Speedy vs Swift - Jap perspective. Fight to the death

[Speedysteve]

Shipping losses........

Things to note here:

Even though I have lost c.90 ships none of these are major. One's to note:

2 x CL
4 x DD
2 x APD
13 x SS

The rest are PG/PC/AP/AK mainly.

If there is any other info you guys would like let me know.

Regards,

Steven

[ADavidB]

As for air losses. From memory phase 3 of Case Blue has so far cost Werner nearing on 650 aircraft to my 140

I'm astounded at the number of Allied planes caught on the ground - your 1000 plane lead in losses is essentially all losses on the ground! [:(]

But then, those ship losses are horrifying!!!

(And people wonder why I'm sitting back, building up, setting traps and sniping? [;)] )

Great play Speedy!

Dave Baranyi

[Speedysteve]

Hi Dave,

Firstly, thanks [8D]

I know it's amazing how many of his planes I have caught on the ground. A lot of them have come from the capture of Wake and from Luganville. From memory at Wake there must have been 150-200 planes destroyed in total and at Luganville it must be 250ish. So there's almost half of the ground losses from 2 operations [X(]

My gut feeling is that Werner has NOT turned off replacements for these groups and as such when they were destroyed more replacements came on the scene to be destroyed/captured. As I say thats just my gut feeling and i'm not sure on that. If he hasn't turned them off then he hasn't been helping his cause.

As for the ships it has been horrifying for Werner. I think in most operations/action areas he has lost a lot of ships due to airpower:

1. SRA - the quick establishment of Nell strongholds led to many ships being wiped out trying to escape.

2. Werner has IMO made a mistake in trying to stop my offensives with warships both in the SRA - Revenge/Hermes TF at Java and at Wake - 2 CV's, 8 CA's + DD's lost. I think he has learnt his lesson in that so far he has stayed well away from the Luganville area.

3. My subs have done well in sinking over 25 enemy ships outright (mainly AK/AP/TK). I've always taken great care of sub ops and their placement/strategy and it can pay dividends EVEN as Japanese to focus on submarine warfare.

All in all i've been aggressive in every operation i've carried out. I've also applied maximum effort to every major operation i've performed (except in Burma but hopefully the Chinese gamble will provide extra forces for that). This maximum effort coupled with Werners strategy (outlined above) has IMO led to these huge air/sea/land losses.

There's no doubt I have received some very helpful/lucky dice rolls but I guess everyone needs some of that. The 2 examples that spring to mind are the survival of Kaga at the start of the game and the survival of Zuiho at the Wake Operation. Hopefully i'll have the same luck with Akagi this time!

Your strategy - I think you're 100% right in doing what you are doing. To try and stand up to the Japanese player in the 1st half of 42 is tantamount to suicide. Obviously there are exceptions to the rule (if the Japanese player has gone out on a limb then smack him for example) BUT if maximum effort is applied in each operation I don't think the Allied player can stop them at least until the 2nd half of 42.

To be honest it's my experience as a Japanese player and from reading other AAR's (such as yours) that has led my Allied play to do just that - sit back, build, train and attempt to snipe/probe the Japanese positions until late 42 onwards.

It may not always be the most exciting play but to perform an operation/reaction just for the sake of gameplay and knowing you're going to get spanked just doesn't make sense IMO. I do try and perform some tactical operations to keep my opponent on edge and to give myself a little wake up from time to time though.

Thanks again for your thoughts Dave. Appreciated [:)]

Steven

[ADavidB]

All in all i've been aggressive in every operation i've carried out. I've also applied maximum effort to every major operation i've performed (except in Burma but hopefully the Chinese gamble will provide extra forces for that). This maximum effort coupled with Werners strategy (outlined above) has IMO led to these huge air/sea/land losses.

Your invasion of L'ville is a great example of your strategy paying off in a big way. It's also a great "horrible example" for an Allied player of why the Allies absolutely must resist the temptation to put good units in locations where they can be overwhelmed without a retreat path, and why an Allied player must retain a credible threat against such invasions. If your opponent still had those combat ships that he lost at Wake you would have thought longer about that lunge at L'ville, and as well, your opponent could have caused you signficant damage if he had "real" ships to intercept your bombardment TFs.

You are well on your way to an auto-victory - it's yours to win (or lose). Good luck!

Dave Baranyi

[fabertong]

Steven, are you playing autovic. or is Werner going to fight it out........oops that's a question...so please add ?.....

[Speedysteve]

Hi Dave -

Exactly. IF Werner had a greater force I would be more reluctant to carry out these kind of operations but he can only have a maximum of 3 US CV's at present. With KB amassed they are no real threat. He still has a lot of LBA at Noumea. 100's of planes it must be.

