First off if you're reading this Kris it's clearly 1946 and you haven't set foot on Japanese soil. Just a total disaster for the Allies and you will, clearly, have been lauded for sticking with such a difficult game for so long. Who knew you would be the first guy to lose the entire West coast? If that isn't the situation please stop reading until the game is actually over.
So on a flyer Kris (krishub1 on the forums) asked if I was interested in a game because he saw I had posted in John's AAR. Obviously I was interested since I'm posting this now and, after dealing with an incredible series of family emergencies beginning with my dog having a seizure, then my father in law having a collapsed lung, and finally my brother fracturing his skull in a coal mining accident, we're getting started. Incidentally all three of those things happened literally in the span of about 8-12 hours. It was a pretty bad day and I think things like this game could be good for me to help deal with issues like that. Everyone is doing as well as could be hoped for so there are no significant worries there at the moment.
So for the actual game I sent the first turn last night. We’re having sync issues but hope to have them sorted out. Here are the settings and house rules we agreed to:
Fog of war On
Advanced weather On
Allied damage control On
Player defined upgrades On
Historical first turn off
December 7th surprise on
Reliable torpedoes off
Realistic R&D on
No unit withdrawals off
Fixed reinforcements
Set all facilities to expand at start - OFF
Auto upgrade ships and air groups - OFF
Accept air and ground replacements - OFF
Combat summaries - ON
Combat animations - ON
PP's to move out of national borders
No strategic bombing on either side until 1 July 1943
1st turn Japanese port attacks only from carriers
Four engine bombers restricted to 10k or higher for naval and ground attacks (excluding patrol type aircraft)
Amphibious and paratrooper invasions only at bases or dot bases
Only existing Allied TFs can issue orders on turn 1
No Mersing landing on turn 1. Any other turn it's fair game.
The most important was to play a good fun competitive game. Meaning we don't want to intentionally be gaming the systems like doing small expendable task forces to soak up CV strikes or surface group ops points. It's more fun to see the Yamatos (they're not in this scenario but you get what I mean) and Iowas duke it out or a full strength KB vs the Allied carriers in '44.
I've been out of the game for a couple years now so I'm sure I've forgotten quite a bit and there will be a steep learning curve again so questions, comments, and advice will always be welcome. Might not be followed but will certainly be welcome.
Later on I'll detail more thoughts and ideas. We'll cover expansion goals (sorry I'm not actually invading the West coast... or am I? [:'(]), production ideas, R&D, and all the rest of that fun and exciting Japanese stuff we get to play with and the Allies don't.
As always, thanks for reading.
Joe
Lift with your airmen BTS Joe (J) vs Kris (A) No Kris
Moderators: wdolson, MOD_War-in-the-Pacific-Admirals-Edition
RE: Lift with your airmen BTS Joe (J) vs Kris (A) No Kris
I received turn 1 and gave my turn 2 orders. Kris says he’ll be a couple days working the big Allied turn 2 so I have time to do some comments and updates here.
First and foremost in this game I want to remain competitive for as long as possible. That is goal and priority number one.
I’d like to get a bit random here and talk about airpower and the AAR title before getting into plans and turn one outcome. I named the AAR Lift with your airmen because I’m in the air force and I heard someone a few years ago say a one liner, “Lift with your airmen, not your back.” Meaning; have your airmen do it for you. Whatever “it” is. I think this is a good strategy for Japan. There is one thing I, as Japan, can basically produce as much of as I want to and that is airplanes. I only get so many cruisers, destroyers, battleships, and carriers. When they are gone they don’t come back. My goal is to minimize risk to irreplaceable assets as much as possible and rely more heavily on my air power.
In this scenario Japan is in a bit more of a bind when it comes to resources, simulating the costs of the expansion of Japanese industry. They also start with slightly less experienced pilots to simulate the costs of the expansion of the naval air forces. So there is not quite as good of pilots in the KB and the home islands have fewer supplies, fuel, oil, and resources. Given that I want to remain competitive for as long as possible, it is imperative to get pilot training going and more importantly I have to get the all the Resources (capital R meaning oil, fuel, resources, etc) for the economy moving immediately. Especially the resources. According to tracker I have about 50 days before the home islands run out of resources. They require approximately 200K per day with 120K production meaning they’re short about 80k per day.
Obviously if the economy crashes I can’t build my planes, tanks, guns, ships, and airplanes and priority one will quickly fail. With that in mind I concluded that the most important immediate goals are the Resource areas. Since these are the most important strategic goals they are the areas that get Japan’s most important strategic asset, the carriers. Dec 7 saw no Pearl Harbor attack by the KB. Instead it was split into three forces of 2 CV and 1 CVL and a mini KB of three CVL’s. The quickest and safest way for me to get into the resource areas is to break the back of his air power right now. When I rule the skies I rule the seas and my invasions can go in safely.
One KB division and mini KB hit Singapore’s airfield with the help from LBA. It should be wrecked quite nicely. Two KB divisions hit Manila’s port with Kates and airfield with Vals. LBA from Formosa hit Clark with about 150 Netties escorted by about 50-75 Zeros. The LBA came in lower than usual to ensure a good hard hit. We came in at 5,000 feet. From day 2 on we will stay more in the 10,000 feet range to minimize flak losses. We still had a good day in the air. Turn 0 saw three ops losses from moving air groups around. Then we had a total of 6 losses from our attacks vs approx 60 Allied.
I’ll do a more detailed region by region later and discuss R&D and more about the economy. Now I need to get ready for work.
As always, thanks for reading.
Joe
First and foremost in this game I want to remain competitive for as long as possible. That is goal and priority number one.
I’d like to get a bit random here and talk about airpower and the AAR title before getting into plans and turn one outcome. I named the AAR Lift with your airmen because I’m in the air force and I heard someone a few years ago say a one liner, “Lift with your airmen, not your back.” Meaning; have your airmen do it for you. Whatever “it” is. I think this is a good strategy for Japan. There is one thing I, as Japan, can basically produce as much of as I want to and that is airplanes. I only get so many cruisers, destroyers, battleships, and carriers. When they are gone they don’t come back. My goal is to minimize risk to irreplaceable assets as much as possible and rely more heavily on my air power.
In this scenario Japan is in a bit more of a bind when it comes to resources, simulating the costs of the expansion of Japanese industry. They also start with slightly less experienced pilots to simulate the costs of the expansion of the naval air forces. So there is not quite as good of pilots in the KB and the home islands have fewer supplies, fuel, oil, and resources. Given that I want to remain competitive for as long as possible, it is imperative to get pilot training going and more importantly I have to get the all the Resources (capital R meaning oil, fuel, resources, etc) for the economy moving immediately. Especially the resources. According to tracker I have about 50 days before the home islands run out of resources. They require approximately 200K per day with 120K production meaning they’re short about 80k per day.
Obviously if the economy crashes I can’t build my planes, tanks, guns, ships, and airplanes and priority one will quickly fail. With that in mind I concluded that the most important immediate goals are the Resource areas. Since these are the most important strategic goals they are the areas that get Japan’s most important strategic asset, the carriers. Dec 7 saw no Pearl Harbor attack by the KB. Instead it was split into three forces of 2 CV and 1 CVL and a mini KB of three CVL’s. The quickest and safest way for me to get into the resource areas is to break the back of his air power right now. When I rule the skies I rule the seas and my invasions can go in safely.
One KB division and mini KB hit Singapore’s airfield with the help from LBA. It should be wrecked quite nicely. Two KB divisions hit Manila’s port with Kates and airfield with Vals. LBA from Formosa hit Clark with about 150 Netties escorted by about 50-75 Zeros. The LBA came in lower than usual to ensure a good hard hit. We came in at 5,000 feet. From day 2 on we will stay more in the 10,000 feet range to minimize flak losses. We still had a good day in the air. Turn 0 saw three ops losses from moving air groups around. Then we had a total of 6 losses from our attacks vs approx 60 Allied.
I’ll do a more detailed region by region later and discuss R&D and more about the economy. Now I need to get ready for work.
As always, thanks for reading.
Joe
RE: Lift with your airmen BTS Joe (J) vs Kris (A) No Kris
BANZAI Baby!
Member: Treaty, Reluctant Admiral and Between the Storms Mod Team.
RE: Lift with your airmen BTS Joe (J) vs Kris (A) No Kris
Hi John! And Banzai Baby to you, Sir! Good luck in Hawaii. I'm enjoying your AAR tremendously, as always. It'll be one heck of a ride.
Alright, so let’s talk a little bit about the production side of things, shall we?
First up: ships. In this mod there are no Yamato’s so that’s a pretty big difference. One of the fundamental concepts behind the design of this scenario is the differences in how the Washington naval treaty process played out. There is also no Shinano and the Taiho class doesn’t exist. There is a Taiho but it is a Shokaku-Kai class.
