My own experience so far, having only been on the receiving end of 4E bombings, is that it is difficult for the Allied player to sustain such a bombing long enough to really close an airfield. What I keep seeing is lots of B-17s attacking. The defending fighters suffer but over a few turns, as fatigue and battle damage accumulate, fewer and fewer bombers attack. The ones that do take more damage and the bombing trails off and then stops.
The exception so far is Burma, but that mostly involves 2E bombers and even there Q-Ball has to rest them fairly often. Of course, there might be other factors on the Allied side that I am unaware of but that is what it looks like so far from my side.
I will post a full update tomorrow. Lots has been going on. Japan has indeed struck back at Ambon and there has been a lot of other fighting as well. Stay tuned.
Yep, the Allied heavy bombers have to be rested. It is not the fatique but the 4 service rating. Somtimes it takes a week to get a bomber back. Later on when the numbers are there they can rotate the attacks and close airfields. In 42, the Allied allotment of medium bombers is so low that it is hard to sustain an offensive-if the Japanese want to duke it out and take the losses.
It will be fun to see the Japanese players crying about the 3 service rating on most all of their 2nd generation fighters.
[font="Arial"]It is better to lose a province than split the forces with which one seeks victory.[/font]
- Frederick the Great
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12/14/42 – 12/29/42
Q-Ball is invading a new base literally about every other day right now. His strategy seems to be based on a willingness to lose the invasion fleet as long as he gets the troops ashore. As he can concentrate more troops on a given base than I have defenders it is working so far.
And I have done a poor job of making him pay in ships, though his air forces continues to suffer. My luck has been bad; he always seems to strike right before a crucial supply convoy arrives at the covering base, or as soon as my air and surface forces move elsewhere, or something. Sometimes my planes just sit there and watch the invasion. But I cannot decry bad luck; I think that bad luck is a cumulative result of poor planning and preparation, sins of which I have been guilty. I simply did not envision or plan for this kind of attack.
So far he has taken Tanna and Port Moresby in the Pacific, and is in the process of invading Efate. On the other side of Australia he has captured Ambon and several small nearby bases in the Sunda Sea. I did hurt him at Ambon; KB was close enough to nail a couple of his invasion convoys before they could get clear, sinking about 15 ships, mostly APs (British Dominion-class and the like), and before that land-based bombers put a torpedo or two into a pair of British battleships. But still, he has Ambon.
Ambon is where I draw the line, though. I am sending three infantry divisions to counter-invade. He has an Australian infantry division there now and some support troops. If nothing else this might force him to actually stand and fight. I might lose horribly but it is better than being nibbled to death.
Burma: the Burma cease-fire ended on Dec. 20. There is no front-line contact there now, but he resumed bombing Mandalay immediately. He was somewhat casual about it, though, so I sent around 100 Oscars in to teach him caution. They scourged a couple of units of Hurricanes and then did heavy damage to his unescorted bombers. I then pulled the Oscars back and Q-Ball has been considerably more religious about sweeping the base and escorting his bombers since then. Sooner or later his planes will get tired, though, and then I will strike again.
China: I have stood down offensive operations in China. I want to pull some units out of theater for use in the Pacific and the DEI. Each successive patch has made operations in China more difficult and right now I just don’t see the profit in further operations here, especially given the deteriorating situation in other theaters.
Under the Sea: there have been few successful sub attacks on either side lately, though I am anticipating 1943 and better Allied torpedoes with dread. But my efforts to route my convoys to avoid his submarines have been pretty successful, and his torpedoes don’t matter if he can’t find my ships. Most of my major traffic to and from the DEI, for example, is passing through the Philippine archipelago rather than the sub-infested Luzon Straits. I do send a low-priority convoy through there every so often to persuade him to keep his subs on station there rather than send them to look for where my shipping really is. So far it has worked but he will probably catch on to this sooner or later.
Resources: right now I am shipping in just enough resources to cover industry. I am not building up much of a reserve, though. This needs to change. Otherwise I am pretty happy with the state of the Japanese economy (provided, of course, I do not lose access to Palambang).
Going Through Withdrawals: though I have paid an outrageous amount of political points to keep some of them around a month or two extra, right now withdrawals are doing a much better job of dialing down my air force than Q-Ball is. It’s sad; I don’t need the planes and pilots but I do need the Nell and Zero units in theater. No replacement units are on the horizon, either. Looking at the withdrawal schedule it looks like my long-range strike capability will be more than halved by March ’43. This worries me.
