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

[Mike Solli]

I learned something over a decade ago while I was playing the old WitP. There was a very active guy named Mogami who was very good at the game. One thing in particular he mentioned that I never forgot. He said that if you did not (as the Japanese) want to contest air space in a certain region, pull all of your aircraft out. A lot of people would keep some fighters in an area they weren't trying to contest. That simply caused unneeded plane and pilot losses. I try to do that as much as possible. It just so happens that the two places where I have large air forces (not counting China where the Allied Air Force is defunct), I am trying to contest things. First is SE Fleet AO, where I can occasionally gain air superiority temporarily to ambush the enemy bombers. The second is Burma, where there is a phony war occurring right now. I'm happy with that until I can upgrade about 75% of the fighters with the Tojo IIc. I also will place a George unit there eventually too. Right now, Ted has more fighters than me, but they are inferior to my new models fighters, but not the old ones that are currently holding the line. I'm happy with the lack of fighting until I upgrade. Then, I'll start to whittle down his air power.

[sfatula]

Needless fighting also wastes supply in several ways, including repairing planes. And you are doing very well with that. And you are doing very well with your pilots (IJN)!. Hopefully that helps make '43 more painful for him than it otherwise might be.

[Mike Solli]

You mention supply. I scrimp and save wherever I can, but use it when necessary. I'm keeping Chungking well supplied because I want to take Chungking. Then I can reduce the amount of supply I send there. I am increasing supply. It's over 3.1 million, which is nice for this mod. My hope is still to have >4 million going into 44.

[Mike Solli]

28 Dec 42

Sub War

The I-35 has been chasing a TK convoy for a few days now. Two days ago, she torpedoed and sank a full, 14k capacity TK. Today, she got another 14k TK loaded with fuel. I'll bet Ted is yelling at his computer. I no longer see the convoy but I have 3 subs in the area looking for it.

The I-157 sank an xAK and xAKL off the NW coast of Australia. I suspect they were supplying the north coast of Australia.

5 Fleet

I sent a fast transport TF to Adak to drop off some additional supply, but those 2 pesky PT boats scared them off. A bombardment TF is arriving tomorrow. Hopefully, they'll sink them.

4 Fleet

Nothing to report.

SE Fleet

Ted's night bombers destroyed half a dozen planes on the ground today. It's really irritating. I've moved out everything I don't need there. By the way, the Petes didn't even fly today.

Two xAPs arrived at Talsea with 2 AS battalions (from Tokyo). I had a sentai of Tojos flying LRCAP over the TF. Ten Beaufort VIIIs came in to bomb the transports. The Tojos were too high to intercept them. Fortunately, the bombers missed. I lowered the height of the Tojos. They should get butchered if they come back tomorrow.

Over Madang, 15 Spitfires met 9 Zeros and shot two of my planes down (2 WIA) for no loss to the Spitfires. If they return tomorrow, they'll meet 9 Zeros and 42 Tojos. I hope they come back!

Thirty-five 4E bombers hit Lunga and Tulagi.

Finally, KB2 took its sweet time today and is 10 hexes from Luganville. Let's see if they launch tomorrow...

SRA

Nothing to report.

Burma

Nothing to report.

China

My tanks attacked Kienko again today, wearing the defending Chinese Corps down further. They didn't get enough to secure the town, but they'll attack again when they get more supply.

The bombing/bombardment today destroyed 64 squads.

Raw AV:
Japan: 4365 (+7)
China: 4502 (-84)
Enemy strength: 299k (-3k)
Enemy units: 91 units (no change)

Other Stuff

Reinforcements
I-36, Glen sub, allocated to SE Fleet AO.

[RangerJoe]

You can supply Adak with a Fast Transport TF which will also bombard and I believe will result in an enemy bombardment as well. You can include battleships in that task force.

You might also want to consider the weather there. I do believe that it is the season for blizzards from Mother Nature. Personally, I think that Blizzards from someplace called Dairy Queen would be better but your troops are Japanese so they may not want those. I presume that you have experienced blizzards from Mother Nature?

[Mike Solli]

You can supply Adak with a Fast Transport TF which will also bombard and I believe will result in an enemy bombardment as well. You can include battleships in that task force.

You might also want to consider the weather there. I do believe that it is the season for blizzards from Mother Nature. Personally, I think that Blizzards from someplace called Dairy Queen would be better but your troops are Japanese so they may not want those. I presume that you have experienced blizzards from Mother Nature?

I'm going to move some surface ships to sit at Adak until those 2 PT boats are destroyed. They don't have torpedoes, but the PBs on a fast transport mission continue to run away. Very irritating.

