Behind Every Blade of Grass... (no Jwolf Please) (Full Version)

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Malagant -> Behind Every Blade of Grass... (no Jwolf Please) (1/28/2015 10:07:04 PM)

Behind Every Blade of Grass…


I’m a very new WITP player. I’ve played in to 43 as Allies twice (once with Scen 1, another with 10 on Hard). I’ve got the gist of how to get things to do what I want to do, but that’s about it! 

I started a PBEM game as Allies, but my opponent had a real life issue that has put that game on indefinite hold.

I was lucky to meet JWolf here on the forum, another new player who’s going through the same learning curve process as I am, and we decided to start a PBEM game together, and I’ve taken the very scary plunge in to the world of playing the Japanese!

I’m writing the AAR because I really like to have the ‘sounding board’ of you Forumites for ideas and questions, and writing things out helps me keep my thoughts semi-organized. I am in no way a skilled player, but hope through writing and reading your responses to learn a lot more than I would by just keeping it all to myself. So please, tell me when I’m being dumb!

I’ve read the first dozen pages of Mike Solli’s AAR several times, with lots of copy/pasting and notes-taking. I’m basing most of my early-game production and force allocations on his. I am, sadly, nowhere near as methodical as many of you are, and am in fact quite compulsive and impatient, so I doubt I’ll have anywhere near the success he’s had…but that’s fine, this game is more about us blundering around bumping in to each other and trying to learn why our things just blew up!

One of the biggest problems I have with this game, primarily as the Japanese, is getting my head around what I have. The way I think, I want to know what things I have available then based on what I have set goals and allocate force appropriately. I consistently feel like I’m setting goals then digging around trying to find something I can use to achieve those goals instead of setting goals commensurate with the tools I have. I’d love to have an OOB of starting forces available!

But without getting in to too much detail, I have a Three-tiered Broad-stroke plan to lose the war in as entertaining a way as possible!

Tier One

(I have no idea if this is a reasonable expectation, but goal is for this Tier to be winding down very early 42…like, in January.)

Get initial invasions of SRA out of the way, goal is to invest key strongholds and capture as much as possible. Key Central Pacific islands will be taken before USA can garrison strongly. Push in to Solomons/Coral Sea.

-Malaya cleaned up and Singapore under siege.

-Sumatra (specifically Palembang) invaded.

-Java attacked (probably right in the middle, take the central position isolating both ends and working one before the other)

-Borneo key spots attacked

-Philippines want to get all Allied forces in Luzon pushed in to their siege town of choice, besiege them and starve them while other forces clean up the other islands

-Central Pacific I want to move quickly and aggressively, bypassing lightly defended western locales to capture Christmas, Canton, and Baker. My hope is to push the Aussie supply fleets in to a narrow band where they can be found easier. More on that later.

-Attu Island will be taken and air forces sent that way to keep surface forces at bay. PP expenditures will be to free up forces for this theatre (this will become my primary focus)

Tier Two

Get the resources flowing from SRA and establish defensive perimeter while raiding Australian Supply Lanes.

-Backfill the Central Pacific Islands...Tarawa, Ocean, Funafuti etc. Establish strong defense of Christmas with an Air Flotilla to make unescorted shipping thru here painful

-Take Solomons and on down to Noumae, also Port Moresby, Horn Island, Fiji and Samoa if practical.

-Finish SRA, establish supply convoys, push to Burma.

-Side-show in Australia where I want to take Darwin and the NW bases. I want a Betty base that can threaten convoys coming in to Perth, haven’t picked one yet. Intent is to make Strategic Bombing of SRA more difficult and to distract from primary objective…

-Another side-show in Indian Ocean where I intend a KB sortie (maybe mini-KB) to mess with Ceylon. I may send a small force to take Diego Garcia to disrupt his efforts to reinforce India/Burma.

-Establish surface forces for raiding Australian supply lanes (expect him to have to run down near New Zealand and maybe Antarctica up in to Perth).

-Major push in to Aleutians, primary goal is Kodiak. I hope to stage this carefully so that a flurry of islands are invaded simultaneously. This sets up the third and final tier…

Tier Three

(I’m hoping this to happen late summer of 42. I have no concept of how long it will take to really shift forces up here, so this might get postponed til spring 43).

Where I lose the war in a glorious and bloody struggle in North America, eh! I don’t know if the quote attributed to Yamamoto I used for the thread title is real or not…but it’s a damned fine sentiment and I’m going to see it proven right!

From Kodiak I intend to invade Canada at Prince Rupert. Quick advance to Prince George and Kamloops. Fast forces will go east to Calgary and Edmonton. Rest goes south to Vancouver and Spokane. Goal is Seattle & Tacoma. Maybe try to sneak in to Butte too.

I know, this is crazy and will never work. At this point in the war he’s got a ton of Restricted stuff that is sitting around wanting something to do and hasn’t been Withdrawn yet. He’ll get all his free goodies too. I’ll have a terrible time making it through the mountains. I’ll never hold things when I get there, and this will drain so much of my forces that the UK and Australia may well roll over me elsewhere. But it’s damned amusing!

As a rough guesstimate I’m expecting to take 14th, 16th, and 25th Armies, as well as any Armor units I can scrape up (those Armored Divisions from Manchuko will be used, I hope!).

Absolute best case I grab up enough VP to auto-win in 42…but realistically I don’t expect anything more than my opponent and I having a good fun time doing something completely ahistorical!

Now I have to say that we’ve already started our game. We are doing bog-standard Scenario 1 with PDU On, and Historical First Turn on also. Historical First Turn has hurt my brain more than anything, as I have to try to dig through all the task forces already underway to find out what troops are going where then figure out what else I have to send there or retask them, etc.

I’ve also very sadly lost the first two turns Combat Reporter files (I’ve unfortunately overwritten them with an A/I game…how do folks handle keeping combat report files separate when playing multiple games?)

I’ve also been VERY humbled by my lack of knowledge of the Japanese planes. Why are most of them named for women…but not all? Is there a method to this madness? I’ve spent as much time looking up internet goodies about the planes as I have playing the game! I’ve also been very confused trying to find in-game way to tell what the “upgrade paths” are so I know what factories are going to do what. I’ve not sweated that too much, as I’ve got some time to figure it out, but man is it confusing.

And speaking of confusing, the whole R&D thing has completely blown up my brain. I’ve chosen to completely ignore it until I at least get my force allocation stuff worked out….there’s only so much room in my brain to go around!

So with that as an introduction, I’ll post some more goodies soon. I tend to get easily distracted at work, so will likely babble a lot about this and that all day every day. Look for posts coming soon about my production changes, force allocation, and the first few days fighting results!

Thanks for reading!
-Bob




Mike McCreery -> RE: Behind Every Blade of Grass... (no Jwolf Please) (1/28/2015 10:09:25 PM)

I started a game as the Japanese and quit 21 turns in.

Bravo to you!!



BBfanboy -> RE: Behind Every Blade of Grass... (no Jwolf Please) (1/28/2015 10:52:41 PM)

Sounds like you have a great concept for how to proceed! I predict you will not be able to make the leap from Attu to the West Coast NA unless you have managed to avoid losses of any major warships - CA and up. The initial series of steps will require absolute naval and air supremacy in the Aleutians.

Consider taking Christmas Island (IO) off Sumatra as one of your moves. You can live without it but if left to the Allies it will be bigger than just a thorn in your side.

Some players have multiple installs of the game to use for different campaigns. Just rename the key top-level folders and icons to keep them from getting crossed up.

The mostly female names given to Japanese aircraft are from Allied Recognition training. Much easier to say and hear "Betty" than whatever the formal code (G6M1?) is for the plane. Fighters normally get male names.

Although it is tempting to take N. Oz bases just within Betty and Nell range of Perth, you will not be able to sustain naval interdiction with those two aircraft models alone. They have great range but are fragile (no armour, no self-sealing tanks) so Flak and any kind of CAP will take a heavy toll on them. They need escorts, and Army bombers to try to close the airfields around Perth. Even if you bring lots of Sallies and Zekes with drop tanks, the B-17s and B-24s can still reach out and hit your air bases. IMO, the Japanese dilemma is that they must take everything or take nothing and stay away.

I seem to remember someone posting a spreadsheet with the Japanese key units all listed - might have been for the Allied side to keep track for where they all were from SIGINT reports. Try searching the war room of this AAR forum for "Japanese Divisions" + spreadsheet. Intel Monkey or Tracker may be able to provide a list of current units in the game and their location, but I don't think anything makes such a list of the reinforcement queue.

Good luck - hope you have as much fun as you are planning!



Lowpe -> RE: Behind Every Blade of Grass... (no Jwolf Please) (1/28/2015 11:42:45 PM)

Get tracker up and running.

There is a great flow chart of Japanese planes with upgades paths. I can post it here if you don't have it...not sure from your post.

Most starting fleets for Japan are named with destinations, that helps.

Learn how to sort fleets, ground forces, and how to hotkey to them...you can sort by prep.

Make a house rule that you have to pay political points to get restricted units to cross national borders. Will help with Canada.

Very aggressive expansion, will cost a ton of supplies and fuel. Not saying don't do it, but it is scenario 1.

Have fun![:)] It is not that bad.



Malagant -> RE: Behind Every Blade of Grass... (no Jwolf Please) (1/29/2015 1:41:22 AM)

Thanks for the responses, guys.

Christmas IO is definitely on the list of things I'd like to snatch up in Tier Two. Your input about interdiction with Bettys is sound, I will heed your advice. I think I will likely take those NW and Northern Aussie bases anyway, but without any real plan of staying there or building them up. As I've read elsewhere, I think just holding them for awhile and denying him the ability to upgrade them to support large HB fleets is a fine idea with minimal investment.

I do have Tracker, and have used it a bit, though there is a lot of "information overload". I used it quite a bit to identify where I have units of a particular army that aren't off with the rest. For example, finding the 146th Inf Reg (which is part of the 56th Division of 25th Army) is assigned to 14th Army off to invade PI!

I've actually started on making OOB for the starting forces. Maybe as time goes I'll actually finish some of them and post for others who have brains that work like mine does. I'll put parts of it up on Google and share if anyone's interested.


So as stated I've overwritten the first turns Reporter log, which is unfortunate, but according to the Kido Butai pilots the attack on Pearl was an unprecedented success! No less than SEVEN US Battleships were sunk, along with significant damage to smaller vessels. As if that were not enough, our Betty pilots report sinking both the Prince of Wales and Repulse off Malaya!

