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

[PaxMondo]

I don't think he will land troops to retake Adak so quickly and knowing the KB was around, but I could be wrong. Thank would be interesting!

I would, so I hope I'm wrong ... the only good news is that the units likely will NOT be prepped ....

[InHarmsWay]

Just in case Adm Wa does land troops, I am leaving my units in Adak. All my units are 100% prepped for the base, and have about ~400 AV. Additional engineers and a Air HQ headed there as well. Unfortunately sneaky Adm Wa, caught some ships unloading initial engineers with PT boats and it was a slaughter! 4 AKs and an AMC sent to the bottom. Update on the Aleutians after the next turn. I have another shock attack going in a Amchitka.... again.... keep getting 1-1 so rested for several days to try again.

Elsewhere in the world, China is getting to the final endgame. One question for the wider group. I will have a division in the final open hex to the west of Kunming in 2 days. At that point, I am assuming that units in Kunming will not be able to retreat into that contested hex? Or do I need to completely take the hex before my final assault in Kunming? I do not want those pesky Chinese to escape after all this time marching over the hills...

March 26 1943 status in China.jpg (853.39 KiB) Viewed 487 times

It is a long shot, but I do not think Adm Wa knows I have units marching to the hex NE of Lashio, which will box in his units on the road from Lashio to Paoshan. Hopefully once that units gets there, supplies will be constrained for him. My understanding is that supplies up in this area do not flow well from India.

[InHarmsWay]

Drat, another 1-1 result, close but high command recommends to wait several days for the next attack. Bombing will continue, and another Bombardment force as well as the KB will make a final appearance in 4-5 days. KB will also escort the additional base forces needed to properly hold Adak for a while. Admiral Wa looks to be building up Cold Bay. Several xAPs were seen at Cold Bay with one sunk by a sub several days ago.
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Ground combat at Amchitka Island (158,52)

Japanese Shock attack

Attacking force 16988 troops, 211 guns, 138 vehicles, Assault Value = 389

Defending force 6141 troops, 192 guns, 181 vehicles, Assault Value = 61

Japanese adjusted assault: 323

Allied adjusted defense: 190

Japanese assault odds: 1 to 1 (fort level 0)

Japanese Assault reduces fortifications to 0

Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+)
Attacker: shock(+)

Japanese ground losses:
1400 casualties reported
Squads: 19 destroyed, 93 disabled
Non Combat: 2 destroyed, 19 disabled
Engineers: 1 destroyed, 17 disabled
Guns lost 12 (1 destroyed, 11 disabled)
Vehicles lost 16 (5 destroyed, 11 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
121 casualties reported
Squads: 2 destroyed, 16 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 7 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 29 (2 destroyed, 27 disabled)
Vehicles lost 5 (1 destroyed, 4 disabled)

Assaulting units:
53rd Division
54th Division
2nd Recon Regiment
56th Recon Regiment
23rd Ind. Engineer Regiment
8th Tank Regiment
82nd Naval Guard Unit

Defending units:
4th (Sep) Infantry Regiment
95th Coast AA Regiment
154th FA Bn
57th Coastal Artillery Regiment
112th USA Base Force
808th Engineer Aviation Battalion
--------------------------------------------------------------
Elsewhere, the Allied performed an unopposed landing at Luganville, and I expect will continue on towards Lunga. I have elected not to defend it. Good decision or bad, not sure...

[BBfanboy]

If the unit has sole control of the hex near Kunming, it will stop the flow of supplies and therefore stop the retreat path. But there is a Chinese unit in the hex and it will have to be evicted first.

[RangerJoe]

If a player controls the hex, supplies will flow in and out of the controlled hexsides.

[InHarmsWay]

Thanks all, that makes sense and I will have to evict the Chinese unit east of Kunming. For the Allied units NE of Lashio, that is a much tougher ask, and only if I get lucky with him moving units into and out of the hex. I still do not think he is aware of the unit moving there as the map shows the unit move "pip" in black, and it is camouflaged by the terrain.

The war will take to a brief hiatus due to a weekend vacation, will restart Sunday!

[InHarmsWay]

Last update for a while, as vacation is calling.

Gentle readers, things have heated up a bit in the North Pacific. US CVs are leaving, as the KB has entered. I also saw two fast BBs several days ago at Cold Harbor area. Key items are Adak will be fully functional soon. That will let me to replenish BBs for bombardments on his bases up north. Also finally got a 120 strength minefield at Adak as well.

April 1 1943 status North Pacific.jpg (306.64 KiB) Viewed 360 times

In the SW Pacific:

Adm Wa is making noise in the SW pacific, bombing Port Morseby and in general being a nuisance.

