A Japanese Swan Song - Sqz (J) vs. fcharton (A) DBB 28-B (Full Version)

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SqzMyLemon -> A Japanese Swan Song - Sqz (J) vs. fcharton (A) DBB 28-B (1/30/2017 9:42:54 PM)

I asked for a restart with Francois, rather than continue our first attempt at the DBB 28 scenario. There were many reasons why I requested a restart and I won't go into them in detail. Essentially, I felt my opening was ambitious (perhaps too much so), but not fully understanding the implications of the changes in the DBB 28 scenario stalled my non-Australian expansions. I used up eight months of game time and still didn't have a historic perimeter established. I had some successes, sinking an Allied CV, numerous British BB's and a healthy A2A record, but my overall situation wouldn't lend itself to prolonged resistance. So I asked Francois to accept my resignation or if he'd be interested in a restart. He graciously accepted to restart. Ok, background covered. Where are we now?

First off, the game is progressing well and there are no excuses on my end about the DBB scenario. I know what to expect this time around with experience of the mod under my belt, and I'm playing accordingly. I thought long and hard about attempting the same strategy, a knockout blow against Australia and avoiding the mistakes made by having a better understanding of DBB and the last official update. As much as I wanted to, I felt it best to avoid the possibility of the game developing exactly like the last one, despite efforts to avoid doing so. So what did I do?

I chose a traditional approach to establishing the historic perimeter, but with a first strike against Manila to knock out the Allied submarine fleet and get KB into the DEI quickly. Nice idea, but once again poor execution with another mediocre first turn KB strike. It doesn't matter how many times I sandbox a first turn and get good results, as soon as the first turn is run for real the outcome is nothing like my testing. So, I'm off to another poor start by virtue of a no show by KB, but it's not a game breaker by any means.

Will I regret not hitting Pearl Harbor? Most likely, but I also think Francois will be appropriately aggressive and I may be able to sink these ships more easily at sea over the next year.

We are about to run the Dec. 24/ 41 turn. So what am I doing so far?

China:

I am doing much better this time and not fooling around. I am going after Lanchow and Sian first to eliminate the Chinese fuel supply.

Philippines:

I've assigned four divisions to Luzon. It appears Francois will hold Manila rather than Clark Field this time. I don't think he expects four Japanese divisions though, so it may not matter what he decides to do. I have also captured Cagayan and Zamboanga on Mindanao. Betty's based out of Cagayan are performing much better at interdicting Allied shipping.

Burma:

I'm not repeating my mistake of leaving Burma too long and allowing Francois a chance to get large amounts of supply into China. Japanese Imperial Guards Division is tasked with moving against Rangoon immediately. Japanese troops are currently closing in on Moulmein. Priority in the theatre is to cut the Burma Road.

Malaya:

Two divisions are assigned to clearing the Malay Peninsula...initially. They will be reinforced when other forces complete their first missions.

Java:

I have assigned three divisions to Java. The first taskforces are rendezvousing with KB near Balikpapan now. The first troops should be landing on Java by the end of December.

Thoughts:

Once my initial goals are accomplished, my forces will be turning their attention to Australia, New Guinea, the Solomons and the Aleutians. I want Francois to reinforce these regions before I get there so I have something to destroy. So far Francois has pulled everything back and with KB in the DEI, I don't blame him. I'll have to go find him this time and that suits me fine.

I'll provide some screenshots at month end to show progress.

I appreciate Francois giving me an opportunity for a restart. As the title of my AAR states, I believe this will be my final game as Japan. I am glad for the opportunity to provide a more competitive game for Francois, and one which I will enjoy.



witpqs -> RE: A Japanese Swan Song - Sqz (J) vs. fcharton (A) DBB 28 (1/30/2017 10:19:29 PM)

Are you using a variant, like DBB 28-C with the reduced cargo and fuel loads?



SqzMyLemon -> RE: A Japanese Swan Song - Sqz (J) vs. fcharton (A) DBB 28-B (1/31/2017 3:23:42 PM)

Production and Research:

I plan to implement minimal industry expansion. My focus will be to capture industrial targets early to maximize the long term economic production. I plan on running a frugal Japan.

Aircraft development has been set, I am concentrating on mid/late war fighters. The primary fighter aircraft I have chosen advancement are:

Sam (8 factories)
Frank A & B (8 and 10 factories respectively)
Ki-83 (8 factories)
Randy Ki-102c (10 factories)

Modest advancement is planned for other fighter and bomber aircraft, but some will be left to historic arrival dates.




SqzMyLemon -> RE: A Japanese Swan Song - Sqz (J) vs. fcharton (A) DBB 28 (1/31/2017 3:24:53 PM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: witpqs

Are you using a variant, like DBB 28-C with the reduced cargo and fuel loads?


