Wrangling Loki - Mind_Messing (J) vs Lokasenna (A)

[Bullwinkle58]

ORIGINAL: mind_messing

ORIGINAL: Bullwinkle58

ORIGINAL: mind_messing

Chengtu lies abandoned, no idea why, and a mixed brigade has been detached to occupy that base.

7k Chinese AV in Kunming, against 3k Japanese AV. I'll move most of my AV to help with the seige of Chungking and leave a screening force in case the Chinese like the odds of attacking IJA troops in the mountains with low supply.

No idea how much Chinese AV is in Chungking, but I'd wager around the 3-4k mark. Chungking is the priority base; don't want the Chinese respawning to fight again, even if I'd like the VP's.

Question to you, Bullwinkle. Is bombing the industry in Chungking/Kunming worth it? Does it reduce the length of the seige?

Re Chengtu: as soon as you take it count on it being firebombed. Loka. knows how much supply it generates. It can be reached from Ledo, Imphal, Lashio, etc. If it's out of the supply business the siege supply for Chungking has to be hauled farther, with hex losses. If you take this base you should have fighters there immediately, else leave it for now.

It's funny how a little knowledge of your opponents playstyle allows you to draw together odd scraps of inteligence. Ledo, along with the rest of Assam, has underwent a significant expansion. I assumed this was to support a late '42 Burma campaign (lots of LCU's in Akyab and Cox's Bazzar), but I suspect a strategic bombing campaign against China might be his goal.

Yeah, we all have scraps of other games floating around our noggins. In my case Loka had read my AAR versus Mike and knew about the China Bug-Out Plan. Me, in only my second game and not knowing Loka at all, tried it again and I'm still paying for it. (Paoshan just fell today.) I traded time for space and he took both, with tanks being preeminent. OTOH, as soon as I lost Chengtu I bombed it from Ledo, taking about 85 LI and some other industry. Ledo is a cocked gun pointed at China, really forever unless Burma is a total collapse. It's one cost of Japan taking all of China. It can be burnt down. Ledo might be built for a Burma campaign, or strat bombing, or to supply Imphal's sector, or other things. Generally it's just BUILT. Prime location, on rails, easily supplied.

Akyab/Cox/Chittagong is a different story to me. Akyab is in the Top-5 most important hexes on the map for 1942 Allies. It is on the railroad and leads into the heart of India without break. It leads to Calcutta first, which is the key to all of NE India. I have done everything I can to hold that 3-base string. I lost Lexington and two RN carriers (and took Kaga) in a preemptive effort. I have virtually all of my IO navy--about 15 good cruisers and DDs, operating out of Calcutta, prowling that corner. I recon Rangoon constantly looking for TF loading. I have most of my CBI air force in that corner as well. Torpedo HQs. Frantic digging. Huge, 70-ship transport effort to shove supply into Chittagong to hold as well as supply interior Burma. The Allies can't lose Akyab. In our game I think he's going in there as soon as Lashio falls and he can flood the north with troops. (He has Mandalay/Schwebo.) I have Imphal and the jungle. And time if I get it. It will be close.

I'll have fighters detailed to fly in to Chengtu on the date that it's captured. Nates won't do anything to B-17s, but they've not had a chance to fight the CAF much.

In Ledo he'll mostly have RAF 4Es. Nowhere as good as B-17s, or as durable. Oscars might do it.

It's hard to do Chungking and Kunming at the same time. K. also makes a lot of supply and he probably has Forts 5/6 there. To me the two have different purposes. I'd do C. if I wanted the VPs, the big industrial base, and to turn off re-spawning. I'd do K. if I was heading into the mountains to drive to the Irrawaddy through Lashio and unify the theaters. They have different challenges and could require different LCU selections.

My dispositions force me to remove Chungking from my rear and join my two stacks in China together for Kunming. My forces at Kunming have a great deal of infantry, but little artillery, while the stack north of Chungking has plenty of artillery tubes, but lacks the raw AV required to break Chungking. So joining them together is a must

No matter what, with re-spawning Chungking is a grind. Arty doesn't help with Forts much. You need tanks and/or lots of engineers, plus odds. And Chungking's LCUs to fight at 25% due to zero supply. If your tanks are elsewhere . . . hmm.

It's my own fault - I'd anticipated a hard fight from Nanyang to Sian, and the swift collapse of that front threw my dispositions off. Combined with the wholesale Chinese withdrawal, Loka. may have bought himself more time by running away than he would have if he'd fought me every step of the way.

I think he did for sure. Too many Allied players fight over every city in China. You can't win that.

