RE: ASW warfare (Full Version)

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JocMeister -> RE: ASW warfare (11/18/2013 5:31:28 AM)

In my DBB-L game 5 Japanese and 5 Allied subs have been sunk by DCs in 10/42.



offenseman -> RE: ASW warfare (11/18/2013 8:38:05 PM)

Enjoying this so far! Subscribed and looking forward to more.

Very aggressive move toward Palembang so early. It was very nice of him to give you that gift. :) Singers as well.



dennishe -> RE: ASW warfare (11/22/2013 10:09:23 PM)

Finally, one of my ASW ships managed to score depth charge hits on an enemy submarine near Kupang. Kupang fell after a Japanese invasion and except for Java, most of the Dutch east Indies are in Japanese hands, while it is not even February yet. Japanese troops are also marching into Burma, where the Allies have also retreated. I didn't want to take Magwe yet because I first want to put up a fighter cap. Yet since it was abandoned, Magwe turned and I quickly had to put up a long range cap from Thailand. Fortunately, the Allies are not bombarding yet. I'm not going to repair anything in Magwe, but I do want to get as much oil out as possible.

[image]local://upfiles/26552/22D9C5EB677E4EE298C7E4718C5B7A2E.jpg[/image]



dennishe -> RE: ASW warfare (11/23/2013 1:37:05 PM)

Khyberbill is reinforcing the atolls south of Java. Good. This will be their death trap then. After the capture of Java I will have major ports (to rearm bombardement TFs) and sufficient airfields for my bombers. The Allied troops on the Island will die or become POWs.



[image]local://upfiles/26552/E1908710F6734CCC8705F86C7869AE78.jpg[/image]



dennishe -> RE: ASW warfare (11/23/2013 9:39:48 PM)

February 2nd 1942: Khyberbill has gone on the offensive at Luzon, but since the 38th division landed things are going bad for him fast. The 14th Army took control over Clark Field and the 38th division captured all USAFFE HQs at Subic Bay. A few units are isolated in the Philippinian jungle, while all others are stuck at Bataan.


[image]local://upfiles/26552/D5FA1B69A238474EB4A41224460E2679.jpg[/image]



dennishe -> The battle of Java (11/24/2013 12:37:07 PM)

The Imperial Japanese Army is landing troops all along the northern coastline of Java. There appear to be short range auxiliary vessels and obsolete Dutch bombers present on the islands. The Dutch units have gathered at the southern coastline of Java. I think I have landed already quite some troops (half of the 25th Army; while the rest is at Sumatra and landed at Port Blair). Tomorrow also units of the 1st and 2nd raiding force will land at the eastern tip of Java. Besides Java and Port Blair, Japanese units also landed at and captured Baker Island.

[image]local://upfiles/26552/D244780AFE7C44838B81F0144A0C82C6.jpg[/image]



dennishe -> RE: The battle of Java (11/29/2013 8:53:09 PM)

Earlier I mentioned that I'm organizing my economy to fight in '44 and '45 and that I'm saving as much HI as possible. Besides HI, engines are also money in the back and starting from the beginning of February I'm ramping up engine production. (December '41 and January were used to ramp up vehicles)


[image]local://upfiles/26552/82FC3D0A114E478F8C156DDD166906C6.jpg[/image]



dennishe -> Strategy (12/1/2013 9:19:04 AM)

I expect Burma to be a major battlefield in this war. I do not intend to move into India, as this would cost a lot of resources and in case of a defeat may result in a Stalingrad-like isolation of an entire army behind enemy lines. Instead Burma is an ideal place to defend. Especially with the new stacking limits. Supplies will be a major factor in this war. The Japanese bombers will play an important role in the battle as they will bombard British (and Dutch, Australian, Chinese and American) units marching trough the jungle. The bombers will operate from lvl 4 bases that are directly connected to a railroad line to Bangkok or Saigon. Hence these bases can easily be supplied. Also the locations of these bases that I picked are very difficult to take by the Allies. Also they will be outside Allied fighter range for quite some time. Only some fighter groups will be stationed in Burma itself.

