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

[PaxMondo]

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.

Mogami was a great player ... haven't seen him in a while though ....

[PaxMondo]

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.

Amazing. Simply Amazing in this mod.

[PaxMondo]

29 Dec 42
The 2 torpedoless PT boats drove off the 4 PB fast transport again today.

Spend a few PP's and upgrade the FTTF commander to one with higher aggression. Set the TF on highest threat setting "Absolute" ... it should get through ...

[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.

Mogami was a great player ... haven't seen him in a while though ....

Interesting story about Mogami. He was on active duty for ~15 years and got out. He lives about an hour or so from me. We used to talk a lot and I talked to him about joining the Army Guard to complete his 20 years so he could get a pension. He thought it would be a good idea so I hooked him up with a recruiter. He ended up joining and I had the honor of swearing him in. That was really cool. He ended up going on several deployments and was able to retire with an active duty retirement, which meant he got his pension immediately.

Also, he chose Mogami not because of the CA but because of a cat he had named Mogami!

[PaxMondo]

1 Jan 43
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.

I'm with you on all of these planes.

I LOVE the Dinah, best recon in the game.

I love Grace, I just wish that it had 500 kg bomb load. I know the devs had to "fiddle" with this one as it never actually entered service, but hard to believe in 1945 that it would have loaded 250kg bombs when they knew those would have no impact on the bulk of the USN. But it is what it is ...

Lilly: agreed. bombload is just too small.

Hickory: I don't have an aluminum shortage and a wooden TP is nonsense to build.

[Mike Solli]

29 Dec 42
The 2 torpedoless PT boats drove off the 4 PB fast transport again today.

Spend a few PP's and upgrade the FTTF commander to one with higher aggression. Set the TF on highest threat setting "Absolute" ... it should get through ...

Really good idea. He keeps building single PT boat TFs. Usually, you get a dozen when you create them. I suspect he is building only 1 because that's all that's available each day.

[PaxMondo]

Interesting story about Mogami. He was on active duty for ~15 years and got out. He lives about an hour or so from me. We used to talk a lot and I talked to him about joining the Army Guard to complete his 20 years so he could get a pension. He thought it would be a good idea so I hooked him up with a recruiter. He ended up joining and I had the honor of swearing him in. That was really cool. He ended up going on several deployments and was able to retire with an active duty retirement, which meant he got his pension immediately.

Also, he chose Mogami not because of the CA but because of a cat he had named Mogami!

Wow, small world, right?

Well when you see him, say "Hi!".

[Mike Solli]

Interesting story about Mogami. He was on active duty for ~15 years and got out. He lives about an hour or so from me. We used to talk a lot and I talked to him about joining the Army Guard to complete his 20 years so he could get a pension. He thought it would be a good idea so I hooked him up with a recruiter. He ended up joining and I had the honor of swearing him in. That was really cool. He ended up going on several deployments and was able to retire with an active duty retirement, which meant he got his pension immediately.

Also, he chose Mogami not because of the CA but because of a cat he had named Mogami!

Wow, small world, right?

Well when you see him, say "Hi!".

I'll do that, Pax.

[Mike Solli]

Supply update:

As of 1 Jan 43, the total supply in the empire was 3,166,584. I'm pretty pleased with that. Of that,1,784,209, or 56.34% is in the Home Islands. Frankly, I'm surprised that it is so high. I'm not sure if that number is good or bad.

Once the Chungking operation is concluded, I'll reduce the amount of supply I suck from the Home Islands. Right now, I have two convoys plying the waters between Shanghai and Nagasaki. One has a capacity of 27k and the other is 17.5k. They haul resources to the Home Islands and supply to Shanghai. Each one has a 6-7 day round trip. That's probably 200k supply a month to China. That's a lot of supply but it is necessary for all the bombing and bombardment I do daily. I'm also supplying Adak, 4 Fleet and SE Fleet AOs, but that is not nearly as much.

The SRA pretty much takes care of itself and also supplies Burma.

