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RE: How Not to Do an Invasion for the Allies!

 
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RE: How Not to Do an Invasion for the Allies! - 8/31/2009 1:59:28 AM   
jimh009

 

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Joined: 5/15/2005
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quote:

ORIGINAL: Andy Mac

They were attackong just not the spearhead there is spme randomness especially in arty .

Key lesson is preparation preparation preparation - you must have 50% prep for an invasion against any kind of defence

(On atoll invasions I insist on >75% prep)



Yeah, those numbers seem right...with the higher the better for those evil atolls. Upcoming Baker Island invasion units are all at 100, so I'm ok for that invasion.

(in reply to Andy Mac)
Post #: 121
RE: How Not to Do an Invasion for the Allies! - 8/31/2009 2:03:37 AM   
jimh009

 

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Joined: 5/15/2005
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quote:

ORIGINAL: Tanaka


quote:

ORIGINAL: Andy Mac

They were attackong just not the spearhead there is spme randomness especially in arty .

Key lesson is preparation preparation preparation - you must have 50% prep for an invasion against any kind of defence

(On atoll invasions I insist on >75% prep)



Any way to choose who is the spearhead?


I don't think so. Only way I could guarantee the Marines were in the lead was to rest the Army unit that seemed to be taking the lead.

(in reply to Tanaka)
Post #: 122
RE: How Not to Do an Invasion for the Allies! - 8/31/2009 3:30:24 AM   
jimh009

 

Posts: 368
Joined: 5/15/2005
Status: offline 		This AAR Covers the Period September 28th - October 4th

General Observations

Quiet. No battles at all. Three US CV's are upgrading and will be out of action for a month or so. No loss...as I don't have the aircraft to flush out their air wings. The US Enteprise has 10 Dauntless dive bombers and 3 F4's!! So, it's out of action for a while. Three US CV's remain in the South Pacific, and right now are being used to provide air cover for the invasion of Munda.

The invasion of Munda has gone off well enough. Now unloading all the support elements. Munda will be the "first stepping stone" in isolating Rabaul. Once Munda has an airfield, Shortland Islands will be isolated...making it easier to take. And so it will go (see map below for expected progression of attacks).

The Allied submarine force is back in business. The "fuel bug" before the patch was annihilating Allied submarines, but the patch has solved the problem. At least half my submarines had sat in port for a month repairing the damage from running out of fuel. Now that they are all repaired and out on patrol (and the patch prevents them from running out of fuel again!), Allied submarines are once again taking a toll on the Japanese Navy. One or two Japanese ships die each turn due to Allied sub patrols.

The Allies finally have some good ASW assets. SC's are arriving seemingly every day. I'm spreading them out all over the place. Some are on patrol along the West Coast. A few have been exiled to Alaska. Others are now heading down to the Suva/Pago Pago/Noumea/Brisbane areas. Once fully established in a month or two, the SC's should provide for ASW patrols for much of the Allied supply route between Noumea and the West Coast. With some luck, these ASW patrols will sink a few submarines...something the Allies have had little luck doing. So far, only 6 Japanese subs have been sunk...and half of those were from sub vs. sub combat!!

Bizaare Japanese "Raid"

Very strange. I noticed a Japanese task force approaching, of all places, Hawaii. Since the Japanese carrier force has been decimated, I wasn't worried about "Pearl Harbor 2." Reconaissance showed the force didn't even have any BB's....just CA's and CL's. So, I hastily formed a task force around the BB Washington. The BB made mince-meat of this strange Japanese surface task force...2 CA's and 2 DD's were sunk, every other ship heavily damaged. Why the AI was "attacking" Pearl Harbor with a weak surface force in October of 1942 is a total mystery!

China and India/Burma

Other than daily air raids on Imphal and Chittagong that are beaten back with high Japanese losses, there is nothing going on. I have no plans here except to enjoy the "sitzkreig" that has developed.

South Pacific Campaign

As you can see from the map below, I've developed the "attack progression" for taking key bases in the South Pacific. The Allies will not be taking Buna, Salamua or Lae. These three bases will end up isolated once Finschaven and Cape Gloucester are in Allied control. The same holds true for Rabaul...once Buka Island is in Allied hands and a large airfield developed, Rabaul will essentially be isolated and ineffective. I "might" have to take Green Island, too (a dot hex one hex from Buka) in order to truly isolate Rabaul (a second airfield might be needed).






Attachment (1)

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Post #: 123
Future Central Pacific Operations - 8/31/2009 3:32:18 AM   
jimh009

 

Posts: 368
Joined: 5/15/2005
Status: offline 		Just a map showing future plans of the Allies in the Central Pacific.






Attachment (1)

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Post #: 124
RE: How Not to Do an Invasion for the Allies! - 8/31/2009 10:20:24 AM   
Andy Mac

 

Posts: 15222
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From: Alexandria, Scotland
Status: offline 		Nope

(in reply to Tanaka)
Post #: 125
RE: How Not to Do an Invasion for the Allies! - 8/31/2009 10:21:53 AM   
Andy Mac

 

Posts: 15222
Joined: 5/12/2004
From: Alexandria, Scotland
Status: offline 		Jimif you still have it I dcould use a save any save with that mysterious Jap TF in it ?

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Post #: 126
RE: How Not to Do an Invasion for the Allies! - 8/31/2009 10:52:10 AM   
jimh009

 

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quote:

ORIGINAL: Andy Mac

Jimif you still have it I dcould use a save any save with that mysterious Jap TF in it ?


Sorry, that happened a few days earlier so I don't have a save file of it. What's left of the TF is in retreat now.

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Post #: 127
RE: How Not to Do an Invasion for the Allies! - 8/31/2009 11:13:14 AM   
Andy Mac

 

Posts: 15222
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From: Alexandria, Scotland
Status: offline 		ok no worries

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Post #: 128
Quiet October Period & Why No New Guinea - 8/31/2009 3:09:59 PM   
jimh009

 

Posts: 368
Joined: 5/15/2005
Status: offline 		AAR Covers the period October 5th - October 15th

General Observations

Nothing is happening. The Japanese made a few attempts to land troops on Lunga. Two of the TF's were wiped out by land based air. The third ran into my BB TF. None of the forces had escorts beyond PB's.

Beyond that and the daily air war over Chittagong/Imphal/Diamond Harbor...no battles whatsoever.

Allied submarines continue to sink 1-3 ships a day now that they are back on patrol.

It will be another 2-3 months before US carriers have full strength fighter squadrons...and probably 4 or more months before there is enough Dauntlesses to flush out their air groups. All the action these past 5 months combined with having six carriers and pokey replacements all combine to make for some very depleted air wings. Happily, with the decimation of the Japanese Navy, it really doesn't matter.

Three US carriers are in port at Hawaii, having finished their upgrades. Two more on their way, leaving the US Wasp as the sole carrier in the South Pacific. It's very likely that the only combat naval forces that will remain in the South Pacific following the Baker Island invasion will be a BB surface TF and a smaller surface TF composed of CA's (they will be stationed at Lunga, under very strong CAP). Other than some transports needed to shuttle troops and supplies and such, most other ships will be based out of Pearl Harbor. The carriers will only come back to the South Pacific to finish off the invasion of Shortland Islands and Buka early in 1943, then later in the summer of 1943 for the invasions of Finschaven and Cape Gloucester. The much shorter supply lines, repair yard and simplicity of organization all combine to make Pearl Harbor the logical place to "base the fleet" now that the South pacific is safe from any sort of major attack.

Troop Shuffle

Beginning the first stages of moving stuff from the South pacific back toward Pearl Harbor. An Army Regiment and Two Marine Regiments are being moved, where they'll form up with their parent regiments at Pearl (allowing them to become full-strength divisions). Also being moved is a New Zealand armor regiment from Auckland. At some point in the not-so-distant future, will also move the Australian 7th division and the 32nd Division from Sydney back to Pearl as well, too. Both of these divisions, along with the 27th division in Noumea (also due to be moved back to Pearl), are slated to be used in the Marianas.

Within the next two weeks, a huge flotilla of ships will be on their way back to Pearl, as they'll be the ships used for the Baker Island invasion, still scheduled for sometime in mid to late November or early December.