Luganville is building up nicely though. Both the Port and Airfields are fully operational (level 2 for both of them). There are a lot of engineers working on them though and at present both are expanding at 12% a day!

A further A6M3 Daitai was flown in today.

KB has docked and a lot of replacement planes have been taken on board (virtually all fighters). All with rookie pilots. Such is the nature of war. The worst hit group was Kaga's - Only had 13 of her original 24 pilots left. At the other end of the scale Hiryu had 18 of her 21 pilots left (average experience of 84).

The BB's have restocked their ammo. Just need to top the fuel up and Efate will be pounded. As a secondary objective Efate will be taken by a Brigade and 3 x large SNLF units (this may be modified depending upon recon). At present Efate is holding both P40's and SBD's. I don't want them interfering with the main objective - Noumea.

Hi Fabertong - Not sure on this. I have joked that auto victory will be mine and Werner just says 43 is a long way off. We'll broach the subject if and when it occurs. My aim is to take as much and destroy as much as possible.
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Akagi - she is at 60/59/0. Down by 2% flooding. Come on boys don't let me down.

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Days events -

A lot of scouting by B17's, B25 and SBD's at Luganville. PO2 Nomura aboard Hiryu got his 19th kill today - a Fort that was flying scout. He tackled it single handedly bringing the beast down [8D]

The largest raid of the day came from Noumea - 15 P40B's escorting 30 B17's, 20 B25's and 10 B24's. Some got through the 90 strong Zero CAP. A couple of AP's were hit.

Losses for the day:

Allied: 17
Japanese: 9

China -

The road to Kunming is getting shorter. The former defenders of Kweiyang were brushed aside today - 300,000 of my men vs 60,000 battered Chinese. Odds of 9-1. 3000 casualties each. Just a further 120 miles to go...........

SS Stingray patrolling near Luganville was sunk today with the loss of all hands [8D]

On the flip side. A sub has been tracking a US convoy moving near Christmas Island. 4 of my subs have been ordered onto a possible intercept course.

[Speedysteve]

Hi all,

The buildup at Luganville continues!

Enough fuel and ammo has been offloaded to stock the BB's back upto full capacity! [:)]

Tomorrow the first strike at Efate will occur. Hiei, Kirishima, Ise and Hyuga will proceed in 2 TF's to bombard and hopefully smash the airfield to bits.

KB will remain at Luganville for now but will probably sortie south to hunt in a few days time.

A lot more scouting of Luganville from Noumea and Efate.

Today saw the largest raid yet on my new base. 60 Forts and 20 Libs were escorted by 20 P40B's. 90 A6M's rose to defend the base and slaughtered the attackers. Most of the heavies were damaged and retreated back to Noumea........

No chance here Werner. No chance [;)]

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SS I-25 found the convoy heading back to the States, near Christmas Island. Rathermore the damn escorts found her and pummeled her to her death. 10 escorts were reported with only 6 cargo ships! Werner is clearly taking my sub offensive seriously at last and so he should do. 2 other subs lie in wait......

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Another good day in the air:

Allied losses: 27 (8 Forts, 7 P40B's, 4 B26B's, 4 B25D's etc)
Japanese losses: 4

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Here's Hyuga moving into position within the region of Luganville.......

[Speedysteve]

Hi all,

RL stuff has meant i've been busy for the past 4 days but now i'm back [8D]

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Today was a disappointment. The 2 BB divisions sent to bombard Efate ran into (an expected minefield) but both DD Sagiri and Satsuki hit mine's, limped back to Luganville and will probably sink! £^$&

To cap it off the following bombardments achieved 400 casualties and a pathetic couple of hits on the base!

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Once more heavy Allied air action over Luganville. The massed CAP of KB and the land based Zero's fought off 100's of planes in total.

41 Allies fell to 21 Japanese today. Many veterans are being made whilst the rookies die..........

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In China the men advance on Kunming (90 miles away) and Werner tried to surprise me by bombing Kweiyang airfields from Chengtu with 40ish Wellies. My CAP of 24 Zero's took 1 of the blighters down with me losing 6 planes on the ground. Don't think so son. You'll have to do better than that [:-]

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Logistics -

The advance into Luganville experess the strain the on the Japanese supply line. Despite the ABUNDANCE of shipping and the relative wealth of Japan in material the sheer distance involved from source to factory to frontline means that it will require a continuous effort and massive expenditure to keep Luganville operational.

As it stands I have 70,000 supplies ot hand at Luganville and 40,000 fuel.

I have 75,000 fuel and 45,000 supply moving from Truk.

From Japan I have 450,000 tonnes of fuel and supply moving to Luganville.

More will be needed to sustain the effort.

The good news - recon shows just 1 unit at Efate. I think i'll sweep it from mines and invade soon with 4 large SNLF's.

