Never Thought I'd Start Another One - tc464 (A) vs. Mike (J)

[Mike Solli]

4 May 42

Sub War

The Truant took a DC hit off Rangoon. I'm sure she didn't sink, but hopefully she took enough damage to go home.

5 Fleet

Nothing to report.

4 Fleet

Nothing to report.

SE Fleet

The 2 Marine Raider Battalion finally prevailed over the 5 support squads. Those guys lasted a lot longer than I expected them to last.

The massive Allied army in Pt. Moresby finally ousted the 20 Division. They've been the target of hundreds of B-17 sorties as well as weeks of bombardment. 20 Division is still in good shape. Now they get to crawl to the adjacent hex (if that's what they decide to do) and do it all over again.

SRA

Cocos and Christmas Islands (west of Java) were both taken. Cocos will be a Mavis base to search far and wide to the west for enemy TFs. Just waiting for the AV to arrive.

I'm starting to take all the little bases between Java and Saumlaki. I'm not going to mention each one, but it's happening. The same can be said for basically all the bases in the SRA that are still under Allied control.

Hudsons bombed my troops at Saumlaki again. I have 18 Oscars waiting at Ambon to fly to Saumlaki once the airfield reaches level 1, but there aren't a lot of engineers there yet.

Borneo

Nothing to report.

Burma

The lovely engine RNG decided to have pity on me today at Ted's expense. Ted sent his fighters after my feeble Oscars at Akyab again, but not before he sent in those 12 unescorted Swordfish. I'm not sure what ships they were attacking because they were all shot down! Unfortunately, the fighters showed up immediately after and dove on my Oscars. There were 9 Oscars involved in the Swordfish massacre, but 4 (1 KIA, 1 WIA) of them were shot down by the Allied fighters for no loss to the fighters. Well, that's one less squadron of TBs to worry about for awhile.

My 3 tank regiments shock attacked over the river into Paoshan. They took no losses and disabled over 70 enemy squads. There aren't enough tanks to push them out of the base in one shot, but they are able to wear them down and rarely take any disablements. I just have to keep an eye on fatigue. They will eventually prevail. They're resting tomorrow and gathering more supply.

China

The Zeros that were in Yenan that took care of the Chinese air units at Lanchow moved to Kiuchuan to work on the Chinese air units bombing/strafing my troops at Hami. I'm not sure how long they're going to be able to fly because it's really difficult to get supply up there. I need enough supply to allow the Zeros to use drop tanks. They flew today and shot down 11 of 18 Chinese aircraft for no loss. Banzai! Unfortunately, there isn't enough supply at the base for the Zeros to use drop tanks so now they sit while I fly supply up there with transports. Long slow process ahead.

Other Stuff

Nothing to report.

[RangerJoe]

The wife is keeping me busy with holiday chores. I keep trying to convince her that I retired to play WitP. Anyway, we've been playing but I haven't had enough time to update this too. I just sent the 10 May turn to Ted. I'll update until he sends me back a turn...

2 May 42

China

As I said above, Ted has concentrated troops much more this game than in the past. Here in China, he has several large concentrations. My idea is to isolate those that I can and work my way to Chungking. Once Chungking is liberated, then I can liquidate those concentrations. I think they won't respawn, unless they respawn somewhere else if Chungking is captured. Here are a few of those concentrations:

The other base where the Chinese units respawn is Chengtu.

Burma

Pt. Blair was liberated today. It will become the main base for elements of 22 Air Flotilla. The plan is to increase the airfield to level 4 so the Nells/Betties can operate from there without limitations.

Nells and Bettys are both torpedo bombers and will fly with torpedoes from a level 2 airbase. If they have torpedoes selected but if none are available, then they will fly with a full bomb load even at 1k feet.

[Mike Solli]

The wife is keeping me busy with holiday chores. I keep trying to convince her that I retired to play WitP. Anyway, we've been playing but I haven't had enough time to update this too. I just sent the 10 May turn to Ted. I'll update until he sends me back a turn...