2 Ship BB Maryland Enemy ship sunk Sunk by 250 kg GP Bomb at Pearl Harbor Information
2 Ship BB West Virginia Enemy ship sunk Sunk by 18in Type 91 Torpedo at Pearl Harbor Information
2 Ship BB Nevada Enemy ship sunk Sunk by 18in Type 91 Torpedo at Pearl Harbor Information
2 Ship BB Oklahoma Enemy ship sunk Sunk by 18in Type 91 Torpedo at Pearl Harbor Information
2 Ship BB Arizona Enemy ship sunk Sunk by 18in Type 91 Torpedo at Pearl Harbor Information
2 Ship BB Pennsylvania Enemy ship sunk Sunk by 250 kg GP Bomb at Pearl Harbor Information
2 Ship BB Tennessee Enemy ship sunk Sunk by 18in Type 91 Torpedo at Pearl Harbor Information
2 Ship BB Prince of Wales Enemy ship sunk Sunk by 18in Type 91 Torpedo at 52,82 near Mersing Information
2 Ship BC Repulse Enemy ship sunk Sunk by 18in Type 91 Torpedo at 52,82 near Mersing Information
2 Ship CA San Francisco Enemy ship sunk Sunk by 18in Type 91 Torpedo at Pearl Harbor Information
2 Ship DD Helm Enemy ship sunk Sunk by 18in Type 91 Torpedo at Pearl Harbor Information
2 Ship DD Ralph Talbot Enemy ship sunk Sunk by 18in Type 91 Torpedo at Pearl Harbor Information
2 Ship DD Case Enemy ship sunk Sunk by 18in Type 91 Torpedo at Pearl Harbor Information
2 Ship DD Hull Enemy ship sunk Sunk by 18in Type 91 Torpedo at Pearl Harbor Information
2 Ship DD Aylwin Enemy ship sunk Sunk by 250 kg GP Bomb at Pearl Harbor Information
2 Ship DD Litchfield Enemy ship sunk Sunk by 18in Type 91 Torpedo at Pearl Harbor Information
2 Ship PG Sacramento Enemy ship sunk Sunk by 18in Type 91 Torpedo at Pearl Harbor Information
2 Ship DMS Trevor Enemy ship sunk Sunk by 18in Type 91 Torpedo at Pearl Harbor Information
2 Ship DMS Perry Enemy ship sunk Sunk by 18in Type 91 Torpedo at Pearl Harbor Information
2 Ship AVD Hulbert Enemy ship sunk Sunk by 18in Type 91 Torpedo at Pearl Harbor Information
2 Ship PT PT-21 Enemy ship sunk Sunk by 250 kg GP Bomb at Pearl Harbor Information
2 Ship SSX Ha-14 Ship sunk Grounding at Pearl Harbor Major
2 Ship SSX Ha-18 Ship sunk Abandoned at Pearl Harbor Major
2 Ship SSX Ha-19 Ship sunk Hit obstruction at Pearl Harbor Major
2 Ship SSX Ha-22 Ship sunk Foundered at Pearl Harbor Major
2 Ship SSX Ha-24 Ship sunk Grounding at Pearl Harbor Major

Not a bad start!




Sangeli -> RE: Behind Every Blade of Grass... (no Jwolf Please) (1/29/2015 2:51:10 AM)

Interesting strategy but I think its too ambitious with too many tangential objectives. I realize you recognize that but I don't think you should willy nilly jump into a game like WitP and pursue a strategy you think will fail. I'm not saying don't take risks but I don't think you'll be so "amused" getting beaten in North America as your post suggests you might be. This game is an incredible investment and I wouldn't ever pursue a strategy that I didn't think had a reasonable chance of success. Therefore, I think you should take a step back and think of your grand strategic plan and how you'll achieve it.

Based off your earlier comments I can tell you're interested in shutting down the West Coast - OZ shipping routes with a deep CentPac push. Why not take advantage of that CentPac pressure to go invade the South Pacific like Fiji, Samoa, or even New Zealand and make that your grand strategy? They'll be relatively undefended and will put an even stronger chokehold on OZ.



BBfanboy -> RE: Behind Every Blade of Grass... (no Jwolf Please) (1/29/2015 4:56:36 AM)


quote:

ORIGINAL: Sangeli

Interesting strategy but I think its too ambitious with too many tangential objectives. I realize you recognize that but I don't think you should willy nilly jump into a game like WitP and pursue a strategy you think will fail. I'm not saying don't take risks but I don't think you'll be so "amused" getting beaten in North America as your post suggests you might be. This game is an incredible investment and I wouldn't ever pursue a strategy that I didn't think had a reasonable chance of success. Therefore, I think you should take a step back and think of your grand strategic plan and how you'll achieve it.

Based off your earlier comments I can tell you're interested in shutting down the West Coast - OZ shipping routes with a deep CentPac push. Why not take advantage of that CentPac pressure to go invade the South Pacific like Fiji, Samoa, or even New Zealand and make that your grand strategy? They'll be relatively undefended and will put an even stronger chokehold on OZ.

What you say makes sense for anyone planning to go the distance, BUT - the way I read Malagant's starting post, he wants to have fun while he has the big hammer and then when the Allies bring a bigger one, he wants to lose the game in spectacular fashion so he can start another! Sounds reasonable to me if going kamikaze on North America can be fun! [:D]



Malagant -> RE: Behind Every Blade of Grass... (no Jwolf Please) (1/29/2015 8:34:02 PM)

Well put, BB! That's more or less it, though I strongly suspect that my opponent and I will have learned from our mistakes enough by that point that we'll both be in 'goof off' mode and ready to do things "for real".

And really, I do want to see how 'hard' it will be to invade North America. How much of a butt-woopin would it be for the Japanese? I know a more controlled yet aggressive approach on other theaters might have more chance of success, but those roads have been walked down quite a few times...I want to do something a bit different! :)


So production...as I said I'd followed Mike Solli's AAR pretty closely, having read the first dozen pages multiple times. The biggest problem I have, as mentioned, is getting my ahead around when airframes will 'upgrade' and to what. I tend to get mental blocks on things, and this was one of them, so I pushed the "I believe" button, and set up the factories to produce pretty much exactly what Solli had, which to me is the 'immediate needs'.

So, without further babble (I do tend to babble a lot...), my starting production
(note this is as of the end of 12/9 turn)

Airframes
A6M2 58(42) Such an amazing plane. I suspect these factories will be upgrading soon.
B5N1 2(19) I think I had a misclick here. I was aiming for a lowish number to use up the engines while the N2 stockpile grew...oh well! There's 100 engines in the pool, so this guy will change to something in < 5 months
B5N2 2(14)
C5M2 2(4) I kind of like this RCN better than the Dinah, but it doesn't seem it upgrades to anything but the Dinah does. I'm thinking this factory will be one I'll consider changing as I don't expect the RCN squadrons to have very high losses. Once this pool is up to 50 or so I don't expect I'll build any more.
D3A1 14(18)
E13A1 27(0) Coming from playing allies, this float plane blew me away. Such a great range! I intend to upgrade every FP on every ship I can to this guy!
E14Y1 11(10) If I hadn't read Mike's AAR about increasing size of this, I wouldn't. I expect Op Losses to be pretty low for this plane. There are 121 engines in the pool, so < 6 months to needed a factory change
G3M2 23(7)
G4M1 27(3) In my opinion these plans are one of the most significant advantages the Japanese have. The allies have no plane that can reach out and sink ships like these bad boys can. I suspect I will overuse them and suffer lots of losses when I mess up and attack where there's CAP, so I may be upping these factories a bit
H6K4 M8(2)
Ki-21-IIa 25(15)
Ki-48-1b 34(0) I'm not sure about the Lily, but it seems a fair number of the 1e bombers upgrade to this guy without spending PP. I intend to dig in to this further and figure out how many squadrons that includes, and determine how many I need to get them upgraded to Lily, then will likely switch to Sally. I think this will be the best way to get the 1e planes buffed up to 2e without breaking the PP bank
Ki-43-Ic 37(77) I wish I'd found a better way to switch around these factories to not cause as much damage. I'd love get these Nates upgraded, but the factories are going to take awhile to really kick in.
Ki-46-II 12(8)
Ki-57-I 8(2)
L3Y2 2(8) Early war transport range is another thing that blew me away when seeing what the Japanese have compared to Allies. Wow!

Engines
Ha-35 186(144)
Ha-33 68(117)
Ha-32 63(77)
Ha-31 45(0)
Ha-34 10(0)

A massive amount of repair going on. Repairs over next month will consume 1.2 million supply (according to Tracker). That's almost exactly what's on hand in the HI, which means the 20k/day I produce will be available for operational use.

In addition, I've increased each Vehicle factory by 10 or so (I don't remember exactly, and can't find that tidbit in Tracker). I haven't touched the Armament factories yet. Will see how things go in first month or so to determine what's needed.

I've made no change to Naval or Merchant Shipyards. I like the idea of increasing Naval SY capacity to allow speeding up the CVs, but am leery of changing too much too fast. I'll let the dust settle from my turning the entire airframe industry on its head before I tweak this.

I did increase some of the Repair SY a bit, getting a few more to 100.

Pilot Training is underway as well. I'll touch more on that later, as i still need to organize and evaluate the class size to make sure I have enough in training, particularly IJN.

And of course, where would I be without massive amounts of ship conversions!?

I have 7 Lima class converting to AKE. I may set some aside for AKV, not sure if needed yet.
30 Aden class are changing to troop carrier. I may do more, as there are really fewer AP type than I'd like to have!
A few (4?) Akasi are changing to AD. I'll want them for reloading Escorts at key places, I think.
The Std-C are getting parked pending their ability to convert to Tankers.
All the Ansyu-C are changing to PBs
The Kiso-E, most will be PB but I'll do a few ACM to help support the Minefields
The To'su are also going to PBs, though I have to do a count of how many tenders I need to support the Minefields I have, and may do some more to ACM.

I've spent the better part of today going over port size restrictions and organizing convoy concepts. Little work has been done at work today! I'll post more on that as I finalize it.

That's pretty much all the non-operational specific pre-game stuff (which is still not done three turns in to the game!)

Next I hope to post my thoughts on where and how I'll organize the naval forces; and where I'm sending the ground forces!



Malagant -> RE: Behind Every Blade of Grass... (no Jwolf Please) (1/29/2015 10:00:19 PM)

So a question...the Taiyo

It's got a very reasonable capacity, and not super slow...in fact I think it has a better capacity and better AA than the Hosho. However it starts seemingly just having unloaded aircraft at Bad, and there don't seem to be any airgroups 'designated' for it (which I believe was the historical method of air squadron for the Japanese CVs).

What do JFB typically do with Taiyo? I'd love to put some planes on it and roll it in to MKB, so really the question is where do you suggest getting the planes?

I think I could take Figs from one of the Yamada Dets, but what about some TBs? With an Air Capacity of 27 I think 30 planes fit on comfortably. 20 Fighters and 10 TB would suit me very well.

On the other hand, I'm not sure if it carries torpedos, so maybe getting some Val onboard?

It seems my options are to pay PP to steal some attack planes (likely from China Air Fleet), or to split a group from one of the big boy CVs and resize appropriately.

Thoughts?



Malagant -> RE: Behind Every Blade of Grass... (no Jwolf Please) (1/31/2015 3:19:32 PM)

So far this has been the most actionless action report I’ve read! Sorry…apparently I suck at this!
We’re a few days in to the war now, not going particularly fast, but I need to do a quick post to catch up on my plans and how things have progressed up til now.

