Illinois Yankee in the Showa Emperor's Court (Q-Ball v Canoe)

[FatR]

I think that leaving Chinese alone, particularly early in the game, when their troops are most inexperienced, is very wrong. Japanese have the benefits of better troops, far more reinforcement squads (so attrition favors them), greater strategic and tactical mobility (strategically Chinese half of China is two separate theaters with the only road connection going through far rear in the Chungking area, tactically, superior Japanese aviation can and should slow down Chinese troop movements), and better supply situation. Conceding initiative will only cause problems for Japan later.

[Jaroen]

ORIGINAL: Q-Ball
That 3380, plus the fact that the Allies get something like 5 good divisions if I approach Karachi, means that even in Scen 2, a conquest of India is just about impossible.

So, why am I attempting it you ask?[&:]

Well, a few reasons:
1. It hasn't been attempted before in an AAR, so why not
2. It was either that or Australia
3. There should be some long-term benefit from grinding down the British, who do have limitations in replacements, vs. grinding down the US which is a bottomless pit of replacements. It will be helpful to protect my flank in SE Asia againts a massive British land invasion, which is very possible (see Dan's game vs. Miller)
4. It's only a game, so what the hell.....[8D]

There aren't alot of good options against an experienced opponent, so we have to make-do.

In the end, I don't think I'm attempting a conquest of ALL India. I anticipate stalling or getting stopped at some point short of the "magic line" that activates all those goodies for the Allies, but I hope at that point I have a good chunk of India, have inflicted alot of casualties on the Brits, and maybe have Auto-Victory.

YEEHAAAAAA!!!!

Drums rolling and me getting the

He's really going for it!!!
Thanks Q-Ball!!! [:)]

When I brought up the issue of reinforcements/garrisons plus that 'grand strategy' needing many many divisions, and other people having doubts, I was afraid all that would deter you. But no such thing. That's some guts you have and I believe it promises a great game.

I still think you have a good shot for making a lot of VP's and perhaps get that 'automatic victory'. A China strategy could help with that as well just like any other base grab or other strategy for points. But don't underestimate the Rebel.

Good luck and I hope you'll enjoy the struggle!

[Q-Ball]

Combat Report, Mar 18, 1942:

Trincomallee Falls: An attack the third day in a row tips over Trincomalee; roughly 10K Allied troops surrender. The primary defenders were a British Bde of the 18th Div, and several Malayan refugee units (22nd Ind Bde, 8th Ind Bde, Punjab Bn). All units probably had fragments pulled, but at least it will take awhile to rebuild.

The Malayan units are like sourdough; I destroyed them once already, and now again, each time Dan pulls a small fragment and rebuilds.

I hate the way units can be rebuilt that way, but c'est la vie, that means I can do the same guilt-free once 1944 rolls around....

Colombo: I am attacking again tommorow, and I expect to reduce forts to 2, and try again in a couple days, when I have reinforcements reaching Colombo. The base should fall within a week. There are alot more units there; 2 UK Bdes, and at least 4 whole Indian Bdes (44, 45, 46, 100th)

Seeing Green: A recon flight over Calcutta spotted a GREEN stack. That means Australians are present. It could be a Malayan refugee unit, or it could be a whole division of Aussies. It would not surprise me if it was the latter. There is no doubt India became the #1 priority for reinforcements about 3 weeks ago.......

[Q-Ball]

Combat Report, Mar 19-23, 1942:

Ceylon: A pair of attacks the last few days has reduced the forts to 1 at Colombo. I have a couple more units about to get to the hex; once they do, a single Shock attack should do it, on our about the 26th of March. That will complete the Ceylon conquest.

COx Bazaar: I am about to land a Regt at Cox's Bazaar, to open the NE India campaign. I plan a larger landing at Chittagong, where recon shows 25K troops in 12 units; fairly large. I am bringing 2 Divisions, which may not be enough, but if I couple that with an advance from Cox, that will do it.

I also plan a landing at Diamond Harbor, which has fewer defenses, and a landing on the South tip of India.

Overall, I want Dan to have to deal with several axis of advance; he can concentrate his forces, but I also have mobility via sea, because I control the Bay of Bengal. So, if he goes "all-in" at Chittagong, for example, I can reinforce Diamond Harbor and threaten his rear.

The Fleet: It has now been nearly 90 days since I have spotted an Allied warships larger than a DD. Where is everyone? I have most of Combined Fleet in the Bay of Bengal with little to do other than lob shells onto the shore. I needed everyone to cover the landings on Ceylon, but the Allies are not showing.