Japan starts with 6 CV’s and 6 CVL’s. Additionally there are 3 CVE’s on map at game start. All together Japan has 8 CV’s in the pipeline, 6 CVL’s, and a single CVE. Additionally there are 5 xAP’s that can be converted to CVE’s. All the carriers are considered strategic assets and will be accelerated as much as possible. We get Nisshin in less than 3 weeks so no need to accelerate her. Junyo comes in about 90 days so I won’t accelerate her either. Hiyo can be accelerated for the 84 points she already costs and an additional 168 naval points making a total of 252. That will bring her in within a week or two of Junyo giving us 336 more points to put towards acceleration not counting the 40ish for Nisshin.
As a strategic asset I feel they are worth the HI costs associated with accelerating them. And as strategic assets they will be risked but only to serve a strategic need, such as securing our resource areas. I prefer not to go head to head with Allied carriers unless we significantly outnumber them or have assistance from LBA and maybe not even then. Or if we are later on in the game and defending crucial strategic territory. I have yet to determine exactly where that line of strategic territory is. More to come on that at a later date but think Captain Cruft’s Hive, which is a fantastic AAR that I recommend reading.
The Japanese BB/BC fleet begins in an expanded state from stock scenarios. 6 are older 25 knot BB’s and 2 are faster 30 knot ships. The 25 knot ships are 2 Ise class, 2 Nagato class, and 2 Fuso class. The 30 knot ships are the Owari class. There are 6 BC’s including 4 Kongos, 1 Amagi class, and one B65 class. They, along with the 30 knot BB’s should make good CV escorts/bomb and torpedo magnets. There is one B-65 class BC in the works due July 26 1942. That puts it 230 days out at a cost of 130 naval points per day. It’s no Yamato but it still works out to 29,900 naval points to build. At 3 HI per naval point that’s 89,700 HI to build it. Divide that by 36 and, unless I'm completely wasted (seriously tell me if I made a math error here), it works out to 2,491.67 single engine planes. If it came for free I’d sure take it but I’d rather have 2,500 planes. Lift with your airmen, remember? Obviously the savings won’t just go into aircraft but it will also offset the cost of accelerating the CV’s.
Japan actually has some CA/CL in production, which is another difference from stock. There are 4 Nitaka class CA’s coming. Two in ’42 and two in ’44. There are 5 Tokoro class CL’s in production. These all look like good ships and will get produced. I may halt them from time to time to make room to accelerate CV’s. I haven’t decided.
DD’s I will produce all of them unless extreme circumstance suggests I don’t. I can’t imagine what that circumstance might be.
I don’t think I’ll make any subs. If I do it will probably just be the subs that come with a Glen unit. I probably won’t produce the Glen subs that don’t already come with a FP just because they’re 33 naval points each and I would have to resize a FP unit to size 1 just to put it on the sub. The Glen subs will likely all eventually transition over to tripwire type of patrols that warn me of incursions by those dastardly Allies! I’d rather have larger numbers for better ASW/Nav Search.
For my merchant yards I plan on going pretty minimal. I’d love to set up the land link all the way to Fusan. If not there then at least Shanghai, or maybe Port Arthur, which is actually farther sailing than Shanghai. We will build all the AP types, TK’s, and auxiliaries like the AS, AMC, etc. For the AK types I may just pick one or two Std series I like and just build those. The Std-A through E, I think, can all convert to TK’s so they would give me the versatility to move whatever I need. It may not be quite as efficient but I’m still working all this out.
For the actual shipyards Japan starts with 1,697 naval and 894 merchant shipyards. I made the naval nice even numbers because that bothered me and they got expanded to 1,720. I decided to switch 80 merchant to naval making an even 1800 within 30ish days of repair time. That has me playing a bit fast and loose with my home island supplies but 1,697? What a random number. I guess I’m just a bit OCD. I shut down all but the 3 largest merchant yards. That gives me 331 shut down and 433 producing when you factor in the 80 that are converting. I still make a surplus and it saves me a bit of HI.
That pretty well wraps up my thoughts on ships. Comments are absolutely always welcome. Discussion amongst all of us is one of my favorite things here at the madhouse. If you have a comment then by all means, say it. I’ll listen to anything from I’m and idiot (preferably and here’s why so we can all learn from my idiocy) to I’m a genius (awww thanks! And here’s why. Do go on!), to hey, I think you’re crazy but your sense of humor, though!
Next up: aircraft.
As always thanks for reading.
Joe
Alright, so let’s talk a little bit about the production side of things, shall we?
First up: ships. In this mod there are no Yamato’s so that’s a pretty big difference. One of the fundamental concepts behind the design of this scenario is the differences in how the Washington naval treaty process played out. There is also no Shinano and the Taiho class doesn’t exist. There is a Taiho but it is a Shokaku-Kai class.
Japan starts with 6 CV’s and 6 CVL’s. Additionally there are 3 CVE’s on map at game start. All together Japan has 8 CV’s in the pipeline, 6 CVL’s, and a single CVE. Additionally there are 5 xAP’s that can be converted to CVE’s. All the carriers are considered strategic assets and will be accelerated as much as possible. We get Nisshin in less than 3 weeks so no need to accelerate her. Junyo comes in about 90 days so I won’t accelerate her either. Hiyo can be accelerated for the 84 points she already costs and an additional 168 naval points making a total of 252. That will bring her in within a week or two of Junyo giving us 336 more points to put towards acceleration not counting the 40ish for Nisshin.
As a strategic asset I feel they are worth the HI costs associated with accelerating them. And as strategic assets they will be risked but only to serve a strategic need, such as securing our resource areas. I prefer not to go head to head with Allied carriers unless we significantly outnumber them or have assistance from LBA and maybe not even then. Or if we are later on in the game and defending crucial strategic territory. I have yet to determine exactly where that line of strategic territory is. More to come on that at a later date but think Captain Cruft’s Hive, which is a fantastic AAR that I recommend reading.
The Japanese BB/BC fleet begins in an expanded state from stock scenarios. 6 are older 25 knot BB’s and 2 are faster 30 knot ships. The 25 knot ships are 2 Ise class, 2 Nagato class, and 2 Fuso class. The 30 knot ships are the Owari class. There are 6 BC’s including 4 Kongos, 1 Amagi class, and one B65 class. They, along with the 30 knot BB’s should make good CV escorts/bomb and torpedo magnets. There is one B-65 class BC in the works due July 26 1942. That puts it 230 days out at a cost of 130 naval points per day. It’s no Yamato but it still works out to 29,900 naval points to build. At 3 HI per naval point that’s 89,700 HI to build it. Divide that by 36 and, unless I'm completely wasted (seriously tell me if I made a math error here), it works out to 2,491.67 single engine planes. If it came for free I’d sure take it but I’d rather have 2,500 planes. Lift with your airmen, remember? Obviously the savings won’t just go into aircraft but it will also offset the cost of accelerating the CV’s.
Japan actually has some CA/CL in production, which is another difference from stock. There are 4 Nitaka class CA’s coming. Two in ’42 and two in ’44. There are 5 Tokoro class CL’s in production. These all look like good ships and will get produced. I may halt them from time to time to make room to accelerate CV’s. I haven’t decided.
DD’s I will produce all of them unless extreme circumstance suggests I don’t. I can’t imagine what that circumstance might be.
I don’t think I’ll make any subs. If I do it will probably just be the subs that come with a Glen unit. I probably won’t produce the Glen subs that don’t already come with a FP just because they’re 33 naval points each and I would have to resize a FP unit to size 1 just to put it on the sub. The Glen subs will likely all eventually transition over to tripwire type of patrols that warn me of incursions by those dastardly Allies! I’d rather have larger numbers for better ASW/Nav Search.
For my merchant yards I plan on going pretty minimal. I’d love to set up the land link all the way to Fusan. If not there then at least Shanghai, or maybe Port Arthur, which is actually farther sailing than Shanghai. We will build all the AP types, TK’s, and auxiliaries like the AS, AMC, etc. For the AK types I may just pick one or two Std series I like and just build those. The Std-A through E, I think, can all convert to TK’s so they would give me the versatility to move whatever I need. It may not be quite as efficient but I’m still working all this out.
For the actual shipyards Japan starts with 1,697 naval and 894 merchant shipyards. I made the naval nice even numbers because that bothered me and they got expanded to 1,720. I decided to switch 80 merchant to naval making an even 1800 within 30ish days of repair time. That has me playing a bit fast and loose with my home island supplies but 1,697? What a random number. I guess I’m just a bit OCD. I shut down all but the 3 largest merchant yards. That gives me 331 shut down and 433 producing when you factor in the 80 that are converting. I still make a surplus and it saves me a bit of HI.
That pretty well wraps up my thoughts on ships. Comments are absolutely always welcome. Discussion amongst all of us is one of my favorite things here at the madhouse. If you have a comment then by all means, say it. I’ll listen to anything from I’m and idiot (preferably and here’s why so we can all learn from my idiocy) to I’m a genius (awww thanks! And here’s why. Do go on!), to hey, I think you’re crazy but your sense of humor, though!
