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Jeremy Mac Donald wrote: Tue Apr 11, 2023 1:43 am Edit: It is pretty obvious that I am at a low point of my moral in the match at this point. My moral does recover… I am overestimating how bad the high replacement rate is in the current version of the scenario

Yes- a 90% Allied replacement rate historically in Fall Grau would be a ticking time bomb for the Axis, as at that level the Allied army pretty rapidly fills up with equipment and the player can start to get pretty reckless in his attacks to just drive up the attrition rate. Now that the replacement rate for squads has been cut by 40%, the equivalent rate is only 54%, which is a fairly miserable rate for the Allies. I'm going to be receiving a whole lot of tanks, aircraft and artillery and that makes the Allied army more lethal, but my capacity to hold ground has plateaued.

Turn 60
Not super clear on how this is shaping up though long term prospects are not great. Ben shuts down his main attack West of the Missouri River, pulling much of the Armor back. I am not sure if he is just swinging it back around to the new flank now that the line here is stiffening or if there is some other plan. On the East or maybe north side of the Missouri the attack continues but while it makes ground I can pretty much fall back. Otherwise, the Allies begin to slow up on their attacks though they don’t cease completely.

On the Axis turn the next wave of Japanese (these are not actually Japanese forces but “Co-Prosperty Sphere” forces and they are just awful in terms of proficiency) arrive. Worthless troops but significant numbers of them so might be able to hold and stretch the line, especially in the north.

Axis forces push forward in the Far West though nothing really dramatic, there is also some advances in Illinois, but this is very much beginning to stall on worn out troops and the fact that lots of the Panzers have withdrawn and even a bunch of Infantry Divisions where removed from this part of the front.

On the East Coast I decide that it will be impossible to advance around and between Worcester and Providence and decide to blast the Reserve Division out of Worcester. Not sure if I can make a real advance out here but with the Allied replacement rate going to 90% I have to try. That is a disastrous number as is but if I can’t lower before turn 70 there just won’t be any hope at all and this is where the closest by Industrial Cities are.
Allied Production Boost: 90%

Loss Rate: Axis: 339 / Allies: 306 / Spread: -33

Here is a look at the Axis replacement rates for the infantry.
Light Rifle Squads & Reconnaissance Rifle Teams are primarily the Japanese (also the Spanish and Turks)
Light Rifle AT- are primarily the Italians
Rifle Squads are the Axis Minors
Heavy Rifle AT- Squads and AT Teams are the Germans

I estimate (round figures) that both Ben and I are getting about 2000 squads a turn each once he hit 90%. I am probably actually getting slightly more. That said a lot of the Axis squads are not being used particularly efficiently in the sense that many of the formations they are deployed in (pretty much anything that is not a German Division) tend to be very infantry heavy with nowhere near enough support equipment. They don't do a a very good job of actually damaging enemy divisions with the exception of the Mexican Divisions which share the same weakness.

Turn 60:
A milder turn from the Axis. Jeremy's mostly content to follow up in the Plains, while shifting his new armour to face my latest offensive (near Sioux Falls). As I have no immediate disasters elsewhere I'll look for an advantage here to tackle this force head on, as I have such a huge pool of M4/76s that a big tank battle here suits me. To the south and west I'm pulling back and refusing my flanks; I expect Jeremy will keep attacking me here but for now the danger is not serious. The three Mexican divisions which were on the open flank here move further south and will converge, together with four divisions currently in Arizona, to attack Albuquerque from three directions. I have a backed up reinforcement division here and I think I should be able to release it, and if I can draw the Axis further out into the empty space here so much the better.

The most threatening Axis offensive remains Illinois. No matter how weak the German divisions here get, backed by artillery they still get ahead, and it's difficult for me to shift them in return. I reinforce here with two divisions I'm able to spare from places further west. The Japanese obliged by falling back in California, so I'll tidy up and start withdrawing the good infantry divisions I have here for the threatened fronts.

