the pacific in flames - me against marky

[dennishe]

Japanese warships are back in the Hawaiian waters. An invasion fleet is approaching Johnston Island pretty rapidly. It is protected by a Japanese surface fleet. My spotters have been following it for several days now. No carriers are reported, but KB cannot be far. The TF in the north of JI consists mainly of destroyers and is probably on a ASW mission. Anyway, since the fighting is going to take place close to my ports and far from his ports I decided to launch a carrier attack. A TF under command of Halsey with the Enterprise, Saratoga and Lexington is underway to Johnston Island to intercept the invasion force, strike it and run. The Yorktown, following a transport delivering a 4th infantery division and lots of supply to PH, just arrived and will be used as a backup. I already put my B17 BG on a ground attack mission with JI as a target. Nice suprise for the Japanese invaders. Things really get interesting now.........

[dennishe]

Things went horribly bad today. [:@]
(1) I withdrew my troops from Clark field to Bataan. In the process my large amounts of supplies (about 17k) was left behind at Clark. In addition my blokkade runners are not coming through anymore. Seems like Bataan is in trouble after all.
(2) My spotters, that were following the Japanese surface fleet near JI for days now, forgot to mention that there were six carriers. How can you miss that all this time? Anyway, a massive carrier battle followed, in which two of my carriers sank and the other one will sink within days. Halsey is dead. My USN carrier fleet consists pretty much out of the Yorktown. There is only one operational BB, which is still in Seattle. I got some hits on KB though. Hiryu was hit by two bombs and has heavy damage. Zuikaku is hit by a torpedo and has heavy damage. Akagi and a the Shokaku are on fire after bomb hits. Hopefully, they will sink or be in the drydocks for at least a year. For them it is a long way home. Does Kwajalein has a big enough port to stabilize the damage on carriers? Anyway, I will send some subs there. In addition, I have more than 10 subs following KB, to put a torpedo (hopefully one that works) in a crippled CV. On the bright side, a Dutch bomber put a bomb on one of the CVLs of the miniKB. I think it is still operational though.

Tomorrow, PH will be reinforced by amongst other an aviation regiment. I will need this, since JI was captured and Betty and Nell bombers are bombing PH, with Zero cover. I need the aviation regiment to keep my fighters in the air and to build up the new P39 and P40E fighter groups. In additions my B17s that are bombing JI need repairs. At least 3 AA regiments are on the way. All troops that were sceduled to the south and southwest pacific will go to PH instead. I do not want to loose PH! OZ is on its own for now. I will try to reinforce it from Karachi. If Marky shows no further interest in PH, I will move some troops south again.

[John 3rd]

I wouldn't despair too much.  YOu have knocked out a number of his CV.  Even if they don't sink, they will be laid up for a while.  That will give you time to get Wasp and slowly rebuild the air arm. 

Time is on your side!

Without his KB, the odds are you should be able to stop a further thrust against Hawaii.

[dennishe]

Well, there are no limping CVs. I'm not sure whether I did enough damage to keep these CVs out of action for a long period of time. If there only slightly damaged, they are back in action in two months. In addition he has several CVs that are operationable, while I have only the Yorktown and some British CVs.
Time is indeed on my side, but until I have replaced the lost carriers, he can go wherever he want, without the possibility of my carriers treatening him. It will costs me about a year, when all CVLs and the Essex become available, when I can make a fist against KB again. He can do a lot of damage until then.
Since the carrier battle, Marky didn't launch any bombardement strikes on PH. It gave me the time to build up my fighter strenght at PH and now I'm pounding JI with two B17 BGs. He still has Zero's defending the island. Perhaps I did just enough damage to KB to prevent capture of PH.

[Canoerebel]

Most of us Allied players have been exactly where you are.  Do not...repeat, do not, succumb to the urge to despair.  His ability to go where he wants and do what he wants is limited even if your CVs are out of action and his aren't.  He has to be wary of Allied LBA.  That's your real "fist."  Until you get more CVs, just be sure to keep those you have now far, far from harm's way, and be thankful whenever the KB shows up, because then you know where it is.  Eventually, your LBA will grow mighty (in late '42) and you'll want to be able to use it in New Guinea, the Solomons, and - if he doesn't take it from you - NW Australia and Timor.  Do what you can, and within reason, to protect your main bases there (Sydney, Auckland, perhaps Pago Pago, and Darwin if your opponent lets you keep it) and to have enough of a presence at other important bases (NE Australia, Noumea, Luganville, Suva, Palmyra ) to keep him from picking them off easily.  Another important task is to remember that the Allies will need vast amounts of fuel and supplies in the right places when they go on the offensive.  Work like crazy getting these to New Zealand and Australia from the US! So you'll need to build up some depots on the route - probably Bora Bora, maybe Raratonga and Tongarapu and Christmas Island. By mid- to late-42 the Allies are getting so many base forces, engineers, and aircraft in the US that you'll have trouble transporting them to the "front." Do your best and don't squander transports in the meantime, because APs are worth their weight in gold.