[image]local://upfiles/26552/DE5ED7BF3C714A6C9181BB3B0AA0ABA6.jpg[/image]



rook749 -> RE: Strategy (12/1/2013 1:02:06 PM)


quote:

ORIGINAL: dennishe

I expect Burma to be a major battlefield in this war. I do not intend to move into China, as this would cost a lot of resources and in case of a defeat may result in a Stalingrad-like isolation of an entire army behind enemy lines. Instead Burma is an ideal place to defend. Especially with the new stacking limits. Supplies will be a major factor in this war. The Japanese bombers will play an important role in the battle as they will bombard British (and Dutch, Australian, Chinese and American) units marching trough the jungle. The bombers will operate from lvl 4 bases that are directly connected to a railroad line to Bangkok or Saigon. Hence these bases can easily be supplied. Also the locations of these bases that I picked are very difficult to take by the Allies. Also they will be outside Allied fighter range for quite some time. Only some fighter groups will be stationed in Burma itself.

[image]local://upfiles/26552/DE5ED7BF3C714A6C9181BB3B0AA0ABA6.jpg[/image]


That is a well thought defensive plan, one I hope my opponent does not see :).

Rook749



offenseman -> RE: Strategy (12/1/2013 3:10:32 PM)

I like the concept but it might be interesting if you found a way to take Kunming as a very hard to take place that is in range of Ledo. The Allies can use massive amounts of air from Ledo to supply China and thus always keep your flank troublesome.



dennishe -> RE: Strategy (12/1/2013 5:07:39 PM)


quote:

ORIGINAL: offenseman

I like the concept but it might be interesting if you found a way to take Kunming as a very hard to take place that is in range of Ledo. The Allies can use massive amounts of air from Ledo to supply China and thus always keep your flank troublesome.


My experience is that the Chinese units are Always out of supplies. I don't think the Allies can set up a large air offensive from Kunming as long as the Burma road is closed...



dennishe -> RE: Strategy (12/1/2013 6:41:25 PM)

I'm not really interested in taking the Aleoutins or even Alaska. Nevertheless, the 5th Fleet will be massively reinforced to prevent an Allied attack from the north. After all this is the fastest route to Japan. Paramushiro-Jima will be build up first. A division and an air flotilla will be moved here within the next weeks. The fortress level will be increased to lvl 6. If the Allies attack early, they will have to deal with Paramushiro-Jima or have to station all their carriers for a considerable amount of time within Betty/Nell range of Hokkaido. In '44 and '45 fortification of Paramushiro alone will not be sufficient. Than also the other islands will be build up one by one...

[image]local://upfiles/26552/6EFD81BB751645A2BE179C5AFA687859.jpg[/image]



dennishe -> RE: Strategy (12/5/2013 8:50:15 PM)

It is still February 1942 and the Japanese have almost taken all of the DEI. Allied units are still holding on at Bataan, Mindanao and Batavia. The Allies have fortified Cocos Island and Christmas Island though but this is not a urgent matter. The Japanese 15th Army is marching with 5 divisions into Burma. The Japanese 4th division landed at New Caledonia.

[image]local://upfiles/26552/BA50CC8DD9B04995AD75E11FD9208E84.jpg[/image]



dennishe -> RE: Strategy (12/7/2013 10:27:10 PM)

Soerabaja and Batavia are mine and thus Christmas Island (IO) and Cocos Island may expect regular visits by my battleships. At Cocos there are 3+ units, at Christmas Island 8+ units. Probably the islands are well defended. They must be taken before the Allies start their offensive. This means that there is no hurry yet. I can let them starve a bit. I know Cocos Island is an Atoll and triggers a shock attack. What is the deal of Christmas Island. Can someone remind me how to find out which islands are atolls and which ones are not? I have a pretty good idea but do not want to take risks (and make expensive mistakes)...



[image]local://upfiles/26552/3DAF82463B9B42E4B868B9993992F5B8.jpg[/image]



witpqs -> RE: Strategy (12/7/2013 11:14:25 PM)

At least four ways.

- Look in the scenario editor and at the pwhex file set.

- Look at the base in-game, using a game as the opposing side for bases currently owned by the enemy.

- Look in Tracker.

- In-game, a mouse-over in the newer Betas will show if the island is an atoll, a size 1 island, a size 2 island (each of those cases require a shock attack), or show nothing if not an atoll and not a size 1 or size 2 island.



dennishe -> RE: Strategy (12/8/2013 1:02:22 PM)


quote:

ORIGINAL: witpqs

At least four ways.

- Look in the scenario editor and at the pwhex file set.

- Look at the base in-game, using a game as the opposing side for bases currently owned by the enemy.

- Look in Tracker.