Malaya

16th and 25th Army forces are heading here. A lot of them are scattered in different areas, but trying to bring them here.

Landings are where the first day already head them, primarily Kota Bharu, Patani, and Singora.

Patani and Singora forces will head east, and attempt to surround and take George Town. Kota Bharu is getting all second wave stuff, and they will head to Temuloh, Kuantan, and Kuala Lumpur. Boring plan is just to push down the peninsula and besiege Sinagpore.

All the little Battalion sized landings farther up in to Thailand are heading to Victoria Point. 1st Raiding Regiment will be flown here to take Port Blair.

I lost a ton of good planes with a few gafs on the first turn. About a dozen Sallys were lost over George Town when I didn’t get the Sweep and Escort set properly.

Even worse, I lost about a dozen Bettys and Nells over Singapore as they flew in to attack an xAKL…they didn’t even hit the ship!

No sign of the remnants of Force Z or any RN fighting ships…except one DD sighted on Dec 9 escorting merchant shipping north thru the Straits of Malacca. I’m inclined to believe he’s in full Sir Robin mode.

Burma
15th Army is on trains heading here. 33rd Div from HI is embarking an Amphibious Task Force. I’m not sure where they’ll land, depends on the air situation when they get here. I’d like to go straight to Moulmein, but it might be a boring Bangkok landing and rail up to the action.

Borneo
I/124th Bat was already underway to Miri. I’ve let them go in, they have no air support, hoping they have enough oomph to carry the place.

III/124th, Yokosuka 2nd SNLF, and 97th AF Bn are on the way to Skngkawang, covered by Zeroes from Soc Trang. My hope is to get Singkawang within first few days, base Zeroes there, and cover an early landing at Palembang (4th Div and 21 IMB embarking for that job).

Philippines
All of 14th Army is heading for San Fernando. The SNLF that took Batan Island is heading for Laoag. The two SNLF Paratroopers will take Vigan when boots are on the ground there.

Notably first day air strike on PI did very little damage.

Zeroes over Clark and have done well, I think he put up the bulk of the P40s as Cap on Dec 8th and it seems most have been shot down.

Lots of fleets spotted fleeing in all directions from PI and Hong Kong, but no strikes have hit home.

Several fleets are already heading to Legaspi from HI, I’ll let them land there then split off some forces for Mindinao.

Taiyo had the Kawai Det fly back on board after changing her to an Air Combat task force. That Det will be withdrawn soon, so will have to find planes for her…input welcome here! She’s joining Ryujo and they’ll patrol south and east of PI trying to catch fleeing ships.

*Note, no sign at all of Houston or Boise!*

Cent Pac

KB is heading to 4 hexes east of Wake. The Guam Invasion force has been sent to link up with the Wake Invasion force, they’ll all go in together with KB support.

5th Base Force from Saipan is heading to Guam, from there it will reload and head to Christmas.

A Naval Guard is on its way to Christmas (was the force intended for Tarawa). Another is going to Canton. I intend to build up Christmas with a chunk of 24th Air (Mavis, Nell, Claudes). I want an AS there to make this a major sub base and hope to send some of the older DDs here with an AD to mess with shipping. KB will head here after Wake to cover and maybe catch the US CVs.

Note that I may split off Kaga to join MKB for use in SRA after the Wake invasion…but what scares me is I haven’t seen Houston or Boise…they may be heading east. And there’s also the herd of subs that are probably fleeing this way from the PI.

South Pac

The NG that started already embarked for Shortlands and Kavieng will go in unsupported. An SNLF is heading for Manus. 4 small invasion fleets already embarked at start are heading for Truk, where they’ll join up with another SNLF there. They will meet the Manus SNLF and take Rabaul. The Guards Mixed Brigade from HI will be sent here to form the nucleus of the force I’ll send to PM. While waiting the rest of these small units will swarm around the small dots and undefended bases in the region. I may try to head as far as Luganville before support shows up.

BBs FUSO and YAMASHIRO will be the core of a Surface force working this area based out of Truk.

And best for last, Alaska
7th Base Force, along with an Eng Reg and some Air Support are loading at Ominato for Adak. They will be joined by CLs TAMA and KISO and 10 old Minekaze DDs. An AS and AD will head there. I’m aiming for a dozen SS based there as well. Forces from Korea and Manchuko will be bought out and staged here for the Tier 2 attack thru all of Aleutians. I need to ID some naval Air Forces to go up here…need Patrol, Fighters, and a credible anti-shipping threat.

So about needing more naval air units…can the carrier air units be divided, then the sub-parts be resized?

And that’s where I am. I’m having organizational challenges finding all the merchant shipping I want, so I’m wasting a lot of fuel mustering pretty much everything that’s not in use in Hiroshima so I can organize things. Wasteful, but that will help my brain a LOT!

So that catches things up to where things are now…on to the action of Dec 10th!

Thanks for reading, any feedback welcome!




witpqs -> RE: Behind Every Blade of Grass... (no Jwolf Please) (1/31/2015 3:44:23 PM)

quote:

So far this has been the most actionless action report I’ve read! Sorry…apparently I suck at this!


Bah - you're doing fine! No worries.

You'll get into a rhythm when you find what works for you. Experiment with some things. Gratuitous screen pics are always a welcome AAR addition. There are different ways to do it, I personally use Greenshot and Paint.net.



Malagant -> RE: Behind Every Blade of Grass... (no Jwolf Please) (1/31/2015 3:55:31 PM)

Dec 10th, 1941

Malaya

After heavy bombing for two days, Kota Bharu is taken. Air Support is being flown in, and the Oscar 1cs stationed here. 56th IR and 12 Engr Rgt are pushing down the road toward Temuloh.

Georgetown is bombed more, taking out a few more RAF planes on the ground. Nothing was in the air.

Burma

I-153 hits an AM off Singkawang, and I-154 hits a CM west of Pontianak.

Miri landing completes, the battalion is ordered to DA tomorrow.

Philippines

The massive landing at San Fernando is finishing. I just switched to DA, primary units are 65th Bde, Tanaka, and Kanno.

Sasebo 1st SNLF landed and is set to DA Laoag. He has planes there, maybe we’ll bag them!

1st and 3rd Yokosuka SNLF Paratroopers are heading to Tuguegarao.

It looks like he sent every sub from Manila to oppose the landing at San Fernando. Luckily I have about 50 escort-type vessels there, and it’s a blue-water hex, so things didn’t go well for him.

-19 hits on Stingray
-11 hits on Sargo
-2 hits on Saury

Sunk Ships report says Stingray and Sargo went down. I took no hits.

On the other hand, I-123 put a torpedo in to the xAK Ming Sang!

Bettys hit an xAK fleeing Manila, Ryujo hit two xAK and a TK off Leyte, sinking at least two including the TK.

I bombarded Hong Kong, waiting for the 104th Division to join the party.

Cent Pac

In a bold move, I set the Guam invasion fleet to Do Not Unload and left on Return to Base. That fleet had a nice fishing expedition off Guam and sailed back to Saipan. Sigh. I’ll try again tomorrow.

Second part of the Wake invasion force looks to be 5 days out still. One thing I would REALLY like to have is a blurb on the TF screen telling me the estimated number of days to reach the destination!

KB is 3 days out, so a bit uncoordinated there. I don’t want to waste Sorties on two days bombing so will just lurk and wait for the AOs to catch up before bombing for a day or two then heading to Christmas.

The AIKOKU MARU and HOKOKU MARU are off Christmas Island. I’d intended to put them there to try to hit any unsupported convoys heading through the area, but now I think it’s a bad idea…any convoys coming thru here will not be unescorted, the US CVs are likely to be around, and they have very little naval search capacity to find targets anyway. I’m going to send them tomorrow to merge with the Christmas Invasion force, where they can be ‘lifeboats’ in case of light action, and they’re bigger guns will be used for Bombardment to support the attack.

Does anyone know if the AMC can be reloaded by an AD, or they’ll need a full-fledged AKE?

52nd and 61st NG are loading for action in the Gilberts. Primary targets are Tarawa, Ocean, and Naurau, but all the little dot bases will be taken. A search base in Funafuti is a goal in this area. CL KATORI and several PB are along with them as well.

SoPac
I/66th NG landed at Kavieng, and is set to DA tomorrow.

Here's a look at the sunk ships since Dec 7...




[image]local://upfiles/11323/BC0504AC0E084AE7914A7AAA562024F8.jpg[/image]



Malagant -> RE: Behind Every Blade of Grass... (no Jwolf Please) (1/31/2015 4:04:55 PM)

Oh, I almost forgot!!

The UK DDs from Hong Kong tried to sail down to oppose landings at San Fernando. I had a SAG lurking in the area to prevent just such a thing, and they had a night-time battle! My force was led by CL NAKA with eight DDs...the three UK DDs crossed my T and put three hits on one of my DDs, and only took one hit from one of my DDs in return. Ouch!

The MINEGUMO will need to go back to the barn for a bit...I'm letting the whole mess return to Pescadores...note I forgot to turn off their Full Speed. Newb!

There is another SAG with two CA and a CL in San Fernando, hopefully they will react out and smash these guys before they're able to do anything else scary!

[image]local://upfiles/11323/39001CBECFE847E3B1CDA491CB7E7A61.jpg[/image]



BBfanboy -> RE: Behind Every Blade of Grass... (no Jwolf Please) (1/31/2015 5:25:51 PM)

I'm fairly sure that ADs can only load guns up to 5" size, not the 6" guns on the AMCs.



Bullwinkle58 -> RE: Behind Every Blade of Grass... (no Jwolf Please) (1/31/2015 6:56:05 PM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: Malagant


So as stated I've overwritten the first turns Reporter log, which is unfortunate,


If you insert the -archive switch in your command line the game will establish an Archive folder under the Save folder and save every text report file from every turn. Very useful.



Malagant -> RE: Behind Every Blade of Grass... (no Jwolf Please) (2/1/2015 12:49:58 AM)

Dec 11, 1941

An exciting turn, as the US CVs have turned up!

Malaya
Nothing particularly exciting. Georgetown was cratered some more. Troops at Alor Star were bombed a bit. My air transports are way overburdened, so most of the Air Support in Indochina is getting on ships and I’ll start standing down the 2e bombers there while I get the new air bases set up.

Burma
Miri was captured with the first DA. Oil and Refinery are both at 149 (151). I’m moving that battalion to Brunei.

The Singkawang invasion force cane under air attack by some Dutch bombers. Turns out that despite the 14 Hex extended range (with tanks) on the Zeroes, the fleet is out of range of LRCAP. I debated turning it around to flee, but if he sends the Torpedo Bombers from Singapore there I’ll get blasted anyway. Instead of sent the Kongo force at Full Speed to join that task force…hopefully all the BBs and CAs will distract the pilots from attacking the squishy troop ships!