Why the Allies are avoiding attacking up New Guinea

As can be seen by the big shuffle of ships and troops back toward Pearl Harbor, the Allies will be launching their major offensive through the Central Pacific...not the South Pacific. I prefered to do this in WiTP stock, and I prefer to do it in this game too. Here's a few reasons why.

1. Supply Lines. It's far, far easier to keep everything supplied when launching offensives out of Pearl than Noumea/Australia.

2. Naval Concentration. I always strive for naval concentration in all games I play. Naval dispersion, as the Japanese did with their naval forces in this game, is inviting a "kiss of death" by a superior force. By basing all offensives out of one base...not three (Noumea, Sydney and PH), the Allies can achieve massive concentrations of power.

3. Safety. It's far safer to island hop in the central pacific than to invite problems that can develop around Rabaul/Truk. This is doubly true now that the Japanese carriers are basically gone. Out in the Central Pacific, the only thing that can hurt the Allies are submarines and a few lone Betty's that CAP can easily handle. Around Rabaul/Truk, the Allies are always at risk of mass Betty and Zero attacks from multiple, large airfields.

4. Speed. It's a lot faster to island hop...starting from baker, then to Tarawa and moving North...than it is to fiddle around in the South Pacific. If you base attacks out of Noumea and start moving up New Guinea, it's a long sail back down to Noumea to pick up forces and start again. And obviously, you don't have to move the forces all the way from the West coast to Noumea to begin with, either. Moreover, by concentrating your forces on the Central Pacific you can improve on the Allied time line...allowing for an earlier invasion of the Marianas. And the Marianas are one hell of a lot more important than some of those useless bases in New Guinea.

5. No Purpose. Exactly what is really gained by hopping up the Eastern Coast of New Guinea? I've never seen any advantage whatsoever to doing it. Iv'e done it a few times in stock, and never once was glad I did. Keeping those bases you take over in New Guinea supplied is a PITA, especially since ships transiting the coast of New Guinea are very vulnerable to Betty's from Truk. And all the support forces needed to garrison those New Guinea bases are MUCH handier in other places of the war.


6. Easier to take New Guinea from the North. Instead of slogging up the New ?Guinea coast, I find it MUCH simpler to hop down it if the desire occurs. You have larger ports much closer to where the action is, and those ports (in this case, the Marianas) are far easier to keep supplied than Noumea is.

7. Organization. I simply find it easier to keep "everything organized" basing as much as possible out of Pearl. You never "forget something" and you don't have to worry about trying to coordinate invasions where the land units are coming from multiple bases. Moreover, by basing stuff out of Pearl (and later the Marianas, btw), you also don't have to worry about suddenly not having the right ships in the right port.

8. You Need to Take the Atolls...New Guinea is "Optional". Those atolls have to be taken, one way or another...as they stand between Pearl Harbor and the Marianas (and beyond). A campaign in New Guinea is an "optional campaign." Conquering those bases gives the Allied virtually nothing...except divert resources from the campaign in the Central Pacific, Marianas and beyond.

< Message edited by jimh009 -- 9/1/2009 12:05:18 AM >

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Post #: 129
RE: Quiet October Period & Why No New Zealand - 8/31/2009 11:00:13 PM   
bwheatley

 

Posts: 3650
Joined: 12/13/2004
Status: offline 		hehe think you mean new guinea :)

btw the game seems to make an autosave of every turn so you can probably find it in the autosave directory and mail it to andy.

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Post #: 130
RE: Quiet October Period & Why No New Zealand - 9/1/2009 12:03:23 AM   
jimh009

 

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quote:

ORIGINAL: bwheatley

hehe think you mean new guinea :)

btw the game seems to make an autosave of every turn so you can probably find it in the autosave directory and mail it to andy.


lol, yeah...oops! That's what happens when you write these things up with little sleep!!

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Post #: 131
RE: Quiet October Period & Why No New Zealand - 9/1/2009 12:19:55 AM   
Andy Mac

 

Posts: 15222
Joined: 5/12/2004
From: Alexandria, Scotland
Status: offline 		Are you going straight for the Marianas or going via Gilberts and Marshalls ?

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Post #: 132
RE: Quiet October Period & Why No New Zealand - 9/1/2009 12:39:37 AM   
jimh009

 

Posts: 368
Joined: 5/15/2005
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quote:

ORIGINAL: Andy Mac

Are you going straight for the Marianas or going via Gilberts and Marshalls ?


Gilberts and Marshalls first. Even if the Allies wanted to bypass them in favor of going direct, the US doesn't have nearly enough AP's or AK's or CV's or carrier aircraft to mount an invasion of the Marianas anytime soon.

Additionally, I don't like having a mass of enemy controlled islands sitting astride the main supply line between the Marianas and Pearl Harbor. While you don't have to capture all of the little atolls, it is important to capture the important ones. Enwietok/Kwajalein/Maleowap islands (and vicinity) are especially important to capture...as the airfields there reduce the submarine threat.

As for the Gilberts, I really don't "need them" per se. And with the upcoming shift in focus from the South Pacific to the Central Pacific, there won't be many convoys heading toward Australia or Noumea, either (which removes one of the reasons to take the Gilbrts). However, Tarawa has a size 2 airfield, and Betty's have been flying from there. The best way to remove that threat is to capture the island. Taking the Gilberts also provides a good training ground for future atolls (sort of like real-life), and, well...they're kind of fun to take, too!!

If I had to take a "guess," I'd say an invasion of the Marianas will happen in late 1943 (no sooner than October '43...probably a few months later). In stock WiTP, I often had the Marianas taken by mid-1943. But the changes in AE slow things down, which is good. The changes in shipping and how invasions happen (particularly the need to use AP's/APA's/AK's/AKA's), combined with the mass of ships/materials/aircraft I drag to the Marianas (5 divisions and all the other stuff, usually), all slow things down a bit.

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Post #: 133
Other Reasons the Allies Want the Marshall Islands - 9/1/2009 1:16:30 AM   
jimh009

 

Posts: 368
Joined: 5/15/2005
Status: offline 		Just wanted to follow-up on the previous post...where AndyMac asked if I was going straight to the Marianas for going via the Gilberts and Marshall Islands. As the previous post stated, I'll take the Gilberts...and in particular the Marshall Islands...first. I listed some reasons, but was kind of vague. Here's a few more detailed reasons. Perhaps some newbies will find it helpful.

1. Reconnaissance. The Allies really need a base in the Marshall Islands to properly reconnoiter what the Japanese have in the Marianas. This is especially so in AE...given the importance of planning. The Allies need to know what is at Guam, Tinian, and Saipan in order to get the right amount of forces planning for each.

2. Reduce Submarine Threat. If the Allies bypass the Marshall Islands, Japanese submarines can really "close the net" on the thin allied shipping lane between the Marianas and Guam. By taking the Marshall islands (and eventually Wake), it is much more difficult for Japanese submarines to find the shipping lanes between the Marianas and Pearl Harbor/West Coast...especially if the Allied player makes use of waypoints to change each TF's routing.

Additionally, by controlling the bases in the Marshalls (and Wake Island), the Allies can much better blanket the sea lanes with ASW air. While you won't sink many (if any) submarines in AE through air power alone, you DO detect them. And a detected submarine loses much of it's usefulness.

3. Keep an Eye on Truk and Vicinity. While less of an issue in my current game, normally the Japanese fleet won't be "so shattered" as it is now. As such, it is always good policy to keep a watch on what's going on around Truk. By having some bases in the Marshall Islands, you reduce the probability of the Japanese launching a surprise attack somewhere.

4. Make It More Difficult for the Japanese to Evacuate Truk. If, and this is always a big if, the Japanese are slow to evacuate most of their forces from Truk before and following the invasion of the Marianas, by having control of key bases in the Marshall Islands, the Allies make it much more difficult/time consuming for the evacuation of Truk to occur. Typically, once I take the Marianas, Ulithi/Yap/Paleau fall within two months. Once that happens, the Allies have essentially cut-off Truk and whatever is in New Guinea from the rest of the Japanese Empire. If the Allies don't control the Marshall Islands, the Japanese can be a "bit sneaky" and still run transports into Truk to pull stuff out. If the Allies have airbases at Enwietok and Kwajalein, this becomes impossible for the Japanese to do.

5. Emergency Port. It's a long way between the Marianas and Pearl Harbor. Common sense says it's a good idea to have a base or two in-between...allowing for damaged ships to have an emergency port to return to if needed.

