Awakening the Giant - DesertWolf101 (A) vs szmike (J)

[DesertWolf101]

December 28, 1941

New Britain

With the KB having successfully swept the area, the Japanese land the 146th Infantry Regiment at Rabaul. I had previously laid 75 mines there but these prove ineffective during the Japanese landing operation.

Malaya

Having utilized my Buffalo fighters to good effect over the last turn, I surmised that Mike would be focusing on sweeps today so I grounded my fighters for some R&R. Sure enough, 38 Oscar fighters sweep over Singapore this turn and meet no resistance.

The USAAF heavy bombers however get no rest, and depart to strike Kota Bharu where I suspected the Japanese had massed significant airpower. 3 B-17 bombers are lost to the 16 Oscars on CAP and the flak at the base but the bombers still do a decent job in hurting the airfield, destroying about 10 Japanese aircraft in the process.

[DesertWolf101]

December 29, 1941

Malaya

Mike leans into a night bombing effort in an attempt to keep up the pressure on Singapore. 11 Betty bombers made it over the island during the night but to no effect, with one being brought down by flak. During the day, 45 Zero fighters sweep but find no resistance.

In the ground war, the Imperial Army takes Kuala Lumpur and Utan Melintang.

New Britain

Despite the aid of some bombing runs from the KB, the Rabaul defenders repulse the first attack by the 146th Infantry Regiment.

Borneo

I decide to give the heavy bombers a reprieve so they go on a milk run to keep the damage up on the airfields at Singkawang.

Seagull float planes from Tarakan strike Brunei’s port and put a 250lb bomb into a Japanese AKL there.

Ceram Sea

Dutch sub KIX got into position to launch 4 torpedoes at CVE Hosho but unfortunately they all missed. This is the second time that one of my submarines launched fish at a Japanese carrier but no luck yet.

Ambon

During the night, Japanese battleships Hyuga and Ise bombarded Ambon but to little effect.

China

The ground war in China heated up this turn. Mike defeated a rearguard garrison and successfully took over Chengchow, but the Japanese suffered a couple of bloody noses in deliberate attacks against entrenched Chinese positions at Tsiaotso and in the forests northwest of Nanyang.

[DesertWolf101]

December 30, 1941

Malaya

B-17 bombers strike Taiping airfield from which a large sentai of Zero fighters is operating. Unfortunately, none of the Zero’s are destroyed on the ground despite numerous hits on the airfield.

China

Japanese forces are marching on Wuchow from Canton. I was debating fighting it out there but given his prevalence of bombers I decided it was wiser to pull back into the wooded terrain. In the meantime, Chinese bombers are harassing and slowing down Mike’s advancing troops.

[DesertWolf101]

December 31, 1941

Submarines

Near Carnarvon, CM Rigel is sunk by a prowling Japanese sub. These are no longer safe waters.

Malaya

Scores of Zero and Oscar fighters sweep over Singapore but encounter no resistance. Now I fully expect Mike to send in the bombers next so I will contest the skies next turn. Given the sheer number of Japanese fighters around though I am not very optimistic as to the results.

Philippines

75 Betty and 32 Nell bombers plaster Clark airfield while to the south, Japanese troops land at Zamboanga in Mindanao via APDs.

Indochina

The B-17 bombers attempted to strike at Saigon port but encountered significant flak. Only a single Japanese coastal minelayer was sunk.

China

Japanese forces seize an abandoned Loyang.

[mind_messing]

Nvm, Alfred's post hadn't loaded and it covers it better than j could

[mind_messing]

ORIGINAL: DesertWolf101

Allied Signals Intelligence

Speaking of Sigint, I was wondering about some aspects of Allied intelligence in the game. Judging from some of the reports I get, I am fairly certain that at least some of the sigint the Allied player receives is inaccurate (radio intelligence near Diego Garcia on the first day, CM picked up in Karachi, call sign for a converted vessel in the first few days that requires more than a few days to convert, etc.). I wonder if the veracity of the intel improves on average over time or if it stays generally at the same level of reliability? Furthermore, are there some types of Sigint reports that are more likely to be inaccurate relative to others? I'm curious what others have experienced with this.

