Pacific at War 1941-1945 v.3.63 Don is Allies

[larryfulkerson]

Hey that's a really good idea. Let's do it.

[larryfulkerson]

There's a major problem in the Peking area. The Chinese Communists are kicking my A$$ and they have surrounded the 44th Inf Rgt and I don't have the manpower to save them. It's looking like I need another three divisions up here to stop the Chinese from capturing Peking and to start pushing the ChiComs off the railroad. That's all I need from up here, the railroad. I need to be able to ship stuff from Korea all the way to Bangkok or even Singapore. That way I can ship troops back and forth depending on where they are needed. A tiny multiplier of my forces. It wouldn't help to station some ships just offshore because the fighting is so far away from the beach.

[larryfulkerson]

I've moved a lot of people into the southern part of the PI and have captured some ports and I discovered that there's a partisan in the port west of Batangas that I need to do something about; and I've brought in some engineers to get started on repairing the rail leading south from Manila to Legaspi. I've discovered some partisans in the north that I'll have to handle but other than that the take-down is proceeding on schedule.

[larryfulkerson]

I've moved a SCTF to the waters south of Port Moresby and I'm doing airfield bombardment and then I'm going to try bringing some people in here to take over the port. My KB carriers are parked near Lea to provide more aircraft for a CAP and I drove a DD into the port there at Cairns and found it empty and there was an airfield there so I flew some spotter planes to Cairns and I need an LCU to hold the spot. It's early to be invading Australia and I'll probably be ejected soon.

[larryfulkerson]

Here's what's going on in the Hong Kong area. I think I may have made a breakthrough in the Chinese lines and I may have a chance to roll up their lines and destroy a lot of them. Possibly. I've still got 13K of sea lift so I'm going to see if I can't reinforce the mainland in specific places and put a division on Truk. Just in case I might need it....actually I can use it to take Rabaul.

[larryfulkerson]

I have pushed out west from Bangkok and I intend to go investigate that Indian unit on the road. To see if I can't just push it out of the way and keep going to Rangoon. I've got about 6 more divisions in the home islands that I don't have enough sea lift for. I'm wondering if I should save most of them for Rangoon.

[Zovs]

So the Allies turn 2 was shuffling some stuff around. Tried several air attacks, one was against and airfield in China by some P-40's, it did not go so well. Lost a US DD while trying to move it to Australia, Sea Interdiction I think. Counterattacked in China with both factions, some success. Dug in in the PI, India, and elsewhere. Sent some reinforcements to counter the Jap invasion of Australia.

The Allies got their first success in the war on a transport near Corregidor Island.

Japs:


US:

[larryfulkerson]

I googled "Japanese recruitment poster pictures wwii" and I found lots of them; this is one typical poster from the period:

[larryfulkerson]

If you want to watch the playback from Don's T2 moves, I've attached his turn here below. My password is "password" without the quotes.

[larryfulkerson]

Here's what's going on in northern China right now. I'm getting my A$$ kicked. I'm going to need another couple of divisions at least, to save this situation. I've got the divisions in the home islands ready to sail so it's not a problem. I need to do it quick before my troops are surrounded and cut off.

[Zovs]

Thanks Larry I missed the house rule and double check and rectify when I get back from mini vacation

[larryfulkerson]

When I was watching the playback I thought I saw an Allied TF heading north and I thought I ought to move some units up there to establish an airfield so I can station some long range patrol aircraft ( Emily or Mavis ) up there to keep an eye on things. Kiska was empty so I just walked ashore and claimed the place. I'm working on getting the emergency generators going so at least we'll have some electricity tonight. Then I need to check out the fresh water system to get the water running and then I need to get the phones working and make sure the beach support teams are filling sandbags and digging pits for the AA guns along the runway and some near the beach and two for the HQ building area. The engineer unit posted there will do all the building of the barracks and workshops and make a platform for the radar that's enroute and rehibilitate the runway(s) as needed and enlarge the port and extend the pier to allow a CA of 30,000 tons to dock. I may need to move a more substantial LCU to Kiska in case the engineers are threatened. I'd like to see if I can't station some fighters on Kiska for a CAP but land-based fighters in the home islands might not have the range to get here. I may have to get one of my CVE's or CVL's to bring a naval squadron up here.

At Attu I have moved the subchaser far enough that any attacks would take more than one round and I don't want to spend that much of my turn yet. I'm going to get the subchaser to attack the port there to ensure that it's empty so that the LCU might be able to push over any defenders.

[larryfulkerson]

I put this cut and paste together to give me a better idea about what's going on where and what I need to do next. I need more troops in the Peking area, at least two divisions, and I could use some fresh troops in Malaya. The supply levels in Malaya are so low for my forces that they tire very quickly and I need to rotate the tired ones out of there.

