RE: Illinois Yankee in Showa Court (Q-Ball v Canoe) (Full Version)

All Forums >> [New Releases from Matrix Games] >> War in the Pacific: Admiral's Edition >> After Action Reports



Message

Capt. Harlock -> RE: Illinois Yankee in Showa Court (Q-Ball v Canoe) (8/28/2010 5:50:42 PM)

quote:

Luzon, on the other hand, is harmless in your rear. About the only thing Dan can do is slowly evacuate units, but even then, most of the units are stuck regardless. They can't get out, they can't hurt me. The only problem is I have to bomb and contain Luzon for a long time,


The one thing you have to worry about is 4E bombers flying out of Clark. That's the biggest reason that the Japanese invaded: they could not allow the disruption of their sea lanes.



SuluSea -> RE: Illinois Yankee in Showa Court (Q-Ball v Canoe) (8/28/2010 7:41:26 PM)

quote:

There are alot of Dutch units in the bush. All the units on Borneo, for who knows what reason, fled to the interior. Anyone know why? Won't they just starve there over time?

Yes they will die off no need to chase them, bombing them on occasion will use supply and hasten the process.



PaxMondo -> RE: Illinois Yankee in Showa Court (Q-Ball v Canoe) (8/29/2010 6:25:58 AM)


quote:

ORIGINAL: Q-Ball

I have almost every division in Manchukuo and Home Islands prepped for a target in India; as I need them, I am buying them out.



The allies will then be strongly suspecting India as your target. Their intel is just too good. They'll know about the prep on a lot of units.



Capt. Harlock -> RE: Illinois Yankee in Showa Court (Q-Ball v Canoe) (8/29/2010 9:21:23 PM)

quote:

Their intel is just too good. They'll know about the prep on a lot of units.


But is that still true in Admiral's Edition?



funkpapa -> RE: Illinois Yankee in Showa Court (Q-Ball v Canoe) (8/29/2010 10:15:47 PM)

yes



Lomri -> RE: Illinois Yankee in Showa Court (Q-Ball v Canoe) (8/30/2010 4:08:06 PM)


There is a dot base in the middle of Borneo that allied LCU's will retreat towards - well at least the southern/southwest ones. Pretty sure that is what you are observing. If the allies pull pieces of these units to rebuild, but the parent retreats and hangs out in the bush, it delays the rebuilding of those units. Silver lining for you.



Q-Ball -> RE: Illinois Yankee in Showa Court (Q-Ball v Canoe) (8/30/2010 5:04:52 PM)


quote:

ORIGINAL: Capt. Harlock
The one thing you have to worry about is 4E bombers flying out of Clark. That's the biggest reason that the Japanese invaded: they could not allow the disruption of their sea lanes.


Yes, and No. He could move bombers to Clark, but what would they bomb? Keep in mind too, I am bombing Clark or Bataan every day myself to burn supplies. Mostly, I am bombing Bataan because I see more SUPPLY HITS there it seems, but if he launches from Clark, I can quickly switch back, and destroy any damaged planes there before they can flee back to Australia.

He should be running low on Supplies too, so using Bombers would burn some precious supplies, and might actually help me.

PAXMONDO: To your point on Intel....I don't disagree. I have done a few things to mitigate that:

1. I initially prepped all Manchukuo Divisions for Australian and Indian targets. That should have created conflicted noise, which would have discounted all intel
2. I only LATELY switched everyone to India. At some point you have to, because the alternative is to invade with no preps; bad idea. At this point, I am about 5 days away from landing, so pretty soon he'll know anyway.

Combat Report, Feb 24-28, 1942:

The first week after Singapore fell was spent basically collecting ships and troops at Singapore. I believe KB and friends made it there undetected; I took pains to make sure all Dutch bases that could support a flying boat were taken.

5 Divisions are ticketed for the initial wave on Ceylon, with 1 more fully-prepped for Colombo about a week or two behind. The initial battle plan:

COLOMBO: 3 Divisions, plus tanks and HQ, are landing here
TRINCOMALEE: 1 Division here
JAFFNA: 1 Division

I have no idea what the Allies dispositions are on Ceylon; without that knowledge, I am landing in 3 places. One of them at least is bound to be ungarrisoned; I need a base to station AOs and AKEs at to support the fleet.

