A Japanese Debacle - Sqz (J) vs. fcharton (A)

[Lokasenna]

Attaboy. What was the VP haul? ...do you get Strat VPs for flipping the industry?

[SqzMyLemon]

Thanks.

It's great to have captured Sydney, but the operation has seriously handicapped my advance in the DEI. The hard work will be to consolidate my position in Australia, while providing the necessary assets to seize the DEI quickly. I need to make up for lost time and start putting a hurt on Allied naval assets, losses of which have been minimal so far.

Here's the situation at Sydney showing the current dispositions. The survivors of Sydney retreated into the wooded terrain which makes access to them difficult. I will try to isolate them to prevent their escape, but they pose a serious threat to my position in terms of blocking rail and road networks. I'll be stretched thin until more reinforcements arrive. I can't move against both Brisbane and Melbourne, I'll have to decide which needs to come first. Brisbane poses the bigger threat to my operations at the moment and I am leaning towards taking it out quickly.

[SqzMyLemon]

ORIGINAL: Lokasenna

Attaboy. What was the VP haul? ...do you get Strat VPs for flipping the industry?

I gained no strategic VP's capturing Sydney. I may decide not to try and capture Melbourne, but destroy the industry by air attack instead. If that's possible with the reduced effectiveness of Japanese bombers in DBB.

[JocMeister]

ORIGINAL: SqzMyLemon
I gained no strategic VP's capturing Sydney. I may decide not to try and capture Melbourne, but destroy the industry by air attack instead. If that's possible with the reduced effectiveness of Japanese bombers in DBB.

Tom (Mr.Kane) gained over 6000 VPs bombing OZ with KB + LBA. That was SCEN 28 (DBB SCEN 1) so it works quite well.

[SqzMyLemon]

Here's the situation at Rockhampton. I need to gain control of the east coast of Australia to allow freedom of movement for my land and naval forces.

[Bullwinkle58]

ORIGINAL: SqzMyLemon

ORIGINAL: Lokasenna

Attaboy. What was the VP haul? ...do you get Strat VPs for flipping the industry?

I gained no strategic VP's capturing Sydney. I may decide not to try and capture Melbourne, but destroy the industry by air attack instead. If that's possible with the reduced effectiveness of Japanese bombers in DBB.

You should have flipped the aircraft factories to Vehicle ones that you can use to make V. points. You should have also halved the LI which would be halved again should he re-take Sydney on your departure. You also got six figures of supply as well as the biggest supply generator in the nation. I lean on Sydney quite a bit for overall OZ operations. The shipyard can fix almost everything you have in the region. You got a nice bit of fuel too, a fair bit of what he has in OZ most likely.

In the DEI I would reiterate that the key to speed is neutralizing Soerbaja. It is large, has repair, can re-arm torpedoes for subs and skimmers, and can search a long way 360. If he loses it or you wreck it his naval efforts pretty much cease. Darwin is useless without a build and lots of incoming. Batavia doesn't make fuel. Balikpapan has a medium small port not good for re-arming, and no repair yard. Set up on Denpasar and take Soerbaja out of the war.

[SqzMyLemon]

ORIGINAL: Bullwinkle58

You should have flipped the aircraft factories to Vehicle ones that you can use to make V. points. You should have also halved the LI which would be halved again should he re-take Sydney on your departure.

Here's the industry at Sydney. I checked against at start numbers. HI has been halved, manpower significantly reduced and the destruction/conversion of the aircraft factory to vehicle. All other industry numbers remain unchanged.

Your point about Soerabaja is well taken, but I am not in a position to do so yet. I need Singapore to fall to free up LCU's. Once Balikpapan is taken I can at least get a foothold established on Java. I stated early that Soerabaja was a key objective, unfortunately things worked out differently due to being stalled in the DEI. However, I now have the capability to rearm my surface ships at Babeldoab, which will allow a quick turnaround to support the advance.

[PaxMondo]

To'su and I think Kiso will convert to AMc or AM ... you may need to do some... much cheaper than DMS. I use AM/AMc for cleanup, DMS used only for amphib op's...

[PaxMondo]

ORIGINAL: Bullwinkle58

ORIGINAL: SqzMyLemon

ORIGINAL: Lokasenna

Attaboy. What was the VP haul? ...do you get Strat VPs for flipping the industry?

I gained no strategic VP's capturing Sydney. I may decide not to try and capture Melbourne, but destroy the industry by air attack instead. If that's possible with the reduced effectiveness of Japanese bombers in DBB.