Next up: aircraft.
As always thanks for reading.
Joe
RE: Lift with your airmen BTS Joe (J) vs Kris (A) No Kris
As promised (threatened?) we’re continuing on with the production side of BTS Lite. This time we focus on aircraft production. There is a lot available to put into R&D. I counted up 43 that were available for conversion to airframes I actually want and about 20 that were already researching aircraft I want so you can really focus on some key airframes and make some serious gains if you want. I’ll just do a quick summary of the most vital airframes.
IJN Fighters
We’ll start with the A6M2 line, of course, but I don’t intend for it to be the mainstay forever. In fact I don’t intend to put any research into the Zero lines for two reasons. First is because the Zero lines are already accelerated in this scenario with A6M5 coming online in October 1942. Second because in this mod the second and third George models are CV capable. I’m all in on Mr. George, intending it to be my primary land and CV based fighter. Eventually we will relegate the Zero to trainer status. I’ll also put some factories into Shinden.
IJA Fighters
Pretty standard. Oscar, Tojo, and Franks. I plan to use the factories I would have put into the Zero lines to different use by going for jets and Shinden. I’ve never really played with them so why not?
IJN Dive Bombers
We’ll do the first model Val and Judy 1-4. 5 has a armor but a different engine and one hex shorter range. I may rethink Judy 5 because of the armor but I don’t know. Also I plan on putting some research into Grace.
IJN TB
Simple. We’ll do Kate 2 and then the Jill line.
IJN LB
Netties and Frances should be primaries. In this scenario Japan has 4E bombers. I’ll make some so I have that as a threat. Maybe 100 on map and 50 in reserve. They’re expensive so I don’t want the entire air arm filled out with them.
IJA LB
With the PP cost associated with upgrading units from 1E to 2E we’ll likely end up going slow so I will produce some 1E level bombers. I find the Ann to be the most useful. It has the longest range and a 250 Kg bomb. It makes it about the same as if I were level bombing with Vals. For 2E models we will run Sally and Helen lines with Peggy coming online later. It would be nice to be able to use some of the 4E bombers for the IJA but such is life and war.
That’s probably all the most important lines of production. If there are any questions or if anyone has any comments or suggestions I always welcome them. Next I imagine it's about time for some maps and force dispositions.
Thanks for reading.
Joe
IJN Fighters
We’ll start with the A6M2 line, of course, but I don’t intend for it to be the mainstay forever. In fact I don’t intend to put any research into the Zero lines for two reasons. First is because the Zero lines are already accelerated in this scenario with A6M5 coming online in October 1942. Second because in this mod the second and third George models are CV capable. I’m all in on Mr. George, intending it to be my primary land and CV based fighter. Eventually we will relegate the Zero to trainer status. I’ll also put some factories into Shinden.
IJA Fighters
Pretty standard. Oscar, Tojo, and Franks. I plan to use the factories I would have put into the Zero lines to different use by going for jets and Shinden. I’ve never really played with them so why not?
IJN Dive Bombers
We’ll do the first model Val and Judy 1-4. 5 has a armor but a different engine and one hex shorter range. I may rethink Judy 5 because of the armor but I don’t know. Also I plan on putting some research into Grace.
IJN TB
Simple. We’ll do Kate 2 and then the Jill line.
IJN LB
Netties and Frances should be primaries. In this scenario Japan has 4E bombers. I’ll make some so I have that as a threat. Maybe 100 on map and 50 in reserve. They’re expensive so I don’t want the entire air arm filled out with them.
IJA LB
With the PP cost associated with upgrading units from 1E to 2E we’ll likely end up going slow so I will produce some 1E level bombers. I find the Ann to be the most useful. It has the longest range and a 250 Kg bomb. It makes it about the same as if I were level bombing with Vals. For 2E models we will run Sally and Helen lines with Peggy coming online later. It would be nice to be able to use some of the 4E bombers for the IJA but such is life and war.
That’s probably all the most important lines of production. If there are any questions or if anyone has any comments or suggestions I always welcome them. Next I imagine it's about time for some maps and force dispositions.
Thanks for reading.
Joe
RE: Lift with your airmen BTS Joe (J) vs Kris (A) No Kris
And the war continues. I just sent turn 3 to Kris a little while ago. My wife is asleep and I work nights so I have plenty of time to update tonight. [8D] Let’s cover some invasion planning and then get some maps of how it went down.
In this scenario I have 12 divisions, 4 brigades, 1 regiment (maybe 2), and 5 assault divisions available for immediate use. Those assault divisions are a nice brigade sized unit representing three SNLF units that were combined into an “assault division.” They're a decent little unit. There is also the 1st Raiding Rgt and a para Assault Division. I really like that last one! It’s based at Peleliu. I think it will be a great help for advancing quickly and safely on the south side of Borneo/Celebes area.
All told there are 6 divisions that can magic move on turn 1 and 1 regiment from another. Those magic move divisions were allocated as follows:
4th from Samah to Mersing rally point
21st from Cam Ranh Bay to Kota Bharu
33rd from Nagasaki to Singora
48th from Pescadores to Kuantan
18th from Samah to Mersing rally point
5th from Samah to Mersing rally point
The rest like this:
Imperial Guard from Battambang to Burma
55th from Battambang to Burma
38th to Hong Kong then we will see. Either Luzon or any other place that is holding us up and could use a division.
2nd from Sendai to Luzon. (Laoag or Aparri I don’t remember which.)
56th from Hiroshima to Luzon (Again, Laoag or Aparri.)
I’ve only allocated 1 brigade to a target and that’s the 65th for Palembang. It’s off at the rally point waiting for some cover forces once Mersing is done. Spoiler alert we should have the Malayan peninsula blocked by the 10th so they’ll go in soon. No fortress Palembang!
We’ve also been using the 1st para Assault Division over the past few turns. Dec 7 we landed on Ternate and took it. Dec 8 we landed on Sidate, the dot base just past Menado. I don’t want those clowns retreating into the jungle if I can cut them off so easily. Kimura Det is on a fast transport to Manado. They should be there by the 10th. We’ll also para drop on Sorong.
That’s really it for all that we’ve planned and done. There are some Assault Divisions that are available still. One is hitting Guam. We’ll probably send one to Wake. One will likely be used up in the Aleutians. I’m sending spare destroyers up there to use for fast transports.
Anyway, that’s the ground force allocations. I’ll come back in a little while with some maps showing how the first few days have gone.
Thanks for reading.
Joe
In this scenario I have 12 divisions, 4 brigades, 1 regiment (maybe 2), and 5 assault divisions available for immediate use. Those assault divisions are a nice brigade sized unit representing three SNLF units that were combined into an “assault division.” They're a decent little unit. There is also the 1st Raiding Rgt and a para Assault Division. I really like that last one! It’s based at Peleliu. I think it will be a great help for advancing quickly and safely on the south side of Borneo/Celebes area.
All told there are 6 divisions that can magic move on turn 1 and 1 regiment from another. Those magic move divisions were allocated as follows:
4th from Samah to Mersing rally point
21st from Cam Ranh Bay to Kota Bharu
33rd from Nagasaki to Singora
48th from Pescadores to Kuantan
18th from Samah to Mersing rally point
5th from Samah to Mersing rally point
The rest like this:
Imperial Guard from Battambang to Burma
55th from Battambang to Burma
38th to Hong Kong then we will see. Either Luzon or any other place that is holding us up and could use a division.
2nd from Sendai to Luzon. (Laoag or Aparri I don’t remember which.)
56th from Hiroshima to Luzon (Again, Laoag or Aparri.)
I’ve only allocated 1 brigade to a target and that’s the 65th for Palembang. It’s off at the rally point waiting for some cover forces once Mersing is done. Spoiler alert we should have the Malayan peninsula blocked by the 10th so they’ll go in soon. No fortress Palembang!
We’ve also been using the 1st para Assault Division over the past few turns. Dec 7 we landed on Ternate and took it. Dec 8 we landed on Sidate, the dot base just past Menado. I don’t want those clowns retreating into the jungle if I can cut them off so easily. Kimura Det is on a fast transport to Manado. They should be there by the 10th. We’ll also para drop on Sorong.
That’s really it for all that we’ve planned and done. There are some Assault Divisions that are available still. One is hitting Guam. We’ll probably send one to Wake. One will likely be used up in the Aleutians. I’m sending spare destroyers up there to use for fast transports.
Anyway, that’s the ground force allocations. I’ll come back in a little while with some maps showing how the first few days have gone.
Thanks for reading.
Joe
RE: Lift with your airmen BTS Joe (J) vs Kris (A) No Kris
Dec 7th 1942
Today saw heavy strikes in the Philippines and Malaya. Manila was hit by 4 CV and 2 CVL with Vals hitting the airfield and Kates hitting the port. The airfield may not be closed but it's damaged and we got some hits on some subs, sinking a few.
