Spanking Lowpe (NJP72 vs Lowpe (A))

[Lowpe]

Aug 4, 1943

A little skirmish around Quinhon....no IJN bombardment there today. A USN sub torpedoes I-162 probably sinking her, while a K gun hits I-176 near Jesselton.

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[Lowpe]

Will take these two bases today by airdrop with reinforcements leaving Brunei today....this will really hamper almost all fuel shipments from the SRA back to Honshu. IJA troops at Kuching, but really not many.

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[Lowpe]

What priority should I give to taking Miri....150 refineries and 150 oil there plus c30k IJ troopers. I have 800 AV at Brunei now...and they could walk there? Opportunity costs.....

Those troops could go to cut off Singers....or reinforce Quinhon, or head to Soc Trang.

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[RangerJoe]

If those troops do walk to Brunei, you could then resupply and/or reinforce them by sea using amphibious task forces which would force a bombardment. Even fast task forces would work for this. As long as it is not just one ship dropping off supplies and/or reinforcements, I would not consider it gamey. But that is also your option. Any bombardment by the surface combat vessels in those task forces would hit only his units and not the oil, refineries, or anything else. Doing this, you could use LSTs to bring in armour and/or artillery that is slow moving or not yet at Brunei. Just make sure that when there are units dropped off by any amphibious task force that you also support them with the units already in that hex.

That is a good job done by your PT Boats!

[BBfanboy]

What priority should I give to taking Miri....150 refineries and 150 oil there plus c30k IJ troopers. I have 800 AV at Brunei now...and they could walk there? Opportunity costs.....

Those troops could go to cut off Singers....or reinforce Quinhon, or head to Soc Trang.

Well, if fuel is your biggest problem then you need to take those wells and refineries. Otherwise, your strategic objective remains cutting off the SRA from communication with Japan, including via the magic pipeline from Singers on up.

I am not sure RJ is right about naval bombardment not hitting refineries or oil, but if the bombardments are only in response to shore batteries I could see that being correct.
Walking to Miri from Brunei will take a while - 2 or 4 miles a day depending whether it is Jungle Rough or Jungle. Supply will move in limited amounts through the jungle there. I never checked if there might be a path between the two. That would make the progress more like 5 or 6 miles a day.

[T Rav]

I don't usually post. I'm a lurker. I just want you to know that your AAR about a contest between two great gamers is appreciated.

[RangerJoe]

What priority should I give to taking Miri....150 refineries and 150 oil there plus c30k IJ troopers. I have 800 AV at Brunei now...and they could walk there? Opportunity costs.....

Those troops could go to cut off Singers....or reinforce Quinhon, or head to Soc Trang.

Well, if fuel is your biggest problem then you need to take those wells and refineries. Otherwise, your strategic objective remains cutting off the SRA from communication with Japan, including via the magic pipeline from Singers on up.

I am not sure RJ is right about naval bombardment not hitting refineries or oil, but if the bombardments are only in response to shore batteries I could see that being correct.
Walking to Miri from Brunei will take a while - 2 or 4 miles a day depending whether it is Jungle Rough or Jungle. Supply will move in limited amounts through the jungle there. I never checked if there might be a path between the two. That would make the progress more like 5 or 6 miles a day.

There is no road between Brunei and Miri. The supporting ships bombarding target the enemy units and not the facilities.

[BBfanboy]

What priority should I give to taking Miri....150 refineries and 150 oil there plus c30k IJ troopers. I have 800 AV at Brunei now...and they could walk there? Opportunity costs.....

Those troops could go to cut off Singers....or reinforce Quinhon, or head to Soc Trang.

Well, if fuel is your biggest problem then you need to take those wells and refineries. Otherwise, your strategic objective remains cutting off the SRA from communication with Japan, including via the magic pipeline from Singers on up.

I am not sure RJ is right about naval bombardment not hitting refineries or oil, but if the bombardments are only in response to shore batteries I could see that being correct.
Walking to Miri from Brunei will take a while - 2 or 4 miles a day depending whether it is Jungle Rough or Jungle. Supply will move in limited amounts through the jungle there. I never checked if there might be a path between the two. That would make the progress more like 5 or 6 miles a day.

There is no road between Brunei and Miri. The supporting ships bombarding target the enemy units and not the facilities.

I never mentioned a road - I mentioned a path.
I have had bombarding ships damage refineries before, and occasionally oil. I but those were a dedicated bombardment mission, not embedded in an amphib TF. That is why I said "only in response" to indicate bombarding from an Amphib TF. I think we are on the same page there?

[Lowpe]

Will send some troops and artillery to Miri....

using the old supply trick on amphib landings for bombardments is definitely an exploit...discussed it at depth years ago with a developer and Alfred. It was on the list of things to get fixed they never got around to.