I have over 8000 AV in Chungking against Loka., but it's Chinese AV (arty light, no tanks, very low-anti-hard) and a good bit of it is at zero supply. He has bombed HI/LI severely, but late in the effort shifted to Resource bombing, which shuts off LI if the base is isolated and hexes to nearby Chinese Resources are closed. That N-something base to the NW of Chungking is a big Resource generator. So it depends on your order of operations re Chungking. Once you have units in-hex the internal Resources shut down and LI is running on stocks. Loka didn't put LCUs in-hex and still hasn't. But he shut down the industry. Of course, when the base falls he doesn't have that supply or the 200+ HI per day he would have had without the bombing. But he went down that branch of the decision tree. It's a valid choice, but nothing is free. If playing for auto-vic it's probably the lowest cost choice for Japan given Chungking has virtually no anti-air capability.

Chungking is very nearly complete isolated, and troops will be moving in-hex shortly.

The consolation I have is that I'll not face 8000 AV at Chungking. Even 5000 would be a stretch. That said, there's 7k Chinese AV in Kunming, and that's a x3 hex (Chungking is just a x2), which more than makes up for it.

Loka's move is excellent in that I lose out no matter what choice I take. Focus on Chungking and I lose the chance of getting the bulk of Manchurian and Chinese divisions to Burma. Focus on Kunming and the Chinese deny me the industry and the ability to shut down Chinese LCU respawns.

Yep. Both is very hard. If you've also gone on an Oz vacation maybe not do-able.

Loka still has not hit the city on the ground. I don't know what he'll use and how well the Forts will hold. Elsewhere he has been very efficient in using tanks combined with at least 2:1 odds to eat down my Forts. He's very patient. I expect he is in the defense as well.

That's not encouraging. Most of the IJA tanks that start in China are up at the far-northern oil centers, while most of the Manchurian tanks have been sent off to Austrailia to give the IJA there some more mobility. I can scrape some together, but the IJA will need to resort to the WW1 method of clearing fortifications: big artillery guns and lots of infantry.

The distance to Urumchi is enticing for tank use, but it's a mirage. There's not enough oil up there to matter, and a lot of it won't flow to Shanghai or the coast. Your tanks are far, far better employed in sieges.

[mind_messing]

Akyab/Cox/Chittagong is a different story to me. Akyab is in the Top-5 most important hexes on the map for 1942 Allies. It is on the railroad and leads into the heart of India without break. It leads to Calcutta first, which is the key to all of NE India. I have done everything I can to hold that 3-base string. I lost Lexington and two RN carriers (and took Kaga) in a preemptive effort. I have virtually all of my IO navy--about 15 good cruisers and DDs, operating out of Calcutta, prowling that corner. I recon Rangoon constantly looking for TF loading. I have most of my CBI air force in that corner as well. Torpedo HQs. Frantic digging. Huge, 70-ship transport effort to shove supply into Chittagong to hold as well as supply interior Burma. The Allies can't lose Akyab. In our game I think he's going in there as soon as Lashio falls and he can flood the north with troops. (He has Mandalay/Schwebo.) I have Imphal and the jungle. And time if I get it. It will be close.

I've not even had a good look at what to do with the Akyab-Chittagong axis yet: my concern was the escape of 60 odd KMT units to India via Lashio. Beyond three IJA divisions and the RTA, Burma is pretty weak. That's slowly changing though, as more and more assets start pouring in through Rangoon, but AA, artillery and engineers is no substitute for rifles on the ground.

In Ledo he'll mostly have RAF 4Es. Nowhere as good as B-17s, or as durable. Oscars might do it.

Do the RAF have 4E's by March 42? I suspect he's moved at least one squadron of the Phillipine B-17s to India.

No matter what, with re-spawning Chungking is a grind. Arty doesn't help with Forts much. You need tanks and/or lots of engineers, plus odds. And Chungking's LCUs to fight at 25% due to zero supply. If your tanks are elsewhere . . . hmm.

I'll pour over the OOB and see if I can scrounge anything up. The Kwantung Army might have a handfull of units that will be helpfull.

Yep. Both is very hard. If you've also gone on an Oz vacation maybe not do-able.

Oz Op in the planning stages, and I'm not commited to it, but it's a serious strategic problem as well as an opening. There's a big British commitment to Darwin, which represents a thrust at the underbelly of the Southern Resource Area that needs removed.

Darwin in itself is worthless to me, but with big British units deployed there, I'd love to attrition them down (or better yet, destroy them) and leave them to the mercy of the poor British replacement rates. Then there's Western Austrailia, which I see as a chance to draw the American Army units away to a side-show well away from the main resource centers. The Austrailian Army has already lost two brigades (plus a third deployed to Noumea) as well as some small armoured units. Combined with the massive American commitment to Luganville, there can't be much more defending Austrailia other than the Austrailian units that start out there.

The more I plan though, the more I get the feeling my options are limited. I can have Darwin or Western Austrailia. Not both.

I'd prefer the former. There's a great deal of distance between Alice Springs/Perth and Darwin, and less chance to get into a mess that leads to significant losses.

The distance to Urumchi is enticing for tank use, but it's a mirage. There's not enough oil up there to matter, and a lot of it won't flow to Shanghai or the coast. Your tanks are far, far better employed in sieges.

