Islands of Destiny: RA 5.0 Japanese Side

[Paladin1dcs]

ORIGINAL: witpqs

Enemy units that appear without movement indicators but are in fact moving is definitely a part of the game's FOW. Also, enemy units that are there will just 'disappear' for one or more turns from time to time. Look at my AAR for several examples over time of the Allies getting surprised in China by Japanese units' sudden appearances and unnoticed movements.

I've suspected that was the case for some time now and I knew about the "teleporting" LCUs, but I wasn't 100% certain that I understood how they achieve that state, and still am not certain for that matter.

So the question now becomes how to counter that problem and, further, how to turn it into a tool for John's own use. Anyone have any ideas?

[witpqs]

The experience and maybe even the leadership of ground units might affect how well they scout enemy units, be they in adjacent hexes or in-hex. I don't know that but I suspect it has an influence.

Aerial recon can be used in two ways, with specific targets or just left to commander's discretion. AFAIK when left to commander's discretion aerial recon units might find previously un-spotted enemy units.

Post ground sentry units.

In all plans, assume that spotting will be imperfect. If you rely on it being 100% you are guaranteed to get some nasty surprises.

[zuluhour]

As allies I never realized this bird has a camera and with its limited range it was a perfect fit into every front line Burmese airfield. Perhaps Japan has an equally low range camera equiped spotter? I set these to recon on their own or when needed break them down into three sections and recon with a purpose. Probably not much help for John unless the IJA OOB has a similar ac.



ps. This bird I found hanging at the Udvar Center. The Lysander was quite useful for the allies.

[Paladin1dcs]

ORIGINAL: zuluhour

As allies I never realized this bird has a camera and with its limited range it was a perfect fit into every front line Burmese airfield. Perhaps Japan has an equally low range camera equiped spotter? I set these to recon on their own or when needed break them down into three sections and recon with a purpose. Probably not much help for John unless the IJA OOB has a similar ac.



ps. This bird I found hanging at the Udvar Center. The Lysander was quite useful for the allies.

Wait, Lysanders have a camera on board!?! Oh, that changes so MANY things for me it's not even funny. Thanks for the tip zuluhour!

[John 3rd]

Hi Guys.

Good discussion and it teaches on several things I was unaware of. That is a GOOD thing! Always like AARs to do that whenever possible.

I've now got 10 Recon units in theatre (there was 7) and they are LOOKING around!

The Naval Phase of this Operation is now over. Definitely disappointing. Counted up my aerial losses for the 4 days battle at near 400 planes. Fully HALF of them were bomber formations flying into their own suicide without ANY Fighter Escort. Just makes no sense when the Fihgters are ther but then don't escort. Ah, well... Have all my IJN Bombers resting for the moment and the Mini-KB is nearly back to Singapore. It is September 19th. As stated earlier, Junyo--Hiyo--Ryuho will stop at Singers for a few days and then head to Eniwetok to join the KB raising that Fleet to 6 CV, 3 Medium CV, 4 CVL, 2 BB, 4 BC, 10 CA, 6 CL, and 38 DD.

Have another pair of CVEs about two weeks from completion. They will move down and join the 4 CVE at Singapore. All four old BBs are heading to Singers for a little bit of repair and then they shall pay Akyab another visit or two or three in STF mode to see what those big guns can do. Pulled Nagato and Mutsu from Aleutians Duty and they are now headed to Singers.

LOTS of aerial developments and ground developments (one POSITIVE in this area) in Burma. The air is good--great and the ground somewhat positive.

[Saros]

One thing you can do is 'downgrade' a few of your small 9-12 plane IJAAF bomber units to Idas (which have cameras) and manually draw recon trained pilots into them. They do alright and are perfect for watching over frontlines when set to commanders discretion for targets.

[John 3rd]

NICE IDEA!

[crsutton]

Yes, anything with a camera is basically a recon plane and you should put everything you have to that use. The Allies are very weak in recon in the first year of the war but then they start to get all sorts of amazing planes with cameras. Hurricanes, spits, lightnings, p39s, p40s,mosquitos,wildcats,corsairs,hellcats,tigercats,liberators and eventually superforts all have models that have cameras and they all do an excellent job at recon.

[obvert]

ORIGINAL: Saros

One thing you can do is 'downgrade' a few of your small 9-12 plane IJAAF bomber units to Idas (which have cameras) and manually draw recon trained pilots into them. They do alright and are perfect for watching over frontlines when set to commanders discretion for targets.

ORIGINAL: John 3rd

NICE IDEA!

Only until you lose about 2-3 a turn from CAP and flak. [;)]Those planes are not durable, are slow and are very short-ranged.

