Conference of the Supreme War Council: Q-Ball (J) v. Hemajor (A)

[ny59giants]

Billiton

What do you guys think of this? Obviously taking it is easy. I have 1 SNLF Co, plus 3 Nav Construction Batt, and base forces loading up now to sail there. I hope to quickly get this airbase to size-2 or 3, and use it to support landings on Western Java. This seems easier, and better placed, than trying to leapfrog down the West coast or South Coast of Borneo.

Ambon

After that slaughter off Ambon, I am being careful on the next convoy. I am organizing a convoy of a Base Force, AIR HQ, Fuel, and Supplies to sail to Ambon. Once there, we can start to load the troops there for the next targets, Kendari and Koepang.

If you can, I would use mini-KB and/or a CV division from KB to take Koepang first and then a quick grab at a base between Koepang and the southern tip of Java. There are many empty bases with good AF potential. A final move for this southern pincer would be to take either Mataram: Port - 1(1) & AF 0(5) or Den Dassar: Port 2(1) & AF 3(4) to close off Java. I would come back for Kendari later. Set up some of your perimeter first and then backfill.

The idea of Billiton is good as you have so few Zero to spread around and the Nates and Oscars will need to do more of the work.

As the pincers start to close off Java, I would move 2 or more subs to around Tjilitjap area and have that base be one of their patrol points.

Just my $.02 [;)]

[Q-Ball]

Michael: Good advice, I was leaning toward Koepang first, you helped me make up my mind. It's important to seal off the area, then take it later. The important thing is to supress the Allied air and fleet; once that happens, we have plenty of time to clean up all the bases. In fact, the only real reason to not dawdle on that is that I don't want there to be fuel caches around to help Dutch subs in the DEI.

Combat Report, Dec 16th

Hong Kong: Hong Kong falls to Japanese Forces! 38th Division is immediately prepping for Clark Field, which seems to be the Allied stand. I am sending transports there to pick her up immediately.

Rabaul: Landings tommorow at Rabaul; KB will sweep south on the 17th, looking for ANZAC cruisers and any transport ships. Invasion consists of 144th Regt, the troops initially routed to Guam; they are re-routed toward Rabaul.

Guam: Speaking of Guam, I picked up the I/33rd Regt. Unit at Amami, which is a small 18-squad unit, to clean up Guam. First attack: 1-4! I'm not worried at all, it's just a little irritating. That unit wasn't prepped much, so we'll rest up and try again.

Malaya: Our troops have reached Alor Star, and will "attack" tommorow; base is empty. Takes a long time to march from Singora! Now that we have asphalt under our feet, the advance down the Malay peninsula should speed up. As far as I can tell, the Allies are retreating to Singapore, though there are currently 4 units at Georgetown for whatever reason. Hope they stay there. 21st Division is on ships and on the way from Shanghai to join the fun; 2nd Division is also on its way from Japan. I hope to close this campaign out quickly.

Our troops entering Hong Kong:

[Canoerebel]

Q-Ball, so you have Singkawang's airfield up and running? What do you have based there? Have you taken Kuching, or is Singkawang sufficient for now? Where are your subs operating in the DEI at present? Is Australia still your long range target? Will you move on Port Moresby soon?

Lots of questions!

[Q-Ball]

ORIGINAL: Canoerebel

Q-Ball, so you have Singkawang's airfield up and running? What do you have based there? Have you taken Kuching, or is Singkawang sufficient for now? Where are your subs operating in the DEI at present? Is Australia still your long range target? Will you move on Port Moresby soon?

Lots of questions!

Singkawang: Up and running; an AIR HQ is on it's way and will unload tommorow, so it will soon be VERY up and running! But I already have planes, 2 Base Forces there
Kuching: I am landing at Kuching in two days; but Singkawang is probably enough. I debated Kuching, but decided to clear that base, plus I had troops prepped for it.
Subs: I need to re-position the subs; the PI ship roundup is over. I didn't get any USN ships really, which is a disappointment, I did get 2 big APs, plus 6 TK/AO, and a bunch of cargo ships. I have subs at the choke points (off Merak, b/w Java and Bali, near Balikpapan), but am moving a couple to NW tip of Australia and Darwin. Seems like IJN subs have shorter legs in AE!
Port Moresby: I plan on taking PM as soon as Rabaul is wrapped up; I will use the 144th Regt, plus I am prepping the Guards Bde. in Tokyo. That unit is cheap, I just bought it, and plan to lift it to Truk to rest up shortly. I debated that or some artillery in Manchukuo, decided I needed the infantry in the SW Pac.
Long Range Target: Yes to Australia. Could change depending on events; I can see switching to a tactical envelopment of the Burma army via landings in India. But yet, basically. I will invade Norther Australia regardless, though because I am taking Timor early, this should be easy pickins.

Photo Taken at our New Airbase in Singkawang: Ki-43 of the 77th Sentai:

[veji1]

Hmmm..You want to recon PM heavily because if I was the Allies this is the one spot that I would reinforce straight away... not knowing AE well enough yet I would assume that you are not going to be too bold on far flung invasions in PAC and that therefore energy can be focussed on the chockpoints... 

