Empire strikes back- NJP vs Wargmr Game over :-)

[ny59giants]

Since most of his "Emergency Reinforcements" come in at Cape Town, I would be preparing Burma for the defense once you capture the country. In my PBEM vs Olorin, he accidentally set off the reinforcements by a tank regiment moving south one hex too far. The big thing was all the devices to upgrade the Aussie troops. So, for you I would take the rest of the country and lay siege to Melbourne and Sydney.

[witpqs]

NJP - If Cap Mandrake were reading this he would be proud of you! [:D]

BTW, I don't know for sure if just the base would have triggered the reinforcements.

[Lowpe]

Good, I never liked the line of death anyway! I am glad things are going to progress in Oz, and I look forward to seeing what you can do!

[njp72]

Thanks NY

Yes I think capturing everything aside from Sydney and Melbourne will be the goal. I don't have much combat power in Oz at the moment as I didn't intend to trigger the LOD. Ironically most of it is closing in on Calcutta

If he wasn't psychologically damaged he could venture out of his strong holds and cause me a fair bit of grief in Oz. Help is on the way though.

ORIGINAL: ny59giants

Since most of his "Emergency Reinforcements" come in at Cape Town, I would be preparing Burma for the defense once you capture the country. In my PBEM vs Olorin, he accidentally set off the reinforcements by a tank regiment moving south one hex too far. The big thing was all the devices to upgrade the Aussie troops. So, for you I would take the rest of the country and lay siege to Melbourne and Sydney.

[njp72]

I have always found the Cap's post enlightening and witty bordering on the fringes of sanity.

You are quite correct, I don't think the base flipping would have activated it either but only an act of insanity has allowed me to attempt a simultaneous invasion of India and Oz.

ORIGINAL: witpqs

NJP - If Cap Mandrake were reading this he would be proud of you! [:D]

BTW, I don't know for sure if just the base would have triggered the reinforcements.

[njp72]

In the short term I will have fun.

In the long term I will die [X(]

ORIGINAL: Lowpe

Good, I never liked the line of death anyway! I am glad things are going to progress in Oz, and I look forward to seeing what you can do!

[njp72]

China Update

Things progress well here and the Chinese should be in real trouble as their offensive is sensibly halted.

My 2 cents assessment

Encircling and flanking manoeuvres are a critical element of the game. However if you are playing the Chinese in 42/43 or the Japanese in 44, these manoeuvres are fraught with danger.

The issue is the lack of embedded firepower in your units, and whilst you may be able to encircle your opponent, your ability to destroy cut off units is poor. Furthermore I think you should only attempt these offensives if you can maintain air parity if not air superiority.

A good opponent will ignore your attempt to cut off his LOC, concentrate his firepower and blow straight through your centre. I learnt this lesson against Wargmr fighting the Allies in 44 and I believe he is about to be taught something similar in China right now.

Interestingly in history it appears the same logic applies. Asian armies have shown a great ability to cut off Western Armies but their ability to destroy the encircled troops were poor due to the lack of firepower. Japan struggled in Burma in 44 and the Chinese in Korea. There is one exception I can think of involving the French in Vietnam.

Anyway enough of the history lesson, just remind me not to attempt this in 44!

[njp72]

Game Update

We are still smashing through the turns and into mid March.

The biggest enemy is complacency as his air and naval assets have completely disappeared off the face of the map.

He is either playing a very clever tactic of waiting for an opportune moment to strike or suffered a catastrophic morale melt down.

Clearly I hope it is the former as he is a wonderful opponent and this game has a lot of life in it yet.

I have halted strat bombing in Oz as I would rather win by the bayonet than by the air.

[njp72]

OZ Update

Slow progress here as I wasn't intending to move this far south and hence the assets are not in place.

Still I will have Tasmania soon and hopefully Adelaide which will assist me in boxing him up in Sydney and Melbourne.

I'm clearly vulnerable here and glad he is not being more aggressive.

[njp72]

India Update

I want Calcutta here and may or may not get it. So far no sign of any active resistance forming in India and it is only logistics slowly the advance.

