as well as preparation points. Thus my combat TFs may get an advantage this way. In addition, any air attacks may well also target the transport TFs first. (It's only too bad that I didn't have any TKs or AOs around - the AI loves to send planes after them.)

PzB also started to make his move on land. He moved an armor unit to the hex two hexes due east of Karachi. (He can get there directly from Malir.) Fortunately I already have a unit in that hex, as well as on the other five sides of it. If my units due east of Malir hadn't bogged down in the useless movement rules they could have re-entered Malir and prevented this move, but that's life with the current movement system. I've got other units already on the move to that hex, so with any luck PzB will start to suffer from the same movement-rule problems that have been plaguing me. In the meanwhile PzB still hasn't sent any troops directly to Karachi.

Elsewhere, things were quiet other than PzB hammering the airfields at Colombo. I don't have any fighters there so I can't do anything about it, but I've already moved most of my long range bombers out and he didn't hit the airfields hard enough to keep me from moving more of them out. Once those Wellingtons and Blenheims rest up in China they will be able to start to make life miserable for PzB there too.

Otherwise I am sticking to plan and continuing to build up my positions and forces. I've just now gotten a nice, large air support unit to Lunga, so once they unload I'll be able to start some serious air offenses in that region. I need to move more similar units to the west too.

Dave Baranyi

(in reply to ADavidB)

Post #: 205

RE: Showdown in Karachi - 3/31/2005 4:46:54 AM

ADavidB

Posts: 2464
Joined: 9/17/2001
From: Toronto, Canada
Status: offline

My usual email has been conspiring to keep me from seeing the September 1 turn. Maybe it just can't stand so much bloodshed!

PzB's long awaited offensive on Karachi started by sea. He decided that he had to wipe out my naval forces before sending in his ground troops so that I wouldn't use my ships to bombard his troops. I was actually very wary of doing that because I found in games against the AI that the ground troops could (quite unrealistically) fire their guns back at my bombarding ships. Well that's a moot point now.

My "fire ship" strategy didn't work out - PzB's combat TFs hit my combat TFs first. But surprisingly, some of my transport TFs did get hits on the opposing combat TFs. So that has encouraged me enough to do it again. In any event, PzB lost some ships, had a bunch damaged, and used up the ammo in the rest, so this first round of attackers are limping home.

My air force didn't end up doing a lot - they did get some hits against a few of the retreating ships, but not a lot. PzB sent in a sweep of fighters on Karachi which probably "distracted" things:

Day Air attack on Karachi , at 21,3

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 47
Ki-46-II Dinah x 1

Allied aircraft
Fulmar x 5
F4F-4 Wildcat x 8
Wirraway x 5
Mohawk IV x 11
Hurricane II x 23
Spitfire Vb x 21
Kittyhawk I x 13
P-40E Warhawk x 13

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 70 destroyed, 5 damaged
Ki-46-II Dinah: 1 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
F4F-4 Wildcat: 5 destroyed, 2 damaged
Wirraway: 6 destroyed, 1 damaged
Mohawk IV: 8 destroyed, 2 damaged
Hurricane II: 11 destroyed, 2 damaged
Spitfire Vb: 17 destroyed, 4 damaged
Kittyhawk I: 15 destroyed, 4 damaged
P-40E Warhawk: 2 destroyed, 1 damaged

That was an expensive sweep for him, considering that I will lose those planes when I lose Karachi. I hope that he tries it again.

So I now have two good battle groups, one battle group full of cripples and a bunch of "fire ship" TFs left in Karachi. PzB still has a bunch of TFs just outside of bomber range, including a carrier TF to provide CAP on the waiting ships. It will be interesting to see what he sends in this time.

In the meanwhile, my bombardment fleet at Lautem caught and mauled another of PzB's fast transport TFs:

Night Time Surface Combat, near Lautem at 33,78

Japanese Ships
DD Hatsushima, Shell hits 1, on fire
DD Kamikaze, Shell hits 8, and is sunk
DD Asanagi
DD Okikaze, Shell hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
DD Shiokaze
DD Nokaze, Shell hits 4, on fire, heavy damage
DD Kuri, Shell hits 4, on fire, heavy damage
DD Kuretake, Shell hits 4, on fire
DD Manazuru, Shell hits 1, on fire

Allied Ships
BB Colorado, Shell hits 4
BB Idaho, Shell hits 3
DD Monssen
DD Sims, Shell hits 2
DD O'Brien

Japanese ground losses:
252 casualties reported
Guns lost 1

Once again my BBs have only trivial damage and my LBA did get some nice hits on the survivors.

