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RE: Ocean of Blood. FatR (J) vs. yubari (A) - no yubari, please.

 
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RE: Ocean of Blood. FatR (J) vs. yubari (A) - no yubari... - 10/27/2010 3:39:24 PM   
FatR

 

Posts: 2522
Joined: 10/23/2009
From: St.Petersburg, Russia
Status: offline 		May 27-28: Days of Rotten Luck

Well, I must say, that the luck is not only culprit for my woes at Lahaina. I totally forgot to order a pre-invasion bombardment on 27th (although on the next day it was completely ineffective anyway). And I failed to realize, that there are such things, as landing crafts TFs, that allow barges to pick more than a NavGuard.

Then AI decided that it would be cool to give Allies four fire phases per TF on 28th. And why not let American PTs get to the beaches, despite 3 or 4 combat and ASW TFs on the patrol? And Japanese transport ramming each other, until two of them sank, sure are cool. In short, despite huge size of my two amphbious TFs, that mitigated damage somewhat, I've lost or will lose 15-20 xAKs and xAKLs (including two large ones), if I stop the unloading right now, which I'm forced to do, because most in-TFs escorts are out of ammo and cannot duel the shore batteries anymore. This means, that while approximately 3/4ths of the troops reached the shore, supplies did not... never mind massive losses (Allied troop score jumped by about 40-50 points in these two days) and disruption.

I'll unload the fragments still on ships on Molokai and will try to use barges to get them (and supplies) to Lahaina. I'll also try airlifting supply. If the situation becomes critical, I'll try to lift more supply with xAKLs.

Needless to say, this confirms that any invasion of Pearl is practically impossible, unless the garrizon is starved. The only good news are, Allies have only 614 AV on Lahaina. If I can get supply to my troops, we can take it.

In addition, I got one of my subs crippled and now in danger of sinking during these days, in return for two dud hits on Allied ASW ships in a row, just to cement the fact that the random number generator hates me.


On AKEs
As it happens, they need to be loaded with supplies to rearm anything, instead of drawing supplies from port... That's why mine did not work. Never would have guessed that such illogical and micromanagement-adding system is in place.

< Message edited by FatR -- 10/27/2010 3:40:53 PM >

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Post #: 241
RE: Ocean of Blood. FatR (J) vs. yubari (A) - no yubari... - 10/28/2010 12:25:04 AM   
FatR

 

Posts: 2522
Joined: 10/23/2009
From: St.Petersburg, Russia
Status: offline 		More Planning

So, now for less whining and more strategy.

Hiyo arrived on the last turn. This means KB can be brought to a level allowing it to sally forth with relative confidence once again.

Meanwhile, the invasion of Andamans and my relative inability to supress the airfields, due to strong flak and many of my bombers being busy in China, created a new danger, which needs addressing. Now Allies can potentially ferry aircraft from the mainland to the Northern Sumatra bases. Hurricanes can fly up to Sinabang (see the map below), and Warhawks even further. Therefore, I need to reinforce the area, as to avoid another large Allied move, this time into the range of my key naval communications. Unfortunately, I'm quite short on troops. Within a month some aircraft support units and engineers can be freed from Hawaii, I hope, but at the moment my rear echelons are stretched thin, expect for Andaman front, Burma and Solomons. Infantry too, of course. I have a sizeable reserve at the moment, but trying to garrizon everything will eat it in an instant.

But I had exactly 1000 PP on May 28th. I was saving PPs for a division, but now I'm pondering - maybe I should instead use them to free a bunch of engineers, flak units and air support from Manchukuo, to give Sumatra and Eastern DEI a solid net of airbases and forts (Java is already well-covered, with Air HQs at Oosthafen and Pamekasan), before Allies launch another major move, with good Australian divisions and whatever Yubari managed to bring from ConUSA.

Meanwhile, a Japanese vanguard landed on Trinkat, as you can also see from the map. I decided against Car Nicobar, on the grounds of excessive torpedo bomber risk, but I shouldn't have worried. Trinkat will be fortified and built up, to serve as my close blocade base. 4Es cannot attack it from the mainland, so shutting it down will not be that easy for Allies.




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RE: Ocean of Blood. FatR (J) vs. yubari (A) - no yubari... - 10/28/2010 5:03:06 AM   
bigred


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Joined: 12/27/2007
Status: offline 		FatR, do u have any air that can suppress those PTs?

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Post #: 243
RE: Ocean of Blood. FatR (J) vs. yubari (A) - no yubari... - 10/28/2010 9:47:13 AM   
janh

 

Posts: 1216
Joined: 6/12/2007
Status: offline 		Lahiana didn't go perfectly well, but I wouldn't worry.  Those losses seem replaceable.  How many men did not make it onto the beaches?  Probably sounds like a scary number, but replaceable.  Hopefully you'll bag your money-worth of allied troops there soon.  I find it is often very unpredictable how well invasions go, or badly they end.  The luck factor seems to be significant, like in naval battles.  So I would not put aside the Pearl plans entirely, though I agree starving them would be desirable or even necessary.  I fear the bombardment runs are kind of a waste, and the BBs would serve better to hunt convoys in SEPac or join in the fight for the Adamantans.

