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Mini-strategic review... - 10/13/2005 11:45:48 PM

ADavidB

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May 2 -

The invasion of Java started today with troops landing at Batavia. My remaining forces at Batavia have been pounded so hard and for so long that they are not shooting back. It will be interesting to see what effect the level 7 fortifications have once Tophat calls for an assault. But Tophat isn't taking any chances and he still has his bombers coming in daily to hit Batavia. The amount of base damage is quite large now - it ought to take Tophat quite some time to repair the facilities once he captures them.

Tophat is now sending dedicated recon aircraft over Kragen as well as Nells, so I presume that the invasion of Kragen is coming soon. My last mobile Dutch ground unit is only a couple of days away from Soerabaja so it will get behind the fortifications before any invasion hits. The fortification levels at Soerabaja are now almost up to 8 and increasing rapidly thanks to the presence of so many engineers. I also have "replacements on" for all of the Dutch troops except for two dedicated Air Support engineering units. I want to give Tophat as much of a fight as I can; as well I want to use up as many of the Dutch replacements that are in reserve as possible. The trade-off here is that I am spending a lot of support replacements in Soerabaja as well. That negatively impacts my unit build-ups elsewhere, but I figure that it is worth the cost in case the Dutch can end up bogging down the Japanese in Soerabaja in a similar manner as the Brits have done in Singapore. BTW - if Tophat does happen to decide to chance a bombardment of Soerabaja all of my Dutch CD units are now full-up with either 150mm or 120mm guns. And since Soerabaja has a lot of supplies (the quantities of which are continuing to increase) the Dutch guns ought to be able to shoot back for quite some time.

The other major action going on right now is Tophat's ASW air war that is happening between Java and Timor. Tophat has an amazing number of planes out after my subs, but fortunately my subs have been able to avoid the aerial attacks so far. These are all Dutch subs and S-boats, so if they get a chance to shoot their torpedoes may well hit.

Tophat made an interesting comment in his last email to me - the reason that the KB has been so quiet is that he has had them sitting in port awaiting upgrades. So Tophat is now quite happy that his ships have better AA than they did. Its funny, but I fear the Japanese CAP much more than any ship AA. My general problem early in the War is to be able to get any attacking planes through the CAP. Certainly from the Allied point of view early in the war the amount of AA available doesn't compensate for poor CAP. I mainly leave my ships in port for upgrades as the Allies so that they get radar - any AA increases are bonuses.

So I'm interpreting Tophat's comments as meaning that he may become more aggressive with the KB now that he has the AA upgrades. This means that I will have to be more alert for Japanese operations and be a bit more careful with where I have task forces going. I would be surprised if Tophat used the AA upgrades to justify any serious raiding of my strong points. For example, improved AA or not, any attack on the Hawaiian Islands now would be met with overwhelming land-based air power from multiple airfields. And I even have troops which will be landing on Lilu soon, which will make it the sixth developed and defended base in the Hawaiian Islands.

But that sort of low-probability attack aside, I expect that Tophat will use his newly renovated KB to support an expansion into the rest of the Solomons and maybe the South Pacific. That's fine because I don't intend to oppose him in that region yet. Although I am better off than I would be if we started a fresh May 1 game, I still can't meet the KB and Combined Fleet in open battle. There is a Reality Check that stares me in the face every time that I get "itchy" to send my carriers out "hunting":

Available US Naval Air Power:

Fighters: 5 groups of 27 F4F-4s
Dive bombers: 10 groups of 18 Dauntlesses
Torpedo bombers: 5 groups of 15 Devastators

And considering how the Game programming is set up to prevent the Allied player from massing his ships together early in the war and getting a combined attack from his air power, along with the short range of the Devastators, this effectively means that I must keep my carriers away from the KB for at least three more months. The "magic date" is July 1942 when I receive the Wasp and start to get Avengers to replace the Devastators. But even then, as long as Tophat keeps his "Death Star" away from my strong points of LBA and doesn't split up his naval air power I won't be near to parity until mid-1943. So I've got to hope that Tophat commits an error and takes on too much LBA with his carriers, which will then bring the situation more in balance. We will have to see what he does.

Dave Baranyi

(in reply to ADavidB)

Post #: 241

RE: Mini-strategic review... - 10/14/2005 3:48:21 AM

wobbly

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From: Christchurch, New Zealand
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Two things for you to think about:

I like to sometimes move a CD unit to Kragen. It is a throw away unit as it cannot stop the troops that come ashore. But if your timing is in you can have it meet the invasion forces as they arrive. It's aim is not to stop the invasion - just to hurt alot of invasion shipping. It is VERY unlikely he will land directly into Soerbaja and as such the CD unit has small chance of completing it's intended job. I am just of the opinion that a CD unit that has been sidestepped by a land move of LCUs becomes a not too effective artillery unit.

Another point to include in your carrier comparison is the increase in fighter wing size that kicks-in in June I believe. 36 vs 27 F4Fs cannot be sniffed at.

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(in reply to ADavidB)

Post #: 242

RE: Mini-strategic review... - 10/14/2005 4:09:18 AM

ADavidB

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From: Toronto, Canada
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quote:

ORIGINAL: wobbly

Two things for you to think about:

I like to sometimes move a CD unit to Kragen. It is a throw away unit as it cannot stop the troops that come ashore. But if your timing is in you can have it meet the invasion forces as they arrive. It's aim is not to stop the invasion - just to hurt alot of invasion shipping. It is VERY unlikely he will land directly into Soerbaja and as such the CD unit has small chance of completing it's intended job. I am just of the opinion that a CD unit that has been sidestepped by a land move of LCUs becomes a not too effective artillery unit.

Another point to include in your carrier comparison is the increase in fighter wing size that kicks-in in June I believe. 36 vs 27 F4Fs cannot be sniffed at.

The CD idea is a good one, but I am betting that Tophat is so "gunshy" from his ongoing pain at Singapore where he won't bombard because of his fear of the CD guns there that he will still try to do at least one bombardment at Soerabaja, even though he brings in his troops by land. Look at how much he is bombarding Medan and Batavia prior to attacking - his experience at Palembang shook him too.

And thanks for reminding me about the increase in Wildcats on board the carriers. It's a good thing that I've got lots of spares. But even with those extra 'Cats I still don't want to slug it out with the KB until I can weaken it via LBA.

I don't need to rush into battle with Tophat - he isn't coming anywhere close to an autovictory track at this time. So I sure don't want to give him any extra points that I don't need to give. He can sit back, play conservatively, and watch me get stronger, and stronger and stronger as time goes on. Or he can risk it all and attack where I am currently strong. I am now more than willing to bet my LBA against his carrier air power.

I have no intention of throwing my forces at Tophat until I can crush his forces "like a bug". I don't care if that is late 43, Game Time - that's when the Allies started to do it in the "Real War".

