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

[CapAndGown]

ORIGINAL: Q-Ball


I don't care much about the Gilberts. Tabiteaua is a big base, but that's it.

This goes against your philosophy (and mine) of building mutually supporting bases. Look around Tabiteaua. All those bases could potentially built to a size five airfield, though I prefer size four myself. In fact, all the bases from Tarawa on south can be built to size five. That would give you your desired interlocking bases.

I have spent alot of contstruction in the DEI, particularly Northern Australia, and immediately north. I guess I am paranoid about this being an axis of advance, because it's bad for japan. I have been fortifying the Solomons and New Hebrides as well, but not to the same extent. I also have alot of construction on Sumatra. I want to protect the OIL.

When you say fortify, what level of forts are you trying for as your standard?

[offenseman]

What are you going to do with the troops in Akyab?  Relief effort, march them through the jungle, let them rot? 

I am like you, I ignore the Gilberts to some extent for the same reasons as you.  They just seem less important to me and it is pretty easy to drop the hammer on invasions from Truk as you have done. Opinions vary of course.

[Q-Ball]

ORIGINAL: offenseman

What are you going to do with the troops in Akyab?  Relief effort, march them through the jungle, let them rot? 

I am like you, I ignore the Gilberts to some extent for the same reasons as you.  They just seem less important to me and it is pretty easy to drop the hammer on invasions from Truk as you have done. Opinions vary of course.

I have a plan in the works on this.......will update in a couple turns

[Q-Ball]

Combat Report,

Akyab: In answer to your question: I launched a rescue. It was successful, to the extent it could have been.

I used 2 BBs plus JUNYO and RYUJO to support. AKs picked almost everyone up, and are moving to Rangoon. The Allies lost 60 planes attacking, vs. about 30 IJA fighters, and only one transport went down. Everything else got away clean. I counted on the RAF being crap at Ship attack, and I was right. DUNKIRK, aka AKYAB, worked.

I still can't feel good, as the Allies are everywhere in Burma, and have the drop on me. I do have troops reinforcing, so hopefully we can turn the tables.

Marshalls: Continuous bombing has kept the airbases under control. However, US fighters re-occupied Tarawa a couple days ago, and a major reinforcement effort seems underway. We are sortieing the fleet to stop this and keep Tarawa closed.

[FatR]

IMO, Akyab is a deathtrap. Trying to defend along historical lines in Burma is impossible. With easier AE logistics, Allies can invade across the jungle whenever they please and cut off Japanese outposts. Mandalay-Magwe-Prome seems to be the most ambitious line of defense that can be possibly held. And even then I believe a JFB should start fortifying Moulmein, Chiang Mai and Rahaeng right from 1942.

[veji1]

Burma is quite borked, or rather, the whole supply through Jungle is. I suppose that by making supply away from bases through jungle particularly, but also through other terrains, Burma but Australia as well would be a lot slower, which would be a lot more realistic.

[Q-Ball]

Combat Report, Oct 13, 1942:

That is true on Burma; the supply situation there doesn't really model the difficulty of moving stuff from India. It's too easy to just march over. Oh well, I have to live with it.

I will have to decide whether to try to hold Magwe and Lashio and risk getting flaked, or just bag the whole shooting match and leave Burma.

Marshalls: A minor relief effort is underway, and I think failing.

First, aircraft re-populated Tarawa. They shot down some of my planes turn one, and after that I stopped bombing, and sortied the fleet. I also observed shipping East of the Marshalls heading toward Tarawa.

After 3-4 days peace, bombardment TFs wrecked Tarawa, and sank a small TF of what appear to be supply ships. They were xAKLs, pretty expendible, but interesting. More ships are still east of Tarawa, maybe reinforcements; they are reported to be xAPs. I am sending a couple cruisers to go "investigate", and maybe the CVs, which are lurking about.

I figured there would be relief attempts, but unless he supports them with warships, they aren't going to work as long as I stay alert. At some point, he'll have to send in the Navy, or let the troops starve. Classic WITP/AE problem of being tethered to cut-off troops.

