RE: May 28, 1945 (Full Version)

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Jzanes -> RE: May 28, 1945 (10/19/2011 6:41:00 PM)

(May 28, 1945 con’t)

DEI:

I have moved a large chunk of the Burma based B29 force to the DEI. A few days ago I used these heavies plus B24s flying from Balikpapan and medium bombers flying from Bandjermasin to smash Batavia. Sweeping corsairs, hellcats, and P47s killed about 100 fighters in the air and the bombers destroyed several hundred naval bombers on the ground. In addition, about 10 AKs/escorts were sunk, the heavy industry is 75% destroyed, and the light industry is 25% destroyed. At the same time, American and ANZAC surface combatants bombarded Den Pasar and Banjoewangi (southeastern tip of Java) and destroyed 200-400 fighters on the ground.

Rader has since pulled back his naval bombers but continues to base large #s of fighters in the Soerabaja area. He made no attempt to contest my move on the undeveloped base of Mataram, nor have I seen any Japanese ships in the area over the last week.

Next turn, I’ll be bombarding Den Paser and Banjoewangi again. I will also be hitting Probolinggo and Loemadjang. I’m hoping to kill more planes on the ground and also see what kind of CD gun assets are present at these potential landing sites. The Wake Island CD unit fired on my ships bombarding Banjoewangi but didn’t cause any damage.

I’m reconning most of the significant Japanese bases throughout the DEI at this point with the intention of pounding any lightly defended target with heavy bombers.

Amphibious Task Forces:

I thought I’d describe the composition of my usual amphibious force. My invasions are usually made up of two parts; the amphibious landing force and the carrier support force.

The carrier force consists of;
-multiple air combat TFs usually made up of; 2 CV, 1 CVL, 1 CA, 1 CL, 1 CLAA, 6-10 DD
- multiple CVE TFs made up of; 5-8 CVE, 1 CL, 6-9 DD
- one heavy surface TF made up of; 2-4 Iowa class BBs, 6-8 DD, 1-2 DMS.
- several replenishment TFs made up of; 2-4 CVE (replenishment type), 2-6 escorts, 1-2 AE, 10-15 AO.
- one ASW TF of 4 ships (DE or PF usually)

I usually have the air combat/CVE TFs follow the heavy surface TF. During an invasion, I’ll either have the carrier force stand off one or two hexes from the target and allow the “leaky” CAP defend the amphibious force OR I’ll have them stay way back and use LR CAP from 8-12 hexes away to defend the amphibious force. The first tactic is easier on the carrier air groups while the latter tactic helps keep the CVs out of danger.

The amphibious invasion force consists of;
- one surface combat TF made up of; 2-4 CA/CL, 6-8 DD, and 0-2 DMS. This force is for defending vs. raiders. It does not bombard.
- one ASW TF of 4 ships.
- one MSW TF of 4 ships.
- 1 to 4 amphibious TFs made up of; 1-2 heavy ships (slow BB or CA), 1-3 DD, 4-8 escorts (DE or PF), 4-6 MSW, 5-20 suppression landing ships (gun, mortar, or rocket equipped), 0-2 AGC, 10-60 troopships (big APA/AKA on down to tiny LST/LSM/LCI) grouped by speed usually, 10-20 supply AKs.

I load up the AKs separately (and earlier) and then add them to the amphibious TFs AFTER ordering the troopships to load troops only. The slow BB/CA in the amphibious TF does a good job drawing CD fire and kamikazes. Probably about 90% of the guns/bombers go after the heavy ship and when they do hit, they only rarely do any damage. I’ve lost several slow BBs in this role but it’s been worth it.


