Japanese bombers target Chinese units N.E. of Tuyun to slow any movement incase of a change of heart to defend Tuyun. The bulk of the infantry and artillery arrive today after being switched to move mode. I'll assault the base tomorrow and it should fall easily. Japanese troops are advancing on all fronts in China. With the will of the Chinese broken, I'll begin to withdraw LCU's tasked for duty in the Pacific from the frontline.
Another Chinese unit is suicided in a river assault against my blocking forces north of Kweilin. The 3rd New Chinese Corps is wiped out. Even if I didn't want to wipe out Chinese LCU's to prevent them respawning, my opponent has no qualms doing it himself. This is not the first time, nor to be the last I'm sure.
The Solomons:
A6M3 fighters sweep Lunga, but no one is home. Allied submarines are operating in the deep Ocean hexes south of Munda in an effort to interdict my bombardment TF's and avoid my ASW in shallow waters.
Burma:
The daily bombardment of my forces at Bhamo continue. The Japanese 5th and 19th Divisions square off against the 6th Australian and 2nd British Divisions. AV comparison is 962 vs. 914 in the Allies' favour. Forts are level three and climbing.
Miscellaneous:
Japan:
Chichi-jima expands fortifications to size 4
Makassar expands port to size 5
Aircraft Ki-61-Ib Tony advances R&D
E W-25 arrives at Tokyo
E W-26 arrives at Tokyo
Allied:
Port Hedland expands airfield to size 5
Here's another screenshot of China:
Attachments
BurmaChina.jpg (283.48 KiB) Viewed 269 times
Luck is the residue of design - John Milton
Don't mistake lack of talent for genius - Peter Steele (Type O Negative)
Another Chinese unit is suicided in a river assault against my blocking forces north of Kweilin. The 3rd New Chinese Corps is wiped out. Even if I didn't want to wipe out Chinese LCU's to prevent them respawning, my opponent has no qualms doing it himself. This is not the first time, nor to be the last I'm sure.
I've been wondering when my opponent would do this, but again it seems like an exploit. There is no way weak Chinese units would banzai against an army on the other side of the river in any real scenario simply to kill themselves off and make their Corps structure available to the next trainees coming up the pipeline.
Granted, there is probably no way the IJA could have the success in a real scenario that it does in China in AE, but things like this just make me cringe a bit.
Burma:
The daily bombardment of my forces at Bhamo continue. The Japanese 5th and 19th Divisions square off against the 6th Australian and 2nd British Divisions. AV comparison is 962 vs. 914 in the Allies' favour. Forts are level three and climbing.
I'm sure those twenty-something Chinese units are making for the hills and a possible retreat into a zone with some supply, which these Allied troops are trying to create for them. Do you have any rules on Chinese units outside of China if it collapses altogether?
"Success is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm." - Winston Churchill
I'm sure those twenty-something Chinese units are making for the hills and a possible retreat into a zone with some supply, which these Allied troops are trying to create for them. Do you have any rules on Chinese units outside of China if it collapses altogether?
I'm hoping our HR of all units paying PP's to cross national boundaries covers that issue. We agreed early in the game to allow Thai units to garrison in Burma at no cost, because of the ridiculously low AV required. That would have entailed the breaking up of much larger Japanese units to meet those garrison needs.
There's already been a Chinese Corps operating in Burma. It was trashed along with the British 18th Division in the river assault against Mandalay. I have no idea on whether PP's were spent by Bart to accomodate this. I would think with our HR they would have had to.
Luck is the residue of design - John Milton
Don't mistake lack of talent for genius - Peter Steele (Type O Negative)
Life is good today, two turns in the inbox. The pace of the game remains slow, Bart is extremely busy and turns will be sporadic once again over the next few weeks. This actually suits me fine as I need to get more model time in.
I'll probably have a small update later. The only things happening this turn on my end was another bombardment against Lunga and the assault to capture Tuyun.