Don't you want to evacuate new caledonia and new hebrides? I understand your garrisons will only resist a day or two each time. Maybe if we can scrap them together at a big base like Lunga (if developped) they'd last longer...? With Port Moresby in your back, the link between Rabaul and the southern possessions will be quite easily threatened...
By the way, if you think the US CVs are hanging around the DEI, why wouldn't you play like PzB and raid his communication lines? Allied LBA is still pretty weak, there's no efficient anti-shipping assets right now in the Sopac, and probably nothing but CVE (without naval teeth) protecting the lanes...
Right now CAs or even CLs between California and Pearl Harbor or in the Fijis would be completely awesome... Before Essex ships come into play.
ORIGINAL: Cuttlefish China: I have stood down offensive operations in China. I want to pull some units out of theater for use in the Pacific and the DEI. Each successive patch has made operations in China more difficult and right now I just don’t see the profit in further operations here, especially given the deteriorating situation in other theaters.
Cuttlefish,
With the IJA now at their probable high water mark in China, I'd be interested in your opinion re: what sites are worthwhile for the IJA to fight for in that morass. Do you opportunistically target the resource centers primarily or focus on cities of military consequence?
Wait... what?? Do the japanese have withdrawals as well in the GC? I thought it was only the allies because they had multiple theatres.... what's the logic behind the Japanese having to withdraw troops?
d0mbo.
Don't you want to evacuate new caledonia and new hebrides? I understand your garrisons will only resist a day or two each time. Maybe if we can scrap them together at a big base like Lunga (if developped) they'd last longer...? With Port Moresby in your back, the link between Rabaul and the southern possessions will be quite easily threatened...
By the way, if you think the US CVs are hanging around the DEI, why wouldn't you play like PzB and raid his communication lines? Allied LBA is still pretty weak, there's no efficient anti-shipping assets right now in the Sopac, and probably nothing but CVE (without naval teeth) protecting the lanes...
Right now CAs or even CLs between California and Pearl Harbor or in the Fijis would be completely awesome... Before Essex ships come into play.
New Caledonia is held right now only by two-thirds of a division. I'm going to keep them there; they're pretty well dug in and I am willing to trade them for the time it would take Q-Ball to attack and secure the island. Over in the New Hebrides Luganville is a big, well fortified base and as yet he has no way to bypass it. If it threatens to become isolated I will indeed pull most of my troops out of there.
I think hitting his sea lanes is a good idea. Raiders are being sent forth; my next update has details.
With the IJA now at their probable high water mark in China, I'd be interested in your opinion re: what sites are worthwhile for the IJA to fight for in that morass. Do you opportunistically target the resource centers primarily or focus on cities of military consequence?
All I have really tried to do in China is push him away from the coast and secure control of the rail lines. I haven't paid much attention at all to capturing resource centers, though this may have been a mistake.
Wait... what?? Do the japanese have withdrawals as well in the GC? I thought it was only the allies because they had multiple theatres.... what's the logic behind the Japanese having to withdraw troops?
d0mbo.
Only air unit withdrawals, really. I am not sure why all the Nell units are going away but I do know I don't get any new long-range torpedo bomber units for nearly a year. Fresh units of Zeros begin to arrive in late spring/early summer '43, at least. I suspect that the withdrawals were done historically because these units were used up in the Guadalcanal campaign and were no longer viable formations, but that's only a guess.
[font="Arial"]When you are occupying a position which the enemy threatens to surround, collect all your forces immediately, and menace him with an offensive movement.[/font]
- Napoleon I: Maxims of War, 1831
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12/30/1942 – 1/5/1943
It’s hard to believe this game has already reached ’43. Time flies when you’re having fun!
The last week has been a quiet one. There have been no fresh attacks by Q-Ball and he seems to have paused. The only action of real consequence was my attempt to bomb his newly-acquired airfield at Ambon. He met my force with Spitfires and downed over 30 planes against no losses. I haven’t tried that again and his own air force has been quiet as well.
Meanwhile there have been a couple of spots of good news. My opponent’s invasion at Efate is stalled and my defenders wiped out his small invasion force at Boela, on the other end of Ceram from Ambon. My carriers and his are glaring at each other from either side of Ambon but neither is willing to cross the line as of yet. That’s the trouble with carrier action in the DEI; there are too many bases and neither of us is willing to give the other the advantage of LBA in a carrier duel.
