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.
Good point. I never thought of it like that, I've been obsessed with range because of the vast distances involved, but as you point out, in China it does'nt matter so much.
The airforce in China (in my games) has always been last on the list for upgrades though[;)]
[font="Tahoma"]Our lives may be more boring than those who lived in apocalyptic times,
but being bored is greatly preferable to being prematurely dead because of some ideological fantasy.[/font] - Michael Burleigh
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.
I agree Pax, but for me it's the potential pilot losses. Nate's seem to get chewed up pretty badly by AVG aircraft, not that the Oscar's are much better, but I hate to throw away good pilots over China.
Jocke is setting up some AVG ambushes and I lost another 10 Ann's last turn, unescorted mind you. I plan on taking out AVG in one go. I'm just biding my time until I have sufficient numbers of fighters to blow it from the sky. In the meantime, I'll risk the odd ambush to mass my fighters for a decisive air battle to neutralize Allied air in China, or elsewhere for that matter.
Luck is the residue of design - John Milton
Don't mistake lack of talent for genius - Peter Steele (Type O Negative)
... Nate's seem to get chewed up pretty badly by AVG aircraft, not that the Oscar's are much better, ...
kinda my point. I do replace Nates with Oscars, but I also use Nates in defensive roles on front lines as they are no worse than Oscars in that role. I'm not suggesting they are good, they simply are not worse. So, I'mnot in such a panic about them.
Claudes though are completely different. They really do suck compared Zekes and so I am furiously trying to remove all Claudes as fast as I can.
Claudes though are completely different. They really do suck compared Zekes and so I am furiously trying to remove all Claudes as fast as I can.
Of all the planes that blow in AE, the Claude stands out as the plane that blows the most.
Like Pax, in any game, They Are Outta Here!!
[font="Tahoma"]Our lives may be more boring than those who lived in apocalyptic times,
but being bored is greatly preferable to being prematurely dead because of some ideological fantasy.[/font] - Michael Burleigh
I'm pretty busy these days with RL so updating the AAR has been sporadic and I know I'm not providing information in much detail lately. Hopefully I'll be able to catch up somewhat over the weekend.
China:
AVG jumped another unescorted bomber force near Sian today. Losses were about 10 Ann's. AVG must be performing CAP from Sian. I'll deal with the airbase shortly.
Japanese forces have cleared the first forest hex west of Loyang on the road to Sian. Japanese forces are also advancing along the secondary road north of Tsiaotso. I'm encountering single enemy units so I'm pleased with the advance, but I'm certain I'll be running into a road block soon. There are eight units blocking the route along the major road to Sian from Nanyang, but I'm not concerned, this isn't my main route of advance. Once Sian is under direct threat the Chinese will have to withdraw anyway, so why get bogged down fighting in terrain I don't need to.
I'm in a good position in the south of the country now. I think I can counter any moves Jocke tries here.
I'm losing VP's from lack of garrisons at the moment, but that can't be helped. Until I get larger garrison units at the major bases I can't free up enough smaller units to meet the requirements. I refuse to use a Bde. of 200 AV to garrison a base when only 60 AV is required. I'm still in the process of getting garrisons sorted, I'll take my VP lumps in the meantime.
I'm also running into overstacking at times, but that's more from not knowing what the stacking limit in a hex is prior to entering it. This doesn't apply to bases as you can mouse over, but non-base hexes are causing me some problems.
Malaya:
Troops are massing for the assault on Singapore. I'm going to attack with five divisions first and follow up with another two. I don't want to risk all my units getting trashed or suffering high disruption. I think 3400 AV will be enough to take the base quickly, especially if forts are only around level 2-3 as I suspect.
The Celebes:
A Japanese Rgt. will arrive at Makassar soon and I expect the base to fall easily. I'm only concerned with Kendari and Makassar. I can grab the other bases later.
Timor:
Lautem and Dili are Japanese, while Koepang is the final base to take. Lautem and Dili are being built to level two airbases to allow sweeps of Darwin. I will hit Darwin with a division soon. Recon indicates only three enemy units, so it seems Jocke isn't planning on trying to hold the base.
New Guinea:
Recon at Port Moresby indicates three enemy units. The 2nd Division will hit the base with Combined Fleet support when ready. Lae will be captured first to provide CAP.