[image]local://upfiles/14667/7AB56D9E9226457290D1662C1F45BCFC.jpg[/image]



Jzanes -> RE: May 28, 1945 (10/19/2011 6:41:51 PM)

(May 28, 1945 con’t)

Gilberts/Central Pacific:

With increasing boldness, I’ve been sending small CL/DD TFs throughout the central pacific looking to shoot up anything they come across. On average, I’m sinking a couple ships a day. I also suspect, I’m keeping Rader from sending out his ASW ships vs. my submarine armada. I plan to continue to rove farther and farther until he commits enough naval/air power to stop me. My read is that Rader will continue to keep his navy and airforce focused on stopping the Americans in the DEI and allow these raids to continue without any real opposition.

In the Gilberts, I finally captured Tabiteau. My initial 800 AV force was badly disrupted by the atoll shock attack and it took over a week to rest up sufficiently to capture the base with the assistance of the 4 reinforcing brigades I brought in. I now have 6 NZ brigades and 3 american infantry regiments in the Gilberts and I intend to keep rolling up the bases as quickly as possible. Tarawa and Nauru Island both have garrisons of 15,000 japanese troops so I’ll have to take them one at a time.

The Gilberts force has a modest but growing number of support units available and is stiffened by 2 CVE TFs (10 CVEs) and several cruisers with plentiful DD escorts. The regional airforce consists of 12 NZ corsair squadrons, 5 NZ SBD/TBD squadrons, and a bunch of patrol/recon squadrons.


[image]local://upfiles/14667/E473BA8E4C6F40BB8633F69E3B3BBB76.jpg[/image]



obvert -> RE: May 28, 1945 (10/22/2011 9:22:54 PM)

It seems like things are going well. Now that I'm playing the Japanese side it's hard to look at what I'll have to face in 45!

Is he able to battle any of your 4E raids at all if they come in uncoordinated or you don't have them escorted?



Jzanes -> RE: May 28, 1945 (10/22/2011 10:41:38 PM)


quote:

ORIGINAL: obvert

Is he able to battle any of your 4E raids at all if they come in uncoordinated or you don't have them escorted?


I usually use very few fighters on escort. Escorts just get eaten alive by CAP. The key is to sweep sweep and sweep some more. For example, for my attack on Batavia I had 200 P47s sweeping from Balikpapan/Samarinda, 200 corsairs from Sampit/Bandjermasin and a couple hundred P38s sweeping from Bandjermasin. Lots of the squadrons don't fly or fly after the bombers come in but coming from so many different bases in such large numbers, I always manage to wear down the CAP to the point that no fighters attack the bombers or if they do, they don't fight for very long.

However, I'm not attacking the airbase complex around Soerabaja (yet) because with so many fighters and so many large airbases close together, It would be hard to sufficiently suppress all the bases and allow for a "clean" bomber raid.



Jzanes -> June 1945 (10/26/2011 6:48:45 PM)

June 3, 1945

Got some time to kill today so I thought I’d post an update. However, I’m not at my gaming computer so no screenshots for this update.

The main developments have been in Russia and the DEI.

Russia:

The 3500 AV strong Russian army near Arshaan just routed the Japanese army guarding the last wooded hex before the open Manchurian plain. This prompted Rader to say this in his most recent email;

“Well, now that the Soviets are breaking into the open and the B-29s can base in Manchuria, the war is basically over :(

I'm willing to surrender on any terms that let the emperor remain in power.”

We’ve had some back and forth since then and the war will be continuing but clearly, the morale in the Japanese high command has taken a big hit. Rader is tenacious and I doubt he will quit early but I’m going to try to stay alert and watch out for a desperate move trying to blunt the allied momentum. I suspect a massive raid by the carrier and surface forces of the IJN would be the most likely tactic.

I intend to charge headlong into the Manchurian plain and attempt to grab everything I can before Rader can form a new line. I also hope to cutoff the large army he is moving thru the woods east of Borzya-Hailar. I will be sending the armored units of the Arshaan army (including 2 massive mechanized corps of 450 and 800 AV respectively) to the east in an attempt to cut the Hailar-Tsitshar rail line which looks to be Rader’s intended route for this retreating army.

