RE: Campaigns in the Pacific

RE: Campaigns in the Pacific (Full Version)

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Cuttlefish -> RE: Campaigns in the Pacific (12/21/2010 8:14:43 PM)
quote: ORIGINAL: FatR Hopefully, you are accelerating Unryus for some months now... in this case your opponent might continue to pay for overaggression in the strategic direction that is the least immediately threatening to Japan. Othwerwise you are likely to face a total collapse in the Pacific and Allies in Marianas before 1944. Yes, I have been accelerating Taiho and the first three Unryus for some time now. I should have Taiho by May or June '43 and at least two Unryus by the fall of '43.

Cuttlefish -> RE: Campaigns in China (12/21/2010 8:17:24 PM)
Events in China June – October 1942 When last we saw the valiant forces of Japan they had captured Nanyang and turned north (well, west, really) with the goal of capturing Sian. The drive had stalled below the city as I tried to wear down the defenders blocking my way. At this juncture events in the other game I am currently playing caused me to rethink my strategy. That game, against the diabolically capable Erstad, has reached August 1944. There my forces in China are being relentlessly submerged by a rising tide of Chinese. His losses have been horrible – in real-life terms the Chinese have probably suffered hundreds of thousands of casualties – but there seems to be no end to them. I did not know or guess the Chinese had the ability to mount such an offensive. So I decided to give up my siege of Sian in this game in favor of a new goal – stop aiming for specific bases and try to inflict as many casualties as possible on the Chinese. I pulled back the bulk of my forces to Nanyang and sent them up the nearby secondary road towards Ankang, targeting concentrations of troops. I routed about a dozen Chinese corps and cut off and destroyed two more. The slaughter left Ankang open, so I took it. The Chinese defenders of Sian then advanced on Nanyang. They do not have nearly enough strength to threaten the base there so I am concentrating units to force them out. This should smash another nine corps. The south of China, by contrast, has been static lately. I am going to focus on building up forts across China (Chinese die like flies against high fort levels) and keeping the bulk of my forces mobile, shifting around and targeting vulnerable concentrations of enemy troops. If I’m clever I can continue to do this under the guise of maneuvering against enemy cities like Sian or Changsa, encouraging Charbroiled to try and keep troops in my way. I am also going to be wary about what forces, if any, I pull out of China. I don’t know if my new China strategy will prove effective or not. I’m still getting used to the idea of a WITP world where Chinese forces are a major threat. Ideally I would starve the Chinese of supply but the ability of Allied forces in this game to mount a major offensive in Burma as early as the spring of ’43 makes this strategy dubious, I think. I would welcome speculations and opinions on the matter. I should also check some AARs that are in the late war and see what is happening in China there. The situation in China, early November ’42: [image]local://upfiles/23804/1420F9A0521F4999A24851D06B24420E.jpg[/image]

FatR -> RE: Campaigns in China (12/21/2010 9:14:09 PM)
Chinese forces actually are relatively vulnerable to attrition. Even after the last patch they get only 350 infantry squads/month, and 50 or so cavalry squads. Japan gets over 700 early in the war. Their greatest source of the reinforcement initially is the recovery of the squads that start the game disabled. Of course, any totally destroyed units will return at 1/3 strength in 3 or 4 months, making absolute destruction highly undesirable except as a means to achieve immediate operational advantage. Still, allowing Chinese to build their strength can potentially be disastrous late in the war, when Allies will resupply China through Burma. I'm all for keeping continual pressure on them. Japanese losses, in absence of serious mistakes leading to routs, will mainly be disablements, and these just recover over time. Japan is not really short on supply, and can feed this war as long as needed. In the best case, the Chinese army will eventually collapse, in the worst case it at least won't be able to mount a major offensive when Japanese have their hands full on other fronts.

Cuttlefish -> RE: Campaigns in Burma (12/23/2010 11:52:23 PM)
Events in Burma June – October 1942 At this point I would like to describe the exciting battles and campaigns in Burma in the latter part of 1942. But I can’t. There has been no campaign. No battles worthy of the mention, either. As Japanese forces moved north they forced Commonwealth units out of Moulmein and then encountered three divisions, two Indian and one Australian, guarding the crossings of the Salween River and blocking the path to Pegu and Rangoon. This force, in jungle terrain, proved too powerful to dislodge. No problem. Japanese forces tried flanking them, heading for Tuang Gyi and Toungoo. There too several divisions were found blocking the way. Well. Any Allied player who deploys enough force forward in ’42 to stop the Japanese advance in Burma is just asking for trouble. The standard response to this for Japan is to land up the coast and cut off the entire army. And this is what I planned to do. But then most of my carriers ended up decorating the floor of the Pacific and such a landing became, in my estimate, far too risky. The RN carriers aren’t great but they can still ruin the day of a vulnerable transport convoy. There are still good prospects against such a deployment for Japan, I think, even without an amphibious attack against India. But then I started thinking. In both of my previous AE games, against Q-Ball and Erstad, I was blown out of Burma by the summer of ’43, washed away by a flood tide of Commonwealth units. Given that, what was in Burma that I wanted or needed? I decided that the answer was nothing. So I stood down the impressive force I had assembled, nine infantry and two tank divisions, and began fortifying the Burma-Thai frontier. Moulmein is now a fortress, as is Chaing Mai. The coast of Malaya is being fortified, with full divisions at or en route to Tavoy, Mergui, and Victoria Point. Sabang at the tip of Sumatra is also getting an impressive array of units. Supporting all this are seven crack daitai of Oscar and Tojo IIa fighters and an array of Netties, Sallys, and Helens. Hunkering down and fortifying like a badger kind of feels wrong. It may be a huge mistake. For one thing it’s giving up the initiative completely, which is not usually a good idea. But then I look at the map from the Allied point of view and I think again that it might be a good idea. Any Allied attack against Thailand, Malaya, or Sumatra looks really unappealing. It’s either attack jungle bases with level 7+ forts and over 1500 AV of Japanese troops, with unassailable supply lines and divisions in reserve, or land in the face of heavy defenses and strong Japanese air power somewhere along the coast. Allied units could try infiltrating, I suppose, but they’d have to come through the jungle and I would have literally weeks to move my reserve tank divisions to meet them. Time will tell if my decision is a good one or not. But given that my overriding goal is to keep the oil flowing from Palembang for as long as possible, I think that throwing up as well-crafted a shield to defend it as I can devise may not be a bad way to go. Situation map: [image]local://upfiles/23804/6B8DCEFB4CFB40D2AE95B3E48FAA7C9A.jpg[/image]