Counterinvasions are finally organizing; preps are past 65 now, so by the time I get ships organized and loaded up, it will be close to 90. We should land around Halloween on Mili, which will be the first target.

[offenseman]

Nice job on the extraction- those are tricky!  It does seem that Burma is a problem that may only allow for making the reconquest of Burma costly and time consuming for the Allies.

[Q-Ball]

ORIGINAL: offenseman

Nice job on the extraction- those are tricky!  It does seem that Burma is a problem that may only allow for making the reconquest of Burma costly and time consuming for the Allies.

Extractions are tricky. I was only able to do it because:

1. The RN is almost completely destroyed; with my 2 BBs there, I figured that he would not attack with surface ships. He didn't.
2. The RAF doesn't have much in the way of ship-killing planes. The only SWORD unit he had died quickly the first day. Other than that, just a bunch of 2Es, which may or may not be trained on NavB. In any event, 2Es don't hit much.

I will still lose Burma though

[Q-Ball]

Combat Report, Oct 14-15, 1942:

Marshalls: Interesting last couple days.

An allied TF of SOUTH DAKOTA and WASHINGTON pounded Tabiteua in a night bombardment (the same night 2 YAMASHIROS pounded Tarawa again). The bombardment successfully closed Tabiteua, but one of my many subs in the area found SOUTH DAKOTA on the way back to Baker, and put two fish in her (it was I-3, the same sub that sank HORNET). "Fires" were reported. Of course, she showed up on the sunk report, but from experience I know she ain't sunk.

SOUTH DAKOTA is probably, though, headed to the yards for repair. And repairing Major Float on BBs takes awhile. She should be out for 2-4 months. If my math and assumption are right, the Allies are back down to 1 operational BB in the Pacific, that being WASHINGTON.

I had been tracking a small convoy of AP heading toward Tarawa, and send a small TF of CL and 2 DDs to intercept east of the Marshalls. They found a single large xAP loaded with an engineering or base unit of some sort, and sent her and the DMS escort to the bottom. Not sure if there was more, but I didn't see anything else on search.

This was his first attempt to reinforce/resupply the three islands, and it ended in failure. He may have unloaded a tiny bit of cargo, but those ships were all sunk. This was the "sneak" in method, as he didn't commit the Navy in force for this.

What's Plan B for the Allies? As long as I keep vigilant, he can't re-open the airbases for long without them getting pounded by BBs. He doesn't have enough BBs to prevent me from closing them anytime I want. He can commit the CVs to counter my BBs, but he only has 2 left, and that would be extremely risky, since he knows my CVs are all lurking about.

I would probably abandon the troops to their fate, but that is a very difficult decision to make.

Burma: As well as things are going in the Marshalls, Burma continues to be a hash. I successfully unloaded all the Akyab troops at Rangoon, and they are joining the fight. I am attempting a manuever to cut off the tip of the Allied spear, but if it doesn't work, I may have to abandon Burma altogether.

[Q-Ball]

Combat Report, Oct 16-17, 1942:

Solomons: At some point, Hemajor will try another spot to attack me. B-17s have been raiding Milne Bay and Port Moresby unopposed for a couple weeks. Both airstrips are beat-up enough that they are very difficult to repair. Port Moresby is one of the few spots where the Allies might make a landing without a large surface fleet in support. There is immediate air support too from Portland Roads. It's an easy spot to get back at.

Therefore, I will assume that is the spot. I am sending reinforcements to the area, in the form of:

-1 Inf Bde
-Air units
-The BB first team, of YAMATO and 2 KONGOS
-A squadron of 3 CAs

Overall, I am reorganizing the fleet.

Burma: Things are finally looking up a bit, after a successful counterattack yesterday south of Magwe. We mauled 2 units pretty badly.

[CapAndGown]

Nine division! [X(] My god man. All that means is you are weak somewhere else. I suppose if you can maul him good, that might be worth it. Right now he seems intent on reinforcing failure in the Marshalls. But if he decides to give up and go elsewhere, he will probably hit a weak spot.

