Forlorn Hopes: The Japanese Respond

[John 3rd]

and the east...

[USSAmerica]

Boy, I sure hope Mynok is not reading your AAR!  [X(][8D]

[Cap Mandrake]

Holy Heck! [X(]

Prime Minister Curtin is going to have a tough re-election fight, unless he can appeal to your Oriental demographic.

[AdmNelson]

ORIGINAL: Cap Mandrake

Holy Heck! [X(]

Prime Minister Curtin is going to have a tough re-election fight, unless he can appeal to your Oriental demographic.

Do Australians allow kanagroos to vote? They seam to always be naming them like kids.

[John 3rd]

Dan has launched a massive attack by 40+ Chinese units directly at Nanchang. My recon had spotted this army about 2 weeks ago and I began to make preparations for an attack. As the screen shot below shows, I have substantial forces within the city that SHOULD withstand the Chinese assault.

Gamplan:
I intend to take a page from the Soviet Union at this exact time! Let Dan get to Nanchang and hit it a couple of times. Once he is entangled within the city, I shall strike from the North and South of his salient. Three Inf Div sit to the NW and a like amount sit to the SW of nanchang. They will be tasked with cutting his supply line and trapping his army.

As you can see in the screenshot I also have substantial aerial assets in place to beat up on his units as the days pass...

Operational Concept thoughts???

[John 3rd]

Hey Mandrake!  I hadn't noticed your post until after I put this one up.
 
This game is SLIGHTLY different then ours isn't it!  Nate and I wish we could restart our campaign now that we now how evil and devious you and your Allie are.  I took things too lightly to start with and now have to fight from a very deep hole.
 
When AE comes out perhaps we can try it again???
 
Mike--Why would Mynok want to look at this?  Does he need evil Japanese help???  [:D]

[AdmNelson]

John

I don't how strong the Unit(s) next to Canton is? If you can recon Wuchow and then attack Wuchow, you would then threaten Henchow from two axes. Which, also would threaten Changsha. Maybe you pocket the Army in Changsha.It doesn't hurt to open up the highway between Canton and Hanoi. It is a land route you will need long term to support Burma or allow movement back from Burma.

[John 3rd]

I was slowly scrolling around the map about 7 turns ago and spotted that Djambi, Sumatra had suddenly returned to Allied control! This must of happened with an Allied fragment left over from my Spring conquest of the area.

This situation led me to re-examine the DEI and make some redeployments. With all my attention and firepower in Australia I have tended to overlook this my resource region. Djambi has changed that.

I have pulled the last of my available victors from Manila and am spreading them throughout Sumatra and my resource centers. I am moving a small Construction Battalion to every resource center in the DEI and several Engineer Regiments as well as a couple of large Nvl Guard units to Sumatra. This should strengthen these areas as well as allow me to build-up their Ports, AF, and Forts...

[USSAmerica]

ORIGINAL: John 3rd

Hey Mandrake!  I hadn't noticed your post until after I put this one up.

This game is SLIGHTLY different then ours isn't it!  Nate and I wish we could restart our campaign now that we now how evil and devious you and your Allie are.  I took things too lightly to start with and now have to fight from a very deep hole.

When AE comes out perhaps we can try it again???

Mike--Why would Mynok want to look at this?  Does he need evil Japanese help???  [:D]

John, Mynok needs absolutely zero help playing the evil Japanese. I don't want him to see what you've done and get even more evil genius ideas. [:D]

[John 3rd]

Combat Report
September 26-October 4, 1942

We enter into the 11 month of the war with Japan continuing to hound the Allies from an--apparent--position of strength.  I emphasize apparent due to a couple of real and several percieved challenges by the Allies to the Empire of Japan.

Let us proceed around the Pacific for further clarafication:

North Pacific
Calm--very calm--and pleasant.  The Americans recon Cold Harbor and Umnak every day.  I fly CAP and have several SS prowling about.  This describes all the action to this theatre.  Though this would make an inviting--isolatable--target, I believe that Dan will not try anything up here.

Central Pacific
I posted all those screen shots of this area with their strength and statistics.  I continue to log this area as having the highest probablity for an Allied counterattack.  Have decided to continue to augment the LBA here.  I have 3 Zero Daitai and 3 Oscar (will become Tony/Tojo) Sentai training in the Philippines.  As soon as they hit an experience of 75, I will transfer 1 Zero and 2 Tony units to Kwajalein.  I might add 2 Sentai of Helens as well and then wait and see what happens...