I'm also tracking daily resource and fuel flow into Fusan to help obvert figure out how things are working with overland movement of fuel/oil/resources. I guess I should be tracking all the major bases along the route from Singapore to Fusan. I'm no statistics expert, so not sure how best to go about tracking this information in a meaningful way. Is it sufficient to record daily totals at the bases? Any suggestions?
Luck is the residue of design - John Milton
Don't mistake lack of talent for genius - Peter Steele (Type O Negative)
Life is good today, two turns in the inbox. The pace of the game remains slow, Bart is extremely busy and turns will be sporadic once again over the next few weeks. This actually suits me fine as I need to get more model time in.
I'll probably have a small update later. The only things happening this turn on my end was another bombardment against Lunga and the assault to capture Tuyun.
I'm also tracking daily resource and fuel flow into Fusan to help obvert figure out how things are working with overland movement of fuel/oil/resources. I guess I should be tracking all the major bases along the route from Singapore to Fusan. I'm no statistics expert, so not sure how best to go about tracking this information in a meaningful way. Is it sufficient to record daily totals at the bases? Any suggestions?
And thank you ... [:)]
I'm still trying to pull fuel up and instead keep dragging it out of Port Arthur, even though it's set to hold onto it. But at least some is going to Fusan and I can easily bring it across. Maybe I should let open the floodgates and empty Port Arthur to see if it will then drag fro beyond and down from the south.
The hold fuel buttons seem to be working well on inland HI bases, as opposed to previous patches where these bases routinely ran out of fuel.
"Success is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm." - Winston Churchill
Chinese troops at Kweiyang were absolutely pounded from the air in numerous raids. The first raid was the best, as 151 bombers coordinated for a single strike under clear sky conditions. Chinese troops suffered 13(31) infantry, 4(61) non-combat squad and 1(10) guns lost totalling 728 casualties.
Allied B-24D Liberator's (12) attempted to disrupt Japanese troops at Tuyun prior to the expected ground assault. Ki-44-IIa Tojo's (3) on LRCAP based at Nanning intercepted and damaged two bombers for no loss. The bombers caused no casualties.
The capture of Tuyun by deliberate assault was a foregone conclusion with only a Chinese BF left to defend the base. The 7th Chinese Base Force suffered 34(0) infantry, 135(0) non-combat and 4(0) engineer squad losses totalling 871 casualties. Japanese forces suffered 15 squad disablements totalling 142 casualties.
The Solomons:
Poor communications led to the cancellation of the bombardment of Lunga today. It appears the TF was not given the appropriate orders. Oops. [8|]
Miscellaneous:
Japan:
Keijo expands fortifications to size 2
Lahat expands fortifications to size 3
Merak expands fortifications to size 4
Allied:
Adak Island expands port to size 3
Luck is the residue of design - John Milton
Don't mistake lack of talent for genius - Peter Steele (Type O Negative)
I've been thinking how best to defend Japan. I wonder on the effectiveness of an Allied bombing offensive against the Home Islands if Japan's economy is not cut off from the supply of fuel/oil from the DEI first, and the Combined Fleet and JAAF and JNAF are still intact and healthy.
Are capturing the Bonins, Marianas and Okinawa enough to ensure victory against Japan, if she's still left with an intact airforce capable of strong resistance? Is the historical approach enough in game terms to win, or must the DEI be invaded or the oil centres rendered useless first by strategic bombing?
It seems to me that the priority should be to prevent the Allies a lodgement in the DEI at all costs and keep the 4E's out of range of the oil centres. Is there something I'm missing about the importance of the Central Pacific? Can the B-29's flying from the Mariannas, or the Allied carrier fleet operating against the Home Islands, be enough to win?
If the historical prerequisites like the destruction of the Combined Fleet, sinking of the merchant navy and destruction of Japanese airpower are not met prior to a Central Pacific air campaign against the Home Islands, how can the Allies best achieve victory? Do they first need to take out the DEI, or can they still go straight for Japan and rely on bombing alone?
Luck is the residue of design - John Milton
Don't mistake lack of talent for genius - Peter Steele (Type O Negative)
I easily spent 2 1/2 hours sorting out TF's and Empire housework last night, while completing the next turn. I found numerous bases in Indochina and Manchuria that were drawing supply that was no longer required for expansions, so they've been reset to zero stockpiling.
