PzB vs Wobbly - Clash of Steel

[Nikademus]

thats a wholelotta dead pilots. [X(]

[PzB74]

Let's take a look at the defenses on the Bonins:

In all some 90k+ troops defends the 2 islands with 50k on Bonin and 40k on Iwo.
I'm in the process of bringing in 10k troops to Iwo Jima, Andy have to sink them within 2 days if he
is to prevent this.

I'm in the process of moving 1 Air HQ to Iwo and 1 Army HQ to Bonin Jima by air.
Bonin Island is within the 9 hex radius of the large Imperial HQ at Tokyo and should benefit from this.

Both islands have mountain terrain, and this will give us a 4x defense modifier, isn't this right?
Since non of the islands are atolls, Andy doesn't have to shock attack.

I've moved my remaining ML's to Bonin and there are now some 1000 mines there. Will place mines in Iwo Jima tomorrow.
We got an MLE present for resupply. A dozen subs are also enroute with mines.

Supply situation:

Both islands got plenty of fuel for our ships and Bonin Jima has some 61k supplies. More than enough.
The supply situation at Iwo Jima was critical 2 days ago and was as low as 2k. Today there is 21k with another 35k enroute
or unloading. Therefore I think supply will not be an issue, especially since we seem to be outside of enemy LBA range.

The brave defenders of Wake Island denies Andy the use of a lvl 4 AF that could have cost us dearly.
Maybe this crucial factor will be decisive?

Navy:

I'm moving all my ships, except some cripples, to Iwo Jima. This includes a large replenishment convoy, which I hope
Andy's aviatiors will mistake for carriers, as wel las 3 CVE's that provide a small naval attack capacity, including 9 kamikaze Zekes. There are dozens of asw vessels, msw's and transports unloading supplies. Tomorrow a large convoy with another 20 ships will arrive and start unloading troops.

The navy has its main battle fleet at Iwo Jima:
Yamato
Musashi
Muts
2 CA
1 CL
8 destroyers

The Fast Battlecruiser fleet with
2 Kongo Class battlecruisers
1 CA
1 CL
9 destroyers

Our last 3 operational battleships will support the KB and provide far cover.
The KB has been divided into the Main Body with 4 carriers:

Taiho
Zuikakau
Shokaku
Katsuragi

The Screening Force consist of 3 cvls:
Ryuho
Chiyoda
Ibuki

I am willing to sacrifice a lot of these ships and throw everything at Andy in order to foul his invasion plans.
100's of ac are being transferred from China. For now I only need fighters... Bombers can't make it through the Uber CAP for now.
If Andy lands at Bonin he will be in range of Oscar and bombers from the Home Island, and if he lands on Iwo Jima, he will be in range of Oscars and bombes from the Marianas! [:)]

Andy's biggest challenge will be:
1. Weather
2. How he distributes his fighters for CAP/Escort duties and his bombers from Ground attack/Naval attack.
3. His ability to land enough troops to capture the islands before he has to withdraw his carriers as he can't replace the
lost Hellcats and their precious pilots.

[pauk]

hm... i was hoped that at least 1000 AP are on those islands.... 500-700 AP can ruin Allied plans on the atolls but i afraid that this won't be enough for loong defence on the islands... i hope that i'm wrong...

re Miri air attack... do you think that losses of your ac is worth of few allied men disabled worth it? Perhaps you should stop attacks for few days and wait until enemy LR CAP is fatigued.....


oh, yes, tell Andy that he owe me a turn....

[PzB74]

At first I thought the Bonins were atolls and didn't want to put more troops on them.
By now I have lots of reserves moving in.

The question is whether Andy can keep his CV's around long enough to unload enough troops.
He will be needing more than a 100k men. The truth is that if I place 100k troops on an island, nothing prevents Andy from landing 300k.
This happened at both Wake and Marcus - I used as many troops as I found 'realistic' and Andy used as many troops as he needed to capture
the islands.

Must admit that I didn't think Andy would go via Wake, Marcus and to the Bonins.
Seems like madness without LBA support and his precarious pilot/ac position..he seems intent on forcing a victory no matter the cost.
Winning IS very important to Andy!

I have stopped attacks on Miri, just had to inflict fatigue and disruption as these doesn't heal quickly in a malaria
base without supplies. I consider Miri safe for now. I'm only using air groups that have been assigned to this theater.

Iwo Jima: 4.5 miles long and 2.5 wide
All of the Bonin islands are 28.82 km2...

Not much more than atolls, dunno what makes them different from Wake!?

[ChezDaJez]

Not much more than atolls, dunno what makes them different from Wake!?

Atolls normally have lagoons and coral reefs. Islands don't normally have those. Atolls also don't have mountainous terrain. There are exceptions to the reef issue though.

Chez

[Vetamur]

Wake is a proper atoll..three small islands that really are not "improvable".. Iwo Jima is a proper island, with depth of soil, a "mountain".. etc. Atolls merely jut out of the water.. islands have proper mass and elevation to them.  I would guess if you really serious about it you could put 60,000 men on Iwo Jima..dug in like the garrison ended up like in RL.  On Wake there is only the surface to put them on and no terrain really.. and its really actually 3 small atolls..
 
Anyway..good luck to you. I must admit that like Pauk I was a bit surprised to see the total assault point value you have their but understand why. 
 
