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All Forums >> [New Releases from Matrix Games] >> War in the Pacific: Admiral's Edition >> After Action Reports >> RE: Empire of the Sun

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RE: Empire of the Sun - 4/4/2021 9:34:11 AM

DesertWolf101

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quote:

ORIGINAL: RangerJoe

DD Blue was on patrol duty during Savo Island. It did not see the IJN coming in so it never sent an alarm but it survived. How appropriate here . . .

Yes quite right, the same thought crossed my mind. Too bad it was a destroyer force that my ships dealt with and not heavy cruisers

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RE: Empire of the Sun - 4/4/2021 9:45:08 AM

DesertWolf101

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April 4, 1943

Some two weeks have passed with very little of major note. I am mostly consolidating my position in Burma, brining more George's into front line units, and preparing for a showdown in Burma. I think it will probably be more of a show in the air given supply limitations and the approaching Monsoon. The Calcutta garrison is being hammered from the air on a daily basis - still plenty of supply but it is decreasing over time.

On the Soviet front, Andy gave up his attempted push in the mountains after the single foiled deliberate attack that I noted before. Most excitingly, the Vladivostok Naval Fortress and its daunting guns has been annihilated by repeated bombardments from the Yamato task force. Now I can clean up the remaining naval mines and move my battleships even closer to the city for a real hammering!

Finally, I think I might try an operation in Western Australia. Andy has sent so many of his forces to India that I suspect he may have left Australia underdefended. I will probe and see. If that is the case, I think I may try to grab Perth and the area around it.

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RE: Empire of the Sun - 4/4/2021 1:44:00 PM

castor troy

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quote:

ORIGINAL: DesertWolf101

April 4, 1943

Some two weeks have passed with very little of major note. I am mostly consolidating my position in Burma, brining more George's into front line units, and preparing for a showdown in Burma. I think it will probably be more of a show in the air given supply limitations and the approaching Monsoon. The Calcutta garrison is being hammered from the air on a daily basis - still plenty of supply but it is decreasing over time.

On the Soviet front, Andy gave up his attempted push in the mountains after the single foiled deliberate attack that I noted before. Most excitingly, the Vladivostok Naval Fortress and its daunting guns has been annihilated by repeated bombardments from the Yamato task force. Now I can clean up the remaining naval mines and move my battleships even closer to the city for a real hammering!

Finally, I think I might try an operation in Western Australia. Andy has sent so many of his forces to India that I suspect he may have left Australia underdefended. I will probe and see. If that is the case, I think I may try to grab Perth and the area around it.

For what reason would you go for Western Australia? What do you think you can gain there? Your main goal should be killing enemy ships and even more so enemy frontline units, that's the achilles heel of the Allied. If you can take out Russia you will most likely outnumber the Allied 3:1 in combat units.

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RE: Empire of the Sun - 4/4/2021 2:05:18 PM

DesertWolf101

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quote:

ORIGINAL: castor troy

quote:

ORIGINAL: DesertWolf101

April 4, 1943

Some two weeks have passed with very little of major note. I am mostly consolidating my position in Burma, brining more George's into front line units, and preparing for a showdown in Burma. I think it will probably be more of a show in the air given supply limitations and the approaching Monsoon. The Calcutta garrison is being hammered from the air on a daily basis - still plenty of supply but it is decreasing over time.

On the Soviet front, Andy gave up his attempted push in the mountains after the single foiled deliberate attack that I noted before. Most excitingly, the Vladivostok Naval Fortress and its daunting guns has been annihilated by repeated bombardments from the Yamato task force. Now I can clean up the remaining naval mines and move my battleships even closer to the city for a real hammering!

Finally, I think I might try an operation in Western Australia. Andy has sent so many of his forces to India that I suspect he may have left Australia underdefended. I will probe and see. If that is the case, I think I may try to grab Perth and the area around it.

For what reason would you go for Western Australia? What do you think you can gain there? Your main goal should be killing enemy ships and even more so enemy frontline units, that's the achilles heel of the Allied. If you can take out Russia you will most likely outnumber the Allied 3:1 in combat units.

To be clear, I don't see an operation in Western Australia as a decisive one. Rather it's the fact that I have some available forces and if there is an opportunity to use them for some benefit then I will take it. In Western Australia there is the potential to damage some LCUs, hit some industry, and remove a potential springboard for action against the SRA. Drawing Andy's attention and resources away from other fronts will also be a nice bonus. Maybe he will even commit warships that I could then target. Nothing game changing, but potentially an op with good benefits.

Vladivostok is the only remaining target in the USSR, and that's a siege in progress. I have already taken the rest up to the mountains near Irkutsk. There is no benefit in going further since I can't stop the Soviets from crossing from off map. Better to hold excellent defensive positions than extend myself in the plains.

