Rise of the Sheep! JocMeister(A) vs. Obvert(J)

[JocMeister]

22nd-25th October -43

I was unable to send Erik a turn last night so we only managed one so far today.

More quiet turns. Not much to report. I spent the turn this morning going over the map. I noticed I was short on DDs in SOPAC and a bit heavy in CENTPAC. So I sent 14 Fletchers from PH to SOPAC. With the 8 Fletcher attached to Alabama that should help with the shortage.

Some other things of note:

I was also going over my AC pools and they are in excellent shape. I should be able to sustain some losses this time around. I have a good pool of P47s and P38s. Hellcat pools are a bit low but recover quickly with 130 per month arriving. Corsair pool is also in nice shape. Getting the new F4U-1A at 78 per month will be a great boost!

Bomber pools are flowing over! Just looking at the US side I have some 400 2Es and 250 4Es. British 2E pools are running very low though. But I have almost 200 British DBs in the pools so if needed I can convert some of the 2Es to DBs.

I also for the first time have a squadron of Spitfire VIIs. They will see combat shortly I´m sure! I upgraded my best OZ squadron. [:)]

Supply and fuel in OZ is excellent with about 3.5 million supply and 1.7M Fuel. I also have a reserve at Suva and Noumea if needed. I have about 500K more fuel and 900K supply on its way. A bit worried how much will be gulped up if I ever get to move forward...

Oh, and Erik did try to intervene at Akyab. I spotted a 2 ship TF south of Akyab last turn listed as a APD and DE. Had a hunch and sent in a 3 CA TF to Akyab. They found 4 DDs and promptly sunk at least 2 of them. I know its small potato but it feels good to dish out some damage once in a while and not always be on the receiving end! [:)]

AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR Oct 24, 43
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Night Time Surface Combat, near Akyab at 54,45, Range 3,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
DD Michishio
DD Arashio, Shell hits 5, on fire
DD Yamagumo, Shell hits 2, and is sunk
DD Asagumo, Shell hits 8, heavy fires, heavy damage

Allied Ships
CA Cornwall
CA Exeter
CA Frobisher
DD Napier
DD Nestor
DD Nizam
DD Quadrant
DD Racehorse, Shell hits 1
DD Rapid

[JocMeister]

26th-27th October -43

Looks like quiet time is over!

Port Moresby

Things heat up as Erik tries to intercept my bombings. I have a bit of luck and my 2Es were grounded due to weather. I lost about 10 4Es. In a stroke of luck 6 of the losses are some B17Es that are to withdraw in two days. Only 2 pilots lost today. I´ve ordered some big sweeps of PM and Buna tomorrow. Hopefully Erik stays around! Bombings will continue as before.

A 4 CA TF will also bombard PM tonight. I will try and keep bombardments up from now on. Both from sea and air.

Burma

I ordered some sweeps over Katha and Prome yesterday. Just for feelers. There was small CAP over Katha and a bigger one over Prome. The P47s perform excellent and down some 50 Planes for only 8 own losses. 4 Pilots lost.

Erik has yet to make any kind of offensive action in the air here. Troops are slowly creeping forward.

CENTPAC

Another CVL arrived at PH with 4 Fletchers from Balboa. I think it was Monterey.

[BBfanboy]

You are doing really well in the air war - ahead by 3,000 aircraft! Especially awsome to see over 1000 Tojos bite the dust (or water) since they have only been available for a little over a year. You are doing something right! [&o]

A couple of comments on previous posts that I could not answer earlier as I was traveling:

Game engine calculations have to take into account 1000 ops points per day for ships, and makes movement calculations based on how many points are left to use. If a ship is refueled and uses 280 points to do so the AI will calculate a later departure and shorter movement than if all 1000 points are available.
It also seems to use random factors to calculate aircraft launches and flight times that affect coordination. Weather is one factor for sure. This is apparant from the number of times fighters fail to sweep ahead of the bombers even though they are faster and may have launched from a closer airfield. Bottom line - it is much more sophisticated than just a night phase/day phase calculation.