I began distributing JAAF and JNAF support units to various bases in the DEI. The Marianas will begin to receive JNAF support units to complement the engineer construction units that have been expanding the facilities so far. The majority of the Air HQ's are going to the DEI, while individual Air Flotilla HQ's will be Central Pacific bound.
I need to designate a small number of tankers for island hopping missions providing fuel to allow ACM's to tender planned minefields at numerous bases in the Solomons and DEI. The majority of the bases receiving mines are those with narrow straits that allow passage for enemy submarines into the vitals of the Empire. Perhaps I can sink or heavily damage a few en route to their patrol zones. So far I'm extremely fortunate there are few enemy submarines operating in the DEI. Crack air ASW and aggressive patrols by naval ASW earlier in the war has deterred most enemy submarine activity in this theatre.
I've freed up two regiments from China with PP expenditure and they are railing to Hong Kong. They are DEI bound. Amphibious shipping is being routed to various ports of embarkation to facilitate movement of these forces. It's taken longer to get the Ki-61-Ia Tony into the field than anticipated. I'm producing 40 aircraft a month, but only 24 have been built so far. Not enough to convert either Sentai from Nate's yet. I can only field 78 Tony's, so I don't want to risk overproduction at this stage.
I'm having a blast moving things around and optimizing my shipping the last few days. If I get a turn from Bart tonight, I can spend the next two evenings doing even more reorganizing since he can't get turns out on Wednesday's. I really do enjoy the "Railroad Tycoon" aspect of playing Japan. Much to do though, as I continue to redeploy troops and get more resources flowing to the Home Islands.
In order to try and understand resource flow on mainland Asia I'm experimenting with a few things right now. I have been transporting resources from Singapore to Takao with dual purpose transports that carry both resources and fuel/oil. Then Aden class transports and a few tankers haul it to Japan proper. I'm going to still use Takao as a hub, but will start sending resources directly from there to Amoy to see if that increases the amount flowing overland to Fusan. I'd save alot of fuel if it works. I'll be monitoring all the major bases along the coast to see where this additional influx of resources goes, I'm hoping east to Fusan.
I'm also diverting a large number of Aden class transports for a trial resource extraction blitz from Shikuka. I want to see if I can suck it dry and then get more smaller convoys to move the resources faster to prevent large stockpiles developing on a regular basis. It currently has a stockpile of 800k.
Any base producing oil will be subjected to immediate exportation of available stockpiles. Oil levels are dropping rapidly in the Home Islands and there is a lot of oil in the DEI just sitting around. I need to rectify this immediately. All oil goes to Singapore for transportation back to Japan by large tanker TF's.
Just some info on things behind the scenes. Any input on this subject is most welcome. There are a lot of different ways of doing things, and half the fun is developing a system that meets your specific needs at any given time.
Luck is the residue of design - John Milton
Don't mistake lack of talent for genius - Peter Steele (Type O Negative)
No turn since Monday, so I've been working on the model kits for the bet and model show. I kind of bounce around from kit to kit as various sections are completed. I need to make a paint run after work and look for some small 1mm tubing for this kit I've decided to build for the model show.
It's not military, but decided on something with a little colour just to change it up. I also really have no interest in motorcycles, but can appreciate the cool factor and colourful racing schemes.
Game related there's not much going on. Bored at work and just felt like posting something, unfortunately off-topic once again. [:D]
Attachments
Ducati.jpg (36.53 KiB) Viewed 269 times
Luck is the residue of design - John Milton
Don't mistake lack of talent for genius - Peter Steele (Type O Negative)
A good day for Japanese forces throughout the Empire.
Sub Ops:
SS Gudgeon duds on DD Minazuki near Russell Islands. DD Yuzuki attacks with DC's, but after exhausting her supply she accounts for only one near miss hit causing damage.
SS S-47 is spotted by SC CH 36 near Buna. An ASW attack is launched, but no hits are recorded.