Then it's just Noumea...........

[Speedysteve]

Hi all,

Further fruitless Allied attacks are repulsed over Luganville..........

--------------------

A further 28 enemy aircraft were destroyed today. 14 of mine were lost but 7 of these were on the ground.

A continuation of Wellies hitting Kweiyang occured but the largest strike was once more over Luganville from Noumea -

17 x P40B escorting 41 x B17's. 8 P40's and 9 B17's were shot down for 3 Zeros.

Today the whole of KB refuelled at Luganville and the silos are almost empty. All warships at Luganville are now fully stocked with fuel and ammo. I'll wait a few more days for the port and airfields to expand to a level 3 size and then it's time for a sortie. KB will go hunting!

Recon and subs seem to indicate shipping moving from Noumea to either SE Australia or New Zealand. KB will search the high seas! In the meantime MSW's will sweep Efate and once cleared SNLF's will capture the place.

Almost forgot to mention ASW forces cornered and sunk SS Saury near Luganville. Another scum despatched.

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Akagi - good news. She is at Tulagi port - 60/48/0. Flooding has decrased by 12 over 3 days. Keep going men! [8D]

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CBI -

The men are slogging through the jungle in Burma on the road to Dacca and in China along rice paddies towards Kungchang and Kunming.....map attached.

[ADavidB]

17 x P40B escorting 41 x B17's. 8 P40's and 9 B17's were shot down for 3 Zeros.

I've got to think that Werner is flying his pilots too tired. How many ops losses did he have versus air-to-air?

How many planes did you have on CAP? What altitude is Werner flying in at? Were you able to bring an Air HQ into the base?

Thanks -

Dave Baranyi

[Rob Brennan UK]

Whats David said ! .. he's busting his bomber forces for nothing imo. with his morale probably in the toilet yeah its time for KB to get nosey.. just remeber to stay further than 4 hexes from noumea as i bet he;s got beauforts there.

Efate looks like a good target for the SNLF units .. just beware the mines .. turn off escort bombard.

Your 100% right about the supply sitution.. lets hope you have enough on hand when needed. the AF seems to be growing fast too. very nice.

keep up the good work speedy [:D]

[Speedysteve]

Hi all,

Dave/Rob. Thanks for the comments [8D]

Most of his losses are A2A. Today for example he lost 18 planes to my 3. 4 of his were ops the rest A2A.

Altitude wise i'm flying my boys at 15,000 feet. He normally bombs at 12,000-15,000 feet.

I do agree though it seems a waste of planes for the insignificant gain he could achieve (the odd bomb hit on an AP/MSW or a plane destroyed on thr ground. I don't mind though. It means aces are made and rookies are upto 40-590 exp now.

CAP wise I have around 100 Zero's on CAP every day. Based at Luganville itself I have 4 x A6M2 Daitai and 1 x A6M3 Daitai. Then of course this cap is supplemented by KB's fighters.

I don't have an Air HQ there as yet but one is en route.

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Today my first recon birds (Emily) flew over Noumea......interesting.....they encountered 40ish CAP (F4F, P40, P39) and spotted potentially 12 units on the ground + 60ish fighters, 80ish bombers and 40ish Auxilliaries. More recon will be made to get a clearer picture.

Luganville should be at size 3 airfield and port within 3 days. I'll move KB away then when extra planes have been bought in and the cargo ships have moved safely away back to Japan.

A couple of subs were tagged today - SS Snapper 120 miles west of Luganville was hit by an Alf and Jake's bomb. Well done lads.

Also a sub had been spoptted at Bonin Island near Japan. A dedicated 4 ship ASW TF was made from 2 DD's (newly commissioned Akizuki no less) and 2 PG's. Akizuki hit the git wuith 3 DC's leaving it heavily damaged.

Below is todays main raid on Luganville...........

[ADavidB]

CAP wise I have around 100 Zero's on CAP every day. Based at Luganville itself I have 4 x A6M2 Daitai and 1 x A6M3 Daitai. Then of course this cap is supplemented by KB's fighters

I'm even more astounded that Werner would be sending his bombers under those conditions. If anything, send them at 35K feet, but not at 12K against 100 Zeros!

And it is totally pointless to send a dozen P-40s into a buzzsaw like that. He must not understand the mechanics of the game. The only other explanation is that he forgot to turn off a follow-up attack. (I do that once in a while.)

The only thing that could shut down your airbase right now is a BB bombardment.

What he should be doing is resting his planes and preparing his CAP for your attacks. Once you start to send your planes over to his base your effectiveness will drop too.

Do you have paratroops available to use to grab those two bases to the North of Noumea?

Dave Baranyi

[Speedysteve]

Hi Dave,

I do wonder at times if Werner thinks enough with the fine details. I feel that since he is playing the Allies he almost thinks he can afford to be wasteful!

