Intellectus Ex Nihilo (Wal-Mart on Ice)

[Canoerebel]

4/15/42 to 4/20/42

China: No changes in the MLR. The IJ stack a hex NW of Sian has show various movement dots but now seems stationary. I think this reflects some uncertainty about whether to attack Sian now, wait for reinforcements, or seek to probe flanks. Overall, the Chinese MLR is somewhat tenuous but holding. This is a fascinating part of the game.

Burma: Under cover of KB, Dave has brought in reinforcements and probably supply and base forces, giving him a much more cohesive grip on the Burma and Malaya theaters. The Allied expeditionary army remains in the jungle, not quite surrounded. There's minimial hope for any part of them escaping, but they're drawing plenty of attention from enemy bombers and from some ground units.

Bay of Bengal: I think KB is in the vicinity but temporarily off the radar. The Allies hold Port Blair modestly. Dave should come hard for it. CV Hornet has arrived, giving me three USN CVs, two RN CVs, and Hermes. If Dave splits KB to help in the Pacific, perhaps....

Singers: No enemy attacks. Enemy bombing is mostly weak and ineffective. Allied AA fire uses some supply but it's worth it.

DEI: I still hold Batavia and Sabang, but those will vanish shortly. Cocos Island is still Allied and vacant.

SWPac: An enemy combat TF has been posted at Lunga for weeks. Dave hasn't expanded his perimeter. Little enemy activity here.

SoPac: Enemy subs around Fiji, Noumea and Christmas Island; otherwise, no enemy activity since Dave chased down Lex and killed her on Dec. 19. By the way, it turned out he lost three AOs up near Midway at the start of the chase. Man, he must've been low on fuel. Man, the thought of Lex still hurts. I'm in the process of turning Luganville and Efate into tough little bastions - not strong enough to risk alot but strong enough to require a real commitment.

CenPac: Utterly quiet. xAKLs make regular runs to Midway without altercation. Supply up to 18k; forts about 4.25.

NoPac: No enemy activity here ever. Here, too, I'm creating small redoubts - Kodiak, Dutch Harbor and Adak.

Air War: The Allies have done well, with Dave having lost about 300 more aircraft. The air war has been relatively vigorous early on, which I prefer.

[RangerJoe]

. . . By the way, it turned out he lost three AOs up near Midway at the start of the chase. . .

Anytime that you can get Japanese AOs/tankers/xaks loaded with fuel, they seem to burn up. I have killed Japanese ships with four hits from the PTs 50 caliber machine guns. they didn't even show heavy fires nor damage in the combat report. Once the fuel start to burn, they just can't seem to stop the fire. So even fighters without bombs can sink those ships just by starting fires. It is a good thing to remember so you don't load ships with troops and fuel. If someone did and the ship was attacked and started burning, I guess that you could call it a gas barbeque . . .

[Canoerebel]

4/21/42 to 5/3/42

We are flipping turns - usually four to six a day. The turns don't take long, at this early stage of the war. This marvelous uncomplexity and the speed we're playing at is a great deal of fun.

China: No changes in the MLR or the situation. Dave's has moved his forces around a bit in the Sian sector, which had previously been hot and very worrisome. He's either waiting for reinforcements or trying to figure out how to handle the strongpoint of Sian or both. This is the most troubling sector. Elsewhere, he keeps probing along the lengthy MLR, moving troops forward, only to find Chinese garrisons in good defensive terrain. At the moment, then, China is okay due to lack of enemy concerted attacks.

Burma: Two Japanese divisions are facing a rag-tag bunch of Allied troops at dot-base Katha. 1st Burma division is the heart of the Allied defense, which thus far has withstood a couple of deliberate attacks. So far the Japanese have taken heavier losses. Elsewhere, the Allies have knocked out more than half of Magwe's oil. The isolated Allied expeditionary army is very slowly moving further into the remote jungles, hoping to somehow find a way to China. Dave is ignoring the units at the moment.

Port Blair: Imperial Guards landed about three days back. My little bastion has proved weak indeed. There is an Indian brigade (trained from 30 exp. up to 46 at the time of attack) behind 3.98 forts (augh!) in jungle terrain and 100% prepped. I figured any enemy landing here would be hampered by lack of prep, but the IG came ashore in pristine condition. After two or three deliberate attacks, the base is about to fall. (Over at Sinabang, a mixed brigade landed against no opposition and got badly disabled, so IG must've been prepped.) KB is loitering around this area.

Singapore: No enemy attacks. Supply down to about 130k. Subs are bringing it in from Colombo, but only about six of them. More will participate soon.

DEI: Dave has take Batavia and all other occupied bases. The DEI is his, except for vacant island mop-up duty.

SWPac/SoPac: Other than a couple of subs, no enemy activity. The Allies are working on defenses at Luganville and Efate, with small garrisons sorta on the order of Port Blair...which means I'm not confident.

CenPac: Other than a couple of subs, no enemy activity. I've been working hard on Midway since the opening days of the war but it might be no more staunch than Port Blair.

