Here we go again! tc464 (A) vs. Mike (J) - No tc464

[ComradeP]

Mike: do you have a house rule about Indian units moving to Burma without paying a pp cost? Q-Ball showed they could steamroll the Japanese pretty easily if only about 2 divisions are in the country.

Where do the SRA forces link up with other Japanese forces/where's the boundary, New Guinea, Ambon?

[SqzMyLemon]

ORIGINAL: Grotius

Finally, why the units in the Philippines? I guess Manila has a garrison requirement, is that why? He'd have to penetrate some other defenses first before he gets to the Philippines, no?

Grotius, Manila has a 200 AV garrison requirement.

[Q-Ball]

Samurai Mike:

Way to early to think about defensive commitments, particularly the Phillipines. That's WAY out. Think offense only grasshopper, that's all you should care about.

Besides, by the time you DO need to think defense, the IJA is expanding rapidly. Additionally, you'll accumulate all the PPs you need to buy 2000 AV out of Manchukuo, or some out of China, or whatever. That's what the IJA did in the real war, alot of those divisions in China/Manchuria (off the top of my head, the 20th,41st,1st,10th,51st, but there are more) ended up dying on New Guinea or Luzon.

But the one thing you get alot of in 1944 is Infantry. There are alot of reinforcements. Thinking about 2 piddling divisions this far ahead is a waste of effort IMO. You should have an additional 15-20 divisions available

How about taking Darwin?

[CapAndGown]

Its never too early to start thinking about assembling a defensive net. More important to this than troops, however, are engineers. You need to get those bases built and for the Japanese that takes a lot of time. I would suggest buying out the engineers in Manchuria.

[SqzMyLemon]

Good point cap_and_gown, I agree 100%. I'm finding it's easy to transfer combat units around, but tend to under utilize the support troops. I'm building up the bases in my rear now, as well as transferring more engineer and base forces out of China/Japan to speed up the process everywhere. As Q-Ball says, infantry reinforcements will not be an issue, having the airfields and bases built up in time will be.

[Cribtop]

I concur with Q Ball but agree with the prior poster that argued you should try to get the Allies to move on an axis other than Darwin/Timor. In fact, this thought is the main thrust of my own PBEM/AAR "Basejumping the Learning Cliff."

You are in good shape, just finish Singers and Java, then take Darwin if possible. Watch Burma, though, as I think 3-4 Divs will be necessary for a robust defense. Even that will be short if you don't have a house rule that Indian Army units must pay PPs to cross the border.

[Mike Solli]

ORIGINAL: Grotius

Interesting defensive plan, Mike. I forget: do you intend to take Darwin or other Aussie bases too?

Also, I'm curious where you'd keep land units in Malaya and Burma. Just Singapore, Bangkok and Rangoon? Or heavy ground defenses at places like Victoria Point, Tavoy, Port Blair? As SqzMyLemon says, there's so much coastline to defend, and only so many units.

Finally, why the units in the Philippines? I guess Manila has a garrison requirement, is that why? He'd have to penetrate some other defenses first before he gets to the Philippines, no?

After typing that, I had second thoughts about the 14 Army. There's no need for Philippine defense this early. The 14 Army will defend the Timor area.

Yeah, I plan on taking N Australia. Then I'll garrison it lightly, with forces I don't mind losing. If I can hold N. Australia through the end of 1942, I'll be very happy.

Burma will be reinforced by 2 divisions (bring the total to 4) along with ~3 Tk regiments and other support units. We'll see if that's enough. If more is needed, it'll most likely come from Southern Army forces.

[Mike Solli]

ORIGINAL: ComradeP

Mike: do you have a house rule about Indian units moving to Burma without paying a pp cost? Q-Ball showed they could steamroll the Japanese pretty easily if only about 2 divisions are in the country.

Where do the SRA forces link up with other Japanese forces/where's the boundary, New Guinea, Ambon?

Horn Island is the western border of SE Fleet. Everything to the west of that is SRA.

[Mike Solli]

ORIGINAL: ComradeP

Mike: do you have a house rule about Indian units moving to Burma without paying a pp cost? Q-Ball showed they could steamroll the Japanese pretty easily if only about 2 divisions are in the country.

Where do the SRA forces link up with other Japanese forces/where's the boundary, New Guinea, Ambon?

