Sailing in harms way: InHarmsWay (J) vs Andav (A) Scen2

[InHarmsWay]

The air war is going ok, not great as I have lost quite a few Zeros and bombers but something about cracking eggs to get an omlet... Here is the current total from tracker. I do not have a flavor for allied replacements rates, as I have never played them, but feel that until mid year, I should be able to keep this attrition up and the allies will be stretched.

Pilot wise, I have minted 43 aces at this point. Unfortunately of those 43, 7 are no longer with us, 3 are currently evading capture, and one is convalescing under the tender care of nurses. My favorite Saburo Sakai (84 exp, 74 air), is still without a kill despite being based at Diamond Harbor...

Also good to see ~58 B-17s have fallen to date.... I do not like them, or their longer legged friends the B-24s....

April 17 1942 total air losses.jpg (401.9 KiB) Viewed 464 times

[RangerJoe]

The HI and LI both work when enemy units are in the hex, resources and oil do not produce.

Don't destroy Chinese units if at all possible until Chungking and Chengtu are captured.

[PaxMondo]

...
Don't destroy Chinese units if at all possible until Chungking and Chengtu are captured.

Yeah, the preference is to pin them down using a small LCU and then 1E bombers to train up your pilots. This will use supply though, so you're trading supply for pilot exp. Kinda hard to avoid that, but you do want to be aware of it.

[PaxMondo]

The air war is going ok, not great as I have lost quite a few Zeros
....

My only comment here is your Ops losses. 38%. More than any other loss type, this is the one that you have the most control over. It is also the one that takes a lot of playing time experience. It's all about the ranges and % rest that you use for your missions and the air base size and Air Support devices. You take those 4 items and balance against the tempo that you need to keep the allies on their heels.

Tempo is the MOST important. But once you get that figured out, then you work on getting your bases and units better choreographed. Get them identified earlier and move into place on time. A day or two late each time adds up. Finally, you optimize your ranges and rest%. Ranges are tied back to the base locations and how much you build them up.

When I can control my ops losses to less than 15%, I start to feel good. Under 10%? Yeah, I blow the froth off a schooner or 6 ...

Herb (1275psi) was one of the best and pioneered a lot of this. Read his AAR's. Sprinkled within his witty text are the secrets to his aviation prowess. He was routinely able to launch large, well-coordinated air raids with devastating results and minor losses.

[Sardaukar]

Flying into Extended ranges can easily double your Ops losses if unlucky.

This is especially bad for long-range Japanese naval attack and search planes.

Even as Allies I try not to fly air searches further than normal range.

[InHarmsWay]

Gentle readers!, great points there on ops losses and such. I have been away for a bit, will do a thorough review of flying fatigue levels and such in the next turn. I had not paid much attention to that till now, so welcome advice!

[BBfanboy]

Just to be clear, Plane fatigue is more important in Ops losses than Pilot fatigue. There are usually more pilots than planes so they get a break once in a while. I don't have to push my planes hard so I set them to rest (by % of the unit's plane total) if their fatigue is 13 or higher. I bring out the whip if there is a juicy target that needs max effort.

[PaxMondo]

... Plane fatigue is more important in Ops losses than Pilot fatigue. ...

I would agree with this ... %rest, AF size, AV support, plane SR, mission range ... all things that play into plane fatigue.

Note: many of these also impact pilot fatigue. so fixing plane fatigue will also address some of the pilot fatigue as well.

[InHarmsWay]

Plane fatigue as well! Is there no end to my learning curve! Turn has been returned, will run it, and provide an update shortly. I have been stymied in India, and feel I have started too many fronts for my own good. Hoping the allies crack somewhere!

[PaxMondo]

Plane fatigue as well! Is there no end to my learning curve!

Gary initially, and then the Henderson devs did their utmost to capture ALL of the variables pertaining to every facet of war in this game. so, to answer your question ... not really. I've been playing this a VERY long time, and I still realize and/or learn something new all the time .... and the air model was one of the foci of the AE expansion and those devs were VERY focused and VERY expert. ALL HAIL the ELF!!!