Thoughts:
The pace of advance has slowed, but I think I'm in a good position to exploit things. If Singapore falls quickly I should be able to use the seven divisions to crush Sumatra (Palembang!) and Java quickly, prepping for Australia while doing so.
I will divide Australia into zones and look to seal off each zone and destroy all enemy forces within it before moving on to the next one. I do not want to dissipate my strength. My entire strategy for Australia is based on destroying Allied units, not simply pushing them back. To do that I need to concentrate my strength and attack differently.
Luck is the residue of design - John Milton
Don't mistake lack of talent for genius - Peter Steele (Type O Negative)
... Nate's seem to get chewed up pretty badly by AVG aircraft, not that the Oscar's are much better, ...
kinda my point. I do replace Nates with Oscars, but I also use Nates in defensive roles on front lines as they are no worse than Oscars in that role. I'm not suggesting they are good, they simply are not worse. So, I'mnot in such a panic about them.
Claudes though are completely different. They really do suck compared Zekes and so I am furiously trying to remove all Claudes as fast as I can.
Hi Pax,
I got yours, but didn't express mine clearly. [:D]
I won't risk Nate's or Oscar's against an uneven fight against AVG until I have the numbers to make a difference. I don't care about the planes, it's the pilots I won't sacrifice. When I engage AVG it will be with swarms of Oscar's and Zero's to deal with it quickly.
Nemo made a point in my last AAR which stuck with me. It was along the lines of "just because you can do something, doesn't mean you should" and I apply this to my air campaign now. My units are being used for specific purposes. I could escort my bombers and lose a few fighters here and there, but why, what does it accomplish? If anything it slows down my ability to mass and kills pilots. Let's see what happens to AVG when it runs into a hundred Oscar's and Zero's and it's airbase is hit by 75-100 bombers. If I wait a little, I hope to accomplish in days what might otherwise take weeks or months to do.
That's the theory anyway. [8D]
Luck is the residue of design - John Milton
Don't mistake lack of talent for genius - Peter Steele (Type O Negative)
I'm happy with progress in China. There's a potential to completely cut off about 30 enemy units. Whether I should contain, reduce or destroy them is the question. Originally, I intended on simply reducing enemy units without destroying them, driving them back as I advanced. I'm not sure this is the right strategy to employ this early considering some large enemy pockets have formed in my rear. I want to advance quickly, but having to secure my LOC from interdiction by these troops will be problematic.
In light of this, I've decided to eliminate the 10 enemy units cut off near Nanchang. I realize they will respawn, but the south is where I'm weakest. I can't afford to have Chinese forces from Changsha move against me at this stage, and the danger of being caught between two strong enemy forces is real. Granted, I believe the units cut off are out of supply, but they amount to almost 100k. If they suddenly get access to supply, I could be overwhelmed in the south.
The pocket forming around Loyang is more promising to reduce, rather than eliminate. Recon indicates about 80k threatened with encirclement. I'll produce a screenshot later, but essentially they are moving west in rough terrain towards Sian. This force is already flanked from the south and roughly parallel with my advancing forces in the north. Once I take the next secondary road hex they will be cut off directly from Sian. The risk of them turning south and cutting off my southern force will be countered by withdrawing from Nanyang and marching to Loyang to secure the encirclement. I believe I'll attempt to reduce this force by direct attack and attrition from supply loss, before allowing it to "escape" the trap. It will be severely weakened and pose more of a logisitcs problem to the Chinese, than an offensive threat to me.
Chinese forces blocking the road from Nanyang will most likely fall back to Sian or attack Nanyang after I withdraw from the base. I don't believe Jocke would occupy Nanyang only to be pummeled again in clear terrain. I have no intention of trying to force my way up the main road from Nanyang, providing at least eight enemy units with 3x defensive terrain. Perhaps I still should feint though, the longer I delay their withdrawal to Sian the better for my advancing troops.
My northern thrust will eventually run into at least seven units moving along the secondary road to Sian from Yenan. This force does not worry me whatsoever, as it will be advancing in only 2x defensive terrain and my bombers and ground troops will crush them. I'm almost in a position to deal with the AVG and Chinese air units. Once I establish air superiority, I'll bomb around Sian and Yenan causing heavy disruption and disablements.
