Miller (J) vs Mr Kane (A)

[Miller]

CENPAC:





As you can see he still has troops from his failed invasion on Ponape. He took Kwaj and Roi-Namur several months ago but has not bothered with the rest of the Marshalls, which I am keeping in supply by fast transport and the bases provide ample naval search coverage.

[Miller]

ORIGINAL: Canoerebel

That's an amazingly small list of Japanese ships sunk.

But it's also a frighteningly small list of Allied ships sunk. Pretty soon, the Allies can put together a Death Star and go wherever they want, knowing that any opposing Japanese force will get eaten alive.

This looks like an unusual and mutual "avoid contact at all costs" game that, in the long run, should highly favor the Allies.

What do you think, Paul?

To be fair to Tom he has taken risks with his fleets but I've never really been in the right place at the right time to hurt him. I have put torps into almost all the pre war CVs but only ever enough to send them back to the yards. I had an opportunity to force a CV battle on slightly favourable turns back in mid 42 but didn't take it, which I regret now. Having said that, I should still have parity in CV a/c until the turn of the year......

[Canoerebel]

How do things look in NoPac?

[Miller]

ORIGINAL: Canoerebel

How do things look in NoPac?

NOPAC:





Nothing has happened up here all game. I have all the Kuriles built up to lvl 3/4 airfields and each has an SNLF, a base force and 4 forts. I cannot afford to devote anything more here for now. He has Attu and Shemya well built up but then the US can do that easily enough just to give the impression they are looking to advance in the area....

[Miller]

Timor area:





I have a division on Darwin behind 6 forts. He has had troops sitting at Katherine for a long time doing nothing. The bases to the north of Darwin are empty. He landed a small unit at Dobo but it cost him a few APDs to my bombers on Ambon and Boela and he has not been back since and it is not built up at all. I own all the other bases on the northern Aus coast as well.

[Miller]

DEI:





I have 5 divisions sitting on Java, one at each major base, all in strat mode so they can be railed to any potential invasion site in one day. Plenty of large airfields and av support on the bigger bases as well. I have a 1/3 of a div at each of Balikpapan, Makassar and Kendari. All the bases south of there are empty.

[Canoerebel]

ORIGINAL: Miller

NOPAC:

Nothing has happened up here all game. I have all the Kuriles built up to lvl 3/4 airfields and each has an SNLF, a base force and 4 forts. I cannot afford to devote anything more here for now. He has Attu and Shemya well built up but then the US can do that easily enough just to give the impression they are looking to advance in the area....

This sounds like a recipe for disaster. Nothing has happened there all game, you only have SNLF garrisons, and the Allies have a navy basically untouched by war....and winter is just 2.5 months away. I'd be most intrigued about such a setup.

Of course, the same can be said about nearly every important objective on the map. That's the challenge for you as the Japanese player. You have to guard evertyhing but don't have enough to guard everything. But only having an SNLF in the Kuriles...and with nothing else "to spare"...sounds like your back door is wide open.

Beware.

[Miller]

ORIGINAL: Canoerebel

ORIGINAL: Miller

NOPAC:

Nothing has happened up here all game. I have all the Kuriles built up to lvl 3/4 airfields and each has an SNLF, a base force and 4 forts. I cannot afford to devote anything more here for now. He has Attu and Shemya well built up but then the US can do that easily enough just to give the impression they are looking to advance in the area....

This sounds like a recipe for disaster. Nothing has happened there all game, you only have SNLF garrisons, and the Allies have a navy basically untouched by war....and winter is just 2.5 months away. I'd be most intrigued about such a setup.

Of course, the same can be said about nearly every important objective on the map. That's the challenge for you as the Japanese player. You have to guard evertyhing but don't have enough to guard everything. But only having an SNLF in the Kuriles...and with nothing else "to spare"...sounds like your back door is wide open.

Beware.

You're right of course, I really wish I had more troops to spare, alas I have Islands all over the map that he could take with two men in a row boat.....

[Miller]

7th-21st Aug 43

In Burma another attack at Toungoo knocks the fort down to 4 but he suffers around 1000 disabled sqds in the process. A big supply convoy arrives at Singers and I'm using FT fleets to ferry it up to Rangoon, I should not run out in Burma anytime soon.

Bad news elsewhere as the CVL Ryujo takes 3 torps on the trip back south to Truk from the mainland after an upgrade and goes down, my first flat top lost in the game. At least she hung around till the next day so I could remove the high exp pilots from her airgroups, but she takes 30 Zeros and 20 Jills to the bottom with her[:(]

I have a line of Glen subs patrolling between PH and Johnston Is and one spots and attacks an AO convoy (it misses and is sunk) but this obviously set the alarm bells ringing as it usually means that a big fleet is nearby. Sure enough, next turn the Glens spot several CV and fast BB TFs. Where is he off to? It could be the Marianas, it could be the Kuriles like Dan suggests, hell it could even be Tokyo. I guess I will find out soon enough.....