[Q-Ball]

veij1: Yes, veji-San, you have to think about the possibility of Allied reinforcement. But I think this is precisely why you have to be quick, rather than wait to gather strength. Time favors the Allies.

The beginning garrison in PM is very weak; 50 AV maybe, and very poor exp. troops at that. If you use the Catalinas there, you can pull in all those NG detachments, and maybe the Lark Bn at Truk, but even then, you're limited.

I doubt the Allies will "buy" units in Australia in December; too many PP needs in the DEI, and this is where the Allies spend PPs early, to withdraw units

No, I think an early Jan landing with whatever I have available is the ticket. The more troops he puts there, the more POWs I will have.

The other aspect is phychological; my opponent, Erik, attempted to reinforce PM in our WITP. It was 2 RL years ago now, but he lost a Corps HQ and a couple other units needlessly, because I invaded with a Division in Jan. He probably remembers that, and won't do that again.

[veji1]

are you sure the same strategy PPwise applies in AE as in WITP ?
second, with ships vulnerability in AE and CAP relative inefficiency, an early ride to PM without having secured NG bases before hand could expose you to a painful series of attack?

[Canoerebel]

PP points are much scarcer in AE than they were in WitP Big B mod. Q-Ball is right - alot of points must be devoted to DEI, and the Allies also have some troops on the West Coast needed for garrison duty in the Pacific. Buying an Australian brigade to reinforce PM is an expensive proposition. Not only that, but the Allied player knows PM can be isolated by the KB, and if the Jap player wants it bad enough and focuses there, should be able to take it early no matter what the Allies do. Finally, there are other important bases that need reinforcement (Noumea, Fiji) that are nearly as important as PM, but not quite as exposed, meaning "safer," meaning a fair percentage of Allied players will choose the safer course of action. I've been toying with how to spend my PP in my game with Miller - there aint enough to go around!

[ny59giants]

Singkawang: Up and running; an AIR HQ is on it's way and will unload tommorow, so it will soon be VERY up and running! But I already have planes, 2 Base Forces there

I would move in some transports to air lift the AIR HQ to Billiton once it gets to size 2 AF and you have enough aviation support here. Use this to close off the straits between Java and Sumatra.

Gee, did someone decide to spend the PP to get the Gds Bde out of Japan?? Add this with the 144th and it should be enough to take PM. If the Allies try to move troops in too soon, it just becomes a POW camp.

Jumping ahead a few weeks, but do you have a division and some various support troops to start prepping for Darwin?? Along with Ambon and Koepang and you have cut the Allied positions in half. Plus, you get to your opponent focus on that area while you go back to finishing up the SRA. I just think a quick grab at this base is important regardless of future plans. The 4th Division in Japan would have been a good choice.

[Q-Ball]

ORIGINAL: ny59giants


I would move in some transports to air lift the AIR HQ to Billiton once it gets to size 2 AF and you have enough aviation support here. Use this to close off the straits between Java and Sumatra.

Good thoughts......here is a question: What if you airlifted 1/2 of the Air HQ? Would BOTH bases support Torpedos? Or just one? Or Neither?

Any idea?

[erstad]

ORIGINAL: Q-Ball

Good thoughts......here is a question: What if you airlifted 1/2 of the Air HQ? Would BOTH bases support Torpedos? Or just one? Or Neither?

Only the parent is supposed to provide any special benefit.

[Canoerebel]

Edited to remove my post that I meant to insert in my own AAR, but somehow placed here. I hope my opponent wasn't scrolling through!

Sorry, Q-Ball, for gumming up your AAR.

[Q-Ball]

Dan, great update!

[ny59giants]

I think Dan updated the wrong AAR. [:D]

I think his opponent (Miller) just got some free intel.

[Canoerebel]

Q-Ball, would you mind omitting the quote taken from my post? I'd hate for my opponent to come across that info!

[Q-Ball]

ORIGINAL: Canoerebel

Q-Ball, would you mind omitting the quote taken from my post? I'd hate for my opponent to come across that info!

Sorry, I handn't considered that aspect of it....took it down.

Haven't seen that before!

Back to the War......

Combat Report, Dec 17th

The best part is last, and I'll save that description to go along with the screenshot. First things first....

Malaya: Alor Star falls, and our troops should now move faster with asphalt under their feet. I am not planning a landing at Mersing, but I will start to recon it heavily; that should encourage him to abandon Malaya and flee to Singapore.

DEI: I am organizing a large convoy to Ambon, to get base forces and other support units; once that is in place, we will move on Koepang. Car Div 2 has left Truk and is heading to this area.

Luzon: 4th Division is finished unloading, and marching overland for Clark.

Borneo: Singkawang now has an AIR HQ. Billiton lands in a couple days. We have landed at Kuching, and attack tommorow.