That was a smart move by your opponent, and I think he will best focus on an advance through Burma/DEI where his lack of naval power, and the stretched lines of communication and long open approach corridors from CONUSA wouldn't come to bear so much.  Surely you are already harvesting fruits of your Hawaii operations.  I would pick the division to be bought out by your PP, seems you are presently still in need for and in position to exert offensive strategies.  A division appears to give you much more punch, and from what I have seen in the more "progressed" AARs that reached 44 by now, I do not put much value in building strongpoints with engineers etc. anymore.  They'll just be suppressed with 4E and bypassed easily.  I would rather think about using your present naval and aerial superiority to isolate his ground units in the Admantans.

What naval strengths would the brits have in India presently, and is there a chance Yubari would dare to move his CVs from the threatening/covering positions between Hawaii, CONUSA, and SEPac to India?  I'd expect that he could only afford that if he closed convoy activity down for a couple of months, which perhaps is not reasonable?  How much CV air would you need to draw out the RN to reopen a blockade of Admantans?  Could you move an additional carrier DIV?
Hmmh, and of course my obligatory aggressive though:  How much combat value have the units Yubari brought to the show?  Do you expect them to be highly experienced?  Could you launch a counter-invasion with local reserves before they had time to fully entrench?  Or ain't there any value in that?



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Post #: 244
RE: Ocean of Blood. FatR (J) vs. yubari (A) - no yubari... - 10/28/2010 11:00:46 AM   
FatR

 

Posts: 2522
Joined: 10/23/2009
From: St.Petersburg, Russia
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: bigred

FatR, do u have any air that can suppress those PTs?

Unfortunately, hunting PTs requires sending fighters on strafing missions (100 ft.), and when they hang in the Oahu hex between sorties, well... I thought that with multiple layers cover I'll be able to stop them, but no. The only reliable way of covering an invasion is to have SCTFs in patrol zones that are between the landing hex and the direction the enemy comes from. At least it is the way that worked for me.

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Post #: 245
RE: Ocean of Blood. FatR (J) vs. yubari (A) - no yubari... - 10/28/2010 12:01:46 PM   
FatR

 

Posts: 2522
Joined: 10/23/2009
From: St.Petersburg, Russia
Status: offline 		As about losses in Lahaina: I'll count it soon enough, when fragments are unloaded at Molokai. Over 2000 combat-ready AV landed successfully, plus prodigious amount of disrupted squads. Looks like the vast majority of the infantry managed to reach the beaches, but many support troops are still on ships. The problem lies in fact that most of the supplies did not make it.

At Andamans, following units were confirmed by intelligence shells:

Little Andaman - 18th British Division, 7th Australian Division.
Port Blair - 1st Burma Division, 17th Indian Division.

I, if I strip DEI bare, will have only an equivalent of four divisions. As assaulting Allies in rough terrain and on islands requires 5:1 superiority, in my opinion, immediate counterinvasion is out of the question. I also don't have enough assault shipping to land enough troops in the face of shore batteries. On the positive side, I don't believe Yubari can stage a serious offensive in Burma right now, after sending so many troops at these islands. I believe I should try to neutralize them at the moment by naval blockade, thus holding a large portion of his ground force bottled up with a small portion of mine. Also, I hope that systematic air raids will prevent them from fortifying the islands too much.

As about British naval strentgh, they still have everything, except for 4 D-cruisers, Mauritius and a couple of destroyers. Hermes might have sunk too, or at least it is probably out of the war for a moment.

Nagumo in Singapore has Shoho, Zuiho, Nisshin, Hosho and Taiyo. Yubari knows, that at least some carriers are operating in DEI, as they were spotted when covering the Trinkat landing. I had only Shoho and Zuiho there, though, so he might be underestimating my airpower. Modern battleships that have problems with reloading in the Pacific (Nagatos and Yamato) also are there. This should be enough to deal with RN and its two CVs, but any meeting with USN carriers will be disastrous. I have no idea, where the latter are. I won't move a separate CarDiv to help them, though. KB proper will sail together or will not sail at all. That said, I think there might be a virtue in the idea of the whole KB sailing to seek battle once again. Yubari might have been notified that my troops are preparing for Port Hedland already. If I move against Port Hedland and, maybe, Exmouth with enough noise, revealing Mini-KB there, he might be enticed to intervene. And the real KB will lie in waiting. And if nothing shows up, it might either be used for another raid towards Ceilon, in hopes of catching major RN units, or quietly withdrawn, without revealing its presence.

EDIT: Actually scratch that. The place is too far from likely Allied fleet bases to react.

EDIT2: As about Allies bypassing Japanese strongholds, this only works when they have air superiority. I do not intend to relinquish it lightly. In fact, I believe that I can beat the Allied aviation back until the middle of 1943, if I'm sufficiently determined and can convince my opponent that my reserves are without end (they aren't, Hawaii saw my pools nearly dry, but Yubari seems to back down from protracted air battles he isn't sure to win). But I need solid airbase coverage in every region that is supposed to be a part of my perimeter, to start contesting the air immediately, and not after more than a week, as was the case with Andamans.

