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RE: Wrangling Loki - Mind_Messing (J) vs Lokasenna (A)

 
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RE: Wrangling Loki - Mind_Messing (J) vs Lokasenna (A) - 9/8/2015 11:14:37 PM   
mind_messing

 

Posts: 3393
Joined: 10/28/2013
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: Bullwinkle58


quote:

ORIGINAL: mind_messing

This is the second time in this game where the value of certain hexes hasn't been aparent until it's too late. First was New Ireland as a move to outflank Rabual. Now it's Cocos as a threat against Palembang.

Lesson learned.



In our game right now there's a donnybrook going on over Pt. Blair. I'm down about 700 VPs, 3-4 cruisers (lost track) an APA and a CVE and a lot of good transports. But two big IDs ashore that dropped Forts 5 by one on the first attack. He lost Mogami.

But in the same way Pt. Blair isn't about Pt. Blair. It's about Rangoon. I know that and he knows that. He has an ID-plus at Blair behind the forts. He has, I think, five carriers of various sizes in the slot, to my 2.5. But it's a pivotal battle for Burma.


That reminded me that I had to swap out a brigade at Pt Blair for a better one, thanks!


quote:

ORIGINAL: Lowpe


quote:

ORIGINAL: Bullwinkle58

In the meantime you need multiple, prime CAP units at Pbang and they'll need to stay there . . . forever. That's the real power of Cocos. Not what it can do, but what it makes you do.



+1; good luck on trying to keep it suppressed.

It can be an Island deathtrap for Allied planes potentially. On the positive side.



Hopefully. The fact that there's not an airbase on the island yet gives me some hope. If I can suppress it before he can get it to level 2, I think I may escape the hangman's noose yet.


quote:

ORIGINAL: Bullwinkle58


quote:

ORIGINAL: Lowpe


quote:

ORIGINAL: Bullwinkle58

In the meantime you need multiple, prime CAP units at Pbang and they'll need to stay there . . . forever. That's the real power of Cocos. Not what it can do, but what it makes you do.



+1; good luck on trying to keep it suppressed.

It can be an Island deathtrap for Allied planes potentially. On the positive side.



Alfred said long ago something I never forgot, but don't or can't always do. Paraphrasing: "If you want to hold an island you must have air superiority AND sea superiority. Neither is sufficient alone."

Way too often in AARs we see players try to defend islands only with air power. Can't work. To defend a key island you must be prepared to lose ships as well. That's the problem I have. I don't care a whit for airplanes, but my ships are like children.


I have the same problem. Playing Japan, it's probably an advantage, at least in the early game. The real issue is that by '44, the Allies have such a quantitative edge that you need to send a big hammer at the Allied fleet to be sure of breaking through the multiple task forces that every invasion is going to have escorting it. The qualitative edge means that your ships will likely get sunk, so you need to sink something worthwhile.

(in reply to Bullwinkle58)
Post #: 541
RE: Wrangling Loki - Mind_Messing (J) vs Lokasenna (A) - 9/9/2015 6:31:18 PM   
mind_messing

 

Posts: 3393
Joined: 10/28/2013
Status: offline 		March 12th to March 13th, 1944

The war is heating up!

North Pacific

Port raid on Shemya meets night fighters, 7 Betty lost for nothing in return.

Central Pacific

The Allies continue to off-load troops at Kusaie on the 12th, and are finished by the 13th. The coastal guns got some good hits in, and perhaps sunk an AP.

On the ground, the first Allied attack at Kusaie doesn't bode well for the defenders:

quote:

Ground combat at Kusaie Island (125,118)

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 14801 troops, 223 guns, 723 vehicles, Assault Value = 641

Defending force 18989 troops, 323 guns, 94 vehicles, Assault Value = 427

Allied adjusted assault: 494

Japanese adjusted defense: 681

Allied assault odds: 1 to 2 (fort level 4)

Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), forts(+), experience(-)
Attacker:

Japanese ground losses:
612 casualties reported
Squads: 4 destroyed, 80 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 10 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Guns lost 29 (3 destroyed, 26 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
325 casualties reported
Squads: 2 destroyed, 93 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 18 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 7 disabled
Guns lost 24 (1 destroyed, 23 disabled)
Vehicles lost 37 (1 destroyed, 36 disabled)

Assaulting units:
6th Infantry Division
2nd USMC Tank Battalion
763rd Tank Battalion
754th Tank Battalion
2/7th Armoured Regiment
XIV US Corps
1881th Engineer Aviation Battalion

Defending units:
44th Naval Guard Unit
Combined 8th SNLF
Kure 3rd SNLF
1st Amphibious Brigade
62nd Naval Guard Unit
30th JAAF AF Bn
55th Field AA Battalion
66th JNAF AF Unit
16th JNAF AF Unit
65th Field AA Battalion
8th JAAF Base Force
66th Field AA Battalion
144th JAAF AF Bn


Elsewhere in the Marshalls, the Allies put troops ashore at Ailinglaplap, a dot hex base, and narrowly manage to scrape a 2:1 -

quote:

Ground combat at Ailinglaplap (133,117)

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 1967 troops, 48 guns, 45 vehicles, Assault Value = 60

Defending force 1456 troops, 12 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 49

Allied adjusted assault: 9

Japanese adjusted defense: 4

Allied assault odds: 2 to 1 (fort level 0)

Allied forces CAPTURE Ailinglaplap !!!

Combat modifiers
Defender: leaders(+), leaders(-), disruption(-), experience(-)
Attacker: leaders(-)

Japanese ground losses:
324 casualties reported
Squads: 2 destroyed, 29 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 4 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 9 (9 destroyed, 0 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
161 casualties reported
Squads: 14 destroyed, 12 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 5 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 4 (4 destroyed, 0 disabled)

Assaulting units:
1st USA Defense Battalion
5th USA Defense Battalion
7th USA Defense Battalion

Defending units:
89th Naval Guard Unit


As my troops are not destroyed, I'll fly the paratroopers in to see if they can't provide the edge needed to dislodge the Americans.

The best news of all comes from Maloelap, where the 5th Marine Regiment is wiped out:

quote:

Ground combat at Maloelap (136,117)

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 3805 troops, 64 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 118

Defending force 2380 troops, 92 guns, 40 vehicles, Assault Value = 28

Japanese adjusted assault: 68

Allied adjusted defense: 16

Japanese assault odds: 4 to 1

Combat modifiers
Defender: leaders(+), leaders(-), supply(-)
Attacker:

Japanese ground losses:
91 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 10 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

Allied ground losses:
1225 casualties reported
Squads: 140 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 158 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 21 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 63 (63 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Vehicles lost 39 (39 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Units destroyed 1

Assaulting units:
Maloelap Naval Fortress
41st Naval Guard Unit
Maizuru 4th SNLF
1st Raiding Rgt /1
25th Air Flotilla
Maloelap Base Force

Defending units:
5th Marine Regiment


This is a nice little bonus, even if it's hardly a drop in the ocean at this point.

SWPAC

March 12th finds the Allied fast battleship force that I missed last turn is still sticking around off Hollandia. Kate's are sent this time, instead of Lily dive bombers, and they do good work!

quote:

Morning Air attack on TF, near Aitape at 96,116

Weather in hex: Overcast

Raid detected at 77 NM, estimated altitude 10,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 33 minutes

Japanese aircraft
B5N1 Kate x 27
N1K2-J George x 11

Japanese aircraft losses
B5N1 Kate: 13 damaged
B5N1 Kate: 8 destroyed by flak

Allied Ships
BB Maryland, Torpedo hits 2
BB Prince of Wales, Torpedo hits 1
BB California, Torpedo hits 2

Aircraft Attacking:
18 x B5N1 Kate launching torpedoes at 200 feet
Naval Attack: 1 x 18in Type 91 Torpedo



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Aitape at 96,116

Weather in hex: Clear sky

Raid detected at 80 NM, estimated altitude 13,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 34 minutes

Japanese aircraft
B5N1 Kate x 8
N1K2-J George x 11

Japanese aircraft losses
B5N1 Kate: 1 destroyed, 4 damaged
B5N1 Kate: 1 destroyed by flak

Allied Ships
BB Prince of Wales, Torpedo hits 1

Aircraft Attacking:
6 x B5N1 Kate launching torpedoes at 200 feet
Naval Attack: 1 x 18in Type 91 Torpedo


To top it all off, on the 13th, Betty's find and torpedo one of the light cruisers that had been escorting the battleships:

quote:

Morning Air attack on TF, near Aitape at 97,116

Weather in hex: Clear sky

Raid detected at 76 NM, estimated altitude 26,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 30 minutes

Japanese aircraft
G3M2 Nell x 15
Ki-84a Frank x 5
Ki-100-I Tony x 8

No Japanese losses

Allied Ships
CL Gambia, Torpedo hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
DD Pringle

Aircraft Attacking:
15 x G3M2 Nell launching torpedoes at 200 feet
Naval Attack: 1 x 18in Type 91 Torpedo


However, we pay a heavy price on the 13th, as Allied 4E's make a massed daylight attack on Hollandia, closing down that base with 30 aircraft destroyed on the ground. I've pulled back to Biak and Sarmi until Hollandia is operational again.

Tracker is showing the three battleships as well as the Gambia as sunk. Considering I've not spotted any cripples running for Rabual, this may well be true. If it is - Banzai! If not, it's three battleships that are down and out for repairs for six months.

DEI

As is the recent trend, the DEI is the focus of the action on the 12th and 13th.

Thunderbolts sweep Latuem on the 12th, and Japanese search spots Allied amphibious ships moving from Darwin towards Saumlaki. By luck, a significant portion of the Japanese Navy is on hand to respond: two crusier forces and the fast battleships are loitering off Timor in preparation to bombard Latuem - all three forces are sent to intercept, as well as some PB ships on ASW duties.