We are running Scenario 28 DBB-B.



mind_messing -> RE: A Japanese Swan Song - Sqz (J) vs. fcharton (A) DBB 28-B (1/31/2017 3:39:46 PM)


quote:

ORIGINAL: SqzMyLemon

Production and Research:

I plan to implement minimal industry expansion. My focus will be to capture industrial targets early to maximize the long term economic production. I plan on running a frugal Japan.

Aircraft development has been set, I am concentrating on mid/late war fighters. The primary fighter aircraft I have chosen advancement are:

Sam (8 factories)
Frank A & B (8 and 10 factories respectively)
Ki-83 (8 factories)
Randy Ki-102c (10 factories)

Modest advancement is planned for other fighter and bomber aircraft, but some will be left to historic arrival dates.


My attitude to the late-war R&D gambit is that if you're going to do it, go all in.

Scrub the Frank B R&D and put it towards getting the R model out earlier. I'm not convinced the cannons on the B will make any difference.

Having built both the Randy and the '83 in my current game, I'd probably go for the '83 and leave the Randy out. Both are good air-frames, but the '83 is simply more useful.

I'd seriously consider getting the Ki-100 Tony out ASAP as well, it will be your SR 1 IJA fighter for the duration of the war.

For the IJN, I'd consider the Shinden as well as the Sam. The Sam has a lot of demand between your CV fighters and LBA fighters. The problem with going hell for leather with the Sam is that you can quite easily lose a few hundred planes in the air. If the Sam is your big IJN airframe, you might be in trouble.

Late-war Jack and George models have good staying power in to 1945 as well, so don't neglect them.

For 2E bombers, Frances and Peggy (T) are the two big ones in my eyes. Judy and Grace for the IJN.

As I said elsewhere, the late-war kami planes are pretty important if you're serious about 1945. That means you'll want to try and accelerate the Myojo and the Ki-115a ahead of schedule to get pools built up.



SqzMyLemon -> RE: A Japanese Swan Song - Sqz (J) vs. fcharton (A) DBB 28-B (2/8/2017 6:19:44 PM)

December 41 is almost in the books. I'll provide a comprehensive update soon.

Overall, the war effort is going well, but I have made some errors that have upset my timetable for the invasion of Java. Poor task force allocation and the lack of supply in amphibious task forces is my biggest problem right now. I'm working the kinks out, but with no major continental invasion planned for Australia or India, I can afford to bumble my way forward for another week or two.

Francois will make his final stand at Manila on Luzon. It makes sense since he saw how easily his forces fell at Clark and Bataan, once supply was gone in our first game.

AVG has been assigned to CAP Rangoon to allow supply and reinforcement to move into Burma. My forces have just reached Moulmein, so I hope to close the Burma road within a few weeks.

China is going well and the number of Chinese destroyed squads is starting to climb. A large number of Chinese LCU's are at risk of being surrounded and destroyed.

I've almost opened a route to Sian along the secondary road through the mountainous and rough terrain north of Loyang. All that remains is too push on through the 2x terrain and threaten Sian directly. There is the small issue of getting on the right side of the river to attack Sian directly, but I'll decide how to do it once I get there. I will not risk any river crossings in China unless absolutely necessary. I've been burned too many times.

Allied naval losses are negligible so far and I've been unable to capitalize on what few opportunities I've had. I caught an Allied cruiser force with KB near Denpassar, but at a range of 7 hexes my Val's only carried 60kg bombs and of 44 Kate torpedo planes, only one hit was recorded. KB has sucked when attacking so far this game. I'm trying to use my carriers aggressively this time around for exactly that reason. Since I'm getting such poor results, I need to up the number of chances. They all can't suck...can they? I expect very little of my carriers this game, but I won't baby them either.



SqzMyLemon -> RE: A Japanese Swan Song - Sqz (J) vs. fcharton (A) DBB 28-B (4/5/2017 3:59:12 PM)

Francois and I are progressing slowly with the game which has reached 21 Jan 42. I'll be trying to make an effort to update the AAR on a regular basis. Compared to Francois' aggressive stance last game it looks like he's chosen a more conservative approach. I'm not pressed anywhere on the map, but nor am I pressing him. I'm just interested in establishing a historic perimeter so there's no point rushing.

Balikpapan and Miri are Japanese controlled. I've landed on Java and captured Soerabaja as well.

The battles for Manila and Singapore are about to begin.

I've had horrible luck with damaged facilities upon capture in the game unlike last time. I suffered heavy damage to the oil/fuel facilities at both Balikpapan and Soerabaja. I'm concerned about Palembang upon capture in light of what has happened so far. I traditionally don't go after Palembang early and it's never proved a problem before, this time I'm quite nervous and expecting the worst.

I'm a little too loose in this one and need to start upping my game. That being said, I'm enjoying a more relaxed approach and will just go with the flow in this one.



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