Once Again into the Breach - Mike (J) vs. tc464 (A)

[Mike Solli]

8 Jul 42

Another quiet turn...

SE Fleet

B-17s hit Milne Bay again. I set the Nicks to defend Salamaua, with Zeros for support. We'll see what happens.

Burma

Sure enough, Ted saw that I was withdrawing and hit me at Imphal. The 1:2 attack hurt him a bit and caused a lot of disruption. Losses were 906(7) Japanese to 1655(52) Brits. Lets see what happens tomorrow...

Clark Field hit fort level 6.

[Mike Solli]

9 Jul 42

Pretty exciting turn today....

Sub War

It was bound to happen. The Ro-62, patrolling off Pt. Moresby, was caught by an ASW TF, hit by 3 DCs, forced to the surface, and succumbed to the firepower of 2x DEs (converted 4 stackers).

SE Fleet

I had sent some small TFs out to supply some of my fringe airfields (the ones that look like the moonscape). This was significant, and unintended, and pretty nice.

Yesterday, I mentioned that I was going to put the Nicks up over Salamaua and also put some Zeros there to protect the Nicks. Well, Ted sent 15x SBD-3s escorted by 22x P-40Es after a TF of an xAKL escorted by a PB. 19x Zeros and 9x Nicks caught them. for a cost of 2x Zeros, they shot down 7x P-40s. The Dauntlesses got through and sank both ships. On the return flight, my fighters shot down an additional 2x P-40s and 3x SBDs. A second flight of a couple P-40s escorting 3x SBDs found another xAKL and sank her. Then, a third flight of P-40s and SBDs got mauled by my fighters. In the end, a total of 17 P-40s (and 7 op losses) and 8 SBDs (and an op loss) vs. 2x Zeros and a Nick. Banzai! Definitely worth the 3 ships I lost!

Burma

Over Chittagong, the Oscars and Hurricanes fought and 7 of each were lost. I'm not concerned with it at all. I have over 200 fighter pilots in the pool and each Oscar sentai has about a dozen extra pilots. There are 4x sentai and 2x chutai of Oscars and 2x daitai of Zeros.

In addition, there are 4x sentai of Sallies with a sentai of Lily IIas in range tomorrow. The bombers are bombing the heck out of Akyab, still surrounded. My minefield there has finally dissipated. I'm sending a bombardment fleet to beat them down more. The airfield and port are demolished and I'm also bombing the troops. I'd love to kill off the 40k troops there. Overall, lots of fun.

Other Stuff

My A6M3a factories became operational today with a total of 90 production. KB gets the first of the planes, which will take a couple of months.

The A6M5 R&D has 6x30 factories and is expected to become operational on 1 Nov 42. All 6x30 will remain R&D.

The Ki-44-IIa has 3x30 and 11, 9 & 8 factories and will become operational on 1 Aug 42. The 3 small factories will become operational and the 3x30 will remain R&D.

[Chickenboy]

ORIGINAL: Mike Solli

I've been reading Greyjoys AAR and his issues stemming from a lack of engineers. I scoured my rear areas and found the following independent engineer regiments:

Kwantung: 3
China: 2
Japan: 1

I'm going to buy out those in Kwantung and China. Not sure about the one in Japan though. I'm going to push them forward to build forts in my key forward bases.

Have you looked at the Kwangtung electrical engineer unit? Potent buy for only 97 PP!

[Mike Solli]

Chickenboy, I have that unit building up the port at Fusan. The port is almost to level 8. Then that unit gets to visit a Pacific island.

[Mike Solli]

10 Jul 42

Sub War

The Ro-61 wanted to reap a bit of revenge on the loss of her sister and sank an xAKL off Cairns. Yeah, it's only an xAKL, but it's a start.

SE Fleet

Same ole thing - Ted's B-17s trash another airbase, Lae today, some Helens do light damage to Pt. Moresby airfield and knock off a plane or two on the ground and Ted's fighters refuse to fight my fighters.

Ted did mention that he can't resupply Pt. Moresby like he wants to because of the sub threat. If he only knew all it was, was usually 1-2 Ro class subs.

Burma

Ted attacked my withdrawing army at Imphal again. This time the 1:2 attack caused 2049(10) Japanese to 3444(165) British casualties. He has a couple of divisions and 4x Infantry Brigades to my 3x infantry divisions. His brigades are looking pretty shabby.

An Oscar sentai met some Hurricanes over Chittagong again. Four Oscars were lost to 6x Hurricanes. His numbers are pretty low again. Only 9 fighters total rose against my Oscars.

Other Stuff

I've been doing some calculating again. The Tojo IIa will arrive on 1 August 42. The IIb arrives on 1 May 43 and the IIc (the goal) arrives on 15 Jun 43.

