Rise of the Sheep! JocMeister(A) vs. Obvert(J)

[JocMeister]

ORIGINAL: Historiker

Throw five divions onto Pegu. It is an open hex, it'll mess up his day. [:)]

Can´t do that unfortunately. He has 4500 AV in the way of that hex! [:D]

[JocMeister]

ORIGINAL: crsutton

Hey Joe,

Just want to confirm what the others are saying. Frontal attack vs Japan in Burma at this stage of the war are sort of wasteful. As you know the Commonwealth troops are getting stronger but the replacement rate for tanks and devices is so poor that attrition warfare is not the best way to go. You should by now have the sealift to go around him, and Burma can be a trap for the Japanese player for this reason.

It is unfortunate that you have most of your troops locked in central Burma where they cannot be pulled out for other uses too easily but that is the way it is.

Two ideas here. With Japanese control of China, why is Burma important to the Allies at all? Is there a place closer to Japan that you can take that will make his position in Burma impossible. I am thinking Sabang or some place nearer Singapore. Once I landed and secured Sabang, the Indian ocean was closed to Japanese shipping and the Japanese can't move enough supply overland. Has he a heavy defense of Siboret Island? Taking this island or one or two of its neighbors forces the Japanese player to disperse his air force to protect the oilfields.

Anyways, you should be getting strong enough by now to start thinking about going around the largest Japanese positions. Good luck.

Yeah I know its not working with the frontal assault. Only took me a year to realize! [:D] I can sealift of course but I need CV cover for that. And I decided quite some time ago against sending them to Burma. Without CV cover I can only jump to say Moulmein. At best I could land 2 IDs but he has 50.000 men there so its a no go.

Burma is not important at all. But Erik seem to think it is. While he has started to pull troops only a few days ago out he still has all the unrestricted Jap IDs here but one. I want to keep it that way while I land in the PI. [:)]

So basically I do what I can without CV support with the only goal of keeping as much of his troops here as possible. I tried a bunch of things that didn´t work so now I need to try something else! [:D]

[JocMeister]

16th July -44

Northern New Guinea/Moluccas

Only ground combat today. I think Erik is massing for an all out joint LBA/KB attack shortly. I´m actually not too worried as he is lacking base infrastructure to really mass LBA in the region. As predicted Morotai fell effortless today! Huzzah! [&o]

Ground combat at Morotai (80,101)

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 14774 troops, 166 guns, 495 vehicles, Assault Value = 708

Defending force 4557 troops, 26 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 135

Allied engineers reduce fortifications to 2

Allied adjusted assault: 1405 [X(]

Japanese adjusted defense: 82

Allied assault odds: 17 to 1 (fort level 2)

Allied forces CAPTURE Morotai !!!

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

Japanese ground losses:
1210 casualties reported
Squads: 4 destroyed, 85 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 14 disabled
Engineers: 17 destroyed, 7 disabled
Guns lost 20 (3 destroyed, 17 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
30 casualties reported [:'(]
Squads: 0 destroyed, 6 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

The attack on Noemfoor finally succeeded. Had this happened 2 months ago it would have been a blessing. Now its almost insignificant.

Waigeo is already level 3 and will hit level 4 tomorrow. I have some Hellcats backed up by 50 P47s guarding the place. PTs arrived last turn. I want to post a DD squadron here but it will have to wait a few days.

I´m frantically shifting troops. I have A LOT of lift in the area but its taking time shifting everything forward. The next assault wave is assembling. I think its time to move FAST and skip the consolidation until later.

KB
No sign of KB and the Recon of Cebu came out empty. The "fake" KB moved back to Iwo. Sent a CAT squadron to Morotai to see what I can find. Slightly worried as I have some many TFs moving I can´t cover them all. Sent the amphibs back under Biak cover. I have 250 P47s there and they should be able to deal with anything the KB can throw at it.

Elsewhere its quiet.

[BBfanboy]

If you are considering landing at Manado, note that there is a dot base further up the peninsula that is usually without garrison. You can take that base and march overland to Manado.

[JocMeister]

ORIGINAL: BBfanboy

If you are considering landing at Manado, note that there is a dot base further up the peninsula that is usually without garrison. You can take that base and march overland to Manado.

