Tale of the Sheep! - JocMeister (A) vs. Lowpe (J)

[Canoerebel]

Noumea is a nice target if Lowpe really wants it: (1) base is potentially high value; (2) lots of Allied troops there that are isolated if he brings enough; (3) hard for you to defend the base since supporting bases are so distant.

So, if he comes, he has to bring overwhelming force. Force so strong that he knows he can besiege and ultimately take a hardened target. You won't be able to reinforce agaist a largescale commitment of IJ air and sea power. You could be in a tight situation here - you want to fight, you feel like you have to fight, but you may be feeding valuable assets into the meat grinder.

Beware the Meat Grinder.

[poodlebrain]

ORIGINAL: JocMeister

The landing on Efafe is strange. I havn´t expanded it so the airfield is still (0). If this is a move to start putting pressure on Noumea KB will be stuck here for a long time until Japanese airfields are expanded. This will still only leave him with a single AF easily closed by Allied 4Es and/or naval bombardments.

Most of the US fleet is on patrol south of Noumea. Around 50 subs are actively hunting the KB. If opportunity presents itself I might try a strike on the KB with assistance from Noumea.

The landing at Efate could be a lure to draw your Navy within possible strike range of the KB. He can make a dash SE to close range and extend his strike arc several hexes past Efate. Otherwise Efate will take too long to develop into a useful base for anything other than search/recon, and that doesn't seem to justify the effort for other than the long-term.

I think you are right in that there will be a fight for Noumea. That should remain your primary concern in the region since it is the only VP target worth his effort for AV purposes.

[JocMeister]

ORIGINAL: poodlebrain
If Victoria is the launch point for any effort to liberate Coal Harbor there will be no element of surprise. An amphibious assault launched from Victoria will be apparent as the shipping and LCUs assemble. Even without the element of surprise I would make the effort to liberate Coal Harbor via amphibious assault. A few days reaction time is a better recipe for success than allowing the Japanese a month to prepare if the LCUs march overland.

Ah, a different perspective would be the following.

A land attack from Victoria might not be so easily detected as you might think. I´ve already snuck 2 BDEs from Seattle to Victoria. Japanese recon isn´t stellar and he might not detect me until I´m in the hex next to CH. That would only give him about 10 days to reinforce. And if he really does detect me early and move 2-3 IDs to Coal Harbor in late 42/early 43? Whose victory is that? [:)]

ORIGINAL: poodlebrain
The landing at Efate could be a lure to draw your Navy within possible strike range of the KB. He can make a dash SE to close range and extend his strike arc several hexes past Efate. Otherwise Efate will take too long to develop into a useful base for anything other than search/recon, and that doesn't seem to justify the effort for other than the long-term.

I think you are right in that there will be a fight for Noumea. That should remain your primary concern in the region since it is the only VP target worth his effort for AV purposes.

You could be right. Have to be careful here as I don´t want to tangle with the KB. Not unless its on my terms and I won´t to whittle away some more of his fighters before that. Funny thing is that he already took Belep. So if its search/recon he wanted he already had it.

This whole OP is just odd. Either its Noumea or its just an ruse to get me to reinforce SOPAC (which I won´t anyway). If its indeed Noumea its an odd way to do it to say the least!

[JocMeister]

ORIGINAL: Canoerebel
Noumea is a nice target if Lowpe really wants it: (1) base is potentially high value; (2) lots of Allied troops there that are isolated if he brings enough; (3) hard for you to defend the base since supporting bases are so distant.

So, if he comes, he has to bring overwhelming force. Force so strong that he knows he can besiege and ultimately take a hardened target. You won't be able to reinforce agaist a largescale commitment of IJ air and sea power. You could be in a tight situation here - you want to fight, you feel like you have to fight, but you may be feeding valuable assets into the meat grinder.

Beware the Meat Grinder.

Normally I´d agree 100% with you. But to my knowledge the only unaccounted Japanese division is the 6th Guards. I have a fix on almost all others. Its still a bit risky but I feel fairly confident! [:)]

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NORPAC/CENTPAC
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4th ID at PH
21st at Skagway

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India
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4th Guards at Asansol
5th ID. Not seen in India but SIGINT showed them moving to Chittagong in Mars and planning for Calcutta in June.
18th ID
25th on ships to Rangoon
38th at Asansol
Imperial Guards at Ledo
19th planning for Calcutta. Last seen on Mindanao.


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China [X(] (Just realized this!!!)
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33rd ID (woot!)
Guards Tank Division (wooot?!)

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Unknown
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16th last seen at Coal Harbor. Most likely still there.
48th on ships. Last seen at Bella Bella. Probably moving for India. (48th/C at CH)
6th Guards ID. Never seen (possibly China?). Begins at CRB in February.