Clark was struck and closed by 75 Zeros and 150 Netties. It's wrecked.
2 CV's and 4 CVL's attacked Singapore airfield in the morning, closing it down nicely. Afternoon strikes hit the CL Danae and sunk her near Singapore. I was happy to see he retreated Force Z. It would have been nice to bag them day 1 but it wouldn't have been nice to see him ripping up my invasion fleets and sinking a division or two. I brought the kitchen sink just in case but I'll take it.
We did hit Pearl Harbor with the mini subs. It was a pretty great result considering there were no follow on air attacks. 3 of the 5 mini subs got into the harbor and we scored a TT hit on a CL and two BB's for the loss of all 5 mini subs to various causes.
Initial landings went in at Kota Bharu, Kuantan, Laoag, and Aparri. They all fall on the 8th.
Today saw heavy strikes in the Philippines and Malaya. Manila was hit by 4 CV and 2 CVL with Vals hitting the airfield and Kates hitting the port. The airfield may not be closed but it's damaged and we got some hits on some subs, sinking a few.
Clark was struck and closed by 75 Zeros and 150 Netties. It's wrecked.
2 CV's and 4 CVL's attacked Singapore airfield in the morning, closing it down nicely. Afternoon strikes hit the CL Danae and sunk her near Singapore. I was happy to see he retreated Force Z. It would have been nice to bag them day 1 but it wouldn't have been nice to see him ripping up my invasion fleets and sinking a division or two. I brought the kitchen sink just in case but I'll take it.
We did hit Pearl Harbor with the mini subs. It was a pretty great result considering there were no follow on air attacks. 3 of the 5 mini subs got into the harbor and we scored a TT hit on a CL and two BB's for the loss of all 5 mini subs to various causes.
Initial landings went in at Kota Bharu, Kuantan, Laoag, and Aparri. They all fall on the 8th.
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RE: Lift with your airmen BTS Joe (J) vs Kris (A) No Kris
And here is a picture of the Philippines.
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RE: Lift with your airmen BTS Joe (J) vs Kris (A) No Kris
Dec 8 1942
We had some bad weather today that limited our air strikes. About all we had were some Vals that hit 2 AKL's near Mindanao sinking both and an unescorted strike of 6 Nells that attacked some ships N of Mindanao and were ambushed by P-26's. [8|] Losses weren't bad but we'll sweep the area tomorrow. We did manage to get some sweeps out of Formosa. They ran into some P-40's. Losses look about 5 Zeros for 9 P-40E's.
My subs avoided some ASW pretty well. I-165 managed to put a TT into CL Dragon. The replay showed heavy damage, listing, and counter flooding.
An amphibious TF at Samah got blasted by the DD's out of Hong Kong. I think I missed something on turn 1. I don't know why they were still there. Good job by Kris taking advantage. You can see in the picture I'm sending CVL's East to cover the Miri invasion in case those guys head that way.
Para's landed on Sidate, the dot base next to Manado, and took it.
The Mersing force landed the 4th division and about 170 AV of tanks. The order to attack on the 9th has been given.
We had some bad weather today that limited our air strikes. About all we had were some Vals that hit 2 AKL's near Mindanao sinking both and an unescorted strike of 6 Nells that attacked some ships N of Mindanao and were ambushed by P-26's. [8|] Losses weren't bad but we'll sweep the area tomorrow. We did manage to get some sweeps out of Formosa. They ran into some P-40's. Losses look about 5 Zeros for 9 P-40E's.
My subs avoided some ASW pretty well. I-165 managed to put a TT into CL Dragon. The replay showed heavy damage, listing, and counter flooding.
An amphibious TF at Samah got blasted by the DD's out of Hong Kong. I think I missed something on turn 1. I don't know why they were still there. Good job by Kris taking advantage. You can see in the picture I'm sending CVL's East to cover the Miri invasion in case those guys head that way.
Para's landed on Sidate, the dot base next to Manado, and took it.
The Mersing force landed the 4th division and about 170 AV of tanks. The order to attack on the 9th has been given.
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RE: Lift with your airmen BTS Joe (J) vs Kris (A) No Kris
Here we have the Mindanao area.
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RE: Lift with your airmen BTS Joe (J) vs Kris (A) No Kris
I had a morning appointment today and it has really thrown off my sleep schedule. I don’t have a turn in the inbox so I figure I might as well update the AAR. We’ve completed two turns since the last update meaning I just gave the orders for Dec 11.
The 9th saw some avoidable air losses. I let some of my Kates wander into Singapore going after some minor ships. AM’s, CM’s, and AMc’s I believe. The Kates didn’t have terrible losses because the Zeros did their job and escorted. I still wish they had done a better accounting of themselves against Buffalos and the Hurricanes. Total air losses on the day were about 25 of mine to 35 of his. Kris contested the Mersing landing. The replay showed a torpedo hit on BB Yamashiro but it was fog of war. She’s fine. I didn’t tell Kris that.
On the ground I was “shocked” to see Mersing hold against a shock attack by the 4th division. There was an Aussie brigade there but I figured surely it won’t hold against a division especially with a minus for op mode. Turns out it did. We managed to disable about 35 squads and 12 guns. It kind of works out because I made another mistake with one of my amphibious TF’s and it didn’t unload the tanks it was carrying. Now they got to unload at least. The shock attack on the 10th pounded the Aussies and they retreated with 35 squads destroyed and 32 guns lost. Some of those were certainly from the AA unit that was destroyed. The tanks were all set to pursuit. Since the Aussies held for a day, instead of 170 AV of tanks pursuing to Kluong we had about 210. They’re set to shock attack the three units there, one of them being the defeated Aussie brigade and base force that retreated into the hex. I don’t know for sure what else he has there but I bet it won’t stop 200 AV of tanks.
Of course we hoped to keep anybody from getting into Singapore but recon shows 10 units at Johore Bharu. Hopefully it’s all minor battalions and support units but the other Aussie brigade could be in there too. I probably can't stop them now.
On the 10th we had a phenomenal day in the air. I was setting my CV’s to follow an amphibious TF to Palembang for the invasion there with the 65th brigade and I accidentally let them retire so they weren’t on LR CAP over Mersing otherwise it would’ve been a real blood bath. Those 4 Oscars were there though and they were almost enough. In a series of a few air attacks they managed to down 5 Hurricanes and 4 Vildebeasts with 4 more Vildebeast falling to flak and two more Vildebeasts as ops losses for no losses to the Oscars and 1 TT hit on an xAK which probably won’t sink but might because it has some fires. As long as it unloads first. Total losses on the day were about 25 for Kris vs 3 for me. It was a real nice day. I’ll cherish them while I have them.
Meanwhile up at Luzon the first wave of the big boys is landing at Aparri. We took Aparri on turn 1 but Luzon isn’t a priority for me so I sent some of the slower, non magic move divisions here from Japan. Here we are just sweeping and trying to thin the thundering herd.
Further south Kanno det has been moved by fast transport to Manado. It should be enough and paratroops took the dot base, Sidate, that is one hex over so the retreat door is closed. An amphibious TF is nearing Davao carrying the 90th regiment and Miura det. They’ll land in the next day or two and are covered by the CVE TF.
If you look in the map of the area you can see an Allied TF near Balikpapan. They show 8 ships with 4 identified as DD’s and don’t show a heading. I’m hoping they’re just sitting there and I’m going for a 7-8 hex range attack. Maybe we will get a shot in on Boise and friends or even Houston and Chicago. I hope it’s Boise and we wreck her world though. Get her and we can all go home because we’ve won!
That should do it for today. Thanks all for reading!
Joe
The 9th saw some avoidable air losses. I let some of my Kates wander into Singapore going after some minor ships. AM’s, CM’s, and AMc’s I believe. The Kates didn’t have terrible losses because the Zeros did their job and escorted. I still wish they had done a better accounting of themselves against Buffalos and the Hurricanes. Total air losses on the day were about 25 of mine to 35 of his. Kris contested the Mersing landing. The replay showed a torpedo hit on BB Yamashiro but it was fog of war. She’s fine. I didn’t tell Kris that.
On the ground I was “shocked” to see Mersing hold against a shock attack by the 4th division. There was an Aussie brigade there but I figured surely it won’t hold against a division especially with a minus for op mode. Turns out it did. We managed to disable about 35 squads and 12 guns. It kind of works out because I made another mistake with one of my amphibious TF’s and it didn’t unload the tanks it was carrying. Now they got to unload at least. The shock attack on the 10th pounded the Aussies and they retreated with 35 squads destroyed and 32 guns lost. Some of those were certainly from the AA unit that was destroyed. The tanks were all set to pursuit. Since the Aussies held for a day, instead of 170 AV of tanks pursuing to Kluong we had about 210. They’re set to shock attack the three units there, one of them being the defeated Aussie brigade and base force that retreated into the hex. I don’t know for sure what else he has there but I bet it won’t stop 200 AV of tanks.
