Here we go again! tc464 (A) vs. Mike (J) - No tc464

[Mike Solli]

Yeah, but what good is preparation if the execution sucks. [;)] [:D] I've already realized some mistakes since sending Ted the turn.  It's supposed to be in my inbox.  I guess I'll find out how bad my mistakes were tonight. [:D] 

[Cuttlefish]

ORIGINAL: Mike Solli

Yeah, but what good is preparation if the execution sucks. [;)] [:D] I've already realized some mistakes since sending Ted the turn.  It's supposed to be in my inbox.  I guess I'll find out how bad my mistakes were tonight. [:D] 

Oh yeah, the forehead smack and the "I shoulda's." I have those all the time, usually well after the turn has been sent and while I'm doing something completely different, like changing the oil in the car or chopping firewood. Suddenly it hits me: "Oh man, I should have sent those cruisers at Tarawa back to Kwajalein, what if he sends a carrier or two there?"

[Q-Ball]

ORIGINAL: Cuttlefish
Oh yeah, the forehead smack and the "I shoulda's." I have those all the time, usually well after the turn has been sent and while I'm doing something completely different, like changing the oil in the car or chopping firewood. Suddenly it hits me: "Oh man, I should have sent those cruisers at Tarawa back to Kwajalein, what if he sends a carrier or two there?"

I haven't thought of Kwajalein yet, thanks for the tip![:'(]

Yes I owe a turn, been busy today[:(]

PS: Playing AE mistake-free is impossible.

MIKE: What are your plans for xAK to xAK-t conversions? I have converted almost 100, just tons of ships, finding that to sustain a high offensive tempo you need ALOT more than what you start with. I find that I don't use many xAKs to ship supplies, as there are usually plenty loaded with the troops. But you need LOTS of xAK-ts. I would get cracking on some conversions right off the bat.

I also converted quite a few xAKLs to PBs, because there ain't enough escorts either.

Thinking ahead, I really like converting the older DDs to APDs, would like your thoughts on that (by older, I mean pre-Mutsukis. I keep the Mutsukis because they carry the Long Lance. So far though I am converting Minekazes and Kamikazes to APDs). Momis are bad APD though, only 18kts due to loss of boiler.

[Mike Solli]

ORIGINAL: Q-Ball

PS: Playing AE mistake-free is impossible.

Ain't that the truth! [:D]

ORIGINAL: Q-Ball
MIKE: What are your plans for xAK to xAK-t conversions? I have converted almost 100, just tons of ships, finding that to sustain a high offensive tempo you need ALOT more than what you start with. I find that I don't use many xAKs to ship supplies, as there are usually plenty loaded with the troops. But you need LOTS of xAK-ts. I would get cracking on some conversions right off the bat.

I also converted quite a few xAKLs to PBs, because there ain't enough escorts either.

Thinking ahead, I really like converting the older DDs to APDs, would like your thoughts on that (by older, I mean pre-Mutsukis. I keep the Mutsukis because they carry the Long Lance. So far though I am converting Minekazes and Kamikazes to APDs). Momis are bad APD though, only 18kts due to loss of boiler.

Q-Ball, to be honest, I haven't thought of converting xAKs to xAK-ts. I just ran the 8 Dec turn last night. I find that, at least at the start, my limiting factor is port space for loading. Most of the LCUs that I started loading on the 7th are complete now. I'll get them going tonight. I keep hearing from all of you experts out there that the -t conversions are necessary. I'll look at starting some of them today. Is there any specific class that you prefer for that?

On 7 Dec, I started conversion of 23 To'sus to PBs. I'd rather have too many escorts (yeah, like that will happen) than too few. [:D] From reading the AARs, it seems like life on an IJN DD is exciting, and short!

I haven't considered DD to APD conversions yet. I agree with you that anything that carries a Long Lance should remain as a DD.

I plan on doing some research on that this weekend. I'm a bachelor for the weekend! My wife and daughter are out of town at a horse show and my son will spend most of his time with his girlfriend most likely. Two full days of AE. [:D] Ted and I plan on doing some marathon sessions.

[Q-Ball]

I think you quickly need more AK-ts. You are right, in the beginning, most of the critical units are already loaded, or there are enough ships close at hand to move the 2nd and 4th Divisions. Even lifting the units from Taiwan and Pescadores is such a short trip you don't need many ships for it. Once late January rolls around, though, you will want TONS. This is because right when the Luzon and Sinagpore campaigns end, you need to lift about 8 divisions and take them somewhere, and better to do it quickly then wait a month to get the shipping together.

You can live without AK-t conversions, but if you don't convert, IMO, you will have ground units sitting around waiting for transport. This is very bad for Japan, as speed is your greatest ally initially, and every day wasted waiting for your logistical tail to catch us is a day the Allies get stronger.