[Canoerebel]

Paul, you are such an experienced IJ player that most anything I offer will be things you know or suspect. Generally, though, the Allied player is going to strike where the Japanese player doesn't expect a strike. If he appears to be building up to hit Malaya or Java or the Marianas, he's probably looking somewhere else. On the other hand, if he was building up in NoPac, he'd probably be planning to hit Java or Sumatra.

If I was aiming for the Kuriles, Sikhalin and/or Hokkaido in late '43, which is still a bit early for the Allies to go all-in, I'd be looking hard at October, counting on winter to help shut things down soon after I'd taken my objectives. Or I might try to cross you up by coming in November or December, counting on you letting your guard down during the Winter effects. It wouldn't be hard for a division strongly reinforced to take a four-fort base garrisoned by an SNLF. That sounds like low-hanging fruit, especially if you don't have a strong, mobile reserve ready to react and reinforce.

He'll have had the benefit of all kinds of SigInt, plus mouseover showing base sizes. He'll know that you only have SNLFs in the Kuriles. He'll know pretty much what you have at Sikhalin. Heck, he should know how many units you have at Shikuka, since Russian (Allied) units are in the adjacent hex. If that area's an objective for him in late '43, he knows what's there and he welcomes the fact that most of your divisions are somewhere far, far away, defending places that are important but not as important. Who cares if Japan has 3,000 AV at Toungoo if there's only 150 AV at Sikhalin Island?

I have no idea if Mr. Kane has any interest in NoPac. If I was stepping in for him today, I would.

[Mike McCreery]

ORIGINAL: Canoerebel

Paul, you are such an experienced IJ player that most anything I offer will be things you know or suspect. Generally, though, the Allied player is going to strike where the Japanese player doesn't expect a strike. If he appears to be building up to hit Malaya or Java or the Marianas, he's probably looking somewhere else. On the other hand, if he was building up in NoPac, he'd probably be planning to hit Java or Sumatra.

If I was aiming for the Kuriles, Sikhalin and/or Hokkaido in late '43, which is still a bit early for the Allies to go all-in, I'd be looking hard at October, counting on winter to help shut things down soon after I'd taken my objectives. Or I might try to cross you up by coming in November or December, counting on you letting your guard down during the Winter effects. It wouldn't be hard for a division strongly reinforced to take a four-fort base garrisoned by an SNLF. That sounds like low-hanging fruit, especially if you don't have a strong, mobile reserve ready to react and reinforce.

He'll have had the benefit of all kinds of SigInt, plus mouseover showing base sizes. He'll know that you only have SNLFs in the Kuriles. He'll know pretty much what you have at Sikhalin. Heck, he should know how many units you have at Shikuka, since Russian (Allied) units are in the adjacent hex. If that area's an objective for him in late '43, he knows what's there and he welcomes the fact that most of your divisions are somewhere far, far away, defending places that are important but not as important. Who cares if Japan has 3,000 AV at Toungoo if there's only 150 AV at Sikhalin Island?

I have no idea if Mr. Kane has any interest in NoPac. If I was stepping in for him today, I would.

Excellent assessment, I wish there was a like button on the page.

[Miller]

ORIGINAL: Wargmr

ORIGINAL: Canoerebel

Paul, you are such an experienced IJ player that most anything I offer will be things you know or suspect. Generally, though, the Allied player is going to strike where the Japanese player doesn't expect a strike. If he appears to be building up to hit Malaya or Java or the Marianas, he's probably looking somewhere else. On the other hand, if he was building up in NoPac, he'd probably be planning to hit Java or Sumatra.

If I was aiming for the Kuriles, Sikhalin and/or Hokkaido in late '43, which is still a bit early for the Allies to go all-in, I'd be looking hard at October, counting on winter to help shut things down soon after I'd taken my objectives. Or I might try to cross you up by coming in November or December, counting on you letting your guard down during the Winter effects. It wouldn't be hard for a division strongly reinforced to take a four-fort base garrisoned by an SNLF. That sounds like low-hanging fruit, especially if you don't have a strong, mobile reserve ready to react and reinforce.

He'll have had the benefit of all kinds of SigInt, plus mouseover showing base sizes. He'll know that you only have SNLFs in the Kuriles. He'll know pretty much what you have at Sikhalin. Heck, he should know how many units you have at Shikuka, since Russian (Allied) units are in the adjacent hex. If that area's an objective for him in late '43, he knows what's there and he welcomes the fact that most of your divisions are somewhere far, far away, defending places that are important but not as important. Who cares if Japan has 3,000 AV at Toungoo if there's only 150 AV at Sikhalin Island?