2 May 42

China

As I said above, Ted has concentrated troops much more this game than in the past. Here in China, he has several large concentrations. My idea is to isolate those that I can and work my way to Chungking. Once Chungking is liberated, then I can liquidate those concentrations. I think they won't respawn, unless they respawn somewhere else if Chungking is captured. Here are a few of those concentrations:

The other base where the Chinese units respawn is Chengtu.

Burma

Pt. Blair was liberated today. It will become the main base for elements of 22 Air Flotilla. The plan is to increase the airfield to level 4 so the Nells/Betties can operate from there without limitations.

Nells and Bettys are both torpedo bombers and will fly with torpedoes from a level 2 airbase. If they have torpedoes selected but if none are available, then they will fly with a full bomb load even at 1k feet.

Excellent! Thanks, Joe!

[Mike Solli]

5 May 42

Sub War

Nothing to report.

5 Fleet

Nothing to report.

4 Fleet

Nothing to report.

SE Fleet

Nothing to report.

SRA

Borneo

Nothing to report.

Burma

Well, my Oscars can't compete with the RAF or USAF. They just plain suck. Today, I lost 8 (5 KIA, 1 WIA) while shooting down only 2 enemy fighters over Akyab. At least I have a nice supply of good pilots and planes. My problem is the lack of supply in Burma and the SRA to replace the fighters. I can't wait for the oil fields to finish repairing. They're sucking up all the supply in the area. Pain in the ass...

China

Shaoyang (the base due east of Changsha) was liberated today with the infrastructure in good shape:

Manpower: 1(1)
Resources: 37(3)
LI: 19(1)

There still isn't enough supply up north in Kiuchuan to allow the Zeros to fly against the I-15s and I-16s at Hami. Sigh.

Other Stuff

Nothing to report.

[Mike Solli]

6 May 42

Sub War

Nothing to report.

5 Fleet

Nothing to report.

4 Fleet

Nothing to report.

SE Fleet

The night bombing Nells did good work today at Pt. Moresby destroying 2 fighters and a 2E bomber on the ground and damaging over a dozen more planes. They also damaged the airfield.

Unfortunately, the 20 Division was ousted from Pt. Moresby by the massive Allied army there.

SRA

Borneo

Nothing to report.

Burma

The Oscars over Akyab took a beating losing a dozen (6 KIA, 5 WIA) while shooting down only one Allied fighter. I finally realized that there was no longer a need to protect the invasion site. I'm there to stay. I withdrew the fighters. Practically all of Ted's fighters in the AO are at Chittagong and can't reach anything else.

China

The Zeros still don't have enough supply to attack the Red Air Force.

Other Stuff

Reinforcements
SC Ch-29 - ASW
51 JNAF AF Unit - Southern Army - Headed to Rabaul.

[Mike Solli]

7 May 42

Sub War

Nothing to report.

5 Fleet

Nothing to report.

4 Fleet

Nothing to report.

SE Fleet

Nothing to report.

SRA

Borneo

Nothing to report.

Burma

The 3 tank regiments at Paoshan attacked again today destroying a dozen squads and disabling another 50. This will take a while, but my tanks will prevail. Two of the 3 tank regiments belong to what will eventually become 1 Tank Division. The arty and engineer regiments for that division are heading from Mandalay to Paoshan to join the tanks. The rest of 1 Tank Division (and 2 Tank Division too) will arrive in 47 days in Mukden. They'll rail down to Korea then be shipped to Burma to form the 1 Panzer Corps. Yeah, they're not much to speak of, but they are killers against troops with no ATGs.

China

Maneuvering around. I decided to surround a couple of Chinese concentrations (Kanhsien and Changsha) and focus on taking Chungking and Chengtu before reducing the surrounded Chinese.

Other Stuff

Nothing to report.

[Mike Solli]

8 May 42

Sub War

The I-2 investigated the ships at Luganville and shot some of torpedoes at AVD Ballard, missing. She then managed to maneuver into a DC. She took enough damage that she'll have to head home for repairs.

