Also don't be afraid to try sweeping nearby bases, even dot bases, and trying to pull leaky CAP over to get slaughtered.
A great tactic when it works. It can also pull leaky LRCAP off base, too.
We are both pretty careful with our CAP. We got each other once or twice, but since then CAP is usually set to 0 range. LRCAP is a different story, but it appears we both do as much as we can to set LRCAP to a specific target at range 0. It gets tricky when you attempt naval air strikes though, no target means sometimes your CAP gets pulled where you don't want it.
Luck is the residue of design - John Milton
Don't mistake lack of talent for genius - Peter Steele (Type O Negative)
I'm looking forward to the turn. I'm curious to see how Erik reacts when he sees my army northeast of Toungoo. I will then set four directions for movement, including the direction I just came from, and hope to see my target hex not reinforced.
Groote and Gove are now level 6 and 2 airbases, respectively. It's time to hammer Darwin's airbase and make it look like I'm going for a second amphibious landing against the base. I don't need to. I've kept my land troops from contesting Darwin to avoid Japanese naval bombardments. Supply is low, too low for air operations, but the ground forces are in supply. I'm able to get supply to Groote and Gove, so they will be my primary airbases to contest the skies over Darwin.
I'm sending a large fleet supported by my carriers to escort large supply task forces bound for Ponape. An empty amphibious task force will pick up the U.S. 98th Division for redeployment. After the operation, Ponape will have almost 100k supply and be self sufficient for awhile.
It appears Hollandia is being evacuated. Troop levels are down substantially. I'm still trying to get night intercepts of Japanese transports, but still no joy.
Next amphibious operation for me is Vanimo, then I'll reinforce and march overland with the divisions I had meant for Truk to take Hollandia. I will not be invading Truk any time soon.
Luck is the residue of design - John Milton
Don't mistake lack of talent for genius - Peter Steele (Type O Negative)
My movement in Burma did not go as expected. The turn all my units should have arrived in the hex northeast of toungoo did not work.
All units were ordered to follow the Australian 9th Division in reserve move mode. With 44/45 miles completed the turn before I thought I was set. However, all the artillery, AA, Eng, HQ and infantry units moved correctly into the hex. The Australian 9th Division did not and changed direction to the northeast to move along the major road toward Magwe, taking all the armour units with it. They moved 2 miles.
I've posted in the tech forum and I hope Michaelm can help. I know this sometimes happens with the game indicating a move and then it enters a hex not intended by the player. However, I have never seen where the lead unit does not enter the intended hex and takes only armour units in a new direction while the infantry units complete the move correctly, but no longer following the lead unit.
I've asked Erik for a delay until the issue can be examined. This might have just ruined my entire plans for Burma. I'm hoping reserve mode had something to do with it and maybe if changed to combat mode all the units will move properly. I'm trying not to over-react here, but this has always been an issue with the routine overriding a players wishes. In no way should the AI have been programmed to do what it thought best or take the easiest route in terms of movement points expenditure. It never makes sense what it does and is more harmful to the game than had it been left completely out. I never wanted to move along a major road, I wanted to go through the woods in one group, now the offensive power of my army is out of position. I need to make an exact duplicate move to get to where I need to be, will the AI do it again and not allow me to enter the hex of my choosing?
[:@]
Luck is the residue of design - John Milton
Don't mistake lack of talent for genius - Peter Steele (Type O Negative)
Sorry but what you are asking for makes no sense, have the AI not pick the optimum rote for troop movement? Do you want to plot the movement for a unit ordered to move frm Bombay to Calcutta hex by hex?
I completely agree that this is a problem if you asked the units to move only one hex, they should take the most direct route,or at least not changed it part way (which it sounds like they did, I assume you checked the individual units the previous turn and their march direction as indicated on the unit page matches your expectation.)
If however you had the units selected to move more than one hex then it iis not the game engine at fault.
Obviously, I was not talking about strategic, rail or move mode from Bombay to Calcutta to site your example, which the game handles well.
When it comes to the tactical level of a single hex movement the game design often fails. Another problem is the fact the game shows every indication of the proper movement via ticks, direction and distance travelled, then moves a force into a completely different hex. Considering the importance of hex side control in this game, being unable to perform a single hex move is inexcusable.