About bombardments - BB guns are great for hammering forts but they fire fewer shells than cruisers so their coverage of the target is spotty. If you want runway hits and aircraft destroyed the 15X6"-gun Brooklyn class ships can really carpet the ground. They are also easier to replenish afterward. The 16" gun BBs are problematic in requiring a large port/lots of naval support/large enough AE or AKE to reload.

[JocMeister]

Welcome home BB! [:)]

Thanks for the info on OPS and bombardment! Added to my notes!

I´m pretty pleased with how I´m done in the air war so far actually! Pretty much the only area where I feel slightly confident. I avoided getting my P40s slaughtered for nothing early on against the Tojos and that led to me having a really healthy pool of great fighter pilots. I think I have some 1500 over 70EXP/70AIR/70DEF in the pools right now. Its really starting to pay off now and once I get even more potent US army aircraft I think I can really mess the IJAAF up! [:)]

[JocMeister]

Interesting SIGINT!

Could it be the KB? If I find time I´ll go back a few saves and look at how fast its travelling. Won´t surprise me if it is. Erik has never been fond of sitting idle.

[JocMeister]

27th October - 2nd November -43

Fairly quiet turns overall.

Port Moresby Area

Very quiet. I bombard PM with a CA force nailing 3 subs on the way. No offensive actions as I LRCAP a barge TF unloading more artillery at PM. Erik moved over 100 fighters forward on the 2nd. I exchanged some Hellcats for P38s and put more CAP up. I´m doubtful he will try anything against Terapo though. 400 Fighters there right now!

Burma

I tried a sweep using 100 P47s over a somewhat exposed Tungoo. They did GREAT! No idea why they did so well all of the sudden. But almost 50 fighters downed for only 3 own losses. No pilots lost! [:)]
Erik has started shuffling some troops around. No idea why all of the sudden. But some stuff are heading north and some south. He has a problem in that he can´t cover everything and I can focus all power in a single advance. If he leaves central Burma too weak I will shift focus immediately. Will be interesting to see how he tackles this. By the looks of it he will hunker down in his fortresses. Don´t know if that is good or bad for me...

Mystery TF

Suddenly disappeared!

This will be the last quiet turn for a while I think! Stay tuned! [:)]

[JocMeister]

3rd - 4th of November -43

Port Moresby area

Bombings commence with good results!

Japanese ground losses:
136 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 7 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 9 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Guns lost 1 (1 destroyed, 0 disabled)

I noticed a TF moving for PM last turn and sent a CL force to intercept. Somehow they missed Eriks TF and its currently at PM. Wonder if he is withdrawing or reinforcing. Hopefully the latter. PM will fall eventually and whatever he send there will be destroyed. Another TF will make a dash for it next turn.

Erik has some 150 Bombers in the area. I´ve started setting up a massive CAP trap. Hopefully he swallows the bait!

Reinforcements have arrived! Another 50 Corsairs arrive with good pilots. Alabama also joins the fray together with the Fletchers.

BURMA

I got a bit frustrated with Eriks lack of action here and decided to send in some Sweeps over Schwebo. In a stroke of Incredible luck parts of the sweep coordinate! [X(] Only had that happen two times before. A P38 sweep arrives before the P47 and take a beating. Luckely I only loose 4(!) pilots in total during the day. The P38 group is upgraded to P47s. The E version is just too obsolete.

I´ve started closing the AFs at Katha and Myitikina(sp?). They should be closed next turn. In the meantime my forces cut the rail line to the North. Paratroops also capture an empty Warzup! I´ll try uploading a screen of Burma later. Some 500 AV will be tasked to close the north eastern part of Burma off until they can be reinforced by heavy troops. I think Erik has yet to realize I have some 5000 AV in Northern Burma. Hopefully he will think of this is just a diversion.

Troops are closing on Ramree Islands. Supply has not been a problem so far. But troops will have to rest for a few days soon as fatigue is nearing 20.