I have 2-3 More divisions that are prepping for Chittagong/Diamond Harbor, but if I get stuck on Ceylon are close at hand. I don't want to break those preps and give up on a NE India landing, but that's better than stranding an Army on Ceylon. Still, I don't expect more than 500AV or so on Ceylon, and most of it not as experienced as my guys.

I will post a more detailed OOB as I get closer to landing.

The Naval Support is most of the fleet; all CVs, 6 BBs, 10 CAs, and plenty of other stuff. I had the NAGATOS off the coast of Australia to add to the illusion that my landings there are real, FUSO supported the Darwin landing, and YAMASHIRO is finishing repairs. I will send FUSO/YAMA to the Indian Ocean shortly.

Other News:

Quiet.....I am just about at the gates of Soerbaya, which I expect to fall pretty quickly. The rest of the DEI is pretty much cleared.

I am landing small forces on Mindanao now; first, to take Zamboanga, the only supply source there, and then to press Cagayan airbase and shut that down.

Other than that, everything else is ticketed for Waves 2 and 3 in India.



Mistmatz -> RE: Illinois Yankee in Showa Court (Q-Ball v Canoe) (8/30/2010 8:36:04 PM)

Tension mounting, do I hear rolling drums? [;)]

Good luck with your plans.



Q-Ball -> RE: Illinois Yankee in Showa Court (Q-Ball v Canoe) (8/31/2010 3:37:02 AM)

Combat Report, Mar 1-2, 1942:

INVASION FLEET: Most of the ships are just approaching the Andaman chain, and have not been sighted as of yet. Dan has had picket ships out in other places, so we might trip over a Picket soon. With only 3-4 days from landing, it's too late for Dan to do much about it.

JAVA: First attack on Soerbaya is 1-2 and drops the forts, so I think this base will fall after a few days.

"Retire" is your friend: I hadn't seen a raiding TF until yesterday, when 4 DDs parked themselves off Paramushiro Jima! So, I moved a DB unit there on the chance Dan didn't notice. He didn't, 3 DDs were sunk.

That might be it for these raiding TFs; the last 3 forays have resulted in lost modern USN DDs, with no IJN losses. He may take solace in that I have to detail air units to protect the Kuriles, except that I used the Yokosuka Val unit anyway, which is perm restricted to the Home Islands. It's a training unit, but the pilots were in the 50s; good enough to hit non-aircovered DDs.

Carriers: Still no sign of the Allied CVs. I predict I'll get a sighting soon, as either a) they will attack my landings around India, or b) they will attack something else, knowing KB is otherwise indisposed.

Dan is an opportunist, so I'm sure he'll do something to take the pressure off India.



Nemo121 -> RE: Illinois Yankee in Showa Court (Q-Ball v Canoe) (8/31/2010 2:24:05 PM)

Yes, and as an opportunist and much more of a tactical and somewhat operational level thinker than a strategic one he is unlikely to fit his reactions into an overall strategic goal. This means you can ignore most of his reactions pretty safely and concentrate on the small number which are strategically significant ( or you can just be all attritionist and try to destroy as much of his reacting forces as possible ).

The key though is that just because he reacts doesn't mean you need to counter-react.



JohnDillworth -> RE: Illinois Yankee in Showa Court (Q-Ball v Canoe) (8/31/2010 2:31:27 PM)

Even if he has all his carriers around he can't stand up to the KB at this point in the game. Allies have trouble filling out their squadrons, and frankly, their torpedo bombers are useless (well, maybe not the Brits). Even with all forces committed you will have more left than he will. It's a wash on shipyards. Allies may have them, but the ships in them would be sitting ducks. You are still in the "run wild" phase as some admiral once said.
Banzai!



Nemo121 -> RE: Illinois Yankee in Showa Court (Q-Ball v Canoe) (8/31/2010 2:38:19 PM)

Aye but he'd be an idiot to try to face up to KB with his CVs. No, a far better use for them would be to raid your SLOCs far from your CVs destroying convoys loaded with troops and supplies. Sinking 100,000 tons of supplies accompanying the 2nd wave of troop landings and mauling a couple of divisions of troops would be enough to force the landings to fail.

