Groundhog Day! - No NJP

[Mike McCreery]

As said above, Cooktown took quite a hit a few days ago. The airfield was completely shut down with 100% damage. 4 days later the base was completely repaired. I have more than a few engineers on site.

Cooktown is level 9. Once the carriers get done screwing around with Ndeni the plan is to move most of the fleet to the Townsville/Cooktown area, load up a bunch of divisions and drop them into Port Moresby for a friendly visit.

I will also invest the dot islands to the southeast with engineers and develop bases to threaten Rabaul from the southern approaches.

Having lvl 9 airfields at many locations along the australian coast will allow me to leverage this area pretty heavily.

Need to reinforce Horn and get it built up. Merauke will be a much harder nut to crack in this game.

[Mike McCreery]

As part of the feint northwards I launched an amphibious assault of Norfolk Island. It fell on the first combat despite lvl 3 fortifications. This clears up a lot of space between Australia and the East Coast.

[Mike McCreery]

The Ndeni Manuver seems very sucessful. From a starving 2000 supply Ndeni has jumped to 25,0000 supply. The max is 32,000 but should double next turn.

It is time to back off of the area slowly down the islands to assist in further back filling.

Ndeni may take a beating for being such a point of interest but the important goals were achieved and with the opening of air bases at Vauna Lava and at Luganville tomorrow it should be much easier to supply the base even with the enemy next door.

[Mike McCreery]

About 3 weeks have gone by since the surge up to Ndeni.

No counter attack appeared and troops have landed on New Caledonia in a slipshod way. He has lvl 4 forts and about 6700 troops. The AV on the first attack put him at 731AV and gave me a 1-2 against lvl 4 fortifications.

Going to drop off some combat engineers and tanks and try again within a week. It appears that these troops have been abandoned. I will have another division landing at La Foa and moving north to deal with Koumac.

[Mike McCreery]

Probably about a week ago NJP smashed a surprise convoy attempting to take Addu island off the coast of India. He destroyed a regiment and most of a base force and killed a few light cruisers.

Based on this I have decided to shift almost all of my focus on the Pacific. I will let him worry about protecting his western flank while I use my strength elsewhere.

There are a lot of ship upgrades in March of 1943 through June of 1943 an i am going to try to keep up with them.

NJP is pushing hard around Tabituea/Tarawa where he has me pretty well pinned. Problem for him is that Tabituea has 200,000+ supply and will be a tough nut to crack. And by July when the P47 starts coming into production he will have lost whatever chance he wants to continue to try to expand.

My vector remains the same. I have 4 divisions 100% trained for Port Moresby along with HQ's and support troops. Waiting on ship upgrades and shifting my focus from the New Caledonia area to the area around Port Moresby. Horn Island is still getting harassed but I have started moving a good bit of air support to the island and will be getting mine layers up there along with ACM's.

The main vector is Port Moresby then across the peninsula and up along the coast of new guinea while putting pressure northwards. Hopefully NJP has put a lot of troops and supply in the Marshall and Gilbert islands so I can leverage him later by attempting to cut the area off.

I have smashed into Port Moresby with terrific effect the last 2 games and hopefully the 3rd is no different although I am not really sure what he has there ATM. With several lvl 9 airfields to the west and a handful of dot islands that are still allied occupied I have plenty of room to move off of the east coast of Australia.

China is a mess. NJP just continues to kill troops which of course respawn in ChungKing overstacking the city and requiring me to move troops out where they are attacked again. Starting to wonder if he is manipulating the game engine to just generate points for the Japanese... He has started to bombard Chungking but with all the units he has killed they wont be dropping strength any time soon. The next 2 weeks look the same as this 2 week period.

[Sangeli]

ORIGINAL: Wargmr
China is a mess. NJP just continues to kill troops which of course respawn in ChungKing overstacking the city and requiring me to move troops out where they are attacked again. Starting to wonder if he is manipulating the game engine to just generate points for the Japanese... He has started to bombard Chungking but with all the units he has killed they wont be dropping strength any time soon. The next 2 weeks look the same as this 2 week period.

You are the one sending your units out of Chungking, not him. That's your choice not to accept the stacking penalty. If he really doesn't intend to take the base then why would you leave? Overstacking or not its not like your units are doing anything useful it sounds like.

[Mike McCreery]

ORIGINAL: Sangeli

ORIGINAL: Wargmr
China is a mess. NJP just continues to kill troops which of course respawn in ChungKing overstacking the city and requiring me to move troops out where they are attacked again. Starting to wonder if he is manipulating the game engine to just generate points for the Japanese... He has started to bombard Chungking but with all the units he has killed they wont be dropping strength any time soon. The next 2 weeks look the same as this 2 week period.

You are the one sending your units out of Chungking, not him. That's your choice not to accept the stacking penalty. If he really doesn't intend to take the base then why would you leave? Overstacking or not its not like your units are doing anything useful it sounds like.