I was trying to sneak a few subs thru the ‘strait’ at Oosthaven & Merak, but one got caught by the Vampire and Electra, taking 5 hits. System and Flooding in the 20s, heading back to the barn for a make-over.

Another sub was attacked by the Isis and Encounter near Toboali. No hits on my subs, but the cheeky boat put a torpedo in to a CMc after having been depth-charged!

Philippines
San Fernando is taken, I took 111 Casualties and dished out 1253. 4th Tank Regiment, 65th Brigade, Tanaka and Kanno Dets are in pursuit straight towards Clark.

The RN Destroyers were still lurking around. None of my heavier SAGs wanted any of them, but two of my Destroyers got their blood up and went after them, crossing the T and putting 4 hits on the Scout.

Later the three DDs were bombed in Hong Kong by Mabels on Formosa and Samah. Another bomb hit Scout.

First DA went off on Hong Kong. I only managed 1 to 2 odds, reduced forts to 2, taking 1200 casualties and dishing out 513. Bombers will continue to pound the airfield to keep the Forts down and I’ve switched to Bombard to let the boys recover some disruption.

Legaspi landing came under PT boat attack. The PTs and landing forces ran from each other, but it did disrupt the landing.

Bettys put a few hits on an AS at Puerto Princesa; Ryujo put down three xAKLs.

So Pac
Kavieng landing completed, DA got 1:1, I suffered 29 casualties taking none. Disruption about 15, I set to DA again tomorrow. If no luck I’ll hold tight and send the Shortlands-bound force back to double up on Kavieng.

Amusingly on the way in to the landing, the Kavieng landing force ran in to an AM, the PENGUIN. MThe KASHIMA put 5 hits on her, showing heavy fires.

Cent Pac
The most interesting for last…quite a US sortie towards the Gilberts. Three TFs are visible, one is confirmed CVs; another says 10 ships including a CA…I very much believe that’s the other CV. The third says 3 ships, not sure what that is. All are about 5 hexes east of Gilberts, heading Southeast. This puts them about 28 hexes almost due south of KB. I’ve set KB to Fast heading slightly east of where they are now. With a little luck I’ll catch them in two days and will have successfully annihilated the US Pacific Navy! I only have enough fuel for two days of Full speed. AOs are on hand but will of course get left behind. Wake invasion will go ahead without KB support, as the opportunity to put down those CVs is too much to pass up.

[image]https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-apkOvSqumJA/VM2Fr6K-8UI/AAAAAAAAHEo/ajG4ugifPZo/w767-h496-no/US%2BCVs%2BGilberts.JPG[/image]

The CVs hit the Canton force. One of the xAKLs was sunk, and an AK is hurting. The lifeboat effect kept the losses minimal, but I don’t expect the force to make it to Canton. There isn’t anywhere close enough for them to escape to, so I’m letting them sail on and hoping the US CVs will follow so I can squish them.

And Alaska is still a long way away…

The Zuiho and Hosho are on their way to join Ryujo and Taiyo. I’ve changed their air group sizes and upgraded their aircraft a bit. Hosho has 14 Zeroes and 9 Kates. Zuiho has 20 Zeroes and 14 Kates. This ate up all of my Zero pool, but will make the MKB pretty formidable when I head down in to DEI.

Fingers crossed to get the turn back tonight! I sure am anxious to bag a US CV!



Malagant -> RE: Behind Every Blade of Grass... (no Jwolf Please) (2/3/2015 1:22:41 AM)

Dec 12, 1941

A miserable turn, I'm sorry to report.

A landing force at Kuching was supposed to have LRCAP from a large unit of Oscar 1b from Kota Bharu. Sadly despite being set to 90% LRCAP, only a handful flew, and they were completely ineffective. 4 waves of bombers including all the Swordfish and Vildebeest from Singapore flew. I shot done NONE. I lost 7 xAK, including complete destruction of 114th Inf Regiment and 11th Shipping Engineer Regiment.

Rebuilding those regiments was only a handful of PP, so I've rebuilt them. I'll see next turn how long the delay is. I'm sure they'll be out for the Singapore attack, but I'll need them I'm sure.

Not much else to report. The US CVs have disappeared, so I've slowed the KB to wait for the AOs. There's still some US shipping around Baker heading West, so I'll head that way and see what I can bag.

Kavieng was captured. Landings at Manus and Shortlands are complete, unopposed should capture the bases tomorrow. US DDs John Ford, Peary, and Pillsbury ran in to my force heading for Jolo, and we fled from each other. MKB is nearing that area, hopefully will put them down, good chance of that if they head south.

Still no sign of Houston, Boise, or any of the UK or Dutch CLs.



Malagant -> RE: Behind Every Blade of Grass... (no Jwolf Please) (2/8/2015 5:36:31 PM)

Falling behind on the report here, and we're playing a bit on the slow side...I took two days for my most recent turn to try to arrange the fighting navy how I want it...

Dec 13-15, 41

Malaya
I noticed that I had made some kind of mistake with the fleet setting for forces coming from the Home Islands to here (16th & 24th Inf Regiments, 33rd Div)...They all loaded up on the transports, then all unloaded again. I had to wait for them to completely unload then start the loading again. This is a big hunk of the force allocated for there, and this will put me behind schedule a lot...probably 8-10 day delay.

After the mistake losing the Inf Regiment at Kuantan, I've gotten a better grasp of the LRCAP there. Kuantan was taken and I've had no further significant action. Follow up landings are coming (lots of Air Support and Eng to fix up the damaged air bases). It looks like both Aussie Brigades are still at Mersing, I don't know if I want to try to get around them by foot or land there with the 33rd Division. I'm inclined to try to isolate them and get to Singapore ahead of them.

It looks like the Allies are not retreating in to Singapore though. 6th and 15th Indian Brigades are holding their ground in Alor Star. I have the 1st Tank Regiment and 5th Recon Regiment DAing there while the rest of 5th Division comes in (should be there on the 16th). 14th Tank and the Imperial Guard are right behind.

It looks like he's got just light forces in Georgetown, so 42nd Inf Regiment is going straight in. Should also be there on the 16th.

Taiping looks to have a Brigade and some support holding there. I'll have the 1st and 14th Tanks head here after Alor Star. All the towns down to Singapore are occupied and look to be holding still...hopefully they'll all stay to fight so I can have them crushed before getting to Singapore.

1st Raiding Regiment is flying in towards Bangkok. I have a lot of Air Support and Engineers heading to Victoria Point staging to be flown out to Port Blair as soon as 1st Raiding can take it. 22nd Air Flotilla is at Victoria Point now, waiting for Air Support to catch up then will commence searching and naval attacking from here...better than nothing.

Borneo
Took Singkawang with III/124th and Yokosuka 2nd SNLF, an AF Bn went in with them also. Yamada Det 1 and 2 (upgraded to Zeroes) staged in. They are recovering fatigue (20 and 19 resp.) for a few days then will be available to Sweep Singapore or LRCAP forces heading to Java.

Speaking of Java, I don't know if I want to take another intermediate base (Toboali?) or head straight to Palembang. Will figure that out as I go, I've got a couple divisions coming in. Reality is I'm an impatient player so not sure I want to wait the extra time to build up the base at Toboali. Planning to come later...

Hong Kong
Hong Kong fell on the 15h. DMS from Pescadores are on the way. Amphib from Taiwan will go pick up the 38th Div and all the Artillery to head to Malaya....maybe Mersing, but I'm scared of those Swordfish now!

PI
The MTB from Hong Kong went crazy off Vigan, beating up some xAK and AKL. They avoided a CL/DD group in the same hex, another CL/DD group a hex away didn't react to them, and I lost a mess of troops but no complete LCUs. The next day both CL/DD groups hit them and sank them all. The other PT boats are spotted lurking around Leyte and Mindinao.

16th Division landed unopposed at Legaspi. I have not reformed the unit, but am letting the Recon Regiment race ahead to secure the south side of Manila.

48th Division has advanced to and taken Lingayen, while the 1st Formosa Regiment is landing at Iba.

By Recon flights it looks like he's circling troops in Manila. 16th will move up from the South, 48th will move to Clark Field first (I want the air field), then see where to go from there.

I took Jolo unopposed. Mini KB found that all the P40s from Clark have pulled back to Cagayan. I lost a lot of B5N1 that were trying to pick on the fleeing shipping while the Fighters were LRCAPing the Jolo force. I went another day with the Fighters set to escort, but had little success (including 8 escorting Zeroes fighting 3 P40E, he lost nothing I lost a Zero!). 23 Air Flotilla will stage to here. Zeroes will Sweep Cagayan, Bettys will pick on shipping. I have 4 CA a day away from Cagayan with Bombardment mission, hoping to beat up some more planes on the ground. MKB is withdrawing to Taiwan to replace aircraft and gas up.



South Pacific
One of the mix ups for loading in Japan was the Guard Mixed Brigade, so I think I'm going to muster up all the NG and SNLF here and hit Rabaul together. I've taken Kavieng, Manus, and Shortlands. There are no follow up forces nearby nor do I have any good fleet air here. I'll try to sneak in to Rabaul and sit tight while waiting for followup (Air Support and some planes!). When I have some good air cover down here then I'll move to New Guinea (Madang, Lae, Buna). When the South Fleet and GMB get here then I'll consider a move to Port Moresby. Depending on what Naval Searches show I may sneak over to Tulagi before then.

Central Pacific
Surprisingly lots of action here. As stated before at least one US CV was seen east of the Gilberts. A few days later he was spotted just NW of Canton. The Canton invasion force ran in to some US DD/DMS and got beat up a bit.

I sent MKB north of Canton with a multi-day Full Speed run. They're low on gas and took a little damage, but I needed them there. I've beat up several US DDs, and am hoping I'm in the way of the US CV so I can put her down, which would be super great. Only a handful of squads of the 59th NG have survived, but they're ashore safely at Canton. The Christmas force has been withdrawn under cover of the KB and is heading for Canton also, then will all move together to Christmas.

The USS Indianapolis has been running amok, however. She's alone wading thru forces around Narua and Ocean. She put down several PB and the CL Katori for very little return hits. I'd sent the CL and PBs to try to distract that CA and it worked, the landing force still took Ocean and the transports are disbanded there.

The Fast AOs are two days away from KB, so KB will linger around Canton until refueled, then hope to find the Indianapolis which will likely be returning to Pearl soon as it's used all its ammo sinking my ships :( Then will move to support Christmas invasion.

Wake was taken without trouble. My forces there have high disruption, and I'm feeling they're vulnerable to US CVs (as I know they're out and about). I couldn't decide if I wanted them to hunker down and disband the fleet(s) there, or reload and GTFO. I've decided to leave. Forces will withdraw to Truk and wait for the reallocation of fleet forces, rest up, then will make a move for Midway in a few weeks.

Alaska
It seems I chose slow transports, we're still about 10 days from Adak. I've not been spotted yet, but I'm feeling a bit behind the curve here as I have no air forces allocated to come support this group. That's on my massive list of things to organize...