BB's would be no good. I have 7 BB's in 3 TF's in Luganville. In effect I have a land, sea and air DS at Luganville. IMO nothing the Allies have at this stage of the war would get through.

Paras - yup have 1st and 2nd Para Rgt's at Luganville.

My plans for Noumea - as it currently stands I will NOT be invading directly but will land at either on the northern bases and march down. That way I can avoid mines and CD fire from Noumea!

Of course the BB and KB activities over the next month or 2 may affect the plan.

Thanks for your comments Dave [8D]

[Roger Neilson]

At the risk of teaching granny to suck eggs, having taken Noumea myself by landing at La Foa and marching down just bear in mind it takes a while, the terrain is not easy and I was surprised by how long it too, and also the supplies flwo very slwoly to your lads attacking Noumea.

I too am watching this operation with interest.

Roger

[Speedysteve]

Hi all,

Roger - Interesting point and something I hadn't considered heavily (mainly since I expect to have superiority in the air and sea when I land at Koumac or La Foa and as such don't overly mind). How long did it take you?

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It seems as though Werner is either learning or taking a breather. Today all the subs appeared to move away from Luganville (the 10's of floats found very little) and NO air attacks occured at Luganville. Interesting.

The good news is that Luganville will reach level 3 airfields and port tomorrow. Damaged ships will be docked and in 2-3 days time KB will set sail to hunt...........

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My subs that had been tracking the convoy near Christmas Island found it again today. The brave crew and commander of I-16 attacked and hit the TK Admiral Wiley with 2 torpedo's. Unfortunately the numerous escorts found her and sunk her with 6 DC's. Well done though men I expect the TK to sink [&o]

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Akagi - flooding rose today to 49%. Come on men!

[Roger Neilson]

Well, my records are a little sketchy, but I took La Foa on the 20th May 1942 and my first attack on Noumea was on the 14th July 1942. That's a long time delay. I was aware that he had a sizeable force there of over 2 Divns plus support so my lead troops may have arrived a while before that but it was only then I felt able to do my first attack and that was at 0:1 odds. I seem to recall 3 to 5 miles a day was the norm for travel. I'd do it again though as a choice, because the frontal attack on Noumea would have been very bloody.

Forgive my vagueness, but its now 3/12/1942 in the game so its a distant memory really!

[Speedysteve]

Hi all,

Roger - interesting and thanks. Maybe i'll land at La Foa and not Koumac = 60 miles less marching for the men. I can sort that bit out in time.

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Yes Werner has definitely shifted his fruitless stategy of boming Luganville and keeping subs near it. Today only 4 enemy aircraft were downed for the loss of 2 of mine.

Good news on the sub front. Ss Snapper which was tagged recentlyby floats was confirmed sunk today. Also SS Flying Fish had been prowling around Lunga. It won't be any more. An ASW TF found her and hit her with 2 DC's leaving her heavily damaged.

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Luganville's facilities expanded today (port and airfield). Excellent. A lot of damaged transports and convoy escorts were docked (about 30 ships in total).

Also a few more BF's left Tokyo today to start building up the SRA for the future. Destinations - Macassar, Miri and Tori Shima.

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Here's a look at my CV's. Overall KB has fared well in Case Blue. No ships have increased in SYS damage apart from Akagi which got tagged by a fish. She is looking better now though. Down to 42 FLT.

Also note Zuiho. Repairing well in Okayama [:)]

[Rob Brennan UK]

Be a bit careful as both kaga and Zuikaku will be easier to spot with that level of sys damage.

Phew .. about the agaki, was rather touch and go earlier. just make her well escorted when sending her home for serious repair[;)].. she seems to be a sub magnet at the best of times[:D]

other than that .. well what can i say .. great going really

[Speedysteve]

Hi all,

Rob - Yeah Akagi is doing ok now. Down to 38 FLT.

I think Werner would spot KB anyway. He has 10's of planes on naval search every day - B25, B26 and SBD from Efate are spotting my ships.

What I plan to do is to move KB NW in the direction of Guad and then i'll swing west and keeping 10-12 hexes from Noumea down past there inbetween New Caledonia and Aus and from there either near Aus of NZ to find ships [8D]

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The big news on 8th July 1942 is that Chinese forces have invaded friendly Vietnam!

I had spotted a buildup on the border 2 days ago and have air assets one day away from Haiphong.

4 divisions crossed the border with a potential 3 more units to follow.

4 militia divisions have been formed. Hopefully I can hold onto Hanoi whilst everything gets there.

Will be a fun little episode [8D]

Other than that I just received confirmation that TK Admiral Wiley sank near Christmas Island. Excellent. My subs demise was not in vain.