Of course we hoped to keep anybody from getting into Singapore but recon shows 10 units at Johore Bharu. Hopefully it’s all minor battalions and support units but the other Aussie brigade could be in there too. I probably can't stop them now.
On the 10th we had a phenomenal day in the air. I was setting my CV’s to follow an amphibious TF to Palembang for the invasion there with the 65th brigade and I accidentally let them retire so they weren’t on LR CAP over Mersing otherwise it would’ve been a real blood bath. Those 4 Oscars were there though and they were almost enough. In a series of a few air attacks they managed to down 5 Hurricanes and 4 Vildebeasts with 4 more Vildebeast falling to flak and two more Vildebeasts as ops losses for no losses to the Oscars and 1 TT hit on an xAK which probably won’t sink but might because it has some fires. As long as it unloads first. Total losses on the day were about 25 for Kris vs 3 for me. It was a real nice day. I’ll cherish them while I have them.
Meanwhile up at Luzon the first wave of the big boys is landing at Aparri. We took Aparri on turn 1 but Luzon isn’t a priority for me so I sent some of the slower, non magic move divisions here from Japan. Here we are just sweeping and trying to thin the thundering herd.
Further south Kanno det has been moved by fast transport to Manado. It should be enough and paratroops took the dot base, Sidate, that is one hex over so the retreat door is closed. An amphibious TF is nearing Davao carrying the 90th regiment and Miura det. They’ll land in the next day or two and are covered by the CVE TF.
If you look in the map of the area you can see an Allied TF near Balikpapan. They show 8 ships with 4 identified as DD’s and don’t show a heading. I’m hoping they’re just sitting there and I’m going for a 7-8 hex range attack. Maybe we will get a shot in on Boise and friends or even Houston and Chicago. I hope it’s Boise and we wreck her world though. Get her and we can all go home because we’ve won!
That should do it for today. Thanks all for reading!
Joe
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HansBolter
- Posts: 7449
- Joined: Thu Jul 06, 2006 12:30 pm
- Location: United States
RE: Lift with your airmen BTS Joe (J) vs Kris (A) No Kris
If I were your opponent and sensed you had a proclivity to chase so closely I would make a full speed run with the Boise TF and eat your Western CV TF for breakfast.
You might wanna put a governor on that that over aggressiveness motor one day.
You might wanna put a governor on that that over aggressiveness motor one day.
Hans
RE: Lift with your airmen BTS Joe (J) vs Kris (A) No Kris
Hello Hans,
You’re probably right and I should throttle back a bit. Like I was saying earlier the CV’s are strategic assets and should only be risked for strategic assets. What I don’t believe I articulated earlier was that I fully expected and intended to take greater chances in the beginning because time is so crucial and we’re taking the most strategically vital areas--the resource areas--outside of the home islands. The reason I went with no PH attack was so I could break the back of his airpower in Malaya and Luzon at the very beginning. We swept down both sides of the Philippines to herd his surface forces away towards Java so we could safely land our forces with minimal losses. So far, less than a week into the game, we have been successful. The only real setback has been when he snuck the DD's from Hong Kong to Samah and hit a transport TF there. Otherwise we really haven't had any surface engagements at all.
I just sent the turn for the 13th. Down there South of the Philippines we found out it wasn’t Boise and company. There were some ships running from Balikpapan that had an escort of a couple DD’s. One DD was sunk as well as some cargo types and TK's. Also we hit the AO Pecos. I don't know how big she is but it's nice to knock out one of his AO's.
In Malaya we took Mersing and our tanks pursued to Kluong. A shock attack by the 200 AV of tanks dealt out heavy casualties to the defenders who, again, had a minus for op mode. I’ll post a rare combat report.
Japanese assault odds: 2 to 1 (fort level 0)
Japanese forces CAPTURE Kluong !!!
Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), op mode(-), preparation(-), experience(-)
Attacker: shock(+)
Japanese ground losses:
230 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 22 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 10 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Allied ground losses:
5059 casualties reported
Squads: 144 destroyed, 116 disabled
Non Combat: 159 destroyed, 2 disabled
Engineers: 53 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 42 (40 destroyed, 2 disabled)
Vehicles lost 7 (7 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Units retreated 5
Defeated Allied Units Retreating!
Assaulting units:
1st Tank Regiment
5th Recon Regiment
22nd Recon Regiment
8th Tank Regiment
6th Tank Regiment
Defending units:
27th Australian Brigade
15th Indian Brigade
6th Indian Brigade
28th Gurkha Brigade
113th RAF Adv Base Force
I was worried by those Indians when I watched the replay but they must have been in strat move. The attack really did a number on them. I’d rather have cut them off but I’ll take this as a consolation prize.
On the 12th the 65th brigade attacked at Palembang. Forts were reduced to 0 and there are only 4 units there. I expect they will fall on the 13th.
We’ve decided to get our CV’s back to base to rearm sorties and torpedoes. We’re actually in really good shape for aircraft. Losses have been pretty minimal but we will make sure everyone is all filled out and maybe has a couple extra in reserve.
Sorry for not posting every day. My days are spent asleep, my evenings with my wife, and my nights at work. I only have the morning after I get home to run turns and update here. I’ll try to keep it more up to date but I can’t make promises.
Thanks for reading and commenting.
Joe
You’re probably right and I should throttle back a bit. Like I was saying earlier the CV’s are strategic assets and should only be risked for strategic assets. What I don’t believe I articulated earlier was that I fully expected and intended to take greater chances in the beginning because time is so crucial and we’re taking the most strategically vital areas--the resource areas--outside of the home islands. The reason I went with no PH attack was so I could break the back of his airpower in Malaya and Luzon at the very beginning. We swept down both sides of the Philippines to herd his surface forces away towards Java so we could safely land our forces with minimal losses. So far, less than a week into the game, we have been successful. The only real setback has been when he snuck the DD's from Hong Kong to Samah and hit a transport TF there. Otherwise we really haven't had any surface engagements at all.
I just sent the turn for the 13th. Down there South of the Philippines we found out it wasn’t Boise and company. There were some ships running from Balikpapan that had an escort of a couple DD’s. One DD was sunk as well as some cargo types and TK's. Also we hit the AO Pecos. I don't know how big she is but it's nice to knock out one of his AO's.
In Malaya we took Mersing and our tanks pursued to Kluong. A shock attack by the 200 AV of tanks dealt out heavy casualties to the defenders who, again, had a minus for op mode. I’ll post a rare combat report.
Japanese assault odds: 2 to 1 (fort level 0)
Japanese forces CAPTURE Kluong !!!
Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), op mode(-), preparation(-), experience(-)
Attacker: shock(+)
Japanese ground losses:
230 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 22 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 10 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Allied ground losses:
5059 casualties reported
Squads: 144 destroyed, 116 disabled
Non Combat: 159 destroyed, 2 disabled
Engineers: 53 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 42 (40 destroyed, 2 disabled)
Vehicles lost 7 (7 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Units retreated 5
Defeated Allied Units Retreating!
Assaulting units:
1st Tank Regiment
5th Recon Regiment
22nd Recon Regiment
8th Tank Regiment
6th Tank Regiment
Defending units:
27th Australian Brigade
15th Indian Brigade
6th Indian Brigade
28th Gurkha Brigade
113th RAF Adv Base Force
I was worried by those Indians when I watched the replay but they must have been in strat move. The attack really did a number on them. I’d rather have cut them off but I’ll take this as a consolation prize.
On the 12th the 65th brigade attacked at Palembang. Forts were reduced to 0 and there are only 4 units there. I expect they will fall on the 13th.
We’ve decided to get our CV’s back to base to rearm sorties and torpedoes. We’re actually in really good shape for aircraft. Losses have been pretty minimal but we will make sure everyone is all filled out and maybe has a couple extra in reserve.
Sorry for not posting every day. My days are spent asleep, my evenings with my wife, and my nights at work. I only have the morning after I get home to run turns and update here. I’ll try to keep it more up to date but I can’t make promises.
Thanks for reading and commenting.
Joe
RE: Lift with your airmen BTS Joe (J) vs Kris (A) No Kris
ORIGINAL: ItsAMadhouse
Sorry for not posting every day. My days are spent asleep, my evenings with my wife, and my nights at work. I only have the morning after I get home to run turns and update here. I’ll try to keep it more up to date but I can’t make promises.
Thanks for reading and commenting.
Joe
Phhttpt! AE is WAY more important than mundane things such as family, or work! [;)]
If it ain't broke, don't fix it!
RE: Lift with your airmen BTS Joe (J) vs Kris (A) No Kris
You are absolutely right Leciivius! Seriously I LOL'd. I have to get my priorities straight...
I'm too toasty to update here now. Don't judge me! I know it's 930am. I work nights.
