Nomonhan Redux: Seydlitz (Japan) vs. MBatch729 (Allies)

[seydlitz_slith]

On the northern part of the Russian front I am starting to press him across a wide front. I have a couple of spots where I have been stalled, but again reinforcements from China are enroute and should be able to get things going. Supplies are again the issue here as the roads and terrain are bad causing significant supply loss enroute.

[seydlitz_slith]

In China, I am very much in a holding pattern. Earlier in the game I fought him all the way to the gates of Sian but then pulled back because he had reinforced that town with far too many units and they had built formidable fortifications. Now I am going to take advantage of my position in China to free up as many troops as possible to see if I can force the issue with the Soviets.

[seydlitz_slith]

Thailand is one of the places where he has been pressing me hard. Normally we would be fighting over Burma with Rangoon firmly in Japanese hands. However, this never happened due to the heavy committment of troops and airpower that I was forced to make in my war against the Soviets.

This was the first place where Mark became aggressive, and his units swept down from Rangoon into Thailand. I attempted to contain but those pitiful Royal Thai Army units are not worth the rice to feed them. They have lost every battle in which they have been engaged. The only thing these boys do well is eat and retreat. It is embarrassing as Japan to be losing this theater in the summer of '42 and I am determined to get things in hand.

You can't see it in the picture, but the Allies have recaptured all of Malaya north of Singora.

I can't wait for the reinforcements from the Southern Army to arrive. Two large infantry divisions and 8 armor units. All veterans of the Philippines and Soviet campaigns. They should cut through the allied forces like a hot knife through butter. I am landing them at Bangkok. Even though he has forces in the city, I was able to scrape together enough troops to solidify the defense there, and have built decent fortifications.

[seydlitz_slith]

In southern Malaya, I continue my epic seige of Singapore, which looks like it will take about as long as the seige of Troy. I had been counting on using my Southern Army troops to finish the deal here, but the Thailand situation demands their attention first. As a result, it looks as if Christmas 1942 would be a realistic timeframe for the surrender of the port.

[seydlitz_slith]

In the DEI, I continue to be locked in a stalemate at Palembang. I do have two infantry regiments enroute from Japan that will attempt to land there and force the issue.

In Borneo, I have not taken Balikpapan or the southeast tip. These will come in time and are not a priority at present.

Regarding Java, I honestly do not know if I will be able to take it. I imagine that it is one huge armored fortress by now. After I get the rest of the theater in hand I will have no choice but to give it a try. If I don't his bombers will make it impossible for me to recover oil from Sumatra.

[seydlitz_slith]

On the Rabaul front, I do not have Moresby or Buna but I am doing fine in other areas. I am suffering from constant attacks by the Australian Air Force flying out of Moresby to hit my troops at Lae with their P-40s and Mitchells.

[seydlitz_slith]

Farther east, we have a major conflict going on in the Gilbert Islands. After he took Tarawa, I realised that Mark was going to try and push along this axis of attack with his American forces. Since Kwajelin is an important base for me, I have committed significant naval forces to slowing him down here.

For the first time in this game he has seen the active deployment of a large number of my subs into a focused area. Over the past four turns they have hit several ships. In return, one RO boat has been heavily damaged and is returning to Truk while two other RO boats have minor damage (less than 10 float) and are continuing the fight. He has a lot of air assets in the mix and the subs have aggravated him to the point that he has put many of them on ASW patrol. It is very disconcerting to have 10-12 subs spotted with a detection level of 10 every turn. However, the standard rule of moving the subs to a new hex every turn to break the detection level seems to be holding out.

In fact, I am counting on him to keep his planes tied up on ASW patrol because the KB sailed from Truk two days ago after replacing stores and aircrew consumed in the last round of battles. This time I will swing around south of Ocean Island and approach him from the south west. Hopefully I will be able to sink several ships before he realizes that I am there. I am also hoping that the heavy sub presence will deter him from deploying his carriers in the area.

[offenseman]

This remains a fascinating and unique game.  Thanks for the in depth update.

[crsutton]

Yes, keep posting by all means. This one won't get boring for a while. When do you predict a final end to the Russian campaign? If you can't take Singapore by Dec 42 he just might be strong enough to hold it. Actually, if I were him, I would be sending loads of American troops and aircraft to that theater. If he holds Singapore and Java then you are going to have some serious problems-even if you defeat Russia. Of course, he has plenty of options elsewhere but it is time for him to get busy.

[seydlitz_slith]

I can't predict when I will beat Russia. There seems to be no end to his troops. Much tougher nut to crack than expected.

[crsutton]

ORIGINAL: seydlitz

I can't predict when I will beat Russia. There seems to be no end to his troops. Much tougher nut to crack than expected.

Wait a minute. Isn't that exactly what Von Palus said at Stalingrad? Not a good sign.[:D]

[seydlitz_slith]

ORIGINAL: crsutton

ORIGINAL: seydlitz

I can't predict when I will beat Russia. There seems to be no end to his troops. Much tougher nut to crack than expected.