You should have flipped the aircraft factories to Vehicle ones that you can use to make V. points. You should have also halved the LI which would be halved again should he re-take Sydney on your departure. You also got six figures of supply as well as the biggest supply generator in the nation. I lean on Sydney quite a bit for overall OZ operations. The shipyard can fix almost everything you have in the region. You got a nice bit of fuel too, a fair bit of what he has in OZ most likely.

In the DEI I would reiterate that the key to speed is neutralizing Soerbaja. It is large, has repair, can re-arm torpedoes for subs and skimmers, and can search a long way 360. If he loses it or you wreck it his naval efforts pretty much cease. Darwin is useless without a build and lots of incoming. Batavia doesn't make fuel. Balikpapan has a medium small port not good for re-arming, and no repair yard. Set up on Denpasar and take Soerbaja out of the war.

LI doesn't halve. At least not in my games

[Lokasenna]

Yeah, LI remains the same. Too bad about not getting VPs for half of the HI being blown up upon capture, but oh well. The biggest thing is that you looted a bunch of supply, and took the shipyard intact. That'll help a lot.

I'd go for Brisbane next - it's easier to take. You should at least neutralize Melbourne, and you should look at bombing Australian industrial targets that are unlikely to be defended by CAP (Mildura, Broken Hill, etc.).

Furthermore, the more you can bloody the Australians, the better. They have relatively poor replacement rates. If you wreck enough of his units, he won't be able to use them later in the war to fill in the gaps in the USA and USMC.

[PaxMondo]

ORIGINAL: Lokasenna

Yeah, LI remains the same. Too bad about not getting VPs for half of the HI being blown up upon capture, but oh well. The biggest thing is that you looted a bunch of supply, and took the shipyard intact. That'll help a lot.

I'd go for Brisbane next - it's easier to take. You should at least neutralize Melbourne, and you should look at bombing Australian industrial targets that are unlikely to be defended by CAP (Mildura, Broken Hill, etc.).

Furthermore, the more you can bloody the Australians, the better. They have relatively poor replacement rates. If you wreck enough of his units, he won't be able to use them later in the war to fill in the gaps in the USA and USMC.

+1

[SqzMyLemon]

So what now?

Capturing Sydney changes the situation. KB was on the way to support operations at Rockhampton before returning to Rabaul/Truk to rearm/replenish, but I've decided to stay in theatre for a few more days. There were 67 Allied ships in port at Sydney that are now at sea. I'll try to destroy as many as I can with the remaining sorties from KB and send in some surface ships. The delay will allow me to consolidate my naval forces in the area and launch a coordinated assault against both Brisbane and Rockhampton. To that end, I'm sending my reinforcement amphibious TF and supporting naval assets to rendezvous with KB at Sydney, instead of landing at Rockhampton next turn as planned. I'll try to clear the mines at Sydney quickly to allow my forces to use the port facilities. If I can replenish KB at Sydney rather than having to sail to Rabaul or Truk, well, that leaves no need for explanation.

The goal is still the continent, or at least as much of it as possible. If I can't take Melbourne, I will destroy as much of the Australian and Allied forces I possibly can. I will also bomb industry in an effort to harvest permanent strategic VP's. This will take time to set up and the reason securing the east coast of Australia is vital, more so then getting to Melbourne.

What I hope to accomplish in Australia is to force Francois to come to me, apply pressure to threaten AV (highly unlikely), and prevent Australia being used as a logistics base for a move into the DEI or Solomons. I hope to take pressure off of Burma, by forcing Francois to send reinforcements to Australia which commits his navy. I've learned it's incredibly hard to keep Australia supplied with fuel for Allied naval operations in my other PBEM. There's a good chance the lack of logistics on the Allied side will cause problems in the tactical sense. If I can force mistakes there is a good chance to cause some serious losses to the Allies, providing Francois chooses to fight over Australia. I think he will or else I'm in big trouble in Burma. [:D]

Wrapping up Singapore and Palembang are now crucial as well. I need to get onto Java as quickly as possible to stage amphibious operations against Perth. If I can close the door to Cape Town, I think Australia is in big time trouble.

[SqzMyLemon]

The Jan. 14th turn is away.

I assume because I captured Sydney at the end of the turn and there is no longer any search phases, the Allied ships that were in port will show up next turn? At the end of the turn, there was no indication of Allied ships other than what was spotted during the air phases. I'm looking to make up for my dismal performance of letting so much Allied shipping get away from the Philippines and DEI. This is nothing more than a smash and grab and hopefully lower Allied morale a little.