You'd be better off keeping the Dinahs going with the highest quality pilots and occasionally bombing the troops with your experienced bomber pilots in Helens, which will also tell you (apparently through the eagle eyed surveillance of the bombardier) the exact units in a specific hex. IJ recon is crap, and it's apparently designed to be so. Why else would one of the best dedicated recon planes produced by any nation in this period NOT have a camera on board when a tiny little ineffective bomber does!

Sorry for the detour below, John. A subject close to my heart!

Japanese recon should be less effective than the Allied over the course of the war. I'd like it if this was modeled somehow differently than it is, so that if you did send a massive recon effort at a specific place you could get as good as the Allies in that spot for that moment, but that this would be difficult to achieve. It's also crap that a port rollover at highest detection shows a small portion of ships there when peeped. It wouldn't be too hard to spot in person or in photo that there are 50 LST and three combat ships vs simply 53 ships of indeterminate type. This is one of the primary failings of the game, as recon for both sides was much more sophisticated and accurate than is shown to us as players. Then we get the silly unit info in bombing runs!

Here is a shot of an attack on Rabaul in 43. I would bet most people on this forum could read it down to individual ship types and potentially even classes, and this is at about 1/20 the resolution the US would have had from the original 4 x 5 inch large format negative. The Japanese didn't have the system for processing and working with these images and getting them back to commanders that the Allies had in place, but they certainly could take the same quality of images.

[John 3rd]

September 23, 1942

THIS!
Clear skies over Akyab, Prome, AND Rangoon don't occur often right now but on September 23rd the Japanese get exactly that! For once, plans work perfectly. Two big SWEEPS by Tojos wipe Allied Fighters from the sky (9 Tj for 19 Ftrs). The freshly rested Japanese Imperial Navy's aircraft sweep in to attack the concentrated warships making their endless patrols at Akyab. After the morning Sweeps the skies fill with Japanese aircraft attacking shipping. Results are not fantastic but they are rather satisfying:

CA New Orleans 1TT
CL Ceres 2 Bombs
CLAA Concord 3 Bombs
DMS blown out of the water

Losses are quite light at 3 Zero, 2 Val, and 4 Nells.

NICE!


THAT!
I am abandoning the 'fleet-in-hiding' concept as of today. I am just too aggressive to sit idly by doing nothing with the Fleet. At Eniwetok the entire Kaigun raises anchor and makes for Rabaul. At Rabaul they will upgrade several Fighter Daitai to A6M5 and then move SOUTH. Time to go hunting...

I have 90,000 fuel loading onto my AOs at Truk. These valuable ships will keep the Fleet supplied in a Grand Raid.

As mentioned earlier, I am have been increasing the deployment of Japanese SS around New Zealand. These SS are getting lots of contacts and Glens are spotting TF moving west towards Australia. Emilys are spotting shipping as well. I have created a Fast TF to grab Norfolk Isle and then immediately 24 Emily there for a FAST Search before shipping might re-route.


I shall do some serious updating later today and go through current moves and planning.

[ny59giants]

I am abandoning the 'fleet-in-hiding' concept as of today. I am just too aggressive to sit idly by doing nothing with the Fleet. At Eniwetok the entire Kaigun raises anchor and makes for Rabaul. At Rabaul they will upgrade several Fighter Daitai to A6M5 and then move SOUTH. Time to go hunting...

I see "Mr Narcy" is raising his head again. [:-]

The Allies get too many transports to really slow him down with these raids. You need to keep it out of sight until bigger targets appear.

Signed,
your therapeutic counselor [:D]

[John 3rd]

Thanks Michael!

I've been watching this stuff moving for about 7-9 turns and it appears to be substantial. There are now a dozen I-Boats and Ro- moving into the seas around NZ. THEY will give me a better indication as to what may or may not be happening.

It will take about 7-10 days to move south with the Fleet and get my new aircraft. Should provide enough time for Junyo-Hiyo to arrive as well. I will give it that amount of time before pulling the trigger.

Need about 2 hours of time to do a detailed region-by-region report. I've decided that the Aleutians are pretty much now out as I am:
1. READY!
2. Winter is coming fast with no sign of Allied movement.

Mentioned to Michael yesterday while on the phone that I have been in the process of developing the Lae--Wau--Salamaua--Nadzab AF complex. In about 3 days an Air Division and 6 Base Forces shall arrive to staff them AFs properly. These were troops used in China when the Changsha Offensive was taking place.