China:
Kunming has now been fully encircled, and I am moving in units to take the city. Adm Was relief force is stuck about 3 hexes away from the closest China City.

[Mike Solli]

Been reading this AAR. Pretty interesting. Chungking just fell. I'm on page 22. Can't wait to catch up so I can babble about what's going on.

Keep it up! You're doing great!

[PaxMondo]

...
Keep it up! You're doing great!

+1

[InHarmsWay]

Back to the War! Vacation is over. Just processed the latest turn and only a few updates to mention:

First off, the KB continued to push closer to Cold Bay and Umnak Island. A wolfpack of American subs were spotted surrounding the KB, however no attacks were pressed. IJN subs spotted several CA/CL/CLAA about a dozen hexes closer to Seattle, made several torpedo attacks, and unfortunately for the I-38 boat, she paid the ultimate price. The KB did launch a small strike and sank an xAP and AM that was fleeing the area. The KB will retire this next turn as any worthwhile targets are long gone, and protecting the two transport TFs unloading at Adak was the primary purpose.

Second item of note was my D4Y2 Judy research has accelerated again and is now currently at a 7/43 production date. With three factories researching with the engine bonus, I should get the D4Y2 Judy in late May. In a couple days, I will switch the Aichi engine (current inventory is 621) production to Mit-Ha43 most likely. Even better, my fourth Frank factory finally reached fully repaired (30). With the engine bonus again, that means it brings forward the production date every ~13 days. Again, this means I will likely get the first Franks off the assembly line in late May (11 factories total). The remaining 7 factories have 2, 3, 3, 4, 6, 6, and 8 still damaged out of 30. Engine stockpiles for the Nak Ha-45 is sitting at 1290 (712 factories producing, with 18 currently repairing). I could really use the Frank, as the Tojo seems to be easy picking for the P-38s and corsairs Adm Wa is throwing at me.

Thirdly, I achieved a 2-1 at Kunming in my first attack with a single high exp division (41st Div, exp of 88). Forts dropped to 2, and I have now paused to let several ~60 exp brigades to reach the hex in ~3 turns. They will continue to attach to try and milk as much exp as I can for them.

[InHarmsWay]

Mike Solli, welcome to my humble AAR! I also have been reading your AAR, and it is very interesting. I have not commented as I know Adm Wa is a known surfer of AARs... , You went for Adak well before me, which I think is a good move. I am actually surprised Adm Wa had it as lightly defended as he did, I am struggling to take Amchitka (lower prep of the units, and I mistakely overstacked two divisions there... grrr). Adak fell relatively easily and once I can finish repairing the port (size 8!, thank you seabees!), will stark bombardment runs on his other bases that are being built up now... Umnak Island and Cold Bay. Will likely lose Adak at some point in '44, but it will slow him down and make him continue to react to my moves, as he cannot afford to leave such a nice base in my hands if he wants to push the northern route into the Home islands. I experienced that brand of nasty Allied strategy in our last game. Was quite annoying.

[PaxMondo]

... Even better, my fourth Frank factory finally reached fully repaired (30). With the engine bonus again, that means it brings forward the production date every ~13 days. Again, this means I will likely get the first Franks off the assembly line in late May (11 factories total).

Way cool! 11 factories means you get a new Frank group to deploy every 5 days ... your opponent is going to hate you very much!! No more Oscar's ... and the Tojo's on secondary CAP as they still have good climb and make a good low/mid tier in multi-tier CAP that should become more common in the mid-war.

I could really use the Frank, as the Tojo seems to be easy picking for the P-38s and corsairs Adm Wa is throwing at me.

Especially F4U's ... the Tojo doesn't match well against them. Frank will be better, best is a multi-tier CAP and you can use Tojo's in it along with the Frank. With the right mix & numbers, you can get 2:1 results here and better.

P38's ... unlike other allied fighters, you have to accept 1:1 results with these (until you get the J7W*) and sometimes not even that good. You win simply based on replacement rates ... you can and he can't keep up. These have high altitude and high speed, so they almost always get the dive on you ... hence multi-tier CAP is what you must use against them. Read previous AAR's to see what the masters used in terms on altitudes and model mix. Tweak (daily) until you get your best results. Then just persevere.

*J7W has the speed to match the P38 and it can match the firepower as it too has c/l guns. So, now it becomes a 1E v 2E fighter and the 2E fighter malus is all the difference you need to win and win convincingly. You do need to rotate your J7W units frequently though ... the SR5 has to be managed.