6. Simplifies Air Reinforcements. If the Allied player controls bases in the Marshall Islands, you can run air reinforcements to Enwietok/Kwajalein using AKV's...then fly the aircraft direct to the Marianas (unless they have very short range). This saves a lot of time.

(in reply to jimh009)
Post #: 134
Quiet October Continues - 9/1/2009 6:26:23 AM   
jimh009

 

Posts: 368
Joined: 5/15/2005
Status: offline 		AAR covers the period October 16th - October 27th

General Observations

The Japanese invaded Attu. I have 50 AV on Kiska and am bringing up a base force and construction unit from the West coast in order to build a base so as to be able to keep an eye on and reconnoiter Kiska. But it will be quite some time before I actually get around to booting them off Attu, as this part of the world is the lowest of the lowest priorities the Allies have.

Other than that, not one thing interesting is happening. This suits the Allies fine. October and probably a good chunk of November will be spent simply rebuilding airgroups and moving stuff around (mainly moving stuff back to Pearl Harbor). Baker Island invasion is still on track for a late November or early December kick-off.

Three divisions from Australia/Noumea are at sea, being returned to Pearl Harbor. Only the 32nd division in Sydney remains. Eventually, once some more militias in Australia become available, I'll likely move the 1st Marines off of Lunga, too. However, I do want to keep one high quality division on Lunga, as it's the primary airbase I'll be using for the Shortlaned Islands, Buka, Cape Gloucester, Woodlark Island and Finschaven invasions in spring/summer of 1943.

I have too much fuel now in Noumea...over 400K worth. Supplies also are over 400K. With the departure of most naval units, fuel stocks will hold up for months and months. I'll still need to move some more fuel to Australia (sydney is at 180k), but beyond that, supply needs for the South Pacific will remain quite low for the foreseeable future.

Four replenishment CVE's have arrived and are now in or moving to Pearl Harbor. Happily, they arrived nearly "fully stocked" with replacement F4's and Dauntless's and Avengers. Thus, to fill up the CVE's doesn't require drawing many planes from the non-existent Allied pools. This is happy news, as it will allow me to refill all my carriers with Dauntlesses and F4's prior to the invasion of Baker Island and Tarawa.

Organizing Pearl Harbor for Invasions

Pearl Harbor is overflowing with ships, supplies, troops and planes. 999,999k worth of fuel and supplies are now at Pearl Harbor. Other Hawaiian Islands are pushing 200K worth of supplies. A whole armada of various ships are now in transit from Australia/Nouma back to Pearl Harbor.

To keep everything organized, I'll be using specific Hawaiian Islands for specific invasions. As an example, Hilo will "host" the invasion and follow-on forces for specific Japanese held islands. Once everything is gathered up and deposited on Oahu, I'll start spreading stuff out. While not really needed for the smaller invasions of the Gilberts and Marshalls, for the Marianas invasion this should make organization much simpler. I've decided that Hilo will host the invasion/follow-on forces for Tinian and Kwajalein. Lahaina will host the invasion/follow-on forces for Saipan, Maleolap and Wotje. And the forces headed to Guam and most other islands in the Marshall and Gilbert Islands will be based in Oahu.

While the Marianas invasion is 9+ months away, I've come up with a good way of being able to take (hopefully...depending on Japanese resistance) all the islands within a month or so. It will require a massive fleet to accomplish this, but it looks like the Allies will have the massive fleet needed to do it. Previously in stock, I always took Guam first...then had to sail back to Pearl Harbor to load up the forces for Tinian, then repeat everything again for the invasion of Saipan. This new way I'm going to try (I'll elaborate on this in a later post, as the date draws closer to the actual invasion) will allow me to take everything needed for the invasion of all three islands without having to run back to Pearl Harbor to get more. It will add some complexity to the task of organizing the assault forces as well as the actual invasion itself (hence the reason for each Hawaiian base hosting specific forces), but the time saved will be far worth it.

PDU (Player Defined Upgrades) turned on

I've been playing with PDU turned off since the beginning of the war. However, I had to switch it on. By and large I'll continue to follow the upgrade path for virtually all air units. P40's and P39's are no longer "training fodder" for the Zeros, thus making these planes useful. Additiionally, since the Allied player doesn't get nearly as many P-38G's in this game as in stock WiTP, there won't be the "race" to convert garbage planes to P-38G's like there was in stock WiTP.

Instead, the reason I had to activate PDU was because of the uneven losses sustained by a handful of specific fighter units. In order to replenish those groups, due to the pokey nature of replacements, I needed to "downgrade" some inactive units...mainly those units on the West coast that are scheduled to be withdrawn. Since you can't downgrade with PDU off, I had to switch it on. By downgrading those units, the planes originally in it are thus released to the pools...allowing the Allies to rebuild these specific units. So far I've only done this for two P-39 squadrons. I have enough P40's to go around. There's no point in doing it for Dauntless dive bombers since I only have one land-based Dauntless squadron...and what few losses that unit sustains is well worth it, as it continues to make life miserable for the Japanese whenever the Japanese try to bring in supplies/troops to Finschaven. I also haven't messed around with any of the bomber upgrade paths, and unless the Allies sustain "uneven losses" for a particular unit in the months ahead, I doubt I'll fiddle any with their upgrade paths, either.

There was also one more reason I had to switch PDU on. One air unit, I forget which one, must have a "bug" in it's upgrade path. The unit originally was a P-39D squadron...it's how it starts the game. The UPGRADE path leads to the P-43 Lancers! And once you upgrade to the Lancer (which I did), guess what...the next upgrade leads to a P-39D squadron! Talk about going full-circle. So to help that unit out, I needed to break this endless loop by switching on PDU. This lucky unit will be the first unit to fly the P38G's...which are now just beginning to arrive in the game.

F4 aircraft for the carrier units are still in short supply, but it is growing. Using the replenishment carriers to fill them out will do the job, but in two more months enough replacements will arrive to fill everything out regardless. The Allies get a BIG help in this regard because of the introduction of the Corsair in January 1943. The Allies receive a lot of Corsair aircraft. As such, land-based F4's will quickly be converted over to Corsair fighters...allowing those land-based F4's to quickly find their way into the pool. So I just need to survive 2.5 months or so of "thin to slightly thin airgroups" on US Carriers.

Yep, it's a boring AAR. Sorry! Don't expect any battles either for another month, either, unless the Japanese pull a major surprise.

(in reply to jimh009)
Post #: 135
RE: Quiet October Continues - 9/1/2009 7:29:22 AM   
PMCN

 

Posts: 625
Joined: 9/8/2000
From: Germany
Status: offline 		On the wacky raids theme. It is currently Dec 31, 41 in my game and the IJN has done the following. It spent 5 days pounding Pearl Harbour then withdrew the KB. Just a few days ago the following showed up. Off Rabaul (still held by the Australians) intel reports 3 CVs and a BB. Looks to be half the KB. In the straight south of Baikaphan was spotted a CV and 2 CVLs (looks to be the other half the KB). The CV appears to be the Akagi and she was torpedoed 3 times, shows up in the sunk ship list and then torpedoed a 4th time. I'm not sure as the ship being torpedoed the 4th time didn't appear to be as damaged as I would have thought the Akagi would be and so might be a mis-identified CVL or who knows. I'll be sure ticked if the Akegi suvives 4 torpedoe hits especially after the "explosion under the waterline" message.

Now this seems risky but well it gave me the whilies so its not plain stupid. What is, is what is going on off the west coast of Borneo. A lone CVL and a tin can are there. Now perhaps the idea was to link up with the CV group but I know it is just the two ships as a PG+2 xAKL bumped into it and they both decided discression was the better part of getting the heck out of here. I have 24 torpedoe planes in range at Singapore and around 40 medium bombers from DEI and a RN SAG (2 CL and 1 DD) is vectoring in from the south hopefully along it's projected path if it doesn't run north.

Talk about suidical wishes...

