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RE: Payback - jzanes (A) vs. Rader (J). A Rader-free zone.

 
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RE: Payback - jzanes (A) vs. Rader (J). A Rader-free z... - 5/3/2010 9:07:37 PM   
Jzanes

 

Posts: 471
Joined: 11/18/2004
Status: offline 		In the north, it’s mostly a stalemate. Neither one of us has committed much force and most of the forces are tied up keeping an eye on enemy units. I have one tank bn that’s broken free to cut rail lines. I anticipate it’ll be spotted and bombed into dust shortly. The japanese had pursued my motorcycle rgt to Wuteh but then pulled back after being heavily bombed by my air (one of my few air ops) and then being unable to overcome by tank bde guarding the dot.

My airforce is currently resting at Ulan-Ude and Krasnoyarsk (in the far north). Chita is regularly bombed by the japanese now and I’ve been unwilling to send in my last couple hundred fighters to defend it.





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RE: Payback - jzanes (A) vs. Rader (J). A Rader-free z... - 5/6/2010 1:12:03 PM   
Jzanes

 

Posts: 471
Joined: 11/18/2004
Status: offline 		July 29 – August 3, 1942

Another month has passed and here’s the current scoreboard. We both earned about the same number of points in the last month and it’s looking as though he won’t reach the auto-victory threshold unless something crazy happens in the next few months.

The air war is pretty much one sided at this point. The soviet airforce has been pushed back to Irkutsk and Krasnoyarsk and is resting and rebuilding. I have lots of bombers left but very few fighters. I’ll slowly collect MIGs and IL-2s and try to make a local air offensive at some key point in the months to come.

The japanese airforce wiped out a couple of my infiltrating tank bns. Against larger units, they don’t cause many casualties but the disruption really saps my hitting power. I’ll do my best to keep my key units defended by AAA and at least make the bombing expensive for the enemy.

For the 6 day period, the soviets lose 28 planes and the japanese lose 90.





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< Message edited by Jzanes -- 5/6/2010 1:40:34 PM >

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Post #: 122
RE: Payback - jzanes (A) vs. Rader (J). A Rader-free z... - 5/6/2010 1:12:47 PM   
Jzanes

 

Posts: 471
Joined: 11/18/2004
Status: offline 		(July 29-August 3, 1942 con’t)

Lots of ground war in the central area. The japanese are clearly redeploying large elements of their monster stack to the other fronts. I’ve followed suit and have pulled out the armor/mobile units of the “woods” stack and sent them to aid in the attack on Heiho.

At Heiho, I’ve managed to get 1:1 odds once but heavy disruption has forced me to take a break for a turn. Over 1,000 AV in reinforcements is about 10 days away. Until then, I’ll alternate resting and attacking to reduce the forts.

At Mishan, I got 1:1 odds and knocked the forts down to 4 on the first attack. Again, disruption knocked me down to 1:2 odds on the second attack. I did manage to reduce the forts to 3 though and will continue the attack. Especially, as I’ve been causing heavy casualties to the outnumbered japanese force (3600 japanese casualties vs. 2500 for the soviets). It looks as though lots of japanese troops are marching towards Mishan. I may have only a few more days to attack the city before enemy reinforcements and air power end my offensive.





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RE: Payback - jzanes (A) vs. Rader (J). A Rader-free z... - 5/11/2010 2:19:30 AM   
Jzanes

 

Posts: 471
Joined: 11/18/2004
Status: offline 		August 4-12, 1942

A japanese TF of 6 BBs plus support bombards Petropavlovsk. Again the CD guns are brutal. My biggest CD gun at the base is 180 mm (7”) but they leave several BBs with heavy damage or heavy fires. The base suffers very little damage in return. I’ve moved some subs to try to sink the cripples limping away from Petropavlovsk.

My attacks against Mishan and Heiho stall out due to the arrival of japanese reinforcements and the disruption caused by his bombers. To add insult to injury, my Mishan force is routed back towards Rybolov. I will pull back and lick my wounds.

He has moved a force into the “woods” hex with my mega-stack. Neither of our forces has enough AV to push the other so we’ll probably just see an extended artillery duel. I’m considering pulling back to the Kuibyshevka area but will delay that move until I see signs of a japanese move to flank me.

Japanese reinforcements have arrived in strength in the north and have started to push my troops back to the border. I’ll delay and move up some reserves and try to keep him away from Ondorhaan, Choybalsan, and Borzya as long as possible.

For this 8 day period the japanese lost about 75 planes (OPS and flak) while the Russians lose only 6 planes. My losses are all float or recon plane losses. The soviet fighters and bombers continue to rest, train, and hide in the far northern bases.

I’m starting to think more and more about the first allied offensives. I hope to attack from multiple directions at the same time in an attempt to swamp the japanese air and naval forces. Here’s my early plans for each ally;

Russia: Strike along the northern borderlands in conjunction with the Chinese. Save up all my remaining soviet airpower for this local offensive.

China: Strike the far-northern japanese held Chinese bases in cooperation with the Russians. Try to find a use for the Chinese airforce in this offensive.