I practically never ship supply to the Home Islands. The only place it could come from is the SRA. Palembang and Balikpapan have abundant supply but it is used locally. Maybe in the future, I'll ship some of it home.

I hope that when the Chungking operation ends, I can get the supply up to ~75% in the Home Islands.

I'd like to get the supply to >4 million by the end of 43. In June or July, the Ha-43 engine will become operational at 6x30 or 180 per month. I will need to get that to 540 and will start that increase when it becomes operational. That will cost 360k supply. I have my work cut out for me to get to 4 million by the end of the year.

Edit: Those factories will all increase from 30 to 90, so the cost will be 6k supply a day for 60 days. It doesn't sound so bad that way.

[PaxMondo]

Edit: Those factories will all increase from 30 to 90, so the cost will be 6k supply a day for 60 days. It doesn't sound so bad that way.

Way to sugarcoat it!!!

[Tanaka]

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.

Mogami was a great player ... haven't seen him in a while though ....

Interesting story about Mogami. He was on active duty for ~15 years and got out. He lives about an hour or so from me. We used to talk a lot and I talked to him about joining the Army Guard to complete his 20 years so he could get a pension. He thought it would be a good idea so I hooked him up with a recruiter. He ended up joining and I had the honor of swearing him in. That was really cool. He ended up going on several deployments and was able to retire with an active duty retirement, which meant he got his pension immediately.

Also, he chose Mogami not because of the CA but because of a cat he had named Mogami!

Neat story I always wondered what happened to him and many others. So many we never know. I have no idea what happened to Platoonist he just vanished and I fear the worst.

And that is hilarious about the cat I always assumed it was the cruiser!

[homer82]

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.

Mogami was a great player ... haven't seen him in a while though ....

Interesting story about Mogami. He was on active duty for ~15 years and got out. He lives about an hour or so from me. We used to talk a lot and I talked to him about joining the Army Guard to complete his 20 years so he could get a pension. He thought it would be a good idea so I hooked him up with a recruiter. He ended up joining and I had the honor of swearing him in. That was really cool. He ended up going on several deployments and was able to retire with an active duty retirement, which meant he got his pension immediately.

Also, he chose Mogami not because of the CA but because of a cat he had named Mogami!

Out at 15 years?! He owes you big time for helping him correct that lifetime mistake.

[Mike Solli]

Mogami was a great player ... haven't seen him in a while though ....

Interesting story about Mogami. He was on active duty for ~15 years and got out. He lives about an hour or so from me. We used to talk a lot and I talked to him about joining the Army Guard to complete his 20 years so he could get a pension. He thought it would be a good idea so I hooked him up with a recruiter. He ended up joining and I had the honor of swearing him in. That was really cool. He ended up going on several deployments and was able to retire with an active duty retirement, which meant he got his pension immediately.

Also, he chose Mogami not because of the CA but because of a cat he had named Mogami!

Out at 15 years?! He owes you big time for helping him correct that lifetime mistake.

Yeah, I never understand why people get out at that point. A really good pension and insurance is worth 5 more years of pain. I just happy that he was able to do 5 years of deployments to get the pension immediately instead of at 60.

[Mike Solli]

5 Jan 43 - Back to the war..

Sub War

It was a rough day for the Japanese submarine service. Fortunately, those subs are built pretty tough (or the Allied ASW platforms just have small warheads).

The I-18 ate two DCs just east of Auckland. Her damage isn't too bad at 30-44(20)-4(1)-0, but she's headed back to Truk for repairs.

The RO-64 took a DC off Rennell Island. Her damage is 14-37(29)-1-0. She was one of a handful of subs looking for some Allied carriers at Rennell Island.

The I-157 took 2 DCs off the NW coast of Australia. Her damage is 15-57(28)-1-0. She's headed back to Soerabaja for repairs.

5 Fleet

The 6 DD anti-PT boat TF finally took out PT-34, the last PT boat at Adak. The lack of PT boats there tells me that either there are none available to be bought or he doesn't have the supply at Adak to buy any more. I hope it's the latter. He still has supply there because my handful of Sallies that bomb each day are still receiving flak.