I think I've gotten most of the 'home area' convoys organized. About 60 xAKL are set up in groups of 10 (with 3 PB each) to run resources from Hokkaido and Sakhalin. So far 2 groups (so far) of 10 Lima (with 3 14kn PB) are doing runs from Port Arthur.

**Question though***
By the manual, a Size 9 port can move 176k tons per turn. My 10 Limas only took 4k each (an even 40k resources moved). Can anyone explain the difference? I'd calculated loading these convoys in one day, if it takes two then I'm going to have weird bottle-necks...not the end of the world but irritating.


I'm getting a lot of Aden xAKL converted to -t type...planning 50 of them. I intend to have these at local 'hubs', where they'll do the actual movement of troops to the beaches while the xAPs work out of Japan (I think there higher speed will be better used here, and keep them relatively safe).

My subs have had a lot of success. Recent good hits include TKs Larry Doheny and Storey, and AO Patoka between CA and Hawaii; AP Neptuna was put down near Soerbaja, and TK British Sailor was hit there as well. I've hit several ships coming thru the straits near Oosthaven and the north end of Malacca Straits as well.

His subs are getting lots of opportunities around Philippines, but the duds are keeping me from taking much damage, thankfully!

And lastly I'll share how I'm organizing the fleet.

I tend to think in Geographical terms, not in the number of fleets, so bear with my newbish names.

First is the Kido Butai. Not much will change here, but I've decided to send Kaga to join MKB, and I'm sending one of the CS to join her...if I'm understanding what the CS does, it launches Float Planes without as much worry about the bad weather as 'normal' planes. I've got the CS loaded with Jakes, so this should be invaluable for Naval Search and leave more Kates and Vals available for actually attacking. She'll slow the KB down a bit at full speed, but cruising speed is fine.

So, KB includes:

Kido Butai
CVs: Hiryu, Soryu, Shokaku, Zuikaku, and Akagi
BBs: Hiei, Kirishima
CA: Tone, Chikuma
CS: Chitose
CL: Abukuma, Tatsuta, Tenryu (the latter two seem to get good AA upgrades later)
DD: Akigumo, Ariake, Harusame, Hatsuharu, Hatsushima, Kawakaze, Murasame, Nenohi, Samidare, Shigure, Shiratsuyu, Suzukaze, Umikaze, Wakaba, Yamakaze, Yudachi, Yugumo, Yugure

Primary role is to overpower US Navy and maintain threat of sufficient force to squish any sortie I intercept.

I have in mind splitting this up in to divisions to give good coverage for fleet interdiction. Hoping to base in Christmas (but this is limited by current lack of AKE ships), may end up in Truk if Christmas plan doesnt work, or at least until AKE conversion is complete and get one out there.

Mini-KB

Primary role is support of invasion of DEI, present credible threat to British in IO (I foresee a raid of Ceylon once Java is in wrap-up mode), and protection of SRA. Future plans include leading of invasion of Darwin.

CV: Kaga, Ryujo, Zuiho, Hosho, Taiyo
BB: Kongo, Haruna
CA: Atago, Chokai
CS: Chiyoda
CL: Kashii, Kashima
DD: Akatsuki, Hibiki, Ikazuchi, Inazuma, Kasumi, Michishio, Minegumo, Natsugumo, Oshio, Yamagumo

CVEs may form a mini-mini-KB to support Aleutians if there's too much opposition up there.

Home Fleet

This force will be ostensibly stationed in Japan for protection of Home Island, but reality is this will be used to supplement regions where I am being active.

BB: Nagato, Mutsu
CA: Mogami, Mikuma, Suzuya, Kumano
CS: Mizuho
CL: Kitikama, Oi, Jintsu
DD: Oyashio, Shiranui, Tanikaze, Tokitsukaze, Urakaze, Yukikaze

Also based out of Japan will be the herds of E and TB, as well as CLs Yubari and Yura. They will escort large convoys heading out to remote hubs (e.g. escorting those xAP hauling troops!), or maybe AOs when in dangerous places.

Western Fleet

Primary role is supporting invasion of Sumatra and Java, and after keeping the Brits in IO (primarly Burma region) honest. Will be based in Singapore when that's taken, CRB until then.

BB: Ise, Hyuga
CA: Myoko, Haguro, Nachi, Ashigara
CL: Naka, Katori
DD: Amatsukaze, Arare, Arashi, Arashio, Asagumo, Asashio, Hagikaze, Hamakaze, Hatsukaze, Hayashio, Isokaze, Kagero

These guys may get sucked in to Darwin work as well, when/if the time comes for that.

Southern Fleet

Based out of Truk/Rabaul, this force will support landings in New Guinea and Solomons and hopefully down to Noumea. If the US CVs aren't around this force will be more than enough to beat down any Aussie fleet that comes out to play. Some of these guys are likely to go convoy raiding later.

BB: Fuso, Yamashiro
CA: Aoba, Kinugasa, Furutaka, Kako
CL: Nagara, Kuma, Sendai
DD: Akebono, Amagiri, Asagiri, Ayanami, Oboro, Sagiri, Sazanami, Shikinami, Ushio, Yugiri

Eastern Fleet

These guys will be based out of Kwajalein until Christmas is ready. They're to support operations taking all the little islands, and be a credible enough force that the US will have to commit a big force here (remember seven BBs went down at Pearl Harbor!) if they want to play...big enough that the risk of being hunted by KB will be even more deterrent.

CA: Maya, Takao
CL: Isuzu, Kinu
DD: Hasu, Hishu, Kiku, Kuri, Susuki, Tsuga, Tsuta, Wakatake, Yomogi, Yugao

I forsee a lot of convoy raiding for this force!

Northern Fleet
Stationed in Adak, this force will support the Aleutian operation, primarily interdicting reinforcement efforts. An AKE is on the way to Adak to support them. If he commits more force up here than I can handle then the CVEs from MKB will come up to help.

CL: Kiso, Tama
DD: Akikaze, Hakaze, Hokaze, Minekaze, Namikaze, Nokaze, Numakaze, Okikaze, Sawakaze, Shiokaze, Tachikaze, Yakaze

I've not been very deliberate with organization of the Sub Fleet. There's about half a dozen off the West Coast, a few off Hawaii (I had a lot, but the ASW there was intense so I've dispersed). Half a dozen are up in Alaska; Another half a dozen are around DEI trying to catch fleeing shipping. There are several going to the islands in Central Pacific I want to capture to keep an eye on things, a few on the way to patrol off Sydney, Darwin, PM, and around Solomons.

That's it for now! I just noticed I have a turn waiting for me, so hopefully another post later tonight!



Malagant -> RE: Behind Every Blade of Grass... (no Jwolf Please) (2/9/2015 1:32:04 AM)

Just a quick update for Dec 16...

I had very bad timing in deciding to reorganize my surface forces...the BB/CA force I had lurking at Singkawang left...and the Dutch Navy showed up! I had half a dozen xAK (and an xAP) sunk, and lost several JAAF Companies. Ouch!

I have a Betty and Nell squadron there with reasonable Air Support, but no HQ for torpedoes...maybe I can put some of the Dutch down.

Otherwise nothing exciting! :)

Still no sign of Houston or Boise!!



Malagant -> RE: Behind Every Blade of Grass... (no Jwolf Please) (2/17/2015 12:41:10 AM)

Dec 17-19

Things have been pretty quiet. My esteemed opponent was kind enough to allow me to take a very long time on the previous turn to really nail down my R&D. Here’s a shot from Tracker:

[image]https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-MYksAMAeLsw/VOKbGa-aC3I/AAAAAAAAHG8/ssim-4CdHlA/w994-h577-no/R%26D%2BPic.JPG[/image]

I have a giant spreadsheet all made out to try to plan when factories will work out. I’m not cool enough to figure out how to make that accessible for folks to look at, but I’ll try to include a snippet.

My mindset was to try to think of the R&D factories not so much as mechanisms to get the cooler planes earlier, but to use them as planned factories that will turn on and be ready to make the planes I intend to use as soon as their available without having to switch any factories around, then older plane factories can be turned off as the situation allows.

[image]https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-O_TyNeFz--8/VOKbGd3OWGI/AAAAAAAAHG4/NBz6hH7CyYg/w807-h577-no/R%26D%2BSpreadsheet.JPG[/image]

I didn’t have enough supply to get all the upgrades done everywhere I wanted, but I tried to get any factory that will be used in in the next few years up to 30…should have that finished off tomorrow. I don’t really know how far out to try to get R&D factories working, but I figure as long as I’m willing to spend the HI/MP/Supply for the upgrade now, and don’t need the factory for something else, then it doesn’t really hurt to have them upgraded early.

Sadly, though, I haven’t made time to really organize the Engine factories. I know I need to get hot on getting the Ha-34 production up before Helen and Tojo become available, and I need to set aside a factory for the fun NE Turbojet (if it goes on that long, I’m hoping to really spam the Ki-201!).

And of course some of the factories you see here are not going to switch to production but switch to planes up the line as things become available. For example, there are a lot of A6M3 factories, but I don’t intend to build any A6M3. I’m going to get to the A6M3a, switch some of them to production, then continue on to try to get the A6M5c a little early…the A6M2 factories can then upgrade to A6M5c (if I understand things right!), while the research factories press on to A6M8.

The A7M2 I’ve dedicated a lot of factories too, but I’m not sure on the CV Fighter then…short legs and mediocre performance relative to allied planes of that era has me less than excited!

A couple ‘for fun’ things I’m hoping to push is the Ki-201 as mentioned, and I also really like the idea of the Ki-74 Patsy. The bombload isn’t great, and it’s nearly defenseless, but Oh! That range! I thought it would be great to have a bomber than can reach out a LONG way, either where there are planes available to sweep/escort close to target, or for night bombing. That range really has me entranced, and being able to reach a tremendous area will (hopefully) force John to defend rear bases he wouldn’t normally defend.

Another fun thing is the Shinden. I don’t know how effective it will be, but it sure looks cool…and looks are at least as important as performance, if not moreso!

But primarily it’s lots of Oscar, Tojo, and Zero 

The turns otherwise have been a bit unexciting

Malaya
Alor Star and Georgetown fell. There’s a Brigade or so in Taiping which I’ll squish then start the long chase down to Singapore. Allied force from Kuantan and Kota Bharu are fleeing to Temuloh, which I should hit in a few days.

Most of the Aviation Support from Indochina has moved to Malaya and is in range to start hitting Singapore. I’ve upgraded the 1st Sentai from Nates to Oscar 1c (I only had 30 built, but wanted to get some decent planes in to the mix) and will commence strong Sweeps of Singapore when they are all repaired. After a few days I’ll start bombing…I really want to start hitting the airfield to force relocation of the planes, but also to stop the forts from being built!