The main problem I face is that being in the open will expose my forces to ground bombing. Rader and I both recognize that ground bombing is kinda borked in this game. Units in the open are quickly smashed by bombers while units in even “light” cover (woods, rough, etc.) suffer very little from bombers and units in “heavy” cover are basically immune from being damaged by bombers. I will try to cover my ground forces by flying LR CAP missions from Arshaan and Hailar but I anticipate this will be minimally effective since he’ll be using sweeps by uber Ki-83 fighters to clear the way for his bombers. Of course, I’ll also be smashing his units with my bombers (including B-29s) and hopefully, my badly shot up ground forces will still be able to push around his badly shot up ground forces.

DEI:

The Americans continue to prep for their next major effort. In the meanwhile, they continue to punch away at the Japanese positions in the DEI.

At the end of May, the allied airforces pounded the airfield, port, and oil refineries of Palembang. The oil refinery was reduced to about 60% productivity, 10-30 transports/escorts/destroyers were sunk, and 300 japanese bombers were destroyed on the ground. Sweeping fighters killed 75 fighters in the air while the allies lost about 50 planes to CAP/flak.

I’ve also continued to use surface ship raids to bombard the airbase complex around Soerabaja. These raids have destroyed around 500 japanese planes on the ground in the last week and the two southern most Japanese airfields (Den Paser and Banjoewangi) appear to be at least temporarily closed. I spotted a Japanese TF in the area on one of the turns that I wasn’t bombarding the fields and sent in multiple surface combat TFs to engage it during the following turn but it sailed away. I will continue to send multiple surface combat TFs in to the region on the turns I send in bombardment TFs. I’m willing to trade ships if Rader decides to oppose my naval bombardment with surface forces.

I’ve spotted the IJN carrier force at Singapore for the last several turns. I’ll try to keep an eye on them in case they try to move in and stop my naval bombardment of the Soerabaja area.

My most recent capture (Mataram) has been built up to a level 2 airfield and this gives me an airbase within 2 hexes of Den Paser and 3 of Banjoewangi. I’ve already moved in multiple fighter squadrons to provide me some air support close to Java. I am just now starting to build up the 2 dot bases (Semandjaing and Kangean) east of Java that my paratroops captured last week. Recon shows the island base of Pamekasan (just off Soerabaja) to be empty and I’ll likely grab that soon with paratroops.



obvert -> RE: June 1945 (10/26/2011 7:10:04 PM)

It's odd that he's feeling demoralized by the inevitable result of his own decision to invade in Russia. The B-29s will always get within range sometime in 45, and it seems like trying out some of the late war Japanese toys to stop them would be part of the fun.

You've had to wait a long time for the tide to turn so decisively in your favor in this game, so I hope he continues to let you realize the final goals of your campaigns. I hope to play in my current game until my opponent LANDS in Japan, just to see what that will be like!



Jzanes -> RE: June 1945 (10/26/2011 9:16:17 PM)


quote:

ORIGINAL: obvert

It's odd that he's feeling demoralized by the inevitable result of his own decision to invade in Russia. The B-29s will always get within range sometime in 45, and it seems like trying out some of the late war Japanese toys to stop them would be part of the fun.

You've had to wait a long time for the tide to turn so decisively in your favor in this game, so I hope he continues to let you realize the final goals of your campaigns. I hope to play in my current game until my opponent LANDS in Japan, just to see what that will be like!


I think he still believes that we should have a house rule precluding the basing of american planes in Russia. We went back and forth on this issue several months ago and I refused any limitation then and I'm certainly not going to accept any limitation now.

I also think the speed and power of the Russian advance has caught him off guard and he's been getting demoralized by the repeated smashing of his roadblocks around Chita and Arshaan.