The 13th of March opens with a crusier engagement that goes poorly for the IJN:

quote:

Day Time Surface Combat, near Lautem at 72,115, Range 24,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
CA Furutaka, Shell hits 12, on fire
CA Kako, Shell hits 7
CL Naka, Shell hits 11, heavy fires, heavy damage Sunk later in the day
DD Makigumo, Shell hits 2, and is sunk
DD Makinami, Shell hits 2, heavy fires
DD Suzunami
DD Fujinami, Shell hits 3
DD Hayanami, Shell hits 3, on fire
DD Kiyonami, Shell hits 8, on fire, heavy damage

Allied Ships
CA Wichita, Shell hits 3
CL Richmond
CL Cleveland, Shell hits 2
CL Columbia
CL Montpelier, Shell hits 5
DD Converse, Shell hits 2
DD Daly, Shell hits 2
DD Terry, Shell hits 1
DD Russell
DD Cassin, Shell hits 1, on fire


However, the PB ASW force is able to slip in among one of the transports task forces and causes chaos:

quote:

Day Time Surface Combat, near Saumlaki at 78,117, Range 18,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
PB Manyo Maru
PB Ronsan Maru
PB Yamabato Maru, Shell hits 5

Allied Ships
DD Peary
DMS Long, Shell hits 1, on fire
xAP Am. Manufacturer
xAP Cape Meares
xAP Abigail Adams, Shell hits 2
xAP Amos Kendall
xAP Andrew D. White, Shell hits 1, on fire
xAP Charles P. Steinmetz, Shell hits 1
xAP Jane Addams
xAP Jeremiah S. Black
xAP Clan Macnair
xAP Hadleigh
xAP Silksworth
LSI(L) Monowai


Not to be out-done by the surface ships, the IJNAF strikes, and makes it's contribution to disrupting the American reinforcement of Saumlaki:

quote:

Morning Air attack on TF, near Saumlaki at 77,117

Weather in hex: Heavy rain

Raid spotted at 16 NM, estimated altitude 33,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 5 minutes

Japanese aircraft
G4M1 Betty x 11
J2M2 Jack x 13
N1K2-J George x 12

Allied aircraft
P-38J Lightning x 15

Japanese aircraft losses
J2M2 Jack: 1 destroyed
N1K2-J George: 1 destroyed

No Allied losses

Allied Ships
xAP Charles P. Steinmetz
xAP Andrew D. White, Torpedo hits 3, and is sunk
xAP Hadleigh

Allied ground losses:
940 casualties reported
Squads: 14 destroyed, 7 disabled
Non Combat: 122 destroyed, 13 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Vehicles lost 63 (62 destroyed, 1 disabled)

Aircraft Attacking:
11 x G4M1 Betty launching torpedoes at 200 feet
Naval Attack: 1 x 18in Type 91 Torpedo
Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Saumlaki at 79,118

Weather in hex: Overcast

Raid detected at 116 NM, estimated altitude 34,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 40 minutes

Japanese aircraft
G4M1 Betty x 14
N1K2-J George x 10

Allied aircraft
F6F-3 Hellcat x 95

Japanese aircraft losses
G4M1 Betty: 1 destroyed, 5 damaged
G4M1 Betty: 1 destroyed by flak
N1K2-J George: 2 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
F6F-3 Hellcat: 2 destroyed

Allied Ships
CV Intrepid
CV Lexington, Torpedo hits 1, on fire
BB South Dakota, Torpedo hits 1

Aircraft Attacking:
12 x G4M1 Betty launching torpedoes at 200 feet
Naval Attack: 1 x 18in Type 91 Torpedo

CAP engaged:
VF-35 with F6F-3 Hellcat (0 airborne, 35 on standby, 0 scrambling)
17 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 15000 , scrambling fighters between 15000 and 35000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 25 minutes
41 planes vectored on to bombers
VF-37 with F6F-3 Hellcat (0 airborne, 29 on standby, 0 scrambling)
14 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 13000 , scrambling fighters between 13000 and 34000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 23 minutes
23 planes vectored on to bombers

Fuel storage explosion on CV Lexington

Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Saumlaki at 77,117

Weather in hex: Clear sky

Raid detected at 16 NM, estimated altitude 21,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 5 minutes

Japanese aircraft
B6N2 Jill x 18
Ki-45 KAIc Nick x 11

Allied aircraft
P-38J Lightning x 13

No Japanese losses

No Allied losses

Allied Ships
xAP Abigail Adams, Torpedo hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
xAP Am. Manufacturer, Torpedo hits 1, heavy damage
xAP Amos Kendall
xAP Clan Macnair

Allied ground losses:
70 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled
Non Combat: 3 destroyed, 2 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Vehicles lost 1 (1 destroyed, 0 disabled)

Aircraft Attacking:
18 x B6N2 Jill launching torpedoes at 200 feet
Naval Attack: 1 x 18in Type 91 Torpedo
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Saumlaki at 79,118

Weather in hex: Overcast

Raid detected at 80 NM, estimated altitude 9,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 28 minutes

Japanese aircraft
G4M2 Betty x 21
J2M2 Jack x 8

Allied aircraft
F6F-3 Hellcat x 85

Japanese aircraft losses
G4M2 Betty: 2 destroyed, 9 damaged
G4M2 Betty: 5 destroyed by flak
J2M2 Jack: 3 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
F6F-3 Hellcat: 1 destroyed

Allied Ships
CV Lexington, Torpedo hits 2, heavy fires
CVL Monterey, Torpedo hits 1, heavy fires, heavy damage
CVL Cowpens
CV Intrepid

Aircraft Attacking:
16 x G4M2 Betty launching torpedoes at 200 feet
Naval Attack: 1 x 18in Type 91 Torpedo

CAP engaged:
VF-35 with F6F-3 Hellcat (0 airborne, 4 on standby, 4 scrambling)
40 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 15000 , scrambling fighters between 6000 and 33000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 97 minutes
35 planes vectored on to bombers
VF-37 with F6F-3 Hellcat (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 8 scrambling)
23 plane(s) not yet engaged, 6 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 13000 , scrambling fighters between 3000 and 32000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 23 minutes
28 planes vectored on to bombers

Ammo storage explosion on CVL Monterey
Ammo storage explosion on CVL Monterey
Ammo storage explosion on CV Lexington



Tracker reports the Lexington as sunk. I think the Monterey is a goner as well. If the Allies keep their remaining two carriers around tomorrow, they'll likely go down as well.

Japanese losses were moderate - 156 planes, 50 of which were planes destroyed on the ground at Hollandia. Actual losses to my torpedo planes were minimal, and I've rotated the fighter groups to maximize my strength.

All in all, a good day. The Mini-KB, loitering off Ambon in the hope of an 8 hex strike, is withdrawing westwards to Kendrai - it is no longer needed. I've flown in another hundred strike planes, and they'll be more than enough to force the Allies to withdraw or suffer heavy losses.

The two IJN cruiser forces and the fast battleships will make a run at Saumlaki to see what they can sink, before hightailing it back to the shelter of Timor.

The forced bombardment attack reveals that the Allies may have landed enough troops to end the stalemate on Saumlaki.

quote:

Ground combat at Saumlaki (78,117)

Japanese Bombardment attack

Attacking force 13304 troops, 117 guns, 4 vehicles, Assault Value = 592

Defending force 24219 troops, 405 guns, 259 vehicles, Assault Value = 967

Japanese ground losses:
49 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 2 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

Assaulting units:
90th Infantry Regiment
Sasebo 8th SNLF
5th Ind.Mixed Brigade
30th Div /3
35th JNAF AF Unit
32nd Special Base Force
20th JNAF AF Unit
11th JAAF AF Bn

Defending units:
Port Moresby Brigade
3rd Australian Brigade
45th Indian Brigade
33rd Infantry Div /2 New unit
43rd Infantry Division
30th Australian Bde /36
14th RAAF Base Force


I will need to do some reinforcing of my own as soon as possible. The good news is that the US 33rd Division took a great many disablement in the landing, and may not be good for combat for some time yet.

At Cocos, the two Tone-class cruisers are in position for their high speed attack. A second cruiser force is assembling off Oosthaven.

The KB is three days out from Surabaya.

Burma

No action of note in Burma.

(in reply to mind_messing)
Post #: 542
RE: Wrangling Loki - Mind_Messing (J) vs Lokasenna (A) - 9/9/2015 6:46:13 PM   
Lowpe


Posts: 22133
Joined: 2/25/2013
Status: offline 		You got thru an 85 plane CAP with 8 fighters and 21 bombers. How in the world...I would love to see Lok's settings.


(in reply to mind_messing)
Post #: 543
RE: Wrangling Loki - Mind_Messing (J) vs Lokasenna (A) - 9/9/2015 7:25:22 PM   
Bullwinkle58


Posts: 11302
Joined: 2/24/2009
Status: offline 		In most cases now any tank unit in a landing is going to be Shermans. At some point soon also flamethrower tanks.

Tracker typically reports anything struck by a torpedo as sunk. Then it withdraws the statement later.


_____________________________

The Moose

(in reply to mind_messing)
Post #: 544
RE: Wrangling Loki - Mind_Messing (J) vs Lokasenna (A) - 9/9/2015 7:44:10 PM   
mind_messing

 

Posts: 3393
Joined: 10/28/2013
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: Lowpe

You got thru an 85 plane CAP with 8 fighters and 21 bombers. How in the world...I would love to see Lok's settings.




I stack my torpedo bombers to go in very low or very high. The dive bombers typically take the middle band. It seems to work well.

quote:

In most cases now any tank unit in a landing is going to be Shermans. At some point soon also flamethrower tanks.

Tracker typically reports anything struck by a torpedo as sunk. Then it withdraws the statement later.


More fun toys for the Allies. At least I get 20cm rockets and other cool things as some small compensation.

It's not tracker that has me suspecting that those battleships sank, it's the lack of any cripples fleeing towards Rabual or Manus. They shouldn't have been able to make the trip in one turn, but my search hasn't spotted them.

At any rate, sunk or not, they're gone from the Allied OOB for some time.

(in reply to Lowpe)
Post #: 545
RE: Wrangling Loki - Mind_Messing (J) vs Lokasenna (A) - 9/18/2015 1:12:24 PM   
mind_messing

 

Posts: 3393
Joined: 10/28/2013
Status: offline 		March 14th, 1944

Back in sunny Scotland, so service resumes as normal.

North Pacific

I've been keeping a close eye on the western-most Allied bases in the Aleutians, and it doesn't seem that there's much going on. I'd love to get a peek into Adak, so I may send a floatplane sub over to have a look.



