Sailing in harms way: InHarmsWay (J) vs Andav (A) Scen2

[PaxMondo]

I do not have Chengtu! It is isolated as well, and Adm Wa has a relatively large group of land units there. hmmmm.... Hopefully I can pivot after taking Chungking in time. Here is the current status of the Chinese front. All of the Chinese cities have units trapped in them. Would it be better to try and take Chengtu now before the final attack on Chungking? I think I may be able to take it in the next two attacks. Almost had a 2-1 and my forces will recover while his will not. That gives me a month to get to Chengtu and take that city. I believe he has 1000-1200 AV there currently.

What I may do us start moving part of the arty up there to soften it up...

Arty is NOT important, air bombardment of the AF is. You need to prevent him from building Forts. Arty does not stop that, only Air bombardment of either AF or Port, and there is no port, so AF.

I don't do a lot of arty bombardment as it uses tons of supply. But I do use a LOT of air bombardment which does the same thing and stops forts. BUT, most players do use arty, so it is a personal preference. Even with arty, they use air bombardment, it is NOT an option.

[InHarmsWay]

Fully agree, I have been hitting Chungking with about ~200 2E bombers every day that I can. I always have a few on airfield, with the remainder on ground attack. Adm Wa has been out traveling so no turns the past few days.

[PaxMondo]

OK, you need to be doing the same thing to Chengtu, or the forts will be bad. Finish ChungKing and the get ready for the same thing at Chengtu. Sorry.

[InHarmsWay]

Ack!?!?! OK, Well I should have done Chengtu first. I can only hope he does not have a huge force there...

[PaxMondo]

Ack!?!?! OK, Well I should have done Chengtu first. I can only hope he does not have a huge force there...

Here's the issue, all the units that you kill in ChungKing will "resurrect" there in 30 - 45 days and all the units that would have resurrected in CK will automatically switch to Chengtu. So, once CK falls, you have to hustle up there and take it quick. Every day, more units will appear ...

[PaxMondo]

Hey, don't worry about this, ok? Yes, you're not ideal here, BUT you can still finish this in good time.

China is unique and a bit tricky because of how all the units return at 1/3 strength FREE*. So, when taking CK, you want to take Chengtu first while KILLING AS FEW CHI units as you can. Once CK falls (and you have Chengtu also), THEN you kill all the CHI units that there are left on the map. They will never return.


*Normally, when a unit is lost, you pay PP to have it reappear at your capital and it will be at like 5% of normal strength, sometimes much less, like just one device AND the delay is 30 - 60 days. Then you have to pay for all the replacements. This process can take weeks/months for a unit to recover. CHI is quite unique in that no PP's are paid, they automatically enter the queue at 30 - 45 days, AND they will automatically get 33% of the devices back.

Hope this helps you for your next game ...

[PaxMondo]

Where's the update?

[InHarmsWay]

PaxMondo, it has been a few days, turns are slow as Adm Wa has a real job an has not retired yet! Ba! So, thank you all for the advise. I have revised my assault on China for the moment and am moving significant AV from Chungking to Chengtu. Goal here is to take both bases relatively in short order. I think I am pretty close to taking Chungking, currently have ~4k in AV and Adm Wa has 2442 AV. I am bombing and bombarding every day, resulting in his slow drop and my continued repair of diabled units. His forts are now down to lvl 3 and my last attack almost had 2-1 odds. I fully expect the next attack to be 2-1 or 3-1 and will either take the hex or will be one attack away. Given this, I am moving alot of other units to Chengtu to try and soften it up as I do not want any of the dead units in Chungking coming back. I will have units in place in Chengtu in about 10 days and will attack at that point. From that result, hopefully I can figure out how tough a nut it is!!

[PaxMondo]

Good luck!!! I think you'll do it, and next time you will be in a MUCH better position.

[InHarmsWay]

Quick update gentle readers on the Australian front. Had an interesting last few days beyond the bombardments and ground attack flights... Adm Wa in an attempt at deception, had a unit marching into my flank behind Kathrine. I do believe he forgot to stop the march before it shock attacked over the river. The 2nd Aussie division was severely mauled, but not quite enough to retreat. I attacked the next day, and got a result of surrender, not just retreat! Happy days. Elsewhere the IJA is landing at DArby to ride to the rescue of troops inland. I do believe the Allies are at the end of their supply line as they have only moved up and have not yet attacked...