I do quite a lot of damage to Jeremy's panzer concentration southeast of Sioux Falls, but on the last round two good armoured divisions advance too far, leaving their rear held by an armoured brigade. This is a gift to Jeremy and he will likely destroy both divisions on his turn. These units will swiftly reconstitute as I have tanks coming out of my ears, but they'll be short a lot of their other equipment and this will weaken me enough that I will likely have to cease serious offensive activity for the time being, until I have time to build up more strength again. Jeremy is still pumping more Axis minor troops into the Plains (I see two Hungarian divisions arrive by rail) so I think he's going to make a renewed northward push from here. If that happens, I'll need to abandon Denver (currently the main objective held by the 18 or so divisions on my western flank) as hopelessly outflanked and look to fight a mobile battle with the Axis in South Dakota- again.

An important if rather less glorious part of my strategy in this part of the match is swapping out full-strength brigades and regiments from quiet sectors for reconstitutes and battle-worn scraps from the rest of the map. This turn you see three units arriving on the rail plus another five taking up their positions in the line. The pieces coming in are of little combat value but just what you see here is enough to bring three or four first class divisions into action in a few turns' time, as the units currently in the line have been there for almost a whole year and still have their full stock of equipment

Turn 61
Axis defences would appear to be stiffening as Ben does not do anything to terrible to me on his turn. In fact in a few areas he seems to be over extended. I will snap back and destroy two Armored Divisions on my turn and would have had a little more success except for early turn ending halfway through the turn. I find it a bit odd that I had so little trouble with early turn ending for most of the game and now I seem to be getting it far more commonly.

Ben being over extended with his Armor is interesting as well. I am not sure he actually cares that much at this point or maybe put a better way, he is willing to take big risks and accept potential losses because if my counter moves fail then he can really make me pay and if I do cut him off the units will likely reform fairly quickly?

In any case I suffer early turn ending which is a bit annoying, but I don’t think I am really to much out of position anywhere so hopefully the outcome won’t be that problematic.

What is problematic is the ongoing increase in the spread of losses. My losses mount endlessly and Ben’s rise only very slowly. There is no shortage of powerful units I can add back to the fighting but it is taking forever to get them onto the field of battle. A max of two Panzer Divisions can be shipped to the continent a turn.

Turn 61:
Looks like Jeremy resumed operations in Northern California. This is a decidedly secondary front and I do have the option to simply fall back and let the Japanese spill into the big, open spaces of the northwest. I opt for this; I'll mark the Japanese off to the east to stop them expanding too far, while allowing them to flow northwards- but making something of a stand for Eureka, which contains another supply point for the Axis who so far have been supplied entirely from San Francisco. I add one armoured division here from Los Angeles and more may follow in due course.

As predicted, Jeremy devoured two armoured divisions outside Sioux Falls and this leaves me in a mood to consolidate. There's also a National Guard division cut off to the southwest which shows what the fate of this force could be if I keep up my aggressive stance. I pull my more tired armoured divisions back to sit on the rail line at the end of a sharply refused western flank; if Jeremy does swing around here (I keep expecting to but he hasn't yet) then these guys should be poised to hammer him back, whereas if he keeps up frontal pressure I'm going to be backed by an awful lot of artillery, with some of my units now defending on "fortified" status. To the west, the line of National Guard is also looking quite strong and so I'm not making a wholesale withdrawal just yet- though Jeremy pushed back into Denver this turn making the extended southern flank here useless.