Remember KB is NOT essential to winning a ground war in India. Troops and, more importantly, supplies ARE. If Canoerebel is smart he'll realise this and hit the SLOCs while KB is occupied at the spearhead. It is lower risk and higher reward.

My assessment, however, is that Canoerebel won't make such a strategic assessment and will seek to bring the IJN surface combat elements to battle instead of focussing on their much more strategically important supply echelon. With that said though he';ll try to avoid the CVs of KB if at all possible. He's not that deep IMO but neither is he foolish.



Q-Ball -> RE: Illinois Yankee in Showa Court (Q-Ball v Canoe) (8/31/2010 3:11:43 PM)


quote:

ORIGINAL: Nemo121

Aye but he'd be an idiot to try to face up to KB with his CVs. No, a far better use for them would be to raid your SLOCs far from your CVs destroying convoys loaded with troops and supplies. Sinking 100,000 tons of supplies accompanying the 2nd wave of troop landings and mauling a couple of divisions of troops would be enough to force the landings to fail.

Remember KB is NOT essential to winning a ground war in India. Troops and, more importantly, supplies ARE. If Canoerebel is smart he'll realise this and hit the SLOCs while KB is occupied at the spearhead. It is lower risk and higher reward.

My assessment, however, is that Canoerebel won't make such a strategic assessment and will seek to bring the IJN surface combat elements to battle instead of focussing on their much more strategically important supply echelon. With that said though he';ll try to avoid the CVs of KB if at all possible. He's not that deep IMO but neither is he foolish.


I agree with that assessment; the supply train is the most important, though I'm trying to keep everyone together enough that going after the supplies is potentially risking a full-on encounter with KB and Friends (meaning all CVLs I have), which would be a disaster for the USN, more than likely.

I am fanning out a picket line to provide an early warning system against a CV incursion between Sabang and Ceylon, the most likely spot to attack my supplies. I will probably run supplies close to the Indian coast; at this point, the RAF doesn't have much in the way of ship-killing assets.

I would like to set-up enough aircover along the coastline to withdraw KB completely from the Indian Ocean, and rely solely on LBA.

Any attack or landing by the Allies at this stage has to be considered an opportunity for Japan, as much or more than a problem.

Dan has carefully avoided major combat so far, so I would really like a chance to attrite the Allies on my terms, which I really haven't had yet.



Chickenboy -> RE: Illinois Yankee in Showa Court (Q-Ball v Canoe) (8/31/2010 4:11:26 PM)


quote:

ORIGINAL: Nemo121

Aye but he'd be an idiot to try to face up to KB with his CVs. No, a far better use for them would be to raid your SLOCs far from your CVs destroying convoys loaded with troops and supplies. Sinking 100,000 tons of supplies accompanying the 2nd wave of troop landings and mauling a couple of divisions of troops would be enough to force the landings to fail.

Remember KB is NOT essential to winning a ground war in India. Troops and, more importantly, supplies ARE. If Canoerebel is smart he'll realise this and hit the SLOCs while KB is occupied at the spearhead. It is lower risk and higher reward.

My assessment, however, is that Canoerebel won't make such a strategic assessment and will seek to bring the IJN surface combat elements to battle instead of focussing on their much more strategically important supply echelon. With that said though he';ll try to avoid the CVs of KB if at all possible. He's not that deep IMO but neither is he foolish.

While I agree with this in theory, I think that execution is somewhat more problematic.

Of course, application of an intact carrier air action group against a soft underbelly of LCUs and supply ships is every AFB and JFB's wet dream. The problem is *finding* this mystical SLOC, which is a transient and mobile line.

A KB fishing expedition trying to find these SLOCs may find resistance-an LBA trap, submarine interdiction, a buttressed allied carrier fleet or maybe even an SCTF awaiting their engagement opportunity. Venturing into the opponent's back yard to try to surprise a supply or troop convoy is a high risk, high reward option. The risk of finding nothing worthwhile needs to be calculated too.