witpqs -> RE: Campaigns in Burma (12/24/2010 12:33:32 AM)
So the Burma Road remains open?

Cuttlefish -> RE: Campaigns in Burma (12/24/2010 12:49:49 AM)
quote: ORIGINAL: witpqs So the Burma Road remains open? Yes it does. I don't like that but since I've come to view Burma as a giant, jungly death-trap for Japan I don't think I'll be doing anything about it.

Alfred -> RE: Campaigns in Burma (12/24/2010 4:39:39 AM)
If your opponent thinks about the benefits of holding Rangoon, he will realise that he can pump supply overland to China. With this supply (which is additional to the Burma Road supply), the Chinese hordes can be unleashed. When that happens, the Japanese losses in China will dwarf whatever might have been the cost incurred in capturing Rangoon. IMHO, it might just be possible to rationalise that Burma is not essential to Japan's well being but leaving Rangoon in Allied hands is just a mistake. Alfred

Cuttlefish -> Carrier Duel at Eniwetok (12/31/2010 10:23:34 PM)
Dec. 8, 1942 After a pretty quiet November the Allies began to stir again in the Pacific. Recon flights over Eniwetok and ship movements around the Marshalls convinced me that Eniwetok was targeted for invasion so I sent my remaining carriers that direction to try and do something about it. I don’t have much of a carrier force left but I decided to go ahead and commit them while they still faced something like even odds. I moved my carriers, in two task forces, from Truk towards a position six hexes northwest of the atoll. They arrived at the same time the Allied invasion force did. North of the island were two American carrier groups, and the battle was on. The Japanese had two groups, one with Ryujo and Shoho, the other with Akagi, Hiryu, and Soryu. With them were two SCTFs, one based around Musashi, the other with four heavy cruisers. The Allies had two carrier TFs two hexes north of the atoll and heavy surface forces at Eniwetok itself. One of the two Allied groups reacted towards the Japanese, ending up only three hexes away. The first action came from Japanese land-based air Ponape. Sallys attacked enemy TFs at Eniwetok. They scored no hits but Japanese fighters tangled with fighters from the southernmost of the two Allied carrier groups. The Allied CAP suffered losses. Then the first Japanese carrier strike went in. This went after the southern carrier TF, the one that didn't react. Allied CAP was almost non-existent and the Japanese strike did heavy damage. Confirmed sunk were CV Enterprise, CVEs Altamaha and Nassau, BB Indiana, and CLAA Juneau. I think that CVE Prince William and CLAA San Diego will also sink - both took two torpedoes and were listed with fires and heavy damage. I'm pretty sure what happened here was that the carriers tasked with covering the invasion (Enterprise and the CVEs) had almost all their fighters on LRCAP over Eniwetok. This group was left naked when the other US carrier group reacted away and that is why the Japanese attack wreaked so much havoc. Does anyone want to bet that Halsey was in command of the carriers that reacted? Both Allied groups launched separate attacks. CVL Ryujo was sunk and CV Hiryu was heavily damaged. The only damage Japanese planes did in the PM phase was to finish off Indiana and sink a troop-laden AP off Eniwetok (heavy casualties from the US 25th Division were reported). An xAK was also heavily damaged. There was no strike from the southern Allied carriers but the Allied strike from the northern group finished off Hiryu and damaged my remaining three carriers. Despite the loss of a transport the US division stormed Eniwetok and easily captured the atoll from the small garrison. The worst part about the whole battle is that many Japanese planes had diverted there and were of course lost. Other planes went to Ponape and some went to Truk but that’s still a lot of good pilots lost that didn’t need to be. Allied aircraft losses were around 170, including about 90 planes that went down with their carriers. Japanese aircraft losses were about 200, the large majority of them destroyed on the ground at Eniwetok. Tactically the Allies succeeded in their objective, capturing the atoll. Ship losses heavily favored Japan but for all practical purposes this was the end of Japanese carrier power for some months. With newly arrived Ryuho I am left with two CVs and two CVLs, three of them damaged. The Americans have at least three undamaged carriers in the Pacific, with more (of course) on the way. If I peer at this battle from a certain angle it almost kind of looks like a victory. It probably wasn't, at least not from a strategic point of view, but at least my forces did a lot of damage. Some days, as Japan, that’s about as good as it gets.

Capt. Harlock -> RE: Carrier Duel at Eniwetok (1/1/2011 12:42:10 AM)
quote: Confirmed sunk were CV Enterprise, CVEs Altamaha and Nassau, BB Indiana, and CLAA Juneau. Wow -- any battle that results in those sinkings has to be considered at least a morale boost for the IJN!

ny59giants -> RE: Carrier Duel at Eniwetok (1/1/2011 12:54:05 AM)
It may be a tactical victory, but IMO it was a strategic defeat. Your carrier situation is bad enough already and CVL Ryujo is your largest CVL. This will hurt you in the long run.