Otherwise, all is quiet here. I've relocated much of the IJNAF training units to Hokkaido, so I've about a hundred dive bombers and a hundred torpedo bombers (obsolete models, mind you) ready to respond to any invasion in a pinch.

Central Pacific

Our attempt to retake Ailinglaplap with the support of paratroopers fails, and our transports are chewed up by flak. Our efforts now are going to be focused towards pulling troops back from the Marshalls and into the Maraianas. Hopefully I can use Roi-Namur as a pickup point for these troops, as at present the Allies don't have any airbases in range.



At Kusaie, I'm trying to smuggle supply in, now that the Allied fleet is withdrawing. This would go a long way towards making this fight another long, drawn out affair, and I'd love nothing more than for another US division and supporting tanks to get bogged down for a month or two.

South-West Pacific

Massive air bombardment keeps Hollandia closed again. Aitape is back up and running, however. This is quite good, as I hope to be able to bounce aircraft between the bases to keep Loka's bombers on their toes. I've not been able to get a good CAP up yet, at least not one big enough to last through the sweeps and get to the bombers.



Work on building up Biak continues at a furious pace - I'm working on the principle that I need to have at least two bases in reserve in case of an Allied landing behind my lines in New Guinea. The exiles from Buna and Lae are making their slow way northwards through the jungle, so they'll get to fight another day.

DEI

Our hopes of a surface engagement with important Allied surface units are shattered when we catch some minnows: LCVP's, for the most part. However, we do drive off the Allied naval units.

Our battleships and cruisers withdraw to Dili, where they are attacked by some 80 odd American torpedo bombers, escorted by Corsairs and Thunderbolts. All three airframes suffer heavy losses in exchange for a single torpedo hit on the battleship Hiei that does minimal damage.



The battleships and cruisers will loiter about Dili for two or so days until 40k of supply and extra artillery is unloaded, then the battleships will withdraw to Surabaya for repairs and re-armament, while the cruisers shift to Bolea to bombard Allied bases at Taberfane and Dobo.

At Cocos, we've nearly got two cruiser groups in position to bombard the base in the next two turns. If they can get their shells delivered without any issues, then the only thing that can save Cocos is the re-appearance of Allied carriers. I would welcome that - I intend to base the KB out of Batavia for the time being.



Burma

Our localized counter-attacks are shaping up nicely. The Allies may have vastly more troops, but the transport network in Burma favors whoever holds Rangoon, so I've been able to juggle troops about with surprising speed.

One Chinese corp is about to be routed on the Akyab road (direct NW of Prome), as I can't see a single Chinese unit wanting to stick about after 120 IJA bombers plaster it from 3000ft and two crack IJA divisions attack it.

The Paoshan Army is also going to attack tomorrow. 4 IJA divisions (3 of them crack units) and a tank regiment will need to defeat 5 Chinese units. It's over 18,000 enemy troops, but they're reported as having only 15 guns, so hopefully we can take full advantage of the superiority in equipment.

The 2nd Tank Division is holding off further attacks on the Chinese unit direct NW of Toungoo for the present. Reinforcing tanks are about four turns away, and after that we should be able to throw that unit back as well.

Additional IJA units are pouring in from Thailand and Malaya. Destroyed units that have been bought back are replacing them in their garrison duties, so these units can add their combat power to the front.

Once the front between Prome and Toungoo has been stabalized, I'm debating a big counterattack to destroy that salient of troops near Pegu, but we'll need to see what the situation is at that point.



< Message edited by mind_messing -- 9/18/2015 2:16:00 PM >

(in reply to mind_messing)
Post #: 546
RE: Thirty Seconds Over Sapporo. - 9/22/2015 7:05:40 PM   
Mike Solli


Posts: 15792
Joined: 10/18/2000
From: the flight deck of the Zuikaku
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: Lowpe

Is there any use for the machine cannon units?




Hi guys. I've been reading this AAR. Pretty interesting so far. I'm only to May 42, so I have a lot to read to catch up. In my opinion, anything that can shoot at a plane is valuable. In my AAR, at Adak I have nothing bigger than 2x 25mm and 12x 20mm AA guns (2x MC companies) and I shot down a B-24 last turn. They don't shoot down much, but they do hit occasionally. Use everything in your arsenal.

_____________________________


Created by the amazing Dixie

(in reply to Lowpe)
Post #: 547
RE: Thirty Seconds Over Sapporo. - 9/24/2015 2:18:27 PM   
mind_messing

 

Posts: 3393
Joined: 10/28/2013
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: Mike Solli


quote:

ORIGINAL: Lowpe

Is there any use for the machine cannon units?




Hi guys. I've been reading this AAR. Pretty interesting so far. I'm only to May 42, so I have a lot to read to catch up. In my opinion, anything that can shoot at a plane is valuable. In my AAR, at Adak I have nothing bigger than 2x 25mm and 12x 20mm AA guns (2x MC companies) and I shot down a B-24 last turn. They don't shoot down much, but they do hit occasionally. Use everything in your arsenal.


The IJN airfield battalions get a TOE upgrade in early '43 that gives them some more 25mm guns, and the IJA get some 20mm guns in mid '44. This is a nice upgrade, but it doesn't seem to do much for night bombing raids.

Daylight raids seem to take a fair bit of damage from flak, but it's much reduced for night raids. At this stage I'm a battered veteran in regards to nightbombing - two NF squadrons arrived last turn, and I get the Zero NF in a couple of weeks, so I want to see if I can resize the NF squadrons as I would the carrier squadrons.

(in reply to Mike Solli)
Post #: 548
RE: Thirty Seconds Over Sapporo. - 9/24/2015 2:55:08 PM   
Lowpe


Posts: 22133
Joined: 2/25/2013
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: mind_messing
Daylight raids seem to take a fair bit of damage from flak, but it's much reduced for night raids. At this stage I'm a battered veteran in regards to nightbombing - two NF squadrons arrived last turn, and I get the Zero NF in a couple of weeks, so I want to see if I can resize the NF squadrons as I would the carrier squadrons.


I think I saw someone else with resized nf groups...



(in reply to mind_messing)
Post #: 549
RE: Thirty Seconds Over Sapporo. - 9/25/2015 1:13:59 PM   
mind_messing

 

Posts: 3393
Joined: 10/28/2013
Status: offline 		March 16th to March 19th

It's been an interesting few days.

North Pacific

Nada up here.

Central Pacific

I surge some bombers and fighters back in to the Marshalls to jump the "milk run" convoys and air strikes that Loka had set up. We jump a bunch of 4E's over Mili and sink a few xAPs and xAK's that are kicking about. I'm almost tempted to surge some IJN assets in to this region, but it's a sideshow and I'd be liable to lose them.

Kusaie still holds strong, throwing off a big Allied deliberate attack handily:

quote:

Ground combat at Kusaie Island (125,118)

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 14094 troops, 223 guns, 734 vehicles, Assault Value = 555

Defending force 18363 troops, 320 guns, 94 vehicles, Assault Value = 366

Allied adjusted assault: 569

Japanese adjusted defense: 893

Allied assault odds: 1 to 2 (fort level 4)

Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), forts(+), experience(-)
Attacker:

Japanese ground losses:
498 casualties reported
Squads: 4 destroyed, 40 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Guns lost 23 (1 destroyed, 22 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
1143 casualties reported
Squads: 5 destroyed, 151 disabled
Non Combat: 2 destroyed, 41 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 14 disabled
Guns lost 35 (2 destroyed, 33 disabled)
Vehicles lost 29 (1 destroyed, 28 disabled)

Assaulting units:
6th Infantry Division
2nd USMC Tank Battalion
754th Tank Battalion
763rd Tank Battalion
2/7th Armoured Regiment
XIV US Corps
1881th Engineer Aviation Battalion

Defending units:
Kure 3rd SNLF
Combined 8th SNLF
1st Amphibious Brigade
44th Naval Guard Unit
62nd Naval Guard Unit
66th JNAF AF Unit
66th Field AA Battalion
65th Field AA Battalion
8th JAAF Base Force
55th Field AA Battalion
16th JNAF AF Unit
30th JAAF AF Bn
144th JAAF AF Bn


I'm overjoyed that Kusaie is going to be another long slog of a campaign. I'm flying more troops in and doing what I can to ship in supply - we'll do our utmost to keep a US Army division and a bucket-load of tanks fighting here.

We put a torpedo into the Repulse as it heads to bombard Kusaie, and I've more subs on route to make this part of the ocean a dangerous place for Allied warships, but ASW is so strong now that most attacks send my subs to the bottom or to the repair yards.

SWPAC

The Allies land and storm Madang, cutting two IJA divisions and some support troops off from Hansa Bay. The outlook for them doesn't look rosey, but such is 1944 for Japan. I'd prefer them to be destroyed so I can buy them back, but if they can escape through Medang and get to Hansa Bay they'll add to the AV at least and make things a whisker more difficult.

Elsewhere, it's just a case of trying to stem the Allied tied. I'm moving some fast E-class ships in to Sarmi to see if they can't cut up an LST convoy or two.

DEI

As is the norm as of recent, the main theater.

The two Tone-class crusiers jump two Allied convoys off the North-West of Austrailia: one cargo and one troop convoy. Results are good, with likely about a dozen merchantmen sunk and several more damaged. Troops reported lost as well, so it's a good day here. The Japanese ships are out of ammo and torpedoes, so it's back to Java for rearmament.

The KB is at Surabaya, has refueled and replenished and headed now to secure the sealanes around Cocos. Allied carriers are still hanging out west of the island, so hopefully I can bring the full might of the KB to bear on them.