SS I-21 spots an Allied amphibious TF off the coast of Carnarvon. She sinks the DE Paul Jones with one torpedo hit!
SS Grayback duds on E Sagi near Russell Islands.
Burma:
Allied B-24D Liberator's (36) bomb the 53rd Const. Co. as it approaches Bhamo. Losses are light at 0(2) non-combat and 0(3) engineer squads disabled totalling 39 casualties.
China:
I switch the bombers to hit Chinese troops across the river north of Kweilin. Results are disappointing in the rough terrain with the Chinese suffering 0(5) infantry and 0(15) non-combat squads lost totalling 124 casualties.
Troops at Kweiyang are hit by Ki-21-IIb Sally's (19), but losses are light at 0(1) infantry, 0(1) non-combat squads and 1(1) guns lost totalling 7 casualties. Weather was severe storms.
The Solomons:
The main action occurred at Lunga today as the Allies interdicted my bombardment TF with a SCTF of their own. A sharp naval action ensued, but despite Allied radar the Japanese force dominated the engagement. The AAR follows:
Night Time Surface Combat, near Lunga at 114,138, Range 7,000 Yards
Japanese Ships
BB Hiei, Shell hits 1 (5" hit on Tower armour)
BB Kirishima (Kirishima was the killer scoring multiple 36" hits)
DD Shimakaze (Torpedo attack was deadly)
DD Umikaze
DD Nenohi
DD Ariake
Allied Ships DD O'Bannon, Shell hits 25, and is sunk DD Henley, Shell hits 5, Torpedo hits 4, and is sunk
DD Lang, Shell hits 1
DD Wilson, Shell hits 2, on fire
Reduced sighting due to 7% moonlight Maximum visibility in Partly Cloudy Conditions and 7% moonlight: 9,000 yards
Range closes to 23,000 yards...
CONTACT: Allies radar detects Japanese task force at 23,000 yards (A sign of things to come unfortunately)
Range closes to 17,000 yards...
Range closes to 11,000 yards...
Range closes to 7,000 yards...
CONTACT: Japanese lookouts spot Allied task force at 7,000 yards
CONTACT: Allied lookouts spot Japanese task force at 7,000 yards Yamaguchi, Jihei crosses the 'T'
Allied DD's got within 2000 yards, but missed BB Hiei with torpedoes at 4000 yards. My bombardment orders did not go through again, and I thought I had corrected them from the turn before. I'm going to disband the TF and try again, it could be a bug repeating the pooched orders which has happened on occasion before with other units. There is cause for concern though. Damage to Lunga's airbase is down to 23%, so there is a real possibility of Allied LBA appearing any day now if I don't shut the airfield down again. I'll take today's action with no complaints. A great result with no loss even if the mission was actually a failure. This may force the Allies to commit bigger fish if they want to stop the bombardment runs. My submarines, surface forces and mines are ready. [8D]
Miscellaneous:
Japan:
Repairs completed on CL Nagara at Osaka/Kyoto, ship returned to service
Repairs completed on DD Akatsuki at Osaka/Kyoto, ship returned to service
Repairs completed on DD Inazuma at Osaka/Kyoto, ship returned to service
Repairs completed on DD Isonami at Osaka/Kyoto, ship returned to service
Repairs completed on DD Hatsuyuki at Osaka/Kyoto, ship returned to service
Repairs completed on DD Amagiri at Osaka/Kyoto, ship returned to service
Repairs completed on DD Oboro at Osaka/Kyoto, ship returned to service
Repairs completed on DD Akebono at Osaka/Kyoto, ship returned to service
Repairs completed on DD Sazanami at Osaka/Kyoto, ship returned to service
These ships have also completed their refits and will sail to join another 10 DD's at Kobe. The CV Taiho arrives next turn at Kobe!