KB Movement
Since Dan's aerial forces are reasonably contained in Australia, I have decided to begin a redeployment of the KB towards the Marshalls.  Have already got CarDiv2 (Hiryu/Soryu) and CarDiv3 (Shokaku/Zuikaku) heading to Noumea for a little R&R plus replennish aircraft. 

Once I have used CarDiv1 (Akagi/Kaga) for another series of Aussie port attacks then they too will head for the same area.  Still need to upgrade these two CV as well as Hiryu...

The remaining 8 CV/CVL/CVE will stay in the waters to the east of Australia to sink as many ships as possible.

Am not sure as to whether this is all a good idea or not.  Anyone have any thoughts?

South Pacific
Dan is really trying to get ships out of New Zealand and Australia.  He is sending them by various paths above or below the Society Islands.  My Bettys have been rather busy putting TT into 1-3 ships a day from October 1st on...

All these operations are REALLY using up a bunch of fuel!  I found a cache of 250,000 in Port Arthur, Manchuria and I have dispatched ALL of it to Noumea for use.  Once I am through that supply, life might get a little strange...

Australia
Adelaide
Dan is trying to punch a way through my blockade of that city by sending the 4th Aussie Inf Div up from Melbourne.  I just pulled my 5 Tk Reg and ordered them to launch a shock attack for October 5th.  Nearly 150 Helen/Sally have nailed this unit for the last two days causing over 200 Cas and knocking out about 5 guns each day. 

Broken Hill
AF goes to Sz-4 on the 4th and I immediately add 50 more bombers to the base.  Once I deal with Aussie 4th ID, I will concentrate on Adelaide.  Additionally, I move in 36 Betty and set them to Port Attack Melbourne.  He has no fighters there and I want to start making him think about that.  Adelaide has 1 Squadron Kittyhawks and 1 Squadron of Spitfires and I THINK that is about it for Australia!  

Whyalla
Move another Daitai of Betty into here and order it to hit Melbourne as well.  AF is Sz-4 and not too far from 5.  I try a fighter sweep over Adelaide on the 2nd and get stung badly.  I send 19 Tony and 20 Tojo on a Sweep and attack 12 Kittyhawks and 5 Spitifres.  In the end, I lose 14 Fighters to only 1 P-40!  Wow...

Hobart
Dan--once again-- is preoccupied with a few AP I have in port there.  He is sending over large numbers of Hudsons (with a few Liberators and B-25) to hit the Port.  I have anywhere from 15-25 Zeros flying CAP and he loses 2-4 planes a strike.  I've got a few seriously damaged APs but will leave them there for him to hit and have his morale drop...

The 2nd Inf Div is moving very slowly towards Devonport.  Only moving about 10 miles a day on a road is driving me nuts.  It is 2 hexes from the target.

Rockhampton
Am building up troops.  Will launch operations very soon.  Already have the 48th ID headed for Towsville.  A Sentai of Tojo fly CAP. 

DEI
As the screenshot showed earlier, I am moving troops around to take care of losing Djambi, Sumatra.  Guess this is a good thing because I hadn't donw anything with this theatre for 6-8 months!

Burma
The 38th ID unloads at Rangoon and moves to Meiktila providing a strong support unit.  I am trying to use the river as a speedbump.  Never done this before so we shall see.  This theatre is vulnerable to attack but I think I can hold.  If and when Australia winds down, I may wheel upon Burma and India in 1943...

China
Dan has a monsterous army arrving at Nanchang right now.  His units arrived piecemeal on the 4th and I seriously damaged a Tank and Engineer Regiment frocing them to retreat.  As the screenshot above shows, I have 7 ID waiting to cut his line-of-communication once he is fully invested with the city.  I have dreams of 300,000 Chinese being cutoff...

That is the state of events right now. 

I need to do my October economic report next...

[AdmNelson]

John

Are you pulling resources out of Australia? If you are good, they don't have to go all the way back to Japan; Timor and Kendari are a good staging area. If the transports are empty going back, might as well carry back good old Australian goods( I take it Foster is being comsumed at the front by the Army).

[John 3rd]

"Fosters--that's Australian for Beer Mate!"  Mmmmmm makes me want an oil can or three....
 
That is a good idea.  Once I have a better control over Australia I will start doing that.  Right now I am desperately sending all the supply I can to Whyalla to keep the troops in OK shape and I am FAILING at that!  Need to take more of the continent and find some large supply caches.  Feel like the Germans in the Battle of the Bulge looking for intact fuel dumps...
 