We have an agreement that PPs must be paid to move over a national border, so Ted must pay to move the forces you mention from India to Burma. Same with Chinese forces moving into Burma.

[undercovergeek]

sorry to bother you here Mike, i asked in the war room, but i suspect you missed it - when i first played WitP the first guide i downloaded was your Jap airframe and engines guide, had prints at work, at home, in my laptop case for working away - it was my first turn set up bible - any thoughts on engines and production for AE?

[Mac Linehan]

Mike -

Your data and number breakdowns have really helped me in planning my resource / shipping allocations for the Japanese Empire!

Please keep it coming!

An Honored Student of the Mike Solli School of Advanced Economics.....

Mac

[Mike Solli]

Thanks Mac.  I've learned a lot about economics after playing a couple months of the game.  I'm attempting to revise my start based on what I've learned (from the game as well as all who have been haunting these halls).
 
Things have been slow lately.  Ted and I have both been travelling quite a bit for work and these trips have pretty much offset each other.  He's currently out of town and will come back tomorrow, just in time for me to hit the road for 4 days. [8|] Anyway, we have gotten some turns done but I haven't had much time to get them out.  Here goes....
 
8 Feb 42
 
Through a periscope south of Hawaii
 
The commander of the I-8 has had a nice run of luck these past couple of weeks.  On 22 Jan and again on 1 Feb, they have found and torpedoed an Allied xAK.  Today, they spotted an xAP.  After getting into position, they fired some torpedoes at her and heard the now familiar boom of a hit.  The commander had the satisfaction of seeing troops scurry overboard while yet another xAP went down for the Japanese cause. [:D]
 
Bataan and Singapore
 
More air and ground bombing took place.
 
Bandoeng, Java
 
The Zeros of Yamata Det mauled yet another Allied raid, killing a B339-D and 2 139WH-3s for no loss.
 
SE Fleet
 
The Ro-66 found an xAKL between Horn Island and Pt. Moresby and put 27 shells into her, leaving her burning and listing.

[Mike Solli]

9 Feb 42

Reinforcement: Misawa Ku K-1, 27 Bettys for the 13 Air Flotilla. It will become a training unit in the Home Islands.

The Kendari Invasion Force (3x SNLFs) landed today. Some Do24K-1s made an appearance and put a 300 kg bomb into an xAK (after she was finished landing). She went down the next day.

Singapore

I attacked today, and didn't make much headway. I lost 5161 troops to 2915 Allied casualties. Their fort level remained at 3. The only bright spot was that I killed the 1 Manchester Bn.

Bataan

This attack went much better. I lost 1984 troops for a loss of 1727 Allied troops. The best part was that the fort level was reduced from 2 to 1. I suspect the writing is on the wall.

[Mike Solli]

10 Feb 42

Reinforcement: 39 JNAF AF Unit for Southern Army

Singapore and Bataan

More bombing.

Kendari

The 3 SNLFs took Kendari, causing 202 casualties for 52 losses. The remnants of the rabble ran off to the west. I'm sending 2 SNLFs to hunt them down and take the base to the west.

Java

The good ole Yamata Det caught an unescorted raid of 20x 139WH-3s. Only one returned home to tell the tale. How does this look for a nice little fighter unit:

[Mike Solli]

11 Feb 42

Reinforcement: 42 IF Chutai (Ki-36) - 12 plane unit that showed up with 2 planes and 2 rookies. It'll become a training unit in Japan for the IJA.

Not much else to report. One hex NE of Rangoon I have an infantry regiment, waiting for the rest of the 15 Army to close up. Ted sent out a small unit, Viper Force Det, which I promptly destroyed.

My Kawasaki Ha-60 R&D factory did move up a month, to Jan 43. That's the third engine factory to do so. I never had a factory of any kind do that in WitP.

[Mike Solli]

12 Feb 42

Japan

Three hexes south of Yokohama, an Allied sub got lucky, and then paid for it. She found a small convoy (1 PB and an xAK) and put a torpedo into the PB (a To'su) which blew apart. The xAK continued on with her mission. Later, another sub (it may be the same one but who knows with FOW) surfaced to put 3 shells into the xAK. The xAK proceeded to put 2 shells into the sub, who promptly submerged and left the scene. I've tasked another PB with the job of escorting this ship.

Bataan and Singapore

More bombardment today. I'm attacking at both locations tomorrow.

