A Lemon rises in the East: SqzMyLemon (J) vs. JocMeister (A)

[SqzMyLemon]

Unfortunately, I overwrote my Central Pacific screenshot. I'll take a new one after the next turn is run, January 2/42.

Any other info you are interested in please let know and I'll post it. These are the major theatres at the moment so I concentrated on them. I'm still in the process of tallying submarine kills and Allied tonnage lost. I also have to provide economy and R&D information.

The start of 1942 has not been kind to the Allies. Here's a teaser:

[PaxMondo]

You look good in China ... I think the allies have defended too far forward and you will make them pay.  Good job!
 
Palembang ... I hope you haven't let a fortress Palembang develop.  That could cost you a lot ... any of those good Ozzie units in swamp with supply ... ouch.
 
Banzai!!!
 

[SqzMyLemon]

ORIGINAL: PaxMondo

Palembang ... I hope you haven't let a fortress Palembang develop.  That could cost you a lot ... any of those good Ozzie units in swamp with supply ... ouch.

My fear too Pax. I've left this late and should have gone in two weeks ago with whatever I had available. The question now is do I waste the time to isolate, or send everything right at Palembang? I'm beginning to bomb ground forces to hopefully gain some intel on what I'm facing there. I've seen Dutch and Indian coloured units so far, no Australian green. I'm thinking of landing the 38th Division directly at Palembang now, along with anything else free. The invasion TF is leaving Saigon today, so I can land in 3-4 days. I think I'd better get there ASAP now.

Spotting BC Repulse heading for Australia indicates to me I'll be facing the Dutch, and maybe CL Boise and CA Houston. No sign of any surface ships at Batavia, so my guess is they are at Soerabaja. I'm conserving Oscar's so I can hit Java hard. It's clear Jocke is mustering his air strength for a solid defence of Java.

[SqzMyLemon]

My invasion of Canton Island by two SNLF units didn't do well. Recon of the base was poor previous to the decision to invade, only one unit was indicated and I took that to mean a small BF. Jocke had reinforced with a Marine Defense Bn. Forts were level three and oucho. One SNLF is trashed (10 AV) with high disruption while the other is ok. I've learned you do not shock attack a second time after a poor initial landing, even if it looks like one unit is still good to go. I got lazy and complacent here. I didn't provide minesweepers and two PB's hit mines. I didn't perform a preparatory naval bombardement. I could have kept KB around to cause disruption to the defenders and didn't. What's this mean? Delay!

I'm leaving my assault forces in place while I muster another invasion TF. DMS's will be provided to sweep mines, a BB bombardment TF is being dispatched and KB is reversing course to stop any attempt by the Allies to reinforce the base. Lesson learned, be 100% prepared regardless of how easy you think something may be. If I'd performed this operation up to my usual standards, I'd be be in control of the base right now.

A few things upcoming.

We've reached Jan. 4th and I've just landed at Rabaul, an assault by the 65th Bde. goes ahead next turn. I've also landed at Lautem on Timor.

I've decided to hold off on Palembang. The 38th Division will land at Mersing and join the other forces to assault Singapore. I'm hitting Singapore with seven divisions after all: 4th, 5th, 18th, 21st, 33rd, 38th and Imperial Guard. I hope to end this quickly and move on to Java and Palembang with my full strength rather than go in piecemeal and possibly get bogged down against all three objectives.

The plan is capture Singapore, then land on Java to capture Batavia. Then land at Oosthaven and deal with Palembang. This will allow me to mop up the rest of Java and move immediately on Perth. I'm hoping the end of March at the latest.

I may be able to hit Darwin by the end of January. I'm now also shifting focus to New Guinea and the Solomons. Once Canton Island is dealt with I can finally get KB to Truk to replenish and support operations against Port Moresby and Darwin. It will then be available to support operations at against Perth.

[Empire101]

ORIGINAL: SqzMyLemon

Unfortunately, I overwrote my Central Pacific screenshot. I'll take a new one after the next turn is run, January 2/42.