[Mike Solli]

29 Dec 42

Sub War

Nothing to report.

5 Fleet

The 2 torpedoless PT boats drove off the 4 PB fast transport again today. Tomorrow, both bombardment TFs are hitting. If they don't destroy them, I'll send a dedicated surface TF to the hex to kill them.

4 Fleet

Nothing to report.

SE Fleet

Well, the 6 Petes flew CAP. One was shot down (WIA) but they were present for all 9 enemy attacks. They did absolutely no damage to either the airfield or my planes. May just be coincidence or something more. Either way, they are scheduled to fly again tomorrow. By the way, the night attacks on Rabaul included 26x 4E and 29x 2E bombers.

Ted has stepped up his fighter sweeps. Fortunately for me, they are spread out all over the place and in no more than squadron size:

Salamaua: 14
Lunga: 9
Finschafen: 10 escort + 3 sweep
Lae: 15

I'm going to consider ambushing them here and there with a sentai of Tojos while my Georges continue to repair.

Only 8x 4E hit Lunga today. Weather? Rest? Don't know.

SRA

Nothing to report.

Burma

I just upgraded my first 30 plane Tojo IIc sentai here. In retrospect, I should have waited and upgraded a 42 plane sentai.

China

The bombers didn't fly today, the slackers. The bombardment killed 41 squads.

Raw AV:
Japan: 4371 (+6)
China: 4464 (-38)
Enemy strength: 300k (+1k)
Enemy units: 91 units (no change)

Other Stuff

Nothing to report.

[sfatula]

The Petes will not do anything, except, disrupt the bombing. How did the bombing do? They should be there for all bombing runs as they will never climb enough to get to the B17s if you put them low, or shouldn't. I guess they did at least once since you lost one. But the more important part is, did they hit any planes on the ground?

For your fast transports, did you change the threat tolerance?

[Mike Solli]

The Petes will not do anything, except, disrupt the bombing. How did the bombing do? They should be there for all bombing runs as they will never climb enough to get to the B17s if you put them low, or shouldn't. I guess they did at least once since you lost one. But the more important part is, did they hit any planes on the ground?

For your fast transports, did you change the threat tolerance?

The bombers did absolutely no damage to the airfield and did not kill any planes on the ground. Just one Pete got shot down. I have them at 6k feet. They did their job.

Edit: The threat tolerance was probably normal. Didn't think to change that.

[Mike Solli]

29 Dec 42

Addition

SE Fleet

Well, somehow I forgot that KB2 attacked Luganville.

They sent in a small force of 25 Vals and 7 Kates escorted by 41 Zeros in the morning. They encountered 18 P-38Gs and 6 Kittyhawk IAs. They lost 3 Zeros for a single Kittyhawk. The bombers went in and sank 3 YMS, and an SC while heavily damaging DEs Pillsbury and Pope. In the afternoon, a larger force of 33 Vals and 31 Kates escorted by 40 Zeros ran into the remaining 5 Kittyhawks and 9 P-38Gs. They lost 3 more Zeros in A2A, a Kate and Val to flak and another Kate shot down after the attack. They sank the two DEs and badly damaged a DD.

Overall I lost 5 Zero pilots KIA/MIA and another wounded along with a Val pilot and 2 Kate pilots. Was the attack worth it? I think so. Ted had emailed me asking where KB had gone. He didn't know the attack was coming. I was hoping to find that (probably non-existent) CVE I spotted earlier. I did kill 6-7 ASW ships that were causing problems to my subs in the area. Most importantly, Ted is going to wonder if KB will appear in his rear area. I am aware of an avenue they can travel with little or no ability of Ted to spot it. Hopefully, Ted will look over his shoulder wondering if KB is lurking in the shadows and, more importantly, he'll waste valuable assets guarding those rear areas.

[sfatula]

I suggest putting the Petes much lower. At least no planes were lost this time! I'm not sure about pilots, seems like terrible pilots might be ok.

[Mike Solli]

I suggest putting the Petes much lower. At least no planes were lost this time! I'm not sure about pilots, seems like terrible pilots might be ok.

The pilots are terrible. Their loss is no big deal. I also have 69 in the pool and use them for training.

[Mike Solli]

30 Dec 42

Sub War

One good that that happened at Adak was that I-30 (one of 3 subs there) was hit by a DC from Yunagi.

I-121 was sent to drop off mines at Noumea, which she did successfully. While there, she torpedoed and sank a big AK.

