Mushrooms over Maizuru: Chickenboy (J) vs. AcePylut (A)

[AcePylut]

KB has disappeared from the map

With Suva and Singapore being lost recently, things have entered a "quiet" phase, while CB adjust for the next phase. This will include taking the rest of the DEI, getting Rangoon (at least), and probably a few Aleutian islands. I do not know if he plans on making a "serious thrust" somewhere (like OZ, or India) or not, nothing's really come up on SigInt.

At Suva, he did have the 4th ID. This division, by itself, could not take Suva from the small NZ detachment that started on the island. CB had to bring in *4* other landing units (approx 60AV each) to finish the island. I will look at the unit ID and see if any of them engaged in previous invasions. This might indicate that some conquered islands are "open" for a quick counter-invasion.

[AcePylut]

Sorry a few days late on this...


NOt much to report, another week has passed.

2 things of note - Chickenboy has been kicking the tires with "small fry ships" around Tabiteuea this last week...

And...

""25th Group Army HQ" (or whatever it is) is planning for an attack on Colombo" So that's where he's going next...

[rustysi]

I was beginning to wonder where you went.[:)]

[AcePylut]

I”ve been rather busy at work and haven’t really had time to do any updates… but this weekend I’ll get a big “around the map” update done. It will be March 1st 1942 for the update.

[rustysi]

That would be great.

I get it. The game is enough of a commitment, doing an AAR just adds that much more. I do appreciate the effort.[&o]

[AcePylut]

Also 0- updates are fun when lots of fun stuff is happening... but not a lot has happened.

Denpassar was invaded. I asked why, it has an already built port and airfield.

Manila held to another deliberate attack. It was 1-1, so the end is near. Also, I'm out of supplies, but thankfully Manila makes its own. Once the PI is conquered, I will ask CB why he didn't take Bataan and run daily BB bombardments.

In China, I have two lines of defense setup in three locations (Sian, Changsa, Kweilin are the 1st lines of defense)

In the South Pac, Suva is Japanese. Pago Pago has about 150AV. Tab has it's US regiment. Tahiti is really being built up quickly, however, I'm suspecting some deep raid as CB has, over the last three turns, constantly commented on the large numbers of stuff there.

I've moved a number of 4EB to India. I"m building up Cochin and Madras for the expected Ceylon invasion. I'm going to work to heavily reinforce this island and make it a schwerpunkt. Problem is, the Brit 56th and 3 Indian regiments are chillaxin in the Perth region, and I'll have to relocate them. That should take about 3-4 weeks. But that's if I want to leave the Perth region open. Idk yet.

I'm about ready to begin forward reinforcing the Aleuts.

[rustysi]

Denpassar was invaded. I asked why, it has an already built port and airfield.

Helps isolate Java.

Once the PI is conquered, I will ask CB why he didn't take Bataan and run daily BB bombardments.

Those BB bombardments will run afoul of CD guns.

[AcePylut]

That's why I wonder why he hasn't taken Bataan. Eliminates those CD guns.

[AcePylut]

CB and I are moving right along. It’s March 9th.

Manila still holds, but it’s out of supply and will only withstand another deliberate attack – or if I’m lucky, 2 attacks.

Many of my Aussie reinforcements that arrive in Aden are starting to land in Columbo in Ceylon. Remember, it was in the middle of Feb that I received an intel report that “25th Group Army is planning an attack on Columbo”. At this point, I will fight for this base. I’ve relocated about 50 B17 planes to India, and am rapidly building up a secret base on the Indian continent to handle these beasts.

In Oz, I received an intel report that another group army HQ (16th perhaps?) is planning for an attack on Perth. I was anticipating this move from Dec 7th, and thus have the Brit 18th Div and 3-4 unrestricted Indian Corps in Oz. Kalgoorie and Dunerdein (sp) are being built up to handle some 2E bombers. I have a large number of US fighter groups and bomber groups in Oz. I am shifting some of my Ozzie troops in Sydney over in this direction for added defense.