[InHarmsWay]

Here is the current status of Operation Darjeeling Tea... I have isolated Burma from supplies, and am closing in on Myikvina. I took the dot base NW of Myikvina a week ago with para's, hoping to force retreats back towards China. There is a dot base SW of Myitkvina that I hope he retreats to. To the north of Calcutta is a mess, he has been moving everything here, and I face about 5-6 divisions, of which ~3 are US/UK / Aus divisions. Until I can whittle away his bombers, it is hard to move in the open here. Good news is Tojos will go into production May 1st (came close to getting them late April... oh well. I think a good fraction of my ops losses have been here as I have pushed all the planes had. Note however, that I now toned down alot of training (was 100%) to 80% as plane and pilot fatigue was in the 30's. Thanks all for that advice!

I now have 2+ divisions in Colombo, will attack again once they are sufficiently recovered. KB is moving to the west of Ceylon as well. I am hoping to loiter off NW India for a bit to allow me to take the initiative back in India. This was a mistake I made in the initial attack. I should have taken KB onward to Karachi and isolated the sub continent from the start for several weeks.. hindsight and all here. Adm Wa literally beat me by ~2 days both in my initial attack at Calcutta, and again in my attack to isolate by attacking Howah.

I am starting to think about going elsewhere in the pacific with a division or two, as he must not have much in the way of defenses out there with everything I have seen in India.

April 25 1942 India.jpg (735.56 KiB) Viewed 282 times

[InHarmsWay]

Elsewhere in the Pacific:

Java: I have ~850 AV, just put in a deliberate attack here. Last attack did not go well, and have been bombarding and bombing for the past month. Hopefully we will see improvement here as it would free up ~5 Rgmts of infantry.

Darwin: hunkering down here until I land more supplies. been bombing units running around in the outback, and he has done the same. I am hoping his supplies will continue to whittle away.

PM. I have ~350 AV here, will attack shortly. Also have landed the 65th Bgde in Buna and it is marching overland. I felt a landing again at PM was too risky with KB elsewhere. All other bases on Papua have been taken.

China: continuing to whittle down his supplies, recently have taken Nanning and Kweilin so now the Chinese only have a few bases generating supplies (northern plains, Kweiyang, Kunming, and the ones on the road to burma...)

[RangerJoe]

For your training, setting the range to 0 should also help reduce the fatigue.

[BBfanboy]

InHarmsWay: I have been stymied in India, and feel I have started too many fronts for my own good. Hoping the allies crack somewhere!

This is WAD. IRL, after the first 6 months Japan did not have the resources to attack or defend everywhere at the same time. That is why their war was a series of operations where they concentrated the power they needed and all the supporting elements (like TFs of supply and KB for temporary air superiority) and pushed hard for a while. When the Allies countered them they either dug in or withdrew, but they always went elsewhere to try and make gains where the Allies were weakest. Eventually it was the Allies who could be strong everywhere and the Japanese were hard-pressed to defend their too-large perimeter. The game developers tried to capture that ebb and flow in the game design.

[InHarmsWay]

Ground attacks went in at Soerabaja: Results look promising as forts dropped to 2. Will rest a week or so and then shock attack. bombardments have consistently resulted in a couple destroyed squads and a couple disabled so he will not repair a quick as me. Air attacks on the base have slowed his fort rebuilding.

Ground combat at Soerabaja (56,104)

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 27103 troops, 338 guns, 138 vehicles, Assault Value = 867

Defending force 27267 troops, 341 guns, 156 vehicles, Assault Value = 854

Japanese adjusted assault: 832

Allied adjusted defense: 639

Japanese assault odds: 1 to 1 (fort level 3)

Japanese Assault reduces fortifications to 2

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

Japanese ground losses:
4704 casualties reported
Squads: 25 destroyed, 408 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 34 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 37 (1 destroyed, 36 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
1846 casualties reported
Squads: 22 destroyed, 217 disabled
Non Combat: 2 destroyed, 47 disabled
Engineers: 1 destroyed, 4 disabled
Guns lost 32 (1 destroyed, 31 disabled)