Nago expands fortifications to size 4
Namatanai expands airfield to size 1
Chumphon expands fortifications to size 1
Umboi Island expands airfield to size 2
Allied:
Ndeni expands airfield to size 4 (I'll be seeing Allied bombers in force over Munda soon)
DD O'Bannon is reported to have been sunk near Lunga on Feb 07, 1943
DD Henley is reported to have been sunk near Lunga on Feb 07, 1943
DE Paul Jones is reported to have been sunk near Carnarvon on Feb 07, 1943 (Sinking sound was heard after the torpedo hit)
Thoughts:
More on today's action tomorrow since there won't be a turn. The Allied TF near Carnarvon is worrisome, but I may have something I can do about that.
I'm going to have to switch things up now that the Allies are contesting things at Lunga. I want to keep them guessing. It was great to have some naval action and come out on top today. [8D]
Luck is the residue of design - John Milton
Don't mistake lack of talent for genius - Peter Steele (Type O Negative)
I think the Allies may have had another SCTF in the area of Lunga that wasn't able to complete its mission for some reason. Bart hinted in his e-mail that "at least we'll get to see some battleships in action today" so I half expected to see Allied BB's at Lunga. Perhaps he meant engaging mine? Betty's on naval search did pick up a small Allied TF S.E. of Lunga, but composed of only three ships of unknown type.
Lunga's airbase needs to be hit soon, but I need to change up how I do it. I've purposely been using small TF's to draw out Allied surface ships and today saw the Allies react. I don't think I'll be as lucky the next time. I'm going to put together a few SCTF's and a heavy bombardment TF to strike at Lunga in two days. It will allow the Allies to base LBA at Lunga and get some naval air strikes in, but at risk of seeing the aircraft destroyed on the ground with another Japanese bombardment. Timing is going to be everything right now.
I'm getting reports of increased enemy naval activity along the east coast of Australia lately. Something is up. My CV's will remain stationed within a few days of being able to react to any Allied move against New Guinea or further landings in the Solomons.
The small amphibious TF near Carnarvon yesterday is believed to be moving towards Port Hedland. I have three submarines on patrol here. I am lacking a Glen based submarine patrolling the area and one is being dispatched. Japanese CVL's are currently at Batavia and are ordered to take up position N.W. of Carnarvon to interdict any future TF's spotted. I'll also be putting together a SCTF with units currently based at Soerabaja to patrol north of Port Hedland and strike if given an opportunity.
My reorganization of LBA in the DEI is being accelerated with the recent developments along the north coast of Australia. All infantry units recently bought out from China are heading to the DEI.
Speaking of China. The Chinese are massing near Kweiyang. There are now 51 Chinese LCU's north of the river facing Tuyun and a further 39 are moving west from Chihkiang, scary! I think the plan is to rely on the massive AV even if unsupplied, as my understanding is that LCU's with no supply still retain 25% of their combat value. That could still amount to some serious AV. My plan is to move around these large forces and keep driving forward to force the Chinese to split up, withdraw or be surrounded. I'll be engaging some smaller Chinese formations in the north soon and if successful will continue the advance towards Kienko.
I have a couple of ideas for some local operations, but I want to see where the next Allied blow falls first. I'm expecting one of four operations at the moment. Tarawa, Port Moresby, Milne Bay or a further landing in the Solomons. Tarawa will be uncontested, but anything in New Guinea or the Solomons will see a fight. I'm looking hard at Port Hedland and may try and cobble together a spoiling attack if I can get some solid recon on what is currently at the base. If I can surprise the Allies with a late invasion I may delay an advance from here for months. Only problem is the air support can only be provided by CVL and CVE's against a level 5 airfield. It could be costly.