- In-game, a mouse-over in the newer Betas will show if the island is an atoll, a size 1 island, a size 2 island (each of those cases require a shock attack), or show nothing if not an atoll and not a size 1 or size 2 island.


Thanks. I was not sure about the size 1 and size 2's. So Christmas Island does not require a shock attack. Good. It'll be a POW camp then...



dennishe -> RE: Strategy (12/9/2013 7:45:13 PM)

The Allies let me take Noumea. Fine.
This means that the Allied ships have to take a detour south of New Zealand to reach OZ. Canton Island is also mine. In the next weeks the Japanese Garrisons will move further into the Pacific. And hopefully invoke a carrier battle...

[image]local://upfiles/26552/01FBEA50AE584D0AB80DDE0A7C8B1213.jpg[/image]



dennishe -> Battle of Burma (12/17/2013 5:10:20 PM)

It seems that the Allies are concentrating forces in Burma. Several large units are present including the Australian divisions. This is kind of what I was expecting and currently already 5 Japanese divisions have arrived in Burma. A sixth one is underway. Building up the airfields is going slow but steadily. Also I'm planning to fortify Port Blair to make sure that I have a strong left flank. Sabang already has a pretty decent garrison.


[image]local://upfiles/26552/87FF289809764DEFB38038FEF6DAFCC2.jpg[/image]



dennishe -> RE: Battle of Burma (12/22/2013 12:51:39 PM)

As long the frontlines are very quiet, I will take this opportunity to explain the economical situation is somewhat more detail.

Resources:
It is important to ship resources to Honshu as efficient as possible with the minimum amount of ships. If I need less ships, I will not have to replace any if the Allies sink some. This means that I will save precious HI for fighting equipment. To ship resources efficiently I reorganized my convoys as such that all AKs in the convoy have the same speed and cargo size. This means that ships will not have to wait for each other. Although it takes a while before the cargo system can start this eventually will be more efficient. Below you see a Figure that shows the amount of resources at Hokkaido. This is an illustrative example which shows how efficient resources are moved from Hokkaido to Honshu. You see that there is a steadily growth of resources that are produced at Hokkaido until turn 7, when the first convoys started to load. After turn 7 the line becomes more and more noisy. This is due to desynchronization of the convoys. You will see that in the 75 turns there are too little convoys to remove all produced resources from Hokkaido to Honshu as the amount of resources at Hokkaido grows. This is due to slow unloading and loading of the convoys at the main ports. Around turn 75, the port of Ominato was expanded to level 7. Level 7 is the magic number! Unloading can be much more efficiently as much more AKs can unload at the same time and therefore less convoys have to detour from Hokkaido to Tokyo. Now Ominato is increased to level 7, the construction units that were involved move to Sapporo to increase also this port above level 7, in order to make another step forwards in efficient cargo shipping. Other construction units have already started to work on the port of Shikoku since turn 1.


[image]local://upfiles/26552/850E8F3A0F92413B98A6E5B6D3615DCC.jpg[/image]



offenseman -> RE: Battle of Burma (12/22/2013 3:07:42 PM)

Watch out because in my experience when Sapporo becomes size 7, Resources flow toward Sapporo which is further away and in order to make Hakodate primary again you need to stockpile there. For me it was a waste of supplies to increase Sapporo past size 6. YMMV of course.



dennishe -> RE: Battle of Burma (12/22/2013 5:24:34 PM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: offenseman

Watch out because in my experience when Sapporo becomes size 7, Resources flow toward Sapporo which is further away and in order to make Hakodate primary again you need to stockpile there. For me it was a waste of supplies to increase Sapporo past size 6. YMMV of course.


Thanks! I will spread focus between Hakodate and Sapporo.

March 24th 1942. Bataan fell. At Luzon, the USAFFE is no more. The units are now marching to Manilla..

[image]local://upfiles/26552/9279BC90EC8A45998990D35DE86AFBC2.jpg[/image]



dennishe -> RE: Battle of Burma (12/23/2013 8:39:07 PM)

It is almost April 1st. New aircraft will become available. The first squadrons of Rufes already arrived in Yokohama. The R&D factories in blue will upgrade to production factories shortly. What do the numbers in the brackets indicate?

[image]local://upfiles/26552/529E8F19DE50423D97DEEB4474A54756.jpg[/image]



offenseman -> RE: Battle of Burma (12/23/2013 8:45:17 PM)

That is how many RnD factories have been built on their way to the 100 needed to advance a month. i.e. your Helen is 56% built toward advancing.



dennishe -> RE: Battle of Burma (12/23/2013 11:41:32 PM)


quote:

ORIGINAL: offenseman

That is how many RnD factories have been built on their way to the 100 needed to advance a month. i.e. your Helen is 56% built toward advancing.