JeffroK -> RE: Carrier Duel at Eniwetok (1/1/2011 12:59:37 AM)
A major problem for the IJN, when the USN hits the Marianas what force will you have ? Same goes for when the USN hits Iwo Jima & etc. KB, and therefore IJN power is so brittle, you can see why many hide it as much as is possible.

Cuttlefish -> RE: Carrier Duel at Eniwetok (1/1/2011 1:18:24 AM)
quote: ORIGINAL: JeffK A major problem for the IJN, when the USN hits the Marianas what force will you have ? Same goes for when the USN hits Iwo Jima & etc. KB, and therefore IJN power is so brittle, you can see why many hide it as much as is possible. On the other hand, hoarding one's CV power just so it can annihilated by an overwhelming force of Essex-class carriers off the Marianias isn't always a great option, either, though I admit there is value for Japan in preserving Kido Butai as a "fleet in being."

Cuttlefish -> RE: Carrier Duel at Eniwetok (1/1/2011 1:20:19 AM)
quote: ORIGINAL: ny59giants It may be a tactical victory, but IMO it was a strategic defeat. Your carrier situation is bad enough already and CVL Ryujo is your largest CVL. This will hurt you in the long run. Oh, absolutely. It's a classic example of a tactical victory but a strategic defeat.

Cuttlefish -> Past the One Year Mark (1/18/2011 10:25:36 PM)
November 1, 1942 – January 15, 1943 Greetings, sports fans. We’ve moved from 1942 to 1943 in the game. Things overall don’t look too bad for Japan at the moment. Let’s get caught up on events in various theaters, including the important home front. China - Land War in Asia Japanese forces evicted the large force of Chinese interlopers from Nanyang in November. This inflicted an appalling number of losses on the Chinese, including 1400 squads destroyed. I tried to pursue this force up the road to Sian but they were reinforced by a handful of fresh units and my troops could not force them further back. I was taking too many casualties in trying so I pulled my units back and am sending them back up to Ankang. If I can break the ring of Chinese around that city then I might be able to either cut off Sian or, possibly, threaten Chungking and the other cities in the Sichuan Basin. Either way there would be good prospects for engaging and mauling Chinese units on clear terrain. Ordinarily I would bombard the troops blocking the road to Sian but that of course is not really a viable option. I’m using air attacks instead. These don’t do a lot of damage but at least they don’t hurt me more than they do the Chinese. I’ve read the debates in the forum about artillery and at the moment I am still confused about exactly what a bombardment attack is supposed to represent now. In its present form it seems to be the “inflict casualties on yourself while training up the enemy troops” option. If the designers are satisfied with the current state of affairs in this area I would recommend removing bombardment attacks from the game. They really serve no purpose and probably confuse new players, who think that they are supposed to represent something they are not. Heck, they confuse me, and I’m not new. Then again, I’m easily confused. Burma/Thailand – The Lion Sleeps Tonight Yeah, I know, there are no lions there. There are tigers. But that isn’t how the song goes. This theater has been almost dead quiet. Nine British and Indian divisions came down the long and winding road from Tuang Gyi. Three split off and moved towards Chiang Mai but stopped. The other six continued down the road and ran into two Japanese divisions. They tried a shock attack but my defenders had the advantage of jungle terrain and the attack failed. In the month since then the nine Allied divisions have just sat there. I moved a tank division up from Rahaeng to bolster my forces and watch for leakers but so far it hasn’t been needed. I’m curious to see what approach my opponent is going to take in this theater. A frontal assault would be a messy business. Moulmein has 1500 AV and the forts there are almost to level 7, so I don’t see the Allies breaking through there any time soon. Chiang Mai has level 4 forts and 1000 AV and jungle terrain. He can try going through the jungle around those bases, as he did on the road near Chaing Mai, but I have reserves and his movement would be glacially slow. That leaves a coastal landing. I have divisions at Tavoy, Mergui, and Victoria Point, with forts ranging from 3 to 5 and building. Even Georgetown has 200 AV and level 5 forts. I have lots of air power in the region so I don’t think that anything less than a massive, coordinated effort supported by carriers would succeed. Perhaps his best approach, and one I worry about, would be to attack the southern coast of Sumatra. It’s a long coast and I don’t have a lot of troops there right now. It would not be a game-changer right away but it would allow him to threaten Palembang eventually. On the other hand, I know that most of the RN is in the Pacific right now so he may not be up to ambitious amphibious operations in the Indian Ocean. It’s even been quiet in the air. Right now I have about 150 Tojo IIa at Moulmein and around 75 Oscars at Rahaeng. Bangkok has two groups of Nells supported by Zeros. Mostly the pilots are sitting around playing cards. Every now and then I send Helens from Rahaeng to bomb British troops in the jungle but that is the only activity. Pacific – Attack of the 4E Beasts A lull followed the December 8 carrier battle off Kwajalein. An Allied sub put a torpedo into Akagi near Saipan, extending the carrier’s yard time. A Japanese submarine made up for it by finding damaged CVE Prince William and finishing it off. The jeep carrier had put in to Roi-Namur for emergency repairs and I caught it sneaking away towards Pearl a month after the battle. In early January Allied forces tried to extend their gains in the Marshalls by attacking Jaluit and Maloelap. Maloelap fell but the attack on Jaluit was messily repulsed. The Allied attackers suffered heavy casualties and re-embarked. Most of the activity in this theater has been around the Solomon Sea. Allied 4E bombers have been attacking in force, trying to close my air bases at Lae, Rabaul, Kavieng, and Manus. It’s been messy but Rabaul is now closed and Lae and Kavieng are damaged. All of this has cost him some bombers but I’ve lost around 100 aircraft on the ground. I’m pretty sure this activity is a precursor to an invasion, probably at Buna, Shortlands, or maybe Lae. I’ve stationed surface forces in position to try and intercept an attack when it comes and am holding my bombers ready at bases out of 4E range, ready to move them in when necessary. Charbroiled started out by escorting his bombers but, like all my opponents, quickly realized that his losses were lower if the bombers were unescorted. The Allies seem to have two working carriers in the Pacific right now. This is not much but it is two more carriers than I have at the moment. I have to rely on SCTFs and land-based air for defense. Ship losses – scorecard Here are the warship losses at the one-year mark of the war: Allies Japan CVs 2 6 CVLs 0 3 CVEs 5 0 BBs 6 3 BC 1 0 CAs 11 5 CLs 10 7 DDs 51 17 The carrier losses are really the story of the game. Charbroiled revealed recently that at one point, back during the Japanese invasion of Fiji, three of his carriers ran out of fuel near Canton Island while fleeing KB. I calculated that they were three hexes out of my detection range when I broke off the search. Heartbreaking. The Home Front – Wealth From the SRA Things look good as far as industry and production go. In this area, at least, I have made improvements in my game. HI reserves are at 863,000 and rising by about 70,000 a month. I have around 200k oil in the Home Islands with another 125k en route. There is almost 400k fuel at Tokyo and good reserves at all major ports. I’ve lost two big tankers to Allied subs but new construction has more than kept pace with losses to this point. Tokyo has 5 million supply. I’ve shut off a lot of light industry as a result. Resource levels are very high. Tokyo alone has over 800,000. For fighters right now I am building mostly Zeros and Tojos (the IIa model – I have not been impressed with the IIb and intend to skip making any this time around). Bomber production is focusing on Helens for the IJA and Bettys, Kates, and Vals for the IJN. I’ve been careful to shut off unneeded engine factories, as engine factories are among the biggest consumers of HI. Vehicle production has been expanded by about 50%, and I have modestly increased naval shipyard capacity as well. The naval repair yard at Tokyo has been expanded from 10 to 80 and Chitose and Chiyoda are currently there converting to CVLs. Taiho is currently on schedule for July ’43 and the first three Unryus for early ’44. I hope to get at least a couple of these by late ’43. The current scoreboard: [image]local://upfiles/23804/9881A10D3D9C477A84A5B4B2BC979EA5.jpg[/image]