The heat seems to be subsiding in Illinois. The German units attacking are mostly shells, but for my part I'm shifting three full-strength US infantry divisions over here which have been relieved from the Mississippi line, while my Canadians continue to show their resilience as I still have 2.5k squads in the pool for these guys. This begins to reach a critical point where I can too easily cut back through the Axis flanks and I start chopping up the German line here, cutting off two divisions in separate pockets, but I get a failed force proficiency check after the second round and am unable to complete the operation. The Axis have, I think, enough first class divisions left in this sector to capitalise on this and I expect to lose a couple of Canadian divisions. Still- feels like the tide has turned here. If I no longer feel the need to keep digging in across the line then I can bring a lot of power to a broader counteroffensive

Allied defensive posture in the north plains

Turn 62
This early turn ending appears to be contagious as Ben suffers early turn ending on his turn. Even so he really hammers me hard in Illinois and counter attacks in New England. Otherwise he seems to be going more onto the defensive.

This is something of a frustrating turn as it really starts to highlight how much trouble I am in. Ben is really caught out and I am so weak I can barely capitalize. Even with such a large advantage being handed to me I am only strong enough to destroy an Armored Division in Illinois and by the time the turn has rolled to an end the loss rate still goes against me.

I finally decide that it is time I withdrew the SS Panzer Corp [Edit: This makes it sound like I have not withdrawn any Panzers in a whole bunch of turns as the SS Panzer Corp was the only option when I decided not to withdraw it for a turn some turns back. In reality another Panzer Corp became available for a withdrawal and was withdrawn instead], there remains one last Panzer Corp to withdraw but I think I might not even get the option until turn 68 or some such.

Here is a look at the German Panzer replacements. This is probably at or at least close to the high point in German Panzers. At the moment there are very large stockpiles of Panthers built up early in the scenario when there where actually very few on the map. There are a lot of Panzer IVF2's as well despite not actually producing those anymore. These are from the withdrawing Panzer Divisions and they are important as Panzer IVF2s make up a significant portion of the returning divisions. The later German Stugs are fairly common as well which makes some German Infantry Divisions have more clout but of course not all of them.

We also have a fair number of Tiger II's which also come in large numbers with the return of the Panzer Divisions - however none of these forces have anything really meaningful in terms of replacement capability. Here I clearly have a cushion but once that cushion is gone the Panzer Divisions will become shells quickly.

Turn 62:
Jeremy simply abandons Albuquerque. As he's actually quite close to a draw on points, I wasn't expecting him to walk away from the 19 VPs in this area so easily, but I'm content with it. I put one German brigade out of supply, but otherwise mostly consolidate, pulling out of Colorado, with two good divisions moving back north to rejoin the line northwest of Denver. However that line, which was in fair shape, is starting to look vulnerable in its current exposed position and I decide to pull it back to help it recover, to a line anchored on the hills in northwestern Nebraska, screening the rail junction at Cheyenne. I also pull back again near Sioux City, but my long period of passivity here is starting to show in terms of recovered supply and I should be ready to counterattack again in the next few turns- should the opportunity present itself.

As expected, I lost a couple of Canadian units in Illinois, but the overall situation here hasn't changed and I feel overwhelmingly stronger than the Axis here. I shift over to an offensive posture here, sending good divisions into the attack across a frontage of about six hexes. This is fairly successful- I certainly eat through a lot of hexes- but bloody for me as well as for the Axis. We'll see what Jeremy makes of this on his turn; my forces are certainly rather battered for the experience although I have more coming up and at the moment the German line is full of holes, with most of his divisions really not in a fit state to plug them. It also helps that one my Kentucky National Guard divisions formed in the Axis rear and cut the rail line near Paducah.

I have a huge number of units moving around this turn, reinforcing everywhere Jeremy is attacking (two armoured divisions for Northern California, three new NG divisions for the west, two new regular divisions for New England) and generally I feel like my biggest problem is now diffusion of effort. I would be happier collecting as much strength as possible for a decisive blow, but with so many active offensives from the Axis (they're attacking on at least five different fronts) I don't know if I yet have the freedom for an offensive of my own. I'll have to concentrate on shutting them down one at a time. For now, I'll try to build up Illinois until Jeremy ceases operations there as this is already my advantage. Then, I can shift to New England where Hartford is only two hexes from the front and Jeremy is adding new units.