Luck is the residue of design - John Milton
Don't mistake lack of talent for genius - Peter Steele (Type O Negative)
We are going to redo the last turn to give me an opportunity to change the move mode to see if that resolves the issue. I don't think it will, but it is worth a try. The turn was quiet with no combat whatsoever so nothing else will be affected.
I think my movement is pooched and that will change what I was attempting to do. Since I can't use maneuver to gain an advantage, I'm afraid it will resort to my big stack taking on his big stack.
This might have just killed any chance I had in Burma to gain a tactical advantage and isolate a large Japanese force at Taung Gyi.
Luck is the residue of design - John Milton
Don't mistake lack of talent for genius - Peter Steele (Type O Negative)
I sent two turns to Erik last night in an effort to get all my units to move into the proper hex. The first effort simply changed units from reserve mode to combat mode while still ordered to follow the Australian 9th Division. The second turn, I changed the movement mode to combat for all units and selected the destination hex individually for each. This removed the follow command for each unit, and each LCU was still listed as 44/45 towards the destination hex. Each unit is now listed as 'direct' movement to the destination hex, so maybe it will work. I just hope I remembered to stand all my aircraft down, as I rushed to complete the turn.
Regardless of what happens with my Burma force, Allied operations are afoot.
The large re-supply taskforce has departed for Ponape, escorted by all my carriers. I am taking no chances and yes it is overkill, but I don't care [:D]. There's another reason I want to show my fleet, it's about to redeploy and support operations to liberate Perth and area. I need to open up a few more avenues of approach to the Japanese perimeter. I'd like to try and draw Erik's attention towards the DEI and Java.
If my Burma movement is pooched, I may continue to posture and draw Japanese strength to the theatre and then withdraw the Australian Divisions to be deployed elsewhere. I've almost given up on accomplishing anything in Burma, so it will simply become a massive diversion to tie down enemy troops and aircraft.
Luck is the residue of design - John Milton
Don't mistake lack of talent for genius - Peter Steele (Type O Negative)
Now that it's listed as "direct", you might be good... Yeah, that was going to be my suggestion if changing the movement mode didn't work: go into each unit and individually order them to go into the hex in whatever mode you want. So long as you choose the same destination, you don't lose the movement progress.
Just got a reply from Erik. It seems the second option worked. All my units arrived in the destination hex. [8D]
I'll know what to do next time and shouldn't run across this issue again, as I still like to use the follow command when moving large groups of units so they all arrive together.
I asked to resend the turn to Erik as I rushed through it to complete it, and left out 40% of what I had actually originally done in the first turn. It will depend on Erik. If he doesn't mind, we'll have one more day delay to allow me to resend or I'll if he does, I'll receive a new turn tonight. [:D]
I'm just relieved the fix worked and it doesn't upset my overall plan for Burma.
Luck is the residue of design - John Milton
Don't mistake lack of talent for genius - Peter Steele (Type O Negative)
The Allied Army in Burma begins its movement to the hex southwest of Taung Gyi. I've set movement ticks in four directions to try and confuse Erik. However, I don't think it will do much and he'll surmise I'm heading for Toungoo or Taung Gyi. I've ordered three other LCU's to move into each of the two hexes southwest of Taung Gyi, so this will also give my ultimate goal away as well. I need to open up additional hex sides to allow my forces to withdraw if the defence proves too strong. It will come down to how much he reinforces the destination hex. There are currently three Japanese LCU's in the target hex with roughly 10k troops. I may leave 2k AV in the hex northeast of Toungoo, which would leave 6600 AV to clear my target hex.
Elsewhere, the supply task force continues to move to Ponape. It should be picked up by Japanese air search tomorrow or the day after. Again the mission is to drop off supply and pick up the U.S. 98th Division for redeployment.
Allied air has rested for two days. I'll begin offensive sweep missions again next turn.
I'm short of recon squadrons, but I've redirected F-5A's to Groote. Active recon of Darwin to assess the enemy fighter strength will begin. I'm worried about a carrier raid against Groote today, as there are a lot of transports currently unloading at the base. I try to stagger the task forces, but didn't prevent the current back log.