Borneo
After the debacle at Singkawang I’ve slowed down my many small transport groups to wait for surface forces to escort them. A small CA/DD force is of Kuching now with Zeros from Singkawang on LRCAP. He hit Singkawang with a few Hudsons (looked like they came from Palembang) which killed a few planes on the ground….I of course left no Zeroes on local CAP because I’m a newb. This has been corrected.

Notably this has been the only bombing action I’ve seen in several days. I’ve had multiple small convoys drop off goodies at Kuantan but there was no attack from Singapore. I’m beginning to believe he’s already ran the RAF out of Singapore in to DEI, which is fine.

Small Dutch subs are visible around Singkawang.

I have Miri and Brunei. I’ve got some Engineers on the way to Brunei to try to max out the port I’m hoping all the Fuel will move to Brunei to make moving things easier. I’m not starting any convoys there yet as things are a bit hot around here still!

Philippines

I’ve got most of 48th Division in Clark Field. He seems to have his forces split evenly between Clark, Bataan, Manila, and the hex east of Manila. 16th Division is slogging up from Naga, the Recon unit has ranged ahead as far as Atimonan, where it will sit and wait for the rest.

16th Naval Guard took Surgao. Three SNLF are taking Palawan, then will move to clear out the rest of Mindanao.

Jolo is becoming home to 23rd Air Flotilla. Zero sweeps over Cagayan have bagged no fighters; Bettys bombing the air field there have damaged very little. Not sure where he’s run the USAAF off to!

Mini-KB is lurking in Takao. Ships in the fleet are being rearranged, (IAW my OOB above), captains are being tweaked, and air groups are taking on replacements (the P-40Es in the PI really handed me my ass!). I’m resizing the air groups to be about 2/3 fighters, 1/3 bomber. For Taiyo I bought out the Bako NGD Det T-1 if D3A1 Vals (since she carries no torpedoes, that seemed the best choice) and currently she has the Kawai Det of A5M4s resized to 20. Chiyoda is in the group, with 24 Jakes for Naval Search. When the Air Groups are full this force will have about 80 Fighters and 40 Attack Planes. This force will lurk near Formosa along with the 4th and 21st Divs and 21st IMB waiting for Singapore to be neutralized. She’ll then follow those divisions in as the land at Palembang (along with West Fleet), and supported by Zeroes from Singkawang. I, II, and III/124th will then move to take the rest of Sumatra, and those Divisions will move to Java, but I haven’t picked a landing spot or strategy there yet…maybe land at Semarang, take the central position, etc…or land at the west end and push everything east and end things in Soerabaja.

South Pacific

Allied surface force was seen around Rabaul, the small amphib groups I had around there started fleeing from it. I’ve sent all of them (with troops aboard) back to Truk to wait for support. There are 3 CAs and DDs there now, but I’m going to wait a bit for the rest of the Southern Fleet, then will hit Rabaul and northern New Guinea. Guards Mixed Brigade is awhile out, but plan is to have her lead the landing at Port Moresby.

Central Pacific

I feel like I’m reacting more than making him react here. The CA that rampaged around the Gilberts has disappeared. A fleet of 2 ships was seen at Ocean island (currently occupied by 52nd NG) but no attack or landing. I landed 61st NG at Naura, and the fleets that took the guys to those islands disbanded to hide from the surface raider. I’m hoping the Nells will spot them and put some hits on them, but no luck yet.

My force sent to take Canton had been hit a few days ago. They had landed but had lost too many squads and were ineffective. I turned the Christmas force around and took Canton with it. 53rd NG remained at Canton while 51st is on the way (along with KB and the Fast AOs) to Christmas. I suspect the Base Forces and Artillery that start on the way to Suva may be here, in which case I may not be able to take it with one NG, but if it’s not that strong I hope KB can bomb them to the stone age and allow taking it.

Sadly one of the allied CVs is closing in on Canton from the West, however. I’d like to turn KB around and try to smash it, but fuel is low and if Christmas isn’t taken this whole operation has been a waste. KB will continue with the AOs and Amphib to Christmas and hope the US CV follows!

Alaska
Adak was taken unopposed by 7th Base Force. 5th JNAF AF Unit is there also. Some Nates from 22nd AF will divide and come up here, and maybe some Mavis. I/4th and II/4th are a few days away. 9th Ind Eng is loading at Fusan to head here as well. A bit behind them is an AKE, and AS (there are 8 subs lurking around up here, having made no contact at all). A Nate Sentai will be shipped up here from 5th Air also, to be hopefully upgraded to Oscars later. Planning ahead to the Big Landing, 5th AD will be the primary air involved, so this is the start of that migration.

Stuff

Convoys are up and running for the northing places, including 30 Aden in three groups running from Port Arthur, 10 Gozan from Shanghai, and numerous xAKLs working the small islands (Sadogashima, Naha, Amami Oshima) and herds of xAKLs and PBs for Sakhalin and Hokkaido. Not sure if I’ll need to move Fuel back in to Hokkaido, but I figure I can use the same two TK running Oil out to run Fuel in when it gets low.

Every Engineer I could find in Manchuria is in Fusan working on the port there.

I really don’t have a coherent plan for China. I have a hard time considering how to deploy my forces to maintain minimum garrisons while still having the ‘best’ forces available to fight. General plan is just to push in to Changsha and Loyang area.

And that’s it for now! Any feedback much appreciated!



Malagant -> RE: Behind Every Blade of Grass... (no Jwolf Please) (2/17/2015 3:39:04 PM)

Just curious...can folks see the pictures I post?



Mundy -> RE: Behind Every Blade of Grass... (no Jwolf Please) (2/17/2015 3:41:47 PM)

I see your two charts just fine.



DanSez -> RE: Behind Every Blade of Grass... (no Jwolf Please) (2/17/2015 5:52:58 PM)

Very good AAR.
You are approaching it with more 'big picture' than I am at the moment. It is great to read what is in your mind/planning wise.

I hate those single ship task forces but it seems to be a forum consensus to allow such them.

R&D -- I am trying a heavy push (5x30) thru these lines Zero/Frank/George/Sam/Tony (for the Ki-100-I). Medium push (3 or 4 x30) for Judy, BN51, Helen, Francis, Shinden, Irving Night Fighter, Randy(day and night fighter). Some single/dual (x30) research factories so far for others and as the game goes on I hope to shift more R&D into those late war fighters.

You can research the A6M2-N Rufe which I believe you can then upgrade directly to the A6M5, skipping the other A6M3 series.
I have
5x30 A6M3 and
2x30 A6M2-N Rufes

I am hoping that will give an even better jump on the A6M5 upgrade.
(more experienced players may agree or correct this opinion)



Lowpe -> RE: Behind Every Blade of Grass... (no Jwolf Please) (2/17/2015 6:23:27 PM)


quote:

ORIGINAL: Malagant

Dec 12, 1941
A landing force at Kuching was supposed to have LRCAP from a large unit of Oscar 1b from Kota Bharu. Sadly despite being set to 90% LRCAP, only a handful flew, and they were completely ineffective. 4 waves of bombers including all the Swordfish and Vildebeest from Singapore flew. I shot done NONE. I lost 7 xAK, including complete destruction of 114th Inf Regiment and 11th Shipping Engineer Regiment.

Rebuilding those regiments was only a handful of PP, so I've rebuilt them.


Those are about the only Allied planes that can hurt you early on, and they can sting! I guess the Allies can use carrier planes, but anyhow the shipping isn't safe until those guys are whittled down some.

On merchant shipping, I am not OCD enough to maximize ship convoys. I started to at first, but situations change, enemy sub threat for one, and now I just eyeball them. I would rather be larger and unable to dock but well protected from enemy subs in general than conform to some of the docking limits especially with tankers. Others are different, I am sure.

Check your naval commanders some need to go: the tonan whalers need good captains and then the rest of the tanker line in order of capacity, the Tone has a lousy captain, and there are others out there to. Don't forget to look at air squadrons too, what was the inspiration of the leader of the large Oscar squadron that didn't fly much...with one squadron you will never have more than 1/4 of the planes actually flying lrcap often times much less, and it is always nice to have low and high cap too. Only one squadron flying lrcap is often an invitation to disaster as you found out.

Finally, some Japanese units are very expensive to buy back once destroyed, the INA units you get near Burma for one, any expanded air squadron is excessively expensive if destroyed (a good reason not to makes them imho).











Malagant -> RE: Behind Every Blade of Grass... (no Jwolf Please) (2/18/2015 12:28:51 AM)

Hey guys, thanks for the responses.

Looks Dan, looks like we're not too terribly different. I chose to push for the 3a because I think its range will be a significant increase over the M2 and I want to get it out there PDQ instead of just waiting on the M5. I primarily see using it in on my CVs during my planned invasion of Canada where it will be used for LRCAP of the landing forces while the CVs stand off farther, as well as escorting the longer-ranged attack aircraft.

Those 'stringbags' out of Singapore are definitely scary, and I knew they were scary, but I seriously underestimated the effectiveness of the LRCAP. I did not check the leader beforehand, but he's pretty decent actually with Ldr 62; Insp 66; Air 62; and Aggr 66.

Actually the reasons were very apparent when I looked over things...the airstrip hadn't been completely repaired yet, the Morale of the unit was mid 70s, and the fatigue was in the 30s. Poor choice of unit. :( If I try to land something else at Kuantan or Mersing, I hope to make better choices! :)


Reviewing air group commanders is a chore I keep putting off out of laziness, need to get it done! I've reviewed Task Force commanders as I make surface task forces, but not ship captains. So much to do, I love it! :)

I wouldn't say I'm being super min-max on the convoys I'm using, I'm really just looking at what I have ('ve been mustering all the merchant shipping that's not being actively used in a central place to help me organize), picking a nice even number of identical ships with escorts that won't slow them down. I haven't run in to a port size problem yet. I feel like some places I might have too many ships running (for example, I have three Miyati running from Amami Oshima, but I think they're moving the goodies faster than they're being made!

Hopefully I don't lose any more units so won't have to worry about rebuilding them! But then again, when I invade North America I sincerely doubt anyone will make it out alive :)


Some economy stuff for yall:

I found during the last turn that instead of Halting the Shinano, I'd accelerated it. Horrible misclick. At least I caught it before it was terribly wasteful!

I'd added some Naval Shipyards (aiming for 1500). With Shinano off and my expansion I currently have Unryu, Amagi, and Katsuragi accelerated. If I'm understanding Tracker right, this means they'll be done Spring of 43 instead of Summer 44...that should be a tremendous boost at a very critical time period (with my plan, that will likely be after getting my tail kicked out of Canada and struggling to scramble together defenses!)

[image]https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-WS85mfn0UqY/VOPpjluppjI/AAAAAAAAHI0/jvPpnt4A9gg/w1044-h567-no/Ship%2BProduction.JPG[/image]

I'm also accelerating three DDs (I can't help but feel like I'm always short on DDs!). As my Naval expands out to 1500 I might accelerate a CL as well, though I have to say I'm really considering accelerating Junyo and Hiyo. I can move them up several months and hope to have them available during the invasion of North America. Thoughts?