Time to check in on my strength again (in 000s) 56 / 62:
Squads:
Irregular: 2 / 2.2
Mounted Rifle: 6.8 / 6.9
Motorcycle: 1.4 / 1.5
Light Rifle: 28.6 / 29.1
Light Rifle AT-: 10.8 / 10.5
Rifle: 19.5 / 19.3
Rifle AT-: 15.5 / 16.2
Heavy Rifle: 4.6 / 4.7
Engineer: 4.1 / 4.3
Total Combat Squads: 93.3k / 94.7k
Steady growth- and that's despite losing out on 2k worth of squads for the NG divisions which were due to arrive in Axis-controlled Kentucky this turn. My high replacement rate means I'm receiving about 1.2k squads (excluding Rifle and Light Rifle, which I have a big stockpile of anyway) into my OOB every turn to offset losses. However, flicking through my OOB I still see numerous units which are still missing due to a lack of equipment to reconstitute and it will take most of the rest of the scenario for my forces to be fully rebuilt.

Turn 63
Ben reports that he had early turn ending yet again in the email but this is a bit like false advertising. He does have early turn ending but it shuts down a turn in which I think he got a better then average number of rounds. My situation in Illinois is now so deteriorated that I am falling back purely onto the defencive.

Meanwhile we are going back and forth in New England though, because I am landing pretty much a new Panzer Division there every turn I am pushing forward.

Ben’s also pulling back from the western flank of the long main front near the Missouri. Thing is he had a lot of Armor that was there and I don’t think it has all left so I am unclear what his plans here are. Both of our flanks extend out but we have each, I think refused the flank so they are not in contact.

My push towards Salt Lake City is starting to pick up a little more steam though when I sent the mobile Hungarians to his flank out here I was surprised to find that it just goes on and on. I am in a bit of conundrum as I need my good German units in the area to really participate if I am to get anywhere but I need to refuse the flank here and all I really have is Italians for the job as they continue to withdraw from Mexico. The problem is the Germans are brutally short on replacements while the Italians are doing pretty well in that regard.

Out in the Pacific I start more small attacks but am primarily trying to force Ben to defend the real estate in the north to tie down more of his units. My attack toward the south is pretty forlorn for the time being though Ben has stripped the line down to just a line of Armored Divisions.

golden delicious wrote: Sat Apr 15, 2023 5:05 pm Time to check in on my strength again (in 000s) 56 / 62:
Squads:
Irregular: 2 / 2.2...

OK what about the tanks?

Here is where the Axis army stands...
It is actually a pretty significant increase in both the size of the infantry arm and the tanks.

I'm not even exactly sure where all the Mounted Rifle Squads are coming from and the Heavy Rifle Squads are even more of a mystery.

The rise in the light infantry is the arrival of a large batch of co-prosperity units (these are supposed to be basically reluctant troops the Japanese made their new 'allies' send and their proficiency is the worst in the scenario).

The Rifle Squad growth is actually the most interesting because what has really happened here is I withdrew the Finns and Swedes from their WWI style super high losses charges and just sent them back to defend the line. Their army has since substantially recovered. So their boost is just that replacements flow in but bodies don't flow out.

Axis Armour is not what it was even on turn 45 (and it would have been pretty darn battered and bruised on that turn) but it is clearly recovering as the New Panzer Divisions show up and it is made out of mostly very powerful tanks.

Jeremy Mac Donald wrote: Sun Apr 16, 2023 8:28 pm OK what about the tanks?

I stopped tracking it as what I'm really interested in is whether the number of units on the map goes up or down. The amount of armour doesn't really tell me that and the smaller numbers mean it tends to bounce around a lot whenever I lose a couple of divisions.

Turn 63:
Not a spectacular turn from Jeremy, as his various offensives make only gradual progress and much of his strength remains poised in an apparently defensive position in northern Nebraska. There was only the faintest of pushes in Illinois this turn, and his forces here look awfully vulnerable. I'm so much stronger here that I immediately change my plan from last turn, and start shipping large forces to New England, which this turn receives three first class armoured divisions from the west as well as two new infantry divisions and lashings of artillery.