The Phase 2 moves are also alot longer, so multiple trips will burn alot more time. Better to have the shipping handy.

I screwed some things up in my PBEM game as Japan, I am doing what I would call OK mainly because I think my INTENT is there, which is to move supplies, fuel, troops, everything you can get your hands on, and move it forward at all times without stopping. If you have transports sittng aorund in a port, there has to be a reason why; are they repairing, waiting for something, or is there a job to do right now? Find them work, there is always SOMETHING.

Sorry for the long note, but I cannot stress enough the need for SPEED if you are the Empire.

[ny59giants]

I think you quickly need more AK-ts. You are right, in the beginning, most of the critical units are already loaded, or there are enough ships close at hand to move the 2nd and 4th Divisions. Even lifting the units from Taiwan and Pescadores is such a short trip you don't need many ships for it. Once late January rolls around, though, you will want TONS. This is because right when the Luzon and Singapore campaigns end, you need to lift about 8 divisions and take them somewhere, and better to do it quickly then wait a month to get the shipping together.

You can live without AK-t conversions, but if you don't convert, IMO, you will have ground units sitting around waiting for transport. This is very bad for Japan, as speed is your greatest ally initially, and every day wasted waiting for your logistical tail to catch us is a day the Allies get stronger.

The Phase 2 moves are also a lot longer, so multiple trips will burn a lot more time. Better to have the shipping handy.

I screwed some things up in my PBEM game as Japan, I am doing what I would call OK mainly because I think my INTENT is there, which is to move supplies, fuel, troops, everything you can get your hands on, and move it forward at all times without stopping. If you have transports sitting around in a port, there has to be a reason why; are they repairing, waiting for something, or is there a job to do right now? Find them work, there is always SOMETHING.

Sorry for the long note, but I cannot stress enough the need for SPEED if you are the Empire.

I second the motion. [;)]

Your conversions should be taking place during the first week as you move ships from some of the smaller bases to the larger bases (port size). I would say to err on the side of having too much troop capacity as you don't know if a TF or two will get sunk in masse by an Allied SCTF. [:-]

[Mike Solli]

8 Dec 41
 
What a wonderful turn!  Well good and bad, but the good will come first.  I'll start this with a quote from Ted that I received this morning:
 
"I always enjoy sitting down with a steaming mug of coffee first thing in the morning and watching my carrier take a few torpedoes in the side. [:@]

I hope your boss makes you clean the toilets today. [:D] "
 
I almost spit my coffee all over my screen. [:D]
 
Anyway, let's start.....
 
Central Pacific
 
KB moved west to support the Wake Invasion in 3 days.  The 4 Furutakas are coming from the west and the invasion force is coming from the south (Kwajalein). 
 
I had allocated the mass of subs around Hawaii to various commands and a small horde of I-Class subs were moving into position south of Pt. Moresby to intercept Allied shipping in the area.  The I-170 (part of this little horde) spotted 6 US DDs, heaved a couple of torps at one and was chased away.  The I-169 happened to be in the same hex and wandered over to see what all the commotion was about.  The commander peered through his periscope and there was the Enterprise.  Four torpedoes and 3 hits later, the I-169 got clean away with no damage.  Banzai!  I am redirecting KB to a SW heading for one phase to see if she is still afloat.  (She showed up as sunk in the sunk ship report.)
 
A naval guard unit landed on and captured Makin.  I'll reload the unit and move them to Tarawa where they will most likely stay.
 
We also liberated Guam, capturing over 850 US soldiers for 5 Japanese casualties.  The SLNF there will reload and deploy to the 4th Fleet area for future operations.
 
China
 
Nothing of note.  The mass scramble of units will continue for some time as they position themsleves to either garrison, defend or attack.
 
Canton's fort level reached level 2.  Damn, that was fast!
 
Japan
 
The mass of shipping moving around is beginning to arrive at their destinations.  I'll begin forming some of the resource convoys and set them to CS to feed the hungry industry of Honshu.
 
Philippines
 
Here is where the bad news occurred.  I had set the Bettys and Nells to naval ops, and made a mistake on their maximum range.  It included Manila so of course 30 Bettys flew there unescorted and ran into 21 P-40Es. [:@] Only 16 came back. All that was for damage to an xAP and xAK and sinking another xAK.  Well, we got even later.  There were the typical airfield bombings, naval attacks and sweeps and the net result was:
 
Our losses:
14 Bettys (Ouch)
1 Nell
2 Zeros
1 Lily
 
Their losses:
5 P-40E
2x xAK sunk
3x xAP sunk
AO Trinity heavily damaged
 
Note the absense of any damage to Allied warships. [8|] At least 20 Bettys/Nells launched torps at 3 US 4-stackers and missed the lot.
 
On the plus side, Clark was bombed into the stone age again.
 
Tomorrow will see landings at Aparri and Vigan with landings at Legaspi a day or two later.
 