I used to be as argumentative as you until I realized that most people found it really annoying.

[paradigmblue]

ORIGINAL: Wargmr

ORIGINAL: Sangeli

ORIGINAL: Wargmr
China is a mess. NJP just continues to kill troops which of course respawn in ChungKing overstacking the city and requiring me to move troops out where they are attacked again. Starting to wonder if he is manipulating the game engine to just generate points for the Japanese... He has started to bombard Chungking but with all the units he has killed they wont be dropping strength any time soon. The next 2 weeks look the same as this 2 week period.

You are the one sending your units out of Chungking, not him. That's your choice not to accept the stacking penalty. If he really doesn't intend to take the base then why would you leave? Overstacking or not its not like your units are doing anything useful it sounds like.

I used to be as argumentative as you until I realized that most people found it really annoying.

Whoah, where is this coming from? I thought Sangeli had a good point. If your forces are getting mauled when they move out of the city, then don't move them out of the city. You can't blame NJP for attacking targets of opportunity when you move them out.

[Sangeli]

ORIGINAL: paradigmblue
Whoah, where is this coming from? I thought Sangeli had a good point. If your forces are getting mauled when they move out of the city, then don't move them out of the city. You can't blame NJP for attacking targets of opportunity when you move them out.

Perhaps I am argumentative but this is in effect the point I was making.

[Mike McCreery]

ORIGINAL: paradigmblue

ORIGINAL: Wargmr

ORIGINAL: Sangeli


You are the one sending your units out of Chungking, not him. That's your choice not to accept the stacking penalty. If he really doesn't intend to take the base then why would you leave? Overstacking or not its not like your units are doing anything useful it sounds like.

I used to be as argumentative as you until I realized that most people found it really annoying.

Whoah, where is this coming from? I thought Sangeli had a good point. If your forces are getting mauled when they move out of the city, then don't move them out of the city. You can't blame NJP for attacking targets of opportunity when you move them out.

It comes from the history of Sangeli's responses to my posts over a long period of time.

This is an AAR, it is like a journal. I did not ask a question and Sangeli's response was not useful in any way.

NJP moved forces into Chungking over a year ago, I thought it worth noting. He attacked Chungking last turn but again, given all of the troops he has killed there are over 2000 AV of reinforcements naturally entering the battlefield in that hex over the next month. Makes little sense to be reinforcing the very troops you are attacking with this manuver.

In any other area of the game Paradigm you would be right. But knowing that these forces are going to respawn again in the very hex you are trying to take does not seem very logical. Does it really seem logical to you?

Having overstacked forces can be a huge penalty and once Chungking is taken there are no more reinforcements for the Chinese. So, me moving stacks out of the city, especially useless stacks like HQ units is only sensible.

NJP is very logical so if he is not acting logically there is reason to question what his true motives are in game.

Finally, there is nothing in our game agreement that prevents him from doing it. However, if that is what he is doing there may be things I can do to avoid it.

[Mike McCreery]

The Musashi with a light cruiser and destroyer escort engage a heavy cruiser fleet in the Torres Straight. His light cruisers and destroyers take a real beating while 2 of my heavy cruisers get hit hard and the Musashi is barely scratched.

This battle might not have been so bad if not for the fact that the KB and crew sunk the 2 wounded heavy cruisers later in the day.

[Mike McCreery]

NJP is moving forces around the Horn Island area.

He has landed troops at the Wessel Islands. I believe he is preparing a stern defense along my previous attack path. That is what I am expecting him to do and why I do not plan to go the same way.

He would have been using his carrier forces to cover the landing(s) and now is using it as an attack force for the recent battle.

Not sure how hard he is going to push in this area. Soon I will have fighters and bombers that can really contest him and maybe that is why he is pushing so hard right now. My air coverage is light up in this area but I can have the whole naval and marine air forces here in 4 days. Trying to decide which way to go with this.

It sucks to lose 2 heavy cruisers but now I know where the majority of his carrier fleet is.

NJP is playing a much better game than last time in terms of aggressiveness. Not sure if it will pay off in the long run or not. All I need to do is get one lucky shot in on a carrier group and the tide turns.

[Mike McCreery]

This was a beautifully co-ordinated strike. His scouting is much better than mine.

Maybe he concluded this was a large amphibious convoy headed somewhere and thus all the fuss. It is a cargo delivery to Portland Roads. I converted 20 -40 ships into AG's at the beginning of the game and have little use for all of them.

[Mike McCreery]

Here is the damage in the first battle.

In subsequent battles a light cruiser with a destroyer escort killed 4 mine sweepers in 2 separate combats. Still trying to figure out what and where all his ships are.

[Mike McCreery]

La Foa just went to airfield size 1 and port size 1 and there was a definite change in the tone on the 2nd attack at Noumea. The Japanese AV was down to 190 adjusted from over 600 and another 36 squads were disabled. In addition the forts went from level 3 to level 2. Going to give the tanks a turn or two to rest and then we go again.