(in reply to jimh009)
Post #: 136
RE: Quiet October Continues - 9/1/2009 2:10:40 PM   
jimh009

 

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quote:

ORIGINAL: Paul McNeely

On the wacky raids theme. It is currently Dec 31, 41 in my game and the IJN has done the following. It spent 5 days pounding Pearl Harbour then withdrew the KB. Just a few days ago the following showed up. Off Rabaul (still held by the Australians) intel reports 3 CVs and a BB. Looks to be half the KB. In the straight south of Baikaphan was spotted a CV and 2 CVLs (looks to be the other half the KB). The CV appears to be the Akagi and she was torpedoed 3 times, shows up in the sunk ship list and then torpedoed a 4th time. I'm not sure as the ship being torpedoed the 4th time didn't appear to be as damaged as I would have thought the Akagi would be and so might be a mis-identified CVL or who knows. I'll be sure ticked if the Akegi suvives 4 torpedoe hits especially after the "explosion under the waterline" message.

Now this seems risky but well it gave me the whilies so its not plain stupid. What is, is what is going on off the west coast of Borneo. A lone CVL and a tin can are there. Now perhaps the idea was to link up with the CV group but I know it is just the two ships as a PG+2 xAKL bumped into it and they both decided discression was the better part of getting the heck out of here. I have 24 torpedoe planes in range at Singapore and around 40 medium bombers from DEI and a RN SAG (2 CL and 1 DD) is vectoring in from the south hopefully along it's projected path if it doesn't run north.

Talk about suidical wishes...


Yeah, that CVL does seem suicidal.

In my game a CV force parked itself in the strait near Balikipan, too. It was a good move by the AI...as it prevented my surface forces from doing any sort of raids around the PI's and also sealed off any potential escape attempt by ships based in the PI (although by the time the CV's sealed off the strait, my ships were already gone). Seems the AI just got unlucky in having the Akagi get torpedoed.

The Japanese never showed the fleet around Port Moresby in my game until April...and when they did it was a "bit late." If the entire KB had showed up, what eventually happened might have happened differently. But "half the KB" isn't a match for five US carriers...especially when those carriers also have some support from land-based air.

(in reply to PMCN)
Post #: 137
RE: Quiet October Continues - 9/1/2009 3:03:51 PM   
PMCN

 

Posts: 625
Joined: 9/8/2000
From: Germany
Status: offline 		Well unlucky is relative. The entrance to that straight was mined. I had a sub on station in the deep water there (for some days now), and 2 or 3 subs patrolling the area. It is critical to me to keep that area free of IJN ships. But had the Akagi not been sunk...well that is a nightmare of epic proportions. It would have gutted my land based air and smashed loads of shipping.

I will be right unhappy if it didn't sink though after 3 torpedoes. The damage reports were such that I was really surprised when I got that 4th hit on her. I hope that was one of the CVLs mis-identified since it was not even burning and I was pretty sure that it was "heavy fires" "heavy damage" after the torpedoes hit her.

I agree that it isn't a bad plan but I would not send a carrier group into such restricted waters without a lot more escorts. Of course clearly the problem the IJN has is it doesn't have near enough escorts and when I manage to get in on one of its groups the carnage is atrocious. The Houston SAG and the Australia SAG both have caught cargo and transport taskforces and in the case of the Austalia's raid on Fin(something) (can I remember the names...no) in New Guinea I got the glorious message of "fuel cargo burning" as 8" shell landed in the ships. On the other hand I would have sent the entire KB via Singapore and down the java coastline smashing one port at a time. I have also just finished re-activating the PoW...it still has 55 float damage but for a week it sat in the singapore yards without getting anything fixed so its time to get out of town I think. I'll rest it in Osthaven for a few days before sending it on. I'm just not sure if I should send it Bombay first and then to Aden or Ceylon then Cape Town or direct to Cape Town.

Unfortunately in week 2 I lost the Lexington BG (well 4 DDs managed to return to Pearl) due to Fog of War. I thought the KB was headed west so dodged north but they headed NW and the Lex was in a storm cell so didn't even get a good launch on the KB before taking 3 torpedoes and sinking. I also didn't see a marker for the carriers and only spotted the CAs in the other taskforce and thought they had split. The Lexington's escorting CAs were sunk, scuttled and the last one lost to pump failure. So at the momement I'm very short of warships. The Yorktown is sitting in San Diego as I lack escorts for her. 5 days of bombing Pearl has cost me a lot.

(in reply to jimh009)
Post #: 138
Baker Island Invasion Successful - 9/2/2009 9:00:24 AM   
jimh009

 

Posts: 368
Joined: 5/15/2005
Status: offline 		This AAR covers the period October 27th - December 4th, 1942

General Observations

As can be seen by the dates, this AAR covers a lengthy period. Reason for the lack of posts during this time is because this period was, as expected, the definition of the word "boring"...at least if you need action in your game. From late October until mid-November, the Allies did nothing more than finish up the transfer of ships/troops/supplies to Pearl from various places (Sydney, Noumea, West Coast).

Playing Cat and Mouse Around Pearl Harbor

Then in mid-November a little bit of excitement visited the Central Pacific. In yet another raid (which was a bug in the AI script...I sent the save file to AndyMac), a Japanese surface task force consisting to 2 BB's and other vessels paid Pearl Harbor a visit. Beyond the bizaare of just having a lone surface TF pay Pearl harbor a visit in mid-November of 1942, the results of the engagement were even stranger.

The Allies had several days notice of the Japanese raid due to search planes on Johnston Island. As all my BB's were upgrading in Pearl I couldn't put up much of a fight with surface forces alone. Happily, I had five CV's sitting disbanded in port. So I formed three CV TF's and headed out to meet the Japanese Raider. I picked my spot carefully...be a bummer to run into the BB's at night with my carriers. The next day, Allied carriers were positioned one hex away from this surface TF. I thought...perfect. Slaughter!

Nope. Two massive attacks by the vaunted Allied carrier pilots from five carriers produced a grand total of three bomb hits that didn't even scratch the paint. Part of the problem was that many planes didn't launch due to "overstacking" of carriers in the TF. The following day I moved my carriers to the Northwest. This was on the logical premise that since the Japanese raider force had "been busted" that it would attempt to retreat.

Wrong. The Japanese force moved to the Northeast and ended up parked in the same hex the KB always uses to bomb Pearl Harbor! Oops. In another "oops", I forgot to take the 100's of aircraft I had in Pearl Harbor off of their training missions. So these helpless BB's were sitting in range of all these aircraft and not a single plane attacked them.

The following night, the Japanese BB's then, amazingly, moved into Pearl Harbor. No doubt they were searching for some juicy targets. And you know what...any other day they would have had them. A huge tanker TF and another huge amphib task force carrying two full divisions had just left. And another massive transport TF from the West Coast was one day out. Instead of finding a juicy target, the Jap BB's found my PT boat squadron (hastily assemmbled the day before!), and got tangled up with it...one torpedo hit the Kongo. Two PT boats were lost. I held my breath after the surface combat was over...hoping like hell that the Japanese wouldn't bombard Pearl! I had 100's of ships in the Harbor, and a bombardment would NOT have been pretty to watch.

Thankfully, they didn't bombard. Instead, they turned around and headed back toward Midway. During the day phase of that turn (3rd day of the raid), Allied CV's were once again in range of this bold TF. But, of course, the weather nixed the morning bombing run. And the afternoon bombing was, once again, totally useless. A few more bombs bounced off the BB's, but no torpedos found their mark.

Getting frustrated, on the fourth day I had to "make a guess" where this Japanese BB TF was going to go. Back toward Midway? Or back toward where they came from in the Central Pacific. Since they had been heading toward Midway, I retrated my carriers in that direction. Of course, the damn BB's changed course and headed to the Southwest! Thankfully, I had finally wised up and started operating my three CV task forces out of different hexes. One of the TF's was still in Dauntless range...barely...and it make an attack. The 15 bombers (yes, I had only 15 bombers in total on the Enteprise, that's how depleted the Dauntless formations are) in the raid from the USS Enterprise caused more damage than the previous 200 plane bombing attacks from five carriers did! Both BB's sustained heavy damage. Then, on the fifth day, the rest of the Allied Carriers finally found the BB's and finished them off with multiple torpedo strikes.

Overall, it was a peculiar but fun game of cat and mouse.

Baker Island Invasion

This whole thing was going on right smack dab in the middle of when I wanted to load up everything for the Baker Island invasion. Due to this cat and mouse game, the invasion essentially got delayed by about two weeks...as I needed time to pull the carriers back toward Pearl (the Saratoga and Yorktown ended up way the hell out by Wake Island, chasing after the remanants of the task force).

