March 28 -
Tophat must be tired of getting bogged down by small, weak Dutch forces so this turn he did a combined attack on Teloekbetoeng and successfully captured it on his first try. First off, that combat task force that I spotted last time did go to Teloekbetoeng and not Batavia. One of its escorts, DD Hibiki, hit a mine on the way in. But that didn't stop the main force which had two BBs and two CAs in it. They hit the base very hard, causing all kinds of troop and facilities damage. Tophat then sent in fighters and bombers to hit the troops in the base, followed by air drops of more troops. Finally he followed up with a shock attack that carried the day, although my troops escaped into the jungle. As a consolation, some of my bombers from Java hit the Hibiki twice as it limped home, setting it on fire.
Tophat tried a variation on that theme at Samarinda where he started out with naval landings of fresh troops. My shore defense guns were still able to get a hit on one of the escorts of that TF. Then a CA-lead bombardment TF came in to hit the base, followed by aerial bombardments during the day. My troops tried a bombardment attack, but they only took casualties and didn't inflict any upon the Japanese, so I turned off "bombardment" for the next turn. But Tophat didn't try a ground attack at Samarinda this turn - I suppose that he is waiting for that second combat unit to unload fully.
Elsewhere Tophat was equally busy. He sent very heavy bomber attacks against Singapore and Bataan, and his ground troops captured Torokina. Also, for the first time some Betties and Zeros that were based at Kendari caught a single AK that I was using to unload supplies at Dili. I had some Demons on CAP which were able to fight their way through the escorts with only light losses and destroyed one and damaged another Betty. But the Betties were still able to put two torpedoes into the AK, severely damaging it but not sinking it. So I'm leaving that damaged AK in port, still unloading, as "bait" for more Betty attacks. This demonstrates to me clearly that Timor is no longer a safe place for me to park any task forces that I don't want damaged.
I'm anticipating the eventual loss of the entire DEI and so I am starting to remove more valuable and vulnerable assets out of Northeastern Australia. For the past four game-months I have used Darwin as a destination for the troops and ships that I have pulled out of the Philippines. But Darwin is hard to defend without committing huge numbers of troops, planes and ships, and I don't want to do that in that particular theatre at this time. Therefore, I have been pulling out of Darwin my now rested and built-up US base forces that were formerly in various isolated spots in the Philippines. These quite useful units are on their way, by land, to various bases in Australia where I want to increase my capabilities. Australia starts out with too few base forces and it is good to be able to augment what is there without stripping the US forces in the Eastern Pacific.
Dave Baranyi
Tophat vs ADavidB - Back at It
Moderators: wdolson, Don Bowen, mogami
Hammer blows...
March 29 -
Tophat continues with his "hammer blows" on my bases in the DEI, with much better results for him than he was getting earlier. He hit Singkawang with two bombardment TFs and Samarinda with one, with aerial bombardments thrown in for good measure. Then he captured both bases with deliberate attacks. The troops in Samarinda retreated into the jungle; the troops in Singkawang were wiped out. (Fortunately I had rescued the Brit base forces from northwestern Borneo earlier, so they are recovering in India.)
Tophat also sent his forces back into Singapore - 4 divisions, 2 battalions and 2 engineering regiments. Their shock attack netted them a 1:1 result, a reduction in the fortifications from 8 to 7, and 4000 Japanese casualties. But with the supply situation being dire in Singapore, the Japanese forces ought to be able to turn things around soon enough.
Tophat's Bettys were busy again attacking that already damaged transport in Dili. My Hawks fought valiantly, but they were hammered by the Zero escorts and were only able to damage one Betty. The Bettys put two more torpedoes into that AK which eventually sank, but thankfully it had already offloaded much of its cargo of supplies.
In other news, a Glen-equipped sub finally showed up again in the shipping lanes between Hawaii and California. I'm not too concerned - nowadays my transport TFs have lots of escorts with them, and anyway, right now all of the TFs are heading back to the West Coast empty.
Dave Baranyi
Tophat continues with his "hammer blows" on my bases in the DEI, with much better results for him than he was getting earlier. He hit Singkawang with two bombardment TFs and Samarinda with one, with aerial bombardments thrown in for good measure. Then he captured both bases with deliberate attacks. The troops in Samarinda retreated into the jungle; the troops in Singkawang were wiped out. (Fortunately I had rescued the Brit base forces from northwestern Borneo earlier, so they are recovering in India.)
Tophat also sent his forces back into Singapore - 4 divisions, 2 battalions and 2 engineering regiments. Their shock attack netted them a 1:1 result, a reduction in the fortifications from 8 to 7, and 4000 Japanese casualties. But with the supply situation being dire in Singapore, the Japanese forces ought to be able to turn things around soon enough.
Tophat's Bettys were busy again attacking that already damaged transport in Dili. My Hawks fought valiantly, but they were hammered by the Zero escorts and were only able to damage one Betty. The Bettys put two more torpedoes into that AK which eventually sank, but thankfully it had already offloaded much of its cargo of supplies.
In other news, a Glen-equipped sub finally showed up again in the shipping lanes between Hawaii and California. I'm not too concerned - nowadays my transport TFs have lots of escorts with them, and anyway, right now all of the TFs are heading back to the West Coast empty.
Dave Baranyi
RE: Hammer blows...
March 30 -
For the first time in a number of days, Tophat didn't capture or occupy any of my bases this turn. He did try a shock attack at Singapore, but that was because he was bringing more troops into the attack. There was no reduction in fortification and Tophat took 5 times the casualties.
My bombing of Teloekbetoeng worked pretty well and most of my planes flew. I don't think that Tophat has any base forces there, so I shouldn't be bothered by CAP unless Tophat decides to LR CAP the base.
Otherwise, I'm pretty much in a "holding pattern" right now as I await the April ship upgrades. As long as Tophat stays involved in the DEI, I'm reasonably happy.
Dave Baranyi
For the first time in a number of days, Tophat didn't capture or occupy any of my bases this turn. He did try a shock attack at Singapore, but that was because he was bringing more troops into the attack. There was no reduction in fortification and Tophat took 5 times the casualties.
My bombing of Teloekbetoeng worked pretty well and most of my planes flew. I don't think that Tophat has any base forces there, so I shouldn't be bothered by CAP unless Tophat decides to LR CAP the base.