[InHarmsWay]

"Sir, we have good news and bad news." The Captain stated at the start of the daily intel briefing. Knowing his leader, he started with the bad news first...
"We located the at least 3-4 Allied fleet carriers and have identified a likely area of strategic thrust by the Americans."
"And what is the bad news?" Admiral Harmasaki asked
"Well, we lost over 40 Bettys and Nells pinpointing their location. Over 75 enemy fighters were seen on CAP"
"Captain, you are right on one count, but may be mistaking on another. Yes, at least a couple of CVs were located, but we do not know if they are the fleet CVs or CVE and CVLs. This may be an opportunistic attack by Adm Wa, knowing our main fleet presence is tied up near Adak. We need to be wary here. If the allies want to have their main counterattack into the Imperial Empire to start way south in the SW Pac, then I am willing to give up ground grudgingly here."

Order our plane formations to concentrate at Rabaul and Truk. We will see where the Americans go. Also order the KB and Mini KB south. We do not want to make it too easy on Adm Wa, but will only fight under our land based air cover.

April 3 1943 status SWPac.jpg (456.87 KiB) Viewed 173 times

[InHarmsWay]

Pax Mondo, yes, I am very excited to be close to getting the Frank. I am running very lean on IJA fighter frames and have been trying to husband my Tojo's. I only have the IIa and IIb models in production, and only with 2 factories each in production. I have about 70 aircraft in the pool, and can reconvert some trainers back to nates if needed, but really have probably cut this a bit close! Part of this strategy was to conserve my good pilots for the Frank airframe, and hoping I would not need to get into a large contest air battle before the Frank is ready... the other part was to try and optimize supply spend on factory repairs and expansions before I reached my main fighter production lines (George and Franks).

I currently have 9 factories allocated to the J7W1, but they are still a ways away. I did have good luck with the Ki-83 in the last game, and have concentrated on that from the beginning. Yes, it is a 2E, but seems to be the fastest IJA plane that also has legs and a common engine with my main build path of the Sam and the J7W1. Trade offs!

One question for the group, what are your thought on trying to accelerate the George model? I like the high altitude of the K1 model, and don't see a benefit of trying to get the K2 or K5 model early at the expense of running out of airframes and burning engines on research. That said, I am still researching the Mit Ha-43 model, it should go into production in May '43 as well.

[RangerJoe]

You can always stop or slow the production of the engines if you don't want to speed up the research. When I looked at the George, the second one looks pretty good to me.

[InHarmsWay]

For those gentle readers out there waiting on baited breath to know the outcome in the SW Pac. It turned into a bit of a nothingburger. Adm Wa retreated after landing at Deboyne Island, but now looks like he may be coming back. I have decided not to hotly contest a long slog up the Solomon Islands. Feel that there is no way to defend everything down there. Most of my planes have withdrawn to Rabaul or been put on non naval strike orders following a great CAP trap by Adm Wa. He parked the mini DS about 12 hexes from Rabaul, and I had about 40 Betty and Nells blissfully fly to their doom against the 70+ Wildcat CAP.

April 7 1943 status SWPac.jpg (415.5 KiB) Viewed 89 times

[InHarmsWay]

April 7, 1943 turned out to be a good day for the benevolent, peace loving Empire of Japan.

China:
Kunming finally fell. It turned out to be anticlimactic in that it only took 3 attacks. I was only able to train up a few brigades a few experience points in total. That is the last of the easy LCU victory points. Now China will likely go idle as I position my units down along the Hong Kong area, with several still pushing along the Burma road. I hope to buy out 3 of the high exp Divisions over the next 3-4 months and repositon them. Currently thoughts are 1 in Singapore, 1 in the Marianas with one more as a ready Division to move into whichever area Adm Wa decides to go. I had alot of Arty in China, that will get placed all over.

Burma:
Not that much land movement the past week, but there have been several significant furballs. My Georges have done well on a couple sweeps, while Sally and Helen bomb the errant allied unit near Lashio. I do think Adm Wa may be running low or having issues with supplies as he has not really pushed here at all. This is raising alarm bells in the Imperial HQ as he is normally aggressive. I continue to think he is getting ready to try and land south of Rangoon now that he took Ceylon back. I give it a month for his LCUs to finish planning, so I need to be ready. This is one reason the KB has left the Aleutians...

Australia / Darwin area:
Nothing of significance, just busy moving resources out of the area.

North Pac:
Adm Wa is busy trying to build up bases to offset Adak, while I continue to soften up Amchitka. There are quite a few allied subs in the area. I had spotted some ships at Umnak and had sent in a surface TF to catch them. Got lucky as the ship I spotted ended up being PT boats, but he had moved in a reinforcement TF as well. Long Lance's were highly effective and vehicles don't swim well! I am thinking it was a tank rgmt?