[Chickenboy]

ORIGINAL: Mike Solli

Chickenboy, I have that unit building up the port at Fusan. The port is almost to level 8. Then that unit gets to visit a Pacific island.

So, here's a question for you then...since Fusan isn't in the Kwangtung Army per se, did you pay PP to relocate it to Fusan?

[Mike Solli]

You know, I never thought about it before now. I pay to move from Manchuoko/Korea to China (and vice versa), but I never thought about moving from Manchuoko to Korea. That's the only unit I've done that with fortunately. I'll pay for it next turn.

Trying to keep me honest, eh? [:D]

[Chickenboy]

No. I'd never try to do THAT, Mike. [;)]

But most HRs on the matter are pretty clear-movement out of Kwangtung or Korea to another non-original region = full (retail) PP cost. If you *do* pay for the PP of this unit, I assume you'll just make it "Southern" and be done with it? Then no harm no foul in the long run.

[Mike Solli]

Yeah, we have a house rule requiring PPs to move across borders. We discussed Burma/India and Manchuoko/China specifically. This one isn't really an issue. It cost less than 100 PPs to change & I never was that low in the game. You're right, I changed it to a non-restricted HQ so I can move it later. Fusan's port is currently at 7.60. I'll move it out when it maxes out at 8.

[Mike Solli]

11 Jul 42

SE Fleet

Finally, the vaunted Nicks met the B-17s in an even match. Well, it wasn’t exactly even. 58 B-17/LB30s met exactly 4 Nicks. Sheesh. One B-17 was shot down for no Japanese loss though. That’s an improvement over the normal encounter. Don’t know if it’s real or just dumb luck. By the way, they met over Salamaua and the B-17s trashed the place.

Goodenough Island made a level 1 airfield and continues to build. So far, Ted hasn’t noticed it. I suspect he will soon enough. Well, that’ll give him another target. Maybe dilute the effort a bit. (Who am I kidding?!)

Burma

Sixteen Zeros met 11x Hurricanes over Chittagong. Two lost Zeros for no Allied loss. *Sigh* Gotta stick with Oscars. I can afford those losses.

Other Stuff

The Tojo IIa advanced to Aug 42. The 3x 30 R&D factories upgraded to the IIb and the 3 partial R&D factories will remain as the IIa until 1 Aug and then become operational. I’m going to accelerate the IIb until it is May 43 (that’ll take until ~15 Sep 42) and then upgrade the R&D factories to the IIc. The IIc model (the one I really want) will become operational ~15 Jun 43. That’s about the best I can do. At that time I’ll let the R&D factories become operational and have 6x30 operational factories for the IIc. I’ll turn them on and off as needed. That will give me the following potential IJA fighter production:

Oscar: 128
Tojo: 180
Tony: 30
Nick (FB): 30

In addition, the Frank (6 R&D, of which 3 will become operational) and the Ki-201 (3 R&D, all to become operational) will still be in the queue. I’m also working on the Ki-102 (3 R&D factories) as my late war FB. It’ll be used against 4E bombers and eventually make a nice Kamikaze.

I’ve decided to take Merauke from Ted. I’ve got a sentai of Helens escorted by a chutai of Zeros (flying out of Hollandia) trying to do a little damage there. All he has is a handful of auxiliary aircraft (possibly Do-24Ks) there. No fighters. My intel says only a couple thousand troops. The 48 Division is currently at Ambon and an invasion TF just arrived and is loading them for the invasion. I see 2 subs docked there and a couple of AVPs in port. That’s it. There is also a small TF floating around south of Merauke. I believe it’s an ASW TF with small craft. I’m going to send in the 48th TF and have it covered by KB (Ryujo, Shokaku and Zuikaku). KB will cover from the edge of the deep water hexes. I expect this operation to commence within a week.

Ted has been building Merauke’s port and airfield nicely for me. Once I take it, I’ll move the air units from Hollandia to Merauke and reinforce them with some Nells of the 21 Air Flotilla currently based at Ambon. That will force Ted to evacuate the water between Merauke and the Australian coast. Then I can focus on Horn Island and possibly isolate Pt.Moresby.

It will probably cost me several xAKs and PBs to take Merauke, along with some damage to the 48 Division. It’s definitely worth it. Right now, the Merauke-Pt. Moresby bulge is the most worrisome part of my defensive line.

I’m probably not going to send a surface TF to support the invasion. Last time I did this I ended up losing 2x CAs (Kako and Kinugasa) and a DD. That time, Ted had significant surface units in the area. This time he doesn’t. The only opposition I expect is from subs. But, KB will hover in the vicinity, just in case.

By the way, Soryu and 4x Shiratsuyu DDs are preparing to head to the Home Islands for upgrades. Akagi, Kaga and the other 6x Shiratsuyus are about a week from finishing their upgrades and will rejoin KB.

