RE: Burma Update (Full Version)

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Lowpe -> RE: Burma Update (9/8/2017 6:49:36 PM)

Non base hex defense works much better than base hex defense but that can be variable:

1. supply flows better during rainy season
2. you can sweep
3. your forts don't get reduced, but are built individually by units
4. stacking levels are usually in your favor
5. no unit prep to worry about

Benefit of a big base defense include
1. less malaria impact on your troops
2. you can build forts that get applied to all units
3. you can rail in reinforcements quickly
4. you can sometimes really pull off a great cap trap
5. you can benefit from prep/hq prep x2 - which is very tricky to do in game



Aurorus -> RE: Burma Update (9/9/2017 12:04:50 AM)

Defend in good terrain with a good supply path with a good mix of units and try to mix in air support as needed.

Never miss an opportunity to counter attack where your opponent's supply lines are vulnerable, especially when confronted with a large stack such as that which Mr. Kane has created.

L'audace, l'audace, toujours l'audace.



Xargun -> RE: Burma Update (9/11/2017 2:47:02 PM)


quote:

ORIGINAL: Lowpe

Non base hex defense works much better than base hex defense but that can be variable:

1. supply flows better during rainy season
2. you can sweep
3. your forts don't get reduced, but are built individually by units
4. stacking levels are usually in your favor
5. no unit prep to worry about

Benefit of a big base defense include
1. less malaria impact on your troops
2. you can build forts that get applied to all units
3. you can rail in reinforcements quickly
4. you can sometimes really pull off a great cap trap
5. you can benefit from prep/hq prep x2 - which is very tricky to do in game


Got it. Thanks for the clarification.



Xargun -> March 4th, 1943 UPDATE (9/11/2017 2:59:30 PM)

Its been a slow week or two with only a single turn per day for most days, but we are still making headway. We have crossed into March 43 and the push for Burma is on in full strength - thinking probably 6 months earlier than normal, just hope I can hold.

After taking Shwebo the allies took their sweet time moving across the river into Mandalay - a week or more passed - giving me plenty of time to evacuate my surviving troops from the fall of Shwebo. Not being able to match the allies jugernaught with one of my own, I decided to abandon the bases in the middle of Burma including: Mandalay, Magwe and Meiktila. As much as I like the 3000 oil per turn, its not worth fighting over in open terrain. Plus every base he takes he has to leave behind a sizable unit or I will retake it with paratroopers. So every base he takes weakens his jugernaught as well as stretches his supply lines.

Mandalay:

I left behind a single 20mm AA unit to hold Mandalay. The soldiers knew it was a death mission but were glad to give thier lives for the emperor. I picked the 20mm AA unit as it was the least valuable unit I have in Burma - I should never have brought them there, but I wasn't thinking of their lack of range when I brought AA to Burma. With no dive bombers or strafing attackers the 20mm is next to useless against air attack so they are the sacrificial lambs here.

The allied stack crossed the river and 100k allies camped on Mandalay. After the massed air attack on Mandalay there was nothing left of the 20mm unit to resist the Shock Attack - but they did their job. They held the base until attacked - they even caused the allies to wreak the forts to take the base (knocking it down from 4 to 2). They will be rebought and will be deployed to an island where their range will not be a negative.

[image]local://upfiles/10982/3EA47FC607AC4A46B926B630CA1ACAF2.jpg[/image]

As you can see by the attack the allies have brought a lot:

6 Infantry Divisions
3 Armoured Brigades (+1 Tank Brigade)
3 Armoured Regiments
+ Assorted units

He has another 50k troops at Shwebo still.



Xargun -> RE: March 4th, 1943 UPDATE (9/11/2017 3:25:05 PM)

Map of Burma (as of mar 4th, 1943)

[image]local://upfiles/10982/77CF889FF0A74817915D3F57BFFEE5D7.jpg[/image]

Akyab:
With the fall of Shwebo and the advancement of the allied horde, troops at Akyab are starting to move. There are roughly 15k troops here and they are moving - most likely down the trail towards Prome - it will be a few weeks before they reach Prome and I will either hold there or fall back - depending on what the main stack does.