At Latuem, the push back against the Allies continues. Our first counter-attack on the 16th gets 1:1 odds, which is a good sign!:

quote:

Ground combat at Lautem (72,115)

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 25767 troops, 256 guns, 153 vehicles, Assault Value = 900

Defending force 13138 troops, 264 guns, 869 vehicles, Assault Value = 385

Japanese adjusted assault: 914

Allied adjusted defense: 583

Japanese assault odds: 1 to 1

Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), experience(-)
Attacker:

Japanese ground losses:
1207 casualties reported
Squads: 7 destroyed, 113 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 23 disabled
Engineers: 2 destroyed, 19 disabled
Guns lost 31 (14 destroyed, 17 disabled)
Vehicles lost 6 (1 destroyed, 5 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
6 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 8 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Vehicles lost 32 (1 destroyed, 31 disabled)

Assaulting units:
5th Division
56th Division
14th RF Gun (Pack) Battalion
25th Army
21th JNAF AF Unit
44th Field AA Battalion
71st Field AA Battalion
21st JAAF Base Force
22nd JAAF Base Force
59th JNAF AF Unit

Defending units:
194th Tank Battalion
2/5th Armoured Regiment
3rd Motor Brigade
762nd Tank Battalion
15th NZ Brigade
2nd Medium Regiment
76th Coast AA Regiment
Sixth US Army
2/16th Field Regiment
249th Field Artillery Battalion
85th British AT Gun Regiment


There are now 9 dedicated artillery units on Timor, ranging from 75mm pop-guns to 32cm monstrosities. Combined with the IJN bombardments I can't see the Allied foothold here holding out till April. I'm taking no chances, another 900 AV will be en-route to Dili to join in the fight within a week. This means pulling one divison from Java

What's even better is that the Allies have still been unable to wrest control of the skies over Timor from me. Things here are going well.

Burma

Well, I'm no Walter Model. Rather than a resoudning series of victories over weak and isolated Allied units in Burma, things have turned into a bit of a slogging match. While it may lack finesse, we're still inflicting losses on the Allies.

At hex 54,49 (Directly north-west of Prome, on the Prome-Akyab trail), we throw a strong Chinese corps out with heavy losses:

quote:

Ground combat at 54,49 (near Ramree Island)

Japanese Shock attack

Attacking force 37032 troops, 355 guns, 87 vehicles, Assault Value = 1143

Defending force 14189 troops, 56 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 342

Japanese adjusted assault: 1098

Allied adjusted defense: 358

Japanese assault odds: 3 to 1

Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), leaders(+), disruption(-), experience(-)
Attacker: shock(+), disruption(-)

Japanese ground losses:
1339 casualties reported
Squads: 4 destroyed, 50 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 15 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 18 disabled

Allied ground losses:
5220 casualties reported
Squads: 165 destroyed, 20 disabled
Non Combat: 134 destroyed, 13 disabled
Engineers: 5 destroyed, 1 disabled
Guns lost 8 (3 destroyed, 5 disabled)
Units retreated 1

Defeated Allied Units Retreating!

Assaulting units:
110th Division
32nd Division
1st Division

Defending units:
53rd Chinese Corps


We do get a bit of a lucky break on the trail from Taung Gyi to Thailand, when a wayward Chinese corps blunders across a river into the arms of two waiting Japanese divisions. Needless to say, shock attacks across rivers into x3 terrain are hard.

quote:

Ground combat at 61,50 (near Taung Gyi)

Allied Shock attack

Attacking force 17030 troops, 40 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 625

Defending force 26370 troops, 246 guns, 222 vehicles, Assault Value = 989

Allied adjusted assault: 0

Japanese adjusted defense: 5146

Allied assault odds: 1 to 99

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

Allied ground losses:
10315 casualties reported
Squads: 408 destroyed, 162 disabled
Non Combat: 2 destroyed, 92 disabled
Engineers: 6 destroyed, 28 disabled
Guns lost 13 (2 destroyed, 11 disabled)

Assaulting units:
78th Chinese Corps

Defending units:
37th Division
9th Tank Regiment
21st Division
40th Field AA Battalion


The following day, the Japanese troops counterattack and push the survivors back across the river. I'm debating the worth of another counter-offensive here towards Taung Gyi. I can throw three full IJA divisions at three Chinese units with 20k men and 50 guns, but I wonder if it will be worth the losses for the river crossing shock attack...

We'll see.

The drive for Lashio is still bogged down 46 miles east of that base, faced with a strong force of Chinese troops - including Mao Zedong! We'll dislodge them within a few turns, but it's a few turns that the Allies can use to bring more troops to bear against this drive, so I fear we may be running back to Paoshan before we see April. Still, it's worth it if I can get Loka reacting to me here.

quote:

round combat at 63,46 (near Lashio)

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 48289 troops, 546 guns, 262 vehicles, Assault Value = 1409

Defending force 21242 troops, 52 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 495

Japanese adjusted assault: 725

Allied adjusted defense: 862

Japanese assault odds: 1 to 2

Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), experience(-)
Attacker:

Japanese ground losses:
1495 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 106 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 13 disabled
Engineers: 1 destroyed, 11 disabled
Guns lost 8 (1 destroyed, 7 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
1174 casualties reported
Squads: 5 destroyed, 221 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 22 disabled
Engineers: 1 destroyed, 12 disabled

Assaulting units:
51st Division
116th Division
14th Division
48th Division
4th Tank Regiment
13th Mortar Battalion
RGC Army
6th RF Gun Battalion

Defending units:
32nd Chinese Corps
56th Chinese Corps
1st Group Army
Red Chinese Army
2nd Group Army


By the 21st, we'll have struck the Allies at another point in Burma, this time at hex 56,49 (directly NW of Toungoo). Here, we have a tank division, six tank regiments and a crack infantry division in place to fall upon a Chinese corp and an Indian brigade. I hope to throw these two units into the open, then turn all these troops around and rail them to Pegu, where they'll hopefully be able to strike at the Allied salient east of Toungoo.

Burma has turned quite interesting. I doubt I'll throw the Allies out, but we're winning victories here, and that I suppose is the main thing.

(in reply to Lowpe)
Post #: 550
RE: Wrangling Loki - Mind_Messing (J) vs Lokasenna (A) - 9/30/2015 4:23:09 PM   
mind_messing

 

Posts: 3393
Joined: 10/28/2013
Status: offline 		Turns have stopped due to tech issues on both ends, but hopefully they'll be resolved in the next few days.

For the benefit of readers (and to rescue me from page 2 ignominy), I'd like to share my experiences as the Japanese player after nearly 3 months fighting in 1944.

- Kamikaze pools. Build them early and make them deep. Don't be afraid to over-build IJA 2E bombers, the excess planes will make much better kamikaze aircraft than the single-engine ones (although they are twice as expensive).

- Supply. Allied airbase attacks eat up large chunks of it, so make sure that you keep your major hub bases either well protected by CAP or out of Allied bomber range.

- Force disparity. By this point, just about every Allied squad device has better stats than the IJA or SNLF squads, and the difference becomes greater as the war progresses. To that end, it's essential to make use of terrain and forts as the big force equalizer for the Japanese. Forget about defending in clear terrain - point blank. The x2 hexes are worthwhile if you can get forts up to level 4 or 5. You should look try to channel the fighting into x3 hexes as possible.

- ASW is important. At this point in this game, Allied subs are killing between one and two ships per turn. Interestingly, my losses are highest among ships transiting the open ocean. I've managed to keep my main shipping convoys fairly safe by using coastal routing from Singapore to Japan. Most of the losses are on direct routes between these two bases. I can't really say how effective my ASW program has been, but over the next few months I hope to reform my use of it from passive ASW to offensive ASW. More details to follow.

- Air doctrine. My thinking on how to fight the air war as Japan at this point in the war has changed. My view now is that it pays to have an "air force in being", rather than tying particular squadrons to airbases. I've been keeping as few fighters on the frontline as possible (enough to defend against sweeps and medium-sized bomber raids) while massing as many squadrons as I can behind the lines, ready to respond to any major Allied moves. Hopefully this will resolve my past issues I had, where air units were too worn down in day-to-day combat to respond to major Allied moves.

- Psychology. At this point, I think the most important thing is for the Japanese side to maintain morale. I've never seen a game AAR'd here where the Allied player took Tokyo; the Japanese side's morale always broke first. To that end, it's all about focusing on the small victories. The fact that the Allies are bogged down on Kusaie Island won't matter in the long run. My counterstrikes in Burma won't really change the dynamic of that theater. Even if I push the Allies off Timor, it is at best a minor setback for the Allies. In game terms, unimportant. In terms of keeping me motivated to play the game, it's critical.

(in reply to mind_messing)
Post #: 551
RE: Wrangling Loki - Mind_Messing (J) vs Lokasenna (A) - 10/1/2015 3:09:11 AM   
Rio Bravo


Posts: 1794
Joined: 7/13/2013
From: Grass Valley, California
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: mind_messing

Turns have stopped due to tech issues on both ends, but hopefully they'll be resolved in the next few days.

For the benefit of readers (and to rescue me from page 2 ignominy), I'd like to share my experiences as the Japanese player after nearly 3 months fighting in 1944.

- Kamikaze pools. Build them early and make them deep. Don't be afraid to over-build IJA 2E bombers, the excess planes will make much better kamikaze aircraft than the single-engine ones (although they are twice as expensive).

- Supply. Allied airbase attacks eat up large chunks of it, so make sure that you keep your major hub bases either well protected by CAP or out of Allied bomber range.

- Force disparity. By this point, just about every Allied squad device has better stats than the IJA or SNLF squads, and the difference becomes greater as the war progresses. To that end, it's essential to make use of terrain and forts as the big force equalizer for the Japanese. Forget about defending in clear terrain - point blank. The x2 hexes are worthwhile if you can get forts up to level 4 or 5. You should look try to channel the fighting into x3 hexes as possible.

- ASW is important. At this point in this game, Allied subs are killing between one and two ships per turn. Interestingly, my losses are highest among ships transiting the open ocean. I've managed to keep my main shipping convoys fairly safe by using coastal routing from Singapore to Japan. Most of the losses are on direct routes between these two bases. I can't really say how effective my ASW program has been, but over the next few months I hope to reform my use of it from passive ASW to offensive ASW. More details to follow.

- Air doctrine. My thinking on how to fight the air war as Japan at this point in the war has changed. My view now is that it pays to have an "air force in being", rather than tying particular squadrons to airbases. I've been keeping as few fighters on the frontline as possible (enough to defend against sweeps and medium-sized bomber raids) while massing as many squadrons as I can behind the lines, ready to respond to any major Allied moves. Hopefully this will resolve my past issues I had, where air units were too worn down in day-to-day combat to respond to major Allied moves.