Luck is the residue of design - John Milton
Don't mistake lack of talent for genius - Peter Steele (Type O Negative)
I've been reading Jocke's AAR against Erik to see how that game progressed. I'm at the same state as Jocke was at one point. Every obstacle seems insurmountable and there's a real sense of futility right now. I also notice that Jocke didn't like the 8 hex strike feature either. [:D]
I'm preparing for my big moves, but in the meantime I'm just going to try and hit the Japanese where they are not in strength. There are lots of areas on the map I can start to clean up starting with Western Australia. I'll continue to mop up the Gilbert Islands then move into the Marshall's. I'm not going to rush into anything. If Erik has all his CV's he actually holds carrier superiority, I'm not counting the CVE's on my side because they are so brittle and slow. I still have to be extremely careful with my carriers.
I'm off to continue Jocke's AAR, I think I'm on page 23 or something now.
Luck is the residue of design - John Milton
Don't mistake lack of talent for genius - Peter Steele (Type O Negative)
I get that the 8 hex thing can be awful, but it really isn't that bad. I'm going to preach a little here, so brace yourselves...
Just plan for it. Allied players should all know it exists. Either decide to have a carrier battle, or don't. You have to choose what your forces are doing - are you going to cover the beach and your ships? If so, then forget all about retaliating in a carrier battle. Until 1945 you don't have the CV numbers to do both "just in case." Or are you going to give up on covering the landing (and therefore maybe need to retreat with them) in favor of engaging KB? If that's the case, then you should always be within your own strike range. Unless your opponent doesn't intend there to be a battle, or gets lucky, or somehow correctly guesses that you are going to sail away from your beach zone and directly at him, he probably isn't going to get an 8-hex strike. For example, you give up on covering the landings really hard and presumably you know which vector KB is going to come from at least, so you move 3 or 5 hexes beyond your beach towards KB to eliminate all doubt. That's really what it's about - eliminating the doubts that you can control.
No worries. I was just pointing out I'm not the only one that had a problem with it.
Sermon is fine and everything I've decided to do moving forward takes into account the chance of it occurring. If I seek battle with KB, I'll be sailing right for it and not try to get cute. Regardless of how one feels about the feature...it has to be taken into account for good or bad. I've decided in this game I won't give Erik a third free shot at my carriers. I will be strong enough to shred his air wing or I won't engage at all. The counter to the eight hex strike is the deathstar and that's the way it's going to be. If I have to wait until carrier superiority to nullify his tactical advantage...I will do just that. It's all good on my end. I had my hissy fit about the feature, now I'll do what the game allows me to do to counter it.
Luck is the residue of design - John Milton
Don't mistake lack of talent for genius - Peter Steele (Type O Negative)
A number of small Allied successes over the last few turns.
July 5/44:
The resupply task force bound for Ponape is spotted, still two days from its destination. Erik moved Jakes to Kusaie in an effort to bag some transports, instead they get shredded by my carrier CAP. Fourteen Jakes are shot down for no loss. However, I decided to turn back the resupply effort. I'm going to deal with Kusaie Island first. It provides way too much early warning for Erik. We suffered a synch error during this turn, and I was unaware of this attack until I saw the intelligence report indicating the Jake losses. That is another reason I decided to turn back, just a bad vibe. Ponape can wait.
July 6/44:
I'd spotted Japanese fighters based at Saumlaki, but only 16 aircraft present. I sent in a P-38 sweep based from Gove. It was ugly for the Tony's. If I get the bounce against a low CAP with no radar, good things happen. AAR follows:
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Morning Air attack on Saumlaki , at 78,117
Weather in hex: Heavy rain
Raid spotted at 11 NM, estimated altitude 35,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 2 minutes
Japanese aircraft
Ki-100-I Tony x 16
Allied aircraft
P-38J Lightning x 19
Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-100-I Tony: 5 destroyed
No Allied losses
Aircraft Attacking:
5 x P-38J Lightning sweeping at 31000 feet
CAP engaged:
23rd I.F.Chutai with Ki-100-I Tony (0 airborne, 9 on standby, 3 scrambling)
4 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 12000
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 27 minutes
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Morning Air attack on Saumlaki , at 78,117
Weather in hex: Heavy rain
Raid spotted at 32 NM, estimated altitude 33,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 7 minutes
Japanese aircraft
Ki-100-I Tony x 2
Allied aircraft
P-38J Lightning x 20
Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-100-I Tony: 1 destroyed
No Allied losses
Aircraft Attacking:
3 x P-38J Lightning sweeping at 31000 feet
CAP engaged:
23rd I.F.Chutai with Ki-100-I Tony (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 2 scrambling)
Group patrol altitude is 12000 , scrambling fighters to 16000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 4 minutes
A U.S. submarine also sinks a small xAKL near Sarmi.