FatR -> RE: Past the One Year Mark (1/18/2011 11:37:21 PM)
It's probably too late for this game, but there is a dot base with big airfield potential right across the straight from Rabaul. One can use it to create a supporting airbase, to help Rabaul withstand bombing campaigns.

BigBadWolf -> RE: Past the One Year Mark (1/19/2011 12:31:23 AM)
Nice to see you back Cuttlefish. Can we not have these long brakes anymore, please? :)

Cuttlefish -> RE: Past the One Year Mark (1/27/2011 8:31:02 PM)
January 16 – January 31, 1942 The Allies attacked in the Solomon Sea area, as I suspected they would. Under an umbrella of heavy 4E bomber attacks forces invaded both Lae and Gasmata. Lae fell fairly quickly; Gasmata is still in Japanese hands. The US carriers were present and they, combined with the damage to my airfields, prevented any significant Japanese aerial response. The only time my bombers flew they did so unescorted, resulting in no hits and the loss of about 30 planes. The only good side is that the effort to keep my airfields suppressed cost him around 12 to 15 B-24s. The loss of Lae will be a problem for me. Meanwhile US forces also decided to invade Kwajalein. This went badly. The coast guns there sank four xAKs (one a day for four days) and damaged a couple of destroyers. The troops that did get ashore, elements of one marine and one infantry division, have suffered heavy losses so far, something like 150 squads destroyed. With his carriers committed in the Solomon Sea I sent the Combined Fleet from Truk to the Marshalls. He saw me coming and withdrew his invasion force but an ASW group, two SCs and DD Humphreys, were too slow getting away and were sunk. Elsewhere there has been no activity on Burma. In China my forces pushed back three Chinese corps near Anyang, destroying about 800 squads. That’s 2200 Chinese squads destroyed recently, or nearly one year’s worth of replacements. In the northern Pacific I have been seeing occasional shipping in the Aleutians. I sent a small cruiser force over from the Kuriles to poke around and look for trouble. They found no shipping but were also completely undetected. They’ve returned to the Kuriles to refuel but I am going to send them back, if only to convince my opponent that leaving the Aleutians bare of air search assets is a bad idea. The submarine war has been mostly quiet. A Japanese sub sank a large AS off Milne Bay during the period and Sculpin has been on something of a rampage for the Allies, sinking a small TK and two xAKs up around Sakhalin Island. I’ve sent ASW forces up there to look for the wily sub but so far they’ve been unable to damage it. It’s going to be interesting to see where this game goes in ’43. Losing the bulk of my carrier force in ’42 has obviously limited my options and forced me into more of a defensive posture than I would like. But as a result I am concentrating on my defences more than in any previous game and the Allies do not have an easy job ahead. The Marianas, for instance, are already heavily garrisoned and fortified. Fort levels at places like Truk, Babeldoab, and Saipan are at seven and will probably be at nine before the Allies get there, and I know from experience that high fort levels make island invasions a nightmare. The Allies have suffered heavy troop losses in the Pacific, with at least seven divisions getting pretty well mangled, and they’ve lost a lot of ships and planes. Allied strength in all areas will grow greatly throughout the year, of course. Will my opponent wait for his strength to build? I’m betting not. An aggressive defense might provide me with opportunities to bleed my foe and blunt and delay the Allied advance. And keep that oil and fuel flowing, of course. That’s really what counts.

anarchyintheuk -> RE: Past the One Year Mark (1/27/2011 9:14:28 PM)
Not too familiar w/ the lcu repurchase rule . . . is the Kwajalein CD eligible for repurchase?