[Mike Solli]

12 Jul 42

SE Fleet

The 4 Nicks met B-17s over Salamaua again. This time, there were no losses on either side. I can’t say the same for the airfield below.

Burma

I forgot to take the Zeros off sweep of Chittagong. The 14 remaining Zeros met the same 11 Hurricanes and lost an additional 2 of their number for no Allied loss. Grrrrr…..

Merauke

The invasion fleet continues to load.

Five Betties (flying out of Gasmata) attacked and obliterated an xAKL at Merauke, hitting her with 3 torpedoes. Hopefully, it was before she unloaded her supply. I have a chutai of C5M2 Babs and Dinahs flying recon and naval search missions out of Hollandia. Hollandia is a nice base. It’s out of range of Ted’s airfields and at 8 hexes from Merauke, I can fly Zeros out of there with tanks. If need be, I’ll upgrade those Zeros to the A6M3a, which has a normal range of 8. Hopefully, Merauke will change hands soon and that won’t be necessary.

Other Stuff

Reinforcements:

8 Fleet HQ – SE Fleet – arrived at Truk. I already have a fleet HQ at Truk, Rabaul or Kwajalein so I may position this one in the Marshalls. Still not sure.
Kunikawa Maru-1 – 6 Petes for the AV Kunikawa Maru. I’ll increase the size to 9 and upgrade to the Jake for naval search duties.

If you recall, I’ve had a shortage of IJN fighter pilots in the reserve. It’s finally easing somewhat. I cull my training units on the 15th and at the end of the month. The next cull is just a couple of days away. I checked and saw that I currently have 37 IJN fighter pilots ready to graduate! It’s about time. Although my issue isn’t over, it’ll definitely ease somewhat. I’ll be able to fill out all of my frontline units with a dozen or so left in reserve. I have ~18 pilots with experience >70 that are reserved for KB. They are going to fill the newly expanded carrier fighter daitai. The 50+ experience graduates will allow me to pull some 70+ pilots from some of my land based units to replenish KB’s reserve.

I also took the guidance of several on here and maxed out KB’s fighter daitai with rookies. They’re training up nicely. They won’t be ready for a bit, but they will eventually. Thanks for the advice!

[Mike Solli]

Funny story. Yesterday, I was figuring out my fighter R&D at the kitchen table and my wife wandered in, seeing me write numbers on a little piece of paper and muttering to myself. She innocently asked what I was doing, so I told her I was figuring out the R&D for my fighters to optimize when they become operational. She made a comment about how into it I was considering it wasn't real. I said, "What do mean, not real? Of course it's real!" She said that she hated to break it to me, but none of it was real. I gave her my surprised look. She said that the truth hurt and that she heard me whimper when she said it. I'm not sure, but it may have been true. [:D]

[Mike Solli]

13 Jul 42

Lots of the same today. Three Oscars traded for 4x Hurricanes over Chittagong. Four Nicks missed 48x B-17/LB-30s over Salamaua. Betties attacked xAKLs at Merauke (missed) and Akyab (damaged it with a 60 kg bomb.

Reinforcements:

18 & 19 Tank Regiments in Japan for General Defense Army.
1 Independent Tank Company at Truk - Will become part of the Rabaul Garrison.
13 Independent Heavy Artillery Battalion - Kwantung Army
55 JNAF AF Unit - Southern Army - Headed to Rabaul.

[Mike Solli]

14 Jul 42

Aleutians

Ted rolled out a new weapons platform here - the B-24. I'm surprised he placed them here and not somewhere where they matter. Five of them hit Dutch Harbor doing no damage.

I'm loading up an infantry regiment at Adak for an invasion of Nome, Alaska. Why you may ask? Because I can. I'll take the base, then load up and move the infantry back to Adak. Keep him reacting to me, that's all.

4 Fleet

Of the 3x independent engineer regiments I'm pulling out of Manchuoko, the electric engineer regiment and one ind eng reg are going to this AO, to Marcus Island and Saipan respectively. Gotta build up the fort levels faster.

SE Fleet

Nicks missed the B-17s over Salamaua again. This base is pretty well trashed now. That's ok. Buna and Milne Bay are repaired and Salamaua is only a level 1 airfield with no AS there yet. I like it being a target.

Burma

A bombardment force of 5x CAs hit Chittagong, destroying 6x P-40s and a Vildebeest, while trashing the airfield. Very nice.

I noticed that Ted has posted a sub at Akyab after my last BB bombardment a couple of days ago. Here's what he said recently: "Good strategy on Akyab, by the way. I never considered being surrounded. Its going to be painful relieving the siege." I've been bombing Akyab daily with 3-4 sentai of 2E bombers. More are on the way too. I have enough Helens to upgrade a sentai. That'll happen in a day or two.

In the air over Chittagong, I shot down another Hurricane for no loss. Only about half a dozen oppose me now.

