Against the Wind: Cuttlefish (Japan) vs. Q-Ball (Allies)

[PresterJohn001]

If you're going to keep producing Nates, you might want to think about stopping production of their engines (Kotobuki). You have a fair stock of them to start with.

My personal thoughts are to get producing decent fighters ASAP, i think theres just about enough of a Nate pool to keep you going esp when you upgrade so you get those back into your replacement pool, but you may not be able to fill out the Nate units fully. Then i'm pretty new here so caveat emptor [:D]

[Cuttlefish]

Thanks for the reply, Mike. By the way, I've been reading some of your posts in threads regarding the Japanese economy and merchant marine. They've been an invaluable help, thank you.

Good thought about the engines, PresterJohn, I will take a look at that.

[Cuttlefish]

[font="Arial"]When invading an enemy’s territory, men should always be confident in spirit, but they should always fear, too, and take measures of precaution: and thus they will be at once most valorous in attack and impregnable in defense.[/font]
- Archidamus of Sparta: To the Spartan forces invading Athenian territory, 431 B.C.

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12/10/41

I’m playing this game to learn the ins and outs of AE and it’s working. The only trouble is, some of the lessons are expensive ones.

Take this turn, for instance. During the night four Allied DDs (John D. Ford, Peary, Pillsbury, and Pope) ran into the Brunei invasion force one hex off the coast and wiped it out. Ouch! The thing is, the invasion force was set to follow a Japanese surface force at 0 hexes. The Japanese warships never put in an appearance. Should the warships have been following the invasion force? Was this just random bad luck? Why, oh why did two thirds of the 81st Naval Guard Unit have to die?

At least Pope stopped a Nell-launched torpedo in the day phase and is listed as sunk.

Philippines: Aparri and Vigan are captured. The Legaspi invasion force draws nigh. My fighters were pushing 20 fatigue after three days over the PI so I gave them all the day off. They will return with another sweep tomorrow.

Malaya: Units are still unloading here and starting to move inland. Scattered air strikes record a couple of hits on transports. An xAK is sunk by Vildebeests.

Hong Kong: the invasion force finally arrives and will begin bombarding the defenders tomorrow.

Hunting refugees: the Legaspi escort force runs into AO Trinity and AM Finch and sinks them. Off Borneo the Japanese ships (one CA and three DDs) that were supposed to protect the Brunei invasion redeem themselves a little by sinking AO Pecos and AM Whipporwill. Kates from Zuiho torpedo an xAK in the Philippine Sea and Kates from Ryujo attack and heavily damage AV Langley and AM Bittern in the Celebes Sea. Kates then attack and sink an xAK.

Submarine warfare: I-164 sinks TK Iris in the Java Sea. S-37 is given a pretty good pounding by DD Inazuma off Batan Island.

Maybe they just wanted to ask directions: a group of British MTBs, probably from Hong Kong, paid a call at Pescadores but turned around and left when all they found there was a division of destroyers. An ASW force off Vigan ran into some PT boats as well but the two groups separated faster than a couple in a reality-show marraige.

[Cuttlefish]

[font="Arial"]Too much success is not wholly desirable; an occasional beating is good for men – and nations.[/font]
- Mahan: Life of Nelson, 1897

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12/11/41

I’m not facing a Sir Robin defense, that much is certain. Q-Ball sent Houston, Boise, Marblehead, and five destroyers to Miri this turn. They went a couple rounds with four Hatsuharu-class DDs and sank all four, then they clobbered the Miri invasion force (mostly unloaded by then, fortunately), sinking three small escorts and all six xAKs and xAKLs. They then ran into Chokai and three more Japanese DDs. In a sharp little night action the Japanese finally came out on top, suffering little damage while sinking DD Paul Jones and damaging Marblehead a bit.

The Allied surface force was left fragmented and CA Houston was caught and sunk by Nells out of Saigon in the morning. Even with that, I think my opponent scored a big success here.

Philippines: my sweep this turn, 60 A6M2s over Clark, met no opposition at all. Recon shows a fair number of Allied planes there still, so I will send the bombers in next turn. Legaspi and Jolo were both invaded. A Seagull put a bomb into an xAK at Legaspi.