Best tip here is to visually check bases where you get two or more "heavy radio traffic" hits.

You'll normally get a very crude peek at what's in the base. In terms of actionable intelligence, I've found it useful for finding enemy shipping hubs and deployment of subs.

Similarly, check any hex specific radio messages visually as well. I once got two days notice of an invasion from a "radio signals in hex 101,101" message (as Japan!).

[DesertWolf101]

ORIGINAL: mind_messing

Nvm, Alfred's post hadn't loaded and it covers it better than j could

I managed to read your post before you deleted it mind_messing and I found it quite useful as it further hammered home a number of the points that Alfred and others have made above. The devil is indeed in the details and I am quickly familiarizing myself with all the upgrade paths and various TOEs as the game continues. Thank you.

[mind_messing]

ORIGINAL: DesertWolf101

ORIGINAL: mind_messing

Nvm, Alfred's post hadn't loaded and it covers it better than j could

I managed to read your post before you deleted it mind_messing and I found it quite useful as it further hammered home a number of the points that Alfred and others have made above. The devil is indeed in the details and I am quickly familiarizing myself with all the upgrade paths and various TOEs as the game continues. Thank you.

I think the only original thing I'd have to say beyond what has already been mentioned is to consider disbanding smaller units to help build device pools.

The Australian Army is a good case for this. It has a handful of large frontline units and a smattering of smaller brigade and smaller sized forces. Once the immediate threat of a Japanese invasion has passed, it can be worthwhile to optimise garrison units and disband the smaller units to help keep the divisional combat units going. Same goes for the rest of the commonwealth, to a lesser extent.

[DesertWolf101]

Status of the Alliance

Here we are already in 1942, and it's time to give a bit of an overview on where the Alliance stands. Thus far, aside from some surprises like the Midway operation, the Japanese under Mike have concentrated on a mostly conventional approach. Singapore appears to be the focal point with the Philippines as a secondary operation. Aside from committing warships early to rescue the Asiatic Fleet, I have primarily sought to delay Japanese operations through small surface warships and air operations. The B-17 bomber fleet has proved invaluable in this role by putting his fighter units on the defensive and closing down his airbases but it will be hard to keep up their success going forward as Mike's forces creep closer.

[DesertWolf101]

Naval Losses

Here are the naval losses thus far in the campaign. Compared to both my previous campaigns with this game, the losses sustained thus far are very moderate.

[DesertWolf101]

Air Losses

The war in the air by contrast has been fairly active and this is where I have sought to really push back against Mike's operations. Thankfully, my pilot losses have been fairly low thus far.

[DesertWolf101]

Aces

Speaking of pilots, these are my top aces thus far.

[DesertWolf101]

China

Here is the situation in China. Unlike my previous Allied campaign, I elected to pursue a much more cautious approach here. Mike's main thrust has come in the direction of Sian, and I have arrayed my Corps in defensive positions in difficult terrain which has already resulted in a couple of bad noses for the Japanese. I am quite active in the air and am keeping an eye our for any good openings for offensive action on the ground.

[DesertWolf101]

January 1, 1942

Malaya

Not a great day over the skies of Singapore this turn. As I feared, the plethora of Japanese fighters swept early and often and did a good job of escorting Mike’s bombers. All told, I lost 44 Buffalo fighters for only 9 Zeros and 2 Oscars shot down over the island fortress. The good news is I only lost 6 pilots KIA. The bad news is that one of those KIA is my top Buffalo pilot, an Australian ace with 5 kills.