The one place Jeremy is making serious progress is in the western plains, where my large contingent of National Guard is coming under sustained pressure from a mixed Axis force. The thing is there is nothing up here. This turn I abandon Cheyenne which pushes my east-west rail line up to Montana, but I seriously cannot see any material advantage from occupying this part of the map; it only puts this really quite powerful force- at least twenty divisions- further and further out into the middle of nowhere. I send some armour here from South Dakota and will make local counterattacks on the exposed parts of the line, but otherwise continue to make a fighting retreat and draw Jeremy on. Once I have shut down the Axis completely in Illinois and New England, then I can reorient west again, but for now I'm content to let Jeremy have his fun. Of course it won't do if the condition of these units gets so bad that Jeremy is able to compromise the whole position in one turn, but I'm not sure I see that happening- not yet.

I continue my counterattack in Illinois but with Jeremy in a more defensive posture progress is quite bloody. I find I need to get a crack in the line to expose the supporting artillery, hit that, and then cave in the rest of the line, which is time consuming and far from straightforward. I think the next move here will be to start constructing a forward defensive line (I've advanced about three hexes) with my US infantry, then plan to get the Canadians and the armour out on the assumption that the Axis are now too battered here to resume their offensive. I've largely eliminated the bulge between the Illinois and Wabash rivers which was starting to make the southern extremity of the Mississippi line look untenable. I may start withdrawing units from here as early as next turn, having previously thought I needed to build it up.

The Allies abandon the awkward rail bend through Cheyenne, WY (highlighted). The next east-west rail line is off the top of the map, six hexes north of Sheridan, WY. In fact, because the southerly route is so convoluted, the northerly detour only adds a hex or two to the rail distance between Minneapolis and Salt Lake City.

Turn 64
Ben slams into me in Illinois and on the East Coast while continuing to work toward a slow withdrawal in the far west. There is also some kind of a cat and mouse thing we have going in the wide-open spaces on the western flank but further south with both of us looking to get some kind of an advantage in a wide open front with mostly weak units in the area.

The results are that I am scrambling to keep up something of a double line in Illinois. I manage it but some of the units doing the backstopping are looking pretty poor. I even rail in some fresh Divisions onto this front pulling units out of the western flank of the main line west of Minneapolis as I am pretty sure now that Ben’s counter attacks on this flank has come to an end as loads more forces were stripped from this front and sent to the North East which is really the only place on the map where I have anything really threatening taking place.

The East Coast does see a slight overall advance for my Axis but it is pretty clear that I am both short HQs here and that the powerful Panzer Reinforcements are struggling to keep up the offencive simply because they ultimately run out of supplies. Nonetheless this remains the best bet I have to get to some industrial cities, only here is Ben’s use of a double line not super effective primarily because he simply does not have enough ground to give. My guess is the plan is to simply pile in enough troops and artillery to allow him not to rely on a double line so much but to shift more to both of us being heavily on the offencive at the same time and just trade blows back and forth. Truth is that is what he has been doing here even before the constant shift of forces this way he is simply reinforcing that with even more Armor and Artillery.

Otherwise I do note that my offencive in the North West is picking up steam with an Allied Division on the flank surrounded and destroyed and the National Guard Units here being shoved backward hard, the problem of course is, even if I do manage to push forward here it is simply so far to Salt Lake City (and the key rail line to Los Angeles) and ultimately a link with the Japanese that I doubt I can get there but I feel like I have to try.

After the fact I realize I forgot to really do anything in Mexico which is a mistake as I should be reducing the remaining small cities so that I can look to withdraw even more Italians and I was supposed to be trying to fight a stack of Italians back to Guadalajara.