I also differ regarding the supposition that this is the only 'strategic' approach to the defense of India. One could argue that interdiction of LCUs on the high seas is an attempt to ameliorate a tactical issue, not a true strategic compass for the war.



Q-Ball -> RE: Illinois Yankee in Showa Court (Q-Ball v Canoe) (8/31/2010 6:27:39 PM)

Combat Report, Mar 3, 1942:

So far So good: We still seem undetected; most transports have cleared the Andaman islands, and will halt at a point approx. 12-13 hexes off Ceylon.

The curtain will go up the day after tommorow, with Port Raids on Colombo and Trincomalee from KB. I thought about not doing that to avoid using Missions and damaging aircraft with the USN CVs possibly in range. Understood, so we are playing it like this:

1. Not all KATES will carry TORPS; I plan to set alot on level bombing.
2. I figure to have a few days to repair damaged A/C before any CVs show up
3. I have every CV; I can afford some losses, and still have plenty to annihilate the Allied CVs

I would be surprised if major units are in either port, but it's worth a shot; maybe Dan is getting sloppy. If he did move the major units, I'll probably get a sub or two anyway.

Stay tuned, we should reveal all within a couple days.....



JohnDillworth -> RE: Illinois Yankee in Showa Court (Q-Ball v Canoe) (8/31/2010 6:37:25 PM)

quote:

Not all KATES will carry TORPS; I plan to set alot on level bombing.

Kates rock as level bombers. Accuracy is uncanny
good luck



Q-Ball -> RE: Illinois Yankee in Showa Court (Q-Ball v Canoe) (8/31/2010 11:24:12 PM)

Combat Report, Mar 4-5, 1942:

Ceylon: Dan clearly knows it's on; he must have snooped my CVs the day before, because daybreak saw lots of little ships fleeing to the West (well, North on the Map)

KB strikes sank a couple AKs and KVs, thankfully we expended only 24 torpedos. Allied planes sortied against KB, but not surprisingly didn't do well. Over 33 Hurris were shot down, vs. 4 Zeros, and the 6 Stringbags they were escorting prudently fled back to base.

I am taking a couple risks tommorow. I am splitting KB temporarily to cover the landings at Jaffna (18th Div plus Tanks), Trincomalee (6th Div), and Colombo (3 Divisions, HQ, Tanks). I am setting all Kates to BOMBS ONLY; gambling that tommorow I just see small ships I don't want to waste torps on. I am gambling that the USN CVs are not right nearby; if they are, I was really scooped on this invasion, and that won't be a good thing. But the most likely result is that I don't see any naval oppossition for awhile.

I still have no idea what's on Ceylon; I am already loading more troops just in case, though I hate to break preps for Chittagong. One division that is 100% prepped for Colombo is 2 weeks away via ship, and I have 2 more Regts prepped for Koggala as a 2nd wave. I need to get at least one base on Ceylon, to take pressure off KB and provide some aircover.

So, Dan knows what I am up to now.

Australia: No idea if I sold this as an objective; hopefully I did. I probably won't know for sure until this game is over.

I am suspending operations anywhere else at the moment, as Dan will know with 100% certainty that I won't have aircover for it.

Soerbaya: First attack there dropped the forts; another attack came off 1-2, but did kill alot of Combat Squads. I will rest, bring up another unit, and try again. All my units there are only 15% prepped or so, and the garrison is probably 100%; so each day we'll get stronger. I have revised the fall date to mid-March, which is acceptable given the forces I have committed (basically, 21st Div, plus various odds and ends)



JohnDillworth -> RE: Illinois Yankee in Showa Court (Q-Ball v Canoe) (8/31/2010 11:49:44 PM)

Same post in both AAR's:
Boy I love 2 sided AAR's!!

[sm=duel.gif]



Alfred -> RE: Illinois Yankee in Showa Court (Q-Ball v Canoe) (9/1/2010 6:53:59 AM)

I have been looking at garrison requirements and whilst I expect Q-Ball has already undertaken this exercise, some of the readers of this AAR might not be aware of the ramifications. The garrison requirements are derived from the “stickied” planning map which is scenario 1 data, but AFAIK, there is no change to garrison requirements in scenario 2. The Imperial force data comes from the scenario 2 at start unrestricted command hierarchy and therefore does not fully account for the purchased units (2 divs, 2 tank regts, 1 bde, 1 regt plus an Air HQ).