This in addition to NJP showing his hand on where his carriers are has opened up the potential for opportunities.

[Mike McCreery]

My detection does not seem to be very good.

To the northwest, I think the big group showing up as BB's is actually the KB. Bombers flew from that task force and attacked my heavy cruisers. So, the big and little one are likely right there.

From what I can tell, of the surface fleets NJP has 2 large battle groups and 2 smaller groups. The large group containing the musashi was involved in combat and then moved 1 hex east away from horn island.

One of the smaller groups engaged a group of 4 AM's in 2 combat's sinking all of them but using up a lot of ammo.

So, he has 2 groups that are still in good shape and 2 groups that are damaged and/or low on ammo.

[Mike McCreery]

I was not sure what the Objective was for NJP. Was he trying to smash a big convoy he thought might be an assault? Was he trying to do another bombardment against Portland Roads? Was he simply trying to kill my cruisers?

Not being sure what he had planned I decided the next day could carry several options. 1. NJP will withdraw his fleets and take his success. 2. NJP will push on to Portland Roads and conduct a surface sweep or bombardment to slow down the building of the base. 3. NJP is covering a bigger invasion like Horn Island or a closer dot island. In that case he is unlikely to withdraw for a few days.

What I am hoping is that his success has motivated him to push on. I was not prepared for this but have managed to deposit nearly 700 aircraft to Cooktown and Townsville this turn. If NJP has any plans for a deeper invasion it is going to get really bloody.

Cooktown has over 500 AV support and Townsville has nearly 600 AV support with both of them being lvl 9 airfields.

I also put a bunch of Mauraders on 1000' naval attack out of Coen. never tried it before. It could be a disaster but if there are troop transports on the way I might get lucky. Even sending the 1st Australian division to Normanton to make sure he doesnt invade there although at this point it would be foolish to attack anything I can get to by land easily.

I also just finished dropping off a handful of boat and shore troops along with naval construction crews at La Foa. They are immediately beginning re-loading for amphibious deployment. These are going to get dropped off at dot bases southeast of Port Moresby. NJP revealed his hand and has let me know that I can cover these landings with carriers and not fear that he is off Rabaul.

Hellcats start production in a few days and more upgrades are scheduled through July. Right now I have about 3 weeks wait on many transports before anything will happen with port moresby but everything else is in place and ready to go. I made the Australia Command HQ walk from Cairns to Cookdown because he was restricted but I needed him for the HQ bonus at PM. LOL!!

He is 9 hexes away, it works!! :]

Within 2 hours we shall see what happens in and around the Torres Strait... Stay tuned stay tuners :]

[Mike McCreery]

He backed off.

Plans are in motion to infiltrate the dot islands southeast of Port Moresby. One more step towards taking it out.

[setloz]

ORIGINAL: Wargmr

ORIGINAL: paradigmblue

ORIGINAL: Wargmr

I used to be as argumentative as you until I realized that most people found it really annoying.

Whoah, where is this coming from? I thought Sangeli had a good point. If your forces are getting mauled when they move out of the city, then don't move them out of the city. You can't blame NJP for attacking targets of opportunity when you move them out.

It comes from the history of Sangeli's responses to my posts over a long period of time.

This is an AAR, it is like a journal. I did not ask a question and Sangeli's response was not useful in any way.

That was not fair.
If you want to keep a journal, you have your own private notes.
An AAR is an open invitation for everyone to discuss as long as they stay on topic. Whether or not you agree with their opinions is a different matter altogether.
Unsubscribed.

[Mike McCreery]

ORIGINAL: setloz

ORIGINAL: Wargmr

ORIGINAL: paradigmblue




Whoah, where is this coming from? I thought Sangeli had a good point. If your forces are getting mauled when they move out of the city, then don't move them out of the city. You can't blame NJP for attacking targets of opportunity when you move them out.

It comes from the history of Sangeli's responses to my posts over a long period of time.

This is an AAR, it is like a journal. I did not ask a question and Sangeli's response was not useful in any way.

That was not fair.
If you want to keep a journal, you have your own private notes.
An AAR is an open invitation for everyone to discuss as long as they stay on topic. Whether or not you agree with their opinions is a different matter altogether.
Unsubscribed.

Really?

'You are the one sending your units out of Chungking, not him. That's your choice not to accept the stacking penalty. If he really doesn't intend to take the base then why would you leave? Overstacking or not its not like your units are doing anything useful it sounds like.'

I have hundreds of pages of AAR's on this site. Sangelli was being disrespectful and rude in my AAR in addition to arguing with me in other people's AAR's. I have taken exception to how he talks to me.

I will defend myself against rude sarcasm and I will defend my defense of it.

Thank you for unsubscribing!!