- Psychology. At this point, I think the most important thing is for the Japanese side to maintain morale. I've never seen a game AAR'd here where the Allied player took Tokyo; the Japanese side's morale always broke first. To that end, it's all about focusing on the small victories. The fact that the Allies are bogged down on Kusaie Island won't matter in the long run. My counterstrikes in Burma won't really change the dynamic of that theater. Even if I push the Allies off Timor, it is at best a minor setback for the Allies. In game terms, unimportant. In terms of keeping me motivated to play the game, it's critical.



Good attitude mind-messing-

Fighting the Allies in '44 must feel like a cow being led to the slaughter-house.

But as you noted, just hang in there and take those small victories as they come, like hanging around to be stubborn at one place or another for a few days longer that one would think possible!

*sending you 100,000 Kamakazi aircraft from Mars*

Best Regards,

-Terry

_____________________________

"No one throws me my own guns and tells me to run. No one."

-Bret (James Coburn); The Magnificent Seven

(in reply to mind_messing)
Post #: 552
RE: Wrangling Loki - Mind_Messing (J) vs Lokasenna (A) - 10/1/2015 1:08:34 PM   
mind_messing

 

Posts: 3393
Joined: 10/28/2013
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: Rio Bravo


quote:

ORIGINAL: mind_messing

Turns have stopped due to tech issues on both ends, but hopefully they'll be resolved in the next few days.

For the benefit of readers (and to rescue me from page 2 ignominy), I'd like to share my experiences as the Japanese player after nearly 3 months fighting in 1944.

- Kamikaze pools. Build them early and make them deep. Don't be afraid to over-build IJA 2E bombers, the excess planes will make much better kamikaze aircraft than the single-engine ones (although they are twice as expensive).

- Supply. Allied airbase attacks eat up large chunks of it, so make sure that you keep your major hub bases either well protected by CAP or out of Allied bomber range.

- Force disparity. By this point, just about every Allied squad device has better stats than the IJA or SNLF squads, and the difference becomes greater as the war progresses. To that end, it's essential to make use of terrain and forts as the big force equalizer for the Japanese. Forget about defending in clear terrain - point blank. The x2 hexes are worthwhile if you can get forts up to level 4 or 5. You should look try to channel the fighting into x3 hexes as possible.

- ASW is important. At this point in this game, Allied subs are killing between one and two ships per turn. Interestingly, my losses are highest among ships transiting the open ocean. I've managed to keep my main shipping convoys fairly safe by using coastal routing from Singapore to Japan. Most of the losses are on direct routes between these two bases. I can't really say how effective my ASW program has been, but over the next few months I hope to reform my use of it from passive ASW to offensive ASW. More details to follow.

- Air doctrine. My thinking on how to fight the air war as Japan at this point in the war has changed. My view now is that it pays to have an "air force in being", rather than tying particular squadrons to airbases. I've been keeping as few fighters on the frontline as possible (enough to defend against sweeps and medium-sized bomber raids) while massing as many squadrons as I can behind the lines, ready to respond to any major Allied moves. Hopefully this will resolve my past issues I had, where air units were too worn down in day-to-day combat to respond to major Allied moves.

- Psychology. At this point, I think the most important thing is for the Japanese side to maintain morale. I've never seen a game AAR'd here where the Allied player took Tokyo; the Japanese side's morale always broke first. To that end, it's all about focusing on the small victories. The fact that the Allies are bogged down on Kusaie Island won't matter in the long run. My counterstrikes in Burma won't really change the dynamic of that theater. Even if I push the Allies off Timor, it is at best a minor setback for the Allies. In game terms, unimportant. In terms of keeping me motivated to play the game, it's critical.



Good attitude mind-messing-

Fighting the Allies in '44 must feel like a cow being led to the slaughter-house.

But as you noted, just hang in there and take those small victories as they come, like hanging around to be stubborn at one place or another for a few days longer that one would think possible!

*sending you 100,000 Kamakazi aircraft from Mars*

Best Regards,

-Terry


Tanks! I'd describe it as feeling somewhat like Sisyphus might have felt - so many of the things you try come to naught.

I think the real key to being "good" at Japan is just simple psychological immunity to losses. I'm at the stage now where I'll happily trade 200-300 aircraft for to get a couple of hits on Allied carriers.

Your not going to win every fight, you're not going to even win half. The important thing is to make sure the fights that you do win cost the Allies enough to make up for the ones you've lost!

(in reply to Rio Bravo)
Post #: 553
RE: Wrangling Loki - Mind_Messing (J) vs Lokasenna (A) - 10/1/2015 3:23:48 PM   
pontiouspilot


Posts: 1127
Joined: 7/27/2012
Status: offline 		My god man if you are feeling the effects of Sisyphus see a bloody doctor!! They must have doctors in Scotland but the mind boggles at what the treatment might be.

(in reply to mind_messing)
Post #: 554
RE: Wrangling Loki - Mind_Messing (J) vs Lokasenna (A) - 10/2/2015 12:26:47 AM   
mind_messing

 

Posts: 3393
Joined: 10/28/2013
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: pontiouspilot

My god man if you are feeling the effects of Sisyphus see a bloody doctor!! They must have doctors in Scotland but the mind boggles at what the treatment might be.


Huh? I don't follow.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sisyphus_effect



(in reply to pontiouspilot)
Post #: 555
RE: Wrangling Loki - Mind_Messing (J) vs Lokasenna (A) - 10/2/2015 1:24:38 AM   
mind_messing

 

Posts: 3393
Joined: 10/28/2013
Status: offline 		I've been thinking on Manchuria. By the time the Soviets roll through, you don't have a chance of holding it. Too many tanks and too much artillery. Still, that's no excuse for not making Manchuria as unpalatable as follows for the Allies.

Below is my thinking on Festung Manchuria.



The red perimiter represents the frontline I hope to man with IJA units. It's all at least x2 terrain, and with decent interior lines of communication. The salient south-west of Changchun is the weakness, so the best units will go here to make sure the Soviets don't eat the heart out of my defense.

The purple perimeter will be stuffed full of the Manchurian units, sub-par IJA units and whatever I can get from China. In other words, a large speed-bump, but hopefully one that can tie down some Russian units for a week or so.


The line in Korea, that's the last ditch line. When the Russians break through, that's the point everyone's going to be running for. It's a nice short line in x3 terrain, with good communication between hexes. It's as good a place as any to fight the Russians.

Everywhere else in Manchuria will be abandoned, bar some scattered units here and there to force the Russians out of move mode and to spend a turn attacking rather than marching.

I'm debating my strategy for China once '45 rolls around. As things stand, I'll likely end up building festungs in the Chinese respawn cities to keep the Chinese from resurrection and running everything else to Hong Kong, Shanghai or the cities in the north-east to deny the Allies the port and repair bases. That's for another post, however.

(in reply to mind_messing)
Post #: 556
RE: Wrangling Loki - Mind_Messing (J) vs Lokasenna (A) - 10/7/2015 2:53:57 PM   
mind_messing

 

Posts: 3393
Joined: 10/28/2013
Status: offline 		March 20th to March 28th, 1944

We're nearly through March!

Home Islands

Odd that I'll have to start considering this theater again after nearly two years of neglect!

The first two of the Home Island defense divisions arrive. These units have pretty good TOE's, but need some training before being combat ready. Despite the temptation to ship them out to the Marianas or the Philippines, they'll stay in Japan and train up until fresh units arrive. At this point, I need to consider the possibility that Loka will try a landing on Honshu directly to avoid grinding through my defenses elsewhere.

North Pacific

Nothing really new up here, bar the arrival of two divisions on Hokkaido. One is unrestricted with a crap TOE, the other restricted with a decent TOE. Both need to be trained up to the 55 EXP maximum. I'll keep both of them on Hokkaido for training, which will free up an IJA amphibious brigade for deployment to the Central Pacific and any future reinforcements here can be sent to the Kuriles or elsewhere.

Central Pacific

We still hold out on Kusaie Island, though the last Allied attack dropped the forts to level 3. The forces on the ground are roughly equal in terms of AV, but the Japanese troops are hampered by the large numbers of Allied tanks and the fact that most of their combat power comes from smaller SNLF units: they're just too brittle in combat

I've been fortunate so far with my supply smuggling operations - single 14kt PB's have been able to drop off a couple thousand tonnes, and I'm setting up a regular shuttle service between Kawajalein and Kusaie.

If the Allies leave me in peace to do this, I may even see about reinforcing Kusaie by sea. Currently, I've a fair number of air transports in range, and if I can get a decent supply stockpile on Kusaie I may start flying some of the Marshalls garrison to suppliment the defense of Kusaie. If they're going to die, they may as well do it on Kusaie!

South-West Pacific

No real change in the frontlines here. The Allies have every Japanese airbase south of Hollandia pretty much suppressed. Two IJA divisions and a bunch of support troops are cut off in the jungle north of Lae, and supplies all along the coast are getting low.

Not much I can do here - with Manus in Allied control, the closest base I can keep even remotely operation is Sarmi.

On the grander scale, I'm refocusing my defense around the North-west tip of New Guinea. With Truk still running I'll be able to keep a close eye on Allied operations from this point onward. North-west New Guinea is the priority for reinforcements at present, closely followed by Babeldoab.

In about a month, I'll need to start looking at filling in the gap between New Guinea and Minadno.

DEI

We get a couple of bombardment runs into Cocos Island, which provokes the Allies to send a carrier task force to try to cover the island. The carrier Intrepid gets a torpedo (two hit, one dud) and a fuel storage explosion for it's troubles. The KB, based at Singapore, will sortie in case we can hunt it down.

The Mini-KB is off shadowing several big amphibious task forces that were shuttling troops and artillery to Timor.

The Timor Sea will make great diving once the war is over. The Allies lose a CA and a CL off Saumlaki in what I assume was a botched bombardment mission. Most of the IJN is sitting in the shipyard at Surabaya, but we've still enough active ships to keep two heavy cruiser forces and a pair of slow battleship defending off Timor.