We will stage feints up and down the India coast with KB to force him to concentrate the bulk of his forces around Bombay.

No sign of any reinforcement convoys no doubt due to KB prowling the area.

[Lowpe]

Losses are so low, for the amount of rampaging you are doing.

I agree with your assessment: you are in deep trouble unless you can grab an auto-victory.

Are you grabbing a lot of fuel and oil and supplies or is everything cleaned out?

[njp72]

Thanks Lowpe

Yep losses are low but I'm not grabbing much in terms of supplies and fuel- Wargmr is too clever for that.

If auto vic starts to look doubtful in late 42, I will pull back and consolidate my positions so they are not as exposed.

Until he gets hellcats I don't think he will be that adventurous- I hope.

In the interim I will continue to target troops and ships to ensure I have plenty of perm VPs.

[njp72]

Quick update- 1 Apr 42

- China largely in the bag- Chungking now sieged.
- Singapore about to be assaulted in the next fortnight.
- Australia is largely conquered but I doubt Melbourne and Sydney can be seized. In fact I am starting to sense trouble here.
- Same, same in India. Calcutta is our next target but I fear he is starting to mobilise.

I think he is slowly regaining his mojo/ will to fight which will once again make him a formidable opponent. The question is; has he left it too late?

Will post maps and int screen later.

Cheers

[njp72]

Another documented case of stupidity!

In a moment of rare inspiration a couple of months ago, I selected a couple of random stacks in Manchuria and had them prep for Anchorage as part of a grand deception plan.

Of course I then completely forgot about this and then watched with growing concern via sigint and subs the major build up around Anchorage as Allied units poured in.

I then started to reinforce the Kuriles in growing anticipation of an invasion, some of which were valuable units diverted from their objectives.

The penny has only now just dropped! Fooled by my own deception plan [8|]

[witpqs]

Sort of like scaring the crap out of yourself with your own reflection or something!

[njp72]

Lol, exactly WITPQS.

Apologies all for my slackness in updating. Work and family has kept life very busy but the game continues at a great pace.

Quick update- 18th Apr 42

1. First attack went in against Chungking. Pretty disappointing results and it will take a significant amount of effort to bring this bear down.

2. Assault on Singapore to occur in the next 2 days- 6 Divs.

3. Consolidating on the Burma/ India border- not enough troops to push further.

4. Assaulting Adelaide which hopefully will fall quickly.

Wargmr has upped the resistance and won a few land battles in Oz. His resistance in the air has also picked up. No sign of his navy anywhere!

[njp72]

Int Screen summary

I'm happy with the progress I am making on his Army loss points which will likely accelerate with Singapore and China.

I'm not happy that I have barely touched any of his warships but not much I can do there.

I think auto vic is still achievable but I will not jeopardise valuable assets on any deep strikes which are not mutually supported.

[njp72]

Oz Update

This is the most interesting area at the moment. Both sides don't want to commit their main forces but are instead skirmishing and attempting to cut off stragglers.

I have isolated Adelaide with about 16K Oz troops which should be seized shortly. Wargmr has been skilled at using armoured forces to cut off and trap some of my minor troops and Sydney. He is very good at this and was one of his favourite tactics from the previous game.

A real game of manoeuvre at the moment which suits me just fine as I don't have the combat power to push any harder.

I need to secure Tasmania- Hobart has been very troublesome.

[njp72]

Malaysia

The final act is now in play. 6 Divs + supporting elements (plenty of arty) about to shock attack across the river.

It won't be a cake walk as he conducted a very successful retreat and still appears to have supply.

Nevertheless, against that amount of combat power it should only be a matter of time.

How annoying is it to coordinate this amount of land units to hit the objective at the same time!

[njp72]

China

The one theatre that has gone almost perfectly to plan. The major offensive up North easily broke through to the plains and now a secondary operation is cutting off the remainder of the Chinese army.

Chungking looks tough and the first assault was very bloody (for me!) We are now working on isolating the city before we try again.

His offensive in the South east made my life considerably easier and probably his only real mistake.