GJ (Allies) - Mr.Kane (Japan) - The allies declare their defeat

[castor troy]

ORIGINAL: Wargmr

ORIGINAL: castor troy

yeah, real life they didn't have the aircraft, they didn't have the airfields and they didn't have the support. Let me see... in the game, I get the aircraft, I get the airfields (not hard at all to build them if
you choose the right place) and if I build large enough airfields I also get enough support. Ok, where's the trade off?

Do you want to win the game more quickly? The tradeoff is playability. If the Japanese have no ships, no planes and no armies in 44, what is the point of finishing the game??

Would you consider it fun just sitting around while all your airfields get bombarded due to lack of planes and a complete inability to move shipping due to air threat??

Until a well played game cannot be won by the allies consistently I dont really see what the balance issue is. It is a GAME, not a simulation. Nobody would want to play if the Allies dominated all theatres for 3 years of war.

I am a fanboy? Really? Cool beans

[Mike McCreery]

ORIGINAL: castor troy

ORIGINAL: Wargmr

ORIGINAL: castor troy

yeah, real life they didn't have the aircraft, they didn't have the airfields and they didn't have the support. Let me see... in the game, I get the aircraft, I get the airfields (not hard at all to build them if
you choose the right place) and if I build large enough airfields I also get enough support. Ok, where's the trade off?

Do you want to win the game more quickly? The tradeoff is playability. If the Japanese have no ships, no planes and no armies in 44, what is the point of finishing the game??

Would you consider it fun just sitting around while all your airfields get bombarded due to lack of planes and a complete inability to move shipping due to air threat??

Until a well played game cannot be won by the allies consistently I dont really see what the balance issue is. It is a GAME, not a simulation. Nobody would want to play if the Allies dominated all theatres for 3 years of war.

I am a fanboy? Really? Cool beans

Your sig pic says Taiho class fanboy...

Pardon me if it is an improper assumption...

[GreyJoy]

After another huge defeat, Mr.Kane offered to abort the 2nd mnvr band altitude HR... i kindly accepted, even if i feel a bit ashamed to ask for a change...just like a sissy
However, as soon as it changed, my CAp started to perform better... P-51Ds started to achieve something at 41K... i do not like much this race to the stratosphere...but at least now the allies can stand a fight

The enemy keeps on sweeping my bases... now also the Shidens are online at Java...ouch :-/
He's getting a 1-1 kill ratio, no matter what i do.

Anyway... 14th December 1944.. The allies are stuck again. We landed at Merak with a full army (2 Divisions, 2 Tank Bn, 2 eng units and several artilleries)... just to found that Batavia is held by 4 full divisions... and several high forts... impossible to take
We bombed it by sea with everything we have (BBs, CAs, DDs etc...)...nothing wroked
So i tried to change strategy... 2 more divisions moved from Merak to Buitenzorg...hoping to flank Batavia...
Again we found 2 full divisions, behind 5 forts and in mountain terrain... got a 1-7 at first DA and not a single fort went down... (bombed them with 3 Bombardment TFs and with 150 B29s...didn't work)

So i tried to change again... another army landed South of Java with the full support of my CV Fleet... Sosarbaja was bombed... but, despite the presence of 10 DMSs, we've lost 10 DDs due to sub-laid mines and 1 CA got badly damaged...
All his AFs are now in the interior, far from the shorelines... full of SAMs, Shidens and Franks... can't hope to get them

He doesn't seem to have any kind of problem with supplies...and i don't understand how this could be. I remember in mafrch 1944 i had shortage of supplies everywhere on map... while he never, ever, gets a (-) modifier...

I'm really getting spanked and outplayed...and it's not a matter of japanese R&D... it just seems Mr.Kane is a far better player than me in every aspect of the game

[JocMeister]

Hang in there GJ. He can´t have an infinite numbers of IDs. There is probably is a hole somewhere and you just need to find it. Its just impossible for him to cover all approaches. Fire up witpsqs intel monkey and start going through locations. I found no less then three big holes in the Japanese perimeter using the tool. Its fantastic!

Have you looked at Hokkaido? He will only have 2-3 IDs starting there so in order to cover it he will need unrestricted troops there. Its a good chance its not properly guarded. How about the Kuriles?

