Did I wake that giant AGAIN? vicberg(j) vs. BillBrown(A) - No Bill Pls

[witpqs]

Japanese forces CAPTURE Singapore !!!

Huzzah! Huzzah! Huzzah!

[Lowpe]

I knew it was close to falling.

Did your bombers carry 4 bombs this time?

[vicberg]

NorPac

And this is why you don't do deep strikes without supporting bases, requisite engineers to quickly build up bases and support ships (AR/AKE/etc). I didn't realize Dutch Harbor had CD guns. I dumped a full assault div, plus naval HQ/air HQ/Air btn. But I have no air support in the area. The Aleutians are all 0 airfields except Dutch. Sigh. I'm very rusty playing this game again. Didn't see the surface fleets coming.

Night Time Surface Combat, near Adak Island at 162,52, Range 11,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
PB Aso Maru #7, Shell hits 28, and is sunk
xAK Toa Maru, Shell hits 5, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk
xAK Teikoku Maru, Shell hits 8, heavy fires, heavy damage
xAK Yamakaze Maru, Torpedo hits 2, and is sunk
xAK Yamazato Maru, Shell hits 9, heavy fires
xAK Yamagiri Maru, Shell hits 9, Torpedo hits 2, and is sunk
xAK Yamazuki Maru
xAK Yodogawa Maru, Shell hits 13, heavy fires, heavy damage
xAK Onoe Maru
xAK Hitati Maru, Shell hits 2, heavy fires
xAK Kosin Maru
xAK Nissan Maru, Shell hits 1, heavy fires
xAK Nichiyu Maru, Shell hits 9, heavy fires, heavy damage
xAK Nitti Maru, Shell hits 11, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk

Allied Ships
CL Leander
DD Smith
DD Stuart
DD John Barry
DD Decatur
DD Cone
DD S.P. Lee
DD Oreleck

And another

Night Time Surface Combat, near Adak Island at 162,52, Range 10,000 Yards

Japanese aircraft
no flights

Japanese aircraft losses
F1M2 Pete: 5 destroyed

Japanese Ships
AV Kunikawa Maru, Shell hits 1, Torpedo hits 2, and is sunk
PB Toko Maru, Shell hits 22, and is sunk
PB Toyotu Maru, Shell hits 31, and is sunk
xAP Horai Maru, Shell hits 49, and is sunk
xAP Takatiho Maru, Shell hits 9, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk

Allied Ships
CL Leander
DD Smith
DD Stuart
DD John Barry
DD Decatur
DD Cone
DD S.P. Lee
DD Oreleck

Japanese ground losses:
Vehicles lost 9 (7 destroyed, 2 disabled)

Yuk. Losses. Hate them.

[vicberg]

ORIGINAL: Lowpe

I knew it was close to falling.

Did your bombers carry 4 bombs this time?

Yes my bombers flew actual bombs this time. I guess they were armed with spit wads before but I'm sure Allied towels to clean up the mess chewed up Allied supply.

[John 3rd]

ORIGINAL: vicberg

Observations

Comparing this mod to stock, I can see the differences. They've brought Japan back to reality. Yes, this particular mod improves Japanese firepower with more Carriers, but DBB and reduced fuel reserves has a huge impact. Stock is easier by comparison. Very well done.

Overall, I have victory disease. Too lax and the Allied SCTF ravaged one of my needed infantry units. Over confident in Aleutians and Suva, now both are on their own for a while. Losses are still overall quite light, so I'm not worried too much about anything except fuel, which tells me that these mods (DBB and RA) are spot on.

Nice summary. I believe that since this Mod has been dialed back just a bit, that it is a fairly new play challenge for BOTH sides. Glad you are 'enjoying' your self. Please keep your observations and thoughts regarding the Mod here in the AAR. Always good to get more perspectives!

[John 3rd]

ORIGINAL: Lowpe

You can bomb the ports too.

I definitely would drop down, eat a few losses, it shouldn't kill you, but figure out why you are only carrying half the bomb load!

Check your troops and rotate them, given the losses it seems Singers will fall shortly, especially if you can rotate troops in. Just keep grinding away, bomb & bombard every day, and attack when you get disruption and fatigue on your troops down.

You are very close to that magical 2-1 with 0 level forts.

If you can prevent forts from being built up there is only 1-2, maybe 3 more deliberate attacks needed I think.

Drop down and pound him! (EDIT) Nevermind--you already got 'em!

You made a good comment regarding the Assault Brigade (Divisions). They LOOK good but are brittle. There is some punching power but not a lot. This seems pretty realistic to me as they are simply three old SNLF units added together with a small Brigade add-on. They still divide down to the original units but recombine for this bigger assault force.