Thanks for the comments -

Dave Baranyi

(in reply to wobbly)

Post #: 243

Batavia under attack... - 10/14/2005 4:10:32 AM

ADavidB

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May 3 -

Tophat continued to land men at Batavia this turn while still coming in with naval and aerial bombardments. He also sent ships and planes against Medan again. He is definitely not taking any chances this time with these attacks. But hey, you never know, some glitchy thing that none of us know about could come into play to wreck his plans - we've all seen things like that before in this Game.

One thing for certain, Tophat's experiences at Clark Field, Manila and now Singapore have been eye openers for me. I certainly won't take any city assaults lightly now.

Tophat is also stepping up his ASW efforts in the area between Java, the Celebes and Timor. He's got my subs scrambling around like roaches under a sudden light. But all those bombers and ships chasing my subs in that region aren't out watching what I am doing elsewhere, so that is fine with me.

In China I finally got a couple of Chinese infantry units into that crossroads near Hengchow. They had to do a Shock Attack because they were crossing a river, but since there was once again only one Japanese unit there, my troops survived and didn't retreat. And I have another infantry unit and an HQ coming in next. But the important thing is that I am now across Tophat's main supply line to his troops in Hengchow. If Tophat once again pulls more troops into that crossroads to try to drive me out I will attack him from the East with other troops. I love tying up the Front like this!

Dave Baranyi

(in reply to ADavidB)

Post #: 244

Medan falls... - 10/14/2005 6:21:18 AM

ADavidB

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May 4 -

Tophat continued his build-up at Batavia by landing yet more troops and once again doing naval and air bombardments. That one lone, little Dutch CD group has almost no troops left in it. Tophat ought to get 100:1 odds when he finally does attack.

He didn't wait quite as long at Medan, but the end result was as to be expected - the long out-of-supply Dutch troops retreated immediately except for those who surrendered. The difference between the situation at Medan and the one at Palembang is all a matter of supply - there was plenty of supply at Palembang and none at Medan.

Of course, in the Game, Theories are always just waiting for exceptions to pop up, and the best example of that is still Singapore. Tophat tried another shock attack this turn and the result was the same: 0:1 results, no reduction in fortifications and a 10:1 ratio of Japanese casualties to British casualties. I don't know what is going on there, but if I could only get a convoy of supply into Singapore I think that those guys could "conquer the World".

In China my third infantry unit and the HQ unit made it across the river into the crossroads to the East of Hengchow. I'll let them rest a bit and try some bombardments - I don't think that Tophat will be pushing them out soon.

Something new appeared in the air over Soerabaja this turn - a daitai of A6M3s did a fighter sweep, but there were no planes to be found there.

So I'm still moving troops, ships and planes around. More reinforcements are on the way, and I'm feeling fairly good about my defenses at this time.

Dave Baranyi

(in reply to ADavidB)

Post #: 245

Blowing steam... - 10/15/2005 3:03:19 AM

ADavidB

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May 5 -

Tophat had a good day today. He continued to unload troops at Batavia - his casualties are decreasing as each day goes on. He was also unloading troops at Kragen. His A6M3s flew over Soerabaja again - I guess he is still expecting me to put some combat aircraft in there. And his lone division at that crossroads just to the east of Hengchow kicked out my three divisions and one HQ easily.

Soapbox space -

Once again the pure idiocy of the ground movement rules made the entire operation a joke. My troops gained fatigue from 30 to 70 while they were trying to move from the road hex across the river to the crossroads hex. One hex, a week's time, and a totally unjustifiable increase in fatigue that allowed Tophat's division to kick my troops out before my troops could even get an artillery bombardment off. At times like this I really wonder why I bother to play this game, then I calm down and decide to let things be and try to figure out a way to win despite all the bad design decisions in the game.

Soapbox space ended -

Dave Baranyi

(in reply to ADavidB)

Post #: 246

The Party's Over... - 10/15/2005 4:41:16 AM

ADavidB

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May 6 -

It was another good day for Tophat in many ways, and a special day in one particular way. First off, Tophat landed more troops at Batavia, hit the base with yet another naval bombardment and then finally attacked, overwhelming the few remaining defenders. Then his troops captured undefended Kragen. Japanese troops also landed at Roxas in the Philippines to start the final clean-up there. But the big news was that Tophat finally captured Singapore in one big Shock Attack. He had been resting up his combat troops for quite some time and they overwhelmed the long-starved defenders. But those defenders bought me three months of extra time which allowed me to set up my deeper defenses much better. Now we will see what Tophat intends to do with those forces that are now resting in the ruins of Singapore.

Speaking of forces, the Argonaut tried to sneak into Truk Harbor to drop off a few mines and it stirred up a real hornet's nest. Dozens of air units attacked the sub, including Jakes, Petes, Kates, Vals and Nells. I think that pretty much confirmed where at least some of the Combined Fleet is sitting�

The poor old Argo got hit by one bomb and is going to try to limp away to PNG. But I suspect that Tophat will now flood the region with ASW TFs.

In other news, Tophat is preparing his troops at Hengchow in the same manner that he did the troops at Singapore by resting his main combat units and only using his dedicated artillery units for nuisance artillery fire. Tophat did try an assault on the troops that are at the crossroads south of Homan, but he only got a 1:1 result and sustained a fair number of casualties. It appears that Tophat has decided that it is time for him to make a move in China.

Dave Baranyi

(in reply to ADavidB)

Post #: 247

It was a rainy day... - 10/15/2005 6:06:45 PM

ADavidB

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May 7 -

Tophat continues to expand conservatively and systematically. A cruiser TF bombarded Kuala this turn while troops started to land at Madang in PNG. Tophat is quite pleased that his troops are building up and he has lost few land units compared to other PBEMs that he has played. That's the risk I had to take when I decided to take this particular approach of mine. But my plan is not to challenge Tophat on the ground, but instead to sink his invasion forces when he finally attempts to go where I want to defend.

So I am still redistributing my forces, and of course, my forces are growing well too. I did make one important decision this turn - I've turned off "reinforcements" to all of my Dutch units. I am out of Dutch replacements and I don't want to spend any more general support, engineering or armament replacements on the Dutch units. The main units in Soerabaja and those scattered remnants elsewhere are on their own now. I want the reinforcements for more important theaters such as India. Tophat continues his buildup in China, particularly at Hengchow. I am losing the supply war in China and am wearing out my planes trying to fly supply in to Chinese bases.

In my one offensive move of the turn I had three bomber units fly in to bomb Koepang. Only one unit got a hit, and there was no CAP and no flak. But I'm even surprised that these planes took off - Northern Australia was the only region on the map not to be blanketed by thunderstorms.