[dennishe]

Since Marky and I are not using houserules there is always plan B!
Bombard Japan on massive scale with my B29's from Russia as soon as they enter the war. I only have to hold on till then.... [:D]
Anyway, I did hit KBs refuelling TF pretty bad. There are still TK's sinking every day. They are not so precious as carriers, but the Japanese need each and any one of them.

[dennishe]

Marky has a miniKB patrolling of the coast of Bataan. My blokkade runners are not coming through anymore. The Philipinian Army is certainly doomed now. This is not necessarily a bad thing. Marky used miniKB for all his invasions. Now it is occupied in the Phillipins he has either to pospone further invasions or do them without aircover. This even may give me the time to bring in troops from India or Australia to reinforce Java or Timor.

[dennishe]

It is halfway februari. Nothing much has happened the last few days.

Fortress China: Most of the troops have been withdrawn to Kweiyang, Kunming, Yunan, Chungking and Chengtu. Ichang fell. My reinforcements were too late to make a difference. Troops from Ichang and Sian will retreat to the Chungking area. Marky now has to attack huge Chinese forces at well fortified bases instead of splintered units. The first Dakota I squadron has been installed in Ledo and is transfering supplies to Chengtu. The Burma road is still open. The Chinese divisions have reinforced the British troops in Mandalay, where the Japanese advance will be stopped (hopefully).

Phillipins: Bataan is still holding on. MiniKB is gone and a new convoy is unloading in Bataan. The harbor is unfortunately way too small to unload the cargo fast enough. Supplies are consumed faster than unloaded (reminder: next time withdraw to Manilla instead of Bataan).

Pearl Harbor: I stopped bombarding Johnston Island. Marky has over 100 Zero's stationed there. I simply loose too many bombers without a fighter escort (about 2 bombers for 1 zero). Marky has also many Nells and Betty's stationed at JI. Also he has to do without a fighter escort, since I haven't seen a Zero over PH. My fighter cover is by now that good, that no Japanese bomber makes it to the bomb run and most of them are shot down in trying. It has turned the war in the PH area in an impasse. By now I have an enormous amount of supplies and 4 divisions stationed at PH. No way Marky is going to take it.

Nothing has happened at all other fronts. No invasions in DEI, southwest pacific and the south pacific yet. I'm building up bases at Port Moresby (4 Aus Brigades), Suva (2 NZ Brigades), Pago Pago (Americal Div.) and Canton (2 USMC). In india I have several troops near Madras, 18 UK div is at Colombo and everything else is in the Dacca area. The troops from Burma have digged in in Mandalay and are being reinforced by Chinese troops. Now it is waiting, what Marky is going to do next......

[wild_Willie2]

Have you tried bombarding jonhston with a few Cl's set to bombard/retreat ?.

If you use the weather carefully, look for stormfronts, to mask your aproach....

This tactic usually works......

Another "nice" tactic is to send a small "disposable" TF south of PH, and LRcap it with everything you have. Once his betty's come in to attack it, they are going to be hit hard.

Mine johnston with all available subs.....

Block jonhston with a few sub lines.

Get a AV tender onto a nearby atoll (or take a small baseforce fragment with some supplies) so you can spot his ships comming.

Night attack johnston with B17's, if you recon the base properly by day (zero's cant climb as high as the MAX altitude of a B17 you can actually hit something during a 6000 feet night attack.....

Remember: zero's cant climb as high as the MAX altitude of a B17 !!!!! If you come in at 37000 feet they cant touch you...

Remember: LEADERS DO MATTER IN THIS GAME....

Putting the best leaders into your fighter and bombers squadrons DOES MAKE A DIFFERENCE.....
Good luck ')

Now go and kick marky's arrogant ass.....

If you need help, just let me know

[dennishe]

Thanks for your advise![&o]

I don't trust the weather forecast too much (both in this game as in general), so I won't risk my ships in a bombardement attack. Especially, since I want to intercept Marky's invasion fleet in DEI with my surface ships in that area. I expect to loose some more ships there.
His betty's do not attack ships close to PH. Marky probably has set a max range for his bombers. In addition, the range of US fighter sucks anyways. I do have AV's at nearby bases supporting Catalina squadrons. Attacking JI from high altitude is a good idea, which I haven't though about yet. I upgraded my B17's to LB30's, because there more difficult to shoot down. Their max. altitude is too low. I upgraded them back to B17s. They are now attacking JI from maximum altitude.

