Empire of the Sun - DesertWolf101 (J) vs Andy Mac (A)

[DesertWolf101]

October 2, 1942

Got a decent amount of revenge for the Vladivostok air disaster when one of my elite Zeke units caught Andy's SB-2s attempting to slow down my march towards Ulan Bator. Even Val dive-bombers bit back when they hit hard a convoy of about ten Soviet xAKs docking at Alexandrovsk. I'm not sure but maybe he was trying to pull out that garrison?

[RangerJoe]

If you would have pounded the ground unit at Skovorodino then paradropped on it, you may have been able to capture it on the first day. That base and the one three hexes away start with only a NKVD regiment which has few heavy weapons. That cuts the rail line off to Vlad and the resource flow to the big supply base.

If you would have invaded the base at the mouth of the river across from Sakhalin, then ran up the river to invade the base there, that is the only base with Soviet aircraft production. I believe that it provides about half of the IL-2 aircraft that come in.

[DesertWolf101]

October 3-4, 1942

Some good news and some bad news on the Russian front.

Bad news first: The 2nd Tank Division was driven back by a Soviet shock attack as it attempted to keep a lid on the Mogocha pocket. The problem I have in this sector is the heavy Russian air attacks which rapidly eat up supply and raise disruption thus weakening my troops. Scores of Russian bombers are getting shot down by my increasingly exhausted fighter pilots but they are many and they keep coming. All is not lost on this front however as Odachi force is wrapping up its operations in the Kuibyshevka area, and thanks to a well timed paradrop on Skovorodino, will be able to rail up to pressure the Mogocha pocket from the rear in just a few days. In the meantime, the infantry of Katana force is making speed to reinforce the 1st Tank Division still in its blocking position. Things are increasingly dicey here and the Russian troops in the pocket may very well escape, but there is still a chance of keeping them in.

With regards to the good news, Tachi force has made good headway towards Ulan Bator, with the advanced tank regiments of the force destroying the 30th Motorcycle Regiment that was attempting to stall them. Andy is sending a stream of reinforcements from the north however so actually taking the city is likely going to be quite tough. Finally, the rest of Katana force that is not involved with the Mogocha pocket battle has battered the Soviet 94th Rifle Division and is about to attack at Borzya to hopefully take that base, which will facilitate LCAP efforts in the future - let's hope the dreaded Soviet bombers don't ruin the party!

[DesertWolf101]

The 2nd Tank Division is Driven Back

TOE has gone from 95% to 70% - the division is pulling back for rest and refit.

[DesertWolf101]

The Air Effort

Ceaseless Russian bomber attacks keep coming despite considerable losses. The IL-2 does very little damage but it's attacks eat supply and their defensive guns can be quite deadly - Saburo Sakai was wounded in the eye while tangling with some of them and is now in hospital after a heroic flight back to base.

[DesertWolf101]

Meanwhile in India

I am being quite quite aggressive in India although Andy's forces in the subcontinent now outnumber mine by a considerable margin. Here I catch the III Corps and 17th Indian Division and send them reeling back.

[adarbrauner]

ORIGINAL: DesertWolf101

The problem I have in this sector is the heavy Russian air attacks which rapidly eat up supply and raise disruption thus weakening my troops.

Hi,

can you tell the increased supply consumption by monitoring it, or is it the logical obvious assumption?


Disruption caused by Soviet bomber attacks: here too, did you see any hint or indication of the increased disruption resultingfrom air support/strikes, or is it here too the logically inferred consequence?

[RangerJoe]

Every attack increases the supply consumption by 10%. No matter the size of the attack. Which is why it is nice to even send 2 or 3 Idas over to bomb a large stack of units, especially if the Idas stay above the level of the AAA . . . [;)][:D]

[GetAssista]

ORIGINAL: DesertWolf101
All is not lost on this front however as Odachi force is wrapping up its operations in the Kuibyshevka area, and thanks to a well timed paradrop on Skovorodino, will be able to rail up to pressure the Mogocha pocket from the rear in just a few days.

If the 2nd TD is the only force in its hex currently, you won't be able to keep Mogocha Russians pocketed, cause you don't have enough hexes inbetween. They can enter the contested hex on the rail (west from the 2nd TD) from both sides and thus escape by moving through, they don't need to win any other battles.
If there are some of your forces in the hex 2nd TD is in, you need to hold it to keep the pocket. Sweep/bomb Mogocha to take away their supply and send some smaller unit north to cut off more routes for the supply from the west.

[DesertWolf101]

ORIGINAL: adarbrauner

ORIGINAL: DesertWolf101

The problem I have in this sector is the heavy Russian air attacks which rapidly eat up supply and raise disruption thus weakening my troops.

Hi,

can you tell the increased supply consumption by monitoring it, or is it the logical obvious assumption?


Disruption caused by Soviet bomber attacks: here too, did you see any hint or indication of the increased disruption resultingfrom air support/strikes, or is it here too the logically inferred consequence?

Besides what RJ noted above, you can see the required supply for every unit in the unit screen. It greatly increases when the unit is in combat and it turns red when the unit does not have enough. With regards to levels of disruption, both disruption and fatigue state is also displayed in the individual unit screen.