CENTPAC

Subs are closing in on the area to see if we can find any traces of that "mystery TF".

Here is a screen of the air action today. I´ll try uploading a screen of Burma later!

[koniu]

121 P-47 sweep

How Japanese player can defend against that. I have problems with 25 P-38.

[JocMeister]

ORIGINAL: koniu

121 P-47 sweep

How Japanese player can defend against that. I have problems with 25 P-38.

Hehe, luckily for Erik this was only the 2nd or 3rd time throughout the game I had a sweep coordinate! [:)]

[JocMeister]

Burma situation

Here is the current situation in Burma. As you can see Erik has some major troops concentrations in Central Burma. Strangely he has put his tanks up at Katha. Don´t understand why as I would have put them somewhere were I could use their mobility.

The plan in general terms is to cut off central Burma from supply. He can surely draw some from China by going over the mountains should only be a trickle? Not enough to support his 500.000 man army I figure?

Knowing nothing of the Japanese OOB I assume by the number of troops here Erik has pretty much emptied out China. The Chinese troops are slowly getting supply back. Perhaps enough for a small offensive to break out west. We will see what Erik does.

Katha is pretty much "cut off" now. If he wants to move in or out he will need to do so by walking. Erik has probably level 5-7 forts in place at Katha. I will keep enough troops to keep him there but bypass it for now. Question is if I go south towards Schwebo or east towards Myitkvina? I´m leaning towards leaving 2K AV in place on the rail and move 3K east bypassing Katha and cease Myitkvina and then move south towards Bhamo and Lashio. Thoughts?

Ramree Island is the target for the western force. This will be ceased and then quickly built up. I will then either cut inland dividing Burma in two or go for Rangoon. Both options have their benefits and drawbacks. I need to decide within two weeks. After Ramree is liberated I need to rest the troops for a few days. An option would also be to split the forces. I have about 2K prepped for Magwe... Thoughts?

[witpqs]

Katha is pretty much "cut off" now. If he wants to move in or out he will need to do so by walking. Erik has probably level 5-7 forts in place at Katha. I will keep enough troops to keep him there but bypass it for now. Question is if I go south towards Schwebo or east towards Myitkvina? I´m leaning towards leaving 2K AV in place on the rail and move 3K east bypassing Katha and cease Myitkvina and then move south towards Bhamo and Lashio. Thoughts?

I think that your supply situation (which might be fine now) would get worse for the troops that head east. You've cut off those troops, why go after them now? Let them wither as supply runs short. In open terrain your attacking force has better chances, provided that he does not have significant air superiority. If you are able to engage those bases one by one you can defeat each force in turn. When you have the central plain would, only then consider going (directly) after Lashio. But maybe not even then, unless you have a plan to liberate China through Lashio! Instead, protect your flank there and drive south. Finally getting Rangoon would open up sea-borne supply so that you can sustain a major offensive further south, toward Singapore to attack oil and fuel from the DEI.

IMO. [8D]

[JocMeister]

witpqs,

Well, your opinion is highly valued! [:)] I´m thinking I will do as you suggest and leave a blocking force of some 1000-1500 AV on the rail line and then move south towards Shwebo with the rest. Just enough for it to be impossible for him to dislodge them.

At the moment Erik dominates the airspace over central Burma with some 350 Fighters stationed on 5 level 4-7 AFs. A tough nut to crack! But I have brought A LOT of AAA with me! And if he goes on the offense in the air he will have to open up somewhere else!

Thank you for the advice, I appreciate it. [:)]

[BBfanboy]

He may have some tanks/tankettes at Katha, but keep in mind that what the game reports as AFVs are usually vehicles for hauling guns and ammo, or HQ vehicles for running messages around to units. Note the 500 guns/ 500 AFVs report at Prome. No tanks there.

+1 on witpqs' advice.