Once Sian and Lanchow fall, or the fuel flow into Central China is blocked, I can then employ my strategy of not destroying Chinese formations. I want them constantly drawing what supply remains to recover disablements, and prevent enough supply pooling at bases for their garrisons or to allow fort construction.
The Burma Road is threatened now. Japanese troops are about to invest Pegu, which upon capture will block the direct rail line betwen Rangoon and China. If Sian's and Lanchow's fuel/oil can be blocked as early as Feb./Mar. and the Burma Road cut, China will be in big trouble. There's a long way to go yet, but I'm quite optimistic about China already. I haven't had to buy out any combat units, excepting a few armoured units, for China.
I'm starting to draw up plans for Australia. I expect a typical Allied response to the capture of Darwin, and that is the build up of Alice Springs to allow logistics to pool and flow north as bases are built up for the eventual counterattack. I will land initially at Caenarvon on the west coast in order to try and suck units to Perth. Then land behind the entire theatre at Port Augusta with a force strong enough to prevent the Allies opening the rail line. My main force will then land at Esperance and Albany and march north to cut Perth off completely. Landing at Port Augusta will also have the benefit of allowing me to block the rail line to Alice Springs. Then I close the pocket and eliminate all Allied forces deployed to Western Australia.
Once Perth is secure, I will transition forces for operations against Northeastern Australia. Horn Island and Port Moresby will be captured initially to provide LBA the means to support operations. I will not attempt to draw Australian units north to Townsville and area as I don't think Jocke will react the same way a second time. Instead, a hammerblow will fall at Rockhampton to block the rail line north. The majority of forces will march north to eliminate all Allied units, while airbases are expanded to allow for strategic bombing of Australia's industry.
The Combined Fleet will support initial landings until LBA can be utilized. Once LBA is established, it is the mission of the Combined Fleet to hammer enemy coastal bases and blockade Southern Australia from receiving any reinforcements via Cape Town or New Zealand.
I think it's an ambitious plan for Scenario 1 and perhaps beyond the capabilities of my forces, or my skill level at this time, but I'm giving it a shot regardless. A lot will depend on what happens from now until operations begin. How quickly will Singapore, Palembang and Java fall, how quickly can I transition logistics and support. Will combined Fleet still be intact and able to interdict the LOC to Australia. Lots of unknowns at this point. I'm looking at committing at least eight divisions, possibly 10, to Australia. This leaves me quite vulnerable to an early Allied move elsewhere, but I hope to be in a position to defend against anything that might be tried.
Sould be a fun ride, but I do know I have to take the fight to the Allies this time around. India and Australia aren't big surprises anymore to the Allies, but the way they are attempted could be. I'll discuss my thoughts on how Jocke might attempt to counter and what my preparations will be another time.
And of course, any thoughts or suggestions are always welcome. Even if you want to say I'm crazy! [8D]
Luck is the residue of design - John Milton
Don't mistake lack of talent for genius - Peter Steele (Type O Negative)
Here's the situation in Northern China. I'm extremely pleased with recent events and the potential destruction of 16 Chinese units is looming. I'd prefer to reduce them to combat ineffectiveness rather than destruction, but depending on how the situation develops I may not have that option. Regardless, they are in trouble. Screenshot follows:
Attachments
NorthernChina010942.jpg (268.78 KiB) Viewed 178 times
Luck is the residue of design - John Milton
Don't mistake lack of talent for genius - Peter Steele (Type O Negative)
ORIGINAL: SqzMyLemon
I'm happy with progress in China. There's a potential to completely cut off about 30 enemy units. Whether I should contain, reduce or destroy them is the question. Originally, I intended on simply reducing enemy units without destroying them, driving them back as I advanced. I'm not sure this is the right strategy to employ this early considering some large enemy pockets have formed in my rear. I want to advance quickly, but having to secure my LOC from interdiction by these troops will be problematic.
I always face the same dilemma too. I always try to avoid destroying them/making them surrender if possible as over time the accumulated 'drag' of severely damaged units can suck the Chinese into a vicious circle of supply and re-equipping. But sometimes you just have to bite the bullet, especially if the advance has flowed past, IMO.