Start soap box -

According to the weather patterns in the Game, California and Eastern Australia have now turned into rain forest jungles from receiving damaging rain every day, month after month. I would ignore the total idiocy of the programming here except that it means that I get large numbers of damaged fighters every turn in bases in these regions if I try to train the pilots. So this is just another area in which have to I grit my teeth and try not to let the massive stupidity and total pointlessness of the programming decisions affect the way that I play the game too much.

End soap box -

Dave Baranyi

(in reply to ADavidB)

Post #: 248

Japan marches on... - 10/16/2005 12:38:22 AM

ADavidB

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May 8 -

This was another busy day for Tophat. His cruisers bombarded Kuala again; his troops captured Roxas and Madang, and for the first time a couple of bases in Japan expanded.

I was busy too, but with less obvious results. First off, I had recently upgraded those Brit night fighters to Beaufighter VIFs, so I decided to try them out on the airfield at Mandalay. The whole squadron flew and attacked, but none of them hit anything. Their experience is now up in the upper 70s, so I guess that I am seeing the effects of the recent toning-down of night bombing efficiency in the program.

I also set up my B-17, Hudson and Mitchell squadrons in Northern Australia to try bomb the airfield at Koepang again. This time I've lowered the attack altitude to 16,000 feet from 20,000 feet and have Patrol craft on flying recon with the bombers from each base. It will be interesting to see if Tophat has bothered to put some LR CAP back over Koepang since my last unsuccessful attack two turns ago.

Otherwise, I am still repositioning troops at various places while waiting for the next big reinforcement delivery which will come in a few game-days. After that it will be a game month before I get any more significant reinforcements. Given that time frame it is reassuring that the troops that Tophat used to conquer the Philippines and Singapore are still sitting in those locations. Those 200,000+ men that Tophat has in Truk worry me enough without having more troops to worry about.

Dave Baranyi

(in reply to ADavidB)

Post #: 249

Daytime...nighttime... - 10/16/2005 4:41:13 AM

ADavidB

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May 9 -

My bombers in Northern Australia all took off this turn, along with the patrol planes on recon, and went to Koepang. There were no defensive fighters in the sky over the base. One hit was achieved between the three groups - that from the B-17s. Okay, time to rest up and try again later, probably at a lower altitude. My Beaufighter VIF squadron also hit nothing on its night flight over Mandalay. It looks as if the re-jigging of the night bombing rules, which was done to prevent massive Allied heavy bomber strikes at night, has also affected dedicated night fighters. I guess that there was no way to increase the "granularity" so that the program could differentiate between the two types of planes. Too bad�

While I was "flirting with futility" Tophat continued along his merry way in the DEI. Bandoeng was captured and Japanese troops started to land at Kuala. But a more significant occurrence happened in New Britain where the air field at Rabaul increased to size 4. So Tophat can now control the waters in that region by means of Betties or Nells that are based in Rabaul. Come to think of it, I should probably put some fighters on CAP in Eastern Australia now too, or else the Japanese LBA can come by and be a real nuisance.

Dave Baranyi

(in reply to ADavidB)

Post #: 250

Bombing wars... - 10/16/2005 4:53:44 PM

ADavidB

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May 10 -

I forgot to stand down the B-25 and Hudson squadrons in Northern Australia last turn when I stood down the B-17s and all the patrol plans that were on recon, so both units flew and accomplished nothing. So this time I made certain to stand those two squadrons down and I sent my B-17s along with the patrol planes in that base to hit Koepang, this time at 6000 feet. Tophat isn't putting LR CAP over Koepang and he doesn't have a base force in there to fix things up, so I may as well use the opportunity to get some easy practice for my longer range bombers. I guess that Tophat was only interested in denying me the use of Koepang, not in using himself right now.

Tophat was busy in a lot of other places in the DEI. He has a bombardment TF sailing towards Maumere and he hammered that base from the air too. I pulled my Dutch patrol planes out of there and moved them further south - there is no point losing them when I know my base is about to be crushed. Tophat's troops also captured Kuala this turn.

In the South Pacific I hope that I've stirred up a bit of a hornet's nest by sending patrol planes on recon over Rabaul. A lot of Zeros came up but they couldn't find the Catalinas - the "Cats" were probably too slow for the Zeros to be able to "catch down" to.

Tophat also finally sent a force into Nauru Island and captured it.

Otherwise, Tophat is back in the business of bombing everything within reach. I presume that he has a bunch of new air units and upgraded units to train. He hasn't moved on to Soerabaja yet, but I expect some troops to show up at the gates soon.

I received the 1st Marines today. I am leaving them for now on the West Coast along with the 2nd Marines. I have no place useful to put them and I won't be doing any offensives for a long while yet, so I'd rather have both units sunning themselves in California rather than eating up supplies or catching malaria elsewhere.

The "strange thing" of the day concerns my mine laying TFs in Australia and India. For some reason both TFs are wasting a lot of time and fuel instead of going directly between their home port and target port. I've even disbanded the TFs and reformed them in the hopes of "clearing" whatever is affecting them, but I've had no luck. The only thing I can think of is that they may be detecting Betties or Nells on long patrol and reacting to that. Mine layers do tend to get "antsy" when there is a chance of air attack.

Dave Baranyi

(in reply to ADavidB)

Post #: 251

Night fighters find the target... - 10/16/2005 9:21:50 PM

ADavidB

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May 11 -

Cool! Those Beaufighter VIFs finally reporting that they hit something. Assuming that this isn't just FOW, the VIFs destroyed two Oscars and got a couple of runway hits. I think that I will believe it just because it makes me happy! (See - I have a proper High Command attitude.

)

My B-17s also got off from Darwin for a daytime raid on Koepang and caused some significant damage since they were flying at 6,000 feet. I've stood down the B-17s this turn and am sending the Hudsons. (Hmmm - come to think of it - did I remember to lower their altitude too?

) Tophat has a couple of TFs off to the north of Timor; I wonder if he is going to try to bring some supplies or a base force to Koepang?

Tophat is going after Maumere for certain. He whacked it hard with the big 5-BB bombardment TF and also sent a big air raid after it. He then sent a Daitai full of A6M2s on a sweep of Dili just in case I put some planes there. Sorry Charlie�

And my recon of Rabaul had an effect - Tophat sent a squadron of Nells after PM this turn, but they didn't hit anything; not that there is much to hit there.

And finally, despite "swinging at air" in most cases this turn, Tophat's forces did grab Sabang. He must have sent a fast transport TF in with those troops because I didn't see any ships go in that area.

There are only 3 more days until my next big reinforcement delivery.

Dave Baranyi

(in reply to ADavidB)

Post #: 252

Aerial ASW... - 10/17/2005 12:44:37 AM

ADavidB

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May 12 -

I forgot to stand down my Beaufort VIFs last turn, so they sortied again, but because they were tired, only half of them flew and they didn't hit anything. So this time I was careful to make certain that I didn't forget to stand them down. My Hudsons flew against Koepang from Northern Australia as planned, and it turns out that I did have them set to 6000 feet. Never-the-less, they didn't hit anything. So I am resting them again and sending the B-25s out this time.