[JocMeister]

4th - 6th of November -43

Port Moresby

Some big events develops here during the two days. On the 5th Erik send in a lone CM with a DD for escort. They make it through to PM and drop 125 mines. The CM doesn´t make it back though and is sunk by subs! [:)] This have implications though. As I was sending a massive Amphib TF carrying 6th and 37th ID towards Horn Island weather blanketed the TF. I then decided on a spur to send the TF right in to PM. I had 4 AMs embedded in the TF and took a chance. It worked and only DD Selfridge hits a mine. Both IDs are unloaded with less disruption then I feared. Both have around 250 AV. A week or two of rest should be enough!

CAP did its job again! I think I have figured out why. And if I´m right Erik is truly a gentleman. More on that later.

Now the interesting part. I found a TF just 3 hexes south of PM (see screen) with a CA and 8 DDs. Could possible be more CAs in there as it was spotted by a sub. I think he was going to try and send a TF into Terapo and blast the shipping unloading there. He successfully did that with a DD force before. Now the question is whether he will withdraw or give chase.

I set the Amphib TF to full speed (4/4) moving due west. I also sent in everything I had in the area to try and cover. This is making me nervous as I´m very "noobish" when it comes to the naval side of the game. But setting up some waypoints and stuff I hope I can intercept his TF if he goes after the Amphib TF. I set a 2 CA TF to catch up and "follow" the amphib TF and the 4CA TF (Salt Lake City, Astoria, Baltimore and Wichita) to hunt for his TF going in the same tracks as the Amphib TF. Hopefully it will work! I also have Mr. A. Burke commanding 8 Fletchers giving chase.

I think it would be madness of Erik to give chase as he knows I have at least 3 fast BBs in the area but he has been crazy before. A bit worried about the whole situation. Next turn I´ll know. Been a bit too many nail biting turns lately!

Burma
I stand down the bombers after two days hoping Erik would try and jump them. The 125 P47 comes up empty. I will continue to send them in over Katha from time to time hoping this will discourage him.

SOPAC
Some of the reinforcements that has arrived has been diverted here to start threatening Ndeni again. 36 Corsairs will start sweeping in 2 turns. 36 Hellcats will arrive within the week. Only 18k troops left. I´m thinking of bypassing it all together.

CENTPAC
Still no sign of that mystery TF. Slightly worried. Diverted some convoys a bit east just to be sure. Combat shipping has started gathering for Canton.

[BBfanboy]

The other possible goals of the Japanese CA are bombardment of PM or bait for KB lurking on the other side of the New Guinea. I would still try to take the bait though! Late '43 USN AA is pretty good!

I am not so sure his TF will follow the route of your amphib TF - he would originally have sent his cruisers before your TF was at PM so they were not the main reason for his mission. Now that they are known, he expects them to be at PM and will send his TF there to intercept. Unless he gets very good nighttime detection and react he will not follow them on their way out west. I would expect the TF to enter PM and then retire close to the coast again.

About using waypoints, it seems to me that whenever I set one the TF stays at the waypoint until the next phase of the turn. That means you cannot set more than two way points without using up your day's movement. I try to set only one waypoint and, if possible, set it at the hex at the end of the first movement phase. e.g. if the movement range circle shows my cruisers will go four hexes in the night phase, I put the way point in the fourth hex along the desired route.

Just my take on the situation, you are the best judge of what you want to try and do!

[JocMeister]

BB,

You were right about the waypoints. Or at least partly so! One TF ended up within his bombers but not the others [&:]. No losses luckily. AAA was actually pretty deadly! You were also right about him heading for PM. He did and also stayed there?! No clue why he didn´t just zoom in and back. All my TFs failed to connect with him. [:@]

He might still try for Terapo and bombard the AF in which case I will cream him tomorrow. 180 B25s and 50 Beuforts are set to strike. 125 P38 will sweep away that LRCAP!