The KXV, in the deep water hex just north of Rabaul, torpedoed an Ansyu PB on ASW patrol. She survived and will make it to port, but her damage is severe at 28-97(59)-3-10.

The RO-60, patrolling off Pt. Moresby, took a DC from a DE and will also head home.

5 Fleet

Nothing to report.

4 Fleet

Nothing to report.

SE Fleet

The night bombing of Pt. Moresby's airfield damaged 10 planes.

SRA

Recon of Makassar revealed quite a few small ships in port. Today, 24 Nells hit the port sinking all 16 AMcs.

Borneo

Nothing to report.

Burma

Ted sent 6 flights of fighters totaling 78 sorties against Akyab. No one was home.

China

The Zeros still couldn't fly against Hami.

Other Stuff

Reinforcement
18 Port Unit - Southern Army - headed to Saumlaki.

[Mike Solli]

9 May 42

Sub War

The SSX Ha-4 spotted an enemy BB TF at Johnston Island and put a torpedo into the side of the BB Mississippi. Banzai! I sent a couple of real subs to try and spot her on her way back to Pearl, but they never spotted her. Well, she will need some extra yard work when she gets back.

5 Fleet

Nothing to report.

4 Fleet

The bombardment TF of Johnston was composed of 5 BBs, a CA and 2 CL, but Mississippi was not among them. They trashed the port and airfield, destroyed all the supply and gave the engineers a headache, but no damage was done to the NG unit there. Interesting.

SE Fleet

The night Nell raid of Pt. Moresby managed to damage about 4 planes and do a little damage to the airfield.

SRA

Borneo

Nothing to report.

Burma

The troops heading up the road from Cox's Bazaar hit the 19 Indian Division and the two Indian CD regiments and trashed them. Interestingly, one of the CD regiments didn't retreat and will be attacked again tomorrow.

China

Still no supply for the Zeros. Sigh.

Other Stuff

Nothing to report.

[RangerJoe]

The wife is keeping me busy with holiday chores. I keep trying to convince her that I retired to play WitP. Anyway, we've been playing but I haven't had enough time to update this too. I just sent the 10 May turn to Ted. I'll update until he sends me back a turn...

2 May 42

China

As I said above, Ted has concentrated troops much more this game than in the past. Here in China, he has several large concentrations. My idea is to isolate those that I can and work my way to Chungking. Once Chungking is liberated, then I can liquidate those concentrations. I think they won't respawn, unless they respawn somewhere else if Chungking is captured. Here are a few of those concentrations:

The other base where the Chinese units respawn is Chengtu.

Burma

Pt. Blair was liberated today. It will become the main base for elements of 22 Air Flotilla. The plan is to increase the airfield to level 4 so the Nells/Betties can operate from there without limitations.

Nells and Bettys are both torpedo bombers and will fly with torpedoes from a level 2 airbase. If they have torpedoes selected but if none are available, then they will fly with a full bomb load even at 1k feet.

Excellent! Thanks, Joe!

You are most welcome!

Oscars just don't have the firepower to down the Allied fighters, at least not yet.

Those bombardments concentrate on the infrastructure and the support units, not the defending units at the beach locations.

[Tanaka]

Oh nice a mini sub hit on a BB what a rare treat! How did you get one to Johnston?

[PaxMondo]

Mike,

You will want to take ChengTu before CK if you can ... and do it by forcing those units out of the base, not killing them. Normally, ChengTu is garrisoned with a lot less units ... a swift armor strike will usually work...

[PaxMondo]

4 May 42

Burma

The lovely engine RNG decided to have pity on me today at Ted's expense. Ted sent his fighters after my feeble Oscars at Akyab again, but not before he sent in those 12 unescorted Swordfish. I'm not sure what ships they were attacking because they were all shot down! Unfortunately, the fighters showed up immediately after and dove on my Oscars. There were 9 Oscars involved in the Swordfish massacre, but 4 (1 KIA, 1 WIA) of them were shot down by the Allied fighters for no loss to the fighters. Well, that's one less squadron of TBs to worry about for awhile.