FatR -> RE: Past the One Year Mark (1/27/2011 10:18:06 PM)
Well... good to see you soldiering on after such bad luck in carrier battles. Solomons/New Britania seem to be done for, though. But I believe you should start fortifying both Hollandia/Vanimo and Manokwari/Biak/Noemfoor base nodes hardcorely, while you still have the time. Allies don't need to challenge island defences in Central Pacific to ruin Japan's day. Your opponent might be tempted to do so by his naval superiority, but a shore crawl towards Mindanao/Eastern DEI is an easy and dangerous option.

Cuttlefish -> RE: Past the One Year Mark (1/27/2011 11:26:09 PM)
quote: ORIGINAL: FatR Well... good to see you soldiering on after such bad luck in carrier battles. Solomons/New Britania seem to be done for, though. But I believe you should start fortifying both Hollandia/Vanimo and Manokwari/Biak/Noemfoor base nodes hardcorely, while you still have the time. Allies don't need to challenge island defences in Central Pacific to ruin Japan's day. Your opponent might be tempted to do so by his naval superiority, but a shore crawl towards Mindanao/Eastern DEI is an easy and dangerous option. Manokwari is already a fortress and I am building up Hollandia, Sorong, Aitape, and a couple of other bases too. If I can hold him off until May '43, when I start to get a lot of troops, then I can occupy a lot of the dot hex bases in force as well and really give him fits if he tries the New Guinea route. I agree about the Mindanao/Eastern DEI option. It's the longer but more reliable way to go for the Allies, if only because there are just too many bases along the route to defend in strength.

Cuttlefish -> RE: Past the One Year Mark (1/31/2011 10:33:18 PM)
February 1, 1943 – February 10, 1943 February has been a tough month so far for merchant shipping on both sides. Japanese subs picked up an Allied convoy heading towards Adak. Since my previous cruiser raid revealed that there were no Allied air-search assets in the Aleutians I sortied my force from Paramashiro again and pounced on the task force as it was unloading. Sunk were three xAKs, an xAP, two AMs, and an AVD. On the same turn Allied destroyers dashed in from the Solomon Sea and hit a Japanese supply convoy unloading at Aitape, sinking a PB and five xAKs. At the same time a surface force based around Prince of Wales hit Manus, sinking three CMs there. This force was lucky – it arrived one turn ahead of the Combined Fleet, which was coming down from Truk. Japanese planes attacked the raiders on their way home, scoring a penetrating bomb hit on CL Raleigh and bouncing four bombs off POW. The Japanese then hit Lae with a pair of battleships. They found no warships there but sank an AM and a pair of xAKs. A lot of vehicles were reported lost with the freighters so with luck I mauled a TD battalion or something. The Allied 4E bomber offensive in the New Britain area is weakening. It started up again with around 60 bombers visiting my scenic bases each turn but that number is down to about 30 bombers and at that number they are having trouble keeping bases damaged. The Allies lose an average of two B-24s a turn on these raids, and I think that losses, damage, and maybe poor morale are having an effect. Right now I actually want my opponent to keep pushing the bomber offensive - I prefer tired B-24 groups to fresh ones, which are almost unstoppable. Submarines on both sides sank a tanker during the period, the Japanese torpedoing one off Ceylon and the Allies scoring a kill in the Straits of Luzon. Allies ASW forces sank an I-boat just east of the Marshalls. American ASW has improved noticeably since the start of ’43. Japanese troops continue to push at Chinese forces in the mountains south of Sian. The Chinese are weakening and I think a breakthrough is not far off. This will enable my troops to cut off Sian and the rest of the north off from southern China. I don’t know if this will cause my opponent supply difficulties in the north or not. I have had my recon planes scouting out the Chinese bases in the Sichuan Basin. Chungking seems well defended but I was not getting any results from my recon flights over Kienko, which would be the first logical target if my forces break through and turn south. I spent two turns checking my recon groups before the truth finally dawned on me – I was in fact getting accurate reports, reports showing that there are no Chinese in Kienko at all. That makes a move south tempting, though no doubt he could rush defenders there ahead of me if I moved in that direction. My main strategy in China is still to wreck as many Chinese units as possible and to keep on doing so. Forcing Chinese units to scramble around to stop a breakthrough seems like a good way to continue doing so “on the cheap.” The situation around Sian: [image]local://upfiles/23804/49E29EE2B80441FCA171EF570371C961.jpg[/image]

Cribtop -> RE: Past the One Year Mark (1/31/2011 10:52:10 PM)
I vote turn north as planned but drop paras on Kienko to rattle him and thus make conquest of Sian easier. Plus, if there's industry at Kienko he may destroy some or all of it re-taking the base. In fact, if you fly in a kamikaze engineer unit, you will increase the chances of industry destruction. All of this is relevant in the China front due to lack of Allied supply generally in China.