Overall economy isn't in the toilet yet, but it's still early in the game and I've got a lot of time left to wreck things!

[image]https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-wBbJLqTE7dE/VOPpadfLQ7I/AAAAAAAAHIc/v8v_jO5hT3o/w1000-h615-no/Global%2BIndustry.JPG[/image]

I really like Trackers Global and Oil&Res tabs. That latter shows me that Japan needs 236900 Resources, but makes only 157800. This difference is almost completely made up for from the other Japanese Islands, Korea and Manchuria...but not quite. Even if I ship all the unused back it's still about 3000 Resources per day short. I'm hoping that can be made up from the Philippines.

[image]https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-htj3Ivdq5Ag/VOPpaUm_9BI/AAAAAAAAHIU/eRjHvFJOLOs/w967-h251-no/OilRes.JPG[/image]

Fuel is a little weirder to work out, as there's Fuel production which requires Oil, etc, but I need 12000 per day and of course don't make anywhere near that...even if I had all the Oil I needed (which I don't!) I'd need to bring in over 4k/day. Miri & Brunei are a nice start, but a drop in the bucket overall (pun intended!) with an estimated 1350 when fully repaired. I may increase the Refinery in Miri actually to consume all the Oil produced both there and Brunei, but haven't thought that out yet (man I go thru supply quick!).

[image]https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-nD_wT6uyw6Q/VOPpaXw7W8I/AAAAAAAAHIY/3z3AEz1UFsU/w980-h308-no/SupplyFuel.JPG[/image]

Any thoughts on priority targets or where to consider starting convoys early? I was thinking of forming a lame Fuel convoy of a bunch of xAKs from Miri...not efficient but not as big a risk as Tankers while there's still danger here.

And, Oh! I need to organize some ASW assets on convoy routes!!

Looks like I have a turn waiting in the Dropbox! Back to the war!!



Lowpe -> RE: Behind Every Blade of Grass... (no Jwolf Please) (2/18/2015 1:47:57 AM)

Priority target is oil, as long as you can CAP it from day one of the takeover. Allies can't turn oil production off, but they can shut down the refineries prior to your takeover.

SRA has the most, but also Burma, Lanchow.

Then go for the gold -- North America! Can't wait to see the fireworks.[:)] Good luck!




Malagant -> RE: Behind Every Blade of Grass... (no Jwolf Please) (2/19/2015 9:24:08 PM)

The overall plan is to complete conquest of "SRA", push in to Burma, be a nuisance/distraction in Northern Australia, and hit North America with (probably) 25th, 16th, and 14th Armies along with 5th Air and parts of 22nd & 23rd AF. I don't have a good feel for a 'time-table', but am hoping that SRA can be in mop-up mode by spring of 42 so I can start shifting things north asap. I don't want to be operating around Alaska in winter if I can help it, but I may do that to get this invasion done and hope to grab up Victory Points before Dec 42!

While I have a fun big plan, and I feel comfy doing operational plans, I don't have a good grasp on what and where I want to hit first. Borneo has a couple nice places (Tarakan, Balikpapan); Sumatra has of course Palembang and Medan; and Java has multiple good sites as well...

My original plan was to have 21st IMB, 21st Div, and 4th Div to smash Palembang all together, then move down to Java.

Now I'm wondering if this might be over-allocation of force. I haven't put any Recon on Palembang (yet), but I don't think there's more than a Base Force and support. Can one Division take it?

Would this be spreading things out too much: my Home Fleet (see above) escort 21IMB to Tarakan and Balikpapan (*Note, i remember Tarakan has some nasty CD Guns...how are these best dealt with?); MKB and West Fleet escorts 4th Div to Palembang; then when landing complete continues on with 21st Division to land at Batavia and start working down Java. Would that be splitting things off and trying to do too much at once?

To consider, it seems POW and Repulse are sunk (both reported sunk on Dec 7, and no change in that report yet...). A few RN ships from Singapore seen heading out thru Straits of Malaca. Dutch Navy was active at Singkawang a few days ago, a quick hit and retire. I also am suspecting that he's pulled the 'scary' stuff out of Singapore and is waiting for me to venture down towards Java...I'm hoping I can be skilled enough with MKB to provide protection, but I'm shaky on how LRCAP is working!

If I LRCAP one TF of several in a hex, will they fighters respond to attacks on other TF in the same hex?


So planning stuff aside, there have been some operational setbacks. In Malaya, PI, and China I've unthinkingly gotten involved in attacks piecemeal...as parts of a formation arrive I set them to Combat and Deliberate, hoping to brush the enemy aside, but other parts of the formation show up during the movement phase and join the attack while still in Move mode. No horrible results, but definitely a bloody nose that I didn't want.

More significant bloody nose came to the Christmas invasion force...none of the LRCAP from KB launched, and one of the US CVs was lurking north of Christmas and smashed the force. Only one xAK has sunk, but two AMC and two more transports are likely to be lost, along with all the 51NG if KB doesn't provide protection again. I'm going to continue on (throwing good money after bad, as they say!) to Christmas, hoping to get some good Recon flights in to determine how screwed I am. If I've gotten there before any Marines I should be ok (I think there's just an engineer unit there now, same as Canton?) but otherwise this whole thing has been a costly fiasco and lesson in over-reaching!

The positive side is that both US CVs are located. One is 4 hexes north of Christmas, heading SW. The other is just off Ocean Island. KB will continue to escort towards Christmas, Fast AO has gone to hide in port in Canton. If they continue on current heading, the CV near Christmas should be smashed. I'll get the landing going, then turn and make a speed run towards Kwaj and hope to nail the other (which I suspect is there to try to raid Marshals and slow down advances towards Tarawa). I have a few Nates here to protect things....not sure how effective they'll be against a lone CV, but fingers are crossed I don't take too many more "minor" casualties...all these minor losses are adding up!

Other than that, Guam was finally taken, that Base Force will pack up and get ready to occupy Christmas when/if it's taken, or Canton if not.

Oh, one other thing...I ran out of pilots for planes on MKB. Several of the Nate pilots are ~35exp guys with little training. They have about 7-10 days to get good before they're thrown in to the fire against the RAF and Dutch! It sure is depressing that I've run out of pilots already, but I recognize a lot of it is because I chose to over-stuff the airgroups to the max number of pilots. Lesson learned...go slow!



Malagant -> RE: Behind Every Blade of Grass... (no Jwolf Please) (2/20/2015 4:35:27 AM)

Ug, I had a nice daily report done, but took to long and my connection timed out and lost it all! Have to do it all over again!

Dec 22, 1941

Nothing very noteworthy in the industrial end of things. I increased Ha-34 production a bit, I'll need a lot going for Helen and Tojo! Tracker says Japan Region needs 2.1 million supply to complete repairs. I'm producing 20k/day with 789k there already...will I survive the Factory Increases I jumped in to?

Malaya
1st Raiding Regiment took Port Blair, having taken off from Bangkok. Engineers from Victoria Point are being flown out. Most of 22AF is in Victoria Point, with Bombers set to Naval Attack, 50% Search, and range to keep them out of Rangoon...I don't need my bombers shot down by the AVG, and certainly don't want to suffer the indignity of having them shot down by Buffaloes!

About 30 Nates are going to Sweep Rangoon to see what happens. If the AVG is there I'll get my ass handed to me, but if it's just the Buffaloes then I hope to start thinning them out some.

About 100 Oscars (A, B, and C flavors) are set to Sweep Singapore. I'll Sweep a day or two, and have about 100 Sally and Lily resting up to start bombing the airfield, preventing Fort construction and HOPEFULLY shutting down the Torpedo Bombers...but I strongly suspect he's relocated to Java.

Land units continue to slowly push down the roads towards Singapore. 33rd Div should land in Kota Bharu tomorrow. I'd considered having that division land in Mersing to cut off all his forces that are road-blocking me, but I'm not brave enough. 38th Div is coming from Hong Kong, depending on how the bombings go I may land that one at Mersing (high Exp in that Division will be a plus if both Aussie units are there!)

Sumatra
4th Div, Southern Fleet, and KMB are staging out of CRB with intent to land at Palembang on Christmas. 21 Div will follow a few days behind, going to support 4th Div if needed, otherwise will land on Java and really get this party started!

Borneo
9th Base Force landed at Brunei. Engineers are a day behind. About 30k Supply landing at Miri. Beaufort is taken by 2nd Sasebo SNLF Company, the RN Base Force there surrendered. Some JNAF forces are landing at Singkawang to support 21 and 22 Air Flotilla forces there. Zeroes are resting to prepare for Sumatra invasion support, Bettys and Nells are Searching.

21 IMB is heading to meet Home Fleet near Jolo to take Tarakan. Home Fleet is going to circle Mindanao while 21 IMB steams to the area...several small Patrol and DD have been spotted, need to get in there and clear them out before they interfere with shipping thru the area. Input on how to handle the big CD guns at Tarakan is needed, please!

Philippines
Bombarding in Clark Field, waiting for everyone to get there together. Bombing continues there as well.

Palawan is taken by three SNLF, they are reloading and heading for Mindanao, then will support rest of Borneo and take Celebes.

South Pac
CL Adelaide was hit by two torpedoes from I-18 off Rabaul. She's not reported sinking, but I'm hopeful she'll either sink on the way back to Australia or be taken in Rabaul...

Guard Mixed Brigade has left Truk escorted by Southern Fleet heading for Rabaul. 5 NG/SNLF forces are hitting the bases around Lae. I have several subs in this area, along with one near Horn Island, two off Port Moresby, and two watching Luganville. Other than Adelaide, there has been very little activity here.

5th Base Force is loading up after the fall of Guam, heading for Truk to get some Fuel, and then on to Christmas. One more NG Battalion is arriving in Saipan in a few days, it will join the other two there, form the 84th NG, which will head there also (since the NG that were supposed to garrison Canton and Christmas got thrashed...)

Cent Pac
The US CV spotted near Ocean/Tarawa disappeared...frustrating as I have so many Mavis and Nell looking for her! I'm hesitant to get any ships in this area underway until I spot her. If she goes east she'll catch my straggling survivors from the doomed Canton/Christmas force.

The Christmas force got hit again, but some Zeroes flew this time. Of 22 SBDs that attacked, 18 were reported shot down, most of this in the PM attack. The only survivors of the attacking force are two very damaged CM and a DD. The 53NG is on the ground at Christmas, and survived the Shock Attack. Allies only have the CPNAB there, so KB will lurk on the west side of Christmas and bomb the snot out of them and hope to take it when the 53NG Disruption is recovered. I lost sight of the US CV over here too, but the planes came from roughly NE of Christmas. I figure with that many SBD gone, that CV will head to the barn to recover. Pity I couldn't catch either US CV out here, John did a great job lurking out of range of KB while getting licks in on soft forces!