Any other info you are interested in please let know and I'll post it. These are the major theatres at the moment so I concentrated on them. I'm still in the process of tallying submarine kills and Allied tonnage lost. I also have to provide economy and R&D information.

The start of 1942 has not been kind to the Allies. Here's a teaser:

Its the only shot I could find of I-173
Good Hunting[:D]
Banzai!!

[ny59giants]

The plan is capture Singapore, then land on Java to capture Batavia. Then land at Oosthaven and deal with Palembang. This will allow me to mop up the rest of Java and move immediately on Perth. I'm hoping the end of March at the latest.

Even though I'm dealing with a massive invasion of Australia in my own game as Allies, I'm strongly considering adding western Australia to my 'honey to do list' for the next game as Japan. It eliminates that flank from getting into the SRA in '43 by the Allies, makes getting anything from Cape Town to Australia more hazardous, and makes almost everything on the western part of the map only accessible to the Allies with CV support. Do you see any downside to this??

[SqzMyLemon]

ORIGINAL: Empire101

Its the only shot I could find of I-173
Good Hunting[:D]
Banzai!!

Here's hoping I've just increased her photo appeal. [:D]

[SqzMyLemon]

ORIGINAL: ny59giants

Even though I'm dealing with a massive invasion of Australia in my own game as Allies, I'm strongly considering adding western Australia to my 'honey to do list' for the next game as Japan. It eliminates that flank from getting into the SRA in '43 by the Allies, makes getting anything from Cape Town to Australia more hazardous, and makes almost everything on the western part of the map only accessible to the Allies with CV support. Do you see any downside to this??

I see a couple of downsides. Eliminating Perth doesn't shut down the ability to support Australia, it only lengthens the trip and perhaps makes it a little more vulnerable. Capturing Perth may encourage or force the Allied player to concentrate on India, which could lead to problems for the Japanese in defending Burma, or open up Malaya and Sumatra to invasion instead of the DEI.

The loss of Perth could also be ignored completely. As long as there is no threat of a further Japanese advance, it would probably just lead to the Allies supplying Australia with war material from the U.S. A buildup of Eastern Australia would allow a strong move against New Guinea and not inhibit the slow buildup to retake Darwin if that too is in Japanese hands.

I think a Perth invasion on it's own won't accomplish much, but in conjunction with other Australian operations it could be quite useful. I think the key to taking or neutralizing Australia for some time is a south to north approach, not the traditional hit Darwin and Northern Australia and trickle down effect. If you can divide Australia into zones, and deal with each in turn, you can mass the force needed to make conquest up to the LOD far easier, but you have to start in the south and work your way up north, not the other way around in my opinion.

[obvert]

Interesting idea. I imagine this could work well on the E coast of OZ too. Landing farther toward Brisbane but not intending to move to Sydney. The Allies would concentrate forces to the South and you could pick off the rest of the north at Leisure. Then strat bomb the HI.

It would be hard to know when to leave and how to accomplish that gracefully.

[PaxMondo]

IF I go after OZ, not a given, but if I do, then I take Perth for the reasons outlined above.  Mavis with Nettie's at Perth creates issues for shipments from west map edge.

[SqzMyLemon]

ORIGINAL: PaxMondo

IF I go after OZ, not a given, but if I do, then I take Perth for the reasons outlined above.  Mavis with Nettie's at Perth creates issues for shipments from west map edge.

Hi Pax,

Totally agree, if the Allies play ball. If material can still be shipped via West Coast to Australia, Perth on it's own won't stop anything reaching Australia, just the direction it comes from. It certainly will delay things, but more so if the Allies do things as expected. I think a lot depends on how Japan invades and the Allies choose to counter.

Interesting to see though. Excepting a disaster on my end, I'm going to take a shot at disrupting Australia in what I hope to be a different way than what I see so often. I think you can achieve more in Australia than simply delaying the Allied buildup, and that is the destruction of Allied forces in a divide and conquer type campaign.