ORIGINAL: SqzMyLemon
In light of this, I've decided to eliminate the 10 enemy units cut off near Nanchang. I realize they will respawn, but the south is where I'm weakest. I can't afford to have Chinese forces from Changsha move against me at this stage, and the danger of being caught between two strong enemy forces is real. Granted, I believe the units cut off are out of supply, but they amount to almost 100k. If they suddenly get access to supply, I could be overwhelmed in the south.
Yep! They have to go.
ORIGINAL: SqzMyLemon
The pocket forming around Loyang is more promising to reduce, rather than eliminate. Recon indicates about 80k threatened with encirclement. I'll produce a screenshot later, but essentially they are moving west in rough terrain towards Sian. This force is already flanked from the south and roughly parallel with my advancing forces in the north. Once I take the next secondary road hex they will be cut off directly from Sian. The risk of them turning south and cutting off my southern force will be countered by withdrawing from Nanyang and marching to Loyang to secure the encirclement. I believe I'll attempt to reduce this force by direct attack and attrition from supply loss, before allowing it to "escape" the trap. It will be severely weakened and pose more of a logisitcs problem to the Chinese, than an offensive threat to me.
I agree. Tactics like this can only hamper the Chinese.
ORIGINAL: SqzMyLemon
Chinese forces blocking the road from Nanyang will most likely fall back to Sian or attack Nanyang after I withdraw from the base. I don't believe Jocke would occupy Nanyang only to be pummeled again in clear terrain. I have no intention of trying to force my way up the main road from Nanyang, providing at least eight enemy units with 3x defensive terrain. Perhaps I still should feint though, the longer I delay their withdrawal to Sian the better for my advancing troops.
My northern thrust will eventually run into at least seven units moving along the secondary road to Sian from Yenan. This force does not worry me whatsoever, as it will be advancing in only 2x defensive terrain and my bombers and ground troops will crush them. I'm almost in a position to deal with the AVG and Chinese air units. Once I establish air superiority, I'll bomb around Sian and Yenan causing heavy disruption and disablements.
Once Sian and Lanchow fall, or the fuel flow into Central China is blocked, I can then employ my strategy of not destroying Chinese formations. I want them constantly drawing what supply remains to recover disablements, and prevent enough supply pooling at bases for their garrisons or to allow fort construction.
The Burma Road is threatened now. Japanese troops are about to invest Pegu, which upon capture will block the direct rail line betwen Rangoon and China. If Sian's and Lanchow's fuel/oil can be blocked as early as Feb./Mar. and the Burma Road cut, China will be in big trouble. There's a long way to go yet, but I'm quite optimistic about China already. I haven't had to buy out any combat units, excepting a few armoured units, for China.
This is looking good, I am following with great interest!!
Good Luck!!
[font="Tahoma"]Our lives may be more boring than those who lived in apocalyptic times,
but being bored is greatly preferable to being prematurely dead because of some ideological fantasy.[/font] - Michael Burleigh
Jocke and I have hit another snag which has caused a stop to the game until we can resolve the issue.
Jocke's large Chinese stack located at Tsiaotso and attempting to move west is unable to complete the movement. The turn the units are to leave the hex they reset their movement rate as if they were just starting out. This force is being bombed and I'm guesing suffering low supply, but there is no way the game engine should be resetting units and wiping out accumulated movement. This is a huge game design failure and needs to be fixed. It doesn't happen to eveyone, but when it does occur it completely compromises the game.
I've reported this bug on the tech forum in the past and there was never a satisfactory resolution. In my case, I had a stack of Japanese units in Malaya trying to move along the road to Temoluh, entering the hexside from the west. My troops would always reset the turn they were to arrive. I was using the "follow" command and it was suggested to order individual movement of units. That didn't work either. I tried "move" and "combat" mode movements and neither worked. My units were not interfered with in any form, not ground bombing, combat or supply issues. I ended up having to route my units to try and enter from a different hexside, causing weeks of delay. I know exactly what Jocke is experiencing.
I believe the "follow" command and movement in general is bug ridden and poorly designed. Sometimes it works, others not, and it leads to constant problems. I also think the resetting of a unit's movment at times back to "0" is ridiculous and should never have been a feature of this game.