I have no idea if Mr. Kane has any interest in NoPac. If I was stepping in for him today, I would.

Excellent assessment, I wish there was a like button on the page.

I agree. I'm busy scraping up whatever I can in the HI to reinforce it, but there is not much at the moment. Fortunately it looks like that large fleet is moving towards the Marianas, albeit rather slowly. I think he might he actually looking for a CV battle in open water with no LBA involved on either side. Stay tuned....

[Miller]

22nd-31st Aug 43

I was wrong. His CV fleet was just a couple of hexes south of Wake and mine were hovering out of range of his search a/c just above Marcus Is, a distance of about 20 hexes. I decided to go for it and sent everything due south. However, he sent all his TFs south east away from my CVs, who were of course spotted and my hand was tipped. I think he realised something was up as his search planes had spotted my AO TF heading back to Truk after refueling my CVs. My bad, I forgot to set them to 'do not retire' to keep them in the same hex as my CVs. As of the 31st all of his ships are now a few hexs east of the Marshalls whilst mine are headed back to Truk for the time being. Not much happening elsewhere apart from his daily bombing of Toungoo in Burma.

[Miller]

1st-15th Sept 43

SOPAC is the main area of action this period. I have had a TF of 10 DDs sitting at Rabual to prevent or at least disrupt any potential bombardment TFs. Noticing he had shipping at Arawe on the western side of New Britain I sent this TF to investigate and they find a FT fleet of APDs and sink 5 of them. However, he gets his revenge the next night as he sends a CL/DD force to meet them on there return to Rabual. I lose 4 modern DDs, between my mines and DD return fire I sink about the same number in return, but of course 1:1 is a VERY bad exchange rate for the IJN at any stage of the game. To compound my misery a load of Vals covered by Zeros sortie to attack shipping at Arawe and I lose 120 to a massive CAP in return for one bomb hit on a cruiser...

Meanwhile at Ponape he is trying to keep his troops alive by flying in air supply, I have shock attacked a few times here, for example:

Ground combat at Ponape (119,113)

Japanese Shock attack

Attacking force 14507 troops, 186 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 427

Defending force 4081 troops, 118 guns, 262 vehicles, Assault Value = 160

Japanese adjusted assault: 669

Allied adjusted defense: 125

Japanese assault odds: 5 to 1

Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), leaders(-), supply(-)
Attacker: shock(+)

Japanese ground losses:
623 casualties reported
Squads: 27 destroyed, 32 disabled
Non Combat: 3 destroyed, 12 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Guns lost 12 (4 destroyed, 8 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
Guns lost 2 (2 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Vehicles lost 14 (6 destroyed, 8 disabled)

Assaulting units:
61st Naval Guard Unit
28th Division
Yokosuka 6th SNLF
Ponape Naval Fortress
46th JNAF AF Unit

Defending units:
767th Tank Battalion
766th Tank Battalion
161st Infantry Regiment
15th Marine Defense Battalion

However they just won't surrender[:@] Would hate it for him to be able to salvage these troops.


As for the Allied CV death star, during this period it has mainly just hovered between the Marshalls and Tarawa. He must be hoping I will send my CVs after it but no way would I go that far out...

[Miller]

16th-30th Sept 43

First stop Toungoo where another deliberate attack knocks the fort down to 3 but he suffers huge disablements:

Ground combat at Toungoo (57,50)

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 199321 troops, 3352 guns, 3373 vehicles, Assault Value = 8067

Defending force 105165 troops, 1178 guns, 2561 vehicles, Assault Value = 3370

Allied engineers reduce fortifications to 3

Allied adjusted assault: 7828

Japanese adjusted defense: 4829

Allied assault odds: 1 to 1 (fort level 3)

Allied Assault reduces fortifications to 3

Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), forts(+), preparation(-), supply(-)
Attacker:

Japanese ground losses:
3085 casualties reported
Squads: 9 destroyed, 163 disabled
Non Combat: 16 destroyed, 125 disabled
Engineers: 6 destroyed, 59 disabled
Guns lost 166 (21 destroyed, 145 disabled)
Vehicles lost 232 (41 destroyed, 191 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
14348 casualties reported
Squads: 162 destroyed, 1999 disabled
Non Combat: 10 destroyed, 270 disabled
Engineers: 61 destroyed, 475 disabled
Guns lost 148 (8 destroyed, 140 disabled)
Vehicles lost 225 (20 destroyed, 205 disabled

He continues to bomb it mercilessly and I cannot get supply to flow up to the base despite having plenty at Rangoon, so I will be retreating when he knocks the forts down to 2.