Any requests for more information or screenshots don't hesitate to ask. The slow pace of the game allows me too much time to think about things, but things are looking ok to me. The Allies are taking some knocks, and I'm working daily on putting myself into a situation to respond quickly and bring the hammer against their next operation. [8D]
Luck is the residue of design - John Milton
Don't mistake lack of talent for genius - Peter Steele (Type O Negative)
Sigh. You take a risk anytime you set orders in this game, and there is always the chance of some unexplained game mechanic coming into play resulting in a player getting burnt on occasion. Today, I got burnt and lost an extremely valuable ship. As feared, the Allies based some LBA at Lunga after the last two bombardment missions have gone astray leaving the airbase operational and CA Chikuma was the unlucky victim as a result. In hindsight, I should have cancelled the mission, but I was concerned about the possibility of a small Allied TF reaching Lunga today and I wanted to disrupt the operation. Right intention, wrong outcome. AAR follows:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on TF, near Lunga at 114,138
Weather in hex: Clear sky
Raid spotted at 9 NM, estimated altitude 20,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 3 minutes
Allied aircraft
SBD-3 Dauntless x 17
Allied aircraft losses
SBD-3 Dauntless: 3 damaged
Japanese Ships
CA Chikuma, Bomb hits 2, on fire
DD Yugure
DD Suzukaze
Aircraft Attacking:
7 x SBD-3 Dauntless releasing from 3000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 1000 lb GP Bomb
2 x SBD-3 Dauntless releasing from 3000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 1000 lb SAP Bomb
8 x SBD-3 Dauntless releasing from 2000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 1000 lb GP Bomb
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Lunga at 114,138
Weather in hex: Heavy cloud
Raid spotted at 19 NM, estimated altitude 21,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 7 minutes
Allied aircraft
SBD-3 Dauntless x 12
No Allied losses
Japanese Ships
CA Chikuma, Bomb hits 4, on fire, heavy damage (System damage is 95%, she's done for)
DD Kawakaze, Bomb hits 1, on fire
DD Yugure
Aircraft Attacking:
1 x SBD-3 Dauntless releasing from 2000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 1000 lb SAP Bomb
7 x SBD-3 Dauntless releasing from 3000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 1000 lb SAP Bomb
4 x SBD-3 Dauntless releasing from 4000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 1000 lb SAP Bomb
Heavy smoke from fires obscuring CA Chikuma
Heavy smoke from fires obscuring DD Kawakaze
Sadly, the CA Chikuma and four DD's shouldn't have even been at Lunga during the air phase. They were ordered on a full speed surface action mission to Lunga and should have retired back to base during the daylight naval phase. One of those AE mysteries causing the TF to be caught still at Lunga during the air phase, beyond range of CAP based at Munda. All ships were fully fueled and should have made the movement easily, especially encountering no enemy TF's. Normally I'd be pretty PO'd, but have learned it's the nature of this game. Today I was unlucky, as I have been most of the game, and getting upset by it is counterproductive. Next time, I plot my orders as if everything will go wrong and try to provide as best defensive CAP coverage as I can. Another lesson learned, a costly one unfortunately. Needless to say, I need to shut the airbase down again...pronto.
Burma:
Allied P-40K Warhawk's (25) sweep Bhamo prior to a bombing raid. There is no Japanese CAP. The bombing raid consists of B-24D Liberator's (36) and the damage is light at 0(1) infantry and 0(1) non-combat squad losses totalling 13 casualties. The base is then swept again by another group of P-40K Warhawk's (25).
China:
Most of my bombers were grounded today, and more importantly a single Chinese LCU holding the river line north of Kweilin was not bombed. Four Japanese divisions are about to perform another river assault tomorrow, and as much preparatory disruption caused by bombing right now will make a big difference. Hopefully they fly as planned next turn.
Japanese forces launch a deliberate attack in the north against withdrawing Chinese forces. AAR follows:
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Ground combat at 81,40 (near Tienshui)
Japanese Deliberate attack
Attacking force 43528 troops, 322 guns, 186 vehicles, Assault Value = 1622
Defending force 22408 troops, 134 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 939
Japanese adjusted assault: 800
Allied adjusted defense: 1168
Japanese assault odds: 1 to 2
Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), op mode(-), experience(-), supply(-) (All trumped by 3x terrain)
Attacker:
Assaulting units:
63rd Division
110th Division
12th Tank Regiment
27th Division
2nd Ind.Mixed Brigade
North China Area Army
Defending units:
57th Chinese Corps
3rd Chinese Cavalry Corps
9th Chinese Corps
43rd Chinese Corps
3rd Chinese Corps
7th New Chinese Corps
Terrain remains everything in this game. Despite three pretty substantial negative combat modifiers the odds are only 1:2. At least losses were tolerable on my end, but I think I suffered another bad roll considering the state of the enemy. I'm no longer surprised by these kinds of results.