Wait a minute. Isn't that exactly what Von Palus said at Stalingrad? Not a good sign.[:D]

Let's just say the issue is still in doubt. I can predict with a certainty that Japan will lose world war II, but with all of these new variables, I no longer know if it will be late 1943, 1944, 1945, or 1946.

It is odd that I have been able to run my economy just fine without Palembang and the southern oil wells.

[castor troy]

ORIGINAL: seydlitz

ORIGINAL: crsutton

ORIGINAL: seydlitz

I can't predict when I will beat Russia. There seems to be no end to his troops. Much tougher nut to crack than expected.

Wait a minute. Isn't that exactly what Von Palus said at Stalingrad? Not a good sign.[:D]

Let's just say the issue is still in doubt. I can predict with a certainty that Japan will lose world war II, but with all of these new variables, I no longer know if it will be late 1943, 1944, 1945, or 1946.

It is odd that I have been able to run my economy just fine without Palembang and the southern oil wells.

that´s really odd. I´ve just recently noticed in my game as the Allied (mid 43) that I´ve got huge amounts of fuel and ressources in Russia and thought about your game. Succesfully attacking the Soviets really might be a way to last very long as the Japanese because you can lose Palembang´s oilfields in 43 already but you may never lose Russia´s oil. And you won´t ever have ressource problems. What also strikes me is the fact that the Russian won´t get any aircraft for years, you get fighters and bombers early on, but then you don´t get anything until late in the war. That´s also odd when you consider an attack on Russia and no replacements for the airforce. Has your opponent anything left in terms of aircraft?

[Smeulders]

ORIGINAL: castor troy

ORIGINAL: seydlitz

ORIGINAL: crsutton





Wait a minute. Isn't that exactly what Von Palus said at Stalingrad? Not a good sign.[:D]

Let's just say the issue is still in doubt. I can predict with a certainty that Japan will lose world war II, but with all of these new variables, I no longer know if it will be late 1943, 1944, 1945, or 1946.

It is odd that I have been able to run my economy just fine without Palembang and the southern oil wells.

that´s really odd. I´ve just recently noticed in my game as the Allied (mid 43) that I´ve got huge amounts of fuel and ressources in Russia and thought about your game. Succesfully attacking the Soviets really might be a way to last very long as the Japanese because you can lose Palembang´s oilfields in 43 already but you may never lose Russia´s oil. And you won´t ever have ressource problems. What also strikes me is the fact that the Russian won´t get any aircraft for years, you get fighters and bombers early on, but then you don´t get anything until late in the war. That´s also odd when you consider an attack on Russia and no replacements for the airforce. Has your opponent anything left in terms of aircraft?

The same is true for AVFs. I am no fan of the Russian replacement rates. Of course, I believe these will again be very close to historical arrivals, but I think this shouldn't have been done for the Russians. An estimated guess should have been made as to what the Soviets could have spared for an Eastern Front. The reasoning behind this is simple. If you have war-level arrivals you have two options, either there is no war with Russia and than it doesn't matter that the Russians get more than they should, because they can't use it. If there is a war, they get reasonable replacements.

[seydlitz_slith]

My opponent has several hundred bombers but only about 150 fighters. This is mainly because he pulled out his bombers early when it was clear that he would just lose them if he kept engaging. He began using them again after I started pulling out a lot of my air force.
For months I had essentially the entire army and navy air forces engaged in Russia. I must admit that it was nice to fly strikes straight out of Japan. As soon as it was clear that I was shifting air units to the fight for Thailand, he became more active.

He said that his biggest problem is a critical shortage of replacement pilots for the Soviets.

[castor troy]

Other than more or less useless IL-2 (range 2?) light bombers he won´t get much in 43 and 44. IIRC he won´t get any fighters, which would make the fight in Russia pretty much flawed in these two years IMO (if there will still be fighting).

[crsutton]

Yeah, it is kind of weird. I know Russia was critically involved with Germany so the trickle of pilots and planes to the east makes sense. "Unless" of course, the Japanese invaded and there was a full scale fight on. This is what is out of whack. Germans not withstanding, some more aircraft at least, if not troops and tanks would have been sent east to fight Japan. And I am sure that the Americans, (under less stress as a result) would have ramped up lend lease a bit. The problem looks to be that the game was designed with the notion in mind that Russia would be the attacker and would not be fighting until 1945 and the Russian build up reflects this. There is no trigger built into the game for any change in the flow of reinforcments if Japan attacks. This may be a flaw.

If you pull this off seydiltz, then my next game as the Allies will certainly prohibit a Japanese move into Russia in 1942.[X(]

[bklooste]

I would let them have Bangkok ... Send the troops to Singapore take it and land in Pegu (with KB or Mini KB) .. That would leave all his troops around Bangkok in dangerous position.  With the artillary nerf i also think bombard is counter productive at SIngapore.
 
 

[topeverest]

Thanks for the good read. First comments, but I read this one frequently.

Doesnt look good for the lower empire. The gambit as it has developed undoubtedly has serious tradeoffs. I too am amazed the economy is still running well. Are you sure you are bleeding into reserves of Resources oil and fuel?

[seydlitz_slith]

Turn 230 July 24, 1942

Here is a quick snapshot of the industry summary. Hopefully it will tell how I am doing.