EA Damian(J) V Nemo(A) "Renaissance"

[n01487477]

8/3/42

Another sweep of Koepang, takes another 6 fighters, a bit of a waste of force really, but hopefully it will soften them up for some unescorted bombing raids tomorrow. This will allow me to land at Kendari and Ambonia fairly safely in a week.

The last of my troops offload at Okha, a deliberate attack is planned for tomorrow. Unfortunately, my troops are not really prepped very well, but it's the chance I'm taking.

Switched some of my LB heading to Singapore from airfield to port attacks to further reduce his supplies.

Will update all my troop assignments in the Central Pacific & SRA soon. Want to use this month to consolidate, a little expansion and prepping for bigger fry.

[n01487477]

Koepang ~ starting about 5 days ago, I went searching for some Allied planes, I noticed them bunched a little here. For 2 days I sent sweeps, which I rarely do as they never seem to work as one would wish, but much to my amazement I seem to have the Allies licked. Then today I sent unescorted LB (out of escort range). The Allies having taken a beating the past two days, stood down, and 10 planes got creamed on the tarmac .. the ol' 1,2..3...

Much further North, at Okha, my first deliberate attack wielded a 1-1 and the Fortifications came down to 0. The lads are celebrating tonight, but these Fort emplacements take some time to destroy, Nemo did a good job designing them ... ala Petro (which still hasn't fallen - this is my worst effort of the war so far!)

Meanwhile at Rangoon, my troops await an engineer unit, which was shipped from Hong Kong to Bangkok and then flown to Moulmein ... these guys are earning their frequent traveller points this month. "Join the Army see the World" ... type thing.

More Coastal guns and other units arrived at Kwakjalein ready to embark for Palmyra and Christmas. Coastal unit and another SNLF just landed on Wake and it will be mined in a turn or two.

Have sent almost all my ML's and a MLE to Kwajalein, for ready deployment, but my first stop will be to mine Palmyra, then Christmas, then ...

My CVTF's are converging on Kwajalein, and I get Junyo in 4 days, which I will send as well...

Have 140 K fuel about to leave for Kwajalein, as the CVTF's will suck this place dry pretty quickly.

The repositioning of troops I hope will happen quickly, but these things seem slow. Still sitting on enough nickle and dime PP's to not be able to move any large units from Japan. But I'm going to now make a concerted effort to get the 3 * CSNLF's out into Malaya asap. I've thought about just leaving Manila for the time being, or should I at least enter the hex, stop its production and cause some damage? Last game took me ages to take this urban hex. Well, until supplies ran out ... or take Bataan first? Or do nothing until I have more troops?

[n01487477]

Alexander isn't weeping yet ..

[n01487477]

The convergence zone ...

[n01487477]

Celebes ... what's about to go down ...

[n01487477]

When I should be fixing Tracker, I'm updating this AAR again ... seems like taking on a game, cuts heavily into my sleep and programming time. But, playing has given me more insight into what Tracker is missing, so it isn't bad by any stretch...

Just ran the 10/3 turn ... not much still happening, rallying boats and organising TF's mostly. Okha had another deliberate attack and got a 1-1, but as I said before it may take a while to whittle this bad-boy down.


And upgraded 8 HK6's to HK8's ... I'm hoping the new equip will help at Palmyra and Wake and Christmas for emerging TF's and Subs.



Cool, naval radar ... I'll let you know if it's as good as "Q" claims ...

[n01487477]

Just upgraded my highest 42 Plane group of Nates to 109's which are stationed at Bangkok, as a plan to nullify the AVG when they show their ugly heads. The 109 is just a point defence fighter, but I think you can see it has some muscle. I'm not sure why it has a drop tank, cause it has such short legs anyway, maybe this baby never had an internal tank ... looking forward to seeing what this can do ... I hope I'm not underwhelmed.

[n01487477]

Nemo,
I'm asking for clarification with the HR. Michael and I are using a similar HR to the one you provided.

My question is the Ki-264 Behemoth cannot fly below 20000, do you see any problem using the Angel below 20,000? I know the load out is much different. What are your thoughts on this ?

It is not a big deal to me, but it will effect my production choices as I have been using the Angel at 21,000 and they aren't that effective (mind you there are only 3 of them)

Thanks in advance.
Damian

[n01487477]

11/3~12/3 Victory in the Nth, concerns in the Sth

No, I'm not gay (not that there's anything wrong with that!) ... I watched Wizard of Oz when I was a small boy ... but when the wicked witch of the West said, "Fly my pretty's", I ducked for cover ... I said I was small!!

The RAAF & USAF blanketed the sky over Rangoon on the 12th. I still haven't taken Rangoon, but on the 11th I reduced the fort to 3, with the engineer unit I talked about earlier.