Java

I took Buitzenzorg (1 hex sw of Batavia) unopposed. Now, Ted controls only Batavia and Merak in the north of Java. I may fly a paratroop unit in to Merak to isolate him in Batavia completely.

The 4 Division is steaming for Java (still near Horn Island) with KB (3 CVs) nearby for support. The Zuikaku is at Babeldaob repairing minor sys damage.

Elsewhere in the SRA

The 20 Division (minus 1 regiment) is a days sail west of Babeldaob and headed for Tarakan. They are supported by a surface fleet and Baby KB. Currently, Baby KB is composed of the Hosho and Zuiho, with Shoho still steaming for Babeldaob and one day out. Shoho will refuel there and catch up. The Ryujo is about 4 days from completing repairs from damage that occurred on 11 Dec 41. When her repairs are completed, she'll steam out to join up with the other 3 carriers. Then, Baby KB's strength will amount to 74 Zeros and 53 Kates.

When Bataan falls, the 14 Army will load and sail for Java. There are two possible missions for 14 Army. I haven't decided which one to execute yet. Either they'll land at Kalidjati and help to wipe out Batavia -or- land in mid-Java and turn their attention south. I'm leaning for the first option, but am still considering.

Burma

The saga of the 55 Recon Regiment has finally ended at Mergui (the base south of Tavoy). The rabble that once was a British base force stopped there, along with a small unit that was garrisoning Mergui. I attacked and destroyed both units, about 720 prisoners for no loss. Now the 55 Recon regiment will begin the long trek to Rangoon. Mergui's resource center is 8(2).

Manado

The Naval Guard that took Manado move to the SW to a dot hex, Sidate, where the former Manado garrison was huddling. A successful attack ousted the Dutch to the jungle, causing 192 casualties for no loss.

China

My goal is China is twofold. In the south, I want to push the Chinese to the west, merging the Hong Kong-Canton bridgehead with the rest of southern China. In the north, my goal is to take Sian, for the oil. Nothing else matters, other than clearing out the pesky Chinese from my interior. I've had a lot of success bombing many of them to oblivion using the 3 Sally Sentai and 1 Lily Sentai from Kwantung. It's giving them great experience.

To meet the northern China goal, I made 2 more attacks. The first one, 1 hex NW of Sinyang, was a resounding success killing 1700 Chinese for the loss of 30 Japanese and pushing them out. The second attack, 2 hexes N of Anking, was an even bigger success, killing over 2200 Chinese for the loss of 36 Japanese.

[Grotius]

That looks like a very nice little unit indeed, Mike-san. Many experience increases is one day -- I suppose successful kills breed more experience gains. Or, as those English-speakers like to say, success breeds success.

[Mike Solli]

ORIGINAL: Chickenboy

Hi Mike,

It's been several days since you've indicated you'd stop shipping resources from Kyushu to Honshu and let the railroad do its work. Verdict?

I forgot to mention this. On 10 Feb 42 I checked my oil/resource levels in Kyushu. They were the same as on 1 Feb. It appears that the AI is moving out all unneeded resources and oil to Honshu. I will no longer ship stuff out of there. I'm also now using Nagasaki to offload ships coming from the west insteat of Shimonoseki. Life is good. [:D]

[Mike Solli]

ORIGINAL: Chickenboy

Hi Mike,

It's been several days since you've indicated you'd stop shipping resources from Kyushu to Honshu and let the railroad do its work. Verdict?

I forgot to mention this. On 10 Feb 42 I checked my oil/resource levels in Kyushu. They were the same as on 1 Feb. It appears that the AI is moving out all unneeded resources and oil to Honshu. I will no longer ship stuff out of there. I'm also now using Nagasaki to offload ships coming from the west insteat of Shimonoseki. Life is good. [:D]

[Q-Ball]

The railline works. For whatever reason, for me Nagasaki is permanently on 131,800 resources; no more, no less, no matter what happens. I'm sure there is some sort of formula around that.

Almost the entire 20th Division on Tarakan? Isn't that overkill? Unless he has reinforced it (which if you were going to reinforce stuff, that's NOT the place to do it), a Regt. should be enough. Land the rest on something else to pick up the pace.

I think your anal side is preventing you from taking some risks. Even if you don't bring enough guys, you won't lose an invasion force.