After reading other AAR's about disasterous attacks on Atolls, I truly was braced for the worse...despite all the planning I did for this attack and the strategy I was going to try to "soften things up" a bit.

The Invasion forces consisted of the following : 1 Marine Regiment, 1 combat engineer regiment, two tank batallions, 1 Army Regiment, 1 Field Artillery Regiment. All said and done, around 14K troops. All units EXCEPT the Army Regiment had 100 days planning for Baker Island. The Army Regiment had only 36 days.

Intelligence...which proved deadly accurate as it turned out...said there were 9K troops on the island scattered among 3 or 4 different land units. Due to the less than 2-1 odds, this also gave me concern. But there wasn't time to find more units and wait 50+ days for the planning to take place. So, in late NOvember I loaded up everything at Pearl Harbor using 2/3 of all the AP's and AK's in the Allied fleet and set-off for Baker Island.

The forces congregated two hexes outside of Baker on December 1st, and also met two surface TF's (with four BB's between them) and the CV Wasp that had been patrolling the South Pacific. Due to the lack of fighters and bombers on the Enteprrise, I decided to leave that carrier back in Pearl (it had a total of 30 aircraft on board, and only two fighters, making it rather useless!).

The Attack Strategy

I tried a new tactic for taking an atoll during the Baker invasion and it worked splendidly. Here's the process i used over the course of the three day battle for Baker Island.

I had three bombardment TF's (6 battleships between them) and three CV's task forces (with five CV's between them).

On the first day (December 2nd), I moved ONE bombardment TF (BB's New Mexico and Mississippi) into Baker. During the air turn, I then bombed Baker Island with Dauntlesses, Avengers AND Wildcats. The bombardment attack was solid and very disruptive, but the air attack really hurt the Japanese.

On the second day, I reset the first bombardment TF to bombard Baker Island again. As I expected, this bombardment didn't cause much damage. But I sent in a second bombardment TF (BB Warspite and BB New Mexico) which caused significant damage again. And during the air phases, Baker Island was then bombed by a strong air attack...leading to quite a few "destroyed" squadrons and, in particular, destroyed guns. This gave me hope that I was loosening things up somewhat, as the bombardment the previous day led to only lots of "disabled units."

On the third day I reset the first two bombardment TF's to bombard Baker Island again. As expected, these two bombardment TF's did little damage. But I sent in the third and final bombardment TF (BB Washington and BB South Dakota). That bombardment was deadly...virtually all losses by the Japanese were "destroyed," including virtually all of their guns.

Troops landed that night. I was incredibly happy to see the low troops losses. I had lots of disabled troops and vehicles, but only three squads and a handful of guns were destroyed. Since the troops were loaded purely on AK's and AP's, they unloaded fully (well, almost) during the day.

Then the land combat phase happened. I was bracing for the worse...really nasty casualties. Instead, the Allied shock attack annihilated the Japanese. Here's the surpising results:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ground combat at Baker Island (149,136)

Allied Shock attack

Attacking force 12454 troops, 183 guns, 358 vehicles, Assault Value = 392

Defending force 3747 troops, 13 guns, 4 vehicles, Assault Value = 60

Allied engineers reduce fortifications to 1

Allied adjusted assault: 166

Japanese adjusted defense: 1

Allied assault odds: 166 to 1 (fort level 1)

Allied forces CAPTURE Baker Island !!!

Japanese aircraft
no flights

Japanese aircraft losses
No Japanese losses

Combat modifiers
Defender: forts(+), disruption(-), supply(-)
Attacker: shock(+), disruption(-)

Japanese ground losses:
8255 casualties reported
Squads: 142 destroyed, 141 disabled
Non Combat: 142 destroyed, 149 disabled
Engineers: 16 destroyed, 2 disabled
Guns lost 21 (19 destroyed, 2 disabled)
Vehicles lost 4 (4 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Units destroyed 3


Allied ground losses:
1173 casualties reported
Squads: 55 destroyed, 24 disabled
Non Combat: 118 destroyed, 75 disabled
Engineers: 11 destroyed, 2 disabled
Vehicles lost 69 (41 destroyed, 28 disabled)


Assaulting units:
21st Infantry Regiment
34th Combat Engineer Regiment
762nd Tank Battalion
763rd Tank Battalion
22nd Marine Rgt /5
226th Field Artillery Battalion

Defending units:
4th Garrison Unit
26th JAAF AF Bn
4th RF Gun Battalion
35th JAAF AF Bn

Allied Losses and the Absolute Necessity of Planning

Allied losses were incredibly light in this invasion. Moreover, the ONLY land unit to sustain any meaningful losses was the Army Regiment...which was basically wiped out! Not coincidentally, the Army Regiment was the only unit that didn't have 100 days of planning.

What this says that for taking the Atolls, it is crucial that you have 70 or more days of planning if you don't want your land units to be wiped out!

The Next Stop...Tarawa and Makin

For the next week or so, Allied forces will re-load the combat forces and drag them back to Pearl while unloading the support forces that will garrison Baker Island. Since the Japanese were nice and built a size 1 airfield for me, I brought a base force down with 16 air support. This will allow for the f4 reconnaissance squadron I have on Canton Island to be repositioned and have the "legs" to reconnoiter Tarawa and vicinity now. I figure it will be another month before Tarawa kicks off...if only due to the vast travel times needed to return to Pearl and head back out. So, early 1943 would be my guess.

Supply and Tankers

How things change. Four months ago I was running my tankers non-stop and just barely had enough fuel to be able to keep up the tempo of operations. Now I have 500K fuel in Noumea, 300K in Sydney, all minor bases have enough fuel, and Pearl harbor is pushing a 1,000,000 fuel points. As such, I have 40 tankers now "just sitting" in Los Angeles with nothing to do. I'm running a few smaller CS's tanker TF's between the West Coast and Pearl Harbor/Hilo/Lahaina...but that's it. I also have one tanker TF that will be based at Canton. It won't unload fuel at Canton, though. Instead, that tanker TF will be used to "refuel" the two replenishment task forces. As more bases are conquered in the Central Pacific, this tanker TF will be moved and more or less follow the replenishment TF's around (thus always keeping them fully stocked with fuel).

(in reply to jimh009)
Post #: 139
RE: Baker Island Invasion Successful - 9/2/2009 11:04:08 AM   
vlcz


Posts: 387
Joined: 8/24/2009
From: Spain
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: jimh009
It won't unload fuel at Canton, though. Instead, that tanker TF will be used to "refuel" the two replenishment task forces. As more bases are conquered in the Central Pacific, this tanker TF will be moved and more or less follow the replenishment TF's around (thus always keeping them fully stocked with fuel).


A question here, how do you transfer the fuel from the TKs to the replenishers without unload at a port?

BTW thanks for the big AAR, I enjoy (and learn quit a lot) from your detailed explanations of "why" you do things.

(in reply to jimh009)
Post #: 140
RE: Baker Island Invasion Successful - 9/2/2009 6:55:01 PM   
jimh009

 

Posts: 368
Joined: 5/15/2005
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: vlcz

quote:

ORIGINAL: jimh009
It won't unload fuel at Canton, though. Instead, that tanker TF will be used to "refuel" the two replenishment task forces. As more bases are conquered in the Central Pacific, this tanker TF will be moved and more or less follow the replenishment TF's around (thus always keeping them fully stocked with fuel).


A question here, how do you transfer the fuel from the TKs to the replenishers without unload at a port?

BTW thanks for the big AAR, I enjoy (and learn quit a lot) from your detailed explanations of "why" you do things.



If tankers and AO's (in a replenishment group) are in the same hex (say, a port...never tried it "at sea"), just click on the refuel option of the replenishment group and fuel will be transferred from the TK's to the AO's.

Glad you're finding the AAR helpful.

< Message edited by jimh009 -- 9/2/2009 6:56:01 PM >

(in reply to vlcz)
Post #: 141
Allied Future Operations - 9/3/2009 1:01:20 AM   
jimh009

 

Posts: 368
Joined: 5/15/2005
Status: offline 		One thing I really enjoy about WiTP...especially AE...is the long-term planning required. Since I was in a planning/strategic mood today, and because there won't be much in the way of combat anytime soon, I spent some time using the AE planning map to plot out future operations (like over the next 1-2 years).