I think Rader is the kind of guy that is used to winning and overreacts when he starts to lose a few battles. For example, when I captured some bases in Burma way back when, it sounded like he was on the verge of quitting with lots of grumbling about the ground combat system. Within a few weeks though, he had stopped my advance in Burma and we went back to business as usual. Now it's a similar situation with the allies kicking butt hard in russia and the DEI and the grumbling is about his inability to use his airforce due to the overpowered allied 4E bomber menace, basing american planes in russia, etc. I suspect in the next few weeks, the russians will get held up somewhere, the americans will take some losses, etc. and the grumbling will die down.



obvert -> RE: June 1945 (10/26/2011 9:26:28 PM)

Well, it wasn't Russia anymore until very recently, it was Manchukuo extension number 1. I'm sure the Russians would have been perfectly happy with this system in light of losing their entire eastern territory in 42. Plus, you can't really grumble about reality when you're doubling Japanese industrial output and advancing planes and CVs by 6 months or more. The game is not the war.



Jzanes -> RE: June 1945 (10/26/2011 9:36:18 PM)

We've both had our share of grumbling over this long long match. I've given in on some things I thought were wonky and I suspect he'll continue to play despite these issues that he disagrees with me on. In the end, I gotta recognize and appreciate that it's a rare pairing of WITP opponents that goes this far without one of the players getting crushed, losing interest, or blowing his top completely.

re: the japanese industry/research issues; if i start a new game down the road, I'm considering a host of houserules aimed at keeping these loopholes from making things ridiculous. For this game, I'll just live with it though despite the fact that I've gotten lots of hints that Rader has really pulled out the stops in maximizing his industry/air unit sizes/research/etc.



GreyJoy -> RE: June 1945 (10/27/2011 9:28:07 AM)

What really has umnbalanced your game, imho, is the fact that Russia, gets no air replacements till 1944...this was clearly designed when a japanese invasion of Russia in 1942 wasn't taken into a spectrum of the possible outcomes of a Pbem.
If you had some kind of russian a/c replacements (Mig1, LaaG 3, Mig 3 etc etc) you could have agreed on an HR limiting the presence of american planes over russian territory. But you had to lose the air war in Russia, and thus the 42/43 campaign, because Japan could exploit this flaw in the design, so i think it's correct that you don't agree on a new HR about that.

I think this aspect (air russian replacements) must be taken into consideration by the devs...

And the only way to protect your troops in the open is to advance with a HUGE portion of your AAs...which severly limits your ability to use multiple corps/vectors



obvert -> RE: June 1945 (10/27/2011 10:24:16 AM)

quote:

We've both had our share of grumbling over this long long match. I've given in on some things I thought were wonky and I suspect he'll continue to play despite these issues that he disagrees with me on. In the end, I gotta recognize and appreciate that it's a rare pairing of WITP opponents that goes this far without one of the players getting crushed, losing interest, or blowing his top completely.


The one that got me in the beginning was the river landing at Khomsomolsk. It' just not right (like the mostly agreed upon rule of not passing Singapore before it falls with a massive fleet) to think all of those ships might have slipped by over the hours it would've taken them to pass the mouth of the river without anyone in the fort taking a shot at them. But Rader seems to be the ultimate extreme of a 'gamer' rather than a 'simulator.' If there is a way to take advantage of the system he will find it and try to use it.

It does seem rare to get this far in a game, but I would hope that by this time there would be so much mutual respect that the issues of game play would lessen. Maybe that's wishful thinking.



Jzanes -> RE: June 1945 (10/27/2011 5:48:14 PM)


quote:

ORIGINAL: GreyJoy

What really has umnbalanced your game, imho, is the fact that Russia, gets no air replacements till 1944...this was clearly designed when a japanese invasion of Russia in 1942 wasn't taken into a spectrum of the possible outcomes of a Pbem.
If you had some kind of russian a/c replacements (Mig1, LaaG 3, Mig 3 etc etc) you could have agreed on an HR limiting the presence of american planes over russian territory. But you had to lose the air war in Russia, and thus the 42/43 campaign, because Japan could exploit this flaw in the design, so i think it's correct that you don't agree on a new HR about that.

I think this aspect (air russian replacements) must be taken into consideration by the devs...