Well, too late now. Urumchi is secured and a small tank regiment heading off to secure the last base while the remaining units hunt down the Chinese stragglers. The tanks will turn around and head for Central China. Hopefully I can get the IJA tank divisions that start forming shortly deployed to Chungking as well.

[Lowpe]

ORIGINAL: mind_messing

For the IJA, the Dinah NF is the only really competitive night-fighter. The Nick NF is too slow, as is the Peggy NF (though not by much). That leaves the Dinah or the Randy, but the Randy is a late, late plane.

I am not sure you are right -- because none of the Army night fighters have radar until Randy which is a late plane.

I think this makes the Army night fighters simply a disruptive force and staying power & numbers is better than speed in point defense. Dinah's lack of armor hurts here.

You need Dinah to fill out groups, especially recon groups...but I think she might be the weakest Army night fighter.

Admittedly, I could be all wrong. I will let you know in a year or two.[:)]

Great discussion with Bullwinkle...

[Bullwinkle58]

I misspoke before. Akyab is on the road network; Chittagong is the rail head. But Akyab means no jungle-jumping. I tend to think of Akyab as the red line. Cox's is a speed-bump for me. Chittagong is a fort.

The RAF has Blenheims; if those aren't 4E they should be. Also that snout-nosed one I can never recall. They can firebomb pretty well, but they're fragile. Not good on point targeting. Also some Wellingtons, but bad pools.

A lot of what's going to India from China is going to be HQs. China has dozens. A really fragmented OOB. I put the arty and most of the base forces in Chungking, but not everybody does. If the arty gets even a taste of supply it can help a lot.

I think a fortified Darwin and a Western Oz is a bridge too far. Perth is hard to supply and vulnerable to the off-map. If you get too creative in the west you risk the Line of Death trigger. The rail network favors defense. And the restricted Aussie divisions at home aren't bad. Aren't great, but decent in garrison. Darwin for the Allies is hard. He has it in our game. Like you I don't care that much now, but it's a target and my Oz troops need training. It's impossible to supply overland. If you have sea control south of Timor he'll have to force TFs through or retreat south. Supply trickles north of Alice Springs. Always has been so.

The Aussies do get good armor units, and the auto-convoys into CT dump many tanks into the pools for free in the early months. Matildas mostly, but not exclusively.

I have a lot of my retreated B-17s in Oz, especially at Alice. Allies can snipe with them all the way to Darwin, as well as recon.

[pontiouspilot]

Be very careful of an Australian adventure! As Jap player I would only go near as part of a larger purpose...namely to pull some valuable shipping into an early fight. Over the longer term it is nothing but a supply nightmare and a POW camp for IJA. As an allied player I think it is a marvelous plan to suck a Jap player into Australia any further than Darwin. Finally, and most importantly, the Aussies have Bundaberg rum. If they are forced to they will use that sheet as a terror weapon and destroy all!!

[mind_messing]

ORIGINAL: Lowpe

ORIGINAL: mind_messing

For the IJA, the Dinah NF is the only really competitive night-fighter. The Nick NF is too slow, as is the Peggy NF (though not by much). That leaves the Dinah or the Randy, but the Randy is a late, late plane.

I am not sure you are right -- because none of the Army night fighters have radar until Randy which is a late plane.

I think this makes the Army night fighters simply a disruptive force and staying power & numbers is better than speed in point defense. Dinah's lack of armor hurts here.

You need Dinah to fill out groups, especially recon groups...but I think she might be the weakest Army night fighter.

Admittedly, I could be all wrong. I will let you know in a year or two.[:)]

Great discussion with Bullwinkle...

Perhaps "competitve" would be the wrong word. The phrase "best of a bad bunch" would be far more fitting for the Dinah regarding IJA night fighters. At any rate, the bulk of night fighter work will need to fall on the IJN and the Irving.

All my opinions are based on a quick twenty minuite examination of the planes in Tracker and a quick search of Obvert's AAR.

ORIGINAL: Bullwinkle58

I misspoke before. Akyab is on the road network; Chittagong is the rail head. But Akyab means no jungle-jumping. I tend to think of Akyab as the red line. Cox's is a speed-bump for me. Chittagong is a fort.

The RAF has Blenheims; if those aren't 4E they should be. Also that snout-nosed one I can never recall. They can firebomb pretty well, but they're fragile. Not good on point targeting. Also some Wellingtons, but bad pools.

A lot of what's going to India from China is going to be HQs. China has dozens. A really fragmented OOB. I put the arty and most of the base forces in Chungking, but not everybody does. If the arty gets even a taste of supply it can help a lot.

Akyab is the line in the sand for my advance as well. Close enough that Loka. might decide to fight for it, but close to the Burmese bases as to make it dangerous for him. With what appears to be the unrestricted Austrailian divisions set up there, it seems as good a place as any.

Regarding the British bomber force, there should be at least one air-group in China upgraded to Oscars before March ends, seeing as most of the frontline groups are already using Oscars. I might have enough Oscar Ib's left over to upgrade a second group as well.