This is truly a game breaker and it has huge consequences. Right now we are trying to figure out how to proceed, do we go back to when the movement was first ordered and try again? What if it still doesn't work? Do we go back and allow Jocke to change direction? Do we not go back and allow Jocke to change direction, and if so, what do I do about the fact I've already flanked that force and moved into a postion to encircle it? Even if the movement had worked and Jocke's stack moved one hex west, it would still be threatened with encirclement. A change of direction however changes the tactical situation dramatically.
If we go back that has consequences all over the map. I don't know how many days exactly we'd lose, but Jocke knows where I'm going and with how much now. I'm aware of a number of CAP traps and can act accordingly. Does Lexington still get torpedoed? Does my Canton Island invasion still fail knowing what the enemy strength on the base is? It is unrealistic to expect us to mirror exactly what happened over the last ten days.
It's a crappy situation, but what to do about it?
I've offered a restart (this is the last resort solution and I'm not keen on doing that), I've offered to wait to see if tech support (michaelm can resolve the issue), I've offered to go back to when the movement was first ordered to allow Jocke to change direction. Unless michaelm can fix this, I think we'll either have to replay a number of turns, or simply move forward and allow Jocke to change direction. None of these solutions is ideal and may involve a fair number of compromises on either side. I think I just saw my drive on Sian and great tactical position undermined by yet another movement bug.
Luck is the residue of design - John Milton
Don't mistake lack of talent for genius - Peter Steele (Type O Negative)
I think you guys can figure it out, even if they cannot fix it through the tech thread. I never use the follow due to the strangeness of behavior. I'm sure this stuff could happen anyway, and somehow I hope the feature to erase a unit's prior movement can be removed.
I would say negotiate a way to move forward from the current turn and just allow him to move free of bombing into the hex he was destined for, and don't move the units to encircle the units until it reaches that hex. It sucks, but if you've got enough to take Sian you'll get it regardless of this.
"Success is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm." - Winston Churchill
I think you guys can figure it out, even if they cannot fix it through the tech thread. I never use the follow due to the strangeness of behavior. I'm sure this stuff could happen anyway, and somehow I hope the feature to erase a unit's prior movement can be removed.
I would say negotiate a way to move forward from the current turn and just allow him to move free of bombing into the hex he was destined for, and don't move the units to encircle the units until it reaches that hex. It sucks, but if you've got enough to take Sian you'll get it regardless of this.
Hi Erik,
I have no doubt we will, it's just a question of what do I have to give up and how painful is it going to be for me to recover. [:D]
Regardless of the bug, Jocke's troops were in trouble. A solution short of moving those troops with the editor most likely benefits him more than myself. I'll take one for the team if I have to.
Luck is the residue of design - John Milton
Don't mistake lack of talent for genius - Peter Steele (Type O Negative)
[>:] while waiting to see if anything can be done, I hope to be able to update the AAR. I've been sick over the weekend, but might have some time to bring things back up to speed this week.
I have to say, documenting the early game doesn't hold the same interest for me this time around, and I think that's because it's been covered so often in so many AAR's. I'm also busy with RL these days and just don't have the time to commit like I used to.
I may limit updates to the summary format I've adopted lately, or even just the odd screenshot, rather than a blow by blow account of events. Up until the recent stop, I was enjoying just getting turns out and moving the war along. Of course, I'll provide appropriate attention to detail on major events and all my preparations on the planned Australian invasion, but many small events or actions may not receive much notice.
Once Jocke becomes a father (within a few weeks) I'm sure the pace of the game will slow dramatically. I anticipate there will be no problem keeping the AAR up to speed with the game after that. I also hope to capitalize on Jocke's exhaustion. [:D]
Luck is the residue of design - John Milton
Don't mistake lack of talent for genius - Peter Steele (Type O Negative)
[>:]
Once Jocke becomes a father (within a few weeks) I'm sure the pace of the game will slow dramatically. I anticipate there will be no problem keeping the AAR up to speed with the game after that. I also hope to capitalize on Jocke's exhaustion. [:D]
+1 [:D]
About the updates, I've been enjoying my 4-5 day reports in 'Sheep's Chase.' Much easier and I hope touches only on the necessary items. No pressure each day either.