Tophat sent a bunch of planes after Port Moresby, and with the rain they didn't find or hit anything. But I've "tempted fate" long enough so I've move the Catalinas and the AVD out to the next base along the Southern side of PNG. There the Cats can still spy and Tophat can send all the bombers that he likes against PM.

Tophat was griping about his "80 experience" ASW planes not hitting any of my subs in the DEI. That's actually very good information to know, because the Japanese planes that are hunting my subs are all Betties and Nells. That means that if I let my ships wander into their "kill zone" there is a very good chance that I will get one or more airborne torpedoes into the bellies of my ships.

Tophat marched the land unit that captured Batavia along to Tjilitjap and attacked this turn, but the lone CD unit at Tjilitjap was able to hold behind the walls, despite the fortification being lowered by 1 to 4. This turn not withstanding, Tjilitjap ought to fall at the next serious attack. In addition, I'm surprised that Tophat isn't sending bombers against Soerabaja in advance of his troops eventually getting there. (I'm also a little disappointed because I have a lot of AA there.

)

Tophat also started to land troops at Maumere this turn. The Dutch base force that is there won't hold on long. I wonder if it will retreat to one of the nearby "green dots" or will it just surrender?

Dave Baranyi

< Message edited by ADavidB -- 10/17/2005 12:45:49 AM >

(in reply to ADavidB)

Post #: 253

RE: Aerial ASW... - 10/17/2005 2:44:48 AM

ADavidB

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May 13 -

Tophat continues to be busy. More troops landed at Maumere in the DEI while troops started to land at Saidor on the northern coast of PNG. More interesting was the SIGINT report of the 2nd Parachute Regiment being in Kiungahan. I wonder what he intends to do with them. It's also been quite a while since I last heard about the 1st Parachute Regiment too - it ended up in Palembang at the time.

I was surprised, and so probably was Tophat, that the Dutch CD unit held out again in Tjilitjap. The Japanese attack reduced the fortifications to 3, but it wasn't enough to gain the base. Tophat has got to be wondering now what will happen when he reaches Soerabaja. Well, the fortifications there are almost up to level 9 and supplies are over 50,000 so Tophat had better plan to bring plenty of troops along.

Tophat is also starting to wonder what is going on in Port Moresby. He sent another air attack today with both bombers and fighters. And nothing happened. His bombers hit nothing and nothing shot back. I wonder how long it will be before Tophat realizes that the reason for this is that there is nothing there!

I bet Tophat has been making his plans under the assumption that I was busy building up PM all this time.

In other news, only half of my Mitchells flew off to hit Koepang, but those that did still got a couple of runway hits, so I'm happy. I'm resting the Mitchells again and next turn it will be the B-17s again. I'll keep this up as long as Tophat allows me to do so.

Elsewhere, one of my DDs chased a Japanese sub to the southeast of Hawaii, but neither the DD nor the sub got any shots off. But the sub is still around, as are three DDs, so I'm giving all of them another chance.

Dave Baranyi

(in reply to ADavidB)

Post #: 254

Again three bases lost... - 10/17/2005 5:26:06 AM

ADavidB

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May 14 -

This was another busy and successful day for Tophat. His forces finally captured Tjilitjap and the remaining Dutch forces there surrendered. His troops also captured Siador and Maumere. The Dutch base force in Maumere actually escaped to Rutens. They have no supply there so I'm sending some supply via submarine just to keep them going in the hope of forcing Tophat do decide to do something about them.

Tophat sent bombers and fighters to Port Moresby once more, but they were flying so high again that they didn't get any hits. I wonder how long it will be before Tophat does something a bit more serious about PM? One the other hand, will he bother?

Tophat did mention to me a while back that China was looking interesting to him again, and he has continued to pile up troops against my strong points. Now SIGINT has informed me that the 14th Tank Regiment is on its way to Tsingtao via ship. So Tophat is sending additional forces to China. Well, as far as I'm concerned, China is a sideshow, so I'm not going to react to this news, other than to firm up my main strategic plans for the future. The more troops that Tophat ties up in China the better things will be for me elsewhere once I start to move.

And with the latest big set of reinforcements now fully equipped with supplies I've started a major redeployment of them. In the Eastern Pacific this means moving more troops to the six bases in the Hawaiian Islands as well moving more troops to Alaska. In the Far East this means continuing the redeployment of troops throughout India and increasing my defense-in-depth strategy. The great thing about this is if Tophat decides not to attack India then by mid-1943 I'll have a great number of fully built-up forces in India that can be easily moved to coastal bases for transport elsewhere.

BTW - my air campaign against Koepang is proceeding nicely. The B-17 squadron did a nice bit of damage this turn. Now it is the Hudson squadron's turn to try to do better.

Dave Baranyi

(in reply to ADavidB)

Post #: 255

RE: Again three bases lost... - 10/17/2005 6:54:28 PM

Rob Brennan UK

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Good to see your not paranoid about india :) .. hehe .. sorry cheap shot there.

Anyway , just caught up reading this AAR and many thanks for taking the time and effort to do so. I for one appreciate it greatly since 1/2 my PBEMS halted due to the pilot and plane bug.

Good defensive play on both sides , losses are almost unbelieveably low for both sides. Tophat does like his shock attacks over 'normal' assaults. any idea why ? i'd assume that at singers deliberate assaults would have been better preperation over massed shock attacks.

anyway I look forward to hearing about your soerbaja defence

good Luck

_____________________________

sorry for the spelling . English is my main language , I just can't type . and i'm too lazy to edit :)

(in reply to ADavidB)

Post #: 256

RE: Again three bases lost... - 10/18/2005 12:10:39 AM

ADavidB

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From: Toronto, Canada
Status: offline

May 15 -

This wasn't a very successful turn for me. Submarine S-40 was caught by a Japanese ASW TF off of Maumere, hit with a number of depth charges and sank. That was the first sub that I've lost in quite some time. I forgot to stand down the Beaufort VIFs again and so only a few flew, although they did claim an Oscar destroyed on the ground. (I stood them down this turn.) My squadron of Hudsons flew as two separate groups against Koepang - the first missed the target and the second got a single runway hit. And my IL-4c attack on the airfields at Kiungahan was a fiasco as, despite good experience on the part of my bomber pilots, only a handful of Nates and Oscars were able to damage half of the squadron and drive the rest off.

