Westerley Wind, Fine NJP72 (J) vs Lowpe (A) DBB Sce 30

[njp72]

Jan 44

Lowpe is now well entrenched on a number of coastal bases in Southern China.

At the moment the focus continues to be attacking his extended LOC from positions in Formosa and Hong Kong using Subs, MTBs, Surface raiders and Kamikazes. Achieving decent results with minimal losses but unsure if it will slow him down.

Makes me feel good though

[njp72]

Great to see those guns at the bottom of the ocean.

Even one well placed DD can run amok through his shipping.

Just need to avoid those damn Fletchers!

Let's see if I can wear him down.

[njp72]

Jan 17th 44

Its been a tough few weeks in the office, as Lowpe focused some overdue attention on a couple of rear IJN positions which had been causing him grief over the last month. US CV and surface groups made horrifically short work on a number of IJN DDs and bomber groups which had been rendering good service on soft targets.

The Allies also surged into the indefensible terrain in Southern China and established a strong barrier for his coastal positions.

The few positives over the last fortnight have been the performance of the Frank R which is single handedly preventing wholescale slaughter across all theatres as well as exacting a nice toll on Allied fighter craft. I am convinced that this is the most important airframe in the game for Japan if you wish to remain competitive into 44.

Also with his surface and CV groups occupied in slaughtering bypassed IJN groups, I was able to successfully reinforce the island chains around Okinawa with plentiful supplies and troops.

[njp72]

Starting to get some decent results on a stack of his subs here in shallow waters.

To reinforce China with supplies and equipment I simply go through Manchuria which is working well and spares any shipping with troops and supplies exposure to his stack of subs or the occasional Fletcher raid.

[njp72]

And finally as all good combat corps officers should know, all obstacles and minefields need to be covered by direct or indirect fire.

Case in point below:

None of my precious, limited in number mines being deployed now are without CD cover.

[njp72]

Holy moses, Lowpe went and took Ningpo right underneath my nose!

Once again, he has displaced the ground forces in China which will take thousands of clicks and political points to set right.

Luckily air and naval forces were well positioned which led to significant carnage for both sides.

On now for young and old.

[njp72]

There must have been over 30 clashes between naval forces with thousands of shells and torps fired for overall disappointing results.

Approx 3 x DDs each and I also lost a host of smaller craft (MTBs, SCs and Es)

[njp72]

In the air, results were slightly better.

2 x US CVs are crippled and smoking and also a CVE lies shattered at Ningpo.

Losses are sustainable. Kamikazes performing well.

[njp72]

First time in the history of the game, a Jake may have just sunk a US CV - cue evil laughter

Loving my kamikazes and after's years of playing, know how to get some decent results

[njp72]

From the previous turn, surface combats everywhere. Plenty of damaged ships now floating around. Damn hard to kill any

[njp72]

Had plenty of chances to inflict some nasty hits but came up short...

[njp72]

One of the main reasons was the swarms of Fletchers shielding the main task forces.

Good tactics by Lowpe.

[njp72]

And finally the unfortunate Wasp.

It would be good for morale purposes to see it slip under the waves.

Amazingly in my previous games it also always appears to be unlucky. The other CV I manage to nail most of the time in previous games is the Lex.

An interesting coincidence

[njp72]

A fairly disappointing and anti climatic turn.

A couple of hundred a/c lost attacking nothing of real value and of course the Wasp appears to have escaped

However at death's door during the second air phase a group of emily's decided the Empire needed some form of reward after missing with torps all day.

Not sure why that BB was out there without CVs parked beside it, but I will take it. The 13th Allied BB to be sank (5 of which are Brits)

Lowpe will get an angry letter from the King!

[njp72]

The trophy wall- my happy space

I reckon I will get a couple more before this shindig is over.

[njp72]

Surged hard with air this turn and gave my surface fleets a rest.

KB is also rebuilding its air wings.

After a couple of promising days in the air, Lowpe bombarded Shanghai and completely disrupted my plans

Will need to stand everything down for a couple of days and restock. Pools on fighters are strong, pools for DBs and TBs are now problematic.

The entire IJN including KB has been assembling around Nagasaki for a massive push of Ningpo. Should be an exciting week.

*It appears synch bugs are plaguing Lowpe again which is not good. Hopefully it won't detract from his enjoyment of the game which is still a cracker.

[ny59giants]

Just playing catch up by reading this latest page of your AAR. Being relatively early in '44, my concern will be his next jump into Korea to base his bombers to strategically bomb Japan into submission. Lots of bases that terrain will not help the defense. Are you ready for it?

[njp72]

Just playing catch up by reading this latest page of your AAR. Being relatively early in '44, my concern will be his next jump into Korea to base his bombers to strategically bomb Japan into submission. Lots of bases that terrain will not help the defense. Are you ready for it?

Hi Mike,

Great to see you are the following the right cause.

Yes, I agree that does make sense. By doing that he could also activate the Soviets as well.

Not sure if I am really prepped for it, though there is still 8000 AV points in Manchuria. He is still in for a very tough fight at Ningpo where I have multiple divisions moving quickly to bottle him up.

I also have multiple divisions on ships streaming back from the Central Pacific headed for Manchuria. The IJN is a little bit tired and so are the air groups which is not great. If Lowpe successfully breaks out of Southern China and Ningpo and then releases the Chinese hordes which are currently bottled up then I will be in real trouble but that should take months of hard fighting.

Until that day arrives though, I intend to bleed him

[njp72]

Last turns air losses

Starting to make decent inroads on the P47D2 and Hellcat pools.

Allied air losses will likely be my main source of points moving forward.

[njp72]

I can tell by his recon efforts where is next targets will be.

Chinnampo makes a lot of sense and that is where he is looking.

I have already started to move a few troops quietly to Kanko. This time I intend to push him back out to sea if he moves there in the next month or so.