British: Suppress Port Blair with heavy bombers and then at least feint towards an amphibious assault. The British will strike first to try to draw in the japanese carriers. If the KB takes the bait, the British will withdrawal.

Australians: Begin operations to take back some of the north coast bases held by the japanese.

Americans:

North Pacific: Build up the currently empty Adak I. and use it as a springboard to recapture the japanese held Aleutian Islands further west.

South Pacific: Land at Norfolk Island and New Caledonia supported by the US CV forces. Once Noumea is captured, the Americans will move on the New Hebrides and make gestures towards moving towards the Solomons. In actuality they will move the bulk of their forces to Perth and start preparing the next wave aimed at the DEI.

Here’s a picture of two of the crack Coastal Defense Officers plotting where to hit the japanese battleships so that they will be crippled and forced to withdraw.





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< Message edited by Jzanes -- 5/11/2010 2:21:04 AM >

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Post #: 124
RE: Payback - jzanes (A) vs. Rader (J). A Rader-free z... - 5/11/2010 8:45:57 AM   
Smeulders

 

Posts: 1879
Joined: 8/9/2009
Status: offline 		I've just taken a look at the Russians again, and the stacks of artillery are truly frightening. I'd guess a fight in an open hex with fortifications to protect your troops would suit you. Your opponent would have to face all that artillery out in the open. I think you should try to just stay put in Vladivostok. The 9 Fortifications should make it folly to attack you here and the supply reserves there in my game look huge. Of course, the army defending it will be huge as well so you'll need it. Interesting little fact, somewhere in 43' a convoy arrives in Vladivostok to drop of a pile of supplies. I'm not quite sure when, but if you can hold out until then ...

Can you give us a bit more information on Non-Russian front news ? What is your recon picking up in North Australia, New Caledonia, ... ? With that amount of forces in Russia he should be thin on the ground elsewhere, a good fast counter-attack now can put you in a strong position once he can start shifting troops away from Russia again.

A final question, what is the state of his BB and CA ? With 6 BB shot up and I believe earlier losses as well, his battleline probably isn't what it's supposed to be at the moment.

(in reply to Jzanes)
Post #: 125
RE: Payback - jzanes (A) vs. Rader (J). A Rader-free z... - 5/11/2010 4:43:11 PM   
Jzanes

 

Posts: 471
Joined: 11/18/2004
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: Smeulders

I've just taken a look at the Russians again, and the stacks of artillery are truly frightening. I'd guess a fight in an open hex with fortifications to protect your troops would suit you. Your opponent would have to face all that artillery out in the open. I think you should try to just stay put in Vladivostok. The 9 Fortifications should make it folly to attack you here and the supply reserves there in my game look huge. Of course, the army defending it will be huge as well so you'll need it. Interesting little fact, somewhere in 43' a convoy arrives in Vladivostok to drop of a pile of supplies. I'm not quite sure when, but if you can hold out until then ...

Can you give us a bit more information on Non-Russian front news ? What is your recon picking up in North Australia, New Caledonia, ... ? With that amount of forces in Russia he should be thin on the ground elsewhere, a good fast counter-attack now can put you in a strong position once he can start shifting troops away from Russia again.

A final question, what is the state of his BB and CA ? With 6 BB shot up and I believe earlier losses as well, his battleline probably isn't what it's supposed to be at the moment.



Hey Smeulders and thanx for the comments,

Good point regarding the artillery in the open. I'm moving 10 regiments or so from my Bikin blocking force to Rybolov. If he advances to this city maybe I'll catch him in the open and do some damage with my big guns.

I hadn't noticed that about the convoys arriving at Vladivostok. Unfortunately, it looks like it doesn't arrive until April 1944 (and one more in April 1945). Supplies are still looking good in the Vladivostok region but they will run out eventually.

I haven't flown any recon flights over the non-russian areas as of yet. I'm hoarding the few recon planes the western allies have until I'm ready to take advantage of what intelligence I gather. What I can tell you is that he has heavily built up Burma, the DEI, and New Caledonia/New Hebrides. He has not built up the northern oz coast and I suspect it is empty of any significant japanese forces.

I'm hesitant to do a "fast counterattack" until I'm actually ready. The British, Australians, and Americans probably have enough ground forces to make a move but they are still thin on transports and airpower at the front. There there's the fact that I have no idea where the KB is lurking. I would hate to make a shoestring invasion only to have the big bad KB show up and ruin my day. I will move the american carriers to Fiji/Samoa in the next couple months. With their arrival and a build up of APs and airpower at the front, I'll be ready to try some offensives.
I want to strike from multiple fronts so that he can only shutdown one of my attacks with the KB and reserve ground troops.

I know that several japanese BBs must be in drydock repairing the damage from the soviet CD guns but none are reported sunk. 2 japanese CAs are on the sunk ships list and I wouldn't be surprised to see a couple more or even a BB or two show up on the list in the next couple months.