Nov 18 1942 Australia.jpg (521.67 KiB) Viewed 634 times

Here is the attack result. Nice to eliminate an Allied division late in '42...

----------------------------------------
Ground combat at 76,127 (near Katherine)

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 12179 troops, 87 guns, 17 vehicles, Assault Value = 513

Defending force 2052 troops, 3 guns, 33 vehicles, Assault Value = 1

Japanese adjusted assault: 375

Allied adjusted defense: 1

Japanese assault odds: 375 to 1

Combat modifiers
Defender: leaders(+), leaders(-), disruption(-), supply(-)
Attacker:

Allied ground losses:
2005 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 292 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 2 (2 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Vehicles lost 36 (36 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Units destroyed 1

Assaulting units:
146th Infantry Regiment
16th Infantry Regiment
47th Infantry Regiment
20th Engineer Regiment
15th Naval Guard Unit

Defending units:
2nd Australian Division

[InHarmsWay]

On to China! So, after some significant pivoting in China to try and salvage IJA visions of greater Asia assimilation I have begun moving large formations from Chungking and elsewhere towards Chengtu. All of these units are prepping for Chengtu now, and I have been bombing the airfield, and will begin to soften up the lands units the next turn. I expect to have a mostly armor attack go in in about a week (~400 AV of armor), which will let me know what the forts look like. In 2 weeks I should have most of my infantry in Chengtu as well, and best estimate is ~2500 AV. During this time, I will only bombard Chungking, and depending on where I am with Chengtu, I will either attack and finish off Chungking or hold back another few weeks. I also may then move more infantry into Chengtu... all other attacks in Changsha, Sian, and elsewhere are on hold...

Nov 18 1942 China.jpg (845.98 KiB) Viewed 625 times

[PaxMondo]

Lotta work to pivot ... makes one appreciate the effort when a player takes Chungking by May42 ... I've never done it that quickly, but there are players who have ...

[RangerJoe]

Lotta work to pivot ... makes one appreciate the effort when a player takes Chungking by May42 ... I've never done it that quickly, but there are players who have ...

Yes, there is also a way to reduce the forts relatively quickly - especially against the Chinese!

[InHarmsWay]

Since I am playing a Scen 2, stock game, what is the opinions of plane upgrades for the George? I am happy with the research so far on the N1K1 model and expect to get it before year end. I currently have 12 factories of 30 that will go into production. Given this, I expect I will be able to fill out most of the land based Zero formations in a month or two. Looking beyond that, does it make sense to speed research on the N1K2 or go straight for the N1K5 airframe? Here are my thoughts:

Build out several hundred inventory in the N1K1 after filling out the formations, then try to get the N1K5 airframe quickly. I will skip building any of the K2 airframe, and will only research it to allow me to get the N1K5 quicker. I have a self imposed house rule to never accelerate a later frame before and earlier historical one. This means timing it to the K2 will show up just before the K5.

My reasons are the first George has a great max Altitude at 41k, much better than the K2 max altitude of 35.3k. This more than offsets the service rating of 3 vs 2. It also has a slightly higher gun value. Speed is of the K2 is only 6 greater.

The K5 variant seems a better later war plane with the higher speed of 380 vs 363. Ceiling is slightly lower, guns are better, but range is less. This I expect is not a big deal as I will be on the defensive by that time. OVerall, the K5 is slightly better, is it worth accelerating?

[InHarmsWay]

I am surprised that anyone can take all of China by May of 42. I know it has been done, but dang, the country is a quagmire for me. I have tried both the Northern route through SIan and the southern route through Changsha. Both are a slog... RangerJoe, a hint please? Too late for this game, but will likely face Adm Wa again in the future! Of course he will read this in a few years when we finish...

[PaxMondo]

Since I am playing a Scen 2, stock game, what is the opinions of plane upgrades for the George? I am happy with the research so far on the N1K1 model and expect to get it before year end. I currently have 12 factories of 30 that will go into production. Given this, I expect I will be able to fill out most of the land based Zero formations in a month or two. Looking beyond that, does it make sense to speed research on the N1K2 or go straight for the N1K5 airframe? Here are my thoughts:

Build out several hundred inventory in the N1K1 after filling out the formations, then try to get the N1K5 airframe quickly. I will skip building any of the K2 airframe, and will only research it to allow me to get the N1K5 quicker. I have a self imposed house rule to never accelerate a later frame before and earlier historical one. This means timing it to the K2 will show up just before the K5.