I will say we took Palembang with 9 damaged Oil centers and 7 damaged refineries. Thank God the most important attack of the war went off well.
Joe
I'm too toasty to update here now. Don't judge me! I know it's 930am. I work nights.
I will say we took Palembang with 9 damaged Oil centers and 7 damaged refineries. Thank God the most important attack of the war went off well.
Joe
RE: Lift with your airmen BTS Joe (J) vs Kris (A) No Kris
Hello all,
I sent the turn for the 15th. It’s been a quiet couple turns with no real major events except the Palembang attack that was mentioned earlier. We fortunately took her with incredibly low damage. That’s a huge victory for us.
A kind of crazy thing has happened at Manado. The Allies have held against two 1-2 attacks in the past 3 days. I told Kris he should save those guys because they are hard. We have the entire Kimura det and about 2/3 of the 1st Para Assault Division about 160 AV vs 60 AV of Dutch troops that start there. We inflicted higher casualties than we took so we will try again tomorrow. Hopefully those clowns will give it up.
Some other operations are loading and getting on their way. We have FT TF’s heading for a few bases in Mindanao and some amphibious types are headed for the Pacific. Looks like we will hit Makin and Tarawa tomorrow. Wake invasion is loading and should get underway. CV and SAG cover is on the way. They’ll catch up quickly.
Since it’s so slow the past couple turns I’d like to talk a little more about general strategy. If you haven’t read it, I highly suggest Captain Cruft’s AAR The Hive. I plan on a modified hive strategy. I don’t think I’ll do a major focus on 1E acft like the captain did (I have 4E bombers in this scenario. I can’t not build them!) but I do like his thoughts on defensive areas. He decided that certain areas would be part of “the hive” and everything else was a raid. So Japan and the immediately surrounding areas were part of his hive that would be defended to the last man by his swarm of acft and ships. Everything else was simply a raid and would be defended with expendable forces only. All Cruft wanted was to get as much out of his raid areas as cheaply as possible.
I’m not 100% on board with that strategy but, 1, it’s very interesting and, 2, it makes some kind of sense. If I can get enough resources back to Japan I can flood Kris with expendable forces and slow him up until 1946. If I make it that far and Kris isn’t in the hive (maybe even Japan proper) I’ll consider it a victory. Of course, the longer I hold those resource areas, the more I should get back to Japan.
Thanks for reading, picture is below.
I sent the turn for the 15th. It’s been a quiet couple turns with no real major events except the Palembang attack that was mentioned earlier. We fortunately took her with incredibly low damage. That’s a huge victory for us.
A kind of crazy thing has happened at Manado. The Allies have held against two 1-2 attacks in the past 3 days. I told Kris he should save those guys because they are hard. We have the entire Kimura det and about 2/3 of the 1st Para Assault Division about 160 AV vs 60 AV of Dutch troops that start there. We inflicted higher casualties than we took so we will try again tomorrow. Hopefully those clowns will give it up.
Some other operations are loading and getting on their way. We have FT TF’s heading for a few bases in Mindanao and some amphibious types are headed for the Pacific. Looks like we will hit Makin and Tarawa tomorrow. Wake invasion is loading and should get underway. CV and SAG cover is on the way. They’ll catch up quickly.
Since it’s so slow the past couple turns I’d like to talk a little more about general strategy. If you haven’t read it, I highly suggest Captain Cruft’s AAR The Hive. I plan on a modified hive strategy. I don’t think I’ll do a major focus on 1E acft like the captain did (I have 4E bombers in this scenario. I can’t not build them!) but I do like his thoughts on defensive areas. He decided that certain areas would be part of “the hive” and everything else was a raid. So Japan and the immediately surrounding areas were part of his hive that would be defended to the last man by his swarm of acft and ships. Everything else was simply a raid and would be defended with expendable forces only. All Cruft wanted was to get as much out of his raid areas as cheaply as possible.
I’m not 100% on board with that strategy but, 1, it’s very interesting and, 2, it makes some kind of sense. If I can get enough resources back to Japan I can flood Kris with expendable forces and slow him up until 1946. If I make it that far and Kris isn’t in the hive (maybe even Japan proper) I’ll consider it a victory. Of course, the longer I hold those resource areas, the more I should get back to Japan.
Thanks for reading, picture is below.
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RE: Lift with your airmen BTS Joe (J) vs Kris (A) No Kris
Hi everyone.
I’ve not been updating recently and I apologize for that. I have to get my priorities straightened out!
We’re averaging about a turn a day so we aren’t that far behind. Earlier today I sent the turn for Jan 3rd 1942. Let’s go region by region and there will be maps at the end.
We’ll start with Malaya. Things are going splendidly here. Singapore fell on the 30th. Nice to get it in before the new year. It’s really the first time I’ve pulled off a truly successful Mersing and I feel like I’ve learned/re-learned a lot even in the short time frame we’ve been playing. Before getting this game going I hadn’t played in a couple years or so. With what I’ve learned I feel like I could do even better next time. I think I could have Singapore by Christmas for sure and maybe even as early as the 20th. There is one lonely Allied unit left on the peninsula numbering about 4,000 future POW’s. If I remember correctly it’s the last remnants of an Indian brigade.
Let’s transition a bit further south to the south side of Borneo and Mindanao. As you can see in the map we are still cleaning up down there on Mindanao. It isn’t a huge rush for me. I’m looking to continue expanding in this direction so I can get my search blanketing this area and take all the oil fields. Once I have search covering the whole region I’ll be able to move a little more safely. Since search is a bit light we’re bringing the hammer. That’s one thing I remembered from playing before, never forget your hammer.
Although I remembered that rule I haven’t always followed it. We tried a para drop on Bandjermasin and got stuck there. I have the para assault division divided into 3 because I don’t have the lift capacity to drop a third of it, never mind the entire unit. I have almost 2/3 of it sitting there recovering. In a turn or two I may try to drop some more. The shipping you see there is heading for Samarinda and Kendari. Tarakan also could have used a bigger hammer so some IJA infantry battalions are coming from off map north to assist. There are also a few CL’s and about 6 DD’s in 2 TF’s heading to sweep those PT boats at Ambon and Namlea, the base right next door. Hopefully we don’t run into mines.
Now we’ll head a bit north to Luzon. Here the most interesting thing going on is at Clark. I’m not used to stacking limits so I need to pay closer attention. I’m over-stacked with 49K troops in a 40K hex. So I decided I would risk in deliberate attack in the hope that I would finish things quicker. It was a gamble that paid off. We had a 1-1 that dropped forts from 1 to 0. We attack again tomorrow and I’m hoping we take the base. Fingers crossed.
What strikes me as a bit odd about this theater is Kris has his units spread out a bit. He has 20K at Bataan, 25K at Clark, and 45K at Manila. He has 2 PA divisions at Clark (also 2 tank battalions) and one was wrecked at Lingayen last turn when it fell. AV wise these are some of, if not the, strongest units he has. I landed at Aparri and Laoag and walked to where we are now. He had plenty of time to concentrate them. Is there a reason to have them dispersed like that? In any case, when they (fingers crossed) retreat tomorrow I hope they all head to Bataan so I can beat him piecemeal rather than face ¾ of his forces in Manila.
Heading to south Pacific now we see I took Rabaul on about Dec 27. It was undefended. An air division HQ is there along with a base force. Zeros and Nells are in position as well as Ms Emily. I’m moving slow down here because I don’t really care how far I expand. Every expansion costs fuel and that’s more valuable than gold. Air search is pretty good so I have a pretty defenseless amphibious TF headed to Buin. Not much to say about this area except, although Rabaul was undefended, I bet Port Moresby is.
That covers about everything. The last item I want to touch on is production. Supplies are tight. Japan proper only has around 700K but it’s finally tracking up again. What is far worse is resources. If tracker is right I’m short 86K per turn! Right now I’m sitting around 35 days worth. As fast as I can I’m loading them up in Hokkaido (36K excess), Korea/Manchuko (~9K excess), and Sakhailan (~10K excess) but that still leaves me 30K short per turn. JFB production fanboys help me! Where on earth can I get that many resources in the next 45 days or so before I run out? Indochina gives me another almost 5K excess per day and I have a convoy loading up around 80K but that is one day’s worth of excess use and Cam Ranh Bay only has 150K available to ship anyway. Right now all I’m planning is take everything possible and if things shut down in China, Indochina, or Manchuko/Korea then so be it. Bonus question. Suppose a base has light industry and heavy industry with equal demand for resources (say 200 light and 150 heavy for 3000 resources per day for each one). Assume it has plenty of fuel for the heavy industry. If three are only enough resources for one to produce, which one will produce first, the light industry or the heavy industry?
Thanks for reading and thanks in advance for any answers to the questions I posed in the previous paragraph.
Joe
I’ve not been updating recently and I apologize for that. I have to get my priorities straightened out!
We’re averaging about a turn a day so we aren’t that far behind. Earlier today I sent the turn for Jan 3rd 1942. Let’s go region by region and there will be maps at the end.