Otherwise, I'm pretty much in a "holding pattern" right now as I await the April ship upgrades. As long as Tophat stays involved in the DEI, I'm reasonably happy.
Dave Baranyi
Nervous in the Service...
March 31 -
It was another busy and successful day for Tophat. His troops captured Gasmata and he got to occupy Shortlands by "osmosis". He also sent a Zero sweep into Koepang that wiped out my Dutch Hawks that were on CAP, and he started to move troops into Bataan to begin the final battle there. He even has a Glen-equipped sub in the Eastern Pacific that is checking out my TFs in the region, but not attacking them. Tophat is generally feeling good enough about the situation to send me an "April Fools" joke along with the April 1 turn - he wrote,
"Singapore falls like a house of cards!!!!! How disappointing…"
Well, not yet, unless we have a really, really big "sync" problem in the combat replays. [;)]
Never-the-less, things are not looking good at this time. It probably won't take much for Singapore or Bataan to fall due to the lack of supply for my troops in both bases. I've set the troops at both bases to do artillery barrages, but I doubt that will be very effective. In fact, nothing much is working in the Far East right now. For example, none of my planes in Java took off to raid this turn - and I have my planes spaced out in all of the bases in Java with plenty of supplies available.
On the bright (?) side, the Long Island arrived today. This means that I can now transport air squadrons overseas without having them damaged in transit. Of course, I don't have a lot of useful air squadrons in the West Coast at this time, but every bit helps. I only wish that I had more dive bomber squadrons available.
The other actions on my part this turn were mainly strategic. First, I converted my last squadron of P-40Bs to P-40Es. This gave me a reserve of P-40Bs that I will use to fill in the most critical of my two remaining unfilled P-40B groups. That particular P-40B air group is in Pearl, so it takes priority over the other P-40B group that is in the West Coast. Now that this exchange is taken care of, I will let my remaining unfilled P-40E groups fill up as P-40E replacements become available. This means that I still don't have a standing reserve of either P-40Bs or P-40Es, but there's really nothing I will be able do about that until I start to get P-38s in October. So I will continue to husband my P-40s carefully and reserve them for important uses.
I also made a decision to start a partial pull back from Northern Australia. Tophat is maintaining his forces in the region and I don't want to get involved in a war of attrition at this time and in a region which is so far from my supply lines. So I've ordered the troops in Darwin that escaped from the Philippines to move to bases in Eastern and Southern Australia. Most of those troops are base forces, and I need more air support in my other Australian bases anyway, so it is a good move for the future. I can also supply the Eastern and Southern Australian bases much more easily than I can Darwin, so this will also enable those former Philippine units to recover more readily. I am leaving the original Australian forces in Darwin, but I am prepared to pull them back too if it appears that they will get flanked and trapped, or if Tophat comes in with the "magical" three divisions that are usually necessary to take any seriously defended base.
I am really uncomfortable about the situation in India. The units that I pulled out from Malaya are mainly base forces and support units. That helps to build up the bases in India, but I am still antsy about my lack of ground combat forces. And the scarcity of Commonwealth combat troop replacements means that my forces everywhere in India are "support rich" and "grunt poor". If Tophat sends a serious multi-division invasion to India I will be hard pressed to stop it unless I can stop it "at the beaches". I am really looking forward to those Indian engineering units that will come in the next couple of weeks so that I can accelerate the rate at which I am building fortifications. But I sure wish that it wasn't 6 weeks until I get my next big combat units in India. And no, I don't intend to either ship or "teleport" combat troops from the West Coast or Australia to India. If the Royal Navy and the Commonwealth forces can't stop the Japanese I have no intention of losing a bunch of American and Australia troops in India. Been there, done that…
Dave Baranyi
It was another busy and successful day for Tophat. His troops captured Gasmata and he got to occupy Shortlands by "osmosis". He also sent a Zero sweep into Koepang that wiped out my Dutch Hawks that were on CAP, and he started to move troops into Bataan to begin the final battle there. He even has a Glen-equipped sub in the Eastern Pacific that is checking out my TFs in the region, but not attacking them. Tophat is generally feeling good enough about the situation to send me an "April Fools" joke along with the April 1 turn - he wrote,
"Singapore falls like a house of cards!!!!! How disappointing…"
Well, not yet, unless we have a really, really big "sync" problem in the combat replays. [;)]
Never-the-less, things are not looking good at this time. It probably won't take much for Singapore or Bataan to fall due to the lack of supply for my troops in both bases. I've set the troops at both bases to do artillery barrages, but I doubt that will be very effective. In fact, nothing much is working in the Far East right now. For example, none of my planes in Java took off to raid this turn - and I have my planes spaced out in all of the bases in Java with plenty of supplies available.
On the bright (?) side, the Long Island arrived today. This means that I can now transport air squadrons overseas without having them damaged in transit. Of course, I don't have a lot of useful air squadrons in the West Coast at this time, but every bit helps. I only wish that I had more dive bomber squadrons available.
The other actions on my part this turn were mainly strategic. First, I converted my last squadron of P-40Bs to P-40Es. This gave me a reserve of P-40Bs that I will use to fill in the most critical of my two remaining unfilled P-40B groups. That particular P-40B air group is in Pearl, so it takes priority over the other P-40B group that is in the West Coast. Now that this exchange is taken care of, I will let my remaining unfilled P-40E groups fill up as P-40E replacements become available. This means that I still don't have a standing reserve of either P-40Bs or P-40Es, but there's really nothing I will be able do about that until I start to get P-38s in October. So I will continue to husband my P-40s carefully and reserve them for important uses.
I also made a decision to start a partial pull back from Northern Australia. Tophat is maintaining his forces in the region and I don't want to get involved in a war of attrition at this time and in a region which is so far from my supply lines. So I've ordered the troops in Darwin that escaped from the Philippines to move to bases in Eastern and Southern Australia. Most of those troops are base forces, and I need more air support in my other Australian bases anyway, so it is a good move for the future. I can also supply the Eastern and Southern Australian bases much more easily than I can Darwin, so this will also enable those former Philippine units to recover more readily. I am leaving the original Australian forces in Darwin, but I am prepared to pull them back too if it appears that they will get flanked and trapped, or if Tophat comes in with the "magical" three divisions that are usually necessary to take any seriously defended base.