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RE: Empire of the Sun - 4/8/2021 12:43:36 AM

DesertWolf101

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April 13, 1943

Over the last ten days, a Japanese infantry regiment that was marching down from Carnarvon captured Geraldton but I decided to abort the landing of more follow up forces as Andy rushed in large numbers of aircraft and troops into the area around Perth. He also sent in some 20 submarines and placed large numbers of PT boats around Geraldton. With my commitments in the USSR and elsewhere, I can't afford to get drawn into a major fight in Australia at the moment so I scrubbed the adventure.

Not much else happened elsewhere. Andy's focus remains centered on Calcutta. He bombed and shelled it heavily on a daily basis and today he decided to resume direct ground attacks. He knocked down forts this time from 8 to 7 but at a cost.

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RE: Empire of the Sun - 4/9/2021 1:12:07 AM

DesertWolf101

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April 16, 1943

After a couple more days of heavy bombing with about a thousand bombers daily, Andy launched another deliberate attack against Calcutta. Forts were knocked down again once more and the garrison appears to be on its last legs. The concentrated airpower is a great tool in Andy's belt here. He did a great job leveraging the capability by using the large number of airfields built up and supported by huge numbers of engineers and air support units, giving him the ability to really mass his squadrons.

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RE: Empire of the Sun - 4/9/2021 1:23:53 AM

DesertWolf101

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April 17, 1943

In a somewhat desperate effort to negate some of his pounding from the air, I decided to commit my fighters via LRCAP over Calcutta. My elite pilots proved themselves once more, but in defeating the sweeps and escorts they could not press home their attacks against the bombers. The exception was a couple of waves of Avenger torpedo bombers that came in early enough before the Japanese fighters were completely exhausted. I lost two fighter pilots KIA, neither of them aces.

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RE: Empire of the Sun - 4/9/2021 1:30:32 AM

DesertWolf101

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It seems my fighters still did enough to lessen the damage from the bombers, as Andy's next attack made less headway than expected. It seems it was mostly an armor/engineer attack however, and I harbor no doubts on the outcome when he unleashes the full weight of his forces against the city's garrison once more.

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RE: Empire of the Sun - 4/9/2021 1:33:20 AM

DesertWolf101

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Now I have to decide whether to risk another LRCAP of the city. I am leaning towards yes, but I expect Andy will move to make it a lot more difficult for my boys by bringing in more Corsair/Lightening units.

I should add - this was the first real test of the George. Overall I am quite pleased. Most notable improvements over the Zero are the clearly more deadly firepower and the greater survivability.

I currently have four x30 Frank factories, and hopefully will get another one soon. With the engine bonus I expect to have the Frank in service by summer 1943.

< Message edited by DesertWolf101 -- 4/9/2021 1:39:01 AM >

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RE: Empire of the Sun - 4/9/2021 1:37:42 AM

DesertWolf101

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Duplicate

< Message edited by DesertWolf101 -- 4/9/2021 1:39:37 AM >

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RE: Empire of the Sun - 4/9/2021 9:04:09 AM

jdsrae

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I can see 130:19 reasons to keep the LRCAP over Calcutta.

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RE: Empire of the Sun - 4/9/2021 5:54:42 PM

DesertWolf101

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quote:

ORIGINAL: jdsrae

I can see 130:19 reasons to keep the LRCAP over Calcutta.

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RE: Empire of the Sun - 4/9/2021 6:00:02 PM

DesertWolf101

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April 18, 1943

I decided to rest my pilots for a day before sending them back into the fray over Calcutta but Andy had other ideas. He sent in his heavy bombers to hit them at Chittagong and caught them napping. I lost 24 fighters on the ground (no pilots - they don't seem to be hit by bombing) but my flak defenses did destroy nine confirmed heavy bombers and a few medium bombers in return so it wasn't all bad.

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RE: Empire of the Sun - 4/9/2021 6:05:45 PM

DesertWolf101

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April 19, 1943

I sent in a couple of my destroyers to knock out the small craft around Geraldton and the mission was a success. Two task forces composed of a total of 24 PT boats and 3 MGBs were completely destroyed. Illustrated below is the first task force. I wonder how many PT boats the USN gets in total?

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RE: Empire of the Sun - 4/9/2021 6:09:21 PM

DesertWolf101

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I made sure to send my pilots up over Chittagong this turn and they did a good job knocking out the incoming enemy sweeps. Unfortunately, while my fighters were distracted protecting their airstrip, Andy struck Calcutta hard from the air once more. He did a good job reclaiming the initative here.

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< Message edited by DesertWolf101 -- 4/9/2021 6:13:17 PM >

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RE: Empire of the Sun - 4/9/2021 6:11:41 PM

DesertWolf101

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With the incessant air attacks, the garrison is now about to fold - the next attack could very well be the last....