July 7/44:
A little background prior to today's events. On July 5th, Allied recon spotted a Japanese SCTF consisting of CLs and DDs at Timoeka. However, when I was able to view and enter my orders for the turn, there was no TF symbol at the dot base. Erik tries a sneaky move here and disbands the task force in a zero level port. On the 6th, I order recon, sweeps and naval bombers, based out of Merauke, to target Timoeka's port, but unfortunately nothing flies due to weather. I hit pay dirt on the 7th though. AAR's follow:
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Morning Air attack on Timoeka , at 86,116
Weather in hex: Clear sky
Raid spotted at 18 NM, estimated altitude 14,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 4 minutes
Allied aircraft
B-25D1 Mitchell x 17
P-38J Lightning x 12
No Allied losses
Japanese Ships
CL Naka, Bomb hits 2
CL Jintsu, Bomb hits 2, on fire
Port hits 2
Port supply hits 2
Aircraft Attacking:
14 x B-25D1 Mitchell bombing from 10000 feet
Port Attack: 6 x 500 lb GP Bomb
3 x B-25D1 Mitchell bombing from 10000 feet
Port Attack: 6 x 500 lb GP Bomb
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Timoeka , at 86,116
Weather in hex: Clear sky
Raid spotted at 14 NM, estimated altitude 13,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 3 minutes
Allied aircraft
B-25D1 Mitchell x 11
No Allied losses
Japanese Ships
CL Sendai, Bomb hits 3, heavy fires
Port hits 1
Aircraft Attacking:
11 x B-25D1 Mitchell bombing from 10000 feet
Port Attack: 6 x 500 lb GP Bomb
Two ships remain disbanded in port. I expect there to be heavy CAP over Timoeka today, so I stand down my air force. I'll sweep tomorrow after resting a day.
I get unlucky/lucky during the next air action. I sent in three Fletchers to hit Japanese MTBs patrolling near Hollandia, but things get SNAFU'd. The DDs miss the MTBs and fail to exit the danger zone despite a full speed run. During the afternoon air phase they are attacked by Judy DBs based at Biak. AAR follows:
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Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Hollandia at 94,116
Weather in hex: Clear sky
Raid detected at 37 NM, estimated altitude 14,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 12 minutes
Japanese aircraft
D4Y3 Judy x 19
Ki-43-IIIa Oscar x 49
Japanese aircraft losses
D4Y3 Judy: 14 damaged
D4Y3 Judy: 1 destroyed by flak
Allied Ships
DD Terry
DD Robinson
DD Heermann
Aircraft Attacking:
12 x D4Y3 Judy releasing from 2000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 500 kg SAP Bomb
4 x D4Y3 Judy releasing from 3000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 500 kg SAP Bomb
2 x D4Y3 Judy releasing from 1000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 500 kg SAP Bomb
Three DBs are shot down or Ops losses.
Nothing to brag about, but I'm starting to chip away at things here. Spotting and figuring out what Erik did with his SCTF, must have come as a surprise to him. I'll continue to try and win these small tactical engagements wherever I can.
There is more Japanese movement in Burma as Erik tries to defend against a number of possible moves. I'll continue to monitor the defence and if my target hex remains lightly defended, I'll carry out my plans. I'll be able to bail anytime and will do so if warranted. The hex between Prome and Toungoo has seen a number of defending LCU's pull out to reinforce other areas. I could reverse my movement and hit the hex if I deem it to be weak enough. Where I ultimately move against depends on what Erik does. I need to break the stalemate here. Once an opening occurs, I hope to be able to apply greater pressure and open up more avenues of advance. If Erik doesn't withdraw from Taung Gyi, I may be able to chop up a number of Japanese forces in detail.