On the ground, at Latuem, we've got the Allies outnumbered, but it's proving difficult to actually beat them:

quote:

Ground combat at Lautem (72,115)

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 36349 troops, 549 guns, 330 vehicles, Assault Value = 1006

Defending force 13584 troops, 270 guns, 858 vehicles, Assault Value = 421

Japanese adjusted assault: 789

Allied adjusted defense: 729

Japanese assault odds: 1 to 1

Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), experience(-)
Attacker:

Japanese ground losses:
2214 casualties reported
Squads: 5 destroyed, 257 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 19 disabled
Engineers: 2 destroyed, 31 disabled
Guns lost 32 (1 destroyed, 31 disabled)
Vehicles lost 18 (2 destroyed, 16 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
271 casualties reported
Squads: 2 destroyed, 20 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 2 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 3 disabled
Guns lost 14 (2 destroyed, 12 disabled)
Vehicles lost 14 (4 destroyed, 10 disabled)

Assaulting units:
5th Division
56th Division
30th Division
22nd JAAF Base Force
25th Army
21st JAAF Base Force
17th Medium Field Artillery Regiment
71st Field AA Battalion
21th JNAF AF Unit
14th RF Gun (Pack) Battalion
3rd Medium Mortar Battalion
11th Ind. Field Artillery Battalion
2nd Mortar Battalion
15th Ind.Art.Mortar Battalion
44th Field AA Battalion
9th Ind. Field Artillery Battalion
6th Ind. Field Artillery Battalion
10th Ind. Field Artillery Battalion
3rd Medium Field Artillery Regiment
15th Medium Field Artillery Regiment
59th JNAF AF Unit

Defending units:
3rd Motor Brigade
762nd Tank Battalion
2/5th Armoured Regiment
194th Tank Battalion
15th NZ Brigade
17th Australian Bde /2
2/16th Field Regiment
2nd Medium Regiment
Sixth US Army
249th Field Artillery Battalion
76th Coast AA Regiment
85th British AT Gun Regiment

We've another division en route, plus another 300 or so AV sitting in reserve. Southern Army HQ is also en route to help with replacements. If that doesn't do the trick, nothing will. The Allied troops deployed here are some of the best of the Commonwealth, and destroying them outright would be a nice little boost.

Burma

We at last get the results that we're looking for, sending two separate Chinese corps back in retreat with heavy casualties; one north-east of Pegu, the other north-east of Tavoy.

The Paoshan offensive is officially a bust, with the IJA units running back to the safety of the level 6 forts at Paoshan itself. On the bright side, we've distracted 9 Chinese units to eastern Burma to deal with this threat.

I've now got a fairly strong mobile force of about 2000 AV that will move to stabilize the frontline east of Toungoo. Based on the results of the Paoshan drive, I no longer think we can throw the Allies out of x3 terrain, but at the very least we can switch hexside control to our advantage.

Lots of Allied ships reported moving out of Madras and heading south-west. IJN subs are in pursuit and naval search planes will try to shadow. I'm not sure if it's a drive for Sumatra or reinforcements for Cocos. Either way, time will tell!

R&D

Come April, I'll get some nice goodies. The Peggy (T), Zero NF and the Nick NF all come online. Combined, these three planes will massively boost my anti-shipping capability, as well as be a nice expansion to my night fighter strength. Banzai!

(in reply to mind_messing)
Post #: 557
RE: Wrangling Loki - Mind_Messing (J) vs Lokasenna (A) - 10/7/2015 8:19:47 PM   
mind_messing

 

Posts: 3393
Joined: 10/28/2013
Status: offline 		Latest News from Burma!

Massive Allied attack repulsed with ease!

quote:


Ground combat at 55,48 (near Ramree Island)

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 219515 troops, 1368 guns, 1280 vehicles, Assault Value = 6103

Defending force 97302 troops, 1290 guns, 1246 vehicles, Assault Value = 3167

Allied adjusted assault: 2160

Japanese adjusted defense: 17356

Allied assault odds: 1 to 8

Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), leaders(+)
Attacker:

Japanese ground losses:
3951 casualties reported
Squads: 10 destroyed, 326 disabled
Non Combat: 3 destroyed, 93 disabled
Engineers: 1 destroyed, 42 disabled
Guns lost 41 (2 destroyed, 39 disabled)
Vehicles lost 36 (4 destroyed, 32 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
20780 casualties reported
Squads: 561 destroyed, 1874 disabled
Non Combat: 12 destroyed, 331 disabled
Engineers: 33 destroyed, 147 disabled
Guns lost 167 (25 destroyed, 142 disabled)
Vehicles lost 120 (5 destroyed, 115 disabled)

Assaulting units:
8th Chinese Corps
3rd New Chinese Corps
23rd Indian Division
14th Army Engineer Battalion
21st Chinese Corps
2/3rd MG Battalion
18th Chinese Corps
50th Tank Brigade
65th Chinese Corps
54th Chinese Corps
Gardner's Horse Regiment
68th Chinese Corps
72nd Chinese Corps
5th Chinese Cavalry Corps
75th Chinese Corps
16th Light Cavalry Regiment
254th Armoured Brigade
20th Indian Division
24th Chinese Corps
66th Chinese Corps Corps
Guides Cavalry Regiment
5th Chinese Corps
27th Group Army
11th Group Army
32nd Group Army
26th Indian Mountain Gun Regiment
5th IAF Advanced Base Force
31st Indian Mountain Gun Regiment
29th Indian Mountain Gun Regiment
30th Indian Mountain Gun Regiment
3rd Group Army
7th Aus Div Cav Regiment
4th War Area
117th RAF Base Force
2nd Indian Field Regiment
104th RAF Base Force
8th RAF Advanced Base Force
6th Medium Regiment
12th Group Army
24th Indian Mountain Gun Regiment
26th Group Army
221 Group RAF
33rd Indian Mountain Gun Regiment
6th War Area
34th Group Army

Defending units:
34th Division
11th Division
3rd Division
10th Division
1st Tank Division
16th Division
55th Division
4th Medium Field Artillery Regiment
3rd Hvy.Artillery Regiment
Botanko Hvy Gun Regiment
9th Medium Field Artillery Regiment
12th Medium Field Artillery Regiment
Tonei Hvy Gun Regiment
5th Medium Field Artillery Regiment
2nd Hvy.Artillery Regiment
15th Ind.Medium Field Artillery Regiment
2nd Medium Field Artillery Regiment
6th Medium Field Artillery Regiment
22nd Medium Field Artillery Regiment
20th Medium Field Artillery Regiment
11th Army
10th Medium Field Artillery Regiment
1st Ind.Hvy.Art. Battalion
14th Medium Field Artillery Regiment
21st Fld AA Gun Co
16th AA Regiment


20k Allies dead, over 500 squads destroyed!

The best part is that nearly all the Japanese casualties are disabled squads. Take this as a lesson on the importance of x3 terrain when it comes to defense.

(in reply to mind_messing)
Post #: 558
RE: Wrangling Loki - Mind_Messing (J) vs Lokasenna (A) - 10/7/2015 9:58:07 PM   
Walker84


Posts: 850
Joined: 7/5/2009
Status: offline 		That's an incredible result! - did you have any forts built to add to the defence?

My recent games have stacking limits so unlikely to see such huge numbers involved in a single hex...

_____________________________

The most advanced nations are always those who navigate the most -
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803 -1882)

(in reply to mind_messing)
Post #: 559
RE: Wrangling Loki - Mind_Messing (J) vs Lokasenna (A) - 10/7/2015 10:10:25 PM   
tiemanjw

 

Posts: 580
Joined: 12/6/2008
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: Walker84

That's an incredible result! - did you have any forts built to add to the defence?

My recent games have stacking limits so unlikely to see such huge numbers involved in a single hex...



My guess would be largely Chinese units (and the 2 Indian Divisions are none too sharp either). A lot of allied players see large AVs and assume that if only they could supply those Chinese hordes they will steam roll everything, but in fact they are quite fragile. Even with good experience they aren't that sharp. They just don't have the firepower. (Look at the CR and notice that although Loki has more than 2x the troops, he has nearly the same number of vehicles and guns).

(in reply to Walker84)
Post #: 560
RE: Wrangling Loki - Mind_Messing (J) vs Lokasenna (A) - 10/7/2015 10:16:03 PM   
mind_messing

 

Posts: 3393
Joined: 10/28/2013
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: Walker84

That's an incredible result! - did you have any forts built to add to the defence?

My recent games have stacking limits so unlikely to see such huge numbers involved in a single hex...


Nearly all the units have level 2 field fortifications, some more. All in all, that hex is a real deathtrap for any attacking units. It likely doesn't help Loka that a significant proportion of the 220k Allied troops are Chinese...

quote:

ORIGINAL: tiemanj


quote:

ORIGINAL: Walker84

That's an incredible result! - did you have any forts built to add to the defence?

My recent games have stacking limits so unlikely to see such huge numbers involved in a single hex...



My guess would be largely Chinese units (and the 2 Indian Divisions are none too sharp either). A lot of allied players see large AVs and assume that if only they could supply those Chinese hordes they will steam roll everything, but in fact they are quite fragile. Even with good experience they aren't that sharp. They just don't have the firepower. (Look at the CR and notice that although Loki has more than 2x the troops, he has nearly the same number of vehicles and guns).


Pretty much.

Although, Loka's moves here are pretty smart. The Allied AV is sufficently large that I've got my best divisions (and one of the tank divisions) deployed to the coastal road just to as to be sure that the Allies can't overwhelm me.

The real worry for me is that the rest of his British, Australian and Indian units are free to strike elsewhere...

< Message edited by mind_messing -- 10/7/2015 11:30:11 PM >

(in reply to Walker84)
Post #: 561
RE: Wrangling Loki - Mind_Messing (J) vs Lokasenna (A) - 10/7/2015 11:15:56 PM   
tiemanjw

 

Posts: 580
Joined: 12/6/2008
Status: offline
quote:

Pretty much. Although, Loka's moves here are pretty smart. The Allied AV is sufficently large that I've got my best divisions (and one of the tank divisions) deployed to the coastal road just to as to be sure that the Allies can't overwhelm me. The real worry for me is that the rest of his British, Australian and Indian units are free to strike elsewhere...



Very true... I don't see the 5th, 11th, or 17th Indian (or the Aussies, as most players use these guys in the CBI). He could possibly outflank you by moving them down the river to Prome. I think the key to Burma is not the coast road (and Ramree), but Prome and the grey road junction at Magwe / Meiktila.

If he is using these Chinese as a fixing force, you could be in trouble if these powerful divisions come down the grey road(s). What do you have defending them? What size forts do you have at Moulmein?