< Message edited by FatR -- 10/28/2010 2:19:31 PM >

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Post #: 246
RE: Ocean of Blood. FatR (J) vs. yubari (A) - no yubari... - 10/29/2010 10:06:52 PM   
FatR

 

Posts: 2522
Joined: 10/23/2009
From: St.Petersburg, Russia
Status: offline 		May 29-31: Funeral Pyre Over Andamans

Well, just when I thought that the previous two days sucked...

First about the good news. I've found Allied CVs, all seven of them. I've also managed to avoid sending a fourth of the Combined Fleet surface assets into their teeth, based on a premature and incomplete naval search results. That's about all positive that can be said about the recent events.

Although that's not true. My ASW efforts were relatively successful, and my Hawaian light cruiser division managed to chase down all three of the remaining American PTs on Hawaii, after they tried to return on 29th. It also sank S-42 on the same day (probably - the sub was forced to surface and gunned down, but I heard no sinking sound).

On 30th Yubari moved his aviation back to Andamans, much sooner than I expected. Losses in another huge melee were about 3:1 in Allied favor - about 33 to over 70 losses. I lost more fighters this time too. 8th Sentai got wasted near-completely and will require a month to rebuild.
On the same day my Nav Search spotted Allied ships, including what looked like British carriers, approaching Andamans. Most of my DEI naval forces were at sea, covering a massive amphibious convoy, intended for Trinkat. I contemplated a rush towards them, but, as my forces were stretched across Malacca Strait, with Mini-KB lagging behind, I decided to avoid the risk, and gather my ships at Georgetown first. Three groups of Betties were sent to naval attack from Victoria Point, though.

On 31th they naval attacked indeed. Unfortunately, encountered CAP consisted of 5 VFs and one VMF, plus four British squadrons, and coordination sucked as usual for attacks from ground, so both my fatigued fighters (despite mostly flying apart from bombers) and bombers got gangbanged. I lost 23 Betties, and at least a dozen crews. As a small consolation prize, a separate group of Betties sank two xAKLs from a convoy approaching Little Andaman.

Of course, the presence of the whole Allied armada means that Mini-KB must run away, as must slower battleships. I grounded most of its Zeros to Georgetown, though, to cover the returning point for an attempt of surface intercept, in case my esteemed opponent decides to pursue. The attacking forces will consist of three TFs - 8 DDs (formed from ASW TFs, just moved to Malacca Strait to combat the flood of Allied subs), 2 CAs/6 DDs (formed from the convoy escorts), and the battleship division under Tanaka with Haruna, 2 CAs and 5 DDs. They are ordered to run next to the current location of American CVs at full speed, with retirement to Georgetown allowed.


We also exchanged blows in China, in my unsuccesful attempt to cut off the garrizon of Pucheng, inflicting one defeat each. 58th Division got entirely disabled, but I managed to take out about 600 more Chinese squads. I'm worried about the perspective of Chinese counterattack in the south.

< Message edited by FatR -- 10/29/2010 10:09:56 PM >

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Post #: 247
RE: Ocean of Blood. FatR (J) vs. yubari (A) - no yubari... - 10/30/2010 9:27:31 AM   
janh

 

Posts: 1216
Joined: 6/12/2007
Status: offline 		Uuh, it's getting hot!!  That could have been a bad trap...

How about sending full KB out to somewhere SW of Perth, hiding in the sea until the USN carriers pass by on their return trip to the pacific?

(in reply to FatR)
Post #: 248
RE: Ocean of Blood. FatR (J) vs. yubari (A) - no yubari... - 10/30/2010 9:46:41 AM   
FatR

 

Posts: 2522
Joined: 10/23/2009
From: St.Petersburg, Russia
Status: offline 		KB sailed from Kwajalein on the very day USN CVs were spotted. I'm not sure how to commit it yet, this will be influenced by the situation.

To be honest, low Allied convoy activity and nothing beyond subs going through the Panama Channel for at least more than a week, should have alerted me that Yubari intends to place his blow in the Indian Ocean. The hunt for a large troop convoy in the end of April served to obscure these facts, though.

On the plus side, this means I can go for Eastern Aleutians right now, with just a CA force (now four are at Kwajalein - intended to send them as a reinforcement to Hawaii, but they obviously won't be targeted now) as cover (although at the moment I also have CVE Unyo and some freshly arrived airgroups to put on her in Home Islands).

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Post #: 249
RE: Ocean of Blood. FatR (J) vs. yubari (A) - no yubari... - 10/30/2010 1:55:09 PM   
FatR

 

Posts: 2522
Joined: 10/23/2009
From: St.Petersburg, Russia
Status: offline 		June 1

US Fleet held back, hanging around Trinkat, which is currently being counterinvaded. Another Betty attack resulted in more horrible losses. This time some 7 torpedo bombers reached British carriers, but all missed.