NoPac: A combat engineer unit and another engineer unit are Adak are building forts. This is too far forward and therefore vulnerable. I won't bring in infantry until forts are 4. Similar fort building is going on at Dutch Harbor and Kodiak.

Air War: Japanese losses are 400+ Allied losses. This has been good, thus far.

Political Points: To this point, I've only bought out a few restricted units. Most PPs are spent on army, navy and air force commanders.

Experience: The game seems totally different this time around. I finally have enough experience that I (typically) know what I want to do, when and where. There's not a feeling of needing to be everywhere at once. There's not a feeling of needing to do something! quick! yesterday! Troops come in and go where they're needed. The West Coast, India and Oz are well protected. I've built almost no base facilities, instead concentrating on forts. It's fun to feel like I'm in control of the game rather than the game in control of me. And, nevertheless, I've got the usual troubles and some special self-inflicted ones (Allied expeditionary army, cough, cough.)

Fun!

[RangerJoe]

For atolls, I understand that the armor seems to be the best defense since they come through the bombardments fairly well. Since they really don't need much support unless there are disablements or the unit is in a prolonged combat, strip out any soft elements with APDs, then send them to atolls. If there is only motorized support left, leave that behind as well if you want. What you end up with is a lot of AV for the stacking cost. Since the invading troops should not have a lot of anti-armor capability this early, that should really make it tougher on the attackers. The unit can use excess support from other units, if there are any extra support squads.

Combat engineers are also good defenders since you won't need extra engineering units to build forts and repair installations. Again, after the forts are built, you can load the combat engineers squads in APDs and then load the non combat parts in transports. Unload the combat squads and send everything else to another base to build it up. Combat engineers not need the engineering vehicles to fight with since they do not represent bulldozer tanks and other such vehicles.

Doing this with these types of units will also save PP on buy back costs and the time it takes for them to return. Since they will also have a lot of equipment they may also rebuild faster if the portion in combat is lost.

[Canoerebel]

5/4/42 to 5/15/42

China: The Allied MLR remains intact. Enemy units continue to probe and haven't yet invested Sian.

Burma: SigInt reports reinforcements inbound, but at the moment the situation is stable. 1st Burma Div. is holding back two enemy divisions at Katha. The isolated Allied divisions are making slow progress through the jungle. Surely Dave will block their routes of egress and destroy them. But it'll be awhile.

Bay of Bengal: Port Blair fell quickly and without much of a whimper. I think KB remains somewhere in the Andaman Sea. Where next? Does Dave have designs on Diego, Ceylon or India? Death Star is posted at Colombo under a bunch of LBA CAP.

Singapore: No enemy attacks. Supply at 118k. About 25 subs now involved in the supply live, Colombo to Singers.

Philippines: Unbelievably, the Allies still hold Clark Field. Dave couldn't taken it a month ago easily. He's content to destroy/disable 5 to 10 squads per day by bombardment. He has about 1600 AV. I'm down to about 480. If he attacked, it would be 3:1 with forts falling to zero. What's he waiting for? Two divisions, a mixed brigade and a ton of arty have been languishing here for months.

DEI: Enemy air HQ at Koepang makes it too hot for my patrolling DDs to sneak in. He's reconning Wyndham and Darwin. I withdrew my guys two months ago due to supply woes.

SWPac/SoPac: Enemy hasn't ventured forth. Allies continue their work on Luganville and Efate, which are forward observation posts. I think Pago Pago is mostly secure. A Marine RCT is inbound to Tahiti.

CenPac: An enemy sub working the lanes between Midway and Pearl, but waypoints allow regular xAKL deliveries of supply.

NoPac: No enemy activity now or ever. While little efforts are being made to improve Adak and Dutch Harbor, bigger work is being done at Anchorage, Seward and Whittier.

[Canoerebel]

5/16/42 to 5/18/42

Philippines: The Japanese take Clark Field in an 8:1 attack that destroys six units, the balance retiring to Bataan. Since that last base has long been out of supply, Dave need only advance a mixed brigade to finish off the Allies.

As with every game of AE, the fall of Luzon will free up Japanese infantry, artillery and air forces. I'm interested in seeing if Dave finally begins a push somewhere in the Pacific, reinforces China, or has ambitions in India/Burma.

We're nearing late May. The Japanese are powerful. But the Allies are by no means toothless. By this date in my game with John III (218 years ago, it seems), the Allies were organizing for an amphibious assault in the Marshalls along with a quick landing at Ramree Island that turned into an epic, month's long sea and air battle. I'm not working any such notions at the moment, though Allied troops are moving forward steadily. In this game, I haven't been on the defensive nearly as much as I was in the game, so I'm tyring to build up little strongpoints in places like Luganville and the Aluetians.

[Bif1961]

Since there is no Corregidor in the game, when Bataan falls it stands for both and as you stated Bataan is out of supply and will fall quickly, it appears he will have many fresh units to employ elsewhere soon and you will know what his main axis of advance will be.