Yeah, given the anemic replacement rates on the Swordfish (3/mo?) ... you may not see them for a couple of years .... and then as Avengers ....

[PaxMondo]

5 May 42

Burma

Well, my Oscars can't compete with the RAF or USAF. They just plain suck. Today, I lost 8 (5 KIA, 1 WIA) while shooting down only 2 enemy fighters over Akyab. At least I have a nice supply of good pilots and planes. My problem is the lack of supply in Burma and the SRA to replace the fighters. I can't wait for the oil fields to finish repairing. They're sucking up all the supply in the area. Pain in the ass...

OK, Mike, don't hold it in, tell us what you really think!!!

So, yeah, face it the Oscar is just a slightly faster Nate, and yeah, they ain't gonna cut it. Tojo is better, but the max range of 8 is not optimal. Frank gets you to 10, but their cruise speed is way off and hinders coordination.

Truthfully the IJA is totally hosed. Like to say I knew who to blame, but I don't. The aircraft design teams were all pretty good, so I suspect it was the MORONS who were giving them specs that screwed up, but ... I don't have definitive proof. So look at this:

IJA Level Bombers: cruise speeds
Ki-21 IIa/IIb 236
Ki-49 IIa/b 217
Ki-67 249
Ki-74 249

IJA Fighters: Cruise Speeds
Ki-43 IIa-IV 273-280
Ki-44 249
Ki-84 277
Ki-83 280
Ki-61 249

As you can see, nothing matches up with the Helen (the most popular LB for IJA), Tojo and Tony match Peggy and Stella, but your best fighters are terrible for escorting ...

Granted cruise speed is not the only variable in coordination, but it is one of them and the IJA does not do itself any favors ....

IJN is FAR better. A6M2 matches up with the Netties pretty well. Later models of A6M and N1K match P1Y at 230. A7M matches up well with B7A and D4Y1/2 at 250/259/265

China

Shaoyang (the base due east of Changsha) was liberated today with the infrastructure in good shape:

Manpower: 1(1)
Resources: 37(3)
LI: 19(1)

Sweet!!

[PaxMondo]

7 May 42
China

Maneuvering around. I decided to surround a couple of Chinese concentrations (Kanhsien and Changsha) and focus on taking Chungking and Chengtu before reducing the surrounded Chinese.

+1

[Mike Solli]

Oh nice a mini sub hit on a BB what a rare treat! How did you get one to Johnston?

Use the midget sub mission. It includes one of the midget carrying subs and a midget sub. Set the TF to sail to the target. When it gets there, create a midget sub TF with the midget sub and then send the carrier back home.

I stick midget subs at all the bases I expect Ted to invade. If the midget sub takes any damage, just disband it and send another.

[Mike Solli]

Mike,

You will want to take ChengTu before CK if you can ... and do it by forcing those units out of the base, not killing them. Normally, ChengTu is garrisoned with a lot less units ... a swift armor strike will usually work...

Very good idea. Chungking took me forever to take last game.

[Mike Solli]

I'm way behind!

10 May 42

Sub War

Nothing to report.

5 Fleet

Nothing to report.

4 Fleet

Nothing to report.

SE Fleet

The night bombing of Pt. Moresby destroyed a Warhawk and damaged 4 other planes on the ground and caused a little lasting damage to the airfield.

SRA

Borneo

Nothing to report. Still 2 bases to take. I landed at Bandjermasin today and will take it tomorrow.

Burma

A British squadron composed of 2 CA and 3 CL bombarded Cox's Bazaar causing little damage. Got lucky there. The shortage of AS and engineers in this mod is telling. I don't have enough AS anywhere and it takes a loooong time to build up the airfields. I need a base to put some Nells/Betties on naval attack in this region to be able to harass his shipping I can see tooling around. My subs here always seem to be in the wrong place.