Nice but not TOO NICE!

[vicberg]

Yep, I was thinking the assault divs are 1/2 a division. They are not. I like them and they have their uses, but still need the big boys for the heavily defended stuff.

Now, what I LOVE is that para assault division. That's sweet.

[John 3rd]

We took the historical starting Japanese Paras and simply combined them just like the SNLF units. Three into one with then a command section for the HQ.

[vicberg]

February, 8th, 1942

In China, the Chinese are retreating from Sian. That works for me as my LBA can pound them in the open before they retreat to the better defensive terrain. Units are maneuvering to isolate Lanchow as well. Not much else going on except Dutch Harbor. There, my boys are taking a beating. I've dispatched some CVs to the area to deal with it. I'm not hoping for more losses, but I do hope the Allied BBs stick around for another day.

Night Naval bombardment of Dutch Harbor at 171,50 - Coastal Guns Fire Back!

7 Coastal gun shots fired in defense.

Allied Ships
BB Oklahoma
BB Nevada
DD Stribling
DD Jarvis

Japanese ground losses:
591 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 10 disabled
Non Combat: 4 destroyed, 32 disabled
Engineers: 1 destroyed, 2 disabled

OS2U-3 Kingfisher acting as spotter for BB Oklahoma
BB Oklahoma firing at 92nd Base Force
92nd Base Force firing at BB Oklahoma
OS2U-3 Kingfisher acting as spotter for BB Nevada
BB Nevada firing at 2nd China Assault Division
DD Stribling firing at 92nd Base Force
92nd Base Force firing at DD Stribling
DD Jarvis firing at 92nd Base Force
92nd Base Force firing at DD Jarvis

[vicberg]

February 12th, 1942

I'm invading rear islands/territories with small SNLF units. Wake went off without a hitch. Sian fell causing some damage as the Chinese are running north. More maneuvering around Lanchow. Still not sure what he is planning on doing in China, but I've amassed some firepower there. SoPac is on hold for a bit. Working on shoring up the incredibly poorly planned Aleutians.

Ground combat at Wake Island (136,98)

Japanese Shock attack

Attacking force 9604 troops, 97 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 263

Defending force 1307 troops, 22 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 26

Japanese adjusted assault: 61

Allied adjusted defense: 1

Japanese assault odds: 61 to 1 (fort level 2)

Japanese forces CAPTURE Wake Island !!!

Combat modifiers
Defender: forts(+), leaders(-), disruption(-), experience(-)
supply(-)
Attacker: shock(+)

Japanese ground losses:
55 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled

Allied ground losses:
1333 casualties reported
Squads: 51 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 90 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 24 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 26 (26 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Units destroyed 2

Assaulting units:
Karafuto Mixed Bde /1
38th Field Const Co
22nd Special Base Force

Defending units:
141st USN Stn Base Force
Wake (Det.) Defense Battalion

And China

Ground combat at Sian (83,41)

Japanese Shock attack

Attacking force 50891 troops, 499 guns, 140 vehicles, Assault Value = 1706

Defending force 4831 troops, 20 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 104

Japanese engineers reduce fortifications to 2

Japanese adjusted assault: 1853

Allied adjusted defense: 10

Japanese assault odds: 185 to 1 (fort level 2)

Japanese forces CAPTURE Sian !!!

Combat modifiers
Defender: leaders(+), preparation(-), fatigue(-), experience(-)
Attacker: shock(+)

Japanese ground losses:
280 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 19 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 5 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled

Allied ground losses:
3050 casualties reported
Squads: 72 destroyed, 36 disabled
Non Combat: 88 destroyed, 85 disabled
Engineers: 8 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 16 (16 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Units retreated 3

Defeated Allied Units Retreating!

Assaulting units:
3rd Ind.Mixed Brigade
5th Armored Car Co
13th Tank Regiment
8th Ind Engineer Regiment
57th Infantry Brigade
6th Division
110th Division
59th Infantry Brigade
9th Armored Car Co
37th Division
18th RGC Temp. Division
1st Mortar Battalion
15th Ind.Medium Field Artillery Regiment
1st Army
11th Army
52nd Ind.Mtn.Gun Battalion
2nd Ind. Mountain Gun Regiment
51st Ind.Mtn.Gun Battalion
12th Army
22nd AA Regiment
51st Field Const Co
North China Area Army
14th Medium Field Artillery Regiment
China Expeditionary Army
6th Medium Field Artillery Regiment

Defending units:
22nd Chinese Corps
43rd Chinese Corps
36th Group Army

[vicberg]

February 15th, 1942

Major General Suzaki seems pleased, Lieutenant Kurazowa thinks to himself. Resources are flowing into Japan. Hokkaido isn’t stockpiling them finally. Fuel is flowing into Japan. The economy has finally stabilized.