Mandalay:
100k+ troops and tanks are here. They just took the base, so we will see how long it takes them to move and which way. I expect him to keep most of the stack together with heavy fighter cover to prevent me bombing it heavily.

1 hex West of Mandalay:
The 5th Burma Battalion is here and beat up. I was chasing it a bit before the allies crossed the river, but now I am pulling my unit back. The 5th Burma is beat up from air attacks and will probably end up a garrison force.

Lao Cai
The 52nd Chinese Corps has moved into Lao Cai and taken the dot base. A bit of a surprise move, I'm going to have to ask my opponent to make sure he paid his PPs to cross into Indo-China since it is a Chinese unit.


Magwe:
A lone 20mm unit sits here watching the oil being pumped from the ground and sent down to Rangoon to be shipped home to feed the Japanese Empire. They have orders to fight to the last man and will hold the base until the allies come and push them out.

Meiktila:
A Base Force and an infantry Rgt hold this area waiting for the Allied troops to move one way or another. I am moving the base force out now and the infantry unit will flee a turn or two behind - leaving nothing for the allies to destroy here.

Taung Gyi:
A militia unit sits here and will make their stand here. Another militia unit sits on the trail to the east to hold it open for when the troops at Lashio retreat.

Lashio:
2 Divisions of troops sit here holding the base against an even sized force of allied troops. I am debating whether to pull them out or when or let them sit here until pushed out. Hex sides to the West and SW are open for retreat and supply flow.

Toungoo:
This is my new line of resistance. The base sits in the Jungle and am increasing the forts as fast as I can. All of my AT weapons are here as well as a good portion of my AA. I am also planning on 2 infantry and 2 tank divisions holding here. Hoping between forts and the terrain I can hold for a while.

My troops are fleeing south and east via Moulmein into Thailand. I am building up Moulmein, Chiang Mai, Rahaeng and Pisanoluke as the next line of defense.

Troops are arriving in Vinh, Haiphong and Hanoi to increase the fort and airfields there as the following line of defense.

I don't have enough fighters in Burma, but am not sure where to pull them from. I have fighters at Palembang, Balikpapan, Singapore as well as a bunch on the Home Islands training. Just not sure where to pull from - but thinking 1-2 more fighter groups can help a lot.



Xargun -> RE: March 4th, 1943 UPDATE (9/11/2017 3:41:45 PM)

Southwest Pacific:
[image]local://upfiles/10982/4237FE0DD2AE452D9B89E6FE1058AACF.jpg[/image]

Wewak:
Allies have moved up the coast of New Guinea and taken undefended Wewak, but are no trapped as I have retaken Madang behind them. Recon over Wewak show about 600 men there so its a small unit and I am thinking of landing some troops here to kill them.

Aitape:
A naval Guard unit sits here to act as a temporary roadblock to the allied progress north along the coast.

Madang:
Madang is over held with only 10 or so Combat Strength - but its enough to hold the base and keep supplies from flowing north to the allied unit at Wewak.

Rabaul:
About 400 Combat Strength sits at Rabaul, including several garrison units and a single base force which provides enough support for a dozen planes. I keep moving fighters in and out of Rabaul to protect TFs catch enemy bombers in the area. So far its been effective and I'm surprised Mr Kane hasn't bombed the airfields or bombarded again.

Unfortunately Rabaul has 70k supplies and I am trying to move it out before it falls to the US.

Kavieng:
Only held by a SNLF and has no AF and only level 1 forts. Was neglected in favor of Rabaul and Buin and then with the US push, never got any engineers - nor will it now.

Gasmata:
Simply held by a few squads to deny it to the US.

Manus:
My main base in the area south of Truk. 200+ air support and a Division plus of troops. Manus is the exit route for everything evacuated from Rabaul and Buin - mostly heading to Babeldaob.