As for Chinese troop counts, I tend to base Chinese AV estimations off of the number of "guns" rather than , LCU count, troop numbers or AFV's. Seeing as they have a great deal of troops and no AFV's, the number of artillery tubes seems to be a decent indication of troop strength. It's far from foolproof, but gives you a better indication of fighting ability.

I think a fortified Darwin and a Western Oz is a bridge too far. Perth is hard to supply and vulnerable to the off-map. If you get too creative in the west you risk the Line of Death trigger. The rail network favors defense. And the restricted Aussie divisions at home aren't bad. Aren't great, but decent in garrison. Darwin for the Allies is hard. He has it in our game. Like you I don't care that much now, but it's a target and my Oz troops need training. It's impossible to supply overland. If you have sea control south of Timor he'll have to force TFs through or retreat south. Supply trickles north of Alice Springs. Always has been so.

After a hard stare at the map. I concur. Western Austrailia is scrubbed: the focus will be on the troops in Darwin. Broome is already a colony of the Empire, I'll take Port Hedland and Exmouth and the dox hexes on the eastern side of Darwin to isolate the base, then I'll plug four divisions in to Wyndham, march them east, cut Darwin off in an overland campaign and destroy them. Then they'll load up and leave and some Naval Guard trash will hold the fort till Loka decides he wants it back.

I'll probably outline this is more detail in a few days.

The Aussies do get good armor units, and the auto-convoys into CT dump many tanks into the pools for free in the early months. Matildas mostly, but not exclusively.

I have a lot of my retreated B-17s in Oz, especially at Alice. Allies can snipe with them all the way to Darwin, as well as recon.

If there's anywhere I want to kill tanks and bombers, it's in the wide open spaces of Northern Oz. Nowhere for the tanks to hide, and too few really good bomber bases that can depend on supply, and the only good escort the Allies can count on is the priceless P-38.

ORIGINAL: pontiouspilot

Be very careful of an Australian adventure! As Jap player I would only go near as part of a larger purpose...namely to pull some valuable shipping into an early fight. Over the longer term it is nothing but a supply nightmare and a POW camp for IJA. As an allied player I think it is a marvelous plan to suck a Jap player into Australia any further than Darwin. Finally, and most importantly, the Aussies have Bundaberg rum. If they are forced to they will use that sheet as a terror weapon and destroy all!!

Yeah, the Whistle-stop tour of Western Austrailia is canceled. I want Darwin, not so much for the base itself as for the troops therein. A great deal of them are exiles from the DEI, and without their destruction, they'd have the chance to develop the logistical base for a push from Darwin north through the DEI.

So the plan has changed. It's now simply "Land, kill the troops, take the base, leave." Here's hoping the execution is as simple as it sounds...

[mind_messing]

March 19th to March 20th, 1942

Two turns where I spend most of my time staring at the map.

North Pacific

With Dutch Harbour a busy port, we'll attempt to force the Allies to commit extra assets to defend it. A raid of three older destroyers will go in under handpicked captains. The only Allied ships reported is some ASW corvettes and some sort of odd light crusier/AVD task force. Further recon will be conducted before the raid goes in, but it's more to keep up the appearence of a active Japanese defence. The Yamashiro will cruise north of Attu, making sure that it's spotted by Allied air search to further boost this impression.

A handfull of short-to-medium range IJN submarines start to operate out of Hokkaido to support the handfull of floatplane equipped subs operating in this theater. Their primary goal is the same as the destroyer raid: give the impression of an active Japanese defence. Any ships they sink as part of that is a boon.

Withdrawls from Adak by floatplane continues.

Central Pacific

Quiet. An IJN fighter squadron arives as a reinforcement in this theater. It will be filled with rookies fresh from the acadamy to train until it can be transfered to Rabual to upgrade to Zero's.

IJN subs continue to pile up in Kwajalein as the fuel crisis continues. A 15k fuel shipment is about a week out.

South Pacific

Horn Island falls at last, and the 4th Division reloads to return to Port Moresby. Other than that, things are quiet.

Austrailia

Imperial General Headquarters scraps Operation Carrilon - the invasion of Western Austrailia. The focus will remain on Operation Oswego - the destruction of British forces in Northern Austrailia and the capture of Darwin. The plan calls for the isolation of Darwin from land and sea links, the landing of IJA divisions in Wyndham and a overland march to outflank, trap and destroy the British troops in Darwin.