(in reply to Smeulders)
Post #: 126
RE: Payback - jzanes (A) vs. Rader (J). A Rader-free z... - 5/11/2010 4:45:14 PM   
Jzanes

 

Posts: 471
Joined: 11/18/2004
Status: offline 		August 12-13, 1942

A large japanese force has reached the fort north of Rybolov. I imagine he’ll blow up the fort and then advance to Rybolov. I’ve gathered 2300 AV at Rybolov and more is on the way. The city has 6 forts and should be able to hold up a large force for some time.

His major redeployment of his AV to Rybolov and to areas in the north has raised an interesting opportunity. His “woods” force is “only” about 1600 AV worth of second line garrison infantry with tons of artillery. I have 3000+ AV in the hex with another 500 AV nearby. I am going to try to break thru this force. If I’m successful, I might be able to drive all the way back to Birobidzhan or even Khaborvsk. He doesn’t seem to have much else left on this side of the river other than this blocking force and the force holding me up east of Bikin. To support this attack, I’ve moved my B17s to Spaask-Dalniy (near Vladivostok) and will commence some strategic bombing of the home islands. This is a diversion to cover the movement of the soviet bombers into the Kuibyshevka area where they will ground attack his “woods” forces to soften them up and disrupt them on the turn I try a deliberate attack. They (and the B17s) will then flee back to the safety of the northern airfields.





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RE: Payback - jzanes (A) vs. Rader (J). A Rader-free z... - 5/14/2010 6:29:49 PM   
Jzanes

 

Posts: 471
Joined: 11/18/2004
Status: offline 		August 14-19, 1942

The plan for attacking the woods hex with a combined air-ground assault goes very well. The problem is that it doesn’t look like I’ll be able to break thru. Here’s how things went;

1. My B17s strike the heavy industry centers at Osaka and Hiroshima. Osaka is down 50-some heavy industry but the attack on Hiroshima doesn’t appear to have done any damage.
2. Rader’s bomber and recon assets concentrate on the Vladivostok area looking for my B17s. One big bomber was lost on the ground.
3. With the eye of Sauron focused on finding the B17s, I successfully move my MiGs and bombers into position for pounding “the woods”.
4. My MiGs sweep away the handful of Oscars guarding “the woods” and the soviet bombers and B17s hit the japanese ground forces.
5. My troops make a deliberate attack but get only 1:2 odds.
Soviet base AV: 3604 adjusted AV: 1376 casualties: 4232
Japanese base AV: 1712 adjusted AV: 3095 casualties: 3089

I’m going to give it one more shot and if nothing good happens, I’m gonna pull out the excess AV and send it to the rapidly developing battle in the north.

In other news, the japanese destroy the fort outside Alexandrovsk and the fort outside Rybolov. We’ll have to see if he advances to the cities and tries to grab them. I’m guessing no on Rybolov and yes on Alexandrovsk.





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RE: Payback - jzanes (A) vs. Rader (J). A Rader-free z... - 5/14/2010 6:31:12 PM   
Jzanes

 

Posts: 471
Joined: 11/18/2004
Status: offline 		(April 13-19, 1942 con’t)

Strong japanese forces have been redeployed to the north and have routed my border forces and are driving towards Choybalsan/Borzya. I am trying to concentrate at these two key cities. Several divisions of troops are moving to Borzya via the railway from the Kuibyshevka area.

The japanese are bombing pretty much all my ground troops along the border every turn. My bombers have stopped off at Borzya/Chita and will try to hit the vanguard of his main force next turn. Hopefully, the MiGs will clear away any CAP and all my planes will be able to continue on to hide on the far northern airfields after a successful bomb run.





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RE: Payback - jzanes (A) vs. Rader (J). A Rader-free z... - 5/16/2010 10:43:26 PM   
Jzanes

 

Posts: 471
Joined: 11/18/2004
Status: offline 		August 20-25, 1942

In non-russian front news, CA Portland is hit by two submarine launched torpedoes while escorting a convoy to SanFran. She reaches port safely and will be undergoing repairs for about a month.

On the Russian front, the action has moved to the north. My 2nd deliberate attack on the “woods” didn’t do much (1:3 odds, 3950 japanese casualties vs. 7300 soviet casualties) and much of this force is marching back to the Kuibyshevka area.

The japanese guess right and hit the northern airfields I had fled to. I lose about 100 planes in air to air and on the ground. The remainder has retreated to the far north to rest. The good news is that my MiGs did very well vs. the japanese CAP (about 3 kills per loss in air to air).

The japanese destroy the forts outside Rybolov and Alexandrovsk. As I predicted, they haven’t advanced into Rybolov but have continued on to attack Alexandrovsk. They got 1:2 odds on their first attack but will eventually capture the city with the large force they have there.

In the north, the border city of Tamsag has fallen and japanese forces are slowly advancing. I’m not sure whether he is heading towards Choybalsan or Borzya (or both). I’m gradually moving my troops into blocking positions to defend both cities. The terrain isn’t great for defense so I’ll probably just try to delay him until I reach a defensible line. The good news is that this is going to be a slow go for the japanese. There are no decent roads or rail lines in the border region.

Upwards of 50 russian and American subs ring the home islands. Every turn I’m sinking at least one (and usually several) ships. I’m sinking mostly small escorts but a fair number of AKs and even a small TK. I also hit a large AO but no word as to whether it actually sank.