You havn´t posted any maps in a while but if you are banging your head against a wall in Java why not try somewhere else? In all honestly being on Java in the beginning of 45 isn´t going to win you the war. Its a long way to get within B29 range of the HI. You need to get there fast. Slogging it out on Java is probably exactly what he wants to do. Bypass it. Do a GreyJoy! [:D]

That being said I know the frustration of going up against a skilled opponent with a working industry. Its tough going but once the break occurs it does so with a loud bang.

[GreyJoy]

ORIGINAL: JocMeister

Hang in there GJ. He can´t have an infinite numbers of IDs. There is probably is a hole somewhere and you just need to find it. Its just impossible for him to cover all approaches. Fire up witpsqs intel monkey and start going through locations. I found no less then three big holes in the Japanese perimeter using the tool. Its fantastic!

Have you looked at Hokkaido? He will only have 2-3 IDs starting there so in order to cover it he will need unrestricted troops there. Its a good chance its not properly guarded. How about the Kuriles?

You havn´t posted any maps in a while but if you are banging your head against a wall in Java why not try somewhere else? In all honestly being on Java in the beginning of 45 isn´t going to win you the war. Its a long way to get within B29 range of the HI. You need to get there fast. Slogging it out on Java is probably exactly what he wants to do. Bypass it. Do a GreyJoy! [:D]

That being said I know the frustration of going up against a skilled opponent with a working industry. Its tough going but once the break occurs it does so with a loud bang.

Thanks Joc,

But i've been taking a deep look at his disposition using the allied intel... Hokkaido and the Kuriles are very well defended.
Luzon is full of divisions and units and the Mariannas are all built up to their max, with a division each, heavy guns everywhere and for sure 6+ forts everywhere.

He has now abbandoned Burma... 250K men are now guardin the thailand perimeter.... He has holes for sure, but none that i can easily exploit. He has bought out many divisions from china and manchukoku... He doesnt defend everything...but defends the very right places...so i simply cannot skip and moven over...not with a KB fully operational....
His heavy flak, along with very high forts, prevent me of using 4Es to suppress his AF....
This match is already lost strategically. I have no chance to get anywhere close to HI by the VD... So i'll simply keep on playing it with a deep role playing mind...i will try to avoid any major defeat and preservethe life of my men, sailors and aviators...just like it was RL...
Mr.Kane has deserved this victory since the very first day, so hats off to him.

The allies need Java if they want to advance further...i need big ports with some naval shipyard if i want to move deeper into the SRA... Considering Singapore i not conquerable, nor closable.... Sosarbaja and Batavia are my only choices...

[GreyJoy]

Java now has at least 7/8 divisions....with some heavy forts everywhere...and with SL this means very tough life for the allies[:D]

[JocMeister]

If its any help I have found that you can do very well without big ports using lots of Naval Support. I can unload a full 100 ship xAK TF at Naha (level 6) in 2-3 days. Don´t know if you get the Amphibs BDEs in DBB though? The ones with 200 NavSupport? I´ve gotten 4 of them so far. They are golden. [:)]

[GreyJoy]

ORIGINAL: JocMeister

If its any help I have found that you can do very well without big ports using lots of Naval Support. I can unload a full 100 ship xAK TF at Naha (level 6) in 2-3 days. Don´t know if you get the Amphibs BDEs in DBB though? The ones with 200 NavSupport? I´ve gotten 4 of them so far. They are golden. [:)]

Probelm is not loading/unloading...i have so much naval support i don't know what to do with it...probelm is the shipyards...the closest one is at Colombo and it's too small and already full of repairing ships....in the last year i've had nearly 130 ships damaged by mines ...especially CRuisers and DDs...and i badly need them to advance....now if a ship gets damaged it's more or less out of the war for many months due to the travel time to the closest empty shipyard

[witpqs]

Just tooling around my current Babes game looking for potential level 6 and 7 ports that might help you... Davao, Brunei, Darwin, Hollandia all make size 6. Manus and Truk make 7. There might be others that I haven't noticed yet.

I've found that size 6 and 7 ports help a lot. If you build the port up, stuff it with naval support, a command HQ, a bunch of ARD, AR, AE, AKE then it can do wonders. I'm not sure if naval HQ help or not. Obviously not the same as a larger port or a port with a sizable shipyard, but it does a lot and might be enough to help you capture something bigger.