I am really uncomfortable about the situation in India. The units that I pulled out from Malaya are mainly base forces and support units. That helps to build up the bases in India, but I am still antsy about my lack of ground combat forces. And the scarcity of Commonwealth combat troop replacements means that my forces everywhere in India are "support rich" and "grunt poor". If Tophat sends a serious multi-division invasion to India I will be hard pressed to stop it unless I can stop it "at the beaches". I am really looking forward to those Indian engineering units that will come in the next couple of weeks so that I can accelerate the rate at which I am building fortifications. But I sure wish that it wasn't 6 weeks until I get my next big combat units in India. And no, I don't intend to either ship or "teleport" combat troops from the West Coast or Australia to India. If the Royal Navy and the Commonwealth forces can't stop the Japanese I have no intention of losing a bunch of American and Australia troops in India. Been there, done that…
Dave Baranyi
Upgrade fever...
April 1, 1942 -
The big April naval upgrade came and went, and I'm less than overwhelmed. This is the first game in which I've deliberately kept my fleet back in order to get the upgrade on time. In the past I've gotten it "catch as catch can", and usually included in a later upgrade. So I was expecting something significant on the lines of the February upgrades for the Lexington and Saratoga. But no such luck. And my subs didn't even get radar this time! Oh well, every little bit helps.
Since the April upgrade didn't turn the Fleet into instant "Jap killers", I'm going to let the ships sit in the various ports for a couple of weeks in order to work off the system damage. Then when I get the next big set of reinforcements I'll move my upgraded ships forward to their next planned positions. Anyway, I'm not intending to do anything too aggressive until I at least have Avengers on my carriers.
In the Far East my Java-based bombers flew this turn and once again hit Teloekbetoeng. They aren't doing much damage, but they are gaining some experience. I intend to try to save the bombers out of Java and Timor, so gaining experience against a target that can't shoot back is a bonus right now. My DEI fighters aren't having the same luck - Tophat sent Zero sweeps out against my fighters at Bandoeng and Koepang, clearing the skies clean. I've stood down my fighters again - there is no point giving away points.
On the ground my artillery attacks at Singapore and Bataan were both feeble, so I've ordered the troops back onto the defensive again. It won't take much for Tophat to wipe out both positions. We continue our daily artillery duels and "troop race" in China with no great change for either side.
Below is the score as of April 1. The loss of Manila changed things greatly compared to the beginning of March, and things will only continue to go downhill for a while yet. The one good thing is that Tophat continues to lose planes faster than I do. I hope that I will be able to take advantage of that trend in the future.
Dave Baranyi
The big April naval upgrade came and went, and I'm less than overwhelmed. This is the first game in which I've deliberately kept my fleet back in order to get the upgrade on time. In the past I've gotten it "catch as catch can", and usually included in a later upgrade. So I was expecting something significant on the lines of the February upgrades for the Lexington and Saratoga. But no such luck. And my subs didn't even get radar this time! Oh well, every little bit helps.
Since the April upgrade didn't turn the Fleet into instant "Jap killers", I'm going to let the ships sit in the various ports for a couple of weeks in order to work off the system damage. Then when I get the next big set of reinforcements I'll move my upgraded ships forward to their next planned positions. Anyway, I'm not intending to do anything too aggressive until I at least have Avengers on my carriers.
In the Far East my Java-based bombers flew this turn and once again hit Teloekbetoeng. They aren't doing much damage, but they are gaining some experience. I intend to try to save the bombers out of Java and Timor, so gaining experience against a target that can't shoot back is a bonus right now. My DEI fighters aren't having the same luck - Tophat sent Zero sweeps out against my fighters at Bandoeng and Koepang, clearing the skies clean. I've stood down my fighters again - there is no point giving away points.
On the ground my artillery attacks at Singapore and Bataan were both feeble, so I've ordered the troops back onto the defensive again. It won't take much for Tophat to wipe out both positions. We continue our daily artillery duels and "troop race" in China with no great change for either side.
Below is the score as of April 1. The loss of Manila changed things greatly compared to the beginning of March, and things will only continue to go downhill for a while yet. The one good thing is that Tophat continues to lose planes faster than I do. I hope that I will be able to take advantage of that trend in the future.
Dave Baranyi
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Swept from the sky...
April 2 -
My Chinese IL-4c bombers attacked Taan again this turn. They got through a CAP of Nates and Oscars to deliver hits on an AP and an AK. I had forgotten that unit was still set to attack. I reset them over to naval search for next turn - they got away with murder this time and they aren't likely to repeat it the next time.
My fighters in the DEI did get murdered as Tophat sent out sweeps of four different full Zero daitais against different Dutch bases. I'm finally facing the inevitable and starting to change the fighter groups over to SW Pacific so I can eventually withdraw them from the DEI. Fortunately, Tophat hasn't cut off all of my bases between Java and Timor so I can still evacuate the shorter range aircraft. I guess there will soon be a lot of air units with obsolete planes biding their time in the boonies of Australia.
Otherwise I am in general biding my time. Tophat is moving conservatively and I don't have the forces available to break through without taking unnecessary losses. I'll have to continue to wait for Tophat to make a mistake or go an island too far.
Dave Baranyi
My Chinese IL-4c bombers attacked Taan again this turn. They got through a CAP of Nates and Oscars to deliver hits on an AP and an AK. I had forgotten that unit was still set to attack. I reset them over to naval search for next turn - they got away with murder this time and they aren't likely to repeat it the next time.
My fighters in the DEI did get murdered as Tophat sent out sweeps of four different full Zero daitais against different Dutch bases. I'm finally facing the inevitable and starting to change the fighter groups over to SW Pacific so I can eventually withdraw them from the DEI. Fortunately, Tophat hasn't cut off all of my bases between Java and Timor so I can still evacuate the shorter range aircraft. I guess there will soon be a lot of air units with obsolete planes biding their time in the boonies of Australia.
Otherwise I am in general biding my time. Tophat is moving conservatively and I don't have the forces available to break through without taking unnecessary losses. I'll have to continue to wait for Tophat to make a mistake or go an island too far.
Dave Baranyi
Bataan goes quietly...