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RE: Payback - jzanes (A) vs. Rader (J). A Rader-free z... - 5/18/2010 10:50:33 PM   
Jzanes

 

Posts: 471
Joined: 11/18/2004
Status: offline 		August 26-31, 1942

The last week of August is fairly quiet. The japanese pound away at Alexandrovsk and have reduced the forts from 6 to 1. They should capture the city in the next few turns. They slowly advance on Choybalsan in the north. I have concentrated about 1,000 AV at this city to see if I can stop his offensive. More Russian forces are arriving at Borzya every turn from the Kuibyshevka area. The rest of the Russian front is fairly quiet except for soviet ground and japanese air bombardments.

My B17s hit the Mukden heavy industry (apparently no damage) and then hit Sunwu airfield and destroy a dozen japanese planes on the ground or in A2A. They have now flown back to Calcutta to rest and repair. They will be used to suppress Port Blair when the time comes for my british counteroffensive.

Assault transports are moving towards India, Perth, and Fiji. Once they arrive I should be just about ready to organize my attacks. My three patrolling CVs are returning to Pearl Harbor after a successful few weeks defending various convoys heading to and from the front. I spotted an AO but no planes launched to sink it. I did however find and sink an AMC surface raider and SBDs (reportedly) hit several subs lurking in the shipping lanes.

Here’s the scoreboard as of September 1st;





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RE: Payback - jzanes (A) vs. Rader (J). A Rader-free z... - 5/21/2010 9:44:12 PM   
Jzanes

 

Posts: 471
Joined: 11/18/2004
Status: offline 		September 1-10, 1942

The short lull in the Russian campaign has passed and the japanese are on the move. I fell asleep at the wheel and didn’t notice that he was moving a large force across the river at Sunwu until the turn before he made his crossing. The result is several soviet divisions routed back to Blagoveschchensk and “the woods” force desperately trying to flee to safety before getting cut off from the Kuibyshevka area. Luckily, I had already moved about 2,000 of “the woods” AV to the Borzya area and worse case scenario, I’ll lose about 1,200 AV and a whole bunch of artillery units.

In other news, Alexandrovsk fell and the japanese are pursuing my defeated force towards Okha. Hoping that Rader has committed all his troops across the river or in the north, I am also advancing on Mishan again. Only 5 units reported in Mishan and I’m coming with 3,000 AV. Hopefully, I’ll at least draw off some of his strength from the other fronts.





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RE: Payback - jzanes (A) vs. Rader (J). A Rader-free z... - 5/21/2010 9:44:56 PM   
Jzanes

 

Posts: 471
Joined: 11/18/2004
Status: offline 		(September 1-10, 1942 con’t)

In the north, the japanese have reached Choybalsan. They don’t have enough troops to push me out but I’m making a fighting withdrawal with the intention of forming a stronger line farther north near Borzya. I don’t want to get flanked by his stronger pincer advancing from the east.





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RE: Payback - jzanes (A) vs. Rader (J). A Rader-free z... - 5/21/2010 9:45:37 PM   
Jzanes

 

Posts: 471
Joined: 11/18/2004
Status: offline 		(September 1-10, 1942 con’t)

Let’s take a look at my Chinese counteroffensive. Everyone is finally in position and on the move. I am attacking the japanese frontier in 3 spots. The first two attacks are more or less diversions hoping to draw some japanese reserves. The third attack at Paotow is the “real” attack. My 3,000 AV should arrive at this northern Chinese city in about 2-3 weeks. If I don’t break thru, I will still try to flood the japanese rear areas with a bunch of “expendable” Chinese troops.





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RE: Payback - jzanes (A) vs. Rader (J). A Rader-free z... - 5/21/2010 11:13:26 PM   
crsutton


Posts: 9590
Joined: 12/6/2002
From: Maryland
Status: offline 		Very interesting read so far. Just got caught up. I think your opponents critical mistake was attacking Russia so late. By 10/42 you should be able to move into Burma overland and your non-soviet airforces should be pretty strong. I don't see where he can make up the air losses in Russia if you start to  hit him elsewhere, but it is definitely time to hit him elsewhere. Open up two more fronts on him in India and the DEI or Pacific and I just don't see where his economy can replace the losses. Russia becomes a "tar baby" just like China.



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Post #: 135
RE: Payback - jzanes (A) vs. Rader (J). A Rader-free z... - 5/22/2010 4:18:18 AM   
Jzanes

 

Posts: 471
Joined: 11/18/2004
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: crsutton

Very interesting read so far. Just got caught up. I think your opponents critical mistake was attacking Russia so late. By 10/42 you should be able to move into Burma overland and your non-soviet airforces should be pretty strong. I don't see where he can make up the air losses in Russia if you start to  hit him elsewhere, but it is definitely time to hit him elsewhere. Open up two more fronts on him in India and the DEI or Pacific and I just don't see where his economy can replace the losses. Russia becomes a "tar baby" just like China.