5 Fleet

Two separate bombardment TFs totaling 6 BB, 6 CA and 5 CL killed 51 squads and disabled another 156. They still have supply. Amazing. Those two PB boats "attacked" both. One PT boat was hit by a small caliber round but they both survive. Tomorrow, 6 DDs are going to park themselves at Adak until those PT boats are dead. I'm actually surprised he didn't create another dozen PT boats there. Maybe he finally is running low on supply. It's all very irritating.

4 Fleet

Nothing to report.

SE Fleet

The Petes ran interference against the night bombers again. One plane was destroyed on the ground and a couple points of easily repaired runway damage happened. Total sorties was 48x 4E and 34x 2E.

27 of 40 Georges have been repaired. Tomorrow, it should reach about 30. I'll send them, along with 78 Tojos and 84 Nicks to Rabaul on night CAP to take on the bombers. I'm hoping numbers prevail and the bombers take a hit. Usually, the first bombing run is larger and the rest are small. Here's what happened today (H=heavy, M=medium):

19 H
16 M
3 H
3 H
3 H
6 M
6 H
8 H
3 H
5 M
3 H
7 M

As you can see, the attacks get broken up into multiple small flights. I hope it is to his detriment when the small flights run into a mass of pretty good fighters. The other nice thing is that it'll be over my territory so that should reduce my pilot losses.

Ten Kittyhawk IAs swept Madang, running into 6 Zeros and 42 Tojos. For a cost of 1 Tojo (WIA), 9 of the Kittyhawks were shot down with the last one probably an op loss. That squadron will need new planes and pilots.

Tulagi's airfield was hit by heavy bombers, putting it out of commission. That's ok, the recon that was there checking out Luganville was able to retire to Rabaul. It did its purpose.

SRA

Nothing to report.

Burma

I moved the entire army to the front (1 hex east of Cox's Bazaar). Something sucked all the supply from Cox's Bazaar (~10k). No idea where it went but now there's a shortage of supply there so I can't attack. I'm really pissed. There's a constant stream of supply that heads there, but now I have to wait.

China

Kienko was attacked again. For no Japanese losses, the Chinese lost a few squads and and a bunch disabled. The attack was only 1:2. I'll attack again in a couple days when they get more supply.

The bombers didn't fly again today. Sheesh. The bombardment killed 33 squads.

The last (close) reinforcing division is 43 miles from Chungking. I'll attack after it arrives. I was going to wait until the Chinese AV was <4000 but I don't want to wait that long.

Raw AV:
Japan: 4371 (+6)
China: 4464 (-38)
Enemy strength: 296k (-4k)
Enemy units: 91 units (no change)
Guns: 554 (new category)

Other Stuff

Nothing to report.

[Mike Solli]

31 Dec 42

Sub War

The I-121, heading north after mining Noumea harbor and sinking a large AK, was caught by an ASW TF and hit once by a depth charge. Her damage is 27-28(9)-0-0. Unless she's caught again, she'll make port for repairs.

5 Fleet

The DD TF didn't quite make it to Adak to go after the 2 PT boats. Rotten boats...

4 Fleet

Nothing to report.

SE Fleet

The enemy bombers hit Rabaul over night again. The Petes did well, preventing all but just a couple of points of airfield damage that was easily repaired. Two Petes were shot down (1 WIA). They are now done and will recover tomorrow.

I'm sending in 6 different F/FB units tonight to attempt to do some damage to the 2/4E bombers tonight. This is what's going to fly night CAP:

(Exp/A2A/Def)

18 George - 74/70/68
7 George - 75/71/65
42 Nick - 74/71/67
42 Nick - 74/71/68
42 Tojo - 77/72/69
35 Tojo - 75/72/64

I checked all the commanders and replaced only one. The rest were all really good. All of the planes are stationed at Rabaul. That should maximize the number of planes flying and minimize pilot losses. Let's see what happens tomorrow...

SRA

Nothing to report.

Burma

Nothing to report.

China

The bombers flew today. The bombing/bombardment killed 27 squads.

Raw AV:
Japan: 4376 (-1)
China: 4338 (-91)
Enemy strength: 299k (no change)
Enemy units: 91 units (no change)
Guns: 528 (-21)

Other Stuff

Reinforcements
67 Sentai, 36 1E bombers, will train Kamikazes
61 JNAF AF Unit, Southern Army, destination not yet determined

[PaxMondo]

26 Dec 42
Gotta check my leaders to make sure they're the best. Sheesh.

I spend a ton of time, and PP's, on all of my leaders. While I have little proof, and only a ton of empirical data, I still do it and believe it works.