My DD TF failed to withdraw, and got hammered in the day phase. Most of the countless attack planes failed to locate targets, but DDs Samidare and Hatakaze were sunk. Overall losses in three days of Allied operation - about 180 planes, including precious Betties, 2 DDs (including one modern). So many pilots I don't want to count. Fully third of my land torpedo bomber force will need rebuilding (I intend to pull remaining pre-war veterans for carrier crews, and put lesser reserve pilots into these units). Allied losses - maybe 80 planes (with much less pilots, as all the fighting was over their airfields and TFs), 2 unconfirmed Dutch subs (one was reported as sunk by air ASW, and long sinking sounds during the turn indicate that something might indeed have sunk on the Allied side). Verdict - Allied strategic and tactical victory. I'm going to lose my toehold on Andamans, and Allies are goint to entrench there to the extent that makes will make them near-impossible to evict, creating a major crack in my perimeter.

On the other hand, I should be grateful, that the commitment of the entire Allied carrier fleet to the frontline did not result in a capital ship losses for me (it still might, theoretically, if Yubari pushes forward, but remaining major surface units in theatre are now disbanded in ports well-covered from the air). Even the flood of Allied subs failed to score so far (except for one dud on Nagato and a sunk subchaser).

Also, I believe my opponent just made a powerful statement about the strategic direction of his advance, and, importantly, all but conceded Hawaii. It is quite possible that he intended this to be a trap for surface forces I've used around Andamans previously, primarily Mini-KB. Good thing I decided that discretion is the better part of valor.

(in reply to FatR)
Post #: 250
RE: Ocean of Blood. FatR (J) vs. yubari (A) - no yubari... - 10/31/2010 1:54:45 AM   
FatR

 

Posts: 2522
Joined: 10/23/2009
From: St.Petersburg, Russia
Status: offline 		The big choice at the moment is: should I attempt to catch the Allied fleet with a deep raid across Indian Ocean, or should I launch a head-on counterattack in Andamans? I either case, I have a relatively small safety window for my operation, assuming the Allied fleet falls off the radar again. The first choice can produce a decisive battle, when the Japanese carrier fleet is substantially weakened - not optimal. The second one offers the advantage of LBA support, but likely forfeits surprise, necessary for laying a counter-trap (unless I chase Allied LBA from Andamans) and means commiting my main strength to a non-decisive action, which is far more wasteful for Japanese, than for Allies.

The optimum choice is probably as follows: wait for a few days to bring more fighter units to the frontline (and for Allies CV to go away), and for the existing ones to recover, strip China from better bomber units, bring everything I can from Home Islands, commit everything and a kitchen sink to a decisive air offensive, until the Allied air force pulls back or is destroyed in battle, then bait Yubari with another landing, this time trying to hide KB nearby.

(in reply to FatR)
Post #: 251
RE: Ocean of Blood. FatR (J) vs. yubari (A) - no yubari... - 10/31/2010 10:23:07 AM   
janh

 

Posts: 1216
Joined: 6/12/2007
Status: offline 		Head-on sounds like a bloody affair, agreed.  I would perform a deep raid if KB and miniKB are close enough now, and catch his fleet trains and maybe his combat formations while withdrawing (where to? Ceylon?).   The momentum of surprise cannot be overestimated, it is worth many CVs and BBs in number as you surely gathered from C&Gs battle.  If you can catch him by surprise, even if it is close to Ceylon and his LBA, then you can strike and if needed withdraw again rapidly, before his LBA switched to naval attack. 

Like in C&G's case, the catch is if you win, you may perhaps now follow up a tactical victory and catch his cripples due to LBA near his bases.  Sort of Pope, McClellan, Hooker and others withdrawing to the cover of the forts of Washington, or behind the cover of Rapidan to escape the destruction after the tactical defeats incurred by Lee.  Just that Lee could never ripe the fruits of them, and having less man pool for reinforcements, his losses were permanent -- and the Union tactical losses basically nullified, or even strategic victories in long term.

However, I think LBA on both sides is comparably weak and can easily be taken on even with a weakened KB air wing (after a naval battle).  Especially at this date, the naval strikes will be a calculatable risk, and one that could be taken if the fruits are a couple of CVs and CVLs to bag. 

If I see the performance of your air strikes of the past few turns in the Adamans, and the performances of your Netties, Sallies and Betties, I would not really wait for them because the window of opportunity will be gone.  And they truly seem not provide more than to bait a couple of fighters away from their CAP positions, and lead to a few losses.  You could rather send in a "bait TF" like the Hosho TF in the Coral Sea battle, to draw away the naval strikes from your KB.

I would expect that once this landing is over, you will not see much supply traffic by ship to the Adamans anymore.  I doubt he would fall for a "feint" invasion, but rather let you land and get stuck there if you don't bring enough.   There is a big risk of your forces being committed not in concentration and focus points with full strength, as you still have the Hawaii major battle incomplete.   However, if you can make it a quick, determined and strong enough counter-invasion, it would end this little crises early.
I think Yubari is right in choosing this route of approach, and giving you the chance for another attrition battle over the Adamans (where his pilot losses will be low).  This could lead to a turning point in the Western AO -- but both ways!





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Post #: 252
RE: Ocean of Blood. FatR (J) vs. yubari (A) - no yubari... - 10/31/2010 6:51:50 PM   
FatR

 

Posts: 2522
Joined: 10/23/2009
From: St.Petersburg, Russia
Status: offline 		Overall Situation at the Beginning of June

Unfortunately, I'm a bit short on time to do a proper monthly update. I'll try to post the most relevant bits of strategic information today and tomorrow.