We are thinking very much alike Crsutton. I've only lost a handful of non-soviet airplanes during the last few months and have been able to build up my front lines is preparation for the coming allied counteroffensives. My intel of the home islands shows a massive increase in japanse airplane production so I think he can keep up with all but truly horrendous losses in airframes. Where he is probably hurting is in the quality of his pilots. Many of his 1st class pilots were likely killed in the massive air battles early in the soviet campaign and I know from experience that those are the guys that get the kills in A2A clashes. I've been stacking my front line fighter units with all the best pilots and I'm hoping that when the time comes, the loss ratios will heavily favor the good guys.

I don't think Rader ever thought attacking the soviets would be a good strategic move. He planned from day 1 to attack the russians to test the system and see how the battle would go and whether the soviets could be wiped out. Strategically speaking, attacking the soviets doesn't really make sense for the japanese as there just isn't much oil to be captured and capturing soviet territory doesn't really provide any extra protection vs. the western allies. A one-sided victory vs. the soviets would win the japanese a ton of points but probably not enough for the automatic victory.

Here's my rough working timeline for the coming offensives;

late September, 1942: Chinese reach and attack japanese held bases in northern china.

late September-October, 1942: Australians start minor operations to occupy Exmouth and move against japanese held north australian coast bases if lightly held by the enemy.

October, 1942: Occupy and build up Adak Island in the Aleutians. Prep for attacking japanese held Amchitka and Kiska.

late October-Mid Novmber, 1942: British make probing attacks along Burma border. American heavy bombers suppress Port Blair while the RN moves to invade this island. If the KB shows up, we will withdraw. Commence strategic bombing of Burma oil/refinery centers. Try to engage the japanese in attritional air battles.

Mid-late November: ANZAC move on Norfolk Island in conjunction with major US attack on New Caledonia and the New Hebrides. I want to complete the 10/42 upgrades on the US fleet before making my move.

(in reply to crsutton)
Post #: 136
RE: Payback - jzanes (A) vs. Rader (J). A Rader-free z... - 5/26/2010 2:43:44 PM   
Jzanes

 

Posts: 471
Joined: 11/18/2004
Status: offline 		September 11-16, 1942

The japanese capture Choybalsan in the north after I abandoned it. The good news is that it’s looking like I’ll be able to form a decent defense line to defend Borzya.

Farther south, Rader has done a good job in cutting off my “woods” force and it’s looking unlikely that I’ll be able to extricate much of my force from the tightening noose.

At Mishan, I’ve made two deliberate attacks and gotten 2:1 and then 1:1 odds. I’ve reduced the forts from 4 to 2. The japanese have railed in a couple divisions. I’ll continue my attack a bit longer but will likely have to pull back to Rybolov. I’m happy to have forced him to bring in some troops that may have been used in his northern/central offensives.





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RE: Payback - jzanes (A) vs. Rader (J). A Rader-free z... - 5/26/2010 2:44:40 PM   
Jzanes

 

Posts: 471
Joined: 11/18/2004
Status: offline 		(September 11-16, 1942 con’t)

Meanwhile, the KB has made an appearance after several months. My naval search really dropped the ball and the KB suddenly appeared 6 hexes south of Fiji and shot up CA Houston (plus a couple escorting old DDs), CL Marblehead (at Suva), some APDs, and about a dozen small-medium AKs that were in the area. Houston was at sea after having sunk an AMC and looking for another one I knew was in the area. Luckily all the transport ships were empty and no other convoys sailed into the danger zone during the raid.

The KB and the marine aviators clashed throughout the 2 days of the raid. The marines lost 64 wildcats and 27 bombers (SBDs and TBFs). The KB lost 42 zeroes and 18 bombers. Most of the marine losses were due to having small attacks wiped out by the KB uber cap. The marines did well in defending against fighter sweeps sent against Suva.

I anticipated the KB hanging around and hitting Suva harbor (about 100 ships at anchor) on the next turn but they headed off to the SW. I’m happy with this result as I only had about 70 ready fighters at Suva and would’ve likely lost a lot more ships if he attacked. Then again, he probably would’ve seen pretty heavy losses to his carrier air.

Having moved in lots more marine and USAAF air from Christmas Island and Pago Pago, I have about 180 fighters at Suva now and another 200 army fighters at Pago Pago. This has accelerated my plan of stripping the air from Christmas Island and moving it up to the front. Christmas Island will now become a rear area “patrol plane” base. Convoys will probably move directly from the west coast to Samoa/Fiji.

All my convoys heading towards Samoa/Fiji are concentrating at Christmas Island. The American carriers have sortied from Pearl and will escort this mega-convoy to the front. If the KB hangs around we may have a carrier battle in a week or so. If not, the carriers will return to Pearl for October upgrades once the convoy is safely delivered.

In other news, the Chinese “first attack” has been sighted and I can see the japanese are moving troops to block them. In otherwords, they’ve taken the bait. No sign they’ve sighted the 2nd or 3rd (main) attack yet.