First Phase - Secure the Gilberts, then the Marshall Islands then finally the "big operation"...the Marianas.

Second Phase - Expand the perimeter around the Marianas and capture Wake Island. It's "possible" I might secure Wake Island before the Marianas operation.

Third Phase - Capture bases in New Guinea and the Celebes...thus cutting off Southern New Guines/Rabaul and Truk from the rest of the Japanese empire. It's possible the Mindanao operation will happen AFTER the fourth phase. In stock WiTP, Mindanao was far more important. But now, Leyte has many more bases that allow for good airfields.

Fourth Phase - Begin the liberation of the Phillipines...mainly securing and building up the Leyte area. If not already secured, operation to take Mindanao will also happen.






Attachment (1)

< Message edited by jimh009 -- 9/3/2009 1:04:06 AM >

(in reply to jimh009)
Post #: 142
RE: Allied vs. Jap AI - 9/3/2009 7:13:12 AM   
jimh009

 

Posts: 368
Joined: 5/15/2005
Status: offline 		AAR Covers the Period December 5th - December 21st

General Observations

This is a short and boring AAR, as it reflects what's going on...which is, not much. Following the Baker Island invasion, have pulled out the assault forces, leaving a small base force, engineering unit and Marine Defense Battalion behind. All forces have now returned to Pearl and are getting ready for the assaults on Tarawa and Makin. This will be delayed by about 10 days or so, providing some additional time for a few new AP's, AK's and LST's to reach Pearl Harbor. Additionally, three CVE's are also in route from Balboa and will join the invasion force (and provide a much needed boost in CAP over the assault forces).

Upcoming Tarawa and Makin Invasions

Recon has showed Tarawa having 13K troops and Makin 7K troops. All assault forces are prepped and have 80-100 days planning time. As Makin and Tarawa are both 30K men islands, one whole division will be assaulting Tarawa, along with a tank battalion and field artillery regiment. A Marine Regiment, Army Regiment, Tank Battalion and Field Artillery Regiment are slated for Makin. As I have enough AP's/AK's/LST's now, I should be able to do these invasions concurrently...saving some time.

Other Stuff

Alaska - As intelligence warned about, the Japanese invaded Kiska. This force was repulsed, barely, by the weak Army troops (50AV total) I had on Kiska. I was in the process of moving another 40AV and a field artillery regiment to Kiska, but the Japanese beat the reinforcements. I'll keep these reinforcements slated for Kiska, though...as it seems likely the Japanese might try again at some point in the future.

Australia - Beginning the repositioning of troops. Moving more troops up to Darwin, and have consolidated the brigades of the 2nd Australian Division in Brisbane. This division will, within the next few months, be moved to Pearl Harbor and is tentatively scheduled to be part of the Guam invasion force. The 7th Australian is already in Pearl and is tagged for the Saipan invasion. The 9th Australian will soon arrive in Aden. It will remain in Australia for a few months as a reserve...awaiting developments.

South Pacific - The Allies, via an overland march, have taken Buna. Dauntless dive bombers several weeks ago sunk many, many transports around Buna...and I noticed the high casualties. I initially thought the Japanese were trying to reinforce Buna. Instead, after doing some recon flights, I realized that they were abandoning it. So, I marched 100 AV over the mountains from Port Moresby to see what might happen. All that remained was a weak base force. Eventually I'll move a base force with solid aviation support here, but don't have any free now. For the foreeseable future, I plan on no operations in the South Pacific/Southwest Pacific area.

India/Burma - Daily air raids on Diamond Harbor continue to get slaughtered by the Hurricanes there. Once a week or so British surface raiders bust up convoys heading in to Akyab. But that's about it.

China - A Japanese brigade gallantly tried to take Liuchow. It was slaughtered and eliminated by the 2000 AV the Chinese had in the city. Overall, in China the supply situation is incrementally improving. It's hardly ideal, and many, many units are still at 0. But it does seem more supply is beginning to filter out to the Chinese units that are outside of the main cities. Troops in the Chinese cities themselves generally are in the "white" or "orange" as far as supply goes, and most major bases have 5-6 fortification levels.

(in reply to jimh009)
Post #: 143
Allies Secure Tarawa & Makin - 9/4/2009 6:58:12 AM   
jimh009

 

Posts: 368
Joined: 5/15/2005
Status: offline 		This AAR covers the period December 22nd - January 20th, 1943

General Observations

The tempo of the war is slowly starting to increase. The slowest "action" of the war I've always found is taking Baker/Tarawa Islands. Since there's no place to "base your fleet", you have to keep everything in Pearl, and then move everything together a very long way to take Tarawa and Baker Island. As such, there's lots of "transit time," which really slows the pace down. Moreover, it takes 1 week or so to conclude the invasions and 1 week to load everything up. Hence the "slow pace" the past two months.

Thankfully...the latest two invasions were successful, allowing for future operations in the Gilberts and the Marshalls to become quicker and simpler from here on out.

Tarawa/Makin and Vicinity

Both of these bases fell quickly and with light losses. Since both islands were 30K islands, I dragged way more than needed. But better safe than sorry. Due to the 100 planning points of all units, the assault units lost virtually nothing during the landing phase. And only an Army Engineer Unit lost significant casualties taking Tarawa.

Now that Tarawa is secured, I'll be basing the fleet in the Gilberts/Marshall Islands. Two large tanker TF's are here, as are multiple replenishment groups. By keeping the fleet here, I avoid the problem of "transit time" between the Gilberts/Marshalls and Pearl Harbor. Additionally, since the Allies now are procuring "just enough" transports, I should be able to keep up a steady stream of invasions that happen once every other week or so. An invasion force is headed for Mili, and 3 weeks later the invasion of Majuro and Maleolap should happen.

Ocean Island and Nauru Island - These two islands are both unoccupied, so invasions will be quick and simple. But I need to find/move the transports around to pick up the units dedicated to invading these islands. I suspect in 2 weeks Ocean Island will be invaded, and in four weeks the Nauru Island invasion will happen.

China

The Japanese attempted a pretty broadscale attack in China...attacking Lyoang and Ichang with significant forces. Three times they've tried, and three times deliberate assaults by the Chinese forced the Japanese to retreat with huge losses. Obviously, this makes things more secure in China for the Allies...as some of the prime Japanese land units have now been rendered combat ineffective for the next 3-6 months. If China had better supply, I'd be damn tempted to try some limited offensives. But alas, the supply situation allows for only counter-attacks...not broad, frontal offensives.

Future Operations

Upcoming invasions seem on track, perhaps even ahead of schedule. All Japanese controlled bases in the Gilberts and Marshall Islands should be secured by the middle or early fall of 1943. The Allies are still looking at a late fall/early winter invasion of the Marianas. The exact time line isn't set...much will depend on the arrival of land units and aircraft carriers. Since the Marianas is far beyond land based air, and because the Japanese should have tons of air bases fully stocked with planes, the Allied carrier forces need to be strong and fully updated with Hellcats so as to protect the invasion force.

Wake Island - I've modified things a bit...Wake Island will be secured sometime during the summer of 1943 (before the Marianas invasion). Securing Wake Isand will significantly widen the shipping lanes between the Marianas and Pearl, which is always a good thing.

South Pacific

I havne't forgot about this theatre. It just isn't that important. Plans are still on-track to take Shortland Island and establish air bases at both Cape Gloucester and Buka Island. As the Japanese have very strong forces at Finschaven, I've scrubbed that operations and will bypass it. The only goal in this theatre is to neutralize Rabaul by making it impossible for the Japanese to ship anything to it.

India and Burma

Dead quiet other than some pesky air raids that often cost the Japanese dearly.

Some Things I've Discovered

AKV's - These handy ships deliver aircraft "fully ready to fly." However, they MUST be unloaded at a port big enough to handle these ships. I dragged a small air transport force to Tarawa, hoping to unload the ships and have two fighter units "ready to fly." Sadly, the ships would not unload so I had to diveert them to Canton Island instead. So...moral of the story is, don't bother with AKV's unless you have a level 2 port or higher (an AKV is too large, even by itself, to fit into a size 1 port).

LST's - If you have any LST's in an Amphibious Task Force (even just one), the game automatically turns the amphibious task force into a "landing craft" task force. There's nothing seemingly bad about this...unless you want to transfer ships to it from another task force that happens to be "amphibious" or "transport". This seems to give the computer some problems, for whatever reason.