Victory screen at the moment:




The battle for Andamans allowed Allies to really pull away in plane losses. And carnage at Lahaina, with 7 xAKs and 13 xAKLs sank fouled up my the ship losses statistics.

EDIT: On the brighter side, I racked significant VPs on Allied troops.

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< Message edited by FatR -- 10/31/2010 7:39:28 PM >

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Post #: 253
RE: Ocean of Blood. FatR (J) vs. yubari (A) - no yubari... - 11/1/2010 11:25:36 AM   
FatR

 

Posts: 2522
Joined: 10/23/2009
From: St.Petersburg, Russia
Status: offline 		Burma-Andamans Theatre

Allied forces on Trinkat are minimal, but they still were enough to unseat the garrizon. For some reason, trasport planes in bases closer than Singapore and Rangoon refused to pick up troops, so I'm gonna lose an AF unit. Allied CV fleet continues to hang around, so no air offensive operations are possible for now. I've tried to set Betties to night naval attack, but no luck, none has sortied.

Allies are reconning Singapore at the moment, probably with their long-range Mitchell recons from Little Andaman. I hope all five will break down quickly at this range. And good thing that Mini-Kb sailed straight to Soerabaja.

33rd Division is moving to Burma. 56th soon will be reformed on Northern Sumatra. 21st will be held as theatre reserve, in Soerabaja or Singapore.






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RE: Ocean of Blood. FatR (J) vs. yubari (A) - no yubari... - 11/1/2010 1:58:22 PM   
FatR

 

Posts: 2522
Joined: 10/23/2009
From: St.Petersburg, Russia
Status: offline 		Eastern DEI

I'm seizing unoccupied bases, and moving support and contruction units to the front, while I can do so safely. It is possible, that this theate will remain a sideshow, but the last thing I need is Allies established a cluster of bases there on cheap a few months later.






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RE: Ocean of Blood. FatR (J) vs. yubari (A) - no yubari... - 11/1/2010 2:03:07 PM   
FatR

 

Posts: 2522
Joined: 10/23/2009
From: St.Petersburg, Russia
Status: offline 		Solomons

Relatively well-garrizoned against minor invasion, with plently of construction troops and air support but there is no major LCUs there at the moment, and relatively few planes (1 Zero and 1 Betty kokutai + a 24-plane Rufe unit, resized on Chitose, and some minor floatplane units).




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RE: Ocean of Blood. FatR (J) vs. yubari (A) - no yubari... - 11/1/2010 2:08:32 PM   
FatR

 

Posts: 2522
Joined: 10/23/2009
From: St.Petersburg, Russia
Status: offline 		Hawaii

At some moment, my battleships just stopped rearming at Kona for no clear reason. Thankfully, Hilo just went to a level 5 port, so I hope they will be able to rearm there.

At Lahaina, Allied inflicted severe losses on my troops with bombardment attacks, because the latter did not have enough supply to dug in, despite Mavises trying to deliver more. I landed a division fragment on barges, losing some in the process. Unfortunately, barges have very limited cargo carrying capacity, so they are practically useless for actually resupplying troops.
However, on the last turns Allies have stopped firing. Supply shortage? The same turn also saw a major Allied convoy sailing west from San Fran. Can it be, that Yubari plans a suicide resupply run?






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RE: Ocean of Blood. FatR (J) vs. yubari (A) - no yubari... - 11/1/2010 2:12:55 PM   
FatR

 

Posts: 2522
Joined: 10/23/2009
From: St.Petersburg, Russia
Status: offline 		China

Chinese apparently do not want to fight in the south... which is good in the short term, considering how limited my forces are, but might result in a greater threat in a long term. Sian is being bombed on schedule. I'll try sending a sentai low in a few days, to check is Chinese AA machineguns will fire. If they don't, then the garrizon is out of supply.




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RE: Ocean of Blood. FatR (J) vs. yubari (A) - no yubari... - 11/1/2010 2:39:48 PM   
FatR

 

Posts: 2522
Joined: 10/23/2009
From: St.Petersburg, Russia
Status: offline 		Ship losses and ship situation

Allied losss figures should be taken with a grain of salt.

Actually, losses of merchant shipping do not bode well for the rest of the war. I still have a significant surplus of carrying capacity, but not nearly as big as I would have liked. Meanwhile, Honshu remains rather undersupplied with oil, fuel and particularly resources. I need to haul stuff from minor bases more actively (while Allied subs are busy hunting my warships). and finally find a way to pull some load off Palemnang port. Also, lack of fuel at Shikuka caused Sakhalin convoys to behave strangely, sometimes failing to move from the port, which contributed to accumulation of unshipped resources there.

At the moment, I'm converting all Kyushu and fast Yusen class xAKs, as well as some of the slow Yusen xAKs and some Husimi xAKs to AKs. The rest of Husimi xAKs are being convered to AVs, ASs and ARs. I plan on reconverting all of Lima-class xAKs back to full cargo carrying capacity, and use Yusen AKs to haul troops instead. The reason is, not only they can unload faster in poor ports or on a beach, as AKs they also get improved AAA armament (not that much improved, to be honest, 25mm and 13.2mm guns still blow, but beggars can't be choosers).