April 3 -
Tophat's forces attacked Bataan today in overwhelming strength and the long-starved troops fell at the first charge. So ends the story of the defenders of Luzon. There are still a few US and Philippine units sitting isolated on the islands south of Luzon - Tophat can go after them whenever he wants, or he can ignore them and use them as target practice for his air units. I'm pleased that my forces held on in Luzon as long as they did - if I play a scenario 15 game again I will totally evacuate Bataan of all mobile troops and put everyone into Manila.
Tophat also started his move against Bulla, the base that is on the same island as Amboina. Tophat's big 5-BB combat TF moved in to shell the defenders. There was no response because the only troops there are refugees from Amboina and they don't have any artillery with them. Then Tophat started to land troops. Bulla ought to fall at the first attack.
Tophat sent bombers and Zeros over Bandoeng this turn. It's a smart move - Bandoeng is the only base in Java that can't be hit by bombardment TFs. This first round didn't do much damage, but it's only a matter of time. I am now accelerating the conversion of my ABDA air units to other commands - there is no point in letting them be destroyed on the ground or in the air since they are so few and have little chance to do any damage. Over the next little while I will abandon Java, Timor and what else is left in Allied hands in the DEI to the Dutch land troops. I'm even pulling out the remaining Dutch cruisers and destroyers. Tophat has too many battleships and heavy cruisers in the DEI for me to waste the light Dutch surface forces in futile attempts to slip in and hit a few transports. (And no, I'm not committing the RN to the DEI - their job is the defense of India.) Anyway, Tophat also has total air superiority in the region, particularly now that he doesn't have to spend time bombing Manila and Bataan, so I also don't want to give easy shots to his torpedo-laden LBA.
Speaking of bombing, Singapore got hit hard from the air again this turn. I was tempted for a while to move some of my remaining Dutch fighters to Singapore in order to try to surprise Tophat's bombers, which are no longer being escorted, but I don't have much supply left in Singapore and there is a good chance that few or none of my fighters would fly CAP under those circumstances. Also, the experience levels of the Dutch fighter pilots are so low that they likely wouldn't be able to do anything against experienced Japanese bombers anyway.
Otherwise, my preparations continue as planned, with small exceptions. I received one surprise today - I found out that some of my AVDs are scheduled for their first upgrade in April 1942! I hadn't realized that - others are scheduled for upgrade in 1943, so I assumed that they all were. So now I'm doing some juggling of ships in order to be able to pull back the AVDs that are due for upgrade without disturbing my defensive screen.
Now it’s a matter of seeing how much time Tophat gives me before his finishes with the Philippines and DEI and goes on to his next objective. Right now Tophat has more ships and subs snooping around the Western Solomons and PNG. I still have an Australian Catalina squadron in Port Moresby that is being supported by an AVD (which is due for an upgrade). That is helping to maintain the illusion that I am still defending PM and PNG. At some point Tophat will realize that there is "no one home" and move into PNG, but the longer I can fool him, the better.
I am starting to get ideas about doing some carrier-based raiding in the Solomons as Tophat expands beyond his land-based air cover. But I want to make certain that my carrier TFs have "long legs" and can move quickly in and out, because Tophat is probably thinking the same thing and preparing a response. After all, I haven't seen anything of the KB for months. I am not ready for a showdown of carriers at this time - if anything I want to get Tophat to send the KB against one of my well-defended land-based air regions. For example, I now have almost 700 planes distributed around 5 island bases in Hawaii - I expect that they would make a pretty good "dent" in the KB if it came by. [:D]
Dave Baranyi
Tophat's forces attacked Bataan today in overwhelming strength and the long-starved troops fell at the first charge. So ends the story of the defenders of Luzon. There are still a few US and Philippine units sitting isolated on the islands south of Luzon - Tophat can go after them whenever he wants, or he can ignore them and use them as target practice for his air units. I'm pleased that my forces held on in Luzon as long as they did - if I play a scenario 15 game again I will totally evacuate Bataan of all mobile troops and put everyone into Manila.
Tophat also started his move against Bulla, the base that is on the same island as Amboina. Tophat's big 5-BB combat TF moved in to shell the defenders. There was no response because the only troops there are refugees from Amboina and they don't have any artillery with them. Then Tophat started to land troops. Bulla ought to fall at the first attack.
Tophat sent bombers and Zeros over Bandoeng this turn. It's a smart move - Bandoeng is the only base in Java that can't be hit by bombardment TFs. This first round didn't do much damage, but it's only a matter of time. I am now accelerating the conversion of my ABDA air units to other commands - there is no point in letting them be destroyed on the ground or in the air since they are so few and have little chance to do any damage. Over the next little while I will abandon Java, Timor and what else is left in Allied hands in the DEI to the Dutch land troops. I'm even pulling out the remaining Dutch cruisers and destroyers. Tophat has too many battleships and heavy cruisers in the DEI for me to waste the light Dutch surface forces in futile attempts to slip in and hit a few transports. (And no, I'm not committing the RN to the DEI - their job is the defense of India.) Anyway, Tophat also has total air superiority in the region, particularly now that he doesn't have to spend time bombing Manila and Bataan, so I also don't want to give easy shots to his torpedo-laden LBA.
Speaking of bombing, Singapore got hit hard from the air again this turn. I was tempted for a while to move some of my remaining Dutch fighters to Singapore in order to try to surprise Tophat's bombers, which are no longer being escorted, but I don't have much supply left in Singapore and there is a good chance that few or none of my fighters would fly CAP under those circumstances. Also, the experience levels of the Dutch fighter pilots are so low that they likely wouldn't be able to do anything against experienced Japanese bombers anyway.
Otherwise, my preparations continue as planned, with small exceptions. I received one surprise today - I found out that some of my AVDs are scheduled for their first upgrade in April 1942! I hadn't realized that - others are scheduled for upgrade in 1943, so I assumed that they all were. So now I'm doing some juggling of ships in order to be able to pull back the AVDs that are due for upgrade without disturbing my defensive screen.
Now it’s a matter of seeing how much time Tophat gives me before his finishes with the Philippines and DEI and goes on to his next objective. Right now Tophat has more ships and subs snooping around the Western Solomons and PNG. I still have an Australian Catalina squadron in Port Moresby that is being supported by an AVD (which is due for an upgrade). That is helping to maintain the illusion that I am still defending PM and PNG. At some point Tophat will realize that there is "no one home" and move into PNG, but the longer I can fool him, the better.