My invading troops are en route to Ambon, though, and there will be a battle then for sure. My carriers and surface combat groups will advance ahead of my transports and I expect that he will not sit idly by and let me take Ambon back.
Meanwhile an SCTF based around Yamato, Kongo, and Haruna is stooging around in the Solomons. He has seen it – he may even think a sub put a torpedo into Yamato, though that was only fog of war – and its presence seems to have made him a little more cautious.
Another fairly powerful surface group, with Musashi and a pair of heavy cruisers, is departing Kwajalein and heading southeast into his sea lanes. If nothing else its presence may force Q-Ball to think a little more defensively. And who knows, they might find a nice juicy convoy to sink their teeth into.
Achtung, Minen! I had a mine laying task force run into Milne Bay and drop off about 400 mines. Milne Bay has a size 2 airfield now and since he has PM I figured it was a logical place for him to attack next. If nothing else he has submarines off the eastern tip of New Guinea and one of them might wander into the mine field.
Right now I have about 1000 mines of all types available, on ships and in pools. Obviously I am not going to be laying minefields the size of the one at Milne Bay very often. I am doing some sub mining in the DEI right now, though, using I-121 and sisters to drop mines both at anticipated targets like Makassar and at his staging bases. Most of my mines are still being used at key shipping ports to force his submarines to stay clear.
Your IJN –Now Radar Equipped! Since the start of the new year I have put a number of front-line destroyers and light cruisers into port for refit. In most cases the refits include installation of radar. Heavier fleet elements will be equipped as time and opportunity permit. Chiyoda and Chitose have also put into the Home Islands for conversion to CVLs.
Sucks that you cannot use them (the Daitais of Nells) throughout the war. Helps to have the airframes as well as the pilots!
I've only recently started reading the AAR. What is the status of your CVs?
Additionally, I finished the Hibiki AAR over in WitP and thanks again for all the hard work in creating that memorable story.
Member: Treaty, Reluctant Admiral and Between the Storms Mod Team.
Thanks for your explanation CF. So basically: the organisational formations disappear, but not the pilots/planes. So basically you have less units to put your planes in? I guess that's historical with the attrition rates the Japanese sufferd.... but should that be in AE? Only makes things hrder.... which probably is a good thing.....
Sucks that you cannot use them (the Daitais of Nells) throughout the war. Helps to have the airframes as well as the pilots!
I've only recently started reading the AAR. What is the status of your CVs?
Additionally, I finished the Hibiki AAR over in WitP and thanks again for all the hard work in creating that memorable story.
Thanks, John. I thought about you during the last days of the Hibiki saga and hoped you would eventually get to read it. I'm glad you did and glad you enjoyed it.
As for my carriers: all my flight decks are intact, though Junyo is still undergoing repairs at Kobe and will be for another week. Before I ran the last turn I would have said my carrier planes were in good shape but that has changed a bit. Details to follow in my next entry.
Oh, I have been accelerating carriers too. Taiho is on track for August '43 and is still being accelerated while the first two Unryus are now due in Feb. and March '44.
[font="Arial"]But, in case Signals can neither be seen or perfectly understood, no Captain can do very wrong if he places his Ship alongside that of an Enemy.[/font]
- Nelson: Plan of attack before Trafalgar, 9 October 1805
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1/6/1943 – 1/12/1943
12 January 1943 was without doubt the most savage turn of the game so far. Battle raged on both sides of Australia and there were triumphs and losses aplenty for both Japan and the Allies. But amid the air strikes, the fierce battles, and grim losses, one factor dominated the turn: eleven PT boats that never fired a single shot.
A Grim Efate: the turn started well for Japan. Q-Ball reinforced his floundering attack at Efate. The fresh troops captured the base but Yamato and friends swooped in and annihilated the invasion force while it was still unloading. Lost were 8 xAPs, including Presidents Adams, Jefferson, and Jackson, a pair of xAKs, and two Canadian corvettes. Japanese torpedo bombers had sunk another pair of APs there a couple of days before so at least that victory was a bit costly for the Allies.
Storm Over Ambon: my invasion came off almost like clockwork. Q-Ball didn’t see the horde of transports or guess that an invasion was in the works until my ships were almost on top of him. He responded with vigorous air attacks, an SCTF built around Prince of Wales, and air cover from several small carriers.