Stay tuned. [8D]

[obvert]

How far will you plan to go in the South Pacific? Luganville? Noumea? Suva?

Having New Caledonia would certainly help any work on the E coast of OZ you plan to do. As I found against Jocke, it's pretty tough for the Allied player to get it back without exposing forces to the KB. It's a fun place to fight. Close enough to the ports of the Solomons to get inured ships back and far from his LBA.

[SqzMyLemon]

ORIGINAL: obvert

How far will you plan to go in the South Pacific? Luganville? Noumea? Suva?

I'd like to say none of them. [:D]

I'm probably going to have to take Luganville and New Caledonia. I don't really want to, but if I make a strong move against Eastern Australia I can't have the Allies interdicting my LOC.

It's going to take a lot of planning, which I'm working on right now. I think I'll start posting maps and ideas soon to get some feedback. The limiting factor will be troops and the timing of operations. I'm going to have to concentrate on SoPac to provide a temporary buffer.

Other than a few support units for China, all my PP's are being spent for the Pacific. Once I've secured Sian, I'll withdraw most of my armour for deployment to Australia.

[SqzMyLemon]

This is a quote of Jocke's in GreyJoy's AAR and has me thinking more on my own plans to invade Australia and what I can hope to accomplish by doing so.

ORIGINAL: JocMeister

I don´t think the Jap player have any hope of "isolating" OZ whatever he does take or not. The allies have just way too much shipping available. Its simply no doable. You can ship more then enough fuel just using xAKs if needed. I don´t really know how much fuel I have at OZ since I havn´t checked. But I have never been low at any point. 2 million? 3? So I don´t agree with the fuel problem at all. The Jap player can never cover all the possible approaches to OZ taking Pago Pago and Christmas would be a nuisance at most.

I just hit April 43 and I have so much fuel and supplies everywhere I don´t really know where to put it anymore. And I have done so without using Christmas or Perth. So I´m pretty much in agreement with CR on this one. As an allied player you don´t need Christmas Island, Perth or Pago Pago for that matter.

In a month of game time playing Jocke, I've already come to the conclusion that he'll send transport TF's far to the south, most likely skirting the map edges trading time for the guarantee his war material arrives safely. His thoughts echo mine as far as the value of a Perth only option for Japan.

What are the reinforcements the Allies get if Japan crosses the LOD in Australia?

I see two options available to me in regards to Australia. The first, I capture Perth, Darwin and north of Rockhampton to destroy portions of the Australian army in detail and strat bomb the industry without crossing the LOD, withdrawing before Allied strength overwhlems me. The second would be a full blown invasion of Australia with landings in the south to completely stop the flow of war material arriving in Australia, but triggering the reinforcements.

Another option is invade all the way down to New Zealand and break any chance of material reaching Australia from the U.S., while capturing Perth to further delay a buildup of Australia preventing a direct thrust into the DEI from the south for perhaps all of 1943.

Any operations I mount against Australia must achieve more than just delay, there has to be a strategic goal. Either trashing of the industry, destruction of Australia's Army or the outright capture of the entire continent. Otherwise, there is absolutely no point to invading it at all in my opinion.

Thoughts?

[obvert]

My guess is that Jocke (and many savvy vets of the Allied side) use map edge or off-map transport more than they talk about. There is no way to keep stuff from getting from the US to OZ. If you take it all from the South you will lose Burma after he send the reinforcements there, and thus open your oil centers to strat bombing by late 43.

It's really hard to cover the approaches to Melbourne and other Southern OZ ports even with Perth in hand. Taking a bunch of stuff gets the Japanese player over-extended and ripe for the counter-attack unless you can take out a good portion of the Allied CVs in the process. It doesn't do much good to have OZ if he starts bouncing up the Solomons from Fiji and cuts the LOC to the East side of the continent. I'm in favor of a good solid perimeter and contesting far flung bases while not actually trying to hold them. You really just want to make him fight before 43, but you have to make him think it's his idea! [:)]

[SqzMyLemon]

I'll be running the Jan. 6/42 turn when I get home, but thought I'd comment on a few developments.