I am starting to get ideas about doing some carrier-based raiding in the Solomons as Tophat expands beyond his land-based air cover. But I want to make certain that my carrier TFs have "long legs" and can move quickly in and out, because Tophat is probably thinking the same thing and preparing a response. After all, I haven't seen anything of the KB for months. I am not ready for a showdown of carriers at this time - if anything I want to get Tophat to send the KB against one of my well-defended land-based air regions. For example, I now have almost 700 planes distributed around 5 island bases in Hawaii - I expect that they would make a pretty good "dent" in the KB if it came by. [:D]
Dave Baranyi
Tophat continues to play "Pacman"...
April 4 -
Tophat was busy being systematic again this turn. He sent his big battleship-laden task force to hit Bulla again and then followed up with an easy capture of the base. The Dutch troops there were ready for surrender. He also sent his bombers and escorts off to hit Bandoeng again. Once again they did little damage, but part of that was because I pulled out everything but some of those little Dutch biplane recon jobs that are useless for anything.
Speaking of pulling out aircraft, I am really hitting my stride now and planes are disappearing from the DEI in a blink of an eye. I'm leaving more of those useless little scout planes behind to keep Tophat guessing, as well as a few bombers on naval attack. But everything else is ending up far from the front where training is safe and straightforward, and they can wait until July when the Dutch planes can be upgraded.
What I am counting on is Tophat's systematic approach, coupled with the tenacity of the better Dutch units when they have supplies (which is the case in Java) to buy me at least another month before Tophat goes off against some other region. Tophat will probably start to pick up those empty bases in between Java and Timor soon (I would), and that will just add to the time that he gives me. He will also probably edge forward a little more in the Solomons, but that's where I'll raid his task forces just to keep him honest.
Dave Baranyi
Tophat was busy being systematic again this turn. He sent his big battleship-laden task force to hit Bulla again and then followed up with an easy capture of the base. The Dutch troops there were ready for surrender. He also sent his bombers and escorts off to hit Bandoeng again. Once again they did little damage, but part of that was because I pulled out everything but some of those little Dutch biplane recon jobs that are useless for anything.
Speaking of pulling out aircraft, I am really hitting my stride now and planes are disappearing from the DEI in a blink of an eye. I'm leaving more of those useless little scout planes behind to keep Tophat guessing, as well as a few bombers on naval attack. But everything else is ending up far from the front where training is safe and straightforward, and they can wait until July when the Dutch planes can be upgraded.
What I am counting on is Tophat's systematic approach, coupled with the tenacity of the better Dutch units when they have supplies (which is the case in Java) to buy me at least another month before Tophat goes off against some other region. Tophat will probably start to pick up those empty bases in between Java and Timor soon (I would), and that will just add to the time that he gives me. He will also probably edge forward a little more in the Solomons, but that's where I'll raid his task forces just to keep him honest.
Dave Baranyi
RE: Tophat continues to play "Pacman"...
The useless dutch scouting units later upgrade to F-5s adn can be very handy.
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RE: Tophat continues to play "Pacman"...
ORIGINAL: wobbly
The useless dutch scouting units later upgrade to F-5s adn can be very handy.
True, some of them, but that's when there are some F-5s available. In the game you and I played against PzB I could only upgrade one of those units - the rest stayed as range 2 biplanes. I never figured out why.
Thanks for the comments -
Dave Baranyi
Glens off the Coast...
April 5 -
Tophat's Glen-equipped sub must be sitting just offshore in Ventura - if it gets any closer to land it will run aground. As usual, none of my land-based search planes can find the sub even though the Glen is buzzing around everywhere. But that's okay; I now have big TFs with lots of escorts sailing through that area - if that sub gets in the wrong place I'll just sink it.
Tophat continued his pressure on the remaining Dutch bases in the DEI. He sent large escorted bomber attacks against Bandoeng and Koepang again. The attacks didn't accomplish much against the bases, and I'm no longer putting up CAP, so I don't really care. I flew a number of additional planes out of the DEI and into either Australia or India.
Tophat has also increased his aerial bombardments of Singapore, but his artillery bombardments are doing less and less. I have no idea why, unless it has something to do with the high fortification level. It will be funny if Tophat again underestimated the strength that he requires to capture Singapore.
In other news, we are still stalemated in China, although I have recovered three of my four units that went off to Manchuria right at the beginning of the game. They are resting just outside of Kungchang. Once Tophat gets one more unit into the fray there, I'll send these troops in to balance things out again. BTW - the fourth unit is still on its way home, just a bit late.
The rest of my preparations continue according to plan. The airfield at Moloaki expanded to level 1, just in time to accept a squadron of F4F-4s off of the Long Island. The fortification level there should reach 1 in a day or so, and then I'll build up the port, followed by the air field. A CD unit and an engineering construction unit are due to come as reinforcements in another 10 days, so they will be welcome additions to the forces at Moloaki. I also have another Army division on its way to Pearl - that will make 4 full divisions there. I'm feeling better about Hawaii every day. Now if I can only get some more troops into India.
Dave Baranyi
Tophat's Glen-equipped sub must be sitting just offshore in Ventura - if it gets any closer to land it will run aground. As usual, none of my land-based search planes can find the sub even though the Glen is buzzing around everywhere. But that's okay; I now have big TFs with lots of escorts sailing through that area - if that sub gets in the wrong place I'll just sink it.
Tophat continued his pressure on the remaining Dutch bases in the DEI. He sent large escorted bomber attacks against Bandoeng and Koepang again. The attacks didn't accomplish much against the bases, and I'm no longer putting up CAP, so I don't really care. I flew a number of additional planes out of the DEI and into either Australia or India.
Tophat has also increased his aerial bombardments of Singapore, but his artillery bombardments are doing less and less. I have no idea why, unless it has something to do with the high fortification level. It will be funny if Tophat again underestimated the strength that he requires to capture Singapore.
In other news, we are still stalemated in China, although I have recovered three of my four units that went off to Manchuria right at the beginning of the game. They are resting just outside of Kungchang. Once Tophat gets one more unit into the fray there, I'll send these troops in to balance things out again. BTW - the fourth unit is still on its way home, just a bit late.