When I took Perth and grabbed that Fuel and Supply it helped to make the jump for Whyalla.  I wonder what I might gain from Adelaide?  Townsville?? 
 
 

[John 3rd]

[font="times new roman"]October 1, 1942 [/font]
[font="times new roman"]Victory Points and Economic Summary[/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]Victory Points:[/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]Score[/font]
[font="times new roman"]Japan   26,799  (Up 1,759 Points)[/font]
[font="times new roman"]Allies    8,105  (Up 964 Points)[/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]Of Dan’s 964 points last month nearly 300 of them came from Fuso and Yamashiro sinking.  Perhaps that really shows how little he is scoring currently.[/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]Ships Sunk[/font]
[font="times new roman"]Japan   214—1,866 VP—25 ships sunk during September with most of these coming at Wyhalla where I let Dan sink 10 AK/AP to keep his aircraft distracted (add 5 more at Hobart for the same reason)! [/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]Major Japanese Vessels Sunk to Date---BB Fuso and Yamashiro, CAs Kinugasa and Kako, 5 CL, 20 DD (only 9 Modern DD lost), and 15 SS (11 I-Boats and 4 Ro-)[/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]Allies    247---3,584 VP---Dan lost 24 ships with another 50-60 damaged in my port raids at Brisbane and Sydney.  I’ve continued to hit a number of ships as they flee past the Society Islands.  Expect to see this sinking number jump for next month’s report.[/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]Major Allied Vessels Sunk---CVs Enterprise and Lexington, BBs Colorado, West Virginia, and Idaho, 9 CA, 5 CL, 27 DD, and 3 SS.[/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]Manchukuo Garrison---9,095 (8,000 Needed)[/font]
[font="times new roman"]Political Points---2,191[/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]Since I am pulling heavily from the Manchuria Garrison, I thought that I should add these categories for people to see.[/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]Industrial Report[/font]
[font="times new roman"]Supply              2,189,439[/font]
[font="times new roman"]Fuel                  1,701,523[/font]
[font="times new roman"]Manpower       842 (614,052)[/font]
[font="times new roman"]Heavy Industry 14,564 (507)[/font]
[font="times new roman"]Resources        19,183 (1,487,088)[/font]
[font="times new roman"]Oil                    2056 (796,529)[/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]Supply came up nicely this month.  I am growing more worried about fuel.  There was a drop of 300,000 last month to this.  There will be a strong need to slow operational tempo if I see this sort of drop next month.[/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]The cities in Australia are really starting to bump my Manpower, Heavy Industry, and Resources.  This should significantly help my economy the longer I hold it.[/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"][/font] 
[font="times new roman"]Shipyards[/font]
[font="times new roman"]Naval               1,342 (11)[/font]
[font="times new roman"]Merchant          981[/font]
[font="times new roman"]Repair              1,344[/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]Repair rose 40 points this month and that refers to Cebu and Soerabaja increasing their respective yards.[/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]Specific Ships:[/font]
[font="times new roman"]Musashi is 248 Days from completion.  I’ve accelerated CVs Taiho (298), Unryu (513), Amagi (517), and Katsuragi (685). [/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]Weapons[/font]
[font="times new roman"]Armament        572 (69,615)[/font]
[font="times new roman"]Vehicles           144 (1,390)[/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]Anyone know when I can slow these numbers down?[/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]Aircraft[/font]
[font="times new roman"]Engines 1,970[/font]
[font="times new roman"]Assembly         986+(499-Rd)[/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]Assembly dropped some as I shifted more to Research (-6) and Research (+69) went up.[/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]Engine Production[/font]
[font="times new roman"]Mitsubishi         805/Month—Need 580—2,051 in Pool[/font]
[font="times new roman"]Nakajima         973(1)—Need 672---25 in Pool[/font]
[font="times new roman"]Kawasaki         171(9)---Need 190---778 in Pool[/font]
[font="times new roman"]Aichi                20---Need 0---178 in Pool[/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]My Tony kicks in and I set the engines to expand some.  Don’t have to raise it much due to jumping it at the very start of the war.  Nakajimas are starting to pool and that is a good thing.[/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]Plane Production[/font]
[font="times new roman"]Fighters            Planes/Month (in Pool)[/font]
[font="times new roman"]A6M2  104 (643)[/font]
[font="times new roman"]A6M3  84 (39)[/font]
[font="times new roman"]Oscar   0 (343)[/font]
[font="times new roman"]A6M3a 48-R[/font]
[font="times new roman"]Tojo     76 (8)[/font]
[font="times new roman"]Tony    190 (55)[/font]
[font="times new roman"]Jack     47-R[/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]Will add some more Tojo about halfway through the month.  Will also shift some M2 Zero production over to A3a to get the CVs refitted ASAP in November.[/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]Bombers[/font]
[font="times new roman"]Betty    98 (312)[/font]
[font="times new roman"]Sally     40 (86)[/font]
[font="times new roman"]Helen   91 (41)[/font]
[font="times new roman"]Lily       78 (36)[/font]
[font="times new roman"]Val       57 (424)—Production is turned off.[/font]
[font="times new roman"]Kate     40 (197)[/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]Numbers slowly climbing.  Will look at stopping Betty when I hit 400 in pool.[/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]Recon/Float[/font]
[font="times new roman"]Emily    20 (55)[/font]
[font="times new roman"]Alf        5 (50)[/font]
[font="times new roman"]Rufe     0 (78)[/font]
[font="times new roman"]Glen     4 (43)[/font]
[font="times new roman"]Dinah   31 (225)[/font]
[font="times new roman"]Irving    8 (0)[/font]
[font="times new roman"]Jake     8 (126)[/font]
[font="times new roman"]Babs    12 (6)[/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]I have shut off most of the Float Panes and Dinah and will turn them ‘on’ again when I need them.[/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]Transports[/font]
[font="times new roman"]Tina      10 (28)[/font]
[font="times new roman"]Sally     5 (28)[/font]
[font="times new roman"]Topsy   10 (34)[/font]
[font="times new roman"]Mavis-L 5 (16)[/font]
[font="times new roman"]Tabby 10 (64)[/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]Have shut down all these plane’s production.  Will probably need to restart a few due to my heavy use of Transports in Australia.[/font]