SqzMyLemon -> RE: Past the One Year Mark (1/31/2011 11:46:11 PM)
Hi Cuttlefish, I'd be wary about an advance from Ankang. How's your supply flow? I found earlier I had real trouble being able to get supplies to flow to Ankang when I had a force of 4000AV there. It seemed my LCU's were constantly in the red. It seems an awfully thin route of advance easily cut in numerous places. What do you have in terms of reserves to keep it open as you advance? And what happens if you reach Kienko and the Chinese just backfill behind you eventually cutting you off? I think it is worth a visit from paratroops though for the startle factor if nothing else [:D]. Maybe that would cause him to overreact and start a withdrawal from Sian. Would occupying the second mountain hex to the northwest block the flow of fuel/oil from Sian, Lanchow and Urumchi? That would hurt the Chinese supply capacity in Central China and possibly force him to commit troops to open the route again. Too bad you decided to leave Burma in Allied hands, without those 500 tons of supply you could really put a hurt on the offensive capabilities of a Chinese attack or limit him to staying put to conserve supply. I like the idea of driving north, then swing to the east and threaten Sian or Lanchow, but not if you are relying on a shoestring route to supply your offensive through Ankang, or have no troops south of Sian to hold the defenders in place or force a withdrawl if it looks like he'd be cut off. Also, a large force from Chungking could easily recapture Kienko and block your route into Cental China. It's all about the fuel/oil to me, if you can capture the oil centres and just attrition Chinese forces from lack of supply and limited offensives you're in good shape and all that black gold flowing to Port Arthur is pure gravy. What has he committed in terms of numbers of units around Ankang and Sian? Don't underestimate the sheer number of troops he can bring from Central China and if they park themselves in rough terrain you'll have the devil's own time of it budging them before you can even think of getting him on the plains. If you are not in Burma threatening the Burma Road supply flow or Poashan than as the Chinese I'd pull a Chinese Zukov and redeploy every Chinese unit east to bolster the defences around Kienko and move to bottle up your northern force. Hard to know exactly what to suggest not knowing how strong the Chinese player is in terms of units and AV around Sian. Just a few thoughts and I'm certainly no expert!

Cuttlefish -> RE: Past the One Year Mark (2/1/2011 12:13:00 AM)
Cribtop, I love the idea of dropping paras on Kienko. There's no industry there but it would be bound to shake him up a bit. quote: ORIGINAL: SqzMyLemon Hi Cuttlefish, I'd be wary about an advance from Ankang. How's your supply flow? I found earlier I had real trouble being able to get supplies to flow to Ankang when I had a force of 4000AV there. It seemed my LCU's were constantly in the red. It seems an awfully thin route of advance easily cut in numerous places. What do you have in terms of reserves to keep it open as you advance? And what happens if you reach Kienko and the Chinese just backfill behind you eventually cutting you off? I think it is worth a visit from paratroops though for the startle factor if nothing else [:D]. Maybe that would cause him to overreact and start a withdrawal from Sian. Would occupying the second mountain hex to the northwest block the flow of fuel/oil from Sian, Lanchow and Urumchi? That would hurt the Chinese supply capacity in Central China and possibly force him to commit troops to open the route again. Too bad you decided to leave Burma in Allied hands, without those 500 tons of supply you could really put a hurt on the offensive capabilities of a Chinese attack or limit him to staying put to conserve supply. I like the idea of driving north, then swing to the east and threaten Sian or Lanchow, but not if you are relying on a shoestring route to supply your offensive through Ankang, or have no troops south of Sian to hold the defenders in place or force a withdrawl if it looks like he'd be cut off. Also, a large force from Chungking could easily recapture Kienko and block your route into Cental China. It's all about the fuel/oil to me, if you can capture the oil centres and just attrition Chinese forces from lack of supply and limited offensives you're in good shape and all that black gold flowing to Port Arthur is pure gravy. What has he committed in terms of numbers of units around Ankang and Sian? Don't underestimate the sheer number of troops he can bring from Central China and if they park themselves in rough terrain you'll have the devil's own time of it budging them before you can even think of getting him on the plains. If you are not in Burma threatening the Burma Road supply flow or Poashan than as the Chinese I'd pull a Chinese Zukov and redeploy every Chinese unit east to bolster the defences around Kienko and move to bottle up your northern force. Hard to know exactly what to suggest not knowing how strong the Chinese player is in terms of units and AV around Sian. Just a few thoughts and I'm certainly no expert! Lemon, my supply flow to Ankang seems to be good right now. I had trouble earlier but either the supplies I'm pouring into Tsingtao are having an effect or maybe its the expansion of the next base down the line at Nanying. Chinese forces do keep trying to cut the road but I have two divisions and two brigades devoted to keeping the road clear and they are doing the job. Recon shows about 30 units in Sian, quality unknown. There are another fourteen units on the Sian-Nanying road. They are in the woods and very hard to dig out of there but most of them were mauled a couple of months ago and they have little offensive potential. Your point is well taken about not getting cut off, though, and I intend to be wary. I would really like it if occupying the next mountain hex up the road and cutting off Sian threatened his supply situation. That might force him to attack me, which would be ideal. But I don't know if that would have enough effect to provoke my opponent into action or not.