On the other hand, things continue to go well for Tophat. He started to land troops at Babo in Western New Guinea and also at Munda in the central Solomons. As a curious aside to the Munda operation, a sub of mine that was just off of Kavieng was spotted by a Kate. I don't think that Tophat has based any Kates on land in that area, so I'm betting that there is a Japanese carrier TF somewhere around half way between Truk and Munda, waiting in case I send a TF against the landing forces at Munda. My reaction was the opposite - I ordered the Australian cruisers and destroyers to go south from Townsville for now, just in case Tophat decides to go raiding with his carriers. Tophat wrote, "Hmmm" in his email to me again this turn, so he is getting suspicious about something or another.

The most frustrating thing for me this turn was the situation in Eastern China where I have held a crossroads for several months. Tophat has slowly been building up forces against me there and suddenly this turn his bombardment caused 10 times more casualties to my Chinese troops than it has been doing in the past. He doesn't have any more artillery pieces there, and the ratio of his artillery to mine is still the same. But out of the blue the fortification of my troops dropped to zero from the 5 that it was at for quite some time! I've been rotating troops in an out to rest them up and let them rebuild, and I recently pulled out the HQ unit that I had there and replaced it with a new one. I am speculating that the fortification level was associated with the original HQ and when I removed the HQ the fortification reset itself to zero. Ugh! That throws my plans out the window. I'll probably have to pull back the rest of troops now to the base up the road and make a stand there.

In other news, Tophat build up the port at Singapore to level 9. That means that he now has a very good forward base from which to attack India if he chooses. Coincidently, the port at Bombay also finally reached level 9, so I have a back-up base where I can replenish and reload any of my ships. Speaking of replenishment and supplies, Tophat still hasn�t landed at Toboali - I guess that he isn't aware that the "horn of plenty" resides there.

Dave Baranyi

(in reply to Rob Brennan UK)

Post #: 257

RE: Again three bases lost... - 10/18/2005 12:29:58 AM

ADavidB

Posts: 2464
Joined: 9/17/2001
From: Toronto, Canada
Status: offline

quote:

ORIGINAL: Rob Brennan UK

Good to see your not paranoid about india :) .. hehe .. sorry cheap shot there.

Anyway , just caught up reading this AAR and many thanks for taking the time and effort to do so. I for one appreciate it greatly since 1/2 my PBEMS halted due to the pilot and plane bug.

Good defensive play on both sides , losses are almost unbelieveably low for both sides. Tophat does like his shock attacks over 'normal' assaults. any idea why ? i'd assume that at singers deliberate assaults would have been better preperation over massed shock attacks.

anyway I look forward to hearing about your soerbaja defence

good Luck

Hi Rob - thanks for the comments.

My strategy for India is pretty much the same as my strategy for Australia, Hawaii and the West Coast - and it is to be able to answer the following question: What do I do if Tophat comes in with three big, strong Divisions? How do I stop such an invasion? What forces do I need to have available? Can I stop a combined attack of Naval Air (up to and including the entire KB), Surface ships (including the Japanese BBs) and high morale/high experience troops including armor and artillery?

In India, South Eastern Australia and the West Coast my approach has been to set up a land defense in depth, with naval back up and enought LBA to match the KB. In Hawaii, because I am defending single bases except for the Big Island my strategy is to have more bases than Tophat can cover so that I can overwhelm him with air. I've also been keeping 4 full divisions along with armor and artillery in Pearl so that Tophat has to bring in at least 8 divisions to have a chance. (I also have three quarters of the Pacific Fleet in Pearl now because I feel that an attack on the West Coast is becoming a more remote possibility each day.)

As far as the "shock" attacks in Singapore go - that was because he kept on bringing fresh troops in - everytime they crossed the "river" there was another shock attack. Tophat ended up with over 160,000 combat troops in Singapore to take out my forces.

Soerabaja ought to be interesting. My troops in Singapore were starved out - they ended up with zero supplies. That's why they couldn't even shoot back at Tophat's air raids in the end. Soerabaja produces supplies and the amount keeps on increasing. I'm at a level 9 fortification now too. Either my troops will tie up Tophat for weeks, or they will fold like cards and surprise both of us. I have no idea how the Dutch forces will really do. I have put in the best leaders that I can, however, just to help things out.

As far as the low level of losses goes - that is deliberate on my part. I am refusing to lose forces if I can avoid it. I want to use my forces once they are strong and have proper equipment. We've all tried as the Allies to "stand and fight" in the early part of the war and the end results are never pretty against a good player. So instead of frittering away my forces I am holding them back and building them up. Time is on my side and I am using the actual historic US timetable as my guide. For example, the US invaded the Gilberts at the end of 1943 - too many of us try it in 1942. And the US invaded Guadalcanal after Japan was just about out of carriers - to invade when the KB is whole is asking for disaster. So I am holding off, building up and waiting for either Tophat to make a mistake or for my forces to reach the stage where I have the advantage.

Thanks again for the comments -

Dave Baranyi

(in reply to Rob Brennan UK)

Post #: 258

More land unit "fun"... - 10/18/2005 3:28:18 AM

ADavidB

Posts: 2464
Joined: 9/17/2001
From: Toronto, Canada
Status: offline

May 16 -

This was yet another good day for Tophat. First off, he put LR CAP over Koepang again and the Zeros hammered my B-25s. Normally I expect B-25s to hold their own, but the experience gap must be way too large, so I lost half of my squadron and they hit nothing. But I am sending the B-17s next turn anyway, albeit at a much higher altitude. I'm hoping that the Zeros will be fatigued and the B-17s may damage a few of them. The high experience of these Zeros makes it seem like the "Zero Bonus" is still in place even though it is the middle of May.

Tophat also sent bombers after the port at Lae - I guess that he noticed that I had docked the poor old Argo there. Fortunately, although there were Port hits the Argo wasn't touched, but I had to put her out to sea again anyway, despite not being able to repair her flotation damage.

Tophat's troops kept on landing at Munda this turn. The fact that he hasn't bothered to capture it yet suggests to me that he is landing support troops along with a combat unit. Tophat's troops did capture Babo this turn.

The situation that gave me the most heartburn was the battle of the crossroads between Homan and Kaifeng. Tophat's artillery bombardment resulted in even higher Chinese casualties this turn, despite the fact that I now had 5 good units there and had withdrawn the wiped-out HQ and infantry units. So I've decided that I have to give up the position and I ordered the remaining units to retreat to Homan.

Start Soap Box -

I've learned a painful lesson about the game mechanics here. Artillery bombardments are controlled by the relative quantities of troops on both sides, not by the relative quantities of artillery pieces. Also, and much more important, having good, full-strength units in a hex is much, much worse than having wiped-out units!

I first noticed this during the siege of Singapore where, despite Tophat bringing in more and more troops, my losses due to artillery bombardments kept on decreasing until they reached a very low steady state. At that point the HQ in Singapore had zero units left in it, as did the next couple of units. In China, when I allowed the HQs to decrease to near zero units, the effect of the Japanese bombardments also went down dramatically. But because I was swapping out wiped-out units with fresh units I was seeing sudden increases in casualties, until the swapped-in HQs lost most of their strength again.