Malaya: nothing much to report here. Enemy air attacks were weaker this turn and achieved no success. I am going to stage some A6M2s into Khota Bharu to bolster the air defense, as my second wave of troop ships is approaching.

China: shells start to fall among the British defenders as the siege of Hong Kong begins in earnest. I am moving some units around in China but have yet to attack; the Chinese seem to be pulling back and consolidating. There is a part of me (and it whispers in a voice that sounds suspiciously like Bernard Montgomery) that wants to tidy up the lines there before attacking.

Pacific: Guam is invaded. Kido Butai, passing southeast of Midway, runs into PC Reliance and a pair of xAKLs near French Frigate Shoals and thumps them. No enemy carriers have been sighted near the Gilberts, so perhaps my jitters about an Allied carrier attack there were groundless.

Or maybe they showed up, found no targets, and left without my seeing them. It isn’t paranoia if they’re really out to get you.

Hunting refugees: Nells sink two Chinese xAKLs in the South China Sea. Ryujo-based planes sink PGs Tulsa and Asherville.

Miscellaneous mayhem: Miri was captured this turn and SS Sturgeon was reported heavily damaged by an ASW attack off Aparri.

[jwilkerson]

ORIGINAL: Mike Solli

ORIGINAL: Cuttlefish
Concerning Nates: usually one of the first things I used to do when starting a game in WitP was to switch the factories producing Nates to something more useful. But in AE I’m wavering. Nates are kinda useful now and it will be a while before I can upgrade those units. I’m thinking of keeping them in production for a month or so. Any opinions about that?

You have PDU on, correct? Eventually, you'll start to upgrade to Oscars, but you don't start with many in the pool. There were hundreds in WitP but only 39 (I think) in AE. I'd keep them on for a while. You'll need to replace losses, and if you want to bring some or all of the units up to full strength, you'll need quite a few.

The PBEM I'm starting is going to have PDU off. I expect to have Nate production on for quite a while.

In my 2x2 PBEM I produced Nates for the first month, counting ac transferred to the pools I got up to about 140 in the pool when I shut down production. I expect to use Nates for a long time for on map training. I have not converted the Nate factories over yet, so I might still build some more, but as always, I'm only building the planes I need.

[Cuttlefish]

[font="Arial"]Battles are won by superiority of fire.[/font]
- Frederick the Great: Military Testament, 1768

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CL Boise and DD Bulmer, moving south along the western coast of Borneo following the Allied attack at Miri the day before, run into CA Chokai and three DDs. In the resulting battle Chokai is moderately damaged, and DD Hokaze is heavily damaged. The two Allied ships then encounter four more Japanese DDs, lead by Fubuki. These sink Bulmer but the wily Boise takes eight shell hits, none of which penetrate her armor, and escapes. The Japanese DDs take no damage.

Given that is was Boise, terror of the seas, I have to count myself lucky with the result. Chokai will need some yard time; Hokaze will be lucky to make it back to port.

Philippines: Japanese bombers raid Clark against heavy air opposition. The escorting fighters do their jobs well and seven aircraft are reported destroyed on the ground. Jolo and Legaspi are both captured. S-36 sinks xAK Okiyo Maru at Aparri and a Seagull hits another xAK with a bomb at Legaspi.

Malaya: Japanese forces are finally beginning to move inland here as fresh units land at Khota Bharu and Patani. British forces are observed withdrawing down the peninsula. The A6M2s that staged into Khota Bharu wreak havoc among attacking British planes, shooting down about ten of them. No hits are scored.

Burma: Japanese forces begin to push into Burma, though there is nothing of substance to report here yet.

Pacific: battleships Yamashiro and Mutsu show up at Wake and begin bombarding the island. Invasion forces are proceeding up from Kwajalein. Kido Butai is now 400 nautical miles due south of Midway, heading west. Guam falls.

Hong Kong: Japanese artillery bombardment continues and some bombers come to call. More bombers will join the party here tomorrow.

Hunting refugees: I-162 torpedoes and sinks AP Rochambeau at the north end of the Sunda Strait. AP President Madison and xAKL Dos Hermanos are sunk by planes from Zuiho southwest of Iwo Jima (!) and planes from Ryujo sink xAK Ethel Edwards off Manado.