Also, I Catalina’d a fragment of the Cavite and Cebu naval base forces from the PI over to Oz. One of them is being restored to full strength at Melbourne. The other will rebuild up as soon as Manila falls. Old habits from original WITP die hard I guess. These Eng units have 300 Nav support when built. Between this, and the Eastern Fleet (shifted to OZ from Columbo back in December/Jan), Oz will be a nice platform for naval operations.

Marcus was counter-attacked by the Japanese and lost,... because I had withdrawn my Marine Raider regiment back to Kure Island (by Midway). I had left 6 SS on the island, and they have scored a few hits on enemy xAK’s supplying the island.

At Tab, I was counter-attacked, by my single INF regiment threw the dirty Japanese back into the sea. My unit then suffered a couple of devastating sea bombardments – but those stopped as soon as one of my subs parked a torp into the Kirishima, and the KB fled when another of my subs shot at one of his fleet CV's (but missed). As of right now, CB is using small craft to interdict any resupply efforts. I’ve lost some xAK’s resupplying the island. For now, I’m fine with this island being a ‘thorn in his side’. If one INF regiment and a few xAK’s is all it takes to focus his attention for a few months, then that’s an exchange I’m happy to make.

In the North Pac, no moves have been made towards any of my islands, but perhaps that will change when the bad weather goes away. I’m preparing for the Mini-KB to show up, and all 4 of my US fleet carriers and 3 Brit CV’s are enroute to Alaska. I’ve got AVD’s in place along the Aleuts, and 5 search gropus in Anchorage just waiting to deploy forward. In a couple days, my first Seabee unit and Port Detatchment will land at Adak Island. Within the next 2-3 weeks, a full US Inf Div will land, along with AA, Arty, BF, etc. This will hopefully be another schwerpunkt to focus attention.

In China – I’ve received a couple of reports of units planning for an attack on Changsa. I’m a little thin in this area, but have been trying to “make a show that I have much more” than I have by constantly shifting troops around and between the 3-4 bases adjacent to Changsa. I’m doing this so that CB doesn’t get a good bead on what, exactly, I have there, and hopefully he’ll assume I have more... because why wouldn't I?

I’ve got the Japanese stopped cold in the woods to the SE of Sian. I’ve got a secondary line of defense along the dirt path at Ankang. Over by Kweilein – I’ve got a number of units digging in. I’ve also got a second line of defense building behind the river running E-W there between Chungking and Kweilin. This secondary line of defense will be for if/when the Changsa pocket and Kweilin Axis falls.

[AcePylut]

March 10th, 1942...

Down goes Manila. She fell today to a shock attack. I asked CB why he didn't take Bataan and run bombardments in and out...


"
I thought about focusing on Batan and then using BBs vs. Manila after it was captured. Three things kept me from doing that:

One: You had almost 90k troops there at Manila (according to my recon). If I moved most of my striking force out onto the peninsula to reduce Batan, you could have reversed my gains around the rest of Luzon and moved through my lightly defended backfield. When it was clear that you were NOT going to leave Manila an 'open city', then I had to control hexside ingress/egress and ensure that you couldn't get out.

Two: After you moved out your airforce early and often, the skies were mine to do what I saw fit. IJAAF bombers don't have to contend with minefields and naval guns to reduce supply and prevent additional 'digging in' by damaging airfield and runways and port facilities. I've lost a fair number of Sallies and Lillies due to AAA, but I would have been more hesitant to submit BBs and other escort ships to what I'm sure was a very heavily mined harbor.

Three: I'm pretty certain that Batan won't stand long once it's invested. 10-12,000 troops? Big deal.

I'm on my slow and steady timeline now in Luzon again. What do I need Manila for that Basuanga and / or Naga can't be used for? It'll take me a month or two to repair that shipyard and the naval facilities anyways. But in the meantime, I have Hong Kong, CRB, Saigon, Singapore and the Home islands to do that work. As far as airfields, I've got Clark-so I can beat Batan to death from the air with the IJAAF, akin to Manila.

Manila and Clark are the prizes on Luzon. Batan needs to be invested and captured, sure, but it's a 'secondary' consideration, per my commentary above re: expansion zone. An annoyance that needs to be liquidated-but in due time.

There are other urgencies and goals that we turn our eyes towards now..."