PzB is starting to bomb Java again, but he still isn't stopping me from using it as a way-station to move B-24s to Oz. And my B-24s and B-17s did get to hit Kendari and Ambonia again. He's not flying anything from there.

In the rest of the Pacific my ships, planes and troops continue to rest up, build strength and enjoy ever strengthening bases. They all enjoy seeing PzB's fleets taking damage off of India and the DEI...

Dave Baranyi

(in reply to ADavidB)

Post #: 206

RE: Showdown in Karachi - 3/31/2005 12:41:32 PM

Andy Mac

Posts: 15222
Joined: 5/12/2004
From: Alexandria, Scotland
Status: offline

May be a bit self sacrificial but may be worth rotating a B17/B24 gp into Karachi.

Just to give you some real punch

He has to have CV's out there somewhere but his zeros are going to murder your TB and DB and any light LB's you have having een 1 gp of 17's or 24's to assist could be usefull (especailly if they drop a 1,000 lber on a Jap CV).

I hope you are watching the range on your LBA at Karachi very carefully each turn you really really dont want unescorted strikes if he has 70+ zeroes to spare on Sweeps.

Do you have any US AK's left in Karachi to allow you to put some PT boats into the water ?

Andy

(in reply to ADavidB)

Post #: 207

RE: Showdown in Karachi - 3/31/2005 1:19:52 PM

ADavidB

Posts: 2464
Joined: 9/17/2001
From: Toronto, Canada
Status: offline

quote:

ORIGINAL: Andy Mac

May be a bit self sacrificial but may be worth rotating a B17/B24 gp into Karachi.

Just to give you some real punch

He has to have CV's out there somewhere but his zeros are going to murder your TB and DB and any light LB's you have having een 1 gp of 17's or 24's to assist could be usefull (especailly if they drop a 1,000 lber on a Jap CV).

I hope you are watching the range on your LBA at Karachi very carefully each turn you really really dont want unescorted strikes if he has 70+ zeroes to spare on Sweeps.

Do you have any US AK's left in Karachi to allow you to put some PT boats into the water ?

Andy

His Zeros flew in from Ahmadabad, not from the carriers. He is keeping his carriers to provide local CAP to the group of TFs that he has sitting around 6 hexes off shore. I was surprised that he didn't use his carrier planes too. My guess is that he has only committed a couple of carriers. But he had so many cripples going from Karachi to Bombay that my LBA didn't bother going after his carriers.

That's just as well, because I want to hurt his surface fleet. He lost a bunch of DDs and a couple of cruisers and most of the rest of what he sent in was hit pretty hard cumulatively. I found it funny as h*e*l*l that my transports fought hard and got hits. Look at this round for example:

Night Time Surface Combat, near Karachi at 21,3

Japanese Ships
CA Tone, Shell hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
CA Chikuma
CL Naka
CL Natori
DD Akizuki, on fire
DD Yugumo
DD Hatsukaze
DD Hayashio
DD Urakaze, on fire
DD Hamakaze, on fire
DD Nowaki
DD Hatsuharu, on fire, heavy damage
DD Wakaba
DD Uzuki

Allied Ships
AK Soochow, Shell hits 7, Torpedo hits 2, and is sunk
AK Beatrice, Shell hits 31, and is sunk
AK Ban Ho Guan, Shell hits 8, Torpedo hits 2, and is sunk

The Tone eventually was hit by a couple of bombs from planes as it limped away and sank. Transport TFs do fight back.

BTW - there were no US AKs at Karachi, so I couldn't create PTs. But I'll have some in the DEI soon, to add to PzB's woes there.

BTW II - I really don't like to use heavy bombers on anti-ship attacks. They are my absolutely best (and essentially only) weapon that I can use to keep a Japanese player from harassing my ships with LBA. Right now I have freedom of movement between Oz and Timor because I've closed down PzB's air bases within range. That to me is worth much more than taking that very small chance of getting a good hit on his CVs. I'll take care of his CVs at my leisure with a combination of my LBA and my CVs - don't forget, I've got Avengers now so things are no longer totally in the Japanese favor.