Marky does not have a reason to be arrogant after two months of war. Most of his wins were foreseen anyway. His only achievement so far is sinking 3 carriers. I still think this was a lucky shot. I would engage my carriers to KB anytime, when they are so close to PH. I think the dice just fell his way in combination with a bad coordinated attack from my side. Most of my torpedo bombers attacked without a fighter escort. A few more hits and KB would have been in big trouble.....

[dennishe]

Finally a small success. My PTs trapped a Japanese fleet at Davao. One MSW was sunk, several other ships damaged. One of my PTs is damaged. Another AK was sunk by a Dutch submarine. The next day I placed the PTs just outside the Davao bay, where it hit another series of ships.

[TeK]

bombing from 37,000 feet? youll probably have more op losses than he will ac ground losses...

[dennishe]

Yeah, I stopped doing that. At 37000 feet B17s hit nothing.

[TeK]

yea thats pretty much bombing from semi-space in a ww2 bomber...targeting an island that small, lol i really doubt it would do anything at all, one bomb might hit some sand on the beach but thats about it

[wild_Willie2]

The best succes with bombing AND bombardments raids, even from high altitude, is with a target that is RECONED!!!.
Recon extensivly before you strike!!

[Fishbed]

Yet don't get desperate. You put enough ordinance on every KB carrier to be in a better situation than most Allied players at the same point during an all-out CV battle so early in the war

[dennishe]

Actually, I see things positive again.
Marky cannot inflict any damage at PH again, and in order to keep JI he will have to keep lots of planes in the area. In addition he is bombarding the HI in Chungking with about 250 Sally's daily. He cannot have many planes left to support his invasions.
Marky moves very slow. It is almost March and I still hold all DEI bases and most of the Phillipins, except for Luzon and Davao. I think I will have time enough to build up a huge base somewhere in DEI, where I can stall him even further. Since I use the US troops to secure the south pacific, I'm thinking of transferring 2 OZ divisions and 1 UK division to DEI. The 5th and 6th OZ division and the 2nd UK division will become operational within several weeks, and i have enough political points to activate 2 OZ divisions right away. I'm in doubt, what will be the best location to stall Marky. Kendari or Ambouina are nice places, from which my B17s can do Marky a lot of damage, but if these bases fall it is difficult to withdraw my troops. There is always the possibility that my transports are cut off from OZ. Kupang would be a more suitable location, but from there I cannot do too much damage. This will be plan B. If I have time enough, Java will be perfect. Every day that I can stall him there, it is difficult for him to get resources and oil from DEI. And a possible retreat into the Indian Ocean and then to either India or OZ is always possible, especially if I use the British carriers to cut off his surface fleet and perhaps miniKB. I think I'm going to read a few more AARs of people using a similar strategy. The first supply transports from Karachi are already on there way to stock huge amounts of supply at Java.

[dennishe]

The 2nd OZ division is underway to Soerabaja and will arive there within a week. The 18th UK division is embarking on Colombo and also will be underway soon. A third convoy is underway to Darwin to pick up the 1st OZ division. It will take me about 4 weeks to get the defense of Java completely operational. Hopefully, I have enough time. I plan the arrival of the 18th UK divison, the 1st OZ division and a large supply convoy around the same time. This will give me the opportunity to change the location of my defense force at the very last moment. The 2nd OZ divison will arrive in a week and dig in. I will keep enough AK and APs around to ship it to an alternative location when necessary.
Marky has shipped most troops from his Malaya campaign to the Philipins. He obviously wants to finish them of before he starts further operations in DEI. My troops in Bataan are suffering and ran out of supplies with reduced fortifications. It is a matter of time now before it falls. Fortunately, Marky is using bombardement attacks lately. This will give me some more time. Two AKs packed with supplies are 3 hexes away from Bataan. Hopefully, they will supply Bataan with enough supplies to hold a few more days.

One AK made it to Bataan. The other vanished. I think it was sunk by a recon plane. Anyway, there is some supply at Bataan again and another AK is at 6 hexes distance. Marky did some shock attacks, which were repelled with massive losses on his side. Still he has an assault strenght of 3000, where I have 800. Don't think I can hold much longer.

[dennishe]

This is the enormous army that my troops are facing. 6 division and several brigades and regiments of Japanese troops that have been (shock) attacking my troops in the Phillipins and Malaya for 3 months now. He has led massive losses in these attacks. These troops must be in bad shape. Otherwise he must have wiped out my forces in Bataan weeks ago. He even positioned a surface TF at Bataan to stop my supply convoys despite my CD regiments. He must be losing his patience.
If I can stall his troops a little longer at the Phillipins and then force them in another fierce battle at Java (which he has to take), little will be left of his troops and by the time that they are ready for battle again I will have build up my defenses all over the map.

[wild_Willie2]

Remember to PREP your units for combat to achieve upto 400% combat bonus !!!