[center]
Detailed plans from Imperial General Headquarters concerning Operation Oswego[/center]

Red = Bases to be developed in support of the operation. Broome will be exapanded to size 4 and host a IJN Air Flotilla to secure the western flank of the invasion. Derby and Wyndham will expand to size three to enable offensive IJA bombing missions against Darwin itself.
Dark Blue = Bases to be taken by fast transport or paradrops with the intention to use them as floatplane bases. Bathurst Island (island north of Darwin) may be developed to a size 2 airbase.
White = Path to be taken by the invasion task force.
Green = Main IJA thrust. OOB yet to be confirmed, but likely to be in the range of 3-5 divisions, but could possibly be more, depending on the IJA commitments elsewhere.
Light Blue = Diversionary thrust against Daly Waters with the goal of blocking the road to the interior of Austraila and the Alice Springs railhead. Will consist of IJA armoured units for mobility and IJN Naval Guard units to give the armoured units the benefit of infantry support.

Obvious concerns are the immediate withdrawal of British troops to Kathrine and thence eastwards upon discovery of the invasion, so escaping the trap. In order to prevent that, IJA armoured units will make it a priority to secure Katherine before moving south of Daly Waters. A possible diversionary landing at Normanton by the 4th Division is being considered.
In light of the massive commitment of troops and material to Darwin, Imperial General Headquarters predicts the British intend to hold Darwin at all costs and considers a British evacuation unlikely.

DEI

Clean-up of neglected bases continues.

Burma

Lashio falls, but most of the Chinese units have escaped eastwards. The IJA will pursue for one hex more and drive the Chinese back across the border while Royal Thai Army units move up to take positions at Lashio against any further Chinese attempts across the border.

China

The calm before the storm. The IJA begin repositioning for the move against Chungking.

Armoured units in Northern China, after completing a 1500 mile march to capture the northern oil centers, now turn around to march 1500 miles in the other direction to take part in the offensiveagainst Chungking.

At Kunming, the IJA start to pull back. A screening force will be left to mask the redeployment of the bulk of troops to Chungking.

[pontiouspilot]

Darwin: The Brits will defend it to the last Aussie!!

[Bullwinkle58]

It will be interesting for me to see how he reacts to the Darwin plan. I feel sure he will see the attack coming from the west; he is very good and disciplined about search and recon. And when he sees it he has plenty of time to get south with the Darwin garrison and save them at the cost of the base. Will he?

If he stays it will be a naval battle, not primarily land. He has to get supplies in by sea. I don't know what he has local, nor do I know what you have near Timor, or at Soerbaja, etc. But make no mistake--Darwin is a naval problem. I think you should decide now how much you want it. It might be cheap, it might not be. I'd balance that with how long you think you could keep it and thus prevent its use as a staging base for a DEI effort. He might think that balance favors him and thus you won't come.

Wheels within wheels . . .

[pontiouspilot]

Darwin via back door: To echo Bull's comment it seems to take forever to transit that area by the goat trail. Your opponent will see you coming a long way off; also, he has rail to react or withdraw quickly.

[mind_messing]

ORIGINAL: Bullwinkle58

It will be interesting for me to see how he reacts to the Darwin plan. I feel sure he will see the attack coming from the west; he is very good and disciplined about search and recon. And when he sees it he has plenty of time to get south with the Darwin garrison and save them at the cost of the base. Will he?

I'm not so sure he has been in my game, at least around Austrailia. Most of my convoys around Port Moresby haven't been detected for some time, and there's not a interlocking search network in the SWPAC as far as I can tell.

At any rate, if he can't see what's coming without naval search, I'd be very, very suprised.

Based on the extent to which he has built Darwin up, and the troops he's poured in to it, he won't just walk south and let me take it. He's too good a player to invest in building up a base just to abandon it without a defence.

If he stays it will be a naval battle, not primarily land. He has to get supplies in by sea. I don't know what he has local, nor do I know what you have near Timor, or at Soerbaja, etc. But make no mistake--Darwin is a naval problem. I think you should decide now how much you want it. It might be cheap, it might not be. I'd balance that with how long you think you could keep it and thus prevent its use as a staging base for a DEI effort. He might think that balance favors him and thus you won't come.

I agree. Since the Repulse appeared, there's be a massive increase in Allied shipping movements - mostly xAK's sitting at the edge of search range north of Exmouth.

Timor is being built up as a major airbase. Koepang is supporting Betty operations, and will cover Broome until that base is operational. Soerabaja is still in Dutch hands, but only for a few more days.

Three older BB's are at Makassar rearming. The bulk of the IJN crusier force is at Singapore, as is the Mini-KB. The IJN is rather low on destroyers due to some of them getting much needed upgrades (depth charges that work, or even just depth charges in some cases!). The KB will be moving to this AO as well, once it tops off fuel bunkers at Truk.

The target of the operation isn't Darwin itself, but the troops therein. Looking at the map, I see a second Singapore. Sixty odd ABDA refugee LCU's sitting completely isolated from naval lines of communications and dependant on a single dirt trail for land-based logistics.

Denying Darwin afterwards is a bonus. The plan is to swing in, cut the troops off, destroy them, and bug out. A couple of regiments and Naval Guard units will be left to garrison the place and offer at least token resistence of Loka. wants it back.

