Playtest of Pacific at War 3 25 14

[larryfulkerson]

The Burma front is stalled and so I need a different place to advance so I thought Java was available and inviting so I thought I'd see
how far I could get in Java so I did some para drops and flew some aircraft in to help out. I'm invading at two different places on the
south shore and I'm hoping at least one of them works.

[larryfulkerson]

Here's the next turn and Thomas's response to my invasion of Java. He's sealed off the entire island with his ships and I can't sail any
more reinforcements onto the island. So this advance is threatened too. D'oh.

[larryfulkerson]

I've finally received some B-29's and just to see what was possible I flew a B-29 group out to Wake island and it seems that
Japan is just within range. I can start to hit Japan whenever I feel like it but the target list is limited to just a couple of cities.
There's no river bridges I can drop and it wouldn't do much good to just bomb some land units and there's no strategic value
to being in range of the cities if you can't bomb them. Japan's economy isn't vulnerable if the cities are in no position to be
bombed. I'm thinking that we need to change things so that bombing the city hexes by the Allies costs the Japs some supply
or some reinforcements are delayed or something. I need a reason to bomb Japan and TOAW doesn't give me one yet. I mean
I COULD bomb the land units but that wouldn't change the face of the war in any material way. As it is there's no targets in Japan
that I could bomb besides maybe going after the ships in the ports that are in a stage of repair. But as it is there's no way to
reduce Japan's ability to fight using B-29's because you can't bomb the cities. What to do.

EDIT: I wish there was a way to have the B-29's fly only at night and or in bad weather to avoid the Jap fighters.

[larryfulkerson]

The Burma front is stalled and the Japs are gaining hexes around Rangoon and the B-29's operating out of northern China have
enough supply to fly one mission and then they need to reposition into India to get back to combat ready. Needless to say that's
not going to work. I gained the airfield at Lae and it looks like I may be in a position to get New Guinea back with some work. I've
got about 5 carriers now and I'm itching to use them offensively but I'm afraid to sail them into harm's way because of the strength
of the Jap air power in the South Pacific.

[larryfulkerson]

I've started a drive on New Guinea and I invaded the southern tip of New Britian and I'm attacking northward. I'm going to need
some more people in both places soon. I've lost the use of most of my carriers so I thought I'd attack where I can use the land
based planes......China and the South Pacific. I've discovered that when you drive the B-29's too hard they go into reorg.
Especially when they are low on supply, like those in northern China. So that location isn't working for bombing the Jap home
islands. I need an island base like Guam, Saipan, or Tinian. Like in the real war.

[larryfulkerson]

I've learned to concentrate the CS missions on just a few targets to give the attack more push and I've finally managed to link up
Chittagong with Rangoon. Now to clear out all that Jap stuff.

[larryfulkerson]

Hey Thomas: I just now found a unit that has two lines of identical equipment and one of them doesn't seem to be filling up
properly. Should something be done about it? It doesn't seem to be hurting anything. The scenario would seem to have
more chrome if this were consolidated or something.

[larryfulkerson]

Here's the situation in Burma. The Allied troops are worn down and low on supply and it's looking like the advance has stalled.
And I have some units in key positions that are due to be withdrawn in about 40 turns or so. I'll have to replace them on the front
lines. I lost 2 more of my carriers in intercepts while moving and now I'm down to my last 3 carriers so I'll have to hold them back
from danger for a while longer. I need to let my fighters whittle down the Jap air power befure I venture into a cluster of islands
with Japs on them.

[larryfulkerson]

There's only about 28 turns left to play and NOW I drop some paratroops behind the enemy lines in Burma and I was sort of counting
on the minor supply points to supply my dudes and it looks like they aren't working that way. D'oh.

[larryfulkerson]

I left Darwin unprotected one turn too long and Thomas pounced. It's worse than a toe-hold.......he's there to stay. Now I've got
another front and few troops to dispatch to the spot.

[fogger]

Hi Larry
On a side note, during WW2 the Australian policy to an invasion of Darwin was to conduct a fighting withdraw to about 200km south of Darwin and then a big step back to Adelaide. An invasion of Darwin should not be a problem due to distance and supply lines. It is 3,000 kms from Darwin to Adelaide (Berlin to Moscow is 1,800kms) across some very bad territory. Very beautiful but very hostile and unforgiving. Tourist are always dying out there because they are unprepared. Not enough water or food to support any force higher than a battalion. A Japanese player would be better off invading Townsville and coming down the Eastern seaboard. But to do that he has to take PNG. I do not know if it is this game but Australia raised 10 Militia Divisions for main land defence with most on the eastern seaboard.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Au ... rld_War_II

[larryfulkerson]

ORIGINAL: fogger
Hi Larry
On a side note, during WW2 the Australian policy to an invasion of Darwin was to conduct a fighting withdraw to about 200km south of Darwin and then a big step back to Adelaide. An invasion of Darwin should not be a problem due to distance and supply lines. It is 3,000 kms from Darwin to Adelaide (Berlin to Moscow is 1,800kms) across some very bad territory. Very beautiful but very hostile and unforgiving. Tourist are always dying out there because they are unprepared. Not enough water or food to support any force higher than a battalion. A Japanese player would be better off invading Townsville and coming down the Eastern seaboard. But to do that he has to take PNG. I do not know if it is this game but Australia raised 10 Militia Divisions for main land defence with most on the eastern seaboard.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Au ... rld_War_II

Thank you muchly for that analysis and for posting the link. I'm not sure what Thomas has planned but he's going to have to be
quick with it because there's only about 26 moves left to play.

[thomasharvey]

It is turn 185 and the Soviets arrive in force on turn 189. I am adding more troops into Manchuria to get ready to hold. The Soviet forces will have 4 turns to attack and try to take some victory point cities in the area. I hope to hold them off. The allies will also receive two atomic bomb weapons for the B29s to drop.

[larryfulkerson]

Sorry you guys.......I kinda fell short of the updating the AAR regularly there at the end. Thomas and I were sending a flury of emails
back and forth with our moves attached and whipped out the turns most ricky tic.

Short story: I was able to make some minor gains in Burma and got across the river into Thailand but Bangkok was in Jap hands at
the end. The front lines in China never did move after turn 50 or so for the length of the entire war even though I was hitting random
units with my CS once in a while to see what good it did. Not much it turns out. I ended up with ONE carrier and only because I with-
held it from harm's way. Thomas and I debated the AA kill level and the attrition divider and at the end of the day Thomas says
he's going to come out with a new version of the scenario with a map twice as big as this one and he's going to change the AA kill level
and the attrition divider to help the ships defend themselves better against the Bettys and Nells.

Thomas found the units necessary to invade and take most of Australia and moved his ships into positions where I couldn't reinforce
because of my lack of ships to protest. I ended up with a -316 / 500 score which was a miserable defeat.