Aggregate Japanese AV Garrison Requirements

Australia 1040
Burma 160
Canada 300
Ceylon 80
DEI 160
Hawaii 80
India 3380
Malaya 100
New Zealand 260
Philippines 340
Soviet Union 720
USA (continental) 1140

Unrestricted Japanese AV Forces

Command, At 7 December 41, Additional Received by 1 April 42
14th Army, 1164, 240
15th Army, 694, 0
16th Army, 1015, 0
21st Army, 0, 1694
25th Army, 1847, 0
Southern Army, 1440, 31
4th Fleet, 434, 724
Southeast Asia Fleet, 152, 287
Combined Fleet, 803, 68

Two observations immediately strike me.

(1) India and Ceylon combined account for 44.58% of all theoretical maximum garrison requirements.
(2) By 1 April 1942, the total unrestricted Japanese AV (excluding any purchased units and assuming campaign losses have been fully replenished) is 10,613. Thus, to fully garrison all of India and Ceylon immobilises 32.6% of the unrestricted AV. When you add in the garrison requirements for the already/soon to be conquered SRA (Burma, DEI, Malaya, Philippines), the immobilised garrison figure jumps to 39.76%. Further reducing the available field army is the need to maintain forces at key bases elsewhere.

Ramifications

The inevitable conclusion is that a successful conquest of India will, with one exception, destroy Japan’s capability to launch any significant land offensive. The exception is the use of the Manchukuo units against the Soviet Union.

By paying PPs, Q-Ball could release restricted units to march across borders to replace his immobilised unrestricted garrison units. This however would take a lot of time and in the intervening period the Allied position elsewhere should have been stabilised and able to defeat any Japanese offensive.

Japan is also going to be vulnerable to mid 1942 Allied offensives because Japan will not have mobile reserves. Basically, Japan will need to garrison India with the equivalent of the entire 14th, 15th, 16th Armies and Southeast Asia Fleet. Plus half of Southern Army would be required for the rest of the SRA.

Alfred

PS: My formatting has gone askance. Hopefully the two intended tables above make sense.



witpqs -> RE: Illinois Yankee in Showa Court (Q-Ball v Canoe) (9/1/2010 7:17:25 AM)


quote:

ORIGINAL: Alfred

PS: My formatting has gone askance. Hopefully the two intended tables above make sense.


Kind of a pain, but the forum doesn't like tabs or multiple spaces. If you need to align some things, use a mono-space font, then make a PDF or JPG, or take a screen capture into JPG.



bklooste -> RE: Illinois Yankee in Showa Court (Q-Ball v Canoe) (9/1/2010 12:23:20 PM)

India only needs to be fully garrisoned if he wins and defeats the british .. If the brittish are defeated losing 32% IMHO would be acceptable  considering the normal effort you need in Burma  in AE not RL  , the real risk would be if India is abandoned...  With the british relocating to Australia . I suppose the figure empahsizes that the goal of India cannot be territory but  it must be destruction of the brittish army.

Also what major advance does Japan normally do in late 42 ?  

In all likelyhood  some of the bigger garrison areas wont fall for  a long time.




ckammp -> RE: Illinois Yankee in Showa Court (Q-Ball v Canoe) (9/1/2010 12:39:50 PM)


quote:

ORIGINAL: Alfred

I have been looking at garrison requirements and whilst I expect Q-Ball has already undertaken this exercise, some of the readers of this AAR might not be aware of the ramifications. The garrison requirements are derived from the “stickied” planning map which is scenario 1 data, but AFAIK, there is no change to garrison requirements in scenario 2. The Imperial force data comes from the scenario 2 at start unrestricted command hierarchy and therefore does not fully account for the purchased units (2 divs, 2 tank regts, 1 bde, 1 regt plus an Air HQ).