[SqzMyLemon]

A quick note on forces that are available to deploy to either Australia or the DEI.

1st Infantry Rgt. (IJA 1st Division) & 5th Tank Rgt. currently in an amphibious TF off the coast of Australia.

144th Infantry Rgt. & 8th Tank Rgt. at Rabaul.

33rd Infantry Rgt. at Babeldoab.

1st Recon (IJA 1st Division) & 49th Infantry Rgt. (IJA 1st Division) about to reach Babeldoab.

57th Infantry Rgt. (IJA 1st Division) at Fusan.

1st FA Rgt. (IJA 1st Division) three days from being bought out and railing to Fusan.

I should have enough strength with these forces to clean up a number of problems in the DEI and begin reinforcing Australia. I'm cautiously optimistic that I'll get my act together in the DEI and the situation will look a lot different by the end of February. I want to be in Perth before the amphibious bonus ends.

[pontiouspilot]

Good work in Sydney, I guess. It may also be welcome to POW camp Oz. If he used the lag time and reinforced and re-supplied DEI your work could be cut out for you. I can't remember if you have Caledonia or Suva. If not he can interdict lines into Sydney quite easily from them.

[Bullwinkle58]

ORIGINAL: SqzMyLemon

ORIGINAL: Bullwinkle58

You should have flipped the aircraft factories to Vehicle ones that you can use to make V. points. You should have also halved the LI which would be halved again should he re-take Sydney on your departure.

Here's the industry at Sydney. I checked against at start numbers. HI has been halved, manpower significantly reduced and the destruction/conversion of the aircraft factory to vehicle. All other industry numbers remain unchanged.

Your point about Soerabaja is well taken, but I am not in a position to do so yet. I need Singapore to fall to free up LCU's. Once Balikpapan is taken I can at least get a foothold established on Java. I stated early that Soerabaja was a key objective, unfortunately things worked out differently due to being stalled in the DEI. However, I now have the capability to rearm my surface ships at Babeldoab, which will allow a quick turnaround to support the advance.

That's exactly what should have happened at Sydney per the manual. Good to see it works.

You don't need LCUs to take Soerbaja out of the war. You just need LBA from Denpasar, plus av support and supply. I'm talking denial, not capture right now. I speak from recent experience.

[Bullwinkle58]

ORIGINAL: PaxMondo

LI doesn't halve. At least not in my games

Only heavy and manpower, per the manual. Section 13.6. Also yards going the other way, but not relevant here. And aircraft factories.

Manpower reduces by a division of 10. 30 to 3. HI by half each capture, so if he gets it back it will be at 25% of the original HI.

[Bullwinkle58]

Don't forget to make a decision on whether to leave HI on at Sydney. I'd go off and save the fuel. You also, in the medium term, need to take some Resource bases to feed Sydney's LI. You have enough for a little while, but not that long. The LI engine there will really take the load off your shipping, as well as self-fund a strategic bombing campaign if you choose.

[SqzMyLemon]

ORIGINAL: Bullwinkle58

Don't forget to make a decision on whether to leave HI on at Sydney. I'd go off and save the fuel. You also, in the medium term, need to take some Resource bases to feed Sydney's LI. You have enough for a little while, but not that long. The LI engine there will really take the load off your shipping, as well as self-fund a strategic bombing campaign if you choose.

The amount of fuel available for shipping is minimal, so I'd rather get the economic value from the HI points generated.

I'll be targeting any base in Australia with economic value for Japan. I'd like to export supply out of the country if feasible and 920 LI will go a long way to providing a supply surplus.

[SqzMyLemon]

ORIGINAL: pontiouspilot

Good work in Sydney, I guess. It may also be welcome to POW camp Oz. If he used the lag time and reinforced and re-supplied DEI your work could be cut out for you. I can't remember if you have Caledonia or Suva. If not he can interdict lines into Sydney quite easily from them.

I don't have New Caledonia, but that is on the agenda for exactly the reason you mention. It's too easy to interdict my LOC from there. I expect Fiji to have been reinforced already and I really don't have the forces. The priority remains Australia.

As to POW camp Australia. That works both ways. The more industrial capacity I capture, the more the Allies will have to send fuel/supply to Australia if they plan on reinforcing the continent. KB is still a threat and if I can close off the supply route from Cape Town, there will be a risk of having Allied troops isolated in Australia for awhile before I have to give up my position and withdraw.