If it wasn't for those 60 odd LCU's sticking their neck out, I'd be content with the Broome-Wyndham axis as outposts and depend on Timor to keep Darwin isolated. Perhaps the troops are there to entice me to invade. If that's the case, forewarned is forearmed and I'll be bringing such overwhelming force so as to make any sort of ambush tatics risky for him.

I can't help but get the feeling that he's going for a big strategic ambush. 60 LCU's in an exposed position? Big xAK convoys on the edge of search range screams "bait" for a carrier trap to me. USN carriers notably missing, and capital ships commited off Broome just a few turns ago?

If he is, I welcome it. I'd much rather fight it out off Northern Oz, with Palambang (fuel), Singapore and Soerabaja (repairs) very close to the battlezone. Much more so than I would in the Solomons, the Central Pacific, or even the North Pacific.

[Spidery]

Light Blue = Diversionary thrust against Daly Waters with the goal of blocking the road to the interior of Austraila and the Alice Springs railhead. Will consist of IJA armoured units for mobility and IJN Naval Guard units to give the armoured units the benefit of infantry support.

In the wide open spaces of Australia, if you don't have AA accompanying your troops, or fighters providing cover, my experience is that small units can be wiped out under a hail of bombs. This seriously hinders the chance to use armour to cut retreats. A few days of concentrated bombing can be enough to eliminate a unit. This particularly true for some of the tank regiments as they have no AA and can be strafed without risk.

A thrust on Daly Waters is likely to meet this fate.

Suggest you bring some Paras along as there is always the possibility that Daly Waters or Tennant Creek is poorly defended and can be snatched.

[mind_messing]

ORIGINAL: Spidery

Light Blue = Diversionary thrust against Daly Waters with the goal of blocking the road to the interior of Austraila and the Alice Springs railhead. Will consist of IJA armoured units for mobility and IJN Naval Guard units to give the armoured units the benefit of infantry support.

In the wide open spaces of Australia, if you don't have AA accompanying your troops, or fighters providing cover, my experience is that small units can be wiped out under a hail of bombs. This seriously hinders the chance to use armour to cut retreats. A few days of concentrated bombing can be enough to eliminate a unit. This particularly true for some of the tank regiments as they have no AA and can be strafed without risk.

A thrust on Daly Waters is likely to meet this fate.

Suggest you bring some Paras along as there is always the possibility that Daly Waters or Tennant Creek is poorly defended and can be snatched.

Noted, hand't thought of that.

The bulk of the IJA AA has been sent to Burma to defend Magawe (once I acutally capture it), or is at Palambang. I'll shift the Palambang AA to support Operation Oswego. The only decent Allied bomber base in meduim bomber range is Darwin itself, which is subject to raids from Koepang. The Allies are building Katherine and Fenton up as well, though.

That said, I'm fairly confident in the ability of AA, LRCAP fighters from the Broome-Wyndham line and strikes against Allied bomber bases to minimize the damage that the Allied meduim bombers can do. If he decides to commit B-17s, then that's a different story.

[Bullwinkle58]

All I would add is that there are 60 LCUs there, but he doesn't have to leave 60, or go away with 60. A lot of the ABDA refugees are base forces and AA I'd think. They could go, cut supply consumption, and not really affect Darwin defense that much so long as enough Support was there in the HQs.

[mind_messing]

ORIGINAL: Bullwinkle58

All I would add is that there are 60 LCUs there, but he doesn't have to leave 60, or go away with 60. A lot of the ABDA refugees are base forces and AA I'd think. They could go, cut supply consumption, and not really affect Darwin defense that much so long as enough Support was there in the HQs.

True, but Loka. seems to favour "festung" style defences. First Koepang, then Kunming, and now Darwin. Based on our email conversations, I think it's how he likes to couduct his defence in the first six months of the war.

Currently, I've just two SNFL units on the western flank of Darwin marching from Wyndham. Enough to cause mild concern, but not enough to provoke a flat-out withdrawal. If he's going to withdraw anything at all, I'll see it moving in the next few turns. Then we'll get a good idea as to his intentions.

[mind_messing]

March 21st to March 22nd, 1942

An unfortunate turn.

North Pacific

The USN makes a sortie. A destroyer squadron has swung directly north of Attu while an Allied battleship is reported just off Dutch Harbour and heading west.

The Yamashiro and the small IJN destroyer squadron will make a move to intercept.

The Kuriles resembles a string of construction sites in a vast ocean as a couple more engineer units are freed up from Manchuria. Once the Kuriles hosts three decent airbases, the engineers will redeploy to the Marianas chain.

Central Pacific

Quiet, more and more air support units begin filling up the islands in the Japanese rear areas. We're still short on air units here, as well as garrison troops. Hopefully more Naval Guards can be freed up for garrison duties.

South-West Pacific

The Austrailian defence on Noumea must be on it's last legs. The Guards Mixed Brigade has battered itself half-to-death attempting to take the base, and are nearly there. Evidently the Allies interpret this as bait, with the KB waiting to swoop down on any attempts to land behind the GMB. We'll keep this deception up.