Given this, I am going to start being more aggressive with the fleet, now that I am not tethered to invasion ships. I already have active BETTY units on Ceylon, so that island can take care of itself.

I have taken Cocos, and am setting up a naval base to interdict the supply lane between India and Oz. I am deploying an AO, 2 x AV with Jakes, and a surface TF of 1 CL and 4 DD. The AVs will spot a convoy, and I hope to vector in the surface ships to wipe it out. This is a cheap way to stop that supply run.

The KB is moving to interdict Karachi; if Dan isn't going to come out, then I will prevent anything getting to Karachi, at least for a month or two. He knows they are in the Arabian Sea, becuase they have toasted 3 picket ships. I guess that's what those are for.

Sub Wars: Not alot to report; we occasionally nail each others ships, but so far the IJN is not covering ourselves in glory in this area. We did recently get an xAP off West Coast (empty unfortunately), and a couple large xAKs off OZ.

Burma: Quick Burma Update: The Chinese withdrew to China; a single Inf Regt is stationed on the mountain trail north of Lashio, just inside the Chinese border. A Cav Regt is approaching Myiktinya, which is empty. Units of the 33rd are marching overland into India.

The Perimeter: With KB obviously engaged in the Indian Ocean, and my total lack of knowledge on where the Allied CVs are, I am not making any offensive moves in the Pacific. I am, however, slowly moving out troops to build bases and set-up a defense line.

I am also doing this in the SRA; I am very paranoid about Sumatra, particularly a landing at Padang or Sibolga, either one of which would be catastrophic, because it would close the Malacca Strait and cut off everyone in India. We can't have that, so as a result I am expending engineering resources to build airbases and forts in this area. Infantry will follow. This is my #1 defense priority at the moment.

[Q-Ball]

Combat Report, Mar 24-26, 1942:

Ceylon: The Ceylon campaign is over; 30,000 Allied troops surrendered at Colombo on the 26th. Though I am sure Dan has pulled fragments, the following units were, save for fragments, destroyed on Ceylon:

18th UK Division
44, 45, 46th Ind Bdes
98 and 100th Ind Bdes

That is roughly 2 1/2 divisions, including some of the best Indian troops that start the game.

Taking Ceylon delayed me by 3 weeks. Was it worth it?

My experience with the British Army was that it takes a long time to build units. This was true in my game vs. Cuttlefish, and in that one, I withdrew the the Burma Army, and had almost no combat. Even then, it took a few months, as replacements are thin, particularly in artillery and guns.

The British Army gets 18 Inf Squads per month; rebuilding the 18th will take 16 months of that (w/o convoys). Safe to say the 18th is off the board for 1942. The Indian Army gets 48 squads, so those Bdes can be rebuilt at the rate of 1 every 2 months, IF he does not round out the other Indian units that need squads.

So, it is likely that he is set back by those losses. But probably not fatally; there are still too many troops, and too much space in India to take it entirely.

Still, the remaining troops, save for the Aussies, and not very high quality, so I expect to still make some hay, capture territory, and atrrite the British Army.

Coxs Bazaar: The Regt I landed at Coxs Bazaar is stuck; 2 Bns there have it caught on the beach. They are not strong enough to dislodge it though.

Next Steps: Invasion TFs are sailing for Chittagong and Diamond Harbor, as well as Calicut on the South Tip. I am prepping units for points further afield. The invasion of India proper has begun......

The Fleet: I am beginning to break up the fleet. If the Allies don't come out to play, we can't sit around port drinking sake; we need to find some blood. Once India becomes firmly a land-only campaign, we are redeploying to the Pacific Ocean.

[witpqs]

Plus new squads are low experience, so the rebuilt units will be unseasoned.

[Q-Ball]

ORIGINAL: witpqs

Plus new squads are low experience, so the rebuilt units will be unseasoned.

That is the case for the British Squads. I don't know what EXP the Indian ones come in at, but alot of the Indian Reinforcement units come with 20 or 30 EXP, which is why some of the new units Dan is getting right now are not particularly useful yet.

All I know is that it takes awhile to get the Indian Army up to snuff, and it will take a little longer with battle losses.

PRODUCTION: Canoerebel and I have stuff to do today and can't play, but before I head out, I thought I would update my production situation.