80 heavy bombers hit the Magwe oil centers. The combat report mentions 20 some hits but when I look at the center after the turn it’s shown as undamaged. I wonder how accurate this intel is and how much FOW is involved. Anyways, next turn the heavies will hit the Port Blair airfield where I’ve spotted 150 planes but no reported fighters. Chittagong airfield (level 9) is the base I’m using for these raids. It’s protected by 200 some hurricanes. They are on 50% CAP and I would love to see the japanese try to shut it down. The british are the one ally that has a fairly decent supply of fighters in the pool and should be able to go toe to toe with the bad guys for quite some time.





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RE: Payback - jzanes (A) vs. Rader (J). A Rader-free z... - 5/28/2010 6:40:44 PM   
Jzanes

 

Posts: 471
Joined: 11/18/2004
Status: offline 		September 17-22, 1942

KB disappears to the west but lots more action in the war over the last week.

First the soviet area;

1. Mishan: I continued to attack but only got 1:2 odds and about even casualties. I’m now resting my troops, bringing up reinforcements (about 800 AV), and waiting for a tank brigade to reach the hex west of Mishan and cutoff the city from japanese reinforcements. The japanese are bombing my troops but failing to do very much damage or disrupt my troops very much.
2. Kuibyshevka Area: This is a mess. I’ve been trying to hold onto the cities long enough to let my cutoff “woods” force to reach safety. However, he has now crossed the river at Blovychensk and will capture this city very soon. He also has a large and growing force at Kuibyshevka. I’ve decided to pull my force back to Svobodny and then make a fighting withdrawal back to Skovorodino. Some of my “woods” force may squeeze out of the pocket but I’m not counting on it.
3. Okha: the japanese slowly advance through the forest. I’ve got about 600 AV at Okha with 5 forts. The Alexandrovsk remnants will add another 100 AV or so. If the japanese are low on supply or wore down by the long march, I may hold for a while.





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Post #: 139
RE: Payback - jzanes (A) vs. Rader (J). A Rader-free z... - 5/28/2010 6:42:35 PM   
Jzanes

 

Posts: 471
Joined: 11/18/2004
Status: offline 		(September 17-22, 1942 con’t)

In the northern area, the japanese have begun attacking the fort on the road to Borzya and slowly move their main force forward.

I’ve decided to move up my airforce and try some ground bombardment with my bombers. MiGs will sweep the target and hopefully clear away any CAP. I don’t anticipate doing too much damage but just want to keep him “honest” and force him to maintain a fighter force in the soviet theatre.





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< Message edited by Jzanes -- 5/28/2010 6:46:19 PM >

(in reply to Jzanes)
Post #: 140
RE: Payback - jzanes (A) vs. Rader (J). A Rader-free z... - 5/28/2010 6:43:29 PM   
Jzanes

 

Posts: 471
Joined: 11/18/2004
Status: offline 		(September 17-22, 1942 con’t)

My Chinese forces have just about entered the fray. The Chinese airforce is based at Yenan to provide some (minimal) support to my ground forces. A few squadrons of japanese planes would likely wipe out the Chinese but with all the activity across the map, I’m hoping he doesn’t have any airpower to spare to take on the Chinese.





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Post #: 141
RE: Payback - jzanes (A) vs. Rader (J). A Rader-free z... - 5/28/2010 6:44:27 PM   
Jzanes

 

Posts: 471
Joined: 11/18/2004
Status: offline 		(September 17-22, 1942 con’t)

So far so good in Burma. Heavy bombers and fighters based out of Chittagong are doing some real damage vs. the enemy. I will continue to bomb and sweep everything I can reach and draw off as much japanese airpower as possible. I am slowly gathering troops and ships at Colombo for a possible invasion of Port Blair. I really need to suppress Rader’s airfields first though. With just one CV and CVL Hermes, the british just don’t have enough carrier fighters to fight off mass netty attacks.

Here’s how the air offensive has gone lately;

9/17-18: Heavies hit Port Blair and destroy several Betty bombers and Dinah recon planes.

9/19-20: The heavies return to Port Blair and lose 5 planes fighting thru the Oscar CAP. They destroy at least 20 Oscars and other planes on the ground.

9/21-22: Hurricane recon planes spot a large force of fighters flying over Magwe. I send in 100+ hurricanes to sweep the base followed by a heavy bomber raid on the oil facilities.
The first sweep of 16 planes runs into about 100 Oscars and zeroes flying CAP. They somehow manage to shoot down 6 oscars for 1 lost hurricane. A good result but I was afraid this was just the first of a long line of one squadron sized sweeps running into the massive CAP. However, I was pleasantly surprised when the next sweep was made up of over 100 fighters. For once, a good coordination result. This sweep really did some damage. For the turn, the japanese lose an estimated 45 oscars and 17 zeroes in A2A while the British lose 8 hurricanes. I suspect the enemy losses are inflated but still a very good day for the RAF.
The heavy bombers then came in and bombed the oil centers. In a previous post, I questioned how much FOW there is in strategic bombing. At that point, I had reportedly gotten 20 some hits on the Magwe oil centers but they were shown as undamaged [301(0)]. However, in the next turn or two, that numbered changed to something like 250(50) after a couple more recon flights. After this most recent raid it’s shown as something like 220(80).