Yeah, I have 2 Tank BTLs 100% prepped for it. Sidate I think its called. I have 2 IDs + some arty prepped for Mandao and in the unlikely event they fail to take the base I´ll land the armor followed by the SOPAC reserve (1 USMC ID) and let them march to Manado. [:)]

[JocMeister]

17th-18th July -44

Thrym
Progressing as planned. First assault on Sorong is scheduled for tomorrow. First another BB bombardment is going in followed by the 6th IDs support troops. I embedded a lot of LCI(G)s in that TF hoping it will blast the defenders. Not sure it works that way but I´ll try. Should work though! [:)] Getting Sorong quickly would really help. Fingers crossed.

Its hard to give an accurate account on what I´m doing here. I have so many TFs shuttling BFs to various bases, invasion TFs, Tankers and whatnot its crazy. I am taking a pretty big risk here though but I decided its worth it. There is no way I can cover even a fraction of all the TFs so I have to prioritize. Right now only APA/AKAs and TFs carrying combat troops get aircover. The rest are having to rely on jumping from base to base and getting under base CAP.

I´m also counting on the fact that my CVs are in a forward position. Erik can´t get to the TFs "behind" my CVs without exposing his strike AC to the CVs. I´m 99% certain the strikes would go after my CVs instead of other TFs. Still zero opposition here from Erik. He is probably gathering strength trying to deal one massive blow. But this has helped me in a big way as I now have good CAP up over Waigeo (100 P47, 100 Hellcats) and Morotai (50 Corsairs 50 Spit VII). This relieves the CVs from having to LRCAP TFs bringing in BFs to those bases.

I´ve decided to go for speed here. Its risky but Erik still has a lot of troops moving from Burma. I will have to rely on CV cover for the most part as bases won´t have time to build up and provide LBA. I doubt there is a better place for me to fight a CV battle though. Erik has almost completely neglected the base building in this area. Most bases doesn´t have an AF and the ones that do usually have level 2-3. Only big bases are Badelbaob and Davao with level 7 and 6 respectively. We have an agreement to not overstack bases which means he can´t just dump 1000 airplanes on a level 2 AF and let them fly. We have also agreed to not overstack more engines than there are AS at a base which further limits his ability to concentrate aircraft in the area.

KB
KB is still a worry and I have no intel on where they are. I´m guessing they are hovering in PI archipelago just outside my Naval search. I´m constantly shifting my CVs 1-2 hexes North and then back South 4-5 hexes. I´m thinking if he makes a full speed run forward and I move North I get within my own strike range and if I move South I get outside his 8 hexes and he has exposed himself for a counter attack. I hope this way to avoid the BS 8 hex strike I know Erik is going to try for. I have no additional LRCAP up over my CVs. If GJ is correct the extra AC won´t matter and the 500 Corsairs on my CVs are piloted by the best pilots I have.

My CVs can still stay in the area for a few days but fuel is getting low. I have 200.000 fuel arriving at Sarmi in 6 to 8 days so I´ll withdraw shortly and replenish.

CENTPAC
I´m gathering another massive fleet at PH. It will be about a month or so before they can depart. This will a massive convoy with some 500 ships carrying reinforcements for SOPAC front as well as the assault troops slated for Guam and Saipan. They will be covered by 4 BBs and some 600 CV aircraft and sail right through CENTPAC. A huge amount of supply and fuel will go as well together with more support and combat ships.

[center]Allied Logistics[/center]

Fuel
Fuel is still short in Northern NG. The 200.000 landing there shortly will probably only be enough to top everything off. I diverted another 100k tanker TF to the Finnschafen - Sarmi route. Finnschafen has 300.000 fuel that I want up at Sarmi. Pago Pago is starting to empty out but there is still some 350.000 fuel at Noumea and 500.000 at Suva that has to be moved to Finnschafen and then Sarmi. I diverted two 100k Tanker TFs from SD to Noumea but it will be some time before they arrive. The fuel situation is beginning to worry me a bit. I only have 1.7 million left in OZ. Only a year ago it was 3,5 million. I´ll restart the OZ convoys again.

Supply
Not an issue anywhere. I have 4,2 million in OZ, 3,6 million at PH and 400.000 at Sarmi. In Burma I have about 500.000 and I havn´t bother checking in India.

Lift Capacity
I´m short on the SOPAC front and have none at the future DEI Front. 2x100 ships xAK TFs left SD two days ago. They are loaded with fuel and will rebase at OZ.

Assault Shipping
Everything is in Northern New Guinea right now. I can lift about 6-8 divisions in one go. This much won´t be needed for much longer and half of it will depart for Darwin in a few weeks.

[BBfanboy]

Right, the LCI(G)s are rocket firing landing support vessels. The rockets are a one-shot deal, though, so make sure you have an AKE nearby to replenish them if you want to use them again in a couple of days.