Except for the occasional cargo ship showing up in China or not where it belongs due to Merchant production and because the WITP gods don’t actually focus ship factories on various ship types, Suzaki has finally gotten the order he has wanted. Even the local minesweepers have moved to the front lines.

“Things are proceeding nicely General”, Kurazowa says. Kurazowa knows that that the real reason the General is happy is that factory production has been shut down to the point that Sake production has resumed.

“Sppplllendid” the General says in response.

[vicberg]

February 18th, 1942

Horn Island, Ambon and Koepang have been invaded. Still mopping up other islands and bases in the SRA. The 1st Para Assault division landed on Taraken and regrouping. Making some headway against Port Morseby. It's been a standoff for a month.

It's been an interesting sub war. This time, I've set all float planes to ASW. 30% ASW, 10% training, 10% cap seems to be the magic formula for all squadrons, not just ASW. I have hundreds of patrol boats. I have them positioned just about everywhere, so when the float planes detect, the patrols run out and engage. Out of probably 100+ ASW attacks, maybe 5 hits (possibly less) but it's enough to keep the subs away from my vital convoys, units.

In Wenchow, 5 divisions and a brigade of the 13th army are roughed up. Still continuing to do what I can, but I may have to rest them all for about a month.

[vicberg]

Aleutians

This mess is starting to shore up. Having dumped way too much on Dutch without having anything to take the supporting islands, I finally have support in the area. Airfields are building quickly. Soon, the carriers can bail out and let the LBA take over.

[vicberg]

February 18th, 1942

It’s very cold on the flight deck of the Carrier Shokaku. Flight crew are preparing planes filling the deck. Squadron Commander Kanenko surveys the controlled chaos.

“I’m ready to bag me some walruses”, Airman Matsuo says next to him. “Walruses and Vildabeast have already been withdrawn from service, Matsuo”. Kanenko can’t blame him. They haven’t seen any action since after the first few days of the war and they’ve run cap every day for the last few months. Seeing nothing but water for 2 straight months is enough to drive anyone crazy.

Kanenko released him back to service a couple of weeks later and has kept a close eye on him since. He feels sorry for any real Walruses that we might come across though.

Kanenko is pleased with his own performance so far. He’s held up fine under the strain and tedium of the day to day and is unconcerned with the fact that no one else can see the bats in the cockpit. They will see them soon enough.

[vicberg]

China

China is a mixed bag. The 13th Army in Wenchow is hammered. In the north, I'm getting my objectives without much of a fight, but I'm not doing much damaged. We'll see if or where he chooses to defend.

[vicberg]

Luzon

Another mess. Me thinks I need to plan out all operations from day 1. Sigh. Manilla isn't any getting weaker at this point. We'll see what I can do.

[Yakface]

Manilla won't fall until it runs out of supplies - basically. Don't think about damaging the forces there - just about wearing down his supply.

Do everything you can to use it up. Some suggestions (all of which you maybe doing/planning):

Daily artillery bombardments force return fire
Airfield bombing gets supply hits and force AA fire
take Bataan and open up shore bombardments directly on Manilla (will also damage light industry which has pro's and con's)
Don't let him get any small transports in to resupply.
Attacks will chew up 1-5K each, but are costly so best used sparingly.

[KenchiSulla]

You can use attacks, just keep an eye on your disabled squads. Best results (low losses, that means few destroyed squads) are achieved if you attack without any disablements...

Expect heavy losses (destroyed squads) when you have many disablements....

[ny59giants]

Manila, China, and other major concerns:

Command HQs - One of the things I did with my role in developing this mod with John 3rd and others, was increase the number of mobile Command HQs for Japan. You should have 4 or 5 of them that you MUST pair with an Army or Corp HQ to get maximum offensive combat results. Remember, "IF" the dice gods are on your side you get 10% Adjusted AV increase form the Corp/Army HQ. Then, you can get an additional 90% "IF" the Command HQ passes its die roll. Right now Manila should have a pair prepping. What other major bases do you see needing this combo??

[vicberg]

ORIGINAL: Cannonfodder

You can use attacks, just keep an eye on your disabled squads. Best results (low losses, that means few destroyed squads) are achieved if you attack without any disablements...

Expect heavy losses (destroyed squads) when you have many disablements....

Basic question. How can you tell disablements from destroyed squads? I've always struggled with the ground system and now I can see why.