The rest of my preparations continue according to plan. The airfield at Moloaki expanded to level 1, just in time to accept a squadron of F4F-4s off of the Long Island. The fortification level there should reach 1 in a day or so, and then I'll build up the port, followed by the air field. A CD unit and an engineering construction unit are due to come as reinforcements in another 10 days, so they will be welcome additions to the forces at Moloaki. I also have another Army division on its way to Pearl - that will make 4 full divisions there. I'm feeling better about Hawaii every day. Now if I can only get some more troops into India.
Dave Baranyi
RE: Glens off the Coast...
gads Dave - you surely are racing through this game - feels like yesterday Pearl Harbour was a nice place to park Battleships in a row!
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RE: Glens off the Coast...
ORIGINAL: wobbly
gads Dave - you surely are racing through this game - feels like yesterday Pearl Harbour was a nice place to park Battleships in a row!
We've been fortunate to usually be able to do 2 to 3 turns per day. Also, I'm now at the stage where 95% of my forces are where I want them to be, therefore I'm moving few and checking less frequently. So, effectively the only really active theater for me at this time is the DEI. At this point I probably spend as much time updating my intelligence data base and writing my AARs as I do working on the actual turn. (That's a luxury that I have since I am only playing one Game.)
Cheers -
Dave Baranyi
Railroad Tycoon...of sorts...<g>
April 6 -
Tophat expressed surprise today that I didn't have any fighters waiting for him at Soerabaja. Yeah, sure - like I'm going to throw a handful of obsolete Dutch fighters with experience 35 pilots up against the two experienced Daitais full of Zeros that he sent in an overkill sweep. [:-] I'm still slowly stripping Java of all of its useful air units. The worst units are being moved far from the Front. The better (or more accurately, less bad) air units are being redeployed where they stand a better chance of ambushing the Japanese. Tophat also sent his bombers against Singapore, Bandoeng and Koepang again, with little effect.
Ground combat continued to be limited to artillery duels in China, and Tophat's surprisingly ineffectual bombardments in Singapore. It's too bad that I don't have a few spare decent ground units in India - I'm almost getting tempted to consider a counter-offensive in Malaya. [;)]
All of my other news is simply that of the continuation of my long term build-up. To a good extent, this is the "Railroad Tycoon" portion of the game for me. [:D]
Dave Baranyi
Tophat expressed surprise today that I didn't have any fighters waiting for him at Soerabaja. Yeah, sure - like I'm going to throw a handful of obsolete Dutch fighters with experience 35 pilots up against the two experienced Daitais full of Zeros that he sent in an overkill sweep. [:-] I'm still slowly stripping Java of all of its useful air units. The worst units are being moved far from the Front. The better (or more accurately, less bad) air units are being redeployed where they stand a better chance of ambushing the Japanese. Tophat also sent his bombers against Singapore, Bandoeng and Koepang again, with little effect.
Ground combat continued to be limited to artillery duels in China, and Tophat's surprisingly ineffectual bombardments in Singapore. It's too bad that I don't have a few spare decent ground units in India - I'm almost getting tempted to consider a counter-offensive in Malaya. [;)]
All of my other news is simply that of the continuation of my long term build-up. To a good extent, this is the "Railroad Tycoon" portion of the game for me. [:D]
Dave Baranyi
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Central Blue
- Posts: 695
- Joined: Fri Aug 20, 2004 5:31 pm
RE: Railroad Tycoon...of sorts...<g>
If he's that methodical.... consider moving all the Dutch assets with good artillery to Soerbaya and let them reinforce in a malaria free zone. Let him fight through stringers in the fever zone.
Or maybe you have. I only read the last page. [:D]
Or maybe you have. I only read the last page. [:D]
USS St. Louis firing on Guam, July 1944. The Cardinals and Browns faced each other in the World Series that year
RE: Railroad Tycoon...of sorts...<g>
ORIGINAL: Central Blue
If he's that methodical.... consider moving all the Dutch assets with good artillery to Soerbaya and let them reinforce in a malaria free zone. Let him fight through stringers in the fever zone.
Or maybe you have. I only read the last page. [:D]
Yes, that is pretty much what I have done. Of course, now he has the units from Luzon available to him, so he can overwhelm my troops if he decides to use those forces. But everything takes time - gathering troops, moving forces bringing supply, and so on - and time is what I want right now. So if I get a month out of the remainder of the DEI I'll be happy, any more than that is a great bonus. [:)]
Cheers -
Dave Baranyi
Yard duty...
BTW - if anyone is wondering, both Tophat and I have been assigned "Yard Duty" by our respective "High Commands" for the weekend. Thus, there are no turns to report on.
The operative term for now is: "Senaka ga itai" = "My back is sore"...[:D]
Dave Baranyi
The operative term for now is: "Senaka ga itai" = "My back is sore"...[:D]
Dave Baranyi
Tophat Recons Lautem...
April 7 -
This was a relatively quiet turn. Tophat limited his aerial bombing to various locations in China, Singapore and Bandoeng. The air battles between Tophat's Oscars and my Chinese fighters are getting pretty vicious - Tophat is sending lots of fighters but few bombers. Never-the-less, my fighters have been getting through to down some of the Japanese bombers. Tophat's main air units seem to be resting right now.
It looks as if Tophat may be thinking about attacking Lautem next. Two Mavis squads flew over Lautem on recon. It will be interesting to see what Tophat does because I believe that Lautem is out of range of a battleship-lead bombardment TF that originates in Amboina. (I know that cruiser/destroyer TFs can reach Lautem from both Amboina and Kendari.)
I'm continuing to build up bases, troop units and air units. In a week I will get my next big delivery of reinforcements, and they will be very welcome.
Dave Baranyi
This was a relatively quiet turn. Tophat limited his aerial bombing to various locations in China, Singapore and Bandoeng. The air battles between Tophat's Oscars and my Chinese fighters are getting pretty vicious - Tophat is sending lots of fighters but few bombers. Never-the-less, my fighters have been getting through to down some of the Japanese bombers. Tophat's main air units seem to be resting right now.