Cuttlefish -> RE: Past the One Year Mark (2/11/2011 11:41:55 PM)
February 11 – March 4, 1943 Things have continued to be active in the Pacific. In the Marshalls the Allies remain stalled on Kwajalein. They haven’t attempted any further landings and I don’t have anything like enough troops on the island to try and push the elements of the two divisions there off. The Allies did mount another invasion of Jaluit, though, and this one succeeded, though it cost the victors around 60 squads destroyed. Over in the Solomon Sea area the Allied bombing campaign tapered off and has stopped for the moment. Allied forces are currently creeping overland, towards Kavieng from the dot hex at the other end of New Ireland and towards Madang from Lae. From what I can see I don’t think that either attack has the power to succeed. Both bases are well-defended and should be able to hold out unless my opponent brings further forces to bear. On 3 March I sent two heavy cruisers, Aoba and Suzuya, along with seven destroyers, down from Manus to the open-water hex just off Lae. I was hoping to intercept some shipping. What my ships found instead was a heavy Allied SCTF with three battleships. Oy! The night was very dark, only 10% moonlight, and the engagement opened at 2000 yards. At that range Japanese torpedoes are deadly. Five of them hit BB Mississippi and the last one triggered a magazine explosion. CA Chicago was hit by a torpedo and several shells and listed with heavy fires, heavy damage. This listing is usually the kiss of death but I don’t think the cruiser was sunk, not yet at least. At this point my ships wisely attempted the maneuver known in IJN circles as “getting the hell out of Dodge.” DD Hayashio was sunk and DD Michishio escaped but sank immediately after the battle. CA Aoba was hit hard and sunk by Allied aircraft the following morning. Despite the losses I am quite happy with the encounter, especially considering the odds against my ships. Night Time Surface Combat, near Lae at 99,127, Range 2,000 Yards Allied aircraft no flights Allied aircraft losses No Allied losses Japanese Ships CA Suzuya CA Aoba, Shell hits 13, Torpedo hits 1, heavy fires, heavy damage DD Akigumo DD Hayashio, Shell hits 6, and is sunk DD Shiranui DD Tokitsukaze DD Hamakaze, Shell hits 2, on fire DD Michishio, Shell hits 10, heavy fires, heavy damage DD Hibiki Allied Ships BB Maryland, Shell hits 4 BB Mississippi, Shell hits 18, Torpedo hits 5, and is sunk BB South Dakota CA Chicago, Shell hits 5, Torpedo hits 1, heavy fires, heavy damage CA Australia CL Perth CL Nashville, Shell hits 1 CL Columbia, Shell hits 1 DD Nicholas DD Waller DD McCalla DD Bancroft DD Meade Reduced sighting due to 10% moonlight Maximum visibility in Overcast Conditions and 10% moonlight: 3,000 yards Range closes to 23,000 yards... Range closes to 17,000 yards... Range closes to 11,000 yards... CONTACT: Allies radar detects Japanese task force at 11,000 yards Range closes to 8,000 yards... CONTACT: Allies radar detects Japanese task force at 8,000 yards Range closes to 6,000 yards... Range closes to 4,000 yards... Range closes to 2,000 yards... CONTACT: Japanese lookouts spot Allied task force at 2,000 yards CONTACT: Allied lookouts spot Japanese task force at 2,000 yards Most of my surviving ships returned safely to Manus that night but damaged Hamakaze lingered in air range, along with the destroyer detached to accompany her – Hibiki! The two destroyers survived heavy air attacks the next day. When night fell they scurried for Manus but along the way ran into a strong TF based around Prince of Wales. The destroyers again escaped. Hibiki even put a shell into an Allied destroyer. By the end of the night on 4 March both were back at Manus. Right now Allied heavy bombers are concentrating on my base at Ponape but it isn’t going very well for them and I expect the effort will be discontinued soon. Over in China things are rather interesting. Chinese forces have moved to cut the road below Anyang, and have also moved into Anyang itself. I am continuing to attack above Anyang and trying to push away the interlopers on the road. Neither attempt has so far succeeded but the Chinese forces are paying a price. Each of my attacks, which come off at either 1 to 1 or 1 to 2 odds, usually costs me about 200 – 300 squads disrupted. But each attack is costing the Chinese around 100 squads destroyed. The biggest problem for me here is the threat to my supply line, but so far I am having no trouble keeping my units in supply despite the heavy combat. I’m not sure why this is so. I have supply convoys running frequently into Tsingtao, so that must be helping. Burma remains a moribund theater. Some more Commonwealth divisions have come up but are just sitting there. I now count 14 divisions facing me on the immediate front, not nearly enough (I think and hope) to effect a breakthrough. Under the sea both sides have met with some recent success. I have already mentioned the attack against Yorktown. A British tanker was torpedoed and sunk off the Australian coast and a American freighter was sunk in the Aleutians. Allied subs sank a medium and a small tanker in the waters around Singapore and bagged an xAK near Babeldoab. Japanese ASW forces sank two subs in the shallows near Singapore (the first kills for my ASW forces in quite a while) and one Japanese sub was sunk off Lae. One other note of interest (at least to me): near the end of February my HI reserve reached and passed the one millions mark. This is the first game in AE where I have been able to get to that level. It’s a nice feeling of security to have that much HI in the bank already.

kaleun -> RE: Past the One Year Mark (2/12/2011 1:17:53 AM)
Getting the hell out of Dodge indeed.

Cribtop -> RE: Past the One Year Mark (2/12/2011 2:09:08 AM)
Wow, you must have a lot in Burma if 14 Divisions isn't enough to bother you. Well done to pull out of the morale hit from CV losses and mount a strong defense on multiple fronts.

ny59giants -> RE: Past the One Year Mark (2/12/2011 2:38:08 PM)
China - Placing a Command HQ at Nanyang will help pull supplies to the front lines. You can ship in supply to Hankow as long as your xAKLs and small xAKs are used. It does have a size 4 port. I would be bombing the AF at Sian to destroy his supply. It may take some time, but you can cause some of his troops trouble keeping their supply levels up.

Cuttlefish -> RE: Past the One Year Mark (2/12/2011 10:07:20 PM)
quote: ORIGINAL: Cribtop Wow, you must have a lot in Burma if 14 Divisions isn't enough to bother you. Well done to pull out of the morale hit from CV losses and mount a strong defense on multiple fronts. I have 11 Japanese divisions (nine infantry, two tank) in the region. Eight of them are on the Burma-Thailand frontier and three are guarding the coast. I also have elements of another division, some garrison units, and a couple of tank regiments there. As for soldiering on after losing the carriers...well, I was crushed by Q-Ball in my first game. My second game, against Erstad, is near the end of '44 and Japan is under seige, with several cities in flames. Compared to those games this one seems like a winner so far. And I find that losing the carriers is forcing me to play more thoughtfully and creatively. It's an interesting challenge.