And the only way to protect your troops in the open is to advance with a HUGE portion of your AAs...which severly limits your ability to use multiple corps/vectors


You are quite right about the devs needing to look at Russia. In addition to there not being any air replacements before 1944, there are also no tank replacements till then. I think there needs to be a houserule saying no invasions of Russia till 1944 the way it is now.

Re: massed AA for protection in the open. I have lots of AA units marching to the front but they are lagging behind the combat units and I don't wanna hold up my advance for even a day and let Rader firm up a new defense. I'll be using massed fighters on LR CAP to provide some protection for now. The advanced japanese fighters will probably slaughter the various Yaks but the other russian fighters should be able to provide some challenge and the american mustangs and the russian P-63s should provide a lotta challenge for the sweeping japanese.



Jzanes -> RE: June 1945 (10/27/2011 5:51:40 PM)


quote:

ORIGINAL: obvert

quote:

We've both had our share of grumbling over this long long match. I've given in on some things I thought were wonky and I suspect he'll continue to play despite these issues that he disagrees with me on. In the end, I gotta recognize and appreciate that it's a rare pairing of WITP opponents that goes this far without one of the players getting crushed, losing interest, or blowing his top completely.


The one that got me in the beginning was the river landing at Khomsomolsk. It' just not right (like the mostly agreed upon rule of not passing Singapore before it falls with a massive fleet) to think all of those ships might have slipped by over the hours it would've taken them to pass the mouth of the river without anyone in the fort taking a shot at them. But Rader seems to be the ultimate extreme of a 'gamer' rather than a 'simulator.' If there is a way to take advantage of the system he will find it and try to use it.

It does seem rare to get this far in a game, but I would hope that by this time there would be so much mutual respect that the issues of game play would lessen. Maybe that's wishful thinking.


Yeah, that landing 600 miles upriver was definately very gamey. Luckily, Rader hasn't tried anything nearly as gamey as that since and we've been able to sort out some decent houserules when various gamey things have come up. A good example is the establishment of our night bomber houserule. Rader had been night bombing some of my bases for a few turns and when I did the same with 200 heavy bombers and smashed a key japanese airfield, he suddenly decided a houserule was necessary. hehe.



Smeulders -> RE: June 1945 (10/27/2011 8:06:24 PM)


quote:

ORIGINAL: Jzanes


quote:

ORIGINAL: obvert

quote:

We've both had our share of grumbling over this long long match. I've given in on some things I thought were wonky and I suspect he'll continue to play despite these issues that he disagrees with me on. In the end, I gotta recognize and appreciate that it's a rare pairing of WITP opponents that goes this far without one of the players getting crushed, losing interest, or blowing his top completely.


The one that got me in the beginning was the river landing at Khomsomolsk. It' just not right (like the mostly agreed upon rule of not passing Singapore before it falls with a massive fleet) to think all of those ships might have slipped by over the hours it would've taken them to pass the mouth of the river without anyone in the fort taking a shot at them. But Rader seems to be the ultimate extreme of a 'gamer' rather than a 'simulator.' If there is a way to take advantage of the system he will find it and try to use it.

It does seem rare to get this far in a game, but I would hope that by this time there would be so much mutual respect that the issues of game play would lessen. Maybe that's wishful thinking.


Yeah, that landing 600 miles upriver was definately very gamey. Luckily, Rader hasn't tried anything nearly as gamey as that since and we've been able to sort out some decent houserules when various gamey things have come up. A good example is the establishment of our night bomber houserule. Rader had been night bombing some of my bases for a few turns and when I did the same with 200 heavy bombers and smashed a key japanese airfield, he suddenly decided a houserule was necessary. hehe.


Isn't that the only HR you need on night bombing ? You can do it, as long as you accept the 4E will be flying in a night later.



Jzanes -> RE: June 1945 (10/27/2011 8:08:48 PM)

I suppose but I'm afraid the end result would be night bombing in the pacific. All bombers would fly night missions every turn and they would only fly night missions. Not really the game I"m looking to play. Since the early days of the original WITP, I've never liked night bombing and have only used it after my opponent opened that pandora's box.