[Mike Solli]

1 Jan 43

Sub War

Three enemy DEs off Rennell Island found and sank I-170. Every loss hurts. I need to get used to it happening more frequently.

5 Fleet

My 6 DD anti-PT boat TF found the single PT boat and caused her to launch her torpedoes (unsuccessfully). She got away, unfortunately, but now she's toothless.

Then, the DDs found and sank the 2 PT boat TF and later caught up with the single PT boat and sank her. Yay! The nuisances are gone!

4 Fleet

Nothing to report.

SE Fleet

In the morning, A squadron of Spitfires swept Madang shooting down a Zero (WIA). I moved the chutai to Truk to upgrade to George.

Later in the morning, 18 enemy DB-7B bombers dropped some mines at Madang. An AMc stationed there cleared some of them. Those are Dutch bombers! I didn't realize they could be bought out. Maybe there's a Dutch base somewhere out there? No matter. Eventually, I'll catch them.

So, remember my nasty plan to ambush the American night bombers hitting Rabaul? Well, he decided to hit Rabaul by daylight today catching all my brand new Tojos and Georges on the ground. After the last raid, 4 Georges, 3 Tojos, 3 Nicks and a Thalia were burning. Also, there was lasting damage to the airfield, though it wasn't too bad: Airfield 16 and Runway 15.

That pissed me off. I debated a lot as to how to allocate the fighters and ended up putting them all on day CAP. I figured that the night bombing raids didn't do nearly as much damage as the day raids, so I needed to defend against another day raid. I thought Ted might try and put Rabaul out of commission for a while.

SRA

Some Nells, flying out of Salamaua, caught and torpedoed an xAKL east of Darwin. No doubt that it was a supply run.

Burma

Nothing to report.

China

Kienko was finally liberated. The single Chinese Corps defending retreated up the road away from Chungking, where it will slowly starve.

The daily Chungking bombing/bombardment destroyed 37 squads today.

Raw AV:
Japan: 4818 (+442)
China: 4281 (-57)
Enemy strength: 296k (-3k)
Enemy units: 91 units (no change)
Guns: 514 (-9)

I now have 12 divisions at Chungking, all at or near full strength. Among the 12, they are short 9 infantry squads with 19 more disrupted. I can't attack because I'm short supply. That's the first time in a long time that's happened. I'll rest the artillery and wait for supply to arrive.

Other Stuff

So, a new month and a new year. Lots of changes. Here are the new planes available starting today:

D4Y1 Judy: I'm not going to produce this model. It uses the Aichi Ha-60 engine which I'm not producing. I've gone the Judy route in previous games but decided to go the Grace route this game (6 R&D engines).
Ki-46-III Dinah: I finally got this plane. I've been out of IJA recon planes for a couple of months and really need this wonderful recon plane. It's what I'll use for the IJA for the remainder of the war.
Ki-48-IIb Lily: I'm not producing this plane. Yeah, it's an IJA dive bomb with armor, but its bomb load is only 2x 100 kg bombs. People either love it or hate it. I'm in the latter category.
Ki-54c Hickory: There's absolutely no reason to produce a transport that has an extended radius of 5 hexes.

[Mike Solli]

2 Jan 43

Sub War

The I-35, on her first patrol, spotted her third TK, but unfortunately missed. So far, she's sunk 2 large (14k capacity) TKs loaded with fuel from this TF.

I-35 didn't give up. She caught up with the convoy and put 3 torpedoes into a medium sized (9430 capacity) loaded with fuel putting her down. This is a patrol for the record books! Unfortunately, she's down to 2 torpedoes. She's going to pursue the loaded TK convoy to try and put another one down before heading home.

5 Fleet

Another PT boat appeared at Adak and was encountered by a bombardment TF. She expended her torpedoes but evaded combat.

Both bombardment TFs hit Adak nicely today. Adak still has supply. That's crazy.

The fast transport TF started dropping off much needed supply to my "assault" troops at Adak. I think the weather is really hurting operations.

4 Fleet

Nothing to report.

SE Fleet

The AMc at Madang finished clearing the air dropped mines.

The only 4E bombers I saw today were 9x B-17s hitting Tulagi's airbase.

I spotted the enemy carriers at Rennell Island today. The TF showed 94 fighters, 140 bombers and 18 auxiliary aircraft. Three CVs? Also at Rennell Island is a TF (of 5 ships allegedly) with 3 xAPs in the TF. I'm surrounding the enemy base with 4 subs that are in the area. Let's see what happens tomorrow.