All-in-all, as I mentioned in the past, PzB has taken the path that I wanted him to take. He is taking heavy casualties for his attack just for the sake of trying to limit his land casualties and because he hasn't wanted to take air casualties. He could have closed down the Karachi airfields - he has enough planes and a half dozen air bases within range - with only one field I couldn't fought off all of them. He could have then come in with his carriers to finish off my ships, and sent in the bombardment groups later to finish off my troops. Instead he has chosen a route that allows me to cause him more damage than I should have been able to do. He will regret losing those DDs and cruisers, and the damage to all the others in only a couple of months - particularly when the restrictions on Allied subs stop. He needs light ships to protect his CVs and to try to stop my ever strengthening surface forces. What I have been doing at Lautem is only a preview of what I'll be able to do anywhere soon. And I can do that right now at every other place that is important to me.

Thanks for the comments -

Dave Baranyi

(in reply to Andy Mac)

Post #: 208

RE: Showdown in Karachi - 4/1/2005 2:55:17 AM

wobbly

Posts: 1095
Joined: 10/16/2002
From: Christchurch, New Zealand
Status: offline

quote:

ORIGINAL: ADavidB

He will regret losing those DDs and cruisers, and the damage to all the others in only a couple of months - particularly when the restrictions on Allied subs stop.

I am afraid you will have to battle with subs that don't attack unfortunately. At least, on the rare occasion when they do, they might actually hit!

_____________________________

(in reply to ADavidB)

Post #: 209

RE: Showdown in Karachi - 4/1/2005 2:59:26 AM

ADavidB

Posts: 2464
Joined: 9/17/2001
From: Toronto, Canada
Status: offline

Well, as of September 2, it looks as if PzB has sent everything plus the "kitchen sink" at Karachi. Another big surface combat TF came in, this time with BBs. It worked its way through my combat TFs, and took a fair amount of damage against the last of the Dutch ships. Another smaller DD-based force came in and got whacked by my BB TF which had simply "traded" DDs when it ran into the Japanese BB force.

It also appears that PzB has more of his carriers in that offshore force than I first thought. Around 140 Zeros showed up as CAP as a couple of my biplanes tried to go in. For some reason this turn my tac bombers didn't go after any of PzB's cripples as they limped south - there was probably too much cloud.

PzB also moved 30 of his combat units into Karachi. Since it appears that there is one more combat TF sitting off shore I won't change my BB TF into a bombardment TF - I want all the surface combat ability that I can get. So I have left one BB-lead Brit surface combat TF with undamaged ships, one small SC TF with moderately damaged ships and one SC TF with heavily-damaged ships, along with a couple of remaining transport TFs. (This turn the transport TFs once again contributed to the damaging of PzB's light combat ships and the sinking of a DD.)

In the meanwhile, my carrier TF in northern Oz caught the remnants of PzB's fast transport TF and sank three more DDs.

Also, my freshly transplanted Wellingtons, Blenheims and Hudsons in China took their first cracks at PzB's transports in southern China near Haifong, hitting a number of them. I've now moved the Chinese fighters in to cover the bases where I've put in these long-legged bombers. If PzB sends some bomber he will get another surprise. I've also got these bombers on "port attack" as the alternate setting, just to keep things "moving" in that area.

So it will be interesting to see what sort of land offensive PzB can mount. How strong are those 30 units? I have eight times the fighting power in Karachi than I had in Malir, but lord knows what that really means. For example, I've got fragments on the road between Ahmadabad and Malir that have been isolated and attacked for weeks and are still withstanding ridiculous odds:

Ground combat at 23, 8

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 22200 troops, 109 guns, 144 vehicles

Defending force 1852 troops, 0 guns, 0 vehicles

Japanese assault odds: 197 to 1

Japanese ground losses:
31 casualties reported
Guns lost 1

Allied ground losses:
69 casualties reported

Gawd knows why these troops don't retreat when other troops retreat at 2:1. There is open terrain with no "J" marks behind them. I certainly hope that Mog and Frag have been right in their hints that land movement/combat will be fixed up.

Dave Baranyi

< Message edited by ADavidB -- 4/1/2005 4:30:57 AM >

(in reply to wobbly)

Post #: 210

Page: << < prev 5 6 [7] 8 9 next > >>

All Forums >> [Current Games From Matrix.] >> [World War II] >> War In The Pacific - Struggle Against Japan 1941 - 1945 >> After Action Reports >> RE: A nicer milestone...