My reasons are the first George has a great max Altitude at 41k, much better than the K2 max altitude of 35.3k. This more than offsets the service rating of 3 vs 2. It also has a slightly higher gun value. Speed is of the K2 is only 6 greater.

The K5 variant seems a better later war plane with the higher speed of 380 vs 363. Ceiling is slightly lower, guns are better, but range is less. This I expect is not a big deal as I will be on the defensive by that time. Overall, the K5 is slightly better, is it worth accelerating?

Tough call. In general, I don't. Why? The A7M comes along and it is better all around.

The IJN only has one other fighter better than the A7M, J7W. The J7W has some BIG challenges, but it's speed and firepower make it all worthwhile. It will kill B29's better than any other IJ fighter, and can fight the P51H or P47N head on. J7W is an INTERCEPTOR only. A7M is a great multi-role fighter.


So, definitely build the N1K1. Lot's. Then either change the factories to J7W (or something else) or park them and save the supply. Your call.


PS: I often "beach" some of the KB groups, especially fighters ... they are too useful. I fly them back the ships when I send the KB into hostile waters. But, truthfully, the KB spends enormous amounts of timing hiding and transiting. Stealing 2 - 3 fighter groups .... risky, but very useful.

[PaxMondo]

Time for an update?

[InHarmsWay]

Good day gentle readers. The IJN would like to report a nicelly executed CAP trap down in Darwin. The highly decorated Ku-251 S-1 pilots, supported by other elite formations bounced several formations of allied carrier plane based at Gove (east of Katherine Aus). Claims of 18 Dauntless's, 5 Wildcats were made for the loss of only 1 zero and 1 tojo (with a further zero damaged and written off). Here is the top pilots, with Saburi Sakai leading the attack and becoming a double ace. Saki for everyone!

Nov 23 1942 pilots.jpg (280.7 KiB) Viewed 496 times

The combat replay as well.
--------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on 83rd Naval Guard Unit, at 75,127 , near Katherine

Weather in hex: Light cloud

Raid spotted at 13 NM, estimated altitude 13,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 4 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M3a Zero x 12
A6M5 Zero x 6
Ki-44-IIa Tojo x 7

Allied aircraft
F4F-3 Wildcat x 12
SBD-3 Dauntless x 23

No Japanese losses

Allied aircraft losses
F4F-3 Wildcat: 2 destroyed
SBD-3 Dauntless: 5 destroyed, 2 damaged

Japanese ground losses:
76 casualties reported
Squads: 2 destroyed, 2 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

Aircraft Attacking:
6 x SBD-3 Dauntless releasing from 4000'
Ground Attack: 1 x 1000 lb GP Bomb
2 x SBD-3 Dauntless releasing from 4000'
Ground Attack: 1 x 1000 lb GP Bomb

CAP engaged:
251 Ku S-1 with A6M3a Zero (12 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(2 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
12 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 13000 , scrambling fighters between 0 and 13000.
Raid is overhead
21st Sentai with Ki-44-IIa Tojo (7 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(3 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
7 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 8000 , scrambling fighters between 0 and 8000.
Raid is overhead
202 Ku S-1 with A6M5 Zero (6 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
6 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 38000 , scrambling fighters between 0 and 38000.
Raid is overhead

[InHarmsWay]

So Adm Wa has an operational airbase at Gove Australia. I currently have several bombardment TFs enroute, but given the distance, will more hope to catch resupply ships than actually damaging the airfield. IT feels like he is pushing harder in Australia than I was initially thought he would To counteract that, I have landed the 5th Amph brigade at Derby, while he has taken the inland base of Nookanbah with ~600 AV. I am bombing his troops there hoping to make him waste supplies. Elsewhere all is quiet as I reposition in China. Should have an update there in a few days once I get into position at Chengtu!

Thank you PaxMondo for the comments on the airframes. I think I will pivot some idle factories over to the J7W. The current availability date of Dec '45 is brutal, but so are B29s and I will need a counter there! IJA fighters will be concentrated on the Ki-84r and Ki-83 (yes expensive with two engines but I love the speed and range).

[PaxMondo]

Watch your supply expenditure ... it is your Achilles heel.

I try to set my factories once at the game start and then rarely ever change them. However, there are always a FEW exceptions to this rule, but generally less than 10 factories, and often the plan is only 3 - 4. And Mike is even thriftier than me ... not saying don't do it, just saying you need to account for your supply expenditures ...