Port Detachments/Naval Support - Whenever you invade an island, and you plan on doing either or both of the following, be sure to bring naval support (either in the form of a base force that has naval support or a port detachment).

1. You want to "pull out" the invasion land units, and/or
2. You plan on landing base forces and defensive oriented units following the invasion

Without any naval support at all, it is a REAL BITCH to re-load the invasion units on your AP's and AK's. It takes forever. Similarily, if you lack naval support, you may not even be able to fully unload some base forces or other "garrison units" such as Marine Defense Battalions.

However, the Allies don't have many of these port detachments. As such, once you get done reloading the assault units and finish loading the garrison/base units, you'll need to remove the port detachment, too.

Now that I've secured Tarawa, what I plan on doing is keeping a port detachment here. Everytime I invade a base, I'll immediately unload this detachment (using LCI's...which are unsuitable for long-distance invasions) once the base is secured. Then once the base has all assault units removed and all garrison units on it, the same LCI task force will be used to drag the port detachment unit back to Tarawa (or Mili).

Keeping Your Fleet Replenished for Deep Sea Operations

It goes without saying that you need to have numerous replenishment task forces running around if the Allied fleet will be conducting operations a long way from Pearl or Noumea. But that leads to a question...how do you replenish your replenishment task forces? Simple, actually. In any sized port hex, you can seamlessly transfer fuel from a tanker TF to a replenishment task force by clicking the "refuel at sea" button on the replenishment task force.

As such, when you plan on conducting operations over a significant period of time far away from major ports, always be sure to have at LEAST 1 and preferably two medium-large sized tanker task forces at your base of operations (right now, my base is Tarawa, soon to be Mili). By having two large tanker TF's, you insure that you'll never run out of fuel. When the first tanker TF gets low on fuel (it has transferred all of it's fuel to the replenishment TF's), you have a second one still there and ready to go. Send the empty one back to the West Coast, and simultaneously create a new tanker TF and send it out to your base. Doing it this way insures the Allies always have bountiful fuel for operations that might take significant time. This is especially vital for massive operations like the upcoming Marianas invasions...where the Allied fleet will essentially start basing itself once Guam or Saipan is secured.

Likewise, never forget to bring AE's and/or AKE's. I put the AE's in every replenishment task force, then leave an AKE behind in each port I may use for naval operations. Be sure both the AE's and AKE's have supplies in them, too.

Finally, keep in mind the speed differences among the AO's. Some are fast, some are pokey slow. Be sure to group up "similar speed" AO's with each other. Use the fast AO's to keep up with the main fleet (CV's mainly) when you're conducting raids or invasions. Use the slower AO's in replenishment groups that travel with transports/invasion forces.

Altitude of Fighters

I've fiddled with the various altitude settings of Allied fighters. Honestly, I've seen zero difference in results. As such, I continue to use the "default" setting, which seems to still be 10K feet. Perhaps you can get better results by optimizing the altitude for each fighter force. I honestly don't know. But from my own game, altitude has meant little in how the results of air to air combat play out. Instead, I've found experience and training levels for anti-air are far, far more important.

Where Tweaked Altitude Settings Are Needed - Skip Bombing

If you want to skip bomb (which is deadly!), you need to set your B-24's or similiar type bombers to have an altitude of 100 feet. Expect pretty high losses when doing skip bombing, so be warned.

(in reply to jimh009)
Post #: 144
RE: Allies Secure Tarawa & Makin - 9/4/2009 10:52:16 AM   
Smeulders

 

Posts: 1879
Joined: 8/9/2009
Status: offline 		Have you found the USN base forces in Alaska ? They're pretty large so will need a good chunk of transports themselves, but have up to 100 Naval support and aren't doing anything in such important bases as Juneau and Sitka except unload the yearly supply convoy.

(in reply to jimh009)
Post #: 145
RE: Allies Secure Tarawa & Makin - 9/4/2009 3:30:29 PM   
jimh009

 

Posts: 368
Joined: 5/15/2005
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: Smeulders

Have you found the USN base forces in Alaska ? They're pretty large so will need a good chunk of transports themselves, but have up to 100 Naval support and aren't doing anything in such important bases as Juneau and Sitka except unload the yearly supply convoy.

Yeah, I moved the Sitka one to Dutch Harbor. The Juneau one still sits there, though, now that you made me think about it. Guess it's time to have that base find a new home.

(in reply to Smeulders)
Post #: 146
Maleolap and Majuro Secured - 9/5/2009 9:41:10 PM   
jimh009

 

Posts: 368
Joined: 5/15/2005
Status: offline 		This AAR Covers the period January 21st to February 19th, 1943

General Observations

Japan has been thrown on to the defensive. Other than a carrier raid (with on CVL, I think) between San Francisco and Pearl Harbor that sunk 1 tanker and 2 LST's and "suiciding land units in China," Japan hasn't done anything. Probably because they can't due to the loss of most of the Combined Fleet. The loss of 8 CV's, 3 CVL's, 5 BB's and 8 CA's has pretty much stripped Japan of any sort of naval offensive power.

Allied submarines are sinking 1-3 ships a turn still. I've been moving US submarines from the South pacific up into the Guam/Iwo Jima/Japan area now...and they are finding lots of stuff to sink. Most of the ships sunk are in escorted TF's, but Japan's escorts seem to do little.

Maleolap and Majuro Secured

The Allied offensive in the Marshall Islands continues. Both Majuro and Maleolap fell with few Allied casualties. Majuro was lightly defended...just the Majuro fortress that starts the game there. But Maleolap had five units and 8000 troops. Allied forces also landed a unit at Ocean Island, which the Japanese didn't garrison. Units will also soon land at Nauru Island which is also vacant, according to intelligence.

I've gotten much better at assaulting atolls, so here's a few things I've learned how to do them.

Atoll Assault Guidelines

1. Assault units should have 100 planning points. Units with 100 planning points suffer few casualties during the wade ashore phase. Compare that to the nearly 40% losses and high disruption suffered by units with 50 planning points or less.

2. Use high experience units for the assault. I've found Marines are far more effective than Army Regiments when assaulting atolls. The extra 20 experience the Marines usually have goes a LONG ways toward minimizing casualties during the combat phase.

3. For atolls, an "ideal invasion force" for the Allies is 1 Marine Regiment, 1 combat engineer regiment and 1-2 tank battalions. Once the assault is done and the Japanese have been wiped out, remove the assault forces and then land the garrison/base forces. Don't land the garrison forces until the assault forces have been removed.

4. Have a reserve force afloat. During the Maleolap invasion I had a second Marine Regiment in reserve (with 100 planning points) afloat. I didn't need it, so it went back to Pearl. But better safe than sorry.

Upcoming Marshall Island Plans

So far, Baker, Tarawa, Makin, Mili, Majuro and Maleolap have been secured. Next on the list is Wotje, followed by Kwajalein and Roi Maur (sp?), then Wake Island, then Enwietok then Jaliut. I figure these operations will take another three months or so. Once all these islands have been secured, it opens the door completely to the Marianas.

Naval Operations and Supply

So far, my plan on keeping my naval units in supply has worked well. I keep AKE's in port with supplies pre-loaded at Tarawa and Mili...this keeps the carriers loaded with bombs and the surface TF's loaded with guns. The only thing the carriers can't reload are torpedoes. This isn't an issue, however, since the Allies aren't dropping any torpedoes...there's nothing really to sink.

On the fuel front, so far, I've gone through more than 200,000 fuel points during these operations (two 100,000 capacity tanker TF's have been completely drained)! I have a third 100,000 fuel TF at Mili and a fourth is on the way from Los Angeles.

The replenishment group that contains the four CVE's (for aircraft replenishment) have been quite helpful in keeping the carriers full of F4's and Avengers. The US Navy is still suffering from a severe shortage in Dauntless dive bombers (none of the replenishment CVE's have any dauntlesses now), but I still have enough to do the job. I'm counting down the days to when the SB-5 Dauntless arrives (not to mention the Hellcat).

South Pacific


Once operations in the Marshall Islands are finished, I'll move down the carriers and invade Shortland Islands. But I think previous plans for everything else in the South Pacific are on hold...mainly because there is no point. Japan isn't trying to reinforce anything down there, and I see no point in conquering any of it as operations are moving to the North.