I´ll do a proper update tomorrow. Now its time for bed! [:)]

[JocMeister]

7th - 8th November -43

Don´t think Erik will be very happy about the last two turns. That makes me happy! [:)]

Port Moresby area

On the 7th Erik makes a serious effort in the air. Betty/Nells strike at the scattered shipping in the area. Luckily they go for a Barge TF carrying a Arty unit. I loose only 3 barges. He then has a bunch of Betties go after my DD TF that for some reason ended up just outside PM. Flak worked! [X(] My DDs damaged 5 Betties and shot one down outright. WTH? [:D] He then strikes at Terapo itself. I´m guessing he had hoped I would be LRCAPing with most units. I had some on CAP though and Eriks suffers. Georges sweep Terapo but also suffer. Only 2 pilots lost today!

I also learned that the 100 Figters at Rabaul are Oscars (some 90 of them escort the bombers). So only useful for escort at this stage. Good to know!

The enemy TF at PM stays during the night and only moves 2 hexes from PM. I have no clue what Erik was doing? Leaving troops? He pays a price though and looses 2 CLs. Possible the Aoba too as she suffers 4 penetrating hits and now has to run a gauntlet through all the subs. Fingers crossed.

Once I cleared the mines at PM I will bombard from the sea for a few days and then do a deliberate attack again. I now have twice the raw AV. With the added HQ bonus and a paradrop I really hope this will seal the deal! Do the paras have to have 100 prep for the bonus to kick in?

Burma

Taking witpqs advice I started moving south from Katha. I left 1500 AV on the rail line. Mostly Chinese but backed up by 2 AT units and a Indian Division (upgraded to 43 squads). With the defensive bonus and already level 2 forts they should be safe. If he starts moving for them I can give a lot of support from the air.

I have made a mistake here that is too late to correct though. I did not send any additional combat engineers with this army group. So they will have to rely on the embedded ones. I also feel I should have added at least some tanks to this group. Another lesson learned. This kind of forces me to deal with his AFs in central Burma so I can lend support by air instead. I´m afraid this will cost me greatly before we are done! [:(] He has 5 level 4-7 AFs and some 350 fighters. Only positive thing is that I think he has prioritized upgrades in SOPAC. Last sweep saw many old Tojos.

For offensive punch I have 150 P47s, 50 P38s and 72 Corsairs. If desperate I will use the P51s and Hurricanes. I´m reluctant to use the P51s as the A version is limited to 20K by our HR. Hurris have done great on the defensive and not so great on the offensive. The 16 squad size is not to their advantage.

I will start sweeping with the P47 in a turn or two. Don´t think Erik knows about the Corsairs. That can be a nasty surprise. [:)]

The troops moving for Ramree have arrived just north of the Island. I´ve stopped them and put the into rest mode. They will rest up for two day and then move for Ramree. Two divisions and all the Engineers (not the combat ones obviously) will go to Ramree. Rest of the troops will bypass it moving south.

Erik has started shifting a lot of troops from central Burma south towards Prome. I havn´t decided where to make the crossing yet. But it will be somewhere where I can cross over to several hexes forcing him to cover at least two hexes.

CENTPAC

The BB force has converged SE of Canton. They are covered by 600 CV based fighters. I will take it very carefully from here as I don´t know where KB is. Mystery TF is still gone but none of the subs have had any DL rises.

SOPAC
The two Corsair units sweep Ndeni and do horrible getting only 12-12 against the Jacks there. Lesson learned. Don´t use completely green pilots (50/70/50)... [:(]

[BBfanboy]

Given discussion on the forums about dropping paratroop unit fragments to gain the attack bonus cheaply, I am guessing that disruption does not affect the bonus. All para drops get some disruption anyway - no DZ is ever perfect and winds are never completely predictable!

Please use more specific wording when duplicate names on the map exist. When you mentioned your BBs SE of Canton I was imagining them dashing through Hong Kong and heading up river, which made me go WTH! Took a couple of moments to remember there is a Canton Island! Doh! My head is getting bruised from all the self-headslaps lately. [:D]

Are you sure CL Oi also sank? Any sightings of the TF (absent Oi) after the attack to support that? By the number of DDs I would suspect a troop transport mission for that TF, unless there were troop casualties in the damaged ships which would indicate an evacuation. It's also possible he was trying to intercept your transports but sticking around a day was a bad mistake.