I discovered that at Silchar, the base just NW of Imphal, Ted based a lot of bombers. I sent the Lily II sentai for a visit and destroyed 2 Blenheim IVs and a Hudson IIIa on the ground. Gotta keep Ted wondering where I'm going to hit next.

Other Stuff

Reinforcements:

55 Chutai - 9 Ki-15 - 2 Air Division in Manchuoko. Will train recon.
AMc Wa-4 - It'll sit with the rest until I find a use for it.
AMc Wa-5 - Ditto.
DMS W-21 - This, I'll use as an escort.
CM Niizaki - Small minelayer.
SC CHa-38 - ASW.

I had my mid-month pilot cull. It's getting better.

IJA
Fighter - 112!
GrdB - 53
LowN - 11
ASW - 26
Tran - 2
Rcn - 5

IJN
Fighter - 50!!!
NavS - 12
Rcn - 2
NavB/NavT - 14
NavB - 3

I was able to fill up all of my land based front line Zero units. I still have some spares and will swap out some 70+ experience pilots and replace them with some of the 50+ experience pilots in the pool to fill up my KB daitai. I am still short about a dozen for KB but I can fill them up in a day or two. Right now I have ~10x 50+ and 15x 70+ fighter pilots in the pool.

Ted's a riot in his emails....

"Yup, those B-17s are pretty much invincible. Every time I see a new airframe come up against them I fire up the Solli voodoo doll and sacrifice a few chickens, hoping that model isn't the answer to your prayers. So far so good."

Next come the Tojo IIa. They start production on 1 Nov. We'll see how his voodoo doll works this time.

[Mike Solli]

Oh yeah, I got some intel from one of his emails. Here's what I sent:

I suspect things are going to heat up somewhere soon. You're going on the offensive somewhere eventually. Until then I'll just continue to build forts. Wonder what a level 6 fort does to an attacker.....

Part of his response:

Yeah you're right, it is kind of ho-hum. Its the calm before the storm . Actually, I think it will remain like that for a while, at least until the end of 1942. I am not confident that my fighter pilots can effectively cull your pilots and thats one of the major blocks right now. The other one is infrastructure, but thats coming along nicely.

[PaxMondo]

ORIGINAL: Mike Solli

Ted rolled out a new weapons platform here - the B-24. I'm surprised he placed them here and not somewhere where they matter. Five of them hit Dutch Harbor doing no damage.

He may not have had to spend PP's to deploy these here ... ??? maybe?

[Mikawa]

Mike, like your approach to do pilot management twice per month.

When transferring pilots, do you send them to the general reserve and then pull into the final unit or do you use the request veteran button to pull the pilot directly out of the training unit. Not sure if one or the other gets the pilot there faster. The request veteran lets you pick the exact pilot, which might be best for KB where you want the best pilots.

thoughts?

[ny59giants]

I hope you are sending recon to Calcutta daily. If so, consider a night bombing attack on the AF or port when moonlight is close to 100% with Helen/Sally. Just keep him honest. [;)]

[Mike Solli]

ORIGINAL: Mikawa

Mike, like your approach to do pilot management twice per month.

When transferring pilots, do you send them to the general reserve and then pull into the final unit or do you use the request veteran button to pull the pilot directly out of the training unit. Not sure if one or the other gets the pilot there faster. The request veteran lets you pick the exact pilot, which might be best for KB where you want the best pilots.

thoughts?

I typically pull them into general reserve. For the IJA, I have a big reserve, 719 pilots as of 23 Jul 42. The IJN reserve is smaller at 494, but I have reserve pilots of every type for both service. When I need a pilot for a unit, I pull the worst of the reserve pilots for the skill I need. That way, I preserve the best pilots for later in the war where it may make a difference (but probably won't).

When I draw a pilot out of the reserve, I always use the request veteran button. I don't leave anything to chance.

[Mike Solli]

ORIGINAL: ny59giants

I hope you are sending recon to Calcutta daily. If so, consider a night bombing attack on the AF or port when moonlight is close to 100% with Helen/Sally. Just keep him honest. [;)]

Michael, I never seem to look at the % moonlight. I need to try your tactic. It is a good idea. I do night bombing every turn, primarily on airfields that typically have CAP. Every now and then I get lucky. Akyab get >100 bombers a day there in daylight raids. Ted doesn't even try to oppose it. He doesn't have enough fighters. He reserves his fighters for Chittagong primarily. I'm slowly moving the bulk of my army to take out Akyab, which is still surrounded. He hasn't even tried to send a cargo ship there in about a week or so game time. He is sending unescorted transport in, and I shoot down some each day. Nice experience for the fighter sentai I have sweep the place each day.

By the way, I just completed the 23 July 42 turn. I just haven't had a chance to update here. I'll get to it tomorrow I hope.