What do the air groups on your carriers look like?
 
Its really coming down to the deciding battle now... I feel this odd nervousness.. lol.
 
 

[FeurerKrieg]

Indeed, exciting stuff here. While the AV would benicer to be higher, I think that level 9 fort + mountain terrain has got to help a lot. I'll be watching intently as ever - this AAR is such a great tool for those of us still in the early days of the Empire.

[Nikademus]

I think the troop count is low, but then again, stack too much and Andy will just invade something else unless he's trying to build a B-29 base right off your front porch.

[FeurerKrieg]

ORIGINAL: Nikademus

I think the troop count is low, but then again, stack too much and Andy will just invade something else unless he's trying to build a B-29 base right off your front porch.

Is there any other reason to invade Iwo? I had always assumed that was its primary purpose - a B-29 capable airbase.

[pauk]

my reasoning is following...

if i must give up from certain area it is better to give up from the Marians than Bonins.... Bonins are just to close to Home islands....

but then again, i'm not sure yet (fortunatly) if such reasoning can buy you a month or so

[PzB74]

It's hard to tell, but even 600 AP will be difficult to dislodge with 9 forts and mountain defense bonus.
Also remember that my transports and air lifts are capable of increasing the total by xx%!
Should be at least 3-4 days before enemy landings can begin. As soon as I know which island Andy is going for it will
be easier to prioritize.

Only Iwo Jima can base B-29s, Bonin is a size 4 AF - Andy says he will not operate them from anything less than a size 5 field.

The Bonins is a very important place and I will use all the resources at my disposal to repulse Andy.
Only time will show if it's enough [:-]

What I'm unsure about is whether I should risk loading several troop convoys and just sending them towards the Bonins.
Could be death sentence, but it's also a possibility that some will get through. What do you think!?

[Nikademus]

600 will be indeed....i had enough trouble @ Saipan recently with 3 divisions spearheading!

[Speedysteve]

Unless he uses 13 like I did on Saipan. Taken within a week of landing against 800AP..............
 
Can you account for most of his Divisions John?

[pauk]

ORIGINAL: PzB
Could be death sentence, but it's also a possibility that some will get through. What do you think!?

well, you can always load those men on transports and wait if the opportunity shows.... in "normal" circumstances (Allied CVs near Bonins)i would't sent them to certain death, but perhaps Andy will give you few days while he repelnish his CVs with fuel and pilots....

[PzB74]

I have a lot of troops really, if I only could have them all in the right place...

Well, it's the last 2 days of sailing that is dangerous.
But if I split the convoys up over several hexes, it should be possible to sneak in some reserves.
Annoying thing is that I will release a crack div from Shanghai in just a few days, got 3150 of the 3300 points
needed to release it. 99/99 exp/morale [8D] It has been prepping for Iwo for quite some time.

Fast transport is another option!

[AdmNelson]

Can you fly enough in with airtranports?

[Naskra]

PzB, your opponent has made some miscalculations, but he is by no means a fool.  If he his coming to the Bonins,
be assured he is bringing enough firepower to win.  He knows the terrain is mountainous that you will have level 9
forts.  He will not expect to be facing anything less than 600AV pts and possibly a good deal more.  Both islands
need to be held; if Bonin falls, Iwo will follow - it's just a ferry ride away under air cover. I regard these islands
as vital to the long-term defense of Japan.  2000AV on each of them might bring stalemate, if you can muster it.
I suggest you do not reinforce if you cannot reach a level near that number.

[PzB74]

We got an agreement that we won't use more air transports than the AF size x 25.
So that's 4x25 for Bonin and 5x25 for Iwo. If Andy bogs down it will allow us to bring in substantial reinforcements.
If we also use fast transports, I could bring in even more.

You're right Naskra, but you're assuming thaT Andy will be able to land all his troops safely.
I'm planning to use the Combined Fleet, down to the last barge - to disrupt him.

This far Andy has been able to use heavy bombers to suppress his targets. This time he only got his modern
battleships. If he hits too many mines and slugs it out with Yamato et al he may be running out of heavy hitters.

But as I've already stated, the most important thing is to shoot down Hellcats. When Andy runs low he has no replacements
and will have to withdraw. This is my first goal. If he only close one island we will be able to tax him heavily, and if he tries to close
down both, he may end up closing neither [8D]

[Naskra]

I like the way you talk -- "last barge", last oar, last sailor. Go sink 'em!

[Nemo121]

And don't forget that your BBs and CAs have absolutely huge capacity when used as Fast Transports. I've loaded them up as Fast Transports, carrying an entire regiment in 3 BBs and a couple of CA escorts, and then switched them to bombard on the way to the target. Set at Patrol/No Retire they go to the target, bombard it and then can be told to unload all their troops the next day before running like hell for home.
 
Still, 125 transports ( particularly if you use Emilys for this) allow you to bring an awful lot of troops in quickly... I think though that not mining Iwo Jima was a mistake and if Andy is going anywhere I imagine it will be Iwo Jima. If I were you I'd start flying troops in there now. If you have guessed wrong then, so what? The crucial thing is to get the AV up ASAP. Once his CVs retreat from the scene you can always send some transports into Iwo to fly these fragments into Bonin if you guess wrong.