Miscellaneous:
Japan:
Peleliu expands airfield to size 2
Tuyun expands fortifications to size 1
Soerabaja expands airfield to size 5
Long Island expands fortifications to size 2
Aircraft A6M5 Zero advances R&D
CV Taiho arrives at Kobe (The arrival of this CV is marred by the soon to be sinking of the CA Chikuma)
Allied:
Katha expands airfield to size 7
Luganville expands airfield to size 7
Previous report of sinking of CV Yorktown incorrect. Intelligence reports ship is still in service (No surprise here only taking one torpedo hit)
Thoughts:
Unlucky today, but getting used to it.
A note on the acceleration of CV Taiho. She arrives with A6M5 Zero's, Jill's and Judy's and these planes are not even in production yet. Under PDU off, I can't downgrade the aircraft, so any losses I suffer prior to production of these planes can't be replaced. Dumb. On the other hand, the experience levels of the pilots are the best in the entire Pacific.
Luck is the residue of design - John Milton
Don't mistake lack of talent for genius - Peter Steele (Type O Negative)
The arrival of CV Taiho results in a surplus of naval shipyard points accumulating daily. I can either reduce the number of naval shipyards operating or accelerate more ships. I think it would be prudent to accelerate more DD's.
Does anyone see merit in accelerating tanker production?
I've upgraded 2/3's of a Sentai to Ki-61-Ia Tony's.
In China it looks like Chihkiang has been abandoned. If this is correct after confirming with recon next turn, I'm going ahead with the river crossing north of Kweilin. I want to see how four divisions fair against a small one unit blocking force showing less than 10,000 troops. I could cancel the crossing and move to Chihkiang, but that would amount to weeks of delay.
It appears Chinese units are also withdrawing from N.E. of Tuyun towards Kweiyang. I expect a token blocking force to remain holding the river line. I will continue to advance N.W. from Tuyun into the rough terrain until I learn just how many Chinese units are withdrawing. If I can cross the river against little or no opposition, I will do so. My entire movements will be dictated by how many Chinese units withdraw and where. I will look to engage Chinese forces to my advantage as often as possible. Cause losses and gain territory, while withdrawing units to the Pacific is the order of the day.
I have to say, after all this time of trying to advance in China, to have Bart simply withdraw and possibly mass the entire Chinese army at Kunming is disappointing. I'll continue to advance and take what is given though.
The loss of CA Chikuma means I must come up with a different plan for the Solomons. I'm not going to give the Allies any more freebies if I can help it. As far as I'm concerned, I'm facing two opponents right now, Bart and a hostile AI that continues to give huge breaks to one side at the expense of the other. Yeah, I'm still miffed at a KB strike only sinking two DE's and an xAK.
From now on, I'm going to do what I should have done right from the start...and that's kill em' all or die trying. I counter invade at Lunga with everything I've got.
Luck is the residue of design - John Milton
Don't mistake lack of talent for genius - Peter Steele (Type O Negative)
The arrival of CV Taiho results in a surplus of naval shipyard points accumulating daily. I can either reduce the number of naval shipyards operating or accelerate more ships. I think it would be prudent to accelerate more DD's.
Definitely go with more DDs accelerated. Better to have them while they can make a difference.
I have to say, after all this time of trying to advance in China, to have Bart simply withdraw and possibly mass the entire Chinese army at Kunming is disappointing. I'll continue to advance and take what is given though.
Too bad you couldn't have gotten Kunming before his retreat there. There have been a few threads lately talking about getting units out of China when China looks bad. (I'm sure, although I haven't looked of course, that my opponent's thread could be one as well). If you Get them caught up there and they are restricted from going to Burma though, it could be tough for him to supply them.
From now on, I'm going to do what I should have done right from the start...and that's kill em' all or die trying. I counter invade at Lunga with everything I've got.