Xargun -> RE: March 4th, 1943 UPDATE (9/11/2017 3:47:56 PM)

Industry View:
[image]local://upfiles/10982/EC38FC910E1C488CA31A383D15189BDB.jpg[/image]

Another look at my Industry screen via Tracker - unfortunately the Airframes box doesn't like me and hasn't been working correctly for a while. Trust me, I am building air craft every day.

The final version of Emily just came online on March 1st, so I am now building them in a single size 30 factory. It will be several months before I replace all the Mavis currently in service, but it is underway.

I have turned my Ha-45 engines back on and will build the stockpile up to at least 1500 before shutting them off again (if I will). I have a lot of aircraft in R&D right now that will begin to use Ha-45 for R&D purposes as well as once I can actually build them.

Here is a list of my current active engine pools:

Ha-5: 1
Ha-31: 255
Ha-32: 1289
Ha-33: 536
Ha-34: 446
Ha-35: 448
Ha-43: R&D
Ha-45: 1091



Xargun -> RE: March 4th, 1943 UPDATE (9/11/2017 3:50:23 PM)

One more post for you. Here is a shot of my Carrier construction. I currently have 2 CVE and 5 CVs under construction. As you can see by the dates, the next couple months will see both CVEs and 3 CVs arriving with the last 2 CVs arriving in 6-8 months from now.
[image]local://upfiles/10982/56D7123405E8403DAD86A1C0134A3D73.jpg[/image]



Xargun -> Tokyo (9/12/2017 1:39:47 AM)

Tokyo just finished level 7 forts and I'm wondering if I should go any higher here. I'm thinking of moving the bulk of the engineers to the next important base and building forts there. What do you guys think?



PaxMondo -> RE: Tokyo (9/12/2017 2:43:52 AM)

I would get forts up to 6 everywhere you need them first, then go back and go beyond 6 in those few critical places like Osaka and Tokyo. Sadly, but appropriately, forts don't help against city attacks, so all those areas are still very vulnerable to strategic attack.



Xargun -> Not Happy (9/12/2017 1:54:38 PM)

Just ran the latest turn and my troops at Meiktila just sat there allowing the allies to Shock Attack and crush them. They were in strategic mode with destinations set and they just sat there all lined up on rail cars for the allies to destroy. Why wouldn't they move? Move phase is before attack phase so they should have left the base. Just lost a Base Force and an Infantry Rgt.

This game hates me :) Had a TF of Cruisers sit at Rabaul for 4 days and would not leave no matter what while the allies bombed them daily.. Lost multiple cruisers in that fiasco.



Lowpe -> RE: Not Happy (9/12/2017 1:58:55 PM)

Can't rail out of a province with enemy forces present. They Allied troops arrived, and your troops could not rail out because of their presence.

Lesson learned the hard way. Sadly.[:(]

Should put some screen pictures up about the cruisers.



Xargun -> RE: Not Happy (9/12/2017 2:22:16 PM)


quote:

ORIGINAL: Lowpe

Can't rail out of a province with enemy forces present. They Allied troops arrived, and your troops could not rail out because of their presence.

Lesson learned the hard way. Sadly.[:(]

Should put some screen pictures up about the cruisers.



Did not realize the no rail out - I knew you couldn't rail into a base with enemy units present.. Grrrr.... I just checked and both units did survive and fled to Magwe. As expected they are crushed. The Base Force is still in strat mode so they are retreating out.. The Inf Rgt is in Disorganized state so I am simply marching them out as the allies are moving into Magwe and will probably be here next turn.

The cruiser thing happens 100+ turns ago. I finally got them to move only by disbanding their TF and creating a new one. Really made me mad - lost cruisers for no reason.




