Once Again into the Breach - Mike (J) vs. tc464 (A)

[SqzMyLemon]

ORIGINAL: Mike Solli

ORIGINAL: SqzMyLemon

ORIGINAL: Mike Solli

Before anyone asks, yes, I do plan on invading Australia. The intent is to use 14 Army (48 & 16 Div, 65 Bde), 16 Army (2 & 38 Div) and SAA (4 & 21 Div). Eventually, 14 Army will defend Australia, 16 Army will defend Java and the SAA divisions will be the SRA reserve. The 25 Army (5 & 18 Div) will defend Palembang and Malaya.

The goal is to have all operations complete (with the exception of Australia most likely) by the end of Mar 42 (when the invasion bonus ends).

Hi Mike,

I may have missed this somewhere, but is this a full blown invasion of Australia with the aim to conquer it completely or a typical holding and delay type invasion?

Just the north to delay the inevitable. If I can keep it till fall of 42, I'll have considered it a success. My second goal is to not lose any major ground units there.

I'd like to try an invasion of Perth in my next game as far as Kalgoolerie (SP?). I think you could eliminate one axis of advance for quite some time and be in a perfect position to interdict any efforts to supply Australia from Cape Town. I'd almost hit Perth first, as soon as Northern Java fell, and then backfill towards the North. Combine this with an early move on PM and Horn Island and you'd effectively close off the entire DEI to reinforcement or US naval interdiction. It might further slow the buildup of Northeastern Australia as well. Just some thoughts.

[SuluSea]

ORIGINAL: PaxMondo

ORIGINAL: SuluSea

Mike, are you dumping any R&D into the A6M2-N? It comes online in 4/42 and by that date the 30 R&D will be repaired and since the next airframe in it's upgrade path is  the A6M5 you can change it to the next available upgrade and have undamaged factories researching an airframe that comes online in 8/43 in spring of 42. Pretty good deal IMO. [:)]

This is the only fast track R&D that I don't do. In fact, in my personal mod I mitigated this so that it doesn't gain you anything. It just feels 'gamey' to me. I do go for the A6M3 though. Only 2 months later ...

This is just me though ... if I was in a PBEM, maybe I would pursue it. Not sure. As I play against the AI, I don't.

I hear with what you're saying Pax. I don't believe in skipping airframes along the upgrade path to benefit from R&D but since the next upgrade for the A6M2-N is A6M5 I feel it's legitimate. Since it's many ways to play the game I understand some may think differently.

[PaxMondo]

ORIGINAL: SuluSea

ORIGINAL: PaxMondo

ORIGINAL: SuluSea

Mike, are you dumping any R&D into the A6M2-N? It comes online in 4/42 and by that date the 30 R&D will be repaired and since the next airframe in it's upgrade path is  the A6M5 you can change it to the next available upgrade and have undamaged factories researching an airframe that comes online in 8/43 in spring of 42. Pretty good deal IMO. [:)]

This is the only fast track R&D that I don't do. In fact, in my personal mod I mitigated this so that it doesn't gain you anything. It just feels 'gamey' to me. I do go for the A6M3 though. Only 2 months later ...

This is just me though ... if I was in a PBEM, maybe I would pursue it. Not sure. As I play against the AI, I don't.

I hear with what you're saying Pax. I don't believe in skipping airframes along the upgrade path to benefit from R&D but since the next upgrade for the A6M2-N is A6M5 I feel it's legitimate. Since it's many ways to play the game I understand some may think differently.

Sulu,

Didn't mean to suggest that it isn't legit: it is in the upgrade path and it is completely within the game scope.

The A6M2 to A6M3 upgrade path was broken by the devs for what I beleive were gameplay reasons. Perfectly understandable. The A6M2N needs to have an upgrade to a fighter model so that the groups can upgrade away from float fighter to straighter fighter as some of them did. Also understandable. I'm just not sure that this link should be used to bring the A6M5 into op sooner that the A6M3a (which is possible with sufficient R&D). So my objection is purely philosophical. [;)]

[Cribtop]

Sqz,

I seriously considered what you propose in my game against Cuttlefish. In the end, I went a different direction, in part because the AFB fixation on the Darwin - Timor axis seemed to be fading a bit, in part because [censored by Kempetei]. However, I think there's value to your suggestion, especially if your enemy loves to go for the DEI.

[Mike Solli]

ORIGINAL: CT Grognard

Well, if you are not going to go for Kalidjati again may I suggest Semarang? Starts the war with a Level 5 port, in a clear (cultivated) hex, with no garrison (i.e. no Coastal Defence guns). Plus there is a good rail link between Semarang and Djokjakarta (right next to each other), so you can rapidly cut off north Java (i.e. Batavia) and south Java (i.e. Soerabaja).