Also scattered around the area are 3 TFs composed of 3-4 ships each. I think they are all ASW TFs to protect the invasion fleet.

I have a midget sub next door to Tulagi and an MTB at Munda. Both will move to Tulagi tomorrow to harass anything that happens to go there.

SRA

Some of my ASW forces off Balikpapan hit S-44 with a depth charge. She didn't sink but maybe she'll head for the barn.

Burma

Nothing to report.

China

I didn't bombard from a lack of supply and the bombers didn't fly.

Other Stuff

Nothing to report.

[Mike Solli]

3 Jan 43

Sub War

Word is spreading about the exploits of I-35 and other subs want some of that action. I-169, south of Norfolk Island, torpedoed and sank a loaded TK there. Ted gets a lot of TKs but he's lost 4 of them in the past week and they were all loaded and heading to Australia. That's got to hurt a little.

5 Fleet

Nothing to report. That last PT boat is still hanging around.

4 Fleet

Nothing to report.

SE Fleet

My little MTB at Tulagi found 3 DEs at Tulagi. She couldn't get into firing position and eventually disengaged. That's good. I want to save the torpedoes for better targets.

Nine B-17Es bombed Tulagi's airfield again today. He's resting the rest of the 4E fleet.

The enemy carriers vanished today. Ted saw most, or maybe all, of my subs in the area and didn't want to risk his CVs. They had to have steamed south because I have a LOT of coverage everywhere else.

That 5 ship TF I saw at Rennell Island is still there. Yesterday, I saw 3 xAPs but today I see 3 AKs. I'm sending in the 4 subs to see what they can sink.

SRA

Nothing to report.

Burma

MKB is leaving Singapore to pay a visit to Colombo. I see a TF there and it doesn't appear to have any defending fighters. I want to keep the British Navy suppressed so I don't have to worry about them doing anything mean. MKB is currently composed of 109 Zeros, 109 Vals and 51 Kates. They should hit Colombo in 5 days.

China

Bombing/bombardment killed 73 squads today.

Raw AV:
Japan: 4833 (+15)
China: 4252 (-29)
Enemy strength: 296k (-2k)
Enemy units: 91 units (no change)
Guns: 499 (-19)

I've decided to bomb again tomorrow and postpone the attack. I originally was going to wait until the Chinese raw AV was <4000, but I may not wait that long.

Additional infantry divisions crawling toward Chungking:

12, 26, 32, 63 Divisions: These are the victors of Lanchow. They are ~240 miles from Paotow, where they will entrain and move to Chungking. It'll be awhile. One is at full strength and the other 3 are short ~10 squads each.
41 Division: Freed from garrison duty near Sian. It will reach Chengchow tomorrow where it will entrain and move to Chungking. Full strength.
13 Division: 154 miles from Changsha where it will entrain and move to Chungking. Full strength.
36 Division: 21 miles from Changsha where it will entrain and move to Chungking. Full strength.
110 Division: At Neikiang rebuilding after the shock attack over the river at Chungking. Short 232 infantry squads. It'll be awhile.

Other Stuff

Total supply in the empire is 3,166,311 and growing. I'm pretty pleased with that. My goal is to increase it to over 4 million by the end of 1943. 4.5 million would be even better. Once Chungking is liberated, the rate of increase should rise.

[Mike Solli]

State of oil in the empire.

Oil in the Home Islands is decreasing at an alarming rate. In one month's time oil reserves in the Home Islands have decreased from 156,738 to 88,839, a drop of 67,899. I have begun pulling oil from Pt. Arthur, which should help alleviate the situation, but I have only 6x 8150 capacity TKs totaling 48,900 oil per trip, which takes about 7 days. That's a little more than 4 trips per month totaling 195,600, say 200k per month. That will allow the oil reserves in Japan to increase by roughly 130k per month plus all that is brought in from the SRA. Pt. Arthur has over 1.2 million oil there. I can pull for 5 months before having to slow down.

Pt. Arthur has roughly half of the empire oil reserves. I currently have 2,394,740 + an additional 142,609 on ships for a total of 2,537,349 oil.

Refineries require 32,410 oil per day and oil production is 31,350 per day for a deficit of 1,060 oil per day. Given no loss anywhere, my oil reserves will last 2,393 days or over 6.5 years. My goal is to get as much of the oil to the Home Islands so the refineries there will produce fuel and supply for the duration.

I'm creating a new spreadsheet to track oil and where it is. It'll be checked monthly. I never did this before but I think it's really important for the late game.