An additional difference between the situation in China and that in Singapore was that I had no way to replace losses in Singapore, therefore the artillery induced losses reached a bottom and stayed there. But in China I have not only been swapping out wiped-out units but also allowing those units that are still in battle to receive replacements. Therefore, my losses have remained present even when I've maintained relative parity in total numbers.

So, in summary, if I leave "empty" HQs in a stack I can minimize the effect of enemy bombardments. If I "do the right thing" by withdrawing worn out units and replacing them with fresh, strong units I am "punished" by receiving orders of magnitude more casualties to the new units. Add to this my observation that removing the "top" unit in a stack of units in a non-base hex will result in all fortifications being wiped out and I can see a new, totally unrealistic (e.g., gamey) way to slow down offences by leaving "empty" HQs with replacements set to "off" in stacks of otherwise good infantry units.

It's too bad that the land mechanics of this game are so poorly done.

End Soap Box.

Dave Baranyi

(in reply to ADavidB)

Post #: 259

RE: More land unit "fun"... - 10/18/2005 4:17:13 AM

tabpub

Posts: 1019
Joined: 8/10/2003
From: The Greater Chicagoland Area
Status: offline

One of your observations is wrong: "taking the top unit from a stack" does not "wipe out" the fortifications there. Take the time to look at each individiual unit in a stack, in the upper left hand corner under the name it will state that units fortification level. The value that you see in the ground unit list screen is the approximate average of the units in the hex, which I believe is weighted as to the size of the units also. As in a Chinese division at fort 6 and a Chinese corps at fort 1 will result in an overall fort level of 1 or 2.

Now, one important thing to remember is not to order these units to move, even if you later change them back to defend later during that same orders phase. I seem to remember that the unit fortification went to zero, as soon as it was given orders. I might be wrong on this one

As to the other statement about the "empty" HQ, there are other potential things happening there. One, range of guns is a big factor. I have been on the end of many Japanese bombardments where he has more 'guns' shooting than I do, yet I suffer no casualties and he does. Why? I have 105 howitzers now, not the old 75's that you start with.
Two, when you as the attacker see your bombardments doing less you should....ATTACK. The targets that have been hit by the bombardment are now mainly disabled and will contribute virtually nothing to the defense and will be more easily destroyed in the attack. I will have to admit that this is still a "working theory" and have not had the opportunity to try it out myself.
Three, units that are low on supply that are doing bombardments don't do much; perhaps the bombardment units are not fully supplied and/or are disrupted/fatigued..

_____________________________

Sing to the tune of "Man on the Flying Trapeze"
..Oh! We fly o'er the treetops with inches to spare,
There's smoke in the cockpit and gray in my hair.
The tracers look fine as a strafin' we go.
But, brother, we're TOO God damn low...

(in reply to ADavidB)

Post #: 260

RE: More land unit "fun"... - 10/18/2005 4:31:21 AM

ADavidB

Posts: 2464
Joined: 9/17/2001
From: Toronto, Canada
Status: offline

quote:

ORIGINAL: tabpub

One of your observations is wrong: "taking the top unit from a stack" does not "wipe out" the fortifications there. Take the time to look at each individiual unit in a stack, in the upper left hand corner under the name it will state that units fortification level. The value that you see in the ground unit list screen is the approximate average of the units in the hex, which I believe is weighted as to the size of the units also. As in a Chinese division at fort 6 and a Chinese corps at fort 1 will result in an overall fort level of 1 or 2.

Now, one important thing to remember is not to order these units to move, even if you later change them back to defend later during that same orders phase. I seem to remember that the unit fortification went to zero, as soon as it was given orders. I might be wrong on this one

As to the other statement about the "empty" HQ, there are other potential things happening there. One, range of guns is a big factor. I have been on the end of many Japanese bombardments where he has more 'guns' shooting than I do, yet I suffer no casualties and he does. Why? I have 105 howitzers now, not the old 75's that you start with.
Two, when you as the attacker see your bombardments doing less you should....ATTACK. The targets that have been hit by the bombardment are now mainly disabled and will contribute virtually nothing to the defense and will be more easily destroyed in the attack. I will have to admit that this is still a "working theory" and have not had the opportunity to try it out myself.
Three, units that are low on supply that are doing bombardments don't do much; perhaps the bombardment units are not fully supplied and/or are disrupted/fatigued..

Ah, that is good information. I had assumed that the fortification was the fortification of the whole stack, not the individual units. So in essence this means that each unit is treated separately, not as a group. That's good to know. (And is consistant with the other goofy things in the ground combat routines. I don't like it nor agree with it, but now that I know how it works I'll figure out some way to work within it.)

Tophat has tried the "Attack" bit when the bombardment results go down, with unfortunate results on his part when only the HQ has been wiped out. If the rest of the units are in good shape and supplied the results are favorable to the defender. Never-the-less, the attacker is rarely "punished" for bad attacks as much as it should be.

Thanks for the comments - they were helpful and useful.

Dave Baranyi

(in reply to tabpub)

Post #: 261

RE: More land unit "fun"... - 10/18/2005 4:56:15 AM

tabpub

Posts: 1019
Joined: 8/10/2003
From: The Greater Chicagoland Area
Status: offline

You're welcome; good luck out there and keep your head down.

_____________________________

(in reply to ADavidB)

Post #: 262

Surprising some Zeros... - 10/18/2005 6:25:37 AM

ADavidB

Posts: 2464
Joined: 9/17/2001
From: Toronto, Canada
Status: offline

May 17 -

Tophat caught on to my withdrawal from the crossroads south of Homan and did a deliberate attack this turn. But only three of my units were still there, leaving the rest in reasonable shape as they withdraw. It is also fortunate for me that Tophat didn't have "shock attack - pursue" set instead of "deliberate attack". This gave me a bit of a breather space. In any event, with what I have learned I am changing my strategy in China a bit and hopefully I'll be able to tie Tophat down better now that I understand more of the stranger nuances of the ground game.

Elsewhere, Tophat's forces captured Djokjakarta this turn. He still hasn't sent any troops up to Soerabaja yet. He did send a Zero Daitai on a sweep over Soerabaja. He can't seem to believe that I won't send aircraft into there. Well, for one, I don't have many aircraft that can reach Soerabaja anymore. And anyway, why would I bother? It's not like I can suddenly put a group of Corsairs in there.

Tophat also sent a bunch of Nells and Zeros after Lae again. They hit the Port again, but that's okay, the Argo is long gone. I don't care if Tophat bombs Lae into the Stone Age - it will save me the trouble.