China:

Japanese forces along the Taiyuan access of advance will shock attack Chinese forces in the mountain hex 138 miles west of the base today. I do not think the Chinese can prevent me marching all the way to cut the secondary road from Sian to Yenan.

Chinese troops N.E. of Sinyang are attempting to cut off my force advancing from Nanyang. I've halted the advance in order to deal with this threat. Bombers are attacking the enemy daily while in cultivated terrain, so I'm sure disablements are mounting and supply is low. I realize this will slow my advance on Sian along the major road from Nanyang, allowing the Chinese to block my route more effectively. That's ok, my first priority is destroying Chinese squads. Nanyang guards the left flank of my offensive and must be secured, so there's no rush to get to Sian from this direction.

New Guinea:

A small Allied TF was picked up near New Gloucester and reported as 5 DD's. I have a bad feeling this enemy TF actually contains a CA or CL. The only force I have a available is a SCTF composed of CL Nagara and 4 DD's at Rabaul. They've been ordered to try and intercept the enemy. A transport TF at Manus has been ordered to disband in port, and an amphibious TF unloading at Rabaul has been ordered to stop and move east to await developments.

KB is two days away to the east joining up with a replenishment TF. The BB SCTF covering the Rabaul landings was ordered east to bombard Canton Island and is now out of position. KB could come into play in a matter of days if the Allies hang around too long. I could also try a shot at Sydney, there's a good chance CV Lexington is there repairing the torpedo damage from SS I-173.

Malaya:

The 38th Division has captured Mersing. One more base to go, then all my forces can move against Singapore. The troops should be able to launch the first assault on Jan. 11th. More artillery will arrive in a week or so. I sure hope I can take out Singapore before the end of January.

The Philippines:

It appears Manila is the chosen strongpoint and last stand location for Luzon. Clark Field has been abandoned! I'm trying to recon Bataan. If lightly held, I will capture the base prior to investing Manila. Why? Once Bataan is secure, I can sweep the mines and then use BB bombardment TF's to hammer Manila. They will be way more effective in reducing Manila than bombing alone. [8D]

Sub Ops:

Allied submarines are dudding on everything lately. If you thought Japanese ASW was poor in stock, it's truly pathetic with DaBabes.

Thoughts:

I'm moving the 2nd Division forward and will secure Lae and Port Moresby soon. Then I will use KB to support the capture of Darwin by the 56th Division. The goal is to have Darwin captured by the end of January. Then I can seal off Java completely by taking the remaining bases along the north coast of Australia. By then Singapore should have fallen and I can begin landings on Java to take Batavia and open up access to the IO and Perth. Then of course, Palembang for the oil. It's all about the crude.

[SqzMyLemon]

Just a post to get me away from Jocke's AAR, it's so easy to almost click on his instead of mine with Lemon being in both titles!

A quick question, should I even attempt any port raids on major bases (Sydney for example) with KB considering the effectiveness of FLAK under DaBabes?

[SqzMyLemon]

I did a quick count of the AV I've brought to the party about to begin at Singapore. An impressive 3400AV. I believe what I did last time was split my AV, so the first group took the initial shock attack and the follow up troops were fresh to allow for a quick recovery and renewed attack in a matter of days. I'm thinking of doing a 2000/1400 split with the first group making the crossing.

Is it better to use the full 3400 AV initially and just wait to recover disruption? Splitting worked well for me last time, but that wasn't against a fully loaded Singapore.

I'm going to be reconning Port Moresby soon to see if Jocke has any surprises from me.

Troops are moving up from Ternate and Ambon to deploy against Koepang and Darwin. This is strictly an LBA show. Mini-KB is still in Japan, although they will be ordered out soon to support operations against New Guinea. No way I'm going into the DEI with carriers considering the number of enemy subs now patrolling there. I'm getting 6-7 attacks a day, luckily mostly duds.