Cuttlefish -> The Battle of Umboi Island (2/16/2011 7:45:31 PM)
March 5, 1943 - March 15, 1943 Some days you get the bear, and some days the bear gets you. On 6 March my search planes spotted large numbers of Allied warships, including a carrier task force, moving into the Solomon Sea. My guess was that the Allied plan was to come through the Vitiaz Strait and either attack Manus or effect a landing somewhere in the Bismarck Sea area. So I sent two SCTFs from Manus to Umboi Island hoping to intercept them. My fondest hope was that I might manage a night intercept of his carriers. The first task force, consisting of Fuso, Ise, Hyuga and escorts, encountered only a destroyer and three DEs. The destroyer was sunk, the DEs fled, and my ships returned to Manus. The second task force, based around Musashi and Kirishima, failed to retire and remained at Umboi as the sun rose. I don't know why. It's possible I failed to set "retirement allowed." It's also possible they just got notional. At any rate they encountered a powerful Allied surface force of three battleships. The Battle of Umboi Island was on. And quite a battle it was. I have never witnessed a longer surface battle. The two sides slowly closed the range, slugging it out, while shooting each other to rags. It was an epic battleship duel against two closely matched forces and it was a lot of fun to watch. The Japanese got somewhat the worst of it overall, I believe, though the only ships that actually sank during the battle were BB Maryland and DD Harusame. The crusher came when the air phase started and Allied carrier planes (the carriers had remained in the Solomon Sea after all, off Gasmata) and land-based air sank everything of mine that was badly damaged. I lost both battleships, four heavy cruisers, and a light cruiser. It was a heavy blow. The battle: Day Time Surface Combat, near Umboi Island at 100,125, Range 29,000 Yards Allied aircraft no flights Allied aircraft losses No Allied losses Japanese Ships BB Kirishima, Shell hits 5, heavy fires BB Musashi, Shell hits 11, heavy fires, heavy damage CA Haguro, Shell hits 11, heavy fires, heavy damage CA Mikuma, Shell hits 9, on fire CA Furutaka, Shell hits 12, heavy fires, heavy damage CA Kako, Shell hits 7, heavy fires, heavy damage CL Naka, Shell hits 4 CL Isuzu, Shell hits 4, on fire DD Teruzuki DD Makigumo, Shell hits 3, heavy fires DD Yukikaze DD Isokaze, Shell hits 1 DD Murasame, Shell hits 1 DD Harusame, Shell hits 5, and is sunk DD Sazanami Allied Ships BB Maryland, Shell hits 18, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk BB South Dakota, Shell hits 5, on fire BB Ramillies, Shell hits 12, on fire CA Australia CA Devonshire, Shell hits 5, heavy fires CA Exeter, Shell hits 2 CL Perth, Shell hits 10, heavy fires, heavy damage CL Nashville, Shell hits 4, on fire CL Columbia, Shell hits 2 DD Nicholas, Shell hits 6 DD Waller, Shell hits 5 DD McCalla, Shell hits 1, on fire DD Bancroft, Shell hits 4, heavy fires Maximum visibility in Clear Conditions: 30,000 yards CONTACT: Japanese lookouts spot Allied task force at 29,000 yards CONTACT: Allied lookouts spot Japanese task force at 29,000 yards Subsequent to the battle a small amphibious force invaded and captured Cape Gloucester. Always look on the bright side of life, as Eric Idle advises us. To that end I have found a couple of silver linings to the sorry affair. The first is that another American battleship is gone. That's eight so far, not bad considering I only sank one at Pearl. My opponent is going to miss those ships later when trying to support amphibious landings and form bombardment TFs. The other thing is that between losses and damaged ships the Allies are short on surface forces right now. This will hamper him for the next several months, I would think. I still have seven battleships, enough firepower to keep fighting back effectively. I really want to stall the Allied offensive in New Guinea and vicinity until June or July. That's when I start receiving more air and infantry reinforcements and can better cover some areas that are now weak points. In other activity, a US infantry division arrived at Kavieng and a marine division arrived at Madang after overland marches. They found both bases too strongly defended to attack and are at the moment just sitting there, looking menacing and awaiting further developments. And I was wrong about Ponape. It cost my opponent some more Liberators but they did succeed in closing my airfield there. There's no sign of an invasion yet but the loss of my forward air position in the Central Pacific does give my opponent more room to maneuver in the area. Over in China things continue to be fairly hot. I turned my spearhead around above Anyang and crushed a Chinese corps that had cut the road behind it, destroying 220 Chinese squads. As long as I can keep killing Chinese I'm pretty happy. I have some paratroops en route from Singapore, which I hope to use in a future attack against Kienko. The suggestion ny59giants made about shipping supply upriver to Hankow turned out to be a good one. But I have to say that it still looks weird to me, after all those years of WITP, to see one of my task forces that far inland. *** This game has not gone as I had hoped. But I'm still oddly optimistic and committed to continuing to fight and fight hard. I like my defensive setup and am determined to make the Allies pay in blood for every yard of coral and every wretched patch of jungle. I've yet to fire up AE from the Allied side. All I know about the Allied order of battle is what I know from history, from reading the forum, and what my previous opponents have used against me when. Charbroiled's forces have suffered heavy losses so far this game, especially in warships, APs, and tankers. His ground units in the Pacific have also been battered. But as we get later into '43 I know these losses will be made good. He will get a number of new carriers, new cruisers and destroyers by the truckload, and lots of ground units and the APAs and AKAs to carry and supply them. His planes are going to get better faster than mine will. It's going to get ugly. But that's one thing you know when you play Japan - no matter how well you do, in the end it's going to get ugly. Until, of course, I succeed in bringing about and winning the Decisive Battle, thus breaking my opponent's will to keep fighting and forcing him to sue for peace.

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