The one thing that did work out for me was my plan with the B-17s. As I expected, Tophat's Zeros were fatigued and the B-17 crews caught them as they should:

Day Air attack on Koepang, at 28, 77

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 5

Allied aircraft
PBY Catalina x 2
B-17E Fortress x 14

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 1 destroyed, 2 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
B-17E Fortress: 1 damaged

Aircraft Attacking:
11 x B-17E Fortress bombing at 25000 feet
3 x B-17E Fortress bombing at 25000 feet

Sure, the B-17s didn't do any damage on the ground, but they did let Tophat know that he doesn't totally own the air with his Zeros.

Dave Baranyi

(in reply to tabpub)

Post #: 263

RE: Surprising some Zeros... - 10/18/2005 2:43:14 PM

Speedysteve

Posts: 15998
Joined: 9/11/2001
From: Reading, England
Status: offline

Hi Dave,

I have been examining ground bombardments of late.

In one of my games vs Fabertong I have been examining a series of battles closely. We are locked at death's door at Myitkyina with roughly even forces - British vs Japanese. Both sides have separate artillery battalions. At the start of the battle both sides caused bombardments casualties in the 100-300 range. Now 3 weeks later both of us bombarding are lucky to cause 100 casualties. In time I can see this decreasing to almost 10-20 casualties per day.

Regards,

Steven

_____________________________

WitE 2 Tester
WitE Tester
BTR/BoB Tester

(in reply to ADavidB)

Post #: 264

RE: Surprising some Zeros... - 10/19/2005 12:09:24 AM

ADavidB

Posts: 2464
Joined: 9/17/2001
From: Toronto, Canada
Status: offline

quote:

ORIGINAL: Speedy

Hi Dave,

I have been examining ground bombardments of late.

In one of my games vs Fabertong I have been examining a series of battles closely. We are locked at death's door at Myitkyina with roughly even forces - British vs Japanese. Both sides have separate artillery battalions. At the start of the battle both sides caused bombardments casualties in the 100-300 range. Now 3 weeks later both of us bombarding are lucky to cause 100 casualties. In time I can see this decreasing to almost 10-20 casualties per day.

Regards,

Steven

That's the same effect that I've been seeing, except when I bring in fresh troops to replace the one or two worn out units the casualties skyrocket again.

The "immoral" of this story is - if you want to negate your opponent's bombardments, leave that HQ with "0" support units in it in the "stack" with the rest...

(What can I say, it's just the way the game works...)

Thanks -

Dave Baranyi

(in reply to Speedysteve)

Post #: 265

Where have all the bombers gone...? - 10/19/2005 2:20:59 AM

ADavidB

Posts: 2464
Joined: 9/17/2001
From: Toronto, Canada
Status: offline

May 18 -

This was a pretty quiet turn. I'm not certain as to the reason that Tophat's aerial attacks have dropped off so much recently:

- He's upgrading his planes?
- He can't train his pilots any higher?
- He's getting rained in everywhere just like me?

In any event, this has been particularly good for my troops in China who need a decent rest. What really surprises me though is that Tophat hasn't started a serious bombing campaign at Soerabaja. He sent a Zero Daitai on a sweep again today - "rotsa ruck" - he must be expecting me to be sending my P-40Bs in there to protect against his bombers. That, of course, makes no sense to me at all - I would just lose lots of P-40Bs. I'll let all that AA that I've accumulated at Soerabaja do the shooting for me.

My retreating land units are reaching Homan unmolested by Tophat. Homan is already at level 7 fortifications so the additional troops will only help to build that up. I'm also just gotten another good infantry unit into Hengchow, so the battle will drag out there even more.

SIGINT informed me that the Japanese 2nd Tank Regiment is still sitting at Mandalay. I guess he is leaving it there to "protect" the base. But I have no intention of sending troop back into Burma - in fact almost all of the combat troops that were in Burma are now in Asansol, resting up, lowering fatigue, building up, and becoming a very big part of my defensive plan for India. It hasn't taken long to accumulate well over a 1000 attack points there and it just keeps on growing. And that's with spreading out plenty of other combat units throughout the rest of India.

In other build-up news, Anchorage is now both a level 9 Port and a level 9 airfield. And the fortifications are over 6 and climbing. Once the forts hit 9 I'm sending my engineers "down the line" to help speed up the other bases. I've sent all Northern Command units to Anchorage so it is a force to be contended with now. If Tophat decides to move into the Aleutians I can cause him some serious grief, and if he doesn't, the Kuriles will look very tempting once the "warm" season comes around again in 1943.

Less than two weeks to go until June comes with its upgrades and new units. I'll finally get Spitfires. I'm going to husband the Spits in the same way that I am husbanding my other planes. I'll take my time changing the Brit Buffalos to Spits and make certain that I build up a replacement buffer. My buffer of P-40Es is starting to look nice and I only need 10 more P-40Bs to fill up my last group and then I will start to "bank" P-40Bs also. And, of course, it's nice to know that I have hundreds of P-39s "in the bank" along with even more F4F-4s. If those Dutchboys in Soerabaja can hold out another month I ought to be in very good shape for the Summer of 1942.

Dave Baranyi

(in reply to ADavidB)

Post #: 266

Waiting for the next shoe to drop... - 10/19/2005 5:46:48 AM

ADavidB

Posts: 2464
Joined: 9/17/2001
From: Toronto, Canada
Status: offline

May 19 -

This was another fairly quiet turn. Clouds showed up over almost every base that had a unit from either side. Tophat was able to occupy Madioen essentially by marching in to it - he didn't have to attack it. Tophat still hasn't attacked Soerabaja. He is keeping his troops away for now. He did send a Zero Daitai in on another sweep, but I still don't have any planes there other than a few of those ridiculously short-ranged Dutch scout biplanes.

If Tophat wants to keep things quiet for now, I am more than happy to oblige him. I don't get another good set of reinforcements for almost four weeks, so I'm pretty busy just organizing what I have.

One place that ought to see action soon is Homan. Tophat is sending a bunch of his troops up the road after the place. My troops have all gotten in behind the fortifications so they are preparing to make a stand there. I wonder if Tophat will try a quick shock attack when he arrives or if he will go back to artillery duels. I guess I'll find out soon enough.

Dave Baranyi

(in reply to ADavidB)

Post #: 267

RE: Again three bases lost... - 10/19/2005 7:53:39 PM

Rob Brennan UK

Posts: 3685
Joined: 8/24/2002
From: London UK
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Thanks for taking the time to reply. yes i'm paranoid about india too after reading Pzb's AAR .. as you know only too well :)

Is west coast really under threat ? as allied player i practically denude the place, even move the canadians down and send them to india through the back door. the canadian brigades aren't bad.

I dont think he'll come back to hawaii by now. but it never hurts to have a good defence which i see you are preparing very well imo.