I have been on the receiving end and it isn't pleasant. Actually a tactic I would have a discussion with over my opponent if they did it. One of the few.

should pickup a base in Burma today, and 2 in Borneo hopefully.

[Lowpe]

I don't usually post. I'm a lurker. I just want you to know that your AAR about a contest between two great gamers is appreciated.

Thanks, I enjoy doing them!

[Lowpe]

Ok, waiting on the turn....I wonder if something happened....or just taking some western Borneo bases upset Japan?

Forgot to mention our 2 squads of LRPs at Battambang got destroyed by a tank regiment so Japan now has the rail line there again...

I have taken the time to develop my tactics for the month of August....I am sure Japan won't like it.

Got the Benedict Arnold (Essex CV) at Balboa....will be heading for danger!

I always thought that Allies have several almost unanswerable advantages over Japan: Fletchers, Jugs and Corsairs, Armor, Deathstar (once it forms up), heavy bombers, landing craft/ship types, and to a lesser extent PT boats. And the last one, perhaps the greatest advantage: is the sheer volume of units you get. If you followed any of my Japanese AARs you know I spend a lot of time and effort trying to find the counters...

[BBfanboy]

But Japan has the interior LOC, so it can shift units more easily to defend against a limited number of lines of attack. Your shotgun attacks strategy takes advantage of the limited number of places the IJA can concentrate troops, but they can still move them - like the tanks at Battambang.

Benedict Arnold - a CV just for the sneaky ops, eh! Capital old boy! Just Capital!

[JanSako]

Another of Japan's plus is the 'almost' unlimited ability to replace destroyed weapons and rebuild lost units.

Lose an Allied army division - it will be a long time getting back to full power. Of course by the time it is rebuild, you will have received 3 others but that is a different point .

They are totally different beasts for sure! The one 'positive' for Japan is that you both know that defeat is inevitable and that gives you a freedom to choose where to make Allied player pay the price for their victory. Every extra ship sunk or day held out makes you feel like you are going a great job, while the Allied player feels the pressure of trying to do better than IRL.
A completely different feeling than what happened IRL, of course!

(I do mean when players are somewhat matched in skill)

[CaptBeefheart]

The Benedict Arnold? That's getting creative.

How is the liberation of Burma coming? Your forces there seem to be at risk of being irrelevant, although if you can take Bangkok with them then it would be easy enough to leave a modest garrison there and strat move the rest over to Indochina and SW China.

I'm not sure what you'd gain by a Mersing invasion, unless it's to allow shipping through the Straits of Malacca. I'd say now is the time to go for the jugular, meaning in the direction of South China, Formosa and possibly Luzon for flank security.

Just some friendly advice. You know what you're doing better than any of us.

Cheers,
CB

[BBfanboy]

IIRC, none of the Thai bases require a garrison, and only a few of the Vietnam ones do. Plus Phnom Penh in Cambodia.

[CaptBeefheart]

IIRC, none of the Thai bases require a garrison, and only a few of the Vietnam ones do. Plus Phnom Penh in Cambodia.

I'd leave a garrison at BKK to keep the IJA in the Malayan Peninsula bottled up (or send a token force south).

Cheers,
CB

[Lowpe]

Aug 5, 1943

Torpedo a nice ship off Quinhon...go Dutch!

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Sub attack near Quinhon at 67,68

Japanese Ships
AMC Gokoku Maru, Torpedo hits 1
xAP Suminoe Maru
xAP Teika Maru
xAK Tatumiya Maru
E Nadakaze

Allied Ships
SS KXIII

[Lowpe]

Our paratroop landings goes as planned, and now Singkawang, a very nice size 3 runway, is ours....almost PT boat range of Singers.

Soc Trang is abandoned....another very nice runway.

If I take some base on Malaya on the South China Sea, or Gulf of Siam I could get Commonwealth troops that are basically idling into this theater with the ultimate goal of getting some shipyards at Singers...or pushing forward into Saigon/Cam Ranh Bay leaving our US troops to push forward. I don't think it will divert too much strength from the US push east just a couple of days of shipping.

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[Lowpe]

Lower Burma/Indochina Action....Bangkok: 9 units 15k troops.

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[Lowpe]

Turn delay was due to ANZAC Day....not by my operations, lols.

Anzac Day is a national day of remembrance in Australia and New Zealand observed on April 25th each year. It commemorates all Australians and New Zealanders "who served and died in all wars, conflicts, and peacekeeping operations" as well as the contribution and suffering of all those who have served. It was originally devised to honour ANZACs who served in the Gallipoli campaign during World War