As such, Allies will invade Shortland Islands, then drag the 2nd Marine Division (which is slated to invade it) back to Pearl Harbor so it can be used in the Marianas division. An Army Regiment will garrison Shortland. The 1st USMC division (currently on Lunga) will also be moved back to Pearl Harbor and be used in the Marianas.

Lastly, I paid the PP's to release the 2nd Australian Division. It will be used for Guam.

Upcoming Marianas Invasion

I still don't have a time line for the invasion of the Marianas. It will all depend on the amount of carriers I have, the transport situation and the aircraft situation, but I still think a late fall/early winter invasion is possible. Including the three divisions in the South Pacific that will soon be moved to Pearl Harbor, I have 9 divisions slated for the Marianas invasion (plus all the other stuff). Most likely, I'll target Guam and Rota first, then Tinian and then Saipan. But that plan is subject to change.

I won't be invading all of the Marianas at once, obviously, as the Allies don't have the transports. Instead, the plan is to invade Guam/Rota with AK's and AP's and LST's. The divisions slated for Saipan and Rota will be loaded on xAP and xAK's. Once Guam is secured, they'll unload at Guam, rest a few turns to get disruption down to 0, then be reloaded onto the AK's and AP's for their assaults against Tinian and Saipan.

Suicidal Japanese Units in China

Japanese land units in China continue to beat their heads at Loyang, Ichang and Liuchow. They've invaded each of these bases at least half a dozen times, and they get retreated each and every time. Basically, at least nine Japanese divisions have been annihilated by this. It's the same action the Japanese division at chittagong did...it kept attacking until it was totally eliminated. I suspect these units in China will be doing the same thing...attacking until the unit eliminates itself. Fortunately for the AI, China can't take advantage of this "bug" in the script due to a lack of supply.

(in reply to jimh009)
Post #: 147
RE: Maleolap and Majuro Secured - 9/6/2009 9:01:55 AM   
aztez

 

Posts: 4031
Joined: 2/26/2005
From: Finland
Status: offline 		Nice AAR. I took those notes about atoll invasions very seriously

Intresting statements regarding the Chinese front. I think this is really diffrent story with human opponent though.

Due to the lack of exp + supplies and the boosted armoured units Chinese have been unable to do much here.

Keep up the good work.

(in reply to jimh009)
Post #: 148
RE: Maleolap and Majuro Secured - 9/6/2009 7:00:02 PM   
jimh009

 

Posts: 368
Joined: 5/15/2005
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: aztez

Nice AAR. I took those notes about atoll invasions very seriously

Intresting statements regarding the Chinese front. I think this is really diffrent story with human opponent though.

Due to the lack of exp + supplies and the boosted armoured units Chinese have been unable to do much here.

Keep up the good work.


Yeah, the destruction of the Japanese units in China is due to some bug in the script. They just keep attacking and suiciding themselves against strong Chinese positions. The AI initially played China very well and forced a broad-based retreat. There's no doubt, however, that it could have pushed further if it wanted. As you say, the Chinese units are basically helpless during the first months of the war and can't stop a strong, concentrated Japanese attack in select areas of China. Despite the destruction of the Japanese units, though, I'm still unable to launch any sort of attack to take advantage of it. The Chinese supply situation is just soooooooo bad.

(in reply to aztez)
Post #: 149
Nuggets of Wisdom for the Allies - 9/7/2009 8:49:11 AM   
jimh009

 

Posts: 368
Joined: 5/15/2005
Status: offline 		This AAR covers February 19th - February 23rd, 1943

I won't be posting too much over the next 2-3 weeks, as I'll be heading out of town on vacation. My trusty laptop is, of course, coming with me...so no doubt I'll get some turns in. But I probably won't be updating this AAR that frequently for the next 2-3 weeks.

General Obeservations

Just a short AAR. A Japanese task force with one heavy cruiser and a bunch of xAP's set sail for, well, somewhere (Tarawa maybe) and was sunk by Allied carriers. Judging by the troop losses, I'd say a regiment was onboard. One thing interesting was that when the CA was sunk, it also showed Japanese ground losses. I didn't realize that Japanese CA's could carry troops.

The Maleolap invasion force is heading back toward Pearl as the garrison force now unloads. I stupidly forgot to bring a Sea Bee unit to Maleolap, so the airfield is likely out of action for a week or so while the base force engineers slowly repair it.

Once those transports get back to Pearl, I'll be loading up forces for the invasion of Wotje and Kwajalein. I finally have enough transports now to be able to do two decent sized invasions at the same time...which obviously saves lots of time.

The 2nd Australian Division is on the way to Pearl Harbor, soon to be followed by the 1st USMC division and, in a few months, the 2nd USMC division.

SBD Dauntless Conundrums

As has been posted on this board, the Allied air replacements...especially for Wildcats and Dauntlesses are, shall we say, meager. Due to the active operations I've been having, I've had more loses than historically. Plus, I have six carriers to keep filled up. For this reason, the Allies have been struggling to keep the carriers with enough dive bombers on them.

The arrival of the CVE replenishment carriers did help a lot. They came partially loaded with dive bombers which then were transferred automatically to the carriers when they occupied the same hex. While it didn't fill out the air wings of the carriers completely, it certainly helped.

However, now that March is arriving, the Allies have to withdraw one Dauntless squadron from each carrier so as to allow the remaining Dauntless squadron on the carrier to "upsize" to 36 planes. Since my carriers are based at Mili right now, this is where I had to do it. I transferred the planes to Mili, then withdrew the group. Be CAREFUL! You have the option of either withdrawing the group and getting political points (but not the planes and pilots) or, by declining that option, you can then withdraw the group and retain the planes and pilots in the pool. If you're short of Dauntless dive bombers in your game, rather obviously, Option 2 is the way to go!

Anyways, I chose "option 2". However, because my carriers are based way out in the Central Pacific at the tiny port of Mili, all the dauntless bombers that were transferred to the pool were used to fill out the land-based dauntless squadrons on the West Coast...not the carrier squadrons! Bummer. Needless to say, that sucked, as all of a sudden my dive bomber strength on my six carriers was reduced by 50%.

To solve this problem, I had to withdraw ALL my land-based dauntless squadrons that were based on the West Coast (and were training). By withdrawing them, you lose the group for 60 days but retain the planes and pilots.

The turn after, I had 60 dauntless planes in the pools. I was able to flush out two air wings on two carriers, but the rest of the planes then went to the replenishment CVE's, depleting the pool once again. So I'm having to move the replenishment CVE's to Mili (from Tarawa) in order to transfer the planes from the CVE's to the fleet carriers. All said and done, it's been a real PITA to keep up dive bomber strength on Allied carriers! But I am just being able to retain enough strength to keep up active operations. Life will become much simpler once the SB5 Dauntless arrives later this summer, as they arrive in decent numbers.

Lack of F4's Not Really A Problem Anymore

For most of 1942, the Allies really struggle trying to keep enough F4's flying. This changes slowly as the year wears on. But in 1943 you get a lot of help with the arrival of the Corsairs. As the land-based F4's convert over to the Corsairs, those wildcats end up back in the pools. As such, all my carriers are close to full-strength in F4's and my replenishment CVE's have about 50% of the F4's that can be there. I've been tempted to withdraw a few F4 squadrons on the West Coast to completely fill out the carrier air wings, but have held back on doing it since I'm just sneaking by with what I have.

Don't Forget to Train Your Land Based Air Groups In Bases with AirHQ's

The allies get a LOT of air group reinforcements. It's a bummer that most of the pilots really suck! As such, it is necessary to train your air groups for generally a minimum of 2 months before sending them off to combat somewhere...preferably three. When training, you want to train your pilots in BOTH (for fighters, anyways) air to air as well as "general training." Air to air punches up the air-to-air capability of the fighters, while the "general training" improves the defensive capabilities.

When training, one thing I noticed is that units train much, much faster at bases that have AirHQ's. I've kept units training in the East coast, and little ever seems to change. I then send these same units to San Francisco and presto...every turn the experience levels of the pilots improve by 1. I've seen the same thing happen to the British. Planes I kept in Karachi (where I don't have a AirHQ) improve little in quality, but in Bombay or Calcutta, they improve dramatically each turn due to the presence of an AirHQ.

(in reply to jimh009)
Post #: 150
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