At least one Allied carrier is spotted at Sydney.

Troopships are sent to Ndini to withdraw some of the engineers that built that base up. They'll be sent to Guadalcanal, to start developing that island as an airbase to support Tulagi, while further up the Solomons chain, a Naval Guard unit and a air support battalion are sent to the base adjacent to Shortlands.

Australia

A reverse for the IJN. After taking Horn Island, the 4th Division is mauled when the transports are caught by the Boise and Leander. I plotted this turn when I was too tired and missed ordering a crusier force to cover the ships, and as a result lost most of the 4th Division. Two ships, and some 3000 men are all that remains, and they'll make for Horn Island in the hope of salvaging a cadre of the division. A IJN CL was lost as well.

Battle-boat Boise and company will now need to escape a net of IJNAF bombers to tell tall tales when they return to Sydney. Air search efforts have been stepped up to prevent such a calamity from re-occuring. This marks the first serious reverse to a IJN convoy since the war commenced.

More support troops begin to arrive in North-West Austraila in the build-up to Operation Oswego while small-scale Allied air raids continue.

DEI

A British carrier appears off the coast of Sumatra, and is welcomed by a strike from the Mini-KB at extreme range. Most IJN bombers don't fly, and the handfull of Kates that do fly only carry 250kg bombs. No Allied CAP is present, though the IJN bombers fail to do any real damage - only a handfull of AA guns are destroyed.

In response, Japanese fighter groups reposition from the Java campaign to protect the Sumatran oil centers while the Mini-KB will swing westwards to hopefully intercept the British raiders.

The Java campaign itself is drawing to a close as a division arives in Soereabaja. With Dutch resistance mostly broken, the last battle will be a swift victory for the IJA. However, a great many bases have still to be cleaned out of Dutch defenders.

Burma

The Royal Thai Army fails to cut off the British units defeated in Rangoon. Both enter the critical hex at the same time, and so no hexsides are closed. A chase to Akyab begins, which the RTA should win thanks to support from the IJAAF.

A great deal of IJA AA units arrive in Central Burma destined for the defence of Magawe. Once this base is occupied, the British are expected to bomb it to dust, and the intention is to force the British to pay a high price for doing so.

[mind_messing]

March 23rd, 1942

Scheming time.

North Pacific

USN light crusiers bombard Attu, damaging the floatplanes, but not knocking any out. Marauders go after Amchitka, but the Zero's shoot down a couple for good measure.

The Yamashiro might pull off an intercept around Adak tomorrow, depending on where the Americans plan to bombard.

Central Pacific

Quiet

South-West Pacific

The KB arrives at Truk, and the last of the fuel vanishes. More is en-route, however, and a sizable stockpile remains at Rabual in case it's needed. The KB undergoes a needed re-organization, with the three Kongo-class battleships (bar Haruna, which is in the yards at Hong Kong for another month) joining. The KB itself is split in two , but will operate together, with each half having an organic floatplane tender, battleship and crusier force.

Plans to deploy the KB to Austrailia are scrapped following inteligence that USN carriers are stationed at Sydney. The KB will attempt one last raid behind enemy lines before withdrawing to Japan to rest and refit. The Mini-KB will cover the Northern Austrailian invasion forces.

An IJN crusier force will seek to reinforce New Caledonia with the 1st Raiding Regiment, to help secure Noumea. This follows the US battleship Mississipi bombarding the base.

Austrailia

The 4th Division is wiped out at sea, bar a tiny fragment that is disbanded on Horn Island. The unit is bought back, and will be deployed to second line positions, possibily Hollandia, to refit and retrain.

DEI

Soerabaja falls, marking an end to major operations in this theater. Mopping up operations will continue, but the bulk of the IJA presence in Java starts preparation for Operation Oswego.

Burma

The Rangoon refugee units have likely escaped. The Royal Thai Army starts moving to garrison positions in Central and Upper Burma while the IJA reorganize to push on Akyab.

China

IJA units enter Chungking! A massive bombardment reveals some 6k Chinese AV against 2k Japanese AV. However, the IJA is making an effort to concentrate some 5.5k AV in the region for the siege of Chungking, while the IJAAF prepares a focused bombing campaign on Chinese troops. Combined with armoured units scrapped from Manchuria and Northern China, the IJA is confident of making at least some progress in the reduction of the moster KMT fortres.

[mind_messing]

March 24th, 1942

The run of Japanese bad luck continues.

North Pacific

The Yamashiro pulls of it's intercept as predicted...

...and runs right into the Warspite and Colorado, with the Phoenix and St Louis backing the heavies up.

The battle itself was a mixed affair, taking place mainly at long range, bar a short segment at 5000 yards. The Yamashiro performed with the fighting elan expected of the IJN - crossing the Allied Task Forces path and dealing heavy damage to the Warspite, Phoenix and St Louis, as well as sinking an American destroyer.