Allied Assets involved:
[*]Blenheim IV x 59
[*]IL-4C x 21
[*]B-17D Fortress x 70
[*]B-25D Mitchell x 31

I have no LRCAP here, and will wait until Rangoon falls before committing my 109's and Zekes. The air war in Burma is one I dread, it can either go well from the start or quickly deteriorate into a slugging match where the Japanese are on a hiding to nothing. I plan to leave this alone for the time being until Singapore falls, and then commit, my Sth air-arm, with my best fighters and pilots. But this will be weeks away yet.
Look at the resulting combat report at Rangoon after these bombers ... what's going on ?

Ground combat at Rangoon [Burma]
Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 28644 troops, 428 guns, 26 vehicles, Assault Value = 983
Defending force 4887 troops, 46 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 107

Japanese max assault: 379 - adjusted assault: 294
Allied max defense: 102 - adjusted defense: 2229

Japanese assault odds: 0 to 1 (fort level 3)
Japanese ground losses:
222 casualties reported
Guns lost 6

Allied ground losses:
35 casualties reported
Guns lost 1

Northern Area: Finally Petro fell to a shock attack, it has been going on for way too long and Okha also once again Japanese. Family reunions will be allowed once the Russians sympathisers are rounded up.

[floydg]

ORIGINAL: n01487477

No, I'm not gay (not that there's anything wrong with that!) ... I watched Wizard of Oz when I was a small boy ... but when the wicked witch of the West said, "Fly my pretty's", I ducked for cover ... I said I was small!!

The flying monkeys still make me uncomfortable. I wonder if how the flying monkeys would fare against the Flying Tigers... [;)]

[n01487477]

Ever been to a Zoo ? The monkeys are the most mischievous, dangerous and temperamental of all ... give them wings and they'd cream those Tigers. Just think Lord of the Flies, with sharp claws, more spiting and fur ... you get the picture.

13/3/42 ~ A deadly day for Betty crews. 14 lost to Flak, 2 to op's. I've been going up and down trying to find a good balance between losses and effectiveness, today was at 18,000 ...

The Allies have started to recon Kwajalein, they have long range LB (44 hexes), I'm just waiting for them to turn deadly, but as I posted to Michael, it jsut sharpens my desire to keep the Nth and CPac intact. Troops heading for Palmyra are about to go on the Eastward leg after making it Sth from Kwajalein. They should arrive in about 5-6 turns.

Meanwhile my TT's have rallied above the Celebes and are now heading Sth to Kendari and Ambonia. Assisted by small KB and plenty of LRCAP. I haven't spotted a SS in this area for a while.

TT's sent to Petro to retrieve a valuable Lcu, which will go to Okha or back to the Aleutians (I haven't decided yet if the Div at Okha fills out a bit in the next few days I'll make a better decision)

Still getting loads of troops languishing at Tokyo, and not enough PP's to send anywhere ... it's really annoying me and I promise to do some analysis of PP's gained to arriving troops PP's required.

More tomorrow ...
---Damian ---

[n01487477]

14/3~15/3 MIGs are killing me!

Hailar (NW Manchuria)~ 56 Russian MIGs filled the skies over Hailar, halving my 24 CAP force of Zekes to dust. On the next day, MIGs and 117 SB-2M's came and damaged my airfield. Is there any response? Well readers let me tell you I'm hoping that once my 42 group 109's are repaired, there will be a turning point.

The Allies are looking at placing these MIGs on British CV's, I'm hoping the code will render them useless!

Koepang and Singapore are under constant bombardment by LB, I lost my second valuable Ki-264 Angel today and another 7 Betty's to flak.

Out near Palmyra Is. the first of my TF rendezvous, waiting for the push into Palmyra ... I'm expecting SS & mines, but hopefully not CV's as I'm out of position right now.

From what I can tell my invasion of Ambonia and Kendari has not been spotted ... here is what is happening tomorrow ... Banzaii!!

[n01487477]

16/3 ~ Successful landings at Amboina.

Despite a few scratches on two AK's, which will be hammered out, then given a fresh lick of paint and ready for re-sale in a few weeks. The landings were pretty easy, I was expecting more LB and subs, but I guess they are refitting for a push later. And my sweeps would have certainly made the Allies think twice about engaging.

Now with Amboina, the South opens up, Dili, Darwin and beyond ...

Kendari had an unsuccessful para drop today, but the main landings are coming tomorrow. I think there will be more mines here and have 3 MSW covering my TT as well as small KB.

Rangoon also had its forts reduced to 2, which is comforting. Singapore has one more unit unloading, ready to march into the cauldron in a few days, and then we'll see what the picture really us.

[n01487477]

17/3 - Finally my high priced troops got a break and broke through, Rangoon is captured and populated with a/c mechanics flown in from Bangkok and some Zeke's and my new 109's, which are yet to be tested.

18/3 - Despite having an advantage, my troops at Amboina fail ... ground combat is still a mystery to me [&:]??