Meanwhile down at Rabual I send a heavy cruiser force there to beef up the defences, they find some trade near Arawe:

Day Time Surface Combat, near Arawe at 102,127, Range 28,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
CA Takao, Shell hits 1
CA Atago
CA Maya
CA Chokai
CL Agano, Shell hits 2
CL Noshiro
CL Yahagi
DD Shimakaze
DD Kawakaze, Shell hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
DD Umikaze

Allied Ships
DD Barker, Shell hits 1
DD Stuart, Shell hits 2, on fire
DD Voyager, Shell hits 2, heavy fires
DD Vampire, Shell hits 9, heavy fires, heavy damage
DD Arunta, Shell hits 3, on fire
DD Norman, Shell hits 1, on fire
xAP Chaumont, Shell hits 11, heavy fires, heavy damage
xAP St. Mihel, Torpedo hits 2, and is sunk
xAP George H. Williams, Shell hits 6, heavy fires, heavy damage
xAP James Schureman, Shell hits 7, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk
xAP John Adams, Shell hits 2
xAP John Hart, Shell hits 10, heavy fires, heavy damage
xAP Peter Silvester, Shell hits 8, heavy fires
xAP Robert Morris, Shell hits 2
xAP Rufus King, Shell hits 6, heavy fires, heavy damage
xAP Samuel Adams, Shell hits 11, heavy fires, heavy damage
xAP Starr King, Shell hits 3
xAP Stephen J. Field, Shell hits 7, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk

They were empty but its nice exp for my crews all the same.

The Allied death star continued to hover around the Marshalls before heading north east, the last sighting was several days ago about 15 hexes east of Wake. If he's thinking about the Kuriles I have a lot of picket AKs that should give me a bit of warning first. No idea what his intention was with it for the past month or so, I'm guessing he was thinking about the Marianas and/or Truk but changed his mind when he saw I had the bulk of my fleet in the way....

[Miller]

1st-10th Oct 43

Another attack at Toungoo knocks the fort down to 2 so I retreat in good order, and all my units go back to full supply. He will have to kick me out of this hex by force.

Nice action on the seas at Ponape as almost the entire Omaha class heads to the bottom:

Day Time Surface Combat, near Ponape at 119,113, Range 17,000 Yards

Allied aircraft
no flights

Allied aircraft losses
SOC-1 Seagull: 2 destroyed

Japanese Ships
CA Mogami, Shell hits 3
CA Mikuma, Shell hits 4
CA Suzuya, Shell hits 6
CA Kumano, Shell hits 4
CL Noshiro, Shell hits 5
DD Shimakaze
DD Hamanami, Shell hits 4, heavy fires, heavy damage
DD Asashimo, Shell hits 4, on fire
DD Kagero, Shell hits 2, heavy fires
DD Yamakaze

Allied Ships
CL Richmond, Shell hits 35, and is sunk
CL Raleigh, Shell hits 22, and is sunk
CL Trenton, Shell hits 8, heavy fires
CL Marblehead, Shell hits 17, heavy fires, heavy damage
CL Concord, Shell hits 15, heavy fires, heavy damage
DD Morris, Shell hits 10, heavy fires, heavy damage
DD Fanning
DD Drayton, Shell hits 10, heavy fires, heavy damage
DD Lamson, Shell hits 3, on fire
DD Smith, Shell hits 5, heavy fires, heavy damage
DD Preston, Shell hits 7, heavy fires, heavy damage
DD Reid, Shell hits 9, heavy fires, heavy damage
DD Cassin, Shell hits 3, heavy fires

Only Trenton and a couple of DDs survive to make the trip back to Kwajalien. I guess this was either a FT TF trying to bring supplies to his troops or he was trying to evacuate some of them, either way it failed and I kill off all his troops there a few days later. No sign at all of his CVs during this period, very worrying indeed. The last 3 Unyru class CVs arrive and join the fleet at Truk.

[BBfanboy]

It seems he has a bad habit of sending "not quite enough" into battle. You have been out-playing him at every turn - well done!

[Miller]

ORIGINAL: BBfanboy

It seems he has a bad habit of sending "not quite enough" into battle. You have been out-playing him at every turn - well done!

I wouldn't say that, he certainly outplayed me in China. He sent a CA TF to Ponape a few weeks ago that met a small DD TF so I think he was assuming they would still be there when in fact I had swapped them out for the CAs. It was certainly an entertaining watch seeing all his shots bounce whilst mine caused damage...

[Canoerebel]

Miller is a stud. You can see why Lady Gaga has been enamored with him for years.

[Miller]

ORIGINAL: Canoerebel

Miller is a stud. You can see why Lady Gaga has been enamored with him for years.

I wish[8D]