And I'm converting all standard projects ships I have to tankers.






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RE: Ocean of Blood. FatR (J) vs. yubari (A) - no yubari... - 11/1/2010 3:36:08 PM   
FatR

 

Posts: 2522
Joined: 10/23/2009
From: St.Petersburg, Russia
Status: offline 		Detailed Air Losses.

Things look grim thanks to the Andaman battle.




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RE: Ocean of Blood. FatR (J) vs. yubari (A) - no yubari... - 11/1/2010 3:47:05 PM   
FatR

 

Posts: 2522
Joined: 10/23/2009
From: St.Petersburg, Russia
Status: offline 		Pilot Losses and Pilot Situation

The pain, the pain...




I never expected my pilots to be non-expendable, and to be able to keep up with Allies in pilot losses, though. After playing both sides, I believe it is not possible against a competent opponent. Japanese pilots die alot, and this is aggravated by offensive nature of early-war missions.

So, that's why most of 2nd Air Division, as well as many of the newly arrived units are busy training pilots, to recompensate the losses. For the Army, these efforts already bore fruit, as I mentioned before.

Lessons of Andamans inspired me to made another adjustment to pilot training. From now on, fighter pilots, particularly Army pilots, will learn low naval attack, instead of strafing, as their secondary skill. Level bombers and torpedo bombers alone lack numbers to get through carrier CAP, single-engine Navy planes tend to find themselves lacking range (although introduction of Judies and Jills will alleviate this problem), and all Japanese bombers are terribly vulnerable. But starting from 1942/11, Ki-43 gets very nice range and - in this early version of Scen 70 - great payload (better than any sinle-engine Army bomber). Later it gets armor as well. So, a possibility of using it as a fighter-bomber should be created beforehand.


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(in reply to FatR)
Post #: 261
RE: Ocean of Blood. FatR (J) vs. yubari (A) - no yubari... - 11/1/2010 3:55:33 PM   
FatR

 

Posts: 2522
Joined: 10/23/2009
From: St.Petersburg, Russia
Status: offline 		Plane Production and Pools

Yeah, the situation is not very bright. I was also forced to expand Nakajima Ha-35 production again, due to large losses, necessitating keeping all factories online.

On the other hand, thanks to Nemo121, I noticed the virtues of using Ki-43 as a late-war kamikaze plane. So, these Nakajima engines might be useful in 1944-45, after all.
In fact, I'm planning on just shutting down some Oscar factories, instead of converting them, after Tojos become available. The Nate factory will use up all engines within little more than a month, then it will be converted and start expansion, to serve as the Tojo factory.





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(in reply to FatR)
Post #: 262
RE: Ocean of Blood. FatR (J) vs. yubari (A) - no yubari... - 11/1/2010 4:02:50 PM   
FatR

 

Posts: 2522
Joined: 10/23/2009
From: St.Petersburg, Russia
Status: offline 		Air Research

Tojo research advanced very nicely in this month. I believe I'll be able to advance IIa model to August, and then advance following models by one month for every month in the game. I also decided to expand research facilities for Jill and Judy some more.




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(in reply to FatR)
Post #: 263
RE: Ocean of Blood. FatR (J) vs. yubari (A) - no yubari... - 11/1/2010 4:45:17 PM   
FatR

 

Posts: 2522
Joined: 10/23/2009
From: St.Petersburg, Russia
Status: offline 		And finally on the plans for the future. I've decided not to try any more night intercepts in the face of massed Allied carriers. Possible rewards are not proportional to risks. I'll just try to sit it out, untill the Allied fleet withdraws. As Allied forces on Trinkat are really weak, a rapid counter-counter invasion is on the table, assuming the threat of carrier response is neutralized.

Speaking of that, after looking at the composition of the Allied carrier air force, I decide to go on a deep raid into Indian Ocean with my entire available force, after all. Americans still have Bufallos and Vindicators on some decks, and their torpedo squadrons are using Devastators. British use a mix of Martlets, Sea Hurricanes and Fulmars. With both KB and mini-KB together, we should be able to take this force on.

< Message edited by FatR -- 11/2/2010 5:43:41 PM >

(in reply to FatR)
Post #: 264
RE: Ocean of Blood. FatR (J) vs. yubari (A) - no yubari... - 11/2/2010 4:44:56 PM   
janh

 

Posts: 1216
Joined: 6/12/2007
Status: offline 		Hmmh, I do feel that the close proximity of Trinkat to Sumatra is going to be a bigger issue and I thought before -- maybe.  Don't know why I didn't realize that before, or why no allied player has used this as an axis of approach to the DEI and Singapor before, but I have a feeling this is even better than the Darwin/Northern OZ approach.  In the face of IJA LBA being unable to suppress four big airfields on these islands in the near future, and the contrast of US and British 4E bomber doing exactly that along the whole coast from Rangoon to Singapore and Western Java, hmmhh, could get very hot...

I think it would be necessary to react quick, with a strong center of gravity and focus, but not with rashness.  However that will be possible?