Smeulders -> RE: June 1945 (10/27/2011 8:15:25 PM)

Likewise, if I would play as Japanes I'd make sure there is a HR. As I play Allies it isn't really needed, the point is made soon enough. If the Japanese keep using it... I'm not going to put up a HR to keep my opponent from making a bad move.



Jzanes -> RE: June 1945 (10/27/2011 8:19:46 PM)


quote:

ORIGINAL: Smeulders

Likewise, if I would play as Japanes I'd make sure there is a HR. As I play Allies it isn't really needed, the point is made soon enough. If the Japanese keep using it... I'm not going to put up a HR to keep my opponent from making a bad move.



That's true. I'm sure Rader recognized the same thing which is why he asked for the HR after I took night bombing to a level the japanese couldn't hope to match. In the end, I'm ok with night bombing being highly restricted. I feel it's always been overpowered without any real counter. The kind of thing that messes up the game for me.



Jzanes -> June 1945: Japanese in retreat (11/1/2011 9:33:07 PM)

June 9, 1945

In the last 6 days, we’ve seen some clear signs that there has been a dramatic change in Japanese strategy. Enemy ground and air power is being withdrawn from the frontlines at a rapid pace. Large #s of Japanese ships are moving to pickup various garrisons throughout the warzone. I will detail these movements region by region.

I suspect Rader has two intentions;

1. Form a shorter and stronger defense line around the home islands.
2. Commit large #s of troops and planes to the Russian front in an attempt to stop the Russians before they overrun all of Manchuria, Korea, and Northern China.

My aim is to speed up my operations and grab all the empty ground Rader is leaving while also trying to penetrate his new line before it can “firm up”. I also will be trying to attack his various withdrawal operations hoping to attrit his navy and ground forces while they are exposed.

Here’s the current scoreboard.


[image]local://upfiles/14667/8931C35C30FE43D8B5AE4BDB89AC1DC9.jpg[/image]



Jzanes -> RE: June 1945: Japanese in retreat (11/1/2011 9:33:46 PM)

(June 9, 1945 con’t)

And the overall map.


[image]local://upfiles/14667/35B56FA224534261ACB63EE00BCBBA91.jpg[/image]



Jzanes -> RE: June 1945: Japanese in retreat (11/1/2011 9:34:19 PM)

(June 9, 1945 con’t)

Russia:

The main Russian army continues to surge into the open south of Arshaan. The vanguard of two mech corps routed a multi division force in the open and is pursuing the retreating Japanese to the east. The Russian infantry is heading south down the road/rail towards Taonan.

As expected, Rader has been using bombers and Ki-83 sweepers to try to slow down and damage the Russians in the open. So far, he hasn’t done much damage and the 1000+ russo-american fighter force based at Arshaan is attriting his fighters and slaughtering his bombers. Meanwhile, the allied bombers are pounding his forces. For example, 150 B29s completely wiped out the brigade defending Skovorodino (forest hex) last turn allowing the paratroops to capture the base without any opposition. Rader hasn’t provided any CAP for his troops,

The Russian army advancing from Hailar has reached his blocking force which has been reinforced by the retreating Japanese “Chita” army. Neither one of us has enough strength to rout the other but I hope to hold him up long enough for the Arshaan tank force to cut the rail to the south and trap this huge Japanese army.

The 3rd Russian army has reached Mogocha in the north and should capture it next turn. Paratroops captured the next base down the line (Skovorodino) and I hope to advance down the rail line as fast as possible towards the Kuibyshevka area. No sign of any real Japanese forces in this region. Several divisions have been cutoff and surrounded to the rear around Shilka. They will be slowly pounded and whittled down by 2nd line Russian troops.