Philippines

I snuck in a dozen fighters back into Luzon and I had a really good setup here to rack up some Betty kills over Manila. To my frustration however, despite the presence of good weather (light clouds), radar, and a difference in altitude of only 2,000 feet, no interception occurred on three separate occasions during the turn. Finally the IJAAF arrived and the single remaining P-40B still on patrol knocked out a couple of Lily bombers. Besides some bad luck, I am assuming that the relatively low experience of my fighter pilots probably contributed to the missed opportunity here.

Solomons

Japanese forces land on the Shortlands

[DesertWolf101]

January 2, 1942

Submarines

Dutch sub KXIV sinks a Japanese xAK off the coast of Vietnam. The sub then follows up the attack but surfacing and sinking a Japanese xAKL with its deck gun and a torpedo.

Off the coast of California, Japanese sub I-2 puts a torpedo into TK Manatawny, heavily damaging her in the process.

Malaya

Japanese fighters sweep over Singapore but find no opposition. Japanese bombers follow up and inflict some pain but are flying too high to cause serious damage.

The Japanese army reaches and takes Port Swettenham.

New Britain

The Japanese land some more reinforcements at Rabaul, another infantry regiment arrives to help take the base.

[BBfanboy]

A bit late now, but that lack of fighter success at Manila could be because of fatigue in the unit after transfer. Flying in a cramped fighter for hours seems to really fatigue pilots.

[DesertWolf101]

ORIGINAL: BBfanboy

A bit late now, but that lack of fighter success at Manila could be because of fatigue in the unit after transfer. Flying in a cramped fighter for hours seems to really fatigue pilots.

I checked and fatigue was in the mid to high teens because I made sure to rest them for a turn. At the end of the day not everything will go my way, I just have to set up enough good opportunities and on average I will rack in the results. It's the nature of the game, not unlike real life too tbh. [:)]

[DesertWolf101]

January 3, 1942

Philippines

Massed Japanese air bombing targets Clark and Manila.

In the south, Japanese forces chase off some Filipino remnants from Malaybalay. The end is near here in Mindanao.

New Britain

Having been reinforced, the Japanese launch another attack and this time successfully seize Rabaul.

China

Japanese forces take an abandoned Wuchow as my forces here pull back into the woods.

[DesertWolf101]

Ghost Unit?

I received some signals intelligence on a Japanese unit that I can't seem to find anywhere. It's the Japanese 33rd Infantry Regiment. Does this unit exist and I am just not doing a good job of finding it or is my Sigint playing tricks on me? As a reminder, Mike and I are playing DBB Scenario 28.

Thanks guys.

[Alfred]

ORIGINAL: DesertWolf101

ORIGINAL: BBfanboy

A bit late now, but that lack of fighter success at Manila could be because of fatigue in the unit after transfer. Flying in a cramped fighter for hours seems to really fatigue pilots.

I checked and fatigue was in the mid to high teens because I made sure to rest them for a turn. At the end of the day not everything will go my way, I just have to set up enough good opportunities and on average I will rack in the results. It's the nature of the game, not unlike real life too tbh. [:)]

In a different AAR, I posted this on 27 April 2020.

In very general terms the following applies. Bear in mind, not all the applicable factors are mentioned.


1. Pilot skill ratings are used exclusively in combat situations.

2. Non combat situations factor pilot experience level.

3. Combat situations which are not directly addressed by the aptly named skill, use as one of the relevant factors, the experience level. Experience feeds into and modifies pilot Morale, Fatigue, Disruption levels in combat.

4. In a fighter on fighter confrontation, the jockeying for position is influenced by the relevant skill rating; A2A to engage, DEF to evade.

5. In a fighter on fighter confrontation, after the jockeying for position is determined, an energy state check is made. This check is partly influenced by the respective pilot experience level. It determines the actual combat speed at which combat occurs.

6. The combat speed may result in adjusted MRV ratings of the airframes for that specific combat.


In classical WITP only experience mattered. This is not the case in AE which has "sub contracted" many of the old classical WITP experience checks to the relevant skill ratings.

The player does not know what were the modified values used in the combat. What the player sees are the "base" unmodified values.

Alfred