We’ll start with Malaya. Things are going splendidly here. Singapore fell on the 30th. Nice to get it in before the new year. It’s really the first time I’ve pulled off a truly successful Mersing and I feel like I’ve learned/re-learned a lot even in the short time frame we’ve been playing. Before getting this game going I hadn’t played in a couple years or so. With what I’ve learned I feel like I could do even better next time. I think I could have Singapore by Christmas for sure and maybe even as early as the 20th. There is one lonely Allied unit left on the peninsula numbering about 4,000 future POW’s. If I remember correctly it’s the last remnants of an Indian brigade.
Let’s transition a bit further south to the south side of Borneo and Mindanao. As you can see in the map we are still cleaning up down there on Mindanao. It isn’t a huge rush for me. I’m looking to continue expanding in this direction so I can get my search blanketing this area and take all the oil fields. Once I have search covering the whole region I’ll be able to move a little more safely. Since search is a bit light we’re bringing the hammer. That’s one thing I remembered from playing before, never forget your hammer.
Although I remembered that rule I haven’t always followed it. We tried a para drop on Bandjermasin and got stuck there. I have the para assault division divided into 3 because I don’t have the lift capacity to drop a third of it, never mind the entire unit. I have almost 2/3 of it sitting there recovering. In a turn or two I may try to drop some more. The shipping you see there is heading for Samarinda and Kendari. Tarakan also could have used a bigger hammer so some IJA infantry battalions are coming from off map north to assist. There are also a few CL’s and about 6 DD’s in 2 TF’s heading to sweep those PT boats at Ambon and Namlea, the base right next door. Hopefully we don’t run into mines.
Now we’ll head a bit north to Luzon. Here the most interesting thing going on is at Clark. I’m not used to stacking limits so I need to pay closer attention. I’m over-stacked with 49K troops in a 40K hex. So I decided I would risk in deliberate attack in the hope that I would finish things quicker. It was a gamble that paid off. We had a 1-1 that dropped forts from 1 to 0. We attack again tomorrow and I’m hoping we take the base. Fingers crossed.
What strikes me as a bit odd about this theater is Kris has his units spread out a bit. He has 20K at Bataan, 25K at Clark, and 45K at Manila. He has 2 PA divisions at Clark (also 2 tank battalions) and one was wrecked at Lingayen last turn when it fell. AV wise these are some of, if not the, strongest units he has. I landed at Aparri and Laoag and walked to where we are now. He had plenty of time to concentrate them. Is there a reason to have them dispersed like that? In any case, when they (fingers crossed) retreat tomorrow I hope they all head to Bataan so I can beat him piecemeal rather than face ¾ of his forces in Manila.
Heading to south Pacific now we see I took Rabaul on about Dec 27. It was undefended. An air division HQ is there along with a base force. Zeros and Nells are in position as well as Ms Emily. I’m moving slow down here because I don’t really care how far I expand. Every expansion costs fuel and that’s more valuable than gold. Air search is pretty good so I have a pretty defenseless amphibious TF headed to Buin. Not much to say about this area except, although Rabaul was undefended, I bet Port Moresby is.
That covers about everything. The last item I want to touch on is production. Supplies are tight. Japan proper only has around 700K but it’s finally tracking up again. What is far worse is resources. If tracker is right I’m short 86K per turn! Right now I’m sitting around 35 days worth. As fast as I can I’m loading them up in Hokkaido (36K excess), Korea/Manchuko (~9K excess), and Sakhailan (~10K excess) but that still leaves me 30K short per turn. JFB production fanboys help me! Where on earth can I get that many resources in the next 45 days or so before I run out? Indochina gives me another almost 5K excess per day and I have a convoy loading up around 80K but that is one day’s worth of excess use and Cam Ranh Bay only has 150K available to ship anyway. Right now all I’m planning is take everything possible and if things shut down in China, Indochina, or Manchuko/Korea then so be it. Bonus question. Suppose a base has light industry and heavy industry with equal demand for resources (say 200 light and 150 heavy for 3000 resources per day for each one). Assume it has plenty of fuel for the heavy industry. If three are only enough resources for one to produce, which one will produce first, the light industry or the heavy industry?
Thanks for reading and thanks in advance for any answers to the questions I posed in the previous paragraph.
Joe
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RE: Lift with your airmen BTS Joe (J) vs Kris (A) No Kris
And here is the other map. It was too big to put in one post.
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RE: Lift with your airmen BTS Joe (J) vs Kris (A) No Kris
Hello readers.
A couple more turns are in the books with a few more things of note occurring. First of all, Clark did not fall. We had a 1-2 attack and have troops marching out so we will get below the stacking limit. It would’ve been nice to take the base but I didn’t really expect it would go in two deliberate attacks. We’ll just keep bombarding and bombing. Forts are at zero so we will get there eventually.
To try to get ahead of the resources shortfall that was discussed in the last update I’m allocating addition lift capability to the Hokkaido route. Also we’re bumping up the numbers of ships pulling resources from Fusan. I’m trying to get the resource draw set up so all those resources in Manchuko will pull down to Fusan. I should’ve invested heavily into this process on day one but didn’t. It’ll never get easier than it is right now so we act now. Lastly, we’re pulling some resources from Shanghai and sending them to Japan. I didn’t want to take all the resources out of these areas because I want them producing. But if industry is going to shut down from lack of resources I’d rather it’s industry in China than Japan.
The most interesting I’ve saved for last. That’s because this last turn we won the war. By that I, of course, mean we sunk the Boise! If you recall, we had some CL’s and DD’s in two TF’s sweeping up the PT boats around Ambon. There was a series of engagements between those TF’s and the Boise TF. I’ll post a few rare combat reports.
Night Time Surface Combat, near Ambon at 76,109, Range 6,000 Yards
Allied aircraft
no flights
Allied aircraft losses
SOC-1 Seagull: 2 destroyed
Japanese Ships
CL Teshio, Shell hits 5, on fire
CL Shirbetsu, Shell hits 1
DD Hayashio, Shell hits 2, on fire
DD Isokaze
DD Amatsukaze
DD Kasumi, Shell hits 2
Allied Ships
CL Tromp, Shell hits 5, heavy fires
CL Boise, Shell hits 15, Torpedo hits 2, and is sunk
CL Dallas, Shell hits 1
DD John Barry, Shell hits 2
DD Mayrant, Shell hits 2, on fire
DD Trippe
DD Stockton, Shell hits 1
Night Time Surface Combat, near Ambon at 76,109, Range 5,000 Yards
Japanese Ships
CL Yura
DD Shiokaze
DD Yakaze
Allied Ships
CL Tromp, Shell hits 4, heavy fires, heavy damage
DD Stockton
Night Time Surface Combat, near Ambon at 76,109, Range 6,000 Yards
Japanese Ships
CL Teshio
CL Shirbetsu, Shell hits 1
DD Hayashio, Shell hits 2, heavy fires, heavy damage
DD Isokaze
DD Amatsukaze
DD Kasumi
Allied Ships
CL Tromp, Shell hits 2, heavy fires, heavy damage
DD Stockton
And that was it for the day at Ambon. I really thought that one could have gone the other way. We were outnumbered but we slipped those two torpedoes into Boise and that was it for her. The Guards Mixed Brigade is ashore at Ambon and we attack tomorrow.
Also in the area an Assault Division is about a day out from Kendari. The surface forces here tangled with another Allied force of CL’s and DD’s. I had Ise and Hyuga following the invasion fleet to cover them. They engaged a few times as well. I was disappointed with their performance in the first fight. They snuck a torpedo in on De Ruyter but Nagara took a beating.
Day Time Surface Combat, near Kendari at 72,106, Range 11,000 Yards
Japanese Ships
BB Ise, Shell hits 1
BB Hyuga, Shell hits 2
CL Nagara, Shell hits 7, heavy fires
CL Kiso, Shell hits 3
DD Yamakaze
DD Kawakaze
DD Umikaze, Shell hits 1
DD Suzukaze
Allied Ships
CL De Ruyter, Shell hits 2, Torpedo hits 1
CL Mauritius, Shell hits 1
DD Piet Hein
DD Kortenaer
DD Evertsen, Shell hits 4, heavy fires
DD Witte de With
DD Banckert
They made up for it in the next round.