Aggregate Japanese AV Garrison Requirements

Australia 1040
Burma 160
Canada 300
Ceylon 80
DEI 160
Hawaii 80
India 3380
Malaya 100
New Zealand 260
Philippines 340
Soviet Union 720
USA (continental) 1140

Unrestricted Japanese AV Forces

Command, At 7 December 41, Additional Received by 1 April 42
14th Army, 1164, 240
15th Army, 694, 0
16th Army, 1015, 0
21st Army, 0, 1694
25th Army, 1847, 0
Southern Army, 1440, 31
4th Fleet, 434, 724
Southeast Asia Fleet, 152, 287
Combined Fleet, 803, 68

Two observations immediately strike me.

(1) India and Ceylon combined account for 44.58% of all theoretical maximum garrison requirements.
(2) By 1 April 1942, the total unrestricted Japanese AV (excluding any purchased units and assuming campaign losses have been fully replenished) is 10,613. Thus, to fully garrison all of India and Ceylon immobilises 32.6% of the unrestricted AV. When you add in the garrison requirements for the already/soon to be conquered SRA (Burma, DEI, Malaya, Philippines), the immobilised garrison figure jumps to 39.76%. Further reducing the available field army is the need to maintain forces at key bases elsewhere.

Ramifications

The inevitable conclusion is that a successful conquest of India will, with one exception, destroy Japan’s capability to launch any significant land offensive. The exception is the use of the Manchukuo units against the Soviet Union.

By paying PPs, Q-Ball could release restricted units to march across borders to replace his immobilised unrestricted garrison units. This however would take a lot of time and in the intervening period the Allied position elsewhere should have been stabilised and able to defeat any Japanese offensive.

Japan is also going to be vulnerable to mid 1942 Allied offensives because Japan will not have mobile reserves. Basically, Japan will need to garrison India with the equivalent of the entire 14th, 15th, 16th Armies and Southeast Asia Fleet. Plus half of Southern Army would be required for the rest of the SRA.

Alfred

PS: My formatting has gone askance. Hopefully the two intended tables above make sense.




What about the China garrison requirements?

Also, if the Japanese player is able to take all of India, he will most likely win an auto-victory, in which case garrison requirements won't matter.



Capt. Harlock -> RE: Illinois Yankee in Showa Court (Q-Ball v Canoe) (9/1/2010 8:36:42 PM)

quote:

Australia: No idea if I sold this as an objective; hopefully I did. I probably won't know for sure until this game is over.


This has been one of the fun parts of reading both sides of the AAR. I think you'll enjoy reading Canoerebel's comments after the game.



Q-Ball -> RE: Illinois Yankee in Showa Court (Q-Ball v Canoe) (9/2/2010 3:30:41 PM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: Capt. Harlock

quote:

Australia: No idea if I sold this as an objective; hopefully I did. I probably won't know for sure until this game is over.


This has been one of the fun parts of reading both sides of the AAR. I think you'll enjoy reading Canoerebel's comments after the game.


Yeah, I'm sure YOU guys have an idea if he bought Australia or not...don't tell me. I might ask Dan pretty soon via e-mail anyway, as it's probably becoming obvious India is the target.

One thing I like about taking Ceylon, is that it will be very hazardous, or lengthy, to send troops from Australia to India at this point.

Combat Report, Mar 6, 1942:

Sorry to leave everyone hanging, yesterday was a very busy day for me IRL! Dan was anxious too, no turns in his in-box. You're wondering: So, how did it go?

Overall, it went OK; I dispersed my forces, which is good and bad. Had I landed all these forces on Colombo, it might have still been touch and go; the way I did it, I pretty much guaranteed that I would get ashore, and also guaranteed that one or two landings will get stuck. That's pretty much the result, as Jaffna figures to fall easily, while the main landings wait for the cavalry to relieve them.


COLOMBO: This base was much more heavily garrisoned than I anticipated. There are 3 Indian Bdes (100,44,45), plus 2 British Bdes, and 251 Recce Bn. The 18th UK Division, basically, is on Ceylon. I estimate the AV here to be about 500 or so, no doubt behind forts.

I have 3 divisions here: The 1st, 38th, and Imperial Gds, plus an Army HQ, 2 Tank Regts, and 1 Eng Regt. Probably not enough, though he can't really evacuate or move anyone either without jeopardizing the defense.

I will try a couple attacks anyway, but I think I am stuck here.