9/23-24 (next turn): Recon reports an even larger fighter force at Magwe. I will take up the challenge and sweep Magwe once again. As I mentioned earlier, the british actually have a fairly decent pile of hurricanes in the pool (something like 200) and I want to see if I continue to get good results with these sweeps. For the record, I’ve been sending the hurricanes in at max altitude (35,000’+). I don’t think that altitude is the key factor in A2A (as some have argued) but it definitely helps. I also have the sweep bonus, decent planes, at least equal odds, and good-excellent pilot quality in my favor. I’m probably also helped by having a very large airbase (level 9), with tons of air support, and an air HQ in the hex. On the downside, the combat power of my hurricanes is probably reduced due to having to use drop tanks to reach Magwe.
Meanwhile, the heavies are scheduled to hit the Rangoon refinery centers. Recon shows no planes at this base currently.





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(in reply to Jzanes)
Post #: 142
RE: Payback - jzanes (A) vs. Rader (J). A Rader-free z... - 6/4/2010 5:44:09 PM   
Jzanes

 

Posts: 471
Joined: 11/18/2004
Status: offline 		September 23-30, 1942

Well another month has come to an end and the allies can look back on September as the month that they started to fight back vs. the bad guys. The Chinese have reached and taken some of their objectives in the north and the british continue to harass the japanese in Burma.

Other than the continuation of these two ops, October will probably be a month to build up and upgrade the American CVs. I may begin to build up Adak Island in the Aleutians and I will continue to build up Exmouth on the north Australian coast. I may grab Port Hedland if it looks empty.

Here’s the latest scoreboard;





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Post #: 143
RE: Payback - jzanes (A) vs. Rader (J). A Rader-free z... - 6/4/2010 5:46:02 PM   
Jzanes

 

Posts: 471
Joined: 11/18/2004
Status: offline 		(September 23-30, 1942 con’t)

Russian Front:

The japanese have overrun Blagovychensk and Kuibyshevka. We enacted a new house rule forbidding the use of “pursue” when a pursuit would lead a unit to cross a river. He did this at Kuibyshevka and this allowed his units to get across the river to Svobodny without having to shock attack. I find this very gamey but didn’t lose my cool and Rader quickly agreed to a house rule to keep it from happening again.

My main force has successfully pulled out of Svobodny before getting routed. I will try to dig in and slowly withdraw towards Skovordino without getting surrounded or routed. Unfortunately, 1200 AV has been cutoff south of the river without hope of breaking out to the north. I’ve noted that he has just a bunch of artillery and AA units in the hexes south of me though and have decided to turn around these cutoff troops and head south towards Birobidzhan. These troops still have full supply and I just might be able to raise some heck before they die.

At Mishan, I have cut the rail to the west and have been pounding away at the base. I’ve been getting 1:2 odds and have lost about 13,000 troops to the japanese 8,000 losses. I’m bringing forward another 500 AV, will rest a few days, and then try again. No signs of any japanese reinforcements coming down the road.

In the north, the enemy pounds away at the border fort outside Borzya. It’s held him up for a week but should be destroyed soon. My bombers hit his stack moving towards the fort but suffered 20-some losses to AA (my blunder, I knew that stack was flak heavy but forgot about it) and have pulled back to lick their wounds in the north.





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Post #: 144
RE: Payback - jzanes (A) vs. Rader (J). A Rader-free z... - 6/4/2010 5:46:50 PM   
Jzanes

 

Posts: 471
Joined: 11/18/2004
Status: offline 		(September 23-30, 1942 con’t)

China:

Looks like my plan has worked well. He moved troops to block my first and second attacks but failed to spot or react to my third (main) attack until I had reached and taken Paotow and Kweisui. My force is now moving to take Tatung and then Kalgan if I can. The soviet tank bde is moving to block the rail line before he can bring in heavy reinforcements. I only see one japanese unit at Tatung and 2 at Kalgan.

I bombarded at Changsha and noted that he has about 1200 AV in the hex. I’m gonna try a deliberate attack next turn with my 3300 AV. I don’t imagine I’ll break thru but I’m curious to see how the Chinese do and whether they can inflict some decent casualties.

The Chinese airforce is flying small bomb raids and fighter sweeps in support of my main attack. A squadron or two of japanese bombers have been flying missions in the area and my LR CAP has shot down a few. He’ll probably move in some fighters soon which should help to spread around his limited fighter strength.





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(in reply to Jzanes)
Post #: 145
RE: Payback - jzanes (A) vs. Rader (J). A Rader-free z... - 6/4/2010 5:53:22 PM   
Jzanes

 

Posts: 471
Joined: 11/18/2004
Status: offline 		(September 23-30, 1942 con’t)

Burma:

The weather has been awful and has limited my air ops. I’ve still sent a few more mass sweeps vs. Magwe and done well (about 120 japanese fighters destroyed vs. 35 hurricanes lost). I also hit the Rangoon oil refinery (7 hits). It was guarded by 20-some Tojo’s but they failed to shoot down any heavies. Once the weather clears I plan to hit Magwe hard. I’ve moved in 6 squadrons of P40s (E’s and K’s) to help out the hurricanes. The first squadron of british liberators has also arrived.