North Pac
And even more fun! A sub had spotted US transports going in to Dutch Harbor, so the Tama/Kiso group went up there. U.S Grant, Horace Luckenbach, and Eldorado were sunk, along with 4 YP. Nothern Fleet will retire to Adak, covering the arrival of the AS and AKE there, then will commence interdiction patrols around Kodiak. Some B-17s tried bombing that fleet, but were ineffective.

One week (give or take) to 'buy out' Karafuto brigade. Along with the three Battalions of the 4th Inf, I'll have a formidable force up here. I think he starts with an Inf Regiment at Kodiak, which I don't think I can take, but I should be able to overwhelm Dutch Harbor and the rest of the Aleutians easily enough. If I can do that and prevent reinforcements during the winter, I'll be in good shape for Spring/Summer 42 fun!

One worry, though, is the two BB he'll have coming out of Seattle. Very likely he'll send them up here. I need to send some Nells up this way PDQ as soon as the Airfield is built up, otherwise they will run over my poor Northern Fleet! Also still considering making a small CVE force with Taiyo and Hosho to come up here. To that end I'm hoping to finish off KBs immediate operations, have KB retire to Truk, and have Kaga split off to join MKB to work in SRA. What's keeping me from sending the CVEs up there now, though, is that if I were him, I'd send the US CVs up there with no hesitation. The three CVs he has can't stand up to the KB at this point, but they can sure trash the CVEs...I hate to actually give him something constructive to do with his weak Navy!

All in all a good day!



Malagant -> RE: Behind Every Blade of Grass... (no Jwolf Please) (2/21/2015 5:15:59 AM)

Dec 23, 1941

A bit of excitement today! Nothing earth-shattering, but feeling quite happy about how my naval reorg has worked out!

I turned off a few more Armament Factories. Despite heavy loss I’ve been gaining, have 27k stashed away already. I have only a 50 size Factory running now, all are off otherwise. If I see it trending down I’ll fire things back up.

A few of the R&D factories are showing repaired now (it’s only been a few days since I set everything up, so it’s fun to see how quickly they get going). Most of the repairs have come on A6M3 and Helen plants.

I’ve also turned off a lot of Merchant SY. Still building everything, but the pool was going up.

[image]https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-8-DdixdEiGE/VOgggUhiVII/AAAAAAAAHKA/4yCAnGsLecM/w769-h577-no/Slide1.JPG[/image]

Burma

The rest of the Raiding Regiment landed at Port Blair. Construction groups are being moved now. Some of the Transport squadrons I’d used are heading back to the PI to support the two SNLF Paratroop units in moving around to quickly take the little bases around the Philippines.

[image]https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-j_5zW4VammU/VOgggfQi3mI/AAAAAAAAHJ0/VFj5H8Z1KPI/w480-h360-no/Slide2.JPG[/image]

I see a number of ships in Rangoon…some xAKs, some PGs. 11 units, 12000 men. I see nothing in Pegu. My Nates set to Sweep Rangoon didn’t fly.

Malaya

My Oscars made their presence felt at Singapore. 8 Buffaloes were shot down for one Oscar-c in the first day’s sweep. I’m being a bit impatient and have set up a Sentai of Nates to escort while about 150 Sally and Lily are set to bomb Singapore’s Airfield from 10k. Recon shows 54 bombers at Singapore still, I’m really hoping to catch those Torpedo Bombers on the ground there!

Otherwise things are moving along slowly in Malaya…closing in on Temuloh, and the slow stuff is catching up to help clear out Taiping.

Something kind of interesting…the 6th and 15th Indian Brigades and an Artillery Regiment seem to be stuck east of Georgetown, I’ve gotten results like this a few days in a row now:

Ground combat at 50,74 (near Georgetown)

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 2157 troops, 40 guns, 171 vehicles, Assault Value = 385

Defending force 1293 troops, 16 guns, 7 vehicles, Assault Value = 10

Japanese adjusted assault: 68

Allied adjusted defense: 3

Japanese assault odds: 22 to 1

Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), disruption(-), fatigue(-), morale(-)
experience(-)
Attacker:

Japanese ground losses:
28 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 3 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

Allied ground losses:
701 casualties reported
Squads: 56 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 50 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 9 (4 destroyed, 5 disabled)
Vehicles lost 1 (1 destroyed, 0 disabled)

Assaulting units:
1st Tank Regiment
11th Infantry Regiment
5th Recon Regiment
5th Engineer Regiment
41st Infantry Regiment
25th Army
5th Field Artillery Regiment

Defending units:
6th Indian Brigade
15th Indian Brigade
137/155th Field Regiment

They don’t retreat, just sit there getting smashed! Fine by me, that’s fewer bodies in Singapore!

I’m going to hit Singapore hard (little rest for the Aircrews!) with almost everything for a few days, then go back to rotating units thru so 1/3-1/2 are resting while the rest do work…I’m hoping once I get the Airfield beat down I can keep it beat down without having to use all my bombers every day!

Sumatra!
Since nobody answered to talk me out of it, I’m making an attack on Palembang, designed to land on Christmas day. All of the Western fleet and the MKB is committed to supporting this attack. 4th Division is landing (I confirmed all the ships will fit up the rivier!). That force is actually in xAPs, dangerous but it moves very fast. 2 CA, 2CL, and 4DD from West Fleet will join them (currently planning on Merging, as their primary role is to prevent the Dutch Navy from getting in to the Transports). The rest of West Fleet (2 BB, 2 CA, 4DD) will follow in same hex as far as they can, the BBs won’t be able to take the river of course. The escorting ships will switch to Bombardment when we get there! MKB is following 3 hexes behind, with all the fighter groups set to 40 LRCAP on the Landing Force; 40 CAP; and 20 Rest…not sure how long they can sustain that tempo, and I’m not sure the allocation of fighters is correct…but we’ll see!

21st Division is following two days behind. If Palembang is able to be taken by 4th Div, the South Fleet and MKB will shift to that landing force and they’ll land on Java, probably Merak so I can keep MKB central and support both landings. Zeroes from Singkawang are set to LRCAP the landing force as well.

[image]https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-d2P_v10bMuc/VOgggVJ2-RI/AAAAAAAAHJ4/B4rMdhBsfCc/w480-h360-no/Slide3.JPG[/image]

Note that MKB has two Kongo BB and two CA that can be used as an operational reserve if force is needed.

Merry Christmas!

Philippines

Home Fleet hit and sank some PT boats and 3 PG at Zamboanga. That force was causing transport task forces to withdraw away from Jolo, very happy to have them gone. A CA, CL, and 2 DD will split off and check out PT boats spotted at Palawan…they’re threatening my SNLF trying to re-embark out of Puerto Princesa. The rest of Home Fleet will circle around Mindanao and smash anything that floats, and meet up with 21st Independent Mixed Brigade to hit Tarakan (still hoping for some advice on dealing with the big Coastal Guns there!)

Bombardment at Clark Field was boring. I’m beginning to wonder if I have enough force here to really push him off Luzon in a timely manner…

[img]https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-92NV65Tm8c8/VOggg1FgWiI/AAAAAAAAHJw/PjCU8lf3hK4/w480-h360-no/Slide4.JPG[/img]

I have some SNLF in Babeldaob that have been patiently waiting for transportation. Some xAK-t and PBs are getting there in a few days, these will work on other parts of Philippines.

I see a number of warships heading from the south towards Phillipines…a CL off Balikpapan, some DDs and PGs near Ternate. I’m hoping he’s getting aggressive just as I’ve deployed major fleet force to the area!

The I-162 put a torpedo in to TK Sunchaser in Makassar Strait…heavy fires, heavy damage. Guessing she was full!

South Pac

Invasion forces from Truk are underway. Should hit Rabaul in two days. I see a CL there at Rabaul, maybe the damaged Adelaide I put two torpedoes in yesterday. I have a sub there, hopefully we’ll finish her off and save the South Fleet some ammo!

[img]https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-nbPK5GD_Y-U/VOgghMfxrVI/AAAAAAAAHJk/IDogY4LWVdg/w480-h360-no/Slide5.JPG[/img]

The I-169 has the giant brass balls to launch torpedoes at three DDs (John Edwards, Edsall, and Whipple). None hit and the sub escapes. South Fleet may need to detach some Cruisers to deal with the DDs, will evaluate tomorrow.

Cent Pac

Here’s where my confidence tanks. This is the second day I’ve lost track of both US CVs, and the third can be over here by now too, I think. KB is way low on gas, but I’ve sent them north to try to intercept the CV that was near the Marshalls if it heads back to Pearl. The other CV that had been near Christmas has disappeared, so I’ll lose my chance to take advantage of her weakened air wing. I’ll head KB north for two days, then she has to turn towards Kwajalein.

[img]https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-nn0ljtGjL0o/VOgghbWTE7I/AAAAAAAAHJo/oIxPangrGX4/w480-h360-no/Slide6.JPG[/img]

Revealing this is scary for OpSec, but all the fast AOs are disbanded in Canton. I was out of position to protect them with KB, and they were in a likely path of a US CV. I thought it less likely that Canton would be Reconed and Port Attacked than the AO fleet being spotted by Naval Search and bombed. The AOs are pretty much out of gas (just a few hundred points of fuel left), but there’s 5k fuel in Canton. After KB goes north, they’ll form up and load that fuel at Canton and head towards Kwaj.

Another problem is I have a largeish group of slow AOs and TKs heading in to Kwaj from Japan. I’d intended to have the Fast AOs meet this force in port and load up there, but I’m afraid to get closer to Marshals with an American flattop roaming around!

[img]https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-QPlGWpL4HP4/VOgghb-2lAI/AAAAAAAAHJs/9OaB-lndio0/w480-h360-no/Slide7.JPG[/img]

And more, there are small fleets disbanded in Ocean and Nauru, with Naval Guard in each, that I’d wanted to load up and take Tarawa and Makin, then start working their way down all the dot islands to Funafuti.

The Naval Guard at Christmas took on some reinforcements. I’m going to let them chill for another few days (hoping they’ll take more after delay), then will try to deliberate and see what happens.

More giant brass balls, I-4 launched torpedoes at two DDs at Midway, landing one on Monaghan and escaping! These guys are awesome! 

North Pac

North fleet retired to Adak, sucking up the small amount of fuel I had there. Lots of fuel and supplies coming in from Japan (about a week out). AKE and AS will be there in two days; North Fleet is underway to meet and escort them in. I bought out another engineer group from Manchuko to head up here…I think I’ll end up buying out a lot more, but trying to generate enough PP for Karafuto soon.

And that’s that! After a relatively slow week my reorg has come together and I’ve greatly increased the tempo.

I really value input from you guys, any thoughts on what I’m doing here are greatly appreciated!



Malagant -> RE: Behind Every Blade of Grass... (no Jwolf Please) (2/21/2015 4:41:56 PM)

Wow those pictures came out uselessly small, sorry about that!

Any help here...

-How to deal with big CD guns at Tarakan?
-Will LRCAP set to one task force in a hex protect a different force in the same hex?
-Do you think 4th Division is enough to take Palembang?

Thanks guys!



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