Xargun -> Victim of Meiktila - 15th Infantry Rgt (9/12/2017 6:25:46 PM)

Here is whats left of the 15th Infantry Rgt
[image]local://upfiles/10982/EC2ADC64CE1B49C38716EEACD9398938.jpg[/image]



Xargun -> RE: Victim of Meiktila - 53rd Base Force (9/12/2017 6:26:47 PM)

Here is the 53rd Base Force
[image]local://upfiles/10982/009104629A2E447684CDE57E56A9B956.jpg[/image]



Xargun -> Lashio Lambs (9/12/2017 6:28:57 PM)

[image]local://upfiles/10982/BDFFC1161D9E42D585B822586AF39CF3.jpg[/image]

I have finally decided what to do with Lashio. I am pulling out a bunch of the troops and leaving behind 2 Infantry Divisions. Neither of them are high experience so they are sacraficial. Everything else is moving out and will retreat down the trails towards Taung Gyi.



Bif1961 -> RE: Lashio Lambs (9/12/2017 10:15:20 PM)

Interesting you accelerated the Shinano. I usually stop it to use the extra to speed up something else i need at the time.



Xargun -> RE: Lashio Lambs (9/12/2017 11:22:57 PM)


quote:

ORIGINAL: Bif1961

Interesting you accelerated the Shinano. I usually stop it to use the extra to speed up something else i need at the time.


I'm playing DBBs mod in which the Shinano is another Taiho so its worth building.



witpqs -> RE: Lashio Lambs (9/12/2017 11:27:52 PM)


quote:

ORIGINAL: Xargun


quote:

ORIGINAL: Bif1961

Interesting you accelerated the Shinano. I usually stop it to use the extra to speed up something else i need at the time.


I'm playing DBBs mod in which the Shinano is another Taiho so its worth building.


Not in standard DBB mod, maybe someone's mod off of it. I am pretty sure John III uses DBB as the basis for his mods.



Xargun -> RE: Lashio Lambs (9/12/2017 11:40:14 PM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: witpqs

Not in standard DBB mod, maybe someone's mod off of it. I am pretty sure John III uses DBB as the basis for his mods.


We are playing DaIronBabes.
[image]local://upfiles/10982/D4C3141070C84AE08CC2D0D497C12EDF.jpg[/image]



Bif1961 -> RE: Lashio Lambs (9/13/2017 1:32:25 AM)

Oddly it looks like mix-stats as it has the classic Shinano air groups but speed of a Taiho class. Would have been better if they kept the expanded super carrier air groups size of 147 aircraft.



PaxMondo -> RE: Lashio Lambs (9/13/2017 3:07:42 AM)

Its a Taiho ... great class of CV for the IJ.



Xargun -> Movement Question (9/13/2017 2:15:36 PM)

Do units move slower when in hex with enemy units?



Lowpe -> RE: Movement Question (9/13/2017 3:13:03 PM)

Lots of things impact unit speed: fatigue, leadership, experience, disruption, mode, bombing, bombarding, morale, and more I have no doubt.




Xargun -> CV Upgrades (9/14/2017 1:43:23 AM)

All of my CVs are due for upgrades in 4/43 with most of them gaining radars (important upgrade) but I'm sure MrKane knows this and may be waiting for 4/43 to launch a huge amphibious invasion somewhere. My CVs have been sitting in Paradise (Code name for their location) for at least 3 months now saving both fuel and not giving him any intel on their locations. I am wondering if I should put them all into upgrade together to get it over with or do them in groups. Since my CVs have played very little impact in the war since the early days I'm leaning towards all at once, but wondered what you guys thought?

Also, when do the US CVs have their upgrades? And how important are they?



PaxMondo -> RE: CV Upgrades (9/14/2017 3:22:13 AM)

Can't answer about the allies and I don't know this mod.

as for you, its one of those player decisions; I don't think there is a best answer, it is more about you and your opponent. I tend to do mine all at once because I won't commit the KB piecemeal after 9/42 in any case. So, I minimize the time it is unavailable. Radar is a big deal ...