They do not help with unloading troops/cargo after firing their rockets.

[JocMeister]

The Great Mystery of the Marianas

Erik is certainly putting a lot of effort into the Marianas. I think think this is a huge mistake and I´m happy to let him continue doing so. I´m actually a bit amazed Erik has yet to realize that his overall defensive strategy isn´t working. Since I landed on Milne Bay he has relied on regimental sized units backed up by garrison forces and forts. This has failed at every location where I landed with a division or two. Its just a matter of days before the base falls. Now he is repeating the same mistake in the Marianas. I think relying on forts at this stage is a mistake as all the USMC and US divisions have almost a complete Combat Engineer RGT embedded in their TOE. The problem with this strategy is also that it takes a lot of time getting big forts up. Around Port Moresby and New England I encountered level 6 forts. Lately I´ve encountered level 3-4.

Forces prepping for Saipan
2 USMC Divisions
3 US Divisions
4 Tank units
8 Arty Units
1 Combat Engineer RGT
1 Amphib Force HQ
1 Command HQ
1 Corps HQ

Total AV: 2600

Forces prepping for Guam
1 USMC Division
3 US Divisions
6 Tank units
2 Flame Tank units
6 Arty Units
1 Combat Engineer RGT
1 Amphib Force HQ
1 Corps HQ

Total AV: 1950

I think Erik has failed to recognize the Allied OOB at this stage. He should be "missing" 2 USMC Divisions and 8(!) US Divisions. Two of them he will "find" in Northern New Guinea shortly!

Interesting enough I don´t think I really need the Marianas. It would certainly help but with the Allied lifting capacity I can haul from PH directly to New Guinea. Drawback is that I need CVE cover between Eniwetok and NG. I guess its a moot point since I will secure the Marianas before 44 is up anyway but its an interesting reflection.

[JocMeister]

19th July -44

Still not much actionwise.

Thrym
Erik sends in a crapload of subs into my Biak-Waigeo shipping lane. I lose a DE and Erik loses 3 subs. I send out a few ASW TFs to deal with the problem. First attack of Sorong goes fantastic. A lot better than expected! [&o]

First the BB bombardment

Night Naval bombardment of Sorong at 82,107

Allied Ships
BB California
BB Arizona
BB Nevada
BB Maryland
DD Stevens
DD Stembel
DD Sproston
DD Sigsbee
DD Sigourney
DD Norman Scott
DD John Rodgers
DD Remey

Japanese ground losses:
203 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 6 disabled
Non Combat: 12 destroyed, 22 disabled
Engineers: 1 destroyed, 2 disabled
Guns lost 6 (3 destroyed, 3 disabled)

The followup landing of the support troops of the 6th ID is a disappointment. I´m guessing the fort (lvl 4) makes the rockets ineffective?

But the actual attack went fantastically well! Better than I dared hope. [&o]

Ground combat at Sorong (82,107)

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 21673 troops, 466 guns, 567 vehicles, Assault Value = 897

Defending force 18489 troops, 179 guns, 52 vehicles, Assault Value = 605

Allied adjusted assault: 1308 [&o]

Japanese adjusted defense: 1497

Allied assault odds: 1 to 2 (fort level 4)

Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), forts(+), disruption(-), fatigue(-)
experience(-)
Attacker:

Japanese ground losses:
1456 casualties reported
Squads: 14 destroyed, 126 disabled
Non Combat: 4 destroyed, 17 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 5 disabled
Guns lost 23 (2 destroyed, 21 disabled)
Vehicles lost 3 (1 destroyed, 2 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
361 casualties reported
Squads: 2 destroyed, 35 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 8 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled
Guns lost 14 (1 destroyed, 13 disabled)

Assaulting units:
6th Infantry Division
25th Infantry Division
671th Tank Destroyer Battalion
3rd USMC Tank Battalion
I US Corps
1st Medium Regiment

Defending units:

45th Ind.Mixed Brigade
5th Garrison Unit
16th Garrison Unit
2nd Amphibious Brigade
8th Garrison Unit
44th Naval Guard Unit
3rd JNAF AF Unit
37th JAAF AF Bn
13th Air Fleet /1

I will allow my troops to rest a few days so the support parts of the both IDs can land. Disruption is a bit high with the TD unit topping out at 28. Very happy! [:)]

Burma
Moving...