I don´t believe Jeff has the forces available to dislodge me at Noumea. Not without pulling some out of India and this I should notice in advance. Not unless I missed some major troop concentrations somewhere! [:)]

At least for the moment I feel pretty confident down here. Jeff really lacks base infrastructure here and havn´t really expanded Rabaul either. Port is still at 4. It must be really hard for him to operate this far down. Besides the lack of ports I have also seen very little shipping down here and he is using combat ships to move troops.

[JocMeister]

[font="Verdana"]Allied planning[/font]
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The overall goal for late 42 and 43 isn´t to inflict a crippling blow to the Japanese. Its about applying as much pressure on Japan for as little risk as possible.

Allied strength is far from its peak and locally the Japanese can still dominate at will. This is why I decided to move on 3 fronts simultaneously. Jeff is fighting on 3 fronts of which 2 require KB presence to check allied advances. India would be the exception to the 3 but here the allies instead are the strongest. In fact the allied focus will continue to be on India while SOPAC/NORPAC are of secondary concern.

Its still mid 42. Slowly and safely will do for now. [:)]

[BBfanboy]

ORIGINAL: Canoerebel

Sounds like a recipe for a boondoggle. A month in the jungle, arrival telegraphed, no supply to fight with. If Lowpe intends to garrison the base you'll have troops tied up with nowhere real line of retreat forever. [&:]

Strangely enough, supply propagation doesn't seem to be a problem on this hike, at least if there is no combat to increase usage. I have walked units to Coal Harbour (which was mine- Allied) several times and they all made it without supply issues. It does take three weeks to a month, but the scenery is spectacular and the salmon fishing is great!

[BBfanboy]

ORIGINAL: JocMeister

ORIGINAL: poodlebrain
The landing at Efate could be a lure to draw your Navy within possible strike range of the KB. He can make a dash SE to close range and extend his strike arc several hexes past Efate. Otherwise Efate will take too long to develop into a useful base for anything other than search/recon, and that doesn't seem to justify the effort for other than the long-term.

I think you are right in that there will be a fight for Noumea. That should remain your primary concern in the region since it is the only VP target worth his effort for AV purposes.

You could be right. Have to be careful here as I don´t want to tangle with the KB. Not unless its on my terms and I won´t to whittle away some more of his fighters before that. Funny thing is that he already took Belep. So if its search/recon he wanted he already had it.

This whole OP is just odd. Either its Noumea or its just an ruse to get me to reinforce SOPAC (which I won´t anyway). If its indeed Noumea its an odd way to do it to say the least!

His relative lack of success getting strategic VPs in NA may have pushed him to look at SOPAC as a source for more points. He may not go for Noumea immediately after Efate - Suva is also in his line of travel and is worth some points. The real value of Suva would be to further isolate Noumea from supply and reinforcement before he actually goes for it.

I differ on guessing where the Japanese troops from the NORPAC area will be sent - I think SOPAC is more likely since it must be clear that they will not make any difference to conquering India.

[JeffroK]

IFF you march on Coal Harbour its possible you will be seen the moment you leave Victoria.

So have your Air Forces & Subs in place to interdict any attempts at reinforcement or evacuation. Avoid having only 1 bow in the quiver, show some amphib forces and make a lot of "noise"

Planning for India is OK but why consider Burma?? Stepping stones through the Andamans and Sumatra might be easier, defining your furtherntarget of relieving China or isolating Burma & threatening the Oil regions of Palembang should be guiding your plans.

[Rio Bravo]

Still watching with interest.

[Kofiman]

I do find it a bit amusing hearing the terrain on the east side of Vancouver island referred to as jungle.

That does bring up a question, though, is the inside passage considered navigable? I would expect in the case of accuracy it should not be, it's narrow, twisty, and there was a blockage called 'Ripple Rock' at the time.

[BBfanboy]

ORIGINAL: Kofiman

I do find it a bit amusing hearing the terrain on the east side of Vancouver island referred to as jungle.

That does bring up a question, though, is the inside passage considered navigable? I would expect in the case of accuracy it should not be, it's narrow, twisty, and there was a blockage called 'Ripple Rock' at the time.

It is not navigable in the game.

[JocMeister]

ORIGINAL: BBfanboy
His relative lack of success getting strategic VPs in NA may have pushed him to look at SOPAC as a source for more points. He may not go for Noumea immediately after Efate - Suva is also in his line of travel and is worth some points. The real value of Suva would be to further isolate Noumea from supply and reinforcement before he actually goes for it.

I differ on guessing where the Japanese troops from the NORPAC area will be sent - I think SOPAC is more likely since it must be clear that they will not make any difference to conquering India.

You might be right. This whole thing started with KB showing up outside Brisbane. He then tried strat bombing a couple of times using KB. I don´t think he gained any points though.

