DaBigBabes 28B v11 Dan Nichols(J) vs Denisonh(A)

[Dan Nichols]

I am going to make the big plunge here and play as Japan. I will need help and advice.

Here are the house rules we agreed upon.

1. CAP and Sweep max altitude is second best maneuver band
2. Pay PPs to change restricted units before marching them across a national border.
3. No strategic bombing into or out of China until 1/44. Air field, port, ground are acceptable targets? Good
All types of industry are not.
4. No 4-engine bombers on ground attack if there are friendly ground units in the hex.
5. Night bombing - 50% or greater moonlight - one unit per base allotted? Good

Turn 1:

1. No new Allied TFs. Existing TFs can be given orders.
2. No orders to be given to non Chinese assigned air or ground units.
3. I will attack Pearl Harbor.
4. No Port attacks on Manilla or Singapore.
5. No invasions will land other the the following possibilities:
Kota Bharu, Batan Island, Guam.
6. No IJN fleets will end up closer than 5 hexes from an occupied Allied base.

I am doing a non-historical first turn and will be posting some of my ideas/thoughts as I go.

[Dan Nichols]

Here is my initial KB orders.
Anyone see any problmes?
Kaga
Kaga-1 18 A6M2 Sweep 15000 30 CAP
Kaga-2 27 D3A1 Airfield 10000
Kaga-3 27 B5N2 Port 6000

Hiryu
Hiryu-1 18 A6M2 Escort 10000 30 CAP
Hiryu-2 18 D3A1 Airfield 10000
Hiryu-3 18 B5N2 Port 6000

Soryu
Soryu-1 18 A6M2 Escort 6000
Soryu-2 18 D3A1 Airfield 10000
Soryu-3 18 B5N2 Port 6000

Shokaku
Shokaku-1 18 A6M2 Escort 10000
Shokaku-2 27 D3A1 Port 10000
Shokaku-3 27 B5N2 Port 6000

Zuikaku
Zuikaku-1 18 A6M2 Escort 6000
Zuikaku-2 27 D3A1 Port 10000
Zuikaku-3 27 B5N2 Port 6000

Akagi
Akagi-1 18 A6M2 Escort 6000 30 CAP
Akagi-2 18 D3A1 Airfield 10000
Akagi-3 27 B5N2 Port 6000



BB Hiei
Hiei-1 2 F1M2 Recon PH

[edit] changed A6M2 airfield attacks to 100 feet.
[reedit] A6M2 back to 6000 feet, losses too high

[JocMeister]

I will certainly follow this despite the fact that you play the wrong side! [:D]

Good luck!

[PaxMondo]

[Dan Nichols]

Hi Pax and Jocke.

So many decisions, I dither and I dither.

Malaya - to Mersing or not to Mersing.

Luzon - Standard attack with 2 Divisions and 65th Brigade, or take 3 or so islands around it
and bomb it out of supply and aircraft and come back later.

PH strike - 6 CVs or 5 CVs and send one to Cam Ranh Bay to support both Mersing and Singkawang?

Questions, questions.

I should put this is here - a quote from one of Harvey's PMs
Open to first turn historical(preferred) or having the Japanese player change it up. Most caveats are that pretty standard that the Allies can move existing TFs, not form new TFs, Not change orders for air groups, etc... But not a fan of moves with the KB in areas where they could be observed or "magic move" invasions outside of LBA for the Japanese (more importantly what would require moving in daylight close to Allied bases not near Japanese possessions). Assumption is that the Japanese want surprise the first turn and it is highly unlikely that historically any TF would have been undetected prior to 7 Dec to go to places such as Sumatra, Noumea, Suva, or New Britain on the first turn. The Japanese could explain troop convoys alot of places, but not moving outside Japanese possessions. Also, the KB was in a remote location to start. Moving into the South China Sea with the KB would very likely alerted the Allies, so am not a fan of KB strikes from the SCS. Never a fan of the 1 ship invasion TFs with fragments running all over the south pacific either.

That somewhat precludes a CV from KB going to the SCS - I could see about finessing it though.

[Mac Linehan]

Dan -

Great to see you on it; I will follow with interest. A Dan and Denisonh match will not be dull... <grin>

Babes 28B will be a different challenge for both of you.

Mac

[Dan Nichols]

Hello Mac.

Still no comment on the idea of bypassing Luzon in favor of taking a couple of islands as
bombing platforms and bombing the snot out of Luzon.

I think I will not do a Mersing. And I will respect my opponents wishes to the letter
and use all 6 CVs at PH.