Assaulting units:
4th Infantry Regiment
148th Infantry Regiment
16th Infantry Regiment
11th Infantry Regiment
24th Infantry Regiment
42nd Infantry Regiment
41st Infantry Regiment
91st Naval Guard Unit
2nd Hvy.Artillery Regiment
48th Field Artillery Regiment
8th Ind.Hvy.Art. Battalion
25th Army
11th Ind.Art.Mortar Battalion
4th Ind.Hvy.Art. Battalion
2nd Ind.Hvy.Art. Battalion
5th Field Artillery Regiment
21st Medium Field Artillery Battalion

Defending units:
1st KNIL Regiment
Prajoda Garrison Battalion
Roodenburg Battalion
Van Altena Battalion
6th KNIL Regiment
Artilleriecommando Coastal Gun Battalion
1st Regt Cavalerie
Barisan KNIL Regiment
Afdeling Ritman
Tjilatjap KNIL Battalion
Lijfwacht Cav Sqn
4th KNIL Regiment
3rd KNIL Landstorm Battalion
2nd KNIL Landstorm Battalion
Marinier Battalion
2nd KNIL Regiment
Makassar Garrison Battalion
MLD
Commandement Marine
4th KNIL Landstorm Battalion
ABDA
3rd KNIL AA Battalion
Soerabaja Base Force

[InHarmsWay]

The Port Moresby did not go as well, at least there were quite a few disabled allied squad. I failed to drop the forts and will rest. the 65th Bgde will be there in ~10 days so will attack again once it arrives. Daily bombing of PM out of Rabaul will continue.

Ground combat at Port Moresby (98,130)

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 10073 troops, 60 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 392

Defending force 6647 troops, 57 guns, 38 vehicles, Assault Value = 234

Japanese adjusted assault: 291

Allied adjusted defense: 803

Japanese assault odds: 1 to 2 (fort level 3)

Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), forts(+), leaders(+), disruption(-), fatigue(-)
morale(-), experience(-)
Attacker:

Japanese ground losses:
669 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 63 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 7 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

Allied ground losses:
259 casualties reported
Squads: 2 destroyed, 40 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Engineers: 1 destroyed, 2 disabled

Assaulting units:
Guards Mixed Brigade
52nd Infantry Brigade
1st Raiding Regiment

Defending units:
30th Australian Brigade
Port Moresby Brigade
15th RAAF Base Force

[InHarmsWay]

The main attack continued in China this last turn. Still at 1-2 odds, but feeling better here as the actual casualties seemed better. I expect he is running out to supplies. I am happy fighting here as the stacking limit is 50k and he routinely has ~60-65k in hex. I will try another attack in a week, that may do it, or at least set the IJA up for two attacks in a row. With him having a (-) for supplies, I may attack quicker if I see some units moving out. Supplies for me are flowing into Hankow.

April 27 1942 China.jpg (849.79 KiB) Viewed 216 times

For those gentle readers that like the details... , here is the combat report for the main attack:


Ground combat at 78,49 (near Chihkiang)

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 46343 troops, 412 guns, 823 vehicles, Assault Value = 1879

Defending force 36483 troops, 142 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 893

Japanese adjusted assault: 1277

Allied adjusted defense: 1468

Japanese assault odds: 1 to 2

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

Japanese ground losses:
1610 casualties reported
Squads: 9 destroyed, 158 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 25 disabled
Engineers: 1 destroyed, 10 disabled
Guns lost 6 (1 destroyed, 5 disabled)
Vehicles lost 121 (2 destroyed, 119 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
1417 casualties reported
Squads: 24 destroyed, 258 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 12 disabled
Engineers: 1 destroyed, 8 disabled

Assaulting units:
23rd Tank Regiment
13th Tank Regiment
61st Infantry Brigade
11th Tank Regiment
15th Tank Regiment
116th Division
10th Tank Regiment
9th Tank Regiment
17th Ind.Mixed Brigade
5th Tank Regiment
6th Division
9th Armored Car Co
35th/A Division
2nd Ind. Mountain Gun Regiment
14th Medium Field Artillery Regiment
15th Ind.Medium Field Artillery Regiment
52nd Ind.Mtn.Gun Battalion

Defending units:
60th Chinese Corps
46th Chinese Corps
30th Chinese Corps
2nd Chinese Corps
33rd Chinese Corps
88th Chinese Corps

[PaxMondo]

InHarmsWay: I have been stymied in India, and feel I have started too many fronts for my own good. Hoping the allies crack somewhere!