Counter-Strike Concentrations:
1. Kwajalein--Roi-Namur--Ailinglaplap hold about 80 Zero and 81 Betty-Nell.
2. Lae--Nadzab--Wau have about 100 Zero, 80 Tojo, and 150 Betty-Nell.
3. Soerabaja carries 54 Fighter and 54 Nell-Betty
4. Aleutians have been detailed though I am shifting several of the Zero and Betty Daiati away from there and moving them south.
5. Burma Region is already detailed.

Have tried to create this so any one region can have their number doubled within 2 days and quadrupled within 4.

[ny59giants]

Don't forget to position troops with both air transport and fast transport ships able to move into a base that Dan tries to invade. LRCAP from even two hexes away 'seems' to not stop the transports from flying in even if the Combat Replay shows them doing so.

[obvert]

ORIGINAL: John 3rd

I am abandoning the 'fleet-in-hiding' concept as of today. I am just too aggressive to sit idly by doing nothing with the Fleet. At Eniwetok the entire Kaigun raises anchor and makes for Rabaul. At Rabaul they will upgrade several Fighter Daitai to A6M5 and then move SOUTH. Time to go hunting...

I have 90,000 fuel loading onto my AOs at Truk. These valuable ships will keep the Fleet supplied in a Grand Raid.

As mentioned earlier, I am have been increasing the deployment of Japanese SS around New Zealand. These SS are getting lots of contacts and Glens are spotting TF moving west towards Australia. Emilys are spotting shipping as well. I have created a Fast TF to grab Norfolk Isle and then immediately 24 Emily there for a FAST Search before shipping might re-route.


I shall do some serious updating later today and go through current moves and planning.

Firstly, what is the point of sending the KB to do everything? If you're going to need 90k fuel to run around for the next few weeks, it should be a known threat to territory you've chosen to defend. Hunting might be your inclination, but it surely can't be good for you economically or strategically.

Getting more info on the sightings you're getting is great. Using the KB to get them just allows those ships to disappear as your unwieldy fleet lumbers into view.

Dan knows your penchant for wanting to sink ships regardless of the strategic situation, so why not make him sweat for a while, let him find the KB when he least wants to rather than just showing it off like a shiny sports car every few months? Have you considered he could WANT you to come running at all of the ships you're seeing? If he's letting you see them, then he must have a plan. He could send things to places you can't see them easily.

Finally, why not think conservatively at least for the sake of the economy? Using 90k fuel on something you're not absolutely certain of is very bad for the long term health of the Empire. In mid-44 I can't even put 90k fuel on AOs to follow the KB around because no port even holds that much fuel. [;)]

[John 3rd]

You guys raise good points.

Trying to do something for simply doing something IS stupid. I agree, however, my 'spidey senses' are tingling right now. These are not perfect--witness Aleutians--but I THINK something is building towards the south. Additional clues:
1. He is not even trying to protect Carnavon. I have been bombing it with two Sentai of bombers for WEEKS--no Fighter Escort and he does nothing.
2. My reconning of his western Aussie Bases shows units declining and moving elsewhere.
3. Recon shows no movement--at all--towards NW Australiea (Tennant Creek/Normanton).

So...where are all those Aussie units going? They have to be moving to Sydney and Melbourne. A movement from here makes sense. To a certain extent I have encouraged it by not moving too many units around here and by building my REAL MLR as Lunga--Tagula--Milne Bay. Horn Island--PM--Merauke have decent strength but not a lot of supply. He recons PM every turn pretty much and knows the AF is now 6. He DOES NOT recon the Lae Area and I hope this will be a surprise if he comes this direction.

I don't want to waste fuel but will move if the info continues to pile-up. The Glens have been catching shipping. I have 3 more I-Boats moving in west of NZ to see what their Glens show. Grabbing Norfolk will extend Emily coverage nearly to the edge of the board and this would help. Same might be said for Lord Howe's Island.

[John 3rd]

September 24, 1942

The seas around Akyab are not safe for Allied warships. Yesterday saw a CA, CL, CLAA hit and a DMS sunk. This day sees three Tojo Sweeps followed by a combined Zero, Val, Betty-Nell attack. This day's damaged warships are BB Valiant and CA Dorsetshire each taking a Torpedo. NICE! Japanese strike loses 14 Zero, 8 Val, and 10 Betty--Nell: not so nice but bearable.

[Hiltibrant]

I know I'm no expert, but I'd also chime in advocating against sending KB on a hunting trip "South".

1. You end up revealing KB being out of position in regards to many theaters in which you and Dan are engaged - this would only allow him an opening (which, given his history, he'll exploit to the full). Remember that Dan is someone who banks a lot on knowing the position of the enemy carriers and furthers his plans accordingly. I think you can safely expect him to have something planned and on hold just waiting for your carriers to pop up too far to intervene.