[Canoerebel]

He only has three infantry units involved: two divisions and a mixed brigade. So Luzon doesn't free up a real army, but it'll be interesting to see where they go. Thus far, three days after Clark's fall, he's still using the same bomber squadrons to hit Bataan. He might think it'll be a tougher nut than it actually will be.

Meanwhile, the last enemy attack at Singapore was on March 30. He's prepping his troops. SigInt reports that Imperial Guards, which recently took Fort Blair, is included in that prep. So he's waiting on reinforcements and good prep before attacking again, I suppose.

[Bif1961]

The the troops in PI might end up trying to crack the tough nut you have turned Singapore into.

[Canoerebel]

5/19/42 to 5/23/42

Bataan: The opening Japanese attack comes off at 2:1 and drops forts to 2. Bataan should fall tomorrow.

Can you spot the detail that bodes ill for Japan?

[Canoerebel]

5/24/42 to 5/28/42

Philippines: The tattered remnant of the Allied army at Bataan - 33 units - surrendered today. I didn't do a good job of handling supply to Luzon but the garrison nevertheless held out much longer than I'd have expected even had I done an excellent job.

Elsewhere: Things look exactly the same as for the last major update, about 10 turns back. Of course, there's probably all kinds of major activity going on underneath the hood, as Dave prepares to do something somewhere or somewheres.

[Uncivil Engineer]

ORIGINAL: Canoerebel

5/24/42 to 5/28/42

Philippines: The tattered remnant of the Allied army at Bataan - 33 units - surrendered today. I didn't do a good job of handling supply to Luzon Neither did MacArthur but the garrison nevertheless held out much longer than I'd have expected even had I done an excellent job.

Elsewhere: Things look exactly the same as for the last major update, about 10 turns back. Of course, there's probably all kinds of major activity going on underneath the hood, as Dave prepares to do something somewhere or somewheres.

[RangerJoe]

Yes, MacArthur could have loaded trains with supplies and put them on the rail line on Bataan but did not do so.

The problem with the previous post is that I did not see the problem for Japan - other than the date.

[Canoerebel]

The problem was that Dave brought to Bataan the entire army that had vanquished Clark Field. He only needed a modest portion. He could've sent a division or two and a lot of the artillery on to new pastures, giving them a two-week head start.

[Canoerebel]

5/29/42 to 6/1/42

China: No change in the MLR. There are new stirrings. I think Dave is gathering forces to push in the southern (Liuchow to Changsha) sector. I haven't seen new units around Sian, though that sector is still of chief concern.

Burma: Two enemy divisions pushed 1st Burma Division and a rag-tag assortment of supporting units out of Katha, doing bad things to them. So the Allies will be pushed out of upper Burma within a few weeks.

Bay of Bengal: I'm not sure KB is still in this region, but that's my working hunch. DS remains posted at Colombo. If he comes for Ceylon with anything other than full KB, I might fight for it (not on the ground but giving naval opposition).

Singapore: No enemy attacks since March 31. SigInt shows troops and HQs prepping. Supply at 108k and dropping steadily, but somewhat slowly due to the 30 or so subs that are part of the bucket brigade from Colombo. Would it be worth it to upgrade the Indian divisions to '42 combat squads? How much supply does that take for a full division?

The Vast Pacific: No real signs of enemy stirrings anywhere from the Aleutians to Australia. I'm still working the little strengthening/reinforcing efforts, but nothing major is going on.

[Bif1961]

Not the Indian divisions in Singapore as they will eventually die and take all those squads with them. Better to wait after they die and you buy them back out or have a remnant that you can start to fill out with the 42 squads.

[Canoerebel]

That makes sense. Thanks.

[USSAmerica]

Dan, keep in mind that when you upgrade inf squads, the "old" squads are returned to the pool as upgraded squads. So, in Singers, your Ind Inf squads could upgrade to Ind Inf 42 squads (assuming you have enough 42 squads on your pool) without actually reducing the number of 42 squads in the pool. From this angle, you're not losing anything when your forces finally are defeated here, but you might make it a bit harder on Japan.

Supply is the part of the question I can't answer while I'm away from my game. Not sure if there is any supply cost to upgrade the squads and what it might be.

[Canoerebel]

It's going to take time to wrap my head around this. So, if I upgrade an Indian division that has '41 squads to '42 squads, the '41 squads go into the pool as '42 squads? Is that right? That would be good to know (how come I don't know so many things after playing this game 217 years?)

The supply cost is what's preventing from doing this, so if any peanut gallerians or lurkers know, please chime in.

[Lokasenna]

ORIGINAL: Canoerebel

It's going to take time to wrap my head around this. So, if I upgrade an Indian division that has '41 squads to '42 squads, the '41 squads go into the pool as '42 squads? Is that right? That would be good to know (how come I don't know so many things after playing this game 217 years?)

The supply cost is what's preventing from doing this, so if any peanut gallerians or lurkers know, please chime in.

They may actually go into the pool was '41 squads, but they will upgrade/switch to '42 squads eventually. Usually happens fairly quickly, actually.