I replied that in my opinion, a couple of IJ divisions is enough to hold the US in Manila.. for future reference. I didn't tell him that I only have a couple of INF units in Bataan and it would have fallen very quickly.

Also, those "other urgencies and goals".... as I've noted previously, intel told me about a major HQ planning for an attack on Colombo, and another on Perth. These are where I believe the next strike is coming, and I'm preparing to fight for them.

My first batch of units is unloading on Adak Island. The rest of my Infantry, AA, CD, BF, will be coming in over the next 2 weeks and then she'll be in fortification building mode. About 1 month from now, I'll have 5 US Fleet CV's and a couple of Brit CV's in the NorthPac to tangle with and destroy the Mini-KB, if it shows up.

[rustysi]

intel told me about a major HQ planning for an attack on Colombo, and another on Perth.

His knowing that your intel will inform you of such things could make one or both of these false info. Even in an AI game I do such things just to keep in practice.

At any rate thanks for the update. Was looking forward to it.

[AcePylut]

Good points and definitely worth considering. What I liked about it, was that it was "army" level HQ's. I haven't seen any other intel reports of any other troops (HQ, INF, Arm etc.) that are targeting anything else. I keep an eye on it every day. These two bits of intel have been the only "planning for an attack" intel for a base that wasn't in the "usual" expansion regions so it's what I have to follow, for the time being.

The only thing I really have to fear is an invasion along India's coast between Madras and Calcutta, combined with an attempt to blockade Ceylon and prevent the units there from getting to the mainland. All of that would fall in range of my super-secret heavy bomber base, though If he pushes heavy through Burma, I'll have plenty of advance notice and can take countermeasures.

If he lands elsewhere in Oz, well that's ok because I have a good rail line and am keeping some of the troops close to Perth in strat mode to quickly relocate if the need arises.

I hope the presence of my units in the Gilbert Islands will keep his attention long enough to complete reinforcement of Pago Pago. I'm good with my other bases (for the most part). I'd like to flesh out Kure Island a little better, and would like to get some decent quality stuff into Canton and Baker Island. Right now I’m shuttling 2 ship baby boat tf’s between PH and Dutch Harbor as a picket line. Once Adak gets a little more built up and can accept fuel, I’ll make that picket line run between Midway and Adak, thus my desire to slightly improve Kure Island as an alternate PBY and maybe a "couple fighter squadron" base.

I think he thinks that I have the Brit 18th Division in Rangoon. I don't. That, along with another division's worth of Indian troops, are at the bases 2 and 5? hexes east of Perth.

[AcePylut]

One last tricky dicky move I’ve done. There are around 4-6 Chinese INF units that start the game with about 40-50 fighting squads that can be bought out for very few PP. These units can be built up to contain approximately 160-170 fighting squads each. I’ve paid the PP to buy them out (right before they cross into Burma) and am shuttling them to the rear lines in India for garrison duty. I’ll slowly build them up to max strength and good exp. I figure that this will add about another 1000 AV into India for me and free up some of the Indian units to be used on an emergency basis.

As the accounting goes... I’ve sucked about 300 available low-exp AV from China, can build them up in India to around 1000 AV at no supply drain to China, which in turn allows resting Chinese units to use that supply to un-disable their own troops.

Should CB go for a knockout in China and succeed, these Chinese units will be the vanguard of my counterattack.

[Lecivius]

Sneaky bugger [8D]

[AcePylut]

Couple more turns in the books...

The reinforcement of Colombo goes well. She's up to 800AV with more on the way. Madras, Chochin, and my secret heavy bomber base are building af as fast as possible. My secret bomber base is almost level 3.

Units slated for Perth, Cunedin, and Kalgoori are arriving so that's nice. I should be ok here, barring some 6 ID attack. I have a number of the US 2EB groups here, including my P38's. If he does try and land here, I plan on decimating his carrier fighters

Adak Island has multiple CB units, a couple of INF units. I have a division of troops at Prince Rupert, so as soon as my "first wave" of transports gets back, this ID will move forward.