Thanks!
In China I'm slowly making progress. So far I'm obeying the garrison requirements (not sure if is this worthwhile???). By clever relocating units I have gathered a substantial force in the north, which is currently moving towards Sian.

[image]local://upfiles/26552/B56ED189477D4605AC565AEDF4B8FF71.jpg[/image]



dennishe -> RE: Battle of Burma (12/30/2013 2:28:07 PM)

It seems that Burma is going to be a major battlefield. In post #97 I already mentioned the major airbases that I picked out for the Japanese Army. From these locations the IJA Air Force will bomb forward enemy positions. These bombardments will be supported by long range fighters operating from the same bases and short range fighters located at Rangoon or at forward positions in Burma. In the next post(s) I will explain in somewhat more detail my strategy for the upcoming Burma campaign.

As you can see from the map I already took most of the important bases in Burma. I would have liked to take Akyab as well, but due to the presence of several Australian divisions this would have been a very tough nut to crack. For the time being I will not go for Akyab and will simply try to keep my current positions as long as possible and fight a retreating battle from here. The enormous amount of Allied units in the Indian jungle and along the coastline suggests that this is going to be quite difficult already.

At the moment I'm using all my PPs to release units from restricted areas to reinforce the 15th Army in Burma. Also the Imperial Guards division has already been moved here. I will significantly increase the size of the 15th Army here in '42 and '43 to hold the lines. The major defensive lines are given in yellow in the Figure(s) below. Not only is it important to hold off the Allies as long as possible, but also withdraw in an orderly fashion when this is necessary. A "Stalingrad" must be prevented at all times! When a considerable part of my army is trapped behind enemy lines, these units are no longer available for defending the home islands. The 15th Army may not only get stuck behind enemy lines when the Burmese front is overrun, but also will be out of action if the Allies land somewhere in the Philipines, at Okinawa or at Formosa. Japan simply does not have the recources to withdraw such a large army overseas quickly. The timing of the retreat has to be perfect. At the end of the day the 15th Army must be at the right side of my defensive perimeter.

Defensive positions will therefore predominantly be taken at those positions from which it is relatively easy to reatreat. Preferably these are connected to the railroad system. I will redraw from the coastline positions if my defensive lines in central Burma start to crumble. Pego and Rangoon are potential deathtraps if my units are forced to retreat in the wrong direction and therefore these positions will not be defended. If Burma falls, Moulmein will be the last line of defense. After this the Japanese troops will pull back into the jungle and withdraw to Bankok, Saigon, Hanoi or even Hong Kong via the railroad networks in the jungle. At this stage Southeast Asia will be lost. Singapore will be defended by the 25th Army to prevent the Royal Navy form excess into the Southeast China Sea (more on this in the next post)...

[image]local://upfiles/26552/78D4784716B34A88A9CB71C18AA3BAF6.jpg[/image]



offenseman -> RE: Battle of Burma (12/30/2013 2:35:21 PM)

Make sure you bomb Ledo if the Allies are using it to fly supplies into China from there. [8D] That is a mistake I made- not bombing Ledo. Any chance you can make a run to Kunming from the south?



dennishe -> RE: Battle of Burma (12/30/2013 2:52:14 PM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: offenseman

Make sure you bomb Ledo if the Allies are using it to fly supplies into China from there. [8D] That is a mistake I made- not bombing Ledo. Any chance you can make a run to Kunming from the south?


Khyberbill is using all his reserves to hold the lines near Changsha and even is doing some offensive operations in this area. According to my scouts the Chinese backlands are virtually empty. I'm attacking him in the north. For now I do not have the resources to push him back, but my guess is that he will run out of supplies shortly. Ask me the same question in '43...

Edit: It must be relatively easy to put a strong fighter cap over Paoshan and Kunming from the (dot) base north of Hanoi. I forgot the name but have highlighted it in the picture of post #97



dennishe -> RE: Battle of Burma (12/30/2013 2:52:53 PM)

In order to prevent a large army to be cut off behind enemy lines, it is important to protect the flanks. Since the 15th Army will not push into the jungle beyond Mandalay, the right flank is more or less completely protected by the jungle. One may only expect a major offensive from this direction through Lashio. A major offensive from here would be unfortunate, but will not directly lead to the fall of the 15th Army. The left flank on the otherside is very vulnerable.

