Turnaround? Lowpe (J) vs Tiemanj (A) Stock

[Lowpe]

Indochina...

[Lowpe]

Honshu...

Nagoya heavily bombed...

Deliberate attack here as the Allies move even more tanks forward.

[Lowpe]

Here is one of the bombing runs out in the jungles of Indochina. More Havoc bombers came in later waves.

[Lowpe]

Quite frankly Lilly divebombers would have been more effective here.[&:] Certainly Judies would have torn apart the convoy.

Perhaps a problem with the Helen kamikazes' was flying too low and the flak disrupted their aim. Five hits for 27 planes with kamikaze skill over 60 for everyone.

Then again, they made their attacks without fighter escort and everyone flew low....

[Lowpe]

Here is a look at the the last 3 months (approximate) ground losses for both sides.

To the right is the ground situation on the western front 3/20/44.

Since then I have retreated to the current lines in Indochina, lost all the Kuriles, suffered an inglorious invasion of Shikoku, lost Singers.

The IJA suffered the horrendous bombing across the Thai plains in their retreat to the current positions.

So was fighting here worth it? I would say yes, even after suffering the bombing in the central Thai plains. If I could have had parity in the air, or even enough fighters to challenge more often, the Allied cost would have been much higher.

Currently there is a stalemate for most of Indochina, with the Allies able to advance on Cam Ranh Bay, but instead they are regrouping. I can get more troops forward to defend Cam Ranh Bay, but I fear the next major move is an invasion at Pakhoi area or at Hainan.

[Lowpe]

The attrition here isn't as favorable as it was...but I will keep up the bombardments.

I have managed to pull the 2nd Tank Division off the front lines, and now hold it in reserve to reinforce Cam Ranh Bay if needed. They are in excellent shape...waiting for their Type 3's.

[Lowpe]

The Empire...in decline.[;)]

[Lowpe]

Shanghai receives a big oil shipment. Port Arthur has over 670,000 drums of oil.

Japan has 189 days left, 570,000 drums. I am still running some oil in from Fusan.

[Crackaces]

Just a cople of quick comments ..

Vietnam is in the malaria zone .. I beleive every squad in every unit not in a base takes a die roll for disablement .. disabled squads die .. so squads that are iin those jungle rough terrain will die a slow death but might be worth the delay it will cause the Allies.

The Hokkaido hurricane is an interesting gambit .. especially in early 1944. Every other 1943-1944 strategy isolates some small part of the Japanese force against a larger overwhelming Allied force. Once the Allies landed on Hokkaido it has been a WWI type war of attrition with the IJ winning on the points ratio front. Even including the strat points gain. Simply, I think the IJ have to be taken apart piecemeal before going for the jugular. Thus destroying island garrisons where a lot of CV's and land based aircraft can isolate an atoll with maybe a couple of bases leaking CAP over .. but the allies have a hard time when the IJ can put the aircraft on multiple bases that are interlocked with airsupport ..

I think the offense out on the parimeter also forces the IJ to distribute supplies and make mistakes .. rather than in this game where you have concentrated most of your supplies on the home islands ..

The Hokkaido strategy still will probably work in the end . its early 1944 and you are at a critical point with supplies .. another 6 months and I suspect there will be red ! at a lot of bases.

[Lowpe]

ORIGINAL: Crackaces

The Hokkaido strategy still will probably work in the end . its early 1944 and you are at a critical point with supplies .. another 6 months and I suspect there will be red ! at a lot of bases.

In this game, the Hokkaido strategy will work. But the question, is would another strategy have worked faster? My answer to that question is yes, other strategies would have worked better.

If I had one game under my belt that went this far...then the Hokkaido strategy wouldn't have worked. Don't get me wrong, the invasion would have worked, but the resultant bombing campaign would have been a big failure for the Allies - at least to this point.

Of course it is almost all my fault. I didn't pursue the Frank A aggressively enough. I didn't build the KI100 in big enough numbers. I let others convince me to try and stop the Marianas invasions with the KB, and again in huge attacks on the deathstar. That the game was over with Hokkaido having fallen.

I think for most players the quality of Japan's play diminishes as the player fails his personal morale checks. Happens with the Allies too, so it is not unique to either side. The tough part is to keep the quality of play up no matter the disappointment that turn. I know I failed this at the Marianas and against the deathstar several times, and then once or twice against Hokkaido. It can be a tough lesson to learn.[;)]

You are quite correct that supplies will run out with the new year 1/45....but then I tailored my spending to accomplish that, as I set a survive to 1/45 as a game goal...perhaps I should have shot for 3/45 instead.