The closest forces to Semarang start the war in Tjilatjap (3 hexes of rail away), about 70 AV.

I was looking at Semarang but my eye keeps wandering back to Kalidjati because of that level 4 airfield. Last game I plopped Yamada det there. About a dozen of those 18 pilots became elite due to the number of planes they shot down. I think he may suspect Kalidjati, but I suspect I'll go there anyway. I don't think there's anything he can do to stop me really.

[PaxMondo]

ORIGINAL: Mike Solli


... I think he may suspect Kalidjati, but I suspect I'll go there anyway. I don't think there's anything he can do to stop me really.

+1

OR if he did/does, he will really have to weaken other points. Be a big gamble on his part ...

[Mike Solli]

ORIGINAL: CT Grognard

Here's a list of viable B-29 bases in north Australia (in order of suitability (i.e. potential size) and how long it will take to build them up!):

Darwin: 3/7
Broome: 3/6
Katherine: 1/7
Fenton: 0/7
Derby: 1/6
Daly Waters: 1/6
Nookanbah: 1/6
Port Hedland: 0/6
Corunna Downs: 0/6
Exmouth: 0/5
Bathurst Island: 0/5
Gove: 0/5
Wessel Marchinbar Island: 0/4

That being said, from a supply perspective, as long as you can take and hold at the very least the Darwin-Fenton-Katherine-Daly Waters railway, and in addition the Broome-Derby-Nookanbah road, you should be able to deny your enemy the ability to perform any strategic bombing in the SRA.

Port Hedland could be developed into a B29 base, but despite the 100 resources at Corunna Downs is notoriously difficult to keep supplied.

I wrote that down and filed it away. My mind doesn't think that way. I never think to look at the map like that. To be honest, I don't expect to have Australia by the time Ted has B-29s. [:D]

[Mike Solli]

ORIGINAL: jrcar

Ref Vehicles and Armaments.
You need more of the former, no more of the later. We ended up by about Aug 1942 with:

259 vehicle points
95 Armaments producing (500 turned off)

Both are about right, although we can now aford to turn off some of our vehicles as we fnally have a decent surplus, it took a long time though.

We converted armaments factories to vehicles, and have 8 armaments factories (about 500 points worth)turned off.

In March 1943 we have 9000 vehicle points spare and about 144,000 armament points spare.

Cheers

Rob

Rob, I don't plan on increasing the 620 armament factories. I just increased vehicles by 48 to 150. That'll be done in 8 days. I'll increase it in chunks. Vehicle points bit me in the butt last game. I won't let that happen again. Which scenario are you playing, by the way?

[Mike Solli]

ORIGINAL: SuluSea

Mike, are you dumping any R&D into the A6M2-N? It comes online in 4/42 and by that date the 30 R&D will be repaired and since the next airframe in it's upgrade path is  the A6M5 you can change it to the next available upgrade and have undamaged factories researching an airframe that comes online in 8/43 in spring of 42. Pretty good deal IMO. [:)]

Sulu,

The only thing I've done so far in R&D was to increase the A6M3 to 60. The A6M2-N is still at 9. I still haven't figured out what I want to do with R&D yet. The concern I have is that if I increase the A6M2-N factory to 30 and then upgrade it to the A6M5, then I still have to convert an existing factory to the A6M2-N. Your argument is compelling though. Getting the A6M5 in Spring of 42 is shocking. Gotta think about that some more. I'm pretty sure I can come up with a small factory that I could convert. The C5M comes to mind.

By the way, here's what I'm doing for moving resources around the Home Islands. I didn't include the small islands (Amami Oshima, Naha, etc.).

Shikuka-Sapporo (Oil): 2x 1250 TK and 2 To'su PB
Toyohara-Wakkani: 2 TF each of 9 Gozan and 3 Kiso PB
Hakodate-Ominato: 16 Akasi and 2 To'su PB
Fusan-Fukuoka: 2 TF each of 11 Gozan and 3 Kiso PB
Pt. Arthur-Shimonoseki: 2 TF each of 10 Lima and 3 Ansyu-C PB
Shanghai-Nagasaki: 10 Lima and 3 Ansyu-C PB

You'll note that no oil is being transferred from Hokadote to Ominato. All the oil from Shikuka is accumulating at Hokkaido. In Jun 42 when the Std series can be converted to TKs, I'll allocate some Std-C TKs (probably 3-4) to that route to move the oil to Honshu. It doesn't hurt anything to sit in Hakodate because Honshu has plenty of oil for that short period of time. I could use some of the starting TKs but I'll need all of them before Jun 42 in the SRA. Moving that oil and fuel from the SRA to Japan is going to be a real chore. Hulls will be an issue. I don't want to use xAKs to move fuel if I don't have to because it's so inefficient but I suspect I'll have to for short periods. I'm going to convert all of the Std-A, B and Cs to TKs. Not sure about the smaller ones. We'll see how the war goes.