The 25th Army will protect the entire coastline of Thailand/Burma to prevent amphibious landings by the Allies at an early stage. After '44 it will be very difficult to prevent such an amphibious assault at that time retreat to Moulmein seems to be inevitable anyways. Sabang is already reinforced and the Japanese garrisons have also started to occupy and fortify the Andaman islands. Victoria Point, Mergui and Tavoy are other locations where the Allies may land where fortifications are being build. At a later stage also Alor Star and Georgetown will be fortified. When Burma falls, the 25th Army will retreat to the Malayian peninsula where it will stall the Allies as long as possible from entering the Java sea and the SouthChina sea. This will give the 15th Army (from Indo China) and the 16th Army (from the area between Java and New Guinea) time to withdraw and to take up positions in the next line of defense along the 14th Army (Philippines and Formosa).

To further prevent Allied amphibious assaults, the Imperial Japanese Navy will operate in large numbers from several level 4 airfields around the Andamantan Sea. These incluse Port Blair, Victoria Point and Tavoy. The main bombers will operate from Bankok where also the local HQ will be positioned. The Andamantan Sea must be a very dangerous place to be for any Allied ship. Even after Rangoon falls, large convoys into Rangoon must be prevented. If the Japanese Navy is successful, this implies that the Alies will have to continue their advance into Thailand and Malaya without fighter escorts.

[image]local://upfiles/26552/70839AA3A8CE43F0B5E707B3755EEEF6.jpg[/image]



dennishe -> RE: Battle of Burma (12/30/2013 10:36:59 PM)

WITPtracker is very important for me to keep track of the Japanese economy. One of the things that I'm missing is a clear overview what the actual condition of Japan is. It is nice to see how much resources there are for example, but if these resources are not at the home islands they don't mean anything. The plot below shows the amount of supplies, fuel, resources and oil at Honshu and Kyushu. These are connected by a railroad and form the hart of the Japanese economical infrastructure.

Supplies:
Supplies are slowly decreasing. This is the result of the construction of factories. Especially vehicle and engine factories are being expanded rapidly. Also some aircraft and armament factories have been build. It is important to expand factories strategically. Expanding factories that at a later stage are shut down are expensive in terms of supplies. Also factories that are being expanded at a very late stage of the game are expensive. Ideally one would like the factories to produce during as many turns as possible. But on the other hand, one does not want to fight with obsolete units. Therefore I'm currently investing in vehicle, engine, aircraft-that-auto-upgrade and armament factories.

Fuel:
From the plot you can see at which point I started to ship fuel from the DEI to the home islands. I was actually hoping to see an increase in fuel, but instead it seems to stay level. This is not good, as a lot of fuel is produced by refining oil that is present at the home islands. It is important to mention though that the largest fuel convoy was moved to Hokkaido, which was running out of fuel at the moment. Also I'm moving some fuel to Kwajalein, Truk and Babeldaop. All warships have more or less been disbanded in port and the overall fuel consumption should decrease. If this is indeed the case the AOs will also reinforce the TKs in shipping fuel to the home islands.

Resources:
As mentioned earlier, after increase of the port of Ominato moving resources to Japan is more efficient. You can easily see this from this graph. Resource levels are safe with the current strategy.

Oil:
Oil levels are rapidly dropping in Japan. I'm only shipping little oil to Japan. Fuel seems to be quicker to load and since it flows more easily to other ports, it can be shipped from larger ports and therefore faster. Overall fuel + oil levels are dropping. This is worrysome. Most tankers did only one run so far. I will monitor these numbers carefully during the rest of the campaign. Any thoughts?.....

Edit: I dumped 80000 fuel at Hokkaido. Hokkaido now has sufficient fuel for 427 days and does not need anything for the rest of teh year. Taking this into account, things may just be fine.

[image]local://upfiles/26552/C4C111DF8C54489A82C1CBA266701004.jpg[/image]



dennishe -> RE: Battle of Burma (1/2/2014 10:45:45 PM)

Pearl Harbor was quite a success. The Oklahoma, Arizona, Pennsylvania and California have been sunk. Today one of the Japanese submarines hit the West Virginia with a torpedo.

[image]local://upfiles/26552/96105B0FA3E4461885B6A16B33F1618C.jpg[/image]



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