Could you provide a screen shot of the theater?

(in reply to mind_messing)
Post #: 562
RE: Wrangling Loki - Mind_Messing (J) vs Lokasenna (A) - 10/8/2015 1:27:03 AM   
mind_messing

 

Posts: 3393
Joined: 10/28/2013
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: tiemanj

quote:

Pretty much. Although, Loka's moves here are pretty smart. The Allied AV is sufficently large that I've got my best divisions (and one of the tank divisions) deployed to the coastal road just to as to be sure that the Allies can't overwhelm me. The real worry for me is that the rest of his British, Australian and Indian units are free to strike elsewhere...



Very true... I don't see the 5th, 11th, or 17th Indian (or the Aussies, as most players use these guys in the CBI). He could possibly outflank you by moving them down the river to Prome. I think the key to Burma is not the coast road (and Ramree), but Prome and the grey road junction at Magwe / Meiktila.

If he is using these Chinese as a fixing force, you could be in trouble if these powerful divisions come down the grey road(s). What do you have defending them? What size forts do you have at Moulmein?

Could you provide a screen shot of the theater?


The absence of the really good Allied units on this side of the map worries me somewhat. There are some Austrailians at Ramree, but there's still alot uncounted for.

Ramree's importance lies in the fact that it's perfect as a forward supply dump. Capturing it and dumping thousands of tonnes of supplies on the beaches there can supply a good few Allied units in combat. Thankfully, I own the only hex out of it, so the supply can't flow out of Ramree (unless I read the supply rules wrong).

Prome is the fulcrum of my defense. Level 4 forts, though there's currently only a single division (backed by bucketloads of arty) on R&R here. A second division is due in four days. Toungoo has 1000 AV behind level 3 forts (halfway to level 4), and there's a force of two divisions and some arty (1000 AV total) between the two hexes. The grey roads are all blocked off fairly well.

Moulmein has a 1/3rd fragment of a division as garrison, and is at level 4 forts (halfway to 5).

Screenshot below is pretty simple. Units marked in red are my static lines of defense. The green is my current move to redress the frontline and close off the hex-sides east of Toungoo. Once this is done, we'll withdraw about 800 AV in armored units to act as the theater fire brigade.


(in reply to tiemanjw)
Post #: 563
RE: Wrangling Loki - Mind_Messing (J) vs Lokasenna (A) - 10/8/2015 11:38:41 AM   
Bullwinkle58


Posts: 11302
Joined: 2/24/2009
Status: offline 		Well, it's 1944. You're thinking land, he's probably thinking sea.

In our game we have a similar sitzkrieg east of Ramree, but I do have supply flow from there. I've beat him up pretty good, but an inferior stack is holding me back due to the terrain factors you see. I've also re-taken the Valley to Mandalay and Magwe, and have a small stack in the far north aimed at Bhamo, but held back by an ID and support, plus a great deal of superior CAP whenever I try to attrit.

But I just took Pt. Blair. December 1943. Aussie 6th, a couple of Brit IDs, some tanks, some Arty, and a huge pile of heavy AA. Almost all LST/LSD lift. Had four fighter units the first day plus the AA; he tried Nettie/Francis and lost big. He sent in a BB bombardment before I got good search up, but I have it now plus a CV TF lurking to the west of Blair I let him see. I've since sent more support and am building to AF 5 very quickly with Seabees to aim 4E at Sabang and Medan.

BUT, on the day Pt. Blair fell I started prepping all the shooters there, plus more still at Colombo, for Pegu. I'd take a look at the coast and remember how many amphibs get delivered between December 1943 and March 1944.

Edit: Also, on the Chinese. I think you're right he doesn't see their loss as a big deal. I have fewer Chinese corps escaped to Burma than he does, but I have three huge corps in my Ramree stack. Given they're the only draw I also have about 2500 squads for them in the pools. I use them not to win, but to disable IJA squads on my deliberate attacks. They're pretty good at that. You can see how much AV they eat when their rotation comes up in the combat animation screen. Given the VP loss ratio rule (half as costly as an IJA lost device) if you kill a lot of them the VP effect is not bad. I've been rotating them into Ramree to rebuild one at a time during the sitzkrieg. They're not there to win; they're just there to eat Japanese supply.

< Message edited by Bullwinkle58 -- 10/8/2015 12:45:43 PM >

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Post #: 564
RE: Wrangling Loki - Mind_Messing (J) vs Lokasenna (A) - 10/8/2015 12:37:56 PM   
Andav

 

Posts: 474
Joined: 5/8/2007
Status: offline
quote:

Thankfully, I own the only hex out of it, so the supply can't flow out of Ramree (unless I read the supply rules wrong).


The key is who owns the hex sides. Press the W key (I think) to display who owns what. If he crossed over from Remree and has marched troops in from the brown road and/or from the open hex to the east he will own he hex sides. If he owns the hex sides, your 3K AV does not prevent supply flow through the hex.

To echo Bullwinkle, what ever you do, make sure you have enough units at Pegu to prevent a landing. See witqps' AAR of our game. It is an excellent example of what can go totally wrong when you do not have enough defending the rear. You can also look at what he did at CRB. I have provided many good examples of what not to do. It is how I am giving back to this community.

Wa

(in reply to Bullwinkle58)
Post #: 565
RE: Wrangling Loki - Mind_Messing (J) vs Lokasenna (A) - 10/8/2015 12:40:32 PM   
mind_messing

 

Posts: 3393
Joined: 10/28/2013
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: Bullwinkle58

Well, it's 1944. You're thinking land, he's probably thinking sea.

In our game we have a similar sitzkrieg east of Ramree, but I do have supply flow from there. I've beat him up pretty good, but an inferior stack is holding me back due to the terrain factors you see. I've also re-taken the Valley to Mandalay and Magwe, and have a small stack in the far north aimed at Bhamo, but held back by an ID and support, plus a great deal of superior CAP whenever I try to attrit.



You'll need to wait a bit longer to find out what's happening on the high-seas in the western side of the map!

My attitude to Burma is that I want to avoid giving up the territory without a fight. You'll know yourself, it's a nightmare for the Allies to attack unless it's on overwhelming terms. The main strategic need to keep occupying Burma is gone, seeing as China is a Japanese province, but I see Rangoon and I think "Wow, that would make an amazing B-29 base to firebomb China, Malaya and Sumatra"!

quote:

But I just took Pt. Blair. December 1943. Aussie 6th, a couple of Brit IDs, some tanks, some Arty, and a huge pile of heavy AA. Almost all LST/LSD lift. Had four fighter units the first day plus the AA; he tried Nettie/Francis and lost big. He sent in a BB bombardment before I got good search up, but I have it now plus a CV TF lurking to the west of Blair I let him see. I've since sent more support and am building to AF 5 very quickly with Seabees to aim 4E at Sabang and Medan.

BUT, on the day Pt. Blair fell I started prepping all the shooters there, plus more still at Colombo, for Pegu. I'd take a look at the coast and remember how many amphibs get delivered between December 1943 and March 1944.


I'm banking on Port Blair giving me enough warning to avoid a big Inchon style landing on the panhandle. The panhandle itself is occupied by the Thais (who withdraw in a few months). The three panhandle bases have all got level 4 forts and working towards level 5, but they're Thai units - anti-paratrooper duty is about all they're good for now.

Once I've got the hexsides to the south-east of Toungoo closed up, the bulk of Panzerarmee Burma is headed for Moulmein to protect against this and I can free up 500 or so AV to reinforce the panhandle. I'm going to pull 500 AV from my stack sitting behind the river east of Taung Gyi and send that via Thailand to the panhandle as well.

If Loka wants to take Burma, all he has to do is take Pt Blair. At that point I'd just order every unit to march out of Burma for Thailand and give him the territory. Once Pt Blair goes the entire Burmese house of cards comes tumbling down.

quote:

Edit: Also, on the Chinese. I think you're right he doesn't see their loss as a big deal. I have fewer Chinese corps escaped to Burma than he does, but I have three huge corps in my Ramree stack. Given they're the only draw I also have about 2500 squads for them in the pools. I use them not to win, but to disable IJA squads on my deliberate attacks. They're pretty good at that. You can see how much AV they eat when their rotation comes up in the combat animation screen. Given the VP loss ratio rule (half as costly as an IJA lost device) if you kill a lot of them the VP effect is not bad. I've been rotating them into Ramree to rebuild one at a time during the sitzkrieg. They're not there to win; they're just there to eat Japanese supply.


Loka's use of the Chinese is very smart. Better yet is the fact that he has thrown in lots of tanks and some Indian divisions into the mix. If it was a stack of Chinese, I'd be skimping on the blocking force, but with quality Allied units in the mix, there's little I can do.

Even so, assuming that every destroyed device in that attack was Chinese (and I doubt it was, too many guns lost for it to be the Chinese), that's a nice 52 odd VP's for me. That's a heavy cruiser right there.


quote:

ORIGINAL: Andav

quote:

Thankfully, I own the only hex out of it, so the supply can't flow out of Ramree (unless I read the supply rules wrong).


The key is who owns the hex sides. Press the W key (I think) to display who owns what. If he crossed over from Remree and has marched troops in from the brown road and/or from the open hex to the east he will own he hex sides. If he owns the hex sides, your 3K AV does not prevent supply flow through the hex.



IIRC the hexside from Ramree to the hex east (55,48) is under Allied control. The hexside from the brown road north-west into 55,48 is also Allied control.

However, the hex has a big J on it when I press W. My understanding is that supplies can flow INTO the hex, but cannot flow through it. This means that Ramree can currently only supply units in hex 55,48 and not any other Allied units in Burma.

Please tell me that's the case?

quote:

To echo Bullwinkle, what ever you do, make sure you have enough units at Pegu to prevent a landing. See witqps' AAR of our game. It is an excellent example of what can go totally wrong when you do not have enough defending the rear. You can also look at what he did at CRB. I have provided many good examples of what not to do. It is how I am giving back to this community.

Wa


I did not even realize Pegu was a coastal hex...the build port option is greyed out, it's a 0(0) port and I has a red hexside to the south-west...

Even so, there's a 1/3rd fragment of a division there on R&R. I'll move some more troops here ASAP and start digging forts. I had this hex written off as it was a clear non-coastal hex...