I see only 2 enemy subs at Adak. There usually were 3 but one was hit by DCs recently and either sank or went home. Is he finally writing it off? I'll attack again as soon as the divisions have sufficient supply.

4 Fleet

Nothing to report.

SE Fleet

Two squadrons of Spitfires and half a squadron of Kittyhawks are sweeping Madang daily. I'm following Mogami's guidance and have pulled the 9 Zeros out of there.

SRA

Nothing to report.

Burma

The Tojo IIc is finally beginning to make an appearance in this AO.

China

The first deliberate assault on Chungking went in today:

Ground combat at Chungking (76,45)

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 159803 troops, 1602 guns, 648 vehicles, Assault Value = 4836

Defending force 184931 troops, 481 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 4100

Japanese adjusted assault: 3170

Allied adjusted defense: 4931

Japanese assault odds: 1 to 2 (fort level 6)

Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), forts(+), preparation(-), experience(-)
supply(-)
Attacker:

Japanese ground losses:
11984 casualties reported
Squads: 77 destroyed, 2267 disabled
Non Combat: 13 destroyed, 137 disabled
Engineers: 4 destroyed, 126 disabled
Guns lost 105 (3 destroyed, 102 disabled)
Vehicles lost 12 (2 destroyed, 10 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
12519 casualties reported
Squads: 237 destroyed, 510 disabled
Non Combat: 155 destroyed, 597 disabled
Engineers: 9 destroyed, 6 disabled
Guns lost 105 (12 destroyed, 93 disabled)
Units destroyed 1

Raw AV: Note that the stats are prior to the attack, with the exception of the enemy units. The attack results will be reflected in tomorrow's stats.
Japan: 4836 (+2)
China: 4100 (-67)
Enemy strength: 294k (-1k)
Enemy units: 90 units (-1)
Guns: 509 (+15)

I was disappointed that the fort level didn't drop. The only engineers I have in Chungking are with the divisions. Those really powerful independent engineer regiments in vanilla were nerfed in this mod. They went from 48 engineers to 9 here. I used some in Singapore and they were demolished. I use them only for construction now.

The one unit that was destroyed was the 1 Construction Regiment. Yay! No infantry unit was destroyed!

Also, the Japanese losses were far less than what was shown. I went into the attack with 10 infantry squads destroyed among the 12 divisions present. I lost only 43 more infantry squads. I did lose a couple thousand infantry squads disabled, but they will recover. I'm a few turns ahead of this turn and can report that the average divisional fatigue was 81 and the average divisional disruption was 80. Three turns from now the average divisional fatigue is 63 (down ~6 per day) and the average divisional disruption is down to 21. I'll attack again in about a week or when the average fatigue is ~20 or so.

Finally, after the battle, there were a total of 53 destroyed infantry squads. That number is decreasing about 5 a day. The disabled infantry squads are decreasing ~150 a day too.

Other Stuff

Reinforcement
17 Garrison, 14 Army. Headed to China for, you guessed it, garrison duties.

[Mike Solli]

6 Jan 43

Sub War

The RO-62 took a depth charge off Rennell Island while trying to find those elusive Allied carriers that keep appearing and disappearing. Her damage is 10-30(19)-6(1)-0. She's joined the string of subs headed back to Truk.

Edit: I forgot to report that, later in the day, after RO-62 took the DC, she torpedoed DD Reid leaving her heavily damaged and burning. There was no report of her sinking but in each of the next two days, she'll be reported as sunk. It hasn't happened yet, but it may!

5 Fleet

Both BB TFs bombarded Adak again today.

4 Fleet

Nothing to report.

SE Fleet

Forty-two 4E bombers hit Tulagi's airfield and 70 P-39Ds hit SE PNG. My estimate for available Allied bombers is:

B17E: 56
B-17F: 31
B-24D: 64

2E Bombers: ~65

SRA

Nothing to report.

Burma

Nothing to report.

China

Bombing/bombardment killed 36 squads.