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RE: Empire of the Sun - 4/9/2021 8:16:53 PM

castor troy

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quote:

ORIGINAL: DesertWolf101

April 19, 1943

I sent in a couple of my destroyers to knock out the small craft around Geraldton and the mission was a success. Two task forces composed of a total of 24 PT boats and 3 MGBs were completely destroyed. Illustrated below is the first task force. I wonder how many PT boats the USN gets in total?

so many you won't be nearly able to destroy them all until the end of the war

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RE: Empire of the Sun - 4/10/2021 8:00:50 AM

DesertWolf101

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quote:

ORIGINAL: castor troy

quote:

ORIGINAL: DesertWolf101

April 19, 1943

I sent in a couple of my destroyers to knock out the small craft around Geraldton and the mission was a success. Two task forces composed of a total of 24 PT boats and 3 MGBs were completely destroyed. Illustrated below is the first task force. I wonder how many PT boats the USN gets in total?

so many you won't be nearly able to destroy them all until the end of the war

Sounds like it - I looked it up and it would seem 531 served during the Pacific War.

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RE: Empire of the Sun - 4/10/2021 5:03:25 PM

DesertWolf101

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April 21, 1943

I rested my fighters for a turn and sprung for another LRCAP over Calcutta on the 21th. Wasn't able to get as many fighters over the city due to drop tank/supply issues and with the greater number of Corsair/Hellcats encountered the returns were more modest. Two of my fighter pilots were KIA.

I also decided to risk another air strike mission against one of Andy's mega-airfield complexes. No surprise, the massive amount of flak he relies on to cover his airfields tore my bombers to pieces. But silver lining, I did knock out an almost equal number of aircraft on the ground.

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< Message edited by DesertWolf101 -- 4/10/2021 5:07:38 PM >

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RE: Empire of the Sun - 4/10/2021 5:06:42 PM

DesertWolf101

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Calcutta still stands - barely

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RE: Empire of the Sun - 4/10/2021 5:09:44 PM

DesertWolf101

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April 22, 1943

Sensing the garrison's weakness, Andy went for back to back attacks on Calcutta. Forts are now very low, but the garrison is still resisting and surprisingly enough still inflicting decent amounts of damage in return.

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RE: Empire of the Sun - 4/10/2021 5:19:45 PM

DesertWolf101

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Subject to fog of war of course, the Calcutta garrison has destroyed 588 infantry squads thus far. The garrison has also destroyed a sizable share of other squads and equipment, particularly combat engineers. Maybe I am looking at this with rose colored glasses, but if we add in the amount of allied aircraft lost to flak, the amount of time the garrison has tied down nearly 20 enemy divisions plus other units (and air squadrons), and the opportunity provided for air ambushes and engagements, I believe the garrison has more than fulfilled its purpose. Not bad for a force mostly composed of naval guard and garrison regiments (the notable exception being the 17th Infantry Division).

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RE: Empire of the Sun - 4/12/2021 1:42:39 AM

DesertWolf101

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April 26, 1943

After a few days pause and daily massed air attacks that kept Japanese disruption high, Andy threw his forces against Calcutta once more. With forts down to 2, the city will fall in the next attack.

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RE: Empire of the Sun - 4/12/2021 1:50:04 AM

DesertWolf101

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Five Frank factories are now actively researching. I think I am now on track to get the aircraft by June. Given how my pilots are still holding their own quite well with the Tojo and with the arrival of the George in large numbers, I have decided to allow only one of the twelve research factories to produce the Frank A, while all eleven of the remaining will immediately go for the Frank R. It's a bit of a risk but I think its worth it to get the Frank R as early as possible.

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RE: Empire of the Sun - 4/12/2021 3:03:33 PM

DesertWolf101

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April 27, 1943

The Empire vows revenge - Calcutta falls!

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RE: Empire of the Sun - 4/12/2021 3:13:20 PM

DesertWolf101

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Now that the last Japanese strongpoint in India has been taken, the question is what Andy will do next. Ceylon is an obvious one, and he is already building up mega airbases within close range. He may also drive down into Burma after he rests his army, although I haven't seen much indication of movement in that regard yet. My suspicions are also that he will go for an operation in the Aleutians pretty soon, and perhaps an operation in the South Pacific as well.

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RE: Empire of the Sun - 4/12/2021 3:17:46 PM

DesertWolf101

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The Empire

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RE: Empire of the Sun - 4/13/2021 1:37:13 AM

DesertWolf101

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April 28, 1943

Soviet tank units attempted to flank my main defensive positions by going through a dirt track in Mongolia to the west of Ulan Bator. That was a bad idea, as not only is such a thrust hard to supply but it is also devoid of air cover (no airbases around). With the aid of concentrated Japanese bomber attacks Japanese tank regiments counterattacked and threw the Soviets back. The Japanese will now pursue.

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RE: Empire of the Sun - 4/13/2021 5:00:35 PM

DanielAClark

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Does he have the carrier forces to actually sustain an offensive away from LBA?

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RE: Empire of the Sun - 4/13/2021 7:39:37 PM

DesertWolf101

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quote:

ORIGINAL: DanielAClark

Does he have the carrier forces to actually sustain an offensive away from LBA?

He doesn't have the carrier forces to go up against the KB, at least not yet, but especially with the Essex coming online soon he should have enough to go up against weak Japanese LBA in the margins in a month or so if not sooner. I think it depends how good his intelligence picture his and how risk averse or not he is.

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Post #: 1170