OZ
ZZZzzZZzz

CENTPAC
Erik continues to strike at Tinian. Runway damage was up to 28 at one point but is now back to zero. Troops look in good order with 32.000 supply still left.

KB
Dead silent. I don´t like it. Sent a long range recon up to Morotai to take a peek at Manilla. I don´t think he is there. I´m guessing either East or West of Mindanao just outside my search. I can see 16 hexes from Morotai. Its unlikely he has an exact fix on my CVs. His naval search seems poor in the area. Often only a 1-3 DL on my TFs and 80% are completely undetected. He might try a strike at my Waigeo express that is largely uncovered. So I don´t use any important shipping here.

Here is screen of the anthill!

[ny59giants]

Logistics may not grab the headlines, but it will decide the war for you if you take time daily to do it right. I'm less than a year behind and it takes up most of my orders phase already.

[JocMeister]

Battle of Namlea


This will be remembered as the day when the Allied fleet revealed its true power. Wow. Simply wow. [X(]

Namlea lies just SW of Ambon. I had no intention of launching this strike as recon had indicated both Ambon and Namlea to be completely empty. I was quite surprised to see the first airstrike take off. And very, very angry to be honest.

Morning Air attack on TF, near Namlea at 76,108

Weather in hex: Clear sky

Raid detected at 80 NM, estimated altitude 18,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 34 minutes

Japanese aircraft
J2M3 Jack x 13

Allied aircraft
F6F-3 Hellcat x 432 [X(]
SB2C-1C Helldiver x 28

Japanese aircraft losses
J2M3 Jack: 4 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
SB2C-1C Helldiver: 9 damaged
SB2C-1C Helldiver: 1 destroyed by flak

Japanese Ships
CA Kumano, Bomb hits 1
CA Mogami, Bomb hits 3
DD Oboro

I was pissed off to say the least. 400 Fighters for 30 DBs. I was expecting a string of unescorted strikes to go in. Indeed two smaller raids did go in. One completely unescorted and one with a 30 Hellcat escort. Then came the grand finale. [X(]

Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Namlea at 76,108

Weather in hex: Partial cloud

Raid detected at 80 NM, estimated altitude 16,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 34 minutes

Japanese aircraft
J2M3 Jack x 15
N1K2-J George x 12

Allied aircraft
F6F-3 Hellcat x 389 [X(]
SB2C-1C Helldiver x 44
SB2C-3 Helldiver x 145
SBD-5 Dauntless x 27
TBM-1C Avenger x 88

Japanese aircraft losses
J2M3 Jack: 6 destroyed
N1K2-J George: 4 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
F6F-3 Hellcat: 2 destroyed
SB2C-1C Helldiver: 4 damaged
SB2C-3 Helldiver: 1 damaged
TBM-1C Avenger: 2 damaged

Japanese Ships
DD Hakaze, Bomb hits 3, heavy fires, heavy damage
CL Naka, Bomb hits 3, on fire
DD Oboro, Bomb hits 2, and is sunk
CA Kumano, Bomb hits 15, heavy fires, heavy damage
CA Mogami, Bomb hits 30, and is sunk
DD Tanikaze, Bomb hits 2, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk
CL Kiso, Bomb hits 2
CL Jintsu, Bomb hits 5, heavy fires, heavy damage
DD Yuzuki, Bomb hits 1, on fire
DD Yukikaze, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires
CL Sendai, Bomb hits 3, heavy fires, heavy damage

This is followed by a coup de grace!

Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Namlea at 76,108

Weather in hex: Partial cloud

Raid detected at 75 NM, estimated altitude 16,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 33 minutes

Japanese aircraft
N1K2-J George x 6

Allied aircraft
F6F-3 Hellcat x 33
SB2C-3 Helldiver x 29
TBM-1C Avenger x 36

No Japanese losses

Allied aircraft losses
TBM-1C Avenger: 1 damaged

Japanese Ships
CA Kumano, Torpedo hits 5, and is sunk
DD Yukikaze, Bomb hits 2, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk

I´ve never seen such a massive strike before. While it contained all the allotted escorts it was roughly only a third of the available strike planes. A third. [X(] This just dwarves everything the KB has done. I feel a lot more confident taking on the KB after this turn. If he gets within 7 hexes of the fleet there will be no more KB. Of that I´m absolutely sure.