I'm having problems clearing the bottleneck at Bangkok and I'd like to see more of my forces to the NW of Bangkok in the Burma area. From past experience I know that the supply lines from Bangkok to Rangoon aren't the greatest on the map and the terrain is restrictive and no quick progress should be expected in that area if there's any resistance at all.

Manila isn't rolling over as quick as I had planned because I had to rotate the ships to a friendly port to rearm ( re-gather their supply level ). I'm wondering how hard it would be to try to combine an attack at Singapore overland combined with a sea-borne assault supported by some heavy naval units. I need to get started taking down Sumatra and Java and fortunately the troops are ready to go.

[larryfulkerson]

I'm sorry dear readers, and Don personally: I need to breakaway from this AAR and do something about my game with Patrick. He's been waiting for a long time for some moves from me and this game's set of moves from me is taking way longer than I had planned. Let me get started on Patrick's game at least and I'll be right back.

[Zovs]

No worries I am on vacation an pc is out for repairs until Wednesday.

[larryfulkerson]

This is Calcutta right now and it doesn't look like much is defending there and I'm wondering why I can't just sail three or four divisions up there and take the place. Part of the problem is illustrated by the range arc(s) in the image....I don't have any LBA CAP for such an adventure. No fighter cover to put a fine point on it. I'll need to post some Zeros in Bangkok and see if they can reach because they have the longest range of any of my fighters. And I probably have some bomber aircraft that can reach that far from Bangkok. Some naval aircraft borne from a carrier deck is probably not a good idea. I need those for anti-ship duties...or rather, will have need for their services as soon as the Allied carriers come out to play, I'm guessing around early '42 or so.

[larryfulkerson]

I've moved some ships into the Port Moresby waters and I found some empty ports and claimed them. Now I need to move some people into them and take over the port. I've found an empty port at Carns too and claimed it also. Don is moving a sizeable tank unit north along the coastal road to grab Cairns back. I'm pretty sure he's got some RR engineers to repair the rail at Cairns. I'm thinking about putting some TF's together to see if I can't grab the east coast of Australia once I get Port Moresby. I would probably have trouble holding on to whatever I capture. It might be more trouble than it's worth. It depends on what Don has at New Zealand. He may have his carriers down there for all I know. I'll have to run some DD's down there and take a look around.

[larryfulkerson]

My recon found an empty port at New Zealand and I claimed it but there was an Allied light naval ship there and I didn't want to tangle with it yet and there was an aircraft unit based nearby and it's likely a fighter aircraft. There was no sea interception at any point....so I think the island is largely empty and a couple of Jap divisions could take over the place I think. Especially with support from ships. I don't have a tactical need for the island and it would be a strategic liability to grab it now. I've got other targets to go after first. Trouble is the more time that passes gives the Allies more time to fortify it. I assume that Don is moving his units out to the field to claim all the smaller islands on the chain from Pearl to OZ. He needs those islands to fly his fighters all the way from Pearl to OZ. So I need to grab one of them so as to stop the flow of aircraft along that chain. I'm thinking Tahiti might be a good place. I'll have to study the islands again to make sure.

[larryfulkerson]

I've played the Allied side before and as I remember it the Allies needed Johnson Island for the fighters to be able to reach the next island in the chain and the fighters are blocked if the Japs own Johnson Island, and I do. But I don't remember the bombers having that handicap. As I recall they can zoom all the way out to Ellis island as the first leg of their trek to OZ. So I need to capture Ellis and Samoa yet in order to stop the flow of Allied aircraft to the western regions. Don has probably flown everybody he's sending west already. I still need to grab those islands to prevent further fortification in the west. If I can establish my main naval base at Ellis I think I might be able to extend the war quite a bit.

[larryfulkerson]

Here's the Hong Kong area and I've driven an engineer unit toward Kwellin and it ran into an unknown Chinese unit embarked on the rail. I'm looking around for one or more units to run north and protect that engineer unit.

I think I need one more division yet to land at Hong Kong and drive toward Kwellin to capture the rail and keep going to the NE from there. I'm not sure if that's the AVG parked near Kwellin but if it is I need to find my best squadron of fighters, preferably Zeros, and contest their base. I'd like to be able to drive them into India just to get them out of my way. I can see the need for lots of airfield strikes in the near future. I think I need more bombers in this AO. I've got some that are based in the PI that I can move here. There's some more in the home islands that I'm saving for a rainy day. I'm wondering what the odds are that Don will sail some Allied units over to this side of the bay and capture Hong Kong or Canton while I'm not watching. I need some garrison units to hold those ports for me, instead of just leaving them open and empty.