Overall, the Scenario 2 gives you some important help, particularly in the area of Available Resources. This means that I currently have a stockpile of almost a Year in both RESOURCES and FUEL in the Home Islands, and over year in OIL. So I'm in good shape there. I have numerous convoys plying Home waters moving resources.

I was also incredibly lucky/good/charmed, whatever, in taking OIL and REFINERIES in the SRA. The Total damage was something like 200 pts. each, which is very very light! Soerbaya is always completely trashed for me, but even that was 1/2 operational. Balikpapan, Tarakan, Samarinda, Medan were all taken 100% intact. This has helped me greatly.

The only problem I have: HEAVY INDUSTRY. I only have a monthly surplus of 10,000, which isn't very much, considering I need a stockpile heading into 1945. I am expanding HI at Singapore and on Java; may as well do it close to the Fuel I need. The biggest HI problem is all the PILOTS: In Scenario 2, you get extra pilots in the pool; the problem is they consume HI, and you don't really need the extra pilots, so this is the only downside to this scenario; your HI burn is needlessly larger.

Later on, I can conserve HI by turning on some Armaments, and even more later in the game when I stop building the Navy.

Ship Building Plans: I have done a little Naval Shipyard expansion, but not a ton; it eats alot of HI, and I don't want to go nuts.

I have accelerated TAIHO, and the first 3 UNRYU-class CVs. TAIHO is very expensive, but I have a soft-spot for that awesome ship. All 4 of these CVs should be available in 1943. Once YAMATO hits the water, I plan to accelerate the other 3 UNRYUS, and maybe SHINANO.

I am building MUSASHI normally, though I thought of turning her off.

I have HALTED construction on the following:

CL OYODO
All Ro-Boats
Some Glen Subs

Some of you might ask: Why not halt SHINANO? In Scenario 2, SHINANO is a TAIHO-class, therefore she is useful. She still comes in on the back of 1944, but is a viable ship.

[Q-Ball]

Combat Report, Mar 27 to April 2, 1942:

I have been very busy, and skipped a couple updates; Dan's AAR is blowing up, so hopefully I am not behind on advice.

I have a corporate training class this week, complete with scheduled drinking after class, so this week I have very limited time to play AE. C'est la guerre.

But, a few developments since the last update:

Calicut: I landed a single Division at Calicut, on the South Coast, to push a Naval/Air base forward, and create one wing of a pincers to cut off Madras. The garrison requirement here, though is 40; I am NOT going to like that aspect of India!

Vizingapatam/Cocanda: I am landing a force here, to cut off the other side of Madras. I hope to make the Allies evacuate.

NE India: Invasion fleets are sailing for Chittagong and Diamond harbor, with 2 divisions + each. Each base has about 20K allies, though I suspect that's alot of base forces. I have further troops that can reinforce if I run into trouble.

I hope to get ashore at least one base, then unleash paras. The objective, beside the territory, is to trap/destroy British units.

Cox Bazaar: We took this on the 2nd. The 3 Bns here withdrew toward Akyab, unhelpfully for Canoerebel.

KB: Off Karachi, preventing reinforcement of it, and reconning bases for opportunity. It seems a stack of troops appeared at Surat, and they are GREEN: Australian. Is Canoe moving his troops here? Fine by me, I don't have the troops to garrison that much of India.

I am nervous, though, keeping KB here. I would win a 1 on 1 encounter, but I am a long way from port. And I have NO idea where the Allied CVs are. They could be in the Med for all I know.

Layoffs: 2,500 Jobs are lost on Mainland Japan, as I close the Lily factory. Too bad! Stimulus dollars going in other directions......

[Chickenboy]

Q-ball,
 
You're not getting a lot of posts here (other than your own), but I want to say how valuable I find your AARs to be for me.  You're my logistics hero.  Please keep up the excellent work.
 
WRT the corporate function this week-at least there's some mandated drinking, so not a total loss.
 
BANZAI!!!

[d0mbo]

I want to +1 Chickenboy's sentiments above.
 
Never stop posting!
 
 

[veji1]

Just one question : Are you landing Paras on non Base hexes ? If that is the case your opponent might consider this gamey. Otherwise I am looking forward to this invasion unfolding. Will the 5 Ceylon divs act like your mobile main force, to be landed where it proves the easiest ? As others have said, If you don't mind about VPs it might be a good idea to go for a scorched earth strategy in india, capture and abandon so that industry and supplies get destroyed..

[Q-Ball]

ORIGINAL: veji1

Just one question : Are you landing Paras on non Base hexes ? If that is the case your opponent might consider this gamey. Otherwise I am looking forward to this invasion unfolding. Will the 5 Ceylon divs act like your mobile main force, to be landed where it proves the easiest ? As others have said, If you don't mind about VPs it might be a good idea to go for a scorched earth strategy in india, capture and abandon so that industry and supplies get destroyed..

Thanks for the comments guys, glad to know folks are reading!

To answer those questions:

PARAS: Only dropping on base-hexes; I don't know that we have a specific house-rule, but that seems gamey to me. All those Xs are actually DOT bases, but they are railway junctions.

CEYLON: I now have 4 Divisions + in reserve on Ceylon (the 6th Gds was landed at Calicut on the South Coast to set-up a Naval/Air base). Those divisions are staying put at the moment for a couple reasons:

1. They need to rest/recover. For the most part they are already there, but there was some battle damage from Ceylon. Not tons.
2. MOBILE RESERVE as you say. Also, they are an "Army in Being" for Canoerebel, he can't go all-in at any spot, because he knows there are still alot of troops on Ceylon ready for deployment.

I am going for VPs, so a "scorched earth" is not yet feasible, but when 1943 rolls around and I don't have auto-victory, then why not. Even if I do, it's not like the Allies lack for supplies or fuel, so whatever I destroy forward, they could easily get from Aden or elsewhere.

Combat Report, April 3, 1942:

I have been virtually off from AE this week due to work, so only one turn last couple days.

Not much happened, but I am keeping this moving.

At Calicut, the 84th Ind Bde has moved to block the road to Madras. I am OK with that for now.

Invasion ships are heading for Chittagong and Diamond Harbor, but are a few days away from landing. I won't have much in terms of air support, so I am counting on a quick unload and the fact that I have shot down alot of RAF bombers already. Dan mustered 30 Blenheims in an attack at Cox's Bazaar, but that's all I have seen. And I have had good targets to attack.

Cox's Bazaar fell to a single regt; I am moving in a base force. The 3 Bns that were defending it retreated toward Akyab.

Akyab, 1/3 of the 33rd Div is about to cross the river to Akyab, so we should be engaged there shortly. Dan is lifting troops out from there right now via plane no doubt, but we should still capture some squads. I really want to kill the British Bn that fled from Cox's; British Squads are like gold.

[Q-Ball]

LUZON: I wanted to mention the situation on Luzon; what do you guys think of my strategy there?

I stopped attacking the concentration of troops at Clark. I have 6 artillery units there, and they Bombard every day. I realize this has trained the Phillipine Army, but they get 1-3 disables a day. I hope that also burns enemy supply on counterbattery fire.[&:]

I am bombing every day as well. We acheive between 2-6 Supply Hits a day, with 3-4 being average. The AA has been fairly heavy; we are flying at 11K ft, but I lose planes, mostly OPS losses. Probably 12-15 per month.

At present, the ground troops there are down to: 2 Garrison Bdes, 2 Inf.Regts, 1 Recon Regt, 65th Bde, and an SNLF. The Regts are from the 16th Div. I had the 4th there for awhile, but pulled them out for India. At least 1 units has to garrison Manila as well; right now, it's the 65th Bde, which is recovering.

Not sure if this helps: Most turns I send a single Barge from Manila past Bataan; the CD guns fire, and obliterate the barge. I hope this is burning supply?[&:] It's definitely clearing mines too, which is a side-benefit.[8D]

Anyway, I have no idea what the supply situation is or should be by April. I have plenty of supplies myself, but who knows on the Allied side? I won't really know for sure until they stop shooting AA or CD guns.

Thoughts?

[Chickenboy]

ORIGINAL: Q-Ball

LUZON: I wanted to mention the situation on Luzon; what do you guys think of my strategy there?

I stopped attacking the concentration of troops at Clark. I have 6 artillery units there, and they Bombard every day. I realize this has trained the Phillipine Army, but they get 1-3 disables a day. I hope that also burns enemy supply on counterbattery fire.[&:]

I am bombing every day as well. We acheive between 2-6 Supply Hits a day, with 3-4 being average. The AA has been fairly heavy; we are flying at 11K ft, but I lose planes, mostly OPS losses. Probably 12-15 per month.