Banzai! That's the spirit. In the spirit of the NCAA finals tonight, don't blame the refs for the bad calls, just go to the basket harder!
"Success is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm." - Winston Churchill
Banzai! That's the spirit. In the spirit of the NCAA finals tonight, don't blame the refs for the bad calls, just go to the basket harder!
Hi obvert,
Thanks for posting, as it seems to be rather desert like in the AAR of late. I'm sure people are tired of the complaining lately. It's just becoming extremely frustrating on my end with these kinds of things happening consistently. Losing the cruiser sucks. I know bad things can happen, but to have my opponent rewarded because of a movement that didn't go right on my end just gets me seeing red. I mean, the one turn he moves DB's to Lunga a TF of mine gets hung out to dry with no air cover because it doesn't complete it's movement? Yet, when I move my carrier force to within striking range of the enemy I lay an egg. I hate using the "it's the games fault" excuse, but so far I get burned more often than not due to something beyond my control.
Anyway, back to your point about not "blaming the referee" I totally agree. I figure if I just go for it maybe things will fall into place and I'll see better results.
I'm risking this move simply because I don't have confidence in my forces performing as planned at the most critical times, which sitting back and waiting has seemed to foster. The plan is hit Lunga with four divisions and use my fleet to simply batter the defenders over the next month and grind down the defences. The Allies either let it go or bring in reinforcements and the fleet to stop me. I just lost a cruiser for nothing, I don't plan on having that happen again. If I lose ships now, at least it's because I'm actually attacking and trying to accomplish an objective. I'm not going to sit back and wait till the Hellcat's arrive and then get clobbered. The next two months will see me throw everything at Guadalcanal, as I should have done immediately upon the invasion.
I'm trying to play smart and it's costing me. It's time to start playing dumb and see what happens. [:D]
Glad you are back and posting. It sounds like you enjoyed your trip. My spouse and I would like to visit Austria one day and I'd like to hit Germany as well for all the history.
Luck is the residue of design - John Milton
Don't mistake lack of talent for genius - Peter Steele (Type O Negative)
ORIGINAL: SqzMyLemon
Glad you are back and posting. It sounds like you enjoyed your trip. My spouse and I would like to visit Austria one day and I'd like to hit Germany as well for all the history.
ORIGINAL: SqzMyLemon
Glad you are back and posting. It sounds like you enjoyed your trip. My spouse and I would like to visit Austria one day and I'd like to hit Germany as well for all the history.
Sry for the offtopic, but...
June 29 to July 12. [8D]
Post away Erkki. I'm finding the non-game related posts the most enjoyable. Have you been to Austria before? I'm envious, if I'm lucky I may get a week in Vancouver or a weekend in Vegas this year for a vacation. I like both places, but I'm due something new and exciting soon.
Luck is the residue of design - John Milton
Don't mistake lack of talent for genius - Peter Steele (Type O Negative)
Too bad you couldn't have gotten Kunming before his retreat there. There have been a few threads lately talking about getting units out of China when China looks bad. (I'm sure, although I haven't looked of course, that my opponent's thread could be one as well). If you Get them caught up there and they are restricted from going to Burma though, it could be tough for him to supply them.
I realized the importance of Kunming 6 months ago, but vasilated once again until it was too late. I think Kunming and area is key to taking out China and preventing anything like what is happening now. I'll definitely look at Kunming differently in my next game. This one remains a case of shoulda, coulda, woulda.
I'm not sure what I'm going to do against the Chinese once Burma collapses and they start receiving bucket loads of supply. Depending how far back the Chinese withdraw, I may be able to trade space for time on the defence.
Luck is the residue of design - John Milton
Don't mistake lack of talent for genius - Peter Steele (Type O Negative)
The die is cast. It was a massive turn getting everything in motion. I'd like to feel confident, but I've been burnt too many times lately. I'm not saying a word and will just see how things develop. All I know is if the AI continues to mess with me...I won't have a chance. Could be an interesting 3-4 weeks for those following along.
Luck is the residue of design - John Milton
Don't mistake lack of talent for genius - Peter Steele (Type O Negative)