I´m curious how Erik will react to this. He made no mention of battle in our emails. Will this strike change his strategy? Will it make him more reluctant to take on the CV fleet? Does he think the losses I suffered today weakened me and seek battle? I lost only 28 Hellcats and 19 DBs. Thats about 2,4% of the available planes. Nothing that concerns me much. [:)]

Interesting turn indeed. Watched the whole replay with a silly grin. [:)] Strike two more CAs. Thats 12 off the list and 6 more to go. [&o]

[JocMeister]

Losses at the Battle of Namlea

[Bullwinkle58]

You get an "I Hate CAs!" T-shirt. I'm still working on earning mine. [:)]

[JocMeister]

ORIGINAL: Bullwinkle58

You get an "I Hate CAs!" T-shirt. I'm still working on earning mine. [:)]

[:D]

[Speedysteve]

Nice one. Those Jap CA's pack a powerful punch. Always good to take down Meatball ships. In fact anything Meatball taken down is good [:)]
 
P.S. Keep us posted how those LCI(G)'s work out. I'm using mine in my next invasions.........As you also say so much time and shipping is used for logistics! I still can't get enough TK/AO in my game vs Faber to move all the fuel that is needed. There's just an ever increasing demand for it!

[DOCUP]

Nice job sinking those ships.  That should put a damper in Eriks plans.

[BBfanboy]

I'll add my congrats too , but the cautious part of me wonders if your opponents lack of comment is because of the dreaded synch bug, and all those good things never happened![X(][:(][:(]
Say it isn't so!

[JocMeister]

ORIGINAL: Speedy

Nice one. Those Jap CA's pack a powerful punch. Always good to take down Meatball ships. In fact anything Meatball taken down is good [:)]

P.S. Keep us posted how those LCI(G)'s work out. I'm using mine in my next invasions.........As you also say so much time and shipping is used for logistics! I still can't get enough TK/AO in my game vs Faber to move all the fuel that is needed. There's just an ever increasing demand for it!

When I used them in a landing earlier they just blasted the defenders.

Pre-Invasion action off Waigeo (82,106)
Defensive Guns engage approaching landing force

18 Coastal gun shots fired in defense.

Allied Ships
DD Izard
DD Hazelwood
DD Haraden
DD Albert Grant
DD Evans
DD Callaghan
DD Bennion
LCI(G)-82
LCI(G)-81
LCI(G)-80
LCI(G)-79
LCI(G)-78
LCI(G)-77
LCI(G)-76
APA Knox
DD Knapp

Japanese ground losses:
537 casualties reported BOOM!
Squads: 0 destroyed, 48 disabled BOOM!
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 18 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

But in later landings they havn´t caused much damage at all. I don´t know why that is. Forts?

Are you using some of those xAKs to haul fuel? I have 2x100 Liberty ship TFs do doing just that. They still carry almost 250.000 fuel! [:)]

[JocMeister]

ORIGINAL: BBfanboy

I'll add my congrats too , but the cautious part of me wonders if your opponents lack of comment is because of the dreaded synch bug, and all those good things never happened![X(][:(][:(]
Say it isn't so!

I was worried about that too just after I watched the replay. But its listed in the CR, I lost the planes and his ships are on the sunk list. So I think its safe to assume it did happen! [:)]

[JocMeister]

Manado

This will be a very important base for the Allied advance. I wish I would have devoted more troops to its capture to make 100% I would secure it quickly. I have 2 US Divisions 100% prepped for it. But one is the completely green 93rd ID. I also have 2 arty units to add to the mix. The workaround is the 2 Tank BTLs prepped for the small dot base South of Manado. They can reinforce the actual attack but also open up for reinforcements following the same route. I´m moving up the SOPAC reserve (2nd Marine Division). If needed I can also land the 14th US Corps here (3 IDs). I will get the base.

I really need a lvl 9 AF in the area to suppress the bases at Mindanao. The added bonus of this base is that much of the DEI oil comes within B29 range. Some even within Fighter range! [&o]

Balikpapan/Samarinda.
I also have a big question to think about. Do I capture it or wreck it? I´m currently leaning towards capture. I would likely take the rest of -44 to do it though. How much fuel per month do you get from Balikpapan? Anyone knows? Can it be calculated? If I can easily transport the same amount I might just wreck it instead.

I´m thinking about devoting the 1st US Corps to this task if I do it. That would mean 2 IDs + tanks less for the Mindanao assault. Not sure it will matter though. 8 Divisions instead of 10. I doubt that is going to make a massive difference. Terrain is pretty brutal on Mindanao though.

Perhaps its time to push up the date of the Marianas landings. That would free 7 divisions. I also have the DEI landings tying up 5 divisions...hmmm.