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Night Time Surface Combat, near Umnak Island at 169,51, Range 2,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
CL Agano
DD Hatsuzuki
DD Kazegumo
DD Makigumo

Allied Ships
xAK Steel Scientist, Shell hits 1, Torpedo hits 3, and is sunk
xAK Steel Worker, Shell hits 17, Torpedo hits 3, and is sunk
xAK Nabesna, Shell hits 9, Torpedo hits 3, and is sunk

Allied ground losses:
Guns lost 44 (36 destroyed, 8 disabled)
Vehicles lost 470 (423 destroyed, 47 disabled)

Japanese Ships Reported to be Approaching!
Allied TF begins to get underway
Poor visibility due to Thunderstorms with 7% moonlight
Maximum visibility in Thunderstorms and 7% moonlight: 2,000 yards
Range closes to 9,000 yards...
Range closes to 8,000 yards...
Range closes to 7,000 yards...
Range closes to 6,000 yards...
Range closes to 5,000 yards...
Range closes to 4,000 yards...
Range closes to 3,000 yards...
Range closes to 2,000 yards...
CONTACT: Japanese lookouts spot Allied task force at 2,000 yards
CONTACT: Allied lookouts spot Japanese task force at 2,000 yards
DD Makigumo engages xAK Steel Worker at 2,000 yards
xAK Steel Worker sunk by CL Agano at 2,000 yards
DD Makigumo engages xAK Nabesna at 2,000 yards
xAK Nabesna sunk by DD Hatsuzuki at 2,000 yards
Massive explosion on xAK Steel Scientist
xAK Steel Scientist sunk by CL Agano at 2,000 yards
xAK Steel Scientist sunk by CL Agano at 2,000 yards
Combat ends with last Allied ship sunk...
---------------------------------------------

[PaxMondo]

China:
Kunming finally fell. It turned out to be anticlimactic in that it only took 3 attacks.

BANZAI!!!!!

Now China will likely go idle as I position my units down along the Hong Kong area, with several still pushing along the Burma road. I hope to buy out 3 of the high exp Divisions over the next 3-4 months and repositon them. Currently thoughts are 1 in Singapore, 1 in the Marianas with one more as a ready Division to move into whichever area Adm Wa decides to go. I had alot of Arty in China, that will get placed all over.

Hmmmm, this sounds like you ceding the initiative in April 43 ... are you sure?

I hate to cede the initiative, when you are on defense early, you are easily pulled off balance, react in the wrong direction, expend supply and resources chasing things around. I prefer to keep the initiative until it is proven to me that I can't continue.

Now? I would be prepping units for Umak, Dutch Harbor, Cold Bay, right on up through Alaska ... maybe even Canada? He has to respect that attack ... he can't ignore it and in '43 he hasn't got the units to be in more than one place yet .... that doesn't happen until '44 ... Yes, keep lot'sa NavSearch going on everywhere ... you don't want surprises. Keep several Netty units ready to respond to anything ... but get your Helen's onto Adak and keep moving up the Aleutians. Force him to commit resources there. Smash them, and keep going. Bring the BIG hammer .... that means 2-3 ID's + 2-3 Tank BDE's + Hvy ARTY. Big hammer. Whatever he's got there, you want to smash it.


just my thoughts .... let's see what RJ or BBFB think ....

[BBfanboy]

I haven't played as Japan so I can't really comment on what to do up there. Only thing I would be careful of is trying to push everywhere at the same time. As Pax said, bring the big hammer where you want to make progress and let the other regions go calm for a while.

[InHarmsWay]

"Admiral, evening is upon us and as of the last radio transmission from our Emily's based out of Rabaul, several small allied amphibious TFs have dropped anchor off of the Deboyne Islands. Indications are a Carrier group is running escort, with possible large capital ships escorting. " the captain of the CA Maya stated.
"Excellent Captain, and well done to the first officer for keeping our Task Force under these severe storms. I doubt the enemy is aware we approach. Order Flank speed at dusk and prepare your bridge for night combat. Signal to the TF, that the first ship to strike a carrier with one of our feared long lance torpedoes will be rewarded with a crate of Admiral Harmasaki's finest Sake!

April 8 1943 status SWPac.jpg (370.13 KiB) Viewed 48 times

Quick update for you gentle readers! Luck is the intersection of preparation and opportunity. It looks like I have the potential to get lucky in the next turn... My raiders, likely outnumbered but full of elan, will try for the much sought after, but seldom seen long lance attack on some US flattops. Odds are the IJN may lose this action, but it is worth the shot, and I find it easier to undertake risky attacks knowing that in the end, all of the IJN will end up in the same place... BANZAI!!!