Day Time Surface Combat, near Kendari at 72,106, Range 11,000 Yards
Allied aircraft
no flights
Allied aircraft losses
C.XI-W: 1 destroyed
Walrus II: 1 destroyed
Japanese Ships
BB Ise, Shell hits 4
BB Hyuga, Shell hits 2
CL Kiso, Shell hits 3, on fire
DD Yamakaze, Shell hits 1
DD Kawakaze
DD Umikaze, Shell hits 1
Allied Ships
CL De Ruyter, Shell hits 10, and is sunk
CL Mauritius, Shell hits 14, and is sunk
DD Piet Hein, Shell hits 6, and is sunk
DD Kortenaer, Shell hits 1, on fire
DD Evertsen, Shell hits 5, and is sunk
DD Witte de With
DD Banckert, Shell hits 4, heavy fires
I was very happy with the CL’s sunk and the TF’s were disengaging when, I think Hyuga, got a 15,000 yard 36 cm hit on Piet Hein that finished her and then Ise decided to one up them and got a 25,000 yard 36 cm hit on Evertsen that sent her under. They need to reload their ammo so they’re going back to the barn. Cover for the invasion force is 4 CA’s and 4 DD’s now. Should be enough to put a stop to any more shenanigans. A series of air attack caught up to Kortenaer, Witte de With, and Banckert later in the day. Witte de With took two bombs but is still afloat. The other two went under.
And now it’s time to get ready for work. Thanks for reading.
Joe
A couple more turns are in the books with a few more things of note occurring. First of all, Clark did not fall. We had a 1-2 attack and have troops marching out so we will get below the stacking limit. It would’ve been nice to take the base but I didn’t really expect it would go in two deliberate attacks. We’ll just keep bombarding and bombing. Forts are at zero so we will get there eventually.
To try to get ahead of the resources shortfall that was discussed in the last update I’m allocating addition lift capability to the Hokkaido route. Also we’re bumping up the numbers of ships pulling resources from Fusan. I’m trying to get the resource draw set up so all those resources in Manchuko will pull down to Fusan. I should’ve invested heavily into this process on day one but didn’t. It’ll never get easier than it is right now so we act now. Lastly, we’re pulling some resources from Shanghai and sending them to Japan. I didn’t want to take all the resources out of these areas because I want them producing. But if industry is going to shut down from lack of resources I’d rather it’s industry in China than Japan.
The most interesting I’ve saved for last. That’s because this last turn we won the war. By that I, of course, mean we sunk the Boise! If you recall, we had some CL’s and DD’s in two TF’s sweeping up the PT boats around Ambon. There was a series of engagements between those TF’s and the Boise TF. I’ll post a few rare combat reports.
Night Time Surface Combat, near Ambon at 76,109, Range 6,000 Yards
Allied aircraft
no flights
Allied aircraft losses
SOC-1 Seagull: 2 destroyed
Japanese Ships
CL Teshio, Shell hits 5, on fire
CL Shirbetsu, Shell hits 1
DD Hayashio, Shell hits 2, on fire
DD Isokaze
DD Amatsukaze
DD Kasumi, Shell hits 2
Allied Ships
CL Tromp, Shell hits 5, heavy fires
CL Boise, Shell hits 15, Torpedo hits 2, and is sunk
CL Dallas, Shell hits 1
DD John Barry, Shell hits 2
DD Mayrant, Shell hits 2, on fire
DD Trippe
DD Stockton, Shell hits 1
Night Time Surface Combat, near Ambon at 76,109, Range 5,000 Yards
Japanese Ships
CL Yura
DD Shiokaze
DD Yakaze
Allied Ships
CL Tromp, Shell hits 4, heavy fires, heavy damage
DD Stockton
Night Time Surface Combat, near Ambon at 76,109, Range 6,000 Yards
Japanese Ships
CL Teshio
CL Shirbetsu, Shell hits 1
DD Hayashio, Shell hits 2, heavy fires, heavy damage
DD Isokaze
DD Amatsukaze
DD Kasumi
Allied Ships
CL Tromp, Shell hits 2, heavy fires, heavy damage
DD Stockton
And that was it for the day at Ambon. I really thought that one could have gone the other way. We were outnumbered but we slipped those two torpedoes into Boise and that was it for her. The Guards Mixed Brigade is ashore at Ambon and we attack tomorrow.
Also in the area an Assault Division is about a day out from Kendari. The surface forces here tangled with another Allied force of CL’s and DD’s. I had Ise and Hyuga following the invasion fleet to cover them. They engaged a few times as well. I was disappointed with their performance in the first fight. They snuck a torpedo in on De Ruyter but Nagara took a beating.
Day Time Surface Combat, near Kendari at 72,106, Range 11,000 Yards
Japanese Ships
BB Ise, Shell hits 1
BB Hyuga, Shell hits 2
CL Nagara, Shell hits 7, heavy fires
CL Kiso, Shell hits 3
DD Yamakaze
DD Kawakaze
DD Umikaze, Shell hits 1
DD Suzukaze
Allied Ships
CL De Ruyter, Shell hits 2, Torpedo hits 1
CL Mauritius, Shell hits 1
DD Piet Hein
DD Kortenaer
DD Evertsen, Shell hits 4, heavy fires
DD Witte de With
DD Banckert
They made up for it in the next round.
Day Time Surface Combat, near Kendari at 72,106, Range 11,000 Yards
Allied aircraft
no flights
Allied aircraft losses
C.XI-W: 1 destroyed
Walrus II: 1 destroyed
Japanese Ships
BB Ise, Shell hits 4
BB Hyuga, Shell hits 2
CL Kiso, Shell hits 3, on fire
DD Yamakaze, Shell hits 1
DD Kawakaze
DD Umikaze, Shell hits 1
Allied Ships
CL De Ruyter, Shell hits 10, and is sunk
CL Mauritius, Shell hits 14, and is sunk
DD Piet Hein, Shell hits 6, and is sunk
DD Kortenaer, Shell hits 1, on fire
DD Evertsen, Shell hits 5, and is sunk
DD Witte de With
DD Banckert, Shell hits 4, heavy fires
I was very happy with the CL’s sunk and the TF’s were disengaging when, I think Hyuga, got a 15,000 yard 36 cm hit on Piet Hein that finished her and then Ise decided to one up them and got a 25,000 yard 36 cm hit on Evertsen that sent her under. They need to reload their ammo so they’re going back to the barn. Cover for the invasion force is 4 CA’s and 4 DD’s now. Should be enough to put a stop to any more shenanigans. A series of air attack caught up to Kortenaer, Witte de With, and Banckert later in the day. Witte de With took two bombs but is still afloat. The other two went under.
And now it’s time to get ready for work. Thanks for reading.
Joe
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RE: Lift with your airmen BTS Joe (J) vs Kris (A) No Kris
Hello readers.
It’s gotten quiet on us again.
Since we last updated not much of not has happened. Ambon, Kendari, and Samarinda have all fallen to the invincible forces of Japan. Tarakan has still held out but won’t last that much longer. We just had a 2-1 that reduced forts to zero.
At Singapore we are gathering forces for the Java attack. I’m a little torn on what to do with the units we have there. There are six divisions with one resting and recovering mostly disablements now. So five are effective. Really it’s a choice between sending everything to Java or sending most to Java and some to Burma or Oz. I’m leaning towards bringing the hammer and sending all to Java. The objectives in oz can fall in February.
Aside from some heart attack moments involving sub attacks on my carriers there really hasn’t been much. Other than a torpedo hit, that may have been FOW, on the Shokaku there has been no damage dealt to me. She only has a couple points float damage and system damage is around 5? Oh, and we did lose a DD in that big surface fight from the other day. It couldn’t handle the flotation damage and sunk before getting to port. Sucks to lose a DD but I’ll take that in exchange for the Boise and all those other CL’s/DD’s Kris lost that day. Also Nagara will need some yard time. Not bad though.
I did notice no PoW or Repulse. Or even Houston. He’s holding the big boys for something. We’ll have to still be cautious and make sure we have the proper cover for our operations.
I guess that’s it. Any questions or comments are always welcome.
Thanks for reading,
Joe
It’s gotten quiet on us again.
Since we last updated not much of not has happened. Ambon, Kendari, and Samarinda have all fallen to the invincible forces of Japan. Tarakan has still held out but won’t last that much longer. We just had a 2-1 that reduced forts to zero.
At Singapore we are gathering forces for the Java attack. I’m a little torn on what to do with the units we have there. There are six divisions with one resting and recovering mostly disablements now. So five are effective. Really it’s a choice between sending everything to Java or sending most to Java and some to Burma or Oz. I’m leaning towards bringing the hammer and sending all to Java. The objectives in oz can fall in February.
Aside from some heart attack moments involving sub attacks on my carriers there really hasn’t been much. Other than a torpedo hit, that may have been FOW, on the Shokaku there has been no damage dealt to me. She only has a couple points float damage and system damage is around 5? Oh, and we did lose a DD in that big surface fight from the other day. It couldn’t handle the flotation damage and sunk before getting to port. Sucks to lose a DD but I’ll take that in exchange for the Boise and all those other CL’s/DD’s Kris lost that day. Also Nagara will need some yard time. Not bad though.
I did notice no PoW or Repulse. Or even Houston. He’s holding the big boys for something. We’ll have to still be cautious and make sure we have the proper cover for our operations.
I guess that’s it. Any questions or comments are always welcome.
Thanks for reading,
Joe