(in reply to FatR)
Post #: 265
RE: Ocean of Blood. FatR (J) vs. yubari (A) - no yubari... - 11/2/2010 5:50:16 PM   
FatR

 

Posts: 2522
Joined: 10/23/2009
From: St.Petersburg, Russia
Status: offline 		Yubari is unloading a ton of troops on Car Nicobar currently. Apparently not on Trinkat, though, so make that three airfields. The Allied carriers hang in 8 hexes of Car Nicobar now, and I'm very tempted to attempt a surface raid, with retreat to Victoria Point. At the moment, my fighter force recovers and repositions for resumption of the air battle which will happen as soon as fatigue levels from changing airfields drop a bit and freshly-issued planes are repaired.

EDIT: Also, I don't think that launching 4E attacks from airfields in range of Japanese medium bombers, even if he brings some AA units, capable of hitting them at high altitude, is such a great idea. Particularly when he already lost over 90 of them in this game. Eventually, of course, Allied will be able to do whatever they want, but I'll try to strangle Andamans before that.

< Message edited by FatR -- 11/2/2010 7:08:01 PM >

(in reply to janh)
Post #: 266
RE: Ocean of Blood. FatR (J) vs. yubari (A) - no yubari... - 11/3/2010 10:10:15 PM   
FatR

 

Posts: 2522
Joined: 10/23/2009
From: St.Petersburg, Russia
Status: offline 		June 2-5: In the Eye of the Storm

My subs (and surface raiders) totally failed to hit anything anywhere, despite being redirected by hand each turn. I lost I-17, which was heavily damaged off Seattle by surface ASW a week earlier. Also, a PB damaged at Hawaii by a bomb from a searchplane during the first landing at Kona, burned out at Molokai. So, searchplanes can sink ships. As long as these aren't mine searchplanes, at least.

I need to stage a second landing, as Mavises do not haul in enough supply, but for two days in a row both battleships and aviation just totaly refused to sortie. What the heck?

Allied carriers still seem to hanging not far from Andamans (judging by planes from them spotting my subs that tried to intercept them), but beyond NavSearch range at the moment. The massive collection of invasion convoys and SCTFs remained at Car Nicobar, though. Unless they beat the retreat this turn, they will be subjected to another naval attack. Yubari must be LRCAPping the hex, but with a ton of Oscars on sweeps, defenders should be easily overwhelmed, unless he moves carriers back into range.

(in reply to FatR)
Post #: 267
RE: Ocean of Blood. FatR (J) vs. yubari (A) - no yubari... - 11/4/2010 10:34:15 PM   
FatR

 

Posts: 2522
Joined: 10/23/2009
From: St.Petersburg, Russia
Status: offline 		June 6-7, 1942: Naval Battle Of Sydney and Skipbombers Debut

Naval Battle of Sydney: Well, that's just a pretentious name for an engagement between Japanese raiding destroyers and USN ASW TF off Sydney on June 7. My raiders waited for convoys nine hexes from Sidney for several days, until I decided to commit them after the fuel started running short. Fearing Allied aviation, I sent only destroyers in, sending their CLs back to Rabaul, and that was a mistake:

Night Time Surface Combat, near Sydney at 91,169, Range 2,000 Yards
Japanese Ships
DD Urakaze
DD Shiratsuyu, Shell hits 2, on fire
DD Kikuzuki
DD Mochizuki, Shell hits 2, on fire

Allied Ships
DD Downes, Shell hits 4, on fire
DD Rathburne, Shell hits 1
AM Horsham, Shell hits 1

Poor visibility due to Thunderstorms with 39% moonlight
Maximum visibility in Thunderstorms and 39% moonlight: 2,000 yards
Range closes to 21,000 yards...
Range closes to 16,000 yards...
Range closes to 11,000 yards...
Range closes to 8,000 yards...
Range closes to 6,000 yards...
Range closes to 4,000 yards...
Range closes to 2,000 yards...
CONTACT: Japanese lookouts spot Allied task force at 2,000 yards
CONTACT: Allied lookouts spot Japanese task force at 2,000 yards
Imazato, Hiroshi crosses the 'T'

I really expected better from the Empire's Long Lancers, but looks like being in a Bombardment TF (I hoped that targeting a sea hex with a bombardment will allow them to retreat far enough before the daybreak, I was wrong). Allied airforce was entirely passive and didn't even detect my ships in the day phase.


Air Battle of Car Nicobar: The day started nicely, with Oscars sweeping the skies clear and 15 Betties launching an uninterrupted attack against Allied cruisers. All they succeeded at was eating flak, though. Maybe severe storms screwed their accuracy. In the afternoon phase the remaining part of the Betty kokutai arrived and was butchered by the renewed LRCAP. However, they drew Allied attention from 8 Sallies flying at 100 feet, which snuck to the transports, after losing only plane, hit two large xAPs (one of them twice, for "heavy fires"), and retreated without further loss. Maybe I lucked out to have pilots with good LowN, freshly drafted from the reserve, to be in the raid, or maybe the transports were unloading. I cannot also exclude the possibility, that skipbombing is just that good.

Overall losses for the day were 36 Japanese planes (21 fighter, escorting Zeros took heavy losses) vs. 29 Allied (26 fighters). Yubari now is flying Warhawks from Andamans. Hopefully at least one transport will sink.