[image]local://upfiles/14667/5ED34B5C76D74F1991A1BBEB4E4E41C4.jpg[/image]



Jzanes -> RE: June 1945: Japanese in retreat (11/1/2011 9:34:51 PM)

(June 9, 1945 con’t)

Russo-Chinese front:

The Japanese have abandoned Tolun and are quickly pulling back throughout the region. The Russians routed a multi-division rearguard north of Kalgan and they are looking into entering this city from the North while the Chinese drive on it from the West.

Further South, the Chinese moved some troops into the empty mountainous region east of Sian and are tentatively moving troops to fill in the hexes left empty by the retreating Japanese. I am hesitant to move into the open for fear of getting smashed by bombers or routed by a counterattack. The Chinese have no airbases along the front and not much of an airforce to draw upon.

No Japanese air opposition at all.


[image]local://upfiles/14667/D86B76A19F43485B80C3DBC66E5929E1.jpg[/image]



Jzanes -> RE: June 1945: Japanese in retreat (11/1/2011 9:35:23 PM)

(June 9, 1945 con’t)

China:

More of the same with the Japanese pulling back from front lines they’ve held for 3+ years in some cases. The Chinese are crossing the river in force around Changsha and will do their best to finally raise the siege of this strategic city.

The Japanese also appear to be pulling back from the Indochina border but I will not pursue them into Indochina since I don’t wanna activate any “free” troops for the Japanese to use. I will invade Indochina only when the western allies are ready to overrun this area.

No Japanese air opposition at all.


[image]local://upfiles/14667/B55BC8628D6940CF86F735DFE4CE8943.jpg[/image]



Jzanes -> RE: June 1945: Japanese in retreat (11/1/2011 9:35:57 PM)

(June 9, 1945 con’t)

British (Burma-Thailand):

Again the Japanese are in retreat. The British have made two major moves in the last week.

In the north, the Chinese captured Rahaeng which cutoff 1+ division to the NW and forced the 2 division force across the river west of Rahaeng to have to stop their river crossing and instead start marching thru the jungle to safety. My large British force has been attacking them the last few turns and I anticipate being able to rout them before they escape.

Further south, the british just landed several corps at Victoria point (VP) and should be able to grab the city next turn. The Royal Navy (including 5 heavy carriers and 10+ light/escort carriers) is massed in support but there has been no opposition. I don’t think Rader even spotted my fleet until they started landing. The fleet will pull back until the base is secured and then move in to finish unloading the troops and supplies. My aim is to capture VP then move east and hopefully bag some of the 900 AV Japanese force north of Chumpion before they can escape. I will dropping 1 ½ divisions of paratroops on Surat Thani next turn and if I capture that base, the entire Japanese VP/Chumpion force is doomed.

The large british naval bomber force is massed at Great Nicobar waiting to hit any Japanese ships that move up the Malacca strait from Singapore. At least a large chunk of the KB was sighted at Singapore last turn.

No Japanese air opposition at all.


[image]local://upfiles/14667/59BABD3A673C4E9CB7A7B10AC3C61386.jpg[/image]



Jzanes -> RE: June 1945: Japanese in retreat (11/1/2011 9:36:30 PM)

(June 9, 1945 con’t)

British (Sumatra-Malaya):

Not much happening here (yet) but including a map to show one of the spots where it looks like the Japanese are evaccing their army with their navy. Here the Japanese appear to be abandoning north Sumatra.

The british/dutch sub force is setup to hit any ships moving up the Malacca strait. Large Japanese ASW TFs are covering the evac from Sumatra so I don’t think I’ll be able to interrupt this move quite yet.

Singapore appears to be the only place in the DEI/Malaya that Rader is still trying to defend with his airpower.


[image]local://upfiles/14667/8740272AA9E54B46B27765FA20DA5971.jpg[/image]



Jzanes -> RE: June 1945: Japanese in retreat (11/1/2011 9:36:59 PM)

(June 9, 1945 con’t)

Americans (Java):

Again the Japanese appear to be evacuating the region. Several turns ago, the Americans pounded Palembang again and another round of naval bombardments of south Java destroyed several hundred more planes on the ground. Rader seems to have had enough and his airforce has mostly disappeared and most of his troops appear to be heading towards the Japanese evac fleet at Batavia.