[Q-Ball]

ORIGINAL: cap_and_gown

Nine division! [X(] My god man. All that means is you are weak somewhere else. I suppose if you can maul him good, that might be worth it. Right now he seems intent on reinforcing failure in the Marshalls. But if he decides to give up and go elsewhere, he will probably hit a weak spot.

No question about that; that's why I am suddenly paranoid about New Guinea.

I took that risk because I have a large naval advantage; I plan to use "Steel Walls" to defend the Empire. You are correct in that land commitment is RISKY! I am couting on the fact that he is fixated in the Marshalls on the USN side of the map, and on the RN side of the map....there is no RN.

Here is the current INTEL estimate of strength, as best I can tell:

BBs:
IJN: I have 8 Operational BBs; YAMATO,3 KONGOS, and 4 ISE/FUSOs. NAGATO is 20 days from finishing repair, and MUSASHI is due in mid-December.
USN: Has only WASHINGTON; SOUTH DAKOTA just ate 2 torps off Baker, and is headed for repair. I have not seen any Pearl Harbor survivors, not sure the status of those 4. All other USN BBs are either yet to arrive or at the bottom of the ocean.
RN: WARSPITE and VALIANT took damage 2 months ago off Perth; they may or may not be operational. I have to assume they are close. All other RN BBs are Sunk.

So, In Battleships, I have a 3-1 advantage. By shifting the 3 BBs to the Solomons, I can handle ANY force that comes, regardless of my land strength, if I am quick enough.

CARRIERS:
IJN: I have lost AKAGI, KAGA, SORYU, HIYO. Grouping everyone together makes KB slower, but I still have a credible CV strength of approx. 390 aircraft.
USN: Has LEXINGTON and SARATOGA; LEX was damaged a month ago, not sure how badly. He is very short of CV aircraft, particularly Wildcats. The YORKTOWN class plus WASP are sunk. At best, the USN has 180 aircraft
RN: All RN CVs are sunk

So, I have a 2-1 advantage against the Allies here. ESSEX arrives in FEB, but I also get RYUHO next month, plus TAIHO in April. I won't lose the advantage until late summer of 1943, when that huge Allied reinforcement arrives.

CRUISERS:
(For this, I am only counting large modern cruisers; not Dutch, Omahas, IJN CLs, older RN types)
IJN: I have lost 3 CAs
USN/RAN: 13 total CAs lost, plus 3 modern CLs, and 2 CLAAs
RN: 3 CAs lost, plus 1 modern CL

The Allies, by my estimate, are down to a total of 9 CA/CL and 3 CLAAs in terms of modern cruisers. I am slightly ahead in quantity, but qualitatively, the IJN CAs are much better in surface fighting than Allied types. The USN has really suffered in CAs, with only VINCENNES, SALT LAKE CITY, and MINNEAPOLIS still afloat by my calculation.

DDs:
I have lost 7 modern DDs, (1 Kagero, 5 Fubukis, 1 Hatsuharu)
The Allies have lost between 30-35 modern DDs.

I am in great shape in DDs; I have probably built as many as I have lost. Last time I played Japan, DDs were a problem.

So, in the fleet assessment, I have an advantage; instead of boots, I will use my "Steel walls" to defend the Empire.

[Swenslim]

Exept of CV loses you are doing very very well !

Now only place where can he attack is Burma and Kaledonia-Gunea-Solomons. I hope your opponent will not launch Banzai! kind of amphibious landings on Caledonia, because it works very very well for allied player. He only needs to land 1 division and few sea bees and air supports units and you will never kick him out. So you need to intercept him before he get ashore.

[Q-Ball]

Combat Report, Oct 18-22, 1942:

Burma: Our forces have crossed the Irriwaddy in force, attacking 4 British Bdes West of Magwe. So far, it's 1-1, but the casualties are more Allied. That's fine by me, UK Infantry is hard to replace. A few more reinforcements, and they should be pushed back.

An AT unit had come down the trail from Akyab, and was mauled.

It should be obvious now to Hemajor that he is outnumbered in the Irriwaddy valley. We will see how he reacts.