I'm thinking of landing on Java without CV support as well. I want to nail down New Guinea, the Solomons, Luganville and New Caledonia quickly with CV support. Then I hunt, bigtime while all my invasions accomplish their goals. I need more troops though! Just not enough PP's right now for everything I want.

A note on production. I've turned off all merchant shipyards to customize what is being built and with how many points. I'm currently saving 7k HI a day and using up the pool until I get organized. Nice!

I may have to ramp up Sally production. I'm currently producing 50 a month and it's not nearly enough. FLAK really has improved. I'm losing 2-4 Sally's a day over Singapore, even at 15k. I'm falling behind on replacements and upgrading units. Same with Oscar's, I'm almost at 100 a month, but I'm hardly able to convert the Nate's over quick enough. I need a large airforce by Feb. - Mar. to take on Allied air in Java and Australia.

KB has refuelled and I'm heading for the east coast of Australia while my forces gather for operations against New Guinea. I'm moving in supply, fuel and aircraft. I'll be pretty pumped if I can deal with these areas quickly, especially Darwin and Port Moresby. I'll be looking for a scrap and using my forces aggressively. Let's see if the Allies oblige by showing up in the defence of PM or Darwin.

[Empire101]

ORIGINAL: SqzMyLemon

I did a quick count of the AV I've brought to the party about to begin at Singapore. An impressive 3400AV. I believe what I did last time was split my AV, so the first group took the initial shock attack and the follow up troops were fresh to allow for a quick recovery and renewed attack in a matter of days. I'm thinking of doing a 2000/1400 split with the first group making the crossing.

Is it better to use the full 3400 AV initially and just wait to recover disruption? Splitting worked well for me last time, but that wasn't against a fully loaded Singapore.

Personally I'd go with the lot as hopefully only a couple of units will be hammered, and once you have established yourself on the other bank any other reinforcements can cross unmolested.

ORIGINAL: SqzMyLemon
I'm thinking of landing on Java without CV support as well. I want to nail down New Guinea, the Solomons, Luganville and New Caledonia quickly with CV support. Then I hunt, bigtime while all my invasions accomplish their goals. I need more troops though! Just not enough PP's right now for everything I want.

Ain't that the truth!! There are never enough PP's to go around.[:(]

ORIGINAL: SqzMyLemon
I may have to ramp up Sally production. I'm currently producing 50 a month and it's not nearly enough. FLAK really has improved. I'm losing 2-4 Sally's a day over Singapore, even at 15k. I'm falling behind on replacements and upgrading units. Same with Oscar's, I'm almost at 100 a month, but I'm hardly able to convert the Nate's over quick enough. I need a large airforce by Feb. - Mar. to take on Allied air in Java and Australia.

You will need more of the above. I try to get Sally production upto around 80 a month & Oscars to 130+. Just replacing the Nates sucks up huge amounts of new aircraft, and thats without considering losses.

ORIGINAL: SqzMyLemon
KB has refuelled and I'm heading for the east coast of Australia while my forces gather for operations against New Guinea. I'm moving in supply, fuel and aircraft. I'll be pretty pumped if I can deal with these areas quickly, especially Darwin and Port Moresby. I'll be looking for a scrap and using my forces aggressively. Let's see if the Allies oblige by showing up in the defence of PM or Darwin.

This is getting exciting. I've never gone for Australia, as I'm a China first advocate, but reading your AAR has made me reconsider my strategic approach to the game.

I shall follow with great interest!
Good Luck!!
BANZAI!!

[PaxMondo]

Don't be afraid of Nates.  Compared to Oscars, the biggest difference is really only range.  Both are poorly armed, have high manouver, and very fragile.  Nates can work just fine in CAP roles.  You need the Oscars for Escort.
 
The problem I always have is with Claude's.  Huge difference between Claude and Zeke, especially armament.
 
BTW: this is historically accurate.  Nates held their own in China against the China and later the SOV fighters.  They can't take on 4E's or later US fighters though, and they can't escort due to range.