Bataan Island was liberated.  I'm going to place the Tonys there to support the invasions.
 
East of Borneo & West of Mindinao
 
The Ryujo TF (escorted by 3 CA & 6 DD) ran into an AVD and 2x xAKLs twice!  Both times both TFs fled. [8|] Very frustrating.
 
The Ryujo tried to make amends by hitting Tarakan and sinking some Dutch ships - AVP, CM, PC and an AG.  What a waste of 16 precious torpedoes.  She is now down to 11 torps.  I was hoping she would catch some US warships, but no, she had to go after that lot.  I'm going to keep her in the area one more day to try and find Boise.  I see 3 Allied TFs (N, W and S of the TF) and I think Boise is north of her.
 
The invasion fleets for the southern peninsula of Luzon are plodding toward their destination (from Amami Oshima and Babelwatsit).
 
Malaya
 
Things started off well with those same 18 Zeros sweeping Singapore again.  This time they found 29 Buffalos. [X(] Well, only 21 Buffalos landed on wheels.  The rest are scattered around the countryside. [:D]
 
We took Kota Bahru, driving off the 8 Indian Bde and FMSV Bde and capturing the base force there.  21 Japanese losses to 2312 Allied casualties.  The Japanese forces there are an infantry and engineer regiment and an AF co.  I'll send a chutai of fighters there for CAP.
 
Total losses for today:
 
Japanese:
1 Nate
1 xAK hit by a 40 lb bomb from a Blenheim 1F!  2 sys damage! [:D]
 
Allied:
9 Buffalo
1 Swordfish
2 Hudson
1 Blenheim IV
1 xAP sunk (at Georgetown)
1 xAK sunk (also at Georgetown)
 
Oh yeah, the xAK hit yesterday is recovering from her wounds.
 
There was no sign of Force Z.  This is what I expected.  Ted did this last time too.  I hope the torpedo that hit the PoW caused her to withdraw.  Then I have only a BC to contend with.
 
More forces are slowly plodding toward Malaya (by land and sea) to reinforce the pretty minescule forces that are there. 
 
The Hosho and Zuiho (escorted by 4 BB, 2 CL and ~4-6 DD) are heading toward the Philippines from the HI.  They will meet up with the Ryujo and the two carriers will transfer to the Ryujo.  The rest of that fleet will become a surface fleet to hunt Allied warships and/or support invasions.
 
Other comments
 
Granted I'm only 2 days into the war, but things seem to be proceeding nicely.  The big concern I have is the lack of warships I'm attacking successfully in the SRA.  Baby KB's one shot ability is a shock.  They really aren't good for any kind of sustained offensive unless there is a good base close by.  Gotta get used to that.

[Mike Solli]

ORIGINAL: ny59giants

I think you quickly need more AK-ts. You are right, in the beginning, most of the critical units are already loaded, or there are enough ships close at hand to move the 2nd and 4th Divisions. Even lifting the units from Taiwan and Pescadores is such a short trip you don't need many ships for it. Once late January rolls around, though, you will want TONS. This is because right when the Luzon and Singapore campaigns end, you need to lift about 8 divisions and take them somewhere, and better to do it quickly then wait a month to get the shipping together.

You can live without AK-t conversions, but if you don't convert, IMO, you will have ground units sitting around waiting for transport. This is very bad for Japan, as speed is your greatest ally initially, and every day wasted waiting for your logistical tail to catch us is a day the Allies get stronger.

The Phase 2 moves are also a lot longer, so multiple trips will burn a lot more time. Better to have the shipping handy.

I screwed some things up in my PBEM game as Japan, I am doing what I would call OK mainly because I think my INTENT is there, which is to move supplies, fuel, troops, everything you can get your hands on, and move it forward at all times without stopping. If you have transports sitting around in a port, there has to be a reason why; are they repairing, waiting for something, or is there a job to do right now? Find them work, there is always SOMETHING.

Sorry for the long note, but I cannot stress enough the need for SPEED if you are the Empire.

I second the motion. [;)]

Your conversions should be taking place during the first week as you move ships from some of the smaller bases to the larger bases (port size). I would say to err on the side of having too much troop capacity as you don't know if a TF or two will get sunk in masse by an Allied SCTF. [:-]

Yeah, as always you guys have very good advise. I'm going to make a plan tonight on what to convert to the -t. Not sure if I should go with the 12 or 14 kt types though.... Gotta think about that today.