[ny59giants]

Future Plans
 
You mentioned the possibility of going for Burma/India after Australia. Good idea, but it will not win you the war. The war will be won in the East. You have to make your attack against the USA. Strike for HAWAII. [:D]
 
You have to make him feel that he has to commit his 4 CV (or 5th CV if Essex is available) to stop you. He doesn't get any more CVs until mid-43 and few Hellcats in early '43 (35/month starting in 2/43). He will probably be well dug in, but you have to entice him to come out with everything he has to stop you. The decisive battle. [&o]  If you go for India, then your defeat will just be a matter of time. The production of the USA will eventually overwhelm you and while you will need most of KB to get you ashore in India, he will have 5 CV, "x" number of both CVL and CVE to start his counteroffensive.
 
I would think of hitting Christmas Island first with most of your carrier strength along with enough surface assets and troops to make sure he cannot throw you back into the ocean. That's the right hook. The left hook would be the rest of your fleet hitting Midway. Both with as little notice as possible (hopefully intel doesn't tell him much). After both of them fall, he will have only a small corridor to get ships in and out of Hawaii without being spotted. All your carriers could circle Hawaii and make life for him very difficult.
 
Just my $.02 [;)] 

[John 3rd]

I am pretty certain that the Palmyra through Christmas Island group are fortresses right now.  I have seen (through recon) convoy after convoy go to those points.  The idea of hitting them scares the tar out of me!
 
What I was saying regarding Burma and India is that I need to expand the frontier there to include Mandalay and Akyab.  This would be a limited offensive to push him back away from my more important bases in Malaysia and Thailand. 
 
Thinking of straight victory points---I COULD take New Zealand once I am finished (IF I can finish) Australia.  There is not any certainty that I can win in Aussieland.  It will probably be 3-5 months of gametime before I can answer that question...
 
   

[John 3rd]

Can anyone help with getting my Bettys to fly from Papeate? There are ships passing island (as shown in this shot) and THEY WON'T FLY!

I've checked everything:

AF 4
Supply 20,000+
Morale: 99%
Altitude is between 1,000-5,000 Feet
Commanders are agressive.

What am I missing??!!

[saj42]

Set to naval attack?
Low or zero naval search %
No target set
range set to normal (15 hexes)

Have you stood them down then reapplied your mission orders?

[John 3rd]

Good Advice Sir.  I will reset all of them and bring their range down to 15.  They are Nvl Search 30% and Range 20.  Perhaps that is the issue!
 

[ny59giants]

If that doesn't fix it, set them to "training" for one turn and then try again.

[1EyedJacks]

Just curious - what HQ R they assigned to? I'm just wondering if they R sitting around a table drinking rum and playing cards - lost in a paper-shuffle and having not reported to the theatre HQ... <grin>