Loss Rate: Axis: 361 / Allies: 313 / Spread: -48

Turn 64:
Continue slow pressure from the Japanese in northern and southern California. As it stands I don't have enough pieces to hold the Japanese in place, serious reinforcements can be sent later but for now I deploy two US cavalry divisions which have been assembled in New Mexico; these units aren't suitable for dealing with the Germans but are perfect for Oregon. This still leaves enough strength (seven Mexican divisions) to shove around the troops Jeremy has down here

I have a more immediate situation in Wyoming, where Jeremy committed his panzers on my eastern flank, gobbling up one of my divisions. There are at least six German mechanised divisions in this area now and the National Guard line is leaking in the centre, too. I either need to get out or immediately reinforce. I'm able to add eight excellent divisions from Illinois and the line in the southeast. I draw up the National Guard who will get slaughtered, but the idea then is that the Axis units (which have been fighting continuously for many turns with a tenuous supply line) will then get hammered in turn by this new force. I add a further four fair divisions by road from the Sioux Falls area which sit on my eastern flank here to prevent Jeremy simply going around.

Last turn's reinforcements for New England really help me step up the intensity of counterattacks, hitting three hexes instead of my usual one, but I'll need to press this if I'm to stop the Axis advance, which is usually two hexes forward, one hex back. This proves elusive this turn as my initial attacks suck up a lot of the turn and leave me unable to properly advance. Jeremy's units are burning out but so are mine. Results in Illinois are more impressive, as despite my pessimism from last turn his artillery seems to be losing its power to stop my attacks dead and I shove the Axis firmly back on a front of about five hexes. This isn't going anywhere much however and I will stick with my plan of gradual solidification of this front while creaming off units suitable for mobile operations elsewhere.

The increasingly congested New England front

Turn 65
Could be worse, could be better. Bens attacks in Illinois but I think he is reducing the intensity of this attack even as I find more forces to try and hold my line together. I am not out of the woods here yet and I have been pushed back significantly but I think I avoid a collapse as well. This is one of the few fronts I can manage to put together a double line.

Out in the North West Ben’s forces are dancing backward but he also appears to have had enough and large amounts of reinforcements are being sent this way. They have not unloaded yet so I get a turn to really work over the National Guard in the area.

The East Coast where it is clear that it is just going to be a brutal battle for supremacy. Ben counter attacks hard with stacks of Armor and loads of artillery. I have even better Panzer forces, though mine are beginning to really poop out – though I land another Fresh Division here this turn. I am also short on artillery. I am able to make slight advances bringing Hartford under threat this turn but Ben will be launching a massive counter attack on his turn. We will see how this turns out.

One mildly bright spot was I caught out some more or less irrelevant unit in the skirmishing we have going on the southwestern flank. It is a bright spot because I feel like I always come out worse in these skirmishes but here – well maybe I can win this one – Always losing these things has been quite the drain on my units.

Meanwhile the Japanese continue to try to primarily just extend the line or force Ben to defend it. It is something of a disaster that there turns out to be little hope that the Japanese can really advance on anything critical but if I can force Ben to divert ever more strength this way then that, at least, is something.

Jeremy Mac Donald wrote: Tue Apr 18, 2023 10:44 pm It is something of a disaster that there turns out to be little hope that the Japanese can really advance on anything critical but if I can force Ben to divert ever more strength this way then that, at least, is something.

My concept for the Japanese has always been sort of a series of hops along the coast. Given the ease with which you got ashore at San Francisco and the strength of the IJN, I was always awaiting that next descent at San Diego or Eureka or wherever. You had those airborne divisions too.

Turn 65:
A further surge forward from the Axis in New England, this time carrying German troops right to the gates of Hartford. Losing this city feels very avoidable with the overall balance of forces on the map, but to prevent it I need to really double down on my counteroffensives, which would be easier if I had kept reinforcing here instead of being forced to divert good troops to Wyoming last turn. I break from my pattern of the last several turns of attacking the extremities of the German position. Now that I have some powerful armour in place and the German troops are so weak, I target hexes further back, hoping to create opportunities later in the turn to destroy some units outright either through isolation or overstacking. I also regroup the Canadians on this front which have become dispersed in second line positions and concentrate them on a Swedish division still further back, allowing me to leverage their fully rested artillery.