"Success is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm." - Winston Churchill
Jocke has sent a proposal for attempting to move the stack one last time into the intended hex while instituting a freeze for units around that area. I would refrain from bombing the hex. We'd be looking at about a 12 day delay to allow for the 4 miles/day movement rate. If it doesn't work we'll have compounded our problem by another 10 days. I don't think this will work, becasue it didn't in my other game. Something was still preventing my troops from crossing a particular hexside no matter what I tried, they just kept resetting their movement routine in a continous loop. I've thought of two alternatives which I think are fair.
1. A complete freeze of ALL units in China, including bombers, for the time it takes Jocke to complete the movement one hex west of Tsiaotso. This will prevent either player taking advantage of 12 days of free movement to counter current moves throughout China. If the move fails, as I believe it will, then all bets are off and the war resumes with Jocke most likely having to change the direction of his force, and which I'll have to try and counter as best I can. I will urge Jocke to use move mode and set his units to all march, not follow, or better yet order each unit individually to avoid any problems.
2. Jocke immediately is allowed to change direction his force was moving and the war resumes with no freezing of units. The exception will be no bombing of the force in question to insure it is not interfered with in any manner until it actually moves from the hex. I am free to block the hex he intends to move to, as I would have in any case, if necessary.
Option one is the best attempt to allow the original movement while preventing anybody gaining an advantage. If it works, then Jocke will be where he should have been and all our units are roughly where they would have been had the move been completed. I definitely will have to account for that large force and with the freeze in place it will most likely escape, because I'll have lost the accumulated movement of my troops that have already flanked this force and were about to permanently close the trap. I don't think option one will work though. I am almost certain his movement will reset because of the bug. Then again, I'll be happy to be wrong if it does work.
Option two is the least disruptive to the game, but the poorest option for Jocke. It doesn't stop the game progressing, but Jocke gets to move his force in a direction of his choice immediately. No matter what he does, his force will be in trouble, but that wouldn't have changed even if his original movement had worked. That force was in danger of being encircled the minute it retreated to Tsiaotso, no matter where it moved. At least now, he can react to the current position of my troops and move accordingly. It will be up to me to counter and that most likely means I will have to slow my advance on Sian to insure I don't get cut off myself, because the bulk of my forces have already passed by.
Option one gives Jocke the best chance, but if it fails because of the movement bug, I think we have to move on. I also think we'll have to do a better job bringing this problem to the attention of tech support and finally see if something can be done. I've seen posted that bugs are the focus of tech support in the near future, and this is definitely a bug that needs to be fixed in my opinion.
Anyway, any other suggestions on how best to deal with this situation or a different viewpoint would be appreciated. We've already lost four days of game time and until we provide tech support with actual saves and such this issue won't get resolved. So far michaelm has not posted in Jocke's thread.
Luck is the residue of design - John Milton
Don't mistake lack of talent for genius - Peter Steele (Type O Negative)
It looks like we aren't going to get any assistance on our problem, so we are going to move on as best we can. We've decided to try to get Jocke's force to move one hex west without interdiction from bombing. We've also decided to allow units that are already moving to enter their next hex if it can be complete in the next 3 days, all other movements will stop at that point.
I'll voluntarily stop bombing in all of China. I'm going to give my bombers a break and use this opportunity to get replacements into the theatre.
All other theatres will be business as usual.
The assault on Singapore will begin in a few days. I'm going to use five divisions in the initial assault and reinforce with two more divisions and artillery over the course of the following week. I hope seven divisions will make short work of Singapore. Bombing at 10k will resume and I'll be sweeping Singapore with Zero's again after getting caught in a CAP trap last turn and losing 25+ Sally's. The CAP trap doesn't bother me as much as the fact that after weeks of bombing, the bombers can't shut down the airbase. The most damage I've ever accumulated was 43%. I'll have to take my losses from FLAK, because the damage caused from bombing at 15k and in crappy weather were nothing short of putrid.
Elsewhere, I'm going to have to blitz New Guinea, the Solomons and SoPac to get bases prepared in time for my Australian operation. I believe capturing Ndeni, Luganville and Noumea should take precedence over PM. I'm not sure on whether I should attempt Suva, on Fiji, at this time, but the longer I wait the harder it will become if Jocke reinforces. I don't want to expend much force in taking these objectives. My main goal is Australia, but I want to deny the Allies easy access into the region while I'm committed in Australia.