See, Burma is a piece of cake to defend for the Japanese. All it takes is 10 divisions![:'(]

Marshalls: Not much to report; another pop-up of planes, more bombardments wiping them out. Japan still controls the sea and air around these islands.

We'll soon control the land too, as preps are almost finished.

Allied Shout Back: I had an AV patrolling the sea land between OZ and India; HMS Warspite took care of that, way out in the middle of nowhere. Nice hit! At least I know where that ship is; she will be withdrawing soon.

[Swenslim]

And where to find 10 divisions ? )) I hardly found 5 div and this is not enough.

[Q-Ball]

I should catalogue what I have bought, but I have PP'ed out several divisions from the Home Islands and Manchuria, including:

1st Tank
24th (Manchuria)
53rd (Home Islands)
52nd (Home Islands)
1st Gds Bde (Home Islands)

My other buys have been a few very high EXP Infantry Regts (look around, there are several at 90 or so) from Manchuria. I am using those in the outer Perimeter. Those have several advantages:

1. They are cheap
2. They are high experience troops
3. If they are wiped out, you can rebuild the parent unit with the remaining units, and effectively get those slots back
4. 100 AV smaller units gives you flexibility in garrisons for all those remote islands and bases, vs. breaking up Divisions into A/B/C

[Q-Ball]

Combat Report, Oct 23-24, 1942:

Burma: Not only has the table turned, but it's turned completely; the Allies are in a bit of trouble now, shoving troops further forward than they should have. 1 Division is in grave danger of destruction, and another better move fast or they'll be working on a little railway we have planned back to Siam.....

[Q-Ball]

Combat Report, Oct 25-30, 1942:

Been awhile since I updated this AAR; I suppose I have more time now that I have closed the one with Cuttlefish. Shoe is on the other foot here: The Empire is attempting to hold the line.

Burma: 3 British Bdes are cut-off behind my lines. The good news is that I don't see them getting home. Bad news: They are astride my rail lines, and the first couple attacks, they have mostly run away. Defeating them was the easy part; rounding them up might be tough.

The British are falling back up the West bank of the Irriwaddy; I have a bridgehead on that bank just West of Shwebo. I don't think I can cut anyone else off, but I am hoping to roll the Allies up, and if things go really well, re-take Shwebo.

Allied airpower is a problem, he bombs my airbases at will; in my favor, I have 6 active airfields in Burma, so it's difficult to keep them all closed at once.

The only other action: I-158 put 2 torpedos into HMS MAURITIUS off Akyab. "Heavy Fires, Heavy Damage" were reported, they were good hits. Not sure if she sank, but I think that ship is on the 1942 withdrawl list anyway.

Marshalls: It has been relatively quiet in the Marshalls; mostly just me bombing the airbases to keep them closed. That is about to change........

I have been prepping and organizing for counter-invasions ever since the initial landings in August. We are now ready to uncork it. KB is going to take station East of the Marshalls, and BB/s Planes will pummel the ground troops, hopefully into submission.

This will be the first contested Atoll landing I have ever done as Japan against so many defenders, over 15K on each island. A good portion of those are base troops and engineers, but I still expect strong resistance. We will see if I can break it.

[Q-Ball]

Combat Report, Nov 1, 1942:

Mili Falls!: On the second day of attacks, Mili falls to the Empire. 12,000 Allied prisoners are now entrusted to the tender mercies of the Empire.

The garrison was quite large, and included tanks. This goes to show that no matter how many troops you pile on an Atoll, you're going to lose it if you don't control the sea around it. Atolls in theory are the easiest places to defend, but in practice they are next to impossible.

The 2 divisions that took it are on their way to the Solomons; I am paranoid about a move in this area, and they can rest and guard at the same time. Imperial Gds will go to Port Moresby, and 53rd in reserve at Rabaul.

What Next?: Two divisions are ready to go for Makin; I just need to unload the transports, and re-load the troops, and we should be able to repeat this operation without difficulty.

Tarawa has 27K troops, and figures to be a tougher nut. Not sure if we can re-take it or not; I have troops prepping, but that will be a big operation. I would really like to clear this lodgement, though in the Marshalls; that would set the Allies back to square 1.