It looks as if Tophat may be thinking about attacking Lautem next. Two Mavis squads flew over Lautem on recon. It will be interesting to see what Tophat does because I believe that Lautem is out of range of a battleship-lead bombardment TF that originates in Amboina. (I know that cruiser/destroyer TFs can reach Lautem from both Amboina and Kendari.)
I'm continuing to build up bases, troop units and air units. In a week I will get my next big delivery of reinforcements, and they will be very welcome.
Dave Baranyi
April Strategic Update...
We're into a bit of a lull right now in early April 1942. Tophat is preparing for his final push in the DEI and I am setting up my defences for late Spring/early Summer 1942. It appears that we will enter May 1942 in almost the historical geographic situation, but that isn't too surprising because I've modelled my strategy so far on the historic Allied strategy while trying to avoid the historic Allied mistakes.
So I've retreated as fast and with as much as possible from the Philippines and the DEI. The main variation there is that the historic Allies attempted to make a stand in the DEI. However, that decision was futile and I don't want to waste forces in a lost cause in that region. I've also pulled back as many British forces as possible to India. The big difference in this theatre is that I didn't waste Force Z against the overwhelming Japanese advantage in the South China Sea, and Tophat hasn't committed enough forces yet to capture Singapore. In the Eastern Pacific I haven't bothered raiding with my carriers because there is no significant advantage to doing raids while there is significant risk.
So my main regions of focus are the West Coast, Alaska, the Hawaiian Islands, Australia, India, China and the Soviet Union. Out of those areas, San Francisco, Pearl Harbor, South-eastern Australia and India (with a focus on Karachi) remain my major interests. I've established a strategy for each region and continue to follow it.
West Coast - I have maintained substantial forces on the West Coast, including all of the West Coast Units and all of the Canadian units. I have also kept the 2nd Marine Division and two other infantry divisions in the West Coast, along with a third of the US Pacific Fleet. In addition I have around 600 aircraft on hand. This not only provides protection for the West Coast but allows me to build up those units in bases where I have the most supply. I feel that the West Coast is effectively safe from any Japanese raids or invasions. BTW - the majority of my transport ships are in West Coast ports.
Alaska - I have moved all of the Northern Command units to Anchorage. Anchorage is already a level 9 port and is on its way to being a "3-9s" base. I have three RCT units in place as well as plenty of support. I also have a carrier strike force stationed in Anchorage, to defend the Aleutians if necessary, but more importantly to provide the capability to get behind a Japanese invasion or raiding force that tries to come into the Eastern Pacific from the Northwest.
Hawaii - I have three infantry divisions in Pearl, along with two armoured regiments and a lot of artillery. A fourth infantry division will be landing in Pearl soon. Lahina, Hilo and Kona all have CDs, AA, RCTs and engineering units and their airfields continue to be built up. Hilo already has a size 5 airfield and Lahina will very soon. Molokai still only has a base force and a Marine raider unit, but a CD will become available in a week's time, and an RCT in two week's time. Pearl Harbor has over 400 planes in it and dive bombers and fighters sit in the other four air bases near by. The rest of the US Pacific fleet sit in Pearl Harbor. If raiding or invasion task forces come by now, the US ships won't be running away. Over the next couple of weeks I will also bring the radar-equipped US 20-knot BBs to Hawaii, along with the 4-stack cruisers. With all the other ships that I have in Pearl this will give me a surface capability that can stand up to the Japanese BB bombardment TFs.
Australia - Up until now I have kept my Australian forces mainly south of Townsville, with the greatest strength spread from Brisbane to Sydney. I have not reinforced the malarial bases of northern Australia, and I have pulled back from Darwin most of the troops that I rescued from the Philippines. I don't intend to make a major stand at Darwin if Tophat attacks there - it is too far from supplies and support, and can be cut off too easily. I have good troops in Darwin, but not enough to withstand a major invasion. If Tophat comes in with multi-division strength I will pull back to the South.
In Eastern Australia I am reinforcing all of the coastal bases from Townsville to Perth. Yes, even the far southern bases are getting troops. I don't want to leave anything to chance, and those bases are also good places for units to recover and rebuild. In the East I am building up Townsville and Charter Towers. Charter Towers is particularly important because it is a non-coastal base, therefore it cannot be suppressed by naval bombardment. I have all of the former Philippine-based US air units based now in Eastern Australia and I am moving the Dutch air units out of the DEI into Southern Australia to let them build-up and train until they can be upgraded in July. Almost all Australian air units now contain Hurricanes and Beauforts.
In India I continue to strengthen my forward defenses. I have been adding more units to the Indian coastal bases and now have both British infantry divisions in Ceylon. I have been rotating units out of the Burmese border and resting them in non-malarial zones. I have the Indian armoured units situated back from the coast where they can respond to invasions without getting bombarded. The British fleet is split amongst a number of the bigger ports in order to be able to respond quickly while not being at complete risk from a single massive air attack. The one thing that I have not done is put combat troops in Karachi itself. This is a risk, but I'm betting that Tophat won't try a "go-for-broke" strike at Karachi. I will continue to take this risk until I get the Chindits in a couple of months, or until Tophat appears to be making a move on India.
China - I have Tophat stalemated in five major locations now. If he moves troops from one area to reinforce an attack in another I am ready to respond with an attack on the weakened spot. Tophat has not committed significant air power to China so I have remained satisfied to use the Chinese air units. My major problem in China is the number of support troops that I am losing in the artillery exchanges. Replacing lost support troops in China is draining my support troop pool and thus affects my efforts to rebuild units elsewhere. But I can't afford not to rebuild those Chinese HQs.
Soviet Union - I have been actively moving my Soviet air units around and upgrading them so that I can have as many full air units as possible. I haven't yet taken steps to deliberately move air units out of the range of Japanese bombers because Tophat hasn't shown any signs of planning an attack on the Soviets. But if I get any hint of an attack I will pull some of my better units back in order to have them available for counterattacks. However, I have spread my air units out to all of the front line bases that have air support which will make a sneak attack more difficult.
Strategy - I am sticking to a defensive strategy for the next number of game months and don't intend to try any offensive operations until Fall 1942 at the earliest. When I start depends upon Tophat's actions once he finishes the capture of the DEI. If Tophat commits significant forces (in particular the KB and Combined Fleets) to one of my heavily defended regions then I will go on a counteroffensive on the other side of the map. Right now I expect that Tophat will likely go after the South Pacific, particularly once he realizes that I'm not defending it. If, on the other hand, Tophat is satisfied with achieving something similar to the historical gains, I will then wait until Spring 1943 and plan a systematic advance into the Central Pacific.