But I am intrigued with the idea of using the 48th and 16th Divisions else where. Take
the 16th Division to take the Southern portion of the DEI, Ceram, Timor, Flores and the Eastern
portion of the Celebes.

The 48th could be sent to take Mindanao or tasked to take part in either the Java or Sumatra operations.

Ideas, Ideas.

[PaxMondo]

I rarely attempt a Mersing.&nbsp; The risk/reward balance is too skewed for me.&nbsp; To make it work, you have to bring at least one CV out of the KB to cover.&nbsp; Nah, I'm just not really about the Mersing gambit.&nbsp; But that's just me ...

[PaxMondo]

I wouldn't get all that worked up about the first month or so.&nbsp; A few days here or there isn't that big&nbsp; of a deal.&nbsp; I think what's important is to decide your 2nd tier of targets and be sure you have everything prepping for that in time.&nbsp; I want to be able to get those targets taken before I lose the amphib bonus.

[obvert]

I would get worked up over the first month or so! [:)]

There are a lot of options, and an experienced opponent will try to take advantage of the ones you don't choose.

I like the idea of waiting for Luzon. Sending enough to push him back to Clark/Manilla is probably necessary, ten just bombing daily for several months. I like getting Mondanao out of the way, as it can be a thorn. The others aren't that important, but a deep push into the Tmor area would be. You have to get a good amount of forward search bases going before trying it though (as I found out against you) and make sure to re-do most amphib TFs that come loaded if they are going anywhere dangerous.

Palembang must be mentioned. I'm sure you have this worked out since you're on the other end of holding it late and know the effects of that.

I would think about sending the 'free' divisions you're contemplating toward Burma. Good to get that supply cut and possibly push far into it early before he gets settled there. Unless you plan to let him and invade behind later.

For all of the small invasions, fast transports are your friends.

[Dan Nichols]

Well, I have thought about things and came up with this for my big 13 units.

2nd Division parts are unloading at Sendai and will be combined into a full division.
Fast transports(these are fast APs ) are being move to Sendai. It first goes to Cam Ranh Bay and then I will
then send it to land at Oosterhaven and march on Palambang.

4th Division is at Osaka/Kobe and will be split and transported to Babeldaob and used
to take the Southeastern DEI ( Ceram, Celebes, Timor ) and then move to Java.

The 56th Division, less a Regiment, is slated to move to Malaya. I am going to
redirect it to Menando so it can joins with its other regiment in the near future
and will be the lead unit to take all of Menando. I will need to find some smaller
units to help.

The 33rd Division is in Nagasaki/Sasebo and is tasked to attck into Burma. It will be
transported to Bangkok to join with elements of the 55th Division

The 55th division, less a Regiment, is in Southeast Asia and will march to Rangoon
to cut the supply line to China.

The 18th Division is loaded at Samah and will assault Kota Bharu.

The 5th Division is loaded at Samah and will transport to Patani and attack into George Town and then South.

The Imperial Guard is in Southeast Asia and will rail move into Singora and then move South to push
the Allied units into Singapore.

The 21st Division is in Shangai and will be tasked to attack into Java and take Batavia.

The 38th Division will also be transported to Java after the fall of Hong Kong.

The 16th Division is loaded at Amanmi Oshima and will land at Atimonan on Luzon.

The 48th Division will be landed at Vigan.

The 65th brigade will be landed at Aparri.

Luzon will be strangled and not overrun. I will need to use air power to reduce the formations
as much as possible. I have some ART that can help also. I would like to take Manila and then
bomb him out. I will need to bring at least one other Divisioin from Manchukuo or the Home Islands.

My initial goal will be as always to take the SRA as fast as I can. I am not sure exactly where
I may make any other heavy pushes, and I might not. I do want to take Burma, all of New Guinea and
the Solomon Islands. I will probably land at a couple of bases in the Aleutian Islands also. Further
expansion will depend on how well I do in the first 2-3 months.

I will be making a hard push in China to take Sian and surrounding areas and I will also want to clear
the major road from Hanoi to Shanghai.

[Cavalry Corp]

Hope you do not copy my grand plan
If there is time maybe you coud carry on our AAR - i woud like to read it say a year in retro
Anyway good luck with this.

[Dan Nichols]

ORIGINAL: cavalry

Hope you do not copy my grand plan
If there is time maybe you coud carry on our AAR - i woud like to read it say a year in retro
Anyway good luck with this.

Actually I am, just not much happening lately.

[Cavalry Corp]

i will be sending you some action soon - PBG has taken longer than expected plus there was that severe loss at Singapore

[Dan Nichols]

Aircraft and Engine production numbers. This is what I came up with.