Raw AV:
Japan: 2972 (-1864)
China: 3442 (-558)
Enemy strength: 285k (-9k)
Enemy units: 89 units (-1) 3 Construction Regiment - Yay! Another non-infantry unit destroyed!
Guns: 469 (-40)

This was the result of yesterday's attack. It looks bad for me but keep in mind that only 43 infantry squads were destroyed. Just about everything else was disabled and is coming back. Also, the Chinese raw AV continues to decline each day. I'm pleased.

Other Stuff

I got word today that the Valiant didn't go down. Boo! It's going to take her a LONG time to repair the damage though. I figure she's still in Diamond Harbor, or Calcutta. I have subs just outside port constantly and haven't seen her leave port. The repair yard at Calcutta is too small to take Valiant. Maybe he's repairing what he can and then will try to sneak her out? If so, I'll be ready!

[Mike Solli]

7 Jan 43

Sub War

I was trying to sneak a midget sub into Auckland harbor but her carrier was DCed a hex to the east of port. She dropped off the midget sub and headed for the barn. The midget sub was prosecuted and sunk later in the day. Too bad. The carrier took moderate damage but should make it back to Truk without issue.

In the afternoon, the I-176 torpedoed and sank an xAK off Perth and the I-175 torpedoed and sank an xAK off Auckland.

5 Fleet

Nothing to report.

4 Fleet

Nothing to report.

SE Fleet

I had a little fun today in the air over Rabaul. Two flights of B-25Cs, the first of 18 and the second of 12, ran into a little ambush of 38 Georges, 78 Tojo IIcs and 71 Nicks. In the first attack, 6 of the B-25s fled and the remaining 12 were shot down. In the second attack, 5 fled and the remaining 7 were shot down. I lost two George op losses (no pilot loss). Nineteen B-25Cs shot down. Lots of experience!

SRA

Nothing to report.

Burma

Five Hurricane IIc squadrons, each of 12 planes, have begun sweeping Cox's Bazaar daily. Once I get some Tojo IIcs at airfields nearby, I'm going to ambush them. My estimate is that there are 120 of them in service or in the pool. I'd love to cut that down. He gets 36 of that model a month. I need to begin cutting that number down. Interestingly, they all come in individually. Running into about 80 Tojo IIcs should do a number on them coming in 12 at a time.

China

Today's bombing/bombardment destroyed 45 squads.

Raw AV:
Japan: 3059 (+87)
China: 3373 (-69)
Enemy strength: 287k (+2k)
Enemy units: 89 units (no change)
Guns: 450 (-19)

Other Stuff

Nothing to report.

[Mike Solli]

8 Jan 43

Sub War

The I-11 torpedoed an xAK off Karachi. There was no word of her sinking.

5 Fleet

3000 supply began landing at Adak by fast transport. Another 5k will begin landing in 2 days. My troops should have enough supply to attack after that.

4 Fleet

Nothing to report.

SE Fleet

I tried to sneak an Ansyu PB into Tulagi to offload some supply. Some enemy DEs and DDs entered the hex and caught her. She absorbed an enormous number of shells before succumbing.

Twenty-five P-40Ks swept Gasmata encountering 9 Zeros. There were no losses on either side. I moved a 42 plane sentai of Tojos from Rabaul to Gasmata hoping they return tomorrow. If they do return, it should be a little lopsided. I estimate there are about 190 in operation or in the pool with 65 replacements a month. I'd like to whittle that down a bit.

Today, I saw only 11x 4E bombers over Tulagi and 61 P-39Ds over SE PNG. I think he's getting ready to invade Tulagi. I'm toying with the idea of moving KB2 south from Truk to be in a position to counter the invasion.

SRA

The I-11 torpedoed an xAK off Karachi. There was no word of her sinking.

Burma

The 5 Hurricane squadrons made individual appearances over Cox's Bazaar again today. Tojos are making their way north. Just a few more days (I think).

China

Today's bombing/bombardment killed 41 squads.

Raw AV:
Japan: 3134 (+75)
China: 3323 (-50)
Enemy strength: 280k (-7k)
Enemy units: 89 units (no change)
Guns: 448 (-2)

Other Stuff

Nothing to report.