Having noted that other players have had success with overland attacks on japanese held Burma, I’ve started to prep several divisions for Shwebo.





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Post #: 146
RE: Payback - jzanes (A) vs. Rader (J). A Rader-free z... - 6/4/2010 5:55:40 PM   
Jzanes

 

Posts: 471
Joined: 11/18/2004
Status: offline 		(September 23-30, 1942 con’t)

Australia/South Pacific:

The Australians have landed at Exmouth and are rapidly building up the port, airfield, and forts. Sigint informed me of a japanese AMC (“radio call sign of AMC blah blah maru detected at X,X”) prowling off Perth and 2 New Zealand CLs with DDs found and sank it. Otherwise, no other signs of japanese activity. I suspect he doesn’t even know I’ve landed at Exmouth.

The American CVs successfully escort a large convoy to Suva and are now heading back to Pearl for their October upgrades. Another large convoy is forming up at SanFran and will leave port within another turn or two.

The first two American CVEs have arrived. They are both of the “replacement group” type and have reached Pearl. They will start following the American CVs around to replace air losses.





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(in reply to Jzanes)
Post #: 147
RE: Payback - jzanes (A) vs. Rader (J). A Rader-free z... - 6/10/2010 7:50:06 PM   
Jzanes

 

Posts: 471
Joined: 11/18/2004
Status: offline 		October 1-8, 1942

Russian Front:

Svobodny falls but my main force successfully withdrawals without being routed. I’ve brought up about 1,000 AV from the Borzya area and hope to be able to hold and slowly pull back towards Skovordino. They are opposed by a massive stack of over 6,000 japanese AV.

I gave up trying to grab Mishan after one last deliberate attack. I only got low 1:2 odds (1632 adjusted SU AV vs. 4208 adjusted japanese AV) and heavy casualties (7285 SU vs. 3813 japanese losses). My force will pull back to Rybolov and lick their wounds.

The japanese have 14 units advancing on Okha (Sakhalin Island). I have about 660 AV at this city. The MBR float planes have been occasionally flying naval attack missions and have even sunk a handful of AKs. They use only 100 Kg bombs but seem to get lots of hits.

In the north, the japanese finished off the fort outside Borzya but have now pulled their force back to the rail north of Hailar. I have an “expendable” NKVD Rgt blocking the rail south of the city. It is withdrawn in 20-some days and will harass the rail line as long as possible.





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Post #: 148
RE: Payback - jzanes (A) vs. Rader (J). A Rader-free z... - 6/10/2010 7:50:46 PM   
Jzanes

 

Posts: 471
Joined: 11/18/2004
Status: offline 		(October 1-8, 1942 con’t)

China:

The main attack continues to make progress. The Chinese routed the 1 unit guarding Tatung and are advancing on Kalgan (5 units of unknown type/size). I will keep going until he stops me. The SU tank bde is moving to cut the rail line into Kalgan.

There have been some minor air skirmishes with the Chinese losing maybe 10 fighters and shooting down at least that many japanese planes.

I’ve decided to concentrate some Sian-area reserves and open up a new offensive in one of the forest hexes SE of Sian. The japanese have 3 units (bde sized I believe) in the hex and I hope to be able to concentrate close to 2,000 AV vs. them. It’ll be a couple weeks till everyone arrives and we’ll see if I can break thru.

The Chinese did deliberate attacks at Changsha. They surprisingly got 1:1 odds on the first attack (3464 adjusted AV vs. 2535 adjusted japanese AV) but only 1:2 odds on the second attack. He’s since moved in more forces and I haven’t repeated my attack.





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(in reply to Jzanes)
Post #: 149
RE: Payback - jzanes (A) vs. Rader (J). A Rader-free z... - 6/10/2010 7:51:34 PM   
Jzanes

 

Posts: 471
Joined: 11/18/2004
Status: offline 		(October 1-8, 1942 con’t)

Burma:

Well I definitely have drawn off plenty of fighters from the Soviet theatre. I kill another 120 or so fighters over this 8 day period and there are still several hundred more around Magwe.

On the 3rd and 4th, the japanese sweep Chittagong and follow up with 60-ish bombers. The sweeps get chewed up (80 japanese losses vs. 37 allied fighters lost), fail to chase away my fighters, and the bombers are badly chopped up (47 bombers shot down). He destroys one or two planes on the ground and does some minor damage to the airfield which is quickly fixed by the engineers.

On the 5th and 6th I strike back. My sweeps clear away the japanese fighters but take some heavy losses (47 allied fighters lost vs. 36 japanese fighters shot down). Medium bombers from Diamond Harbour hit the airfield (moderate damage and 10-ish planes destroyed on the ground) while the heavies hit the oil facilities. The oil center is down to 100 working and 200 damaged.

All in all a good result for the allies. However, the hurricane pool is starting to get low. I’m going to take a break and rebuild the pool for a while. I’ll keep up a nice CAP over Chittagong in case Rader tries another raid.





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