Luck is the residue of design - John Milton
Don't mistake lack of talent for genius - Peter Steele (Type O Negative)
In Burma, portions of the Japanese force at Taung Gyi are withdrawing. Too early to tell if Erik is abandoning the base completely or just shifting his defence to block my moves. I don't think he'll abandon the base completely and he'll make me fight for it, even if just against a rearguard. I have 2300 AV contesting the base. The blue circle labeled 1 is the current destination for my main army. The blue circle labeled 2 is where I will move to, and attack from, if Taung Gyi is abandoned. I'll wait until the Japanese moves are complete, before I change any of my dispositions. The next few days should make things clear.
Attachments
Burma070844.jpg (194.32 KiB) Viewed 304 times
Luck is the residue of design - John Milton
Don't mistake lack of talent for genius - Peter Steele (Type O Negative)
Next time you post in Burma, hit the w key so we can see hexside control.
Very strange deployments in Burma to me...and at least for me unpredictable. Good luck.
My deployments strange? The premise of my recent moves was to take advantage of having 5 of 6 hex sides closed at Taung Gyi. With interior lines of communication, Erik can shift faster than I can, and I missed my first chance to exploit the gap between Prome and Toungoo when it was relatively weak. I had no choice though as the lack of supply and needing TOE upgrades for my armour and most of my infantry meant a substantial delay. It has been a struggle to get enough supply into the theatre, and just recently supply has improved even more from base expansions. I'm just now able to get TOE upgrades directly at Meiktila, which is a big deal. I mentioned some time ago I was going to try and eliminate the threat of Taung Gyi from my flank, so I could finally move in Burma. The problem with my dispositions, as I see it, is the fact I can't push on a wide front. The only option I have is to mass and try to open things up, either by fighting or the threat of isolation. If I split my AV, Erik can easily mass enough along his front to stop me cold, what with the terrain and forts I'd never get through. This way, if I can isolate or capture Taung Gyi. I can open up a number of possibilities to advance to Prome, Toungoo, try a flanking maneuver towards Chiang Mai, or even withdraw enough troops to threaten a coastal landing somewhere. This is about breaking the stalemate and it's been a long time in the making. It took months to withdraw enough armour units to upgrade to Sherman tanks, not to mention Indian divisions to get 1943 and 1944 TOEs.
If you find it unpredictable, then I hope Erik does too. I needed to do something to open things up and I used movement ticks to do it. Well, that and the threat of almost 12k Allied AV moving to isolate Taung Gyi. [8D]
Not over yet though, Erik just closed one of the hex sides I was hoping to open (two hexes southwest of Taung Gyi) and if he isn't withdrawing, I'll have to come up with plan B.
Attachments
hexcontrol.jpg (143.5 KiB) Viewed 304 times
Luck is the residue of design - John Milton
Don't mistake lack of talent for genius - Peter Steele (Type O Negative)
I just received the turn back from Erik, but I can't run if for a few hours yet. With our recent synch error, Erik's kindly been providing the combat report in his e-mails. Looking at the report and the results of my artillery bombardment, I can declare that Taung Gyi has been abandoned!
What a relief. This changes a lot in Burma. I will now consolidate Taung Gyi (I should get the forts intact, hopefully level 6!) and shift the bulk of my offensive power back to advance on the hex between Prome and Toungoo. The immediate goal being the capture of Prome and improving the supply situation. Now I only fight in x2 or clear terrain all the way to Rangoon.
Another benefit is I can swap out my large, but relatively ineffective unrestricted Chinese forces, and use them to garrison Taung Gyi. Two British and three Indian division can redeploy, and more importantly upgrade their TOEs. That will add 2300 AV of 1944 firepower.
Now I can attack knowing my flank is secure. Now I can attack with supply. Now I can attack and eventually liberate Rangoon.
Luck is the residue of design - John Milton
Don't mistake lack of talent for genius - Peter Steele (Type O Negative)