[Cuttlefish]

[font="Arial"]Today air power is the dominant factor in war. It may not win war by itself alone, but without it no major war can be won.[/font]
- Arthur Radford: Speech, 1954

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For a change there are no surface engagements to report aside from Japanese ships sinking ships fleeing the Philippines. This was in fact a good turn for Japan; no reverses are suffered and, one week into the war, plans are beginning to develop.

Philippines: S-36 sinks xAK Kamoi Maru off Aparri. San Fernando is invaded and Japanese units are driving up from Legaspi and down from Aparri. A big air raid does major damage at Clark Field; six fighters are lost on each side.

I’ve seen some comments to the effect that Zeros are now ineffective. That hasn’t been my experience. Over the PI I have lost 24 fighters while downing 69 in air-to-air combat. Even given some fog of war in those results that is still well over a 2:1 ratio in Japan’s favor.

Malaya: following yesterday’s losses there are no Allied air attacks here at all. Two daitai of Ki-21 bombers are moved onto the peninsula to begin harassing the retreating British. Southwest of Khota Bharu the Japanese 56th Infantry Regiment catches up with and mauls the FSV and 8th Indian brigades, forcing them to retreat with heavy losses.

Hong Kong: Artillery and bombers inflict a fair number of casualties. Already the combat effectiveness of the defending units is noticeably degraded. I’ll keep this up for at least a couple more days before I attack.

Pacific: More bombardment at Wake. Kido Butai is now east of Wake and approaching fast.

Hunting refugees: I-162 hits AP Dominion Monarch with two torpedoes in the Sunda Strait and then sinks an xAKL. My submarines have done an outstanding job in the DEI since the start of the war.

Battleships Ise and Hyuga sink an xAK and an xAKL in the Central Pacific and planes from Zuiho damage a freighter near the Marianas. I have sightings on Allied ships moving west all the way from just south of Iwo Jima to Guam. Planes from Ryujo sink one xAKL in the Molucca Strait and damages another. Off Borneo a Japanese destroyer division sinks xAKs Bennevis and Fatshan.

[Cuttlefish]

[font="Arial"]In all the trade of war no feat
Is nobler than a brave retreat[/font]
- Samuel Butler: Hudibras, 1663

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12/14/41 – 12/1641

Consider, if you will, the tragic story of AM Quail. This brave ship, along with many others, fled Luzon and headed east when the Japanese attacked the Philippines. Theirs was a long and desperate journey towards freedom. They were hunted by aircraft and surface ships and in the days that followed many were sunk. Every day there were fewer and fewer, until at last Quail was alone.

Yet Quail survived every danger. And then the ship and her gallant crew were past Marcus and out into the wide open reaches of the Pacific. Free, they were free at last!

And then they ran right into Kido Butai, which was heading back to Japan to rearm. End of story.

It’s really quite sad.

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There hasn’t been a great deal to report these few turns. Japanese forces launched their first attack at Hong Kong. It was repulsed but inflicted heavy casualties; bombardment will resume for a couple of turns. CA Chokai made port safely, despite taking a torpedo from one submarine and being hunted by others, and is being pumped dry.

The most interesting thing for me lately has been Q-Ball’s PT boats. On the 15th two large groups of them intercepted merchant convoys by daylight in the South China Sea. In both cases combat opened at 30,000 yards and the convoys broke contact easily. Other PT attacks have run into warships and in these cases it was the PT boats that promptly fled. It seems that PT boats are best used against soft targets at night, where they can attack from close range. This makes sense.

If my opponent is having trouble getting them to make a successful attack I, for my part, am having trouble engaging them. They are running all over the place and making my merchant mariners nervous and I would like to make them go away.

The Philippines, 12/15/41:

[Cuttlefish]

The situation: on the night of 12/24 the Japanese are landing at Sandakan and elsewhere around the Celebes Sea. The Japanese suspect the Allies might attempt to interfere and so they station Kongo and Haruna off the tip of Borneo, near Tawi Tawi, to intercept any force coming up the Makassar Strait.

It works beautifully. Force Z is encountered and, if you will forgive the pun, repulsed. There was just one small problem...