However, the superior numbers of Allied heavy guns took it's toll, and the IJN destroyers failed to strike home with any torpedos. The Yamashiro took a hit to the engines early in the battle, and this led to it being hunted down and forced under with fifty shell hits (at most 5-7 were heavy caliber shells, the rest hit the belt or superstructure).

Day Time Surface Combat, near Adak Island at 160,51, Range 11,000 Yards

Japanese aircraft
no flights

Japanese aircraft losses
E13A1 Jake: 2 destroyed

Japanese Ships
BB Yamashiro, Shell hits 50, and is sunk
DD Kamikaze, Shell hits 7, heavy fires, heavy damage
DD Karukaya, Shell hits 8, heavy fires, heavy damage

Allied Ships
BB Colorado, Shell hits 6
BB Warspite, Shell hits 8, heavy fires
CL St. Louis, Shell hits 3, heavy fires
CL Phoenix, Shell hits 5, heavy fires, heavy damage
DD Cummings, Shell hits 2, on fire
DD Cushing, Shell hits 2, and is sunk
DD Preston, Shell hits 2
DD Flusser

Poor visibility due to Rain
Maximum visibility in Rain: 15,000 yards
Range closes to 17,000 yards...
Range closes to 11,000 yards...
CONTACT: Japanese lookouts spot Allied task force at 11,000 yards
CONTACT: Allied lookouts spot Japanese task force at 11,000 yards
Obata, Chozaemon crosses the 'T'
...

5th Fleet HQ is disapointed with this result. A irreplaceable Japanese battleship has been exchanged for a USN destroyer, and even the damage to the Warspite, St Louis and Phoenix cannot redress the unfair nature of this trade - 4 destroyed Segulls suggests the Phoenix went down. The forlorn hope is that the IJN submarine fleet off Dutch Harbour match the spirit of the Yamashiro and put some torpedos in to some capital ships.

The only consolation is that the psychological impact can only further the impression of a significant IJN commitment to the Aleutians, when this is no longer the case: no future ventures in to the Aleutians will be conducted. The Yamato, due in just over two months, will replace the Yamashiro as the flagship of the 5th Fleet.

Central Pacific

Calm and sedate.

South-West Pacific

KB moves off from Truk while another small Allied bombardment shells Noumea. A IJN seaplane tender is relocating to Koumac to enable better coverage of the Coral Sea and Fiji region. Luganville's airfeild reaches level 3, soon Ndeni will be exposed. Hopefully we'll have the Tulagi complex to fall back upon in that eventuallity.

Austrailia

Port Hedland is bombarded by three IJN BB's. Damage is minor as the assets in that base were tiny. Some more Marauder's are jumped by Zero's on LR CAP duty. British units remain rooted in Darwin despite the growing threat to their western flank - the strength of the Japanese forces in Northern Austrailia is growing, and will grow quicker as more assets are redeployed from Java.

Bathurst Island is seized, and engineers wade ashore at Sumalaki to build that base into a forward bomber base for the IJAAF.

Burma

The Chinese fleeing Lashio are driven across the border, leaving a single unit cut off to the north. The Imperial Guards Division will hold position around Lashio while the rest of the 15th Army redeploys to Prome to push up to Akyab.

More and more AA, air support and artillery tubes arrive in Rangoon to support this operation. A large convoy carrying supplies is also less than a week out.

Philipines

Still an active theater. The siege of Bataan continues, with the Americans low on supply and the IJAAF doing good work in inflicting damage to the troops holed up on the peninsular.

[center]
Gone after a brave fight. At least she took a destroyer and a light crusier down with her.[/center]

[Capt. Harlock]

5th Fleet HQ is disapointed with this result. A irreplaceable Japanese battleship has been exchanged for a USN destroyer, and even the damage to the Warspite, St Louis and Phoenix cannot redress the unfair nature of this trade

Ships with "heavy fires, heavy damage" tend not to survive, so the odds are that Phoenix will go down. The down side is that Kamikaze and Karakaya will be lost as well. Still a bad trade, but a little better than before -- since Phoenix is one of those nasty Brooklyn class which are heavy cruisers for all practical purposes.

[mind_messing]

ORIGINAL: Capt. Harlock

5th Fleet HQ is disapointed with this result. A irreplaceable Japanese battleship has been exchanged for a USN destroyer, and even the damage to the Warspite, St Louis and Phoenix cannot redress the unfair nature of this trade

Ships with "heavy fires, heavy damage" tend not to survive, so the odds are that Phoenix will go down. The down side is that Kamikaze and Karakaya will be lost as well. Still a bad trade, but a little better than before -- since Phoenix is one of those nasty Brooklyn class which are heavy cruisers for all practical purposes.

Phoenix is a goner based on four Seagull losses on the ground from that turn. Even with the pretty severe damage to Warspite, it's far from a trade advantageous to Japan.

My pipe dream for this theater is to get the Yamato operating to take out the Allied battleships in the Aleutians.