Lowpe -> RE: CV Upgrades (9/14/2017 3:35:49 AM)

Radar is huge, but also only part of the puzzle. I am sure Mr. Kane will come for you early somewhere...he knows how to put together a kitchen sink invasion but 4/43 might be a bit early for the Allies to pull one off.

The KB isn't the only way to counter invasions.[:)]

Remember, Pax plays against the AI. Against an Allied player there might be times when you want to send in only a portion of the KB. Or show it. Keyword there is might.




Aurorus -> RE: CV Upgrades (9/14/2017 4:13:34 AM)


quote:

ORIGINAL: Lowpe

Radar is huge, but also only part of the puzzle. I am sure Mr. Kane will come for you early somewhere...he knows how to put together a kitchen sink invasion but 4/43 might be a bit early for the Allies to pull one off.

The KB isn't the only way to counter invasions.[:)]

Remember, Pax plays against the AI. Against an Allied player there might be times when you want to send in only a portion of the KB. Or show it. Keyword there is might.




Lowpe makes a good point. Sometimes it is better to show the KB than actually use it... or a portion of it. Oftentimes, your opponent will only know CVs are present somewhere; he will not know how many or whether they are fleet CVs or CVLs.



PaxMondo -> RE: CV Upgrades (9/14/2017 1:28:07 PM)

Lowpe's comments are spot on, all of them, so take my tactical advice with a large grain of salt. In particular:

"I am sure Mr. Kane will come for you early somewhere...he knows how to put together a kitchen sink invasion...."

Which means not only is he ready for the KB, he will want it to show. One thing I note that a lot of players do well is on the attack, they can assemble almost all of their forces and focus on that. On the flip side, on defense, most players do NOT assemble their forces. In '43 the IJ Kaigun and air units are superior in both numbers and quality than the allies, yet many (most? recent) allied invasion are successful in '43 and worse, the allies not only do not pay a price, the IJ does.

As Lowpe notes: Mr Kane is one of the very best at this. He picks a target in '42 and preps 6 - 12 months for it assembling almost every unit available. Meaning, he is coming BIG. So big, that even if the KB shows up, or appears to show up, he still comes on his timetable. Showing a portion of the KB is intended to scare off a potential invasion ... my observations of Mr Kane is that won't likely work. He will simply come on prepared to tangle with the KB, or even hope it shows up.

Again, your interpretation of your opponent. Where are his units? What haven't you seen that you know he has? etc etc etc. He's got a big distraction going on in Burma right now ... what units are NOT present? That will tell you what is coming, tough part is the where and when. Last thing I would say is that he tends to be BOLD and I have not seen him repeat a ploy yet in an AAR .... he doesn't always do one, so I can't say about the other games. GOOD LUCK!



Xargun -> RE: CV Upgrades (9/14/2017 6:06:51 PM)


quote:

ORIGINAL: PaxMondo

Again, your interpretation of your opponent. Where are his units? What haven't you seen that you know he has? etc etc etc. He's got a big distraction going on in Burma right now ... what units are NOT present? That will tell you what is coming, tough part is the where and when. Last thing I would say is that he tends to be BOLD and I have not seen him repeat a ploy yet in an AAR .... he doesn't always do one, so I can't say about the other games. GOOD LUCK!


My problem is I do not know what the OOB of the allies is - so I can't tell what is missing. I do know he has a ton of divisions in Burma pushing hard - including at least 2 Australian ID, at least 1 Indian Div (plus several Bde) and 4+ British IDs and a ton of armor.

I have not spotted any US units in Burma other than some air groups. In the SW Pacific he still has a sizable force in the Port Moresby area and is now just making a few forays into New Britain. I am surprised the allied CVs haven't showed up for an invasion of the Marshalls and I'm expecting it any day - although I did sink and damage several US transports during his invasion of Tarawa. I am still building up the North Defenses as it has been very quiet and could be an avenue of attack straight to the home islands.

The OZ area has been quiet as well.




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