[font="Courier New"]Night Time Surface Combat, near Tawi Tawi at 71,89, Range 7,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
BB Kongo, Shell hits 2
BB Haruna
CA Takao, Shell hits 7
CA Atago, Shell hits 1
CL Jintsu, Shell hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
DD Asashio, Shell hits 1
DD Oshio
DD Michishio, Shell hits 1
DD Arashio, Shell hits 1
DD Akatsuki
DD Hibiki, Shell hits 5, and is sunk

Allied Ships
BB Prince of Wales, Shell hits 16, on fire
BC Repulse, Shell hits 4, on fire
DD Vampire, Shell hits 4, on fire
DD Tenedos, Shell hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
DD Electra
DD Express[/font]

Yeah, that. Regular updates coming soon.

[krupp_88mm]

DD Hibiki, Shell hits 5, and is sunk

LOL what now? how about a sub now instead?

[vlcz]

Being the only sunken ship I hope they cold be rescued.... no "captain Ishiii..." message true?

Anyway now is time to katakiuchi

[Capt. Harlock]

DD Hibiki, Shell hits 5, and is sunk

Clearly someone forgot to pick up a blood python while near Borneo . . .[:-]

[Cuttlefish]

[font="Arial"]He who rules on the sea will very shortly rule on the land also.[/font]
- Khair-el-din (Barbarossa), d. 1546

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Of all the changes in AE I am beginning to think that the one I most underestimated was the effect that changes in surface interception model would have on the flow of the game. In WitP surface combat was completely a station-to-station affair. A hex at sea could be crossed on a given turn by half a dozen task forces of both sides and if no one ended their turn there it didn’t matter. No longer! Things are much more dynamic now. Though learning this lesson has cost me some ships I take my hat off to the Henderson Field boys – it makes the war at sea much more complex, exciting, and real.

12/17/41 – 12/26/41

Luzon: Things here have proceeded swiftly. Japanese forces have now occupied most of Luzon. The Allies are falling back on Clark Field and it looks as though they are going to leave Manila as a ville ouverte. This means a campaign against Clark followed by a retreat to Bataan.

My main landing point for reinforcements has been San Fernando. A shipping regiment there has done a lot to speed things up and most of the major players, including the 4th Division, are now in place. PT raids there cost me heavily early on but have been reduced over the last week to nuisance value as I learned how to deal with them.

Resistance in the air is all but over. As the Allied fighters dwindled my kill ratios rose to about 7:1 and there are very few planes left to challenge my control of the air. Aparri has been raised from a level 1 to a level 3 airfield and fighters based there did a lot to end the threat of air raids against my transports.

Mindanao/Celebes Sea area: The big excitement here was the battle between Kongo and Haruna and Force Z near Tawi Tawi. Princes of Wales took five or six major-caliber shell hits and will probably be out of the war for awhile. Q-Ball apparently realized there were enemy battleships in his way and decided that it would be in the spirit of Force Z to attack anyway. I admire this kind of fighting spirit.

Davao has been captured and forces are loading around the sea for the invasion of Tarakan. Manado has been invaded and will become my forward air base in the area, replacing Jolo.

Malaya: Allied forces are in headlong retreat and my troops are proceeding sluggishly in pursuit. I don’t think there will be much excitement here until the siege of Singapore begins in earnest, though there are occasional air raids against my forward elements to keep me on my toes. Georgetown will fall next turn.

Burma: Lead Japanese elements have reached Moulmein and found it deserted. They will continue to push forward until they find the enemy. The 33rd Division is unloading at Phitsanulok, while an infantry regiment drives up the coast from Tavoy.

Pacific: Wake island fell on the second day of the attack to a pair of naval guard units. Units are leaving Truk tomorrow for invasions of Kavieng, Rabaul, Manus, and Wewak. They are going to be backed up by heavy surface elements. Kido Butai has proceeded to Truk from Japan and will now move into the waters to the south, screening the invasions and looking for prey. Invasions of Nauru and Ocean Island are underway from Jaluit and Makin.

China: Chinese units have moved into Ichang. They are just sitting there, probably to force me to divert enough units to evict them and thus take some of the pressure off in the north. If so, I have to say it’s working. My first major offensive is developing in the south; elsewhere I am clearing roads and rail lines so that I can shift my forces more efficiently.