[scott64]

[ny59giants]

Sub deployment:
Since I have played the Allies a lot more than Japan, I would suggest some hunter/killer groups of 1 Glen equipped sub with 3 fleet subs. I would have one group due east of Aukland over 15 hexes away and them having a patrol zone of only two waypoints(vs max of three) going east to west in three or four parallel lines (maybe about 10 hexes per leg). Next, I would have another few groups doing the same thing in a SW to NE line to the east of Christmas and up towards California. I would try having them away from PBY ranges. If he is like me, he will use the waypoints to get much of his transports from Australia, NZ, and even SRA over to USA.
He is likely to have them move due east from Aukland with maybe a slight variation to near the Society Islands or Cook Islands as waypoint #1, then off to the NE to waypoint #2, and then straight up towards the USA. His assumption being that it is far enough away from possible carrier raids.
He may try to build up Christmas Island as a possible waypoint to Pago Pago and beyond.

Just my $.02 [;)]  

[Mike Solli]

ORIGINAL: ny59giants

Sub deployment:
Since I have played the Allies a lot more than Japan, I would suggest some hunter/killer groups of 1 Glen equipped sub with 3 fleet subs. I would have one group due east of Aukland over 15 hexes away and them having a patrol zone of only two waypoints(vs max of three) going east to west in three or four parallel lines (maybe about 10 hexes per leg). Next, I would have another few groups doing the same thing in a SW to NE line to the east of Christmas and up towards California. I would try having them away from PBY ranges. If he is like me, he will use the waypoints to get much of his transports from Australia, NZ, and even SRA over to USA.
He is likely to have them move due east from Aukland with maybe a slight variation to near the Society Islands or Cook Islands as waypoint #1, then off to the NE to waypoint #2, and then straight up towards the USA. His assumption being that it is far enough away from possible carrier raids.
He may try to build up Christmas Island as a possible waypoint to Pago Pago and beyond.

Just my $.02 [;)]  

Ahh, very nice. Thanks. This is the kind of stuff I have yet to figure out. I have formed sub divisions of 1 Glen and 3 fleet subs. Where to patrol them is another story. This is printed off and I'll work it this weekend.

[ny59giants]

It's easier to offer you feedback than face the carnage that KB did to Pearl. I volunteered to play Andy Mac's Ironman mod, but using his specialized AI script (Scen 80) that is suppose to be nasty. Well, it is!! Three days worth of attacks at Pearl left 3 x BBs afloat. I have 2 x CA, 4 x CL, 7 x DD and various auxiliary lining up for shipyard time.

[Mike Solli]

Holy cow! [X(] I think in some ways it's worse if the large ships don't sink because they tie up lots of repair yard space.

[Mike Solli]

Well, the turn is back off to Ted. In addition to starting some of the resource convoys, I restarted Yamato and Musashi (Shinano is off) and accelerated the Katsuragi, Amagi, 3x DDs and 4 TKs.

Tomorrow I'm going to look at where my "excess" xAKs are (those not currently being used) and determine what to do with them.

Oh yeah, the xAPs for the 33 Div (at Nagasaki, I think) arrived there. The division is beginning to load and will move to the Burma theater. The xAPs for 2 and 4 Division are still enroute.

[witp1951]

Mike,

What are you doing with the 21st Division in Shanghai? As far as I can tell it's unrestricted but I don't see it mentioned in AARs.

[Mike Solli]

Ah yes, the 21st. There are xAPs going to Shanghai as well. I have 4 xAPs heading there. Only one showed up so far. They'll probably move to Malaya, but I'd have to check and see who I'm prepping them for.

[Mike Solli]

Well, since I'm (im)patiently waiting for Ted to send me the turn, I though I'd post a couple of screen shots. To be honest, there really isn't much to show. Anyway, the mess in the Home Islands appears to be growing worse. Actually, 38 of the 254 hulls tasked with bringing resources to the Home Islands are actually in a CS TF doing their thing. The rest are crawling toward their starting destination:

[Mike Solli]

And here is Malaya. Not much here either. You can see the subs that are set for early warning against Force Z, which has vanished. I suspect it's headed for Java at the moment. I'll send some subs down there to scout tomorrow, and maybe catch a few fleeing ships too.

[Mike Solli]

Here's the Ryujo. She wasted 16 of her 27 torps on 4 !&^%&^# Dutch ships at Tarakan while ignoring the 5 little TFs surrounding her. The one to the south is an AVD and 2x xAKLs that they ran into (twice!) and ran away from. The Boise (I think) is north and the Houston (again, I think) is NE. Not sure what is west. She'll hang around another turn to hopefully put her 11 remaining torps into a warship.

[Mike Solli]

Finally, this is the area where the Enterprise was hit. You can see tomorrow's trek of KB. Then (hopefully) she'll see the Enterprise TF and hit it killing The Big E if she's not already gone, as well as kill some escorts. Then KB will bend west to head to Wake. The mob of subs that are SE of Johnston Island are where the Enterprise was torpedoed, specifically the hex with 3 subs in it. You can also see 8 subs that are patrolling S and SW of Hawaii to try and catch something in that area. That US TF 1 hex south of Pearl is a handful of DDs.