Quisling! An AFB does Japan (No PanzerKat)

[John B.]

My spidey sense was tingling because Scott was paying too much attention to Chinae (sp?) and the coast of Korea. For example, he seemed very interested in bombing the airfields there and in mining the straits between my fleet and Korea. So, I stared moving units there a few turns ago (see above posts) and it looks like it paid off. At least for now. He landed a provision armored regiment that took heavy losses landing and then was destroyed by my bombardment because if it's a gun tube, and its in the Manchukuo army it's either at Fusan or Chinae. We'll see if there is any follow up.

[RangerJoe]

I think that at 2:1 losses, you are winning in the sense that he has to have at least that level of total points for victory. You are probably not losing as many pilots as he is. His OPs and his flak losses also count and some of them may be 4Es. If you want to increase his OPs losses, if you can LRCAP his bases, his OPs losses should increase. It does not take much, even 10% and they don't have to be the best planes either.

[John B.]

Hey Ranger Joe, you're correct. Assuming I get no more VP he still needs about 77,000 VP to win and, if the game ends at the end of August 45 that's tough to do. If it ends in December 45 then he has an easier path. The manual seems say that I have to hold out to December but Alfred had a post awhile ago saying you just had to make it to Sept.1st.

He loses a lot of 4e bombers to flak. It works to his advantage when he strat bombs me as he nets more VP, that's why I'm happy to shot down his planes when he bombs my airfields. My biggest fear right now is that he goes after the NK-45 engine plants. That would basically stop the production of my best fighters.

Sadly, I'm not 100% sure of where he flies the 4es out of and it's likely that he is out of range of my LRCAP. As for airfields that are closer in, when I have planes close to him he obliterates the airbase so I wind up losing more than I get. But, when I can do it I try to pull it off.

[John B.]

Another day of Scott bombing my airfields. This time he included Shanghai. Frankly, I'm leaving bad planes on the ground in places with high AA values just to see if he continues to attack them. I get points for 4es shot down and he's not strat bombing me.

[John B.]

But, Scott does seem to be making some kind of play for Korea. He pulled out of his invasion on the southern coast and then landed with fast transports up north and in more force in the southwest corner. At the very least it is giving the army in Manchuria something to do. I've got divisions set up in the non-clear terrain and other units that had already headed down this way in Pusan and next door. Not sure if this is a feint to draw me away from the clear coast of china proper or the start of a two pronged effort to take me out of China. time will tell.

[John B.]

One minor success at Chingae (next door to Pusan). MTBs took out several LSTs. Not a big victory, but just about anything helps Japanese morale.

[RangerJoe]

He might be trying to activate the Soviets early but the Korean garrison also counts, if I am not mistaken.

Leaving broken and out dated aircraft for him to bomb works good for you if he is losing a 4E for every one of yours. But it looks like he is losing well over 2 aircraft for every one of yours. If he is not scoring any other points with his aircraft, he is losing the air war points wise.

[John B.]

Sadly, he won the airwar battle this time because I sent unescorted bombers into the teeth of his CAP. I was trying to be cute but it did not work out the way I had hoped. I'm sure the pixel widows and orphans will forgive me. Still, it was not all terrible. He did lose a number of 4e planes (including 5-6 B-29s) so it was not an outrageous disaster and my bombers are pretty much useless these days anyway. Sadly, he finished off two BBs and several DDs that were in the repair yard at Hiroshima.

The Korean troops do appear to count towards the Manchukuo garrison so I'm taking troops out of Manchuria and sending them south. So far, this appears to be more of an attempt to take Korea on the cheap than a major invasion. He has the NZ brigade up north, he landed an armored brigade near Pusan that was destroyed and he has a few units in the south west.

[John B.]

January 14th and the ground action continues to be focused on Korea. Scott has a number of units on the peninsula and I'm railing more in each turn. It's a maze of clear terrain hexes that I'm trying to stay out of and I hope I can bottle him up here for awhile as I've been able to do in China. But, Manchuria is going to be a total cake walk for the Soviets.

In the Naval report, I put two torpedoes into a Pearl BB. No reports of serious damage but it should be pretty much out for the war.

[John B.]

For some reason the picture is not loading so I'll wait to post the rest of the turn's news.

[RangerJoe]

Depending upon what he has in Korea, can you mass armour and quickly try to overwhelm him? Depending upon your air situation, when you do this try to sweep away any Allied fighter coverage even if you don't bomb there.

[John B.]

Hi Ranger Joe, my three armor divisions are on the other of the Hankow Changsha rail gap so it would be awhile before I could get them there. I need to protect the high VP locations of Chungking and Chengtu so I may leave the armor where it is.

And, Scott pretty much has total air superiority everywhere by now except for select turns where I can mass. But, it is something to keep an eye on as opportunities open up.

[John B.]

But, speaking of temporary air superiority, Scott sent his heavies over Hiroshima last turn and either his sweeps did not go in or he neglected to send them because it was a 4e massacre. The B-24Js took it the hardest but there were losses throughout the board. Scott did get HI hit and knocked out bout half the George 2 factories but at a very heavy cost. I'm sure a lot of pilots were lost and many of the planes that made it back are damaged so hopefully it slows down the strat bombing just a little bit.

[GetAssista]

ORIGINAL: John B.
Hi Ranger Joe, my three armor divisions are on the other of the Hankow Changsha rail gap so it would be awhile before I could get them there. I need to protect the high VP locations of Chungking and Chengtu so I may leave the armor where it is.

Armor value is in its maneuverability. Leaving it in the backyard you miss out on having a mobile reserve where it counts - on the shores. Infantry divisions are just as good in static defense

[John B.]

That's a good point. My thinking is that manchuria/korea are lost eventually to the Soviets anyway so I'll leave the armor to hold onto the Chungking complex if I can. The armor is very maneuverable but, you put it in a clear hex where it is most effective and it gets "hammered" by allied bombing. I may be a little scared by what has happened to my armor so far.

[John B.]

Another turn and not much drama in the air.

[John B.]

But it does look like Scott is all in on Korea. I've identified about 20 more units there. I think I can keep the rail line to Keijo open for awhile and I'm putting divisions in the north to prevent him from cutting off the entire peninsula. Meanwhile, the is a new airbridge from Japan to Korea with every transport I can must flying supplies into Fusan. Probably about 300 supply points per turn which is better than nothing.

[John B.]

January 17 and overall not a bad turn. I lost too many planes on the ground but that was my own fault as I tried to rebase short range planes to Shanghai and they hopped on the RR thus showing up in need of reassembly. And the B-29s showed up before the reassembly took place. But, it's January 1945 and I'm still sort of winning!

[John B.]

January 18th and not too much happened. Scott bombed Nagasaki without too much effect and lost several planes even though I've been taking AA out and putting in Fukokua and Hiroshima. A good turn to rebuild my fighters and convert more into Frank rs.

[John B.]

One sad note is that apparently the train swtichmen in Korea are on strike as they sent two groups in strat mode into hexes with Americans in them. It's almost as if the Koreans resent being part of the Glorious East Asia Japanese Prosperity Sphere. I can't imagine why?