This is WAD. IRL, after the first 6 months Japan did not have the resources to attack or defend everywhere at the same time. That is why their war was a series of operations where they concentrated the power they needed and all the supporting elements (like TFs of supply and KB for temporary air superiority) and pushed hard for a while. When the Allies countered them they either dug in or withdrew, but they always went elsewhere to try and make gains where the Allies were weakest. Eventually it was the Allies who could be strong everywhere and the Japanese were hard-pressed to defend their too-large perimeter. The game developers tried to capture that ebb and flow in the game design.

Lotta truth here and every IJ players should be aware of this. As '42 moves along, the IJ initial advantage slowly degrades. Allied morale and exp improve, they get upgrades and a LOT more units. What worked easily in Feb 42, by May'42 will result in complete disaster.

You are approaching May1 42 ... that is a big date for me in the game. at this point:
1. I need to have my economy sorted. All of my shortfalls are fixed, and I am well on my way with my strategic economic plan goals. This means HI, NavSY, RepSY expansions.
2. AC RnD plan should all be in place and my current production goals should be met.
3. VEH expansion done.
4. HI defenses completed and garrisons in place. Inner area defenses set and garrisoned with forts and bases still building.
5. NavSearch and Recon in place. Naval tripwire TF's in place. All fully staffed.
6. Initial expansion goals met (DEI, PI, Malay, etc).
7. 2nd expansion goal should be well under way with a successful end in sight. Generally, but not always, this is CHI.
8. Prep for 3rd expansion goal should be starting soon. This could be IND, SOV, or OZ. Any of them are viable targets.

Hopefully, this helps ....

[InHarmsWay]

PaxMondo, you are correct. May 1 was my date as well to see where I was and if it was working. Adm Wa is more experienced than I and from what I can tell, he has stymied in India. I am hoping to give him a better game than last time!!! It will be hard to gain the initiative now and I expect I will need to start a slow withdrawal back into burma, in a few weeks. I first want to see how well the new Tojos do and if I can wrest air superiority from him for a bit. Here are a couple of thoughts:

1. I have his attention here in India, and most of his initial land combat units. Also with the Tojos just coming on production now, I hope to continue to attrition his planes. Hopefully his attention remains here while I do finish the perimeter.

2. I still want to kill off his land units and devices if possible so will try and at least squish the units currently trapped behind Calcutta. Ceylon is another area I want to complete my conquest of. If I do that, between the bases of Ceylon and Port Blair, I should be able to perform a dunkirk if needed in the next few months.

3. I hope to take Soerabaja in a few days, that will free up ~6 rgmts. These will go to completing the initial defensive position.

4. Navy wise, I am doing well, only lost 3 CLs, and 5 DDs to date, while sinking a CV, CVL, 2xBBs, BC, 10xCLs, and 10 DDs (per Tracker). I do not want to get crazy at this point, now that the better allied CV based planes will be showing up.

5. China is coming along gradually, and I do feel I will be able to complete the conquest by October? Supplies must be running low as I have made an effort here to as quickly as possible shut off most of the supply generators he has.

6. Plane research is much better than last game, still have made many mistakes. However from what I can tell, I will have the A6M3a sometime in June, and hoping to have the A6M5 in July/August. That will help for KB. Tojos just came on production. A bunch of factories are focused on Franks (11), Georges (12), and Ki83s (13 factories). 6 factories are for SAM's, but I may bump that up to 7 or 8... KB losses have been light so I had not needed to expand Kate or Val production as all, and have been focused on Jill and Judy. Would really like to have both of those well before we have our first CV battle.

7. Darwin is also an area I would like to conquer in a few weeks. Bombardment TFs are hitting it. Landing an Army HQ in a week or so, along with much needed supplies before I attack again. Finishing off Soerabaja will help here.

Just my initial thoughts. I like your timeline and points above as well! Also excuse my stupidity, what is WAD?

[RangerJoe]

WAD = Working As Designed.

Not stupidity, ignorance (not to be derogatory) but rather you did not know the term.