Solomon Sea: Here is the interesting part. I timed the landing on Rabaul for KB to provide back-end support, and we have a potential trap here. I had RO-boats guarding the passages to the south for enemy ships, and we found them; RO-60 fired 2 torps at CA Canberra! Although they missed, she radioed the course. No doubt they are moving to hit our transports at Rabaul.

As you can see, KB is perfectly positioned for an ambush. The transports have unloaded all troops, and enough supplies for a few days, so we are raising anchor and heading north. IF he goes through with the Rabaul attack, the cruisers will hit air, and get a nasty surprise in the morning. He might figure the jig is up, and also can see that I do have cruisers covering the Rabaul forces; he might pull back. I am betting he won't though. Let's see what tommorow brings!

[Smeulders]

The beginning garrison in PM is very weak; 50 AV maybe, and very poor exp. troops at that. If you use the Catalinas there, you can pull in all those NG detachments, and maybe the Lark Bn at Truk, but even then, you're limited.

I doubt the Allies will "buy" units in Australia in December; too many PP needs in the DEI, and this is where the Allies spend PPs early, to withdraw units

He could get the Sparrow and Gull Batallions from Darwin + flying back Lark, that way he'd have about 200 AV of decent quality in PM.

Also don't overestimate the PP spent in the DEI, the units on North Borneo are ABDA, so don't cost PP, dutch combat forces are useless, as they won't have replacements for long, only their base forces are worth anything, but I still wonder if you won't have enough anyway. In my opinion, the real PP sink is freeing USA regiments from West Coast so they can start garrisoning Noumea/Fiji/Pago Pago, so if your opponent isn't expecting attacks there he might have bought some extra Australian units to defend PM.

[Q-Ball]

Smeulders: It's possible to reinforce PM, not that I think it would be wise....but in either even, I don't plan on giving him time to do so. At this rate, I expect to be storming ashore in the first week in January, which isn't enough time to do much more than sentence more troops to the POW cages.

Combat Report, Dec 18th and 19th

Fairly uneventful, as the Japanese War Machine grinds on. We have some serious moves coming up, as I move supplies, fuel, and support troops into position to help.

SW Pacific: The ANZAC TF I spotted heading to Rabaul wisely withdrew after RO-60 snooped it. KB headed back to Truk to re-arm and fill out plane losses. This was an interesting experience, I carefully kept going back and forth to the Reserve Pool to see how pilots were being drawn, as I don't want rookies in KB units. I went ahead and withdrew a 9-plane Claude Chutai that starts in Palau, as it was scheduled to withdraw in Feb '42 anyway, and I will barely have enough Zeros by then; so I just put the pilots in the pool. KB already drew 3 of them. Still playing with the pilot pool to figure it out.

Phillipines: Our Southern Luzon Force reached Batangas from Altimonan, and took Batangas, forcing the surrender of a Phillipine Division in the process. We are now marching on Manila, from the unit count they may be attempting a stand there. Other forces are closing in on Clark.

Malaya: This is going very SLOOOOW. It takes awhile to March down Malaya, I don't see how you could walk to Singapore in less than a month. Should speed up a bit soon as we reach the southern end, everyone else can then take the train. Otherwise, I am bombing troops as they withdraw, and inflicting casualties.

Borneo: Kuching fell. We will be landing at Billiton shortly, with several construction units, and a Base Force. Elsewhere, an invasion fleet is headed for Samarinda from Cam Ranh, that will take a few days. They will pick up surface escort around Jolo.

Banda Sea: Ambon is operational, with AIR HQ and Fuel. I am gathering a fleet there, including Car Div 2; we are prepping for Koepang. A little short on supplies at Ambon for torps ops at the moment, but a convoy is about to unload.

Production: I have spent time on this, if not describing it on the AAR. I am using Tracker, and the Resource stockpile in the Home Islands is declining precipitously. Part of that is that I spent the first week or so organizing merchant shipping, and I have about 100 hulls now moving Resources; it may need to take some effect. I would like to see more results though. I am pulling resources from Korea/Port Arthur to Honshu, and the other islands to Honshu.

[Mike Solli]

ORIGINAL: Q-Ball
Production: I have spent time on this, if not describing it on the AAR. I am using Tracker, and the Resource stockpile in the Home Islands is declining precipitously. Part of that is that I spent the first week or so organizing merchant shipping, and I have about 100 hulls now moving Resources; it may need to take some effect. I would like to see more results though. I am pulling resources from Korea/Port Arthur to Honshu, and the other islands to Honshu.

Are you sure 100 hulls will be enough? Last weekend I did my planning on resource movement to Honshu from the other Home Islands and China/Manchuoko/Korea. I ended up using 251 hulls and I'm still not sure I'll get it all. Hokkaido is the problem child with over 1 million excess resources produced and lousy ports to move it from.

[Canoerebel]

Why not land at Mersing and threaten to isolate the Allied units up the peninsula? Miller did it in my PBEM game - escorting the invasion force with four BBs - and it worked handsomely. I know there's some risk of surface engagement or strikes by LBA, but nothing unmanageble I think.