< Message edited by mind_messing -- 10/8/2015 1:53:11 PM >

(in reply to Bullwinkle58)
Post #: 566
RE: Wrangling Loki - Mind_Messing (J) vs Lokasenna (A) - 10/8/2015 1:37:29 PM   
Bullwinkle58


Posts: 11302
Joined: 2/24/2009
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: Andav

I have provided many good examples of what not to do. It is how I am giving back to this community.



OK, THIS is funny!

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Post #: 567
RE: Wrangling Loki - Mind_Messing (J) vs Lokasenna (A) - 10/8/2015 1:42:07 PM   
mind_messing

 

Posts: 3393
Joined: 10/28/2013
Status: offline 		March 29th to March 31st, 1944

North Pacific

zzzZZZzzz

Central Pacific

We land the first batch of supplies on Kusaie without any issues, and more is on the way. Two PB ships are shuttling supplies from the Marshalls. I feel confident enough to move some fighters in to Kusaie and Ponape, along with some transport planes.

The ships will bring in supply while the transports fly in extra combat troops. I'd love Loka to run low on supply here and have to come back to face the CD guns again...

South-West Pacific

The Allies land and take Umboi Island. The supply here was used up a long time ago, so I flew out the combat troops and most of the support troops as well. Still, it lets me buy back some decent units for use elsewhere. Most importantly is one of the big IJN Base Forces with radar and a CD guns that I intend to use in the Bonins.

The Allies mount their usual milk-runs against Hansa and Hollandia with Fletcher squadrons.

As an amusing side note, I manage to sneak out a badly damaged xAP out of Hansa Bay for Wewak, and I hope it might even make it to the comparative safety of Hollandia.

DEI

Usual night bombing hilarity over Timor. It turns out that night bombers are as useless in large quantities as they are in small quantities. Another dozen or so squadrons with half their aircraft disabled and their morale in the dirt. I'm becoming desensitized to it now...

I spot Allied aircraft that had moved in to Taberfane, so I send a cruiser force to bombard, followed up by sweeps from Bolea. We break about even, shooting down some Warhawks and Thunderbolts but the airbase remains open.

The Allies have flown aircraft into Babar, between Saumlaki and Latuem, so I'm sending the two slow BB's at Dili to bombard this base next turn as well. As far as possible I want to keep Allied aircraft stuck on Australia.

I'm going in with another deliberate attack against the Allies at Latuem. Japanese AV is up at 1600 to some 400 Allied AV, and I've lots of '43 IJA squads. I want this beachhead wiped out.

Cocos Island

The full KB moves up to Cocos, where it promptly finds the Allied carrier task force that had been handing around the area.

The battle is a calamity for both sides, as neither the Japanese nor the Allies manage to get off a good, co-ordinated strike package.

The first strike advantage goes to Japan...

quote:

Morning Air attack on TF, near Cocos Islands at 33,102

Weather in hex: Moderate rain

Raid detected at 109 NM, estimated altitude 17,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 36 minutes

Japanese aircraft - Shameful co-ordination
A6M5b Zero x 57
B6N2 Jill x 52
D4Y1 Judy x 43
D4Y3 Judy x 24

Allied aircraft
Corsair II x 36
Seafire IIC x 24
Sea Hurricane Ib x 15
Martlet IV x 16
F4U-1A Corsair x 40

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M5b Zero: 5 destroyed
B6N2 Jill: 21 destroyed, 5 damaged
B6N2 Jill: 4 destroyed by flak
D4Y1 Judy: 20 destroyed, 4 damaged
D4Y3 Judy: 7 destroyed, 4 damaged
D4Y3 Judy: 4 destroyed by flak

Allied aircraft losses
Martlet IV: 2 destroyed

Allied Ships
CVE Battler, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires, heavy damage
CVL Langley, Bomb hits 1, Torpedo hits 1, heavy fires, heavy damage
CV Illustrious
CV Intrepid, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
CVL Unicorn

...

Ammo storage explosion on CV Intrepid
Fuel storage explosion on CVE Battler
Fuel storage explosion on CVL Langley
Heavy smoke from fires obscuring CVL Langley
Heavy smoke from fires obscuring CVE Battler

And then the second task force of the KB strikes the Allied ships...

quote:

Morning Air attack on TF, near Cocos Islands at 33,102

Weather in hex: Moderate rain

Raid detected at 98 NM, estimated altitude 6,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 32 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M5 Zero x 4
A6M5b Zero x 30
B6N2 Jill x 26
D4Y1 Judy x 25

Allied aircraft
Corsair II x 34
Seafire IIC x 22
Sea Hurricane Ib x 13
Martlet IV x 9
F4U-1A Corsair x 32

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M5 Zero: 3 destroyed
A6M5b Zero: 10 destroyed
B6N2 Jill: 8 destroyed, 2 damaged
B6N2 Jill: 2 destroyed by flak
D4Y1 Judy: 7 destroyed, 3 damaged
D4Y1 Judy: 2 destroyed by flak

Allied aircraft losses
Martlet IV: 1 destroyed

Allied Ships
CVL Unicorn, Bomb hits 1, Torpedo hits 1, on fire
CVL Langley, heavy fires, heavy damage


One small Japanese strike goes after shipping at Cocos and puts two bombs in an xAK. The Allied counter-strikes are simply laughable - unescorted British Avengers that fly to their deaths at the hands of the KB's CAP.

The PM phase doesn't make things much better for the Allied carriers:

quote:

Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Cocos Islands at 33,102

Weather in hex: Light cloud

Raid detected at 115 NM, estimated altitude 19,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 38 minutes

Japanese aircraft - Again, poor co-ordination
A6M5b Zero x 35
B6N2 Jill x 19
D4Y1 Judy x 4
D4Y3 Judy x 4

Allied aircraft
Corsair II x 14
Martlet IV x 10

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M5b Zero: 3 destroyed
B6N2 Jill: 8 damaged
B6N2 Jill: 2 destroyed by flak
D4Y1 Judy: 3 damaged
D4Y3 Judy: 1 damaged
D4Y3 Judy: 1 destroyed by flak

Allied aircraft losses
Martlet IV: 3 destroyed

Allied Ships
CV Intrepid, Torpedo hits 2, and is sunk
CV Illustrious
CVL Unicorn, Bomb hits 1, Torpedo hits 2, and is sunk
DD Young
CVL Langley, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage

...

Fuel storage explosion on CVL Unicorn
Ammo storage explosion on CVL Unicorn
Ammo storage explosion on CV Intrepid

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Cocos Islands at 33,102

Weather in hex: Light cloud

Raid detected at 84 NM, estimated altitude 11,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 27 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M5b Zero x 40
B6N2 Jill x 10
D4Y1 Judy x 24

Allied aircraft
Corsair II x 9
Martlet IV x 4

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M5b Zero: 6 destroyed
B6N2 Jill: 1 damaged
B6N2 Jill: 1 destroyed by flak
D4Y1 Judy: 4 damaged
D4Y1 Judy: 1 destroyed by flak

No Allied losses

Allied Ships
CVL Langley, and is sunk
DD Cotten
DD Hudson
DD Young, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires, heavy damage


The Intrepid, Langley and Unicorn are all confirmed sunk. I'd say with about 60% confidence that the Battler is still battling on (haw haw) but I doubt it will make port.

The Japanese lose no ships but about 150 odd aircraft. The KB will sprint south-east and make for Surabaya to take replacement aircraft.

Once there, I'm consolidating the KB into a single task force. I had two separate task forces organized by speed, but I'm not convinced this is the best organization. The two task forces ended up one hex apart for this battle, and I think co-ordination suffered as a result. I'd rather have a single, combined task force in a single hex than two separate ones. It should help with co-ordination as well.

Despite the fact that I've had a carrier battle in '44 and got away Scot free (as only someone from Glasgow can), I get the feeling I've lost out. Aircraft losses were fairly heavy, but nothing that the pools can't easily cope with. Pilot losses weren't too bad either (70 or so from the KB, easily replaced by the reserve/TRACOM).

The main loss for me is that the KB's location is known, and there's a CVE task force spotted at Midway island and a second Allied carrier force operating in the Bismark Sea. Time will tell as to what's going on here.

Burma

No real chances here after the horrific battle on the 30th. I'm sending more supply from Japan to Rangoon to ensure we're well topped up here.

I'll shift units about to cover Pegu and the panhandle properly once I get the turn back.

(in reply to mind_messing)
Post #: 568
RE: Wrangling Loki - Mind_Messing (J) vs Lokasenna (A) - 10/8/2015 1:48:31 PM   
Bullwinkle58


Posts: 11302
Joined: 2/24/2009
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: mind_messing

I did not even realize Pegu was a coastal hex...the build port option is greyed out, it's a 0(0) port and I has a red hexside to the south-west...

Even so, there's a 1/3rd fragment of a division there on R&R. I'll move some more troops here ASAP and start digging forts. I had this hex written off as it was a clear non-coastal hex...


It's a port. In my games the build option is not greyed out. It starts at 0(0) yes, but it can be built. LSTs don't care though.

The main issue is it's not a river crossing into Rangoon. And if you still have anything up-country it's the rail-head out.

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Post #: 569
RE: Wrangling Loki - Mind_Messing (J) vs Lokasenna (A) - 10/8/2015 1:51:41 PM   
mind_messing

 

Posts: 3393
Joined: 10/28/2013
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quote:

ORIGINAL: Bullwinkle58


quote:

ORIGINAL: mind_messing

I did not even realize Pegu was a coastal hex...the build port option is greyed out, it's a 0(0) port and I has a red hexside to the south-west...

Even so, there's a 1/3rd fragment of a division there on R&R. I'll move some more troops here ASAP and start digging forts. I had this hex written off as it was a clear non-coastal hex...


It's a port. In my games the build option is not greyed out. It starts at 0(0) yes, but it can be built. LSTs don't care though.

The main issue is it's not a river crossing into Rangoon. And if you still have anything up-country it's the rail-head out.


I loaded up a previous mid-turn save to check. For me, it's a greyed out 0(0) port, but I can have ships sent to the hex, so it is a coastal hex.

Weird. Well, one more hex that needs to be garrisoned....

(in reply to Bullwinkle58)
Post #: 570
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