Java will be interesting ( havnt read down yet so i may be out of kilter with events , this is one fast AAR :) ). I find that the dutch brigades are pretty good if defending huge walls. is ABDA hq based there and prepped for it ? she can be 9 hexes away and still help especially with a good commander. Its a unit that is worth saving if poss.

After Java its open season for Japan, many many options which i think you have well covered as you can given the limited troops this early.

Id forgotten about the river at singers , makes sense now. still its a daft rule once troops are over it. surely Matrix are aware of bridgeheads

regarding your comments on arty bombardments and i would assume a similar mechanic for ground attack a/c / i have a similar sit in mandalay but reversed when one jap div is a mess and the rest are fine and dandy, definately a problem. doent the manual say that the most dangerous/highest assault unit is targetted first? or am i imagining things. Kind of makes a mockery of bombing cut off units to deplete them. this really needs looking at, tweaking target priorities or just rotating troops round a stack would solve it partially.

Good luck with the war !

_____________________________

sorry for the spelling . English is my main language , I just can't type . and i'm too lazy to edit :)

(in reply to ADavidB)

Post #: 268

Hengchow holds... - 10/20/2005 12:21:02 AM

ADavidB

Posts: 2464
Joined: 9/17/2001
From: Toronto, Canada
Status: offline

May 20 -

For the past couple of game-weeks Tophat has been only using his dedicated artillery units in his daily bombardments of Hengchow. Of course, this is to rest up his infantry units for an assault. Well, the assault came today:

Ground combat at Hengchow

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 161637 troops, 1595 guns, 6 vehicles

Defending force 106579 troops, 569 guns, 0 vehicles

Japanese engineers reduce fortifications to 8

Japanese assault odds: 0 to 1 (fort level 8)

Japanese ground losses:
6026 casualties reported
Guns lost 152
Vehicles lost 4

Allied ground losses:
2270 casualties reported
Guns lost 38

So I've ordered my engineers to start to rebuild the fortifications. I'm satisfied with the results, but not with the aftermath - thanks to the brain-dead artillery rules my 500 remaining artillery pieces didn't fire against the Japanese because they were outnumbered 3 to 1.

In Eastern China Tophat is holding back his 14 units one hex south of Homan, which is all right with me because my units in Homan are continuing to settle into the base, increase the fortifications and take on replacements.

In the DEI Tophat still hasn't moved any ground units up to Soerabaja. Again this turn he sent a Zero Daitai on a sweep but again I didn't have any fighters there. Tophat then sent in a squadron of Nells at 26,000 feet. The Nells avoided my AA but also only got two runway hits. With all the engineers and supplies that I have in Soerabaja Tophat will need to do a lot better than that. It appears that he will be satisfied with trading off the time it takes to prepare his troops for the assault on Soerabaja. He commented that the Dutch troops aren't as good as the troops that defended Singapore, but the Dutch troops also have a couple of orders of magnitude more supply than did the troops in Singapore. In light of this I've decided to turn reinforcements back on for the Dutch, just to help drag things out.

In the Solomons Tophat is continuing to land troops at Munda. I presume that he is landing several units including a base force or else he would have captured the base sooner than this. Actually, this strategy of his is a bit short sighted - by dragging out the capture he allows his troops to continue to suffer casualties during landing.

I was doing some checking of "Air Balance" and found out that Tophat has brought a huge number of planes to Sorong, Amboina and Kendari. He obviously wants to keep me from starting a long-range bombing campaign in that region. But all that information succeeded in doing was to convince me that I want to keep those enemy planes in that region so that they aren't moved to other locations where they might get in my way.

Therefore, I ordered my B-17s off to hit Koepang again to "encourage" the idea in Tophat that I have an interest in the area. "Air Balance" says that I will have control of the air over Koepang, and even if I don't I'm still willing to take the chance because its been several days since my last air raid and any Japanese fighters on LR CAP will be even more fatigued. I've also sent my remaining Dutch recon biplanes in Java and Sumatra off to recon nearby enemy-controlled bases. Tophat won't know what I'm up to but he will likely assume that I mean to do something "aggressive" and try to react.

Dave Baranyi

(in reply to Rob Brennan UK)

Post #: 269

RE: Again three bases lost... - 10/20/2005 12:33:28 AM

ADavidB

Posts: 2464
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From: Toronto, Canada
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quote:

ORIGINAL: Rob Brennan UK

Thanks for taking the time to reply. yes i'm paranoid about india too after reading Pzb's AAR .. as you know only too well :)

Is west coast really under threat ? as allied player i practically denude the place, even move the canadians down and send them to india through the back door. the canadian brigades aren't bad.

San Francisco is closer to Tokyo than Karachi. If I were playing Japan and I noticed Canadian and West Coast units in the Far East I would be very, very tempted to:

a) Grab a couple of refueling/replenishing bases in Alaska, then

b) throw everything that I have after San Fran...

Hey, why not?

quote:

I dont think he'll come back to hawaii by now. but it never hurts to have a good defence which i see you are preparing very well imo.

The nice thing about building up Hawaii is that it provides the best place from which to stage future attacks. And maybe, if things work out, the Japanese player will make the mistake of coming back...

quote:

Java will be interesting ( havnt read down yet so i may be out of kilter with events , this is one fast AAR :) ). I find that the dutch brigades are pretty good if defending huge walls. is ABDA hq based there and prepped for it ? she can be 9 hexes away and still help especially with a good commander. Its a unit that is worth saving if poss.

I've got everybody in Soerabaja - they will defend to the death together. I only wish now that I had put a few extra units from the Philippines in there, like the Marines...

quote:

After Java its open season for Japan, many many options which i think you have well covered as you can given the limited troops this early.

"Open Season" is closing very quickly - it is nearly the end of May. There aren't any places that I care about defending that aren't well defended now. The longer Tophat waits to come to me, the greater his pain will be if he does come. And if he decides to defend the "historical" frontier then I will just build up until I can crush him at any given point. Time is on my side.

quote:

Id forgotten about the river at singers , makes sense now. still its a daft rule once troops are over it. surely Matrix are aware of bridgeheads

regarding your comments on arty bombardments and i would assume a similar mechanic for ground attack a/c / i have a similar sit in mandalay but reversed when one jap div is a mess and the rest are fine and dandy, definately a problem. doent the manual say that the most dangerous/highest assault unit is targetted first? or am i imagining things. Kind of makes a mockery of bombing cut off units to deplete them. this really needs looking at, tweaking target priorities or just rotating troops round a stack would solve it partially.

Good luck with the war !

Unfortunately, Land Combat/Land Movement is what it is and I don't expect to see any significant beneficial changes. My biggest concern is that no one changes things back to the way that they used to be...

Thanks for the comments -

Dave Baranyi

(in reply to Rob Brennan UK)

Post #: 270

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