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Luzon, 12/26/41:

[Cuttlefish]

Here is a look in the Celebes Sea:

[Cuttlefish]

Burma:

[Cuttlefish]

And Malaya:

[princep01]

Wow, Cuttlefish, that did not take long. No snake...ship sinks.

[Capt. Harlock]

It looks to me like you're just a bit behind schedule in seizing resource bases. How is Japan's Oil situation?

[Cuttlefish]

ORIGINAL: Capt. Harlock

It looks to me like you're just a bit behind schedule in seizing resource bases. How is Japan's Oil situation?

The oil situation is fine for the moment. As in real life, Japan has several month's worth of reserves. I figure that if I overrun the DEI by the end of April I should be fine.

I am advancing a little slowly. One reason is my unfamiliarity with this new system and another is that Q-Ball has instilled a bit of caution in me with some effective surface attacks. But a steady, methodical approach has served me well in the past and I am hoping that it will do so again. We shall see.

[Cuttlefish]

[font="Arial"]Go into emptiness, strike voids, bypass what he defends, hit him where he does not expect you.[/font]
- Ts’ao Ts’ao, 155-220 A.D.

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12/27/41 – 1/2/42

Kido Butai, having passed undetected through the Solomons and across the Coral Sea, arrived off Townsville on 2 January. There they launched a single modest strike, sinking three xAKLs and an xAK. Also present, apparently, but unhit, are CA Canberra and CLs Leander and Perth.

This brings me to one of those decision points that make this such a fascinating and addictive game. I want those cruisers. Q-Ball is doubtless just as eager to save them. What will he do? Can I outguess him, or will the ships escape?

As I see it he has four basic choices: flee north, flee south, attack, or go to ground in port. If I were him I would choose one of the first two; his force doesn’t appear strong enough to challenge KB (which still includes Hiei and Kirishima) and disbanding in port leaves them almost helpless. So which way to move KB? Decisions, decisions…

Luzon: I now hold everything here but Clark and Bataan. My forces are advancing on Clark to begin what will no doubt be a long siege. As far as I can tell the air war here is over; no Allied fighters remain to challenge my control of the skies.

Malaya: Japanese forces have advanced as far south as Kuala Lumpur, which I hope to capture next turn. Japanese fighters have been sweeping Singapore, where the Buffalo still roam, but it is past time to begin a serious air campaign to completely close the airfield and port there. Nells raided Rangoon a couple of turns ago and damaged half a dozen or so freighters.

Burma: Japanese units have advanced to the outskirts of Pegu. There are still some units there, too many to challenge with my recon forces, so further advance will wait for the 33rd Division and 112th Regiment, both of which will arrive shortly.

China: Japanese forces held off an attack at Iching and counterattacked the next turn. The Chinese retreated to the west, suffering 18,800 casualties in the process. In the south Japanese units rolled into Chusien, found it evacuated, and took possession.

DEI: Tarakan has fallen and all of northern Borneo is now under Japanese possession. Japanese torpedo bombers are now based on Manado and equipped with torpedoes. Japanese bombers out of Jolo took a run at a light cruiser force at Balikpapan a few turns back. They did not score any hits but the Allied ships (Java and De Ruyter among them) fled the next turn. But they are out there somewhere, and I know that Q-Ball will use them if he can…

An invasion force, well covered by surface elements, is on its way to Kuching. Units at Manado and Ternate are prepping for Ambon and that invasion will kick off in a couple of turns. Japanese paratroops are being sent to Manado, where they will be used to help overwhelm Sulawesi.

Destroyer divisions have been busy hunting down and destroying Allied PT boat forces in the Celebes Sea area. Going after the destructive little pests seems to work better than trying to defend against their attacks.

Pacific: I have already talked about KB’s doings. To the north Rabaul, Shortlands, Kavieng, Manus, and Wewak have all been captured. Madang and Lae are next. To the west Nauru and Oceans islands have been taken; Tabiteuea is next.

Refinery Repairs: The level 300 refinery at Miri is half damaged at 150/150. The refinery at Tarakan was taken 65 intact/25 damaged. My question is this: is it worth pumping in supply to repair these refineries? Will the repairs eventually pay for themselves or would that be a waste of supply points needed elsewhere?

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KB off Townsville, 1/2/42: