The Good The Bad & The Indifferent

[BBfanboy]

ORIGINAL: JohnDillworth

Should be able to send some big boys in to Bombard

Fusan will be a tougher place to bombard. It has a starting Naval Fort and might have additional CD guns now. The BF also has DP guns which will fire at ships.
Also expect mines and mini-subs at Fusan. Some probing by minesweepers is in order before sending in more valuable ships. Bombing the LCUs will tend to focus on the Naval Fort and knock out/disrupt squads, support squads and guns - giving the minesweepers a better chance.

[BBfanboy]

Re: North China - I think mopping up is the better option just now. Peiping and Tientsin are Urban Heavy X4 terrain, with forts on top of that no doubt. They have industry making supply so they will not fall quickly. Clear out the cucarachas in the hinterland so you can then concentrate at one of the cities while cutting off the other.

[Canoerebel]

I'll probably do both, and doing both will probably be synergistic. To pocket the Japanese army, I have to cut the remaining roads. Peiping or vicinity is the narrowest and therefore best place to do so.

Peiping is currently worth 800 points and can be built out to 1800 points. My forward stack is only four hexes away. Meaning: Peiping offers a lot of points conceivably much faster than chasing cockroaches.

The main part of the Chinese army - probably more than 6,000 AV - is 100% prepped for Peiping, though further back. As the units make their way north, I'll detach some to take on and eliminate Japanese units.

It looks like John is preparing to scatter some of his units to remote, non-road, rough hexes. Guerilla warfare time. Not efficient to chase them down, at this point.

Tsientsin isn't worth many points. I'll take it if the taking is easy but I'll consider bypassing.

[Canoerebel]

All this made me look more carefully at the map and the disposition of forces. I do think a move on Peiping is warranted and synergistic with reduction of what should be a major enemy pocket centered on Kaifeng.

[Lokasenna]

ORIGINAL: BBfanboy

ORIGINAL: JohnDillworth

Should be able to send some big boys in to Bombard

Fusan will be a tougher place to bombard. It has a starting Naval Fort and might have additional CD guns now. The BF also has DP guns which will fire at ships.
Also expect mines and mini-subs at Fusan. Some probing by minesweepers is in order before sending in more valuable ships. Bombing the LCUs will tend to focus on the Naval Fort and knock out/disrupt squads, support squads and guns - giving the minesweepers a better chance.

Also, the default routing back from Fusan towards China (even on Direct) will pass through Tsushima. That's bad news bears.

[Canoerebel]

4/4/45

Asia: Allies defeat main enemy army NE of Tsinan, which takes heavy losses and retreats towards Tsientsin. The Allied campaign to close the "Kaifeng Pocket" and to move on Peiping is underway.

Korea: Allies have arrived in numbers at Keijo, where the enemy garrison is getting hit daily by multiple large bombardments. Probing Allied bombardment tomorrow. Allied armor has advanced to the key non-base hex to the SE and will try a probing deliberate attack tomorrow, with the infantry coming up the day after.

Operation Unicycle: Strong Allied B-29 raids vs. Kobe Industry. Many Home Island bases are undefended or barely defended, with exceptions including Tokyo, Nagasaki and Fukuoka.

The enemy is in bad shape but points accumulation is lagging. Since April 1, I think the Allies are only scoring roughly 350 to 400 per turn, gross (perhaps 250 to 300 net). I'm looking for 500 to 1,000 net, but can't seem to find it, even with good strategic bombing raids and destruction of a large number of enemy squads in China.

The solution is to keep pushing hard. Strat bombing and wiping out enemy units is a key component of scoring points. The infrastructure to do both is in place, both in Korea and China. I'll keep working those angles hard.

But it's clear that Keijo, Peiping and Singapore may play a key role now in defeating Japan. The three of these have a points potential in excess of 7,000. That's nearly 50% of what's needed to achieve victory.

1. Keijo: curently a level 2(7) airfield at 800 points. I can bump that to 1800 points by building to level 9. I have enough engineers to quickly build to level 7, but getting it to 9 would take considerably longer. Unless John has reinforcements handy, I think this base could fall inside a week.
2. Peiping: ditto re: points and building. Allied army is four hexes south, though some campaigning is necessary to clear the flanks, etc. It's possible I can take Peiping in two or three weeks, depending on whether John has reserves up here.
3. Singapore: already built out. Worth 500 points to Japan (therefore a reduction to the AV denominator, effectively worth 1k points) and worth nearly 2,500 points to the Allies. I have an army of about 2500 AV 100% prepped closing - about five hexes north, with apparently little opposition in between. Current garrison of less than 30k but who knows how many forts. I'll have to use my air force heavily. This could take a long time...or it might surprise the other way.

