RE: Wasting Disease

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Cuttlefish -> RE: Wasting Disease (5/19/2010 6:53:54 PM)
quote: ORIGINAL: JonReb Great points Cuttlefish, especially how the best way to defend the DEI is to be offensive and stop the allies from having an easy leap board. I'm interested though, now that you've experienced such a challenging fight in the DEI which network of bases do you think are the most important to build up for future games, in case the uninvited imperialists manage to batter their way into the DEI? It really is a nasty way for the Allies to significantly shorten Japan's lifespan. There are so many good potential air bases in the area that this question has a lot of different answers. I would look at bases in mutually supporting groups of three, with further overlap among the trios. For example, a trio of Koepang, Waingapu, and Kendari; Kendari, Ambon, and Lautem; Ambon, Manado, and Sorong, and so forth. There are some bases that are critical, I think, however you set up your defensive network; Koepang, Ambon, Manado, Makassar, Kendari, Balikpapan, etc. And of course Java has to be protected; a surprise Allied attack against, say, Tjilitjap could unhinge the entire Japanese position almost instantly. Even this doesn't provide a complete defense. What about that entire chain of islands with large potential air bases on the Indian Ocean side of Sumatra? I would love to see some enterprising Allied player try attacking there as an opening to a DEI campaign sometime (but against someone else, please, not me). I think it will be a while before all the possibilities of attack and defense in this region alone can be explored.

erstad -> RE: Wasting Disease (5/20/2010 1:27:30 AM)
quote: Even this doesn't provide a complete defense. What about that entire chain of islands with large potential air bases on the Indian Ocean side of Sumatra? I would love to see some enterprising Allied player try attacking there as an opening to a DEI campaign sometime (but against someone else, please, not me). Yeah, like Sinabang or Siberoet! I wouldn't even have to invade, they're still mine!

Cribtop -> RE: Wasting Disease (5/20/2010 4:04:50 AM)
The key is a network of bases with decent (lvl 2 - 4) bases that are in range of an HQ that can provide torpedoes. For example, look the small islands just north of Timor. An air HQ with a 5 hex range can "torp enable" something like 10 bases from this area. If each such base has at least an air battalion of support and a lvl 2, 3 or 4 AF, you can hop LBA around and still cover the field. The 4Es can't bomb everything into submission. Watch out for bombardments though!

witpqs -> RE: Wasting Disease (5/20/2010 5:26:32 AM)
quote: ORIGINAL: Cuttlefish I would look at bases in mutually supporting groups of three, with further overlap among the trios. So! The cephalopod thing was just a clever bit of misdirection - you're really a Tripod!!! [:D] [image]local://upfiles/14248/8A8CEBB9DF6D493A8517F36D0E01205C.jpg[/image]

Cuttlefish -> RE: Wasting Disease (5/20/2010 7:05:20 AM)
quote: ORIGINAL: Cribtop The key is a network of bases with decent (lvl 2 - 4) bases that are in range of an HQ that can provide torpedoes. For example, look the small islands just north of Timor. An air HQ with a 5 hex range can "torp enable" something like 10 bases from this area. If each such base has at least an air battalion of support and a lvl 2, 3 or 4 AF, you can hop LBA around and still cover the field. The 4Es can't bomb everything into submission. Watch out for bombardments though! What Cribtop said. Another good tip is to keep one or two units of transport aircraft on standby in the region. If you find your air HQs aren't set up quite right for an Allied attack they can be moved very quickly by air to a better base (one or two turns and they have no equipment that can't be moved by air). quote: ORIGINAL: erstad quote: ORIGINAL: Cuttlefish Even this doesn't provide a complete defense. What about that entire chain of islands with large potential air bases on the Indian Ocean side of Sumatra? I would love to see some enterprising Allied player try attacking there as an opening to a DEI campaign sometime (but against someone else, please, not me). Yeah, like Sinabang or Siberoet! I wouldn't even have to invade, they're still mine! Someone else! I said someone else should be invaded like this!

Cuttlefish -> RE: Wasting Disease (5/20/2010 7:12:45 AM)
quote: ORIGINAL: witpqs quote: ORIGINAL: Cuttlefish I would look at bases in mutually supporting groups of three, with further overlap among the trios. So! The cephalopod thing was just a clever bit of misdirection - you're really a Tripod!!! [:D] Shh, no one is supposed to know this.

Heeward -> RE: Wasting Disease (5/21/2010 4:42:15 AM)
What can you do to harass his supply lines / remote bases vs. your oil reserves. One possibility is a CVE raid on his line of communications in the vicinity of Pago Pago. Even a small surface raid on the port may cause him to divert some resources to defend across the pacific. Remember if he is strong in the DEI and Burma that must mean he is weak somewhere else. The questions is where is that?

Cuttlefish -> RE: Wasting Disease (5/28/2010 9:10:00 PM)
It ain’t over until the fat lady sings. - Yogi Berra --- July 14, 1943 – August 7,1943 The fat lady is tuning up in the wings, though. The DEI has been pretty quiet during this period. The Allies captured Miri and occupied a couple more bases in the Philippine archipelago but I get the feeling that Q-Ball is building up forces and infrastructure and repairing and acquiring ships before tackling Luzon. It hasn’t been completely quiet, of course. Allied fighters began making sweeps over Manila and after several days of combat in which I suffered about 8:1 losses I was compelled to withdraw my fighters. My pilots are as good or better than his and score at least as many hits in air to air combat; the problem is that a Zero or Tojo hit by a P-47 or Corsair goes down in flames, whereas more often than not a hit on an Allied fighter produces no appreciable result. This is, of course, exactly what happened in real life. My compliments to the dev team for producing such a good model – and I curse their scurvy hides. Just kidding. Nice job, Elf and the others responsible. Allied carriers have raided into the northern reaches of the South China Sea looking for my warships, but all they have found are a couple of Luzon-bound supply convoys. These were annihilated. Q-Ball also sent a couple of minesweepers up to Bataan to clear mines, and these ran into my coast guns. Farewell minesweepers, but it gave away the fact that the guns are there. Allied forces also captured an unoccupied base on the north coast of Java, though I am not sure why. He may have his eye on Soerabaja for the repair facilities there. That will take some work, though. On the plus side Japan has scored a couple of small victories. More merchant ships strayed too close to Guadalcanal and six to eight freighters and tankers were sunk. And a Japanese force built around Yamato snuck through the San Bernadino Strait while Q-Ball’s carriers were elsewhere and sank five tankers, two destroyers, and four PT boats at no cost. Japanese subs have also continued to score victories, sinking a couple of APAs, an AVD, and an AP. I-173 also put a torpedo into CVL Independence in the Torres Strait. Heavy fires, heavy damage – it might be a kill. Allied subs have been quiet, mostly because there is little to no Japanese shipping to sink. Two Allied subs were sunk, one by Japanese destroyers and one by a subchaser in the East China Sea. I think this was the first kill by a Japanese SC of the war. Burma-Shaved: this area has fallen completely apart in the face of a massive Allied attack. I am trying to extricate units and bring them back to Moulmein but it will not be easy. Burma is a nightmare to defend in AE. It might be possible to hold off the Allies for a while in a scenario 2 game, with all the extra ground forces available, but in a scenario 1 game I just don’t see any defense. I think my strategy in future games will be to fortify the Thai frontier and fall back there as soon as the Allies start to move. The only good thing is that this particular game is so borked that losing Burma, even Thailand and Malaya, will not make a great deal of difference. It’s a sad commentary on my skills, but there you are.

FOW -> RE: Wasting Disease (6/1/2010 1:32:29 PM)
Falling back to the Thai border too soon will have one big drawback - it'll open the Burma Road to China. What's worse for the Empire: A re-invigorated China or loosing a slugfest in Burma? Pushing a large Allied army cross the border into Burma is a logistical nightmare now, since supply pull was neutered in a patch - is your game using the new code or still suffering the old supply movement rules? (I recall some code changes required a restart - and your game hasn't) Re your mention of IJMS Yamato's raid - the combat report for the Allied side reported it as Musashi - I just love the FOW element of the game.

LoBaron -> RE: Wasting Disease (6/1/2010 1:47:53 PM)
On the other hand if you manage to draw a stable defense line through rough/mountain terrain in China, the reopening of Burma road is not such a big issue since, with or without supplies, the Chinese units have not enough offensive capability. Depends on the ability to do that but if this is possible with the troops at hand I´d trade a reinvigorated China for a slugfest in Burma any day.

Cuttlefish -> RE: Wasting Disease (6/8/2010 9:51:15 PM)
Then there is nothing left for me but to go and see General Grant, and I would rather die a thousand deaths. - Robert E. Lee --- August 8, 1943 - August 31, 1943 It has been an unkind month for the Empire of Japan. Luzon is under siege, its airfields bombed flat despite the determined resistance of my best fighter groups. Allied troops have landed at San Fernando. My surface units tried to intercept his carrier forces but failed; the result was the loss of battleships Yamato, Nagato, and Yamashiro; heavy cruiser Takao; light cruisers Agano, Abukuma, and Yubari; and no fewer than eleven destroyers. Oy vay! In Burma trapped Japanese divisions fought their way back into Mandalay and recaptured the place but are thoroughly trapped there. Rangoon is still in Japanese hands but weakening. A blocking force is at Moulmein but I can no longer build forts there as the entire region is out of supply. There is not a single drop of fuel left in the Home Islands. What warships remain are being supplied with fuel siphoned from idle merchant ships – fortunately this constitutes quite a reserve. With HI reserves exhausted few airframes are being built – some days two or three planes, some days none. My opponent has tactfully suggested that he understands if I am getting a little frustrated and would accept my surrender if I wished to pack it in. Running turns has become an exercise in anguish but I hate to give up. Q-Ball has played an excellent game and deserves the chance to enjoy all the fun late-war toys the Allies get. I guess the thing to do is leave it up to him. If he wants to continue we will, but if he would rather move on to something a little more challenging I can certainly understand that. Any opinions or thoughts on this matter from out there in reader-land? The VP screen for the end of August: [image]local://upfiles/23804/11C6B07D714C4A92B82127EED74A9027.jpg[/image]

FatR -> RE: Wasting Disease (6/8/2010 10:17:30 PM)
I would accept the offer. At this stage there is no chance for Japan to mount a credible defense anywhere, because the Empire's throat is already torn out before the arrival of troops that can allow protracted land defense of approaches to Home Islands, or even kamikazes. At this point Allied advance is limited mostly by Allied logistics, and, as logistics are easy in AE, Q-Ball can basically just take the points he needs to conclude the game by the spring of 1944 anyway. There is little to learn about how a "proper" endgame might play out in this.

vaned74 -> RE: Wasting Disease (6/8/2010 10:29:29 PM)
Hi there Cuttlefish - hard times for the empire but I must say a fabulous AAR, well done yet again. I am kind of curious on several points/have comments. Obviously Luzon is a lost cause. I am not sure it held any value for the Empire anyway at this point. With the Central Phillippine Islands in Allied hands and a secure supply chain for the Allies up through the DEI, your supplies of fuel from the SRA are mostly cut off. CV raids into the South China Sea can easily stop any shipping except maybe the occasional single ship, etc. Holding or losing Luzon at this point does not change that picture. By my guess you should have about 200-250 Oil centers producing for you; all mainly in the Home Islands or Manchuria. This should feed about 2,000 heavy industry points per day; or 60,000 per month - assuming no fuel is required for fleet operations. My guess is at this point most of your HI is going to pilot training, which unfortunately you cannot turn off. Pilot training consumes 5 HI per pilot in the training pool per month. If you have about 10,000 pilots training this is 50,000/month; but, it should only happen at the end of the month as a "one time charge". Does the system allow your HI pool to go negative or does it simply decrement to 0? If it goes to zero; then you should have a good chunk of the, admittedly paltry, 50-60K HI available for air production. At this point, I would think all ships except maybe some small destroyers, MTBs, and maybe a few subs are turned off. I would see little need for vehicle production either. That said, you should I would think be able to pull about 20-30,000 HI per month into production of airplanes - this would be on the order of 700-800 single engine planes. I would also tend to think there is little to no point in garrisoning anything southeast of the Marianas (or even the Marianas for that matter except to deny VPs to the Allies). My guess is all ships and troops would load up with everything possible and head home; excepting maybe a few recon/patrol planes and support units. In fact, as radical as it sounds - I don't see much need in holding Indo-China, Thailand, or Malaya at this point. The only other sources of oil that could be perhaps obtained for Japan are in North China and/or Sakhalin Island. Ironically, the oil in far north China (Urumchi area, 50 centers) is probably the easiest to obtain. A strong armoured force can move quickly down the roads with some paratroop support, the mobile infantry brigades, and seize this area. Sian, the other Chinese oil location, is a much tougher nut to crack. I would think also that most, if not all, mobile flak would start to be concentrated around your oil centers; especially those in reach of Allied bombers. How is your supply situation in the home islands? I would think your biggest defense priorities at this point are the Ryukus (Okinawa) and the China coast from perhaps Amoy on north. I am not even sure if Formosa is a useful asset now, excepting maybe from a delaying standpoint to buy time to salvage forces from the SRA, et. al.

Chickenboy -> RE: Wasting Disease (6/8/2010 10:37:09 PM)
quote: ORIGINAL: Cuttlefish Any opinions or thoughts on this matter from out there in reader-land? As always, Cuttlefish, an entertaining read. As a reader, I would find value in your late war defensive woes. It's selfish on my part, I know, to ask you to continue enduring pain. However, I think the late defensive struggle is the IJ lot in life-I'd like to see how you do it. Too often, this is glossed over in AARs and games-the IJ player quits or disappears when the tide turns against them. If nothing else, please hold out until the Divine Wind manifests. Respectfully submitted, Chickenboy

CapAndGown -> RE: Wasting Disease (6/8/2010 10:52:28 PM)
This is beginning to look like someone pulling the wings and legs off a fly. Just crush the thing and be done with it. No need to drag it out. The allies have won a decisive victory. Move on to another game.

Xxzard -> RE: Wasting Disease (6/9/2010 12:25:15 AM)
The smoke of the biggest and most decisive battles has cleared, and unlike the real Japanese High Command, you can concede inevitable defeat when it is clear the war is lost. I do think it would be interesting to see an endgame, but I think we all know it will be month after month of B-29 raids destroying everything in sight, and I don't think it would be all that fun for you to run all those turns. So, you may as well call it at this point. It was an interesting game, but you definitely ran into some bad luck, and I'd say your opponent was very capable. It must have been losing the Hibiki early on that doomed the campaign!

witpqs -> RE: Wasting Disease (6/9/2010 12:35:01 AM)
Point out to Q-Ball that you have more points than he does, and you accept his surrender! Splendid game, Sir.

Cuttlefish -> But Not in Shame (6/9/2010 12:58:58 AM)
Q-Ball says that, because he is very busy these days and because what is left for him in this game is largely a matter of managing logistics, he is willing to accept my surrender rather than keep playing. Accordingly, the Emperor has ordered the armed forces of Japan to lay down their arms. The war is concluded. That this was an overwhelming Allied victory cannot be doubted. We have exchanged passwords and tomorrow I will look over Q-Ball's position. I will also post some final thoughts on the game and what went wrong for Japan. I hope everyone had fun following our game (and picked up some useful tips on what NOT to do when playing Japan in AE). I had a lot of fun playing this one despite the outcome.

Cribtop -> RE: But Not in Shame (6/9/2010 1:12:52 AM)
Bravely fought and gamely ended, Cuttlefish. I think surrender was the only realistic option at this point.

SqzMyLemon -> RE: But Not in Shame (6/9/2010 1:58:15 AM)
Great effort Cuttlefish. I learned much about the Japanese side of things, and maybe a few what not to do's in some cases [:'(] following your AAR. I appreciate all the time and effort you put into it. Thank you. [&o] Once more unto the breach.

pat.casey -> RE: But Not in Shame (6/9/2010 3:35:27 AM)
Great game and an exciting read

crsutton -> RE: But Not in Shame (6/9/2010 4:53:19 AM)
Yes, I enjoyed this AAR and have benefited from all the things I have learned. Thanks.

Smeulders -> RE: But Not in Shame (6/9/2010 7:51:42 AM)
Great game and thanks for the AAR

LoBaron -> RE: But Not in Shame (6/9/2010 9:19:45 AM)
Well done! Both of you! Your AAR´s were a fascinating read and I learned much in the process, whether its brilliant strategies or missed opportunities does not matter. Thank you! [:)]

Speedysteve -> RE: But Not in Shame (6/9/2010 1:06:01 PM)
Hi CF, Not posted but watched from the start. It's certainly been a rollercoaster ride. Well done for sticking it out. It's not easy in the situation you were in. Certainly some things to learn from but you also got a share of bad luck too IMO. Again well done for sticking it out!

Q-Ball -> RE: But Not in Shame (6/9/2010 2:14:43 PM)
Such nice comments from everyone! I think a 2-way AAR is the way to go. There are very few on the forum that are really kept up, but the ones that are, VERY helpful. It gives you insight into both sides you rarely get. Reading Cuttlefish's now is interesting, a bunch of "I didn't know that!" type of stuff.

Cuttlefish -> RE: But Not in Shame (6/9/2010 8:03:49 PM)
We are gathered here, representatives of the major warring powers, to conclude a solemn agreement whereby peace may be restored. - Douglas MacArthur, at the Japanese surrender aboard Missouri -- And so we come to the end. I have read Q-Ball’s AAR, and a very entertaining read it was, too. It was fascinating to see that the genesis of the Timor invasion, the event that turned the tide of the war, was way back in late May ’42. It was also interesting to see how close I came to intercepting the Allied carriers following their raid in the Sea of Okhotsk early in ‘42. So very close! Had Q-Ball not had trouble refueling off the Aleutians the two forces would have met head-on. Obviously this was a crushing defeat for Japan. That I made serious mistakes is obvious, but this should not detract from the fact that Q-Ball played a very good game. I was especially impressed, reading his AAR, with his determination to push quickly and hard once he had the advantage. The amount of effort he put into the diversion at Wake Island prior to the Timor invasion also won my admiration, to the level of putting troops aboard the transports so the losses would look convincing and Wildcats aboard Long Island so there was at least a demonstration of carrier support. It’s no secret that my major error was in not fortifying the DEI nearly heavily enough. Even with the Allies on Timor a well-defended second line, places like Tarakan, Jolo, Puerto Princessa. Bandjermasin, etc., would have slowed my opponent down considerably. Contributing to my error was a major misjudgment about how soon and how quickly Allied forces could advance in AE. Well, I certainly know better now. There were a number of things I did not know about AE when this game started, things that would have helped me considerably. Among them: - The way that certain apparently unrelated units can combine. Checking the Unit Organization button is your friend. There are two naval guard units, for example, that combine to make a really powerful CD unit. Many port units combine with naval guard units to form nifty base forces with some CD capability. And many of the infantry units in the Home Islands can become full divisions with their proper sub-units present, and so on. Well duh, CF, I hear you say. I know, silly me. Had I known this earlier I would have had some CD guns and a couple more infantry divisions in the DEI and that would have been a huge help. - Fuel, fuel, fuel. It’s everything to Japan in this game. I focused on resources early, and it’s true that you do have to ship in a lot. But I underestimated the truly frightening speed with which Japan’s heavy industry sucks down fuel. Resources are plentiful and close to hand for Japan and sending the occasional load of oil here and there is useful. But fuel is what it’s all about. This is a big change from WITP and while I had read most of the discussions about Japanese industry when AE first came out I hadn’t really wrapped my head around it. - Air search/attack. The IJN does not have nearly enough search planes. I should have started training my IJA bombers (Sally, Helen, Lily) for this role right away. Instead I focused on ASW training, remembering all the hits and kills against subs from the WITP days. It just doesn’t work like that now. Looking at Q-Ball’s side of the game I see that my aircraft killed a grand total of two Allied subs during the course of the war. I really needed some of those planes to be naval search/naval attack assets instead. There were a lot of other lessons learned as well. Most of my failures were strategic; tactically I played a sound enough game, I think, with the exception of the disastrous defeat at Ambon. Well, it’s time to put some of these lessons to work. My game against Erstad continues but I find I have room on my dance card for a new partner. Anyone out there interested in a game, especially someone interested in writing a concurrent AAR? Oh, one final thing. I hope everyone enjoyed the quotes at the top of each AAR entry. I had a lot of fun picking them out. Most of them came from the "Dictionary of Military and Naval Quotations," by Col. Robert Debs Heinl, published by Naval Institute Press back in 1966. I am sure this book is long out of print but it's a fun book to just sit and browse through while waiting for a turn.

CapAndGown -> RE: But Not in Shame (6/9/2010 8:10:40 PM)
quote: ORIGINAL: Cuttlefish Oh, one final thing. I hope everyone enjoyed the quotes at the top of each AAR entry. I had a lot of fun picking them out. Most of them came from the "Dictionary of Military and Naval Quotations," by Col. Robert Debs Heinl, published by Naval Institute Press back in 1966. I am sure this book is long out of print but it's a fun book to just sit and browse through while waiting for a turn. Thank you for this AAR. It very was instructive. I did enjoy the quotes and wondered how you came up with them. Will you be playing Japan again, or is it time to try the forces of goodness and light?

Cuttlefish -> RE: But Not in Shame (6/9/2010 8:20:48 PM)
quote: ORIGINAL: cap_and_gown Will you be playing Japan again, or is it time to try the forces of goodness and light? Japan next, I think. I want to try and get it right (that is, lose less badly). But I also want to start a game as the Allies soon. There's one quote that I dimly recall, one that isn't in my book. I think it was by Field Marshall Model after watching Allied forces on the attack in Europe, something to the effect of "Just once, to command such power!"

Capt. Harlock -> RE: But Not in Shame (6/9/2010 8:32:51 PM)
quote: There's one quote that I dimly recall, one that isn't in my book. I think it was by Field Marshall Model after watching Allied forces on the attack in Europe, something to the effect of "Just once, to command such power!" I personally enjoyed the quotes very much. (I'm a "Bartlett's" fanboy.) I'm pretty sure I remember a quote much like the above in "A Bridge Too Far", spoken by a German general watching the huge Allied air armada.

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