I will attempt to land the 56th Division on Darwin within the next 7-10 days, I'm hoping to have a level two airbase at Lautem in order to provide LRCAP for my invasion force. If Allied CV's appear I could be in trouble.
Hopefully Jocke gets a turn finished up tonight so we can get this PBEM back on track.
Luck is the residue of design - John Milton
Don't mistake lack of talent for genius - Peter Steele (Type O Negative)
Ran the next turn, Janauary 11th or 12th, I think.
China:
Prior to our freeze in China taking effect previous orders were carried out today. Chengchow fell easily to an Ind. Mixed Inf. Bde. and the defending BF was routed. Bombers were extremely effective against Chinese troops in cultivated terrain, but as stated above, I'll voluntarily be stopping the bombing for at least 10 days.
Burma:
Pegu falls easily to Japanese river assault despite the entire 1st Burma Division and a BF defending the base. This effectively cuts the Burma Road and the 500 supply/day generated. Any additional supply Jocke was able to bring into Burma will have to travel by conventional means now.
Malaya:
The last day of 15k bombing of Singapore still sees three Sally's lost to FLAK and minimal damage to the base.
The Celebes:
Makassar falls easily on the second deliberate attack. This now allows me to move on Balikpapan and apply pressure to Denpasar.
Thoughts:
Time to increase pressure all over the map. I've been able to land substantial support units on a few bases to increase the speed of airbase construction which will allow me to sweep Darwin and Batavia. A quick seizure of Darwin will allow me to shift forces to Java or New Guinea. I will have to concentrate on getting fuel and supply to Rabaul to sustain my operations in the Solomons and SoPac. I will use primarily small tankers and xAKs to move fuel, I won't risk larger tankers in submarine infested waters.
I'm shifting patrol zones of my submarines to the south map edge and will concentrate between New Zealand and Melbourne. It's clear Jocke is willing to lengthen routes in order to save ships. This may mean Fiji should be a prime target in order to interdict this route. Once Perth is taken, I should be able to interdict some enemy TF's sent from Cape Town to Australia.
Luck is the residue of design - John Milton
Don't mistake lack of talent for genius - Peter Steele (Type O Negative)
I'm shifting patrol zones of my submarines to the south map edge and will concentrate between New Zealand and Melbourne. It's clear Jocke is willing to lengthen routes in order to save ships. This may mean Fiji should be a prime target in order to interdict this route. Once Perth is taken, I should be able to interdict some enemy TF's sent from Cape Town to Australia.
I'm very curious to see what you discover. I only find very heavily defended convoys close to Fiji and a few near major bases in OZ. He is very good at hiding his routes.
"Success is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm." - Winston Churchill
I'm shifting patrol zones of my submarines to the south map edge and will concentrate between New Zealand and Melbourne. It's clear Jocke is willing to lengthen routes in order to save ships. This may mean Fiji should be a prime target in order to interdict this route. Once Perth is taken, I should be able to interdict some enemy TF's sent from Cape Town to Australia.
I'm very curious to see what you discover. I only find very heavily defended convoys close to Fiji and a few near major bases in OZ. He is very good at hiding his routes.
Unless you are actively searching around the map edges it's not surprising you've not found much. I've already had reports of enemy shipping near the southern most islands (can't recall the name of the specific island) on the map from a Glen equipped submarine. I believe this is where I'll find Jocke's routes.
I'm seriously contemplating an invasion of Fiji now, which would allow me to coordinate air search, submarines and SCTF's in an effort to slow the Allied buildup in Australia. This may become crucial in denying reinforcements arriving in Australia.
I hope I can move quickly enough in SoPAC to establish a semi-blockade with little effort. KB won't be replenishing in Truk anytime soon. As long as I can keep her fueled she'll have to prevent Allied forces reaching any of the key bases west of Pago Pago.
Luck is the residue of design - John Milton
Don't mistake lack of talent for genius - Peter Steele (Type O Negative)
Anybody have experience taking on Singapore when all Allied forces in Malaya have been deployed there? I'm suspecting forts to be around level 2-3. I'll have seven divisions, some armour and I'm sending all the artillery I can spare. Do Japanese RF (anti-tank) units have any benefit against Allied armour in an offensive role, or are they only counted in defence?
Luck is the residue of design - John Milton
Don't mistake lack of talent for genius - Peter Steele (Type O Negative)