TRINCOMALEE: Here I face 1 British Bde from the 18th UK, plus a pile of Malayan refugee units that are probably pretty weak; 2 Ind Bdes, 22nd Aus Bde, a couple Bns. I have only one Infantry Division here, so probably not enough to dislodge on the rough terrain. Again, though, he probably can't move these guys either much.

JAFFNA: Here I landed the 18th Inf Div and a Tank unit; the garrison is only a single Indian Inf Bn. This will fall tommorow, and I have sent all follow-on convoys to Jaffna, to build the airstrip up, and unload more ground troops.

The troops I unload can join either Colombo or Trincomalee attacks from the rear, whichever it looks like I am closest.

How quickly I can take Ceylon partially depends on evacuations; I am resigned to the fact that Dan can evacuate fragments from every unit; I hope to get all the heavy equipment and alot of the UK Inf Squads, because the British are very short of both.

Assessment: was three dispersed landings the way to go? It was a risky strategy; I did that because I had no intel on what was on Ceylon, and no real way to gather intel without alerting Dan. So regardless, I had to find a piece of dry land to set up a base. I had another convoy headed to Koggla if Jaffna didn't work, but I figured he couldn't garrison EVERYTHING.

So far I have lost 1 AK to CD guns, and a couple more are in danger; the Katori CLs are a bit banged up and may or may not survive another day of CD duels, but that's what those ships are for. They aren't very useful once the "Happy Times" are over.

At this point, I need to set up the base at Jaffna, and use it to replenish the IJN and keep up a bombardment schedule on Colombo and Trincomalee. Shutting down those airstrips should help in terms of capturing more troops, because I know he has alot of transport units, but not a ton of flying boats.

Carriers: I am assuming Dan will not try to attack with surface units only; he would be doing me a great favor doing that.

The longer I loiter around, though, without LBA, the more nervous I get. Most transports will finish unloads tommorow, so we can at least send them on their way, screened by a line of picket ships. I plan to break up the returnees into smaller convoys and send different routes, so if CVs appear I'll only lose a few empties.

Soerbaya: We are attacking tommorow

Elsewhere: Not much; Katherine Fell, it seems the Aussies are falling back on Tennant Creek or beyond. We will chase them as far as they will run.

I am unloading 2 Garrison Bdes at Luzon; they are going to releive the 4th Division, which is already prepping for Calcutta.

[image]local://upfiles/6931/2493107BACAC4C298A3FF61F990B123D.jpg[/image]



Capt. Harlock -> RE: Illinois Yankee in Showa Court (Q-Ball v Canoe) (9/2/2010 8:20:14 PM)

quote:

...don't tell me

I wasn't planning to.[:D]
The one problem I see is that with the KB dispersed and performing picket duty, the British will have air superiority, at least until you can get Jaffna up and running, and maybe even longer than that. Do you have enough supplies for a quick campaign, or will more convoys be necessary?



FatR -> RE: Illinois Yankee in Showa Court (Q-Ball v Canoe) (9/2/2010 9:07:26 PM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: PaxMondo
The allies will then be strongly suspecting India as your target. Their intel is just too good. They'll know about the prep on a lot of units.

I tried countering this by ordering many units in Manchukuo I didn't intend to actually use in early 1942, to prepare for different targets across the map. Don't know yet if this was at all effective.



Q-Ball -> RE: Illinois Yankee in Showa Court (Q-Ball v Canoe) (9/2/2010 11:06:16 PM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: Capt. Harlock
The one problem I see is that with the KB dispersed and performing picket duty, the British will have air superiority, at least until you can get Jaffna up and running, and maybe even longer than that. Do you have enough supplies for a quick campaign, or will more convoys be necessary?


I have 2 Convoys about to unload at Jaffna, both with Base Forces, and over 30K supply each. I also have 4 supply ships offshore, with another 20K in reserve. A large Convoy from Japan is heading toward Singapore with another 100K in supplies. So, I think I'm good on supplies.

FATR: I did the same thing, to a point; I prepped the best divisions for multiple targets at once, and "bought" the one that fit the target, if that makes sense.