At present, the ground troops there are down to: 2 Garrison Bdes, 2 Inf.Regts, 1 Recon Regt, 65th Bde, and an SNLF. The Regts are from the 16th Div. I had the 4th there for awhile, but pulled them out for India. At least 1 units has to garrison Manila as well; right now, it's the 65th Bde, which is recovering.

Not sure if this helps: Most turns I send a single Barge from Manila past Bataan; the CD guns fire, and obliterate the barge. I hope this is burning supply?[&:] It's definitely clearing mines too, which is a side-benefit.[8D]

Anyway, I have no idea what the supply situation is or should be by April. I have plenty of supplies myself, but who knows on the Allied side? I won't really know for sure until they stop shooting AA or CD guns.

Thoughts?

Q-ball, not to parse words or sound unduly harsh-I respect the heck out of your gameplay and knowledge of the engine ([&o]), but I'm not seeing much of a Luzon strategy per se in your post. Can you please elaborate on your long-term goals for liquidating the Allied resistance on Luzon?

[CapAndGown]

ORIGINAL: Chickenboy

Q-ball, not to parse words or sound unduly harsh-I respect the heck out of your gameplay and knowledge of the engine ([&o]), but I'm not seeing much of a Luzon strategy per se in your post. Can you please elaborate on your long-term goals for liquidating the Allied resistance on Luzon?

I think his strategy is fairly clear: run the allied supplies down to 0.

I adopted the same approach. As far as I can recall, without consulting my AAR, I believe the allies ran out of supply, as indicated by lighter AAA fire, sometime in April. Late April I believe.

[Q-Ball]

Oh yeah....the strategy is to just contain them, but make them run out of supplies over time, and liquidate that later in 1942, when I have more ground troops available, or India is on defensive mode. By then I hope it won't take more than a couple divisions, as the defenders will be starved skeletons.

Am I doing everything to make them run out? And how long should it take for the Allies to be on Empty?

[CapAndGown]

OK, I just checked my AAR. It was April when the allies ran out of supplies. Mid-April it would appear. When the AAA seems to noticeably decrease, you will know their supply is used up.

[Chickenboy]

ORIGINAL: Q-Ball

Oh yeah....the strategy is to just contain them, but make them run out of supplies over time, and liquidate that later in 1942, when I have more ground troops available, or India is on defensive mode. By then I hope it won't take more than a couple divisions, as the defenders will be starved skeletons.

Am I doing everything to make them run out? And how long should it take for the Allies to be on Empty?

Well, I assumed that's what you were getting at, but I wasn't about to provide critique on an assumed strategy. You'll eventually whittle their supply to nothing and then you can clean 'em up. Good idea. I think this approach reasonable. April-ish sounds 'bout right.

I would personally recommend you get them out of Clark and kick 'em into Bataan and THEN let them wither. They're quite harmless then and you'll have use of good heavy urban terrain and a very nice airfield at Clark.

[Q-Ball]

ORIGINAL: Chickenboy
I would personally recommend you get them out of Clark and kick 'em into Bataan and THEN let them wither. They're quite harmless then and you'll have use of good heavy urban terrain and a very nice airfield at Clark.

True, but if you can kick them out of Clark, you can destroy them all together shortly thereafter. They would suffer huge losses on the retreat, and Clark is better defensive terrain.

Clark is the key to the PI: Once that falls, it's done within a week.

Plus, you really have to clear Corregidor/Bataan before using the harbor. Even if supplies are at 0, he could be tempted to drop some off via sub, just to get the CD guns going, which would be a very nasty surprise if you were using the harbor......

CapnGown: I looked at your AAR. It's about NOW in my game. Only issue: I don't have 5 Divisions to send to clean it up. Not even close. I'm a little busy at present in India! Probably I will stand guard while they slowly die throughout 1942, then clean up in the 2nd half of the year.

[Chickenboy]

ORIGINAL: Q-Ball

ORIGINAL: Chickenboy
I would personally recommend you get them out of Clark and kick 'em into Bataan and THEN let them wither. They're quite harmless then and you'll have use of good heavy urban terrain and a very nice airfield at Clark.

True, but if you can kick them out of Clark, you can destroy them all together shortly thereafter. They would suffer huge losses on the retreat, and Clark is better defensive terrain.

Clark is the key to the PI: Once that falls, it's done within a week.

Are we assuming that he has the entirety of his remaining Luzon defensive LCUs in Clark? None in Bataan, prepped for Bataan that are intact? These units will be able to hold out much longer, regardless of what happens with the ones at Clark.