I don´t think he can release more troops from NORPAC. He only have 2 divisions in place + 1 at PH. In fact he is moving both AA and BFs to the Alaskan bases so withdrawal seems very unlikely.

[JocMeister]

ORIGINAL: JeffK

IFF you march on Coal Harbour its possible you will be seen the moment you leave Victoria.

So have your Air Forces & Subs in place to interdict any attempts at reinforcement or evacuation. Avoid having only 1 bow in the quiver, show some amphib forces and make a lot of "noise"

Planning for India is OK but why consider Burma?? Stepping stones through the Andamans and Sumatra might be easier, defining your furtherntarget of relieving China or isolating Burma & threatening the Oil regions of Palembang should be guiding your plans.

Airforce and subs are already in place. There will even be some naval presence. [:)]

Burma for a couple of reasons:
- If China is still fighting Jeff will have to throw everything he has into making sure they won´t get supply from Burma.
- Requires no naval presence.
- Requires little air force commitment.
- Landing on Sumatra and/or Andamans earlier then mid -43 is very problematic as can be seen in CRs AAR.

As I said this only a rough draft to guide me into mid -43. Its not the end of my ambitions! [:D]

[JocMeister]

PS. Got a mail from Jeff letting me know he won´t be able to send the turn until Monday due to the holidays.

[JocMeister]

[font="Verdana"]Airwar[/font]
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Doing reasonable well here although I suffered a couple of setbacks when my CAP was caught up in heavy sweeps. I´m actually winning in all aspects including A2A which I´m quite happy about given the time frame.

Worth to take note of the heavy Japanese losses in the flak and Operational losses category.

[JocMeister]

[font="Verdana"]Aircraft pools[/font]
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Here are some of the more interesting aircraft pools. Overall I´m relatively pleased with the fighter pools as they currently are. When the AVG disbanded this filled out the pool with over 100 planes which gave me a decent reserve and allowed me to fill out some of the understrength squadrons.

B17 pools is looking better then it is. I´ve only filled out 6 squadrons and they are all operating on the WC for now. The reason for doing this is that PDU OFF prevents me from downgrading squadrons. So once I upgrade to the B17s the planes will be stuck in that squadron. I have ready squadrons in OZ which will be filled out if needed. But I would prefer to have the B17s in India. Empty squadrons are en route there and will arrive in 2 weeks. So I´m basically waiting to decide where to "send" the B17s.

I´ll continue to play like I have up to now. Hiding outside Japanese recon and then trying to ambush bombings and/or jump in under the most favorable circumstances.

Things won´t change much during the remainder of -42. There are some small rays of light though.

- In September the P40K starts producing at a rate of 65 per month. Its a substantial improvement of the the "E".
- F4 Lightning start production both for US and Australian recon units. This is a very important aircraft.
- Spitfire Vc start production. This is an Australian fighter which is fantastic on defensive CAP.

Besides that not much is happening for the Allies. Its not until early -43 where things really change. In January the Marines get the first version of the Corsair (30/month) which will blow anything Japanese out of the skies. The biggest most important event for the Allies throughout the war is 4/43 though. Hellcat month! [&o]

[Jorge_Stanbury]

You might be under-utilizing your Dutch Catalinas... only 4 used so far?

The Dutch patrol squadrons are the only ones worth bringing back. They can fill the gap on the Indian ocean where the British are numerically inadequate

[JocMeister]

ORIGINAL: Jorge_Stanbury

You might be under-utilizing your Dutch Catalinas... only 4 used so far?

The Dutch patrol squadrons are the only ones worth bringing back. They can fill the gap on the Indian ocean where the British are numerically inadequate

I bought back the 5 squadrons that could be. [:)]

But of those only 3 can upgrade to the Catalina, one is stuck with the Do-24 for the rest of the war and one upgrades away from patrols. I´ve upgraded one squadron so far but since I can´t downgrade back I´ll use up the Do-24 pool a bit more before upgrading the remaining two. [:)]

[Jorge_Stanbury]

Yes, I forgot you are playing PDU Off
makes sense

In my game I also changed Geraldton to "ABDA command" so to be able to re-base more squadrons, including bombers... it ended being a waste of PP.

EDIT: what about P-400s? there have to be squadrons capable of using it? these are probably your best non-P-38 fighter before P-40K

[JocMeister]

ORIGINAL: Jorge_Stanbury

Yes, I forgot you are playing PDU Off
makes sense

In my game I also changed Geraldton to "ABDA command" so to be able to re-base more squadrons, including bombers... it ended being a waste of PP.

EDIT: what about P-400s? there have to be squadrons capable of using it? these are probably your best non-P-38 fighter before P-40K

I have two squadrons in Sydney and another two that can upgrade to it if needed. [:)]

Doesn´t the 400 have almost exactly the same stats as the P39D or have I missed something?