KB deflected all the air attacks; no Japanese ships were hit. And Japanese air attacks sank CVE Copahee and CVL Hermes, as well as a DE, an XAKL, and 4 xAKs that found themselves caught within range (two of the xAKs were hauling fuel). But at a cost; 125 Japanese carrier planes were lost (63 Kates, 30 Zeros, and 32 Vals). This was on top of 30 carrier planes lost the day before because two Val groups mistakenly had their secondary setting at "port attack" instead of "rest." Allied air losses weren’t light: he has lost something like 100 planes over last the two days to various causes, including some Wildcats that went down with their carriers.
Meanwhile POW’s group encountered a Japanese task force based around Fuso. POW just mopped the floor with Fuso. It wasn’t even close. But the rest of the Japanese ships did some damage, sinking CA Hawkins and DD Blue while losing DD Michishio. But Fuso is not going to survive and CA Suzuya might not make it either. This was tactically an Allied victory but my ships did their job, screening the carriers and transports and forcing his ships to retire.
So far, despite the heavy loss of carrier planes, everything was going well. But…there were 11 PT boats at Namlea, right next door to Ambon. They never successfully intercepted anything and never fired a shot. But their presence so unhinged my amphibious TF commanders (who were on threat tolerance “high”) that they all turned around. The one TF that did unload troops re-embarked them almost immediately. So despite the heroic efforts of my air and surface forces to screen them my three invading divisions did not place a single soldier on Ambon. Gah!
KB is down to about 275 planes at the moment. I have fresh surface forces at hand, a battleship group with Mutsu, Yamashiro, Hyuga, and Ise. My transports are still close by. The question is, do I try to land again? Or call it off before Q-Ball can bring real carriers and more surface forces to bear? Assuming he has them at hand – I haven’t caught a whiff of his carriers since Wasp was hit two weeks ago.
I’m still deciding what to do. I really hate to leave KB out there much longer – I’m going to lose some carriers if I do, I think. And those cursed PT boats are still wandering around somewhere. But it might still be worth the risk, if I can retake Ambon. Decisions, decisions…
Here is the abridged combat report for the night battle off Ambon:
[font="Courier New"]
Night Time Surface Combat, near Ambon at 76,109, Range 11,000 Yards
Japanese Ships
BB Fuso, Shell hits 20, heavy fires, heavy damage
CA Suzuya, Shell hits 6, heavy fires, heavy damage
CA Furutaka, Shell hits 1, heavy fires
CL Natori, Shell hits 2, on fire
CL Yura, Shell hits 1, on fire
DD Akizuki, Shell hits 2, on fire
DD Oshio
DD Michishio, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk
DD Yudachi
DD Asagiri
DD Sagiri
Allied Ships
BB Prince of Wales, Shell hits 6
CA Cornwall, Shell hits 1
CA Exeter, Shell hits 1
CA Hawkins, Shell hits 6, Torpedo hits 2, and is sunk
CA Frobisher, Shell hits 2
DD Blue, Shell hits 12, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk
DD Helm, Shell hits 1, on fire
DD Mugford, Shell hits 4, on fire
DD Ralph Talbot, Shell hits 1[/font]
The Hunters: my SCTF based around Musashi is now about 700 miles southwest of Pearl Harbor. No enemy ships encountered yet, but on the other hand they are undetected as far as I can tell, having slipped through the gap between Johnson and Palmyra.
Don't go back there just there: you need KB. Rest and refit quickly, and strike again.
But as long as you don't strike a big hit at his carriers, you're bound to repeat the same kind of situation over and over again. You need a decisive battle, or something that makes him bow enough time to allow a resupply effort to bear fruits. Subs must rule some CVs out!
If the prospect is less than perfect and you don't have troops stranded then pull back. Rebuild and wait for the perfect cherry blossom to form again. When it does grasp it with both hands quickly and certainly with more aggressive amphibious TF commanders. This current cherry blossom is despoiled and no amount of salvage work will undo that base problem.
Right now you need to only commit when you have an opportunity for the perfect sword stroke. Anything less won't work for you at all.
With that said keep your counter-invasion forces concentrated and find somewhere to hit him. I would suggest strongly hitting him on his 2nd echelon bases as they are likely to be a bit thinned out to project the most bang forward and thus might fall more easily. It'll also complicate his response as he;'ll have to counter-attack the base you take while maintaining the most forward bases you've now cut off.
John Dillworth: "I had GreyJoy check my spelling and he said it was fine."
Well, that's that settled then.