The Americans have moved up their timetable and have grabbed Pamekasan with paratroops to act as a fighter base to help support moves on south Java. The island of Den Paser (20K Japanese garrison) was just invaded by 4 marine divisions and further landings in south Java will be going in during the next week. The American carrier force is standing by out of the danger zone and flying LR CAP to defend the amphibious fleet.

Java is where I hope to do some real damage vs. one of Rader’s evac operations. The sub force is moving to flood the seas around Batavia while several hundred naval bombers are flying long range missions from Sampit vs. shipping coming and going from Batavia. Hundreds of P47s sweep the Batavia area every turn but Rader has yet to try to CAP his evac fleet.


[image]local://upfiles/14667/3361D76C164F4C979812F15DA8555771.jpg[/image]



Jzanes -> RE: June 1945: Japanese in retreat (11/1/2011 9:37:25 PM)

(June 9, 1945 con’t)

Americans (Borneo-Celebes-Mindanao):

Not much happening here but I have included a screenshot to show another potential Japanese evac op and a sudden mass of japanese subs moving into the region. I’ll be keeping my eyes on each of these movements and am setting up a nice ASW kill zone if Rader decides to send his subs down the Makassar strait.



[image]local://upfiles/14667/0F4ABDE0B68949928F33A88C2E9B3912.jpg[/image]



Jzanes -> RE: June 1945: Japanese in retreat (11/1/2011 9:37:50 PM)

(June 9, 1945 con’t)

Americans (Gilberts):

I invaded Tarawa a couple turns ago and got a real nasty bloody nose. I wasn’t patient enough to allow my troops to build up some prep (most brigades were only at around 20 prep for Tarawa) and it cost me thousands and thousands of casualties when the shock attack came out really bad (something like 1:9). The good news is that the troops are on the ground, no units were completely destroyed, supplies continue to be landed, and the troops are on the way to resting and rebuilding. I anticipate being able to deliberate attack in about a week.

This is a relief, since for a moment I was afraid that the Japanese would be able to counterattack and drive my troops into the ocean. Luckily, Rader didn’t attack after my landing and I’ve now regained enough strength to fight off a counterattack.

Tabiteau and CVE based SBDs/TBDs will pound Tarawa every turn hoping to weaken the Japanese garrison (about 1 div strong).

No Japanese air opposition at all.


[image]local://upfiles/14667/F6B5BF801A884F1AADE0A87452128016.jpg[/image]



obvert -> RE: June 1945: Japanese in retreat (11/3/2011 10:21:48 AM)

For many of these evacuated troops it seems like the journey back to Manchuria and areas around the HI would be difficult now that you have a foothold on Borneo. Have you tried bombing any of the loading ports with your 4Es? If you damage the ports sufficiently it'll take forever for him to load troops and get them out. Since it's really a race against time slowing him down may be enough to win decisively in Russia and China.



Jzanes -> RE: June 1945: Japanese in retreat (11/3/2011 1:10:30 PM)


quote:

ORIGINAL: obvert

For many of these evacuated troops it seems like the journey back to Manchuria and areas around the HI would be difficult now that you have a foothold on Borneo. Have you tried bombing any of the loading ports with your 4Es? If you damage the ports sufficiently it'll take forever for him to load troops and get them out. Since it's really a race against time slowing him down may be enough to win decisively in Russia and China.


An excellent idea and I had thought about it briefly while setting up last turn. Batavia (the Java evac point) port was badly damaged during a raid a few turns ago and I will go ahead and pound the others starting next turn. The medium bomber forces should be able to handle the 4E duties of airfield suppression for a bit.



SoliInvictus202 -> RE: June 1945: Japanese in retreat (11/3/2011 3:55:58 PM)

just a question to get a deeper understanding of your actions: - why are you invading the Gilberts in 45 when you are already in the DEI?

maybe you have already explaine above and I missed it - if so - please excuse!




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