[BBfanboy]

Clearing Sinyang may not clear the rail line for you - in the hex to the NW of Sinyang he has another unit headed east to block the rail line.

[Lokasenna]

Not to mention there is no destination owned by the Allies north of Sinyang (yet).

[jwolf]

FWIW Singapore is indeed a huge flip of points -- if you can take it.

Regarding Fusan and neighborhood -- really crazy idea -- how about invading Tsushima to clear access without then having to worry about mines, etc?

[Canoerebel]

When the Keijo-Fusan campaign is complete, I'll have an army of 7,000 AV that needs new preparation orders. It is unlikely that I'll prep them for Manchuria targets, preferring to leave that to the larger (though mostly Chinese army) moving upon Peiping already. So the Allied army in Korea is likely to begin prep for Japan proper, including targets like Tsushima. I'll be surprised if there's enough time left for that to become necessary, but preparation will be in place.

[jwolf]

I was actually thinking about Tsushima in order to clear good access for bombardments or interdictions of Fusan.

[GetAssista]

ORIGINAL: Canoerebel
When the Keijo-Fusan campaign is complete, I'll have an army of 7,000 AV that needs new preparation orders.

At this point you might not really need 100 prep across the board for the targets you are fighting in Korea. Allied firepower is more decisive factor than adjusted AV. Recall how tanks frequently hurt Japanese LCUs with no losses while against 1:X odds. So you might consider switching some of your LCUs to prep for landings, where 100 prep is still a must.

[witpqs]

ORIGINAL: GetAssista

ORIGINAL: Canoerebel
When the Keijo-Fusan campaign is complete, I'll have an army of 7,000 AV that needs new preparation orders.

At this point you might not really need 100 prep across the board for the targets you are fighting in Korea. Allied firepower is more decisive factor than adjusted AV. Recall how tanks frequently hurt Japanese LCUs with no losses while against 1:X odds. So you might consider switching some of your LCUs to prep for landings, where 100 prep is still a must.

Yeah, the impact of preparation at this point (even earlier) is for amphibious landing objectives.

[crsutton]

ORIGINAL: jwolf

FWIW Singapore is indeed a huge flip of points -- if you can take it.

Regarding Fusan and neighborhood -- really crazy idea -- how about invading Tsushima to clear access without then having to worry about mines, etc?

More important is that it has a major ship repair yard. Points don't hurt either.

[Canoerebel]

I doubt John is using the Singers shipyard, given the proximity of the Allied army and airfields. If he is still using it, he'll stop in the near future.

He really doesn't have a viable shipyard left except in the northern Home Islands. In the DEI, Soerabja is his best bet and it's somewhat exposed, though I haven't hit it in months.

[Canoerebel]

I only use prep now for urban 4x and amphibious assaults. Right now, the only places I'm prepping for are Keijo, Peiping and Singapore. There is one exception: an Aussie brigade is preparing for a Yellow Sea base, in case I try for an Anzio-like invasion behind enemy lines (though with better results than Anzio).

So, when Keijo falls, most of my army in Korea can switch to other preps, mainly targets in the Home Islands. But, as noted above, I'll be surprised if there's time to prep and invade.

[Canoerebel]

4/5/45

Asia: It seems like Japanese resistance is collapsing. It's definitely collapsing in China. It's on the verge in Korea. And John doesn't seem to have fighters to cover more than a few of his key industrial centers in the Home Islands (though his fighters are still fighting hard and effectively in several places).

It was another very good day for the Allies most everywhere. But I'm still not translating success into points very efficiently. I think it will come soon in the form of enemy stacks isolated, high-value bases falling, and hopefully increased success in the strategic bombing campaing.

But that hasn't happened yet. Points are tough to come by.

[Canoerebel]

4/5/45

KB: John is bringing a KB division back to the DEI. I think the inveterate raider wishes to keep his options open down here.

[Andav]

Canoerebel,

Does this RR still connect Kejo and Fusan or am I just missing something?

Wa

[Canoerebel]

It does but it won't take Allies armor long to interdict that route. I don't think there's any opposition to the east of the contest hex.