Dave Baranyi
So I've retreated as fast and with as much as possible from the Philippines and the DEI. The main variation there is that the historic Allies attempted to make a stand in the DEI. However, that decision was futile and I don't want to waste forces in a lost cause in that region. I've also pulled back as many British forces as possible to India. The big difference in this theatre is that I didn't waste Force Z against the overwhelming Japanese advantage in the South China Sea, and Tophat hasn't committed enough forces yet to capture Singapore. In the Eastern Pacific I haven't bothered raiding with my carriers because there is no significant advantage to doing raids while there is significant risk.
So my main regions of focus are the West Coast, Alaska, the Hawaiian Islands, Australia, India, China and the Soviet Union. Out of those areas, San Francisco, Pearl Harbor, South-eastern Australia and India (with a focus on Karachi) remain my major interests. I've established a strategy for each region and continue to follow it.
West Coast - I have maintained substantial forces on the West Coast, including all of the West Coast Units and all of the Canadian units. I have also kept the 2nd Marine Division and two other infantry divisions in the West Coast, along with a third of the US Pacific Fleet. In addition I have around 600 aircraft on hand. This not only provides protection for the West Coast but allows me to build up those units in bases where I have the most supply. I feel that the West Coast is effectively safe from any Japanese raids or invasions. BTW - the majority of my transport ships are in West Coast ports.
Alaska - I have moved all of the Northern Command units to Anchorage. Anchorage is already a level 9 port and is on its way to being a "3-9s" base. I have three RCT units in place as well as plenty of support. I also have a carrier strike force stationed in Anchorage, to defend the Aleutians if necessary, but more importantly to provide the capability to get behind a Japanese invasion or raiding force that tries to come into the Eastern Pacific from the Northwest.
Hawaii - I have three infantry divisions in Pearl, along with two armoured regiments and a lot of artillery. A fourth infantry division will be landing in Pearl soon. Lahina, Hilo and Kona all have CDs, AA, RCTs and engineering units and their airfields continue to be built up. Hilo already has a size 5 airfield and Lahina will very soon. Molokai still only has a base force and a Marine raider unit, but a CD will become available in a week's time, and an RCT in two week's time. Pearl Harbor has over 400 planes in it and dive bombers and fighters sit in the other four air bases near by. The rest of the US Pacific fleet sit in Pearl Harbor. If raiding or invasion task forces come by now, the US ships won't be running away. Over the next couple of weeks I will also bring the radar-equipped US 20-knot BBs to Hawaii, along with the 4-stack cruisers. With all the other ships that I have in Pearl this will give me a surface capability that can stand up to the Japanese BB bombardment TFs.
Australia - Up until now I have kept my Australian forces mainly south of Townsville, with the greatest strength spread from Brisbane to Sydney. I have not reinforced the malarial bases of northern Australia, and I have pulled back from Darwin most of the troops that I rescued from the Philippines. I don't intend to make a major stand at Darwin if Tophat attacks there - it is too far from supplies and support, and can be cut off too easily. I have good troops in Darwin, but not enough to withstand a major invasion. If Tophat comes in with multi-division strength I will pull back to the South.
In Eastern Australia I am reinforcing all of the coastal bases from Townsville to Perth. Yes, even the far southern bases are getting troops. I don't want to leave anything to chance, and those bases are also good places for units to recover and rebuild. In the East I am building up Townsville and Charter Towers. Charter Towers is particularly important because it is a non-coastal base, therefore it cannot be suppressed by naval bombardment. I have all of the former Philippine-based US air units based now in Eastern Australia and I am moving the Dutch air units out of the DEI into Southern Australia to let them build-up and train until they can be upgraded in July. Almost all Australian air units now contain Hurricanes and Beauforts.
In India I continue to strengthen my forward defenses. I have been adding more units to the Indian coastal bases and now have both British infantry divisions in Ceylon. I have been rotating units out of the Burmese border and resting them in non-malarial zones. I have the Indian armoured units situated back from the coast where they can respond to invasions without getting bombarded. The British fleet is split amongst a number of the bigger ports in order to be able to respond quickly while not being at complete risk from a single massive air attack. The one thing that I have not done is put combat troops in Karachi itself. This is a risk, but I'm betting that Tophat won't try a "go-for-broke" strike at Karachi. I will continue to take this risk until I get the Chindits in a couple of months, or until Tophat appears to be making a move on India.
China - I have Tophat stalemated in five major locations now. If he moves troops from one area to reinforce an attack in another I am ready to respond with an attack on the weakened spot. Tophat has not committed significant air power to China so I have remained satisfied to use the Chinese air units. My major problem in China is the number of support troops that I am losing in the artillery exchanges. Replacing lost support troops in China is draining my support troop pool and thus affects my efforts to rebuild units elsewhere. But I can't afford not to rebuild those Chinese HQs.
Soviet Union - I have been actively moving my Soviet air units around and upgrading them so that I can have as many full air units as possible. I haven't yet taken steps to deliberately move air units out of the range of Japanese bombers because Tophat hasn't shown any signs of planning an attack on the Soviets. But if I get any hint of an attack I will pull some of my better units back in order to have them available for counterattacks. However, I have spread my air units out to all of the front line bases that have air support which will make a sneak attack more difficult.
Strategy - I am sticking to a defensive strategy for the next number of game months and don't intend to try any offensive operations until Fall 1942 at the earliest. When I start depends upon Tophat's actions once he finishes the capture of the DEI. If Tophat commits significant forces (in particular the KB and Combined Fleets) to one of my heavily defended regions then I will go on a counteroffensive on the other side of the map. Right now I expect that Tophat will likely go after the South Pacific, particularly once he realizes that I'm not defending it. If, on the other hand, Tophat is satisfied with achieving something similar to the historical gains, I will then wait until Spring 1943 and plan a systematic advance into the Central Pacific.
Dave Baranyi
RE: April Strategic Update...
Have you done anything to offset the New Caledonia - NZ grab - that can play havoc with supply to Oz (from teh US anyway).
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