Combat Report, Mar 8, 1942:

CEYLON: We have finished unloading at both Trincomalee and Colombo; I lost 4 more transports and an AMC in the unloading, so the CD guns are starting to get hot. I don't yet plan an attack, but the Allies are pinned at those two locations. If they move from either, or start evacuating, I will attack.

JAFFNA fell instantly; 2 Convoys with Base Forces start to unload tommorow, to expand the strip and get some aircover up. I already moved a crack Zero Hikotai to provide aircover for tommorow.

I bombarded Colombo and Trincomalee via CA and BB overnight; the bombardment didn't do alot of damage, and the 6in guns got in some licks. The Damage was minor, but a couple CAs will need a little yard time, so I don't think we'll be trying that again.

The RAF launched fairly large air attacks today, from Madras and Ceylon. 9 Bombers did start a bombing run on KB, which was nerve racking, but the RAF paid heavily, with over 60 aircraft shot down, including another 30-ish Hurricanes and 25 or so Flying Tigers. Dan will probably try another attack to get some stray shipping, but his air attacks so far have been a slaughter.

I am sending many empties home now to get them out of harm's way, and begin loading a couple units for Chittagong.

Soerbaya: Attack was 1-1, dropped the forts to 1, and caused more Allied than Japanese casualties. The airbase is a wreck, so the Allies can't really repair the forts. This base should fall the next attack, in about 3-4 days.

Next Steps: I am moving another 600 AV or so to Ceylon to finish it off; I would like to get a toehold on India proper before the month is out, and I lose the invasion bonus. Although starting an India invasion in April/May is a bit risk, and late, I can rest assured that at least the UK 18th Div will be expended on Ceylon, along with alot of the RAF.



vettim89 -> RE: Illinois Yankee in Showa Court (Q-Ball v Canoe) (9/3/2010 4:18:27 AM)

Well executed. I think you will be in a very good position to dictate the course of teh war on this side of the map for some time. Even if something comes up and you suffer more casualties than expected on Ceylon, you will still hold a vital strategic point that will allow you to control the BoB. In my mind, everything else from this point on is gravy



Q-Ball -> RE: Illinois Yankee in Showa Court (Q-Ball v Canoe) (9/3/2010 7:04:53 PM)

Combat Report, Mar 10-11, 1942:

I am heading out for a long weekend away from the computer and in the woods, so last update before then. Use the time to give your two yen on the next move.....Chittagoing, anyone?

Ceylon: We should reach Domulla, in the center of Ceylon, in 3 more days, where we will set up another airbase. I am planning to send immediately reinforcements to Trincomalee first to clear that base, then everyone will pile on Colombo. I have two more divisions in transit, plus other forces.

We unloaded a pile of support troops at Jaffna (see below). We have more than enough supplies, so many that I'm holding more supply convoys; I don't want the stuff to rot. I have lost about 10 transports on the landings, but otherwise, the empties are heading back to Singapore.

The RAF attacked Jaffna yesterday, in an effort to shut the place down, or at least make it take longer to build. We shot down over 45 RAF planes for a loss of 6 Zeros. I know from playing the Allies that the RAF lacks bomber replacements, so shooting down 33 bombers really helps. The RAF does get more Hurris.

KB is still hanging around; I don't expect CVs once I have Jaffna up to size-2, and I don't want to waste planes bombing land targets. I need a purpose for this strategic asset, and sitting off the coast of India isn't a good one. At the moment, the RAF has nothing that can harm KB. I do have to keep it moving to watch for subs.

Soerbaya: I attacked again too soon; 1-2, though we did kill more Allies than Japanese. I will fully rest and try again; that should do it.

CIAO till Monday!

[image]local://upfiles/6931/8EAC08396A23497782AD2821E0536157.jpg[/image]



Mynok -> RE: Illinois Yankee in Showa Court (Q-Ball v Canoe) (9/6/2010 2:55:31 AM)


Why Chittagong? Why not south India? Surely all his Burma refugees are in eastern India, while south India looks ripe for the picking.



Page: <<   < prev  3 4 [5] 6 7   next >   >>

Valid CSS!




Forum Software © ASPPlayground.NET Advanced Edition 2.4.5 ANSI
1.03125