[DesertWolf101]

ORIGINAL: GetAssista

ORIGINAL: DesertWolf101
All is not lost on this front however as Odachi force is wrapping up its operations in the Kuibyshevka area, and thanks to a well timed paradrop on Skovorodino, will be able to rail up to pressure the Mogocha pocket from the rear in just a few days.

If the 2nd TD is the only force in its hex currently, you won't be able to keep Mogocha Russians pocketed, cause you don't have enough hexes inbetween. They can enter the contested hex on the rail (west from the 2nd TD) from both sides and thus escape by moving through, they don't need to win any other battles.
If there are some of your forces in the hex 2nd TD is in, you need to hold it to keep the pocket. Sweep/bomb Mogocha to take away their supply and send some smaller unit north to cut off more routes for the supply from the west.

Yes, that's correct. I was hoping the infantry divisions would arrive in time for the 2nd TD to rapidly move one hex eastwards towards Mogocha and create that two hex blocking position. With the new turn that I just received this looks to no longer be possible as the Soviets are moving too fast. I think I have to pull back here behind the river for now and wait for the rest of the Japanese army to catch up before continuing the advance.

[DesertWolf101]

October 5, 1942

India has been the center of the air action today where Andy is throwing every bomber in the theater at my army from the lowly Lysander to the mighty B-17. The Imperial Army in India is advancing towards Aligarh for a shock attack across the river in pursuit of the badly mauled 17th Indian Division, and Andy is doing his best to stop me. The IJAAF is desperately trying to disrupt his bombers and I am hoping for bad weather to keep them from doing real harm to my army which is in clear terrain.

I should add: I am really playing with fire here skirting the emergency reinforcement line so closely. Once I attack across the river I will very likely head south to not risk it further (and to decrease the threat of bombing).

[DesertWolf101]

The Oscar Ic took the brunt of the Allied sweeps in India today, but we extracted a price nonetheless:

[DesertWolf101]

To A6M5 or to not A6M5?

The A6M5 is now available to me for production and given this is the first time I am playing Japan I am not really sure how much of an improvement it is over the A6M3a. I really like the A6M3a's excellent range and maneuverability, both of which are better than the A6M5. The A6M5 however does have better speed, climb, and durability. So what's the general perspective here, to A6M5 or not to A6M5? I am leaning towards upgrading some production to the new fighter but keeping half for the A6M3a.

[DesertWolf101]

October 6, 1942

The fighting is at a fever pitch with generally good news from the Russian front today. Instead of pulling back from the rail and giving up on sealing off the Mogocha pocket, I decided to double down on the mission and ordered a maximum effort from the IJAAF. They delivered this turn, and despite the entrance of MiG-3 sweeps which drove away my CAP and gave free reign for Andy's bombers to come through, my own bombers showed up in force and pounded his troops, which allowed my forces to hold the line for another precious turn. The first infantry division crossed the river this turn and more are behind it. Nearby, Borzya was also taken by the rest of Katana force.

[DesertWolf101]

In the south, I decided to go for another go at Andy's Soviet Navy in and around Vladivostok but this time with the foreknowledge of his training squadron trick. I put up heavy LCAP and sure enough when his fighters diverted from their training to pounce on my bombers the LCAP swept them away. Excellent results were achieved with six submarines sunk and another three or so destroyers wrecked in three waves of attacks on the port facilities. This was followed up by Val dive-bomber strikes on naval assets offshore which heavily hit another two Soviet destroyers.

[DesertWolf101]

October 7, 1942

Two critical battles took place today, both shock attacks.

The first one was in India, where the Japanese army shock attacked across the river into Aligarh where the 17th Indian division had retreated to after it was badly hit at Agra. Just before the Imperial infantry stormed across the river however, Andy had railed in a large number of reinforcements including the 26th Indian Division, three British infantry brigades, and an armored brigade. I caught some of these units while still unpacking and knocked down forts from 3 to 1 but it was a tough battle nonetheless that can probably best be termed a draw.

The IJAAF reinforced by some IJNAF fighters did an admirable job of keeping the Allied bombers at bay but that threat continues to hang over my head in this sector. I am also sure Andy is railing in reinforcements. It's a very tense situation.

[DesertWolf101]

The other battle was in the USSR where some of the trapped Soviet troops of the Mogocha pocket attempted to shock attack their way through to friendly lines against the two battered Japanese tank divisions. Thanks to timely support from Japanese bombers however, the tank divisions hold despite high disruption and the still paltry (but improving) supply situation.

[RangerJoe]

A lot of destroyed devices, that is good. [&o]

If the units are surrounded, supplies are limited so the damaged devices may never recover.

[DesertWolf101]

ORIGINAL: RangerJoe

A lot of destroyed devices, that is good. [&o]

If the units are surrounded, supplies are limited so the damaged devices may never recover.

Yes I think the Soviets are probable running low on supplies in the Mogocha pocket. I think I am coming on top in this particular battle now, but it was a close run thing.