Tab received much needed supplies on an APD fast transport run. CB and I are playing cat and mouse with him trying to interdict my ships, and me trying to avoid his. The day after my APD's made a drop off, a Jap SCTF fleet with some CL's arrived to intercept, but got nothing. My ss launched some torps at him but they all missed... so the next day, a Jap fleet of PB's showed up to try and depth charge my SS. LOL. fun stuff here

A deliberate attack by the IJ 3 hexes S on Ankang was repulsed with horrible casualties on the Japanese side and not too many on my side.

[CaptBeefheart]

Playing against the Ironman AI the first time I received sigint of an IJ army group of some sort planning for Auckland, so I panicked a bit and sent some Marines to Kiwiland. When it happened the next time I played Ironman, I knew better. Anyway, I figured out it was an HQ based in China (maybe even Manchuria) and it was a clever Andy Mac ruse.

I'd look into where those HQs planning for Perth and Colombo start the game. To my thinking, prepping an IJ HQ for a real target is probably not worth the sigint risk.

Cheers,
CB

[AcePylut]

Thing is, outside of seeing one INF rgt planning for an attack on Wake Island - I don't have any other sigint about anything else planning attacks on any other "Post-DEI Conquest" locations . Also, Ceylon and Perth are "natural" targets for expansion.

With CB's move to Suva, he can easily interdict the US/Tahiti/NZ/Oz supply line. That would only leave me with the Cape Town to Perth supply line... and if Perth falls, OZ is closed off to supply.

With Ceylon - if he takes that island, he'll bottle up the British fleet between Aden/Karachi.

These two places would be good moves, so the sigint is semi-believable.

Until I receive info to the contrary, I need to plan for this.

In Oz, it's no big deal I can strat move everything down by Perth to elsewhere on Oz in a week. In Ceylon, well Colombo and Trincomalee(sp) are big fat bases with monster size ports. He gets those, and blammo he has a nice easily defendable forward base.

[Canoerebel]

Japanese control of Perth complicates Capetown to Oz merchant convoys but doesn't close Oz off to supply.

[AcePylut]

At Carnarvon (14hexes N of Perth), I’ve got a picket line of ships moving west to the map edge before returning for fuel by a number of baby-AO's in the port. These pickets are my “eyes and ears” that are “guarding” the CT to Perth supply line. Each tf consists of an xAKL and an aMC (little minesweeper ship) so they move pretty slowly, and there’s – on average – about 2 hexes between each tf. Losing Perth means I’ll lose this picket line for certain.

I have absolutely no issues using xAKL’s and aMC’s as picket ships.. especially since I’m adhering to our HR of 2 ships in a tf’s at a minimum. Any “fishing trawler” with a radio can double as a picket line, and imho, a baby transports like an xAKL is nothing more than a fishing trawler with a radio.

Other than a random sub appearing 1 hex west of Perth at various times (which is typically met with a resounding thud of airplanes on ASW and 3-4 ASW tf’s) – nothing has yet tried to sail into my CT-Perth line.

I’m recognizing this “now”, but was entirely unintended when I chose to do so…. one of my first moves in the game was to ship the Brit 18th Division to OZ, along with a couple of Indian INF Regiments. The byproduct of this was that all those Aus units arriving up to April ’42 were able to get dumped in India, instead of making a potentially perilous and/or exceedingly lengthy journey to Oz.

In one other sneaky petey move on CB’s part – I have a number of Sigint on units planning to attack Changsa. If you recall, a couple months ago CB moved into Changsa, stuck around a couple of weeks, then pulled back and “seemingly” shifted his attack vector to the Sian axis and the far west axis (along Kwielin (sp)). I am coming to the conclusion that this was a feint in order to draw my forces away from Changsa. I’ve noticed more and more IJ units “appearing” near the Changsa axis, and am relocating some of my interior units forward to the Changsa region (specifically, those two bases west of Changsa), and working to pull back some of my units from the other axis(plural) to reinforce my 2nd line of defense in the region.

[CaptBeefheart]

Fair enough. You certainly want to be ready for either eventuality in the absence of other intel. You may not see a "1/2 Inf Div on San Francisco Maru heading to Geraldton" message until it's one day away.

Cheers,
CB