Code: Select all

 Aircraft:
 A6M2		Maebashi		60
 		Maebashi		30
                 Gifu                    30
 B5N2		Hiroshima/Kure		30
 D3A1		Nagoya			30
 E13A1		Hiroshima/Kure		40
 E14Y1		Nagoya			22
 G3M2		Maebashi		22
 G4M1		Nagoya			25
 H6K4		Osaka/Kyoto		10
 C5M2		Nagaski/Sasebo		 6
 L3Y2		Gifu			 8
 
 Ki-43-Ic	Maebashi		60
 		Tokyo			30
 		Harbin			30
 Ki-21-IIa	Nagoya			40
 Ki-48-Ib	Gifu			34
 Ki-46-II	Nagoya			20
 Ki-57-I		Hamamatsu		20
 
 Engines
 	Mitsubishi Ha-32	130
 	Mitsubishi Ha-33	164
 	Nakajima Ha-35		344
 

I stopped production on Hitachi Amakaze, Nakajima Ha-5, Hitachi(early), and Nakajima Kotobuki

I still have Nakajima Ha-34( Tojos, Helens ) and Mitsubishi Ha-31( Nicks, Dinahs ) in production

I will build Glens until I am out of engines. Ki-46-II and Ki-57-I will also be built until the
engines are gone and then upgraded.

[Dan Nichols]

Aircraft R&D is throwing me for a loop. Is the usual practice to turn off most of the R&D repair? It looks
like I only want to invest in accelerating 4-6 aircraft lines and most of those are fighter lines.

A6M3 -> A6M3a -> A6M5 ->A 6M5b -> A6M5c -> A6M8 is a good long line that I can use.

NiK1-J -> N1K2-J -> Nik5-J is another navy fighter line( not CV capable )

Ki44-IIa -> Ki44-IIb -> Ki-44-IIc is a good early army fighter line

Ki-61 series? Is it worth it? It is a very long line.

Ki-84a -> Ki-84r some have said this is the best fighter usually available.

Is it worth trying to advance the Ki-201?
Same for J7W1.
How about the J2 Jack series?

Are there any bombers that are worth doing R&D on?

[obvert]

You will want the Judy as soon as you can get it. I also put research into the Grace, although with its late arrival date I'm not sure how useful it will be by then.

The Ki-61 Ib seems to be at least holding it's own in mid-43, but I'm producing and flying only a limited number of them. I was only going to start producing the Ic but thought I needed help in the armored fighter area earlier, so started in with the Ib. The length of the development line is a major plus.

The J2M2 is okay. I'm again looking forward to the M3 version, but if the George is as good a everyone says, then I might not use it much in forward positions.

The Frances might be worth research, as well as the Peggy (T) model. Not sure yet though.

As far as late war, the Ki-83 will be a killer if you can get it soon enough to be useful.

[GreyJoy]

ORIGINAL: obvert

You will want the Judy as soon as you can get it. I also put research into the Grace, although with its late arrival date I'm not sure how useful it will be by then.

The Ki-61 Ib seems to be at least holding it's own in mid-43, but I'm producing and flying only a limited number of them. I was only going to start producing the Ic but thought I needed help in the armored fighter area earlier, so started in with the Ib. The length of the development line is a major plus.

The J2M2 is okay. I'm again looking forward to the M3 version, but if the George is as good a everyone says, then I might not use it much in forward positions.

The Frances might be worth research, as well as the Peggy (T) model. Not sure yet though.

As far as late war, the Ki-83 will be a killer if you can get it soon enough to be useful.

I agree with Erik here Dan

As far as i can tell from my game with Rader, the Tony line can be interesting in order to have pretty soon the KI-100, which is not a game winner (too slow) but has a very good service rating and a decent firepower....can be a good complement to your KI-44 IIc in front line bases. However the fact that you need to concentrate on the Kawasaki engine production can be a problem because the Ha-45 is your first priority....and u will need a LOT of those!

The KI-83 is a real game winner. Can be used for different roles and it's an amazing a/c in all of them. The KI-201 and the other jet fighters are a waste of resources imho... only numbers count when you get to 1944/1945

[Cavalry Corp]

For certain the Val to Judy Jump offers enormous value- the Judy is so good compared to the Val, then consider the kate - you need the Jill but its much later than the Judy ( RA ) but what you have not got is a navy fighter to match the allied ones - shame.

[Dan Nichols]

I want to thank all of you for you comments and insights. I will now have to think about what I will do. My opponent
wanted a historically plausible game, so I have to think on what that really means and how much I can advance aircraft.