[Mike Solli]

ORIGINAL: ny59giants

Kalidjati

Yes, this is the best invasion spot in Java to isolate the forces near Batavia from Soerabaja, IMO. Add in you get that size 4 AF to use right away. Hopefully, he doesn't more massive amounts of troops into the mtn base nearby. I did that as an Allied player and tied up a large number of Japanese troops for some time. [:D]

Yup, I agree with you, Michael. It served me very well last game.

[Mike Solli]

ORIGINAL: PaxMondo

ORIGINAL: jrcar

Ref Vehicles and Armaments.
You need more of the former, no more of the later. We ended up by about Aug 1942 with:

259 vehicle points
95 Armaments producing (500 turned off)

Both are about right, although we can now aford to turn off some of our vehicles as we fnally have a decent surplus, it took a long time though.

We converted armaments factories to vehicles, and have 8 armaments factories (about 500 points worth)turned off.

In March 1943 we have 9000 vehicle points spare and about 144,000 armament points spare.

Cheers

Rob

+1

And depending upon you battle outcomes, you might even need more. But, I target VEH=250 as a minimum. It is one of the things that eats up my economic expansion in the early game. I figure I can only expand 15 factories at a time and still have some supply gain. With 6 VEH expanding for almost the first month, that leaves only 9 engine/ac factories to expand. Decisions. Decisions. as to which ones expand.

That's truly amazing. How do you guys ever save HI for the future? I usually don't worry about supply too much the first month. I know I'm going to pull a lot out to send to the SRA. I've already shipped out ~200k supply and it's only 18 Dec in the game.

[PaxMondo]

ORIGINAL: Mike Solli


...Getting the A6M5 in Spring of 42 is shocking. Gotta think about that some more. I'm pretty sure I can come up with a small factory that I could convert. ...

Well, you can get a fully repaired R&D factory(s) converted to A6M5 in early summer of '42 to start to accumulate R&D points on the A6M5. It will still take many months (dependent upon how many R&D factories you put on this) to actually get the A6M5. It is scheduled to arrive spring 43, so if you have 100 pts/month it will still take 6 months to arrive or about Oct 42, which is before you can realisitically advance the A6M3a through research. That is a huge improvement and puts you that much closer to getting your first armored Zeke (A6M3c).

[Mike Solli]

ORIGINAL: SqzMyLemon

ORIGINAL: Mike Solli

ORIGINAL: SqzMyLemon



Hi Mike,

I may have missed this somewhere, but is this a full blown invasion of Australia with the aim to conquer it completely or a typical holding and delay type invasion?

Just the north to delay the inevitable. If I can keep it till fall of 42, I'll have considered it a success. My second goal is to not lose any major ground units there.

I'd like to try an invasion of Perth in my next game as far as Kalgoolerie (SP?). I think you could eliminate one axis of advance for quite some time and be in a perfect position to interdict any efforts to supply Australia from Cape Town. I'd almost hit Perth first, as soon as Northern Java fell, and then backfill towards the North. Combine this with an early move on PM and Horn Island and you'd effectively close off the entire DEI to reinforcement or US naval interdiction. It might further slow the buildup of Northeastern Australia as well. Just some thoughts.

I look at Australia as a defensive operation. It's strictly to hold his bombers off a bit. If it's successful for 6 months, I'm happy. An invasion of Perth is (in my eyes) offensive in nature. While I'd love to try it, it's not in my nature. My goal is to conserve forces to slow him down. It may not be the best approach, but it's my way. Someday though, I'd love to try something like that. Let me get through one campaign first. [:D]

[PaxMondo]

ORIGINAL: Mike Solli


That's truly amazing. How do you guys ever save HI for the future? I usually don't worry about supply too much the first month. I know I'm going to pull a lot out to send to the SRA. I've already shipped out ~200k supply and it's only 18 Dec in the game.

I can usually start saving HI in Jan 42. It the supply gate that hits me the most. 1000 supply per factory. You only have so much supply in the HI to start and you have to use a good chunk of that for your offensive. That means you really have to use the "Mike Solli" school of slow changes to keep from crashing your economy.

[Chickenboy]

ORIGINAL: Mike Solli

ORIGINAL: pws1225

Man, I gotta watch this one unfold. In my first game as Japan I am already bogged down in Java and Burma. I will be taking some serious notes! Go get'em Mike!