Wyoming plays out exactly how I'd hoped. My two best armoured divisions effortlessly slice deep into the Axis rear, linking up at Cheyenne. Between the are two Italian divisions- and no fewer than six HQs. I'm also making less dramatic attacks on either side, while sharply refusing my eastern flank, which is where the good German panzer troops will fall if they want to cut off this force. The idea is to let the Germans carry on around this flank while I destroy the Italians and other Axis minors.

In Illinois, Jeremy is very much on the defensive, but I see no more weakspots. The ruined divisions are largely off the line and there's a good division in every hex. However I'm not quite prepared to give up here, if nothing else because I don't have the rail lift to move everything at once, so instead I regroup and concentrate every available unit against a narrow front headed towards St. Louis, in the hopes of trapping something against the Illinois river.

The Japanese continue to work forward in Northern California. This turn I'm extracting some very understrength old armoured divisions from around the map which will head here and should stop them dead. In the meantime, I'm organising local counterattacks with the armour already in place everywhere the Japanese are exposed.

My eastern attacks are underwhelming. Of course I get ahead a bit and do some damage, but serious traction against German troops backed by artillery is very hard to come by. The west, however, is pretty much complete victory. I annihilate all six Italian HQs and multiple divisions, leaving my force in a strong position and Jeremy's dangerously divided, with Italian and Rumanian troops totally exposed on his western flank (with another HQ actually in a pocket). All those destroyed HQs will hurt; Axis loss penalty goes up to 381, and this pretty much ends any offensive capacity for the Italians, as well as doubling their resupply time.

Allied armour smashes a hole in the Axis line at Cheyenne

golden delicious wrote: Wed Apr 19, 2023 5:28 pm

Jeremy Mac Donald wrote: Tue Apr 18, 2023 10:44 pm It is something of a disaster that there turns out to be little hope that the Japanese can really advance on anything critical but if I can force Ben to divert ever more strength this way then that, at least, is something.

My concept for the Japanese has always been sort of a series of hops along the coast. Given the ease with which you got ashore at San Francisco and the strength of the IJN, I was always awaiting that next descent at San Diego or Eureka or wherever. You had those airborne divisions too.

Once you had air units in the area I could not be that certain about airdrops. Though there where times when I was looking at possibilities with them. The IJN is, so far as I can tell way overrated. There is little evidence they ever really made my advances more effective and as I note I tested firing the whole 9 high stack independently once and it killed exactly 1 truck. While Artillery gets a bonus if it is independent I am pretty sure that bonus does not apply to naval units. Pretty certain a single HQ full of artillery is actually better then the whole 9 high stack of the IJN.

Also what convinces me that the Japanese are not effective against LA is the ease in which you can drive them back hard. That means small enclaves of Japanese all up and down the coast are kind of just begging to be slammed back into the sea (i.e. eliminated). Jumping up the coast would probably have been a disaster but maybe I could have pulled off a naval invasion of Vancouver... in TOAW IV though you don't get to see the defences of the beaches. Occasionally I would see that you had covered them so it always seemed like a high risk operation that would most likely result in me loosing a bunch of Japanese Divisions with a small chance of actually taking an Industrial City. Basically I think the Japanese work really well against the Allies if they are already really badly on the ropes. Incapable of responding because the situation somewhere else is already so dire. You where never in a position where you could not have found the reserves to smash a small Japanese Landing. It would have delayed whatever you currently wanted to do but would have eliminated 8 or whatever Japanese Divisions plus whatever HQs had been sent along... and that is assuming that there where not a bunch of Japanese Divisions left at sea to just be slaughtered on your turn.