Also, his airpower is overlapping mine here. Today, he sent 6 fighter squadrons totaling 86 sorties on sweeps over Cox's Bazaar. I'm waiting for enough Tojo IIas to outfit a unit to try and counter them. I've also discovered that Palembang is the only base in the region with enough supply to allow air units to accept replacements or upgrade their aircraft.

My 3 tank regiments attacked the enemy at Paoshan again today. They attacked a little more fatigued than I normally would like, but they destroyed 8 infantry squads and disabled another 47 along with killing a gun and disabling another 25 other squads. In return, they lost about a dozen tanks disabled. I'll let them rest a couple of days. I have an engineer battalion and artillery regiment (both of the future 1 Tank Division) headed there to bolster the troops. The outcome is inevitable, but there still are about 25k troops there. It'll take awhile to chew through them. On the plus side, their preparation, experience and supply are all low.

I attempted to attack the Brits just east of Cox's Bazaar, but it didn't go well. I ended up losing only a couple of squads, but had a bunch disabled to a couple dozen enemy disabled. I attacked with 48 Division and 10 Tank Regiment (with 1 RF Gun Battalion there defending) against 70 British Division and 3 Indian CD Gun Battalion. I have another infantry division headed there from Cox's Bazaar with another infantry division and a couple of tank regiments crawling there from Akyab and that area. Also, some artillery will land at Akyab shortly.

China

Moving around.

Other Stuff

Nothing to report.

[Mike Solli]

11 May 42

Sub War

Nothing to report.

5 Fleet

Nothing to report.

4 Fleet

Nothing to report.

SE Fleet

The night bombing of Pt. Moresby's airfield was pretty nice today. Three planes were destroyed and another 16 damaged while lasting damage was done to the airfield.

SRA

Borneo

Bandjermasin was attacked today by a tank regiment, unsuccessfully. In true fashion attacking weak Allied units with tanks, I lost nothing and they were chewed up. I'll take that base in the next day or two.

Burma

I see 83 enemy fighters at Chittagong that I can't compete with. Just about all of them are sweeping Akyab, but I have nothing there to oppose them. Ted also has about 54k troops there with another 6k to the south and most likely headed to the hex east of Cox's Bazaar, which has about 19k and is opposed by about 15k Japanese troops and a tank regiment. I have reinforcements headed there to take the hex.

My three tank regiments in Paoshan are going to rest another day before attacking again.

China

Nothing to report.

Other Stuff

Nothing to report.

[Mike Solli]

12 May 42

Sub War

I screwed up with I-124. She was sent to lay a minefield at Pt. Moresby, but I figured the port would be mined and decided to change the target hex to a hex south of the base. Unfortunately, I forgot to make the change and sure enough, there was a minefield and she hit one and sank. Down to 3 minelaying subs.

5 Fleet

Nothing to report.

4 Fleet

Nothing to report.

SE Fleet

One of my subs had spotted a number of Allied TFs at Luganville. I know I had said that I wasn't going to use any of KB until after the July 42 air unit changes, but it looked like a chance I shouldn't pass up. I sent Shokaku and Zuikaku to investigate. They'll arrive in range tomorrow.

SRA

Borneo

Nothing to report.

Burma

The tanks will attack Paoshan again tomorrow.

China

The Zeros in the north of China shot down 3 more fighters at Hami. There still are a couple left. Once they're finished off, the Zeros will move to Kweilin in south-central China to start taking out a concentration of Chinese fighters at Kunming.

Other Stuff

Nothing to report.

[Mike Solli]

13 May 42

Sub War

Nothing to report.

5 Fleet

Nothing to report.

4 Fleet

Nothing to report.

SE Fleet

Shokaku and Zuikaku are in position to attack the shipping at Luganville, but it vanished. They're undetected so I'll sit for a day to see what transpires.

SRA

Borneo

Bandjermasin was liberated today. Only one base remains in Allied control.

Burma

The tank regiments at Paoshan killed 21 squads and disabled another 85 squads. The Chinese control of this base is not going to last.

China

Nothing to report.

Other Stuff

The Ki-44-IIb R&D advanced to 6/43. It will become operational around 10/42.