Adm. Tanaka SCTF (1BB, 2 CAs, 5 DDs) just arrived at Victoria Point. I'm planning a night engagement, unless Allies withdraw from Car Nicobar, and my fighters will be devoted to providing CAP and LRCAP this time (they also need an opportunity to repair planes after today's battle). I hoped to send two SCTFs, but, well, the second one accidentally returned to Singapore, and if I wait to it, I'll surely catch nothing. Moonlight is low, weather is bad, Allied battleships aren't seen anywhere, so the conditions look favorable. Allied carriers weren't seen this turn, not even ASW planes from them (and seemed retreating on the previous turn - that's why I decided to send surface forces in). I do hope they aren't sneaking to Singapore right now. Hopefully NavSearch will spot them in time if they try.

< Message edited by FatR -- 11/4/2010 10:36:22 PM >

(in reply to FatR)
Post #: 268
RE: Ocean of Blood. FatR (J) vs. yubari (A) - no yubari... - 11/5/2010 3:10:30 AM   
vicberg

 

Posts: 1176
Joined: 4/19/2008
Status: offline 		IMO, I don't like this axis of attack for the allies. It's too close to the japanese, easy for the japs to reinforce, and hard for the allies. The only reason this has succeeded so far is because the japs are committed at PH.

It's still mid 42 and the japanese have the advantage. I'm not sure what your economic situation is, but if you can't convert those nates, idas, and sonias into better planes, then the scenario needs some tweaking...the economy is too weak to function in the early stages of the war and the carriers in 43 won't make a difference.

That being said, this is the ideal situation for the japanese. The allies are committed. You have a chance for a pitched battle with his carriers, possibly in range of your LBAs which is the danger of this axis of attack, especially in 42. I see this as desparation on his part and smart because he's hitting where you aren't and taking heat off PH, but it's still quite dangerous. If he retreats his carriers, you will get a number of dead allied divisions as a result. Send everything there. Keep enough to keep PH isolated. That is a victory in itself. If you see transports through the panama canel, then you know he's coming for PH. Plenty of time to respond.

(in reply to FatR)
Post #: 269
RE: Ocean of Blood. FatR (J) vs. yubari (A) - no yubari... - 11/5/2010 4:50:56 AM   
FatR

 

Posts: 2522
Joined: 10/23/2009
From: St.Petersburg, Russia
Status: offline 		I'm making Nates and Idas because I have piles of free engines, available at the beginning at the game, for them. I was making Sonias, because of horrendous, unprecedented (at least in the games I played or followed) bomber losses in early stages. Although I shut down the plant now, because I don't need them anymore, and they were eating into the surplus of Ha-31 engines, which I actually produce (for Dinahs and Topsies). If you look at my plane production numbers, they are actually rather high, compared to what many Japanese players run (particularly with 152 Army bombers/month), although I'm trying to avoid overexpanding production and to make only as many planes as strictly necessary for the front and for creation of a safery buffer in the pool, whenever possible.

EDIT: Talk about always learning something new! I just noticed, that Ki-79a, the late war Nate version with a 250-kg bomb for Kamikaze attacks, uses Hitachi (early) engine, like Ida, instead of Nakajima Kotobuki, consumed by actual Nate (and almost used up at the moment). With over 300 Hitachi (early) engines still in the pool, it might be worthwhile to stop Idas, and to use some small plant to make Ki-79a in 1945. They still are bad planes, of course, but at least they have a chance of not being totally useless.

Economic situation... looks like the attempt to update the scenario screwed with this aspect of the tracker, so the numbers went all across the board. Looking at the data in the game itself, I'm now strongly resource-positive (although a lot of resources must to be extracted from Middle Nowhere islands, like Nauru), but oil/fuel situation deteriorated over last month. I still have over 5.5 millions tons of oil and fuel combined, so the situation is not immediately threatening.

I agree with most of your strategical assessment. I strongly suspect, that Yubari hoped to catch Mini-KB or some major surface assets in Andamans, seeing as I was using them there. Good thing that I decided to err on the side of caution. I believe, though, that he won't let my carriers to catch anything serious around the islands themselves. His fleet will beat the retreat, and he'll try to sit out the blockade with supplies already unloaded. That's why I'm inclined towards a deep raid, to interdict Allied communications west of Ceilon and hopefully catch his fleet in transit. Hiyo will be able to join the fleet in time, so I believe that I'll have a superior carrier force (6 CVs, 3 big CVLs and 3 third-rate CVLs/CVEs, versus 5 USN CVs and 2 British CVs - we play with static reinforcements, so Wasp can't be around - still with inferior planes). I'm still not completely certain, because carrier battles are notoriously swingy, much of my force is fragile and if dice are not on my side, I might lose everything in a day. On the other hand, waiting won't avail me much. Akagi and Junyo are a better summary addition to the fleet than Wasp, but further delays will allow Americans to rearm their squadrons with Avengers, and British will get Fulmars off the decks too.

< Message edited by FatR -- 11/5/2010 5:04:40 AM >

(in reply to vicberg)
Post #: 270
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