Burma, ah Burma. Just today Ted, my opponent, and I were exchanging emails and he described Burma as a slow motion slugfest. Boy ain't that the truth!

Someone (ny59giants, Chickenboy or Q-Ball I suspect), in my previous game suggested that I land a force on Java early, just to get a bridgehead. I did, at Kalidjati. I believe it was a division and some armor, but don't quote me on it. I ended up cutting the island in 2 and separating his forces. Interior lines and all that for me. [;)] When I landed the main force (a couple more divisions) I was able to defeat him in detail. North first then south. I plan on doing something similar this game, but I'll probably land somewhere else. Kaldjati is perfect, but I don't want to do the same thing twice. He may be waiting for it. I suspect he'll mine that base.

Dunno who it was, but coulda been me. Kalidjati is a perfect base for an early war IJ landing: within LRCAP of Oosthaven and Palembang, open hex, on the rail lines. If you can land unopposed, it's a great jump-off point.

[Mike Solli]

Doing it slow isn't really slow. It's the same speed as everyone else, but I just increase in small increments so it's complete in a week or so, with a few exceptions like the Zero and Oscar Ic. I know I'm going to increase them regardless so I just do it. I just sent off the 18 Dec turn and I'm down 450k supply from the start. About 150-200k is currently on ships so it's not really gone. Still, I'm cautious about any more increases to my infrastructure for awhile. Taking the SRA is going to cost a lot more supply.

I'm up 13k HI points. Not a lot but every increase in factories costs HI. I took a big bite on 7 Dec. It took a while just to come back to the starting amount.

[Mike Solli]

16 Dec 41

Sub War

The I-17 caught and sank an xAKL off Hawaii. [8|]

5 Fleet

I captured Adak today. I started construction on the airfield. Ted sent me an email thanking me for giving him the Adak bombing range. [:D]

4 Fleet

Engineers are on the way to Wake. The place is trashed. It'll take awhile just to repair the damage, let alone build forts. Right now there are exactly 0 engineers on Wake. Poor planning on my part.

SE Fleet

The Guards Brigade is still a couple of days out. Waiting for them.

China

Nothing new to report.

Hong Kong

Another DA resulted in 1:1 odds, but there fort level is 0. That's good news. My losses were 636(1) to 645(48) for the Brits. They're slowly being worn down. All three battalions are combat ineffective and the Kowloon Bde is down to 91 AV. I'll bombard a day to give my infantry some time to rest.

Philippines

Nothing to report. 48 Div and 65 Bde still enroute to Clark field. They'll reach it tomorrow.

Mindinao

I landed at Zamboanga (16 NG) and Oroquieta (16 Div). I took Butuan in a DA losing 8(0) casualties and trashing the 103 PA Inf Reg for 900(91). They retreated to the south. There are 3 units to the west at Catabuan and 1 unit to the NE. The armor regiments are heading NE to clean out that unit.

Ted sank an xAK at Butuan (fortunately empty) with more of those damn Do-24s. [:@]

Borneo

The Brunei invasion force (a NG) lands tomorrow. A 56k supply TF arrives at Miri tomorrow as well. I can finally start to repair the 150 oil.

Malaya

Wonderful day today, for the most part. The RAF has had it's back broken. A force of a few bombers led by 25 Buffalos went after my Kuantan invasion force. 34 Zeros and 7 Oscar Ics shot down 13 of them. I'm beginning to get more elite pilots. Banzai! They no longer are effective. I landed at Kuantan but the Mersing invasion force was still 1 hex out. They'll land tomorrow.

Other stuff

The Pensacola was reported to have sunk. We'll see....

[PaxMondo]

ORIGINAL: Mike Solli

I captured Adak today. I started construction on the airfield. Ted sent me an email thanking me for giving him the Adak bombing range. [:D]

[:D][:D][:D]

He doesn't have much that can get there, and he has to improve those AF's a lot to be able to bomb at all .... they'll make good fighter training platforms if he sends them there. [;)]

[:D][:D][:D]

[PaxMondo]

ORIGINAL: Mike Solli
... Still, I'm cautious about any more increases to my infrastructure for awhile. Taking the SRA is going to cost a lot more supply. ..

Yep. What's the point of taking all of that HI and oil if you can't repair it? [;)]

[SuluSea]

Hi Mike I have a few R&D charts for personal use there's a couple adjustments I would make in retrospect but I'll be glad to post both for you and the contributors of your AAR at the very least if it gets a player thinking about their own R&D strategy it's a good thing.[:)]