2. Expending that much fuel just to make a show of force is questionable, imo.

3. What targets are you expecting to go for?

A fleet-in-being is at this stage just the thing to have. It keeps Dan honest in the Central Pacific and Northern Pacific areas, allowing you to commit other assets (BBs for example) to other vital theaters, like Burma.

[GreyJoy]

Agree with the others John: AFAIK in RA mod Japan is already short on fuel. You haven't conquered anything beyond the historical gains and you already moved a lot, up and down, the Combined Fleet. 1943-1944 are right behind the corner and I beg you not to waste any fuel now. Do it ONLY if you are certain of what your targets are...and they NEED to be worth! Save fuel for the blue days ahead...
Also Dan has shown a good ability to take advantage of knowing where the KB is located... don't show your KB if not completely necessary.
Even if you sink 100 xAKs (not probable), what would you gain? The allies get thousands of those ships andyou won't slow him down.
Keep you KB hidden and move it ONLY if you're positive about his intentions

[janh]

Sounds like everyone is on the same side with the KB hunting trips. Not revealing KB seems worth more at this time when Dan's next move is not clear yet, nor if there are no valuable targets spotted outside the IO. I dislike the thought of you being on the reacting end of this patience game though since it means you've already lost the initiative. I don't think this is the case yet, especially not anywhere east of OZ. It should be Dan still afraid of a KB strike at this time, not the other way around. If it where clear where his next hammer would fall, and where he'd have his staging bases for that... What are your I's/ w Glen's doing presently?

Another thought... what about the rearward naval communication lines from Akyab? Where are his damaged ships running to Colombo, Madras and further? Via Cox or Diamond, or direct routes? He can't have his fighters everywhere now that they suffer seriously, and I bet the rearward bases aren't cover well -- meaning that attacking convoys out there with Mini-KB might be worth pondering about?

[John 3rd]

September 25, 1942
Regional Reports

I await developments from my Emilys and I-Boats before making decisions regarding the KB. Thanks for all the advice and rationality. Will continue to ponder things. The Fleet will nearly reach Rabaul this coming turn where it shall refuel and take on A6M5 airframes on at least two or three of the CVs.

Have woken up before the rest of the house so I shall try to get at least a couple of Regional Reports in...

ALEUTIANS
I was absolutely convinced that Dan was coming here since about early-June. Moved troops around and began my redeployment towards a defensive stance. Remember that I took all that I wanted in this region early but Dan provided an opportunity to grab destroy some troops at Dutch Harbor, Akutan, and Cold Bay. The region became 'HOT' and those troops (nearly 14,000 in the end) were liquidated by the Japanese Offensive.

The Japanese MLR is now from Adak west. Amchitka is important but it is the eastern edge with the Attu--Agattu--Shemya complex that is most important. I have kept strong troops at Cold Bay and Umnak in an effort to keep my opponent honest and force him to come west through these two strong bases. Once winter sets in shall remove the bast majority of troops here and leave smaller defensive units to serve as 'speed bumps' if and when he comes west. When I detail what is at these two bases know that, starting November 1st, they shall be redeployed back mostly to the Kuriles or Central Pacific.

East-to-West:
COLD BAY
Port-2, AF-4, Fort-3
SNLF Assault Brigade, BF, and 2 Engineers
12 Emily

UMNAK
Pt-2, AF-5, Ft-5/89
NE AREA Fleet HQ, Air Flot, 31st Inf Reg
30 Zero, 27 DB, 27 TB, and 27 Betty-Nell

ADAK
Pt-5, AF-5, Pt-4/69
Air Flot, Artillery unit, SNLF Brig
12 Zero, 27 TB

AMCHITKA
Pt-2, AF-4, Ft-4/39
SNLF Brigade and 3 BF

BULDIR
Pt-0/39, AF-1/56, Ft-2/62
Karafuto Brig and 2 Engineers

SHEMYA
Pt-1, AF-4/46, Ft-3/69
CD unit, Inf unit, and 2 BF

AGATTU
Pt-0/51, AF-3, Ft-3/65
Inf Reg, CD, 2 Engineers, and 2 BF

ATTU
Pt-3, AF-4, Ft-3/38
Air Flot, 7th ID, CD, 3 AA, 3 Engineers, and 2 BF
72 Zero, 94 DB, 12 Emily

Aleutians Total Air Complement: 114 Zero, 121 Val, 54 Kate, 27 Betty-Nell, and 24 Emily

Naval Forces: CA, CL, 5 DD, 7 I-Boats