[Drakanel]

ORIGINAL: Lowpe

Of course it is almost all my fault. I didn't pursue the Frank A aggressively enough. I didn't build the KI100 in big enough numbers. I let others convince me to try and stop the Marianas invasions with the KB, and again in huge attacks on the deathstar. That the game was over with Hokkaido having fallen.

I think for most players the quality of Japan's play diminishes as the player fails his personal morale checks. Happens with the Allies too, so it is not unique to either side. The tough part is to keep the quality of play up no matter the disappointment that turn. I know I failed this at the Marianas and against the deathstar several times, and then once or twice against Hokkaido. It can be a tough lesson to learn.[;)]

Regarding the Marianas, you were also rather unlucky (which is not a strong excuse mind you, but it explains in part the results). Of course one could argue that the japanese players should not take risks that far in the war... but that's also a matter of choice and personal preference.

Also, and I'm just stating something here (it's not criticism), perhaps the people in the thread did not have a complete grasp of the situation, and thought you had more assets available for that operation. I seem to remember (don't have time to check in this humongous thread ) that people thought your KB was more intact and that you had more LBA available.

Finally, keep in mind that a lot of AAR readers are sporting for big fights and will encourage you to all sorts of reckless behavior [:D]

[Lowpe]

Thanks Drak....it was my fault, I let myself be persuaded and like you said I had full information and the readers didn't.

Also, I started heavily experimenting with altitude settings and different types of strikes.[;)]

[PaxMondo]

ORIGINAL: Lowpe

I think for most players the quality of Japan's play diminishes as the player fails his personal morale checks. Happens with the Allies too, so it is not unique to either side. The tough part is to keep the quality of play up no matter the disappointment that turn. I know I failed this at the Marianas and against the deathstar several times, and then once or twice against Hokkaido. It can be a tough lesson to learn.[;)]

Absolutely true. That was one of Nemo's greatest strengths ... win the morale game with the player. Put them in a position that they simply did not like ...

[Lowpe]

Waiting for this turn, since we are trying to hit Brisbane. Then to decide whether or not to run away...hit Sydney or somewhere else.

Could the KB actually circumnavigate Oz? I am moving fuel and ships to attempt it, rather than risk elimination heading back to NG.

[morejeffs]

Just reading Nemo`s reports and thought he put into play scared the heck out of me, even when I had no games going with anybody!

[witpqs]

ORIGINAL: Lowpe

Waiting for this turn, since we are trying to hit Brisbane. Then to decide whether or not to run away...hit Sydney or somewhere else.

Could the KB actually circumnavigate Oz? I am moving fuel and ships to attempt it, rather than risk elimination heading back to NG.

By heading back to NG you allow a resolution earlier, which is better for Allies. By denying engagement you keep them allocating resources for longer. If the Allies bite, or to the degree that they do.

[Crackaces]

ORIGINAL: witpqs

ORIGINAL: Lowpe

Waiting for this turn, since we are trying to hit Brisbane. Then to decide whether or not to run away...hit Sydney or somewhere else.

Could the KB actually circumnavigate Oz? I am moving fuel and ships to attempt it, rather than risk elimination heading back to NG.

By heading back to NG you allow a resolution earlier, which is better for Allies. By denying engagement you keep them allocating resources for longer. If the Allies bite, or to the degree that they do.

Plus there has to be convoys out there that have to be redirected / disrupted the longer the KB is loose .. sort of a Tirpiz Scenario ...

[Lowpe]

June 4th, 1944

Missed a day here...the recap. I foolishly tried to bomb Brisbane and ran into 150 quality fighters that shredded about 100 IJNAF planes. Ugh! [&:] Very foolish of me. The Allies surged two task forces with 10 PT boats in them out in an attempt to have a night engagement with the Japanese carriers...but with good moonlight we avoided the danger.

However, on the next day a screening light cruiser encountered them.

[Lowpe]

The IJN Carriers headed south for one more day...and run into a hornets nest!

Mitchells, Beauforts and Beaufighters, Oh My![:(] They came screaming in at 5000 feet for a low altitude run!

[Lowpe]

Argh!!! The CAP over the Carriers isn't what you would call great....even Rexes flyin low, with a wide variety of Zekes and Zeroes flying higher.

Can they hold off the Allies?

Our fighters are willing to die for the Emperor...are the Allied pilots as determined?