Re: the well-trained but green pilots, if the last 50 figure indicates defensive skills, that is part of the problem for sure. I train my pilots in low ground attack at 1000 feet to boost their defensive skills as quickly as possible. I think it equates to the ability to dodge AA, hilltops, debris in the air from explosions and of course, tracers from enemy fighters.

Re: the Hurricanes in Burma, others have said they can hold their own on short missions (more fuel available for maneuver) and with equal or superior numbers.

Luck on the follow up on Aoba & Co.!

[JocMeister]

ORIGINAL: BBfanboy

Given discussion on the forums about dropping paratroop unit fragments to gain the attack bonus cheaply, I am guessing that disruption does not affect the bonus. All para drops get some disruption anyway - no DZ is ever perfect and winds are never completely predictable!

Good to know. They are at 72 prep and I will of course drop the whole unit. Don´t want to trash it in vain!

ORIGINAL: BBfanboy
Please use more specific wording when duplicate names on the map exist. When you mentioned your BBs SE of Canton I was imagining them dashing through Hong Kong and heading up river, which made me go WTH! Took a couple of moments to remember there is a Canton Island! Doh! My head is getting bruised from all the self-headslaps lately. [:D]

Haha, that would certainly had been something! [:D]

ORIGINAL: BBfanboy
Are you sure CL Oi also sank? Any sightings of the TF (absent Oi) after the attack to support that? By the number of DDs I would suspect a troop transport mission for that TF, unless there were troop casualties in the damaged ships which would indicate an evacuation. It's also possible he was trying to intercept your transports but sticking around a day was a bad mistake.

I´m not 100% sure but some of the hits said "severe damage to damage control parties". With heavy fires raging I hope that was enough. I heard 3 sinking sounds during the turn. I´m guessing it was the two CLs and possible the DD as it listed "critical damage". Don´t think Aoba sank as the subs didn´t pick her up the following turn but she will certainly be gone for a while! [8D]

ORIGINAL: BBfanboy

Re: the well-trained but green pilots, if the last 50 figure indicates defensive skills, that is part of the problem for sure. I train my pilots in low ground attack at 1000 feet to boost their defensive skills as quickly as possible. I think it equates to the ability to dodge AA, hilltops, debris in the air from explosions and of course, tracers from enemy fighters.

Yes it was defensive skill. Lesson certainly learned! [:(] Having superior AC is not enough. I´m currently training them up a bit to 60-70 in DEF before doing anything creative again!

ORIGINAL: BBfanboy
Re: the Hurricanes in Burma, others have said they can hold their own on short missions (more fuel available for maneuver) and with equal or superior numbers.

I might give it a go. I have plenty of airframes (270) and all the british pilots are in superb shape but the pilot pool is really low. I only have some 200 fighter pilots in the pool right now. Might save them for the Spitfires. Started getting the VII this month! First squadron just upgraded and another 36 arrived in Karachi!

[JocMeister]

8th - 12th of November -43

Port Moreseby area

Things slow down AGAIN as I can´t seem to deal with the Minefield Erik dropped at PM. I now know what the Aoba TF did at PM... They dropped of some major CD guns. I lost 7 AMs as they tried to sweep the minefield! [:@] To sort this out I sent in a bombardment force with embedded DMSes to sweep the mines but they didn´t sweep a single mine? How do I get rid of the mines without getting blasted by the CD guns? Did a search on the forum and going by what I found the DMSes should have swept the mines?

Bombers hit his troops again to good effect! I´ll keep this up for a week or two before attacking again.

Erik removed his 200 bombers from Rabaul. Either he is going to use it to strike somewhere or he started moving them to Burma. I´m hoping Burma! There I can deal with them a lot easier.

Oh, Erik was also a bit lax on his fighter cover over Woodlark Island. The 4Es strike and catches 50 Nells on the ground.

Burma

Troops are rested and start moving again. See map. I would really like some advice on the situation. The land war is still a mystery to me! [:(]