[ny59giants]

In DBB, I team up the Naval Support, one ARD with one AR, and in a decent size port (5). I have an Essex Class CV in one of those 55k capacity ARDs vs having to send it all the way back to Pearl.

[obvert]

ORIGINAL: GreyJoy

ORIGINAL: JocMeister

Hang in there GJ. He can´t have an infinite numbers of IDs. There is probably is a hole somewhere and you just need to find it. Its just impossible for him to cover all approaches. Fire up witpsqs intel monkey and start going through locations. I found no less then three big holes in the Japanese perimeter using the tool. Its fantastic!

Have you looked at Hokkaido? He will only have 2-3 IDs starting there so in order to cover it he will need unrestricted troops there. Its a good chance its not properly guarded. How about the Kuriles?

You havn´t posted any maps in a while but if you are banging your head against a wall in Java why not try somewhere else? In all honestly being on Java in the beginning of 45 isn´t going to win you the war. Its a long way to get within B29 range of the HI. You need to get there fast. Slogging it out on Java is probably exactly what he wants to do. Bypass it. Do a GreyJoy! [:D]

That being said I know the frustration of going up against a skilled opponent with a working industry. Its tough going but once the break occurs it does so with a loud bang.

Thanks Joc,

But i've been taking a deep look at his disposition using the allied intel... Hokkaido and the Kuriles are very well defended.
Luzon is full of divisions and units and the Mariannas are all built up to their max, with a division each, heavy guns everywhere and for sure 6+ forts everywhere.

He has now abbandoned Burma... 250K men are now guardin the thailand perimeter.... He has holes for sure, but none that i can easily exploit. He has bought out many divisions from china and manchukoku... He doesnt defend everything...but defends the very right places...so i simply cannot skip and moven over...not with a KB fully operational....
His heavy flak, along with very high forts, prevent me of using 4Es to suppress his AF....
This match is already lost strategically. I have no chance to get anywhere close to HI by the VD... So i'll simply keep on playing it with a deep role playing mind...i will try to avoid any major defeat and preservethe life of my men, sailors and aviators...just like it was RL...
Mr.Kane has deserved this victory since the very first day, so hats off to him.

The allies need Java if they want to advance further...i need big ports with some naval shipyard if i want to move deeper into the SRA... Considering Singapore i not conquerable, nor closable.... Sosarbaja and Batavia are my only choices...

You can break those airfields open. It'll take a while, but he cannot rotate out units as fast as you can due to supply. Although you don't see it, the problems can be right there in front of you. Just work on one at a time, and if you notice he start moving planes from other fields as the groups there break down (from service 3, lack of support, low supply to replenish) then hit the fields behind where he's taken them from.

I know it's not easy to pound against a wall of aircraft pushed 1 year forward in massive numbers, but you're very creative and you'll find a way through. Once it breaks it will break quickly, and supply WILL be a problem once the fuel starts to be limited to produce HI. If he's dug all of these forts everywhere, it has cost a lot, and to run those planes, armies and everything continuously, it will break down.

Even if you have to use 'volunteer' troops, you should have enough now to open another front, even without the hope of succeeding there. Simply to make him react.

Keep at it!

[GreyJoy]

ORIGINAL: ny59giants

In DBB, I team up the Naval Support, one ARD with one AR, and in a decent size port (5). I have an Essex Class CV in one of those 55k capacity ARDs vs having to send it all the way back to Pearl.

Witps and Micheal, i am using port hedland and Sabang for those situations as u describe. Lots of ARs and ARDs but badly damaged ships simply do not repair fast enough there. I'm possibly being too cautious but i tend to use ships only when they have a sys damage below 10 and flt. Damage below 10... Also the fact that my entire campaign is being postioned in the west ceates a lot of problems cause there aren' many decent size yards not even in Oz or in India.... CT is not that good either!

Anyway, i keep on pushing, tryong to find different solutions for different problems.

Erik, yes i can shut down a single AF if i concentrate, but losses are brutal and my pools are always dry. Already dried the P47 pool and the B29 one is always at 0.... Moreover most of my good fighters need to stay on CAP duties to defend my own airspace, so the ability to attack his air space is pretty much close to zero.