Ground combat at Amboina [Ambon]
Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 7178 troops, 66 guns, 8 vehicles, Assault Value = 129
Defending force 2022 troops, 28 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 57

Japanese max assault: 113 - adjusted assault: 27
Allied max defense: 48 - adjusted defense: 37
Japanese assault odds: 0 to 1 (fort level 1) [&:]


Japanese ground losses:
118 casualties reported
Guns lost 6

Allied ground losses:
56 casualties reported
Guns lost 1

[*]A new development with some night LB attacks, did little damage on Palmyra and Cold Bay ... I'll let you know what develops with this. Need to check on setting some Zekes as night fighters ... does that work ?

[*]I also hit Midway with 42 Betty's, no real defence here, destroying a Patrol plane and causing 12 damage to the airfield. Just to keep the Allies guessing!

[*] Pictures below of the two hot spots at present, reinforcing Palmyra and Christmas and the thrust south into Kendari and Amboina

[John 3rd]

Looking better with capturing Rangoon.  How far do you plan to advance in Burma?
 

[n01487477]

Looking better with capturing Rangoon. How far do you plan to advance in Burma?

John, I plan to defend in depth, last game against Michael I went late into India and got shown the folly of a late campaign. There is no difference with my position now, having entered the Soviet Union, it really has stymied my ability to conduct offensive operations elsewhere. I'm thinking initially that Mandalay would be a nice place to draw my line in the sand. From there I'm not going to be too ambitious, I'd rather look toward Darwin - Perth and the Australian west coast, if I have the available troops out of Philippines and Singapore.

The whole OASC is a nice idea, but it really does make it hard for the Japanese to badly damage the Allied transport capability early. I presume the Allies are at present shipping vast quantities of supplies and arms to this theatre. The sooner I take Dili and move South the better, but once again my hands are very much tied because of my Soviet commitments and unlike you I'm keeping KB together for a bit longer in the CentPac.

But this does not mean I won't have an extended small KB to do some significant damage to the British and Australian forces. One of the reasons for attacking Sydney was to render this force useless for a few months. This has worked so far for the SW PAC. But I believe that I will take the Allies on in the SE Indian Ocean. I have no idea where the British CV's are ... but with new troops about to arrive in Singapore, I'm hoping for a few weeks of fighting and then the great push South.

In the Pacific, I don't want the Allies to get balanced, and am in the process of planning for a Midway gamble, the Allies will have to come out and play sometime and if that is by dragging them kicking and screaming, then so be it ... I just can't have the Allies having CV parity in a few months.

...
19/3/42
[*] The Allies have noted my build up of forces at Kwajalein.
[*] 36 Betty's hit Midway at 6000 ... 1 airfield damage [&:]
[*] Amboina and Kendari remain Allied.

[n01487477]

I always thought it took 10K+ supplies to build something ... I'll have to check my data here ... Some of this you guys don't have yet, but I was doing data integrity checks and guess what I found ...

I wonder if troop supplies count toward the number of supplies at a base...??

The new Device History Button, gives a pop-up of the Device History(orange). Then by clicking on a turn, you can determine what Bases have increase production compared to the turn previous...

Batavia interestingly did with 4K supplies ... now that is an anomaly.

I wouldn't show this normally before it is completed, but just wonder if anyone has any clues?

[John 3rd]

What you can do with that Tracker is amazing!

[n01487477]

Thanks John,
yeah it's "starting" to come together now.. Floyd first contacted me back in Nov '07, & I was lucky enough to jump on board, so you can see the development time...

I sympathise with the AE team, even though they have a bigger team, programming part-time, for the love of it ... well it's difficult because RL impinges and "computer time" as we all know, seems to usurp the laws of the "time-space" continuum. They probably are still living in May, or wishing it still was.

I'm glad they are taking their time, fixing the bugs and making it an amazing experience.

Lastly I hope Floyd doesn't mind me saying that although this has been very much a joint effort, he is responsible for putting down the foundation to most of the amazing stuff, I've just been happy to learn and be part of it. He's too modest to point this out ... just thought I would. Credit where credit's due!
(That suck-up should get him to work harder [:D] )

---Damian---

[n01487477]

20/3/42

[*]AK Ikushima Maru, carrying 9* 109 Mikes bound for Palmyra is Shelled (hits 6) & then Torpedoed hits 2 ... I guess the sequence was the other way around ... Otherwise the Russian sub Capt. of SS SHCH107 was hammered on vodka ...
[*]Nearby my useless 6 ship(DD's) ASW patrol couldn't hit the the bowl if they were sitting down.And they had two bites of the cherry on SS SHCH104.
[*]5 * I-16 Type 24 & 16 * MiG-3 are now at Changsa, the much vaunted Russians, have passport will travel, are here to stay. Today they were not as effective as they have been over the Mother Country ... will reassess after tomorrows attacks / debacle.
[*]Tjilitjap (Java) almost got a 1-1, will bombard for a few days and try again (or did I check that ???) Damn just sent the turn!
[*]More troops move into Singapore tomorrow and I now have 2 large CSNLF's moving toward the Philippines. I plan to start moving on Manilla in the next day or two.