I will try to break at Sosarbaja now. Let's see what can i do....cause in the Celebes i'm already stuck with no hope of advancing...my USMCs cannot even take Kendari [:(] against a single japanese ID without any big artillery in support

In malaya we're stuck... At Palembang we're stuck.... Only i Java i still have some hopes....

[obvert]

Supply is the key!

All of this feels a bit like the moments against rader just before you suddenly posted a shot of the Kuriles! [:D]

[GreyJoy]

Supplies do not seem to be the key against mr.Kane Erik!

However we're seeing some lights.

Dec 20th, 1944

The allies are applying lot of pressure on Java, closing it in a pinch.
As you know, we've landed at Merak in November 44, and that action forced mrKane to rail north his divisions guarding the south of Java. 6 Japanese Divisions are defending Batavia and Buiznerog (sp!?) against 5 allied divisions
That opened up an opportunity. Even if I didn't have any prepped troops, I decided to go for it. Paras conquered two empty bases south of Sosarbaja and a series of amphib TFs unloaded the very next day 2 allied divisions (the 6th and the 33rd US IDs) that immediately marched towards Sosarbaja.
My units in the north were pinning down the enemy, so he could not rail them back...Despite the presence at medioen of a strong Japanese AF (full of modern fighters and bombers), our TFs unloaded safely, thanks to the role of the allied main CV fleet. Our CVs acted as a bait, sucking up all the incoming air attacks from Medioen...several Judy and Grace attacks were feinted off and now my 2 divisions reached Sosarbaja.
My minesweepers finally did their job, cleaning more than 300 mines (after the loss of 8 allied DDs [:@])..and the bombardment runs could go in...
The Japs only had 1 division there...the 103rd... which is the seventh division spotted in Java!!!.... the first attack, supported by 300 bombers from the DS, found 7 forts[X(]...but got a 1-1!...thanks to the clear terrain...
I think we'll be able to get Sosarbaja...and once this key base is taken I could re-allocate my logistic...and move over... I don't really need Batavia if I have Sosarbaja... and 7 divisions stuck in Java will mean a lot less opposition in Borneo

Rangoon has been abandoned and the japs retired to Moulmein line.

Takaran has been left empty by his air force...and our 4Es paid a visit, destroying the oil fields there...now the only accessible source of oil in the DEI is Miri-Brunei, which has not more than 110/150 working fields...not much!
Balikapan is still active, but the last convoy has been forced to retreat without sucking a single sip of oil/fuel from there...too close to Makassar and to my DDs stationing there.
As far as I can tell Japan must be very short of oil and fuel by now. Palembang is sieged and isolated since august 44... now Java is besieged with no hope of relief...Tarakan is down and Balikapan cannot be used anymore as a safe port... I hope this "economic war" will pay some dividends sooner or later...

[GreyJoy]

Java

[GreyJoy]

Malaya

[GreyJoy]

Sumatra

[obvert]

Nice work on Java. So. With the amount of action he's been involved in, and the reduction in shipments you've caused already, I'd doubt if he has 3-4 months after shipments from the DEI stop for good.

Having Soerabaja puts virtually everything left in range, right? Wouldn't hurt to start taking out DEI HI/LI as well. Saigon, Bangkok, Batavia, etc.

So all of this means a reduction of a huge amount of supply production soon. If it is true, and he is the player he's shown himself to be so far, that means he'll likely see that he has to pull back, conserve, prepare for the end. If he doesn't, well, you'll know fairly soon! [:)]

PS - Once you jump to Borneo and get Singkawang/Kuching, the transit is almost closed anyway.

[JocMeister]

Nice work! I havn´t looked the 103rd up but in general the IDs with a higher number then 100 are usually pretty weak. Low EXP and a light TOE. Can you jump North towards the Moluccas? You will need the Philippines sooner rather then later.

Where are the rest of your LCUs? With 8-10 on Java/Celebes you should have some 30 to spare? I assume a lot are in Burma. Might be time to start pulling some of them out?

Have you hit his LI/HI anything? Supply SHOULD be an issue by now as Erik says.

[obvert]

Also. I haven't seen mention of China since the Burma road was opened. If they have supply ...